A Roll of the Die - 1. Inception
Copyright© 2026 by Michael Loucks
Chapter 25: Day 39
Matthias, Lilia, and the band of adventurers — now including Tyra, but no longer Miri — returned to Newtown late in the afternoon.
"My Lord," Jorah said, "a messenger arrived yesterday with a letter for you. It was addressed to you personally, not as Count, and has a wax seal, so I did not open it."
Jorah handed Matthias the letter, and Matthias broke the seal. He unfolded the letter and read it.
"Milos," Matthias said, "your cousin Willa writes to say a gang of thugs is threatening your aunt and uncle. She asks for our help in stopping the thieves and protecting her family."
"With your blessing, I will depart at once!" Milos declared.
"I'll go with you, with Matthias' blessing," Karla declared.
"We'll all go," Matthias said firmly. "Given the hour, we should depart first thing in the morning. We also need to prepare supplies, and the horses have already traveled a great distance today."
"That is wise counsel, Matthias," Karla said. "I will go with you if you decide to leave now."
"Matthias is correct," Milos said. "We depart at first light tomorrow."
Matthias had a very important thing to do before they left as well — make a visit to Tranos to have the geis removed so that nobody could ever control him and Miri again. He retrieved the globe and made his way to Tranos' house in Fulham. He was immediately admitted and shown to Tranos' study.
"I have the globe," Matthias said.
Matthias handed it to Tranos, who set it on his desk. Tranos extracted a silver rod from the desk and touched it to the globe. It glowed bright blue, then glowed red. A few seconds later, there was a bright purple flash, and the figurines disappeared, and the rod, which had been shiny, was now tarnished.
"You are now free to determine your own destiny," Tranos said.
"Thank you."
🎲🎲🎲
"Bella!" Lilia exclaimed when her friend arrived after the evening meal, accompanied by her older brother Kenneth.
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