Kingmaker
By Paul Bannister
Thurstan de Banastre, Baron of Waleton, is living in dangerous times. He and his fellow barons are desperate to oust their tyrannical king, Henry of Winchester, who imposes harsh tax burdens and ignores the terms of Magna Carta his father pledged to uphold.
The plotter has a secret. When King John’s baggage train was swamped, Thurstan’s grandfather Frederick stole the royal jewels, intending to use them to validate a new English king. The clan looked for a monarch among the Cathars of France, and took the regalia to them, but the heretics’ stronghold of Montsegur fell to Crusader forces.
Thurstan and his father Alaric escape the slaughter with the royal treasure and an iconic Shroud believed to have wrapped the body of Christ. They are desperate to keep the religious artefact from the French, for they plan to use it to raise an army.
Kingmaker is a gripping tale of succession and oppression that will have readers up late at night, wondering what fate awaits the bold plotter Thurstan de Banastre.
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