Wallia’s Quest Book 3 – Between Empires: A Goth’s Fight for Freedom in a Roman World

“My name is Wallia, and I am a Goth.” So begins the third book chronicling Wallia’s quest to find a permanent home for his people and freedom from Rome.The story opens in the aftermath of the Battle of the Frigidus, where Emperor Theodosius the Great saved his throne from the usurper Eugenius. He did so by using the Goths as a battering ram against a stout defense led by Eugenius’ magister militum—and Wallia’s friend—Arbogast. After losing ten thousand of his fellow Goths in a senseless war that meant nothing to his people, Wallia begins to question his commitment as an officer in the Roman army. When the Roman’s refuse Alaric’s request to be appointed as magister militum—an effort to prevent future debacles like Frigidus—Wallia is further disillusioned. Then comes the final shock. Stilicho, the new Roman leader in the West, wants to use the Goths as a battering ram again—this time to gain control of the Eastern Empire.Seeing his people being manipulated into another senseless Roman war, Wallia resigns his Roman commission and rejoins the Goths. Released from Roman service, the Goths are forced to march through the deep snow of the Julian Alps in winter to reach their homeland. When they arrive, they elect Alaric as their king and once again rebel against Rome.This book follows Wallia’s struggle to secure a permanent home for his people amid a three-way conflict between the Goths, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. That struggle takes them from Thrace to Constantinople, through Macedonia and then Greece—facing Stilicho in battle twice before they are finally settled by the Eastern emperor in Illyricum.But intrigue in the Eastern court soon destroys the new arrangement. The Goths are forced to move west—this time to Italy—where they confront Stilicho yet again Through battles, shifting alliances, betrayals, and conspiracies, Wallia does all he can to win the best possible future for his people. But his task is nearly impossible. He and his people are trapped between two empires that care more about outmaneuvering each other than making peace with the Goths and giving them the permanent home and freedom they seek. Read more