This
week on Excerpt Thursday, we’re welcoming Kim Rendfeld. Her debut novel, The
Cross and the Dragon, is a love story set in eighth-century Europe, spanning
today’s Switzerland, Germany, France, and Spain. Join us Sunday, when Kim will
be here to talk about her novel and offer an e-book compatible with Kindle or
Nook to a lucky winner. Here is the blurb:
A
tale of love in an era of war and blood feuds.
Francia,
778: Alda has never forgotten Ganelon’s vow of vengeance when she married his
rival, Hruodland. Yet the jilted suitor’s malice is nothing compared to Alda’s
premonition of disaster for her beloved, battle-scarred husband.
Although
the army invading Hispania is the largest ever and King Charles has never lost
a war, Alda cannot shake her anxiety. Determined to keep Hruodland from harm,
even if it exposes her to danger, Alda gives him a charmed dragon amulet.
Is
its magic enough to keep Alda’s worst fears from coming true—and protect her
from Ganelon?
Inspired
by legend and painstakingly researched, The Cross and the Dragon is a
story of tenderness, sacrifice, lies, and revenge in the early years of
Charlemagne’s reign.
**An Excerpt from The Cross and the Dragon**
This
scene occurs the night before Hruodland leaves for the invasion of Hispania. Hruodland
and Alda lie in a curtained bed, but Alda cannot sleep.
Suddenly,
Hruodland’s body stiffened. His throat made a noise like a muffled scream. His
breathing changed from deep and slow to shallow and quick. He sweated. He
gasped and rolled on his back. He sounded as if he was struggling to get enough
air into his lungs.
“Dearling?”
he whispered. His voice startled her.
“Yes,
Husband,” she said.
She
could feel him turn toward her. She ran her fingers through his hair. She
traced his ear, his neck, shoulder, chest. He held her tightly against his
body, as if he was making sure she was real.
“Another
nightmare?” she asked.
“It is
but a dream.”
Alda
remained silent, knowing he would tell her if she did not prod him.
“I
dreamt I watched a man barely out of boyhood die,” Hruodland said, holding her
closer. “He had perhaps seen fifteen winters. A Saxon arrow found him but did
not land in his heart straight and true. And he screamed. He screamed for what
seemed hours as the men tried to pull it out of him and stop the bleeding. And
then I was that boy, screaming, and they could not stop the bleeding. That is
when I awoke.”
Despite
herself, Alda gasped, wondering if Hruodland’s nightmare was an omen.
As if
he read her mind, he said, “It is but a dream. Something I saw during the war
in Saxony. Nothing more.” He touched her cheek. “I need you to be cheerful when
we leave.”
Alda
swallowed. She decided not to tell him of her premonition again, but she could
not just lie there and pretend to be cheerful. She had to do something to
protect him, even if it meant leaving herself vulnerable to the Bretons or the
thieves in the forest or Bishop Luc. What mattered most was that he came back.
“Husband,
there is something I want you to take,” Alda said.
She
rose from the bed, letting the blankets fall from her body, and swung her feet
over the edge. Shivering, she drew back the curtain. A thick night candle on a
table next to the bed illuminated the solar and sleeping women. What she wanted
lay next to the candle.
She
picked up her iron dragon and retreated to the warmth of the blankets. The
curtain was still drawn back and allowed candlelight to enter. She draped the
chain that held the amulet on Hruodland's neck.
“This
will protect you,” she said.
Hruodland
held it and stared at it in the candlelight. “But dearling,” he stammered,
“this is a gift from your father. I cannot take this from you.”
“Husband,
please,” she insisted, pressing it into his hand. “It will ease my fears if you
take it.”
He gave her a tender smile. “I will give it back to you
when I return.”
“The
stone comes from the mountain where Siegfried slew the dragon,” she said.
The
dragon’s blood had made Siegfried invulnerable, almost, except for where the
linden leaf fell on his shoulder.
The Cross and the Dragon, published in e-book
and print by Fireship Press, is available online at Amazon and Barnes &
Noble.
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