Ever the Realm (Masters & Makers, #7)

Back to Upper Down…

Having fled from the dungeons of Portonuncia, Duke Walter of Torrent is almost home. With him are two precious burdens - the secret of the Black Powder, and a baby boy by the name of Oscar. In Torrent, Princess Kilbride is running the realm on behalf of the Boy-King Alfgang the Sixth, while also looking after her infant daughter. She has an invitation to consider – an invitation to the wedding of Prince Frederick of Greater Down to Princess Andrea of Lesser Down.

After two decades of Westlander raids upon his territory, King Harold of Greater Down reserves a deep loathing for Upper Down, and the invitation is clearly a trap to entice Kilbride into leaving the safety of her realm. With Greater Down on the brink of joining the Sanctian Empire, and Lesser Down being blackmailed into doing the same, Kilbride knows that this is her last chance to save the old realms of Down from the grasp of Emperor Antonio, whom, rumour says, has just arrived in the Central Provinces…