The Western Lands

In the misty isles of the Tiger Kingdom, the mill's axle snaps, and the tax collector's hooves ride into the village. Aiden Vane was just a millhand, but strange designs kept surfacing in his mind—blueprints not of this world. He repaired the broken axle, won back a fair scale for the whole village, and wrote his own name into the tax farmer's ledger. Wanted, grain raids, into the woods. He went from millhand to the "Robin" of the greenwood, and from the greenwood to the throne—not by bloodline, but by machines that could turn, accounts that could be reckoned, and a band of brothers willing to lay down their lives for him. The Tiger Kingdom's coal and iron, the Frog Kingdom's salons and cannon fire, the Bear Kingdom's snowfields and depth, the Eagle Kingdom's distant seas and self-rule. He fought his way through them all, and in the end what he faced was not an emperor, but the White-Crowned Bishop who had calculated the ending for everyone: the man did not want his life, only to use him to unify the West, and then place on his head a crown that could be taken back at any moment. The hardest battle was never about defeating anyone—it was whether he was willing to let go of power. — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: The Western Lands — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠