A Five Kingdoms Novel

Longing to find others like himself, Zurkin sets out from his family's small farm and journeys to Mountain Home, a school for Contrary youth and the seat of the powerful Brotherhood of Contrary warriors. Along the way, he rescues a Feyborn Brother, Lord Tai, from a wicked Grimmord. But that isn't the last Zurkin will see of the monstrous Grimmord race.

At Mountain Home, Zurkin trains under the masters, including the strong and handsome Brother Yenoh, who teaches him hand-to-hand combat--and the meaning of love. But while he...

A Five Kingdoms Novel

S. Mortimer Bookin is curious. It's what makes him such a good scholar. He's curious about the world around him, about his dead parents, about what it might be like to meet another Contrary man like himself. Then roguish and Contrary Kai warrior Prince Allender shows up on his doorstep, and Mortimer is entranced. The catch? Allender comes with baggage: a host of Contrary youths he wants to train in the ways of the Kai brotherhood... with Mortimer as their teacher.

Mortimer s curiosity and growing fascination with Allender trump his love of...