Needle Ash (Eternal Dream, #2)

Warrior-prince Michael Harthino has been summarily discharged from his prominent position of high captain of the Artalland army. Seething from the injustice of his disgrace, he travels home with the unwelcome company of Sharona, a headstrong battlemage formerly under his command. Together, they begin to unravel the plot that has left him a powerless second-son of the kingdom - a plot which they find threatens the kingdom itself.

At a loss for options, Michael is forced to step into an arena as deadly as battle: that of politics. Michael, however, is a soldier, not a politician.

While his father negotiates a fragile peace with the alluring Mage-Queen Allanrae of rival nation Ferralla, Michael struggles to protect his family from sabotage and assassination. Under the jealous guard of Sharona, his self-appointed protector, he finds he must himself evade threats from without and from within. He also finds that there may be parties at play from beyond normal reality - from a dark, malleable realm that runs parallel to his own.

Beyond Dreams, Michael's redemption waits.