A Knight to Desire (35 page)

Authors: Gerri Russell

BOOK: A Knight to Desire

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He chuckled. "Never. I would love her as much as I do her mother. I look forward to teaching her swordplay and archery and—"

"When she's old enough. And if it is her choice."

He laughed. "Aye, my dearest warrior. If it is her choice."

With a sigh of contentment, Brianna leaned back against Simon's chest and gazed dreamily out at the treasure that surrounded them, feeling the stirring of new life within her.

"Packing the treasure for transport to Rosslyn will take months if we are to keep the location a secret."

"There is no need, especially now. We need to get the treasure moved and you back to Lee Castle before you become heavy with child." He turned her in his arms to face him. "You want to have the child at Lee, do you not?"

Hope for their future filled her heart to bursting. She reached up and brushed a lock of his hair away from his face, relishing the rich, silky feel and the knowledge that she had the rest of her life to touch him. "You are the true treasure of my life, Simon Lockhart, and the only home I need is in your arms."

Afterword

The hero of
A Knight to Desire
, Sir Simon Lockhart, was a true historical figure who
won fame for himself and his family in the wars against the English when he fought alongside King Robert the Bruce. He was knighted for his loyal service along with nine other men who eventually made up the Bruce's inner circle. These knights were given the greatest of tasks: to go on Crusade for their king and take his heart with them for burial in the Holy Land.

Their crusade to the Holy Land was symbolic of the journey the Bruce had longed to take during his lifetime, but was never able to manage. The knights, along with twenty-six squires and a retinue of men, set off on a crusade from Scotland for Jerusalem, fighting the infidels along the way.

James Douglas wore the heart of the king in a specially designed cylindrical vessel about his neck, using it as a talisman as he and his men made their way through enemy territory.

On the morning of August 25
^th, 1330, their journey came to a devastating end when a false battle cry sent them into battle against the Moors of Spain before they had adequate reinforcements. They were outnumbered a hundred to one. The knights were crushed, their mission a failure.

Five of the ten knights died, along with hundreds of foot soldiers. Sir Simon Locard of Lee carried the key to the casket in which the heart was carried. He rescued the heart and returned with it to Scotland, after which the Locard family changed their name to Lockhart to reflect the service they had done for their king.

There is no documented evidence that proves the knights who traveled with the Bruce's heart on Crusade were Templar knights. However, enough evidence exists to suggest Sir William Sinclair and his brother, John Sinclair of Rosslyn, were associated with the Templars. Both men were killed in the battle at Teba. And mixing a little fact with fiction, I created a sister for them, Brianna Sinclair, whose single-minded goal in life was to be a knight just like her brothers.

Rosslyn Chapel as we know it today was not built until the fifteenth century on a small hill above Roslin Glen. Rosslyn Chapel was the third Sinclair place of worship built for that family. The first was the chapel at Roslin Castle. The second, whose
crumbling buttresses can still be seen today, was located in what is now Roslin Cemetery.

T
he chapel, built 150 years after the dissolution of the
Knights Templar
, supposedly has many Templar symbols which has led many to speculate through the ages about links between the Sinclairs and the Knights Templar. There is also speculation about links between the Sinclairs and Freemasonry because many carvings in the chapel reflect
Masonic
imagery.

William Sinclair
, the third Earl of Orkney, Baron of Roslin and 1st Earl of Caithness, claimed by novelists to be a hereditary Grand Master of the Scottish stone masons, built Rosslyn Chapel. A later William Sinclair of Rosslyn became the first Grand Master of the
Grand Lodge of Scotland
and, subsequently, several other members of the Sinclair family have held this position.

These connections, whether real or imagined, to both the Templars and the Freemasons, mean Rosslyn Chapel features prominently in romantic conjectures that the Freemasons are direct descendants of the Knights Templar.

I chose in the pages of
A Knight to Desire
to once again play upon the connections of the Sinclair family to the Knights Templar. I also built upon the conjecture of where the Templar treasure might be concealed, by placing the treasure in catacombs deep below the earth's surface beneath the second Rosslyn Chapel.

As for what kinds of artifacts that treasure contains, no one knows for certain. I created a treasure trove of religious artifacts as well as pieces from history that would have been worthy of protecting from damage or abuse.

The Holy Grail and Charlemagne's sword, Joyeuse, were two of these artifacts.

The Holy Grail is known as a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified as a dish, plate, cup, or goblet used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, and said to possess miraculous powers, especially those of healing.

The connection between the Grail legend and Joseph of Arimathea dates back to the twelfth century poet, Robert de Boron's work,
Joseph d'Amathie
, in which Joseph receives the Grail from an apparition of Jesus Christ and sends the holy vessel with his followers to Great Britain.

Building upon this theme, later writers recounted how Joseph of Arimathea used the Grail to catch Christ's blood while on the cross. In order to preserve such a sacred vessel, Joseph was said to found a line of guardians in Britain to keep the Grail safe.

The quest for the Holy Grail is another facet of historical legend that has since become associated with Arthurian legend. The Grail quest first appears in works by author Chretien de Troyes, who combined Christian lore with a Celtic myth of a cauldron endowed with magical powers.

I used all these things in the pages of
A Knight to Desire
to give the Holy Grail its supposed powers of healing.

As for the magical sword in the pages of this book, I used one of the world's most famous swords — the sword of the great Emperor Charlemagne. Joyeuse is the traditional coronation sword of France. The name of the sword translates to "joyful." Legend claims that the sword was forged to contain the Lance of Longinus within its pommel, others state it was supposedly smithed from the same materials as Roland's Durendal and Ogier's Curtana, other legendary swords.

The sword was alleged to have been interred with Charlemagne's body, or contrarily to be held in the Saint Denis Basilica, where it was later retired into the Louvre after being carried at the front of coronation processionals for French kings. Another supposed Joyeuse is held at the Imperial Treasury in Vienna.

Whatever the truth is about the Holy Grail, Joyeuse, Rosslyn Chapel, or the Sinclair family, I hope you've enjoyed the facts that I mixed with a lot of fantasy in the pages of
A Knight to Desire
.

Also by Gerri Russell:

To Tempt a Knight

(Brotherhood of the Scottish Templars Series: Book 1)

Seducing the Knight

(Brotherhood of the Scottish Templars Series: Book 2)

The Border Lord's Bride

(Brotherhood of the Scottish Templars Series: Anthology)

The Warrior Trainer

(Stones of Destiny Series: Book 1)

Warrior's Bride

(Stones of Destiny Series: Book 2)

Warrior's Lady