Born with a red blemish streaking her cheek, Katherine has been hidden her entire life. Even after her family perished in the plague, she did not emerge from behind the walls that protect her. With the help of a faithful servant, she is content to live as she's been taught.
However, her contentment ends when a band of men arrive to the castle in a cloud of dust. She's horrified. And worried. And more than a little fascinated by the man who leads them, Calen the Black. While she spies on Calen from afar, her need to draw closer rages out of control until she sneaks to his room to experience his touch…for as long as they remain in the dark.
Reader Advisory: This story was released as part of the Brits in Time Anthology by Total-E-Bound.
General Release Date: 2nd November 2009
Northern Britain 1351
Panic rushed through Katherine Wolf, the only remaining member of Bryant the Wolf’s family, as she stared with astonishment through her window, high in one of the castle’s six towers. Along the road leading to her home, dust billowed into the sky—dust that was obviously coming from a band of oncoming riders. Moments later, eight black steeds carrying eight men came into sight. Four wore mail. Knights and their squires...
Katherine’s knees went weak.
No. They could not be coming here.
But they were.
She watched in horror as the horsemen galloped towards the front gate. They stopped as if considering entrance, and Katherine willed them to depart with all her being. Of course, it would not work. She was not a witch as some would suppose.
The rider who had been in the lead held up his hand, signalling to the others to stop. Deftly, he leapt from his horse and pulled off his helm. He shook his head, loosening the damp hair which had been trapped under the metal. Katherine sucked in a breath as his midnight hair splayed in the wind then settled upon his wide shoulders. His black cloak swirled about him, displaying equally black garments below. His beautiful face lifted upward as he surveyed her home.
She quickly stepped backward for fear he would see her watching him, though she was quite sure he would not be able to spy her. She pressed a hand to her middle. Men. Here at her home, the one place she had always felt safe.
Lifting her fingers to her face, she covered her cheek and the rose-coloured streak she had had since birth. Marked by the devil they said. She had been cursed to never set foot from this place or else be burned as a witch.
But what was she to do now?
The men would never find this hidden chamber constructed by her grandfather to hide his treasures. It was likely they would never find the hidden passages which gave her the run of the castle. She was rarely seen, but how long would that last before she accidentally stumbled upon one of the new inhabitants?
* * * *
Calen the Black stared up at the fortress he had been given as payment for his valiant services to Edward while in France. Payment? This fief was to be a punishment for his popularity in court. The King knew Calen would never undermine him, but he had still banished him here to Warg, the castle of death. Some claimed it was haunted and as he saw movement in one of the towers, he wondered at that claim. No matter. No spirit would stop him from possessing his new home and urging the lands to once again flourish.
When it comes to books and movies, Brynn Paulin has one rule: there must be a happy ending. After that one requirement, anything else goes. And it just might in any of her books.
Brynn lives in Michigan with her husband and two children, who love her despite her occasional threats to smite them. They humour her and let her think she's a goddess…as long as she provides homemade chocolate chip cookies on a regular basis. Brynn is president of her local chapter of Romance Writers of America and also hosts a weekly writing critique group. She's conducted workshops at several writers' conferences around the country as she enjoys mentoring and meeting new people.
According to Brynn, her writing success can be attributed to 70's music, her local road construction crews, a trusty notebook, and of course, her husband (and willing research subject), AKA Mr. Inspiration.
Reviewed by Literary Nymphs
In The Dark explores the different ways individuals can view the same things. A sweet read of doubts and low self-confidence being conquered by love; a great story with just the right amount of heat...
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