A Rose By Any Other Name

By Joanne Van Leerdam

Sinister hands snatch a newborn child and carry her to a tower where she lives in loneliness. 

Enmity between feuding families results in an elopement that ends in ways that nobody could foresee. 

You think you know these stories... but do you really?

The destinies of these star-crossed teenagers entwine in this tale that reveals the story that Shakespeare and the Brothers Grimm never told. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: WordyNerdBird
• Release date: Jun 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393068440

Joanne Van Leerdam

Joanne Van Leerdam is a poet, blogger, writer, thinker, puzzler, teacher, traveller, photographer and generally nice person. Despite having lived all her life in Australia, she has, thus, far, avoided being killed or consumed by any of the deadly wildlife, which is probably a good thing.  Other than Australia, Canada is her favourite place in the world.  In addition to writing powerful, thought-provoking poetry and short-but-incredibly meaningful stories,  she teaches senior high school English, History and Drama/Production. She is an active member and performer in her local theatre company.   Her poetry is contemporary, sensual, moody and easy to read - and it will get you in the feelings.

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Published by WordyNerdBird for

Joanne Van Leerdam

www.jvlpoet.com

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CHAPTER 1

Expectation lingered heavily in the warm afternoon air. Unwilling to move any more than she had to, Caterina reclined on her sofa, impatient and exhausted at the same time. 

For the love of all that is holy, Maria, my ankles are so swollen! Have you ever seen such ugly, puffy feet? And I am so huge! Surely my time must come soon?

Madame, you are beautiful—glowing and radiant with the expec—

Don't tell me such outrageous lies! Those stories might have worked three months ago... but now, it is beyond impossible to believe.

I apologize, Madame. I only seek to reassure you.

It would be more to the point if you sought something to hurry this child...

My mama always said that raspberry leaf tea was the trick...

Raspberry leaf tea! Where on earth does one find such a thing?

I don't know, madame... I can ask the cook to see if she knows anyone who could help.

Nicolas paused outside the door to his wife's rooms, listening. He knew there were wild raspberries growing in the fields beyond the walls of his estate; perhaps, for the first time in a very long while, he could be the hero who provided his beloved Caterina with the one thing she desired. Nothing else he had done lately could satisfy her: pregnancy had made her impatient and volatile. He wondered if his previously vivacious and charming wife would return to him once their child was born. By heaven, he would do anything he could to that end. 

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∞∞∞

Gnarled fingers gripped the doorframe tightly as she watched him riding slowly, as though searching for something. What does his lordship want now? By the stars, I have precious little left. Is it not enough that his mansion stands on my father's land? And his walls around the trees between which my poor mother is buried? I'll give him something... although ii may not be what he wants. She grinned cynically, a glimpse of yellowed teeth between thin, hateful lips.

Wait. He's dismounting... Fool. There are no raspberries yet; it's still too warm. What kind of cretin... picks raspberry leaves? Oh, now... that is interesting. Very interesting.

Straightening her thin body to her full height, she stepped out into the field, heading straight for the thicket of barren raspberry bushes. 

And what are you going to do with those? she demanded. 

Nico jumped at the sudden intrusion. His thoughts scattered at the sight of Malevolenza.

Wizened and ghastly, she had become even thinner and more horridly gaunt since he had last laid eyes on her more than twenty years ago. She had watched in angry silence as the walls of the estate were built by his father's workmen. Her wailing curses had risen like a fortress of sound outside the completed estate walls continuing for what had seemed an eternity on the night they were finished and the gates locked—the night his father had died. Whether it was fear or some sinister magic that had driven the soul from his beloved papa’s body, Nicolas would never know. The