DORYLAEUM
Nicaea, 1097. Daniel has gone from a petty thief living in the shadows of Constantinople to a budding squire serving the gruff Sir Hendry. He’s earned his place among the crusaders, proving himself capable during the capture of the impenetrable city, but he is still a meager player in a massive army of princes and lords.
The crusaders have scored the first victory in their quest for Jerusalem, but the holy city still lays thousands of miles away. And though the Saracens have been beaten, they are not defeated. Their horde of mounted archers gathers in the shadows, waiting for the right chance to strike.
STORM OF WAR
Constantinople, 1097. As an insignificant thief in the underbelly of Constantinople, Daniel wants to matter, to be known. After a botched job forces him to flee the city, he is swept up among the thousands of crusaders as they depart for the Holy Land on their mission to retake Jerusalem. Their first obstacle: Nicaea, an impenetrable city of stone walls and high towers, impervious to assault and immune to siege.
Now a fledgling servant to a gruff Scottish knight, Daniel struggles to fit in among Saracens and Crusaders, princes and priests. Will he find his worth as he learns to live in this new world of blood and death, or will he succumb to the storm of war?
THE RISE OF DAVID
David was a shepherd, then a warrior. Now, he’s a fugitive, called by God to lead the nation, yet chased into the desert by Saul, the mad king who rules in his stead. But he isn’t alone. Gathered with him is a ragtag group of the downtrodden and discontent. Men who need to a leader. Men who need a king.
Saul has fallen hard. Once the proud ruler of God’s chosen nation, he’s little more than an empty shell of fear and doubt, haunted by his past and unwilling to change. His obsession with finding David is leading his people into ruin, and God has commanded him to give up the thrown.
THE SHEPHERD AND THE KING
David, new shepherd and youngest of eight, doesn’t want to fight. He wants to disappear, to be alone with his sheep. His brothers mock him, his father ignores him, and even the sheep he protects flee him. Yet, he was born for more. Yahweh has called him beyond the fields of little Bethlehem. He has called him to greatness.
Saul is king of Israel. Its first. Chosen by Yahweh and anointed by Samuel the prophet, he leads the fledgling nation as he defends its borders with shaky hands. Chosen and anointed he may be, but he is also a failure. Hounded by fear and anger and doubt, he is quickly losing his tenuous grip on the nation. Yahweh has new plans for Saul. And it does not involve a crown.