Synopsis: Only Child / Of Servitude and Silence

Only Child (Loneborn series, book one)

Ostracized by his birth, Tanuel has lived a life of bitterness and solitude. But when he is accepted into the prestigious Academy by a fluke, things start to turn around. Military training and some degree of social acceptance suddenly give Tanuel the power to control his own fate. He's been primed for revenge against society as a whole by a lifetime of hiding and resentment. The vessel for that revenge makes himself an easy target: the crown prince Kalduin, who can barely touch the magic that is his birthright. Tanuel's own innate abilities allow him to briefly Influence the use of other people's magic, though he can do nothing himself. But using his gift to make Kalduin enact his vengeance isn't as easy as it seemed when consequences start to arrive.

Of Servitude and Silence

Teshkiona, a seer, has spent her young life in the twisting maze of chambers beneath the royal palace: the Warren. She has only brief childhood memories of a time beyond those walls, and a nightmare that won't cease returning. Her lover, the young monarch Ardovian, is a man that even she fears. She loves him with a passion born of gratitude: Ardovian rescued her from the renegade attack that killed her family, and for that she'll suffer his ill-temper. But when she begins seeing visions of a conquering, kind-hearted barbarian from the west, Teshkiona's loyalties are put to the test. To tell Ardovian of the threat is to deny the nation a better ruler. To keep the deadly secret would go entirely against her belief in paying one's debts. But as she sees more of this outlander, she begins to realize that her princely lover might be hiding more personal secrets.

Kinsman Redeemer

It was all Kahiron's idea. The enthusiastic boy had been forced to beg and plead with his practical brother Ouren to get his consent, but after weeks of wheedling it came to fruition: they would be sneaking off to visit the Academy. But a misfortune of travel leaves Ouren injured and ill. Kahiron takes him to the nearest town for healing, but within days the healer announces that Ouren is dead. Kahiron, crippled by the death of his brother, wishes to break their cultures strongest taboo: suicide. Instead, he decides to take the passive way out by enlisting in the army and simply waiting to be killed. Instead, he finds himself promoted quickly through the ranks for recklessness that passes for "perseverance". All he wants is to curl up and die a noble death. But when a lord commissions him as a personal guard for his bride on her journey to the lord's estate, things take a turn for the chaotic.