Winterhaven

The Duchy of Winterhaven lies at the edge of human civilization. There, Great Lords scheme to expand their borders and take control of the dukedom. Meanwhile the young knight Dhrugal of Edgefield investigates a most unusual murder, little suspecting how this gruesome crime links to a much greater threat. A decade of relative peace is about to collapse, and only Dhrugal and his brothers and sister stand between Winterhaven and dark-spun chaos.

Sane men spend the winter season bundled up in their homes near the fire praying for spring to come, so insanity must be on the rise in Winterhaven. With the tenuous unity of the Great Lords fractured by the failures of the Duke’s army in the west and the accusations of heresy against his son, new armies are secretly mobilizing even in this bitterest of seasons. Yet, can even knights as great as William Lord Tavistock and Sir Conn of Edgefield lead armies to victory after the first snows have fallen?

Duke Maldon may have suffered the shame of seeing his family’s heresy exposed, but that doesn’t mean that the duke and his kin are out of the fight. Launching their most insidious scheme yet, they succeed in transforming a victory celebration uniting the duchy’s leading families into a bloody battlefield that ignites a civil war. And with the great families of Winterhaven doing their best to kill each other, no one seems to notice the far greater dangers arising on the border, threatening to overrun them all. No one, that is, but the weakest members of the tragically divided Toron family. Dhrugal and his brothers saved the duchy once, but can they do so again with the streets of the city running with The Blood of Torons?

Before he became the greatest knight in Winterhaven, Willem, the future Lord Tavistock was a seventeen-year-old half-orphan determined to claim his father’s patrimony. The only thing standing in his way was every greedy and faithless man in the honor. The only support he could find was his two teachers, his naked sword, and a pair of Steel Gray Eyes. This is the story of how Willem set out on the road to become the most respected man in the duchy.

When Willem returned to Tavistock to claim his inheritance, he thought he only needed to convince his uncle to stand down and then prove his own value to his vassals on the field of battle. Unfortunately for Willem, his unexpected return interfered with too many other peoples’ plans. He belatedly realizes that if they can’t remove him face to face, they will find a less honorable way. As the young swordsman struggles to take a firm grip on the reins of power, he must discern who is truly loyal to him and which smiles conceal Dark Treacherous Hearts.

Young Willem has survived battles and assassinations, but his claim to his father’s lordship will not be secure until his formal Oathtaking at a ceremony attended by the Great Lords of the duchy. For those who still hope to push him aside, time is getting perilously short. Yet those who have already acted against him are not as dangerous as the great men who are coming; and those who wish him ill have so many ways to dispose of one irritating young man. Be it through the joust, the duel, or even open rebellion, Willem’s Oathtaking is going to be marred by Crimson Steel Blades.