Today, I'm happy to have L. Blankenship return with a guest post about the nobles in her fantasy world of Disciple. Enjoy her post and be sure to check out her new release.
Nobles
Throw a rock
in a fantasy story and you're bound to hit someone with noble blood. Every
society has its "upper crust" where the money and power collect to
create a group of people with something unusual in a pre-industrial world:
spare time. Time they can devote to education, warfare, or politics.
Its a more or
less universal arrangement: a concentration of money and power that's inherited
within the structure of a family, or transferred by way of marriage. Whether
it's a duke, a thane, or a daimyo, these are the land-owners, the power-mongers
and the rich. They can seduce humbly-born young women and break their hearts as
they please.
In most
worlds.
What's
different about Disciple?
In Disciple's
world, the highest power in the land is held by a saint: someone who has
ascended to ultimate mastery of kir-magic and taken ownership of a fount, one
of the few sources of magical "fuel." All nobility and even royalty
will answer to a saint, since they are so rare and powerful.
Nobility in
Kate's homeland, Wodenberg, are chosen for their ability to lead in the
battlefield, primarily. They must prove themselves ready, willing and able to
defend the kingdom and its saints. Their kinship to the ancient noble houses is
taken into account, but it's quite possible for a title to skip an eldest son
or daughter if the saints are not impressed with them.
This applies
even to the king of Wodenberg, who is held to a high standard of knightly honor
and leadership. So when the crown prince falls in love with Kate, he puts his
entire future at risk. The prince's marriage has already been arranged to seal
an alliance against the invading Arceal Empire -- the kingdom's lead saint will
not take kindly to objections and his temper is well known.
Back cover of Disciple,
Part IV
Kate can’t
avoid the simple truth any longer; as much as she loves Kiefan, he’s now the
king and his duties leave him precious little time for her and their newborn
son. Kate’s husband Anders, the ne’er-do-well knight, is the one who kisses her
cheek every morning and soothes the baby to sleep on his shoulder.
Kiefan’s
protective jealousy still casts a shadow over her life. He would gladly throw
Anders to the wolves if it will keep alliance negotiations from collapsing.
Their homeland desperately needs these allies against the invading Empire. The
kingdom barely survived the first wave of the enemy’s monstrous army and more
is to come.
But Kate can’t
stand by and let Anders become a victim — or let Kiefan suspect she’s falling
in love with her husband.
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New to Disciple?
The Half-Omnibus collects the first three
parts into one meaty ebook.
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Or try Disciple, Part I for only 99 cents!
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