The king's assassin - Stephen Deas

With its engaging thief-taker hero, this YA series from the acclaimed author of The ADAMANTINE PALACE is perfect for fans of Trudi Canavan and Robin Hobb.

Berren has left his
past as an apprentice thief-taker behind him, in a mist of blood and screams and
death. Press-ganged as a sailor, his old life is now just a distant memory.
Until the day he spots someone who might well be his old master, Syannis, the
man who killed Berren's first love.
Syannis was thought
dead, but he is a hard man to kill. As Berren chases down the man he believes to
be an enemy, he finds himself caught up in a web of political machination and
danger unlike anything he has encountered. For Syannis is a
deposed
prince, and he is willing
to go to any lengths - including dealing with the black-hearted sorcerer Saffran
Kuy - to regain his throne.

As Berren struggles
to understand his feelings towards Syannis and his mad quest, he slowly comes to
realize that the world is going to war - and Berren is caught in the middle. Can
he navigate a path through the dangers which surround him? Will he find a way to
extricate himself from the sorcery and intrigue that follow him at every
step?

And who is destined
to be the King's Assassin?