Under Ares' command, Lystra has successfully defended her capital from invasion by a Qarqarian usurper who wants the legitimate heir, whom Ares is sheltering, dead. But this defense has come at the heartbreaking cost of many casualties among Ares' youngest soldiers.
In apparent gratitude, the ruler of neighboring Calle Valley invites Ares to inspect the ships confiscated from the enemy, now harbored at Prie Mer. So Ares accepts, bringing his young wife Nicole, a native of Prie Mer.
Once there, they discover that their host intends to keep them prisoners, for if he can do away with...

"Come at once. Ares is dying."
So reads the frantic message from Surchataine Nicole that brings Ares' adopted son Henry out of exile after two years. When Henry arrives at Westford, he discovers vultures gathering over the province, eyeing Ares' twin 14-year-old daughters, Sophie and Bonnie. Accustomed to patrolling the wild western border of Lystra to keep out slavers, Henry must now readjust to courtly intrigues-a task made all the more difficult by the meaningless but conspicuous leper's brand on his hand.
Matters come to a head when Surchatain Magnus of Scylla comes for...

Driven to distraction keeping control of twin twelve-year-old daughters, Surchatain Ares welcomes the services of a jester at the palace of Westford. Upon finding himself a celebrity and a confidant of the Surchatain, the jester attempts to discredit his main rival for Ares' attention: the Surchataine Nicole.
In countering the jester's attack, Nicole turns to the superior gamesmanship of the beautiful, heartless Chataine Renee, who plays her part with such skill that the jester becomes a pawn in a power struggle between two provinces. However, the game is altered by the unexpected...

Having abdicated the throne of Lystra in favor of his adopted son, Henry, Ares travels to the monastery/ leprosarium he had established, the Sanctum. Ares has heard disturbing reports that the Master of the Sanctum has converted it to his own private domain. Not to be left behind, Nicole follows.
With the cooperation of Nicole and the Second Oswald, Ares acts as poltergeist to the Master's rule at the Sanctum. But when Henry's sister Renee misplaces some property, she goes to the Sanctum to recover it-and there discovers who is fomenting rebellion against the young Surchatain.
...

The Chataine's guardian, Roman, sees his dreams fulfilled beyond his wildest hopes when the armies invading Lystra are felled by disease and Roman's Commander, Galapos, assumes rulership of the country. Moreover, Roman is reunited with his bride, Chataine Deirdre, who is pregnant with their first child. But while Galapos is consumed with the task of rebuilding war-torn Lystra, Deirdre allows herself to be lured away from Roman's protection.
Immediately after giving birth in a cave, she is sold into slavery and taken to another province. Upon her mysterious disappearance, Roman undertakes...

Answering a golden threat requires a sterling faith . . .
Secure on the throne of Lystra, Roman, the Chataine's former guardian, heeds a warning that a nearby ruler is amassing power to strike. Roman decides to go see the situation for himself. His wife, the Surchataine Deirdre, convinces him that she should go as well. Leaving their young son in trusted hands, they travel to Corona to confront a madman who dresses himself not just in gold, but in supernatural powers.
During their absence, a usurper attempts to seize power at Westford, so Roman must attack his own capital to regain...

Native New Yorker Royce Arrendondo wearies of life on a Texas ranch and leaves. When her husband Paul sets out to look for her a month later, he comes to a dead end in Fort Worth-until meeting reclusive billionaire Fletcher Streiker:
"Paul, let me tell you a great truth: everybody gets what they truly want-not what they think they want, but what they genuinely desire in the depths of their heart. Ultimately, this is what they receive."
The question is, can Paul believe it enough to find Royce? Or is he too afraid to discover what he really wants?
"His Strange Ways" is the...

Do you believe in miracles?
When Marni Taylor meets her new apartment neighbor-brash, good-looking Dallas Narcotics Detective Sammy Kidman-she pegs him right away as a heartbreaker, a user. Still, she agrees to help him with an undercover assignment. By the time he's through with her, Marni is so traumatized that she is driven to find healing in a faith she never knew she had.
That same faith forces Marni to decide what to do about a man she both hates and loves, while Sammy, faced with the terrifying consequences of his actions, makes a blind grab at redemption. But Sammy is a cop,...

When the going gets tough, the tough . . . go fishing. The daily grind of working for a living starts to wear on Dallas detective Sammy Kidman, so he and his wife Marni accept her parents' invitation to spend a week fishing with them and their pastor on Lake Texoma. But when a runaway hiding in their cabin draws the unwelcome attention of the county sheriff, Sammy poses as a Hollywood documentary producer come to film the residents of Bastion, Oklahoma.
Just when he thinks he has everything under control, a member of his party falls seriously ill and he takes up a bedside vigil in the...