Today on Medieval Monday, I’m featuring Unbidden,
Book One in Jill Hughey’s Evolution Series which will take you to the
rarely explored medieval world of Charlemagne’s Empire where
aristocrats, warriors, merchants and servants find love in the most
unexpected places! If you like swoon-worthy yet mildly flawed heroes and
independent not-too-perfect heroines, then step in to a Jill Hughey
Romance.
BLURB
Rochelle of Alda, a feisty Frank noblewoman, expects to continue her
industrious life managing her family’s estate. When her emperor summons
her to the palace to meet the skilled soldier she is required to marry,
Rochelle engages in a battle for independence from David of Bavaria. As
her own deceptions multiply, she suspects another of also plotting
against their marriage. To her surprise, and too late, David’s passion
and patience begin to win her heart. Can their love survive the tangled
web of her schemes and the secret adversary David refuses to see?
In this excerpt of David and Rochelle’s first meeting, David has
arrived to take Rochelle to the palace for the betrothal, and is
dismayed to learn her mother has told her nothing about it.
EXCERPT
David turned his head as the noise from the door escalated, unsure
what he expected to enter his life. Given her mother’s shocking hair, he
didn’t hold his hopes too high for the girl’s appearance, no matter
what Theo said. The need for deception to even get her to Aix did not
indicate a particularly biddable personality. Based on the increasingly
violent rattling from the latch, she couldn’t even open doors for
herself.
He was about to climb the steps to offer assistance when the door
finally wrenched open, releasing a storm of muttering about city
workmanship and rotten carpentry carried in a whirlwind of deep blue
linen. She all but flung herself onto the narrow staircase. Not exactly
light of foot nor entirely graceful, she rushed down the stairs,
noticing his presence in time to abruptly stop on the bottom step.
She stared at him.
From across the room he could feel the chill of cold caution. Even
so, his concern about her looks evaporated. She stood taller than her
mother, clear skinned, with eyes of a soft green. The gold circlet on
her head held her veil neatly in place, covering what it was intended to
cover. An unexpected desire to see the color of her hair shot through
him. He could only approximate it from her eyebrows: not quite brown,
but certainly not red either. And her female attributes remained a
mystery to him as well, hidden under layers of varying shades of blue,
though a heavy gold girdle studded with aquamarines suggested narrow
hips.
“Mother?” she queried.
David reluctantly turned to Marian, who, it appeared, had been
watching him stare at her daughter. A small smile quirked her lips. Her
tightly clasped hands now lay on her chest as if in prayer. She did not
find her voice until David cleared his throat expectantly.
“Rochelle!” she said too loudly. “Theophilus, the gentleman who has
helped us so much, sent this burly young man to escort ye to yer
audience with the emperor. He is called David. A Bavarian, no less!”
David raised his brow at her rather obtuse explanation of his role in
the upcoming event. Marian gave him a slight warning shake of her head.
Well, if the woman hadn’t the courage to tell this girl the truth of
the matter, he certainly did. He didn’t know much about getting along
with women, but he guessed that starting his marriage with deception –
and necessarily short-lived deception at that – could not be wise.
As he opened his mouth to explain exactly who he was, Rochelle spoke,
“I do not see why I need an escort. I found the palace yesterday.” She
lowered herself off the last step and strode toward him with a
confident swing of her arms. “But if Theophilus wants to share his
guard, so be it.”
Marian bobbed her head. “It was quite thoughtful of him.”
David held up a hand. “I am not Theo’s guard. And did you just suggest you were wandering about the city yesterday, alone?”
Rochelle studied him assessingly. Yes, assessingly was the only word
for it and, God help him, she was lovely up close. Her not brown, not
red brows arched over green eyes flecked with hazel. A dusting of
freckles decorated a thin nose that flared pertly at the nostrils. Her
soft pink lips were slightly parted exposing straight teeth.
“Not alone. Our servant, Gilbert, was with me.”
“Gilbert, the bag of bones who opened the door?” David scoffed. “He
could not keep a street rat away much less a pack of thieves. From this
day forth, you will not leave here without an able-bodied man at your
side.” She smelled nice.
Rochelle placed her hands on her hips, pleasantly outlining a slim
waist beneath her clothing. “What has given you the idea you can make
pronouncements such as that to me? I will go where I wish, when I wish,
escorted or not, as I wish!” Her chest heaved a bit and there were
breasts under that tunic, he could tell, and damn it when was the last
time he’d lain with a woman? He mentally bridled himself. First,
betrothal. Betrothal was the task set before him today. It was time to
attend to that task.
He stepped forward, purposely crowding her and letting his hard gaze
bore into her fiery eyes, daring her to challenge him. “I will tell you
what gives me the right –“
Marian made a strangled sound before finding her words. “Ye should be going! It will not do to be late to the palace.”
Rochelle eyed first him, then Marian, before backing away to grasp
her mother’s hands. “Mother, I do wish you would reconsider. Certainly
the nobles have forgotten your circumstances by now. Father would want
you to have the honor of meeting Charlemagne’s son.”
Marian laughed a bit shrilly. “No, that is no place for me. Ye shall
have the glory today, daughter. Here is your cloak.” She kept babbling
as she closed the gold and aquamarine clasp at the neckline of the pale
blue garment. “David will keep you safe. Do as he says, my dear. He is
in charge of you today. And possibly tomorrow.”
Rochelle chortled. “Mother, do not be ridiculous. This will be over
in an hour or two and then we are going home! Home, where I also do not
require an escort!” She fixed David with a significant look before she
walked to the door, wrenched it open with relative ease, and stepped
onto the street without him.
Find the books at:
This
book is set in Lusignan, the town Melusine created according to legend.
Lusignan is also the name of the family she started in Aquitaine.
Melusine is first featured in Book 2, PAGAN QUEEN, as a child. She
reappears in Book 3 SEDUCING SIGEFROI, Book 4 LADY OF LUXEMBOURG, and
Book 5 CHATELAINE OF FOREZ.
In
Lusignan, she gives birth to a powerful family. Her descendants Guy of
Lusignan and his brother became kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus during the
Crusades. Another descendant of hers is the famous and infamous Eleanor
of Aquitaine, twice queen, and mother to powerful kings and princes. King Richard mentions more than
once the stain upon his family, his evil ancestress through the
centuries, the cursed one. That was Melusine.
But
beyond the myth and the legend, I wanted to find the heart of these
characters. Remembering that history is always written by the victors,
and Paganism was crushed by Christendom. So it made sense that the
Pagans of the time would be reviled and presented in a negative light,
even accused of horrible deeds.
