By
The Sword
Guardians of the Crown # 1
By: Alison Stuart
NOW AVAILABLE
Escape Publishing
ABOUT THE BOOK~
England
1650: In the aftermath of the execution of the King, England totters once more
on the brink of civil war. The country will be divided and lives lost as
Charles II makes a last bid to regain his throne.
Kate
Ashley finds her loyalty to the Parliamentary cause tested when she inherits
responsibility for the estate of the Royalist Thornton family. To protect the
people she cares about, she will need all her wits to restore its fortunes and
fend off the ever-present threat of greedy neighbours.
Jonathan
Thornton, exiled and hunted for his loyalty to the King's cause now returns to
England to garner support for the cause of the young King. Haunted by the
demons of his past, Jonathan risks death at every turn and brings danger to
those who love him. Finding Kate in his family home, he sees in her the hope
for his future, and a chance at a life he doesn’t deserve.
In
the aftermath of the Battle of Worcester, Jonathan must face his nemesis, and
in turn, learn the secret that will change his life forever. But love is
fragile in the face of history, and their lives are manipulated by events out
of their control. What hope can one soldier and one woman hold in times like
these?
AUTHOR INFO~
Alison Stuart fell in love with the English Civil War when
her father read her The King’s General by Daphne Du Maurier. She has been
writing stories set in this period since her teenage years but it was not until
2007 that the first edition of BY THE SWORD was published. It went on to win
the 2008 EPIC Award for Best Historical Romance. Alison has now published 6 full length novels
and a collection of her short stories.
When she is not writing she is travelling and has dragged her family
around the sites of every major battle of the English Civil War.
Alison lives in Melbourne, Australia. She is a lapsed lawyer
who has worked in the military and fire service, with an obvious obsession for
men in uniform, which may explain a predisposition to soldier heroes.
EXCERPT~
(Excerpt context: Kate and Jonathan are discussing Kate’s husband, the parliamentarian, Richard Ashley)
Kate nodded, a
faint colour rising in her cheeks. ‘I had a good dowry and Richard fair
prospects.’ She looked up at him, holding his eyes with her clear gaze. ‘And we
loved each other.’
Dear God, this
bloody war, Jonathan thought.
‘And if it were not
for the war, you would be living in wedded bliss in Barton Manor, surrounded by
a brood of children,’ he said.
Kate looked away
and he knew his observation had hit home. He reached for her hand and when she
tried to pull away he tightened his grip, forcing her to look up at him.
‘I’m sorry, Kate,
that was a thoughtless remark. I’m the last person who has any right to do
that.’ He released her hand. ‘From what I knew of Richard, he did not have the
heart of a soldier.’
He knew more about
Richard Ashley than he was prepared to reveal. A scholar, not a soldier.
Richard should be at home at Barton Manor with this woman and their children.
Not dead in the ground at the age of twenty-two.
Kate looked up at
him, her brow creased in puzzlement, and he cursed himself for revealing too
much.
‘What could you
possibly have known of him? The Thorntons have been estranged from the Ashleys
for over thirty years.’ This time he bit his tongue and when he didn’t reply
she continued. ‘To answer your question,
Richard may not have gone willingly to the war but he fought bravely against
the terrible odds in the North. He followed Sir Thomas Fairfax into hell during
those early years.’
Jonathan nodded.
‘Fairfax’s men had it hard in those early years.’ He paused. ‘Was he with
Fairfax that day at Marston Moor?’
‘Of course,’ Kate
replied. ‘Were you there? Is it possible you faced Richard?’
Of course Jonathan
had been there with Prince Rupert’s cavalry. It had been a bloodbath. Marston Moor had put in train a series of
tragic events in his own life that had nothing to do with the battle.
He swallowed and
gave a barely perceptible nod. ‘I was on the other flank with Rupert.’
‘What did it
matter?’ A rare flash of anger rose in Kate. ‘You wouldn’t have known Richard
if you had met on the battlefield.’
Yes I would, he
thought.
‘That is the
tragedy of a civil war, Kate.’
She didn’t seem to
notice that he had used her given name. Her eyes blazed with anger and misery.
‘They brought him home to die. It was a horrible death.’ Her voice cracked.
She lowered her
head and took several deep shuddering breaths that wracked her body.
Without thinking,
Jonathan lifted his hand to her face, tilting her chin so she looked at him.
Her eyes swam with unshed tears. Tears he had caused.
‘So many deaths.
Too many, Kate. Believe me, it’s not always easy to be the survivor. I may not
be dead but I have lost all that is important to me. It’s a hollow victory over
death.’
So many
deaths...Marston Moor and afterwards, Oxford. He had run at life, stumbled into
the path of innocent people, and he had survived while they had died.
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