Rage of Lions

Trained as a knight, condemned as a heretic, exiled as a convict, Prentice's every moment is a struggle just to survive. The Duke is dead and now Duchess Amelia, his young and inexperienced bride, must rule the Western Reach alone. But when an unknown enemy invades her lands, slaughtering all in their path, her knights are too eager for glory to see the danger. She must turn to Prentice, a convict, wise in the art of war and the only one she can trust despite the dishonor it brings. Thrust into the front lines, Prentice must fight to survive not only the violence of the enemy, but the inexperience and foolishness of his own commanders. In the midst of conflict, Prentice will earn the battle name Ash, for no matter how intense the fires of war, even if all burns away, Ash will still remain. Prentice Ash is a medieval fantasy set in a unique but familiar world full of knights, magic, prophecies, and warfare. If you're a fan of Song of Ice & Fire and Dune_, you've found your next favorite read.

Victory over the painted invaders was but a prelude to a new conflict that threatens the Western Reach. Led by convict-captain Prentice Ash, the Duchess's army has driven off the invaders from the west and Prentice has won his freedom. But the Reach is far from safe. Rats are lurking in the Duchess's capital and they mean to destroy her. Merchants and noblemen plot to rob Amelia of her province's wealth while criminals and mercenaries prowl through the streets. Meanwhile, the new prince, Daven Marcus, comes west with foolish plans that threaten to rip the Reach out of Amelia's hands. Once again, she has no choice but to rely on Prentice and his ragtag group of former convicts. Soon, the vermin of Dweltford's shadows will learn that a new pack of rats has come to town, ones loyal to the rightful ruler and ready to kill and die in her name: the Duchess's Rats of Dweltford.

The Rats may have won back Dweltford, but now the Reach needs Lions. Duchess Amelia's cutthroat "rats" have saved her hometown. But the new crown prince of the Grand Kingdom, Daven Marcus, now drags her along in a vain winter crusade into the wilderness, seeking the origin of the mysterious invaders from the West. Surrounded by the prince's toadying lackeys and scheming nobility, Amelia has no allies. Her captain, Prentice Ash, is far away in the ruins of Fallenhill. With a handful of mercenaries, Prentice must train the convicts to be soldiers, turning a criminal rabble into a militia for the Duchess. In his dreams, he has a prophetic vision of rats becoming lions, but before the training can even begin, a traitorous baron traps the entire force in a siege. With murderous knights outside the walls and hunger and winter's cold within, can Prentice somehow turn rats cowering in the ruins into roaring lions? If not, how can Duchess Amelia defend her lands from the venal prince who means to steal the Western Reach out from under her?