Table of Contents & Prologue
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1 The King’s Festival
Chapter 2 A Cry for Help
Chapter 3 A Series of Awkward Events
Chapter 4 The Performance Debacle
Chapter 5 Lost Inheritance
Chapter 6 Plot Against the Son
Chapter 7 It Is Finished
Chapter 8 The Demotion
Chapter 9 Devotion versus Deception
Chapter 10 Enlisting Reinforcements
Chapter 11 The Secret Place
Chapter 12 Temptation
Chapter 13 The Escape
Chapter 14 The Village in the Valley
Chapter 15 An Unexpected Friend
Chapter 16 More Music
Chapter 17 A Clue to Their Whereabouts
Chapter 18 Three Dreams
Chapter 19 Birds and Beasts
Chapter 20 The Ride
Chapter 21 Hidden Treasure
Chapter 22 The Tower Within the Trees
Chapter 23 The Book from the Turret
Chapter 24 The Rescue
Chapter 25 The Garden
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Reflection 1
Reflection 2
About the Author
Prologue
Beside the rippling stream, the man, almost ageless in appearance, rested his fishing pole and recent catch on a rock and sat at the water’s edge. The wind rustled through the large oak trees that surrounded him on both sides. He slipped off his sandals; dipped his feet into the cool, rushing current; and basked in the peace. He thought of the garden, the nature around him turning his mind this way. He was there when it all began. The inheritance. He witnessed its creation and then saw it stolen in a mere moment—all because of disobedience. He knew it could only be regained by the obedience of John, the king’s perfect son. But when? Only the king knew. Timing, of course, was in the king’s hand.
The man, as the king’s helper, had been sent here and there to gift people with special abilities or assert his power whenever and wherever needed . . . But, after the victory of the king’s son, he could closely comfort and encourage anyone who received him.
The early morning sun began its rise, so he lifted himself up from the bank, gathered his fish and pole, and headed along the stream toward his cabin. He gazed up into a sky streaked with many colors. “Ah,” he said, “rain is coming.”
Suddenly, the song of a bird filled his ears and at times it hung notes that mirrored the melody of the king’s song. The song of all songs. The king had composed this ballad and penned its lyrics to describe his passionate love and pursuit of his children, and how he longingly anticipated the restoration of the garden. Oh, how the king missed it.
How he had missed it too. They wanted the inheritance recovered, for themselves, but especially for the king’s daughter . . .