#luckyseven - excerpt from Bernicia Chronicles 2, THE CROSS AND THE CURSE

In the last week I have completed the first draft of book 3, BY BLOOD AND BLADE, and I'm busy making all the preparations for THE CROSS AND THE CURSE to get it ready for publication. Things are looking great and I'm excited about releasing the second of the Bernicia Chronicles in January (pre-order available soon).

In the meantime, I've been tagged by a few writers (S.J.A. Turney, Char Newcomb, and Deborah C. Foulkes) in the #luckseven game.

The rules for #luckyseven are:

• Go to a page ending in a 7 in your current manuscript
• Go to line 7
• Post the next 7 lines or sentences – as they are – post on your blog or on Facebook!
• Tag 7 other people to do the same

So here are seven-ish lines (hey, maths isn’t my strong point!) from page 7 of book 2 of the Bernicia Chronicles, THE CROSS AND THE CURSE:

“I will come with you,” Hengist said. 

“No,” Nelda turned to him, a savage glint in her eye. Blood trickled from her lip and her face was bruised, but Hengist did not believe he had ever seen a more beautiful woman.

“No, my son, you will stay here and you will be great! You will serve kings, like your father did. And you will bring them down, Hengist.” She clutched at his arm so tightly that it hurt. “Stay and topple these worshippers of the soft Christ god.” 

He was ashamed at the rush of relief that washed over him. The thought of fleeing their home terrified him.

Now I tag the following authors: Giles Kristian, Toby Clements, Angus Donald, Steven McKay, Justin Hill, David Cook and Annie Whitehead. Let's see if any will take up the challenge!