Releasing Jan 2, 2026, to be available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, many online booksellers, and local bookstores by special order.
When simmering unrest becomes open rebellion, do you do what’s right or what loyalty demands?
Scorned by his family since birth, Rogatus is a loner who relies on no one. He only needs two more years as a tribune, and he’ll have earned enough that the future he wants is assured, no matter what his father does to him. But as he begins his final command in Britannia, he meets the people who might end his loneliness…or his life.
With a Roman mother and British centurion father, Narina is at home in both tribal and Roman worlds. As the only Christian, she’s the peacemaker between her Roman brothers and British cousins. Cousin Sulio hates most Romans, but he loves her like a sister. When Rogatus brings his cavalrymen to their town, their chieftain wants Sulio to befriend the tribune to learn what the Romans are up to. As the tribune’s interest in Narina grows, Sulio wants to quench that before she gets hurt. But how can he do both?
When unrest becomes rebellion, old loyalties create mortal enemies. Narina has God to guide her, but her Roman friend and British cousin aren’t Christians. How can she get two strong men, who seem destined to be enemies, to choose life over death before it’s too late?
Light in the Empire Series: Dangerous times, difficult friendships, lives transformed by forgiveness and love
What Loyalty Demands is the fifteenth stand-alone volume in the Light in the Empire series, which follows the interconnected lives of the members of several Roman families during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. The novels of the stand-alone series will take you around the Empire, from Germania and Britannia to Thracia, Dacia, Judaea, North Africa, Egypt, and, of course, to Rome itself.
Where to get Carol’s books:
Paperback, hardcover, and Kindle formats at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com.au and international Amazon sites
Paperback, hardcover and Nook (epub) at Barnes & Noble.
Paperback and hardcover at many online booksellers
Paperback and hardcover at independent bookstores
Ebooks at Kobo world wide
Other books in the stand-alone Light in the Empire series
The books are written so you can start the series with any of them.
Relationships between the Light in the Empire novels
Volume 1: Forgiven Are some wounds too deep to forgive?
Volume 2: Blind Ambition Sometimes you have to almost die to discover how you want to live.
Volume 3: The Legacy When Rome has taken everything, what’s left for a man to give?
Volume 4: Faithful Is the price of true friendship ever too high?
Volume 5: Second Chances Must the shadows of the past destroy the hope of the future?
Volume 6: True Freedom The chains we cannot see can be the hardest ones to break.
Volume 7: Hope Unchained Can the deepest loss bring the greatest gain?
Volume 8: Honor Bound Honor had forced him to protect her. Time would tell if he’d regret it.
Volume 9: Hope’s Reward Must the secrets we hide destroy our hope for a future?
Volume 10: More Than Honor
As he hunts the one who killed her father, will he discover the secret that could lead to her death?
Volume 11: What Matters Most When faced with impossible choices, how do you decide what matters most?
Volume 12: Truth and Honor Is truth worth the price if it costs you everything?
Volume 13: Crushed Hopes and Hopeful Beginnings Can God work all things for good if you don’t even think he’s real?
Volume 14: River of Life When the future you dreamed of looks impossible, maybe God has a better one planned.
Volume 15: What Loyalty Demands When simmering unrest becomes open rebellion, do you do what’s right or what loyalty demands?
Relationships between the Light in the Empire Novels
Lists and charts of the times, locations, and people in the different novels. All can be read stand-alone, but you might enjoy reading some together because of what they share.
Important aspects of Roman history for each can be found in the short articles at the end of each novel linked here and in longer articles in this website.