The Damning Stone

A year after the Dark Wizard Myrin tried to seize the Kingdom of Verania, the kingdom is rebuilding. The scars of the last battle are still visible, but Veranians have pulled together. Good King Anthony is back on the throne, with Morgan of Shadows beside him.

Grand Prince Justin will inherit the crown one day, and he wants no part of it. At a celebration of Verania and its people, a delegation arrives from Yennbridge, led by a man who calls himself a magician. He speaks for the King of Yennbridge, who has come to collect on an old promise: the hand of the firstborn son of Verania's king and queen.

Justin answers by recruiting his ridiculous friends Sam, Ryan, Kevin, Gary and Tiggy. Together they set out to make the visiting king's stay miserable. The scheme backfires badly, and once the chaos settles, Justin finds his friends changed in ways he never expected. He is left on his own.

He is not as alone as he believes. The King of Yennbridge is determined to prove himself worthy of the frozen heart of the Ice Prince, and he is not about to give up.

This is the fifth book in the Tales from Verania series. It is a fantasy with a comic streak, and it centers on Justin rather than Sam of Wilds. The setting is a kingdom in recovery, and the pranks and the arranged match drive the story.