Prince Aidan Gairden’s lifestyle was planned out for him 800 years before he was born. On his sixteenth birthday, he will take up Traditions, the marvelous sword wielded by his mother and years of Gairden ancestors before him, and lead the kingdom of Torel into a new golden age of peacefulness and prosperity.

That’s how his mother envisions his impending reign. Aidan prefers to see it as decades of sitting in an unpleasant chair hearing old males bicker over property lines and fees. If Aidan acquired about History: Book Among the Gairden Chronicles his way, he would leave the sword and throne behind for a life free of responsibility.

To Aidan’s utter shock, Heritage grants or loans his wish. Before his parents and the entire kingdom, the sword rejects Aidan, departing Torel lacking any heir.

While Aidan challenges to get his place, an ancient evil awakens and provokes a war between Torel as well as the warrior tribes from the west. Thrust upon a bloody path of deception and corruption, Aidan is forced to make a desperate choice: lead Torel inside a war he does not have confidence in, or become banished from his home and family permanently.