Please join me in welcoming historical fantasy author, Nancy Northcott onto Oh look, another book. Nancy is sharing an excerpt from her new book, so make sure you scroll down!
The Steel Rose
(The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy, Book 2)
by Nancy Northcott
THE BOAR KING’S HONOR TRILOGY
A wizard’s misplaced trust
A king wrongly blamed for murder
A bloodline cursed until they clear the king’s name
BOOK 2: THE STEEL ROSE
Amelia Mainwaring, a magically Gifted seer, is desperate to rescue the souls of her dead father and brother, who are trapped in a shadowy, wraith-filled land between life and death as the latest victims of their family curse. Lifting the curse requires clearing the name of King Richard III, who was wrongly accused of his nephews’ murder because of a mistake made by Amelia’s ancestor.
In London to seek help from a wizard scholar, Julian Winfield, Amelia has disturbing visions that warn of Napoleon Bonaparte’s escape from Elba and renewed war in Europe. A magical artifact fuels growing French support for Bonaparte. Can Amelia and Julian recover the artifact and deprive him of its power in time to avert the coming battles?
Their quest takes them from the crowded ballrooms of the London Season to the bloody field of Waterloo, demanding all of their courage, guile, and magical skill. Can they recover the artifact and stop Bonaparte? Or will all their hopes, along with Amanda’s father and brother, be doomed as a battle-weary Europe is once again engulfed in the flames of war?
The Steel Rose is the second book in the time-traveling, history-spanning fantasy series The Boar King’s Honor, from Nancy Northcott (Outcast Station, The Herald of Day).
In this excerpt, Julian responds to a request for a conversation from Alasdair “Dare” MacGregor, a son of Scotland’s ancient royal line. Dare is also member of the Merlin Club, which Julian heads. They’re a group of Gifted who work covertly in defense of Britain.
***
The two men eyed each other as the silence stretched. Finally, Julian said, “If this is urgent, Dare, let’s have it.”
“Again, my apologies. This is…difficult.”
“In what way?”
The other man grimaced. “I’m weighin’ my oath to the Merlin Club with another, searchin’ for a path between.”
Someone knocked on the door. Dare opened it, admitting one of the kitchen lads with a tray. The delicious aromas of mutton stew, fresh bread, and honeyed parsnips filled the air. Setting up the writing table for the meal and unloading the food occupied the next few minutes.
When the lad had departed, the two men took their seats at the table. Julian didn’t wait to start eating. The day had been excruciatingly long, and if Dare needed a few minutes to collect himself—though why he hadn’t already done so was puzzling—there was no sense allowing the food to cool.
Dare stared down at his plate. Finally, he looked back at Julian. “The Romans slaughtered the Druids,” he said. “Some survived. Enough survived, and they went into hiding.”
“I know.” Julian’s godfather, his late father’s best friend, had been a Druid. “But what do they have to do with the current problem?”
The other man opened his mouth, closed it, and took a long swallow of claret. “I’m sure ye know what happened after the ’45. The Sassenachs destroyed the clans. Cleared the Highlands of those whose blood had lived there since before there was a Scotland.”
“Yes. It was brutal.” Unnecessary as well. The Jacobite rebellion, while a factor, wasn’t nearly as important in the long term as the greed of absentee landlords who wanted to use the land for other, more profitable purposes than farming or raising cattle.
“It was…” Dare shook his head. “Again, enough escaped, evaded the redcoats, to mean something. I’m—some of my family were among them.”
“Which makes you part of whatever bond they formed.” Though Julian kept his tone bland, possibilities spun through his mind. Was there a cabal of Scottish Gifted in the Highlands? If so, were they dealing themselves into this current crisis? If they were, did they intend to help or…
“What our grandparents had is gone,” Dare said. “The clans who built it are destroyed or scattered to the winds. To America. Or Australia. We’ll never have enough of them back to regain what was.” He took another drink of claret. “Oh, aye, we can wear our plaids now, and some of us clung to the Gaelic even when it was outlawed. It’s not enough. Without the land, it never will be.”
He stabbed his fork into his stew, took a bite, and ripped a chunk from the loaf of bread on the table. “Bloody Sassenachs,” he muttered.
Julian understood that pain, but he couldn’t let sympathy cloud his judgment. If Dare was bringing up these old grudges now, with Bonaparte running loose…
“Dare, are you telling me there are Scots Gifted who would aid Napoleon?”
The other man’s shoulders stiffened. He laid down his fork and swallowed. “Not precisely.”
“Then what, precisely? I’ve had a deuced long day, and I’ve no patience for games.”
“It’s no’ a game,” the Scotsman snapped. “It’s bloody damned serious.”
“Then open the budget, and let’s deal with it.”
Dare sighed and slumped in his chair. “The clans at Culloden lined up wi’ their swords and dirks, facin’ redcoats armed with muskets, and recited their lineage in a great, long roar. They didna know that was the obituary for the life they loved. Then they charged into a fusillade of musket balls.”
“Blast it, Dare—”
“They’re m’blood, and they’ve a right to their anger.”
Julian studied the other man’s stiff shoulders and defiant expression. Softly, he asked, “As you’ve a right to yours?”
“Aye.”
Their gazes locked, Dare’s blue eyes hard.
“Then why are we here?” Julian demanded.
“Because I took an oath. Because I think they’re again chargin’ to disaster. Because…it doesna matter what I think of Mad George and his fool of an heir. We canna reclaim the past and ’tis folly to try.”
“Who’s trying?” Julian clung to the shreds of his temper. Dare was a good man, obviously struggling, and alienating him would be a mistake. But if he didn’t get the bloody hell on with it—
“I dinna ken. I mean, I don’t know for certain. But I hear rumors. Of aiding Bonaparte’s cause in exchange for French support to take back the Highlands.”
“And do what there? As you said, those who left have built lives elsewhere. There aren’t enough people to hold the area even if they win it. This sounds like a French scheme to occupy part of this island.”
“Aye, it does.” Grim-faced, the Scotsman added, “I willna stand by while my kinsmen shed more blood on a folly. Charles Edward Stuart wasna worth the muck his horse shat, and many of them still canna see it.” He hesitated. “There’s more, perhaps worse, though it may not be true. There are rumors—plans to eliminate the Royal Navy and open the way to Scotland, and they…well, as I said, it sounds like a fairy tale, but with magic, who can know?”
“Indeed. What are the rumors?”
“They’ve an ancient tome, one that tells of a way to travel from one place to another undetected. By going through the lands of the dead.”
A chill rippled down Julian’s back. “This is how they plan to eliminate the fleet?”
“Aye. Four men will board each vessel via this dead realm, kill the captain, and set the wood alight with witchfire.”
Only magic could quench witchfire. The ships would burn to cinders, destroying the Royal Navy’s defensive line along the Scottish coast and opening the way for invasion.
Bastards.
Dare continued, “Then they’ll escape the way they came, moving from the dead realm onto another ship. If the French Navy can land Scottish and French troops and escape, they’ll count that a successful diversion. That’s how they plan to take King George and Prinny hostage as well. They’ll smuggle them away through this dead realm and keep them until Parliament grants the Highlands separate and equal status.”
“It could work,” Julian said slowly. “But if you can do that, why do you need the French Navy? Why not simply move your troops through there?”
“I gather the place is infested with wraiths and perhaps other fell creatures, so moving through there requires inner steel. Most men don’t have that when facing a supernatural foe. As for whether that plan can succeed, aye, it can for a while. England is distracted, her army is drawn away from the Continent, and Napoleon has a clearer road. But then what?”
The Scotsman glared at his plate. “What happens when the world’s best navy and one of its strongest armies attack—again?” Bitterness laced the words. Dare took another swallow of claret. “My kinsmen die, that’s what, and the plaid and our Gaelic again go under a ban. No. I won’t have it.”
“There’s something else odd about this. If Bonapartists are supporting the Scots in this, why are they? This seems like a risky venture with an uncertain result. How can Napoleon support that when it’ll cost him hundreds of thousands of francs to rebuild the army?”
“I don’t know that he is supporting it, or even knows of it.” Dare sighed. “I don’t know where they get their money, only that I hear they don’t lack for it. As for why anyone would underwrite this, think what an army could do with assassins or spies able to move from one place to another undetected and escape without fear of pursuit.”
“Even if this venture fails,” Julian said slowly, “if those behind it gain the ability to move with such stealth, they might count the money well spent.”
“I would. Especially if I thought the great powers of Europe were about to descend on me.”
“This book is the key, then?” There’d been something about a book in old letters between Jeremy and Cabot Winfield. Was this book connected? Or merely a coincidence? “Without the lore it holds, the plan falls apart?”
When MacGregor nodded, Julian asked, “Do you know where the book is?”
Alasdair shook his head. “I’m tryin’ tae find out. That’s why I’ve no’ been here to talk to ye. There’re rumors that book came from in or near London, but I’ve no’ enough information to scry it. I canna hope to see one book out of many when I dinna ken its looks or title or origins.”
You can grab your copy at your favourite online bookshop by clicking this LINK!
Nancy Northcott
She has written freelance articles and taught at the college level. Her most popular course was on science fiction, fantasy, and society. She has also given presentations on the Wars of the Roses and Richard III to university classes studying Shakespeare’s play about Richard III. Reviewers have described her books as melding fantasy, romance, and suspense. Library Journal gave her debut novel, Renegade, a starred review, calling it “genre fiction at its best.”
In addition to the historical fantasy Boar King’s Honor trilogy, Nancy writes the Light Mage Wars paranormal romances, the Arachnid Files romantic suspense novellas, and the Lethal Webs romantic spy adventures. With Jeanne Adams, she cowrites the Outcast Station science fiction mysteries.
Married since 1987, Nancy and her husband have one son, a bossy dog, and a house full of books.
Social Media Links:
Website • Facebook • Twitter • BookBub • Amazon Author Page • Goodreads.
Tour Schedule
If you would like to follow the tour and check out all the other fabulous blogs taking part then click HERE!
No comments:
Post a Comment