The Spanish Pearl by Catherine Friend

Author:Catherine Friend [Friend, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fiction, Lesbian, BSB; lesbian; romance; fiction; bold; strokes; ebooks; e-books, When Kate Vincent and her partner travel to Spain, Kate is suddenly torn between two women, Kate must flee exotic harems, and treacherous Moorish courts. But when a sword-brandishing woman with an astonishing secret sweeps into Kate's life, no feminism, lust, and danger—a story with surprising twists that will capture your imagination just as Kate's dilemma captures your heart., filthy dungeons, no Diet Coke? She denies it as long as possible, and between two centuries. The Spanish Pearl is an epic adventure spiced with humor, then sets her mind to getting home. Tricky with her now useless twenty-first century skills. Things don't go well. Kate is captured by a band of mercenary soldiers and becomes an unwitting pawn in the violent conflict between the Catholic kings and the Islamic Moors. In her struggle to stay alive and return to the future, Kate is accidentally transported back in time...way back in time...to 1085. What does a woman like Kate do in a world of no antibiotics
ISBN: 9781933110769
Google: VHGSAAAACAAJ
Amazon: 1933110767
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2007-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

The Spanish Pearl

“He is very stupid.” Luis winced as she fi ngered her ribs, while I bent over the unconscious Hamara, cleaning the gash on the top of his head. “Sword hilt,” Luis added helpfully. “Finally had to either run him through or knock him out cold.”

“Can you see nothing but violent options?” I moved the bucket to Luis’s side, dabbing roughly at a cut above her black eye.

“Ouch! You were gentler with an unconscious boy.”

“Are your ribs broken?”

She shook her head wearily. “No, just bruised.”

I cleaned the dried blood from her face, scrubbing none-too-gently across her cheeks and down her neck. “I want you to teach me to ride.

I will not be left behind again.”

She moaned, then stretched out over the straw, sword clanking against the wall. “Kate, one hundred recruits arrive in just a few hours, most of them so young they are barely off the teat.” She rolled onto her back, sighing deeply. “I have to turn them into soldiers in just a few weeks. I have no time for riding lessons.”

“Barely off the teat...lovely expression. I cannot believe how you denigrate women.” I squeezed out the rag over the bucket. “This whole place is a nightmare for women. It’s making me crazy.” I stopped.

Luis’s chest rose and fell rhythmically. Hamara stirred, then rolled onto his side, eyes closed, mouth open. Slowly, lightly, I touched Luis’s chest, the linen shirt rough to the touch, the bandages still binding her.

Sighing, I stood, doused the oil lamp, then made my way back to the palace as crimson streaks shot into the early purple-dawn, a sight so moving I stood outside the entrance and watched the sun rise. Despite the violence, the ridiculous oppression of women, now and then the colors, tastes, and people of this time, of this divided country, pierced my heart.

O

That morning the stables burst with horses and men; the palace grounds fi lled with tents. Enzo tried to commandeer our shed for sleeping quarters, but I literally chased him away with a broom, Liana watching wide-eyed from the shed’s front door.

“You are not afraid of him?” she asked.

“Of course not. He’s just trying to intimidate us.” I raised my broom. “But I have vanquished him with my sword.”

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