Medieval romance is a way to break from reality for a while and vacation in another time and place... Anna del C. Dye does a superb job of taking us away from our modern life in her new medieval romance called:
Once Upon Two Kingdoms Check out Anna del C. Dye's newest book:
Genre: Young Adult Medieval Romance
Page count: 240 pages
Here is the low down:
Freedom to Choose is Paramount for any human.
An arrangement made when
Elizabeth was just a babe ties her to someone she has never met, never
spoken to, never loved. Now she desires freedom—a way to choose her own
path—her own husband. The moment Elizabeth meets Patrick she knows he is
her soul mate. But when you are bound to a crown how is any choice your
own?
Anna del C. Dye:
Anna received the Editor’s Choice Award from the International Library of Poetry and had her article entitled A New American Mother published by Desert Saints Magazine. Her short story entitled Amerine—Fairy Princess
won an award in a League of Utah Writers contest later to be published
by Kalkion Magazine. (Now it has been published as an e-book.) Other
articles about family and relationship have been published frequently in
the MOMS CLUBÒ of Salt Lake Valley-West. She has published 7 books on
her Elf series. Her and Rodney’s love story was published by Deseret
book in the anthology entitled Angels Round About compiled by July C. Olsen. Another of her articles was included in the Anthology Mother’s Message in a Bottle, edited by Tyler Hayden and published by Nimbus Publishing.
She and her husband have four children. Three princes and a princess and live in Taylorsville, Utah.
A blurb from the book:
“People
should be free to choose, once they are old enough to know what they
want, and can take responsibility for their choices,” I whispered,
watching you, my little baby, asleep so peaceful in contrast to the rage
that brewed in me.
“How
could your father condemn you this way while forcing me to stand by,
unable to do anything but despair? I know he felt wretched. That
doesn’t help the pain in my soul.
“I begged him on my knees, but it was no
use. Your path in life was sealed and no human could break it asunder.
All I could do was leave the sad scene, crying miserably with you in my
arms.
“Still,
I am not alone in my misery. Before they left, she murmured that she
wanted something different, but it was too late. She was as devastated
as I.
“I … could hardly bear the burden put on my shoulders by them. Oh,
Elizabeth, I tried my child, I tried to protect you and I have failed
you…”
A really big chunk from her book....
As evening came, some of the guards who had gone in search of a place to camp returned.
“Follow us, Sire, we found the perfect place yonder.”
The caravan of dusty travelers advanced to a nearby meadow carpeted with tall grass.
“Look at the view, Father.” Elizabeth inhaled deeply. “Mmmmm, and the smell of the spring flowers from the hill is glorious.”
With the help of a guard, Elizabeth dismounted from her horse to place her dainty feet on the soft grass.
“Yes, quite picturesque,” assented Elenor. “Their perfume and the fresh pine bathe my senses.”
“This
is a good place to stop for the night.” Nummer’s eyes roamed over the
terrain. “Careful with that tent!” the king hollered at his servants
when they almost dropped the royal chamber. “Spring nights can be quite
cold and I need my sleep,” the monarch grumbled.
“After you secure the horses in that clump of trees, spread out to gather firewood,” the captain in charge commanded.
“Elizabeth, come,” her mother called. “We shall walk for a bit.”
“That is a great idea, My Queen.” Nummer took his wife’s hand in his.
“I also need to stretch my legs,” the princess said.
They left the servants busy with their work.
“Someday
your upbringing will help you be the queen you were born to be,
Elizabeth,” her mother started. “You will marry and all you have learned
will be of use to you then.”
“I can’t wait to fall in love,” she twirled about dreamily.
Her father felt a tremendous pain in his
heart at her comment. By now, he too wished he didn’t have to tell her
about the arrangement.
“I am sorry, Elizabeth.” It was her mother who made the comment.
Nummer sent a thankful sideways glance at his queen. “Yes, I suppose that now is as good as anytime to tell her,” he nodded.
“Tell me what, Father?”
Bent over, picking some flowers from the side of the hill, the princess suspected nothing.
“That is something that only happens in fairytales, darling,” Elenor responded.
“What happens in fairytales, Mother?”
The girl, absentmindedly stopped and sat on a rock to pay attention.
“Falling in love, dear,” her mother
clarified unsteadily. She put her hand on her daughter’s shoulder, and
tremors came so markedly that she withdrew it before they could reach
her daughter. “In real life, love is not found often, Elizabeth,
especially when you are of royal birth.”
“I am not sure I understand, Mother,” she said.
“As
a princess, you have a great duty to your people, Elizabeth,” her
father took over when he saw his wife struggle. “You will choose to
marry the one who will give your kingdom security and peace.”
“What do you mean, Father?” Elizabeth looked at him so intensely that it made his heart ache.
“You will have to marry for the good of
your subjects,” he explained. Somehow, his heart ripped in two. “What I
mean is that our kingdom is small. That has been a threat to us for many
years. All of the other kingdoms want to conquer us and add us to their
domain. We have lost many good men defending our kingdom from such.”
“What does that have to do with falling in love, Father?”
“That
the day you were born, King Fernand Devereux and I made a pact that you
and his son will be married, after you turn eighteen years old.”
“I do not think that I want to understand your words, Father. Mainly because it is too horrible to be true.”
“Elizabeth, sweetie…” the monarch tried again.
“If I understand you well,” she cut him off, “you gave my life away when I was just a few days old?”
“Elizabeth, you do not understand.” He glanced at his wife for help.
“I understand quite well,” she stood up to come closer. “How could you?”
“No sweetie, you see…”
“What I see is that you have condemned me
to a life without love. … Didn’t you even care to ask me first?”
Elizabeth’s tears fell over her pink cheeks, but it was the hurt in her
eyes that burned in his soul.
“Elizabeth,” her mother also tried to
explain, yet had to bury her eyes in her hand and couldn’t continue,
choked by her own sobs.
“And I am supposed to be happy, just because it is for the sake of our kingdom?”
“Elizabeth, I don’t understand your
behavior. This is for your own protection,” the king tried to reason.
‘She was supposed to easily comply with the situation, wasn’t she?’ he
thought. “When I am gone, both kingdoms will become one. No one will try
to take the kingdom away from you.”
“Don’t you even trust that I could defend our land from our enemies, Father?”
She had a good point there, but he mustn’t agree with her.
“It is not that, dear. It is the thought of leaving you in danger of war.”
“I
see. You have it all figured out, haven’t you? You decided that I could
not rule our people, nor defend them. So you gave my people and me away
to the Prince of Trebolett.”
“Elizabeth,” her mother murmured once again but could not continue.
“I don’t care for your company any longer,” she shouted at her father. “I want to be alone.”
She hurried back to her horse, flung herself into the saddle and ran, heedless of where she went.
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