The Agents of William Marshal Volume I: A Medieval Romance Bundle Read online

  THE AGENTS OF WILLIAM MARSHAL COLLECTION

  A Medieval Romance Bundle

  By Kathryn Le Veque

  © Copyright 2018, 2019, 2020 by Kathryn Le Veque

  Kindle Edition

  Text by Kathryn Le Veque

  Reproduction of any kind except where it pertains to short quotes in relation to advertising or promotion is strictly prohibited.

  All Rights Reserved.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  License Notes:

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook, once purchased, may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or borrow it, or it was not purchased for you and given as a gift for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. If this book was purchased on an unauthorized platform, then it is a pirated and/or unauthorized copy and violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Do not purchase or accept pirated copies. Thank you for respecting the author’s hard work.

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  Kathryn Le Veque Novels

  Medieval Romance:

  De Wolfe Pack Series:

  Warwolfe

  The Wolfe

  Nighthawk

  ShadowWolfe

  DarkWolfe

  A Joyous de Wolfe Christmas

  BlackWolfe

  Serpent

  A Wolfe Among Dragons

  Scorpion

  StormWolfe

  Dark Destroyer

  The Lion of the North

  Walls of Babylon

  The Best Is Yet To Be

  The de Russe Legacy:

  The Falls of Erith

  Lord of War: Black Angel

  The Iron Knight

  Beast

  The Dark One: Dark Knight

  The White Lord of Wellesbourne

  Dark Moon

  Dark Steel

  A de Russe Christmas Miracle

  The de Lohr Dynasty:

  While Angels Slept

  Rise of the Defender

  Steelheart

  Shadowmoor

  Silversword

  Spectre of the Sword

  Unending Love

  Archangel

  Lords of East Anglia:

  While Angels Slept

  Godspeed

  Great Lords of le Bec:

  Great Protector

  House of de Royans:

  Lord of Winter

  To the Lady Born

  The Centurion

  Lords of Eire:

  Echoes of Ancient Dreams

  Blacksword

  The Darkland

  Ancient Kings of Anglecynn:

  The Whispering Night

  Netherworld

  Battle Lords of de Velt:

  The Dark Lord

  Devil’s Dominion

  Bay of Fear

  The Dark Lord’s First Christmas

  Reign of the House of de Winter:

  Lespada

  Swords and Shields

  De Reyne Domination:

  Guardian of Darkness

  With Dreams

  The Fallen One

  House of d’Vant:

  Tender is the Knight (House of d’Vant)

  The Red Fury (House of d’Vant)

  The Dragonblade Series:

  Fragments of Grace

  Dragonblade

  Island of Glass

  The Savage Curtain

  The Fallen One

  Great Marcher Lords of de Lara

  Lord of the Shadows

  Dragonblade

  House of St. Hever

  Fragments of Grace

  Island of Glass

  Queen of Lost Stars

  Lords of Pembury:

  The Savage Curtain

  Lords of Thunder: The de Shera Brotherhood Trilogy

  The Thunder Lord

  The Thunder Warrior

  The Thunder Knight

  The Great Knights of de Moray:

  Shield of Kronos

  The Gorgon

  The House of De Nerra:

  The Promise

  The Falls of Erith

  Vestiges of Valor

  Realm of Angels

  Highland Warriors of Munro:

  The Red Lion

  Deep Into Darkness

  The House of de Garr:

  Lord of Light

  Realm of Angels

  Saxon Lords of Hage:

  The Crusader

  Kingdom Come

  High Warriors of Rohan:

  High Warrior

  The House of Ashbourne:

  Upon a Midnight Dream

  The House of D’Aurilliac:

  Valiant Chaos

  The House of De Dere:

  Of Love and Legend

  St. John and de Gare Clans:

  The Warrior Poet

  The House of de Bretagne:

  The Questing

  The House of Summerlin:

  The Legend

  The Kingdom of Hendocia:

  Kingdom by the Sea

  The Executioner Knights:

  By the Unholy Hand

  The Promise (also Noble Knights of de Nerra)

  The Mountain Dark

  Starless

  A Time of End

  Contemporary Romance:

  Kathlyn Trent/Marcus Burton Series:

  Valley of the Shadow

  The Eden Factor

  Canyon of the Sphinx

  The American Heroes Anthology Series:

  The Lucius Robe

  Fires of Autumn

  Evenshade

  Sea of Dreams

  Purgatory

  Other non-connected Contemporary Romance:

  Lady of Heaven

  Darkling, I Listen

  In the Dreaming Hour

  River’s End

  The Fountain

  Sons of Poseidon:

  The Immortal Sea

  Pirates of Britannia Series (with Eliza Knight):

  Savage of the Sea by Eliza Knight

  Leader of Titans by Kathryn Le Veque

  The Sea Devil by Eliza Knight

  Sea Wolfe by Kathryn Le Veque

  Note: All Kathryn’s novels are designed to be read as stand-alones, although many have cross-over characters or cross-over family groups. Novels that are grouped together have related characters or family groups. You will notice that some series have the same books; that is because they are cross-overs. A hero in one book may be the secondary character in another.

  There is NO reading order except by chronology, but even in that case, you can still read the books as stand-alones. No novel is connected to another by a cliff hanger, and every book has an HEA.

  Series are clearly marked. All series contain the same characters or family groups except the American Heroes Series, which is an anthology with unrelated characters.

  For more information, find it in A Reader’s Guide to the Medieval World of Le Veque.

  Contents

/>   By The Unholy Hand

  The Mountain Dark

  Starless

  The Promise

  Godspeed

  High Warrior

  BY THE UNHOLY HAND

  A Medieval Romance

  Book One in the Unholy Trinity Series

  By Kathryn Le Veque

  Author’s Note

  It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun writing a story.

  I came up with the Unholy Trinity when I wrote the novel Lord of Winter in 2015. Maxton, Kress, and Achilles were three loners who essentially liked to work as a team and who hated the de Lohr brothers, as well as Marcus Burton, so Lord of Winter was fun to write in that sense – pious, righteous Christopher and his antithesis, Maxton of Loxbeare. They weren’t exactly enemies, but they didn’t approve of each other, and Maxton felt Christopher was a goody-goody. No other way to put it than that. Maxton did hard work, underhanded and dirty work, while Christopher knew the right people, made the right moves, and received all the glory.

  In this novel, we’re at least ten years after Lord of Winter, when everyone has gone on the Crusades with Richard the Lionheart, although the path home after the Crusades ended has been different for all of them. Maxton and his companions didn’t come home directly, but rather spent time (how can I say this…?) goofing off, being mercenaries and killers, whoring, and being basically directionless.

  It got them into trouble.

  There are quite a few secondary characters in this novel, so you may have to read passages over twice to pick up on all of the nuances. Not only do the de Lohr brothers make a brief appearance, but so does a very young Sean de Lara just as he assumes his spying duties against King John (you’ll read his full story in Lord of the Shadows), and we also briefly meet Dashiell du Reims and Bric MacRohan – again – both when they were very young. Their stories happen a good fifteen or more years after this novel, so think of them as young, handsome, and hungry for glory.

  Another prominent secondary character is William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. William has made appearance in a few of my novels, including The Whispering Night, and he has often been described as England’s Greatest Knight. Considering I’m writing about some of England’s greatest (fictional) knights, I put them in good company by working with, and serving, the man who was referred to as The Marshal.

  One of the fun things about this book was researching Medieval poisons. There are many plants that were known in Medieval times for their deadly quality, a few that are mentioned in this book. One of those is called dwale – what we now know as belladonna, or deadly nightshade. Historically speaking, it makes an interesting read to see how the poison was used. Deadly nightshade has been around for thousands of years and was even used by the Greeks who wanted to do away with their enemies. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts (or inviting you to their feasts!).

  Another fun bit of research I did was about Medieval banking – and yes, there was such a thing, really emerging strongly in the 12th century. They had “deposit bankers” (which were just what they sounded like), and “merchant bankers”, etc. Italy, specifically Genoa, was the center of the early banking world around this time. Makes for some fascinating reading.

  There’s quite a bit that goes on in this book – there are some very bottom-of-the-barrel moments. There is angst and real fear in some parts. But there is also a lot of soul-searching and growth on the part of our hero, as well as our heroine, so I believe this story is mostly about hope and redemption. Can a man change his stars? Can he right the wrongs of the past? And can he find within himself compassion and understanding that he always believed he lacked? All valid questions, and he works them out for himself with a little help from our heroine.

  A short pronunciation guide and things that are real/fictional:

  Blitha – Pronounced with a short “I” sound, as in bliss. (Blitha is not actually a saint; this is a fictitious figure)

  Achilles – uh-KILL-eez

  Ceri – Like Sarah, only with an “ee” on the end – like Sar-EE

  Bishop of Essex – fictitious

  William Marshal – Real. Literally, the greatest (real) knight England has ever seen.

  Farringdon House – Fictitious, though there is a very large Medieval district called Farringdon, basically where Trafalgar Square is in present day.

  Bishopsgate (part of the London Medieval wall system) – Real.

  Landmarks outside of the wall at Bishopsgate – Except for St. Blitha Abbey, real.

  I don’t normally include drawings or charts, things I use when I work on my stories, but in this case, I am. I’m a very visual thinker, so I often draw floor plans and such when I write to help me figure things out (like chambers and character movement), so I’m including the floor plan of St. Blitha (drawn by our heroine towards the end of the tale), and also of Farringdon House’s lower level. Hopefully, it gives you a good visual like it did me. But I’ll make the disclaimer here that I’m not an artist. Still, I thought it would be fun for the reader to see my original drawings.

  Now, with no further ado, enjoy the story!

  Love,

  Love is all truth;

  Lust, full of forged lies

  ~ William Shakespeare

  ~ MIHI CREDE (TRUST ME) ~

  Year of Our Lord 1199 A.D., The Month of August

  Near the convent dedicated to St. Blitha of the Order of St. Dominica

  North of the city walls, Bishopsgate

  He loved her.

  He said he loved her and that made this happening a right and true thing, consecrated by God. If God was love, then Rhyne de Leybourne was possessed by the Holy Spirit, and all things fine and good in the world.

  He said he loved her.

  She had believed him.

  It had been soft and dark and quiet in the sod barn where he’d taken her, just to the east of St. Blitha where she served as a pledge. Dumped there was more like it, deposited by a greedy aunt who wanted nothing to do with her wealthy niece. She wanted the girl’s money, though.

  That made it okay, in her mind.

  But there were those who had cared for the niece. Rhyne did, in fact. Or, at least he told himself that. The truth was that he loved her money, too, and he wasn’t so willing to let it go. It had taken him so very long to discover where her aunt had sent her. When he finally located her, all he could speak of was his longing for her, and she in turn declared her longing for him. He’d come for her now and would make everything right between them, as he’d promised.

  But first, he would demonstrate his love for her so there would be no doubt in her mind that he was sincere.

  She’d been by the gently bubbling stream just outside the abbey walls, drawing water for the wash, when he’d come up on his shiny brown stallion. It wasn’t unusual for her to be outside of the abbey walls because that’s where the main water source was, so when he pulled her to the sod barn, no one noticed.

  No one even looked for her.

  At first, he had been gentle, and their hugs of joy had been innocent. But that innocence was short-lived when he pinned her against the stable wall and his mouth began to wander, his tongue invading nearly every orifice on her head. She’d resisted at first, fearful of this very intimate attention, but he had ignored her resistance as he continued to speak of his love for her. His passion rose to frenzied proportions and his tenderness soon turned rough.

  Now that he had her, he wasn’t going to waste any time.

  He continued to tell her how much he loved her, which made her uncertainty fade. If he loved her so much, then surely what he was doing was his right. He was demonstrating that love. When he was finished pawing her, he grabbed her by both arms and pushed her down onto the cold, dirty floor.

  The straw beneath them was dry but dirty as he pushed her onto her back and began fumbling with the bottom of her long woolen robe, the same woolens that all pledges of St. Blitha wore. His body was heavy atop her, squirming on her, and her uncertainty returned. We s
hould not be doing this, she said, but he assured her that this was what people who loved each other did.

  She believed him.

  The woolens were shoved up, past her knees, to her hips, as he tugged and pulled, trying to expose her white body beneath him. When she tried to protest, he captured her mouth with his lips, his tongue pushing into her pink recesses. With his mouth keeping her occupied, his hands continued to yank up the woolens, exposing her belly. He couldn’t pull it any further, so his hand snaked underneath, fondling her round breasts and feeling her nipples harden against his palm.

  This is what people do who love one another, Andressa. Trust me.

  But she couldn’t relax, not when he was pinching her nipple, running his hands all over her breasts. His mouth continued to feast on her face, all over her face, distracting her from what he was doing with his hands as he continued to tell her how much he loved her. She tried to push him away one last time, but she didn’t do a very good job of it. It was true that she loved him, and she’d missed him as much as he missed her.

  This is what people do who love each other.

  She wanted him to know she loved him, too.

  She stopped resisting.

  Then, he was fumbling at his own clothing, lowering his hose and rubbing his stiff erection against her thigh. She felt his hardness, greatly apprehensive. His mouth moved across her face again and he shifted his body, pushing himself between her thighs. Without hesitation, he slid his manhood into her virginal body.

  She gasped with surprise as he thrust into her. It stung and was uncomfortable. But he ignored her gasps of pain and thrust into her one more time to completely seat himself. In that action, her virginity became a memory, but he didn’t care. His mouth was on her ear now, groaning of his love for her once more, telling her how slick and warm she was, and how his love for her was now complete.

  But she wasn’t at all at ease with what he was doing to her, love or not. He was heavy on her, and her woolen garment was around her neck and mostly covering her face now as he repeatedly thrust into her, lifting her legs up to allow him more room to move. She lay there, motionless and overwhelmed, but she kept telling herself over and over that he loved her. He was doing this because he wanted to show her how much he loved her.