This is the same Medieval Monday that features some of the best
romance out there but now it’s with a twist. Each week a different author will
be featured here with a “themed excerpt.” This month, all the excerpts will be
about a celebration for the holidays. Today’s guest is Jenna Jaxon. Have a wonderful New Year and enjoy Jenna's excerpt!
BETROTHAL
The heart can choose, but can it also
change?
Lady
Alyse de Courcy has fallen in love with Lord Braeton, a nobleman in King Edward
III’s court and a man to whom she has barely spoken. Fate, however, has decreed
her betrothal to his best friend, Sir Geoffrey Longford—a handsome and imposing
knight, yet hardly the man she wants to wed.
When
Sir Geoffrey is bound in betrothal by his father, he could not have expected
the beautiful stranger to win his heart the moment they meet. But Alyse’s
infatuation with his friend casts doubt on whether she can ever return his
regard and their wedding day is fast approaching… Will he have time enough to win her love?
Excerpt:
As the champions met at the end
of the Great Hall, the trumpeters sounded the fanfare once again. Alyse flanked
Princess Joanna as she stepped forward, Lady Carlyle on her other side. The
gentlemen came forward to claim their ladies and lead them into the middle of
the Hall. The musicians struck up a stately carole,
and the three couples formed pairs, one following the other, creating a line
that moved gradually around the Hall. She and Geoffrey were the center pair and
slowly trailed behind the princess and her partner.
Acutely aware that this was
their first dance together, Alyse found it almost impossible to keep her eyes
forward as propriety demanded. She darted glances at Geoffrey as they moved
through the deliberate steps, her blood singing with each glimpse of his
elegant figure. Hand and hand—the heat they generated threatened to set her
ablaze—they stepped to the slow beat, now forward, now backward, slowly making
their way around the Great Hall. Again, the yearning overtook her to belong to
this man utterly and intimately. To be his in every way possible before it was
too late. But for the grace of God, tonight could have been too late. He could
have been killed today, and she would never have known the joy of belonging to
him completely.
She wanted to remember every
moment of this dance, to be able to savor each one later, but the flickering
light, the heat of the chamber, the intensity of the music and her own
thundering heart worked to make the dance a swirl of impressions—riotous and
fleeting. When the music ended, Alyse’s head still reeled.
Geoffrey turned smartly toward
her and bowed low, and she curtsied in return. Then he took her hand and kissed
it. Her breath came faster, and her heart thudded in her ears as a full flush
of heat rose in her face. The touch of his lips on her skin fought like fire
and ice: she first burned then trembled as chills raced through her body. She
barely heard the thunderous applause and cheers of the assembly.
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Thank you so much for hosting me today, Ruth!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Jenna!
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