Dance of Love by Anna Markland - Excerpt

Dance of Love
medieval romance

by Anna Markland
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*Farah is about to dance an eastern dance for a group of Norman knights, among them the hero Isembart, nicknamed Izzy. He suffers from arthritis.*

Izzy inhaled sharply. The vision that swayed and dipped and moved sensuously before him rendered him boneless. Farah wore a red costume that revealed no more of her body than her usual garb, but its form and fit showed every curve and swell of her figure. His eyes raked over her full breasts, fertile hips, taut belly, and long arms.

A veil still hid her face, but her hair flowed freely, adorned with a bright red flower at her temple. He laced his fingers together in his lap, itching to weave them through the thick black glory that reached to Farahs waist. Was the hair at her mons the same texture and color?

The arch of her back as her arms swayed in undulating movements emphasized the swell of her breasts. He thirsted to lave his tongue over the nipples that strained at the fabric, and suckle.

It occurred to him the dance was designed for two. Farah danced with an invisible partner, whom only she saw. He had never danced in his life, but it was all Izzy could do to remain in his seat. He wanted to leap to his feet, mold his body to hers, chest to breast, hip to hip, thigh to thigh, to gaze into her eyes as they moved to the inexorable rhythm.

The click of the castanets drew his eyes to her elegant fingers as they turned and twisted gracefully. Her long nails were painted the same red as her costume. It was an abrupt reminder of his own ugliness, the gnarled and twisted stumps at the end of his arms. Farah would be repulsed if he put his hands on her flesh.

He averted his eyes, bitterness welling up in his throat. He had difficulty breathing. He pressed a palm to his knee to stop the insistent twitching. Again he had allowed this woman to bewitch him.

Gritting his teeth, he glanced at the other members of his family. Dorianne leaned against Robert, her chin perched atop her folded hands, smiling. Elenor de Giroux looked like she might swoon. Denis, Baudoin, Caedmon and even Izzys elderly father were openly appreciative of the performance they watched. Antoine's sons, Adam and Mathieu, and his own brother, Melton, gaped. Izzy was the only one sweating. Every part of his body ached and throbbed, his hands, his head, his groin, and his heart.

When the dance ended, silence filled the room. Berthold finally led the applause. Izzys hands refused to work. Robert would expect him to thank their guest. He was about to come to his feet, deafened by the loud beating of his heart, when he became aware that it was a drumbeat he heard. Farah ran to the screen and emerged holding a curved scabbard.

Everyone sucked in a breath.

Holding the hilt in one hand and the end of the sheath in the other, she raised the weapon above her head, her feet moving to the slow beat of the drum. Lowering her arms she held the sword in front, then to the side, then back to the front, then to the other side. The tempo increased gradually. Farahs feet kept pace.

Suddenly she raised the weapon over her head and drew the sword from its scabbard like a bolt of lightning. A collective gasp rose from the
audience.

Izzy had never seen such a blade before, but Farah twirled it so quickly around her head, and at her sides, leaping over it again and again, that it became a whirling blur of steel. Fear and fascination choked him.

Suddenly she dropped to her knees, breasts heaving, the sword held high. Slowly she lowered it and balanced it on her head like a deadly halo. She reached into a hidden fold of her costume. Light reflected on the metallic objects she extracted and attached to her fingers. She clicked them together, like miniature cymbals.

The drumming had stopped. Now it was his own heartbeat Izzy heard. The shawm player took up the slow refrain. By the time Farah had risen, walked around the hall with her arms outstretched, and resumed her kneeling position, all to the hypnotic rhythm of the music and with the sword perfectly balanced atop her head, cymbals clicking, Izzy was exhausted.

The music ceased. Silence reigned. Suddenly, Farah leapt to her feet with a bloodcurdling yell, a warrior gleam in her eyes. She started to spin, holding the weapon at arms length. The blur of red, black and silver and the tinkling of ankle bells made Izzy light-headed. He felt feverish and sick to his stomach. He feared he would be obliged to make his excuses.

Farah fell to her knees, threw back her head, and pointed the blade to her throat. Dorianne squealed. Izzy squeezed his eyes shut.

Dance of Love

Amazon - Nook - Kobo - Sony - Smashwords

Anna Markland
Passionate About Medieval Romance

http://annamarkland.com/

Medieval Medicine - Scary Stuff! by Anna Markland

In medieval times doctors and barber-surgeons had plenty of practice treating wounds and broken bones because of the many wars going on at the time.

They knew how to set broken bones in plaster and how to seal wounds using egg whites or old wine to stop them getting infected.

They used alcohol or plants like mandragora to send people to sleep or dull the pain of operations. They could even remove diseased parts of the body, for example the gall-bladder, and deliver babies by Caesarean section.

 

In my latest release, The Winds of the Heavens, the heroine is a Welshwoman named Glain who is a healer with a special skill for setting broken bones. I took a bit of poetic licence here since most of these bonesetters were men.

Glain’s skills are needed when the brother of the twin heroes falls into a gorge and breaks his leg. If you’ve read the book that precedes this one, Dark and Bright, you’ll recall the accident. You’re probably wondering how twins Rhun and Rhydderch solved the problem of both being in love with Glain. They’ve always shared everything, but can they share a woman?

Conquering Passion).

I am not going to let the cat out of the bag! You’ll have to read The Winds of the Heavens to find out how they solve their dilemma!


Glain does in fact use egg whites and a plaster cast to mend her patient’s leg, and she drugs him with mandragora to ease the pain.


Another medical catastrophe strikes in the book. We know it today as meningitis, but then it was simply referred to as a plague or pestilence.


In Dark and Bright, the hero, Rhys, saves his sister’s life after she gives birth to a child. His knowledge comes from ancient Celtic lore passed on to him by his mother, the healer Rhonwen.

Dark and Bright and The Winds of the Heavens are Books Two and Three of the Series Sons of Rhodri. Both are available exclusively on Amazon.

I will gift a digital copy of The Winds of the Heavens to the first commenter to reveal the meaning of the name “Glain”.

Find out more about Anna Markland and her books on her website at:

Passionate About Historical Romance

Today and tomorrow, you can get CONQUERING PASSION for free on Amazon kindle HERE

So hurry, grab it while it's free.

Medieval Roads, Building, Maintenance, travel - by Anna Markland

Anna Markland is a Canadian author with a keen interest in genealogy. She writes medieval romance about family honour, ancestry and roots. Her novels are intimate love stories full of passion and adventure. Prior to becoming a fiction author, she published numerous family histories. One of the things she enjoys most about writing historical romance is the in-depth research required to provide the reader with an authentic medieval experience.

Her novel DEFIANT PASSION is a FREE download, today only, in Amazon kindle. Grab it quick HERE


When the Romans departed Britain in the early fifth century the road system they left behind did not disappear, but it did change.

In the medieval period many Roman roads were still being used. The Gough map dating from 1360 shows over 3,000 miles of main roads in use of which around 40% were of Roman origin, including Watling Street, Ermine Street, Fosse Way and the Icknield Way: routes that are still in use today.

The roads shown on the Gough map are the highways that linked the main towns and were used by English kings to travel around the kingdom. If you’re familiar with the current British road system, these were the ‘A’ roads of their day and radiated out from London as far as Cornwall, South Wales, Cumberland, Yorkshire and Norfolk. In addition there was a dense network of local tracks and rights of way linking villages, manors, woods, meadows and heathland.

Remains of a medieval road

Very few medieval roads were surfaced, most were simply rough tracks with wide verges and many were simply unmarked rights of way across the countryside. The main highways were often very wide which was necessary to accommodate the travel of armies, wagons and flocks of sheep. In 1118 for instance Henry I decreed that two wagons should be able to pass each other or sixteen knights be able to ride abreast.

In Dark and Bright, one of Rhys’s brothers complains that Baudoin wants to build wide roads so his Norman troops can invade deeper into Wales.

The maintenance of roads was, by and large, the responsibility of the land owner and since the main highways were used by the king these were usually kept in good repair. Land owners were also responsible for preventing attacks on travellers as shown in the Statute of Winchester issued by Edward I in 1285:

‘It is likewise commanded that the highways from market towns to other market towns be widened where there are woods or hedges or ditches, so that there may be no ditch, underwood or bushes where one could hide with evil intent within two hundred feet of the road on one side or the other…And if by the default of a lord, who will not fill up a ditch or level underwood or bushes in the manner aforesaid, robberies are committed, the lord shall be answerable.’

According to manorial records travellers using minor roads could also expect their path to be obstructed by timber, muckheaps, pits and dead horses!

Travelling on Medieval Roads:

Travel was undertaken either by horse or on foot dependent on how wealthy you were, and if the journey was expected to be hazardous you would probably travel in a group with overnight accommodation being provided by Inns along the way; carriages could offer a bumpy ride and were usually reserved for luggage.

On horseback you could expect to travel about 20 miles per day along the main roads. Indeed in 1336 Edward III achieved an average speed of 55 miles per day when he rode from London to York which suggests that medieval roads were not as bad as they are often portrayed.

Unfortunately, Rhys and Baudoin meet with a serious accident during their adventure. That’s as much as I’ll reveal!

In Dark and Bright, now available on Amazon Kindle, my Welsh hero, Rhys ap Rhodri, sets off with his brother-by-marriage, Baudoin de Montbryce, Earl of Ellesmere, on a journey to improve roads in Wales. I researched medieval road building for the book, although most of the information available relates to a period after the one I write about. Rhys undertakes his project in the early years of the 12th century.

This novella was released shortly after Defiant Passion, which is actually Book One of a new series entitled Sons of Rhodri. This series grew out of the villain-turned-hero character, Rhodri ap Owain, in my first novel, Conquering Passion. Fans of that book will recall Rhodri’s intimate courtship of Rhonwen Dda. Defiant Passion takes us back to before the two met and tells the story from their viewpoint.

There are three books in the Sons of Rhodri series: Defiant Passion, Dark and Bright and The Winds of the Heavens (later in 2012)

DEFIANT PASSION is a FREE download, today only in Amazon kindle. Grab it quick HERE

Find out more about Anna Markland and her books on her website at:

http://annamarkland.com/index.html