"Another Templar knight is put to the test in the quest for the Arc of the Covenant."
Reviewed by Lynne Dillon
Posted April 19, 2010
Romance Historical
Jessamine is a princess of Spain's royal line. The Conde
Mendoza , a somewhat crazy and perverted brute of a man,
seeks to make her his wife and kill off the rest of the
family so he can become the ruler of Spain. Jessamine
manages to get away from the brutish beast, but in doing
so, she runs into a wild battle between the Templars and
Spanish soldiers and the moors. She is rescued by Sir Alan Cathcart, but he is forced by
this action to leave the battle and his brothers. He plans
is to leave Jessamine at the next town, but his wounds get
the better of him and he loses consciousness. Jessamine,
left to her own devices, gets them on a boat as husband and
wife with her goal being the Holy Land. Jessamine has her
own prophesy to fulfill and she has determined that Sir
Alan is a part of that prophesy. Sir Alan's mission is to find the Arc of the Covenant and
carry it to Scotland for safekeeping. He has one enemy in
the Bedouin's who want to keep it from him, and now he has
the added threat of Jessamine's Conde. Fate has decreed
that they journey together to the Mount of Horeb. This is the second in the brotherhood of the Scottish
Templars series and Russell has her work cut out for her. I
love the change of scene to the lands around the
Mediterranean and the introduction of the paranormal. This
creates a whole new aspect and brings out the power of the
biblical elements. The love story between Jessamine and Sir
Alan is almost secondary to the power of the Arc and the
perverted bestiality of the Conde. A good story for Russell
fans.
SUMMARY
A princess in hiding... A Templar knight bound by duty but burning with desire... A search for the legendary Ark of the Covenant... Their journey will take them thousands of miles — from the
deserts in the cradle of civilization to the misty
heathered Highlands of Scotland. Along the way they will
face storms, treachery, and an army of assassins. But for
these two who thrive on adventure, the greatest risk of
all is abandoning themselves to the pleasures they find in
each other's arms.
ExcerptThey
rode for what felt like forever, and just when the long,
dark corridor
seemed about to close in on them completely, it turned
abruptly and
opened wide. Jessamine gasped at the scene before her.
Rising high above
them on the opposite cliff was a gigantic edifice with two
tiers of
columns, colossal pediments, statue niches, and carved
urns, all cut
into the sheer rock face. "It looks like the entrance to a
royal palace."
"In
its day, it was the entrance of a tomb," Alan breathed
beside her,
sounding as awestruck as she felt. "The locals call it the
Treasury
of Petra. Behind this facade are a number of vast chambers
cut deep
inside the mountain."
"Who
used the tomb?"
Alan
shook his head. "It was built by the Nabataeans in the
fourth century
before Christ." Alan swung down from the horse, then
assisted her
down. He moved back to his saddlebag and withdrew a small
leather book
that he concealed inside the folds of his robe. Next, he
took out a
small lantern and a tallow candle, along with a flint
stone.
He
set the lantern on the ground and positioned the candle on
the sand
at his feet. He drew his sword. With a quick clean stroke
of the flint
against his sword, Alan created a spark that he guided
toward the candle’s
wick. Moments later, the candle glowed brightly in the
lantern. He sheathed
his sword, replaced the flint, then held out his free hand
to her. "Come,
let’s have a look inside."
Jessamine
curled her fingers around his. She’d never held hands with
anyone
before. The courtiers weren’t allowed to touch her. For one
breathless
moment his smoldering gaze studied her feature by feature,
then he gave
her hand a squeeze and led them through the entrance that
rose some
twenty feet high overhead.
With
a sense of awe, Jessamine followed Alan into the ornate
structure. Inside,
the air was still and cold, a stark contrast to the
suffocating heat
outside. Golden light from the lantern splashed the nutmeg-
colored walls,
illuminating a colossal doorway that dominated the outer
court and led
to an inner chamber. Alan led her up the seven stairs and
into what
she could only guess was some sort of sanctuary, if the
ablution basin
was a clue.
"Where
do we go now?" she asked. There were two passageways off to
the left
and right sides of the room.
"Let’s
start here." He led her to the passageway on the right.
When they
hit a wall of stone, they retraced their steps and instead
took the
passageway off to the left.
They
entered a large, empty space that looked almost identical
to the one
they’d just explored. But as Jessamine searched the empty
space, a
strong sense of premonition made her skin tingle. There was
something
different here. She stared at the only other doorway carved
into the
stone. The answers they sought were in there. She knew
it.
Alan
appeared by her side. "Ready to explore?" he asked,
stepping inside.
Jessamine
followed. They headed down another passageway that seemed
to go on forever,
until finally it opened into another empty chamber. This
room was different
from the others they’d passed through. It was carved out of
the stone
like the others, yet these walls were uneven and, from the
looks of
it, carved in haste.
Then
she saw it—a small pinprick of light emanating from a tall,
narrow
crack in the wall at the back of the chamber.
"Alan?"
Jessamine breathed.
"I
see it," he said, moving past her to explore the human-
sized opening.
He held the lantern into the space. "It’s unfinished," he
said,
bringing his free hand up to caress the poorly sculpted
rock at his
eye level.
"Perhaps
they grew tired of chipping away the stone," Jessamine
offered.
"Or
perhaps they wanted it to appear unfinished for a reason.
We need to
go inside." Alan offered her his hand.
She
took his fingers in hers and allowed him to guide her into
the dark
void. Her heart raced and her palms grew damp. The space
was narrow
and confining, forcing them to turn to the side to slip
through the
rock.
Jessamine’s
breath quickened as she and Alan moved deeper and deeper
into the ever-narrowing
space. The wall at her back was cold. The wall at her front
nearly brushed
against her chest. She clung to Alan’s hand and kept
moving. "If
we find the ark in this place, how will we ever get it out?
The walls
are too narrow."
"Somehow
it was brought in, so there must be a way to get it out,"
he replied
with confidence.
Together,
they felt their way along the cool, gritty sandstone wall.
The lantern
cast eerie shadows that twisted and danced with each step
they took.
The shuffling of their footsteps mingled with the quickened
rush of
their breathing. The darkness seemed to seep around them,
outside the
circle of light cast by the lantern. Alan’s hand became her
lifeline.
Cold
dampness seeped into her clothes. Jessamine shivered. Her
breath caught.
She shuffled forward. "How much farther?" she whispered
into the
confined and darkened space.
No
sooner had the words left her lips than the passageway
opened up, spilling
into a small chamber. The light from the lantern splashed
across the
walls, painting everything in hues of coppery gold. The
room was empty,
just as the others had been, except tucked high into the
back wall was
a shelf cut into the stone. It held a small golden chest
that was much
too small to be the ark.
Alan
released her. He pressed the lantern into her hands and
moved slowly
across the chamber until he stood before the chest. He
reached up and
carefully removed it from the rock ledge.
"What
is it?" Jessamine asked.
Alan
turned toward her and bent, setting the small chest on the
floor. "I’m
not certain." He blew the dust and sand away from the lid.
No ornamentation
decorated the chest. "Bring the light closer."
She
stepped beside him as he carefully lifted the lid from the
chest. Inside
were twelve formed and polished colored stones.
"What
do they mean?" She set the lantern on the floor beside
them.
With
a grin, he sat back on his heels and pulled the leather
book from the
folds of his robe. She moved to peer over his shoulder as
he flipped
the loose pages. When he came to a drawing of what appeared
to be a
ceremonial garment, he stopped.
"What
is that?" she asked. "How does it relate to what we
found?"
"These
stones might not be the Ark of the Covenant, but they are a
worthy find
in and of themselves." He lifted his gaze to hers.
Excitement brightened
his eyes. "These twelve stones are what were referred to in
the Old
Testament as the stones of fire. They represent the twelve
tribes of
Israel and were at one time set into the breastplate of the
high priest.
That high priest would have worn the breastplate to control
the divine
fire that was said to emanate from the ark."
"So
whoever controls the stones of fire controls the ark?"
Jessamine cupped
her hands over his. A spark passed between them at the
intimate contact.
It brought a soft gasp to her lips. She should pull her
hands away,
stand, anything to break the contact between them. Instead,
she gazed
into his piercing blue eyes and felt a strange lightness at
her core.
"Aye,"
he said softly. "But suddenly it’s not the ark or the
stones that
interest me, but something else entirely." He abandoned the
chest
on the ground and stood, pulling her up with him until they
faced each
other, their bodies only a hairbreadth apart.
"Jessamine.
We are entering dangerous territory." The words seemed
dredged up
from his very soul as he pulled her even closer, his gaze
on her lips.
She
knew he didn’t mean the dangers of following the prophecy,
but the
dangerous way desire flared each time they touched.
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