I perched on the edge of the couch twisting my fingers into knots.
Uncle Josiah spoke without preamble. “I have a letter that arrived this morning from the kingdom of Sheba.”
“From the queen? Why didn’t you give it to me earlier?”
Josiah smoothed down his short gray beard and placed a hand on Kadesh’s shoulder in a fatherly gesture. “The note asked that I wait until after your crowning.”
“The Queen of Sheba is a dear friend as well as cousin,” Kadesh said. “One I have treasured all my life.” He turned the letter over, taking note of the Sa’ba royal family mark, and then opened the scroll inside the leather pouch.
“My dear Kadesh,
If your crowning of Sariba Kingship has recently taken place, I give you my warmest congratulations—and deepest condolences on the passing of my dear friend and ally, King Ephrem. I hope I may also congratulate you on your marriage to Jayden, Princess of the Nephish. I await word on your news from Sariba with great eagerness, so please do not delay in writing.”
Memory of that urgent conversation in the secret room at the palace in Sheba was seared into my memory. At the time, I didn’t know who they had been referring to, but after meeting Aliyah I’d suspected it was her. They had talked about the threat of someone that might need to be neutralized. It was all the more complicated when I learned that Aliyah was the queen’s younger sister.
“My warnings may come far too late—and I am actually writing this within hours of your leaving my palace—but I’ve recently learned that the marauders who live in our Sheba Mountains east of the city have been conscripted by the King of the Nephish. Horeb dispatched the mercenary soldiers ahead of his armies. I will wear down my palace floors with my bare feet until I am assured of your safety. This next is sad news and leads to my final fear—the fear we have been trying to avoid. Along with your enemy, an older couple was in their company. With a child named Ramah.”
My sudden gasp was loud, interrupting Kadesh’s reading. “She’s referring to Sahmril! The couple who adopted her named her Ramah, even after I told them her true birth name. Horeb brought them all here with him? How did that happen?” My eyes blazed with anger. “This means Horeb and Aliyah have met in person. Horeb gave her Sahmril for the sacrifice. They are already in collusion.”
Kadesh reached out to comfort me, disturbed at the news. “This is worse than we thought,” he said, continuing quickly.
“I’ve learned through my city spies that the child is Jayden’s baby sister and the couple her adoptive parents, exiled from the city of Mari when King Hammurabi invaded there several months ago. They arrived in Sheba dressed in chains, kidnapped by bounty hunters somewhere in the vicinity of Moab on their way to Salem, using new names to escape detection and begin a new life.
“I paid for their release and they are living here in Sheba under my protection. But neither the bounty hunters, nor Horeb, would sell the child to me. He took Jayden’s sister with him across the desert on the final trek to Sariba.”
A cry escaped my mouth. I turned to Kadesh, my legs wobbling. “Aliyah planned the kidnapping of Sahmril. She brought her here for a sacrifice to torture me and to plainly show her force and power. This exhibits how far her influence already reaches—across the nations of the desert kingdoms. We have our proof now.”
Kadesh stared at me, stricken. “This complicates everything . . .” his voice trailed off, and I suspected he was thinking the same thing I was at that moment.
“My dearest Kadesh, this is all part of Aliyah’s treachery. She intends to sacrifice the girl child. There is no longer any doubt that she is operating a secret treaty with Horeb. She intends to take control of your city and crown. She intends to crush you all. And now . . . you know what you must do.”
It was the code phrase the Queen of Sheba had given to Kadesh two months ago.
The code to assassinate Aliyah.
Dropping the letter to the table, Kadesh strode to the door, and a servant whipped it open for him. Shouting for his scribe and one of the army lieutenants, Kadesh snapped Ephrem’s kingly robes around him, making me jump.
Within minutes, a lieutenant raced into the suite followed by an elderly, wrinkled scribe who was struggling to keep up the pace.
“I want a decree posted immediately at every door and entrance of the palace,” Kadesh told the scribe. “Aliyah, the High Priestess of the temple, is banished from the royal residence, and all palace grounds.”
The scribe blinked his eyes and pulled a small writing table close, his fingers flying as he opened up his pens and inkpots. Almost instantly, he was scratching letters into a tablet.
“But, Majesty,” the lieutenant questioned. “The people will revolt. They rely on the Goddess for spiritual guidance, especially now with our enemy inside our borders—”
Throwing up an impatient hand, Kadesh’s face tightened but he didn’t explain his actions. “See that it’s done. Within the hour. And then return. I have another task for you.” Pointing at the scribe, he added, “Leave me, please, but your scribe tools will remain.”
The man raised his eyebrows. “I can continue transcribing anything you wish, sire.”
“Not now, thank you.” Kadesh didn’t speak again until the scribe departed, then he glanced over to me and Uncle Josiah. “Sometimes a king needs to write his own correspondence.”
I stood silently while Kadesh sharpened the pen with a small knife, then swirled the tip in the ink and proceeded to compose a personal letter. When he finished, he blew on the ink to dry it. “I’ve written to the Queen of Sheba acknowledging her letter, and conveying the fact that, at the moment, I intend to ignore her recommendations until I have more information.”
I plucked up the queen’s letter from the table. “She didn’t recommend a restraining order, Kadesh.”
“When it comes to Sariba’s citizens, I don’t take capital punishment or assassination lightly. I have to fight a war that is much more imminent. I won’t have my citizens rising up in revolt because I hung the High Priestess. I need their trust and cooperation. Or we shall all die together.”
“But the queen is ready to move against her own blood! How can you doubt her recommendation?”
Kadesh’s jaw set. He pulled me aside, his voice was low and tense. “The things I write are not done lightly. Don’t question me in front of my advisors or servants.”
“I suppose,” I said carefully. “I have much to learn about palace protocol.”
Kadesh nodded to the servant at the door. “Please get my lieutenant.”
Thankfully, the silence between us wasn’t long before the officer reappeared. Kadesh raised his chin. “I have a letter that needs to go directly to the Queen of Sheba. It’s imperative that she receives it as soon as possible. In her hands and no others. Not her husband or a servant. Get our fastest rider and horse. He needs to deliver it in no more than a week with a reply.”
“A three-week journey in only one?” I asked in astonishment.
Josiah answered. “A lone rider with a good horse who rides from dawn to midnight can accomplish it.”
“Have him leave by the west gate at dusk,” Kadesh commanded. “He can’t be seen by the enemy.”
The bronze medals clanked against the lieutenant’s chest. “Very good, my lord.”
The mood of the room was still tense after the door closed behind the officer and Josiah, but Kadesh came over to me despite the fact that my heart was hammering miserably. “I won’t be afraid of Aliyah’s power, but I also won’t commit cold-blooded murder.”
“I’ll just have to provoke her into attacking me,” I told him. “Then I’ll have an excuse to fulfill the Queen of Sheba’s wishes.”
“Jayden, please—”
“No, Kadesh, I do understand,” I said, my voice wobbling. “You have a better heart than I do. Despite the tragedy that befell your parents at Aliyah’s hands, you forgive her.”
His expression was fierce, a combination of anger and hid
den pain.
“You believe in redemption,” I continued. “You hope she can change or that we can stop her. Well, I will stop her. Perhaps I’m selfish trying to force your hand in order to save Sahmril.” My voice cracked. “But I’ll try to be the person—and the queen—you want me to be.”
“The afternoon heat after the crowning ceremony is draining us all.” Kadesh moved closer, and for a moment, we were the only two people in the room. “You need to eat before you faint dead away. And you need sleep,” he added gently.
“As we all do.” I paused. “I know you are king now with thousands of citizens to protect. I have to stop being selfish. I do trust you.”
He kissed my hand as a palace butler approached, tall and erect in a suit of crimson and gold sashes. “Lady Jayden,” he said, “you have a visitor. I deposited her in your suite with your handmaidens.”
“Why not one of the public meeting rooms?” I asked, surprised at the liberty he’d taken to allow someone into my private rooms.
The butler inclined his head. “I thought you would like privacy, my lady. The young woman is your sister, the High Priestess Leila.”
I started at his unexpected words. “Yes, yes, thank you. I’ll go right away.”
I made a move to depart, but Kadesh caught my hand. He cupped my face in his hands, gazing at me. “I have every confidence in you. And faith in my soldiers to help you bring Sahmril back to the palace.”
I put my hands on his wrists, holding his eyes with my own. “That’s my fondest dream, but you weren’t at the temple this morning. The magicians have a hold on them all, and I’m outnumbered. Kadesh, there are terrible dungeons. Women held prisoner. Forced to breed children for sacrifice and then cast aside, ill and forgotten. My handmaids . . . their mother is one of them. I met her. I saw with my own eyes.”
Visible disgust crossed his face. “When we win we’ll tear down the temple and I will free them. I’ll see you later tonight at midnight, correct?”
“I haven’t forgotten,” I replied as I ran toward the door.
12
Impatience ran through me, but I hurried down the corridor, passing servants and palace guards on their own hurried tasks. A moment later, I burst through my bedroom door. “Leila!”
She sat at the window staring out at the fountains; her slender figure perched on the edge of one of the embroidered chairs.
Jasmine and Tijah were serving sweets and pouring a deep amber wine.
They curtsied at my presence while I threw my arms around Leila, thrilled that she’d come down to the palace to see me as she’d promised. “You’re here. We’re together at last! After all this time. I can hardly believe—”
When she didn’t respond, I slowly pulled away to stare into her face. Her kohl was heavy, her lips stained such a deep red it appeared as blood.
I slid down and knelt before her. Leila had a faraway look in her eyes. “Is everything all right?”
At the touch of my hands, she smiled faintly. “Jayden, how pretty you are today. I’ll try one of your sweets on this plate.”
She spoke as if we were back home in our tent and getting ready for an evening with the women of the camp. As if nothing had happened since our mother’s death. As if war wasn’t on our doorsteps. As though Sahmril’s life was not at stake. Her eyes were distant, and her spirit far, far away.
Instead of coming back to me, she’d drifted even further from reality. I could see it in her demeanor when she lifted my hand from the silk of her dress and placed it back into my own lap. The gesture told me that I shouldn’t touch the High Priestess of Sariba with my human hands. It was all I could do not to cry.
“You look beautiful, too, Leila,” I ventured at last. For months, I’d longed to see her, to fall on her neck and weep together for everything that we’d lost. To talk about our mother, and to ask her advice about our melancholy father.
I wanted to erase the memory of her dance that morning under the spell of the Egyptian magicians. They frightened me, but Leila had welcomed them, even though they had kidnapped her from the Temple of Ashtoreth and carried her across the desert.
Leila was part of the lure. The bait for me. To intimidate me so much I’d run away from Sariba, which included running away from Kadesh.
When Jasmine set a tray of tea on the table under the window, I leaned forward. “What are you looking at, Leila? Please talk to me. I’ve missed you so much.”
She gazed at the fountains and gardens, but now I discerned what she was watching so intently. In line with her vision, the spires of the temple glittered white under the afternoon sun.
My heart was so heavy I was weighed down by it. “The soul of the temple calls to you, doesn’t it?” I asked her. “You’re now tied to it permanently. Somehow, they’ve—she’s—seduced you. You can’t even pretend to be my sister anymore. Only the temple’s devoted priestess.” My voice choked, and I tried not to break down.
At last she turned her face, smiling serenely. “It’s my calling, Jayden. All will be well. Have faith in the Goddess.”
My hands shook as I poured the tea. “Tijah, may we have some sort of actual meal?” I was light-headed and my stomach gnawed with hunger.
“Of course, my lady,” Tijah said, throwing hand signals to her sister. “We should have fed you before the king’s crowning ceremony.”
“There wasn’t time,” I replied, brushing off her apologies.
Moments later, herbed breads and roasted meat were delivered, including salad greens and fruit. I fixed a plate, but Leila shook her head, her face fixed with an odd serenity that was disconcerting.
“This is the first time you’ve visited me since I arrived two weeks ago in Sariba,” I said, nudging her attention away from the window. “I sent a wedding invitation and was disappointed when you didn’t come. I always wanted you at my wedding. Just like we planned when we were girls and daydreamed about our wedding gowns. Remember when we used to draw sketches in the sand?”
She sipped the hot tea. “It’s a good thing I wasn’t allowed to attend. I might have been shot with an arrow and died.”
“They were aiming for Kadesh. And nearly killed the King of the Edomites, our ally and close friend.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Unfortunate?” I practically spit the word out, my patience running thin. I bit my tongue, not wanting to anger her. Trying to compose myself, I asked, “Leila, why are you here? I’m surprised Aliyah let you come down into the city. And what about Sahm—?”
Before I could ask her about our younger sister, she said, “Speaking of weddings, I came to tell you that I am to be married.”
I was shocked into silence for a moment. That was a statement I hadn’t expected. “Are the priestesses even allowed to marry—or are you talking about one of Ba’al’s clerics?”
“His name is Imarus,” Leila said dreamily. “We fell in love during the long journey.”
“One of the Egyptian magicians?” No wonder she was barely lucid!
“He’s perfect for me. Our union will begin the day after the solstice. We’ll be united during the Sacred Marriage Rite.”
“So soon?” I asked, wanting to slow time down. Her news made me nauseous, and my drink spilled on my lap.
Jasmine bent over to mop up the liquid, a tiny frown between her eyes.
“Our marriage will help to unite Egypt’s power with Sariba’s.”
“I didn’t realize that a High Priestess could marry.”
“It’s a divine union, of course. We knew we were meant to be together on the night of the last Sacred Marriage Rite.”
“Is this why you’re here? To invite me to your wedding?”
“To attend, you would have to come to the temple and be part of the Sacred Marriage Rite, Jayden. Since your wedding has been postponed, you certainly could. The summer solstice will be a night of the utmost power and divinity. Especially after—” She broke off, her eyes inadvertently meeting mine.
I found myself w
anting to shake her, to snap her out of the nightmare of her delusions. “You can’t let Aliyah sacrifice Sahmril,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. “She’s our sister. The sister we promised to take care of when our mother died. I can’t believe you would sanction this terrible deed.”
A flash of pain crossed Leila’s face. Deep down it bothered her, but she couldn’t admit that her Goddess was asking for such an awful expression of obedience. “I can’t tell her no,” she said quietly. “I’m trying to believe that it will all be for the best. And who knows,” she added, “perhaps Sahmril truly will end the war and bring peace. That would be a noble cause to give your life for.”
“I would happily do that to save my people—if I believed in your version of the Goddess—but Sahmril is a child. Her life is sacred and innocent. She knows nothing about what this means. For her, it will be torture. She has no choice.”
Leila blinked her eyes and lifted her chin in an attempt to brush away my words. She couldn’t face it, so she would deny it. Slipping a hand under her leg, she pulled out a finely etched writing plate with Egyptian hieroglyphs. “This is the purpose for my visit.”
“You know I can’t read it. I’ll call a scribe to interpret.”
“No need. Imarus taught me Egyptian during our long expedition. I’ll read it to you.”
My sister laid the tablet in her lap, running a finger along the symbols with affection.
“To Jayden, daughter of the Nephish
From Aliyah, Goddess of Sariba
The Goddess and High Priestess of Sariba officially invite you to witness the summer solstice sacrifice in two days’ time. It will be a night you will remember for the rest of your life. A permanent kinship with the Goddess will bless you and your family forever.”
“She sent an invitation to watch Sahmril sacrificed!” Grabbing the tablet, I threw it across the room where it hit the corner of a table and broke into pieces.
With a shriek, Leila staggered off the chair and crawled across the floor. Picking up the shards, she cradled them in her hands, trying to fit them together.
Returned Page 8