Monk

In the turbulent summer of 1625, England teeters between royal ambition and plague‑scarred dread. King Charles I rushes to launch a grand naval assault against Spain, while the city of Exeter lies under a shadow of disease and whispered fear. Amid this chaos a sixteen‑year‑old George Monk, heir to the ancient Potheridge line, erupts into a brutal scuffle with the under‑sheriff, defending his family’s honor with a ferocity that marks him as a born soldier.

The Monk family, steeped in centuries of martial glory and even hinted royal blood, now struggles under heavy debts and the loss of several heirs. George, raised on stories of Drake, Norris and the siege of Ostend, feels the weight of expectation and the lure of the battlefield as the kingdom readies for war. Listeners are drawn into his restless drive, his love for his land, and the uncertain path that lies ahead for both him and a nation on the brink.