“DAMN THOSE WIZARDS!”
So grumbled Max the yeoman as he broke through the mound of snow piled over his door, over the whole front of his cottage. Twenty feet of the heavy white mess had fallen over two days. Max had gone out to clear it several times already, only for his home to be buried all over again. Had it even been a foot or less of snow, still, he would have grumbled. Having to deal with the slush at all was a miserable chore, and Max knew who was to blame for it.
He wasn’t alone in his misery. The entire village was snowed in, and all the men were busy digging themselves free. Wrapped from head to foot in furs and leathers, they fought the ice with shovels, brooms, sticks, and fists, and groused all the while. Most were struggling more than Max had, especially on the south side o
