An Epiphany Gift for Robin

By Joyce DiPastena

Arthur and Mariot are among the poorest of the poor serfs in 12th Century England. Some call them chattel, no better than the oxen that plow the baron's fields. While the Yule log roars in the great castle hearth and the baron and his household feast on Christmas goose, Arthur's family shivers in the cold. Serfs are not meant to dream or love, but Arthur dares to do both. Twelve days after Christmas, on the gift giving day of Epiphany, Arthur makes a sacrifice that will change the future of one of his family members forever. An Epiphany Gift for Robin, by award winning medieval author Joyce DiPastena, is a short story that will touch your heart and warm your soul this Christmas season.

 

This is a short prequel story to The Lady and the Minstrel, by Joyce DiPastena. Word length is approximately 2700 words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sable Tyger Books
• Release date: Nov 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781465857064

Joyce DiPastena

Joyce DiPastena dreamed of green medieval forests while growing up in the dusty copper mining town of Kearny, Arizona. She filled her medieval hunger by reading the books of Thomas B. Costain (where she fell in love with King Henry II of England), and later by attending the University of Arizona where she graduated with a degree in history, specializing in the Middle Ages. The university was also where she completed her first full-length novel...set, of course, in medieval England. Later, her fascination with Henry II led her to expand her research horizons to the far reaches of his “Angevin Empire” in France, which became the setting of her first published novel, "Loyalty’s Web" (a 2007 Whitney Award Finalist). When she’s not writing, Joyce loves to read, play the piano, and spend time with her sister and friends. A highlight of her year is attending the annual Arizona Renaissance Festival . Joyce is a multi-published, multi-award winning author who specializes in sweet medieval romances heavily spiced with mystery and adventure. She lives with her two cats, Clio and Glinka Rimsky-Korsokov, in Mesa, Arizona.

Book preview

An Epiphany Gift for RobinTitle page information

Copyright 2011 Joyce DiPastena

1st Edition, ebook – published 2011

2nd Edition, ebook – published 2015

Sable Tyger Books

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Cover art by Lisa A. Messegee

Sable Tyger Books logo by The Write Designer

http://www.thewritedesigner.com

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All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced in print or electronically, other than brief excerpts for the purpose of reviews, without the written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of names, characters, places, and incidents to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

eISBN: 9781465857064

063023

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CONTENTS

An Epiphany Gift for Robin

Thank you for reading

The Lady and the Minstrel

Excerpt

Other works by Joyce DiPastena

About the Author

SUMMARY

Arthur and Mariot are among the poorest of the poor serfs in 12th Century England. Some call them chattel, no better than the oxen that plow the baron’s fields. While the Yule log roars in the great castle hearth and the baron and his household feast on Christmas goose, Arthur’s family shivers in the cold. Serfs are not meant to dream or love, but Arthur dares to do both. Twelve days after Christmas, on the gift giving day of Epiphany, Arthur makes a sacrifice that will change the future of one of his family members forever. An Epiphany Gift for Robin, by award winning medieval author Joyce DiPastena, is a short story that will touch your heart and warm your soul this Christmas season.

Word length approximately 2700 words.

A Village in Wiltshire, England — 12th Century

W hy Arthur, what is this?

Mariot stared down in surprise at the large, thickly wrapped bundle her husband placed in her lap.

The Christmas season was drawing to its close on this, the twelfth day following the nativity of the Lord. The extra rents of eggs, bread and a fine speckled hen they’d been forced to pay to help supply the baron’s Christmas feast had been somewhat offset by Lord Beckford having selected her husband as one of two peasants he traditionally invited to the castle on Christmas day. Arthur, representing