Shan's life in the peaceful village of Holme is overturned when the forces of Magravandias pour over the hills to plunder and destroy in the name of their emperor, Leonid Malagash. Snatched from the bloody ruins and then taken under the wing of Taropat, a mysterious magus, Shan's wounds heal and he realises his new mentor has rescued him for a purpose. Taropat is a sworn enemy of Magravandias and its Dragon Lord, Valraven Palindrake. But Taropat is not what he seems and harbours unimaginable secrets.
From the wyrd forest of his revival, and its bizarre inhabitants, to the royal court of Mewt, one of the most enigmatic lands in the empire, Shan absorbs quickly his undreamt of education. He is no longer a simple village boy, but a magus – and a warrior – in the making. He is drawn inescapably into the fate of the world, as players upon the stage of politics and war make unfathomable moves to claim power. Is Valraven the mortal enemy Shan has been led to believe he is, or is he in fact the only possible saviour of the known world against the machinations of the corrupt Malagash dynasty?
As Taropat's secrets are revealed, and the inscrutable Magravandian governor of Mewt, Lord Maycarpe, draws Shan into his cabal, so a company is formed to undertake an archetypal quest into a symbolic landscape, where nothing is as it seems. While long-buried passions and the spirit of the land itself seek to tear the company apart, Shan and his companions must continue, against all odds, to reclaim the Crown of Silence. But who – ultimately – is to wear it?
'The Crown of Silence' is the second volume in Storm Constantine's 'The Chronicles of Magravandias', a gripping epic fantasy series of intrigue, forbidden desire and magic.
