The King's Secret (Book 2)

Cover of The King's Secret

## Description

War has broken out in the North. The Corrupt Lord of the Ice has invaded Norghana with a host from the Frozen Continent. Will the King and the Rangers manage to stop him, or will they die in the attempt?

Darthor is seeking to dethrone King Uthar. He is on his way to conquer Norghana and take the crown. He has invaded the kingdom and has a host from the Frozen Continent at his command: Wild Ones of the Ice, Snow Trolls, Albino Ogres, Semi-Giants, Tundra Dwellers, Arcanes of the Glaciers and creatures unlike anything anybody has ever seen before.

Uthar gathers together his armies and prepares to repel him. But not all the Norghanian nobles are with the King. The Western League does not support him; they want to regain the crown for the West, for the Olafstones.

Lasgol and his partners will have to overcome an arduous second year of instruction at the Camp if they want to become Rangers one day. The tests will be far harder, the effort required much greater. Rivalries will surface, but also companionship and even love. He will find out that he does not know the whole truth about what happened to his parents, or about his new friend Camu. New mysteries will arise which he will have to investigate and solve. These will drive him to confront life-and-death situations and to consider the possibility that the real enemy may not be the one it appears to be.

Will Lasgol and his friends survive the second year of training? Will they survive the war? Will he succeed in solving the mysteries that surround him? Will he find out the betrayals, and the true enemy?

## Plot

Lasgol returns to Skad and reclaims his father's house and land, which were given back to him by a royal decree after Edwina discovered that Darthor was using Runes of Domination to control people. They have to fight Osvald and his guards, who don't accept the royal decree. Malason arrives at the estate and orders Osvald to leave, and hands it over to Lasgol. Later Limus brings three candidates for the position of housekeeper, since Lasgol will be away at the Camp most of the time. Lasgol hires Martha, the youngest of the three. In the attic of his house, Lasgol finds a magic ring and keeps it, though he doesn't know what its power is. He also develops a magical skill to communicate with animals.

A week later Malason returns to Skad with a royal decree, stating all men over the age of sixteen able to fight must join the royal army, as well as any women who want to join, in order to fight against Darthor's army. Volgar challenges Lasgol to a fight, after he and his friends have been accepted by the recruiter. During the fight, Lasgol is wounded, but he uses his Gift and is able to defeat Volgar, Igor and Sven. Then he travels to Estocos, the capitol of Vigons-Olafstone, the province that Egil's father rules, to visit him. Marcus (Egil's messenger) tells Lasgol that people in Estocos and in most of western Norghana see Duke Olafstone as the true king.

When Lasgol arrives in Estocos, Egil reconciles with him and Lasgol promises him that there will be no more secrets between them. Olvan takes them to Duke Olafstone, who asks Lasgol to describe the incident in which he saved King Uthar's life. He also questions Lasgol about his father and the attempts on his life, and tells him not to tell anyone at the Camp what happens in Estocos. Later Egil tells him about the Western League, a secret alliance between the western nobles. That night Lasgol witnesses a secret meeting between a Nocean Sorcerer allied to Darthor and Duke Olafstone, the Sorcerer threatens Duke Olafstone and tells him to keep his promise to Darthor. Lasgol and Egil then leave for the Camp. On the way they are attacked by a Snow Troll controlled by the Nocean Sorcerer, but Lasgol uses his Gift and Camu distracts the Troll so that they manage to escape. Then they resume their journey to the meeting place and from there to the Camp on board Captain Astol's assault ship.

As it is their second year of training, they are now called Apprentices rather than Initiates. The first day after they arrive at the Camp, Dolbarar tells them more about what it means to be a Ranger, including that they do most of their work in secret. In physical education, they are now required to climb the Hangman, a mountain in the Camp, each day. During lunch, a new Ranger initiate, Val Blohm, approaches Lasgol and asks to be friends with him. Astrid is not happy about this. In Archery class, they begin to use the composite bow, which is more powerful than the simple bows they were using before. In a Nature class, Nilsa breaks a container with a potion that causes people to sleep for a day if they breathe it in; nine people are sent to the infirmary to sleep it off because of this.

Later Dolbarar calls all the Apprentices into the Sacred Oakwood, the location where the Rangers of Norghana were first created. He tells them the story of how the Rangers were created as well. Then comes Expertise training, in which Haakon uses an owl to hunt the teams at night. Egil receives a letter from his father which suggests that the Western League is about to betray Uthar in the war against Darthor; Uthar's forces are already having difficulty and were forced to retreat after losing many soldiers. Molak, one of the third year team captains, teaches Lasgol and Ingrid techniques to improve in Archery.

Then comes the Summer Test. As part of the test, a member of each team is taken captive by the instructors; Egil is taken from the Snow Panthers. The goal of the test is to rescue the captured team member while avoiding being eliminated (using marker weapons) by the other teams. Another part of the test is to successfully revive the captured team member, since they are given a powerful sleeping potion. During the test Astrid orders her team to eliminate Lasgol and Egil, which comes as a shock to Lasgol. At the last moment the Snow Panthers lose and the Eagles win, as Jared takes Egil captive and Isgord and Aston keep Lasgol occupied. Afterwards Astrid and Lasgol get into an argument about what happened during the test.

Lasgol decides to try to find out more about Camu. With the help of Gurton and Viggo, Lasgol and Egil find out where books on magic are kept in the Camp library and pick the lock to get in, although the lock is also magically protected and Camu has to break the spell first so Viggo can pick the lock. They find a book on magical creatures but can't find anything that looks like Camu. Lasgol goes back to the area later with Camu and takes two books that his father borrowed as well as a strange jewel that he discovers when Camu reveals a secret room. The books are mysterious, since their covers are made in an expensive way but they seem to just contain basic knowledge.

A few days later the Snow Army arrives at the Camp with many wounded soldiers. They bring news that Uthar has been forced to retreat to Olstran, a city in central Norghana, and that Uthar's forces have been defeated three times. Then Dolbarar calls a meeting and tells all the Ranger candidates that their Winter Test will be clearing two passes and rescuing Norghanian troops trapped on the northern side. The Apprentices, along with some teams of third year candidates, are assigned to clear one of the passes, the Pass of the White Dragon's Mouth. They manage to clear the pass, though the Bears, who were injured in an avalanche, are sent back with the Wolves. They find a Norghanian regiment, and the commander tells them that the Iron Claws, a special force, are to the north. Esben, who is in command of the Ranger forces, orders Molak and Ingrid to take their teams and try to find the Iron Claws and lead them back to the pass.

The Snow Panthers head off and find a village of the Wild of the Ice. Everyone in it has been slaughtered by Norghanian soldiers, who are revealed to be the Iron Claws, acting under orders from Uthar. The Iron Claws come into the village and get into an argument with the Ranger candidates when suddenly a force of Wild of the Ice attack. Tonk, Jaren, and Mark are killed as they try to escape (Molak and Ingrid have been separated from the rest, and Miriam and Margot went to find them). The rest of the Snow Panthers manage to escape in fishing boats left near the village as the Iron Claws are defeated. Lasgol is separated from the rest of his team when the Nocean Sorcerer arrives and sends him to sleep with a spell.

Lasgol is taken to Sinjor, the leader of the Wild of the Ice, who lives in a massive cavern. The Nocean Sorcerer keeps Lasgol from being harmed by Darthor's orders. Darthor arrives and says that he came there for Lasgol. Later Muladin (the Nocean Sorcerer) tells Lasgol that the Wild of the Ice have captured Molak and Ingrid. Lasgol agrees to help Muladin and Darthor in exchange for their release. Muladin takes him to Darthor, who reveals that Dakon was not acting under a Rune of Domination, but tried to kill Uthar out of his own free will, when Uthar wouldn't go into the pass where Darthor's army was waiting to ambush him, since Isgord's father had warned him of the ambush. Darthor also reveals that "he" is really Lasgol's mother, Mayra, though Muladin tells Lasgol not to tell anyone else. Then Muladin puts Lasgol to sleep again and when he wakes up he is just outside the secret pass near the Camp.

Later Lasgol tells the Snow Panthers about his time with the Wild of the Ice and what he learned from his mother about Uthar. Then the King orders all the Rangers who are children of the nobles in the Western League to be taken as hostages until their parents swear loyalty to him. If the nobles refuse, their children will be hanged in seven days. The time comes, and Egil's father refuses to swear loyalty, though some of the nobles do. The Snow Panthers come up with a plan to rescue him at the moment when he is supposed to be hanged and carry it out successfully, rescuing Jacob and Egil from death. The Western nobles join Uthar at the last moment, and defeat Darthor's forces at Olstran. The King comes to the Camp to rest and perform the Ceremony of Acceptance. At the Ceremony, Egil and Gerd would be expelled, but the Snow Panthers use their Leaf of Prestige to save Gerd, and the Owls use their Leaf of Prestige to save Egil. Lasgol and Astrid are reconciled. The next day, the King leaves the Camp in a parade. He stops to talk to Lasgol for a moment, and Camu uses his anti-spell ability as the King is moving away to reveal him as a Shifter. Lasgol, Egil and Ingrid all see the King's true form revealed in that moment.