Claimed By A Viking

by T S Florence

  She looked like him, but not quite. Where his features were rough, his sister’s were soft. Where he scowled, she had a mild look of pleasantness. Her features were those of a typical English lass, one who has never seen a day of hardship in her life. Living in a tall castle with a private room and a well-stocked fireplace for every cold, winter day. I could only imagine that her hands were delicate and soft, just like her temperament. She was everything I despised about the English. And here she was, being used as a bargaining chip so Sloan could secure his ties into English royalty.

  Ah, the English, ever aspiring for more.

  I caught Hector’s eye. Hector was one of the best warriors to come out of Strathclyde, yet he had laid down his weapon and accepted defeat at the hands of the English. I did not know if I could forgive him for that.

  I nodded towards the gold-embroidered, dark red coat. Hector’s jaw twitched. Then I looked towards the Mayflower bargaining chip. Hector looked, but only so briefly that anybody else who was looking would not have noticed. I looked back to Hector, and his eyes were firmly on his bloody, shackled ankles.

  Lillian Mayflower

  “I heard he’s the most handsome man in court, but you don’t need me to remind you; you’ve seen his portrait,” Marjorie gushed over King Edward. He had arrived late in the night, but I was not permitted to meet my possible-husband-to-be.

  “Oh Marjorie, there’s more to a man than his looks,” I said, despite myself. Marjorie, like many girls, fantasised over the excitement that the daily life of a royal would bring. I was not so sure. My happiest days were spent at our estate in the countryside, helping the servants chasing the chickens and milking the cows, and helping our horses give birth. It was real, it was messy. Not like the pristine life that royals tried to live, hiding away from the sunlight in their dark castles and under their robes that were so expensive they could be sold to feed a large village.

  “He may not be impressed with our mining site” I put my fingertips to the back of my wrist, feeling my heartbeat race.

  “Your family is already one of the wealthiest in England without the dirty mine, and anyway, its’s 1514, I don’t think it’s the mine that he will be concerned with. I am afeared that the King will want to take you into his personal carriage right on the spot,” Marjorie giggled.

  “Marjorie,” I gasped.

  “He’s well-bred. His family have done well to keep their bloodline strong by marrying cousins” Marjorie continued.

  “That’s enough,” I felt my cheeks flush. It was true, that if Edward married me, I would be the first in many years that a member of the royal family had married a non-royal.

  A knock at the door caused both our heads to turn.

  “Your carriage awaits, my lady,” our usual guard was replaced by a royal guard. I was not surprised; for we were heading to the Forest of Dean, where the mine was located. The Forest was land that bordered on Wales, and thus proved to be a point of constant fighting. Over what? I could not understand the minds of the men who fought over such things.

  I kept a look out for King Edward as we made our way to the courtyard, but he was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Sloan. I knew he would be using his velvet words to seduce Edward, an attempt to buy into the most powerful royal bloodline England had ever seen.

  I stepped into my carriage, and sunk back into the soft seat, nodding to a young servant to commence fanning. It was warmer than usual, yet looking courtly required sacrifice. We passed a cart of captors. They were kept inside a cage with thick iron bars. Mayflower Iron, I thought, which was ironic.

  The men looked tired, all except for one, who’s expression was one of defiance. His cheekbones were red from the sun, and on his forehead were two fresh cuts. From the battle, no doubt. A smaller cut on his top lip looked deeper, like it would leave a scar. the rest of his body was a golden brown. His dark hair made his blue eyes all the more piercing. He stood motionless at the edge, close to the iron bars; his frame too large to be in such a cage. My heart raced at the thought of facing such a beast in battle. His long, scraggly hair, his dirty hands and blackened fingernails from years of toil in untamed lands.

  I looked away, and looked back, instantly cursing myself when he caught my eye. His gaze had not moved. I could not help but notice his chiseled features. He looked too rugged to fit into royal society, yet he was more handsome than the soft-skinned gentlemen who controlled our country with deals made behind closed doors. Too fearsome, too real, too damaged.

  He stood, staring into my soul as if he were god himself, searching for any sins I have committed. His hands bunched into fists at his sides, and his face darkened as his brows scrunched together. I had not committed any sins, I tried to reassure myself, yet I could feel the anger and hatred exploding outwards from him, his expression more threatening than the devil himself. My hands became clammy, and I looked away again to distract myself with meaningless conversation with Marjorie, yet my mind kept drifting back to one thing, as we travelled to the Forest of Dean. The prisoner. My family’s slave.

  I can feel your hatred, what did I do to you?

  This man was not meant to be in a cage, and my intuition told me that this man was going to take great measures to show me exactly how he felt about it. Little did I know just how great those measures would be.

  Also by TS FLORENCE

  In the next book, you will go on a journey with Baron and Lillian. This will be written in first person and may just be my steamiest - and exciting - book yet. Baron is a Scottish Highlander captured by the English at the end of a bloody battle and sent to work in a mining site in the early 1400s, medieval England. Lillian Mayflower is a woman accustomed to the pampered life equal to that of royalty. How will they meet, and how will it end? If this sounds like a book you’d like to read, sign up to my mailing list to be notified when I release that book here.

  If you would like to join my ARC team, and read copies of my books in advance of release in exchange for a review on Amazon, send me an email at mail@tsflorence.com.