Longbow by Wayne Grant

Roland Inness is a peasant boy with an unusual talent—and a secret. He has learned the art of making a longbow and the skill to use it with deadly accuracy. Why must this be kept secret? The Normans rule England with their armored knights and a well-aimed longbow can pierce that armor. Possession of the weapon is a hanging offense and when Roland takes the wrong deer on the wrong Lord’s land he has to flee for his life. His flight will take him from the high hills of the English midlands to the wild frontier with Wales and on to the court of Richard the Lionheart. Along the way he is hunted by a paid killer, aided by a strange monk named Tuck, and taken in by a gruff Norman knight, who values his skill with the bow. That skill and his courage will be sorely tested as he fights to earn the trust of his new master. As King Richard celebrates his coronation, Roland faces old enemies he thought he had left behind and must test his skill at a royal archery tournament against the greatest bowmen in England, to include the favorite, Sir Robin of Loxley. A mix of history, myth and high adventure, LONGBOW follows the journey of Roland Inness as he seeks to find a place for himself in a restive kingdom and become a man in a brutal age.