Characters who stick - Jen Black and Matho Spirston

When I wanted a foil for Harry Wharton's cheerful charm, I came up with Matho Spirston. His is a peasant against Harry’s gentry background, and he has a dour and very practical common sense approach to life. I think of him as a typical male of the Northumberland region, from his dry, cynical humour and outspokenness to his strong sense of purpose. He’s never been further north than Otterburn, but in my wip he sets off with Harry for Edinburgh because Harry asked him to, and there’s an outside chance he may make some money while he’s at it. 

Almost everything that happens once they set off is a learning curve for Matho. By using deep third point of view, I can filter the events of the day through him, and let readers know how he feels about maybe having to kill someone, if he misses the ritual of mass, or how the Borderers feel about armies tramping through their crops and thieving their cattle and sheep as provisions. Matho’s real adventures begin in a book as yet unpublished, but he first graced the page in Fair Border Bride, initially published as a paperback Till the Day Go Down, which was really Harry and Alina's story. (When the company turned up its toes, I re-edited and self-published the story as Fair Border Bride.)

He was a lowly Guard Captain at Aydon, the home of the Carnaby family and had grown up with Alina, the daughter of the family. When Harry falls foul of Alina Carnaby's father, Matho decides to help Alina save Harry's life. In doing so, he admires Harry's courage and thinks he lacks common sense. Matho is very much the leader when  Alina is kidnapped.

As a character, Matho just grew and grew in my mind, to the point I started writing of his journey. His friendship with Harry led him in directions he would never have expected. The final polishing of his story is nearing an end, and then I'll have to let Matho rest while I try and find an agent and a publisher for him. I have a rough draft of his next adventures, and I think he'll be with me for a long time yet.

Excerpt: 

Harry gripped the bars of the grill. “I swear,” he said, his voice strong and steady, “that I have done nothing, and will do nothing, that will bring hurt or harm to the people of Aydon.”

Matho shifted, trying to get a good look at Harry. Harry moved further into the shaft of moonlight. He sensed that something good might come of this exchange.

“Aye, well. Tomorrow. There’s nowt as’ll change Carnaby’s mind once it’s made up. He hates the family Scott to the last wee de’il in it, and since ye were daft enough to say ye name was Scott, he’ll have ye tossed off the crag, ne doubt aboot it. But there’s summat…”

“What? What, man?” Hope rose in Harry’s chest like bubbles of air through water. He thumped his chest to be rid of the pressure they caused.

“A wee chance, maybe, if ye’re a lad wi ye wits about ye. The Master hasn’t noticed yet, but a tree came down a day or two back, an’ it lies fair across the gully below the crag. If ye were to hop onto it, like as not ye’d be able to shimmy down and get clean away.”

“How far down is it?”

“Ten feet, maybe.” A grin slid over the solid Northumberland features. “Figurin’s no my strong suit, y’knaw.”

“And below that?”

Matho looked him straight in the eye. “Nowt but the Ay burn.”

Fair Border Bride, available on Kindle.

Posted by Jen Black

Aydon Castle exists

 

 Walk through the gate and you would see Aydon Castle, Alina's home, standing before you. More a fortified farmhouse than a true castle, it has stood on its promontory above the Ay Burn since the twelfth century. The house was a working farmhouse until the 1960s, when English Heritage stepped in and opened it up to the public. Walking around the various rooms, one hopes they had lots of tapestries, rugs and blankets otherwise hypothermia woudl have set in.

 

 

 

 Blurb: Two men wait at the altar, but does she have a choice?

 

 

Excerpt:

The kitten’s pale claws flexed against the rounded curve of her breast. The court ladies wore stomachers of wood to give a straight line to their expensive gowns, but not so this girl. Harry swallowed. She must be aware of the effect she had on him.

“A stallholder warned me I may lose my life on the road to Edinburgh. Are things so bad in the Borders?”

Alina’s smile faded. “Yes.”

“I must go,” he said. “The journey is one I…it is important.”

She sighed. “Then go if you must, but it is a bad road and you must take care.”

“Then I shall take another road.”

Her smile held condescension. “Whichever road you take through the Borders will be dangerous, sir.” The kitten, tucked in beneath her chin, stared at him, too; both pairs of eyes so serious Harry couldn’t help smiling. “That creature’s probably got fleas, you know.”

“Will you tell me your name?”

“Harry Scott at your service, lady.”

A fine gold chain supported a gold cross at her throat, and it twinkled in the sunlight as she sucked in a sharp breath. “Your family name is Scott?”

He had chosen the surname at random. Why did she look at him as if he was an enemy? Perhaps he should have chosen a decent English name like Smith or Wilson.

He nodded, determined to make nothing of it. Scott was a common enough name, after all. “And your name, lady? I may pass this way on my return.”

“My name is Alina Carnaby. I live at Aydon Hall now. But before you visit, you should know that my father hates every member of the Scott family. So much so that he may kill you the moment you declare your name.”

Available now: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fair-Border-Bride-ebook/dp/B005VPXA42

Jen's blog: http://jenblackauthor.blogspot.com

 Uploaded by Jen Black

Border troubles - Fair Border Bride by Jen Black

Harry was everything she wanted in a man, and her father was about to kill him!

 

Excerpt:

“Tell me,” he said, before he forgot all practical things in the delight of her presence. “Your father threatens me with something called the Leap. What is it?”

“She dipped her head, and he heard her sharp intake of breath. “It’s the ravine, Harry.” She pointed towards the dark bulk of the hall. “On the other side is a ravine. It is deep, with the Ay burn at the bottom. Father…he makes prisoners jump from the precipice outside the hall.”

“Ah.” He raised her knuckles to his mouth, and kissed them to dispel the shadowy presence of Death looming in the darkness behind him. He remembered looking into the ravine the night he rode up here. His tongue probed the cleft between her fingers. She gasped. Harry’s blood sang through his body, and he kissed her knuckles again. “How deep, do you think?”

“Twenty times the height of a man, they say.” She shivered and frowned as she watched him nuzzle her fingers. “There are rocks and trees…”

“And no one survives?”

Her face crumpled. “Oh, Harry, sometimes they do, but they are broken, twisted creatures—”

A deep voice sounded from above, and Alina flung up her head. “Matho, please!”

Matho must have agreed, for she turned back to Harry. Her hand had warmed in his and when he kissed it once more, her other hand snaked through the bars and stroked his face, crept to the back of his neck.

“Ah, Alina,” he murmured. “Would that we had no iron bars between us.”

His flesh hardened. If this was his last night on earth, he wanted some pleasure to beguile his thoughts. He reached both hands through the grill and drew her close against the iron bars and in truth she was not reluctant, even when his hand roamed beneath her cloak, caught a ribbon and her nightgown gaped from neck to waist. His palm found the firm weight and curve of her breast and nestled around it.”

FAIR BORDER BRIDE is up for sale on Amazon Kindle Amazon UK: here £2.06 Amazon US: here  $3.31

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyui1kfCd_8

Jen Black: http://jenblackauthor.blogspot.com

Love in a war zone

It is true that the Border feuds lasted nearly three hundred years and they interfered with love lives and marriages in a way that is hard to comprehend today. Cross-border marriages did take place, but sometimes feuds interfered with a love match. It all depended on the strength of feeling - be they friend or enemy - between the families.

 

When Alina's father discovers Harry one fateful day in 1543, he condemns him simply because his family name is Scott. Harry's misfortune is that Scott is an alias he chose at random, but he cannot confess it without betraying his father's mission. Alina fears that their love is destroyed before it really began.

Excerpt:

The kitten’s pale claws flexed against the rounded curve of her breast. The court ladies wore stomachers of wood to give a straight line to their expensive gowns, but not so this girl. Harry swallowed. She must be aware of the effect she had on him.

“A stallholder warned me I may lose my life on the road to Edinburgh. Are things so bad in the Borders?”

Alina’s smile faded. “Yes.”

“I must go,” he said. “The journey is one I…it is important.”

She sighed. “Then go if you must, but it is a bad road and you must take care.”

“Then I shall take another road.”

Her smile held condescension. “Whichever road you take through the Borders will be dangerous, sir.” The kitten, tucked in beneath her chin, stared at him, too; both pairs of eyes so serious Harry couldn’t help smiling. “That creature’s probably got fleas, you know.”

“Will you tell me your name?”

“Harry Scott at your service, lady.”

A fine gold chain supported a gold cross at her throat, and it twinkled in the sunlight as she sucked in a sharp breath. “Your family name is Scott?”

He had chosen the surname at random. Why did she look at him as if he was an enemy? Perhaps he should have chosen a decent English name like Smith or Wilson.

He nodded, determined to make nothing of it. Scott was a common enough name, after all. “And your name, lady? I may pass this way on my return.”

“My name is Alina Carnaby. I live at Aydon Hall now. But before you visit, you should know that my father hates every member of the Scott family. So much so that he may kill you the moment you declare your name.”

Available now: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fair-Border-Bride-ebook/dp/B005VPXA42

Jen's blog: http://jenblackauthor.blogspot.com

Fair Border Bride

Fair Border Bride

By Jen Black

Blurb: In 1543 Harry Wharton finds himself caught up in the middle of a reivers' cattle raid and left for dead. Alina hides him, but her father threatens to kill him and events force her into a life-changing decision. An exciting historical romance set on the Anglo-Scottish frontier in Tudor days.

Excerpt:

“Are you come to kill me, or help me?”

At the sound of the croaky, laboured voice, she dropped his cap and jerked backwards. Her heart loosed a single mighty thump against her chest wall. Poised to rise and flee, she hesitated when the man made no effort to move. She frowned. He hadn’t sounded like Harry at all. His eyes were open, but only as mere slits. Careful to stay out of reach of his arm, she bent low to peer into his face.

She prodded his shoulder. “Harry?”

His eyes had closed again.

“Sir? Sir?”

His lids lifted, but only half-way. “Yes?”

Alina shuffled to one side, so he did not have to adjust his line of vision to see her. “What are you doing here?”

His lids closed once more. “My head…hurts.”

“You have a swelling. There.”

“Ahhhhhh!”

She whipped her finger back from his brow. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to cause pain.”

One of his eyes opened to the merest slit and regarded her with displeasure. “My horse has a gentler touch than you, madam.”

“Well!” Affronted, Alina could think of nothing to say.

“No,” he said. “Since you ask, I am not well.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“Then you should have done.” He closed his eyes again.

Alina stared at him. His name was Harry Scott, and because of that, hurt or not, her father would kill him. But Harry had saved her from the bull, so she owed him something. She couldn’t walk away and leave him.

Yesterday the intensity of his gaze made her heart flutter.

Today he behaved as if she were a stranger.

Birdsong flooded from the branches above. Dragon dozed in the sunshine. The stranger’s horse moved a pace or two out into the meadow and continued to graze. Could she keep him hidden? Father might return at any moment. She turned back to the prone figure.

“Can you walk?”

His dark brows drew in towards his nose while he considered the matter. “I doubt it.”

“I can’t shift you on my own.”

“No need. Just let me be. Sleep…would be…good.” His voice slurred on the words and his eyes closed.

Alina leaned over and shook his arm. “You can’t sleep here. Someone will find you, and then it will be all over. There was a raid last night, and Father will think you were a part of it.” He took no notice, so she shook him again and raised her voice. “Do you want to die today?”

He groaned, and his hand lifted, fingers splayed, to stop her rough shaking. “Enough, I am awake.”

She sat back on her heels and surveyed him. “I hope you are not too heavy, Harry.”

His fingers clenched on the fabric of her skirt. “You know me?” His voice was sharper, demanding. “You know my name? Wait. Help me sit up.”

“Please.”

It was the kind of flippant reply she gave Lionel when he tried his new found authority on her. Lionel didn’t like it when she stood up to him, but she was the elder and had no intention of being brow beaten by her brother. Harry, however, was unmoved. He stared at the damp hem of her brown skirt as if fascinated by it.

“You are correct,” he said. “I am sorry. Would you please help me sit up? I shall do my best to assist.” Resigned amusement flavoured his apology.

Lionel never reacted like this. Alina made no move to help the man at her feet, but studied the lines of his face and remembered the oddness of his remark. “What do you mean when you ask if I know your name?”

“For God’s sake, woman! Help me!”

“How do I know you won’t attack me?”

He groaned. “By the Rood! How will I manage to attack you when I can’t sit up? You could fell me with a hazel twig at the moment.” Frustrated resignation rang through his voice.

“Can you turn over? It will be easier if you are on your back.”

“I can but try.” His mouth lifted in a crooked smile.

She observed his careful sequence of movements with a critical eye. Each limb seemed sound, and when he rolled over and stared at the spreading canopy of green leaves above him, she could not help but gasp, for his eyes glowed like sapphires in the soft light beneath the tree. Her heart gave an odd little jerk.

“Where are you?”

“Here.” She moved closer, confident he would not hurt her. “Can’t you see me?”

“I can now you’ve moved.” His eyes flickered and squinted as he struggled to focus on her. “What lovely eyes you have. I hope they are kind eyes. If I move my head it makes me dizzy, so just now I prefer not to, if you don’t mind.”

“Then how am I to move you?”

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