Blood Royal Read online

  Blood Royal

  Copyright © 2015 by Evan Ansot. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, descriptions, entities, and incidents included in the story are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, and entities is entirely coincidental.

  The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Tate Publishing, LLC. Published by Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC

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  Book design copyright © 2015 by Tate Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Cover design by Norlan Balazo

  Interior design by Gram Telen

  Published in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-68237-935-6

  Fiction / Religious

  15.08.21

  The Genealogy

  God begat Adam who begat Seth who begat Enos who begat Cainan who begat Mahalaleel who begat Jared who begat Enoch who begat Methuselah who begat Lamech who begat Noah who begat Shem who begat Arphaxad who begat Cainan who begat Shelah who begat Eber who begat Peleg.

  Peleg begat Reu who begat Serug who begat Nahor who begat Terah who begat Abraham who begat Isaac who begat Jacob who begat Judah who begat Perez who begat Hezron who begat Aram who begat Amminadab who begat Nahshon who begat Salmon who begat Boaz who begat Obed.

  Obed begat Jesse who begat David who begat Solomon who begat Rehoboam who begat Abijah who begat As, who begat Jehoshaphat who begat Joram who begat Uzziah who begat Jotham who begat Ahaz who begat Hezekiah who begat Manasseh who begat Amos who begat Josiah who begat Jechoniah.

  Evan Ansot Jechoniah begat Shealetiel who begat Zerubbabel who begat Abiud who begat Eliakim who begat Azor who begat Zadok who begat Achim who begat Eliud who begat Eleazor who begat Matthan who begat Jacob who begat Joseph who begat Jesus who begat Joseph who begat Bron who begat Alain.

  Who begat Joseu who begat Aminadab who begat Catheloys who begat Manael who begat Titurel who begat Frimutel who begat Boaz who begat Marcomer who begat Faramund who begat Chlodio who begat Merovech who begat Childeric who begat Clovis who begat Clotaire who begat Chilperic who begat Clotaire.

  Clotaire begat Dagobert who begat Clovis who begat Theodoric who begat Bertrada who begat Claribert who begat Bertrade who begat Charlemagne who begat Pepin who begat Bernard who begat Pepin who begat Herbert who begat Beatrix who begat Hugh Magnus who begat Hugh Capet who begat Robert II who begat Henry I.

  Henry I begat Hugh Crepi Magnus who begat Countess Elizabeth de Vermandois who begat Countess Gundred de Warren who begat Waleran de Newburgh who begat Alice de Newburgh who begat Isabel Maudit who begat Sir Walter de Beauchamp who begat Giles de Beauchamp who begat John de Beauchamp who begat Sir Walter de Beauchamp who begat Elizabeth de Beauchamp who begat Sir Robert Dudley who begat Sir Edward Dudley who begat Sir Henry Dudley who begat Sir Edward Dudley who begat Sir Walter Dudley.

  Walter Dudley begat Sir John Dudley who begat Sir Nicholas Dudley who begat Sir Edward Dudley who begat John Dudley who begat Robert Dudley who begat Wayne Dudley who begat Thomas Dudley who begat Charles Dudley who begat Thomas Dudley who begat Edward Dudley who begat Rodger Dudley who begat Wayne Dudley who begat Ronald Dudley who begat Alfred Dudley who begat Edward Dudley.

  There are 128 generations from God to Edward Dudley, born November 21, 1963, in Manistee, Michigan.

  Ur, the Land of the Chaldeans

  1800–2000 bc

  “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy

  country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1–3, kjv).

  “And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee” (Genesis 13:14–17, kjv).

  “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18, kjv).

  “And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee” (Genesis 17:6, kjv).

  “And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 28:14, kjv).

  God made an agreement with Abraham a long time ago. God promised Abraham these three things:

  1. The promise of land. God called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans to a land that He would give him. 2. The promise of descendants. God promised Abraham that He would make nations out of him. 3. The promise of blessings to all families of the Earth through His offspring.

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  Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, Judea “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:4–11, kjv).

  After Jesus had risen up with the clouds, the apostles Philip and Bartholomew, along with Joseph of Arimathea, escorted the pregnant Mary Magdalene back to Bethany to the house of their friend Lazarus. With them was her twoyear-old son Joseph.

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  Caesarea, Samaria It seemed to Philip that ever since the day when Jesus ascended to the Father from the Mount of Olives, the church of Jesus Christ began to divide among itself. The leaders of the twelve apostles began to disagree as to the doctrine of their Lord and how they perceived him.Without a shepherd to guide them, the sheep disagreed about their perceptions of the way of the Lord. Passionate arguments took place that led to apostles departing from each other creating widespread division amongst the faithful.

  There was a faction that was at first led by Peter but a few years later, led by James, the brother of our Lord, who believed that
all the Jewish rituals and observances should be held, just as Jesus had done while He was in the flesh. This group believed that new converts should be circumcised, just as had been Jewish tradition begun by the covenant between God and Abraham and carried on to the present day. That the Sabbath and all holidays be observed, including the Passover. They argued with reason that since the Master practiced Judaism so should all his followers. Philip partially agreed with this doctrine, but unlike James, Matthew, Simon the Zealot, Jude, and the Church of Jerusalem, he felt that it should be voluntary and not mandatory.

  Too many rituals for the newly converted gentiles to take in, Philip thought. Judaism is a family belief system and a way of life that can take generations for those who wish to master its practices. The pagans of Europe would have a difficult time holding up to the Judaist form of Christianity. Simplicity is the key to gaining newfound believers, and Judaism was anything but. “We must not make this too difficult for them,”argued Philip to the church of Jerusalem. “This is a gift from God, not something to be worked toward, not something to be earned, the price has been paid.” Philip felt that rules would only choke the spirit and remove the blessings given to the church from the Father.

  On the other hand, the newly converted Paul had changed everything. He, along with now Peter, Andrew, John Mark, Luke, and several other disciples, believed that the only requirement was belief that Jesus was the Messiah and you would be saved by faith in the belief of that. This opened up the way to all the gentiles of the world.

  Paul had been traveling to Greece and Asia Minor, preaching the word to the masses and proving that he was firmly committed to the message, but Philip wondered if Paul actually knew Jesus. Peter had vouched for Paul to Philip, but he was still unconvinced. Paul wasn’t there for three years as the others had, and Philip figured that Paul’s knowledge had to be limited to secondhand information. Whom is he receiving all his knowledge about Jesus from? Is he divinely inspired or is there a political agenda? he thought. Philip had questioned Paul about all this, and afterward he still wasn’t quite sure.

  Paul had talked of a miracle on his way to Damascus that had changed him. Considering all the miracles that Philip had seen so far in his life, he believed that the former Pharisee had told the truth. His only concern was that Paul was getting knowledge from the apostles about the life of Jesus whose views were different than his own. Then again, Philip was a bit more mystical than the rest as the Master had told him from time to time. But what it really came down to was that Philip didn’t trust Paul. There just wasn’t that much to like about the legalistic Pharisees.

  Apostles were teaching that Jesus was the son of God, which is the truth, but what they weren’t teaching is that the Lord is also the son of Man. He ate, fished, drank wine, laughed, joked, prayed, and shed tears with them.

  Philip remembered back to the time when Jesus heard of the news that John had been murdered. Never in Philip’s life had he seen a person grieve so much. Jesus had wept all night long and the following day, refusing to be comforted. There was a special kinship between Jesus and John that only those two could share in. That time period was shared by the apostle as well due to Philip spending two years of his life with the Baptist himself. Many tears were shared that Sabbath day between the two. Philip was able to see the human side of Jesus better than others due to the time each spent with the Baptist.

  Jesus was indeed the son of God, but he was definitely the son of Man as well. There was a human side to him that wasn’t being taught to the masses. This human side of Jesus needed to be shared to the newly converted, and Philip would see that it would be done. Yet this doctrine seemed to be getting stifled by those with an agenda that put Jesus as a God and not a man-God.

  Jesus had also loved a woman, the Magdalene, and no one was talking about that. The Lord was every bit a man as the rest was. Even more so in Philip’s mind as he saw Jesus being the definition of a man’s man. After all, he learned of being a builder from his father Joseph and was used to working with his hands. He also helped the others bring in nets of fish in Bethsaida and Capernaum; this was something men did and was not a job for the weak. This was not being taught among the churches, and it concerned Philip and his eternal sidekick Bartholomew. They had spent long nights talking extensively on this subject, and the direction of the early church was different then what they envisioned. Philip wondered what power was behind this movement to make Jesus someone he wasn’t. Why are they hiding facts about Jesus’s life? Who is behind all of this?

  What concerned Philip the most was that a good majority of Jesus’s teaching was being left out.Bartholomew agreed with him that the main focus of Jesus’s message was that the kingdom of Heaven lied within us. That the primary mission was to show what we are all capable of. Paul and others were putting the savior on a pedestal that Jesus shied away from. In Philip’s mind, Jesus wanted to lift all the apostles up to his level and not put himself above the rest. Jesus had considered them all brothers and, not servants nor he their master. They were all elevating Jesus to a level Philip thought that the apostle had not witnessed in his three years with the teacher.

  Jesus’s message was for everyone to join Jesus at that level. That the Lord was the firstborn Son of God but not the only one. In Greece, Philip had intense arguments with Paul over this issue but for naught. Paul and his band of followers were bound and determined to create a church that had a false doctrine. Paul was deifying a friend of his, and Philip took great exception to this.

  He remembered an argument in Ephesus where Philip and Paul went nose to nose.

  “Pharisee, who do you think you are? You act like you traveled with him for three years like I have,” said Philip with much volume to his voice.

  “My name is not Pharisee. It’s now Paul. Jesus himself gave me that name,” said Paul.

  “I don’t care what name he gave you. Stop teaching a false doctrine,” said an angry Philip.

  “All my teachings are divinely inspired by Jesus. And I will continue to do the Lord’s bidding,” said Paul; his face a beet red.

  “He’s the son of God, but he’s also the son of Man, and don’t you forget that, Saul of Tarsus,” said Philip as he walked away from the man. Before leaving he looked back at Paul and his followers, pointed his finger toward them, and shouted out, “Remember that he had a family. A wife, a child, and another on the way! Don’t be making my friend into someone that he isn’t!” He hadn’t talked to Paul since that encounter nor did he care to. Yet Paul’s form of Christianity was becoming quite popular while the truth was sadly being thrown to the wayside.

  In India and to the east where Thomas and Matthias was and in Egypt and Ethiopia, where Philip and Bartholomew had been, they were being taught that we are all one and that the kingdom of Heaven lay within us.This was also the gospel being taught here at Caesarea by Philip as well. The people here welcomed the gospel that we are all one, sons and daughters of the living God. No one apostle or disciple being above anyone else. Asking whatever you wish for in Jesus’s name and it will be done through the power of the Holy Spirit that lies within each of those who choose the way of the Nazarene.

  Lastly, what bothered Philip the most was that women as a whole were being left out of the discussion. Jesus had confided much knowledge to his companion, Mary of Magdalene, and she was being shut out of the equation from the early church. She spoke in such mystical terms that had been shared to her by her mate, and because of jealousy of the other apostles, they were ostracizing her for it. This feeling of jealousy seemed to be getting worse as each year passed by since the crucifixion. Peter had all but told Mary that her opinion didn’t matter, that she was a woman who needed to be silent, that he and not her was the “apostle to the apostles.” That had led to another argument between Philip and a fellow apostle. This time, it was Peter who received the wrath of Philip.

  The Jewish followers of the way in Jerusalem were used to having women in the outer courts and men in the inner, and old ha
bits had died hard. But that wasn’t how Jesus treated them. There were many women who followed the Lord during those days, and now they were being treated as second class.

  The church was split in at least three different directions: Mary Magdalene with Philip, Thomas, and Bartholomew in her corner; Paul with Peter, Andrew, John Mark, and Luke in his corner; and James with Matthew, Simon, and Jude in his. Schisms abounded as to the early doctrine of the way.

  John, being the youngest, was caught in the middle of this madness and refused to take sides. He tried to play the part of peacemaker, but because of his youth during those days of walking with the Lord, not many listened to him. Philip and John had expressed concerns to each other as to the direction of the church and agreed that the division was not what the Lord had in mind when he taught the twelve apostles.They agreed while working together in Asia Minor that what was happening was truly a house divided.

  Tears of sadness followed by years of prayer had changed nothing. Something had to give. It would, but it wasn’t the result Philip prayed for.

  Many nights Philip would be knelt down praying, “Lord here my prayer.

  “I give thanks to you for your many gifts given me this and every day. The fields are bountiful for the harvest, but the laborers are not united. We argue, Lord, over your message. Is this the way you intended it? Are we to be a house divided, and if this is so, then why would you make it that way? I cannot go to their side, for I know it is false, yet they won’t come to me.

  “Please unite your house, wash away our sins, and clothe us in white. I await your return, amen.”

  Deep down, Philip felt that the Lord’s church was being hijacked by some unseen force. It was a house divided, and if it continued on its present path, it wouldn’t stand. He was going to teach what he knew the truth of Jesus, and if it conflicted with the others, well then, let things fall where they may.