King of Ashes

A new novel from internationally bestselling author

Raymond E. Feist.The world of Garn once boasted five great

kingdoms, until the King of Ithrace was defeated and every

member of his family executed by Lodavico, the ruthless

King of Sandura, a man with ambitions to rule the

world.Ithraces ruling family were the legendary

Firemanes, and represented a great danger to the other

kings. Now four great kingdoms remain, on the brink of

war. But rumour has it that the newborn son of the last

king of Ithrace survived, carried off during battle and

sequestered by the Quelli Nacosti, a secret society whose

members are trained to infiltrate and spy upon the rich

and powerful throughout Garn. Terrified that this may be

true, and that the child will grow to maturity with bloody

revenge in his heart, the four kings have placed a huge

bounty on the childs head.In the small village of Oncon,

Declan is apprenticed to a master blacksmith, learning the

secrets of producing the mythical kings steel. Oncon is

situated in the Covenant, a neutral region lying between

two warring kingdoms. Since the Covenant was declared, the

region has existed in peace, until violence explodes as

slavers descend upon the village to capture young men to

press as soldiers for Sandura.Declan must escape, to take

his priceless knowledge to Baron Daylon Dumarch, ruler of

Marquensas, perhaps the only man who can defeat Lodavico

of Sandura, who has now allied himself with the fanatical

Church of the One, which is marching across the continent,

imposing its extreme form of religion upon the population

and burning unbelievers as they go.Meanwhile, on the

island of Coaltachin, the secret domain of the Quelli

Nacosti, three friends are being schooled in the deadly

arts of espionage and assassination: Donte, son of one of

the most powerful masters of the order