Introduction: After years of war and exile, Alaric, the Bastard of Elria, returns to a fractured Kingdom of Gulvia. Duke Eadric of House Darien, once his mentor and the one who looked out for the Young Bastard in the brutal Third Border War, has rebelled, seeking both justice and the throne. Torn between loyalty and duty, Alaric must choose: stand with his royal siblings to save the kingdom or betray the man who once protected him. As Gulvia plunges into civil war, blood will be spilled, alliances will shatter, and the bastard prince must forge his own destiny....