The King's Coin - Paula Constant - Bog

Ambition is the only faith.

"It is the same war we always fight. A war for coin we will never touch, won for men who never bleed."

AD 690: Spain is poised on the brink of civil war. The struggle between Emperor and Caliph simmers in the east. Caught amid it all, Spain''s children fight for justice, freedom - and each other.

Far from his homeland, Theudemir of Aurariola counts it a curse when his commander asks him to spy on the Greek fleet he serves. His honour weighs him down in the wars between Emperor and Caliph, where men serve only themselves and treachery takes what battle does not.

His best friend Yosef has disappeared, the woman he loves is fighting on Saharan sands, and an old enemy threatens the uneasy alliance he leads.

When Spain''s civil war threatens the lives of those he loves, it is time for Theudemir to go home.

But with Spain divided by bitter civil war, home is no longer simple - and neither is love.

Set against a sprawling medieval landscape, The King''s Coin is the third book in the Visigoths of Spain saga, following the fortunes of three Spanish families caught in the fall of the Visigothic kingdom and the Arabic conquest of Spain. Visigothic nobleman Theudemir of Aurariola (Theo), fighting in the Imperial fleet, is caught up in the Arab/Byzantine wars on the shores of Anatolia. Jewish merchant Yosef must make an ally of the Caliph if he is to continue his epic journey to China in search of silk and return to rendezvous with Theo before the fleet sails. Meanwhile fierce, wild Lælia, heiress to the Spanish estate of Illiberis, travels into Saharan sands in search of allies as she prepares to defend her home against the corrupt ambitions of church and crown.

In Spain itself, Theo''s brothers are caught on opposite sides of the increasingly bitter civil war, but are united in their fight against those who threaten to destroy the heart of the nation their family helped build. As the old nobility are divided by old enmities and traditional power games, a new generation risk everything to prepare their battered nation for the greater enemy marching toward Spanish shores.

Whilst all must make foreign enemies and alliances to survive, Spain''s children remain linked by a common enemy: Oppa, the scheming bastard son of the Spanish King, who is making dangerous alliances of his own. His ambitions have far reaching consequences, both at home and abroad.

The time is coming when all are destined to reunite on Spanish shores. But with two armies laying claim to the Toledo throne and corruption splitting the church, the King''s coin can no longer be trusted, and ambition is the only true faith.

Spain is at war, and home is no longer simple.