I didn’t realize just how much I didn’t
know when I first started writing my medieval romance Siege of the Heart.
I came at it in a roundabout way: the origins of the book were distinctly
fantasy but I found the worldbuilding too overwhelming. Better to fit my story
events into a historical time period—a readymade framework to build my book
around.
My heroine Isabel was no damsel in
distress, my hero definitely a knight, and I wanted a period in history full of
drama and upheaval. I settled on the Norman Conquest of England.
I found researching the time period
particularly difficult because of its transitional nature. I focused my efforts
on the late Anglo-Saxons and the post-Conquest era, and often had to make
inferences on what happened in between. To compound things, since history is
often rewritten by the victor, it was sometimes difficult to take the accounts
of the Norman Conquest at face value. I’m a history enthusiast, not a trained
historian, so I often found myself swamped by facts, but unable to find the
ones I needed to serve the story.
In some cases, I just needed to do some
more digging. But in others, I came to realize the information I was looking
for simply didn’t exist. At first, those gaps in my research scared me. How
could I write about something I did not definitively “know”? But at some point
along the way, I stopped seeing the gaps as obstacles and started seeing
them as opportunities to make my story as uniquely mine as possible.
That’s why I’ve come to love the medieval
time period so much. Despite the difficulty in researching this part of
history—with so much of the historical record lost to the passage of time or
skewed to certain subsets of society—writers have a lot of latitude in bringing
their stories to life by navigating that line between historical fact and
fiction. At the Romantic Times convention this year, author Sarah Zettel said
(paraphrasing) it’s the constraints that make writing fun. She
was talking about the science in science fiction, but the history in historical
romance works the same way.
Writing Siege of the Heart, I
learned a tremendous amount, about the time period and about myself. I hope
everyone enjoys the manner in which I was able to bring the historical setting
and my characters to life.
About Siege of the Heart:
He fought for king and country, but that
battle was nothing compared to the one he’ll wage for a woman’s heart.
Still reeling from the news of her father’s death during the Norman Conquest,
Isabel Dumont is unprepared when trouble arrives at the castle gates. Alexandre
d’Évreux, a Norman knight with close ties to England’s new king, has arrived to
secure the land and the loyalties of the Dumont family. Desperate to protect
her people, Isabel strives to keep the confounding knight at arm’s length and
hide the truth about her father’s death.
For Alexandre, the spoils of war come with more than just a generous gift of
land. They come with Isabel Dumont. Vowing to marry only for love, Alexandre
finds himself in a difficult situation as a conqueror granted dominion over the
land and its people. Isabel is the one person capable of helping him win the
regard of those living in the war-torn country…if he chooses to accept her.
Just when Alexandre finds a spark of hope that he and Isabel have a chance at
love, she vanishes. His quest to find her plunges him deeper into the
conquest’s fallout. Was she taken? Or did she leave?
CONTENT WARNING: Entering into this novel may cause extreme affection toward
knights of old, admiration for strong-willed women, and the overwhelming belief
that love really can conquer all.
EXCERPT:
December 1066
Northern Gloucestershire, England
At least she now knew the truth.
It was little comfort though, as
Isabel Dumont watched the messenger ride out of the bailey. She let out a
breath, a feathery cloud on the cold air. The messenger had declined her offer
of hospitality, and she did not ask him to reconsider. Instead, she had seen to
it his horse was watered and had pressed a gold piece into his palm to ensure
his silence.
Snow had threatened all morning.
Now it fell around her in fat flakes, but she did not move. She did not think
she could. Her limbs felt heavy, almost waterlogged. Like the time Julien had
knocked her headfirst into the river in a moment’s foolishness. And then pulled
her back to shore.
That had been ages ago. Her
brother’s message now had the same effect, leaving her winded and frozen in
place.
Captain Thomas, who handled the
training of Father’s men-at-arms, stamped his feet beside her. “My lady, if you
wish it, I will make the announcement—”
“No!” The word ripped through
her chest and rang in her ears. “No. You will say nothing. To anyone.”
His eyes widened. “But this
cannot be kept secret.”
His disapproving tone cut
through the numbness that suddenly filled her. She twisted away from him and
looked out past the gates. The graying countryside swallowed all sign of the
messenger. If only his words were as easy to erase.
“Your father—” Captain Thomas
began.
She balled her hands into fists.
“Do not say it,” she whispered.
Captain Thomas shook his head.
“I must. Your father is not coming home. I know it was not the news you hoped
for, but Julien’s message…”
He lifted a hand toward her
shoulder, and she gave him a sharp look. He stopped mid-motion, his fingers
dangling awkwardly, before resting his hand on his belt. She turned on her
heel.
Captain Thomas hastened after
her. “Wait!”
She wrapped her woolen mantle
more securely around herself. She would not discuss it further. She could not.
Not when she could scarcely think.
“My lady, please—”
She slipped her hand to the hilt
of her sword—one of her father’s cast-offs—and the brush of the leather-wrapped
handle against her palm made it easier to rein in her breathing. “You said
there were reports of the Welsh attacking tenant farms to the west?”
“Yes. I was going to have
Kendrick and some of the other men scout the area, but—”
“Good. I will join them. Tell
the men to make ready.”
Captain Thomas’s mouth
tightened. For a moment she thought he would disobey her, but he slowly turned
toward the castle to do as she bade. Lord Bernard Dumont, thane to the king,
had fallen. Now it fell to her to ensure the safety of the Dumont lands.
Captain Thomas, of all people, should know what that meant.
About Elise Cyr:
Elise has always loved adventure, romance,
and happy endings. She writes primarily in the medieval period. Because there’s
still so much we don’t know about that time in history, the writer’s
imagination is essential for fleshing out the research and making it come to
life on the page. Plus swords and castles are just plain fun.
She lives in New Mexico with her husband
and the sweetest dog ever. When she’s not writing, she hikes, bikes, cooks, and
(of course) reads. Siege
of the Heart is her debut medieval romance. You can follow her on Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, or check out her blog.
