The Wizard's Daughters: Twin Magic: Book 1 (23 page)

Erich checked his horse one last time. The jeweled rapier hung from the saddlebags, no longer needing to be hidden. The war knife hung by his side.

He had packed food, bedrolls, traveling gear. In the very bottom of one saddlebag was the money from the ogres and the bounty; in the bottom of the other was a sack of gold crowns Walther had given him. (“The girls’ dowry. Nothing to set you up in a life of leisure, to be sure, but enough to give you a good start together.”)

Ariel and Astrid stood by their horses. Their bags were packed with their things, in addition to most of their mother’s books from Walther’s library. He had gone through it, picking out one after another until Erich prevailed upon him to narrow the selection down to the ones that would be most useful.

Both wore leather breeches and shirts much like his, each with her hair back in a long braid. He had banished the dresses to their bags. On the road, he wanted them free to move. They had objected at first, not wanting to dress like men, but when he reminded them of the fight with Giancarlo’s sellswords, they relented. They were still not strong riders, but that was changing.

His wives wore new daggers at their hips, long and slim, that the smith had made for them at his direction. This was another thing he had insisted on, wanting them to be able to defend themselves if they were engaged physically as Giancarlo had done. They were only novices with their blades as yet, but they were learning quickly.

Shadow sat on her haunches beside the horses. Erich reached down to scratch behind her ears. She had waited in the forest while they were imprisoned in Jülich, emerging from trees when they left and joining them as if nothing had happened.

“I cannot convince you to stay a bit longer?” Walther asked. “The wedding feast is not vital, but it would be nice to have it at some point.”

“We can have it when we return, Father,” Astrid said.

“Which may be a long time.”

“We will be back,” Ariel said.

“Well, not too soon.” Walther laughed. “I need my sleep, and you three have been keeping me up at night.”

Ariel sighed. “Father, please stop.”

“I am happy you are so happy together. Allow me some satisfaction with that.”

The three of them climbed onto their horses.

“So you are truly going to Wittenburg?” he asked. “That is a journey of some weeks.”

“Yes,” Erich replied. “I do not trust Wilhelm to keep his oath forever, and I would prefer to put as much distance between us and Jülich as I can. Frederick of Saxony is reportedly seeking freeswords and free mages of skill. There is work to had, and things to be done.”

“They call him Frederick the Wise. I hope that appellation is accurate.”

Ariel leaned down and kissed Walther. Astrid did likewise. “Goodbye, Father,” she said. “Please take care.”

“I will be fine. I am going to see if I can teach Fortitude to keep house for me. I am sure that will keep me busy.”

Ariel rolled her eyes. “Please do not forget to eat as you usually do when you are tinkering.”

Walther laughed again and slapped his stomach. “I can stand to lose some girth.”

He and Erich shook hands roughly. “Take care of my girls. It is getting late in the year, so ride swiftly that you may avoid the winter snows.”

“We will.”

They turned and rode off down the street, toward the gate by the river, Shadow trotting along behind them. Hans Bergdahl watched them go, but no one saw him.

^-^-^

The End

^-^-^

Erich, Ariel, Astrid, and Shadow will return in
The Witches’ Covenant: Twin Magic Book 2
, coming in early 2015.

Historical Notes

This novel is set around 1520 at the very start of the Reformation. Duke Wilhelm von Jülich-Berg was a real person, but he actually died in 1511 at the age of 56. Wilhelm had two younger brothers, but the youngest, whose name was actually Gerhard, died in infancy. Wilhelm did indeed have great difficulty fathering children, and his marriage to Sibylle—which was his second—produced only a single daughter, Maria. This meant that under Salic law at the time, his house died out upon his death and the duchy passed to Maria’s husband, John of Cleves, becoming the united duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. (Wilhelm’s granddaughter Anne was the unfortunate Anne of Cleves, whom Henry VIII married and cast aside in 1540.) The precise difficulties of Wilhelm’s marriage bed as I have described them here are, of course, fictional.

Giancarlo Attendolo is a fictional character, but he is patterned after the many Italian mercenaries (
condottieri
originally meant
contractor
in Italian) who earned their fortunes fighting for the squabbling princes of the Holy Roman Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The Universität zu Köln, founded in 1388, is one of the oldest in Europe and one of the first modern universities to be established. As it was chartered by the church and retained close ties to it until the 18th century (when it was temporarily closed by the invading French), it has certainly never counted magic amongst its scholarly disciplines.

Erich’s war knife, or
Kriegsmesser
(also known as a
langes Messer
, or long knife), was a weapon carried by professional soldiers in 15th and 16th century Germany. It was a large sword requiring substantial skill to use effectively, but it was a deadly weapon in the right hands.

About the Author

Michael Dalton is a professional journalist and editor who writes for readers of discriminating tastes.

Michael wrote his first piece of fiction in third grade, for which he was immediately accused of plagiarism by his teacher. Since then, he has been writing more or less steadily, interrupted only by occasional demands of work and family. Michael enjoys writing across genres, and often mixes science fiction, fantasy, and alternate history.

Michael lives with his family and multiple pets in Southern California. He blogs at
michaeldaltonbooks.com
and can be found on Twitter at
@MikeDaltonBooks
.

Other Books by Michael Dalton

The Teaser

Faith, Hope & Charity: A Novel of Virtue and Vice

Immaculate Deception

The Needle and the Dungeon

Vector

The Hunt

The Wisdom of Dogs: Stories

Roland: The Choice

Michael's books are available from fine ebook retailers.

Amazon:
http://amazon.com/author/michaelsdalton

Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MichaelDalton

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