Returned

by Kimberley Griffiths Little

  “But you know I’d never marry her. We’ve talked about this before. Long before I met you, I broke off the betrothal—”

  “This is part of her revenge. I don’t trust the magic of Egypt. All she has to do is get rid of me and that plan goes into motion.”

  “What do you mean?” Kadesh asked sharply.

  “At the solstice celebration on midsummer night’s eve, she plans to make a sacrifice of Sahmril.”

  “Sahmril?” He jumped up, visibly shocked and whirled about the room. “But she’s with the Mari nobleman and his wife.”

  I shook my head. “She is already at the temple in Aliyah’s possession.”

  “That’s impossible,” he whispered. “Are you sure it’s Sahmril? I’m sure she’s changed.”

  I rose from the couch. “I recognized her immediately. It’s only been six months since we saw her in Mari.”

  Kadesh ran a hand through his hair, leaning back against the sofa cushions and staring at the ceiling. “With Horeb at our doors, Aliyah is trying to break my citizens. Uncle Ephrem banned her from performing sacrifices two years ago—after my mother took her life—”

  “That’s not her only intention,” I said, sinking to my knees before him. I took his hands in mine and pressed my lips against his warm palm. “She wants to break you and me.”

  “Aliyah is sorely mistaken if she thinks this will bring me back to her.”

  “Her goal is to get me to leave Sariba. To break myself from you. She still wants you, Kadesh. Or she will kill me if I attempt to save my sisters.”

  He hunched over, his forehead resting on our locked fists. “Just before your return from the temple, I received word that Horeb’s spies are infiltrating the perimeter of the city. Horeb’s men killed two families who ventured beyond the frankincense groves. Families trying to hide in the caves of the Qara hills. The bloodshed is already beginning.”

  “Oh, dear God in heaven,” I whispered in horror. “All the more reason to save my sisters, but how do I save Sahmril with hundreds of people at the solstice ceremony?”

  Kadesh’s expression was grim. “So many decisions to make and time has run out.” His face was ashen from the burdens weighing at him. “The royal family is often called upon to make the greatest sacrifices of all.”

  “I won’t let Aliyah win.” My voice broke, but I forced myself to keep going. “Her sacrifice of Sahmril is not for the victory of Sariba but for her own victory. She’s been building a coalition for a coup ever since you disappeared a year ago. Her greatest desire is to rule Sariba—with or without you.”

  He winced. “Tonight I’m going out with two of my scouts to scope out Horeb’s camp. A meeting is planned tomorrow with General Naham that will last most of the day. All the captains, too. I’ll arrange for soldiers to help you get Sahmril. They will have orders to stop any sacrifices.” Kadesh shook his head, distracted. Horeb and Aliyah were already dividing us. “The sacrifices used to be held at dusk as the full moon was rising. You have two more days to plan.”

  It was a sliver of hope. Two days to plan while Kadesh was on the battlefield fighting Horeb’s armies to the death.

  Unease deepened on Kadesh’s face. “You should never have gone to the temple this morning. It was foolish. Promise me you won’t go anywhere else. Please, Jayden?” he added.

  I took a breath. “I still want to go with you tonight. With the scouts.”

  “Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.”

  “I want to see the layout of Horeb’s camp. After a year of running from him, I have to, Kadesh. I’ll be with you. I can’t be any safer than that, can I? This is my war with Horeb as much as it is Sariba’s. We do it together. Not that long ago, Uncle Ephrem told me that I had to kill Horeb, which means I go to battle with you.”

  “Oh, Jayden, what have I gotten into falling in love with you?” His mouth quirked up into a defeated smile and finally, he nodded. “Wear black clothing. We’ll ride part of the way and then go the rest on foot.”

  “Thank you.” I pressed a hand to my heart. “If I could, I’d tear those mercenary soldiers apart with my own hands for destroying our wedding.”

  Insight flickered across his face. “What else did Aliyah do to you?”

  “She burned our marriage covenant. It’s gone.”

  He made a growling sound and snatched up my hand, leading me to the door. “Then I can give you this now, Jayden. I won’t wait to show you.”

  “What are you doing?” I asked when he pulled me up off the couch and across the room to fling open the doors to the suite. Pulling me with him, his fingers tight around mine, we marched up and down the corridors, practically running at one point.

  Soon we were in another hallway, and then charging into another suite, slamming the doors behind us. Instead of carpet, the floors were laid with beautiful hand-painted tile, smooth as silk under my toes.

  Painted murals stretched across the walls. Scenes of Sariba’s horseshoe beach, the endless Irreantum Sea, the rugged mountains, and finally the lights of the city twinkling in an inky blue midnight.

  Shoving open another set of doors, Kadesh led me into a series of royal private rooms I hadn’t seen before. Masculine furnishings. Couches crafted from carved frankincense wood layered by dark green and burgundy pillows under an arched ceiling.

  A stately desk and work area lay at the other end of the room. Shelves stuffed with parchments, scrolls, and tablets. Another chair was affixed with a smooth tabletop for a scribe. I noticed a smattering of stencils in various sizes sitting alongside pots of ink. Carved stone writing tablets stacked along the floor.

  Overhead, an alabaster lamp was lit by a hundred candles that gave light to the work area while the rest of the room rested under muted lamps and wall sconces.

  A hallway skirted around one corner, most likely to a bathing area. On the other end a set of double doors no doubt led to a sleeping chamber.

  I was stunned, transfixed by the opulence and beauty. And we were not alone. Servants rushed in from both ends of the hallway, and two guards stood at attention within and without the main doors. Beyond an array of wide windows, I spotted palace guards.

  I stood unmoving, my ears roaring and my thoughts bumping against each other. “What is this suite, Kadesh? Why are we here?”

  “It’s my personal suite of sleeping rooms and private offices, away from the more public suite where I meet with my generals and the family for meals.”

  Lunging toward the desk, he rattled drawers, banging the chair, which sent a wall tapestry swinging. The chandelier of candles overhead reflected against his long black hair, and my heart ached.

  Extracting a leather folder, Kadesh pulled a length of papyrus from it. He glanced up at me and then at his guards who didn’t so much as twitch an eyelid. Returning to my side, Kadesh took a lock of my hair and let it slip past his palm, the muscles in his face twitching with love and desire when he pulled me closer. “I’m giving you this. It’s yours to keep until this is over.”

  I glanced down at the scroll he held in his fist. “What is it?”

  “Our marriage covenant. A new one.”

  He held up the document and I recognized the same words from the paper Aliyah had burned only hours earlier. And there were the two black lines where my father and Uncle Josiah would sign as witnesses.

  “I had it drawn up first thing this morning. Will you accept me with all my faults and shortcomings for the rest of our lives? Despite the fact that I can’t marry you until after this conflict is over.”

  I nodded, blinking back tears. “Once, long ago, I told you that I would follow you anywhere. Your home is my home, your people my people.”

  We stared at each other with a solemnity that had never come between us before.

  Kadesh folded up the contract papers and tied the scroll with a leather cord. Then he dropped to his knees, tilting his head upward to gaze into my face. “Will you keep this safe for our future?”

  I nodded again, unable to s
peak against the tightness of my throat.

  “And will you witness the crowning of the new King of Sariba?”

  “After I change my clothes into something spectacular befitting a future queen,” I conceded with a quivering smile. “My king.”

  His arms wrapped around my legs and his face buried into my skirts, reminding me so vividly of the night he’d wept in despair after executing Laban. I was coming to realize how vulnerable he was. His heart was too forgiving, too good to hurt someone else despite the injustices they heaped on him.

  “You know I can only do this knowing we are right with each other,” he said. “We can’t wed until this war is finished, but we must be united in every thought and act.”

  “And we are,” I told him, shoving away my petty hurts. “You have the weight of the world upon your shoulders. The survival of your country. I can take on Aliyah.”

  I spoke the words, giving Kadesh comfort as much as myself, but inside I was terrified because I had no idea how to begin taking Aliyah down.

  11

  The trumpets were still blaring when we exited Kadesh’s suite and made our way through the hallways back to my own bedroom. He bowed to me and then kissed my forehead before I entered my room, where Tijah and Jasmine stood waiting.

  The girls had never worked so fast as when they prepared me for Kadesh’s crowning ceremony. Wiping away the smeared black kohl from my eyes with a clean sponge, Tijah bent to reapply the liner with a practiced hand, sweeping the black lines outward from the corner of each eye.

  When Jasmine handed me a bronze-plated mirror, I saw that what my grandmother Seraiah had told me only a few months ago before her death was true. The image of my mother stared back at me with determined eyes and heavy black hair.

  Tijah placed the mirror on the dressing table, her expression without guile. “You’re going to be the most beautiful queen Sariba has ever known, my lady.”

  We didn’t mention the hanging threat of war. Occasionally I saw it in the flicker of an eye, but none of us wanted to think about it until after Kadesh was officially King of Sariba.

  Palace guards escorted me to the portico entrance. The same polished stone steps Kadesh had stood upon the day we arrived a fortnight ago with the Edomite army. On that day, I’d been overwhelmed at the magnificent city, mortified at my bedraggled and dirty state astride my camel with a subdued Asher at my side. The same evening the Egyptian High Priest had stared at me from the cheering crowds with his gleaming bald head and malevolent staff, sending ominous shivers down my spine.

  A different kind of anticipation emanated from the citizens for the crowning. Anxiety at the looming war, but relief to know they’d be guided by a king and general. My handmaidens trailed me, secretly thrilled to be so close to a royal ceremony.

  Sea-green marble dressed the wide staircase that ascended to the gold-leafed foyer doors. Frankincense nuggets burned in brass urns, creating a heady perfume along with a wide array of roses, tulips, and orchids that spilled over monstrous ceramic urns on each step of the stairs.

  I heard the murmurs of palace servants commenting on the pending crowning. They were relieved not to be bereaved of King Ephrem’s heir at this critical moment. The enemy on the horizon was carefully ignored but not forgotten, a shadow on an otherwise happy day.

  The gathering of people along the city avenue grew. I was already perspiring despite the breeze blowing in from the ocean.

  I flinched when the trumpets blasted a series of sharp, crisp notes. The crowd quieted, and Aunt Naomi slipped next to me. Her eyes filled with reassurance. With one hand, Naomi clung to her daughter, Naria, so the child didn’t dart away.

  Normally, the crowning would have been performed in the throne room with invited guests and dignitaries of the city. Kadesh and his advisors, along with Uncle Josiah wanted there to be no mistake that he was alive and Sariba’s new king. The public crowning was a show of strength and confidence. Especially with Egyptians crawling about the city.

  Uncle Josiah was glorious in his royal robes. He wore a magenta and gold breast coat embroidered with gemstones, standing on a hastily constructed dais at the top of the stairs.

  Sariba flags snapped in the breeze. The colors of the country’s symbol were vivid on each banner: a frankincense tree with a halo of golden sun and azure-colored ocean in the background.

  Another three booms from the trumpets heralded the entrance of Kadesh. Red rose petals were thrown into the air by palace staff, strewing his path as he walked toward Josiah.

  Guard formations moved in rhythm, flanking the prince and bringing up the rear. Their robes were a striking black with magenta contrasts. Splashes of gold threads plunged down each coat.

  Kadesh held himself rigid, his face sober. Beneath his striking posture, I sensed a deep abiding grief. This day had come abruptly, without warning, before anyone had had time to properly mourn King Ephrem.

  “Believe,” I murmured, speaking the words Kadesh had offered to me so long ago.

  Aunt Naomi gave me a sidelong glance but didn’t speak as she squeezed my hand.

  A chilling clarity came over me. With Kadesh’s crowning, I had to rise to the role of his queen much sooner than I had expected. It was up to me to grapple with Aliyah and the temple. I would have to deal with palace staff and problems, perhaps setting up a hospital for our wounded.

  Now that Aliyah had both my sisters in her possession and Horeb wanted to kill the man I loved, I was fighting to save my family once and for all.

  Uncle Josiah gave a booming welcome to the crowd, and a chorus of young people stepped forward to sing Sariba’s anthem. A haunting melody celebrated the country’s mystery and beauty, entwining itself around my heart.

  My eyes darted about, praying no mercenary soldiers interrupted this ceremony. Soldiers stood along the perimeter of the city walls, even though I could only see a few from where I stood.

  Swords and sabers at their waists, wicked daggers strapped to their thighs. Unlike the palace guards, the soldiers wore gray-green trousers and tunics, blending into the wall, scarves covering their heads and faces, alert and ready.

  Uncle Josiah began to speak, telling great tales of long-ago wars against Babylon as well as of King Ephrem’s wisdom and peace-loving soul. He commended our dead king to the care of that unseen God and then turned to Kadesh, the man who was now ruler and leader of this beautiful kingdom.

  For a brief moment, I was back in my family’s tent weeping over my mother’s death. One minute she’d been holding newborn Sahmril, and the next she was staring at the tent roof, lifeless.

  The crowd hushed when Josiah uttered the Oath of Kingship to Kadesh who repeated the words in a loud, clear voice.

  At the conclusion, Josiah announced, “King Kadesh is now your servant and protector. We plead for a blessing from our God for Sariba’s prosperity and safety.”

  A replica of the throne from the palace was brought forth and Kadesh was seated while Uncle Josiah anointed Kadesh’s head with olive oil and then invoked God’s power on him and the country of Sariba.

  When Josiah finished, the trumpets burst with spurts of jubilation.

  My heart rushed with love and pride. The journey we’d traveled the past two years passed across my eyes. Joy to have found each other but scars from a desert that both loved us and tested us.

  Aunt Naomi wiped at her eyes while relief bubbled up my throat. “Kadesh is like the son we lost on the brink of manhood so many years ago,” she confessed.

  “Aunt Naomi, I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

  “An accident on the desert. The desert is a place of refuge but also a place that can be deadly.”

  “You had no other sons or daughters?”

  “I lost a daughter at birth before we finally received Naria.”

  Kadesh bowed before his people. The royal trumpets blared again while street vendors came out in full force with food and music. Even so, a company of palace guards moved quietly about the throngs of people on the str
eets and walkways, asking them not to linger too long. To prepare their homes and children and make sure they had stores of food and water if we ended up under siege.

  My heart chilled. There was no place to escape. Only a lethal desert on all three sides of Sariba and an endless sea on the fourth.

  It was safer to stay in the city, but how long could we hold out before Horeb executed a massive assault on our gates and walls?

  I moved down the pavilion pavings, slipping around the dais to grasp Kadesh’s fingers in my own. “My king, you should return to your suite and sleep until we leave at midnight with the scouts.” I wagged a finger at him. “That’s an order.”

  He chuckled at the term king and wrapped his arms around me. “You smell like home and heaven, Jayden. I wish you could sleep next to me,” he whispered, his breath warm against my neck. “Then I could truly quiet the voices and demands inside my head.”

  I kissed his face, shivers running down my neck at the words of the intimacy I longed for, too. “The city is guarded. If anything happens, General Naham will find you. But you’ll be no good to anybody if you’re falling over with fatigue.”

  He gave me a weary smile. “I will take your orders under consideration.”

  Uncle Josiah placed a hand on our shoulders. “Is there a place we can speak privately, the three of us? I have something to give you.”

  I sucked in a breath of surprise while Kadesh nodded and held out his hand to me. We walked together through the columned pavilion toward the palatial foyer entrance. The enormous palace doors, inlaid with amethyst and carnelian, were standing wide.

  A fresh breeze swept across the polished tiled floors. Servants had brought trays of food and drink, which they placed on the foyer tables. I picked up a goblet of cold water, my mouth dry, nerves on fire.

  We followed Josiah into a smaller sitting room furnished with magenta sofas and draperies. When the door closed, the outside world disappeared.

  Kadesh’s magenta and gold crowning cloak swirled about his legs as he strode down the carpet in front of the sofa where I sat. His stature and presence had already changed. The mantle of King and High Priest of Sariba had fallen upon his shoulders.