Author Allen M Werner

When Pero was seventeen, he wintered in Valladolid with his mother as usual. He attended university, studied, and read, wrote, and prayed. But he was bored and eager for summer. He couldn’t wait to ride his father’s jennet ponies or go for long hunts in the Madera de la sombra, swim in the aguas de plata. There were promises of dances, tournaments, and bullfights.
Pero also hoped this was the year he would be knighted and officially take up the cross like his father.
– Excerpt from The Crystal Crux: Betrayal

During the carriage ride home, happened upon a situation.

The party was formidable and encountered no problems until they were about two miles west of Penafiel. The Captain of the Guard, Don Luis Zorrilla, Blassilo’s best friend, suddenly halted the column and carriage. He set up a perimeter and rushed ahead with four men.
Pero craned his youthful neck out the carriage window hoping to catch a glimpse of the ruckus, desperately wanting to vacate the conveyance and share in whatever violence was occurring. There was no violence, however. The hostilities had been over for hours. Only the dead and dying remained.
– Excerpt from The Crystal Crux: Betrayal

After some shouting, the carriage lunged forward, going a ways before coming to a halt again. This time the carriage door was opened from the outside.

They insisted that Maria and Pero sit further back in the coach and make room. Once they did, the soldiers shoved Blassilo’s swelling, filthy body inside. The knight was badly wounded, choking and gagging, blood all over his armor. A bolt penetrated his chest plate directly above the emblem of House Velez. The scarlet star was bleeding.
– Excerpt from The Crystal Crux: Betrayal

The coach sped to Penafiel Castle where Blassilo was ushed to the infirmary. Pero nervously paced the grounds waiting for news of his father. Eventually, they called for him. They led him to the chapel where Blassilo was laid and waiting for him, covered in white sheets, surrounded by candles.

A lump formed in Pero’s throat. His knees wobbled. All the courage and fire he generated outside the room was gone. He felt like a small boy again, completely useless and on the verge of crying.
Zor had experienced much in life. He had seen plenty of young men face their own mortality standing in the presence of their father’s demise. Wobbly legs and throbbing chests.
The good knight stepped up and placed an encouraging hand on Pero’s shoulder. Pero could feel the caballero’s positive energy surging into him. It was like magic.
“Bravest blood flows first,” Zor whispered.
Pero examined Zor’s aged face and bristled with respect.
– Excerpt from The Crystal Crux: Betrayal

Blassilo is still clinging onto life and wants to have some final words with his bastard son. He begins by telling Pero he is sending him to Emperor Barbarossa to be knighted.

“You will leave tomorrow. You will be going to the Imperial palace with Zor and a considerable donation. By my charge, the emperor will knight you and seal your identity as my eternal namesake… It seems I’m dying, and I require a legitimate heir. The damnable church won’t accept a bastardo unless a king commands it. So be it, a king will command it. You will be my heir. My entire inheritance goes to you. Cielo Diamantes. Everything.”
– Excerpt from The Crystal Crux: Betrayal

Blassilo explains to his son how he came upon his wounds before looking to Maria, Pero’s mother, the woman he didn’t wed but felt he should have.

“I am a goddamn barbarian. A filthy, willful man beset by sinful passions. And I have wounded the love of my life because I refused to harness my libido and waywardness… Don’t be like me, hijo. Don’t be alone. I’ve lived a thousand adventures on the back of a horse, but none were so good as the quiet hours I reclined in your Madre’s arms. I wish I had been courageous enough to stay by her side and enjoy the fruit of the things I had sown. I should have been resting beneath the shade of my trees, counting their leaves. In my heart, it all withers. The trees I have planted are hewn down, wizened boughs contorting and turning white, dark leaves snapping off at the stems, missed opportunities drifting away, swirling in the breeze towards the coldness of the grave, winding upside down and tumbling, blackening the whole sky, the green earth; everything they touch. So many regrets. I have injured the love of my life but fail to grasp how deeply.”
– Excerpt from The Crystal Crux: Betrayal

Right now, Betrayal, the first book in the five book series, The Crystal Crux, is on sale until 12/31/23.
$2.99 Kindle. $12.00 Paperback.
Join the adventure today.
Take an epic journey through medieval Europe.

Keep Reading And Stay Inspired!