Usurper

Callin Vorst is the youngest member of the Kingdom's second family. Consumed with his conviction that his father should occupy the throne instead of the current incumbent, Rhomic Vandamm, he strikes a bargain with a creature of myth: the utterly misnamed 'Hag'. Before he can think again, the deal is struck and for him - not for his father. The Hag launches him on a career that will see him knighted and a national hero, triumphing against overwhelming odds - but at a terrible cost. At...
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Callin Vorst is the youngest member of the Kingdom's second family. Consumed with his conviction that his father should occupy the throne instead of the current incumbent, Rhomic Vandamm, he strikes a bargain with a creature of myth: the utterly misnamed 'Hag'. Before he can think again, the deal is struck and for him - not for his father. The Hag launches him on a career that will see him knighted and a national hero, triumphing against overwhelming odds - but at a terrible cost. At once he is hero and villain - mighty warrior, gallant knight and secret murderer. It will also place him directly in the path of King Rhomic's beautiful daughter, Princess Avalind. Although they begin in friendship, their relationship is doomed to end in bitter opposition as the Hag exacts her price.'Usurper' is the first part of the 'King's Head' trilogy, an epic tale set in two mythical medieval lands: the Kingdom, a medium-sized prosperous nation, and Draal, their much larger, savage neighbour. It chronicles love - the deep platonic relationship between Callin and Avalind, contrasted with his passionate affair with a serving girl, Mussa. It chronicles compassion as shown by Avalind to a condemned brigand, Cabral. It chronicles jealousy in the person of Lissian Dumarrick, youngest child of the Kingdom's third family, who sees in Callin her route to ultimate power. Above all, it chronicles epic action as the Draals invade and engage the Kingdom's forces in a desperate war for survival, both on land and at sea, with the Hag subtly pulling the strings of both sides to her own ultimate design.