The Witches' Covenant (Twin Magic Book 2)

by Michael Dalton

Sabine explained.

  THEY RETURNED to Marburg at dusk. The wind had come up, and snow was beginning to fall in earnest.

  Erich stopped at the inn. “I should do this alone. There is no telling how they may react to your coming with me, since they have likely discovered your absence from the dungeon by now.”

  “We will wait for you,” Ariel said.

  “Please be careful,” Astrid said.

  His wives went into the inn, Shadow following, and Erich climbed the road to the castle. The guards let him in, and showed him to Matthias’s guardroom. Matthias appeared in a few minutes. He seemed most displeased that Erich had returned alone.

  “Where is my daughter?”

  “I will explain everything. But I would speak with your wife as well. And first we must go to the kitchens.”

  Matthias’s bushy eyebrows rose.

  “The kitchens?”

  “Yes. All will be made clear, but we must go there first.”

  “Why?”

  “You will see. You have my word there is a good reason for this.”

  “All right, then. Come.”

  Matthias led him through the castle, then down the stairs to the kitchens. When they reached the main room, Erich looked around. He did not see her.

  “Where is Julia?”

  The request seemed to unnerve several of the women working around the tables and automata. But one of them went to find her. They returned in a few moments. Julia’s face was lined with worry until she saw Erich. Then the worry was replaced with confusion.

  “I need you to come with us,” he said.

  “What on earth does this scullion have to do with this?” Matthias growled.

  “As I said, I will explain. But not here.”

  He could see Julia wanted to ask why as well, but the sight of Matthias seemed to keep her silent. She cradled her arms around her baby.

  “Let’s go see your wife,” Erich said.

  Matthias scowled, but then led them out. His chambers were up several floors and around the south end of the castle. Finally they reached a large door.

  “Wait here. Let me see what she is doing. And trust me, if your explanation for all this is not satisfactory, things will become very unpleasant, very quickly.”

  He went inside and closed the door. Erich and Julia waited. Her eyes were full of questions, but she said nothing.

  Finally Matthias returned.

  “Come.”

  There was a sitting room behind the door, beyond which appeared to be their bedchamber. Erika was waiting, face lined and hard. She scowled at Erich, but then looked Julia in bewilderment.

  “All right,” Matthias said, “Explain.”

  “You know the story of the witches’ covenant. And I trust now you know it is no bedtime tale. But there is much beyond it, truth that is both less and more than what the story tells.”

  Erich did his best to explain what Sabine had told him about her bond with the land, and the children. Erika did not like this, and burst into screaming tears that required Matthias to restrain her.

  “You know that child was different,” Erich said. “You and your husband are both fair skinned, fair haired. Has there been a child in your lineage with such dark hair so young?”

  “I do not care!” Erika shrieked. “She was my daughter! I lost one already, I will not lose another.” Then she turned on Julia. “And who is she? Why is she here to witness my anguish?”

  “That is the rest of the matter,” Erich replied. “You asked me to return your daughter. I have done so.”

  Erika’s eyes widened. Matthias, up to then focused on keeping Erika under control, suddenly stared at Julia in shock. And Julia, bewildered up to that point, could only return the stares, jaw slack.

  “Julia was left at the church as an infant in 1502. When did you lose your first daughter?”

  Erika, stunned, hands over her mouth, was bereft of speech. Finally Matthias spoke up. “We were married in 1501,” he said hoarsely. “The child came the following spring.”

  “She was taken by mistake by the witch’s servants. They attempted to return her, but could not find the way and left her at the church.”

  He turned to Julia.

  “Tell me she does not resemble the two of you. Tell me her daughter does not resemble her as an infant.”

  There were a few long moments of silence. Erika stared at Julia as if she had never seen her before. Erich was certain they must have encountered each other around the castle in the past, but he doubted Erika had paid Julia any attention at all. The wife of an important retainer, she would surely have ignored a mere maid. Never knowing the truth of who Julia really was.

  Erika let out a sob.

  “She is the image of my oldest sister, when I was a child. Oh, my God!”

  Erika threw herself at Julia. The girl was still in a state of shock, but as Erika embraced her, her face screwed up, and then she burst into tears, returning the embrace as tightly as she could. They held each other, sobbing, then laughing. Erika pulled back enough to look down at Maria, brushing the little girl’s hair back.

  “This baby . . . it is yours?”

  “Yes.”

  Then Erika’s face paled.

  “But this—the mark. This is—”

  “She is no changeling,” Erich said. “Only an innocent babe caught up in things that were no fault of her own, things that were far beyond Julia’s control.”

  Erika was speechless for several long moments.

  “They left her with me,” she said finally.

  “Because they took her,” Julia said.

  Erich knew who Julia meant, yet he could see Erika and Matthias thought she meant the witches. He said nothing. That was a matter that would be resolved eventually, but not tonight. What Matthias would do when he learned of Philip’s actions—both toward Julia and toward Maria—Erich did not know, but he did not think it would be pleasant.

  “This poor child.” Erika sobbed again. “My granddaughter.”

  Matthias came over, and embraced the two of them. It was several minutes before they realized Erich was still standing there.

  The guard captain grabbed his arm tightly.

  “This is not what I expected you to bring me, but you have my deepest thanks. You have no idea how her loss has gnawed at me all these years.”

  Erika embraced him briefly. Julia was still stunned and dizzy, seeming unable to comprehend how her world had just changed.

  “You brought back my daughter,” she gasped. “Now you bring me to my mother. Who are you?”

  Erich shook his head. “I am no one. No more than a man who must be going.”

  “Your wife and her sister,” Matthias said. “We must release them.”

  Erich laughed softly. “They are already free. Confining mages is a bit more difficult than you may think.”

  ERICH WALKED back through the drifting snow to the inn. His wives were waiting for him, and they did not get to sleep for quite a while.

  “Have you had your fill of your fruits, husband?” Ariel asked as they lay together a few hours later.

  He wrinkled his eyebrows at her even as Astrid burst into laughter. “Fruits?”

  Astrid leaned over, dangling her breasts before him. “There are fruits aplenty here. I would not deny you.”

  Ariel laughed loudly, and he groped at the two of them.

  “Fruits I intend to pluck. But I think I have indeed had my fill tonight.”

  Part V

  Complications

  32.

  WALTHER PEERED out of the inn window at the snow outside. It had been snowing when they arrived, and it was still coming down now. They had arrived in Marburg very late the previous night, having to argue with the gate guards for some time before being allowed in, despite the storm. Only the mention of Constantine and the threat to bring down the Landgrave on the guards’ heads had moved them. They had taken a room in the nearest inn, along the river, and retired for the night.

  “If
they have not left Marburg, we should be able to find them,” he said to Johannes. “I do not think they will be going anywhere in this weather. But if they have left, I worry for them. This is not weather to be sleeping along the road.”

  “Well, we should know soon enough,” his friend replied. “I mean to find Constantine as soon as possible this morning. Dress warmly, and let us go eat.”

  It was still snowing when they finished eating breakfast. Bundled up as best they could against the cold, Walther and Johannes trudged up the hill to the castle.

  The guards there were stiff and surly, and did not welcome being drawn away from their fire in the gatehouse. But again, the mention of Constantine’s name drew their attention.

  “I cannot remember when the mage drew this many visitors,” one of the guards muttered. “All of a sudden, he is the most popular person in the castle.”

  “There have been others?” Johannes asked.

  The guard nodded.

  “There was some incident at the Landgrave’s ball the other night. They are saying his automata are possessed of the devil now.”

  Walther grumbled. “Rubbish and superstition. Automata are tools, no more.”

  The guard shrugged.

  “I was not there. But they said one of them danced and sang, then exploded in a burst of fire.”

  Walther scowled at Johannes as they entered the castle grounds. “What the devil is Constantine up to now? A singing automaton?”

  They found Constantine in his workshop. The mage laughed when he saw them.

  “My friends! Come in!” He led them inside and sat them down by his fire. “And Walther, your daughters were indeed here. There was some unpleasantness, all dispensed with. They are fine. I met Ariel’s husband. Or Astrid’s, I am not sure. Excellent fellow, most impressive. ”

  “Where are they now?” Johannes asked.

  “Well. I do not know exactly,” Constantine said. “They were here last night. They cannot have left in this weather, can they? They must still be in town.”

  “Good,” Johannes replied. “Because I must speak to them. It is of the utmost importance.”

  HANS WAS on guard duty in the snow, standing along the back wall trying not to freeze to death. He was new and thus drew the worst assignments. He hoped things would improve soon, but he was not optimistic.

  Still, it could be worse. As cold as he was, he realized he would rather be here than back home in Weilburg, keeping the books for his father’s business. He felt more alive since he left than he ever had at home.

  He had fought for his life, and lived. He had killed, and seen men die. He had faced monsters and survived. They had not been anything especially monstrous, to be sure, but still. They had killed Tomas and Heinrich. He was not the same boy he had been.

  Then there was Julia.

  He was not sure what might be going on with her. He had known her only a few days. But he kept thinking of how she had smiled at him the day before, when he had said what he said.

  He realized it was how he had seen Ariel and Astrid look at Erich. Perhaps not with the same depth of feeling, but it was there. The same look in her eyes.

  Hans no longer felt so cold.

  And it was at that moment, when he looked up from the snow, that he saw Julia coming toward him. Smiling.

  But she was no longer dressed as a scullery maid. She wore a fine dress and a long warm coat. For a moment, he wondered if it was even her. But yes, it was.

  “Hello, Hans,” she said.

  “Hello.”

  “They told me you were out here.”

  “I’m on duty.” He wasn’t sure what else to say. “Where did you get that dress?” he asked, then immediately felt like kicking himself.

  But Julia smiled.

  “Some things have changed. Many things. I still can’t believe half of it myself. But Erich told me what happened yesterday, when he came to the castle. What you did for Maria. I don’t think any of this would have happened without you.”

  Now Hans was no longer cold. He felt positively warm. A bit too warm, perhaps.

  “I just recognized her. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “You took a risk for me. And for Maria. I wanted to thank you.”

  She leaned in before he could say anything else and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Are you staying here at the castle through the winter, at least?” she asked.

  Somehow Hans, in a daze, answered her. “I think so.”

  Julia smiled, and Hans saw that look again.

  “Good. Good-bye, Hans.”

  “Good-bye.”

  It was a simple thing, a harmless peck on the cheek. But a pair of eyes in the tower behind them saw it, and did not like it.

  ERICH WOKE to the feel of his wives pressed against him. It was cold, and the three of them were balled up together for the warmth. He lay there for a while enjoying it, marveling not for the first time at the bounty he had been blessed with in Astrid and Ariel. A bounty that kept revealing new aspects of itself.

  He wondered if they might attempt to charm him now, if there were things they wanted that he was reluctant about. Perhaps the marriage bond would prevent that, perhaps not.

  He supposed he would have to trust them. But in a sense they had charmed him already.

  Finally he rose. Their limbs were intertwined enough that he woke both of them in doing so. Both girls grumbled in protest, pulling the bedclothes over themselves.

  When his bladder was empty, Erich went to the window. He had to scrape the frost from the glass to see out.

  “Well,” he finally said.

  Ariel was looking over at him.

  “Do you think we can continue our trip now?”

  Erich looked out at the snow, inches deep on the ground and still falling heavily.

  “I don’t think we’re going anywhere.”

  “Is it still snowing?” Ariel asked.

  “Yes. Quite a bit.”

  Astrid pushed back the covers, revealing their nudity.

  “Then come back to bed, husband,” she said grinning.

  Erich gave the snow one final look, then went.

  THE END

  Erich, Ariel, Astrid, and Shadow will return in The Knights’ Folly, Twin Magic Book 3, due mid-2015.

  Historical Notes

  PHILIP I, LANDGRAVE of Hessen, was one of the most important figures in the Protestant Reformation, especially in Germany. He was one of the first princes in the Holy Roman Empire to embrace Martin Luther, and he took an active hand in protecting the new faith, despite the very real risks he took in doing so. He is rightfully remembered as one of the key supporters of early Protestantism.

  As was the case with many notable rulers throughout history, however, Philip had his share of demons. In his case, it was pleasures of the flesh. No less an authority than Luther tells us that Philip lived “constantly in a state of adultery and fornication.” His bigamous marriage in 1540 has been for nearly five centuries a point of dispute between Lutherans and Catholics (Philip sought dispensation from Luther for the marriage, though there was little Luther could have done to stop it). Philip’s abilities in this respect can be assessed from the fact that, between his two wives alone, he fathered no less than 19 children, all but two of whom survived to adulthood.

  Though Philip is one of Marburg’s most famous residents, the most well known today are surely Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The brothers Grimm attended the University of Marburg—which Philip established in 1527—and are thought to have begun collecting the stories for Children’s and Household Tales (better known to Anglophones as Grimm’s Fairy Tales) during their days there. The Grimms’ works report several variations of the changeling legends that I have adapted for this book.

  Henry VII ruled the County of Waldeck from 1397 to about 1442, and apparently never met another noble he could not pick some sort of dispute with. The targets of his squabbles included his older brother Adolph, who ruled the other half the county (partitioned
after their father’s death), two different Archbishops, several other minor nobles, and Philip’s great-grandfather Louis.

  As for Louis, whether or not there was another woman he might have married, he would indeed go on to make a highly advantageous match. In 1433, he married Anna, daughter of the Elector of Saxony. The treaty between the two houses that accompanied their marriage allowed Louis to increase his lands considerably as well as resolving a Saxon claim on the Hessian town of Wanfried. He reigned for nearly 50 years and was the first of a long line of Hessian rulers by that name (there would ultimately be more than a dozen of them before the German monarchies came to an end after World War I).

  The first song the automaton dwarf sings at the ball is not German; it is instead adapted from an old English song that is thought to date to the 1600s. The second one it sings is unfortunately mine.

  Constantine’s tower at the Landgrave’s castle, known today as the Hexenturm, or Witches’ Tower, was built in stages during the 14th and 15th centuries. It gained that name because more than a few accused witches were confined there during the “witch panics” of the 16th century. The descriptions of it in this book, however, incorporate some architectural elements that were not added until much later.

  About the Author

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

  Other Books by Michael Dalton

  The Wizard’s Daughters: Twin Magic Book 1

  The Teaser

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

  Immaculate Deception

  The Needle and the Dungeon

  Vector

  The Hunt

  The eGirl

  The Wisdom of Dogs: Stories

  Roland: The Choice

  Michael’s books are available from fine ebook retailers.

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