Anna Belfrage - From Diamond to Platinum: Celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee

To celebrate Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee Discovering Diamonds is hosting a series of excerpts or articles written by our wonderful review team. For our author reviewers: the theme is an excerpt from one of their novels portraying royalty - or an equivalent leader-type character. For our non-writer reviewers: a favourite monarch and/or novel about Royalty... In other words, an enjoyable mix of entertainment to acknowledge Queen Elizabeth II's longest reign in British history! 70 years! 

God Bless you Ma'am. 

(say ma'am to rhyme with 'jam' not 'farm')

Today's excerpt is from

His Castilian Hawk , first in The Castilian Saga

by Anna Belfrage

(In which Queen Eleanor informs Noor she is with child—again. It will be her last child, but that is something neither Queen Eleanor nor Noor know.)

 

Noor entered a room that smelled of roses and lavender. The fragrance emanated from various pots filled with dried petals and lavender sprigs, and Noor inhaled, thinking of summer and sun, swallows that dipped and flew, cornflowers bobbing in ripening fields.

“It helps, does it not?” a dark voice said, and Noor hastened over to give her queen a deep reverence. “It makes me dream of spring and warmth,” Queen Eleanor continued, “at present a most distant dream.” She grimaced in the direction of the shuttered windows. “So cold, so grey, so damp—at times, I wonder how our people can survive such inclement weather.”

In the absence of daylight, the room was lit by the large fire in the hearth and several oil lamps of Moorish design. There were candles burning by the queen’s portable altarpiece as well as by the crucifix she’d carried with her since the day she received it as a parting gift from her brother. About a foot or so in height, it was a magnificent work of art, gilded and encrusted with gems. Right at its centre was a dull red stone—glass, the queen had once told Noor in a bitter voice, going on to remark that the stone intended for the place, a blood-red jewel that went by the name the Castilian Pomegranate, had been stolen some days prior to her departure from her native land.

“We are used to it, my queen,” Noor said. “We have nothing to compare it with.”

“Very true.” Eleanor gave her a little smile. She looked tired and wan, a grey tone to her skin and an odd set to her mouth, as if she’d swallowed down a draught of bitter ale. Behind her, Elena hovered, looking verily like a protective—and worried—hen.

“Are you ailing, my queen?” Noor blurted.

“Ailing? Ah, you mean I am less than my normal radiant self,” the queen replied with an edge. She fretted at the embroidered fabric of her girdle. “I am with child,” she said quietly. “God be praised,” she added, turning her head away to gaze at the hearth. She held out her hands to the warmth of the fire, and one of the pages hurried over to add more wood to the blaze. “So many crushed hopes,” she continued in a low voice. “So many babes carried to full term, so many little lads held in my arms, and what do I have to show for it all? One prince and five daughters.” She looked at Noor. “You must pray for me and for the babe in my womb that it be God’s will to give us a healthy son.”

“We will all pray,” Elena interrupted. “And you must rest and eat.”

“Yes, mother,” Queen Eleanor replied with a certain asperity. She shook herself and turned to Noor. “You look well,” she said, stooping to pick up the little white dog at her feet.

“I am well.” Noor suppressed the desire to cup her own belly, where she now had reason to believe she too carried a babe. But it was far too early to know, she was at most a week or so late.

“Hmm,” Queen Eleanor said, beckoning for Noor to come closer. “What’s this?” she asked, setting a finger on the leather thong Noor carried round her neck. “Surely, your husband can afford to give you a necklace in silver or gold?”

“I prefer this.” Noor slid a finger under her neckline and produced the little pouch that hung from the leather. It was decorated by an embroidered rose without thorns that had taken Noor hours of work, leather being a recalcitrant material that did not take well to needles and silks. Inside was the little white stone Robert had given her when he rode off to war.

Eleanor listened and smiled, one elegant finger tracing the outline of the rose. “A heart is a precious gift indeed,” she said. “As is a child,” she added, giving Elena a defiant look.

“If it were only the live births,” Elena muttered some moments later as she and Noor busied themselves preparing mulled wine by the hearth. She mortared cardamom, cloves and a peck of pepper, mixing them into a large jug with a sizeable quantity of precious sugar before she added the wine. “It’s miscarriage after miscarriage.” Elena sighed, extracted the heated poker from the fire and stuck it into the jug. The wine hissed and spat. “She fears she will lose the babe before it quickens. It has happened before—several times.” Elena wrung her hands. “She is too old for more babies.”

Noor agreed but held her tongue. Was it the king hoping for a son, or was it the queen wishing to give him the lad he so desired to safeguard his line on the throne? 

 

Buy links His Castilian Hawk:
universal link: http://myBook.to/HISHAWK

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3LRXWW8

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3v8ePoS

About the author:

Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with two absorbing interests: history and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17^th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14^th century England.  Anna has also published The Wanderer, a fast-paced contemporary romantic suspense trilogy with paranormal and time-slip ingredients.

At present, Anna is hard at work with the next instalment of her “Castilian” series. Once again, she returns to the medieval world. In His Castilian Hawk, she transports us back to Wales during Edward I’s conquest. In The Castilian Pomegranate, the reader is invited along to medieval Castile and Aragon, places rife with intrigue and betrayal. The next book is as yet nameless, but is set in England.

Anna has also recently published a new time travel novel, The Whirlpools of Time. Join Duncan and the somewhat reluctant time-traveller Erin on their adventures through the Scottish Highlands just as the first Jacobite rebellion is about to explode.

All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud recipient of various Reader’s Favorite medals, several Discovered Diamond awards and has also won various Gold, Silver and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards.

Find out more about Anna, her books and enjoy her eclectic historical blog on her website, www.annabelfrage.com 

Sign up to Anna’s newsletter to keep up with new releases, give-ways and other fun stuff: http://eepurl.com/cjgatT

 

Follow Anna on twitter: 

https://twitter.com/abelfrageauthor
Follow her FB page: 

https://www.facebook.com/annabelfrageauthor

Find her on BookBub:

  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/anna-belfrage

< Previous Post   Next Post >