Synopsis: Seldom Pure and Never Simple

Once upon a time there was a great sorcerer who spent years trying to find the essence of truth in its purest form. Eventually, through study and magic, he found it and made it tangible. It was his prized possession until a young princess shattered it. Such was his rage that he curse her family to never find true happiness until every piece of Truth had been restored.

It is traditional for every child of royal blood to leave behind their title and their birthright on the day of their twenty first birthday and travel for a year and a day. Officially this is so that they can better understand and serve the kingdom and its people. Unofficially it is also so that they can search for the shards of truth that were scattered across the land centuries before and bring an end to the curse that has dogged their family since then. Some of them return, some do not.

Braden is the third and youngest son of the King and he has just come of age. It is his turn to travel the length and breadth of the realm in search for his own sliver of truth. His brothers have both undertaken the journey and come back successful, but he is neither as clever as his brother Edryd nor as strong as Cyngen. But he finds that he doesn't have to do everything alone.

Of course, nothing is ever simple and, as he sets off, across the other side of the Kingdom a witch dies, leaving her daughter with one final request: to take her revenge on the King and cut out the heart of the Prince.

It's a story about finding truth in lies, and reading between the lines. It's a story about stories and if it begins with Once Upon a Time, so what? There's a reason that fairy tales survive.