No one in Attolia likes the new king, Eugenides, including Costis, a young guard at the palace. So it’s both a relief and a burden to Costis that rather than being put to death for punching the king, he is made Eugenides’ personal bodyguard. Now Costis is responsible for the safety of a king who is despised both personally and politically. Costis is loyal to the Queen of Atollia, whom he believes was forced into marriage with Eugenides as part of truce between their kingdoms. But from his new vantage point, the guard begins to see that Eugenides is neither rogue nor scoundrel. The king is both brilliant and compassionate, although he carefully guards both facts even as he pulls strings without others knowing. Soon, Costis is privy to another carefully kept secret: the king and queen, whose relationship appears in public to be one of mutual disdain, are deeply in love. Megan Whalen Turner’s richly complex characters and tightly woven plot of political intrigue bring the story begun in The Thief (Greenwillow / HarperCollins, 1996) and continued in The Queen of Attolia (Greenwillow / HarperCollins, 2000) to a greatly satisfying conclusion. (Ages 11–14)

By scheming and theft, the Thief of Eddis has become King of Attolia. Eugenides wanted the queen, not the crown, but he finds himself trapped in a web of his own making. Attolia's barons seethe with resentment, the Mede emperor is returning to the attack, and the king is surrounded by the subtle and dangerous intrigue of the Attolian court.

When a naive young guard expresses his contempt for the king in no uncertain terms, he is dragged by Eugenides into the center of the political maelstrom. Like the king, he cannot escape the difficulties he makes for himself. Poor Costis knows he is the victim of the king's caprice, but he discovers a reluctant sympathy for Eugenides as he watches the newly crowned king struggle against his fate.

Fans of the Newbery Honor Book The Thief and The Queen of Attolia will recognize Megan Whalen Turner's signature plot twists and turns in the third exquisitely crafted tale about Eugenides.