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In the latest book in the series, Stanzi’s quest passes to her son, Aedd. As foretold by the Lady of the West, Aedd’s part in the quest is to find the cup of plenty, the final missing piece of the regalia of the high kings of Cimbria. Joined by the mage Sulwen, Aedd undertakes a dangerous journey to return the cup to the West Country. With the restoration of the regalia, the lords of the West Country at long last declare their independence from Deben. In the war that follows, Will leads the West Country’s forces into battle, but Stanzi, Sulwen, and Aedd must face and defeat a different, far more powerful foe.
Heledd, a poet and the daughter of the high king of Cimbria, leads a charmed life. Under her father’s reign, Cimbria is at peace and is prosperous, and at the midsummer celebrations in her nineteenth year, she falls in love with another poet, Hywel of Penmynydd. But when an emissary arrives from the neighboring kingdom of Deben to propose a marriage alliance between Heledd and the Debenese king’s son and heir, Clothar, Heledd’s budding romance becomes complicated. After rejecting Clothar’s hand, Heledd soon learns he has far more in mind than a simple alliance; he plans to conquer Cimbria and its people. Alongside her father, her brothers, and her beloved, Heledd finds herself fighting to keep Cimbria free of Debenese control, risking everything she holds dear.
Set 300 years before the events described in Daughter of the West books 1-5, The Hawk’s Flight gives readers a glimpse of Cimbrian society in the years before it was conquered by the kingdom of Deben. The actions of Heledd and others help to pave the way for the quest undertaken in books 1 through 5.
At age thirteen, Constance of Eumhal–Stanzi to her friends–watches her only brother march off to a war started by their overlords, the Debenese. But after her brother’s departure, Stanzi learns that her estranged mother, a daughter of the Debenese king, has made an arranged marriage for her to a Debenese lord. The marriage will place Eumhal, one of the lordships in the West Country, in the hands of Stanzi’s husband-to-be, and–should her brother die during the war–Eumhal will be more firmly in the hands of the Debenese than ever. To prevent this, Stanzi vows to serve Rigantona, the West Country goddess of warfare, wisdom, and healing, and runs away from home and her would-be husband to fulfill that vow, first by training as a swordfighter and then by traveling across the western world to find and protect the rightful ruler of the West Country. In the course of her travels, Stanzi risks life and limb, discovers treachery within the king of Deben’s own forces, and finds unexpected allies.
In Daughter of the West: The Legacy of the High Kings, Stanzi and Will embark on the second phase of their quest to restore independence and the high kingship to the West Country, once known as the kingdom of Cimbria. Stanzi receives a vision that directs her to begin seeking out the treasures of the Cimbrian high kings: the sword, shield, crown, and scepter. Her search for these treasures takes her and Will to the eastern part of the Kusbek Empire, where a violent succession dispute has broken out in the neighboring country of Kurland. There, a ruthless prince and a rogue mage have discovered the sword and shield of the high kings and are using the power inherent in the weapons to kill and dominate the people of Kurland. Stanzi and Will, along with their ally Alkamar al-Falir, must find a way to defeat their enemies, restore peace to Kurland, and bring two of the treasures of the high kings back to the West Country.
In Daughter of the West: The Crown of Oak, Stanzi begins the third stage of her quest to find the objects sacred to the high kings of Cimbria and so restore the kingship. Separated from Will but reunited with Roric, she travels first to the Alairs in search of information regarding the whereabouts of the crown of the Cimbric high kings and from there to Amishtan. In the course of this journey, she discovers that her powers as the avatar of the Lady of the West are growing in scope, a fact that will aid in her quest but also could put her and her companions at risk unless she learns to control her powers. And, for the first time, she meets another avatar, one who is allied with the man who has possession of the crown and intends to use it to further his own power in Amishtan.
In Daughter of the West: Nemesis, Stanzi embarks on the fourth and final part of her quest to find the objects sacred to the Cimbric high kings and return them to the West Country. Accompanied by Roric, Gwenlyn, her Amishtani companions, and the avatar Bith-Anat, she journeys to the land of Set-Irtju, where a powerful avatar has gained control of the scepter and is using it to augment his power and rule as a tyrant over the land. During her time in Set-Irtju, Stanzi will learn how to control the powers granted to her by the Lady of the West and will learn that she is, in fact, far more powerful than she ever imagined. But embracing that power and using it to defeat her enemies will come at a terrible price and will force her to make fateful choices for herself and her companions.