The Reluctant King by L. Sprague de Camp

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+, Dust Jacket: Good+/Very Good-. 1983. Doubleday. Book Club Edition.

Dust jacket protected in mylar sleeve.

Laws of Xylar decreed that each king shall be beheaded upon the end of their five-year reign. So with the help of a wizard, King Jorian escaped. Unfortunately, his wife had been left behind. In order to pull off a rescue, Jorian would have to locate a trove of ancient spells, deal with an enemy wizard, steal an item from a 500-year-old princess, and then some.

Contains three complete novels: The Goblin Tower, The Clocks of Iraz, and The Unbeheaded King