Silversword (de Lohr Dynasty Book 7)

Note:
All Kathryn’s novels are designed to be read as stand-alones, although many have cross-over characters or cross-over family groups. Novels that are grouped together have related characters or family groups.

Series are clearly marked. All series contain the same characters or family groups except the American Heroes Series, which is an anthology with unrelated characters.

There is NO particular chronological order for any of the novels because they can all be read as stand-alones, even the series.

For more information, find it in
A Reader’s Guide to the Medieval World of Le Veque
.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Kathryn Le Veque Novels

About Kathryn Le Veque

Author’s Note

This book has a lot of things going on in it! Lots of old friends – Bose de Moray, Gallus de Shera, Maximus de Shera, Tiberius de Shera, Davyss de Winter, Daniel de Lohr… I could go on and on. It’s one of those books that hit at the right time, historically, for me to include all of these Le Veque characters. We also meet many new characters, not the least of which is the heroine!

We also meet a new group of knights – men who are called the Guard of Six. They are the private guard for Henry III. Torran de Serreaux is the leader and I am fairly certain that I will do a spin-off series for this group, so keep an eye out for them in months and years to come. This book has quite a bit of politics in it – and the Lords of Thunder figure fairly prominently – so there is a heavy undercurrent subplot with them in it, but most of all, this story is about two people thrown together, unexpectedly, who discover they have feelings for each other.

A few things to note: Newington Priory, where our story begins, actually existed at one point but very little is known about it so I took the liberty of creating a history for it. You’ll recognize names in this book (du Bexley from While Angels Slept, de Russe, du Bois, etc.). Remember in my world, there are no coincidences, so any secondary characters are somehow related to major Le Veque houses.

Let’s also talk a bit about the cathedral that appears in this story. In my research, I learned quite a bit about the cathedrals of Coventry – the one in this story is St. Mary’s Priory, which did exist at the time, but the big one, St. Michael’s, wasn’t built until about a hundred years after this story takes place. That’s the cathedral that the
Luftwaffe
so happily bombed in World War II. Also, much of Coventry hadn’t changed much until the twentieth century when infrastructure and other demands had developers bulldozing down Medieval homes to make way for modern structures (GASP!!). There are interesting stories about Coventry’s lost Medieval structures that you can find on the web.

Bulldozers and cathedrals aside, I hope you enjoy the fact that Chad is different from other Le Veque knights – he’s more apt to let loose, to show emotion, and to profess his opinion. He’s not as straight-laced as some of them. He’s much like his father, Daniel, who was also a bit of a funster, but at the core, he’s a de Lohr, and that makes him a better man than most. At least, I think so. I think you will, too.

Happy Reading!

Kathryn

Many thanks to those that keep me going in this crazy world of publishing – Scott Moreland, Violetta Rand, Suzan Tisdale, Barbara Devlin, Tanya Anne Crosby, and the World of de Wolfe Pack authors, to name a few. What a fantastic network of support we have around us. Truly, much like those in this story, we are blessed with those we love – and are loved in return.

PROLOGUE

August, 1266 A.D.

Newington Priory, Kent

“Y
our father is
dead and those who killed him are now after you.”

A very big knight hissed those words in a deep and throaty tone, the same knight who had broken into the abbey with a company of cohorts who had scared the nuns nearly to death. There were dark dealings these days, with the politics of England bleeding into every aspect of life in the country.

No one was safe from the madness of King Henry after the battle at Evesham that saw Simon de Montfort murdered and his supporters scattered. No one was safe from the king and his sense of vengeance against those who stood with Simon, not even a novice nun whose family had sided with Simon against Henry’s particular brand of royal incompetence. Therefore, when the knight muttered those horrible words, the young woman’s heart leapt into her throat. No more than sixteen or seventeen years of age, her terror was evident.

“What do you mean?” she gasped. “What has happened to my father?”

The knight snatched her by the wrist and began dragging her behind him. He didn’t seem inclined to answer her but he did seem intent on yanking her arm out of its socket as he towed her behind him like an unwilling barge.

They were quickly surrounded by the men he’d brought with him, men in well-used armor with weapons secured upon their body that were still caked with blood from recent battles. Not literally, of course, because poorly maintained weapons were more of a hindrance than a help, but the men who now closed ranks around them were men who smelled of death.

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