1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 63:
Chapter 22
Welch’s hand was already coming away from his neck with the dirk in it before Anthony even got to the “Paddy.” He’d been following the logic—and that wasn’t actually a dirk, it was a throwing knife. It struck one of the soldiers squarely in the throat, sinking almost to the hilt.
Richard slammed into the legs of Doncaster, spilling him.
1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 62:
“Yes, it’s true. A terrible accident on Tyburn Hill Road. My companions and I happened upon the scene shortly afterward. His Majesty is badly injured and I’m afraid the queen is dead. The children are fine, fortunately, since their carriage was not involved. Where’s Strafford?”
Babbled explanations came.
1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 61:
Chapter 21
London, England
“Sorry, fellows,” said Captain Anthony Leebrick. His hands clasped behind his back, he was looking out the window in a room on the second floor of the Earl of Cork’s mansion. There was nothing much to see beyond an occasional pedestrian on Pall Mall, slipping and sliding as they made their way. Here in Westminster, it had been a slushy snowfall rather than a sleet. The precipitation had stopped for the moment, although it looked as if it might resume at any moment. Even without precipitation, it was still a very gray day, between the heavy overcast and the approaching sunset.
“I should have known better,” he added.
1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 60:
Anne took Adam by the arm again and resumed walking. “But what will you do? Adam, I really don’t like the idea of you leaving for long stretches on diplomatic missions.”
He grimaced. “Neither do I. But I probably won’t have any choice, dearest.”
1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 59:
Chapter 20
Amsterdam, Holland
February, 1634
“He was only here for a few days, woman,” Gretchen Richter said accusingly. “Less than a week!”
Rebecca Abrabanel looked serene.
1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 58:
But, to his astonishment, Richard Boyne was both friendly and considerate.
“Yes, yes, Captain—Leebrick, is it?—I understand completely,” said Boyne, waving down Anthony’s attempt at an explanation. The earl jabbed a thumb at his two companions. Anthony recognized them also, although he couldn’t say he really knew either of them. Sir Paul Pindar and Endymion Porter, both prominent figures in court. In his few encounters with the men, he’d found Porter to be something of a aloof non-entity but Pindar to be a civil enough fellow. Perhaps that was because Pindar’s influence was due to the wealth he’d amassed as a major figure in the Levant Company and a moneylender to the crown, rather than pure and simple favoritism from the high and mighty.
1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 57:
While the skirmisher lowered himself into the interior, Anthony shifted himself a bit and began carefully removing the items that covered the king’s body.
“Where’s my wife?” Charles asked. He seemed more puzzled than anything else.
1634: THE BALTIC WAR – snippet 56:
Chapter 19
Coming around the bend, Leebrick saw one of the coachmen lying on the side of the road, holding his head in both hands. Thrown off, apparently. Or perhaps he’d simply jumped, figuring he could claim he was thrown. Under the circumstances, Anthony couldn’t blame the man.
There was another bend, perhaps seventy yards farther. To Leebrick’s dismay, it looked to be a much sharper one. That matched his memory, also.
1634: The Baltic War eARC has been released. It can be found here.
- Another Loyal Minion
| May 16, 2008 | to | May 18, 2008 |
Eric is the Writer Guest of Honor at KeyCon in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Loyal Minions
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