This is a work of fiction. Every person living or dead is either a product of my imagination or is my interpretation of a historical figure and should not be considered a faithful likeness.

Cover design by David Graham.

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Chapter One ~ God Wills It

With a loud crack the sword came down onto a helm already knocked askew by an earlier blow. The helm flew off and the wearer staggered and nearly lost his feet.

"Ho, valiantly done!" the fifteen-year-old Elisabeth von Winterkirche called from her perch on the wooden fence.

Her twin brother Elias made a mock bow. "I thank you, my lady."

"You always take his side," the other boy, Albrecht, who, like Elias, was squire to Sigismund von Winterkirche, the twins' father.