The Starkin Crown

Kate Forsyth is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty books for children and adults, including
The Puzzle Ring, The Gypsy Crown, The Starthorn Tree
and
Dragon Gold.

Since her first published book was named a Best First Novel of 1998 by
Locus
magazine, Kate has been shortlisted for numerous awards, including a Cybil Award in the US. In 2007, Kate became the first author to win five Aurealis awards in a single year when Books 2â6 in the Chain of Charms series were jointly awarded the 2007 Aurealis Award for Children's Fiction. Book 5,
The Lightning Bolt
, was also named a Notable Book for 2007 by the Children's Book Council of Australia.

Kate lives by the sea in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and three children, and many thousands of books.

ALSO BY KATE FORSYTH

The Starthorn Tree
The Wildkin's Curse
The Puzzle Ring

The Chain of Charms series:

The Gypsy Crown
The Silver Horse
The Herb of Grace
The Cat's Eye Shell
The Lightning Bolt
The Butterfly in Amber

ALSO BY KATE FORSYTH
AND ILLUSTRATED BY MITCH VANE

Ben and Tim's Magical Misadventures:

Dragon Gold
Wishing for Trouble
Sea Magic

ALSO BY KATE FORSYTH
AND ILLUSTRATED BY ROSALIE STREET

I Am

First published 2011 in Pan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited
1 Market Street, Sydney

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Forsyth, Kate, 1966â

The starkin crown / Kate Forsyth.

9780330404044 (pbk.)

For children.

A823.3

Map by Jeremy Reston
Typeset in 11.5/15 pt Minion by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed in Australia by McPherson's Printing Group

Papers used by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

These electronic editions published in 2011 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney 2000

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

The Starkin Crown

Kate Forsyth

Adobe eReader format	978-1-74262-730-4
EPub format	978-1-74262-732-8
Online format	978-1-74262-729-8

Macmillan Digital Australia
www.macmillandigital.com.au

Visit
www.panmacmillan.com.au
to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks online. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events.

For my own bold adventurers,
Ben, Tim and Ella

The Prophecy

Three times a babe shall be born,
between star-crowned and iron-bound.
First, the sower of seeds, the soothsayer,
though lame, he must travel far.

Next shall be the king-breaker, the king-maker,
though broken himself he shall be.

Last, the smallest and the greatestâ
in him, the blood of wise and wild,
farseeing ones and starseeing ones.
Though he must be lost before he can find,
though, before he sees, he must be blind,
if he can find and if he can see,
the true king of all he shall be
.

Royal Family of Ziva