Soldier
4.5/5
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About this ebook
Two amoral soldiers. Two young women in disguise. Their lives become linked and changed forever during one medieval Christmas. In Mercenary, Lord Broderick makes Tess, the daughter of the lord whose lands Broderick has usurped, to wet nurse his infant son. Dumas, his deformed court Jester, nurses a secret of his own with his assistant, Fallon, that leads to more than either of them bargained for.
Wildly wicked. Sensual and steamy. Dark Redeemer Medieval Romance is a series of sinfully erotic adventure tales set in the High Middle Ages. Packed with action, swords, horses, skullduggery and romance, Soldier contains racy, intimate love scenes not for the faint of heart. Sensitive readers are strongly cautioned.
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4 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The two stories are Too short to appreciate the romance. Good reads though.
Book preview
Soldier - Constance Kent
SOLDIER
†
Dark Redeemer Medieval Romance
A Medieval Christmas Romance
♠
CONSTANCE KENT
Copyright 2015 Constance Kent
Writewood Creations Publishing 2021
ISBN 978-1-988003-17-7
All rights reserved.
This publication remains the copyrighted property
of the author and may not be redistributed for commercial
or non-commercial purposes.
Cover Image by Filin28
Cover Design by Writewood Creations/Canva
Table of Contents
Title Page
From the Publisher
SOLDIER
Mercenary
Jester
About the Author
From the Publisher
Wildly wicked. Sensual and steamy. Medieval lovers in a dangerous time. Dark Redeemer Medieval Romance is a series of sinfully erotic adventure tales set in the High Middle Ages. Packed with action, swords, horses, skullduggery and romance, Soldier contains racy, intimate love scenes not for the faint of heart. Sensitive readers are strongly cautioned.
Titles in the Series
Wanton
Wastrel
Traitor
Christmas Rose
SOLDIER
†
Mercenary
Others like soldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds,
Which pillage they with merry march
bring home.
King Henry the Fifth—Shakespeare
Chapter I
Outside the walls of Castlemuir ~ March 1202
TESS STUMBLED running through the wood. Blinded by terror, mute with panic, the sound of fire crackled behind her—the village was burning to the ground. She heard the screams of women and men being murdered or captured. Tree branches caught and pulled at her long black hair, tearing it out at the roots but she dared not slow down. One of the raiders had marked her escape and was hard on her heels.
Horse’s hooves pounded the forest floor, shaking the birds out of their nests and sending the night creatures scattering to their burrows. Fear clawed her throat. The animal must be huge—what manner of man required a horse of such fantastic size?
He was upon her in an instant despite the panic that sped her feet. The horse reared and its rider shouted an oath, ordering her to stop.
Tess ducked into the underbrush where he could not follow. She heard the rider swear an oath and then the sound of crashing and the clang of metal. The raider was giving chase on foot! What did he want from her that made him so determined? She had concealed her identity. He could not know who she was—could he?
Mud from the spring run-off marked her trail. Branches stung her eyes and cut her cheek. Her gown twisted around her ankles. Tess was unused to the forest, and most especially at night. Terror made her push deeper into the dark wood.
The man was close behind her. Stop and you’ll not be harmed but if you keep running, I swear on my life I will make you pay!
She dove under a thicket not yet in bud just as he closed the gap. Tess was certain he didn’t see her, but the raider stopped abruptly on the path and turned back as though sniffing her out like a rat in a trap.
The soldier was a mercenary. The poor quality of his armor indicated that he served no lord; his breastplate was not emblazoned with a crest. Tess’s mouth dried. Mercenary soldiers were notoriously vicious and without scruple. The stories of their brutal attacks were known all over England. The man who hunted her was a common foot soldier, fighting for profit rather than faith or fealty. He was more of a threat to her than a knight in full armor.
♠
BRODERICK SWORE under his breath. He had better things to do than to chase a slip of a girl through the wood. The March air chilled him through his brigandine. He was not paid for prisoners unless they were men or youths who could be conscripted into King John’s army. Furthermore, Kylie was waiting for him at home. His wife worried the nights he was out on a raiding party. Broderick had to earn a living and as long as the king paid in gold sovereigns, he would offer his sword.
He stretched his arm into the thicket where the girl had hidden and hauled her out by the scruff of her neck. Broderick landed her in front of him to get a better look. The light was not strong in the forest. He could not make out her features.
What have we here? Be you a noblewoman or commoner? Speak up girl!
He clamped his massive gauntlet-gloved hands on her small shoulders and shook her roughly. What is your name? I’m not going to hurt you. Are you the daughter of Lord Harald whose castle we have seized? He is a traitor to the king and he and his household are subject to imprisonment.
A thin shaft of moonlight penetrated the canopy and fell across her face.
Broderick frowned. The girl was a great beauty. The most beautiful and delicate creature he had ever seen. Lord Harald had fallen out of favour since King John’s ascension to the throne. He suspected this girl was his daughter but he could not say for sure. She was expensively gowned for a lady’s maid but perhaps she was a decoy to lure him away from his real quarry—the elusive Lady Tess.
Do you not speak?
The girl shook her dark head.
A mute?
Broderick grinned and swung her around back to front. You’d better find your voice, girl. For if you are not Lady Tess of Castlemuir, all manner of evil could befall you here. Her ladyship is valuable for ransom. A lady’s maid is of no value to a mercenary soldier except for what is between her legs. Which do you prefer—ransom or ravishment?
Tess did not answer while her mind worked. Her maid, Gretchen, had been afflicted with an illness in childhood that had robbed her of speech. Swapping places with her lady’s maid was a clever notion. She would pretend to be Gretchen, posing as Lady Tess. As for Gretchen, she was far away, having been sent out of the county after the last raid.
The raider was a large man, made larger still by his shoulder armor and leather brigandine. He wore linen braies and leather boots. Tess could not make out his features under his iron helmet