Maria Gurova’s debut novel “Blackberries in the Valley. The King Under the Mountain" from the series about the Sleeping King. The first part of a trilogy, each part of which consists of a prequel story and a main novel. War is a tradition. In a harsh era in the kingdom of Escalot, two teenagers grow up. Tristan Trouver, a novice of the knightly Order of Palières, meets a fairy in the forest, falls in love for the first time and faces a choice between feelings and duty. Elijah Havel, the son of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, learns that he is destined to become the guide of the ancient king and the successor of the current one. Victory will go to the states that revive the national heroes of the past in the age when tanks and planes have replaced swords and shields. Together, Ilia and Tristan will go to the front and search for the legendary tomb. Will young men who grew up in a world without magic be able to wake up the king under the mountain? The cycle of the Sleeping King is a series of works with classic plots of European literature, placed in a universe setting reminiscent of our world in 1920–1940