Today I welcome Vijaya Schartz with book three of her Curse of the Lost Isle series. The book is called Seducing Sigefroi. (That is pronounced See-jeu-froa.) Vijaya recommends that you read books one and two (Princess of Bretagne and Pagan Queen) before you begin Seducing Sigefroi. After reading and enjoying book one, I concur.
Amazon link to Seducing Sigefroi
Amazon link to Vijaya Schartz
Barnes and Noble link for Vijaya Schartz
SCENE SETUP:
Melusine previously spied on the ruthless Sigefroi of Ardennes, the knight the Goddess ordered her to marry, and she knows him to be ruthless. She decides to teach him a lesson. This is the first time they meet face to face. Dressed as a knight, Melusine blocks his way on the road, and provokes him in single combat… of course, she is an immortal Celtic lady and she has magic on her side.
BEGINNING OF EXCERPT:
Sigefroi’s murderous glare drilled into her through the helmet slits. Melusine realized he didn’t see her as a person anymore, but as an enemy, a vile thing to crush like a viper on the road. Such barbarism burned in his amber gaze, such determination.
The close proximity of this ferocious man frightened and thrilled her at the same time.
Parrying high, Melusine caught a glance of the squire who held the horses at a safe
distance. The lad watched with open curiosity, obviously enjoying his master’s skillful
demonstration. But Sigefroi’s well honed skills wouldn’t bring him victory this day. To keep a semblance of fairness, Melusine kept fighting, making the combat look evenly matched.
When Sigefroi dealt a particularly fierce blow, Melusine sent through her parrying arm a
wave of energy like a lightning bolt. Sigefroi was thrown back, flying through the air. His sword and shield clattered on the dusty stone of the road. His helmet flew off. He hit the ground in a pounding of metal. Flat on his back, the knight didn’t move.
In two steps, Melusine had Caliburn’s point at his throat. “Do you yield?”
Sigefroi blinked, and the slow realization of his desperate situation showed in the
widening of his eyes, along with a spark of rage, and something else… Surprise!
When he did not respond, Melusine repeated louder, “Do you yield?”
The words came with difficulty. Sigefroi, no doubt, had to swallow a great deal of pride.
“I… do… yield,” he croaked.
“In exchange for your life, I shall exact an oath.” Melusine made her voice carry so that
the young squire could also hear and understand. “Within a week, a royal princess by the name of Melusine will ask for your hospitality. Not only will you treat her according to her noble rank, you will betroth her and take her for wife.”
“What?” Sigefroi, in his surprise, had started to rise, but Melusine pressed Caliburn’s
point harder against the mail at his throat, forcing him to lie still.
“Swear on your knight’s honor, or I kill you right now!”
In no position to bargain, Sigefroi finally said in a strangled voice, “I swear it.”
“Louder!” Melusine insisted, applying more pressure.
The mail shifted as Sigefroi swallowed, and blood trickled at his throat under the sword’s sharp tip. “I swear it on my knight’s honor!”
Drawing back the weapon, Melusine returned the great sword to the scabbard. Sigefroi
sat up slowly, coughing, shaking his red mane, and rubbing a grazed throat. Melusine didn’t wait for him to get up or retrieve his broadsword.
When she whistled, the white mare came at a trot. She mounted swiftly and turned the
horse around.
“Wait!” Sigefroi shouted in a broken voice.
Melusine halted the mare and turned in the saddle, a wide grin on her face. She’d been
waiting for this moment to deliver the coup de grâce.
The knight rose on unsteady feet. “If you won’t give me your name, at least let me behold the face of my victor!”
The humiliation in Sigefroi’s eyes and voice delighted Melusine. Slowly, she lifted her
silver helmet and pushed back the head mail, letting her long hair cascade over slender
shoulders. Staring at him with glee, she however measured her deliberate reply.
“You were bested by a maiden, my lord.”
Sigefroi’s thunderstruck expression made her laugh.
“But have no fear, your honor is safe with me. I shall keep your defeat a secret.” After a
mock bow to Sigefroi and his dumfounded squire, she spurred the mare away and didn’t look back.
END OF EXCERPT
I have to say, Vijaya is the first author to include a warning in her blog post, and she even used the bold type. So here what she wants you to know to prepare you for her books. “This romantic medieval fantasy series is based on authentic European legends, and the historical facts have been preserved in the raw, rather than sugar-coated. The life of the early middle ages is portrayed with gritty realism. Professional reviewers called it bloody and even bloodthirsty but gave it five stars. Not for the faint of heart, but plenty of drama.”
Coming soon is book four in the Curst of the Lost Isle Series, Lady of Luxembourg. Visit Vijaya’s website.
Find Vijaya’s books on Amazon
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.