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We all have to play the hand life deals us, but some of us play that hand with more aplomb than others. The same is true of the characters in the following stories.
Rohesia Sigor, if we do say so ourselves, plays her hand quite well, unlike her former love, Aldrick, in the title story of this collection, where, whatever she might say, Rohesia is not ever really a consolation prize for anything or anyone. In the following story, Hildred Cuthing (getting her first ever POV in the Myrcia ‘verse) chooses to lead her life without much care for others around her. “Just This Once” is a story about how a woman with an extreme past justifies returning to her old ways. Young Edwin Sigor, rightful King of Myrcia, struggles with his feelings of inferiority and how he can possibly find a way to seize what should be his destiny in “The True King.” Meanwhile, his sister Elwyn often feels helpless, and yet when she tries to claim some agency in “For the Cause,” it backfires. And finally, again in a first ever POV, Lady Jorunn Unset, hillichmagnar (sorceress) to the usurping king faces some uncomfortable truths about how she’s leading her life, and if, perhaps, it’s time for her to fold.
And that’s what you will find in this short story collection. These stories all feature characters from the novel When You Are King, Book 4 in the Reign of the Eagle series. However, you don’t have to have read that novel to appreciate these stories, which can all be enjoyed independently. And we sincerely hope that you will enjoy them!
J.S. Mawdsley, April 2023
PS We hope you also enjoy the preview of the next Reign of the Eagle novel, Old Habits Die Hard, and the never-before-seen floorplan of the Prince’s Palace in Rawdon, an important location in When You Are King and other books in the Myrcia world.