Born and raised on the Border, Rabbit grew up at ease in
the company of the fae. Although the People harbored deep
misgivings about humans, Rabbit's family farmed the land
and lived among them in peace. Rabbit often spent his
afternoons as a child with the sprites and spirits of the
Border. And when he entered manhood, his destiny as a mage
became clear.
Although his parents apprenticed him to a master, Rabbit
ran away and joined the Royal Army of King Jusson. Jusson
claimed Rabbit as his cousin and heir, and a series of
assassination attempts followed.
Although Rabbit has come into his full powers, he cannot
always control what happens when he unleashes them. What
starts out as a pleasant afternoon in town, ends up with
Rabbit and his friends being thrown in jail when he
accidentally lets loose with a stream of magic that wrecks
a town square. Upon his release from jail, superstitious
townspeople would like nothing better than to stone him as
a witch. It's out of the frying pan and into the fire for
Rabbit when he's punished for his involuntary lack of
control.
Rabbit's cousin, King Jusson, gives him a promotion. Much
to his surprise and dismay, Rabbit, who was just plain old
Trooper Rabbit, is now Lieutenant Lord Rabbit, second to
the Lord Commander of the Royal Army and Royal Guard and
heir to his majesty King Jusson IV. Now Rabbit knows his
troubles have just begun. The king is determined that his
people will not destroy each other and his kingdom with
their unfounded superstitions.
With the common people calling for a purge of anything that
smacks of the Border, Jusson rallies and cajoles, bribes,
threatens, whatever it takes to repair his land, which
slowly but surely has begun a slide into chaos. Rabbit is
cleaned up and presented to the nobles as the king's heir
and soon finds himself wishing he were still in the
mountains chasing bandits; at least that was
straightforward work. Instead, it's intrigue, dark sorcery,
murder, treason, not to mention being moved about as a pawn
in a giant chessboard where the control is in the hands of
other, more powerful men. It's time for Rabbit to make a
choice before he and the world he was willing to fight and
die for is lost and becomes nothing but the unfulfilled
dream of kings and fools.
THE KING'S OWN is the second of the Borderlands novels by
Freeman. Her sophomore effort is as original and fresh as
COVENANTS. The intricate plot twists and turns, and
characters turn out to be much more than they seem at
first. Every page leaves you wanting more. Humor, suspense,
adventure and magic -- this delightful series has it all.
When Rabbit joined the Royal Army of Iversterre, he was
just trying to get off the family farm. Instead, he got
mixed up with a magical from the Border, learned he
couldn't escape his noble lineage, and developed some
surprising talents that he can't always control. But with
Iversterre sliding toward the abyss, Rabbit needs to master
his powers quickly-before someone else does it for him.
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