New Cover Reveal - In the Pureblood's Arms

Fall is upon us, and it came up on us way too fast! I am a summer baby, literally born on the solstice, so I like the warm and balmy days, although I'll confess to a strong loathing of 90% humidity!

Though I am a little sad to see summer end, I am very happy to share some updates, specifically, the cover reveal for In the Pureblood's Arms, Book 4 in The Magiste Chronicles. I am very excited to relaunch this book – with some extensive rewrites and a fresh new title, it is now what I had imagined when these characters first started talking to me.

Chantal and Henri's story is more than simply the fourth book in the series, or the first of the Magiste Founders tales. This book holds a special place in my heart, because it’s the first to combine my two favorite genres – historical and paranormal. It's a tricky balance – while I can make up the paranormal aspects when I world-build, I can fudge with the historical facts only so much. Merging those pieces together while building a love story made this one of the books I had the most fun writing, and one of the very few I wrote straight through from end to end without another project running alongside it.

Another tricky aspect to this book is the villain, or should I say villains. For while there is one specific person who can be named as a villain, there is a broader scope to the bad guys in this book. The backdrop of the story is one of the Papal Inquisitions, specifically under the control and expansion by Louis IX, King of France. Louis was a very devout Catholic and is the only French king to be canonized for his efforts in working with the Church during his rule. Interestingly enough, he participated in the Eighth Crusade, alongside Edward I (merely a prince at the time), another of my favorite historical figures whom I've included in several other books.

In any case, basically the Catholic Church is the enemy lurking in the shadows in this book,  aided by traitorous Magiste seeking to enhance their own power and standing. Some things throughout history never change, eh? We never actually see the Pope, or the local bishops who oversaw all activities related to destroying heresy and achieving their additional goals of wealth and influence, but it is discussed often amongst the characters, and there is no question who is targeting the Magiste. These events send Henri Marchand and Chantal Belliveau on a desperate race for survival.

I've made some changes to the story, cleaned up and rearranged parts, and generally corrected any issues I'd had with the previous incarnation. In the Pureblood's Arms didn't need as many edits as the other three books, but enough that there are noticeable differences and definite clarifications. This book's historical aspects also brought some major changes to the overall arc of the Magiste Chronicles, and have put me on a path to explore some new historical times.

So this book really has a lot of different meanings for me, which is certainly a bit more complex than my other series. There are so many ways the rest of the series can go (I've got them all written down! lol), but now I have to find some new crisis to torment my characters with.

In the meantime, In the Pureblood's Arms will be available for pre-order in the coming days. And here it is, the beautiful new cover that perfectly captures Chantal and Henri, as created by Winter Bayne, my favorite multi-talented cover artist, and once again featuring Michael Foster, as Henri.

Here is the blurb and a small teaser from In the Pureblood's Arms. I think of this as "A Magically Kinky Twist on History!" Stay tuned for pre-order and buy links!

* He saved her from certain death, but is he more dangerous – to her heart? *

In 13th century France, attacked by those carrying out the Papal Inquisition, Magiste Enchantress Chantal Belliveau is thankful for rescue from certain torture and death. But she never expected her savior to be Henri Marchand, one of a powerful pureblooded line of ancient Magiste, the Zyndevines, known for their practice of dark magic. Henri holds the key to her survival, but the danger he poses to her heart and soul could be even more perilous.

Despite his dark lineage, Henri is part of Il Resistasse, a handful of powerful Magiste fighting the atrocities the Catholic Church inflicts on their race. Saving Chantal becomes more than a simple rescue - the innocent young woman with half-trained powers enchants him more than he has ever been before. That she enjoys the dark side of pleasure he inflicts makes him question his determination to never give another his heart.

Chantal is horrified when Henri invokes an ancient spell, the Possede Puissant. The incantation leaves her little more than his possession. While she finds herself enjoying his dark and wicked sensual delights, she determines to free herself. Yet, the security she finds with Henri encourages her to stay by his side, claiming spell or not.

Resentment from Henri's family convinces Chantal she must ultimately break free of Henri's possession. When the Inquisitors attack, Henri convinces Chantal to embark on a journey to a new land, a journey that may well mean the survival of the entire Magiste race but the loss of her freedom forever.

** Contains explicit Magically Kinky! love scenes of the paranormal kind, including magical sex toys, potions, bondage, spanking and more!

Here's that excerpt. Enjoy!

Near Toulouse, France 1255

Henri adjusted his cloak, striding quickly toward the stables, thumb turning the ring on his left hand in a nervous motion. The stone, set in nearly pure gold mined from the caves near Limoges, warmed. He took a deep breath, teeth grinding in anger. He had little time to reach his destination and waited impatiently while the groom finished saddling his horse. If he made it in time, he'd need the animal to help with the task that lay ahead.

Word had come that a family near Toulouse had been targeted by the Inquisitors. Each passing second seemed somehow a waste, spurring his impatience, the message arriving only minutes before. In his mad rush to reach the stables, he'd avoided his parents, knowing they would disapprove of his actions. While Edouard and Marie Marchand preferred dealing with the minions of the Church using dark arts, Henri feared such measures only served to increase the rabid urges of men who held power and hungered for more. While he appreciated the use of sinister magic to bring his enemies to their knees, the brutality of the Inquisitors far exceeded anything he'd witnessed from the Magiste.

Today's victims were a minor noble family of Magiste. They'd lived peacefully for centuries on their land, alongside their neighbors. What had changed to turn the evil eye of the Inquisition toward them? The question lingered and he finally accepted the reins of his horse from the stable-boy. Thunder rumbled overhead. Henri mounted. Closing his eyes, he clenched his fist, the ring near scalding.

"Portalus."

Beneath him, the horse pranced as the compression of the traveling spell took effect, sending Henri and the animal through distance and time. He hoped to use Mordred with the transport home. If all went well, there would be more people than Henri was capable of magically moving by himself. When the pressure of the spell eased, Henri found himself in the middle of a lush forest, damp with a recent rain. To his right, shouts sounded, and he wheeled the horse around. Beyond the tree line, fire illuminated the night. Henri's heart sank to see flames erupting from the windows of a large manor house. Even from this distance, he could hear the screams of those trapped inside. Merde! Too late!

Smoke quickly wafted toward the forests, the acrid stench burning his eyes. A flurry of movement in the brush nearby drew his attention. He dismounted and fastened the horse's reins to a tree. He held his hands above the animal's back.

"Cachevois."

His ring warmed and the horse vanished from view, concealed by the spell. No Mortals would find his mount. Henri stood motionless for a few moments, while the shouts of the Inquisitors echoed around him. He ignored them, concentrating on the immediate area.

The tingling awareness of someone else possessing magic grew stronger to his right. He turned, his ring warming further and leading him closer to the source of power. Another rustle of foliage, this time accompanied by a choked sob. The flash of movement almost eluded him, but he headed in the same direction. His ring grew hotter and hotter, nearly scorching his skin. There, up ahead. A woman ran, her long fiery hair catching on low-lying branches. He picked up his own pace, desperate to reach her before the Inquisitors. He just about came even with her when she stumbled and fell, more sobs and gasping breaths reaching his ears, even over the din of chaos at the edge of the forest.

Aware of two of the Inquisitors closing in, Henri hurried to the fallen woman as she struggled to rise. He held out a hand.

"Come with me!"

She froze, a shriek escaping before she scrambled away from him. Damn, she thought he was one of them.

"Come with me now! It's your only chance if you want to live!"

He used the Commandevois spell to enhance his words, the order in his voice clear and compelling. At the same time, he reached for her once more. He had to get her out of here now, no time to return to his horse. Finally, her small hand took his and he hauled her to her feet, pulling her close. He murmured the Portalus spell again, sucking in a breath as the squeezing sensation overtook him for the second time in less than five minutes. When it stopped, they stood in the courtyard of his manor house. He would send a groom to find Mordred later. The steed remained safe under the concealment spell.

He stepped away from the woman in his arms, studying her in the bright moonlight. Soot streaked her cheeks, her large green eyes peering up at him from under a thick blanket of lashes. The wild, deep auburn hair floating around her face gave her an ethereal look, almost like a siren sent down from above by the ancient gods. She wrapped slender arms about herself, her gaze locked with his.

"My family…" she finally whispered.

"I'm sorry. I was too late."

She cocked her head to the side, almost as if she didn't understand him. He should probably explain, but wanted to get her inside before his parents heard their voices and came to investigate. He reached for the woman, but she backed away.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Henri Marchand."

The Inquisitions

Today I'm talking about The Inquisition, which is featured prominently in my latest release, Claimed by the Zyndevine, Book 4 in the Bayou Magiste Chronicles. The Inquisition and those carrying out the brutal acts against heretics are the main reason Henri Marchand and Chantal Belliveau meet in the first place, when Henri saves Chantal from an attack on her home and family. Henri is also involved in a resistance movement, Il Resistasse, against the Church's violence against who they deemed to be heretics.

Most people are familiar with The Spanish Inquisition, which was the largest and broadest-scoped of all of the Inquisitions. Many don't realize that these acts of "cleansing" were being carried out for hundreds of years prior. The first of the major medieval Inquisitions began in 1184. By a papal bull issued by Pope Lucius III, entitled Ad abolendam, which translates to "For the purpose of doing away with." It was established mainly to deal with the Cathars. They believed in dualism, two Gods. The good God, which is the God of the New Testament of the Bible, created the spiritual world. The second God, the evil God, was the one who created the physical world of the Old Testament. Naturally, this did not sit well with the Catholic Church, and was deemed heresy, which was to be destroyed, at all costs.

Another papal bull establishing an Inquistion, ad exstirpanda, was issued by Pope Innocent IV, in 1243, almost right from the beginning of his term. It authorized torture for some heretics, however, there were some limitations:

·         that the torture did not cause loss of life or limb

·         that it was used only once

·         that the Inquisitor deemed the evidence against the accused to be virtually certain

Of course, in practice, these limitations were mostly ignored. The loss of life or limb could be considered to be an accident, and often "only once" could come to mean a series of tortures that all together were defined as one. And of course, those who carried out such tortures often followed their own beliefs in inflicting torment on those who were suspected of heresy, whatever the definition was at the time. For it most certainly changed and often, due to whatever goal those in command wanted to accomplish.

The Inquisition established by Pope Innocent IV is the one that is occurring during the time of Claimed by the Zyndevine, Of course, in the Magiste world, magic is quite real and is naturally deemed heresy by the rulers of the time. King Louis IX, later canonized as St. Louis, was devoutly Catholic and just as eager as the Church to wipe out those he believed to be heretics. In the 13^th century, Mortal men, such as King Louis, were usually frightened of magic, and often with good reason. Just like anybody else, there are good and evil Magiste, and those evil Enchanters and the like used dark magic to commit gruesome tortures against any they perceived as their enemies, or sometimes simply for the enjoyment of torturing a helpless victim. Just like the Inquisitioners in Claimed by the Zyndevine (and yes, I made up my own word for those carrying out the Inquisition. I made up a lot of words creating this world).

Anyway, the tortures of all of the Inquisitions were very similar, though as technology of the time advanced, and of course with more experience in knowing what was more effective against the victims, these tortures increased in brutality and scope. By the time of the Spanish Inquisition, nearly every European country, and often many of the smaller territories within those countries, held their own local Inquisition-like pursuits. Untold numbers of innocent people suffered and died under these agonizing tortures. Many confessed, just to make the torture stop. They were subsequently put to death, though there were other ways to make penance and save one's life. Often that involved the confiscation of all property and fines, as well as jail time. Back then, you might as well be dead anyway if they jailed you.

In Claimed by the Zyndevine, Chantal's own family suffers a terrible fate when they are targeted, as do others. The details of the tortures aren't described in graphic detail; I'm not one to write about someone's gruesome suffering, but most people are familiar enough with the implements of the Inquisition to understand what happens: the Iron Maiden, the Pear of Anguish, the Rack, and others. I do use one of the tortures in another book – the Stocks. This was a pretty brutal torture: a person's legs were locked into the stocks, their feet were greased with lard and then placed against a brazier or fire. Those who suffered this torture often died, and horrifyingly, this was used against children to force them to testify against their parents.

This is what Henri and Chantal are up against, forced to flee for their lives, or suffer unendurable agony. Still, Henri employs his own brand of torture upon Chantal – one which she of course, soon begins to crave. Here's a little teaser of exactly what Henri does with Chantal once he has her bound to his bed and under the torment of the fiere potion. Warning – this is decidedly NC-17 and NSFW:

"Henri, it burns!" Her choked cry sent another throb of lust pulsing to his cock. He ignored it as best he could.

"Yes, it does, but there's more, isn't there? Tell me, Chantal, what else are you feeling?"

He continued his gentle stroking along her skin, noting the way her nipples hardened still further, as if straining to reach his hands. Henri studied her closely, the dart of her tongue along her lips a torment and a delight to his roiling senses.

"I don't know, damn you! But it's driving me mad!"

He grinned at the frustration in her voice. "But I've barely begun, Chantal. If you are nearing madness now, how will you survive the pleasure I plan to show you through the night?"

Her eyes snapped to his, wide with a mix of apprehension and anticipation. "So you plan to torture me all night? You are not the man I thought you were."

He shrugged. "Perhaps not. But I suspect, in the end, you'll prefer me this way."

He leaned over and licked along her full lips, each breath she took rattling through her and pouring into him. Her essence, with the pulse of her magic, drove him to near madness himself. Pulling himself away took every bit of his strength. Her body glistened in the glow of the hearth, but he suspected much of the heat leaving her skin covered in a damp sheen came from within. He dared a look at her pussy, open and ready for him due to the chains at her ankles. A telltale moisture sparkled in the firelight. Did she even realize how much her body wanted what he offered?

"Remember what I told you earlier?" The husk in his voice betrayed his desire, her awareness of the fact sparking in her gaze. A hint of a smile tugged at one side of her mouth.

"Yes, you told me to feel."

He nodded. "I won't tell you not to worry, some of what you'll endure tonight will be...uncomfortable. But I think you'll find the reward worth it."

She closed her eyes briefly, but when she opened them again, he clearly read the challenge in their grassy depths.

"Are you ready?"

You can get your copy of Claimed by the Zyndevine at Amazon:

US: http://www.amazon.com/CLAIMED-ZYNDEVINE-Bayou-Magiste-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00YB65GS0

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/CLAIMED-ZYNDEVINE-Bayou-Magiste-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00YB65GS0