In this wonderful collection of Medieval Romance Christmas and Yule novellas by several authors, we have as a sample an excerpt by the writer Patti Sherry-Crews from her intriguing story, "The Protector," the blurb of which is here:
Blurb
What can Juliana Basset, the daughter of an English merchant, have done to put her in the sights of the most powerful men in the country? It’s not what’s she’s done but what she knows. She harbors a secret that could topple the monarchy. A knight, Sir William, is sent to take her into protection until things settle down.
Stowing her away in a convent until things settle down seems like a good idea. Except Juliana stumbles upon yet another secret while there. Things are not adding up at the convent—literally. When she can't help but dig around, the place of sanctuary could be the death of her. Trying to keep the lovely lady out of harm's way turns out to be more of a challenge than Sir William anticipated.
Excerpt
“...twelve,
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.” Juliana, her finger hovering over the fresh
loaves of bread, counted under her breath. She put her finger up and tapped her
bottom lip. Why fifteen? Always that number when there are only fourteen
mouths to feed?
“Juliana?...I
mean, Sister Clementine!” Sister Agnes scolded herself. “You have a visitor.”
Surely,
there would only be one person to visit her and the way the silly girl swung
her hips and flamed as red as a poppy, Juliana knew exactly who waited for her.
“Where is
he?”
“In the
visitor’s room, of course.”
Juliana
hitched up her ugly woolen grab and went as fast as she could out of the
kitchen. Soon they would be called for prayer again and she didn’t want to lose
time with Will. Not that she was especially excited to see him, she told
herself. But she was so tired of the company of nuns, she longed for
word from the outside.
She left
the warmth of the kitchen and ran down the cloister to the visitor’s room. A
thick layer of snow covered the inner courtyard and blew feathery drifts over
the stone tiles on the covered way, making it slippery. Juliana entered the
room she remembered being shown three days before, shortly after her arrival.
Only three days, yet it felt like a lifetime.
There he
stood. His tall, broad back to her, examining a painted panel on the wall. Her
heart lurched at the sight of his lovely hair. It looked clean and groomed
since she saw him last. Would he be glad to see her? She’d look for signs of it
in his face. A sparkle in his eyes. A softening of his features….
Sensing
her approach, he spun around slowly. Their eyes met, and his face contorted in
an unexpected way. Out came a roar of laughter as he bent over to slap both
thighs with his hands. He laughed so loud, she feared someone would ask him to
leave.
She
placed both hands on her hips and glared at him. “Is that how you greet me?”
“Ho, ho!
I’m sorry, but they’ve made a real nun out of you!”
“Well, I
don’t think it so amusing. Why are you here?”
He wiped
the tears from his eyes. “I was passing and thought I’d spy in on you. By Jove,
I’m glad I did. What a sight!”
“Now you
see I’m fine, you may be on your way.”
“Don’t be
tetchy, little rabbit. I come bearing gifts.”
She
perched on the tips of her toes, watching him search his tunic. “What is it?”
He pulled
out something wrapped in cloth. When he took the cloth off, her body flooded
with relief.
“I knew
it troubled you when you thought you’d lost this.” He handed her back her book
of poetry.
“How did
you...You went back to the inn for this? For me?”
“Tis one
thing I could do. It wasn’t such a hardship.” He shrugged.
Juliana
remembered the flirty serving wench and her stomach twisted. “No? Did you just
ride in and find my book, or did you have to root around. Mayhaps you even had
to spend the night?”
“Why do
you have pique in your voice? I thought twould please you. That’s all. I had no
other motive in going back there.”
“Of
course not. I’m very grateful.”
They
stood still and uncertain a moment, their sights trained on the floor. Juliana
fought the impulse to throw her arms around him.
“So, how
goes it?” he asked at last.
“It takes
some getting used to.”
“I
imagine. Well, I can’t imagine being in a nunnery, really. But, tell me did you
find Sister Ursula?”
“Oh, yes!
Not at first, and I wondered if you were mistaken about her being here.”
“I am not
mistaken.”
“I know
now. I found her in the scriptorium working on manuscripts. Tis so beautiful!
They let me work there for part of the day.”
“Nay,
don’t tell me they let an untrained girl touch a page! It takes much skill and
practice to reach the level of--”
“I know!
I could never...but, Sister Ursula, she lets me grind stones and mix paint for
her. She talks to me while she works. Tis very interesting.”
“She
talks to you. Huh.” He had a bemused expression on his face she thought odd.
“Anyway, what else do they have you doing here?”
“I work
in the kitchen and other chores as they come up like working in the laundry.”
She leaned in and switched to a low voice. “There’s something mysterious going
on here.”
He leaned
in and raised an eyebrow. “Tis a holy order. I expect there to be mysteries.”
“Nay, not
like that. I’ve been noticing something. Things are always odd in number.”
“Oh dear,
very mysterious.” He ran his finger down her cheek which disconcerted her to
the extent she forgot all else for a minute.
She drew
back. “Don’t tease! Listen, there are fourteen of us living here, but I always
count fifteen trenchers, fifteen candles, fifteen sheets and garments.”
“What of
it? Maybe there’s a fifteenth nun in the infirmary.”
“There
are two nuns in the infirmary and I counted them in the fourteen. Meals are
taken to them, which is openly done, but then a fifteenth meal disappears.”
He stared
at her a long moment. His expression blank. “Are you very bored?”
“Why do
you ask me that?”
“I just
wonder if you’re fabricating--”
“I’m not!
I’m kept too busy here to make up stories. I’ve never been so busy in my life.
They wake us up in the middle of the night for prayer, then we get to go back
to bed, only to be woken up at daybreak to hear scripture, only to be called to
prayer two hours later. After that we’re sent to work--and it’s still only
morning! At noon there are more prayers after which we get to eat, and then
back to work. Then before supper we pray again, only to be called to
Complin for the final prayer before going to bed. My head is full of bells, the
way they ring them all the time.”
His lips
twitched in suppressed amusement. “Mayhaps your mind is becoming overwrought.”
“Tis not!
I’m going to find out what they’re hiding here.”
He
frowned and put a heavy hand on her arm. “Leave it be. You have enough trouble
of your own without calling attention to yourself. Tis possible someone is
seeking shelter here and by poking your nose around, you might be putting them
in danger as well as yourself. Promise me you’ll do nothing outside of being a
good little nun.” He squeezed her arm when she hesitated. “Promise.”
“I
promise,” she said, with no intention of keeping it.
“I can
see I’ll have to visit often...to make sure you’re not getting yourself in
trouble.”
She
clutched her beloved book to her chest. “You might have to do that.”
Patti's Author page and newsletter: http://pattisherrycrews16.wix.com/author-blog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PattiSherryCrew
6 comments:
Patti, I so enjoyed this excerpt. Sounds like a fun-full pull and tug between two interesting and strong characters. Of course being a knight, we know Sir William is nothing less than strong, couragous,and gallant, but he sure likes to tease her and that just sounds like this story will be more than delightful. The intrigue and suspense interwoven pulls me right in and I look forward to reading this one. Nice job. Am looking forward to reading all of them in this awesome collection, but my copies haven't arrived as yet. So terrific to be included with you and the other authors again. Great team. Happy Black Friday and Thanksgiving.
Oh what a tale you weave. Sounds like so a fun story! Doris
Thanks Bev and Doris! Always good to have you visit. Yes, William does like to tease Juliana! You know as writers we try and create unique characters. I had fun with Will: he's a big, jovial guy who enjoys life. He is strong and courageous, but without giving too much away, the ladies in this tale are well able to take care of themselves!
Patti, I loved your story--but then, I always do! Another thank you to Lindsay for offering our authors a place to blog about their work! I'll share--OF COURSE!
Keep those stories coming, both of you!
Thanks, Cheryl! As I've said before your encouragement and support is gold to me! Love being part of the PRP community. And, thanks to Lindsay for offering to host us.
My pleasure, Ladies! I'm using Historical Fiction Excerpt blog and Lindsay#s Romantics blog to host the wonderful authors of Prairie Rose Publications during this special Black Friday deal celebration and loving doing so!
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