hinterland

Then we have a reincarnation of HINTERLAND. This is more traditional fantasy. In its original form, the character Sean Kelly (named for the hottest guy in my HS, who later confessed to a crush on me) was an MI6 operative who goes through a portal while chasing his wife's killer. And I'll be damned if he didn't descend from the rightful royal family!! Now was that a happy coincidence or what!?

Now it's more like this (long version).


After the Decade War, Black Guard Talen Khellian hunts the remnants of the invading Hinterland army for the Monaeon Crown. But when his wife is drained of her blood in a rare ritual that reeks of heretical magic, he is falsely accused of her murder and banished to Hinterland, a barbaric nation where currencies run from magic to life itself. [That's a long sentence right there, boyhowdee. Might even be one of those fancy run-ons.] Accustomed to status and privilege in a civilized nation, Hinterland's prejudice, poverty, and ganglike factions come as a shock to Talen. He spends his days just trying to survive and protect his identity as a Monaeon Black Guard, until he finds out Hinterland's king was murdered in the same manner as his wife. Determined to find the killer, Talen climbs the castes, wielding honor and civility as his only weapons against a brutal political regime.

When he foils an attempt on the queen’s life, she asks him to find the assassin and resolve the issue discreetly. She also demands absolute loyalty. He can live with that. After all, here is a beautiful woman who desires the protection he could not give his wife. But while searching Hinterland for his wife's killer and unraveling the plot behind the attempt on the queen, he learns the murders were just skirmishes in a larger war. It’s too late for diplomacy and honor. Talen’s only chance at peace - and revenge - is to confront every horror from his past and betray the queen he swore to protect.