Sword, Cross and Crown

Aelle at thirteen is already considering how to avoid death at sixteen. He is heir to his maternal grandfather's realm and the only legitimate heir to his father's land. When he turns sixteen his half brothers may challenge him to mortal combat. His father is using that threat from his older bastard warrior half brothers to intimidate him into the priesthood of his mother's Christian religion.

If Aelle enters the priesthood to stay alive he will have to take a vow of poverty and yield his maternal inheritance to this father. His father is working to ensure Aelle does not know how to fight.

Aelle however is not your typical thirteen year old. He has a brilliant mind which he keeps secret and is creative enough he may just have figured out a way to thwart his father's ambitions. It is dangerous and there will be hardships as well as intrigue but his plan just might work. Well it will work in theory if he can stay alive long enough.

There are two things Aelle needs to make his plan work. He must find a warrior to train him in secret and a way to accumulate warrior allies. Achieving either of these will be no small feat but Aelle has no choice. For him the priesthood is a fate worse than death and he is smart enough to know neither is it a guarantee against assassination.