The Price of Loyalty
by Malve von Hassell
In a time of kingdoms and crusades, one man's heart is the battlefield.
Cerdic, a Saxon knight, serves Count Stephen-Henry of Blois with unwavering loyalty-yet his soul remains divided. Haunted by memories of England, the land of his childhood, and bound by duty to King William, the conqueror who once showed him mercy, Cerdic walks a dangerous line between past and present, longing and loyalty.
At the center of his turmoil stands Adela – daughter of a king, wife of a count, and the first to offer him friendship in a foreign land. But when a political marriage binds him to the spirited and determined Giselle, Cerdic’s world turns again. Giselle, fiercely in love with her stoic husband, follows him across sea and sand to the Holy Land, hoping to win the heart that still lingers elsewhere.
As the clash of empires looms and a crusade threatens to tear everything apart, Cerdic must confront the deepest truth of all-where does his loyalty lie, and whom does his heart truly belong to?
A sweeping tale of passion, honor, and impossible choices-perfect for fans of The Last Kingdom and The Pillars of the Earth.
Land Flowing With Milk And Honey
I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey. Exodus 3:17
1097 Nicaea
“Dratted quills.” Count Stephen tossed the frayed goose feather into a corner and grabbed another one. “I should have asked Father Alexander to sharpen more for me.” He dipped it into a pot of ink and continued writing. Scritch, scratch.
Count Stephen to Adela, his sweetest and most amiable wife, to his dear children, and to all his vassals of all ranks, his greeting and blessing.
You may be very sure, dearest, that the messenger whom I sent to give you pleasure, left me before Antioch safe and unharmed, and through God’s grace in the greatest prosperity. And already at that time, together with all the chosen army of Christ, endowed with great valor by Him, we had been continuously advancing for twenty-three weeks toward the home of our Lord Jesus. You may know for certain, my beloved, that of gold, silver and many other kind of riches I now have twice as much as your love had assigned to me when I left you. For all our princes, with the common consent of the whole army, against my own wishes, have made me up to the present time the leader, chief and director of their whole expedition.
Cerdic sat on a stool in Count Stephen-Henry’s tent in the encampment outside of Nicaea. His head itched. He would have to check his gear for lice. All the men were infested with them. He could hear them through the tent walls—an unceasing cacophony of shouts, angry voices, muttered curses, and occasional bursts of laughter.
Count Stephen-Henry’s tent boasted a Persian carpet, a comfortable pallet, a working area with a folding table, and several travel chests. The count had sent many gifts he had received for Emperor Alexios home to Blois, entrusting them to a small contingent of his retinue, but some he was loath to let out of his grasp. And Cerdic had heard him dictate a letter in which he had gone on and on about his delight in the many presents he had received from the emperor.
The count was once again writing to his wife. Usually, he had his chaplain, Father Alexander, take dictation, but today he had dispensed with his services.
Cerdic liked Father Alexander. Tall and slender, with a face that seemed to be carved out of oak, full of crags and sharp corners, he never seemed to lose his calm.
Count Stephen and his contingent had arrived in Nicaea after the siege had been going on for several weeks. Emperor Alexios Komnenos had been solicitous and anxious to show his support by providing Count Stephen and his army with food. However, he was not eager to accompany them. Constantinople had already endured the presence of Peter the Hermit and some 30,000 men earlier. While the city felt relatively opulent and Count Stephen was treated like a favorite son by the emperor, Cerdic got the distinct impression of a populace that could hardly wait for the disappearance of their unwelcome guests.
Malve von Hassell
Malve von Hassell is a freelance writer, researcher, and translator. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the New School for Social Research. Working as an independent scholar, she published The Struggle for Eden: Community Gardens in New York City (Bergin & Garvey 2002) and Homesteading in New York City 1978-1993: The Divided Heart of Loisaida (Bergin & Garvey 1996). She has also edited her grandfather Ulrich von Hassell's memoirs written in prison in 1944, Der Kreis schließt sich - Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft 1944 (Propylaen Verlag 1994).
Malve has taught at Queens College, Baruch College, Pace University, and Suffolk County Community College, while continuing her work as a translator and writer. She has published two children’s picture books, Tooth Fairy (Amazon KDP 2012/2020), and Turtle Crossing (Amazon KDP 2023), and her translation and annotation of a German children’s classic by Tamara Ramsay, Rennefarre: Dott’s Wonderful Travels and Adventures (Two Harbors Press, 2012).
The Falconer’s Apprentice (namelos, 2015/KDP 2024) was her first historical fiction novel for young adults. She has published Alina: A Song for the Telling (BHC Press, 2020), set in Jerusalem in the time of the crusades, and The Amber Crane (Odyssey Books, 2021), set in Germany in 1645 and 1945, as well as a biographical work about a woman coming of age in Nazi Germany, Tapestry of My Mother’s Life: Stories, Fragments, and Silences (Next Chapter Publishing, 2021), also available in German, Bildteppich Eines Lebens: Erzählungen Meiner Mutter, Fragmente Und Schweigen (Next Chapter Publishing, 2022).
Her latest publication is the historical fiction novel, The Price of Loyalty: Serving Adela of Blois (Historium Press, 2025).
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