Prince of Shadows Summary: Dark Romantasy Necromancers
TL;DR: The Short Version
Meritamun of Abdju fights for crowds in the arena, but the thing killing her lives inside her own spine.
In M.A. Guglielmo’s Prince of Shadows, the first book of The Blessed series, a Kushian speed-fighter with only weeks to live travels to the Kingdom of Soissons in search of an exorcism.
Her companion is Gallmau de Rohan, the late king’s illegitimate son.
What waits for them near the capital gates is not a cure, but a slaughtered carriage, an assassin’s blade, and a meeting with Sinan Kaya, the necromancer known as the Prince of Shadows.
The novel combines court intrigue, elemental sorcery, and a rescue quest across an artifact-bound frozen territory.
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- Who: Meri (a speed-fighter with a parasitic necromancer in her spine), Gallmau (illegitimate royal heir), and Sinan (a necromancer diplomat with a touch curse).
- What: A kidnapped princess, a murdered royal sorcerer, and a quest into Terra Amata.
- Stakes: Meri’s remaining lifespan, Soissons’s succession, and the political survival of the necromancer city-state of Karakoncolos.
- Core ideas: Institutional hypocrisy, the morality of “monsters,” royal bloodlines, and a three-way romantic bond built out of shared survival.
Characters In This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Meritamun (“Meri”) | Kushian arena speed-fighter known as the Lioness of Abdju, host to a parasitic necromancer spirit. |
| Gallmau de Rohan | Illegitimate son of the late King Syagrius XIII of Soissons and half-brother to Princess Rixende. |
| Sinan Kaya | Necromancer from Karakoncolos known as the Prince of Shadows, serving as a diplomatic envoy. |
| Mother Naghwe | Sinan’s deceased mother, existing as a corporeal spirit. |
| Princess Rixende Grimoard | Seventeen-year-old legitimate heir to Soissons who develops a beast-master Blessing. |
| Queen Xiaolian | Qingian-born Queen Regent of Soissons, widow of King Syagrius and mother of Rixende. |
| Magus Jacques Collin de Plancy | Incensor of the Noviodunam Synod and son of Odart of Dol. |
| Magus Valentina | Physician and medica at the Noviodunam Synod, close friend to Princess Rixende. |
| Magus Zhang Jue | Sorcier du Roi and weather mage who fakes his own death. |
| Magus Odart of Dol | Former head of the benandanti and a mirror mage who steals other mages’ powers. |
| Grand Vizier Abarsam the Magnificent | Kushian aquamage, former lover of Meri, and diplomatic envoy. |
| Baahir | Abarsam’s son and a skilled aquamage. |
| Tharin and Karabil | Twin Kushian tomb fighters and companions to Meri and Gallmau. |
| Cliona of the White Isles | Assassin of the Order of Katil sent to kill Sinan. |
| Rerek of Diutisc | Dead necromancer whose spirit infested Meri’s spine. |
| Sanura | Meri’s murdered younger sister, existing as a protective spirit. |
| Captain Tumas | Officer in the Gardes Soissons and a veteran friend of Gallmau. |
Prince of Shadows Summary: The Full Story
Spoiler warning: this section describes the plot, including the ending.
Meritamun of Abdju fights in arenas for coin while an assecula daemonium named Rerek feeds on her from inside her spine. The spirit has left her with weeks to live.
She travels toward Lutecia, the capital of Soissons, with Gallmau de Rohan and two Kushian twin fighters, Tharin and Karabil.
Their goal is Sorcier du Roi Zhang Jue, who may be able to exorcise the curse. Near a Witch Stone outside the city, Death Hounds attack the group and Meri’s spine locks up mid-fight. Gallmau and Meri kill the beasts, then follow tracks to a wrecked carriage.
Under the overturned carriage they find Sinan Kaya and his elderly mother, Naghwe. Sinan claims to be a merchant from Iotape, but Meri tests him with false Amor Vitriol crystals and he identifies them instantly.
He also knows far too much about necromantic body relics.
An assassin named Cliona of the White Isles attacks and kills Tharin and Karabil. Meri cuts through Cliona’s shadow bindings with her water-enchanted blades and decapitates her, then pins Sinan to the ground with her swords at his throat.
Sinan admits he is a diplomatic envoy from Karakoncolos, the underground necromancer city-state. Naghwe poisons Gallmau with eau de mort brandy and offers a single dose of antidote. Meri must choose between curing her own affliction and saving Gallmau’s life.
Meri gives the antidote to Gallmau. Naghwe stabs her with a poisoned spike before she and Sinan leave. Sinan and Naghwe first arrange the twins’ bodies for a traditional Kushian funeral.
Gallmau wakes in a Gardes Soissons wagon and the pair enter Lutecia to cheering crowds. At the palace, they learn that Zhang Jue is dead and Princess Rixende has been kidnapped.
Queen Xiaolian announces that whoever rescues Rixende will receive her hand in marriage. At a ball hosted by the Noviodunam Synod, Sinan appears in full necromantic regalia and denies any Karakoncolos involvement. Inside the Synod chamber, he raises the skeletal Throne of Letha from the floor.
Quest rules require each rescue party to consist of one combat mage and two companions. Gallmau produces Zhang Jue’s official invitation letter and partners with Sinan, forcing the Synod and the Queen to endorse their team. Jacques and Valentina form competing parties.
The rescuers enter Terra Amata, a region sealed in mist by an ancient weather Artifact and now frozen. A Touched monster catfish drags Gallmau underwater at an icy lake. Sinan saves him using shadow paths and his resurrected ghost rat, then nearly drowns himself before Gallmau and Meri pull him out.
At a royal hunting lodge, Meri’s curse erupts and Rerek manifests physically. Using a hidden sphere of Amor Vitriol, Meri detonates the substance in a stove and burns Rerek’s soul away, saving her own life. The blast strips Sinan of his necromantic abilities temporarily.
When Sinan recovers, he finds he can touch living skin without pain for the first time, ending a lifelong celibacy curse. Meri, Gallmau, and Sinan begin a romantic and sexual relationship.
Deeper in Terra Amata, a giant fire-breathing Azhdarchid attacks, controlled by an unknown beast master. The group reunites with Valentina, who was separated from Jacques after mercenaries dressed as royal Shields ambushed their party.
Sinan scouts the river caves using Baahir’s aquamancy-enchanted kaftan.
He discovers that Zhang Jue faked his death and conspired with Magus Odart of Dol.
Princess Rixende herself is a beast-master necromancer whom Zhang Jue tricked into believing she was cursed by the Prince of Shadows.
Zhang Jue convinces Rixende to test Amor Vitriol in a water basin, which strips her magic and knocks her unconscious.
Odart and Zhang Jue capture Meri, Gallmau, and Jacques, and Odart tries to force Jacques to kill Sinan. Jacques throws Sinan off the cliff into the river instead.
Gallmau escapes using Meri’s concealed stiletto and summons Sanura and Mother Naghwe with Cliona’s bone relics. Naghwe restores Sinan’s necromantic powers, and he raises an aquatic undead army of hortdan from the river.
Rixende awakens and stabs Zhang Jue to death. Jacques uses fire circles to strip Odart of his mirrored magic, and the defeated Odart shadow-walks away.
In the aftermath, Rixende chooses to travel secretly to Karakoncolos to master her Blessing, allowing Gallmau to be named legitimate heir and Dauphin of Soissons.
Weeks later, Meri summons Sanura’s spirit near Lutecia. Sanura reveals that Meri is pregnant with twins, one from Gallmau and one from Sinan, and delivers shadow letters from Sinan and Rixende.
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Summary by Chapter
Spoiler warning: chapter details below. Prince of Shadows contains 34 chapters in total, with alternating points of view.
Chapter 1: Meri, Gallmau, Tharin, and Karabil stop near a Witch Stone outside Lutecia when two Death Hounds attack. Meri’s spine curse paralyzes her mid-combat, but Gallmau slays one beast and Meri kills the other.
Chapter 2: The group follows tracks into a copse of trees and finds an overturned carriage surrounded by slaughtered horses and guards. They discover Sinan Kaya and his mother Naghwe, who emerges uninjured from beneath the carriage.
Chapter 3: Sinan claims to be an eastern merchant, but Meri tests him with fake Amor Vitriol crystals that he easily identifies. Shadow ribbons encircle him and the assassin Cliona attacks, killing Tharin and Karabil.
Chapter 4: Meri cuts through Cliona’s shadow bindings with her water-enchanted blades and joins Gallmau in battle. After a necromantic exchange, Meri decapitates Cliona while Sinan reanimates Karabil’s corpse, and Meri pins Sinan down.
Chapter 5: Sinan claims to be a diplomatic envoy, but Naghwe poisons Gallmau with eau de mort brandy. Meri chooses to give Gallmau the single antidote dose rather than cure herself, and Naghwe stabs her with a poisoned spike.
Chapter 6: Gallmau wakes in a Gardes Soissons wagon under Captain Tumas’s care and finds Meri unconscious. He learns that Sinan and Naghwe prepared Tharin and Karabil for a traditional Kushian burial before departing.
Chapter 7: Gallmau and Meri enter Lutecia to cheering crowds, creating political friction for the royal household. Gallmau sneaks Meri through the garden maze and a pantry window, where Magus Valentina confronts them with a ladle.
Chapter 8: Valentina reveals that Zhang Jue is dead and Princess Rixende has been kidnapped. Queen Xiaolian confirms that Zhang Jue offered Rixende’s hand in marriage to whoever rescues her, while threatening war against Karakoncolos.
Chapter 9: At a formal ball at the Palais de Feu, Meri reconnects with Grand Vizier Abarsam and his son Baahir. Jacques announces the rescue quest, and Sinan appears in full necromantic regalia to deny Karakoncolos’s involvement.
Chapter 10: Sinan confronts Queen Xiaolian and the crowd about Soissons’s economic decay and political hypocrisy. Gallmau suggests moving the discussion to the Synod meeting chamber, where Sinan shatters the warded golden doors with shadow magic.
Chapter 11: Sinan raises the skeletal Throne of Letha from beneath the chamber floor. The mages debate Zhang Jue’s quest rules until Meri produces Zhang Jue’s official invitation letter.
Chapter 12: Meri draws her blades and Gallmau shoves Jacques onto the table, forcing a partnership with Sinan as their combat mage. Queen Xiaolian approves the team, and Sinan agrees to meet them at La Pissotte tavern.
Chapter 13: Exhausted from shadow-walking, Sinan is pursued through the streets by Jacques. Sinan traps him in an alley with a corpus animatum rat, and Jacques admits Rixende is alive and trapped in Terra Amata.
Chapter 14: At La Pissotte, Sinan shares Jacques’s intelligence about Terra Amata while Gallmau feeds cheese to the ghost rat. When patrons attack Sinan, Meri and Gallmau defend him and he fades into shadow.
Chapter 15: At the Witch Stone arch, Meri and Gallmau watch Abarsam unlock the portal with aquamancy and follow Jacques and Valentina’s team through. Sinan arrives with Naghwe, who boosts his sigil cloak, and he shatters the arch.
Chapter 16: The trio treks through a freezing landscape toward a royal hunting lodge. A Touched monster catfish drags Gallmau underwater and Meri falls into an ice pocket, so Sinan breaks the ice to save Gallmau and is pulled under himself.
Chapter 17: Gallmau pulls Sinan from the lake and Meri slays the catfish with her water blades. Sinan absorbs the creature’s energy to warm Meri, and Gallmau carries the unconscious Sinan to the lodge.
Chapter 18: Sinan accuses Meri of being a venefica after she saps his magic in her sleep. Meri’s curse erupts, a grotesque face bulges from her back, and she reveals she was cursed three years ago by Rerek of Diutisc.
Chapter 19: Rerek’s poison aura repels Sinan’s weakened shadow strikes and knocks Gallmau unconscious. Meri fights Rerek with her water blades, but his toxic magic brings all three to the brink of death.
Chapter 20: Gallmau tells Sinan about a hidden sphere of Amor Vitriol in the pantry and carries him into the main room. At Sinan’s instruction, Meri throws the sphere into the flaming stove, destroying Rerek’s soul.
Chapter 21: Sinan wakes to Meri kissing him and realizes his parasitic curse is gone, though his necromantic abilities are temporarily stripped. Able to touch living skin without pain, he spends an intimate night with Gallmau and Meri.
Chapter 22: Sinan offers Meri bone spheres made from Cliona’s eyeballs, which she refuses. Gallmau acts distant and demands marriage out of anxiety over a possible pregnancy, but a giant Azhdarchid attacks from the sky.
Chapter 23: After the Azhdarchid retreats, Meri scouts ahead and collapses. Gallmau and Sinan defeat three armored sellswords and find Valentina, who escaped after Jacques fought off horsemen with aquamancy-enhanced weapons.
Chapter 24: While Valentina heals Sinan’s ribs, Meri states the child could belong to Sinan. Gallmau tests Cliona’s bone relics and unexpectedly summons the ghost rat to eat cheese.
Chapter 25: On night watch, Meri uses her water blades and a ghost lantern to locate a stream, where Sinan joins her and they kiss. The next morning the group finds the charred, eye-carved corpses of Baahir, his guard, and Abarsam.
Chapter 26: Meri blames necromancers, but Sinan and Valentina prove the scene was staged to frame rival factions. The Azhdarchid swoops down and carries Valentina off into the caves.
Chapter 27: Wearing Baahir’s kaftan, Sinan scouts the river caves and finds Valentina held alongside Princess Rixende. Gallmau takes Cliona’s bone relics and plans to impersonate the Prince of Shadows as a distraction.
Chapter 28: Gallmau fakes a necromancer attack on the riverbank, drawing out Odart of Dol. Sinan enters the highest cave and finds Zhang Jue alive with Rixende, revealed as the beast master, who binds him to the wall with animal rib bones.
Chapter 29: Sinan realizes Rixende developed a fox-like Blessing and was tricked into believing she was cursed. Zhang Jue convinces her to test Amor Vitriol, which strips her magic and knocks her out, and Odart enters with a captured Meri.
Chapter 30: Odart threatens Valentina and orders Sinan’s execution using stolen fire magic from Jacques. Jacques throws Sinan off the cliff into the river instead, and Meri uses a flash-bang device and her speed to attack the guards.
Chapter 31: Gallmau frees himself with Meri’s boot stiletto and finds Sinan’s body in the river. He summons Sanura and Naghwe with Cliona’s relics, and Naghwe restores Sinan’s Blessing so he can raise an undead hortdan army.
Chapter 32: Sinan and Gallmau lead the hortdan against Odart, Zhang Jue, and the Shields. Rixende stabs Zhang Jue to death and Jacques strips Odart of his mirrored magic, forcing Odart to shadow-walk away.
Chapter 33: Sinan heals Meri with his restored sigil cloak alongside Valentina as necromancers arrive from Karakoncolos. Rixende decides to travel there to master her Blessing, Gallmau is named heir, and Sinan bids a heartfelt farewell.
Chapter 34: Weeks later, Meri and Gallmau stop at the Witch Stone outside Lutecia, where Meri summons Sanura. Sanura reveals Meri is pregnant with twins, one light and one shadow, and delivers letters from Rixende and Sinan.
Book Snapshot
- Genre & Subgenre: Fantasy / Dark Romantic Fantasy; Urban-Historical Fantasy, Court Intrigue Fantasy, Polyamorous Romantic Fantasy
- Core Narrative Tropes: Enemies to lovers, polyamorous triad, terminal curse, royal succession crisis, reluctant hero, guild politics, rescue quest
- Tone & Atmosphere: Fast-paced, gritty yet witty, atmospheric, action-driven, emotionally intense
- Primary Conflict: Rescuing Princess Rixende from Terra Amata while exposing treason inside the Noviodunam Synod and ending Meri’s terminal curse
- Pacing Style: Fast-paced chronological narrative across a few intense days, driven by alternating third-person point of view
- Book Structure: 34 chapters alternating strictly between Meri, Gallmau, and Sinan
- Publisher: Merit Ptah Press
- Publication Date: October 1, 2025
- ISBN-13: 979-8989771042
- Print Length: 374 pages
- Series: Book One of The Blessed
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Who Is Prince of Shadows For?
This book suits readers who follow romantic fantasy with dark magic systems and political conflict.
The setting draws on alternate historical Western Europe, desert Kushian states, and an underground necromancer city-state, so readers who enjoy world-building tied to courts, guilds, and magical orders will find familiar ground.
It also fits readers looking for a polyamorous triad romance built around shared danger rather than a single couple.
The narrative moves quickly across a few days and rotates between three points of view, which suits readers who prefer fast pacing and multiple perspectives over a slow, single-voice build.
Readers who prefer lighter romantic fantasy, minimal on-page violence, or standalone stories without series setup may find the tone and the succession-focused ending less aligned with their preferences.
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