EIRE'S CAPTIVE MOON is a story of Norsemen raids on the
Irish coast, which brings
home the horror and random violence of those times. A young
woman, Charis, is healer to her village and uses her herbal
knowledge to the good of others. But when her two husbands
permitted under Brehon law are killed fighting Viking
raiders, she is one of the slaves taken and she vows to get
revenge even if it means using herbs to poison.
Another slave is Cowan, a king's son who is able to
translate a few tongues, so he is taken as an asset in
trading. The Northmen have very little arable land so they
have to trade for food and goods. Taking gold and slaves
from other lands is their way of survival. Some of the
Irish people are sold to the Franks right away but the
healer is recognised as valuable so one Norseman, Agnarr
claims her as his leman. Agnarr has a betrothed in his own
village and she isn't pleased to see the new woman in his
bed-furs. Charis is even less pleased, but she doesn't
have a choice. The Irish girl decides that she has no
option but to wait out a winter before making her escape.
Life is not easy for a slave but Cowan helps himself by
becoming fluent in the Norse tongue and co-operating while
Charis persists in her own language and working sullenly.
Another slave, a priest, keeps claiming that the girl is a
witch because she won't convert to the Christian faith, but
that doesn't resonate with the Norse who worship Odin and
Thor. Then a raiding party from a rival Viking village
descends, and the violence starts again.
EIRE'S CAPTIVE MOON is more an adventure than a romance but
should appeal to those who want to know more about the
times. We finish with a better appreciation of just how
hard life was before antibiotics and supermarkets, when
people made their own clothing and did not expect to grow
old. Sandi Layne has planned a Viking Trilogy, of which
this is the first book.
Éire’s Captive Moon, the first book of Sandi Layne’s Éire’s
Viking Trilogy, brings you to the unsettled era of the early
Viking raids along the coast of Éire – today’s Ireland.
Red-striped sails make their first appearance on the shores
near the village of Ragor and the peaceful life of the
villagers is obliterated in one deadly raid. Agnarr
Halvardson and his overlord, Tuirgeis, have come to Éire for
treasure, honor, and slaves.
After slaying her husbands, Agnarr claims Charis, the healer
of the village, as his personal medicine woman – and sex
slave. Cowan, a local prince, is captured by Tuirgeis to
serve as translator for trading journeys. Leaving the
smoking ruins of Ragor and Bangor Monastery behind them – as
well as the children Charis had carefully hidden from the
Northmen – the invaders sail away.
Cowan, a Christian, is captivated by the pale, widowed
herbalist, and finds himself in love with her by the time
they reach Nordweg, where they will spend the winter. He is
compelled to leave her, however, to serve his master.
The winter brings many trials. An invasion from another
village’s warriors throws Cowan and Charis together more
intimately than she is prepared to handle equitably. Her own
feelings are growing uncertain, though she reminds herself
that she has to return to Éire and the children she left
there. As winter passes in Nordweg, Charis plans vengeance
upon Agnarr even as she learns to see him differently. Beset
by accusations of witchcraft, hounded by Agnarr’s betrothed
and her slave – a refugee Charis herself healed more than a
year before – and having to adapt to the strange language
and customs among the people around her, Charis still makes
her plans. Will she be able to put aside her feelings and
escape when spring returns?
Excerpt
Another invader appeared, and the two of them towered so
far over her that Charis rose to her knees, trying to
balance herself with her hands as the surface beneath her
shifted. Her stomach clenched in nausea and fear. What had
happened?
"You're a slave, Healer," came a barely familiar voice,
low to the ship's deck. "So am I. Believe me, I did
everything I could to make sure it wouldn't happen."
A slave? "No," she whispered, shaking her head in abject
denial.
"Yes." It was the son of Branieucc. She met his eyes,
and they were deeply compassionate, sorrowful and
resentful. "Yes. The Ostmen have taken us. You have,
apparently, been claimed by Agnarr." Cowan inclined his
head towards her captor, the man who'd murdered Devin and
Devlin.
"No!" she moaned, dropping her head. "No, it can't be.
We . . ." Then a face flashed before her eyes. Aislinn.
Charis's breath came fast and dry to her throat and she
swallowed. "Cowan?" One purpose had her leaning forward to
keep her voice as low as possible. "Did they find the
children?"
"Children?" Cowan's eyes darted back and forth and
Charis watched only his face, for the future of her people
rested with Aislinn and the children. "No, I saw no
children," he whispered, his expression carefully blank.
"Oh . . ." Relief swamped her and she collapsed again on
the deck.
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