Dark Maiden

Ghosts, revenants, incubi , vampires and demons, poison – and romance. Three tales of medieval England. 'Dark Maiden.' Yolande is a beautiful, dark-skinned maiden who turns heads everywhere she goes in the plague-stricken England of the fourteenth century. She is also an exorcist, expeller of demons. Geraint is a strolling player, a juggler, sometimes a thief. He is a fiery, passionate Welshman who will stand up to anything and anyone. When these two meet, they are powerfully attracted to each other, but many obstacles come between them, especially the restless, angry dead. 'Sir Baldwin and the Christmas Ghosts.' Ambitious and arrogant, the young knight Sir Baldwin returns to his family’s lands and estate at Brigthorpe to face disaster. The pestilence has struck, destroying his parents and all his family save for a young half-brother, Martin, whom Baldwin rejects as the bastard child of a serf. Baldwin needs to learn kindness and the duties of a lord – and quickly. Into this hopeless situation comes Sofia, who sees glimpses of spirits, of the restless dead, and these are restless around Sir Baldwin. Somehow, Baldwin and Sofia must work together, to make a true Christmas for the survivors of Brigthorpe and the Christmas ghosts. Can they do so in time or will the gulf of class and custom make any love between them impossible? 'Amice and the Mercenary.' England in the summer of 1357 is a nervous, triumphant place. Triumphant because their king holds the King of France hostage. Nervous because there are assassins who would kill the French king. Duke Henry begs help from Amice the spice seller, expert in the secrets of sugar, spices, poisons and the rich sweets that the King of France adores— and Amice has her own very personal motive. revenge. Snubbed in the Savoy Palace for her dark skinned beauty, so different from the fashionable blonde looks of the time, she finds an ally in the notorious mercenary Harry Swynford, charming, charismatic and lethal. In the shifting alliances of the court, which side is Harry Swynford on? In this world of poison among the feasts can Amice stop an assassin in time? Will Harry help or hinder her? He has his own games to play and, although she is powerfully attracted to him, Amice has to be wary. Lives, including her own, are at stake. Sweeping from the palace to the vivid heart of medieval London with its thieves and traders and sanctuaries, the novella follows Amice and Harry as they strive together and fall in love. But can their happiness last, or will their enemies tear them apart? What price revenge against love?