Royal Blood The WellKept Secret Author:Richard Gridley, Jackie Gridley King Solomon's passionate affair with the Shulamite, as told in the authors' first book, The Song above All Songs, climaxed in her refusal to become one of his many wives. As Royal Blood: The Well-Kept Secret opens, the Shulamite, whose biblical name is Zeruah, finds she is pregnant with Solomon's child. Fearful of what Solomon might force ... more »upon her and her child, she vows to forever keep it a secret. She promptly marries Nebat, the man to whom she was originally espoused, and her child becomes the "son of Nebat." But Nebat tragically dies before the baby's birth , which causes her to be recorded in the Bible as "a widow named Zeruah" (1Kings 11:26). Zeruah's son is the biblical Jeroboam. The authors depict him as raised under Zeruah's second husband, Ira. Jeroboam so excels in his work in stone construction that Solomon the King appoints him as one of his officials. Then Jeroboam is startled by the Prophet Ahujah's prediction that God is going to take the ten northern tribes of Israel away from Solomon's successor and make him king over them. Accused of plotting rebellion against King Solomon, Jeroboam is forced to flee for his life to Egypt. There, favored by the Egyptian king, he marries the king's daughter, builds a palace, and lives royally. Called back to Israel after the death of Solomon, he does indeed become king over the ten northern tribes. But he is not faithful to the God of Israel and meets a shocking death. Except for his wife and parents, his entire family is slaughtered by a later king. With the death of Zeruah in old age, the secret of Jeroboam's royal blood vanished from the land of the living - until now!« less