Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Nancy Northcott’s recently released novel, The King’s Champion, as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. The King’s Champion  is the concluding book of the exciting The Boar King’s Honor trilogy.

Blurb

The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy

A wizard’s misplaced trust
A king wrongly blamed
A bloodline cursed until they clear the king’s name.

Excerpt

Caught up in the desperate evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from France in the summer of 1940, photojournalist Kate Shaw witnesses death and destruction that trigger disturbing visions. She doesn’t believe in magic and tries to pass them off as survivor guilt or an overactive imagination, but the increasingly intense visions force her to accept that she is not only magically Gifted but a seer.

In Dover, she meets her distant cousin Sebastian Mainwaring, Earl of Hawkstowe and an officer in the British Army. He’s also a seer and is desperate to recruit her rare Gift for the war effort. The fall of France leaves Britain standing alone as the full weight of Nazi military might threatens. Kate’s untrained Gift flares out of control, forcing her to accept Sebastian’s help in conquering it as her ethics compel her to use her ability for the cause that is right.

As this fledgling wizard comes into her own, her visions warn of an impending German invasion, Operation Sealion, which British intelligence confirms. At the same time, desire to help Sebastian, who’s doomed by a family curse arising from a centuries-old murder, leads Kate to a shadowy afterworld between life and death and the trapped, fading souls who are the roots of her family’s story. From the bloody battlefields of France to the salons of London, Kate and Sebastian race against time to free his family’s cursed souls and to stop an invasion that could doom the Allied cause.

This scene is from Chapter 1. Lorries headed for Dunkirk have overtaken Kate’s position. Having tried to evacuate her before only to have its efforts derailed by combat, the army has ordered her to accept this ride to the beach.

Thirsk led Kate down the line of trucks. He stopped at the rear of the next to last. The dirty, weary soldiers seated on the benches down the sides and in the floor regarded her with some curiosity. Each of them sported a bandage on his head or a limb.

“This lady’s Miss Shaw, a reporter. Behave yourselves, fellows, or she’ll tell the world on you.”

“Might be worth it,” one man replied with a teasing grin and a wink.

His mates hooted and mocked his chances.

Thirsk said, “That’s all talk. They’re good blokes and won’t bother you, Miss. They do, you tell the driver. Up you go, now.”

He offered a steadying hand, but Kate had climbed in and out of enough trucks to manage alone, even with her pack. One foot on the bumper, one on the floorboard, and she was in the truck, hunched over under the covering tarp.

The men on the left-hand side squeezed down to make a space. Kate thanked them and sat, her pack on her lap.

Outside, someone shouted a command. The tramp of feet came through the tarp, and the soldiers visible beyond the truck started marching.

With a grinding of gears, the truck lurched into motion.

The man across from Kate caught her eye. “So tell us,” he said, raising his voice over the noise around them, “where are you from, Miss Shaw?”

“Missouri. I’m with Consolidated News Union.”

“A Yank, eh?” He raised his eyebrows. “What made a Yank crazy enough to cross the ocean and run toward a war?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Looks like we’ve time,” the man returned.

“Yes, tell us,” said an older man with a seamed face and one arm in a sling. “What’s the attraction of this charming spot?”

A flippant reply hovered on the tip of her tongue. Kate swallowed it. These men had put their lives on the line every day for three weeks. They deserved an honest answer.

“The truth,” she said slowly. “I want to tell the truth, to make everyone back home see the truth about the threat Nazi Germany poses. Before it’s too late.”

Coming out of her mouth, the words sounded grandiose. Self-important.

The men around her, though, had first-hand knowledge of that threat. They’d lost friends to it, and none of them looked doubtful.

“Pretty big ocean between the Yanks and Hitler,” someone down the bench observed.

“There is.” Kate shrugged. “If he conquers everyone else, though, he can take his time seeing to us. I don’t doubt he eventually will try—unless we stop him first.”

The men made general noises of approval.

Kate fished in her pack and pulled out her notebook and pen. “Who wants to tell me his story—where you come from, why you joined up, and what the last weeks have been?”

“I’ll have a go,” the man across from her offered.

Kate dutifully started writing, thankful as always for the speed of shorthand. During the weeks she’d spent in England awaiting accreditation from the army, she’d grown accustomed to the various British accents, so she didn’t have to struggle to catch what he said.

“I joined up with my mate Bill Kelso, rest his soul,” the man told her. “He died holding the line at the Yser.”

“I’m so sorry.” All she could say, though the words felt stunningly inadequate. Especially when the image of two young boys running in a field together flashed across her sight.

Everyone here knew they might not make it to Dunkirk beach. Even if they did, they might not make it back to England. The Germans would be fools to let the evacuation proceed unhindered, and whatever else they might be, they were not fools.

Everyone probably felt the same pervasive dread she did. Stewing about the risks wouldn’t help, though. All the retreating units could do was keep moving forward.

And hope.

The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy is available on Kindle Unlimited and at
Amazon US • Amazon UK  • Amazon AU • Amazon CA

Universal Links
The Herald of the Day • The Steel Rose • The King’s Champion

Nancy Northcott

Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman. Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, science fiction, fantasy, history, and romance.

Nancy earned her undergraduate degree in history and particularly enjoyed a summer spent studying Tudor and Stuart England at the University of Oxford. She has given presentations on the Wars of the Roses and Richard III to university classes studying Shakespeare’s play about that king. In addition, she has taught college courses on science fiction, fantasy, and society.

The Boar King’s Honor historical fantasy trilogy combines Nancy’s love of history and magic with her interest in Richard III. She also writes traditional romantic suspense, romantic spy adventures, and two other speculative fiction series, the Light Mage Wars paranormal romances and, with Jeanne Adams, the Outcast Station space mystery series.

For more information about Nancy and her books click on the links below
Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram
Pinterest • BookBub • AmazonAuthorPage • Goodreads

More information on the Coffee Pot Book Club and other works of quality historical fiction can be found on Twitter and Instagram.

Book Title: The King’s Champion
Series: The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy
Author: Nancy Northcott
Publication Date: 1 May 2023
Publisher: Falstaff Books
Page Length: 378
Genre: Historical fantasy with romantic elements