Saga of Cogadháin Book VI: Cadell Before

Saga of Cogadháin Book VI Cadell Before Cogadháin A prince who wants to be worthy. A father who carries the cost of war. A kingdom that will not wait for either of them. Rain falls on Dinefwr when Cadell ab Einion learns his father has finally returned-alive, bruised, and carrying the weight of twenty-three dead men. At twenty, Cadell is quick with a spear and hungry for the road, but still young enough to mistake glory for duty. His grandfather, King Owain, sees the danger in that hunger. His father sees the cost. Cadell, prince of Deheubarth and descendant of Hywel Dda, has been raised beneath the shadow of kings and the expectations of men who believe blood carries obligations. His father teaches him that victory is measured by its cost. His mother teaches him that fear may advise a man but must never rule him. His grandfather teaches him to listen before judging, to count grain before enemies, and to understand that a kingdom is built not only by warriors, but by farmers, widows, horses, roads, promises, and the people who must survive a ruler's decisions. Cadell is learning. But he is still young-proud, impatient, perceptive, and hungry to prove himself. When he looks west across the Irish Sea, he sees not a boundary but a road. And when a cattle raid offers the chance to cross it, Cadell leaves Wales believing he understands danger. Ireland teaches him otherwise. Among foreign fields, shifting loyalties, stolen cattle, blood, rain, and men whose language he barely understands, Cadell discovers what remains when rank and certainty are stripped away. The raid becomes a fight to survive. The road home grows more costly with every mile. And then comes the hammer-one blow that will take his family, his kingdom, his past, even his name. But it will not take the man they made. This is the story of Cadell ab Einion-before the lost young Welsh prince awakened alone in Ireland and began the road that would give him another name. Cogadháin. Before the battles. Before the legend. Before Cogadháin-there was Cadell. A sweeping, intimate novel of Deheubarth, Cadell: Before Cogadháin stands as Book VI in the Saga of Cogadháin, revealing the making of a prince whose choices will shape the fate of a kingdom.