The Last Prince
Listen to the audiobook. (Prologue & Chapters 1-3)
Through fire and storm. Through fear and flame.
The hearth endures. It speaks my name.
Wales, November 1282.
Edward Longshanks has driven his armies deep into Wales. Anglesey has fallen, English garrisons command the roads, and thousands of soldiers are preparing to cross the Menai Strait into the heartland of Gwynedd.
From the Welsh camp, Llywelyn's men watch the English build a bridge of boats across the water. Months of fighting have left them exhausted, their supplies dwindling and their armour in dire need of repair. The enemy can replace its losses many times over. Gwynedd captains argue over whether to set fire to the crossing while the English are still building it, or hold their ground and make de Tany's army fight for every yard of Welsh soil.
If Llywelyn is to survive the winter, he must prevent the English from securing a foothold across the Menai. At Moel-y-don, his dream of Cymru hangs in the balance.
Dulon ap Meurig, a trapper of seventeen summers, joins the prince's household guard following a promise made to his dying father. Gwion, an old friend of the family, takes the boy into his care.
In the weeks that follow, Llywelyn turns south, seeking the support of the Marcher lords. His journey takes him to Buallt Castle, where English soldiers gather outside the unfinished walls. Gwion knows the castle's commander and believes him to be an honourable man. Dulon has never been this far from home, and knows little of the agreements upon which his prince now depends.
Above the river stand the ruined rings of Caer Fawr, the ancient capital of the Cymroth. The English quarry its stone for their castles, while the Welsh smiths preserve a different account of the people who built it. Dulon's father was one of those smiths. He took much of that knowledge to his grave.
The Last Prince is a standalone historical novel following the final days of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, and A Book of the Western Veil Story.
All that is born in shadow must face the flame.
