King Damianos of Akielos (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
goldcuffed) wrote2016-05-20 12:28 pm
goldcuffed) wrote2016-05-20 12:28 pm
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⚜ ♛ book summary
* Meant in the place of a wikia since the series currently lacks a comprehensive wiki. Written with Dee (redoublement).
Book One: Captive Prince
Though the book opens on the present day, the story really begins six years previous, with the two countries Akielos and Vere at war over a parcel of land in the center of the continent, between the two countries. Delpha, or Delfeur, has been fought over for decades, and at the Battle of Marlas, Akielon forces defeat the Veretian soldiers, winning Delpha, when the Crown Prince Damianos rides at the head of the army and kills Crown Prince Auguste of Vere in single combat. With King Aleron dead from a stray arrow to the throat, power shifts in Vere. The Regent holds the throne for second Prince Laurent until his 21st birthday, and Damianos returns to Akielos victorious.
At the Akielon palace of Ios, on the night of the King’s death, Damianos’s household and all his slaves are slaughtered in the night, and Damen himself is taken prisoner, chained and forced into the gold wrist cuffs and collar of a slave. His former lover Jokaste reveals herself to be sleeping with his older half-brother Kastor, and that this is a plot between them so that Kastor can take the throne. Damen is drugged, loaded onto a ship, and sent secretly to Vere as a slave, to be given to Prince Laurent, now just ten months away from his 21st birthday.
In Vere, Damen believes that no one recognizes his face, and so he decides it’s safer to be an unnamed pleasure slave than Damianos of Akielos. At first meeting, Laurent appears to be a spoiled, haughty, icy sort of man, and they hate each other at first sight. He keeps up this ruse in Vere, but has trouble stifling his own dominant nature, which results in Laurent having him beaten and humiliated, the most Laurent could do, as the Regent would not allow him to have Damen killed.
The first humiliation, Laurent has Damen prepared for “the ring” - mock fighting pits for pets and slaves that usually result in an exhibitionist show for the wealthy masters. Damen is drugged and sent to fight Govart, one of the Regent’s soldiers. Despite the drugging, Damen wins the fight, and feigns submission to Laurent to try to mitigate punishment for beating one of the Regent’s men. After his victory, he is offered sex by a very young boy, an act that Damen abhors, and refuses. Laurent is surprised by this action, but defends this choice to Nicaise, allowing it.
Days later, when the Regent has left the palace, Laurent has Damen attend him in the baths, searching for any viable excuse to defy his uncle’s orders not to harm the “gift of King Kastor”. At the first sign of offense that Laurent can construe, he orders Damen taken to the whipping cross and has Damen tied to it. He watches while Damen’s back is practically flayed open with a whip. The Regent uses the lashing to humiliate and discredit Laurent in front of the Council and strip him of his estates, but Laurent provokes Damen into startling to show how unreasonable a slave he is in front of the court. It garners Laurent brief sympathy before the council, but does not change the Regent’s ruling. After, Laurent takes him to the gardens, and leaves Damen kneeling on the ground while he meets with one of the Council members, and then speaks with Nicaise, the boy from the ring.
There in the garden, Damen meets one of the other slaves from Akielos, a boy named Erasmus, who reveals that he and the others sold to Vere have been mistreated and abused. He is further horrified when Govart reappears, and takes Erasmus against his will, knowing there is nothing Damen can do.
A delegation arrives from Patras as the Prince’s household is cut down. Damen is kept in confinement, helpless, until he asks for an audience with Laurent. He offers his own obedience to Laurent in exchange for helping the other Akielon slaves, which seems to surprise and confuse Laurent. He’s suspicious of Damen’s intentions, especially when his guard mentions that Damen spoke to Govart in the garden, and makes out like he won’t help anyone. Except the next night, he is tasked to serve Laurent at the banquet, where Laurent maneuvers into a deal with the Prince of Patras, Torveld, giving him the 24 Akielon slaves for an unknown, to Damen, advantage. In Patras, they will be treated well, and this fulfills Damen’s wish. The next day, the court goes out to the woods to hunt boar. Laurent’s horse is notably difficult - Damen will find out later that the Regent had the mare poisoned, but Laurent still rides down the boar and survives the assassination attempt. To add salt to the wound, the horse was one that Laurent’s brother had helped to break in, years before.
Damen’s first escape attempt comes two days later. He is summoned to Laurent’s rooms, but the situation is strange, with the guards saying that Laurent wanted him in his bed. The rest of the guards were cleared from the hall. To Damen’s surprise, he finds that Laurent was not expecting him. The guards attempt to assassinate Laurent with Akielon weapons, expecting Damen to join them or to just allow them, but he fights back with Laurent and saves his life. The Regent’s men blame the attack on Damen but Laurent stands up for him, and claims the attack was on Damen. After the men leave, Damen realizes Laurent has been drugged, and seizes the opportunity, though Laurent warns him that it will look bad if he tries escape now, and he will not be able to help him. He makes his way out of the palace and into Arles, but he runs into Govart coming out of a brothel. Govart and the Regent’s guard corner Damen, but Laurent sends his own men to retrieve him, having gone to the Council to stay the order of execution. The Council acquits Damen, in exchange for Laurent riding to the border to do military duty.
In confinement after, he realizes that the Regent is the one trying to kill Laurent, and trying to start a war with Akielos, and that only Laurent stands between the Regent and this possible future. In order to protect Laurent on the border, he begs to be allowed to go with him, and eventually, last minute, he is armed, armored, and taken out with the soldiers. Soldiers who will be captained by Govart, a troop that will be filled at the next stop with the Regent’s men.
Book Two: Prince's Gambit
Picking up from the last book, Laurent’s company rides to Chastillon to be equipped with proper armor and weapons and to have the rest of the men join up. The party of 50 of Laurent’s own men are joined by a company of 150 of the Regent’s upon reaching Chastillon. It is immediately clear that the company doesn’t hold together, and that the men the Regent has provided are the worst of the worst. With the lazy and uncaring Govart as captain, it spells a recipe for disaster. Animosity quickly blossoms between Laurent and the Regent’s men, with fights starting repeatedly. This is a calculated move on the Regent’s part, which Laurent counters by changing up the route they will take to the border - instead of a straight run, they choose a winding route hugging the Vaskian mountain border that will take an additional two weeks. Damen recognizes that the troupe will tear itself apart if the fighting is allowed to continue and advises Laurent to deal with Govart, as well as arranging to put the men through drills in order to foster camaraderie.
At night, Laurent sends off a message with his signet ring. In the morning, Govart insults Laurent and the royal family, and Laurent duels him in front of all the men, showing off that he is actually quite skilled with a sword. Laurent stabs Govart in the shoulder, has him stripped of his belongings, and expels him from the camp and the captaincy. The men start to respect the Prince after the show of skill.
When they reach the next stop of Nesson, Damen advises Laurent that they need more time to whip the men into any kind of shape - Laurent buys them two more weeks and takes Damen’s advice. He also has Damen going over maps and geography and strategy with him at night. He even says that Damen should be captain, not Jord, but the men won’t follow an Akielon. They run drills daily for two weeks, exhausting the men every night, building a sense of camaraderie and fellowship amongst them and training them better than the Regent would expect. The men also start to respect and include Damen in talks and drinking wine by the fire.
At Nesson, Damen and Laurent find the messenger’s horse wandering riderless. Laurent rides to town and Damen insists on accompanying him. In town they come to discover that they are being followed. Together they work to lose these men, and duck into a brothel. They lock themselves in a private room upstairs, and while Laurent is mulling over how they’re going to escape, Damen surprises him and yanks the grille off the window. They lose their tail by sneaking through the window and out into an alley. Laurent disguises himself as Damen’s pet with Nicaise’s sapphire earring, and leads them to an inn. In the inn, Laurent plays an old man at cards and learns a magic trick, while they wait to be able to continue with Laurent’s business at the inn. They also meet Charls the cloth merchant. Upstairs, they meet up with the man the messenger was supposed to reach, and Laurent gives him his signet ring, telling him to tell someone that he will wait at Ravenel.
In the middle of the night, the inn is raided by men searching for Laurent and Damen. They escape out the window, jump the balcony, and hide outside the next room down before leading the men on a chase over the rooftops. When the men split up, so do Damen and Laurent - Damen rides off to stop the men who went after Laurent’s messenger. Damen succeeds in stopping them, but learns that the Prince’s camp has been ambushed while he was away. He rides back as hard as he can, realizing that this was Laurent’s plan, sacrifice his own safety to save his messenger.
When he reaches the camp, Laurent and most of the men are still alive, and Damen tells them what he learned from the men he cut down; that there is an ambush waiting in the pass for them. Damen advises that they fight now, taking the element of surprise, and Laurent accepts his tactics. With Damen leading half the troupe and Laurent the other, they survive and turn the tides of the fight, winning, and cementing the feelings of camaraderie throughout their contingent.
Laurent starts having their nighttime discussions in Akielon, having Damen essentially fill in the gaps in his grasp of the language, especially military terms, and they continue their journey to Acquitart, a small independent governance that Laurent is still rightful ruler of. With the troop celebrating in Acquitart, Damen and Laurent sneak out at night, and go with a group of Vaskian women to their camp. Laurent is in talks with Halvik, leader of the camp, while Damen is plied with alcohol and women. He’s pretty okay with it. When they return, they hear of an attack on the border, and ride to Ravenel, where the men are mostly loyal to the Regent. Akielons had destroyed a Veretian village, after an Akielon village was similarly sacked by bandits believed to have been paid by Veretians.
It turns out to be a trap from Laurent’s uncle. Laurent and Damen leave camp to investigate the origins of the men who attacked the Akielon village. When an Akielon troop passes near them, Damen thinks he could give Laurent up to them and rejoin his people, but chooses to protect Laurent instead - he even kills an Akielon man who finds Laurent and aims a crossbow at him, by throwing his sword through the man. Later, they’re captured by clan raiders from the foothills.
Laurent purposely provokes the men for an advantage, but when one touches him lecherously, Damen reacts to protect him and starts fighting. The clan men take him to kill him, but Laurent intervenes, convincing them that “fast death doesn’t hurt”. Four men drag him away from camp, and Damen manages to get his hands on a sword and kills them all. Back at the camp, Laurent has done some work of his own. Halvik’s Vaskians have come to their rescue. The men who attacked the Akielon village, the clansmen, are taken hostage and the Vaskians receive the rest of the spoils. At their own camp, alone in their tent, Damen and Laurent have a moment, where Laurent promises that Damen can go free after they have Ravenel.
Later at the field of Hellay, on their way back to Ravenel, they meet with part of the Regent’s army, from Ravenel, led by Lord Touars. They attempt to arrest Laurent on charges of treason, saying that Laurent has conspired with Akielos against Vere, and a boy named Aimeric betrays them all by colluding with Lord Touars, and the Regent, lying and saying that he saw Laurent commit the accused acts. Laurent reveals that he had captured all four of Touars’s scouts, so they couldn’t deliver the news that Patran forces, led by Prince Torveld, were on their way to intercept. This is the help Laurent bargained for with slaves in Arles. With Jord, who had been romantically involved with Aimeric, emotionally distraught, Laurent gives Damen the captaincy, and he strategizes the battle. During the fighting, Damen faces down Touars, who recognizes him at the last moment, just before Damen ends his life. Jord witnesses the exchange, and is horrified, but promises not to tell Laurent, so long as once Ravenel is taken Damen promises to leave. They do, in fact, take the fort, by disguising themselves and their men as Touars’s men.
The quick victory taking Ravenel has Laurent in a good mood, and it makes the thought of leaving more painful for Damen, who has been falling for the prince. He doesn’t celebrate with the others, choosing instead to work at securing the fort for Laurent. He also speaks to Torveld, who says that his reason for helping was Erasmus convincing him, and that Laurent will have no more Patran help from here out. He shares his first kiss with Laurent on the battlements, away from the banquet but Jord interrupts, along then with some other men.
The soldiers were harassing Aimeric, having some cruel fun, but Laurent has him brought to a sitting room for ‘justice’ to be meted out. Laurent verbally flays both Aimeric and Jord, and backhands Aimeric; the truth comes out that Aimeric had been abused by the Regent as a child, and had been manipulated into helping with his schemes. Damen intervenes as things get ugly and clears the room to give Laurent time alone. Aimeric is confined to his room.
Later in Laurent’s rooms, he and Damen spend the night together, giving in just once to the unresolved sexual tension between them and the growing trust. Laurent knows that Damen will leave in the morning, and by the time Damen wakes, he’s gone. Damen is to be escorted to the border after his collar and cuffs are removed. He chooses to leave the left cuff on, and keeps the second. As soon as he’s about to leave the fort, a messenger and a group of the Regent’s men approach - with the head of Nicaise, the Regent’s pet. Nicaise was someone Laurent had been fond of; and whom he had promised to return to. The Regent wants to fight Laurent’s army at Charcy for the crown, a strategically poor location for Laurent’s troops, and Laurent is angry enough that he agrees to it despite that Damen tries to advise him otherwise. He overstays his welcome to help Laurent, who goes to see Aimeric, but they find that Aimeric has killed himself after the cruel verbal lashing Laurent bestowed.
An angry Laurent wants to ride to Charcy regardless of the risks. In their argument, he reveals that Kastor has been working with the Regent all along, and that Kastor had Damen’s father poisoned. Laurent admits he can’t think this one through, and asks Damen for three more days. Damen grants him that, and they plan their next move - Laurent will take Fortaine, and Damen will keep manning Ravenel, waiting for reinforcements to take to Charcy. Laurent will join them at Charcy to surprise the Regent’s men.
On the horizon, Damen sees troops in red approaching, but not the Regent’s red - Akielon red. Nikandros of Delpha’s men, Damen’s boyhood friend. The runner from the Akielon army brings Laurent’s signet ring, the one sent out with the messenger. Nikandros recognizes Damen immediately and the secret is out; Damen lets them into the fort and asserts his command to prevent bloodshed.
Book Three: Kings Rising
After having his men, his Akielon men, take the fort to prevent bloodshed between the scared Veretians and wary Akielon soldiers, Damen reunites with his childhood friend Nikandros, Kyros of Delpha. Nikandros pledges his loyalty and the loyalty of the North to Damen and reveals the letter that Laurent wrote him, offering proof of Kastor’s crimes in exchange for troops. Nikandros and his general Makedon are both horrified when they see Damen’s gold wrist cuff and learn the truth about his absence. The Akielon force, plus about twenty of Laurent’s men who chose to ride with Damen, go to Charcy to fight, expecting Laurent to swing around from behind to break the Regent’s surround. Laurent’s force never comes, and Damen wins an unwinnable battle against the Regent’s forces, but loses half his men in the process.
Meanwhile, Laurent is captured at Fortaine - which is why he didn’t show up with his men at Charcy. Guion of Fortaine and Govart had him taken to a cell in the dungeons, in secret, and Govart beats him, tortures him, and stabs him in the shoulder. Laurent manages to get the upper hand on Govart, and gets Guion locked into the cell with him, reversing the situation, though without a considerable amount of pain. He threatens and blackmails Guion, and takes Fortaine.
Laurent receives Damen and his men at Fortaine, and Damen is furious at the perceived betrayal. He can tell immediately that something is wrong with Laurent, despite the other’s casual air. Damen prepares to tell Laurent his real identity, but Laurent says he already knows - he has always known. They treat together as rightful kings, and Laurent bargains supplies and troops to support Damen’s campaign south in exchange for Delpha, after telling Damen that the Regent is in Akielos. Damen doesn’t want to, but Laurent has him outmaneuvered. Despite difficulties and opposition, they ally to take out the Regent and Kastor, and win back their thrones.
Publicly, they give each other gifts - the men who attacked the Akielon village from Laurent, to be whipped, and from Damen, the other gold wrist cuff, refitted for Laurent’s wrist. They form their alliance, making sure that each side seems equal in the arrangement, and deal with dissent in the Akielon camp, mostly from Makedon’s men. To cement the alliance with the Kyroi and bannermen of the north, they ride to Marlas for a celebration that includes sporting matches. At the feast at Marlas, Laurent rides out alone to the site where his brother died, and Damen rides after; they witness unknown riders galloping away.
They follow the riders, and find another wrecked village, like the ones before. According to the survivors, the men sacked the village in Damen’s name, wearing the notched belts of Makedon’s men. The Regent’s plan nearly succeeds in turning Makedon and Damen against each other but Laurent intervenes. Later that night, Laurent and Damen spar to work out their mutual anger. The games are held the next day.
At the games, Makedon doesn’t show up at first. Nikandros confronts Laurent when he sees the scars on Damen’s back from the whipping. Damen stops them from fighting, and they go back out to prepare for the okton when Makedon shows up again. His terms are that Laurent rides in the okton, a dangerous sport involving throwing spears while riding horseback in figure 8s with other riders, and he will fight under Laurent and Damen. This is significant because people have to train for months to ride in an okton, it’s an incredibly dangerous sport. Makeon wants to humiliate Laurent by either proving him a coward if he doesn’t ride, or proving him inferior if he does ride and does poorly.
The okton goes well until the last round. A misplaced throw from another rider could have ended in disaster. Damen catches a spear that would have hit him out of the air, and Laurent saves Pallas’s life from another spear, and hits his last bullseye. Damen and Laurent tie. The outcome is good for troop morale, and wins Makedon’s approval.
They make plans to take the Akielon fort of Karthas next. When they ride there, they find Karthas empty and abandoned - the only person left is Jokaste, having just given birth, and her handmaidens, left behind by Meniados of Sicyon. The child is missing, sent off with a nurse. Damen takes Jokaste captive, and soon the Regent’s herald comes to Karthas, and says that Laurent can come to Ios to stand trial, and that Damen is accused of murdering his father King Theomedes. Jokaste requests to see Damen, but Damen, angry from the herald’s accusations, sends Laurent instead. Jokaste claims to Laurent that her son is not Kastor’s, but Damen’s, and that she’s had him sent to the Regent. Laurent is the one to comfort Damen at the upsetting news.
Damen speaks with Jokaste, and learns that he can exchange her for the child in Ios. He and Laurent plan to do so at the Kingsmeet, where weapons cannot be drawn on penalty of death. Damen, Laurent, and a handful of men pretend to be cloth merchants, and keep Jokaste, Guion, and Guion’s wife Loyse in the back of a wagon as prisoners. To get past the border patrols, they pretend to be Jokaste’s escort to Ios - Laurent puts on a dress and pretends to be Jokaste. From there, it’s a wild adventure not unlike the rooftop chase in Nesson, until their wagon breaks down on the road. Laurent pretends to be Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant, and flags down some Akielon soldiers to have them help fix the wagon. The soldiers buy it and escort them to the next inn, where the real Charls happens to be, but he plays along with the tale and lends verisimilitude to their story. They travel with Charls’ group nearly to the Kingsmeet.
At night, Laurent frees Jokaste, because he doesn’t believe the child is Damen’s, because he doesn’t believe Jokaste would use the child against Damen if it were. He knows that she convinced Kastor to send Damen to Vere as a slave to save his life. She goes, and leaves a note in the wagon for Damen.
Damen and Laurent ride to the Kingsmeet in the morning alone, and they find the Regent himself there waiting for them. They reveal to Damen that Laurent is here to give himself up for the child, but the Regent says he isn’t interested. He verbally provokes Damen into attacking him by telling him about the way he abused Laurent as a child, after Auguste died. The Kingsmeet sentries take Damen down and the Regent orders him killed, but Laurent gives himself up to his uncle for Damen’s life. Damen is kept captive and released at dawn, Laurent goes to trial at the palace.
Damen finds Jokaste’s note in the wagon, that says the child was never his, but is safe. He rides to Ios alone in the morning, realizing what he has to do to get to Laurent. At the steps of the palace, he gives himself up publicly, spreading word of his return, so that he can’t just be whisked off to a dungeon secretly. Eventually he’s taken to the great hall where the trial is still ongoing. Laurent admits that he slept with Damen, and says that Damen is innocent of charges, but the gathered crowd won’t believe him. Damen speaks to Laurent’s innocence, even though he risks his own chances at taking his throne if he does. He calls Guion to speak but Guion betrays them, and lies for the Regent. It’s his wife Loyse that speaks of the Regent’s and Kastor’s plot, because she still grieves her son Aimeric, who killed himself after all the Regent did to him and dragged him through.
She testifies, and Damen realizes that Laurent did not bring her here to clear his name, but to clear Damen’s. She provides proof that Kastor killed King Theomedes and plotted with the Regent to do so. Damen suddenly realizes something, what blackmail Govart had against the Regent and what Nicaise had known, and calls for Paschal the physician to speak. He has proof that the Regent had Paschal’s brother kill King Aleron on the field at Marlas, promising him a better future, that was given to Govart when Govart intercepted the written testimony. Nicaise stole the account from Govart and gave it to Paschal for safekeeping. The Council turns against the Regent, as do all the soldiers in the hall, and he is executed for treason, making Laurent King of Vere.
Laurent gives Damen the assistance of his new army to take Ios, but Kastor escapes into the palace in the confusion. In the chaos, Damen takes up a weapon and runs after Kastor to confront him. He catches up to his brother in the slave baths, having taken a shortcut, and he tries to reason with him, to offer him mercy. Kastor stabs him in the stomach on the stairs. Laurent shows up, and chains Damen’s wrist to keep him from intervening, then goes to kill Kastor, knowing Damen would never be able to.
With Kastor’s body on the tiles, Laurent kneels at Damen’s side, and together they listen to the bells that proclaim a new king - two new kings.
Book One: Captive Prince
Though the book opens on the present day, the story really begins six years previous, with the two countries Akielos and Vere at war over a parcel of land in the center of the continent, between the two countries. Delpha, or Delfeur, has been fought over for decades, and at the Battle of Marlas, Akielon forces defeat the Veretian soldiers, winning Delpha, when the Crown Prince Damianos rides at the head of the army and kills Crown Prince Auguste of Vere in single combat. With King Aleron dead from a stray arrow to the throat, power shifts in Vere. The Regent holds the throne for second Prince Laurent until his 21st birthday, and Damianos returns to Akielos victorious.
At the Akielon palace of Ios, on the night of the King’s death, Damianos’s household and all his slaves are slaughtered in the night, and Damen himself is taken prisoner, chained and forced into the gold wrist cuffs and collar of a slave. His former lover Jokaste reveals herself to be sleeping with his older half-brother Kastor, and that this is a plot between them so that Kastor can take the throne. Damen is drugged, loaded onto a ship, and sent secretly to Vere as a slave, to be given to Prince Laurent, now just ten months away from his 21st birthday.
In Vere, Damen believes that no one recognizes his face, and so he decides it’s safer to be an unnamed pleasure slave than Damianos of Akielos. At first meeting, Laurent appears to be a spoiled, haughty, icy sort of man, and they hate each other at first sight. He keeps up this ruse in Vere, but has trouble stifling his own dominant nature, which results in Laurent having him beaten and humiliated, the most Laurent could do, as the Regent would not allow him to have Damen killed.
The first humiliation, Laurent has Damen prepared for “the ring” - mock fighting pits for pets and slaves that usually result in an exhibitionist show for the wealthy masters. Damen is drugged and sent to fight Govart, one of the Regent’s soldiers. Despite the drugging, Damen wins the fight, and feigns submission to Laurent to try to mitigate punishment for beating one of the Regent’s men. After his victory, he is offered sex by a very young boy, an act that Damen abhors, and refuses. Laurent is surprised by this action, but defends this choice to Nicaise, allowing it.
Days later, when the Regent has left the palace, Laurent has Damen attend him in the baths, searching for any viable excuse to defy his uncle’s orders not to harm the “gift of King Kastor”. At the first sign of offense that Laurent can construe, he orders Damen taken to the whipping cross and has Damen tied to it. He watches while Damen’s back is practically flayed open with a whip. The Regent uses the lashing to humiliate and discredit Laurent in front of the Council and strip him of his estates, but Laurent provokes Damen into startling to show how unreasonable a slave he is in front of the court. It garners Laurent brief sympathy before the council, but does not change the Regent’s ruling. After, Laurent takes him to the gardens, and leaves Damen kneeling on the ground while he meets with one of the Council members, and then speaks with Nicaise, the boy from the ring.
There in the garden, Damen meets one of the other slaves from Akielos, a boy named Erasmus, who reveals that he and the others sold to Vere have been mistreated and abused. He is further horrified when Govart reappears, and takes Erasmus against his will, knowing there is nothing Damen can do.
A delegation arrives from Patras as the Prince’s household is cut down. Damen is kept in confinement, helpless, until he asks for an audience with Laurent. He offers his own obedience to Laurent in exchange for helping the other Akielon slaves, which seems to surprise and confuse Laurent. He’s suspicious of Damen’s intentions, especially when his guard mentions that Damen spoke to Govart in the garden, and makes out like he won’t help anyone. Except the next night, he is tasked to serve Laurent at the banquet, where Laurent maneuvers into a deal with the Prince of Patras, Torveld, giving him the 24 Akielon slaves for an unknown, to Damen, advantage. In Patras, they will be treated well, and this fulfills Damen’s wish. The next day, the court goes out to the woods to hunt boar. Laurent’s horse is notably difficult - Damen will find out later that the Regent had the mare poisoned, but Laurent still rides down the boar and survives the assassination attempt. To add salt to the wound, the horse was one that Laurent’s brother had helped to break in, years before.
Damen’s first escape attempt comes two days later. He is summoned to Laurent’s rooms, but the situation is strange, with the guards saying that Laurent wanted him in his bed. The rest of the guards were cleared from the hall. To Damen’s surprise, he finds that Laurent was not expecting him. The guards attempt to assassinate Laurent with Akielon weapons, expecting Damen to join them or to just allow them, but he fights back with Laurent and saves his life. The Regent’s men blame the attack on Damen but Laurent stands up for him, and claims the attack was on Damen. After the men leave, Damen realizes Laurent has been drugged, and seizes the opportunity, though Laurent warns him that it will look bad if he tries escape now, and he will not be able to help him. He makes his way out of the palace and into Arles, but he runs into Govart coming out of a brothel. Govart and the Regent’s guard corner Damen, but Laurent sends his own men to retrieve him, having gone to the Council to stay the order of execution. The Council acquits Damen, in exchange for Laurent riding to the border to do military duty.
In confinement after, he realizes that the Regent is the one trying to kill Laurent, and trying to start a war with Akielos, and that only Laurent stands between the Regent and this possible future. In order to protect Laurent on the border, he begs to be allowed to go with him, and eventually, last minute, he is armed, armored, and taken out with the soldiers. Soldiers who will be captained by Govart, a troop that will be filled at the next stop with the Regent’s men.
Book Two: Prince's Gambit
Picking up from the last book, Laurent’s company rides to Chastillon to be equipped with proper armor and weapons and to have the rest of the men join up. The party of 50 of Laurent’s own men are joined by a company of 150 of the Regent’s upon reaching Chastillon. It is immediately clear that the company doesn’t hold together, and that the men the Regent has provided are the worst of the worst. With the lazy and uncaring Govart as captain, it spells a recipe for disaster. Animosity quickly blossoms between Laurent and the Regent’s men, with fights starting repeatedly. This is a calculated move on the Regent’s part, which Laurent counters by changing up the route they will take to the border - instead of a straight run, they choose a winding route hugging the Vaskian mountain border that will take an additional two weeks. Damen recognizes that the troupe will tear itself apart if the fighting is allowed to continue and advises Laurent to deal with Govart, as well as arranging to put the men through drills in order to foster camaraderie.
At night, Laurent sends off a message with his signet ring. In the morning, Govart insults Laurent and the royal family, and Laurent duels him in front of all the men, showing off that he is actually quite skilled with a sword. Laurent stabs Govart in the shoulder, has him stripped of his belongings, and expels him from the camp and the captaincy. The men start to respect the Prince after the show of skill.
When they reach the next stop of Nesson, Damen advises Laurent that they need more time to whip the men into any kind of shape - Laurent buys them two more weeks and takes Damen’s advice. He also has Damen going over maps and geography and strategy with him at night. He even says that Damen should be captain, not Jord, but the men won’t follow an Akielon. They run drills daily for two weeks, exhausting the men every night, building a sense of camaraderie and fellowship amongst them and training them better than the Regent would expect. The men also start to respect and include Damen in talks and drinking wine by the fire.
At Nesson, Damen and Laurent find the messenger’s horse wandering riderless. Laurent rides to town and Damen insists on accompanying him. In town they come to discover that they are being followed. Together they work to lose these men, and duck into a brothel. They lock themselves in a private room upstairs, and while Laurent is mulling over how they’re going to escape, Damen surprises him and yanks the grille off the window. They lose their tail by sneaking through the window and out into an alley. Laurent disguises himself as Damen’s pet with Nicaise’s sapphire earring, and leads them to an inn. In the inn, Laurent plays an old man at cards and learns a magic trick, while they wait to be able to continue with Laurent’s business at the inn. They also meet Charls the cloth merchant. Upstairs, they meet up with the man the messenger was supposed to reach, and Laurent gives him his signet ring, telling him to tell someone that he will wait at Ravenel.
In the middle of the night, the inn is raided by men searching for Laurent and Damen. They escape out the window, jump the balcony, and hide outside the next room down before leading the men on a chase over the rooftops. When the men split up, so do Damen and Laurent - Damen rides off to stop the men who went after Laurent’s messenger. Damen succeeds in stopping them, but learns that the Prince’s camp has been ambushed while he was away. He rides back as hard as he can, realizing that this was Laurent’s plan, sacrifice his own safety to save his messenger.
When he reaches the camp, Laurent and most of the men are still alive, and Damen tells them what he learned from the men he cut down; that there is an ambush waiting in the pass for them. Damen advises that they fight now, taking the element of surprise, and Laurent accepts his tactics. With Damen leading half the troupe and Laurent the other, they survive and turn the tides of the fight, winning, and cementing the feelings of camaraderie throughout their contingent.
Laurent starts having their nighttime discussions in Akielon, having Damen essentially fill in the gaps in his grasp of the language, especially military terms, and they continue their journey to Acquitart, a small independent governance that Laurent is still rightful ruler of. With the troop celebrating in Acquitart, Damen and Laurent sneak out at night, and go with a group of Vaskian women to their camp. Laurent is in talks with Halvik, leader of the camp, while Damen is plied with alcohol and women. He’s pretty okay with it. When they return, they hear of an attack on the border, and ride to Ravenel, where the men are mostly loyal to the Regent. Akielons had destroyed a Veretian village, after an Akielon village was similarly sacked by bandits believed to have been paid by Veretians.
It turns out to be a trap from Laurent’s uncle. Laurent and Damen leave camp to investigate the origins of the men who attacked the Akielon village. When an Akielon troop passes near them, Damen thinks he could give Laurent up to them and rejoin his people, but chooses to protect Laurent instead - he even kills an Akielon man who finds Laurent and aims a crossbow at him, by throwing his sword through the man. Later, they’re captured by clan raiders from the foothills.
Laurent purposely provokes the men for an advantage, but when one touches him lecherously, Damen reacts to protect him and starts fighting. The clan men take him to kill him, but Laurent intervenes, convincing them that “fast death doesn’t hurt”. Four men drag him away from camp, and Damen manages to get his hands on a sword and kills them all. Back at the camp, Laurent has done some work of his own. Halvik’s Vaskians have come to their rescue. The men who attacked the Akielon village, the clansmen, are taken hostage and the Vaskians receive the rest of the spoils. At their own camp, alone in their tent, Damen and Laurent have a moment, where Laurent promises that Damen can go free after they have Ravenel.
Later at the field of Hellay, on their way back to Ravenel, they meet with part of the Regent’s army, from Ravenel, led by Lord Touars. They attempt to arrest Laurent on charges of treason, saying that Laurent has conspired with Akielos against Vere, and a boy named Aimeric betrays them all by colluding with Lord Touars, and the Regent, lying and saying that he saw Laurent commit the accused acts. Laurent reveals that he had captured all four of Touars’s scouts, so they couldn’t deliver the news that Patran forces, led by Prince Torveld, were on their way to intercept. This is the help Laurent bargained for with slaves in Arles. With Jord, who had been romantically involved with Aimeric, emotionally distraught, Laurent gives Damen the captaincy, and he strategizes the battle. During the fighting, Damen faces down Touars, who recognizes him at the last moment, just before Damen ends his life. Jord witnesses the exchange, and is horrified, but promises not to tell Laurent, so long as once Ravenel is taken Damen promises to leave. They do, in fact, take the fort, by disguising themselves and their men as Touars’s men.
The quick victory taking Ravenel has Laurent in a good mood, and it makes the thought of leaving more painful for Damen, who has been falling for the prince. He doesn’t celebrate with the others, choosing instead to work at securing the fort for Laurent. He also speaks to Torveld, who says that his reason for helping was Erasmus convincing him, and that Laurent will have no more Patran help from here out. He shares his first kiss with Laurent on the battlements, away from the banquet but Jord interrupts, along then with some other men.
The soldiers were harassing Aimeric, having some cruel fun, but Laurent has him brought to a sitting room for ‘justice’ to be meted out. Laurent verbally flays both Aimeric and Jord, and backhands Aimeric; the truth comes out that Aimeric had been abused by the Regent as a child, and had been manipulated into helping with his schemes. Damen intervenes as things get ugly and clears the room to give Laurent time alone. Aimeric is confined to his room.
Later in Laurent’s rooms, he and Damen spend the night together, giving in just once to the unresolved sexual tension between them and the growing trust. Laurent knows that Damen will leave in the morning, and by the time Damen wakes, he’s gone. Damen is to be escorted to the border after his collar and cuffs are removed. He chooses to leave the left cuff on, and keeps the second. As soon as he’s about to leave the fort, a messenger and a group of the Regent’s men approach - with the head of Nicaise, the Regent’s pet. Nicaise was someone Laurent had been fond of; and whom he had promised to return to. The Regent wants to fight Laurent’s army at Charcy for the crown, a strategically poor location for Laurent’s troops, and Laurent is angry enough that he agrees to it despite that Damen tries to advise him otherwise. He overstays his welcome to help Laurent, who goes to see Aimeric, but they find that Aimeric has killed himself after the cruel verbal lashing Laurent bestowed.
An angry Laurent wants to ride to Charcy regardless of the risks. In their argument, he reveals that Kastor has been working with the Regent all along, and that Kastor had Damen’s father poisoned. Laurent admits he can’t think this one through, and asks Damen for three more days. Damen grants him that, and they plan their next move - Laurent will take Fortaine, and Damen will keep manning Ravenel, waiting for reinforcements to take to Charcy. Laurent will join them at Charcy to surprise the Regent’s men.
On the horizon, Damen sees troops in red approaching, but not the Regent’s red - Akielon red. Nikandros of Delpha’s men, Damen’s boyhood friend. The runner from the Akielon army brings Laurent’s signet ring, the one sent out with the messenger. Nikandros recognizes Damen immediately and the secret is out; Damen lets them into the fort and asserts his command to prevent bloodshed.
Book Three: Kings Rising
After having his men, his Akielon men, take the fort to prevent bloodshed between the scared Veretians and wary Akielon soldiers, Damen reunites with his childhood friend Nikandros, Kyros of Delpha. Nikandros pledges his loyalty and the loyalty of the North to Damen and reveals the letter that Laurent wrote him, offering proof of Kastor’s crimes in exchange for troops. Nikandros and his general Makedon are both horrified when they see Damen’s gold wrist cuff and learn the truth about his absence. The Akielon force, plus about twenty of Laurent’s men who chose to ride with Damen, go to Charcy to fight, expecting Laurent to swing around from behind to break the Regent’s surround. Laurent’s force never comes, and Damen wins an unwinnable battle against the Regent’s forces, but loses half his men in the process.
Meanwhile, Laurent is captured at Fortaine - which is why he didn’t show up with his men at Charcy. Guion of Fortaine and Govart had him taken to a cell in the dungeons, in secret, and Govart beats him, tortures him, and stabs him in the shoulder. Laurent manages to get the upper hand on Govart, and gets Guion locked into the cell with him, reversing the situation, though without a considerable amount of pain. He threatens and blackmails Guion, and takes Fortaine.
Laurent receives Damen and his men at Fortaine, and Damen is furious at the perceived betrayal. He can tell immediately that something is wrong with Laurent, despite the other’s casual air. Damen prepares to tell Laurent his real identity, but Laurent says he already knows - he has always known. They treat together as rightful kings, and Laurent bargains supplies and troops to support Damen’s campaign south in exchange for Delpha, after telling Damen that the Regent is in Akielos. Damen doesn’t want to, but Laurent has him outmaneuvered. Despite difficulties and opposition, they ally to take out the Regent and Kastor, and win back their thrones.
Publicly, they give each other gifts - the men who attacked the Akielon village from Laurent, to be whipped, and from Damen, the other gold wrist cuff, refitted for Laurent’s wrist. They form their alliance, making sure that each side seems equal in the arrangement, and deal with dissent in the Akielon camp, mostly from Makedon’s men. To cement the alliance with the Kyroi and bannermen of the north, they ride to Marlas for a celebration that includes sporting matches. At the feast at Marlas, Laurent rides out alone to the site where his brother died, and Damen rides after; they witness unknown riders galloping away.
They follow the riders, and find another wrecked village, like the ones before. According to the survivors, the men sacked the village in Damen’s name, wearing the notched belts of Makedon’s men. The Regent’s plan nearly succeeds in turning Makedon and Damen against each other but Laurent intervenes. Later that night, Laurent and Damen spar to work out their mutual anger. The games are held the next day.
At the games, Makedon doesn’t show up at first. Nikandros confronts Laurent when he sees the scars on Damen’s back from the whipping. Damen stops them from fighting, and they go back out to prepare for the okton when Makedon shows up again. His terms are that Laurent rides in the okton, a dangerous sport involving throwing spears while riding horseback in figure 8s with other riders, and he will fight under Laurent and Damen. This is significant because people have to train for months to ride in an okton, it’s an incredibly dangerous sport. Makeon wants to humiliate Laurent by either proving him a coward if he doesn’t ride, or proving him inferior if he does ride and does poorly.
The okton goes well until the last round. A misplaced throw from another rider could have ended in disaster. Damen catches a spear that would have hit him out of the air, and Laurent saves Pallas’s life from another spear, and hits his last bullseye. Damen and Laurent tie. The outcome is good for troop morale, and wins Makedon’s approval.
They make plans to take the Akielon fort of Karthas next. When they ride there, they find Karthas empty and abandoned - the only person left is Jokaste, having just given birth, and her handmaidens, left behind by Meniados of Sicyon. The child is missing, sent off with a nurse. Damen takes Jokaste captive, and soon the Regent’s herald comes to Karthas, and says that Laurent can come to Ios to stand trial, and that Damen is accused of murdering his father King Theomedes. Jokaste requests to see Damen, but Damen, angry from the herald’s accusations, sends Laurent instead. Jokaste claims to Laurent that her son is not Kastor’s, but Damen’s, and that she’s had him sent to the Regent. Laurent is the one to comfort Damen at the upsetting news.
Damen speaks with Jokaste, and learns that he can exchange her for the child in Ios. He and Laurent plan to do so at the Kingsmeet, where weapons cannot be drawn on penalty of death. Damen, Laurent, and a handful of men pretend to be cloth merchants, and keep Jokaste, Guion, and Guion’s wife Loyse in the back of a wagon as prisoners. To get past the border patrols, they pretend to be Jokaste’s escort to Ios - Laurent puts on a dress and pretends to be Jokaste. From there, it’s a wild adventure not unlike the rooftop chase in Nesson, until their wagon breaks down on the road. Laurent pretends to be Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant, and flags down some Akielon soldiers to have them help fix the wagon. The soldiers buy it and escort them to the next inn, where the real Charls happens to be, but he plays along with the tale and lends verisimilitude to their story. They travel with Charls’ group nearly to the Kingsmeet.
At night, Laurent frees Jokaste, because he doesn’t believe the child is Damen’s, because he doesn’t believe Jokaste would use the child against Damen if it were. He knows that she convinced Kastor to send Damen to Vere as a slave to save his life. She goes, and leaves a note in the wagon for Damen.
Damen and Laurent ride to the Kingsmeet in the morning alone, and they find the Regent himself there waiting for them. They reveal to Damen that Laurent is here to give himself up for the child, but the Regent says he isn’t interested. He verbally provokes Damen into attacking him by telling him about the way he abused Laurent as a child, after Auguste died. The Kingsmeet sentries take Damen down and the Regent orders him killed, but Laurent gives himself up to his uncle for Damen’s life. Damen is kept captive and released at dawn, Laurent goes to trial at the palace.
Damen finds Jokaste’s note in the wagon, that says the child was never his, but is safe. He rides to Ios alone in the morning, realizing what he has to do to get to Laurent. At the steps of the palace, he gives himself up publicly, spreading word of his return, so that he can’t just be whisked off to a dungeon secretly. Eventually he’s taken to the great hall where the trial is still ongoing. Laurent admits that he slept with Damen, and says that Damen is innocent of charges, but the gathered crowd won’t believe him. Damen speaks to Laurent’s innocence, even though he risks his own chances at taking his throne if he does. He calls Guion to speak but Guion betrays them, and lies for the Regent. It’s his wife Loyse that speaks of the Regent’s and Kastor’s plot, because she still grieves her son Aimeric, who killed himself after all the Regent did to him and dragged him through.
She testifies, and Damen realizes that Laurent did not bring her here to clear his name, but to clear Damen’s. She provides proof that Kastor killed King Theomedes and plotted with the Regent to do so. Damen suddenly realizes something, what blackmail Govart had against the Regent and what Nicaise had known, and calls for Paschal the physician to speak. He has proof that the Regent had Paschal’s brother kill King Aleron on the field at Marlas, promising him a better future, that was given to Govart when Govart intercepted the written testimony. Nicaise stole the account from Govart and gave it to Paschal for safekeeping. The Council turns against the Regent, as do all the soldiers in the hall, and he is executed for treason, making Laurent King of Vere.
Laurent gives Damen the assistance of his new army to take Ios, but Kastor escapes into the palace in the confusion. In the chaos, Damen takes up a weapon and runs after Kastor to confront him. He catches up to his brother in the slave baths, having taken a shortcut, and he tries to reason with him, to offer him mercy. Kastor stabs him in the stomach on the stairs. Laurent shows up, and chains Damen’s wrist to keep him from intervening, then goes to kill Kastor, knowing Damen would never be able to.
With Kastor’s body on the tiles, Laurent kneels at Damen’s side, and together they listen to the bells that proclaim a new king - two new kings.