Daughters of the Dagger 03 - Amber (25 page)
Read Daughters of the Dagger 03 - Amber Online
Authors: Elizabeth Rose
“He sends me missives as well,” said the archbishop. “As the church has made a large donation for the building of the castle since it belongs to one of King Edward’s best border
lords, Earl Marcus Montclair.”
“I have heard the earl is very wealthy and this is one of the biggest, most luxurious castles to be built yet. My uncle
has been working on it for years now.”
“That’s right,” said the bishop. “And actually, your uncle has told me that his apprentice has recently died and he has asked me to
find and send him a new one at once. If you are as knowledgeable as you say, would you like to go and fill in as his apprentice until I can find one that would suit him?”
“Really?” she asked.
“I would love to do that.”
“Then I’ll mak
e certain the proper arrangements will be made. But you will have to leave at once.”
“Can I go, Papa?” asked Amethyst, looking to her father for his approval.
“I don’t know, Amethyst. ’Tis a dangerous profession. And no women has ever been accepted into the trade.”
“They will accept her if the order comes from me,” said the archbishop,
“so do not worry.”
“Y
ou’ve let me travel with him once before,” Amethyst reminded her father. “And I promise I will be careful and mind my uncle.”
“Then, I suppose it will be fine,” he said. “I know you will be in good hands.”
“Oh thank you, Papa,” she said, giving him a hug. Then she reached out and hugged the archbishop as well. “And thank you, too.”
“This is just temporary,” he reminded her. “Until I can find someone with the proper qualifications.”
“I understand. Oh, I am so excited I can hardly wait.”
“Now,
I feel I must warn you,” said the archbishop. “Lord Marcus is not very … friendly shall I say. He is known to be dangerous and hardened, as well as very temperamental. After all, he is a border lord. So don’t expect him to welcome you with open arms, or even to talk to you for that matter.”
“That’s fine with me,” said Amethyst. “I can do the talking for both of us.”
“Someone who talks more than my little dove?” asked Lucas with a grin. “That’s hard to believe.”
“
Amber is the quiet one out of the twins,” said Earl Talbot. “If you don’t like noise, than you were lucky to get her.”
Lucas pulled Amber to him and kissed her, looking deep into her eyes. “I am the lucky one is right,” he said. “Because I never thought a devil such as myself with end up with such an angel. And I am ha
ppy I will be spending the rest of my life with one of the
Daughters of the Dagger – Amber
.”
I think the story of Lucas and Amber is my favorite of the
Daughters of the Dagger
Series
so far. Through my research, I discovered that the church during the medieval times was very wealthy and also powerful. Sometimes even more powerful than the king. And the priests, bishops and nuns were not always as pious as they were expected to be. Actually, it was not uncommon back then to hear about a pregnant nun. Priests or bishops also often had mistresses and even children. And the Winchester Geese were legalized prostitutes by the hand of the archbishop of Winchester in order to make money for the church.
I also found the medieval pilgrimages
to be fascinating, as well as the amount of importance people put on relics. They believed that they could be healed by just touching a relic, or that by buying one, they could pave their way to Heaven.
The Regale ruby was really given to England by France, and kept in the Canterbury Cathedral at the shrine of St. Thomas Becket. Many church relics were often stolen between rival churches – I think not unlike a college nowadays stealing the mascot of their rival school.
The next and final book in the
Daughters of the Dagger Series
is
Amethyst – Book 4
,
available now.
This journey will let you experience the building of a medieval castle.
In case you missed the other books in the series, they are:
An
d following this series is my Scottish,
Madman MacKeefe Series
that starts with the story of the girls’ brother,
Onyx,
- Book 1,
a man believed to be dead. In
Aidan
– Book 2
, my hero guards the Stone of Destiny while my heroine tries to steal it to save her sister. And my hero deals with inner demons as well as a man he thought he’d once killed in
Ian – Book 3
.
You may also be interested in my medieval
Legacy of the Blade Series
:
Watch book trailer video
Prequel
-Free
Or if you enjoy a paranormal
medieval romance, try my
Elemental Series
:
(Watch book trailer video.)
The Dragon and the Dreamwalker
,
Book 1: Fire
,
The Duke and the Dryad,
Book 2: Earth
,
The Sword and the Sylph
,
Book 3:
Air,
and
The Sheik and the Siren
,
Book 4: Water.
One last series I’d like to mention is my
Greek Myth Fantasy Series:
Watch book trailer video
Please visit my website at
Elizabethrosenovels.com
to read excerpts and receive updates as I have books being released nearly every month. Make sure to subscribe to my email list. You can also read excerpts from any of my novels on my website as well as get sneak peeks at covers of upcoming books. And please remember that there are other authors by the same name, but my novels can be identified by the rose on every cover. And my latest endeavor is creating recipe pages and
book trailer videos
, so please take a look on my website.
Here are some excerpts from several of my series for your enjoyment:
(Daughters of the Dagger Series)
Amethyst de Burgh felt like she’d died and gone to Heaven. There before her was the most beautiful site she’d ever seen. A castle being built. A glorious fortress rising up into the sky, and under construction right in front of her.
She sat tall upon her horse and just gasped at the amazing site. Many workers scurried about busily. Some pushed wheelbarrows filled with mortar up ramps that led to high scaffolds attached to the stone walls, all the way up to the tops of the towers at each outer corner. Other workers were atop the battlements using hoists and pulleys to lift the woven baskets filled with supplies that the peasant women attached from below.
The clinking sound of the masons’ chisels splitting the stones, and hammering noise of the carpenters, echoed through the crisp autumn air. Piles of rocks and rubble were everywhere. Men with two-handled saws were cutting fallen trees, preparing the boards that would be used for some of the roofs as well as the floors within the castle.
The village lay outside the castle’s walls, where the little huts of wattle and daub were being used as temporary residences for the workers. An open area that she knew would eventually be the site of a barbican or gatehouse, was surrounded by partially built walls of the castle’s outer curtain. She rode forward, surveying the situation.
Just beyond the outer ward was an area for a second gatehouse, and also a drawbridge over a dry ditch leading up to the main gate of the castle. There was no water in the moat yet, and she knew sometimes moats were left dry and instead, pointed spears were inserted and used to fend off attackers.
The dirt from the moat had been used to form a hill on which the keep of the castle was built, and she could see that the stone from the ditch was being mined and mortared together to construct the thick and sturdy fortress walls.
She rode over the drawbridge and through the castle gate. It opened into a bailey, or courtyard of the castle. Buildings were being constructed for the blacksmith, the stables, the kennels and also the mews, among others. And in an alcove with a partial wall of protection being erected around it, was the very important well.
The borderlands of Northumberland were rustic and rural. There was nothing but rolling hills and dots of forests for as far as the eye could see. She’d traveled for many days with her escorts over the uninhabited lands, after leaving the wedding of her twin sister, Amber, in Canterbury. And now, by the orders of the archbishop of Canterbury, she had in her pouch a missive stamped with the archbishop’s own seal in wax, that stated she would be involved in this wonderful project.
“Amethyst? Is that you?”
Her head whipped around to see her uncle, Clement, the master mason in charge of building the castle, standing in the distance. He had a group of men gathered around him as he instructed them, and a piece of parchment with plans for the castle unrolled and held up in front of him for the workers to see. He was her late mother’s only sibling, and she remembered him well from the year she’d spent traveling with him four years ago watching him at his trade. She’d been enthusiastic to learn all she could of castle building then, and even more so now at her age of eight and ten years. Her uncle took a special liking to her, out of the four sisters, and always wrote her, telling her everything he was doing where building was concerned. And Amethyst always wrote back, asking many questions and learning as much as she could.
“Uncle Clement!” She jumped from her horse before the guards could even help her dismount, and picked up her skirts and ran over the dusty ground, making her way to her uncle. She threw herself into his arms and they hugged.
“What are you doing here, Amethyst? Is your father here too?”
“Nay. I am here only with my escort of two guards from Canterbury, and the servant driving the cart carrying my things. The rest of my family is still there, as we have just celebrated Amber’s wedding.”
“Shy little Amber is married,” he said with a smile and shake of his head. “I know you sent me a missive and invited me, but I couldn’t get away from my work. The earl is very strict and determined to get the stonework of the castle finished by Christmas before it is too cold to use wet mortar. I’m sorry to have missed the weddings of your other sisters as well, but I’ve been working on this project furiously for nearly the last four years.”
“Amber is not little anymore, uncle, nor is she shy. You have missed much and I cannot believe the man you work for is so mean that he would not let you leave even for your own family’s weddings.”
“He’s worse than you think, Amethyst.” He rolled up the parchment and put it in under his arm, then gave the men orders and dismissed them before he turned back to her. “He hired me after the last master mason was driven into the ground and no longer able to adhere to his wishes.” He looked up at the work in progress. “This castle was nearly two years in the making before I even took the position. It takes at least a decade or longer to build such an elaborate castle, but the earl seems to think it can be done in half the time.” He looked to the ground and shook his head. “I’ve already disappointed him, as he wanted it finished a year ago.”
“You look tired, uncle,” she told him, putting her hand on his arm. His graying hair was thinning and his eyes no longer held the vibrancy and excitement of life that they’d once had. His face was weathered and wrinkled and he looked very gaunt. “You’ve been working too hard, now please, come and sit and talk with me for awhile. I’ve brought a flask of wine we can share.”
“Amethyst, I am happy you came to visit, but this is a dangerous place with all the construction. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Nonsense! I’ve traveled with you for a year when you’ve built castles before, so I am used to this.” She walked back to the horse and took the wineskin that was tied to the side, then looked up to her two guards who served as her escort. “You can just leave the rest of my things here by my horse and you can head back to Canterbury right away. My father will pay you for your services.”
“Thank you, Lady Amethyst,” said one, and the other nodded as well. They did as she ordered and were on their way.
“Who are you here with, Amethyst?” Her uncle came to her side. “And why are your escorts leaving? And what are those trunks they’ve left behind?”
