Her First Knight Series

As an invading army looms on the kingdom's doorstep, Princess Ava's concerned father hires a knight to protect her from capture. Worried that his virginal daughter might bed a man, the king hires a woman to guard the lonely young princess . . . never realizing it might have been better to hire a man after all. For Liadan, the Knight of the Wild, soon becomes Princess Ava's first knight. Don't miss the first installment of this lesbian romance series!  --  "You mock me, knight? Noble blood or no, I could have your head!" Ava warned.  The knight cast her eyes down. "No, your highness. I only marvel at your beauty. Your eyes did make the world cease for one tremulous moment."   Princess Ava flushed again, this time with pleasure, though she hated herself for it.  --  "But I am the princess of Realm Illa," Ava said, finding the courage to lift her face, letting her shyness fall away. "If you and I were found together, my father would behead you! Does that not frighten you?"  Liadan only smiled. "I think it would be a worthy death, your highness, to taste the softness of your lips."  Ava's heart leapt as she realized which lips the knight meant. She bit her lip and looked down again, trying not smile, ignoring how Lysa watched them both with her mouth hanging open, the silly fool.     -- That morning, the table was covered in dishes boiled eggs, kippered herring, and bread. Ava started filling her plate. So did her father.   "How do you like your new bodyguard?" King Eyvor asked – so suddenly that Ava nearly dropped her egg. She recovered quickly enough and answered, "V-Very well, Father. She is very . . . dutiful."  And strong and beautiful and good with her tongue, Ava thought dreamily. When she looked up again, her father was watching her curiously. She quickly lowered her eyes and took a sip of watered wine. By the gods, she was a bad liar. She prayed he didn't suspect her.     -- "Hmm," said Ethne thoughtfully. "The lass makes sense. With my help, and with her knowledge of the passages, we might be able to steal the princess away." She placed a gauntlet on Liadan's arm. "But consider it carefully, good Liadan. We shall be exiled from Illa, never to return. I know we were heading for Hastow either way, but . . . are you willing to give up everything you are and everything you have for Ava?"   Liadan looked at Ethne helplessly as she said, "Everything I am and everything I have is already hers."    -- "I-I suppose if you are to be my knight that I should know your name," said Princess Ava, trying to keep her composure and feeling like a fool.   "I am Liadan Rossi, your highness," answered the knight politely.   "Yes, the Rossies," said Ava thoughtfully. "So mild-mannered for a barbarian, aren't you?" she observed in amusement.  Liadan smiled, her blue eyes firing prettily. "If you would have me behave otherwise, your highness . . ."   Ava blushed hotly. 

While trapped at an inn during a winter storm, Rowan's hammer is lost to bandits during a game of cards gone wrong. Desperate to keep the matter a secret from Saoirse, Rowan sets out at once to retrieve the hammer with Ethne and Lysa along to aid her. While distracting Saoirse from the absence of her fiance, Ava learns more about Liadan's culture and customs, while Ethne learns who Lysa truly is. Don't miss the third installment of this lesbian romance series!    -- Rowan's departure was so abrupt, Ava felt a jolt of shock to realize that she was now completely on her own – completely free to do as she pleased! What should she do first? Dance before the stage? Dance on a table? Perhaps get drunk? The first and last time she was drunk, her father had punished her, and she had never been allowed to drink so heavily again. It suddenly occurred to her that, for the first time in her life, she could do whatever she wished without being confined to a tower.  "Don't do anything rash, my princess," Lysa begged, as if she had read Ava's mind.   Ava made an irritated noise and ignored Lysa, instead grabbing the handmaiden's arm with a gleeful expression. "Oh, Lysa!" she squealed. "Stop scolding and let us make merry! Haven't you ever wanted to make merry?"  "No," Lysa said at once.    -- "What shall you do?" Lysa wondered anxiously.   "I shall take the hammer back, of course," said Rowan darkly.   "Without a weapon?" Ethne pointed out, as incredulous as if to say Rowan was mad.  "I shall kill her with my bare hands if I must," said Rowan. "And I shall do it before Saoirse even realizes what has happened. I must leave quickly and immediately. Tell my old lion I am gone down the lane to lay with the baker's daughter. She'll believe that."   Ethne laughed flatly. "That Saoirse would be less angry that you bedded another woman than your gambling away of your hammer . . . If you are to slay these ruffians, I shall come with you. It's senseless that you should go alone."    -- "Ah," said Ethne. "I expected we would have this conversation sooner or later. Liadan is angry with you, and you don't understand why, featherhead that you are."  "I understand why!" said Ava crossly. "She warned me about the men in the tavern, and I did not heed, and because of that, I was nearly hurt --"  "Aye," said Ethne darkly, "and it isn't the first time you haven't heeded us. Back on the road, you did stray into the wood, though I warned you not to, and were nearly accosted then as well --"   "Truly? By the gods," said Rowan in amusement. "How many times hath you put herself in danger, Ava? Shall I have to beat the men off with my hammer?"  "Most likely," said Ethne with a snort.  Ava frowned irritably. "I didn't come here to be scolded."   "Though perhaps you should be," said Ethne, laying down a card. 

Liadan's best friend, the Knight of the Sparrow, always comes to the rescue whenever her fellow knight is in need. But now for the first time, Ethne is in need of rescuing herself -- from her past. Can Liadan, Ava, and Lysa help Ethne avoid arrest and execution? Don't miss the second installment of this lesbian romance series!   -- Lysa made an irritated noise. "Let me be," she said.   "I can't let you be," Ethne whispered. "I think of you night and day."   Lysa hesitated and whispered, "Don't say such things . . ."   "Why?" Ethne whispered back. "They are true things."   -- Perhaps it was Ethne's punishment for having called the small woman a peasant. Ethne, though disowned by her family, had never quite left behind her noblewoman's mindset. In her mind, she could have anyone she wanted on command. It had always been that way. How she missed living in her father's castle, waking up in her enormous bed with two of the servant girls naked on either side . . .   Now those days were over. And what was more, Lysa wasn't impressed by the fact that Ethne was a Cawthorne. If anything, she didn't seem to give a damn at all. Ethne still remembered when they first met in the tavern and how Lysa's eyes had slid indifferently over the sparrow sigil on her armor. Lysa had recognized the sigil but she hadn't cared . . . while Ethne was so used to women becoming excited when they saw her sigil. Lysa probably would have pissed on Ethne's sigil if she could have.    -- Lysa cast her lashes down as she admitted, "It was the way Liadan made love to her. She was so. . . aggressive! She just ripped Ava's clothes off and took her right there! I keep wishing you would do the same to me."  Ethne laughed incredulously. "Liadan's a barbarian, Lysa! They take what they want when they want it! The warriors are always quite submissive to their wives otherwise. It is their culture." Ethne paused and added in weary amusement, "Am I expected to grunt and drag you off by the hair now?" 

After finally reaching the temple in Hastow, Rowan and Saoirse have their wedding at last. There is much feasting, dancing, drinking, and making love as the women of the temple celebrate. Ethne has been dropping many hints that she seriously wishes to marry Lysa and make their match official, while Lysa daydreams of becoming a warrior and going on grand adventures. Meanwhile, Liadan and Ava prepare for the birth of their firstborn while trying to cope with the fact that Liadan's sister does not approve of them. Don't miss the fifth installment of this lesbian romance series!    -- Lysa glared over her shoulder at the Knight of the Sparrow. Ethne was squatting over her saddlebags and was rummaging through them as she packed them. Lysa drew near and stood over her impatiently.  "I knew you'd take her side," Lysa complained. "You don't care about anything so long as Liadan is happy."  "Yes. I'm a terrible friend," Ethne sarcastically agreed, not looking up.    -- Ava carefully unslung the dragon egg from around her neck and shoulders and set it on the corner table near Ethne, allowing it to sit in the nest of fabric there. She had been sleeping with it in her arms for days, its warmth pulsing against her body as the tiny dragon squirmed inside, but now she felt safe enough to set it aside. It was just close enough to the hearth that she knew the fire's warmth would help it along. Soon enough, it would hatch, and then she would have a baby dragon! The excitement tingled through her every day. A baby dragon, so cute and small, and one day, it would be mighty and fierce, and she would ride it into battle and drive out Endoreth and foul King Bjorn! They would paint the battle in murals on the walls of her tomb, and all would remember her as Ava the Liberator of Women, the Queen of Queens --  "What are you doing?" said Lysa, her amused voice shattering Ava's thoughts. "You do nothing these days but stare and stare at that blasted egg."  "Are you jealous, Lysa? Are you wishing the princess would pay you mind?" teased Ethne.   "No!" Lysa protested at once, and Ethne laughed, though Ava thought the knight's laughter a little . . . sad. Had Ethne seen them kiss on the road?   Ava felt guilty for allowing the kiss to happen. She was slowly beginning to notice that Ethne knew about Lysa's feelings for her. Perhaps Ethne had always known.   -- "You're my first knight!" Lysa said in exasperation and smiled. "Of course, I care about you! And nothing shall ever change that!"   Lysa was glad when Ethne seemed pleased, but the Knight of the Sparrow gave a sad half-smile as she said, "Of course, you care about me. You just don't love me. And I need that. I need you to love me."  "Oh, Ethne," Lysa said miserably again. Ethne was speaking as if Lysa could just force herself to love her instead of Ava. Hearts didn't work that way.  

After agreeing to travel to the ancient elven realm of Elloris, Ava, Liadan and their friends are forced to travel to Adwean, Ethne's hometown, to book passage across the sea. The only problem is, Ethne has been exiled from her hometown on pain of death. When she is recognized by the woman whose love she was exiled for, Ethne is confronted with the delimma of possibly having to kill her. Don't miss the sixth installment of this lesbian romance series!   -- "Dost thou see something kiss-worthy?" Lysa teased Ethne as she cantered around their procession a second time.  "I shall do more than kiss you if I catch you!" Fionn said, making Ethne and Liadan laugh heartily.  Lysa was so startled by Fionn's words that she nearly careened into Saoirse. The Knight of the Lion calmly grabbed the reins of Lysa's horse, pulling it around to a stop as she told Lysa to stop prancing about.  "You shall draw attention to us," Saoirse grimly scolded, "and if you cease not, perhaps I shall let one of these guardsmen arrest you."     --   "Because I smacked her," answered Rois through her teeth. "But she should have done as she was told. It was her own damn fault."  Tuva dropped her gaze and shivered to hear Rois's bitter tone.  "You demon," said Ethne in amazement. "You would strike that helpless creature? The vow I took as a knight compels me to run you through—!"  "Yes, yes, it is your sworn duty as a knight to defend the helpless," said Rois in a bored voice. "And I suppose you could kill me and set sweet little Tuva free, but then where would she go? She would be a beggar on the streets."  Ethne stood there feeling helpless. At last, she said, "Who are you? You are not the highborn lady I did give my heart to five years before!"  Rois smiled sadly. "I was never a lady, Ethne. I just wasn't allowed to express myself as you were."    -- "I shall kill Ethne," Lysa went on through her teeth. "She is always making things difficult! I shall kill her and then kiss her and then kill her again!"  Liadan chuckled. "You love her greatly. You cannot deny it."   "No," Lysa admitted heavily, "I can't."    -- Still avoiding Liadan's eye, Lysa started to walk her horse forward, but Liadan rode up beside her and grabbed her mare's reins, halting her. "Liadan--!" Lysa began in exasperation. "Whatever excuses you shall make for Ethne --!"   "Listen to me and hear my counsel, sweet Lysa," Liadan said over her. "Ethne is a dog, yes. I shall not deny it. But so are you, coy though you pretend to be --"  Lysa gasped angrily.   "-- The two of you are perfect for each other," went on Liadan, unabashed. "Ethne is your match whether you shall admit it or not --"  Lysa scowled.  

When the Dragon of Almara arrives at the tavern in Hargendon, Liadan and the others are forced to flee her into the blizzard. They hide in the Valley of Queens, where Ava's ancestors lie in ancient tombs. As Ava becomes more and more resolved to live up to the legacy of her ancestors, Liadan struggles with the sudden and primal urge to magickally impregnant the princess, which has been activated most inconveniently in the middle of the chaos. Don't miss the fourth installment of this lesbian romance series!    -- "It was the tomb of Queen Saraid," said Ava thoughtfully.   "Ah," said Ethne, blinking. "The warrior queen." She frowned. "I wonder why Saraid would have an escape tunnel in the back of her tomb. I mean, she was dead. If the tomb was flooded or some other, why would she need to escape?"  "They say that she faked her own death," Ava answered, amused, "and that she escaped out of the tunnel and ran away with the elves. Saraid supposedly had an elven lover who took Saraid with her to . . . wherever the elves went."   "So if we enter the tomb," Ethne realized, "Saraid's coffin will be empty?"  "If the legends are true," Ava answered. "Some believe the legend only exists to explain away the absence of the corpse. In reality, Saraid's tomb was raided, but the thief couldn't get her out of her armor, so he took the whole corpse."   "Disgusting!" cried Lysa while Ethne howled with laughter.  "Do you believe any of this horse shite, Liadan?" laughed Ethne.     -- "What's h-happening?" Ava stammered, breathless and flushed with arousal. "It feels amazing!"   Liadan laughed sadly. "When a woman of Wildoras finds a compatible mate," she explained, "her body . . . begins the breeding process."   Ava quickly looked up and nearly laughed: Liadan was blushing faintly and looked agonizingly embarrassed.  "My body is reacting to you," Liadan answered. "It is a bit akin to when a man has stiffened yet finds no release. My fingers glow, wanting to release my seed inside you, but to do so now, in the middle of all this chaos . . ."   Ava tried yet again not to laugh: Liadan was trapped in perpetual arousal. . . . because she loved Ava.  "Are you saying your body wants you to . . . impregnate me?" Ava asked in wonder. "And it will happen through your fingertips?"  "That is how it is done," Liadan admitted heavily. "I have only told you so that you shall understand why I must . . . refrain from touching you."   -- Frustrated, Ava turned away and examined the images on the walls again. "You are cruel to withhold it, whatever it is," she said with a laugh.   "Cruel, my princess? No. Rather, I enjoy seeing you beg," said Liadan behind her.  Ava laughed again, blushing a little as the meaning behind Liadan's words slowly occurred to her. She felt Liadan's large hand squeeze her shoulder and knew without turning that the knight was aroused. She was correct: Liadan breathed hard and massaged Ava's shoulder, and her hand was slightly trembling with the need. She pushed aside Ava's long golden hair and kissed her neck.  

With King Eyvor's men hot on their heels, Ava and Liadan flee to the ancient forests of Elloris, where they raise their daughter (and her dragon) within the hallowed halls of an elven ruin, the temple of Erinyel. As Ava frowns over plans of conquest, Liadan stresses over her role as a new parent, while Ethne and Lysa provide emotional support. Don't miss the seventh installment of this lesbian romance series!   -- "What in hell is Ceana doing here?" Ethne demanded without preamble. She was speaking low so that Ceana and Fionn would not overhear, and her slanted eyes glared hatred at their backs.  Liadan had been speaking to Ava and both looked around to find the Sparrow Knight gazing at them crossly.  "I thought you'd be thrilled," said Liadan. "She has taken Fionn off your hands, has she not? Fionn is so distracted, she has not thought to slap you for your vile use of her – not that she would."  Ethne scowled. "I should be thrilled that the same woman who did try to slay me barely the week before shall now ride at my back and watch me sleep at night?"  "Who hasn't tried to slay you?" Liadan playfully returned.   -- "How will entering this dusty old temple protect us?" said Lysa, who had stepped forward and was peering apprehensively inside the great yawning doors.  "You are forgetting why we came here in the first place," said Ethne. "This is hallowed ground, Lysa! Don't you recall the elven legends? No man may shed blood inside one of these places – and no woman either."  "What about monthlies?" Lysa joked, but the joke was delivered flatly, as if she were trying to enter a playful banter with Ethne but just didn't have the heart after recent events.    -- "What's the matter?" whispered Lysa, whose voice had become hushed and intimate after their kiss. Her concerned eyes danced up and down Ethne's trembling arms, which bulged with muscles around her, and she smoothed her little hand over Ethne's cheek, as if to calm her.   "Can't you see how desperately I need you?" Ethne whispered back.  Lysa frowned in sympathy, her little thumb smoothing over Ethne's bottom lip to catch a tear. "Hush, my knight," she whispered and kissed Ethne on the lips. "I shall not leave you. Not for a long time to come." She smiled mischievously.   Ethne laughed through her tears, and they kissed.   -- Sitting in a chair opposite Liadan as she breastfed their tiny daughter beside the fire, Ava would watch Liadan sewing and try not to laugh, but it was so – odd – to see such a large woman with such large fingers and bulging arms, sewing dainty little pants and socks. But Liadan was quite good at it, and because Ava couldn't sew a kerchief to save her life, she daren't mock her wife for having a skill so valuable. 

Riona has been given a quest to end the age of man and restore magick power to all women everywhere. As she sets out alone with her dragon to fulfill her destiny, she meets and falls in love with an elven woman named Inara, who has sworn a vow to aid her. Meanwhile, Ava, Liadan, and their friends have discovered a way to defeat the Godga and set out on a quest of their own. Don't miss part eight of this lesbian romance series!    -- "True enough," said Liadan wearily, "but it will do us no good to lay blame, point fingers, and bicker with the elves should they return."  "It will do us no good to befriend them either," Ethne said at once. "They betrayed us once before. We would be fools to welcome an alliance again!"  "True," Liadan admitted. "Ava and I have already decided to keep human interests separate should the elves return. That, however, does not mean that we should make an enemy of them. They won't be our rivals, but it isn't as if we shall have Riona marry one, either."  "Marry an elf? Even Riona isn't that daft."  "It's not something we need worry about at the moment, anyhow," said Liadan. "You know what Minye said. The elf-cowards have fled to the corners of the world. I doubt Riona shall encounter one on her quest."    -- Inara glared again and her cleavage heaved behind the half-sewn fabric, swelling nicely against it. "I could explain," she said scathingly, "but you are too softhearted and simpleminded to understand!"  "Softhearted? Simpleminded?" Riona repeated in outrage.   "Ah, so you can hear at least," mocked Inara.   -- Inara laughed. "No, Riona . . . You must use magick. You must use your mind! These doors have been sealed by a spell for ages upon ages. All the doors in Elloris have."  Riona stared at the towering doors and suddenly felt quite small. "I'm not sure I can," she admitted, swallowing.   Inara goggled at Riona. "And yet, you charged into a horde of goblins for me and slayed them singlehandedly!"   Riona glanced sideways at Inara, surprised by the elven woman's bright-eyed doting. "Inara . . . it was four goblins. That's hardly a horde." 

While traveling to Azmon's tomb, Riona is joined by Sinead -- who has introduced herself as Riona's future wife. Rather than falling for Riona, however, Sinead finds herself in love with Inara. While Riona and Sinead fight for Inara's affections, Ava and Liadan head deep into Wildoras, there to summon the Godga in dragon form and destroy her once and for all. Don't miss the final installment of this lesbian romance series!    -- The horses, seeing the undead rising from the snow, whinnied and bucked, kicking and struggling to get free. Sinead, Gesine, and Lorcan released their horses, allowing them to run away up the snow toward the tomb, and almost as one, the five knights drew their swords.  The skeletons kept marching up the snowbank, eyes glowing, hissing with dark laughter. Some still had ropey bits of flesh attached to their graying bones, stringy hair, rotten teeth. Inara felt her skin crawling to look at them.  "They're just . . . bones, right?" said Sinead nervously. "We can kill bones!"  "Y-Yeah, yeah, just bones," agreed Riona, who also sounded faint with fear.  If their lives weren't in danger, Inara would have found it amusing that the two of them were so frightened of walking corpses when they had both slaughtered their way easily through cannibalistic goblins and orcs back in the Shadowlands. Now, for the first time, the two of them were doubting their abilities.     --   "I shant marry her, you know," Riona said after a while. All of her armor pieces had been removed, and now there was only one vambrace left, which Inara was fumbling to unbuckle.  "You have to marry her," said Inara, struggling to keep the tears from her voice, keeping her eyes down on her work.   "Why?" said Riona at once, speaking through her teeth.   "Because it's for the good of your people!" Inara cried in exasperation.   "I shall end the curse of Azmon," Riona said darkly, "but my personal life is my own! I shall marry whom I please --"  "Riona, don't be rebellious! Your people need this alliance --"  "And what about what I need, hmm?" said Riona over her. Losing patience, she ripped the vambrace off her arm and tossed it away, drawing Inara's gaze to her own in the process. She touched Inara's cheek and said softly, "I need you."   Inara closed her eyes to hold back tears and tilted her head as Riona's gentle fingers caressed her cheek.    -- Liadan sniffed, and Ava knew she was on the verge of tears. She smoothed her small hands over Liadan's arms to sooth her. The knight had changed out of her armor for the evening and was wearing a tunic and trousers (for Queen Treasa had requested such attire at supper). Ava loved the feel of Liadan's bulging arms behind the sleeves. Her big, beautiful wife, with her wild red hair and beautiful blue eyes. Did she really deserve her?   "When we have more daughters," said Liadan, "we mustn't part them, or else they shall grow apart and turn on each other, as Ceana and I turned on each other."   Ava paused when she reflected on Liadan's words. "When we have more?" she repeated, amused. "I thought you were afraid to keep having them? I thought you didn't want any more?"  

Now queen of Illa and the seven realms at Ava's side, Liadan hides away in her bedchamber to escape a rowdy feast, only to encounter the specter of jolly Rowan, who is quite proud of Liadan for having become queen of the land.