title: The Dark Sides of a Woman: A Collection of Short Stories
author: Queen Godess
description: Queen Goddess has written for The Sketchbook 80, Urban America, Ebonix Communication, and Felon Magazine. She graduated from Hostos College with a degree in liberal arts. Visit her Web site at www.thedarksidesofawoman.com.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Queen’s Lady
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  A Gavin Rownt Medieval Mystery
  
  
  Joyce Lionarons
  
  
  ©2020 Joyce Lionarons
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
  without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who
  may quote brief passages in a review.
  
  
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the
  products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
  to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
  
  
  London March 1251
  
  
  Chapter 1
  
  
  Aubade
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
    
  
  
  Rafaela snuggled next to Thomas under the fine woolen bedclothes, her hair
  tousled around her head on his shoulder, the length of her body pressed
  against his. One forefinger drew small circles in the hair surrounding his
  nipple, and she smiled as he shivered under her touch. Strands of her own hair
  had caught in his beard, and she reached to pull them away. “Dawn is coming,”
  she murmured. “I must go.”
  
  
  “Not 