Tears of Artamon series by Sarah Ash[e-pub] COMPLETE

Background Information
Artamon was the former emperor of Rossiya, a kingdom that comprised Tielen, Smarna, Muscobar, Azhkendir and Khitari. Artamon’s sons fought vehemently between themselves over land and title and once possessed by Drakhaouls they tore the empire apart. A grand ruby of their father was broken into pieces and each son took one each, these became referred to as the Tears of Artamon. Four out of five of the Drakhaouls were driven back and banished from the mortal realm by Saint Sergius, however the final Drakhaoul, Khezef, defeated and killed Sergius. Khezef continued to dwell among mortals by inhabiting the ruling monarch of Azhkendir, through the generations. The remainder of Artamon’s descendents spread out across the fragmented empire and over time all knowledge of the Drakhaouls was forgotten.

Synopsis
Gavril Andar who has a surprisingly vivid dream, and is subsequently kidnapped from his home in Smarna, where he resided with his mother, Elysia. He is taken to Azhkendir and informed that he is the son of the recently deceased Lord Volkh Nagarian and that he is to assume power as his father’s heir. Gavril soon comes to understand that his father’s Drakhaoul, Khezef, had sought him out and possessed him as the rightful inheritor and one of Artamon’s descendents.