George had come, too. Richard’s marriage had made him realize he shouldn’t count on being the heir, that he would have to make a place for himself on his own. He’d stopped drinking, though it hadn’t been easy, and now managed one of Richard’s manors in Devonshire.
Kit had come from Northumberland with his new bride, and Cabot was home from the West Indies for the winter. Having everyone here made this day doubly special.
Richard held the heavy oak door for her and their son. Across the dirt-packed courtyard lay the ancient chapel. Jeremy stood in the doorway in a black cassock with a white surplice over it and prayer bands around his neck. A long, narrow black scarf lay across his shoulders with its ends hanging down in front. He smiled at them.
“Let’s give our son his official start in life,” Richard said.
The baby sighed, as though he heard, and Miranda chuckled. “He couldn’t have a better gathering on this day.”
Together, she and Richard walked into the sunlight with their boy.
The End
The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy will continue with The Steel Rose, coming in 2020 from Falstaff Books!
More About Richard III and the Mainwaring Curse
I’ve been interested in the controversy surrounding Richard III most of my adult life. A college classmate gave me a copy of Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time, and that book reminded me that getting one’s history from a playwright, even one so well known as Master Shakespeare, isn’t always wise.
Since then, I’ve read widely about King Richard and his nephews. Turning over what I read, playing “what if,” one of my favorite games, led me to write this book and its siblings in the trilogy.
I don’t think the historical evidence supports the traditional view of Richard III as a power-mad, murderous hunchback. While I would never say that it’s impossible for him to have murdered his nephews, I haven’t seen anything that convinces me unequivocally that he did, and without that proof, I believe he’s entitled to the benefit of the doubt.
No one knows for sure what happened to Edward IV’s sons. I chose the Duke of Buckingham as the culprit in the murders because he fit my story scenario. He was also one of the earliest alternative suspects to cross my horizon. He rebelled against Richard III in 1483, around the time the two boys disappeared from the Tower, and there was no parliamentary act declaring that the duke should sit on the throne. He arguably had more of a motive to do away with them than King Richard did.
The Titulus Regius was a real act of parliament declaring that Richard III was the rightful king. Henry VII really did order all copies burned unread. The Croyland Chronicle did set forth the text. Two sets of bones were found under a staircase at the Tower of London in 1674. Those bones are now interred in Henry VII’s beautiful chapel in Westminster Abbey.
Whether the bones actually are the remains of Edward IV’s sons, however, is open to debate. Modern scientists have taken issue with the forensic examination of the 1930s, and the Crown refuses permission for an examination with modern DNA techniques.
The theory I’ve always liked was that Richard III had the boys spirited out of the country as the threat of Henry Tudor’s invasion loomed. I first read this in The Mystery of the Princes by Audrey Williamson, but there are many books proposing other theories. Matthew Lewis’s The Survival of the Princes in the Tower examines a wide range of theories about the boys’ fates, and his biography of Richard III, Loyalty Binds Me, explores the king’s life, particularly the early years, in a way that does not cast him in the most villainous possible light.
Modern historians range all along the spectrum of opinion from those who think Shakespeare had it pretty much right to those who think pretty much every wrong laid at Richard III’s feet is bogus. That’s part of the fun of reading about this and weighing the different arguments.
For more information, check the websites of the various Richard III Society branches around the world. You can also find an essay on my website, https://www.nancynorthcott.com/me-and-richard-iii/.
Meanwhile, in the world of fiction, the Mainwarings’ quest to lift their family curse continues in The Steel Rose, which is set during the Napoleonic Wars. You can find more information here: http://www.nancynorthcott.com/the-steel-rose/
Afterword
Thank you for reading The Herald of Day. I hope you enjoyed it. If you’re inclined to leave a review on an online vendor site, I would appreciate it. Just be aware that any pop-up review option at the end of the book will not show up on the site.
There’s information on my website (http://www.nancynorthcott.com) about how to obtain signed cards showing the covers of my books and short stories. I don’t keep addresses, so asking for a cover card won’t get you on any mailing list. If you’re interested, here is the URL http://www.nancynorthcott.com/for-e-book-readers/.
If you’d like me to keep you posted about new releases, you can sign up for my newsletter on the right-hand sidebar of my homepage. Just go to www.nancynorthcott.com. I never share your email. Newsletters come out only when I have a new release or other important news, so you’ll hear from me just a few times a year.
Thanks again!
Acknowledgments
This book is one I’ve had in my head and played around with for a long time. I had encouragement and help, which ranged from brainstorming to research assistance to feedback from a number of people. The Mystery Mavens, Paula Connolly, Dawn Cotter, Terry Hoover, Susan Luck, Cathy Pickens, Mary Tribble, and Ann Wicker, were part of the early development of this project.
Nancy Knight and Patricia Rice were among the first people to like this story. Along with the late A.C. Crispin, they encouraged me to get it out into the world. The DC2K Writers also urged me not to forget this book, which was my introduction to them in A.C. Crispin’s Advanced Writing Workshop at Dragon Con. Debbie Yutko provided invaluable feedback.
The Brinker Group, Paul Barrett, Dennis Carrigan, Sandy Hill, and Ed McKeown, also helped refine the concepts for this book and its world.
The authors of Avocat Noir, Jeanne Adams, Donna MacMeans, and Cassondra Murray, were always willing to kick ideas around, and I had essential feedback from Linda Ayers, Jeanne Adams, Wendy Felker, Van Garrison, Rae Latte, Cassondra Murray, Berta Platas, Michele Roper, Gerri Russell, Susan Sey, and Ann Wicker.
The members’ library of the Richard III Society, American Branch, was a wonderful resource in this book’s early days.
The Romance Bandits are an indispensable source of supportive comments and/or kicks in the pants, whichever is needed at the moment. Anna Sugden and her husband, a/k/a Doc Cambridge, fed my Richard III interest by toting me to various sites, all of which are way cooler than they were when I first visited them more than a decade ago.
Sherri Smith graciously shared her M.A. thesis on witchcraft trials in seventeenth-century England along with her research materials.
PJ Ausdenmore stepped in to help on short notice and gave me important advice. Even though I didn’t use any actual Portuguese phrases, Eilis Flynn was generous with her knowledge of the language.
Andrew Nunn helped with my research in London. Jules Langley went with me to Dover to scope out locations for this book and one of its sequels. Rob Rundle wandered London with me looking at various locations.
I always appreciate the help of my agent, Beth Miller, who supports my writing in all its forms. I’m also grateful to John Hartness, Melissa McArthur, and the team at Falstaff Books for giving The Herald of Day and its siblings a home.
Lyndsey Lewellen created this gorgeous cover.
I’m a history and fantasy geek and a research nerd, among other things, and my husband freely admits he knew this when he married me. He has tramped through castles and battlefields, carried home suitcases full of books, and remained ready to consult on anything I might be mulling over, all without complaint. He and our son always wanted me to put this book out in the world. The Herald of Day would still be a “someday” project without their ongoing supp
ort and encouragement. Thanks, guys!
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About the Author
Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman. Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, science fiction, fantasy, history and YA romance. A sucker for fast action and wrenching emotion, she combines the magic and high stakes she loves in the books she writes.
A highlight of Nancy’s college years was the summer she spent studying Tudor and Stuart Britain at the University of Oxford. She has written freelance articles and taught at the college level. Her most popular course was on science fiction, fantasy, and society. She has given presentations on Richard III and the Wars of the Roses to college classes studying Shakespeare’s Richard III.
Married since 1987, Nancy and her husband have one son, a bossy dog, and a house full of books.
For more information about Nancy and her books, check out http://www.nancynorthcott.com.
You can also connect with Nancy on social media:
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Also by Nancy Northcott
Fantasy
The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy:
The Herald of Day
The Steel Rose (forthcoming)
The King’s Champion (forthcoming)
Science Fiction
The New Badge in the Welcome to Outcast Station anthology
Scorpions for Christmas in the Christmas on Outcast Station anthology
Romantic Spy Adventure
The Deathbrew Affair
Romantic Suspense
Danger’s Edge, an Arachnid Files novella in the anthology Capitol Danger
Copyright © 2019 by Nancy Northcott
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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