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Publisher: DCL Publications
Date Published:10-22-2021
Son of an impoverished, dying chieftain, Ari raided for booty and slaves so he could feed his people. He was a heathen, probably a murderer, and it was a sin to lie with him.
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EXCERPT
Not one person attended their departure the next morning. It was as if the life of the keep would go on uninterrupted, in no way altered by their absence when Ari had given so many years of his life to it. Once more aboard Stormwind, wondering if sailing would be just the fact of her life with Vikings, Maeve watched the coast of heathen Norway retreating in the distance, shrouded in semi-darkness and mist.
“Come,” Ari said, gently, with an arm around her waist. To her other side, Birgitta stood, watching silently as Maeve had done. Maeve could not imagine what she must be feeling, watching the place that had been her home for so many years disappear forever.
“We have prepared a small place on the deck for you and Mother and the other women and children,” he explained. “You can take shelter there when you are too cold.”
Maeve suspected she would not be much warmer anywhere and she feared for Orm, cradled in her arms beneath her cloak. Fortunately, he was sleepy and did not appear much interested in the momentous events taking place around him.
Sealskin-clad men rowed from two sets of benches before setting sail, with heavily-swathed women and a few children huddled between them. Elsewhere, aside from crude privies that were essentially buckets, every space was crammed with sea trunks and goods lashed to the deck. Maeve knew from experience that those would break free nonetheless on heavy seas, some of them lost and others crushing the unwary or unfortunate. She realized Ari had given them shelter from those more than from the weather. From that, brooding and blowing, there was no escape. But she turned without a word, accompanying Birgitta and Orm into a wooden lair below the sail that she greatly feared would be her watery grave.
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About the Author
Miriam spent many years working in Social Services, and after retirement, she found herself working part-time in local government. Currently, she lives in rural Pennsylvania with a “motley crew” of rescue animals. Her passion for animal rescue and fostering has included a number of fur babies, from horses to dogs to a pig that appeared on her porch one morning. Also a lover of great books, the one that she finds most responsible for her venture into fantasy and recommends is The Once and Future King by T.H. White.
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Fans of Ms. Newman can follow her online at the following locations:
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Purchase Links
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Nesie's Place 
I’m ready to go a Viking! Eagle’s Lady sounds like my kind of book! Thanks for sharing it and have a magical holiday season!
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You’re welcome and thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the read and the holidays! 🙂
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