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Tuesday 27 October 2015

Heroine on the run: Deleted scene #2 DARKEST BEFORE DAWN

Nearly every one of my novels has a scene where I have the heroine running away.

It's a strong theme throughout my historical romances set in Anglo-Saxon England. My heroine is either escaping from danger, running in defiance, fleeing towards freedom, or running to someone's aid.

In a world where men ruled and woman had little say in their fate, often escape was the only way a woman could show her defiance.

In DARK UNDER THE COVER OF NIGHT, Raedwyn escapes an outlaw who is using her to blackmail her father. In NIGHTFALL TILL DAYBREAK, Freya tries to escape a life of slavery by running away from her new master, the King of the East Angles. In THE DEEPENING NIGHT, Saewara runs away from her domineering brother, Penda of Mercia, who is forcing her to marry the enemy. And in THE BREAKING DAWN, Merwenna runs away from her parents' home twice  first, in search of her betrothed, who went off to war and never returned, and then to warn the Prince of Powys about a plot to assassinate him.

In my current novel, DARKEST BEFORE DAWN, my heroine is possibly the most strong-willed and feisty of any woman I've written about so far. Alchflaed is actually based on a real historical figure  a 7th Century Northumbrian princess who was married to the King of Mercia in order to weave peace between the two warring kingdoms.

On the journey south from Northumbria to Mercia, I originally wrote a scene in which Alchflaed escapes her Mercian escorts, and the man she is helplessly attracted to  Maric  in an attempt to ride north and seek aid from her mother's kin in Rheged. However, after realizing that this wasn't going to sit well with her confrontational character, I have deleted it. Alchflaed will try to resolve her problems in other ways...

Here's the scene – enjoy!

***

Alchflaed peeked her head out of her tent and glanced up at the sky. A full moon rose above the tree tops to the east, casting a silvery veil over the world. She noted that the moon had a shimmering halo around it – a sign that bad weather was coming.
Hopefully, I will be on my way to Rheged before it arrives.
It had been an agonizing wait. Alchflaed was so tense that she could feel her pulse beating in her ears. Still, she had made herself be patient. She needed to make sure that the men slumbered deeply before making her move. There would be warriors taking their turn at the night’s watch, but the later she waited the better.
With the glowing moon cresting high into the night sky, Alchflaed stepped out of her tent and wrapped her woolen cloak about her shoulders. It was a chill night, so none would question her bringing it with her while she relieved herself. She had left all her other belongings behind, except for her seax at her waist, and her slingshot looped next to it on her belt.
Alchflaed forced herself to shuffle, as if half-asleep, towards the edge of the encampment. The fire pit had burned down to glowing embers, although a few pitch torches burned around the perimeter. A shadow in the darkness, Alchflaed moved towards where the horses had been tied up for the night.
“Milady?”
The man’s voice close by nearly made Alchflaed cry out in fright; her nerves were stretched taut and it took all her will not to let fright show on her face. A warrior, a tall, bald man with a craggy face stepped forward, bearing a torch.
“Where are you off to?”
“I drank too much ale with supper,” she replied, feigning an embarrassed smile. “There are some trees behind the horses, I won’t be long.”
“Aye,” he grunted, appearing satisfied by her response. “Make sure you aren’t.”
Alchflaed continued on her way, her heart now skittering against her ribs. She had seen the warrior’s shrewd expression; he would be awaiting her return. She would have less time than she had hoped, for he would be the first to go looking for her when she did not re-emerge from the shadows.
Stepping out of the circle of torchlight, she headed to the line of horses. Her pony was the last in the line, she had deliberately tied it at the end so that it would be easy to find in the darkness. Ahead, she spotted the outline of a man’s form; another warrior who had been posted to watch over the horses. He would have to be dealt with, but Alchflaed had come prepared.
She could have used the seax her father had gifted her, but she had no wish to kill a man in order to escape. Instead, she withdrew a heavy stone from inside the lining of her cloak. She had dug it out of the ground inside her tent using her knife.
Holding her breath, Alchflaed crept forward. She moved swiftly towards the guard  the man never saw his assailant coming. Alchflaed clubbed him hard, on the back of his head and he fell like a sack of barley to the ground. She had judged the blow carefully – just hard enough to knock out, not hard enough to kill. Over the years, she had watched her father’s men spar enough times to know the difference.
Not wasting a moment, Alchflaed skirted around the fallen man and rushed to the end of the line of horses. The beasts sensed a disturbance and some of them shifted nervously, while others snorted, the whites of their eyes gleaming in the moonlight.
Fortunately, Alchflaed’s pony was not of nervy temperament. It nickered a soft welcome, recognizing her scent immediately. Moving as quickly as she could without making a noise, Alchflaed undid the rope that tied her pony and looped it over the beast’s neck, tying the other end to the rope halter the pony wore. There was no time to saddle her mount, she would have to ride north bareback.
Alchflaed sprang lightly up onto the pony’s back and reined it away towards the trees. She sucked in a deep breath upon reaching the deeper shadows under the towering ruins of the Roman fort. 
I did it.
Away from the torchlight, she had only the moon to guide her.
It would be enough.

A grin spread out over Alchflaed’s face then, and excitement ignited in the pit of her belly. This was who she was – brave and free. Beholden to no man. By morning she would be far from here.


Friday 16 October 2015

Book review: ROGUE KNIGHT by Regan Walker

I enjoyed the historical background to this novel – historical romances that use actual historical events and characters to help drive the plot make for exciting reading.

Rogue Knight is set in the early medieval period, three years after the Norman invasion of England in 1066. It is the second installment in the Medieval Warriors series, in which Norman knights end up falling for the charms of fiery, independent English women.

Rogue Knight is set in York, and the author has gone to a lot of trouble to bring the Viking roots of this city to life. Our heroine, Emma, is of proud Danish stock, and her father was an actual historical figure – a rebel who helped marshal the Danish help in retrieving York from the Normans. Our hero, Sir Geoffroi, is a Norman Knight who is part of the occupying force in York. He meets Emma on the battlefield, after a bloody exchange between the locals and the Normans. She is initially hostile towards him, but after he shows considerable kindness towards her, and her family, she gradually grows to trust, and love, him.

This novel had a lot of promise but what it provided in rich historical detail, it lacked in romance. Emma and Geoffroi’s love story is a gentle one, but as the plot is driven almost entirely by events out of their control, they both appear a little passive at times.


Geoffroi is a kind, decent man – the epitome of a gallant knight – and Emma is strong and brave, but apart from the obvious ‘enemy’ divide, there was little else keeping them apart. I would have liked to have seen a little more conflict between them – especially since Geoffroi so readily forgives Emma after he discovers her real identity, as the daughter of a rebel leader. Still, that said, it was an enjoyable read and I liked being able to take a peek into the Norman conquest of England.

FOUR STARS ****

Book review: THE KING'S MAN by By Elizabeth Kingston

I loved the grittiness of this historical romance.


It can be difficult to portray a ‘warrior woman’ in romance, without resorting to cliché or creating a parody or watered down character who could never have, in reality, survived. However, our heroine is a tough young woman who has been groomed by her mother to one day lead the Welsh against the English king.

Gwenllian of Ruardean learns early on how difficult it is to be a female warrior in a man’s world; in order to maintain her position as a leader of men, she had to prove herself to be stronger, faster and cleverer than any man – a struggle that exhausts her.

Our hero is Sir Ranulf, an English knight with a dark past. Gwenllian had been promised to marry Ranulf’s step-father, but that never came to pass as Ranulf murdered him. Years later, she is still bitter about the future she believes he took from her. They meet after Ranulf is badly injured by Gwenllian's men. Once he has healed, Ranulf is rude and dismissive towards Gwenllian and when she bests him in a physical fight his resentment grows. However, as the story progresses a tense but all-consuming bond develops between the two of them.

The romance between Ranulf and Gwenllian is intense and sexy. Gwenllian is strong and determined but secretly vulnerable and lonely, whereas Ranulf only lives in self-imposed isolation, as he is plagued by the terrible events of his childhood and the murder he committed.

This historical romance was refreshingly free of stereotype, was beautifully written and had memorable, flawed characters who both undergo considerable change throughout the story. If I had one issue (albeit a small one), I would have like to see our hero truly lose his self-protective shell at the end; he never really lets his guard down which prevented the resolution from being as intense as it could have been.


I recommend this novel to anyone who likes their historical romance with a bit of realism and grit.

FIVE STARS *****