King Pinch

King Pinch by David Cook is the first book in the loosely related The Nobles series.
==Summary==
Pinch is an outlaw in Elturel with three companions, Therin, a warrior of the nomadic Gurs, Brown Maeve, a mage, and Sprite-Heels, a halfling thief. He is secretly Janol of Ankhapur, a ward of Manferic III taken in as heir when the king had no sons. When the king eventually had four sons, they drove Janol out. Cleedis, chamberlain of Manferic, finds Janol and brings him back to Ankhapur along with his gang. They are followed by Lissa, priestess of Lathander searching for the amulet of the Dawnbreaker, an artifact that Pinch stole. In Ankhapur, they become embroiled in schemes of power between Vargo, Throdus, and Marac, three princes each seeking the crown after Manferic’s death. Cleedis is working for Manferic, secretly a lich, who seeks to appoint the fourth prince, an idiot named Bors, as a puppet, and uses Pinch to steal the Knife and Cup, the sacred artifacts of the Red Temple used to choose a king. Janol steals them successfully, despite attempted interference by Iron-Biter, dwarven agent of Vargo. He discovers that he is actually the illegitimate son of Manferic. Manferic kills Cleedis and steals Pinch’s body, but he, his gang, and Lissa undo the body swap and expose Manferic. Manferic kills all four princes, but Janol uses the amulet of the Dawnbreaker to kill the lich. He is proclaimed king of Ankhapur
==References==
Category:Novels
Category:Books
Category:Works by David Cook
Category:Published in 1993