The Widow And The King - Plot Summary
Ambrose, the son born to Phaedra in The Cup of the World, inherits his mother's feud with the ancient Prince Paigan. When Paigan is freed from his captivity, Ambrose must flee across a wasted land to take refuge in the castle of the Widow of Develin. There he meets Sophia, the Widow's daughter, and Chawlin, a young man who has faced Paigan and his creatures in the past and is still tortured by the memory. When the enemy comes to Develin the three must flee again. In the wilderness, among bandits and shadows, they must find the strength to endure, to forgive, and to learn what it means to be King. (Look this up on Amazon US or UK)
A feud between father and son is the ultimate evil, the state of absolute despair. The man must destroy the only part of himself that could endure. It is not a thing from which he can release himself by forgiving. The act of forgiving is too great a surrender. He cannot escape his fate by himself.
This sub-plot, with which the novel opens, illustrates the working of evil in this world - by a bitter, self-nourishing cycle of temptation, betrayal and violence. It's a story I first told myself many years ago, using a pack of cards to prompt me when I wasn't sure what should happen next. The Widow, who embodies one possible response to this evil, is even older. She's based on a character who appeared in one of my classroom essays shortly after I had read The Lord Of The Rings for the first time. She sat in the back of my head for thirty-odd years until I needed her.
The Widow and The King is an unintended sequel. I hadn't planned that there should be one. But I finished The Cup of the World with a prophecy (a necessary device, at the time). Prophecies are powerful things. They demand that their story be told. And I had these various bits and pieces I could use. So you see...
And yes, this book too finishes with a prophecy, of sorts. I just couldn't help it. (Back to Books)
(Cover concept: Assheton Gorton, Design www.henrysteadman.com, Jacket combination of Battle of Issus by Albrecht Altdorfer (c) Lauros-Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library and Statue of a King courtesy of the Corporation of Trinity Square