The Marked One

Arthur Pendragon is seventeen and wanted by every powerful faction in the realm. Born with a forbidden astral sigil stamped on his soul, he was marked for death from his first breath. The sigil belongs to the long lost Primordial Monarch, the only being who ever ruled the Astral Throne. His parents died to protect him. The world believes the royal child is gone. Only a runaway boy named Art Drayton remains. Art lives in the shadows of mortal lands where magic is outlawed. He survives by hunting monsters in the border forests, carving out beast cores, and selling them through caravan traders. A storage ring from his father keeps his secrets safe. A necklace from his mother sharpens his stealth, agility, and stamina and lets him vanish without a trace. But the world cannot ignore the Marked One forever. Vampire Houses send hunters to claim or kill him. The Six Astral Covens feel the restless pull of a throne that has slept for nine centuries. In the deep hours of the night the Bird Knights sense the flare of a soul they were sworn to erase. When they finally find him, something impossible happens. They kneel. Art does not want prophecy. He does not want a throne. He wants a quiet life, a warm fire, and a world where no one looks at him with fear. Yet the sigil begins to wake. Excalibur whispers from the ruins of Avalon. Merlin, a fallen Astral Judge, watches from the edge of every decision. The thirteen vampire Houses sharpen their fangs and prepare for war. Arthur must rise, not because destiny demands it, but because if he does not, everything burns. This is the rebirth of Camelot. This is the rise of the Marked King.

Less