The mercenary

the long version

Nigel Charteris is a Scottish soldier of fortune serving as a Captain of Musketeers fighting for the Catholics in the Thirty Years War. Drawn into a web of intrigue by a mysterious woman he meets at the sack of Madgeburg, Nigel's life intersects Tilly and Wallenstein and the powerful Habsburgs in the form of the beautiful Archduchess Stephanie. But Nigel's interest has been captured by Ottilie, the mystery woman of Magdeburg who so closely resembles her cousin Stephanie they could be twins. Ploy and counter-ploy swirl around Nigel so he does not know who is friend and who is enemy in the religious madness sweeping Europe.