Chapter One

"What's happening?" asked the first, tall and dark skinned.

"I don't know," replied the man with long black hair. "But wheels are turning, aren't they?"

"Things appear synchronized," said the third man, compact and broad shouldered. "A pattern is emerging. Something great seems poised to happen. Something else lurks in the shadows. It seeks to devour the greatness before it is born."

"Two destinies are converging. But neither suspects it."

The tall one pointed toward a great palace in the distance. "He searches to find the right man for the right hour. Is this the hour? Is this the man?"

"And if so, which man? Or both? We see far more clearly than they do. But still our minds are too small to figure it all out."

"The soil was tilled and the seeds planted twenty years ago," the broad-shouldered man said. "No. A hundred years, at least. Now we will see what fruit the vine produces, or whether it will wither and die."

"Hanging in the balance are not just two men," said the longhaired man, "but two families, perhaps two nations."

"Indeed, two worlds."

"The loss could be immense. Or the gain immeasurable." His voice trembled.

"We must watch closely as the tapestry is woven ... or as it unravels."

"We must do more than watch." The tall man reached out one hand to the other two, who grasped it firmly, the muscles of their forearms taut. They now looked like warriors.

"The stakes are high."

"Higher than they can possibly imagine. Higher than we