But slowly, with his lady’s wise and patient counsel, he’d won them all over. With kindly tolerance, they encouraged the earnest diligence he applied to the business of Glencross, the rhythms of the harvest and the hunt and the filling of the larder to withstand the cold season.
Most of all, they welcomed the transparent love between bride and groom, the incandescent passion that burned so tangibly between them, which gradually charmed even the most skeptical among them.
So the villagers and castlefolk smiled indulgently to see the groom costumed as the Lord of Misrule, in honor of Twelfth Night, his lithe frame masked and garbed in black velvet slashed with crimson silk. These simple folk were pleased to sing and caper in the bransle—the festive ring-dance—when the lord made his own music. For his fingers were nimble as quicksilver on the lute, and his voice issued from a golden throat, beautiful enough to make the very angels weep. Or so they murmured.
As for their lady, their scandalous young countess, who’d once been locked up for a madwoman and then compounded the initial scandal by vanishing from the Queen’s court, gone missing again for a year and more—well, that was water under the bridge. She’d returned here to her rightful place, hadn’t she? The Queen herself had pardoned Lady Linnet for her long absence, and proclaimed to all and sundry the countess’s return to royal favor.
For that, the good folk of Glencross whispered over the wassail bowl, Lady Linnet had her dear friend Rhiannon to thank. For it seemed Lady Rhiannon and her husband, Lord Beltran, were great favorites of the Queen. Hadn’t Good Queen Bess named him to the newly made post of Queen’s Enforcer, after he broke from his old masters at the Vatican? Hadn’t the Queen showered the fine couple with lands and honors to reward their service in France?
When Lady Rhiannon championed her bosom friend the Countess of Glencross, how could the Queen do anything but heed her? With Rhiannon’s encouragement, that worthy sovereign could only bless this new love-match between Lady Linnet and Lord Zamiel.
For love, the old goodwives said knowingly as they nodded before the great hearth, much was forgiven. Only see how milady has blossomed like a rose since her return! What fetching color now bloomed in the lass’s cheeks as she ran, laughing and breathless, beneath a row of upraised arms, hand in hand with her dear lord! How her golden eyes glowed like candles when he sang and played his troubadour’s songs of love! Do you see now the lass, always so thin and pale, the poor dear, growing plump and rosy with contentment?
If indeed her belly swelled with a love child that would make its noisy appearance a few moons too soon after the wedding, well, what did that matter? The babe would have its father’s name and his formidable protection, and they’d have a new heir for Glencross.
For the lass had always been like a princess in a Faerie tale, locked away in her tower by her dour kin. Her only poor comfort had been the stories she loved. Even as a wean, she’d clamored for the old tales of Arthur and Lancelot and the Grail Quest, of the Fair Folk and the Faerie Queene, of sunken kingdoms beneath the waves.
Now she’d found her own knight in shining armor, and he was always laughing and madcap and gay. He’d rescued the princess from her lonely tower and they’d fallen in love, just like in a Faerie tale.
So the old grand-dams of Glencross whispered the tale to their children’s children when they tucked them up after the wedding feast, warm and well fed, by their own cozy hearths to sleep.
And what happened after that to the sweet lass and her bonny laird?
Why, as to that, none could say. For the future was never an open book, aye?
But this was a match the good Faeries had blessed, and guardian angels watched over the charmed couple. In the end, they lived happily ever after.
* * * * *
Looking for more historical romance to sweep
you away?
Look no further than Laura Navarre’s two previous
releases, available now!
By Royal Command
Katrin of Courtenay’s husband is dead—and she doesn’t mourn him. He was cruel and controlling, and she doesn’t need a husband to hold her northern keep. But her vengeful uncle, the King of England, has other ideas: intent on marrying her off, he’s ordered his
Viking-bred warrior to return her to court.
On the journey, the Viking captures her interest, and for the first time Katrin understands passion. But her guard is honor-bound to deliver her to the king, and so it is settled—she must wed the mysterious Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine.
A forced marriage to a stranger slowly becomes
something more, and Katrin realizes she is in love with Rafael. But with the shadow of her former lover
hanging over her, and Rafael’s powerful brother making dangerous plans, can Katrin negotiate the delicate
balance between survival and happiness?
Magick by Moonrise
A religious war is brewing. The Catholic Church
relies on the ruthless reputation of Lord Beltran Nemesto, who tirelessly hunts down those who don’t believe or who practice dark arts.
Half mortal, half Fae princess, Rhiannon le Fay is a healer trying to broker peace between the Faerie and mortal worlds. The Convergence is approaching, an occurrence every thousand years where the Veil that separates the two realms temporarily dissolves. Without her help, war between the two is inevitable.
After meeting Rhiannon, Beltran knows he must bring her to justice, but he’s instantly attracted to the ethereal beauty. She forces him to confront his beliefs and introduces him to the Faerie world, and in the process he discovers a haunting truth about himself.
As the Convergence nears, Rhiannon and Beltran must decide where their loyalties lie as they fight to prevent a war that could destroy both of their worlds forever.
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About the Author
In her other life, Laura Navarre is a diplomat who’s lived in Russia and works on weapons of mass destruction issues. In the line of duty, she’s been trapped in an elevator in a nuclear power plant and has stalked the corridors of facilities churning out nerve agent and other apocalyptic weapons. In this capacity, she meets many of the world’s most dangerous men.
Inspired by the sinister realities of her real life, Laura writes dark medieval and Renaissance romance with a paranormal twist. A member of Romance Writers of America, a Golden Heart Award finalist and winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association award for romance, she’s currently writing The Magick Trilogy, a series of dark and sensual Tudor romances with elements of Arthurian legend and fallen-angel heroes, for Carina Press. The series launched with the award-winning Magick by Moonrise in March 2013.
Living on an island in Puget Sound with her screenwriter husband and two Siberian cats, Laura divides her time between her writing career and other adventures for government clients.
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ISBN: 9781426895951
Copyright © 2013 by Laura Navarre
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in a
ny form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Laura Navarre - [The Magick Trilogy 02] Page 33
