GRATITUDE AND DEDICATIONS:

· to @hunnyhays for her continuing love and support. Thank you, little sister, for always being there to listen to me as I talk myself out of writer's block!

· to the Ciciora family, et al. They were so giving of their attention and assistance with research and battle planning. But extra thanks to Angelise for working out the ambush with me.

FICTION, FACT, AND LITERARY LICENSE:

This is entirely a work of fiction. The land is fictional. The people are fictional. The events are fictional. It is set in the "medieval" time period. That time covers several centuries, so there is a lot of room to use literary license.

For example: the character's speech. I did not stick exclusively to the period. That would be very laborious and difficult to comprehend. So... for the sake of the story, I use mostly modern English with a few exceptions. Most notable, you will notice the absence of contractions.

I did try to use correct terms when it was possible. For example: sanguine is dark red, sable is black, and or is gold. A doublet is a padded or quilted shirt worn beneath the chainmail. A surcoat is the sleeveless "tunic" that goes over the top of the chainmail and/or armor and bears the colors and herald of the knight.

Finally, there may be a blurring of historical accuracy at times, but the overall effect I wished to create was that of life in a medieval world.

A WARNING AND A FINAL WORD:

I do try to keep the gore and sex off the pages, as I would rather focus on the story. However, one can hardly write of a knight in the medieval period without war. I do not think anything that I write deserves an "R-Rating" but if you are sensitive or squeamish....

And finally, your in-line comments keep me inspired as you hate on my villain and cheer for the hero.

I understand if you are a silent reader like me, and choose to verbally assault the villains instead of using the "power of the pen". In that instance, you can click the star at the end of the chapter to leave a vote if you liked it.

Your comments and votes say that I am doing it right!

See you on the next page!

-Glorianna