1632 Snippets

The Demons of Constantinople - Snippet 11 *** Roger, Jennifer, Annabelle and Wilber watched as workmen with poles levered the newly modified barge onto greased wooden rails and slid it down into the river. It was thirty feet long with a flat area for the first twenty-two feet and an eight foot long, ten foot wide cabin in the back. The front had a liftable ramp that could carry Pucorl and was how he would drive onto and off the barge. The cabin in the back was eight feet tall with a slightly curved roof, so that rain would poor off. It had...

The Trouble With Huguenots - Snippet 15 Chapter 9 Paris June 1636 "There's a limit to how long the duchess will be able to drag her feet," Raudegen said. "Soubise is making public appearances now and has managed to get whispers that Rohan has requested that she join him circulating around the court. If she is seen to refuse, then rumors about an unconditional breakdown of her marriage will follow in short order. As long as Rohan appears to condone her actions, her standing remains unimpeachable. Once he withdraws that toleration...." Whispers...

The Demons of Constantinople - Snippet 10 It was, in its -- to Wilber's mind -- tacky way, a nice place and much better than sharing a bedbug-infested canvas sack filled with hay in one of the local inns. But Wilber knew perfectly well that that wasn't what this was about. This meeting was about kobolds and wards to keep the wild hunt out of Donauworth -- and for that matter, off the backs of the peasants harvesting the grain that would feed the region for the winter into next spring. Mayor Fats was trying for bargaining points. "On the other...

The Demons of Constantinople - Snippet 09 *** Roger moved slowly, rifle held ready to fire. The rifle was a distance weapon. It had rifling and enchanted sights. That would let him see where the bolt would go. But that wouldn't matter much today, because there wouldn't be time to aim. This was more a Wild West gunfight than a formal duel. It would start when one of them started to move. Roger watched, right hand on the trigger, left hand holding the barrel. Roger was a good shot, and before they were brought here, he had hunted birds and shot...

The Trouble With Huguenots - Snippet 14 Then maybe we could go to Magdeburg. Or at least to Kassel. And I could see my sisters. Käthe frowned. It wouldn't hurt Solms-Laubach, either, to have an influx of skilled workers. Albert Otto rarely gave a lot of thought to remote contingencies, but she put his aunt's letter on top of the stack of correspondence his secretary had left for him and wrote a letter of her own to her sister offering their services to Hesse should they ever be needed. Besançon May 1636 Rohan, as Bernhard's Statthalter and...

The Trouble With Huguenots - Snippet 13 "There's no need for you to go with Marguerite and her daughter if they should leave," Mademoiselle Anne said. "You are always welcome to stay with me, for as long as necessary." "I don't think his joints ache all that much," Marc commented as they walked back to the Palais Rohan. "He wasn't any worse off than the rest of us while we were riding in the mud; he was a lot better off than his valet. He may have gotten a bit soft while he was in London, but he's been in the salle every morning since we got...

The Demons of Constantinople - Snippet 08 Chapter 3 -- Donauworth Location: Field Outside Donauworth, Germany Time: 2:25 PM, September 1, 1372 The mayor of Donauworth wasn't thrilled to see them. After one look at Pucorl, he refused any of them entrance into the city, even the cardinal. Bertrand looked at the city that Paris made into a small town. He looked over at Pucorl and his cavalry, and wondered if he could take this city. That would be an extremely bad idea, starting a war between France and the Holy Roman Empire, so he bit down on...

The Trouble With Huguenots - Snippet 12 Chapter 8 Besançon April 1636 "Ron Stone has notified me," Henri de Rohan said to Grand Duke Bernhard, "that your wife will be accompanied by a member of his family to serve in your vaccination campaign." "Just as well," Bernhard grumbled. "They told me that Lambert, a decent second option since he's the administrator of the Leahy Medical Center, and he's also been in Burgundy before, has other commitments." The Monster touched down with a flurry of air from its skirts. Grand Duchess Claudia emerged,...