FORSAKING ALL OTHERS (The Ten Commands)

Nearly a year after saving Thone from a disastrous war with the Hill Dwarves, bard Lewys of Cafled and his beloved Eryel are ready to leave danger behind and begin a quiet life together as husband and wife. A simple request—to bring Eryel’s debt-bound parents from the manorial village of Cullasa to attend their wedding—draws Lewys, Eryel, and Father Jorde into a dangerous world of goblin raids, cannibal hags, oppressive lords, broken courts, and a border town where Count Olin rules by fear, flattery, and force. Forsaking All Others unfolds the Sixth Commandment as more than a prohibition against adultery, painting marriage as a sacred, joyful vocation in which husband and wife “forsake all others” and become one flesh. Through Lewys and Eryel’s courtship, Jorde’s blunt but pastoral catechesis, the twisted marriage of Count and Countess, and the wounded loves of soldiers, servants, and peasants, the story wrestles with chastity, abuse of authority, cohabitation, lust, repentance, and forgiveness in a deeply Lutheran way. Readers see how faithfulness in marriage is bound up with protecting the vulnerable, honoring promises, bearing the cross together, and learning to trust that God works even through suffering, injustice, and hard providences to preserve both bodies and souls.Written for ages 12 and older. Read more