Before They Awaken

In the sequel to King David's Lost Crown, Mahlir is given a note by a stranger disclosing that his two-year-old son is the blood offspring of King Philip of the northern regions. It is a revelation that marks the child for assassination, because he is the unwelcome heir to a crown that would otherwise belong to King Philip's younger brother, King Antipas of Galilee. There is hope, however, even though the child lies dead. There is a man who is rumored to have the ability to raise up the dead, and he is in Jerusalem for Passover. But there is only one way that can happen now. It is the way of the impossible. Because this man, this mysterious sorcerer, worker of the miraculous whom some are beginning to call the Messiah, would have to first raise himself from the dead, for unbeknownst to Mahlir, he has been executed, nailed to a cross, a method of death reserved for the most heinous of criminals.