Daughters of the Dagger by Elizabeth Rose

Author:Elizabeth Rose
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2013-07-31T21:00:00+00:00

Excerpt from Sapphire – Book 2

(Daughters of the Dagger Series)

Lady Sapphire pulled the hood of her mantle lower to hide her face as she entered the Bucket of Blood behind her stable boy, Dugald. She knew she shouldn’t be in town this late at night and amongst commoners, but she was trying to escape her husband, Lord Wretched. That is, the baron. People had no idea what a horrible man he really was. And if he found out she’d ever been here, he’d take his fist to her, she was sure.

She only wished the marriage had not been so rushed, and that her father and sisters would have been present. Perhaps her father would have stopped the marriage, since the baron was not an original part of the negotiations he’d made with Roe Sexton’s late father, Robert, who died just before her arrival. But she’d been convinced by her dead betrothed’s uncle who was also Robert’s brother, Lord Henry Sexton, that this was the proper thing to do and not to jeopardize the alliance between Blackpool and Rye. So she’d done the deed, to ensure safety to her father’s lands, and especially her younger twin sisters, Amber and Amethyst back home.

Sapphire didn’t regret for a moment coming to the Bucket of Blood pub, searching for answers. After all, there was nowhere else to go since her own bed was occupied with one of her husband’s latest women. Since he found her body not planted with his seed, his impatience won out and he went on to sample any woman in the castle he could get his hands on. Still, none of them had been impregnated by him.

She was grateful he hadn’t touched her now in over two months, as she wanted nothing to do with the vile man ever again. No woman would ever bear him an heir no matter how many he sampled. God was obviously punishing him for not only bedding every woman in the castle - be she a noble or merely a servant - but also for beating the women when they did not conceive. She’d had her share of bruises from his punishing hand, and knew this is not what she should encounter in a marriage or coupling.

She stopped in the doorway, glancing at the patrons in the dimly lit pub. The Bucket of Blood was a favorite gathering place for sailors and fishermen since it was so close to port. And with Rye being one of the Cinque Ports, she knew she’d find many honorable men here who had vowed to protect the channel for their king. Men of the sea filled the tables and wooden benches and stood at the drink board that served as a counter. The innkeeper handed them ale, wine, brandy, and drinks of many kinds in large tankards made of metal or wood with a large curved handle on the side. Women of the night clung to the men, wearing their low-cut-bodice gowns, working the room, and trying to earn a living.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.