by Regan Walker
It was her brother who gave her sleepless nights.
“I worry about Steinar,” she said aloud. “Now that he is healed in body, he still appears troubled in soul. He grows restless. I know he wonders what future he has in England. I fear he will seek Edgar again in Scotland.”
“I see the bard sits by his side,” said Renaud. “Why does the Welshman linger?”
“He stays, I think, for my brother. He worries, as do I. We both fear Steinar will leave. Rhodri but waits to see what direction he will take so that he may follow. The two are like brothers.”
Drawing her closer into his chest, he whispered in her ear. “Steinar must make his own life, Serena.”
She let out a sigh. “I know you are right and that he will go. But I will miss him.”
“You will be busy with our child. By the bye, what shall we name him? Shall it be an English name or Norman?” Renaud teased.
“I have been considering our choices, husband. What say you if we name the babe after our fathers?”
“I like it, and it would please my father.”
“I just realized I do not know your father’s name. What is it?”
“Alexander.”
“So our son would be Alexander Sigmund of Talisand.” Serena thought on the name. “Aye, ’tis a good choice. But what if the child is a girl?”
He tightened his embrace as he spoke. “Maugris is certain the babe will be a son, the first of several he tells me. But if the wise one is wrong, let us name the girl child after a saint and pray she is not like her mother.”
Serena laughed and batted his hand. “You jest!”
“Mayhap I do,” he chuckled. “In truth, my lady wife, I would love a violet-eyed girl child to hold on my knee. For I love her mother more than life.” He nuzzled her neck.
Serena twisted her wedding band, remembering again the words inscribed inside and turned in his arms to look into his face. The face of the knight she loved. “Your lands do not hold your heart, my lord? The prize your Norman king gave you?”
“Nay, my lady. The lands would be only a place to dwell were you not here to share them with me. Maugris was right when he said it was here I would find my prize. You are that prize, Serena, not the lands. You are my peace, my love.”
Sliding her hands to his nape, Serena pulled him toward her and kissed the Norman she loved, content to be the Red Wolf’s prize.
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed my foray into the medieval world of 11th century England. (If you did, please write a review!) I set my story in the north west of England, in the area known today as Lancashire where the River Lune winds its way through the countryside. It was a place of quiet in the storm that we refer to today as the Conquest.
In 1066, William did not reach as far north as Northumbria, but eventually the north drew his attention because the English there refused to accept his claim to the throne and because York was too important to ignore.
I wanted to explore how a spirited daughter of an English thegn would feel about being one of the conquered, given against her will to a Norman knight who had fought the English at Hastings and might have slain her father. How would she handle her hatred for a man to whom she was also attracted? When I thought of Serena I thought of a courageous young woman who tried to hold back a tidal wave, but found herself swept away by the passion for a bold Norman knight whose sons would one day be a part of the country he now claimed as his.
Why a map? You may ask. When one of my writing friends, who had read the early manuscript, asked me to show her where Talisand was on a map of England (not realizing it was fictional), I knew a map was in order. So, I included one that shows the locations mentioned in the story. I do love maps. Now you know just where to find the lands of Lady Serena that William the Conqueror gave to the Red Wolf.
A plaque in the church at Dives-sur-Mer in Normandy lists the knights who accompanied William, Duke of Normandy in September of 1066 when he set sail for England. Among the knights whose names are recorded there are Renaud de Pierrepont and Geoffroi de Tournai, Normans who held land in England in 1086 when the Doomsday Book was written. Whether those two real life Normans bore any resemblance to the knights in my story is the subject of conjecture. I like to think they might have. We do know that many younger sons of noble Norman families became knights and risked all to fight with William and, as a result, gained lands in England. We also know that many English women fled from their path, some taking the veil. My fictional heroine, Serena of Talisand, would likewise flee, but not to take the veil.
You might ask what language they spoke in England, particularly in the north. While the Saxons in the south would have spoken a form of English, and William did make an attempt to learn it, in the north, the area known as the Danelaw, the language would have been Danish and the dialect would be Scandinavian. The commoners probably did not speak English. However, for the sake of my story, I kept to English, though it is possible Renaud could have spoken Danish as William did.
The manor houses of the thegns, such as the one built by Sigmund, Serena’s father, varied in size depending on the wealth of the thegn. Most were only one story and, if they had a second story, stairs to the second floor might have been on the outside or more rudimentary than you might picture from my novel. It is also unlikely the bedchambers, save for the thegn’s, were enclosed. (They might have alcoves off the main hall used as sleeping chambers.) But there would have been no upstairs corridor. Those came later. As I needed bedchambers for some of my scenes, they are included. I hope you allow me the deviation from the English manor houses of that time. Perhaps some smart thegn even thought of inside stairs and bedchambers. We will never know.
Having learned their lessons from the Viking raids where wooden churches were burned, the English did build stone churches before the Conquest, and some survive to this day. I have based the church Serena’s father built at Talisand on the ones I have researched, so I believe it is true to the period. They did not have pews as the faithful stood, but the English painted their churches with vivid pictures and stories from the Bible as in my story. You can see one such church on my Pinterest board for The Red Wolf’s Prize.
You might wonder what kind of a bow the Welshman Rhodri brought to Talisand. There is evidence that the Welsh made use of the longbow against the English prior to William’s invasion in 1066. There is also evidence to suggest the longbow was introduced into England during the Danish invasions prior to the Conquest. However, the Bayeux Tapestry shows only one Saxon bowman and he has a short bow. (The rest of King Harold's forces used the shield and battle-axe.) The Norman archers, who, according to tradition, won William's victory for him, also used the short wooden bow. In my story, Rhodri made shorter bows for the women as the longbows, if he used them, would require too much arm strength for a woman to use.
Why, you might ask, didn’t Renaud and Geoffroi ride their destriers around the countryside? The simple reason is that destriers, like coursers, were warhorses trained for the battlefield and not easily handled. Destriers (a type of horse, not a breed) were reserved for battle. The knights would have other horses, such as palfreys and rounceys, which they rode off the battlefield. In Renaud’s case, he rides a Spanish stallion gifted to him by Duke William. William shipped hundreds of horses across the English Channel when he invaded England in 1066, and he also had a Spanish stallion that was given to him. While the Saxons rode horses to war, they fought on foot, which proved to be a mistake.
Did you wonder about the timber castle Renaud built? For the most part, the early castles were not the stone edifices we think of today, the monuments that remain. The castles the Normans first constructed, the ones built in mere days, weeks or months, were timbered structures erected upon a “motte”, or a mound of earth with a flat top, and surrounded by a deep ditch sometimes filled with water (a moat). These would be enclosed with a timbered palisade, wooden poles sharpened to a point at the top. The land around the castle would be the “bailey”.
We call them “motte and bailey” castles today. By 1100, it is believed 400 such castles had been erected in England. You can see one on my Pinterest storyboard.
Initially, William allowed some Saxons to keep their holdings and made an effort to learn English and work with the nobles, but as I have said, not all in England accepted the Conqueror as their king, particularly in the north. They had more ties to the Vikings than they did to the south of England. They were not Saxons, but Mercians or Northumbrians. In 1068, William changed his strategy and took back all the land in order to give it to his own loyal men. Most of the English noble and military class was slain, exiled or mutilated. William conquered not only by might, dealing brutally with his enemies, but also by ensconcing his Norman barons and knights in various places and ordering them to construct castles, then leaving them to keep the peace.
Just as I have portrayed them, Earls Edwin and Morcar were handsome young men, well loved by the people of Mercia and Northumbria. When King Edward reigned, he used them as a counterpoint to the power of the house of Godwin, and that may be the reason the brothers did not fight with Harold at Hastings. Instead, they aligned themselves with William, perhaps thinking he would leave them to run their own lands, but alas, the Norman king was untrustworthy.
Through William’s actions, Englishmen who once had status were reduced to no more than slaves, and their property confiscated. It must have been humiliating for the English to be conscripted by the Normans into building the castles that symbolized their dominance. Most Norman barons were not like the Red Wolf in his mercy shown to the people of Talisand. (If I were writing a 1980s bodice ripper, this would have been a very different tale, but likely more accurate for the time.)
I like to think the English have had their revenge upon the Normans, for today English is the language spoken in England, not French (though many English words have their origin in French), and English as well as Norman blood, flows through the people. That is what I had in mind when I thought of Renaud and Serena, the Lord and Lady of Talisand and their children—the Red Wolf’s cubs who, according to Maugris, would advise kings for generations—all because one fair English maiden gave her heart to a bold Norman knight.
If you’d like to see the pictures that go with The Red Wolf’s Prize, take a look at my Pinterest story board: http://www.pinterest.com/reganwalker123/the-red-wolfs-prize-by-regan-walker
I expect I’ll be writing more stories following the further loves and adventures of those at Talisand: Sir Geoffroi’s story (Rogue Knight), Steinar’s story (Rebel Warrior), and perhaps Alexander’s (The Red Wolf’s Cub). I’ve titled the series Medieval Warriors, as each hero is a warrior in his own right. But those books will have to wait until 2015, as my next novel will see me in the 18th century with the prequel for the Agents of the Crown.
To Tame the Wind is my next project. It will be a tale of adventure and love set in France and England in 1783—with Captain Simon Powell, an English privateer, and the wild Claire Donet, a French pirate’s daughter! If you read Wind Raven, you will have a hint as to where the story begins.
For more of my historical novels, and to sign up for my newsletter so you can get word of my new releases, visit my website, www.reganwalkerauthor.com. I’d love to hear from you. You can also write me at [email protected]. I love to hear from readers! Let me know whose story you want to see next!
Author Bio
As a child Regan Walker loved to write stories, particularly about adventure-loving girls, but by the time she got to college more serious pursuits took priority. One of her professors encouraged her to pursue the profession of law, which she did. Years of serving clients in private practice and several stints in high levels of government gave her a love of international travel and a feel for the demands of the “Crown” on its subjects. Hence her romance novels often involve a demanding sovereign who thinks of his subjects as his private talent pool.
Regan lives in San Diego with her golden retriever, Link, whom she says inspires her every day to relax and smell the roses.
www.ReganWalkerAuthor.com
Synopsis
HE WOULD NOT BE DENIED HIS PRIZE
Sir Renaud de Pierrepont, the Norman knight known as the Red Wolf for the beast he slayed with his bare hands, hoped to gain lands with his sword. A year after the Conquest, King William rewards his favored knight with Talisand, the lands of an English thegn slain at Hastings, and orders him to wed Lady Serena, the heiress that goes with them
SHE WOULD LOVE HIM AGAINST HER WILL
Serena wants nothing to do with the fierce warrior to whom she has been unwillingly given, the knight who may have killed her father. When she learns the Red Wolf is coming to claim her, she dyes her flaxen hair brown and flees, disguised as a servant, determined to one day regain her lands. But her escape goes awry and she is brought back to live among her people, though not unnoticed by the new Norman lord.
Deprived of his promised bride, the Red Wolf turns his attention to the comely servant girl hoping to woo her to his bed. But the wench resists, claiming she hates all Normans.
As the passion between them rises, Serena wonders, can she deny the Norman her body? Or her heart?
Other Books by Regan Walker
The Agents of the Crown trilogy:
RACING WITH THE WIND
AGAINST THE WIND
WIND RAVEN
and
THE TWELFTH NIGHT WAGER (Novella)
THE HOLLY & THE THISTLE (Short Story)
THE SHAMROCK & THE ROSE (Short Story)
Coming soon:
TO TAME THE WIND, prequel to the Agents of the Crown
Table of Contents
Map
Characters of Note
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Author Bio
Synopsis
Other Books by Regan Walker
Table of Contents
Map
Characters of Note
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Author Bio
Synopsis
Other Books by Regan Walker