by Patricia Hetticher
About the Book
In the eleventh-century BC, during the final days of King Saul's reign and the early days of King David's reign, it's a time of shifting borders, blending cultures, and changing allegiances. It's harder and harder to discern who is friend and who is enemy. It's a time of turmoil for soldiers and civilians of Israel and Philistia. Without warning, Belah and Junia, two teen-aged sisters, are forced from their home in Azekah by Amalekite raiders. The girls must flee to the land of Israel, their enemy. Clinging to nothing but each other, they are captured by King Saul's army, and their fate is in the hands of the highest-ranking officers. Belah is chosen to be the bride of Simeon, the cruelest of them all, while Junia will be a servant until she is old enough to marry. With their heads shaved, their clothing burned and replaced with awful, coarse tunics, the terrified girls await the morning's light. In their tiny tent, Belah's only thought is to protect her sister, whose innocence cannot conceive what the future holds for them. How will they escape? And who was the soldier who caught Belah's gaze and wouldn't let go?
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