Aflame in Camelot

By Maria-Claire Payne

Will the Lady Adelaide be consumed when dark intrigues threaten to set Arthur's Camelot aflame—or will the commoner whose heart Addie ensnares turn out to be her knight in shining armour, after all?

Making his way to Camelot with his two closest friends in the stifling heat to participate in a weeks—long Midsummer celebration, the talented blacksmith Bryce and his companions hope to win a place at King Arthur's court by demonstrating Bryce's expertise at the anvil even as the King's knights demonstrate their skills in the scheduled tourneys. Along the way, a decidedly unscheduled chance encounter between Bryce and a sultry water nymph, however, puts his feet on another path altogether—and that road curves more sharply when Bryce learns that his chance encounter was not chance at all—and his water nymph no magical sprite but a Lady in Queen Guinevere's court.

When the innocent Lady Adelaide turns to the Old Religion in a desperate attempt to ensure she will conceive a child this sultry Midsummer Day, she is unaware of the malevolent forces at work in Camelot that oppose her. A pawn in King Arthur's bastard son's vile and increasingly bold plans to discredit the Queen and undermine the King's own justice, a betrothed noblewoman caught in an impossible love affair with a common blacksmith, will Adelaide be consumed by the very flames she unwittingly helps fan, caught in a twisted web of distrust, dishonour and betrayal by those to whom she swears her fealty—or will the commoner whose heart she ensnares turn out to be her knight in shining armour, after all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing
• Release date: Jul 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781781840443

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A Total-E-Bound Publication

www.total-e-bound.com

Aflame in Camelot

ISBN 978-1-78184-044-3

©Copyright Maria-Claire Payne 2012

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright July 2012

Edited by Sue Meadows

Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have aserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2012 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.

Warning:

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Total-e- burning and a sexometer of 2.

This story contains 60 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book containing 9 pages.

Bodices and Boudoirs

AFLAME IN CAMELOT

Maria-Claire Payne

Will the Lady Adelaide be consumed when dark intrigues threaten to set Arthur’s Camelot aflame—or will the commoner whose heart Addie ensnares turn out to be her knight in shining armour, after all?

Making his way to Camelot with his two closest friends in the stifling heat to participate in a week’s long Midsummer celebration, the talented blacksmith Bryce and his companions hope to win a place at King Arthur’s court by demonstrating Bryce’s expertise at the anvil, even as the King’s knights demonstrate their skills in the scheduled tourneys. Along the way, a decidedly unscheduled chance encounter between Bryce and a sultry water nymph, however, puts his feet on another path altogether—and that road curves more sharply when Bryce learns that his chance encounter was not chance at all and that his water nymph is no magical sprite but a lady in Queen Guinevere’s court.

When the innocent Lady Adelaide turns to the Old Religion in a desperate attempt to ensure she will conceive a child this sultry Midsummer Day, she is unaware of the malevolent forces at work in Camelot that oppose her. A pawn in King Arthur’s bastard son’s vile and increasingly bold plans to discredit the Queen and undermine the King’s own justice, a betrothed noblewoman caught in an impossible love affair with a common blacksmith, will Adelaide be consumed by the very flames she unwittingly helps to fan, caught in a twisted web of distrust, dishonour and betrayal by those to whom she swears her fealty—or will the commoner whose heart she ensnares turn out to be her knight in shining armour, after all?

Dedication

For T.

For whom chivalry burns eternal

And the tie still binds.

Chapter One

I suggest we spend one more night in the comfort of these woods. We’ll melt before we arrive at our final destination in this heat. Thomas removed his shirt, his rotund belly popping over the rope holding up his coarse woollen pants.

Eying his friend’s portly silhouette, Edward followed suit, attempting to mop the moisture from his brow with his sweat-soaked tunic, patting his own trim waist. Edward picked up a thin, long branch fallen from the canopy of trees that offered some respite from the relentless heat of the Midsummer sun. Laughing, he assumed a defensive position, wielding the dry branch as a sword, poking at Thomas’ rolls, tossing an empty gourd towards his long-suffering companion.

Ah, then, Thomas, if you do melt in this infernal heat, perhaps we could use some of that surplus lard to cook Bryce’s catch. This drought makes the local game even stringier and tougher than usual.

Bryce smiled, watching Thomas use his corpulence to his advantage as he knocked Edward’s slim body to the ground, the two wrestling good-naturedly, forgetting the god-awful heat for a few moments. We have no leave to hunt in the King’s forest. Tonight we eat fish, if the sun has not addled my skills with my spear.

Once again he is on about his skills with his ‘spear’, Edward. Thomas stood up, yanking Edward to his feet, the knowing glance between the two men signalling to Bryce that his friends intended to join forces and tackle him instead.

Listen! I hear a waterfall nearby. Bryce removed his own shirt, chuckling as Thomas looked him up and down, then away again, wincing, palming his rolls in a self-conscious gesture while Edward frowned and grimaced at his own flat but ill-defined musculature. Enjoying his friends’ baleful looks, Bryce further invoked their wrath with a deliberate flex of his biceps. Fashioning swords for kings and knights left little room for soft tissues to flourish. Adolescent roundness had burned away as he had laboured for long years amidst the fires of his grandfather’s forge—and now his own.

Dodging the gourd Thomas threw at his head, Bryce grabbed his crotch. Aye, lads, the spear grows in true proportion to the rest of the man. He let his thoughts dwell on the near close of their five-day trek, a journey he trusted to end with a full belly, much drink, a roof, and a bed—and a willing maid to share the latter—when they finally entered the gates of the castle looming ahead.

If that’s true, then Thomas’s spear spreads enormous in width while mine grows immeasurably long, Edward quipped. Enough, surely, to please any maiden—and frighten more than a few.

Bryce guffawed. Yes, your two cocks together probably measure the same as mine does.

Deflecting another hollowed gourd with the shirt he held in one hand, Bryce turned with a wave of his other. He headed down a path he recollected from a journey made many years past. If memory served, then this path led to one of many small lakes dotting the land surrounding Arthur’s stronghold. Expect me at the waterfall with dinner.

Edward managed, as usual, to get the last word in. Ah, yes. We shall dine on the fruits of your hard labours and, after you fill our bellies, we will expect you to entertain us one more time with tales of your prowess with your spear to while away this hot summer night.

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