Second Son

To protect the kingdom, he must prove his worth . . . Oren Trevaine has never shaken the feeling that he's not good enough, but he's determined to avoid the same fate for his men. Oren's first task as Captain of the Guard is to transform his unruly, undisciplined soldiers into a formidable army-if only they would cooperate. But Oren will need to act fast because the snow is melting with the budding of spring. Soon, the enemy will be able to traverse the main pass through the imposing Sansford Range and his men must be ready to patrol the mountain. When Oren rescues Lady Joan and her traveling party from a band of Mirdoni raiders, his worst fears are realized. The enemy has utilized less accessible routes to infiltrate their territory, and an attack is imminent. Now Oren must not only think like the enemy, but he will need to be one step ahead. With the kingdom relying on him and Lady Joan promising her favor if he returns alive, Oren will need to prove to her and his men that he truly is good enough. Or at the very least, die trying . . .

The raiding season might be over, but the court is a new threat on its own... A victorious Oren, newly minted Lord Commander of the Mountain Guard, returns to the capital to receive the King's accolades and to ask for the one thing he wants as his prize-the right to marry the woman he loves. But the court is a dangerous place, and nothing is as Oren expects when he arrives at his childhood home. The King is under pressure, and he has new demands for Oren that will test both his honor and his loyalty to the Crown. When tragedy strikes before he can make his choice, more than his own life is on the line. There is a traitor at the heart of Westmere, and Oren must embrace a birthright he's spent his whole life trying to outpace to prevent a bloody war that will devastate the kingdom. But who can he trust to help uncover the truth when he must suspect everyone's motives?

To secure peace, he must first rally the kingdom for war . . . The dust of betrayal has barely settled, and the threat of war from neighboring Mirdon looms larger than ever. Oren must unite the nobility of Westmere to fight the enemy and get them to trust his lead-or he might face a war within his borders and an invasion. But snow will hold the mountain passes closed and the kingdom secure until spring. Oren has earned the respect and loyalty of unruly men before, when he served as Captain of the Mountain Guard, and he can do it again. When he strikes a bold move against his greatest rival, Oren discovers no one is as they seem. The truth he has built his life on shatters, and in the aftermath, he needs to find answers to questions he had never asked himself. If he fails, a chain of events years in the making will drown the kingdom in fire and blood. Alliances break, and new enemies show their hand. How will Oren protect his people when he can't anticipate the next attack?

The enemy stands revealed, but learning how to defeat it might be a different matter . . . After confronting the ugliest truth and escaping the harrowing events at Fontanil, Oren Trevaine returns to his capital to regroup and find his path forward. But with faceless enemies lurking in every shadow, the Iron Castle feels less like a stronghold and more like a trap. Allowing his court to learn the extent of his troubles will mark Oren's reign as weak, but ignoring the danger could cost him his head-and that of his wife, Queen Marguerite of Westmere. When Oren makes his audacious move, reaching out to old enemies to forge a new future, he discovers the extent of the rot threatening his kingdom, and just how far those at its root will go to attain power. Oren might be a man of peace, but he was made for war. When the choice lies between the lives of his people and his conscience, is it a choice at all?

Fate has a chosen one… but who is he? The High King of Mirdon is dead. The last gambit of Oren Trevaine has given him an army that will kill him as readily as the enemy he marches against, and trusting the prophecy he hates might be the only way to survive the war. But when he returns to Westmere to reclaim his beleaguered throne, Oren discovers that survival isn't enough. The prophecy unveils another verse, and with it, the people of his kingdom rush down a twisted path that threatens to cover the land in a blanket of blood. From the fires of the last battle, the one true king must emerge to lead his people to an age of peace and prosperity. As the ashes settle, Oren must decide whether he can bend to the designs of fate… or forever break its shackles. If you like the grit of Glen Cook's “The Black Company” and the action of Brian McClellan's “The Powder Mage Trilogy”, “Ruler of Kings” will be your next favorite read.