The Bear

The war of Honce drags on, and the roads of the vast land and even the seas are littered with the bodies of the damned from all sides. In this land of turmoil, two generals rise tall above all others, and carry with them the would-be King of Honce. On the shoulders of these generals and to everyone's stunned disbelief, Yeslnik the Fool has tipped the war's scales in his favor. The reign of the newly self-appointed King Yeslnik is already distinguished as the most bloody and merciless...
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The war of Honce drags on, and the roads of the vast land and even the seas are littered with the bodies of the damned from all sides. In this land of turmoil, two generals rise tall above all others, and carry with them the would-be King of Honce. On the shoulders of these generals and to everyone's stunned disbelief, Yeslnik the Fool has tipped the war's scales in his favor. The reign of the newly self-appointed King Yeslnik is already distinguished as the most bloody and merciless in Honce history. Trapped in St. Mere Abelle, Dame Gwydre and Father Artolivan, unable to tolerate Yeslnik's policy of brutal slaying of prisoners of war, concoct a desperate plot to join forces with Laird Ethelbert, the lesser of two vicious evils. But Ethelbert's paid assassins from Behr are the very ones who slew Jameston Sequin and nearly did the same to Bransen. The Highwayman escaped by cunning and luck...but with his beloved mother's sword in Sen Wi's slender, murdering hands. Embittered by it all, Bransen rejoins his solo quest to extricate himself from the selfish goals of all of combatants. But in an odd twist of fate and crossed loyalties, Bransen sees in his old nemesis, Bannagran--the Bear of Honce and the man who slew his adoptive father - a darker image of his own heart. Allies and battle lines become tangled, motives indistinguishable as old friends become enemies and old enemies become allies. The Highwayman comes full circle to learn the truth of his journey and the responsibilities of his great power.