The King's Man

At sixteen Robert Graves set off for London to become a royal minion and serve newly-crowned Henry VIII. Life at court provided him with enough jousting to keep him fit, dicing and cards to keep him poor, and pretty maidens to keep him merry. "Bluff King Hal" turned to these fun-loving bachelors for companionship while Cardinal Wolsey ran the government.
But at Robert's Devonshire home, financial worries plagued the matriarch of the family, Lady Lucinda Graves. She struggled to retain possession of the two manors they owned, Graveswell and Manor Combe Martyn. To her the land meant everything. After her son died on the battlefield under command of King Henry, Lady Lucinda turned to her grandchildren to find a way out of debt. The oldest, James, heir to the estate, wasted the few resources the Graves' family had in gambling and drinking. The youngest, Elizabeth, thwarted a scheme to marry her to a rich suitor by running off with a servant. Lucinda's last hope was the middle child, Robert. She sent him to court in hopes that he would catch Henry VIII's eye, become a King's man and through royal favor gain fortune and high office enough to safeguard the family estate from all outsiders.
For the next twenty-five years Robert gave his love and loyalty to his king until Henry turned a suspicious eye on those he once loved and trusted. The beheadings began with his most influential advisors, then Queen Anne, and finally the royal minions of his youth. These dark, cruel times awoke Robert to what it really meant to be the King's Man.