Affairs of the Heart (2 page)

At one time in Reynold’s life, he had
thought he loved Isabel. These past years with her ruling cruelly
as queen made him realize that Catherine, and not the selfish woman
Isabel had become, had his heart.

After years of fulfilling the promise
he’d made to Isabel’s father as he lay dying, Reynold continuously
refused the provocative suggestions Isabel presented him on a
regular basis. He’d promised the king he’d defend Heartsease and
look after Isabel, not become a bed toy for her to play with like
so many others. Isabel proved to need no looking after; she had
plenty of willing knights to defend her honor and visit her private
quarters.

The sound of trumpets brought him back
to the present and the task awaiting him. His plan was a simple one
that he’d have to conceal from Will. If he didn’t, the young squire
would find a way to inform his father of Reynold’s planned
deception.

Reynold spurred Abraxas ahead and
entered the list at the east end at the same time Thomas did from
the west end. They’d been through this many times before on the
practice field. Abraxas stomped in eagerness to charge, and Reynold
spurred the stallion forward.

Galloping toward Thomas on the
opposite side of the tilt, Reynold felt the jolt of the lance
against his chest. He’d hit Thomas but not enough to knock him off
his mount. Gathering himself, he repositioned the lance and charged
toward Thomas again. As they met in the middle of the tilt, Reynold
lowered his weapon at the last moment and felt the jolt of Thomas’s
lance hit him squarely in the chest, causing him to teeter in the
saddle. The cheers of the crowd echoed inside his arnet, vibrating
in his ears.

One more pass, and it would be
over.

Ignoring Will’s questioning look,
Reynold spurred Abraxas around and charged his lifelong friend for
what he prayed would be the last time. When the two passed, Thomas
lifted his lance, missing Reynold by inches. Knowing in that
instant Thomas was no fool, Reynold fell sideways, allowing Abraxas
to drag him to the west end of the list.

The pain shooting through his body was
nothing compared to the satisfaction of knowing Thomas would
continue his life as a knight. His plan may not have worked to
perfection, but his honor to Thomas was held intact. Reynold would
find a new life—a lonely one but a life nonetheless.

“
Whoa! Whoa!”

The words came through the blackness
trying to take claim to his mind. Abraxas suddenly halted, and
Reynold felt himself lifted off the ground. Someone took his foot
from the stirrup and pulled the arnet from his head.

Focusing, he gazed into the eyes of
his raven-haired love. He had indeed found his place, at last, in
Catherine’s arms.

In 15th Century England, The Black Knight
a/k/a Sir Reynold, has fallen from grace with his childhood friend,
Queen Isabel, and is in a no-win situation. He must compete against
his friend, and blood brother Thomas. If he wins, Sir Reynold will
be banished from Heartsease; if he loses, Thomas will be stripped
of his knighthood…

Courtney Parker is a 21st Century seamstress
at the Bristol Renaissance Faire. Unlike other reenactors, she
performs her profession year-round, making costumes for others.
She's always loved the story of the mysterious Black Knight of
Heartsease and has looked forward to it every year. But this year’s
different…

Issie Cummings, the Ren Faire’s potion
shopkeeper, will stop at nothing to gain what escaped her centuries
ago...Sir Reynold Loddington’s love and body.

Will Reynold be able to turn back the hands
of time and right what went wrong—or will he find himself banned
from another country and the woman he loves?

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review!

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A Knight to Remember Excerpt © 2012 by Maxine
Douglas

MuseItUp Publishing

14878 James, Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada, H9H
1P5

BLOOD
TIES

Historical Time Travel by Maxine Douglas

Prologue

“
Manda? Who’s
Manda?”

Emma fingered the name on
the inside cover of the battered leather journal.

“
Samanda―Manda―is, or was, my oldest sister. You carry her
name Emma―Emma Samanda Sorenson.”

“
You have a
sister named Manda?” Emma’s heart flipped with regret that her
mother had kept such a secret from her. “What happened to her,
Mom?”

“
The Kinsman
house is what happened to her, and the family who lived there. She
was in love with one of the Kinsman boys―Henry. He had this look
about him like he was looking for something he knew in his heart
he’d never find. Then one day word came he’d disappeared
without
a trace, leaving all
his things behind. Manda was frantic with grief and loneliness when
she came home that night, but Father turned her away.”

Emma waited in silence as
a tear slid down her mother’s softly wrinkled cheek. She tried to
remember the last time she’d seen her mother cry, but
couldn’t.

“
Father
warned her to stay away from Henry, but her heart defied any sense
of our family pride.”

“
Manda
actually went against Granddad’s word?” Emma tried to picture
anyone strong willed enough to defy him.

“
Yes. Our
Manda had never done anything against Father before. Not until she
met Henry and his crazy family, anyway,” Mabel said, settling down
slightly.

“
Crazy, as
in
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest
? Or just different from
everyone else?” Emma asked, handing her mother yet another
tissue.

“
Just
different, I suppose. Anyway, she seemed to always be with Henry’s
family for everything. Father told her since she liked the Kinsmans
so well, she’d best go live with them because as far as he was
concerned, she was dead. So, she left. The need to be with Henry
cost her quite a lot, but she loved him regardless.

“
Manda’s been
gone ever since, up until this journal, a word has never been
spoken or written about her. Father wouldn’t allow it.”

A slight hesitation to
defy the growing need to find out what happened to her missing aunt
didn’t mix well with her mother’s scared reaction. Emma believed
more with each passing second that there was a message of how to
find her Aunt Manda in that journal, and she had a strong feeling
her mother knew what it was.

Chapter
One

“
1910
Pleasant Springs Road, one more block to go. Please don’t let this
be a waste of my time.” Emma Samanda Sorenson’s hair waved in the
warm spring breeze that came through the open windows of her late
model Chevy Baretta. She drove slowly down the town’s namesake
street, her head bobbing back and forth as she tried to see the
house numbers.

Aunt Manda’s journal
described the late 1800s home as a Victorian-type so popular in
Southern Wisconsin during the latter part of that century. She
pulled over to the curb in front of a large two-story Victorian,
then double-checked the address on the scrunched piece of paper in
her hand.

A rush of heat surged
through her veins, igniting her hopes and dreams. She got out of
the vehicle, then strolled up the front walk to the wraparound
porch.

Dry, dirty paint was
peeling off wooden boards. Tattered lace curtains hung behind dusty
windowpanes. The old wooden porch swing swayed slightly in the
breeze, its chain rusty from years of neglect.

With caution, she stepped
on the porch steps and wondered if her foot would go through the
dry-rotted planks or not. The floorboards creaked as she rapped on
the slightly opened door.

“
Hello, is
anyone here?” She knocked harder, then pushed open the solid oak
and etched glass door. The musty smell similar to that of an old
chest in her Grandma’s attic drifted through the doorway and
tickled her nose.

She crossed the threshold
into an entryway of rich dark oak that welcomed her arrival. An
open staircase wound its way along one wall toward the Tiffany
chandelier, then transformed itself into a balcony leading to the
rooms housed upstairs. The dark, ornate spindles of the banister
marched along beside what once must have been a deep, rich red
carpet.

Could Aunt Manda have
once danced in this house while her beloved held her close to him?
How many declarations of love were made during each dance? How many
young ladies lost their hearts to their suitors? Or vice
versa?

“
Ms.
Sorenson, I presume?” A nervous voice swept into Emma’s
thoughts.

The grandmotherly figure
of a woman stood next to a doorway. Her silver-streaked hair was
pulled neatly to the back of her neck, while her crystal blue eyes
held an apprehensive glint to them.

“
Yes. You
must be Kathryn Johnson. I didn’t see a car parked out front, and
the door was open. I hope you don’t mind.”

Stretching her hand
outward, Emma smiled and took the older woman’s trembling one in
hers.

“
No, not in
the least. And, please, call me Kate.” She smiled back, looking
Emma over with warmth in her eyes. “Shall we go into the library?”
Kate moved aside to slide open a set of pocket doors, allowing Emma
to enter the room before her.

Emma passed Kate into a
massive room lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. She felt the
urge to run a finger through the gray film that lightly dusted the
shelves.

“
What a
wonderful place for a Christmas tree and family gatherings,” Emma
said. She hoped to spark any conversation that would lead to the
history of the house. She had a gut feeling this was the home Aunt
Manda wrote about in her journal.

“
Yes, I
believe that the Kinsman family did hold their holidays in here for
years. With all the children in that brood, this may have been the
most reasonable room.”

Emma’s heart pounded a
thousand times before words could form in her brain. After all this
time, she had finally found the house. The house that could unlock
the door of mystery surrounding her Aunt Manda’s disappearance so
many years ago.

“
Kinsman, you
say?” Emma asked.

Kate followed close
behind Emma, casting a shadow on the worn carpet. “Yes. Samuel and
Josephine Kinsman built this house after his return from the Civil
War. It was their wish that future generations would live here and
raise their families.”

Was that a
hint of melancholy in her voice?
Emma turned just in time to see the touch of a smile leave
Kate’s softened face.
Does
she know something?

“
Did you know
the family well, Kate?” Emma stood in front of the hearth of a red
brick fireplace. The evidence of objects once set upon the mantel
was still faintly there, and the hearth held the ashes from past
fires.

“
Romance
fills this room, can you feel it? A room full of books, firelight,
loves…I must admit, Ms. Sorenson, I was quite surprised by your
advertisement.” Kate stood next to Emma, no more relaxed then she
seemed to be several moments ago. “Your description of a house to
rent was very detailed.”