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Group Story: Bride

A member-written collaborative effort. Feel free to join in and see where it goes!
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Kveto from Prague
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Post by Kveto from Prague » Sun August 23rd, 2009, 10:51 am

He had joined the military to forget the pain. the pain from so long ago. the pain that his new wife....

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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Sun August 23rd, 2009, 5:01 pm

had reawakened when she let slip on their wedding night that she was not, in fact, the true daughter of Lord Featherstone, but an orphaned distant relation he had taken in as a baby, out of pity. She had never expected to inherit his wealth, as he had four sons and two other daughters by his late wife - but after the wars had taken all of his sons and the cholera had taken his daughters, leaving her strangely untouched, she found herself an heiress. Her true name, in fact, was not Alicia Featherstone, but Amelia Dunworthy. And it was the Dunworthy family ...
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Mon August 24th, 2009, 7:35 pm

who had taken from him everything that he held dear. His family was destroyed, disgraced. There had been nothing for him to do. The king would not hear his petitions on such scanty evidence as he had. And yet he knew that there was no truth to the accusations that his father had...

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Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Tue August 25th, 2009, 6:49 am

stolen Admiral Nelson's battle plans before Trafalgar with the design of passing them to the French and then committed suicide following the victory. Indeed, he had not long ago discovered that his father was still alive, having taken holy orders as a monk in the ancient Benedictine Abbey of Tihany in Hungary.

Meanwhile, Brother Amalric struggled with his conscience as the priest called for any who might know of a reason why Alicia Featherstone and Roderic Fitzgerald should not be wed. But there might, he thought, be a sin worse than keeping silent as a woman vowed love, honor and obedience to a second husband while her first was yet living.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Thu August 27th, 2009, 8:32 pm

Indeed, there were worse sins, such as those in Brother Amalric's own past. But he preferred not to think of his time in Hungary. He was a changed man now, was he not? If only he could escape the nightmares that plagued him. But it was daylight now and he was safe for a few hours more. Back to the wedding.

He began to ask the groom to pledge his vows, and thunder rumbled overhead. Just as Roderic would have spoken the words that would bind him to Alicia...

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Margaret
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Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Fri August 28th, 2009, 12:26 am

a bolt of lightning struck the ancient oak tree that had grown outside the church from the time it was first built. The bride's mother screamed, the priest dropped his book, and the bride clutched Roderic's arm as a great branch crashed through the church window, scattering colored glass through the church.

"These two may not be wed," Brother Amalric cried, shuddering at the omen.

Roderic and Amalia turned to stare at him.

"If you know something," the priest said, "speak."

Clearing his throat, Brother Amalric brushed a smear of blood from his cheek where a shard of glass had struck him.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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Kveto from Prague
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Post by Kveto from Prague » Sun August 30th, 2009, 10:39 am

Looking down, Brother Almalric noticed a larger piece of glass that had pierced his brestbone. When that realization hit him, he colapsed to the floor. The bride screamed. The priest craddled Almaric§s head, as he expressed his final words, betwixt bloody lips.

Only the priest could hear as he whispered, "Rosebud...."

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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Wed September 9th, 2009, 6:14 pm

"...forgive...me."

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Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Thu September 10th, 2009, 4:46 am

The bride paled and clutched at Roderic's arm. "It's not true," she said wildly.

The priest left his post at the altar and knelt beside Brother Amalric. "Speak, Brother. You must tell what you know." But the light had already gone out of the friar's eyes.

"You must wed us, Father," Roderic said firmly. "The banns have been cried and all is in order. Neither Alicia nor I know of any reason why we should not be wed. Do we, my darling?" The look he gave her was singularly unadoring, but she seemed not to notice.

"No, Roderic. There is no reason."

"Father?"

The priest signed a cross over Brother Amalric's body, gave murmured instructions to the nearest wedding guest to fetch his assistant with the sacred oil necessary to give unction his soul, and returned to the altar. The marriage proceeded in haste, as though he feared to be interrupted again.

As Roderic steered his bride past Brother Amalric's body and out of the chapel, his hand closed painfully about her arm. He spoke into her ear. "Who is Rosebud?"

Her heart fluttered. Brother Amalric had looked strangely familiar to her, and she wished Roderic had let her pause to gaze on his body one last time. Perhaps she might have puzzled it out. She bent her head, afraid of what she might see in Roderic's eyes. "My old nursemaid used to call me Rosebud."
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Sun September 27th, 2009, 5:09 pm

"I don't understand." Roderic's puckered brow attested to his puzzlement. "Was your nursemaid a monk?"

"No, of course not! At least I don't think she was." She couldn't have been. "Though she did speak of a brother. They were separated as children."

Roderic scowled. Was that deceased friar speaking to Alicia, or a long lost sister turned nursemaid? And what could this mean for his future. Nothing to worry about, he reassured himself. The wedding ceremony was over. By morning, Alicia's fortune would be his and no one could take it from him. Then he would set his plan into motion.

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