The Du Lac Chronicles by Mary Anne Yarde

The Du Lac Chronicles (Book 1) is a Historical fantasy/Young Adult novel by Mary Anne Yarde

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A generation after Arthur Pendragon ruled, Briton lies fragmented into warring kingdoms and principalities.

Eighteen-year-old Alden du Lac ruled the tiny kingdom of Cerniw. Now he half-hangs from a wooden pole, his back lashed into a mass of bloody welts exposed to the cold of a cruel winter night. He’s to be executed come daybreak—should he survive that long.

When Alden notices the shadowy figure approaching, he assumes death has come to end his pain. Instead, the daughter of his enemy, Cedric of Wessex, frees and hides him, her motives unclear.

Annis has loved Alden since his ill-fated marriage to her Saxon cousin—a marriage that ended in blood and guilt—and she would give anything to protect him. Annis’s rescue of Alden traps them between a brutal Saxon king and Alden’s remaining allies. Meanwhile, unknown forces are carefully manipulating the ruins of Arthur’s legacy.

A Word from the Author

There are many famous Kings in British history, but none sparked the imagination quite so much as Arthur Pendragon. For centuries, the story of King Arthur and his knights has been retold to the delight of audiences all over the world. It is the perfect story. It has everything – loyalty, betrayal, love, hate, war and peace. The tale climaxes in a great battle fought at Camlann and it does not end well for our hero. Arthur is mortally wounded. He is taken to Avalon and never heard of again. His Knights, if they had not fallen in battle, disappear, or they become hermits.

I always hated that ending. For me, it did not make any sense. These Knights were brave and loyal men. They fought for a cause, a united kingdom – why would they abandon their dreams, just because their leader had died?

I have always felt that Lancelot du Lac, who was the most loyal of Arthur’s knights – if we forget the whole Guinevere incident – would be a natural successor as a leader of the Britons. And in my world, that is what he becomes.

However, it had not been easy for Lancelot and now he, too, has passed away. The cause now falls to his sons ~ Alden, Merton and Budic. However, all is not well in the House of Du Lac. Although the brothers may look united, they are not. So the question has to be asked…Will it be the ambitious Saxon King, Cerdic of Wessex, that will destroy what little remains of King Arthur’s world, or will it be the knights who swore to protect it in the first place?

(Mary Anne Yarde, 21st May 2016)