Nightfall till Daybreak - 2014 ABNA Entry

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) Entry - this eBook is a sample of the first 3,000-5,000 words; it is not the full book. The ABNA contest is operated on Amazon.com only. Visit this entry on Amazon.com to leave customer feedback. To vote for the Grand Prize winner starting July 8, visit www.amazon.com/ABNA.

A young woman taken as a king’s slave, an ambitious warrior in search of a new life in Britannia — and the will of one man who rules them both. It is the spring of 629 A.D. in Anglo-Saxon Britannia, and the Kingdom of the East Angles is in turmoil. Ricberht the Usurper has killed the king and taken the throne for his own. Meanwhile, Sigeberht, the exiled stepson of the late King Raedwald of the East Angles, prepares to return to Britannia from Gaul. Freya, a flame-haired and spirited young woman, meets an arrogant stranger on the East Anglian shore. Days later, she finds herself torn from her old life and forced into slavery. When Sigeberht attacks Rendlaesham and takes back the throne for his family, Freya discovers the man who stole a kiss from her on the shore is the new king’s right-hand. Aidan of Connacht has followed Sigeberht since boyhood. He owes the new king his life, and his freedom. Yet, Aidan does not expect to fall in love with the king's beautiful slave. Sigeberht has returned to Britannia for vengeance, but soon discovers that reckoning comes at a price. In the shadow of approaching war between the East Angles and the Mercians, the fates of Freya and Aidan are intertwined with that of their king. With the warmongering Mercian King, Penda, marching on their border and a looming battle between the two armies, Sigeberht refuses to face the danger — a decision that will change all of their lives forever. 'Nightfall till Daybreak' is a timeless tale of love in a world where only the strong survived. Can Freya and Aidan’s blossoming passion endure duty, treachery and war?