Authors: Tamara Leigh
Tags: #Medieval Britain, #Knights, #Medieval Romance, #love story, #Historical Romance, #Romance, #Knights & Knighthood, #Algiers, #Warrior, #Warriors, #Medieval England, #Medievel Romance, #Knight
Lady Of Fire (43 page)
“Give it to me.” Agatha reached for the manacle.
El pried harder and fell on her backside when the iron plates parted.
Though Agatha’s fingers turned around the manacle, El pulled it away. “I did not come to watch,” she said and glanced at Boursier’s other wrist that Agatha had fettered. Wishing the woman would not hover, she rose to her knees and raised Boursier’s arm. As she fit the manacle, his pulse moved beneath her fingers—slow and deep.
Very
slow and deep.
“How long will he sleep?” she asked.
“’Tis difficult to know the amount needed to put down one of his size, so I erred on the side of giving too much rather than too little.”
Alarmed, El said, “He will awaken, though?”
“They usually do.”
Murdoch always had.
Agatha’s mouth lightened. “And most content he shall feel.”
As Murdoch had felt, which had many times spared El his perverse attentions, just as what she did this night would spare the De Arell woman Boursier’s attentions.
El extended a hand for the keys and, at Agatha’s hesitation, ordered, “Give them to me.”
The woman’s nostrils flared, but she surrendered them.
El met the upper plate of the manacle with the lower. It was a tight fit, one that would likely make it difficult for blood to course properly, but she gave the key a twist. As she rose, she looked upon Boursier’s face and the eyepatch gone awry. She struggled against the impulse, but yielded and repositioned the half circle of leather over his scarred eyelid.
Behind, Agatha gave a grunt of disapproval.
El considered the pack of provisions. There was enough food and drink to last Boursier six days, after which she and Agatha would release him.
She wished she did not have to return to this place. Unfortunately, Agatha was of an uncertain disposition—not to be trusted, El’s uncle warned. Not that Agatha would harm the Penzers. The woman simply did not take direction well, firm in the belief there was none more capable of determining the course of the Penzers. Thus it had been since Agatha had come from France eleven years past to serve as maid to El’s aunt.
“We are finished,” Agatha pulled El from her musings.
El knew they ought to leave Castle Adderstone now that the deed was done, but something held her where she stood—something she should not feel for this man who had stolen her aunt from another only to ill treat her. Hating herself for it, El turned and asked, “What if he does not awaken?”
“Then death. And most deserving.”
Once more unsettled by Agatha’s fervor, wishing it had been possible to take Boursier on her own, El frowned in remembrance of how quickly Agatha had agreed to help—and how soon her plans had supplanted El’s. Grudgingly, El had yielded to the older woman who was not only conversant in this place, but had possessed keys that had gained them access to Castle Adderstone.
“Do not forget who he is,” Agatha reminded, eyes glittering in the light of the torch she had retrieved.
El peered over her shoulder at Boursier who was no different from Murdoch—excepting he was mostly muscle whereas her departed husband had been more given to fat. And that surely made this man better able to inflict pain and humiliation.
Lord, what a fool I am!
she silently berated herself for feeling concern for one such as he.
It is no great curiosity how Murdoch made prey of me.
“Never shall I forget who he is,” she said.
Agatha lowered her prominent chin, though not soon enough to obscure a surprisingly childlike smile.
Telling herself she did not care what pleasure Agatha took in Boursier’s suffering, El stepped from the cell.
As Agatha pulled the door closed, she beckoned for the keys.
El shook her head. “I shall hold to them.”
The woman’s lids sprang wide. “You do not trust me, my lady?”
El longed to deny it, but swallowed the lie. “I do not,” she said and stepped forward to lock the cell door.
In the silence of Agatha’s ire, she followed the woman from the underground passage, taking the light with them and condemning Boursier to utter darkness. A darkness that would not lift for six days.
TAMARA LEIGH NOVELS
INSPIRATIONAL HISTORICAL TITLES
The Feud: A Medieval Romance Series
Baron of Godsmere:
Book One, 01/15: Amazon
Age of Faith: A Medieval Romance Series
The Unveiling:
Book One, 08/12:
The Yielding:
Book Two, 12/12:
The Redeeming:
Book Three, 05/13:
The Kindling:
Book Four, 11/13:
The Longing
: Book Five, 05/14:
CLEAN READ HISTORICAL TITLES
Dreamspell:
a medieval time travel romance
,
03/12:
Lady At Arms:
a “clean read” rewrite of the 1994 Bantam Books bestseller
Warrior Bride
, 01/14:
Lady Of Eve:
a “clean read” rewrite of the 1994 Bantam Books bestseller
Virgin Bride
, 06/14:
Lady Of Fire:
a “clean read” rewrite of the 1995 Bantam Books bestseller
Pagan Bride,
11/14: Amazon
INSPIRATIONAL CONTEMPORARY TITLES
Southern Discomfort Series
Leaving Carolina,
RandomHouse/Multnomah, 2009
Nowhere, Carolina,
RandomHouse/Multnomah, 2010
Restless in Carolina,
RandomHouse/Multnomah, 2011
Stand-Alone Novels
Stealing Adda, 05/12
(ebook edition)
Stealing Adda,
NavPress, 2006 (print edition)
Perfecting Kate,
Multnomah, 2007
Splitting Harriet,
RandomHouse/Multnomah, 2007
Faking Grace,
RandomHouse/Multnomah, 2008
OUT-OF-PRINT GENERAL MARKET TITLES
Warrior Bride,
Bantam Books, 1994
*Virgin Bride,
Bantam Books, 1994
Pagan Bride,
Bantam Books, 1995
Saxon Bride,
Bantam Books, 1995
Misbegotten,
HarperCollins, 1996
Unforgotten,
HarperCollins, 1997
Blackheart,
Dorchester Leisure, 2001
*
Virgin Bride
is the sequel to
Warrior Bride
Pagan Pride
and
Saxon Bride
are stand-alone novels
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tamara Leigh holds a Masters Degree in Speech and Language Pathology. In 1993, she signed a 4-book contract with Bantam Books. Her first medieval romance,
Warrior Bride
, was released in 1994 and became a national bestseller. Continuing to write for the general market, six more of her novels were published with Bantam, HarperCollins, and Dorchester, earning awards and places on bestseller lists.
In 2006, Tamara’s first inspirational contemporary romance,
Stealing Adda
, was released. In 2008,
Perfecting Kate
was optioned for a movie and
Splitting Harriet
won an ACFW “Book of the Year” award. In 2009,
Faking Grace
was nominated for ACFW “Book of the Year” and RITA awards. In 2011, Tamara wrapped up her “Southern Discomfort” series with the release of
Restless in Carolina
.
When not in the middle of being a wife, mother, and cookbook fiend, Tamara
buries her nose in a good book—and her writer’s pen in ink. In 2012, she returned to the historical romance genre with
Dreamspell,
a medieval time travel romance. Shortly thereafter, she once more invited readers to join her in the middle ages with the
Age of Faith
series:
The Unveiling, The Yielding, The Redeeming,
The Kindling,
and
The Longing
. Her
Bantam Books bestsellers, originally titled
Warrior Bride, Virgin Bride,
and
Pagan Bride,
are the first of her early medieval romances to be rewritten as “clean reads” and retitled
Lady At Arms, Lady Of Eve,
and
Lady Of Fire.
In Winter 2015, look for
Baron Of Godsmere,
the first book in her new series, The Feud.
Tamara lives near Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, sons, and a Doberman that bares its teeth not only to threaten the UPS man but to smile.
Connect with Tamara at her website