December 28th is Holy Innocents Day

It commemorates one of the darkest moments in biblical history—the slaughter of Bethlehem’s children.

History tells us King Herod gave the order.

But The Gathering Storm asks a more unsettling question:

What if the command didn’t originate with Herod at all?

In the novel, Lucius—an ancient manipulator who moves through history—stands just close enough to whisper when rage peaks and reason breaks.

“Find the child. Kill him.”

Was this massacre the act of a tyrant…or the result of something far older, far more patient, and far more evil?

Some moments in history don’t just repeat themselves.

They are engineered.