When the Heavens Fall

Book excerpt: A wayward young man finds himself—and his faith—in the fight against Bloody Mary’s Protestant persecution in the sequel to Honor in the Dust. Mary I of England is determined to eliminate the Protestant faith by edict, sword, or both. In this turbulent time, young Brandon Winslow—the son of the royal falconer Stuart Winslow—finds himself in dire straits. Drummed out of the military for seducing the wife of his commanding officer, he sinks into a life of gambling and petty fraud along with Lupa, the fair gypsy woman who nursed him back to health. When Brandon sees several Protestants burned at the stake in London, the experience changes him. Though he has only been a nominal member of the Church of England, he finds himself compelled to stop those responsible for these outrages—and to do so before his uncle Quentin, a pastor, is executed for his faith. The only way to end the scourge is to make Princess Elizabeth queen. Joining such an effort would be punishable by death. It’s a risky proposition to say the least. But then, Brandon has always been a gambler . . .