title: Wasting The Dawn: Hasten The Day, Part III (Volume 3)
author:  Billy Roper 
description: Billy Roper is a former high school and junior high History, Civics, Economics, and Geography teacher. He has been a candidate for public office, and a lifelong political activist, leader, and spokesman. Mr. Roper has a Bachelor's degree in History and Political Science and a Master of Liberal Arts degree in History with a specialty in Anthropology. He currently resides with his wife, two stepsons, and dog in what will become New America. Mr. Roper may be reached through e-mail at roper_billy@yahoo.com, or through postal mail at P.O. Box 2154, Harrison, AR., 72602.
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  # LORD OF MIDNIGHT
  
  
  ## JO BEVERLEY
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  Copyright © 1998 by Jo Beverley Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  _This book is dedicated with appreciation to Jennifer Sawyer Fisher, editor
  extraordinaire._
  
  
  _And to romance readers everywhere, because they read for pleasure. Every
  novel deserves to be closed with a smile._
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  ### CHAPTER 1
  
  
  _August 1101_
  
  
  With the rhythm of a tolling bell, men pounded stake after stake into the dry
  summer ground. Others trailed behind, tying ropes to mark off a grassy circle.
  A court battle, a battle to the death, would draw a fair crowd, and a crowd
  must be controlled.
  
  
  On the dais, the carpenters’ hammers beat a more urgent rhythm. The platform
  must be ready soon, ready for the king and his officers. It was a plain
  structure, without canopy or trimming for no ladies would attend. Today, this
  field would become a court of law, where men defended their right with their
  bodies.
  
  
  It would also be a field of exe