The Secular Wizard

Life should have been looking up in Latruria, the sundrenched land south of Merovence. The wicked old king was dead. His grandson, Boncorro, had ascended the throne, and the country rejoiced. Years of suffering had ended: taxes were down and the populace prospered. Folk could worship as they chose, for King Boncorro refused to submit his kingdom to the rule of Evil.
So what was amiss? Why was turmoil spreading beyond Latruria's boundaries? Could there possibly be any truth to the imponderable rumors that young King Boncorro also spurned the rule of Good?
As Lord Wizard of Merovence, Matt Mantrell had learned the hard way that neutrality wasn't an option in this world of magic. So he set out in disguise to learn the truth about Latruria and its remarkable new ruler. But Matt's masquerade wasn't quite clever enough to keep Latruria's sinister Chancellor Rebozo from mobilizing his minions....
Thus it was that "Minstrel" Matt sang his way south, dodging deadly enemies and music critics alike. He found himself teamed with a lovesick lad, menaced by a manticore, haunted by an ill-disposed ghost from Greece, and swept up in a veritable flood of young people, all fleeing their stultifying provincial homes for the "glamour" of the big city. But when their pilgrimage washed up on the shores of Boncorro's capital, harsh reality awaited them, not gold-paved streets. And an even harsher reality awaited Matt, for Boncorro's Lord Chancellor proposed a test of magic - and Matt would need a lot of help to pass!