Rowan's Gambit: The Winterland Chronicles, #1

By Mika Mathews

From the ashes of a terrible war, humans rise above on a land of floating continents. Some blessed with power, others with nothing at all. For Rowan and Iaden, two entirely different people, navigating the world to become Knights of the Winterlands is no small feat. Finding purpose and power in a world where they have none, finding value in a life where they have been stripped of it... both seem impossible, and yet together they will reach for the stars and become all they yearn to be.

Together, they will rise, and together... they will show the world they matter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mika Mathews
• Release date: Feb 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224841431

Book preview

City in the Sky

Rowan loved the crisp air brought on by dawn; it soothed the raging torrent of nerves in his chest. Who could have guessed that today was even an option, that there was a possibility of progression toward knighthood for him? He shivered at the prospect as he walked down the stone path near the edge of the floating continent of Winterland.

Yes, a floating continent.

All of Winterland lay above the earth, just above the cloud line, where their forebears had escaped the ravaged world below. The Founding Wars, five centuries prior, had torn apart the surface during the dawn of magic. Even now, so many years later, no one could enter the surface without fear of death from the poisoned, mutated air. The tainted magic, born of hate, fear, and mistrust, carved out primal curses, turning men and beasts into monsters through the faintest contact. Many still carried marks of those poisons, turning curses into blessings as they made entire families with unique magics.

Rowan . . . wasn’t one of those people. Blessed with no special magics, born to no old lines. He came from a new merchant line. He had personally fled that life seven years ago when he was a mere nine years old, finding his own peace miles away in a small town at the edge of the Winterlands. Oddly enough, an elderly librarian, Helen,  had taken him in, and through that, he got a job and a place to live under her care. He educated himself, something rare among the poor and downtrodden, through his job.

His path seemed solidified. He would take up her role as a librarian . . . but then everything changed.

That morning, in fact.

Rowan . . . Helen started, coughing softly for a moment, her beautiful brown eyes bloodshot. I need you to listen to me. He nodded, approaching the tall, elderly, beautiful woman. I am dying, and you are too young to stay on your own. I refuse to let you squander your potential . . . the knights come today, and you will impress them enough to become a pawn. It will allow you a future, something I would never deny you . . . She coughed more; this time, blood came up.

Rowan rushed to her, pulling out a cloth. Helen, please . . . don’t . . . I . . .

She sighed, wiping her face. "My death will come, and you, my son, will become a pawn. You will carve your own path. I will not watch from the afterlife, knowing I failed you. It is time someone helps you beyond the basics, and this is that moment.

I already sold the library; it will give you enough money to pay your tribute for the test. I know you . . . you will do great.

He sighed. I want a future, but not at the cost of you.

My life is ending soon, but I won’t have you lose yours . . . now, remember, you may come from nothing, but you are capable of anything. You are the brightest boy I know, and the world could never replace you.

With those words in his heart, he hurried faster through the brush and toward the series of tents set up for the testing. His tribute in hand, he breathed in once and readied himself for the changes and the terrors to come. No one became a pawn without pain, and no one became a knight without scars.

Was he really willing to do that . . . just for a chance at a future?

Absolutely. For himself . . . and for Helen.

Tributes and Trials

The line to the Knight Trials was long, far too long for comfort. Rowan knew that, as always, most would be cast aside from the Knight Trials, no one caring for the poor hopefuls enough to serve them. Ever