The Boy Without a Throne
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Slowly he began to think. “Which way,” he whispered to himself, echoing the question in his dream. “Which way indeed.”
After a while, he gathered up the things he had left and headed back to the village. He placed the food in his backpack and sold the heirlooms and the clothes he did not need. When he was done, he had a good bit of money which he put in his money bag.
The small, wooden box that his uncle has been so insistent on saving from the fire was all that was left. He sat down on the edge of town, retrieved the box from his backpack and opened it. All that was inside the box was a single, crumpled letter. He took it out and began to read.
Dear Aaron:
I write this letter in haste, for events of late have overwhelmed me. I am sending to you two travelers named Rosenkrantz and Moss-Fed and they carry with them a most precious gift.
I know I can trust you and I am sending to you, through my two friends, a newborn child who has been orphaned. The child has no parents, for both are now dead because of the terrible troubles in the City of the Great Castle.
The child’s mother died in childbirth and his father was killed by an evil enemy. Beyond that I can say no more, except that this child has no one. If you and your good wife will consent to raise him, I am sure he will have two good and loving parents and will not be alone.
There are a few things, however, that you must promise. First, tell no one from whence this child has come. Say instead that he is your nephew, for the enemy who killed his father is still about.
Second, raise him as your own son. Guide him and instruct him in the ways of good. Teach the boy to love his fellow creatures and to be kind and generous to everyone. Let him have no anger or malice in his heart and teach him to see in others a reflection of himself.
Finally, when the child comes of age and the time is right, let him know the Wizard Wade was his father’s friend. The child’s final destiny lies in the City of the Great Castle but first he must find me. Give him this letter that he may read it and know where to begin his journey. Here is where I will be:
‘To find the Wizard, a man must dream of many mountains’
These are perilous times. The King has been killed by the Black Knight and I am pursued by his soldiers who would gladly have my head. If it were known that you had the child, the soldiers would also come for you. So keep this letter secret and when the time is right, let the boy read this letter and know.
The Wizard Wade
Billy put the letter down, astounded at what he had read. The Wizard Wade was a famous wizard who fought against the Black Knight for more than fourteen years. His uncle had never told him that he knew the Wizard Wade.
He took a deep breath. “It was the Wizard who brought me here to Snor,” he said to himself. “My father was the Wizard’s friend. But who was my father? And where are the Many Mountains?”
Billy gazed out at the desolation of the charred land around him. He knew now what he had to do. “I must find the Wizard Wade.”
He thought for a moment and remembered that the letter has said his destiny was in the City. “The City of the Great Castle,” he finally said. “That is where I’ll begin my search for the Wizard.”
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Fourteen years ago, the Black Knight came to the Valley of Todd, killed the king and seized the throne for himself. The Black Knight then sought to find the newborn son of the murdered king that he might kill him and thus, secure the throne forever. But the arch enemy of the Black Knight, the Wizard Wade, took the child away before the Black Knight could find him and the evil Knight has been searching for the boy ever since.
Years later, the Black Knight comes to the Village of Snor far to the east. There he meets a farm bo named Billy Windor, whose innocence angers the Black Knight. So the Black Knight decides to burn the farm where Billy lives. Billy’s elder uncle dies from the strain.
In the chaos left behind, Billy discovers the Wizard Wade knew his father. So Billy, having nothing left, sets out on a journey to find the Wizard and ask him about his father.
On the way, Billy teams up with a gregarious dragon named Portend and the two set out on a adventure they will not soon forget. But what Billy learns about himself not only changes his life but the destiny of the people of Todd, forever.
About the Author
Elliot Ambrose is a writer who is extremely concerned about the loss of the father in our society and the consequences of this phenomena to children. As an attorney, he has dealt on a daily basis with the social and emotional consequences of fathers (and mothers) abdicating their responsibilities to their children. He has seen that no matter how good intentioned the legal system is, there is no substitute for a parent and that the legal system is simply not equipped to assume such a responsibility for children.
In his book, The Boy Without a Throne, Ambrose laments this sense of abandonment children feel and the resulting loss it brings in their lives. He knows that if a parent could, “Feel as they feel; know as they know”, no child would ever be abandoned again.