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FEARLESS: Book Two: Age of Conquest

Page 41

by Tamara Leigh


  “He would say—Grind your failings and losses to rubble beneath your feet.”

  He would, after greatly shaming one who fell even slightly short of the mark set higher than most could reach.

  “He would say—Be a warrior, Dougray D’Argent.”

  He would, though never would he add his surname to his sister-in-law’s baseborn son. Dougray had been treated nearly as well as those of legitimate birth, but ever Hugh left him nameless.

  “He would say—Be a man.”

  He would, but that last pushed too far, Godfroi D’Argent unmanning Dougray the same as it was said Adela thought him unmanned by his injury. Adela who would wed within hours and lie in another’s arms this night.

  Dougray struggled to keep reason intact, but that slender thread snapped.

  He cursed, bellowed, threw off a man-at-arms. And was slammed to the floor by the other, straddled, his one and a half arms wrenched together behind his back. Then all the raised voices—angry and beseeching alike—were silenced by a fist to the temple.

  Ever Dougray was quick to recover from such blows, whether they dazed or rendered him unconscious, and this was no exception. However, whatever slight hope remained for Adela and him was lost when he roused and found he was being bound to his bed.

  When he was released two days later, the woman he loved was another man’s wife and possibly soon to be the mother of another man’s child. That Dougray would not trespass upon. Never would he be the same as the one who made him on his mother. Never would any child of his be nameless.

  And never again would he darken the home of the family D’Argent.

  * * *

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed this excerpt of NAMELESS: Book Three in the Age of Conquest series. Watch for its release in Autumn 2019.

  For new releases and special promotions, subscribe to Tamara Leigh’s mailing list: www.TamaraLeigh.com

  PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

  Aelfled/Aelf: AYL-flehd

  Aetheling: AATH-uhl-eeng

  Alfrith: AAL-frihth

  Balliol: BAY-lee-uhl

  Bernia: BUHR-nee-uh

  Boudica: BOO-dih-kuh

  Campagnon: CAHM-paan-yah

  Chanson: SHAHN-sahn

  Cyr: SEE-uhr

  D’Argent: DAR-zhahnt

  Dougray: DOO-gray

  Eberhard/Ebbe: EH-buh-hahrt/EH-buh

  Em: EHM

  Estienne: EHs-tee-ihn

  Fortier: FOHR-tee-ay

  Fulbert: FOO-behr

  Guarin: GAA-rahn

  Gytha: JIY-thuh

  Hawisa/Isa: HAH-wee-suh/EE-suh

  Hugh: HYOO

  Jaxon: JAAK-suhn

  Lavonne: LUH-vahn

  Maël: MAY-luh

  Mary Sarah: MAA-ree-SAA-ruh

  Nicola: NEE-koh-luh

  Ordric: OHR-drihk

  Pierre: PEE-ehr

  Ravven: RAY-vihn

  Raymond: RAY-mohnd

  Roger: ROH-zheh

  Sigward: SEEG-wuhrd

  Theriot: TEH-ree-oh

  Wulf: WUULF

  Wulfrith: WUUL-frihth

  Vitalis: VEE-tah-lihs

  Zedekiah: ZEH-duh-KIY-uh

  PRONUNCIATION KEY

  VOWELS

  aa: arrow, castle

  ay: chain, lady

  ah: fought, sod

  aw: flaw, paw

  eh: bet, leg

  ee: king, league

  ih: hilt, missive

  iy: knight, write

  oh: coat, noble

  oi: boy, coin

  oo: fool, rule

  ow: cow, brown

  uh: sun, up

  uu: book, hood

  y: yearn, yield

  * * *

  CONSONANTS

  b: bailey, club

  ch: charge, trencher

  d: dagger, hard

  f: first, staff

  g: gauntlet, stag

  h: heart, hilt

  j: jest, siege

  k: coffer, pike

  l: lance, vassal

  m: moat, pommel

  n: noble, postern

  ng: ring, song

  p: pike, lip

  r: rain, far

  s: spur, pass

  sh: chivalry, shield

  t: tame, moat

  th: thistle, death

  t~h: that, feather

  v: vassal, missive

  w: water, wife

  wh: where, whisper

  z: zip, haze

  zh: treasure, vision

  GLOSSARY

  AETHELING: term used to denote royal princes qualified for kinship

  ANDREDESWALD: forest that covered areas of Sussex and Surrey in England

  ANGLO-SAXON: people of the Angles (Denmark) and Saxons (northern Germany) of which the population of 11th century England was mostly comprised

  BLIAUT: medieval gown

  BRAIES: men’s underwear

  CASTELLAN: commander of a castle

  CHAUSSES: men’s close-fitting leg coverings

  CHEMISE: loose-fitting undergarment or nightdress

  CHEVALIER: a knight of France

  COIF: hood-shaped cap made of cloth or chain mail

  DEMESNE: home and adjoining lands held by a lord

  DONJON: tower at center of a castle serving as a lord’s living area

  DOTTER: meaning “daughter”; attached to a woman’s name to identify her by whose daughter she is

  EMBRASURE: opening in a wall often used by archers

  FEALTY: tenant or vassal’s sworn loyalty to a lord

  FORTNIGHT: two weeks

  FREE MAN: person not a slave or serf

  GARDEROBE: enclosed toilet

  GIRDLE: belt worn upon which purses or weaponry might be attached

  HILT: grip or handle of a sword or dagger

  HOUSECARLE: elite warrior who was a lord’s personal bodyguard

  KNAVE: dishonest or unprincipled man

  LEAGUE: equivalent to approximately three miles

  LIEGE: superior or lord

  MAIL: garments of armor made of linked metal rings

  MISCREANT: badly behaving person

  MISSIVE: letter

  MOAT: defensive ditch, dry or filled with water

  MORROW: tomorrow; the next day

  MOTTE: mound of earth

  NITHING: derogatory term for someone without honor

  NOBLE: one of high birth

  NORMAN: people whose origins lay in Normandy on the continent

  NORMANDY: principality of northern France founded in the early tenth century by the viking Rollo

  PARCHMENT: treated animal skin used for writing

  PELL: used for combat training, a vertical post set in the ground against which a sword was beat

  PIKE: long wooden shaft with a sharp steel or iron head

  POLTROON: utter coward

  POMMEL: counterbalance weight at the end of a sword hilt or a knob located at the fore of a saddle

  PORTCULLIS: metal or wood gate lowered to block a passage

  POSTERN GATE: rear door in a wall, often concealed to allow occupants to arrive and depart inconspicuously

  QUINTAIN: post used for lance training to which a dummy and sandbag are attached; the latter swings around and hits the unsuccessful tilter

  SALLY PORT: small hidden entrance and exit in a fortification

  SAXON: Germanic people, many of whom conquered and settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries

  SENNIGHT: one week

  SHIRE: division of land; England was divided into earldoms, next shires, then hundreds

  THANE: in Anglo-Saxon England, a member of the nobility or landed aristocracy who owed military and administrative duty to an overlord, above all the king; owned at least five hides of land

  TRENCHER: large piece of stale bread used as a bowl for food

  VASSAL: one who holds land from a lord and owes fealty

  Also by Tamara Leigh

  CLEAN READ HISTORICAL ROMANCE


  * * *

  THE FEUD: A Medieval Romance Series

  Baron Of Godsmere: Book One

  Baron Of Emberly: Book Two

  Baron of Blackwood: Book Three

  * * *

  LADY: A Medieval Romance Series

  Lady At Arms: Book One

  Lady Of Eve: Book Two

  * * *

  BEYOND TIME: A Medieval Time Travel Romance Series

  Dreamspell: Book One

  Lady Ever After: Book Two

  * * *

  STAND-ALONE Medieval Romance Novels

  Lady Of Fire

  Lady Of Conquest

  Lady Undaunted

  Lady Betrayed

  INSPIRATIONAL HISTORICAL ROMANCE

  * * *

  AGE OF FAITH: A Medieval Romance Series

  The Unveiling: Book One

  The Yielding: Book Two

  The Redeeming: Book Three

  The Kindling: Book Four

  The Longing: Book Five

  The Vexing: Book Six

  The Awakening: Book Seven

  The Raveling: Book Eight

  * * *

  AGE OF CONQUEST: A Medieval Romance Series

  Merciless: Book One

  Fearless: Book Two (Spring 2019)

  Nameless: Book Three (Autumn 2019)

  INSPIRATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

  * * *

  HEAD OVER HEELS: Stand-Alone Romance Collection

  Stealing Adda

  Perfecting Kate

  Splitting Harriet

  Faking Grace

  * * *

  SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT: A Contemporary Romance Series

  Leaving Carolina: Book One

  Nowhere, Carolina: Book Two

  Restless in Carolina: Book Three

  OUT-OF-PRINT GENERAL MARKET REWRITES

  * * *

  Warrior Bride 1994: Bantam Books (Lady At Arms)

  *Virgin Bride 1994: Bantam Books (Lady Of Eve)

  Pagan Bride 1995: Bantam Books (Lady Of Fire)

  Saxon Bride 1995: Bantam Books (Lady Of Conquest)

  Misbegotten 1996: HarperCollins (Lady Undaunted)

  Unforgotten 1997: HarperCollins (Lady Ever After)

  Blackheart 2001: Dorchester Leisure (Lady Betrayed)

  * * *

  *Virgin Bride is the sequel to Warrior Bride; Pagan Pride and Saxon Bride are stand-alone novels

  For new releases and special promotions, subscribe to Tamara Leigh’s mailing list: www.TamaraLeigh.com

  About the Author

  Tamara Leigh signed a 4-book contract with Bantam Books in 1993, her debut medieval romance was nominated for a RITA award, and successive books with Bantam, HarperCollins, and Dorchester earned awards and places on national bestseller lists.

  * * *

  In 2006, the first of Tamara’s inspirational contemporary romances was published, followed by six more with Multnomah and RandomHouse. Perfecting Kate was optioned for a movie, Splitting Harriet won an ACFW Book of the Year award, and Faking Grace was nominated for a RITA award.

  * * *

  In 2012, Tamara returned to the historical romance genre with the release of Dreamspell and the bestselling Age of Faith and The Feud series. Among her #1 bestsellers are her general market romances rewritten as clean and inspirational reads, including Lady at Arms, Lady of Eve, and Lady of Conquest. In late 2018, she released MERCILESS, the first book in the new AGE OF CONQUEST series unveiling the origins of the Wulfrith family. Psst!—It all began with a woman.

  * * *

  Tamara lives near Nashville with her husband, a German Shepherd who has never met a squeaky toy she can’t destroy, and a feisty Morkie who keeps her company during long writing stints.

  * * *

  Connect with Tamara at her website www.tamaraleigh.com, Facebook, Twitter and tamaraleightenn@gmail.com.

  * * *

  For new releases and special promotions, subscribe to Tamara Leigh’s mailing list: www.tamaraleigh.com

 

 

 


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