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Dara’s raspy chuckle filled the tent. “I can help with that, and there are others who would help. Of course, you may never be Queen of Judah. However, you would be free to live as you please.”
Abigail pressed her fingers to her forehead in an attempt to ease the beginning of a head pain. “I can’t. That child the priest insists is the rightful king—”
“He is the rightful king. The son of your brother Ahaziah, your nephew, Abigail.”
Butterflies danced along her skin. She’d wanted to know the truth but hadn’t expected this. Could she trust this man? “How is it you believe this?”
“I do not just believe it, Abigail. I know it. I knew your brother.” Dark shadows flickered in his eyes. “The child is his.”
* * *
He had no idea how this was going to work. An old lady, a child, a timid woman and himself. Abigail was right, he was barely alive, but if he did not convince her to leave, no doubt he would soon be dead. As would she.
“I do not know who or what to trust.” Abigail pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin there.
“I will not ask you to trust me. We are strangers. However, you should trust your captain’s words. He will not hesitate to kill Micah, nor you if he chooses.” His strength began to wane and he dropped against the pillows.
“How can you be certain of Suph’s character? How do you know he is not full of words?”
Her innocence reached somewhere deep inside. This was not only about his survival but hers, as well. After fighting the excruciating pain for so long he’d dozed off only to wake to an atmosphere so tense he wouldn’t have been able to cut it with his sword. Suph’s threatening manner had tempted Jesse to rise and dispatch the man. If he’d been able to he would have, too. But Jesse knew better than to interfere lest he meet his death then and there. If that had happened there would be no rescuing this lady and her young protector. He wouldn’t be able to keep Judah, his beloved country, safe.
Jesse shifted his gaze toward her. “Suph left many villages in desolation. He burned their crops, slaughtered their animals.” He paused, uncomfortable with his next words. He closed his eyes, recalling with clarity the devastation and the weeping mothers. “He cut down their children in the name of your mother, looking for a single child, your nephew, King Joash.”
“This cannot be true. My mother—”
“Ordered the atrocities.” He tore his gaze from hers. The horror etched on her face left him feeling like the worst kind of evil. Perhaps he shouldn’t have told her, but she’d asked for the truth, and that was one truth she needed to hear, even if it wasn’t the one she had meant.
“Ach, your mother was as cruel as any.” Dara hid her dislike behind a goblet.
“It is true,” Micah said. When Abigail glanced at him, he shuffled his feet. “I heard some of the soldiers speaking about it.”
Jesse found it odd that these people agreed with him. It was a mercy he was more than thankful for.
Abigail wrapped her arms around her waist and bent over. A soft keen echoed in the tent, intruding on the flickering firebrands. Piercing his heart. He wanted to reach out, take her in his arms and offer her comfort. However, it was not his place.
“If we are to sweep you away from the camp, child, we need to act now.”
Her rocking motion came to a sudden halt. She sat up straight as she swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “How is it even possible?”
The corners of Dara’s mouth slid upward. “You give the command. A little of this,” she held up a small earthen jar no bigger than the palm of her hand, “in their wine and the entire camp will sleep until midday.”
Abigail’s gaze settled on Jesse. “And what of him?”
Her question formed a knot in the pit of his stomach. Not that he thought she’d leave him behind. The care she and Dara had taken with his wounds told him they were both compassionate, even if he was their enemy. No, the fact that she thought things through, when he had a tendency to act first and think later, caused him a bit of shame.
“I’ve chamomile and my sons. They were not pleased to be forced from their home. They do not like Suph.”
Jesse did not like the way the tension left Abigail’s face, nor the way her eyes lightened at the mention of Dara’s sons. Had she affection for them? Not that it mattered. However, a part of him did envy whoever it was who caused such a reaction in her.
He glanced at the old woman and prayed her sons were able-bodied men and not frail. Given the size of their mother he doubted such mercy had found him. “You would be surprised what things a man can do when he has the will to live. I will have no more of your herbs, old woman.” He couldn’t risk having dulled senses.
Abigail considered him for a short time as she chewed on her bottom lip. Jesse smiled. The more time he spent in her presence the more beautiful she became. Not the magnificent beauty her mother had portrayed, but a beauty in her own right, with her high forehead and wide mouth. But what made her even more splendid was the gentleness of her soul. The pureness radiating from her.
Abigail glanced at Micah. The boy nodded and she seemed to sigh in relief. It was odd she took cues from the child. She looked back toward Jesse. “I do not trust you, Jesse. However, something tells me you will help me find the truth I seek.”
The truth of the one true God. He only hoped he could offer her counsel. He was not his brother Ari, a man well versed in God’s law. No, he was a warrior who spent much of his time praying, nothing more. She bowed her head. “It is obvious I am in danger if I stay here.”
“I can make you no promises, Abigail. I have vowed to protect Judah. At all costs. As long as you and your people do not stand in the way of that goal I will bring no harm upon your heads. However, one hint that you betray the greater good of Judah and King Joash, and I will have no constraint. In that your captain is correct.”
“You are loyal to your cause. I admire that strength. If only I knew what my cause was.” She tilted her chin. The glow from the firebrands illuminated the innocence in her eyes.
“I am loyal to the one true God, Abigail, and Judah belongs to Him. Not the false idols your mother worshipped. Not the one your people shame themselves before tonight.”
“Where would we go?”
Jesse twisted his lips. Where would they go? He couldn’t take her to Manna. He would not risk the people and their secrets there, not even to protect this woman, though she might be innocent of her mother’s crimes. He had no doubt Ari and Mira would welcome them, but he had no way of knowing if his brother and his love had returned safely to her father’s village, which left him only one choice.
“I will take you to Jerusalem to see Jehoiada, the high priest.”
Her lips parted as her eyes widened. She shook her head.
“Ach, our time is running short. What will it be, Abigail?”
“I do not know.”
“If you stay here, Suph will force a marriage upon you. He said as much. And if he succeeds in ousting King Joash he will raise himself up as King of Judah. You have seen his cruelty, Abigail. Are you willing to chance how he will treat you as his wife? How he will treat the people of Judah?”
The color in her cheeks drained, leaving her pale. She buried her face in her hands. She looked so small, no more than a child. The desire to protect her and those she cared for flowed in his blood. He glanced at Micah. The boy’s fierce protectiveness caused pride to swell in Jesse’s chest.
“What will it be, Abigail?”
Chapter Five
The turmoil of the past several days was enough to make her weep. How was she to decide which choice to make? One thing was for certain—Suph was a tormentor. One look at Jesse told her the truth of that. What kind of man tormented another man to near death, even if he was a prisoner?
And there was something about Jesse that urged her heart to trust him. What little she could see through his swollen lids beckoned her trust. Besides, if there was the slightest chance that this boy king was her nephew, she owed it to her brother to protect him, even if that meant coming face-to-face with the man responsible for murdering her family. She owed it to herself and to Judah to discover the truth.
She recalled little of her father other than his crazed rantings about a living God, a God her mother had called weak, else he would have rescued the royal family when Jehoiada had slaughtered them in their sleep. If what Jesse said was true and Joash was her brother’s son, why would her mother seek to kill him? Wouldn’t she want to embrace her only grandchild?
Ha, she had never embraced Abigail. She’d only loved Ahaziah. Her joy, and then he was murdered. Releasing the tension in her neck, Abigail exhaled. “I cannot leave Bilhah.”
“You trust the priestess?”
Abigail crossed her arms over her waist as she bit down on her lower lip and then nodded. “I trust her more than anyone.” She smiled at Micah. “Besides you, of course, my young friend.”
Micah bobbed his head. “I understand. She is your cousin.”
Jesse scrubbed his hand over his face and mumbled something unintelligible. “Your cousin? Another princess?”
“Yes. She was my father’s niece. My mother honored her by making her the priestess.”
He laughed, coughed and then moaned through battered lips. Her heart lurched at his discomfort. Pride kept her feet planted. Why would he laugh at such a thing?
“It is more likely she thought your cousin a threat and sought to remove her from the royal house by soiling her reputation.”
Heat climbed up her neck and to her ears. She rose to her feet, fists clenched at her sides. She glared down at him. “I should allow Suph to kill you for speaking such things about my mother. And my cousin. She is not soiled.”
Jesse held her gaze. He didn’t move a muscle for long moments. When he spoke it was clear to her he fought for control. “But you won’t. You desire the truth. You need me to meet that end. Without me you get nothing but a marriage to Suph. I’ve no doubt he’ll control your every move. That alone would be a slow death to a woman like you who is used to doing as she pleases.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. Doing as she pleases? Ha, as long as she was locked in her room where nobody could lay their eyes on her. Her lack of beauty had brought her mother much shame. “You know nothing.” She turned to Micah. “Find Bilhah, tell her to not drink the wine and to come to me as soon as the revelers begin to seek their beds.”
Micah’s eyes lit with excitement. An excitement Abigail wished she felt. “Dara, find your sons and do what you must. We will need donkeys. Gather a few days’ worth of supplies.”
“Donkeys will be no match to the captain’s horses,” Jesse said.
“Ach, I will see what can be done.” Dara pierced Abigail with one eye. “I cannot leave you here with him.”
Abigail raised her brow. “It’s not as if he can move much.”
“True, child.” She turned a hard glare on Jesse. “Don’t make me regret tending your wounds.”
“You have no need to fear me, old woman.”
“And, Dara, I’ll need a plain tunic. Two, one for Bilhah. We can’t wander the desert in these.” She gripped her intricately decorated tunic and held it out.
Dara’s gaze climbed from her feet to her head. “I’ll see what I can find.” She tossed one last glance at Jesse. “S’pose I’ll find something for him, as well.”
Abigail’s cheeks warmed. “Of course.”
She watched as Dara left.
“Abigail, it is not my wish to upset you. I should not have spoken harshly about your mother.”
She wrung her hands together and then sighed. “Rumors of her brutality were often whispered. However, I do not know what to believe. Was she kind and gentle? Or wicked as they say? Truth be told, I did not know my mother well. She rarely visited my chambers. Instead, I was cared for by my nurse, Shema.” Abigail wouldn’t tell him why, for the shame and disappointment in her mother’s eyes still haunted her. Nor did she mention that Shema had left her for the same reasons her mother didn’t visit. Abigail was an oddity, a curse from the gods.
“It remains. I should not have spoken about her thusly. I would ask your forgiveness.”
She shook her head. “What is this forgiveness?”
“It is where I apologize for my actions and you accept it, if you are willing.”
“Then there is no need. It is obvious my mother was not kind, but I believe she adored Bilhah and for good reason—she’s beautiful. More beautiful than my mother, even.” The corner of her lip inched upward, even as pain sliced in her chest. She looked at her toes peeking from beneath her tunic. “My mother loved beautiful things.”
“Then she must have loved you deeply.”
Her head snapped up as if she’d been slapped. She blinked, disbelieving what it was she’d heard. There was no sign that he mocked her or played her false. Only sincerity. He’d said the word beautiful in the fit of pain, but she hadn’t dared to believe he spoke of her. Abigail thought him harmless in his current condition, but given the way her knees wobbled at his compliment, she’d been wrong.
Thinking to take her mind from his words, she paced to the opening of the tent. She snaked her fingers between the slits and pulled back the fabric. The shadow of dancing bodies disappeared into the firelight. The music faded as Jesse’s words echoed in her head.
The words tumbling from him had caused air to knot in her throat and blood to beat faster in her veins. She glanced over her shoulder at the man who had no idea of the turmoil he’d caused between her heart and mind. His words pulled on her emotions, tempted her to trust him, even though he distinctly told her not to. She puffed out a sigh. As much as she wanted to believe his words, believe that she was beautiful, too, she knew he spoke lies, for she was not beautiful. Far from it.
How was she to discern when he did speak the truth? For she had no doubt he would kill her if she threatened Judah’s new king. Moreover, how could she put her life in the hands of a man who lied to her?
Because she needed to know the truth. Needed to know if this Hebrew God her mother hated, the one her father had spoken of during his madness, the one Shema had loved, was real. And she needed the truth concerning the death of her brothers and cousins.
Abigail had no choice but to save this man from Suph’s wrath and trust he wouldn’t kill her. And hope he did not wound her heart.
* * *
The way Abigail continued to worry her lip told Jesse a battle waged within her. She did not trust him, but he could also tell by her reaction to Suph that she loathed him. With good reason.
He adjusted his position and groaned. She spun around, the tent flaps closing behind her.
“Are you well?” Her cheeks reddened in the lamplight. “It is obvious you are not. Would you like some more water?”
“It is not tainted with poison?” He smiled, his lips smarting with the movement.
A soft lyrical tone danced into the air and skidded along his limbs as she laughed. “Of course.”
Her teasing turned his innards upside down and set a knot in his chest. He rubbed his fist against the uncomfortable ache. He’d often joked with his family. Not many outside their close-knit ties had understood his humor or dared to return his teasing. She was a rare gem to be held and cherished, much like the carbuncle he’d worn around his neck. “My throat is parched. I could use the sustenance.”
She glided toward the earthen jug and poured water into a goblet before kneeling beside him. He allowed her to help him to a sitting position as he sipped. After he emptied the contents, she lowered him back to the pillows and then rocked back on her heels. Her gaze roamed over his arms and chest. “I fear our journey will not be easy for you.”
He believed many of his wounds were superficial. The chamomile he’d drunk along with the honey slathered over his broken flesh had eased the pain and would bring swift healing. If it weren’t for his ribs poking his innards, he’d have no trouble moving. However, he was not about to inform Abigail, lest she change her mind. “I will manage. As I told you before, you’d be surprised at what a man can endure when he wishes to live.”
Her brow puckered, leaving a little crease above the arch of her nose. “Why is that?”
“I believe God gives man courage and strength.”
She shook her head. Her tresses waved down her back. “Why do you wish to live?”
“That is an easy question to answer.”
Her chin tilted at an angle, she leaned forward. “What is it?”
He smiled. “Someone must convince you of your beauty since it’s obvious you do not believe it yourself.”
Her lips parted and her eyes grew wide, and then she smiled. “You tease.” She tapped him on the shoulder.
“Ouch!” he bellowed at the unexpected jab.
“Oh, oh, I am sorry.” She leaned over. Her hair fell over her shoulder, brushing his skin. She gingerly pressed the tips of her fingers to his wound. He could not feel the tender probe for he was distracted by the way her hair cloaked him. The way cinnamon bathed his cheek as she breathed. Dare he wish for a kiss to his forehead as his mother had done? A kiss to the cheek? “It does not bleed.”
He swallowed the stone in his throat. It tumbled to the pit of his stomach, like hard bread.
She pulled back, her soft green eyes peering into his. “Will you...how did you say it, forgive me?”
As he breathed air into his nose, his chest expanded, causing all the minor cuts Suph had inflicted onto his body to split apart. There was something about this woman, the daughter of one of his greatest enemies, the daughter of the woman he’d killed only days ago, that drew him. He trod on dangerous ground, and if he knew what was good for him, he’d leave her to Suph and walk away from this camp of his own accord. Without the help of this shy yet courageous teasing woman.
