The Peace Child

He was supposed to be fishing by now.

Colonel Red Redgrave has spent thirty years doing the impossible for the King of Cordoba — raiding behind enemy lines, ending unwinnable sieges, and performing the kind of missions that don't go in official reports. His reward: a modest estate on the Alestian coast and a retirement spent fishing, drinking, and reading chapbooks until he quietly expires.

Then his king calls in one last favor.

The Peace Child — Caden, six-year-old prince of Leone and living guarantee of the ceasefire between two kingdoms — is in danger. A conspiracy within Cordoba's own court wants the boy dead and the war reignited. Red is ordered to take him to safety before dawn, through a city now full of soldiers who think Red is the traitor.

Along for the mission: Namura, the boy's sharp-tongued novice nun minder, who has spent her entire life either on a farm or inside a convent and has never been more than a mile from either. And Caden himself, who has very strong opinions about candy, rocks, fish, the word 'hush,' and the correct pronunciation of the letter R.

What follows is a race across rivers, hidden waterways, treacherous mountain islands, and smuggler's markets — hunted by assassins disguised as pilgrims, monks who sold their sacred vows for coin, and Red's oldest friend, who has been leaving a trail for their pursuers the entire time. The abbey they reach for sanctuary is compromised. The estate Red inherited turns out to be occupied by the enemy. The allies they find are mercenaries with complicated reasons for helping.

The Peace Child is a gritty, wryly funny flintlock fantasy for readers who want their action earned, their magic grounded, and their found family uncontrived. Full of runed weapons, morally grey soldiers of fortune, a novice nun who can out-swim you and occasionally out-drink you, and one tiny prince with enormous opinions.

Some wars are stopped by armies. This one might be stopped by a retired raider, a not-quite-nun, and a six-year-old with very strong feelings about candy.