In the heart of a Spanish city carved from stone, a suppressed rebellion is forming, threatening to show its colours. Long held from practicing their religion or culture, the Moriscos, Muslims forcefully converted to Catholicism, steep the pain and anger for their suffering, and it's not only their deceptively small community of Galera. Whispers of a second rebellion are turning in the air, and the King is preparing himself. Judur, a stonecarver apprentice, uncomfortable with the rising resentment, fears for her people the same bloody fate the first, unsuccessful, rebellion gave. When the rebellion rises, and her people systematically slaughtered, Judur sees it's much, much worse than she imagined.
Now on the run, Judur journeys across Spain, passing by Granada and slipping in and out of Cordoba. Unsure of where to go and with no family, Judur decides Al-Maghrib is her only haven. As she treks, the stonecarver's apprentice meets, befriends, and assists those ranging from beggary to royalty, and slowly weaves her way through the intricate maze of the Castilian Crown.
*Description is, as always subject to change. This is an extremely rough idea in my head (as excited as I am to venture into it) so it's going to be a slow process.*
Just when she's decided to leave the Town, Lady Cressida Belverst is forced to marry Lord Calan Haverston, the man who coincidentally knows a way out. Agreeing to marry for all the wrong reasons, can Cressida and Calan find out where their hearts truly belong?
***
It is impossible to leave the Town, but one woman is determined to escape with the help of her betrothed.
Lady Cressida Belverst has always been judged as a walking scandal. Oh, how she tries (on some rare occasions) to be proper! When her parents arrange for her to marry a rich lord, Cressida has had enough. She has to leave the Town because she will not be forced to live with a man she doesn't love. But what happens if the very man she's betrothed to is the only one who can help her get out?
Calan Haverston, the Lord of Easton, takes the risk and helps his betrothed by using his knowledge of the Town's secrets because he is as willing as she to stay free of marriage for reasons completely different. He has dark secrets he cannot share with her, and his life is not one he can likewise open to anyone. But what happens when she leaves after awakening desires he thought he has under control? And what happens when he finds himself longing for her?
Cressida goes to a completely different place, one she has only heard in stories and read in books, with hopes of finding what her heart has always longed for. But love, mystery and secrets will chase her and it will only be a matter of time before she realizes what her heart truly desires.
*This story is a standalone title in the Haverston Family series.