When I first decided to try writing Her Rogue Knight, a Medieval Spanking Romance, I needed to research everything - down to the tiny detail of underwear. In my search for dress of that time period, I found this lovely photo from an on line shop (linked below). I loved the dress - I love every single thing about it. Wanted to order it for myself, but it's a little pricey just for playing dress up.... I loved the bow and arrow, loved her bracer and especially loved her face. As soon as I saw her, I knew she was my heroine, Gemma.
The bracer was an interesting piece to the story. I knew I wanted to deal with a little bit of legend and the bracer provided the perfect opportunity. This is the scene where Sir William gives her the gift of the bracer - but the material it is made from contains a certain protective power. Gemma won't know what that is for some time but here is the piece where Sir William gives her the gift.
* * * *
"Where did you go last night?” Gemma asked.
“I needed to take care of something.
Here, this is for you,” Sir William said, holding a bundle out for her.
She looked at him, then looked at
the thing he held which was wrapped in a simple but clean cloth.
“What is it?” she
asked.
“Take it.”
One more glance at him proved he
was as nervous about giving it to her as she was about accepting it. But she reached
out and took the bundle, then sat down on the bed to unwrap it.
“What did you do?” she asked, running
her hands over the thing. She wouldn’t have recognized the leather for what it had
been, but the jewels were unmistakable.
“Put it on,” he said. “You needed
a bracer.”
Her chest contracted, and her eyes
suddenly filled with tears. “What did you do?” she asked again.
“Go on,” he said when she met his
eyes.
She slid her arm into the bracer,
and he stepped close, coming down on one knee to bind the ties. The jewels shone,
and the leather itself looked somehow repaired, returned to its original state if
that were possible.
“It’s a perfect fit,” she said, chills
running through her body. “What about you? What about your sword?”
“I have replaced it with a sword
belt. You said yourself it was ill-fitted, and it was. That scabbard did not belong
to my sword.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said, running
her hands over it. “I cannot repay you,” she said, turning her face back to his.
“I did not intend to sell it to you.
I am simply giving it as a gift,” he said, not quite looking at her eyes.
It took her a moment. “Then I thank
you.”
He nodded. “Do not take it off, Gemma.
Ever. It will protect you. Do you understand?”
She opened her mouth to start telling
him she didn’t believe in magic, in legends or myth, but the look in his eyes made
her stop.
“Promise me you will not take it
off, no matter what.”
“I promise,” she whispered.
He nodded. “Let us ride.”
“Sir William,” she said, standing
when he reached to open the door. “I want you to know that I do not believe you—I
do not believe you are evil, I mean. You said that yesterday, that all men are evil,
but it’s not true. You would not have done this for me if you were evil.”
He stared at her for a while then
pulled the door open and gestured for her to go ahead of him.
* * * *
I will admit, I also needed a sword belt for an upcoming spanking so this scene also helped set that up for me. Have you figured out yet of what magic Sir William speaks?
*Photo from esty.com
2 comments:
I like that you worked in a belt :)
That dress is gorgeous, and to be honest I had no idea what a bracer looked like, but you described it well in the book because that is what I had in my head.
Casey - just for a laugh, when I saw this outfit, I had to google 'thing on arm for archers' to find out what it was called. Yay that it's what you had in your head!!
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