Fantasy series

[jodran2005]

I am trying to find a book series (It was of three or four books). The book covers lined up to form one large image if the books were laid side by side in order. Color was orange.

The books had multiple perspectives. It was centered around the festival of Beltane and they burned effigies of the queen. There was some element of factions/getting chosen for specific jobs. The main characters were orphans? Or non-chosen-people. I remember one person running errands for people and getting bread for prostitutes. There was a castle/palace which had fine marble for the halls I think. Farmers from surrounding areas would set up in a field outside city limits during the festival.

Stephen, medieval England, short story or extract

[sarusaihiryu]

Hi, I'm looking for a short story or extract from a novel set in England a few years after Richard I's crusade. The main character is a high-strung teenage boy named Stephen, who is raised by his guardian to believe that he is the son of a soldier who died heroically on the walls of acre. Stephen is given a mission which terrifies him but which he manages to accomplish. His guardian's friend is amazed by his guardian's pronounced relief, and it is then revealed that Stephen's father was hanged on the walls of acre for cowardice. I can't remember the name of the author or the title or anything. If anyone knows which book I mean, please tell me. Thanks!