He stepped into the pool and allowed the hot water to roll over his aching body. He leaned back against the mosaic tiles, his body relaxing but his mind refusing to do likewise.
It had been a grueling three weeks. Under the guise of building Roman roads, he had been given the assignment of searching out a band of zealots that was beginning to cause a problem here in Judea. Roman tolerance of the Jews was quickly fading with the assassinations of several leading Romans who had lived here in Jerusalem. Tempers were beginning to flare on both sides.
Discontent among the Jewish population was feeding a fast-growing rebellion against the empire. Finding the zealots, though, was proving more difficult than he had anticipated. Normally, a few gold coins gracing someone’s palm would lead to the information he needed, but lately, the Jews had joined forces against what they considered a common enemy.
Andronicus joined him in the water, leaning back nonchalantly against the side of the bath. Although Andronicus’s muscled body seemed relaxed, there was a tenseness about him that communicated itself to Lucius. Lucius lifted a brow, but said nothing. If Andronicus was searching him out, something was on his mind.
Scanning the area, Andronicus could see that no one was paying attention to them. The look he gave Lucius set Lucius’s heart to thrumming with anticipation. He was familiar with that look, and it boded ill for the person receiving it.
“There’s something I think you should know,” Andronicus told him grimly. “I have spoken with my informants in the city, and I believe your mother might be in danger.”
Lucius’s body went cold all over, then just as quickly fired with heat. If anything happened to his mother he would tear this city apart to find the miscreant who did it.
“What are you saying?” Lucius asked, his voice equally grim.
Andronicus shifted slightly under his regard, uncomfortable brown eyes meeting cold steel-gray ones.
“The zealots believe her to be a Roman sympathizer. That fire at her house last week was no accident.”
Lucius growled deep in his throat and rose from the water, all thoughts of relaxation forgotten. He felt his body tense for battle and realized this was a battle he couldn’t hope to win when he was so often gone from Jerusalem. He had to get his mother out of here. Another battle he would have to fight, for she had always refused to leave her homeland.
He glanced down at Andronicus. “Thank you, my friend.”
Andronicus gave him a hard look. “If you need any help, just let me know.”
Lucius nodded. Placing his palms against the walkway surrounding the pool, he lifted himself out of the water.
A servant handed him a strigil, but he chose instead the towel the man held in his other hand. He had no time for the instrument used to scrape away the water. Something in his gut told him time was of the essence.
Chapter 5
Anna and Leah wandered through the crowded marketplace streets, the lanes made even smaller by the horde of people filling Jerusalem in preparation for Passover.
The cacophonous sounds of vendors selling their wares mingled with people haggling over prices, along with a multitude of squawking chickens, bleating goats and sheep and a host of other livestock.
The shrill cry of kites added to the din as they circled above the city in the vivid blue sky. Small puffs of white clouds ambled slowly across the blue expanse, giving a lazy feel to the warm spring day.
It was the first time Anna had been away from Leah’s house and she was enjoying the freedom. Not that she didn’t appreciate her hostess’s hospitality, but it felt good to be outside the villa listening to the life all around her.
Many members of the trade guilds wandered through the crowds, their occupations easily spotted by the emblems of their trade. Anna recognized a tailor by the bone needle stuck in his cloak. He was arguing with a dyer of cloth, also easily recognized by the brightly colored tag of cloth attached to his cloak.
Leah was headed for the baker’s district. There was a baker there who was of the Way and Leah liked to give the man her business. She could have easily sent one of the servants, but Leah liked to wander the markets herself. Anna wondered if it made her less lonely to be among such a throng.
Anna’s ribs were still slightly tender, but the rest of her had healed well. Levi had returned several times and had pronounced her healthy enough to be up and about. The only problem she was having was when she was jostled by the crowd, but she wouldn’t for the world have mentioned it to Leah. Such a day was worth a little pain.
It had been good to witness the growing bond between Levi and his daughter as a result of his caring for Anna during her recovery. Anna’s own heart had always longed for just such a relationship, but it had been denied her. That was, until she had found the Lord. She heartily embraced the loving Father she had learned about from the disciples of Jesus.
Leah’s happiness over the increasing relationship with her father was communicated in the way she perpetually smiled. Anna was so happy for her. Even now Leah walked along, her lips tilted up in joy, the blue-colored tunic and yellow palla making her look like a ray of sunshine.
As for herself, while she knew she could never be considered lovely, the light blue tunic she wore gave her a feeling of confidence that the rags she had worn before had stripped her of. The new leather sandals on her feet tapped along the packed-dirt street, making her feel as though she were walking on air.
They continued to meander through the marketplace, Leah finding items she just couldn’t do without. The basket on Leah’s arm continued to fill until Anna was afraid it would soon become too heavy for the older woman to bear. Anna believed it was more a way of helping the poor who struggled each day for their very survival than any real desire for the products Leah purchased.
Conversation stopped whenever they approached a booth. Suspicious looks were constantly thrown their way. From the way Leah dressed, one would assume she was a Roman, and it was rare for a wealthy Roman to be in this part of the city. Anna began to feel a little uneasy at the continued baleful stares.
Her unease must have communicated itself to Leah. The older woman glanced her way, the lines on her face more pronounced as she frowned.
“Is something wrong, Anna?”
Anna tried to reassure her with a smile. If Leah noticed nothing untoward, then Anna didn’t want to alarm her.
“No, nothing.”
“Are you tired, my dear? I’m so sorry. I should have realized.”
Anna laid a hand on Leah’s arm. She didn’t want to be the cause of ruining this lovely outing.
“Truly, Leah. I am fine.”
Leah started to say something when she was interrupted by a loud voice that reverberated above the commotion around them.
“So, there you are.”
The warm, sunny day chilled dramatically as Anna’s body went cold all over at a voice she all too easily recognized. She froze in place, her eyes widening in alarm as she tried to get her numb brain to get the message to her feet to flee. And then, it was too late. She turned in time to see her father bearing down upon her. His face was a black thundercloud, his eyes shooting daggers. Her body tingled with fear, her blood running through her veins like a river of ice.
Looking from one to the other, Leah recognized the danger and stepped boldly into her father’s path, causing him to come to an abrupt halt.
His menacing glare moved from Anna to Leah, his bushy eyebrows lifting upward. “Get out of my way, woman!”
Anna tried to move Leah to the side, but the woman wouldn’t be budged. If Leah was hurt because of her, Anna would never be able to forgive herself.
“Leah, please.”
The crowd around them increased as people turned to stare, and it was obvious their sympathy was not with the richly dressed woman. Murmurs grew louder, faces angrier
, but Leah ignored them, focusing instead on the fuming man before her. She drew herself up to her full height, which was only slightly larger than Anna’s petite frame.
“Who are you, and how dare you order me about!”
Beetling brows drew down in fury. “My name is Abiyram Benyamin and I am this woman’s father.” He glowered at Anna. “I have been searching everywhere for you. You’re coming home with me.”
He started to reach past Leah, but Leah slapped his hand away.
“She will do no such thing! She is staying with me.”
Startled at Leah’s audacity, Anna’s father stood silent, but only for a moment. With a growl, he shoved Leah to the side, causing her to fall to the ground, and grabbed Anna by her wrist. He jerked her forward and Anna sucked in a breath at the sharp pain that tore through her side. She struggled against her father’s painful grip, flinching when he raised his hand to strike her.
“Hold!”
The one word rang with authority around the small, crowded square. Silence descended on the people, the only noise now coming from the animals in the area. The sudden quiet that settled over the square after the previous cacophony was eerie.
Anna saw Lucius striding through the crowd, his face distorted by anger. He exuded such an aura of violence, people hastily stepped out of his way. All eyes were on him as he approached, an impressive man despite being without his army accoutrement.
When he reached his mother, he bent quickly to help her to her feet. His glacial eyes searched for any injury.
“Are you all right?”
The softness of his voice was belied by the angry tic working in his jaw.
She nodded, brushing down her tunic with trembling hands. Lucius set her to the side, turning to where Abiyram still held Anna captive.
Lucius’s composed features were even more intimidating than his earlier anger. His eyes glittered with rage, his nostrils flaring, but he impressively managed to hold himself in check. Anna considered his frozen features, taking note of the feral gleam in his eyes, and thought that that must be what it was like to look death in the face. Her father must have finally realized the same thing. He quickly stepped back, some of the bluster leaving him.
“What has this to do with you, Roman?”
The belligerence in Abiyram’s voice brought heated color to Lucius’s face. Lucius stepped so close that his face was a mere hairbreadth away from Abiyram’s.
“This woman is my mother,” he growled softly, “and you will beg her forgiveness before I have the skin stripped from your back and have you thrown into prison.”
The very quietness of Lucius’s voice sent a shiver down Anna’s back. She glanced at her father to see his reaction. Did he know just what jeopardy he was in? She barely knew Lucius, yet she knew without doubt that her father was in imminent danger. That was no idle threat. Even the crowd around them began to back away as they realized that they could be considered accomplices to her father’s act.
Anna swallowed hard at the intense hatred emanating from her father’s eyes. It seemed as though hours passed as the two men continued to stare at each other. Anna knew that her father would never beg anything from a woman, much less a Roman. But, surprisingly, just when she thought the tension had reached a breaking point, he relented. Or as close as he would ever come to doing so.
He glanced at Leah balefully. “My pardon,” he told her icily.
Leah seemed to notice for the first time the stares of the crowd around her. She shifted uneasily as she recognized the threat to her son. She nodded at Anna’s father.
Abiyram reached again for Anna but Lucius stepped between them. Abiyram’s brows furrowed with his returning anger.
“This woman is my daughter. She has run away from home and I have come to take her back.”
Lucius continued to stare coldly at Abiyram until the older man once again retreated a step. Leah stepped around him, placing a protective arm around Anna’s shoulder and hugging her tightly.
Anna was comforted by the reassurance, but she didn’t wish to be the cause of anything happening to Leah or her son. The murmurs of the crowd were growing again. If the mob were to attack, Anna had no doubt that they would all be killed. They were alone here among the hostile gathering.
“I found this woman in the desert severely beaten and took her to my mother’s for care,” Lucius told Abiyram through gritted teeth, his glance raking the crowd around them. His control seemed tenuous at best. “If I hadn’t found her, she would have died.”
Abiyram looked from Lucius to Anna. His lips curled into a sneer. “It would seem she has been well taken care of.”
Anna’s face colored hotly at the implication. She saw Lucius’s hands fist at his sides, but his voice when he spoke was almost friendly.
“Indeed.”
He said no more, merely standing in Abiyram’s way, his arms folded across his chest. Abiyram shifted uneasily as the standoff continued.
“I will relieve you of your obligation now,” Abiyram told him snidely, but made no move toward Anna. When Lucius didn’t move or speak, Abiyram reached for Anna again.
Anna felt her heart drop to her toes. After all she had been through, was it truly Elohim’s will for her to go back to such a life of brutality? The scriptures said for children to obey their parents, and she had fought with herself many times over the desire to stay in His will. Was she truly dishonoring Elohim by defying Abiyram?
Leah made a move to speak, but Lucius silenced her with a slight movement of his hand.
“Not so fast,” Lucius told Abiyram, causing him to hesitate once again. Abiyram turned to Lucius ready to argue further, but Lucius forestalled him.
“There is the matter of repayment.”
Abiyram’s eyes went wide. “I never asked you to care for her,” he spat out.
“Nonetheless, it was done.”
Lucius’s calm only seemed to enrage her father further.
“I won’t pay you a single denarius,” Abiyram snarled, pushing back his cloak and placing his fists against his hips. His portly belly pushed against his tunic.
Lucius looked down, seemingly intent on picking a thread from the bottom of his blood-red tunic. When he looked up again, his eyes were black with rage.
“Shall we take the matter before procurator Felix?”
Lucius’s voice was still quiet, but Anna could tell he was only a heartbeat away from violence. She would truly hate to have that anger directed toward her. The man must be like an avenging angel on the battlefield.
Her father, though, also seemed on the verge of violence. His face was almost purple with equal amounts of rage. Yet he knew that to go before the procurator was tantamount to going before Rome, and Rome was not likely to side against her own. In fact, it was more likely that her father would be arrested as an insurrectionist with hostilities between the two countries at an all-time high.
Abiyram’s lips pressed tightly together. “How much?”
The smile Lucius gave Abiyram made him swallow hard.
“Thirty pieces of silver should cover it.”
Abiyram’s face turned white and Anna’s eyes went wide. Thirty pieces of silver was the usual price for a slave. Is that what Lucius was suggesting? Had this been his intention all along?
Abiyram’s mouth opened and closed several times before he was able to push words from his mouth.
“I don’t have that kind of money.”
“Then perhaps I could take you in payment until your debt is paid.”
Abiyram quailed at the look on Lucius’s face despite his own escalating anger.
Anna watched her father’s struggle. She knew as well as her father that Lucius was only hoping for something to happen. Every muscle in the Roman’s body was tense, ready to avenge his mother’s mistreatment.
&
nbsp; Her father’s hands clenched into fists. He glared at Lucius for several long seconds before he finally spat out, “Keep her then.” He glared at Anna. “Prostitute yourself on the streets for all I care, but don’t ever think you can come crawling back to me when these Romans tire of you.”
Turning, he pushed his way through the crowd and disappeared from their view.
Lucius watched Anna’s father walk away through a red haze of fury. He glared after the man, his hand clutching the gladius at his side. Even when he had gone into battle with his blood running like a river of hot lava, he had not hungered to kill a man as he did right at this minute. It would be so easy to pull his gladius from its sheath and throw it into the man’s retreating back. Being an expert in the art, he knew he would not miss and Anna would be free from the man forever.
He was angrier than he could ever remember being in his life, even those times that he had suffered at the hands of his own father. His fierce warrior’s blood was on the boil and if he didn’t soon find a target for his pent-up rage he was liable to do something he would later regret.
His mother laid a restraining hand on his arm and he felt the heat in his blood cool ever so slowly until he could focus on her standing at his side, a worried expression on her face.
“Let it go, Lucius.”
He realized that she was talking about more than just this encounter. Every time he thought he had finally conquered his own personal nightmares, something would transpire to show him otherwise.
He chanced a look at Anna and couldn’t begin to fathom the expressions crossing her face, the two uppermost being fear and, conversely, appreciation. Was the fear of him, or what might have happened had he not intervened?
Taking Leah and Anna each by an arm in a gentle yet inexorable grip, he started moving them through the increasing crowd of gawkers and turned them toward the upper city. People hastily moved out of his way as he plunged through the multitude.
When he reached his mother’s villa, he pushed them through the door, slamming it behind him. He was breathing hard, but not from exertion. Seeing the fading bruises on Anna’s arms had set his mind to thinking on things best left alone, but as always, his struggle was more against himself. The anger that had faded at his mother’s touch was returning with a vengeance.
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