A powerful knight and her handsome squire must stop the deadly schemes of a savior king in this romantic fantasy of dark deeds and court intrigue.
Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Knight of the God King by Lauren Blackwood, which releases on October 20th 2026.
Calliope’s wish has always been to become a knight, an elite healer and protector who uses music to summon magic. Yet despite her exceptional skill, she’s stuck lifting up her talentless cousin, whose family begrudgingly took Cali in as a child. But when an opportunity to become the royal knight of the immortal God King arrives, Cali finally gets a chance at a fairytale life – until her cousin blackmails her.
Forced to bring her cousin to court so she won’t share Cali’s shameful past, Cali immediately snubs Beric, the alluring, handsome squire tending to her. Now she must contend with his ire, even while feeling helplessly drawn to him. If that wasn’t enough, her duty means accompanying the king into The Dark, a demonic entity that only the king’s magic is powerful enough to battle – a fight he has been waging for centuries. She must also keep the king’s secret under pain of death: He’s not a god at all, and the only thing keeping him alive is the magic held by the royal knight. It seems serving the God King isn’t a fairytale at all, and when people start dying around her, she and Beric realize that they have no choice but to take their fate – and that of an entire kingdom – into their own hands.
In Lauren Blackwood’s thrilling fantasy, Knight of the God King, a knight’s power and her squire’s love are the only things that can help her defeat a man playing at being a god.
EXCERPT
CHAPTER 1
CALLIOPE
The holding room was brimming with bodies.
Nearly every knight from most every province was in attendance. Most were forced to stand, the full skirts of their elaborate dresses turning the room into an overheated, sweat-stench nightmare not even the mild English springtime rain outside the window could combat.
It wouldn’t have been unreasonable to expect a more comfortable waiting room, something more befitting the station of a knight, or at the very least more time to prepare. Instead, the audition was sudden, and we waited in song and sweat, finding out by word of mouth only a few hours before. And we all knew what that meant.
The Royal Knight of Deus Rex was dead.
Lady Violet had been well known to us all, through songs and the rare bit of gossip from the palace. But only those allowed at court had ever seen her, despite maintaining the role as the Royal Knight for the better part of three decades. It was a stable position, with a multitude of benefits, and one that rarely opened. And if I won the role, today would be the last time I’d have to lie to my aunt, making her believe I was running her errands instead of working on my craft.
I may not have been a working knight or blessed with noble parentage—I certainly had no business auditioning for a royal appointment—but if I succeeded, a permanent position would guarantee I could eventually find a noble husband without interference from my father’s ruined name or my aunt’s manipulations. He didn’t even have to be noble—a brave soldier would do, so long as he was a good person. There was something about a man with a sword that was unbearably romantic.
Either way, I’d finally have a life of my own, away from my aunt’s suffocating, restrictive household.
So I would remain through the stench of sweating bodies, the dirty looks from women just as travel worn as I, the cramped room with barely a place to sit . . . and the odds stacked against me.
Because what was on the other side of this audition was too tempting to ignore.
Freedom.
I tucked closer to the corner, gripping my audition number in my fist, so the close bustling bodies wouldn’t knock it from my grasp. The taller woman standing in front of me had a number a few slots after mine, so between her and the expensive vase resting precariously on a stone pillar nearby, I was certain I could keep out of sight until my cousin had her turn. Many of the knights were performing vocal exercises, their pretty voices paired with the multitude of conversations creating the atmosphere of a lively party. But I couldn’t risk opening my mouth, of having Anise recognize my voice.
Anise, who stood on the other side of the room, conversing cheerfully with her best friend. Anise, the actual knight. Whether she deserved the title was debatable. Her voice, however pretty, was not the most accurate, which made her magic even less so. But she had studied at the Knight Academy. She had proper status as a practicing knight. I only had the skill. Anise certainly wasn’t going to win on her own merits, and also happened to be petty, so if she spotted me she would do everything within her power to make sure I wouldn’t succeed either.
The pair of doors leading to the audition room slammed open, and a woman stormed out, muttering something about being insulted. A churn went through my belly at her exit. What exactly did this audition consist of?
“Eight,” the auditioner’s voice called, his no-nonsense tone making it clear that this was not going to be a simple audition. One of the knights walked as gracefully as she could manage through the throng to enter the room, the door shutting behind her.
I took a deep breath, settling further into the corner, if only to take a bit of weight from my feet. It would be a while yet. I was number forty-two—I’d made sure to enter the queue as far from Anise as possible, so she would be long gone by the time I was called.
I jolted and looked up at the sound of the door—barely thirty seconds from when the knight first entered, and she was leaving, tear-streaked cheeks shimmering. What on earth was he saying to these poor knights?
From where I sat, I could see his black hair in the doorway, but I didn’t dare try to see his face. “My ladies,” he said, his voice colder now, if even possible. “If you can’t perform the basics of sound vibration and intonation, please save us all some time and vacate the waiting room.” He paused but didn’t wait for anyone to leave as he continued with, “Number nine,” and entered the room again.
One poor knight slipped out of the room shortly after, looking dejected. The wise ones, whether they lacked the skill or not, didn’t move. One had to be truly foolish to not at least try for the opportunity to join the royal court. Better to try and fail than to give up.
But the auditioner did have a point. Creating vibrations in the air was the very first skill a knight perfected—it was literally the means to summon magic. Snapping or flicking one’s fingers, creating puffs of air with one’s mouth, those were all practiced before hitting different tones came into the picture. And certainly before instruments and tools were brought into play. In fact, unless one practiced their pitches or, ideally, were born with perfect pitch, there was no point in bothering with singing. The sound frequency combination for closing a wound, say, was completely different than the one used to create a shield. The art of knight magic was subtle and specific—many were born with it, few perfected it. It was the difference between blowing out a simple candle and, well . . . serving Deus Rex.
Thankfully, with the number of hours I’d spent helping my cousin learn the skills required to become an expert knight, I’d managed to perfect them right under my aunt and uncle’s noses. Anise knew I could perform magic, but because we’d never shared the same ambition—she, an advantageous marriage, and I, a way to support myself so I could finally leave my aunt’s home—she didn’t really care. But she was three years older and, at twenty-one years of age, hadn’t even gotten close to marriage yet. This position may be her only chance.
I had to avoid her at all costs.
