N.A. Carson
Varzanic
The Oracle and the Emperor
The series has dueling books. They can be stand-alone or read together. The same storyline is told from different perspectives.
The Emperor's Oracle
Faron is not the eldest or youngest son. He’s somewhere near the end of his twenty-eight siblings, but with the gods appointing him crown prince, he quickly became his father’s favorite. The emperor is the embodiment of the gods. They get to choose from the emperor’s sons, and Faron finds the position being passed to him with the death of his father.
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The young emperor is meant to be strong, proud, and show no weakness. Faron must become the symbol of the most powerful empire known across all the lands. He has prepared his whole life for this, but he can’t do it alone. The empire will fail to prosper until its emperor and oracle become one in body and mind.
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For the gods may work through Faron, but the new emperor can not speak for them. He needs the oracle the gods handpicked to accompany Faron through his reign. Only the oracles can commune with the heavens and ensure the empire remains within the gods’ favor. But the man chosen for him is a tall, bulky, blond, heathen, with no sense of dignity or respect for the crown, and the emperor is having none of it.
The Oracle's Emperor
Markus has little ambition. He has a carefree life on the family farm located by a trading post. The small territory is constantly changing from one jurisdiction to another. The locals have stopped caring and simply wait for whomever they owe taxes to come by to collect. It’s a simple life, and Markus likes it that way.
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During a day at the market, Markus’s brother notices he is speaking another language to a traveler. Markus insists the man speaks the same language as them. After testing it out, they discover that Markus can understand every foreign traveler, and they can understand him. It all sounds the same to Markus, and he can’t even recognize when he’s speaking a different language. This blessing from the gods is not overlooked by the locals, and begrudgingly, Markus agrees to be the interpreter for the town.
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Word of a man who can speak any language spreads throughout the empire. It eventually lands on the ears of the high priest and servant to the gods. A new emperor has been crowned, and the search for his oracle is already underway. And they may have just found him—an ordinary farm boy with zero ambitions.