Quest for the King: A 60 Day Devotional Written as a Fantasy Tale
By AJ Benson and Heather Sutherlin
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About this ebook
Quest for the King is a 60-day devotional written as a fantasy tale. As a devotional, it is the story of each of us, sent on a quest by the King of kings. As a medieval fantasy, the story takes us on a journey to find the King’s child. For both, the path is filled with obstacles and enemies. Each day is another step in the journey to find the child, complete with bible verses, reflective questions, and lines for journaling your thoughts.
The story starts with you.
You are summoned to the throne room. The Lord of the Land has a quest just for you. It is a path fraught with danger, but you must choose it of your own free will. You won’t be alone, though. There will be many on your path:
The Saint
The Prisoner
The Guide
The Promiser
The Liar, and others
Some will be helpers sent by the King. Some will be enemies sent by the beast who will use every weapon in his arsenal to stop you from finding the child. He will even try to steal your soul. Will you find the child before the beast finds you?
AJ Benson
Although this project has two contributors, we came into it with one purpose. It has one author page, because we have one love for Christ that we want to share with you! AJ is a debut author with the publication of Quest for the King. She has a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from The George Washington University and has been writing and editing as an analyst for almost 20 years. She is currently a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and is active in both her church and her sons' Boy Scout troop. AJ reads non-fiction books on a range of topics to include devotionals and health-related books. She also enjoys the whimsy of young adult fantasy, the depth of myth and lore, and the excitement of magic. She loves the epic struggle between good and evil. AJ lives in Maryland with her two sons, three dogs and two cats. AJ's website is AJBensonAuthor.com. ~~~~~~ Heather has published eight novels including the LIGHT OF LOIAN series, which spent five months at the top of Amazon’s free Christian Fantasy charts, and SOUL TIES, a supernatural young adult series. Her first novel, A Light in the Darkness, was featured at the Arkansas Literary Festival. She is the former president of Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas and a current member of the American Christian Fiction Writers. She is an active speaker at conferences and enjoys teaching others about writing tradecraft. Her fantasy novels, for middle grades, teens, and young adults, are exciting adventures filled with quests and new discoveries. Heather enjoys writing in many genres. She is currently working on a paranormal suspense series and also released a contemporary romance, Loose Ends. From children’s lit to non-fiction, there are few genres she wouldn’t love to explore. Heather lives in Arkansas with her three teenage children and loving, supportive husband. Heather's website is HeatherSutherlin.com
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Quest for the King - AJ Benson
Day One: The Summons
You’re a peasant and your life is a mess. The house is a pigsty—and while the pigs make messes on the floor, you are to blame for the filth on the counters. You don’t have time to wipe them or even to scrub the cauldron. The master of the guild has you working late, and your efforts to learn are unappreciated. He leaves you to menial tasks like delivering messages and sweeping as if you are naught but a slave. It’s discouraging.
You daydream about being a knight in the King’s service. That will never happen, though, because the King only chooses the able and the daring, and you are neither. You can't battle dragons. You have no sword, no shield, and no training. You have no garments appropriate to even stand before the King, let alone to fight for Him. What would the King want with a peasant like you? You wonder what it would be like to have a mission, to be a warrior who had the King’s eye. You have dreamt about a meaningful life and have cried out in frustration for the lack of it.
As you attempt to tidy, there is a knock at your door. Who would be calling before the rooster crows? You run your fingers through your unkempt hair and pull your wool cloak from the wall, in hopes of looking like you are heading out. If the interloper believes you are leaving, you may escape his judgmental glare into the pit you call a home. You push open the door.
It is a well-dressed man, in fine white linen trimmed in gold cord, and he takes up the entire door frame. There is no chance to sneak past him. He smiles, makes eye contact, and asks for you by name and title. When you mumble in agreement that you are whom he is seeking, he bows until his head passes the plane of his waist. Then he presents you with a scroll made of beautiful parchment, wrapped in a rich burgundy ribbon, and stamped with the seal of the King.
So glad you are ready to go,
he says. The King is waiting.
You stare at the scroll for a moment and then look back to the courier, but he is gone as a wisp into the fog. You start to question whether he was real at all or just a figment, but realize you are still holding the King’s sealed words in your hands. Trembling, your fingers break the wax and untie the ribbon. The scroll is a summons to appear before the King. You are to leave everything behind and come at once.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"¹b ...he turned to me and heard my cry. ² He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."
Psalm 40: 1b-2
~~~~~~~~~~~~
As you go about your week, put your cries down own paper. Leave them here on the pages of day one. Know that your Heavenly King hears your cries and will lift you out of the slimy pit.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Day Two: Entering the Throne Room
You read the summons again. You are to come immediately and bring nothing. You look around your small hut and realize there is not much to leave behind. There are faded clothes and a dull knife you use to chop up cabbage. There’s also your favorite mirror, the first item you purchased with your trade guild pay, but the reflection holds a stranger. You place it face down on the stump you use for a table, feed the animals, and leave the door unlocked on your way out.
Your pace picks up as you get near to the palace and your heart starts to feel a little lighter. The King wants to see you. YOU! You didn’t even realize the King knew your name. Perhaps you will be like the warriors of old—returning to glory and forever changed. You glance about, and given that no one’s watching, you do a little jig.
The guards at the castle gate recognize the seal and open, without conversation, the large wooden doors with ornate iron work. It surprises you that the gate is not made of pearl and gold. In the courtyard, a young woman greets you with a gentle smile and, saying nothing, waves you down a long open hall with stone archways. You recognize her as a beggar from outside the Traveler’s Tavern. You walked by her many times. She seems to have found decent employment. Her smile is ear to ear.
There is no guard at the inner doors, as you thought there might be. You wonder why the throne room has no one to keep the riff raff out. The door is ajar and you hear someone call out your name. It is evident you are to enter. The interior room is as bright as if the sun itself was contained within. It takes you several moments to adjust your eyes. The floor is made of white marble. The luminescence put off by the walls themselves is warm and inviting. In your old tattered cloak, you feel self-conscious amidst the splendor. It occurs to you that you did not bring a gift and have nothing to offer the King. You hear your name again, and your eyes move to the far end of the hall, where before the King sits a table laden with food. The King says, Sit, and have a bit to eat and drink. The hour is early, and we have much to discuss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me...
John 10:14
~~~~~~~~~~~~
What do you think of the person you have been? Are you willing to leave that person behind to follow the Lord of the Land, knowing that you will be changed? Are you excited that the King of kings has called you? That He knows you by name? Write your thoughts here on what changes you hope the King will make in you.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Day Three: The Quest
As the King examines you, servants rush from almost every direction, bringing even more delicacies, as if called by a silent trumpet. The smell of sweet apples coming from a cobbler that is clearly the King’s tantalizes you. As you survey the early morning feast the King has set out in your honor, He begins to speak.
The light behind the King blinds you momentarily, but its glow softens, and His calm, wise, but saddened eyes catch your attention. I have chosen you from among many for this quest.
Your eyes grow as round as saucers, your eyebrows rise as high as your hairline, and you fidget with your ratty, grey cloak. Your heart races.
"Your quest is to locate a missing child of royal blood. When you find this child and return to my palace, you will receive both glory and treasure beyond your wildest imagination. The way will not be easy. You will have to ask strangers to help you in your cause. In