The Road to the King

The Tale of Joseph Asher of Rishown. Book One of The Series:

In a vast, island nation--lying alone in the Great Sea between the East and West--prosperity and peace dwelt from one shore to the other. From its high rocky peaks to the North to the swamps and cliffs of the South--and all great forests, small villages and bustling towns in between--the citizens of The Kingdom live and work in safety.

Beneath the calm surface, however, dwells a vile and secret society... a simmering corruption just waiting to emerge to swallow the entire nation.

Stumbled upon by a mere peasant solider--a lieutenant on routine patrol of a rural highway--the hidden evil destroys the entire unit of Kingdom soldiers, leaving its leader wounded, galloping madly for home. As Lieutenant John Asher lies dying on his own table, he recruits his young son, Joseph, to swiftly bear a warning message to the King. Alone and grieving his father, the boy navigates the highways to the Capitol City, by the Great Bay. He finds a way into the Palace citadel and finally finds audience with the mysterious monarch and his elite guard, the Shamar.

Impressed by young Joseph's bravery, the king grants him an unusual reward: an aristocrat's education alongside his training, as a blacksmith. Despite ridicule and strife, Joseph grows into a skilled swordsman, practicing his humble trade until called upon by the king to service, to stand in the way of the poison now creeping into his land...