The Burden of Rank

Alden of Ashcombe has learned how to command men. Now he must learn what happens when the men above him believe command belongs to them.
Alden's rise through the service of Count Renaud de Villiers has been remarkably swift.
The landless third son who crossed the Channel with little more than his father's armour and his teacher's reputation is no longer an unknown young knight. Renaud trusts him. Soldiers recognise his name. Sergeants are beginning to seek his service. Experienced commanders have started asking what he thinks.
That creates a new problem.
Other men have noticed too.
In a world where birth, wealth and family can carry more authority than ability, Alden increasingly finds himself responsible for men older, richer and better connected than himself. Some are incompetent. Some are dangerous.
And some are every bit as capable as he is.
Alden must learn that command is not simply a matter of giving the correct order. A sergeant may understand the road better than his knight. A groom may know more about the horses than their owner. A lord may support a bad decision because family honour demands it. A loyal man may conceal the truth for the very reason that makes him loyal.
And an enemy who understands those weaknesses may never need to defeat an army in battle.
As false orders, hidden loyalties and competing claims of authority begin pulling men in different directions, Alden faces a more dangerous battlefield than any tournament field.
The human one.
Every decision has consequences. Every favour creates expectations. Every success increases his reputation—and every increase in reputation gives somebody another reason to watch him.
Alden is discovering that being given authority is the easy part.
Knowing what to do with it is considerably harder.
Rank may give a man command. Only learning teaches him what to do with it.
The Burden of Rank is Book Three of The Ashcombe Chronicles, a character-driven medieval historical adventure about knighthood, leadership, loyalty, politics, reputation and the complicated people who make armies possible.
Not every battle is fought with a sword.
I think this one sells the book particularly well because it doesn't pretend the attraction is simply another sequence of medieval battles. It tells the prospective reader what makes this series different while still promising danger, deception and conflict.