King's Shield — Sherwood Smith

EXILE'S RETURN

Indevan-Dal was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Choraed Elgaer. It had been Inda's fate, as second son, to be his family's Shield Arm and spend his adult life protecting the lands his brother would one day inherit -- and since Inda was a true military prodigy, he enthusiastically embraced the fate that life seemed to have in store for him. But unfortunately for Inda, there were powerful factions in the royal court that were equally committed to seeing him fail, and by the time he was eleven years old, Inda found himself framed for the death of a classmate and forced to flee for his life.

For eight difficult years Inda had been at sea, using an assumed name, forcing himself never to think of all he had lost. And he had created a successful new life, for the military skills that had been trained into him and his inborn leadership ability could not be erased. Inda had eventually founded his own mercenary marine company, and by the time he was nineteen, Inda had earned a reputation for defeating the most dangerous pirate fleet in history.

But when Inda discovered that his home country was about to be attacked from the sea by an ancient enemy, he threw his carefully guarded anonymity to the winds and returned home. After nearly a decade at sea, Inda found his home utterly changed. His good friend Evred, the formerly powerless and harassed younger prince, was now king. Evred had heard of Inda's martial accomplishments at sea, and was determined to make Inda his Royal Shield Arm -- the person in charge of defending his entire kingdom.

Though Inda was an accomplished military leader, his experience was exclusively naval. Could a former pirate captain alter his tactics to become a successful ground commander in time to save his endangered homeland?