Ravens Hill
The Atheling Chronicles, Book #5
by Garth Pettersen
When Harald, the second son of King Cnute, returns from fighting the king’s enemies in Northern Wales, he expects his life to return to normal⸺farming in the Midlands, overseeing his few tenants, evening walks with his beloved Selia⸺an idyllic life, far from the power-mongering of King Cnute’s court. But the king has other plans for Harald and his wife—he grants them a large landholding, a gift they cannot refuse.
On arriving at their new holding, Ravens Hill, Harald and Selia receive a tepid welcome⸺from belligerent housecarls, a conniving steward, an uncompromising abbess, bitter at not adding their estate to her abbey lands, a priest with roaming hands, and a grieving daughter of the previous landholder, who has entered the nunnery.
Harald and Selia wish to improve the lot of their tenant farmers but they face obstacles at every turn, and Harald’s generosity is seen as weakness. They also learn the lands come with an unexpected millstone—an unsolved murder.
And then the trouble begins.
Fans of Bernard Cornwell will love Ravens Hill—part of the award-winning Atheling Chronicles series.
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Please enjoy an excerpt from Ravens Hill:
The old church was roofless and only a portion of each wall remained, lichen and moss-covered, half-hidden by brambles and bracken. At one end of the ruin, Raedwulf and the other three túnland retainers ringed the monk who stood with his back to me. He wore a brown woolen tunic with a hood hanging at his back. His head was tonsured, though the bald spot needed shaving. Raedwulf released his hold of the hermit’s garment on my arrival.
Raedwulf scowled up at me. “Tún-lord.”
“Leave the monk be,” I ordered. My housecarls rode up to join me. Selia and Ricmann came just behind.
While the other men stepped away from the monk, Raedwulf stood his ground. “Steward Ricmann told us to turn him off the lands.”
“And I am telling you to leave the man be.” I dismounted and handed over my reins. I joined the monk and faced Raedwulf. “I have different ways than Thegn Wulfrun, and Steward Ricmann will soon get to know them. If you find you cannot manage change, then you are welcome to find hiring elsewhere.” I held Raedwulf’s gaze, then shifted my attention to the other carls. “That goes for all of you. Do you understand?”
The three housecarls nodded or muttered, “Aye.”
“Raedwulf?” I said, still facing him.
I had given not half a glance at the monk who stood beside me. Before Raedwulf could answer, the monk said, “Harek? It’s you, isn’t it?”
I turned to face the hermit. A familiar gaunt face, heavy brows, and sad, gray eyes. To my mind came a hazy memory of care received in a hermit’s cave many miles to the north.
“Brother Widuc?” I grasped his upper arm. “So good to see you again, my friend.”
Garth Pettersen is an award-winning Canadian writer living in the Fraser Valley near Vancouver, BC, Canada where he and his wife board horses.
Pettersen has a BA in History from the University of Victoria and is a retired teacher. His short stories have appeared in anthologies and in journals such as Blank Spaces, The Spadina Literary Review, and The Opening Line Literary ‘Zine.
Garth Pettersen’s historical fiction series, The Atheling Chronicles, is published by Tirgearr Publishing and is available through most online outlets. Book #4 in the series, The Sea’s Edge, received a first-place Incipere Award. Book #5, Ravens Hill, was released on April 15, 2025.
Author Links:
Website: http://www.garthpettersen.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/garpet011
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/writeandride/
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/garth-pettersen
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/garthpettersen
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15059599.Garth_Pettersen
