The Assassin: (Mortal Beloved Time Travel Romance, #2) (30 page)

My heart started pounding, my face grew hot, and I felt a little faint. “Chocolate,” I said.

“What?” He asked.

“I like chocolate ice cream, the darker the better. I root for the Chicago White Sox, but if the Cubs ever got into the World Series, hell yeah I’d cheer for them. I’m a thin crust girl and pepperoni’s my thing. My big dream after high school is still unfolding. Right now, I just really hope I can make it through the rest of my time at Preston and no, I’m not going to share anything more with you about that subject right now. But I’m super grateful you feel the same way about the Bean because when the aliens pop out, I’m counting on you to protect me.”

He smiled, his eyes lit up, and he gently pulled my glove off, tucked it into his pocket, brought my hand to his lips, and kissed it. “This,” he said. “This is what is meant to be.”

And on that moment in present day Chicago, I discovered that for now, my wish had come true. Something in Samuel remembered a part of me and we were finally together. Was it because I answered his prayer in 1355 and became his message? I guess I’d never know for sure.

We rented blades, joined the other people on the ice, and skated as we talked and laughed; it felt natural, like two old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time and were simply catching up. He picked me up every time I fell and I did the same for him. The afternoon grew long, the rink’s overhead lights blinked on, and the sun dropped low in the skies, creating a bit of a glare on the ice.
 

“We should go,” Samuel said. “Grab a bite. I need to get you back home safe and sound, or your parents will call out the guards on me.”

“It sounds like you know my dad.” I smiled and skated a slow circle around him. “Okay, watch this. I’m going to give you a clue to my big dream in life.” I leaned forward and stuck one foot behind me, and extended my arms out to the sides like wings. “Look! I’m a figure skater in the finals at the Winter Olympics. Now you know!” I teetered and started to fall.
 

But he caught me and pulled me to him.

I looked up into his eyes. “Kiss me,” I said and he did.
 

It was a simple kiss. A slow kiss. A sweet kiss. But I melted just like all the times I’d kissed him in other lifetimes.
 

He was finally my Samuel in present day.

We made our way to the side of the rink, took off our skates, and stumbled off the ice, our arms around each other’s waists as we laughed; high on life, high on each other. When we literally bumped into someone by accident.
 

“I’m so sorry, sir,” Samuel said. “Are you okay?”

I caught a flash of a large silver chunky ring and my eyes were drawn up toward Malachi’s face.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Malachi said. “Madeline, it’s you, isn’t it? I think I’d recognize you anywhere. Introduce me to your friend;
I insist.
”

THE END

Madeline and Samuel’s story continues in

The Seeker (Mortal Beloved, Book Three)

The Huntress (Mortal Beloved, Book Four)

Publishing 2016.

Watch
 
the trailer for THE MESSENGER (Mortal Beloved Time Travel Series) here:

http://bit.ly/1JxdSos

Dear Reader:

Thank you for reading
The Assassin (Mortal Beloved, Book Two).
 

I appreciate every honest review left on the platform where you purchased this book as well as on Goodreads. Reviews help readers find books and genuinely help authors as well.

You can leave your review on Goodreads here:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24180925-the-assassin

Sign up for news and special updates on my contact form at my website here:

http://www.pameladumond.com/contact.html
 

All my best,

Pamela DuMond

Dear Reader:

Thank you for reading
The Assassin (Mortal Beloved, Book Two).
 

I published
The Messenger (Mortal Beloved, Book One)
in 2012 and planned on continuing Madeline and Samuel’s adventure shortly thereafter. But life intervened, I moved a couple of times, and my mom died unexpectedly. So thank you for your patience between books.

I’d like to give you a little background on the history surrounding Prince Pedro and Inêz’ de Castro as well as the liberties I took in fictionalizing their story.

I first stumbled upon their intriguing tale of love, doomed romance, and obsession years ago when I was traipsing around Portugal. My friend and I visited the Monastery of Alcobaca where they were entombed and their story has stuck in my brain and heart ever since.
 

When I wrote
The Messenger
, I quickly knew that I wanted my heroine and hero, Madeline and Samuel, to be a part of Inêz and Pedro’s saga. Book Two in the Mortal Beloved series seemed like the perfect place to position my young lovers in a story rich in European history, madness, and the perils of losing oneself to love’s obsession.

While I’ve extensively researched the history behind Inêz and Pedro’s saga,
The Assassin (Mortal Beloved, Book Two)
is still a work of fiction that weaves historical events with fictionalized characters and story.

According to the history books Prince Pedro really
did
go to war with his father, King Afonso after his beloved, Inêz de Castro was assassinated in the year 1355. From what I read, his mother finally talked him into calming down and stopping that conflict.
 

Medieval historians have different accounts of
where
Inêz was killed. Some believe it was at Prince Pedro and Inêz’s villa. Others claim Inêz was murdered at the Monastery of Santa Clara a Vel-ha in Coimbra, Portugal. What is generally agreed on is that two of their children, Beatrice and Denis,
did not
witness her death, but their son John actually did. In a strange twist of history,
 
John actually killed his own wife.
 

Prince Pedro
did
ascend the Portuguese throne and become King of Portugal. Some believe his meltdown moment, where he forced everyone to kiss dead Inêz’s rotting hand, was legend, while others believe it to be true. After he crowned Inêz de Castro as Portugal’s Queen, he entombed her body in the gorgeous church and sarcophagus he built for her.
 
According to historical notes, Pedro eventually became a more benevolent leader and his nickname changed from “The Cruel” to “The Just.”

I invented the fire at the palace at the end of Act 2 in
The Assassin.
 

Hundreds of plays and operas and works of art were inspired by the Pedro and Inêz’s haunting love story and the vast majority of these are European.

Thank you for reading my fictionalized version of Pedro and Inêz’s epic, medieval love story. I hope you enjoyed Madeline and Samuel’s adventures in these times as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Xo,

Pamela DuMond

acknowledgments

Thank you to Elsa M. author at
The Royal Articles
courtesy of The Royal Forums
"The Queen Who Was Crowned After Death" Royal Forums Article by Elsa M.
 
who responded to my letter for help researching Inêz and Pedro’s story in medieval Portugal. She also referred me to the book
Daily Life in Portugal in the Late Middle Ages
by A. H. De Oliveria Marques that helped tremendously.

~

A HUGE thanks to Regina Wamba and Jenessa C Andrea. (my cover girl) for bringing the ‘beautiful’ to my book covers for this series. I am in awe of your talent.
 
MaeIDesign.com

Thanks to my beta readers Debbie deBlas, and Rita Kempley for slogging through the ugly first draft. Thanks to Arianne Cruz for her terrific editing. Thanks Allison Morse for additional comments. Thanks to Michael James Canales at
mjcimageworks
for website and graphics. Thanks to Maggie Marr for her expert legal advice and hand holding. Thanks Sarah Altman for being a terrific author assistant

~

Thanks to the folks that continue to amaze me with their generosity and kindness: Monica Mason, Cheyenne Mason, Kristin Warren, Jeanie Whitmire Jackson, Terri Billingsley Dunn, Carole Sauer, Cheryl Cavitt Carlson, Alta Kirkland Roberts, Rebecca Smith Hawrot, Sue Berger, Roni Lynne, Maria Roberts, Ed Schneider, Bob Bernstein, J.M. Kelly, Dave and Mary Jo Thome, Joan Brady, Melissa Black Ford, Cheryl Moore, C. Aurora deBlas, Mike Snyder, Cindy Sample, Joanne Pence, Beth Anderson, Shelly Fredman, Alli Sinclair, Kelly Self, Lesley Fogle, Elizabeth Semida, and my stepmom, Kaye DuMond.

~

Thanks to all you bloggers for your time. My favorite Facebook groups – Sassy Girls Book Club, Forever Young Adult, Must Read Mysteries, and Chick Lit Central – you’re terrific. To Romance Writers of America and especially LARA, the Los Angeles RWA chapter, I’m thrilled to be one of your members. You are so incredibly supportive.
 

~

To my readers – you rock!

To my parents in heaven: I love you dearly and I miss you every single day.

And for Susan Marie Timmel DuMond:
 
The Messenger
was always for you, mama.

Xo,

Pamela DuMond

About the Author

USA Today
Bestselling Author Pamela DuMond discovered Erin Brockovich's life story, thought it would make a great movie, and pitched it to 'Hollywood'. Her book THE MESSENGER was optioned for Film/TV.

She's addicted to the TV shows
The Voice
, and
The Black List.
She likes her cabernet hearty, her chocolate dark, her foods non-GMO, and she lives for a good giggle. When she's not writing Pamela's also a chiropractor and cat wrangler. She loves reading, the beach, working out, movies, TV, animals, her family and friends. She lives in Venice, California with her fur-babies.

Sign up for her newsletter and look her up on Facebook!
 
http://www.pameladumond.com
 
.

Time-saving Pamela DuMond Book Descriptions

THE MESSENGER
 

(Mortal Beloved, Book One)

Book Description:

"All the excitement of OUTLANDER if it was a YA series."
 

This novel is optioned for film/TV.
 

“He smiled, leaned his head down, and cradled my face in his rough palms. He pulled me to him and said, ‘Madeline. I do not care where you are from—the future, the past, a star in the sky. I will love you here now. I do not care what people think. I will love you in the past. I will love you in the future. I will love you, forever, Madeline.’ And he kissed me.”
 
~~~ Madeline

Sixteen-year-old Madeline's meant to fall in love with Samuel in every lifetime. But she meets him for the first time when she accidentally time travels into the past—hundreds of years before she's even born.
 

Their relationship is forbidden—Samuel's half Native, Madeline's white. Every rendezvous they share must be secret. Each moment they spend together tempts the odds that they'll be discovered and brutally punished. But their love is fated—they musk risk all. Danger intensifies when Madeline learns she's in the past not only to fall in love, but also to claim her birth right as a Messenger—a soul who can slip through time's fabric at will. She can bring messages that change one life or even save many.
 

Deadly Hunters, dark-souled time travelers, crave Madeline's powers and seek to seduce or kill her. Can Madeline find her way back to the future in time to save herself and Samuel?
 

Continue reading Madeline and Samuel's romantic saga in…
 

Genres:
YA Romance, Time Travel Romance, Historical Romance, Thriller, Fantasy, Science Fiction

You can purchase
The Messenger
at Amazon HERE:

http://www.amazon.com/Messenger-Mortal-Beloved-Romance-Book-ebook/dp/B007T07YU8

Part-time Princess

(Ladies-in-Waiting, #1)

Book Description:

Two Princes are in love with Lucy. Too bad she's an imposter...
 

Lucy Trabbicio's a down-on-her-luck, young, cocktail waitress desperate to find a job to keep her uncle at Assisted Living. Lady Elizabeth Billingsley hires Lucy to impersonate her to keep the attention of Crown Prince Cristoph of Fredonia while she completes her pressing personal business in the States.
 

In the mother of all makeovers, Elizabeth's people transform Lucy into a reluctant 'Lady’ and she travels to Fredonia for ten days 'tops.' What could possibly go wrong?
 

Sexy, bad-boy Nick—Fredonia’s other Prince—that’s what goes wrong!

Nick has romantic history with Elizabeth and he wants to pick up the between-the-sheets action with her impersonator—Lucy. Even though Lucy’s wildly attracted to him, she has to resist—she can't lose this job! Dreamy Nick's courting Lucy hot and heavy when Prince Cristoph proposes marriage. What's an imposter girl to do?
 

Elizabeth insists that she'll make it back home in time for the wedding. Lucy accepts Cristoph's proposal and is on the fast track to becoming a Princess when another glitch arises—someone's trying to kill her! Besides Nick, the only folks helping Lucy are her wild, party hard, take-no-prisoners Ladies-in-Waiting.
 

A modern day, sexy tale with romance, twists and turns, LOL moments, a few tears and a Happily-Ever-After Ending (Just not the way you expected it!)

Genres:
Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance, Humor, Mystery

You can purchase
Part-time Princess
at Amazon HERE:
 

http://www.amazon.com/Part-time-Princess-Imposter-Ladies-Waiting-ebook/dp/B00M8LVW10

The Story of You and Me

(Driven, #1)