Of Sword and Shadow Read online

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  Map copyright © 2021 by Briana Shawcroft

  Cover design by Natalie Brown copyright © 2021 by Covenant Communications, Inc.

  Published by Covenant Communications, Inc.

  American Fork, Utah

  Copyright © 2021 by A. L. Sowards

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any format or in any medium without the written permission of the publisher, Covenant Communications, Inc., P.O. Box 416, American Fork, UT 84003. The views expressed within this work are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Covenant Communications, Inc., or any other entity.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, names, incidents, places, and dialogue are either products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real, or are used fictitiously.

  ISBN: 978-1-52441-360-6

  Praise for Of Sword and Shadow

  “What a gifted writer A.L. Sowards is. She keeps us enthralled, not just with the way fate has brought her charcters together and torn them apart but with her depiction of the customs, morals, and religious beliefs of the times. Of Sword and Shadow is brilliantly written. Add this one to your reading list today.”

  —Readers’ Favorite Five Star Review

  “A. L. Sowards has combined her incredible attention to historical accuracy and detail with a gripping tale of love, loss, and redemption. Heart-pounding action, a sweet love story, and a fascinating setting come together to make this novel truly unforgettable.”

  —Sian Ann Bessey, award-winning author of The Noble Smuggler

  “Sowards weaves a masterful tale full of romance, suspense and fascinating history--all the things we read historical fiction for.”

  —Jennifer Moore, author of The Blue Orchid Society series

  “A. L. Sowards brings the world of medieval Greece to vibrant life in her story of a slave girl’s journey to freedom, faith, self-discovery, and love. Of Sword and Shadow will touch your heart and inspire you.”

  —Joyce DiPastena, author of The Lady and the Minstrel

  “I love A. L. Sowards’ grasp of history. I know when I open her books, I’m in for a fascinating dive into the past. This book, true to the author’s norm in that regard, was also full of suspense and intrigue. I was immersed and fell in love with the beautiful heroine. A must buy for 2021.”

  —Jen Geigle Johnson, author of A Foreign Crown

  Praise for The Redgrave Murders

  “The Redgrave Murders is an engrossing read. Part mystery and part romance, the book touches on many themes: the cost of war, the prejudices inherent in American life, the human emotions of greed, love, jealousy, and reconciliation. Evie is a spunky heroine but believable, given her era. Gary Redhawk fights his own battles, many stemming from his war and his childhood boarding school experiences, which are, sadly, firmly rooted in fact. Although a quick read, The Redgrave Murders proved absorbing and multilayered. Recommended.”

  —Historical Novel Society

  For Alexandria Joyce Woolley

  Glossary and Historical Background

  Amphora: A container with handles and a narrow neck, usually made of ceramic in this novel’s setting, generally used for liquids (plural amphorae).

  Basque: A person from the Basque homelands in present-day Spain and France. At the time of this story, the land was in the Kingdom of Navarre. The Basques have lived there since before the beginning of recorded history and have a distinct culture and language.

  Bourrelet: A hat made of fabric rolled and arranged around a lightweight hoop.

  Cadmea: The fortified, walled portion of the city of Thebes. Named for Cadmus, the city’s founder and first king.

  Castilian: The people or language originating in Castile, which, at the time of this story, was the largest kingdom in what would become Spain. Castilian was the precursor language to the modern Spanish now spoken on the Iberian Peninsula.

  Catalan: The people or language originating in Catalonia (part of present-day Spain). Like Spanish and French, Catalan is a romance language. Most of the Catalans involved in this story are descendants of the Grand Catalan Company, whose members settled in Greece in the early part of the fourteenth century as mercenaries for and then rulers of the Duchy of Athens.

  Dalmatica: A garment with wide, three-quarters-length sleeves and a roughly knee-length skirt, generally layered over a tunica. Worn by both men and women in the medieval Greek world. Sometimes called a dalmatic.

  de Brienne, Walter: A Frankish noble who inherited the Duchy of Athens from his cousin in 1309. When the Duchy’s neighbors united in an effort to take Walter’s newly acquired territory for themselves, Walter hired a group of mercenaries known as the Grand Catalan Company. They helped him consolidate power, but when he tried to dismiss them without their promised pay, they refused to leave the Duchy. De Brienne and most of his knights were slain when the dispute with the Grand Catalan Company escalated into battle.

  Denier Tournois: Small coins used for everyday purchases, minted in French regions and in wide circulation in the Duchy of Athens. It took roughly eighty deniers tournois to equal one hyperpyron or ten deniers tournois to equal one grosso.

  Don: An honorific title used for Catalan noblemen.

  Donya: An honorific title used for Catalan noblewomen.

  Duchy: A political entity governed by a duke. Three Dukes of Athens are mentioned in this story, and all of them had other titles. Walter was Count of Brienne and Duke of Athens. Frederick was both King of Sicily and Duke of Athens and Neopatria. Pedro was King of Aragon, Valencia, and Majorca, Count of Barcelona, and Duke of Athens and Neopatria.

  Duchy of Athens: A crusader state established after the Fourth Crusade attacked the Christians in Constantinople instead of the Muslims in the Holy Land. It included the areas of Boeotia and Attica, with a capital of Thebes. Originally ruled by Frankish nobles, then by the Grand Catalan Company.

  Euskara: The language of the Basques. Euskara is an orphan language, unrelated to any other known language in the world.

  Florin: A gold coin minted in Florence, roughly equal to one Venetian ducat or three Byzantine hyperpyra.

  Grand Catalan Company: A group of mercenaries from Catalonia. In the early fourteenth century, they succeeded in driving the Turks from Anatolia on behalf of the Byzantine Emperor, but though they were among the most formidable warriors of the Medieval Age, they were not an easy group to host. They had a pesky habit of looting not just their enemies but also their supposed allies. After the emperor’s son got the company’s leader and three hundred of his men drunk, he had them all slaughtered. As a result, the remnants of the Grand Catalan Company went on a rampage of revenge across Thrace that lasted several years, until Walter de Brienne secured their services. They cleared the Duchy of Athens of all of de Brienne’s enemies but refused to leave when he tried to dismiss most of them without full pay. Despite being outnumbered, the Catalans defeated de Brienne and his Frankish knights in the battle of Halmyros, killing almost all of them. Then the Catalans married the newly made noble widows and took over the Duchy of Athens as their own. Sixty-eight years later, at the time of this novel, their descendants still ruled the Duchy.

  Grosso: A silver coin minted in Venice, worth roughly ten deniers tournois, one-eighth of a hyperpyron, or one-twenty-fourth of a ducat or florin (plural grossi).

  Halberd: A long pole weapon with a battle ax and a pike on the end.

  Hauberk: A shirt of mail armor, usually mid-
thigh length with sleeves.

  Houppelande: A garment with a long body and flared sleeves, usually worn over other layers and fastened with a belt.

  Hosa: Fitted leg coverings.

  Hyperpyron: A gold coin minted by the Byzantine Empire. Worth roughly eighty deniers tournois, eight grossi, or one-third of a ducat or florin (plural hyperpyra).

  Miter: Peaked head covering for an ecclesiastical leader.

  Moor: In the context of this novel, a Moor is one of the Muslim inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula or Northwest Africa (or one of their descendants), usually of Berber or Arabic ethnicity.

  Navarrese Company: A company of mercenaries that included men from Navarre and Gascony. They fought first for Charles II of Navarre in his war against France, then for his brother, Louis of Evreux, in his attempt to take back Albania for his wife. The company took Durazzo, but Louis of Evreux died, leaving them unemployed. They broke into several companies, most of which made their way to Greece, working with the Knights Hospitaller or Nerio Acioli.

  Pithos: A large storage container with a wide neck to allow easier access to its contents (plural pithoi).

  Pourpoint: A thick, quilted garment tailored for the torso, normally fastened in the front with buttons. Originally designed for wear beneath heavy armor.

  Senyor: A polite term of address for a Catalan man.

  Senyora: A polite term of address for a married Catalan woman.

  Senyoreta: A polite term of address for an unmarried Catalan woman.

  Stola: A long, loose garment worn by women since Roman times, often without sleeves and fastened by clasps at the shoulders.

  Surcoat: A long, loose outer garment worn over armor.

  Surcote Ouvert: A long, sleeveless outer garment for women, with a low neck and large armholes, worn over a gown.

  Tunica: Garment worn by men and women in the medieval Greek world, with a basic T-shaped cut. Often worn under other layers. Women usually wore tunicas with hemlines at the ankles. Length for men was more varied.

  Verguer: A high-ranking Catalan official in the Duchy of Athens, appointed by the king, with judicial, military, and financial duties. In some sources, verguers are called vicars, but verguer is the term used throughout this novel.

  Vicar General: The highest-ranking official in the Duchy of Athens, appointed by the king.

  *Relative values of coinage are included for curious readers, but it should be noted that not all sources agree on the various values.

  Chapter One

  Thebes, Greece, Spring 1379

  I don’t remember the name my mother gave me. Nor can I recall each of the hundreds of names I’ve used since. But the morning I was to steal five sheets of paper from Don Paco de Folgueres, I would be Anna, if anyone asked.

  Anna was a safe sort of name, giving few clues about a person’s birth or loyalties. Anna could be Greek, like most of the population. Or Anna could be a descendant of the Franks, who created the Duchy of Athens after they sacked Constantinople while on religious crusade. Anna could also be a Catalan, whose ancestors had worked for, then turned on the last Frankish Duke, Walter de Brienne. They’d defeated him in battle and ruled Thebes and the Duchy of Athens ever since.

  Thomas and everyone else I knew called me Girl or Little Mouse. Names weren’t as important as abilities for people in our line of work, where failure could mean starvation, a flogging, mutilation, or exile but where a commissioned burglary might offer a chance to break from the gutters completely.

  The Greek scribe who worked for Don Paco de Folgueres had a desk in a small stone room bordering the property’s central courtyard. Light from the room’s sole window illuminated the wooden writing surface and a second table with four books, a supply of paper, parchment, and papyrus, reed pens, and ink. I found the documents I wanted among his scattered papers and slipped them between my dalmatica and tunica. I didn’t always wear both layers—clothes were expensive—but Thomas had taught me to dress the part most likely to lead to success, so I was respectable today. At least on the outside.

  The scribe was absent, and that made my task easy. But a complication in the form of a tall, brawny man appeared the moment I left the room. He was clean-shaven, and the hair reaching to the collar of his pourpoint was a few shades lighter than my raven locks. He had a straight nose and long ears, one of which was pierced with a gold earring. He gave me a friendly smile.

  “Have you seen the scribe?” His words were Catalan but pronounced differently than what I was used to hearing from the class who ruled Thebes. I pretended not to understand. Perhaps if he thought I was Greek, he wouldn’t press me. I gave a small gesture of incomprehension with my shoulders.

  He repeated his question, in Greek. That meant I would have to reply.

  “No. He seems to be out at the moment.”

  The man surveyed the scribe’s room, and I surveyed him, noting his pleasant face and hazel eyes. He looked closer to twenty than to thirty years of age. The fitted hosa western men wore were meant to show off their masculine legs, and his legs were certainly worthy of admiration. My favorite Anna, daughter of the Emperor Alexios Komnenos, would have noticed him, much as she had noticed and commented on the pleasant forms of the Frankish crusaders who had passed through Constantinople on their way to take Jerusalem during the first Latin crusade. She’d also dismissed the handsome knights as ignorant barbarians, and I thought it best to follow her example.

  Now that I had the documents I’d come for, I was eager to get away from the tall man with the earring and from Don Paco’s home. “I hope you find him soon.” And I did. If the scribe was busy with the earring man, he was less likely to notice his missing documents.

  “Thank you.” The man gave me a nod and entered the scribe’s room.

  I left, forcing myself to walk at a normal pace across the sunny, paved courtyard, past the fountain and the marble statue that dated back to times before the Frankish invasion.

  The scribe stood near the gates, speaking with someone I took to be a Moor. A line ran across the Moor’s face, from his left temple to his lips, a pale-pink scar against skin of rich brown. His inquisitive eyes glanced at me as I passed.

  A polite person would have gone back to the scribe’s office to tell the man who was seeking him where he could be found. But I was polite only when politeness suited my task.

  “You there, what’s your business?” One of Don Paco’s men stepped in front of me. He was clothed in mail armor and carried an arming sword and a crossbow.

  I’d spoken in Greek when I’d met the man with the earring, and my clothing was more Greek than western, so I kept my identity as Anna the Greek, for the moment. “I was visiting one of the weavers, a friend. We grew up on the same street, you see. She wanted my opinion on whether the cloth she is making has a strong enough warp thread or if she should order something with more twists.” I continued in rapid Greek, uncertain if he understood my language while I compared the thickness of the supposed warp thread to the thinness of the made-up weft thread. As I spoke, I gave silent gratitude to Zoe, the silk maker who had always welcomed me into her workshop. I could talk about silk long enough to bore all but the most dedicated of weavers. The Catalan man-at-arms waved me on quickly. It seemed the silk trade was not his passion.

  I relaxed as I walked along the streets of the Cadmea, Thebes’s fortified citadel. Don Paco’s property faded from view, then disappeared completely when I turned left after the bakery that sold the best durum wheat bread in the city. It also sold a more affordable loaf of summer wheat, barley, rye, and millet, and I was more familiar with the latter. I turned right after a wine merchant’s shop that specialized in muscat and malmsey. Then I ducked into a narrow side street.

  I took off my hair veil, and I didn’t want to put it on again. The early spring sun shone pleasantly, and I was neither respectable nor Christian, but bareheaded women stood out, and
I didn’t want that. I turned the veil over so my head was covered in blue instead of yellow and walked farther into the alley.

  A tall man stepped out in front of me, blocking my path. The same man who had been looking for the scribe, but this time, there was no smile on his face. It seemed changing the color of my hair veil hadn’t prevented him from recognizing me. “I believe you took something from the scribe’s office. I need it.”

  I tried my best to display confusion. “I took nothing from the scribe.”

  “You’re the only one who was near that room from the time Rasheed distracted the scribe.” His eyes shifted to a spot behind me. I followed his glance. The Moor stood between me and the main street. So they were working together. And I’d benefited from their plan.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tried to walk past the man with the earring, but he took my arm and held me. He didn’t squeeze, but I had a feeling it would be difficult to break his grip. A threatening longsword hung at his side. Another complication.

  “I think you do. There was a letter on that table, delivered this morning, threatening Don Paco de Folgueres because he supported Maria of Sicily instead of Pedro of Aragon when King Frederick died.”

  His intelligence was good. Better than mine. The letter was Catalan, and I didn’t read Catalan. I’d just memorized the name of the sender so I could verify I had the right document. The discord King Frederick’s death created had spilled into the Duchy—some local nobles had supported Maria because she was King Frederick’s daughter and his declared heir. Others had followed Pedro because he was a man. But the succession crisis was nearly two years in the past. Pedro had won. “I thought the Catalans had reconciled to their new lord.”

  “On the surface, perhaps. The divisions are still there, underneath. King Pedro has stripped more than one Catalan noble of lands because they chose the losing side—just as Don Paco did.”