Death Mark — Robert J. Schwalb

In the aftermath of revolution, King Kalak of Tyr is dead and all eyes fall on the lucrative iron mines of his once mighty city-state. Merchant houses scramble to seize what scraps they can while King Hamanu of Urik, the Lion of the Desert, rallies his armies to crush the Tyr rebellion underfoot. He cannot allow this insurrection to succeed and intends to seize the city's precious resources for himself. The hope of the Tyr revolution seems destined to fail as the tyrannical specter of Hamanu's war machine looms large on the horizon.

But fate chooses the most unlikely heroes. Loren, a gladiator pressed into service by a corrupt merchant prince; the ambitious Alaeda Stel who hopes to secure her family's future by exploiting Tyr's sudden weakness; a street thief named Melech; and Korvak the disgraced templar are Tyr's best and only hope. The promise of freedom rests on their ability to overcome the greed and lust for power that threatens to undermine the principles of Tyr's revolution.