HIGH WARRIOR
A Medieval Romance
By Kathryn Le Veque
Reign of de Winter Series
High Warriors of MacRohan Series
© Copyright 2018 by Kathryn Le Veque Novels, Inc.
Kindle Edition
Text by Kathryn Le Veque
Cover by Kim Killion
Reproduction of any kind except where it pertains to short quotes in relation to advertising or promotion is strictly prohibited.
All Rights Reserved.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
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Kathryn Le Veque Novels
Medieval Romance:
The de Russe Legacy:
The White Lord of Wellesbourne
The Dark One: Dark Knight
Beast
Lord of War: Black Angel
The Iron Knight
The de Lohr Dynasty:
While Angels Slept (Lords of East Anglia)
Godspeed (Lords of East Anglia)
Rise of the Defender
Steelheart
Spectre of the Sword
Archangel
Unending Love
Shadowmoor
Silversword
Great Lords of le Bec:
Great Protector
To the Lady Born (House of de Royans)
Lord of Winter (Lords of de Royans)
Lords of Eire:
The Darkland (Master Knights of Connaught)
Black Sword
Echoes of Ancient Dreams (time travel)
De Wolfe Pack Series:
The Wolfe
Serpent
Scorpion (Saxon Lords of Hage – Also related to The Questing)
The Lion of the North
Walls of Babylon
Dark Destroyer
Nighthawk
Warwolfe
ShadowWolfe
DarkWolfe
A Joyous de Wolfe Christmas
Ancient Kings of Anglecynn:
The Whispering Night
Netherworld
Battle Lords of de Velt:
The Dark Lord
Devil’s Dominion
Reign of the House of de Winter:
Lespada
Swords and Shields (also related to The Questing, While Angels Slept)
De Reyne Domination:
Guardian of Darkness
The Fallen One (part of Dragonblade Series)
With Dreams Only of You
House of d’Vant:
Tender is the Knight (House of d’Vant)
The Red Fury (House of d’Vant)
The Dragonblade Series: (Great Marcher Lords of de Lara)
Dragonblade
Island of Glass (House of St. Hever)
The Savage Curtain (Lords of Pembury)
The Fallen One (De Reyne Domination)
Fragments of Grace (House of St. Hever)
Lord of the Shadows
Queen of Lost Stars (House of St. Hever)
Lords of Thunder: The de Shera Brotherhood Trilogy
The Thunder Lord
The Thunder Warrior
The Thunder Knight
The Great Knights of de Moray:
Shield of Kronos
The Gorgon
Highland Warriors of Munro:
The Red Lion
Deep Into Darkness
The House of Ashbourne:
Upon a Midnight Dream
The House of D’Aurilliac:
Valiant Chaos
The House of De Nerra:
The Falls of Erith
Vestiges of Valor
Realm of Angels
The House of De Dere:
Of Love and Legend
St. John and de Gare Clans:
The Warrior Poet
The House of de Garr:
Lord of Light
Realm of Angels
The House of de Bretagne:
The Questing (also related to Swords and Shields)
The House of Summerlin:
The Legend
The Kingdom of Hendocia:
Kingdom by the Sea
Time Travel Romance: (Saxon Lords of Hage)
The Crusader
Kingdom Come
Contemporary Romance:
Kathlyn Trent/Marcus Burton Series:
Valley of the Shadow
The Eden Factor
Canyon of the Sphinx
The American Heroes Series:
The Lucius Robe
Fires of Autumn
Evenshade
Sea of Dreams
Purgatory
Other Contemporary Romance:
Lady of Heaven
Darkling, I Listen
In the Dreaming Hour
Sons of Poseidon:
The Immortal Sea
Pirates of Britannia Series (with Eliza Knight):
Savage of the Sea by Eliza Knight
Leader of Titans by Kathryn Le Veque
The Sea Devil by Eliza Knight
Sea Wolfe by Kathryn Le Veque
Kindle Worlds (Kathryn Le Veque World of de Wolfe Pack):
River’s End
The Wedding Fountain (Bella Andre’s Kindle World)
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
Copyright Page
Kathryn Le Veque Novels
Author’s Note
Families
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
About Kathryn Le Veque
Author’s Note
Welcome to Bric MacRohan’s tale, and what a tale it is!
Bric, as we’ll see in these pages, is a big Irish knight who is both an invinci
ble and flawed man. There is no one tougher than he is and no one as fearless or fearsome. I’ve written about a lot of fearsome knights – in fact, all of my heroes are quite fearsome in their own right – but Bric has something special about him that just makes him extraordinarily bad-ass. But when men who have that intense command-and-control personality fall, they fall hard because they have no experience otherwise.
What Bric suffers from, as you will see, is essentially a mild form of PTSD. There are severe forms that affect modern soldiers, but battle fatigue and PTSD have been affecting warriors as long as there have been battles. It was only until modern times that we really came to understand what it was (it was actually diagnosed back in the Regency period), but before that, no one really understood it and considered it cowardice.
It’s interesting to note that a 14th century knight named Geoffroi de Charny wrote about the mental instability of knights who have suffered much in battle. But in my research, a Medievalist familiar with de Charny’s work made a distinct point between Medieval warriors and today’s modern soldier – Medieval knights were born into the warrior life, and modern-day soldiers aren’t.
From a very early age, medieval knights were trained as warriors and saw brutality that few did. Therefore, warring was, literally, the only life they knew, so mental fatigue and all that came about differently for them. They’d never known a “civilian” life, only to be thrust into the brutalities of war like today’s modern soldier is. So, it’s a completely different kind of “battle fatigue” when it comes to the medieval knight and a different mindset for those who observed it.
The House of de Winter features heavily in this book because Bric is the captain of the guard, so I should explain the family tree because he is also related to them – my novel Lespada is the main de Winter story. So if you haven’t read it, you should. But a little about the de Winter family – Daveigh (pronounced Day-vee) de Winter is head of the House of de Winter at this point. His father, Davyss de Winter the First, is the great-grandson of Denis de Winter (WARWOLFE), descendant of the Visigoths.
Now, here’s where it becomes a little complicated – Daveigh is Davyss’ eldest son from his first wife. When the first wife passed away, Davyss the First married again and his second wife gave birth to Grayson, who is Davyss de Winter the Second’s father. Daveigh married an Irish woman, and that is how Bric came to serve the House of de Winter – as part of her dowry – but Daveigh and his wife never had any children, which is how Davyss II ended up with the de Winter sword, Lespada. The eldest de Winter male always carries that sword, and Davyss the Second was the next in line after Daveigh passed on.
Because Davyss the First married a bastard daughter of the Earl of Norfolk, he was given a title upon his marriage – something Hugh Bigod, the earl, had to petition the king for (because barons can only be given lands and titles from the king). A donation to Henry (then-king), and Bigod’s bastard daughter received the title of Baroness Cressingham, a title that Hugh de Winter inherited when he married her, becoming Baron Cressingham.
All of these titles were passed down from Daveigh to Grayson (who married Katharine, sister of the Earl of Surrey and Simon de Montfort’s lover at the time), and then on to Davyss the Second as the eldest de Winter male. Davyss the Second isn’t born until about fourteen years after our story takes place, but it’s important to understand where the de Winters fit into the politics of England at this time – they are an extremely important war machine with relations to the Earldom of Norfolk. Kind of like Norfolk’s attack dog. And our hero, Bric, is the teeth of that attack dog.
He is the Ard Trodaí – the High Warrior.
Since this tale is quite complex (as far as family relations go), there are charts attached, something I don’t normally do. But in this case, it was important. Make sure to read them and their notes – it will help clarify the backstory, and how Bric came to serve the House of de Winter, so you can understand how everyone is related.
But lastly, let’s not forget about our lady of this tale, the lovely Eiselle (pronounced ee-ZELL). You can see on the family tree how she is related to Dashiell, and the house of du Reims. She’s a little lost at the beginning of this book, but she quickly finds her place, and when Bric falls for her, he falls hard. I love how she came to be his rock, the man who was always the rock for others. These two make quite the passionate and bold pair.
Lots going on in this book, so hold on tight, expect a surprise appearance of a former Le Veque hero (Sean de Lara from Lord of the Shadows plays a key role in the end), and enjoy the ride!
Hugs,
Kathryn
“Greater love hath no man than he lay down his life for his friends…”
John 13:15
PROLOGUE
20 May, Year of Our Lord 1217
City of Lincoln
In the dead of night, they moved.
Thousands of men were skirting the great medieval walls of the city of Lincoln, one of the largest and most strategically important cities in all of England. It was held by the rebels against King John, a man who had died seven months earlier.
But the rebels were stubborn. They were fewer in number now, since many had defected to support the new king, nine-year-old Henry, because the church had declared its support for the lad. The pope had gone so far as to say that anyone opposing young Henry was now upon a religious crusade to destroy the church itself, which greatly swung many of the rebel warlords into Henry’s fold. No one wanted to be accused of crusading against the church.
Opposing the king was one thing. Opposing God was quite another.
But there were those who had been swayed for other reasons, not necessarily a threat from the pope. The great houses of de Lohr, de Vaston, Burton, Forbes, de Royans, and de Winter returned their support to the crown because it was the right thing to do. The young king had good advisors around him, including the stalwart William Marshal, and it was Marshal who had eventually coerced the great warlords back to their support of the crown.
These were houses that had always supported the crown, and their turn against John had been a difficult decision. The return to Henry, and the hope of a new king, had not been. The decision had been relatively simple.
A united king meant a united kingdom.
But there were some holdouts that still felt Henry would simply be carrying on his father’s legacy. It was those stray rebels that were still holding a few cities for the French prince, Louis. And now that Henry was upon the throne, the great warlords who had returned to Henry’s support determined it was time to remove the French and the rebels, once and for all.
Lincoln was the first target.
Therefore, in stealth, they moved on a clear night, so clear and bright that the blanket of stars in the sky looked as if they’d been smeared across the heavens. The stars were blending into each other, creating a band of light. An army of thousands marched on Lincoln, staying well out of sight until dawn, when a smaller and heavily-armed group left the main encampment and made their way to the city walls. Payment in gold coins to the rebel sentries on the western gate meant they had entry into the city.
After that, it was chaos.
As the sun rose over the dew-kissed fields surrounding the berg of Lincoln, William Marshall sent battle-seasoned knights in through the western gate, each man leading a crack squad of soldiers. Men like Christopher and David de Lohr went in first, leading their experienced squads as they headed to the north side of the city to clean out the rebels who were in charge of the northern gate.
Other groups led by Gart Forbes, Marcus Burton, and other experienced knights headed straight into the middle of the city to claim the cathedral. The castle, being held by the rebels, would be their last target in the center of the city. They would have to secure the city before they could reclaim the castle.
The south side of the city was the most heavily occupied by the rebels, and a group of men led by Dashiell du Reims, captain to the Duke of Savernake, and the duke himself, Be
ntley de Vaston, made their way with extreme stealth along the great wall of the city as they headed towards the south gate. Another very heavily-armed group led by Bric MacRohan and Daveigh de Winter, from the respected de Winter family, headed into the heart of the south end of the city to drive the rebels to Savernake so they could crush their enemy between them.
Bric was a man on the move. He had about twenty heavily-armed men with him, while his liege had taken thirty. Fifty of the best men the House of de Winter could provide from their army that numbered in the thousands, encamped about ten miles away with the rest of the loyalist armies. They knew they couldn’t breach the city with a massive collective army, for that would only make the people respond with great rebellion. A stealth incursion had been the way to go, catching them off guard and, so far, it had worked.
Catching the rebels unaware was key.
Sneaking up a dark alley that smelled heavily of urine, Bric could see sentries on the main avenue, watching for any signs of trouble. Sheathing his broadsword, Bric kissed the talisman he always kept around his neck for good fortune. Made from steel and in the shape of a cross, it contained Latin words etched into the metal, words that Bric repeated nearly every time he went into battle. They were words that had kept him alive, all this time. He believed in those words, and they had never failed him.
A maiorem caritatum nemo habet.
It was a passage from the bible: A man hath no greater love. It was the beginning of a verse that Bric had always kept close to him, something an old Irish warrior had told him when he’d been young. Keep the word of God with ye, lad, and ye’ll always find yer way home.
And he tried to do just that even though religion had never held much interest for him. Still, the complete verse was from the Book of John. A man hath no greater love than he lay down his life for his friends.
It was Bric’s magic spell against death, and he believed it implicitly.
He believed it even now as he and another knight, his good and close friend Pearce de Dere, snuck up behind the two sentries and slit their throats before they could scream, dragging them back into the alley for a couple of the de Winter soldiers to stow the bodies while the majority of the squad continued.