Although his parents apprenticed him to a master, Rabbit ran away and joined the Royal Army of King Jusson. Jusson claimed Rabbit as his cousin and heir, and a series of assassination attempts followed.

Although Rabbit has come into his full powers, he cannot always control what happens when he unleashes them. What starts out as a pleasant afternoon in town, ends up with Rabbit and his friends being thrown in jail when he accidentally lets loose with a stream of magic that wrecks a town square. Upon his release from jail, superstitious townspeople would like nothing better than to stone him as a witch. It's out of the frying pan and into the fire for Rabbit when he's punished for his involuntary lack of control.

Rabbit's cousin, King Jusson, gives him a promotion. Much to his surprise and dismay, Rabbit, who was just plain old Trooper Rabbit, is now Lieutenant Lord Rabbit, second to the Lord Commander of the Royal Army and Royal Guard and heir to his majesty King Jusson IV. Now Rabbit knows his troubles have just begun. The king is determined that his people will not destroy each other and his kingdom with their unfounded superstitions.

With the common people calling for a purge of anything that smacks of the Border, Jusson rallies and cajoles, bribes, threatens, whatever it takes to repair his land, which slowly but surely has begun a slide into chaos. Rabbit is cleaned up and presented to the nobles as the king's heir and soon finds himself wishing he were still in the mountains chasing bandits; at least that was straightforward work. Instead, it's intrigue, dark sorcery, murder, treason, not to mention being moved about as a pawn in a giant chessboard where the control is in the hands of other, more powerful men. It's time for Rabbit to make a choice before he and the world he was willing to fight and die for is lost and becomes nothing but the unfulfilled dream of kings and fools.

THE KING'S OWN is the second of the Borderlands novels by Freeman. Her sophomore effort is as original and fresh as COVENANTS. The intricate plot twists and turns, and characters turn out to be much more than they seem at first. Every page leaves you wanting more. Humor, suspense, adventure and magic -- this delightful series has it all.

Book Summary