Duke of the Elderkin by Elyse M Grasso

Who are you? What are you? Where do you belong?

Who or what do you serve?

Not uncommon questions, but…

they sometimes receive uncommon answers.

The Sickness that may be Heaven's penalty

for mundane oath-breaking

is fading in the Eastlands and Traventi while

still spreading in more distant regions,

leaving survivors to ask – and answer –

those questions as they piece together

tattered households and communities and domains.

Franz-Karl von Falkenburg –

descendant of mortal royalty and

eldritch creatures from beyond space and time,

able to read and Bind subtle aspects of the world –

may find that some of his own answers are unexpected.

But there are other survivors: men with plans of their own

For the Palace and the Duchy and the Domains.

Men who covet the power that comes from an eldritch heritage.

They hope to break the Prince to their will

And compel him to support their ambitions,

Erasing Franz-Karl's own

Choices and answers.

This poses more questions: Who are your people?

And… What will you do to protect them?