Margins
Margins
Sign in
Margins
Subscribe to our newsletter
548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
hello@margins.app
·
+1 (650) 223-5283
Privacy Policy
·
Terms of Use
© 2026 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved
The Blood of Kings
The Blood of Kings
Series · 5 books · 2015-2018
By
K.M. Ashman
Books in series
#1
A Land Divided
2015
1081. William’s bloody conquest is over and Britain is under Norman rule. But one bastion of resistance Wales. A divided land where brother fights brother and kings battle for power. The English use this to further their own ends, and while one king is tempted by an offer he cannot resist, the others wage war over long-forgotten feuds. Gruffydd ap Cynan, true heir to the kingdom of Gwynedd, is in exile across the sea. When he hears of the betrayal of the Welsh people by the imposter in his throne, Gruffydd unites with Tewdwr, a monarch deposed by the traitors, and they forge an army from the ashes of their kingdoms. But Tewdwr’s wife and daughter—the source of much of the allies’ strength—are a weakness their enemies will exploit. Betrayal, treachery and war await, but both men know they must fight to the bitter end, when the sundered lands of Wales are drenched...in the blood of kings.
#2
A Wounded Realm
2016
Gruffydd ap Cynan is missing, his army scattered. Twelve long years have passed since the king was taken prisoner and his people think him long dead. In the dirty shadows of Chester Castle, a beaten prisoner looks up from the squalor of the street. Dressed in rags, mocked and pelted with filth, he seems a broken man. Yet deep inside, the desire for freedom burns like the hottest furnace. Nesta is a princess in fetters of a different kind. After the death of her father, Tewdwr, she is taken against her will to London to attend the court of King William, son of the Conqueror. There she will find that court politics, and the attentions of princes and lords, are just as dangerous as the arrows and swords of the battlefield. The royal blood of Wales is scattered and weakened, but while it flows in the bloodline of Rhodri Mawr, hope remains—Hope that a broken kingdom can be reborn.
#3
Rebellion's Forge
2017
An uneasy peace reigns in Wales. It’s 1109 and the truce with England hangs by the thinnest of threads. While King Gruffydd ap Cynan’s rule of law holds in the north, a spirit of rebellion is rising in the south, as tearaway princes and rebels grow to resent England’s oppression of their homeland. And when Nesta, married off in a political move by England’s King Henry, leaves the safety of her husband’s castle to attend a celebration, the rebels seize their opportunity. The truce broken, England’s rulers look to turn the ensuing chaos to their advantage, and to crush Wales under their boot once and for all. Gruffydd is left with a stark choice: enforce the peace he so desires for his land, and betray his countrymen, or risk everything he has built by going to war with the English once again. But the decision is soon taken out of his hands by those who ride for liberty from the depths of Rebellion’s Forge. Rebellion’s Forge is the third book in the Blood of Kings trilogy.
#4
The Warrior Princess
2017
1135 AD. Wales is a broken land. Many of its true-born rulers are in hiding, or married into noble English families. But, though low and dim, a flame of vengeance still burns… In the southern kingdom of Deheubarth, Gerald of Windsor governs. Firm but fair, he commands the respect of those he reigns over, and the love of Nesta, his wife. But then treachery strikes from the heart of the English ranks and peace and stability are quickly forgotten. Nesta, daughter of a long-dead prince, is more than what she seems. And when her family is threatened, she takes drastic action to protect it… In the mountainous rebel heartland of Cantref Mawr, the Welsh resistance has found a new a fearless warrior, born with a sword in her hand, and with vengeance in her heart. The Warrior Princess is coming. And the English will know fear.
#5
The Blade Bearer
2018
AD 1136 Across a barren battlefield in the shadows of Kidwelly Castle, the bodies of a defeated army lay abandoned, left to rot as a warning to all who dare rebel against the authority of the English crown. Throughout the kingdom, the people are subjected to a renewed campaign of brutality from the victorious castellans, and any thoughts of freedom are abandoned as they struggle simply to survive each passing day. However, deep beneath the Cathedral of Saint David, in a cold and damp cell that has been his home for many years, an old monk kneels in prayer. He prays for strength, he prays for courage but most of all, he prays for forgiveness for the vengeance he is about to unleash.
Author
K.M. Ashman
Author · 40 books