Daughters of the Dagger 04 - Amethyst (22 page)
Read Daughters of the Dagger 04 - Amethyst Online
Authors: Elizabeth Rose
This is the last book in the
Daughters of the Dagger Series
. But then, as the old blind hag in the story says, nothing is ever as it seems. Therefore, the girls’ dead brother, Onyx who we have seen is still alive, has his own story starting a few years in the future in
Onyx – Book 1
of my Scottish trilogy
, the
Madman MacKeefe Series.
And now available is
Aidan – Book 2
, where my hero guards the
Stone of Destiny. And also available is my latest new release,
Ian – Book 3
.
If you happened to miss one or more of the
Daughters of the Dagger
novels, here are the links for the rest of the books.
You may also enjoy another of my
medieval series:
The Legacy of the Blade Series:
Prequel
-Free
The
Elemental Series:
The Dragon and the Dreamwalker
Book 1: Fire
The Duke and the Dryad
Book 2: Earth
The Sword and the Sylph
Book 3: Air
The Sheik and the Siren
Book 4: Water
Or my Greek Myth Fantasy Series:
Please visit my website at
Elizabethrosenovels.com
and make sure to subscribe to my email list to receive updates and info on new releases. 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. Please also check out my latest endeavor, my recipe pages and my
NEW book trailer videos
.
I have included some e
xcerpts for your enjoyment. Thanks for your support!
Elizabeth Rose
Excerpt from
Onyx – Book 1
(MadMan MacKeefe Series)
Lovelle looked over her shoulder, and in the moonlight she could see her men as they headed in the opposite direction toward the border. Her heart beat furiously in her chest, and she was so frightened she thought she would swoon. If there had been any knights present, they wouldn’t have abided by her wishes. But these men were all footsoldiers and easy to control. That’s why she’d chosen them to come with on this journey to begin with. Because she knew it was risky, and any knight she knew would never abide by an order like she’d just given. She was lucky to have obtained some of the king’s soldiers’ tunics to give her men to wear, to scare the Scots into holding back from attacking.
Still, she just raised her chin and kept her cool composure, not wanting her captors to see her fear. She did what she had to do to keep a bloody battle from breaking out.
The man named Onyx had his arms around her as they rode much too fast through the darkened night, heading North toward treacherous terrain. Her body jolted up and down, and though the man had lowered his dagger, his hand still gripped it around her waist, while his other hand held on to the reins.
The moonlight shone off the hilt, and she noticed the dark, cracked stone with the jagged light line running through it. But she had no idea what real color it was since her world was mostly in black and white.
But the dagger was ornate, and looked very expensive. She knew these Highlanders were simple men, living off the land, and wondered where he’d obtained such a luxurious weapon. The night was cold, and though she had her fur-lined cloak wrapped around her, the Highlanders only wore their tartans and billow-sleeved linnes, but no cloaks at all. They went over bumpy terrain, and she almost fell off the horse since they were moving so fast. She reached down to steady herself, and grabbed onto his leg, and in the process, she felt his legs gripping around her body tightly to keep her from falling.
“Och,” he said, “ye dinna need to feel up me tartan at a time like this. And yer damn hat almost took out me eye. Careful how ye swing yer head me
bonnie cailin
.”
She quickly pulled her hand away at his words, and placed them on the saddle horn. She didn’t like being scolded or accused of trying to grab him, but she did like the way he called her a bonnie cailin. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but she knew bonnie meant pretty, and that was good enough for her. Especially coming from a man who was her enemy. Her own husband had never taken the time to call her any endearment, let alone pretty. It felt good.
“I’m not feeling you up,” she told him in her defense, noticing his bare legs sticking out from under the plaid. He wore tall, leather boots tied around his legs with some kind of cord, which covered most of his bare skin.
“Where are we goin’ Dagger?” asked his friend named Ian with the dark hair, as they made their way up the mountains.
“Aye, and why dinna ye bring along a lassie fer me?” asked the blond one who they’d told her was named Aidan.
The men both had wide chests and thick necks and she was certain muscles – big ones – under their clothes. She felt suddenly very foolish for telling her guards to leave her with them, but she hadn’t had a choice. She couldn’t allow a skirmish to break out, especially since she’d seen children and women in the pub. Even if they were Scots, they were still innocent people. And she wasn’t the heartless bitch she knew Onyx probably thought she was right now.
“We’re goin’ te the MacKeefe camp,” he told them.
“Why there?” asked Aidan. “I dinna hear yer mathair say anythin’ about our clan’s home.”
“She didn’t,” he explained. “But by her words I think I know exactly where te find this book.”
They rode in silence throughout the night, and as they climbed the mountains and the air became thinner, Lovelle found herself getting light-headed and tired. The snow fell softly around them, and before too long she felt herself dozing off. She jerked once as she almost lost her balance, and Onyx pulled her closer to him, his arm protectively around her. Then she must have slept, because the next thing she knew, they’d stopped, the motion jarring her awake.
When she realized her head was leaning back against his chest, she sat upright, her spine rigid. “Why are we stopping?” she asked, looking around, but not seeing any kind of a camp. They were in the mountains now, and she could hear the trickling of a brook nearby.
“The horses need te rest, and Aidan needs te piss,” said Onyx, slipping off the horse to the ground.
“Dagger, did ye have te tell her that?” complained Aidan, getting off his horse and heading quickly to a tree. He didn’t bother to conceal himself, but rather just lifted his tartan and did his business. Lovelle turned her head and looked the other way.
“We’ll camp here fer the night,” said Onyx, reaching up and putting his hands around her waist. He didn’t wait for her permission, but instead lifted her up and out of the saddle. Instinctively, she put her arms on his shoulders as he placed her on the ground. He’d moved so quickly that she lost her balance and ended up falling against his chest.
She could feel his warmth right through his clothing though it was a frigid night and he was half-dressed. When she grabbed for him, his linne opened slightly, and she felt his chest hair tickle her cheek. She pushed back quickly, and her loose hair fell across one of her eyes. That’s when she realized he must have removed her headpiece while she slept, as he’d complained about it earlier. She was appalled by his bold move and was about to reprimand him, but his next action left her speechless.
He reached out gently and pushed the stray strands behind her ear, and when the ends stuck to her mouth, he took his thumb and brushed it quickly over her lips to push that strand away as well. To her surprise, she felt a tingle rush through her. Something she’d never felt the entire eight years she’d been married to the baron. She gasped slightly, and looked up. Their eyes interlocked, and in the moonlight she could see the intensity of his gaze.
“How is it ye can look me in the eyes and no’ be repelled like everyone else?” he asked softly.
“Repelled by what?” she asked, curiously.
“Me demon eyes, lassie. Dinna ye see the devil in them like e’eryone else does?”
She looked into his eyes again and realized that one was quite a bit lighter than the other, and wondered how she had missed this fact earlier. She knew now that they must be two different colors, but since she only saw in black, white, and tones of grey at night, she had no idea how odd they probably really were.
Excerpt from
Lady of the Mist
:
Book 4
(Legacy of the Blade Series)
Garrett made his way to the forecastle and climbed the raised platform as they approached the other ship. Sure enough, black sails. This was the pirate ship he’d been searching for. What a discovery to finally find it.
The wind picked up from the approaching storm, filling the single square sail of the cog. The clinker-built hull had high sides, which served as good protection from marauders of the sea. However, this was a merchant ship and the flat bottom was designed for loading and unloading cargo in shallow ports, it wasn’t designed for rough seas. It could very well capsize in a strong wind. The ship held one hundred tuns in the hold, but now they were traveling light, at only half its capacity. This made him nervous. Garrett eyed the dark roiling sky overhead. He knew what he had to do, but still the crew’s safety concerned him.
“Archers, prepare,” he c
ried. “Silas, take her in close. I am going to board off the forecastle. Get the grappling hooks and ropes ready,” he called over his shoulder as they came up alongside the ship.
“Aye, captain,” said Silas.
Garrett saw the crew of his target rushing around, looking very disorganized. He would be able to use this to his advantage. But the man in the lookout could have a weapon to throw or something to drop. He looked up and aimed his crossbow. He couldn’t allow himself to be a sitting target from the man up above. He pulled back the windlass, and lined up his bolt for the shot.
Echo quickly replaced her cap, tucking her hair underneath. She would never be able to fight with her hair in her eyes, now that the wind had picked up tremendously. Skye and the male osprey flew in circles just above the ship and she knew they wanted to land in the nest to get out of the storm.
She looked down to the deck to see her father and the crew running around aimlessly, trying to prepare for the battle about to take place. She knew if they hadn’t been soused, they would have already been boarding and attacking the Cinque Ports ship.
“Hard to starboard,” shouted her father, giving the sternsman the order to turn the ship. The Seahawk bounced and tilted in the high waves that the storm now brought upon them. A gale of wind hit Echo head on, nearly knocking her from the basket. “Go to half sail,” shouted her father, but Echo knew that was going to be impossible now that they had to concentrate on the attack. The cold, sharp rain sliced down upon her like arrows from an archer’s bow.
That’s when she spied the man aboard the Cinque Ports ship upon the forecastle and aiming his crossbow right at her! She barely had time to dodge out of the way of his bolt, and caught herself as the ship jerked and she had to grab on to the pole mast in the basket in order not to be thrown out.
The sickening shriek of a bird brought her attention upward, to see the man’s bolt lodged into one of the hawks, taking it down into the sea.
“Nay!” s
he cried, not knowing if it was Skye or the male hawk that just went to its death at the hands of her attackers. The ship leaned once again and the two eggs rolled out of the nest and through the slats in the basket and over the side. She watched in horror as they plummeted down to the deck far below. “Damnation and hellfire,” she shouted, first looking to the path the eggs had taken and then back to the passenger from the Cinque Ports who was jumping from his fighting post by aid of the bowsprit and boarding their ship even before his crew tossed the grappling lines.
“Attack!” shouted her father from below her. The crew of the Seahawk picked up long wooden poles with spikes and axes and rushed toward the side of the ship. The Cinque Ports crew was just throwing their grappling hooks aboard, but nature took its course and one more huge gust of wind changed the outcome for everyone.
Garrett watched in disbelief as the wind hit their single square sail head on and sent his ship backwards away from the vessel he now stood upon. His archers opened fire from the castle decks, but the strong winds sent their arrows off course. While several landed on deck, not a one hit its mark. He feared for his men in the storm and now he feared for his own life as well. He stood alone amiss a band of cutthroats that would most likely kill him before they’d had their breakfast.
“Damn!” The ships separated so quickly in the storm that he knew there would be no retribution for these pirates now. He could only hope Silas headed the ship for Great Yarmouth as he’d instructed, and not be capsized in the storm.
He turned and raised his crossbow as two of the crew rushed him. He managed to loose one bolt and it grazed the shoulder of a man who cried out. The weapon was too bulky and the windlass too slow to load quickly. He threw it down and pulled his sword from his side instead. But before he even had a chance to use it, someone from up in the rigging dropped atop him, knocking him to the ground.
“Ye killed m’ bird!” came a high voice in his ear.
His sword was knocked out of his hand from the impact, and he reached for the dagger at his waist instead. The attacker’s small hand reached out in a strong grip, digging his nails into Garrett’s wrist, trying to make him release it. The edge of the man’s sword rested against his throat as the rest of the rowdy crew came forward and urged the man on.
“Aye, let’s see ye spear ’im,” called out one man.
“Kill ’im,” shouted another.
Garrett managed to unarm the man, and in the tossing of the ship from the waves, their bodies rolled together over the deck only to be stopped by the planking of the ship’s wall.
He didn’t understand why none of the rest of the men stepped in to seize him. Instead, they almost found it amusing to watch him and this young man struggle. He managed to pin his attacker to the ground, and hold his dagger to the man’s throat. The pirates behind him laughed and shouted in the pouring rain. Water dripped down off his long hair and hit the pinned man in the eyes.
“Devil take ye, ye landlubber king’s bitch!
The men laughed behind him, and Garrett now thought he understood why. This man’s voice was high and his body small, but if his instincts served him correctly, he’d been fooled. He yanked the man’s cap from his head and ebony tresses spilled around his captor’s head. As he looked closer at the man’s face through the dirt and grime, he realized this was not a man at all, but a woman!
Excerpt from
The Sheik and the Siren:
(Elemental Series, Book 4)
Tied to the center mast of the ship, Ace’s heart beat quickly as the faint sound of the siren’s song floated across the water and to his ears. His men were thankfully safely in the hold, their own ears plugged by coarse wool. But he could hear every alluring beautiful, haunting note as a woman’s voice surrounded the air around him and about drove him from his mind.
