Kingdom's Hope

Kingdom's Hope
Book:	2
Series:	Kingdom Series
Author:	Chuck Black
Publisher:	Multnomah
Language:	English
Pages:	160
Followed By:	Kingdom's Edge
Media Type:	Print

Kingdom's Hope is the second book in the series and spans the time from Moses to Malachi. Again, the central characters are Leinad and Tess as they continue to discover their significant role in the Kingdom. From slavery to dragons and more, they learn to rely on each other and The King as they strive to restore hope to a war ravaged kingdom.

Plot[]

Fierce castle lords hold the kingdom hostage. But a champion is coming...

Fairos thought he had sentenced Leinad to death in the Banteen Desert . But Leinad returns—a true Knight of the King. His skill with the sword is unmatched this side of the Great Sea and he is determined to free the people from their bondage to Lord Fairos .

Leinad 's quest takes him from the chains of slavery, near the jaws of dragons, and close to the arms of love. And when the rest of the kingdom turns away from The King and The Code , Leinad turns to his most faithful ally, Tess . With her help, Leinad struggles to conquer his own doubt. But he must do so soon, for The King ’s archenemy, the Dark Knight , is about to unleash his entire evil force, and only Leinad can stop them...

Journey to Arrethtrae , where The King and His Son implement a bold plan to save their kingdom; where courage, faith, and loyalty stand tall in the face of opposition; where good will not bow to evil; where the future of the kingdom is at the threshold of either victory or defeat—and one man holds the key.

Chapters[]

Prologue - Trek of Deliverance
Chapter 1 - A Call for Freedom
Chapter 2 - Hardened Heart
Chapter 3 - Broken Chains
Chapter 4 - Exodus
Chapter 5 - The Code
Chapter 6 - Camelot Years
Chapter 7 - Kergon and the Kessons
Chapter 8 - Kergon's Captives
Chapter 9 - Into the Jaws of the Dragamoth
Chapter 10 - The Regathering
Chapter 11 - The Promise
Chapter 12 - A Future Hope
Epilogue: - Of Battle and of Peace

Summary[]

Cedric of Chessington, preparing for battle alongside the Knights of the Prince, spares some time to continue his account of Leinad.

Armed with the sword forged by Gabrik, clad and dubbed as one of the Knights of the King, and riding a horse named Freedom, Leinad makes his way back to Nyland to challenge Lord Fairos. He calls upon the lord to free his slaves, but the haughty Fairos refuses, and sends his guard captain Keston to face Leinad. Having previously possessed and coveted Leinad's sword, Keston is eager to slay the former slave, but proves to be no match for him. Leinad offers his opponent mercy, but Fairos himself kills Keston for his failure before engaging Leinad himself.

Though Fairos proves a difficult opponent and Keston's body causes a near-fatal stumble, Leinad is able to best the wicked lord in battle. Humiliated and unwilling to acknowledge the King, Fairos orders that his slaves be put on double shifts of work in retaliation. Tess, having arrived just in time to see the end of the duel, is joyously reunited with Leinad after having believed him to be dead. After departing and resting the night, the pair return to Pyron Mid the following day, where Leinad and Fairos face each other once again. Despite being defeated for a second time, Fairos again refuses to free the slaves, and instead orders their rations cut in half.

Leinad returns again the next day, and Fairos engages him despite having no hope of victory. However, Fairos' young son Nevin enters the battle in an attempt to help his father by attacking Leinad. As a result, Nevin is accidentally killed by his own father's sword, and a broken-hearted Fairos finally gives the slaves leave to depart Nyland. The people of Nan and many others, including a man named Audric, choose to follow Leinad and pledge themselves to the King.

As this group make their way to the Red Canyon, Fairos' army appears in pursuit, and the people begin to panic. However, Leinad and his friends Tess, Audric, and Quinn are able to get them through a gorge down into the canyon. A pair of Silent Warriors also appear, and apparently by blowing on their trumpets cause the gorge to collapse upon Fairos' army. The people begin making their way down the canyon, but a portion of the people led by Garrin complain of the harsh conditions that they face.

Leaving Quinn and Audric to lead the people on foot, Leinad and Tess ride ahead on Freedom in search of a way out of the canyon. They see the King waiting atop a nearby cliff, and Leinad climbs up to meet him. The King gives to Leinad the articles of the Code on a scroll to teach the people, as well as providing guidance as to what route will take them out of the canyon and, eventually, to the Chessington Valley. Garrin and his following reject Leinad's account and go their own way, never to be seen again.

The remainder of the people pledge to live by the Code and are blessed with food as they follow the route appointed by the King out of the canyon. They arrive in the Chessington Valley, establish the city of Chessington, and within a few short years are prosperous and relatively at peace. However, the land is plagued by raiders, and the people ask for a lord to be appointed to rule over them. Despite his own misgivings, Leinad is told to grant this request by a Silent Warrior, and he names Quinn as the Lord of Chessington. A palace is built for Quinn, and Leinad trains an order of protectors known as the Knights of Chessington that includes Audric.

Leinad also trains Tess in the art of the sword at her insistence, the two having grown closer as they have matured. Quinn, meanwhile, courts and then marries Moradiah, a noblewoman from another city. However, Leinad is uneasy about the match, and his fears prove justified when Moradiah expresses the intent to establish herself and Quinn as queen and king of Arrethtrae, an act of blasphemy against the King. Though Leinad bests Moradiah's best knights, who like her do not follow the Code or honor the King, in battle, Moradiah's influence over the people grows and leads them down a path of wickedness.

Ultimately, a Silent Warrior arrives with news that the city will be attacked by the Kessons of Daydelon and their lord, Kergon, and that the people will be taken into slavery for seventy weeks. At the warrior's bidding, Leinad goes to Quinn and pleads with him not to resist, but Quinn's pride will not allow him to surrender. Leinad and Tess are then taken captive on Moradiah's orders but freed by a servant boy whom Leinad tasks with hiding the sword given to him by Gabrik. Quinn and Moradiah are both killed by the Kessons along with many knights and citizens, but Kergon spares the remainder after Leinad submits to him.

The majority of the surviving people of Chessington, including Leinad, Tess, and Audric, are then marched to Daydelon and sold into slavery. Some, such as Leinad and Tess, are somewhat fortunate in their circumstances, but all long to return to Chessington. Then, when Kergon's pride leads him to proclaim himself king, the three old friends are the only ones who refuse to submit to this decree. As a result, they are sentenced to be executed in the Vale of the Dragons by savage Dragamoths.

In the midst of this seemingly hopeless encounter, the stranger who earlier aided Leinad and Tess arrives and joins the three in their battle. This enables them to survive and slay several Dragamoths, at which point Kergon relents and brings the three back into Daydelon and into his personal service. Sometime later, the period of bondage decreed previously comes to an end, and another Silent Warrior arrives with tidings. At his bidding, the people of Chessington do not resist when Daydelon is invaded by an army of Kergon's enemies, who allow those of the people who desire to leave Daydelon to do so.

Back in Chessington, Leinad recommits the people to honoring the King and following the Code and establishes the order of the Noble Knights to serve as their new defenders. He appoints Audric to serve as the knights' leader, feeling that another mission awaits him. Leinad's belief is confirmed when Greshane, another Silent Warrior, arrives to bring him to meet with Gabrik. The pair arrive in the midst of a fierce battle between the Silent and Shadow Warriors, with Gabrik's forces being well-outmatched by the army led by Lucius, the Dark Knight, himself. Just as all home seems lost, Silent Warrior reinforcements arrive under Micalem, allowing Gabrik to complete his true mission and deliver to Leinad the Sword of Promise.

Another silent warrior, Keef, brings Gabrik word that Leinad's evil brother Zane and his army are marching on Chessington, and Leinad swiftly rides back there to join the Noble Knights in battle. In the struggle, he comes face-to-face with Zane, who upon learning his brother's identity is all the more eager to kill him. Leinad overcomes Zane in the battle and orders him to withdraw his forces, which Zane reluctantly agrees to. As he's about to leave on his horse, however, Zane throws a knife at Leinad, and Tess is grievously wounded by the weapon when she tackles Leinad to save him from it.

Seeing Tess so badly hurt allows Leinad to see that he has come to love her, and he desperately attempts to care for her. Gabrik arrives and also ministers to Tess but warns that the only way to truly save her life will be to take her across the Great Sea. Tess refuses to leave Leinad, and Zane's army prepares to attack the weary and outnumbered Noble Knights in defiance of Zane's agreement that they would depart. However, Gabrik's Silent Warriors arrive in answer to his summons, and the villains flee. Gabrik informs Leinad that Lucius, though deterred by his confrontation with Micalem, will eventually return, and bids him to deliver the Sword of Promise to the people.

Leinad does so, revealing that the Prince will one day come to rule over Arrethtrae as King. Cedric then takes up the narrative again, noting that Leinad and Tess married and enjoyed a number of happy years before Tess' injuries finally forced her to take the journey across the sea. Leinad remained in Chessington and endeavored to keep the people true to the King, but eventually even the Noble Knights lost their way. However, Cedric notes that Leinad's efforts were not in vain, for Cedric himself if for no one else, and that the promise he brought has been fulfilled. Even as he prepares to ride into battle under the command of the Prince, Cedric promises to share his own tale another time.

Characters[]

Characters
Cedric
Leinad
Fairos
The King
Keston
Tess
Quinn
Zane
Nevin
Barak
Garrin
Audric
Moradiah
Kergon
Lady Weldon
Drasius
Kendrid
Greshane
Micalem
Gabrik
Keef
Lady Fairos

Groups[]

Kessons
Knights of Chessington
Knights of Moradiah
Noble Knights
Shadow Warriors
Silent Warriors
Zane's army

Animals[]

Freedom

Creatures[]

Dragamoths

Locations[]

Arrethtrae
- Chandril
- Chessington Valley
  - Chessington
- Daydelon
  - Vale of the Dragons
- Northern Mountains
- Nyland
  - Pyron Mid
- Red Canyon
- Wolf Ridge
Great Sea
Kingdom Across the Sea

Information[]

• Released on May 1st 2006
• 160 pages
• Subjects: Youth/Youth Interests/Teen Fiction
• Interior illustrations by Marcella Johnson
• 12 Chapters (14 counting the Prologue and Epilogue)

Dedication[]

"I dedicate this book to my future grandchildren. Your place in my arms is waiting."