Phalti carried me to my bed. His sensual lips begged to taste, to consume, to possess. Devoured by his kisses, I drank in sweet and powerful sensations, dark and velvety. And the scent of a man, animalistic, intoxicated me. My body ached with yearning. David, let me feel your touch, taste your heat, savor your scent. Oh, David, hold me and don’t let me go.
Like a cloud of incense, he descended over me, his breath on my face, his lips on my neck, and his solid length against my belly, pressed over the folds of my dress. My fingers crawled through his hair and down his chest and under his tunic. He kicked off his breeches and moved my hand to touch him. Shocked, I recoiled to my elbows and opened my eyes.
Phalti’s face fell with my reaction. He rolled to the side and covered his face with his arm, his breathing uneven. “I’m sorry.”
Shuddering with frustration and unspent need, I leaned out the window. The night air blew away the embers of guilt. I collapsed on the windowsill and cried under my breath, “David, David, David …”
Chapter 10
Lamentations 3:25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
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David squinted in the fading sunlight and scanned the western horizon. Grim-faced men stood next to him, hiding disapproval behind stoic expressions. He lifted his sword, Goliath’s sword. “We have no choice but to escape to the land of the Philistines. Saul cannot catch us there.”
No one replied.
He turned to his nephews. “Joab, lead a scouting party to search the land while I meet the Philistine king directly. Abishai, stay with the people and set up defensive positions.”
Joab brushed rust-colored hair out of his eyes. “Alone? Last time they threw you out as a lunatic. I say we all go with you.”
David glared at him. “If six hundred armed men go, would the Philistines not fear an invasion? Believe us part of Saul’s army?”
He untied the sheath and handed Goliath’s sword to Joab. “Take this. I will go unarmed.”
“With all respect, Uncle, they will kill you. Why Gath?”
David grinned. A sense of perverseness flooded his chest. “It’s Goliath’s hometown. Saul would never expect us to move there. Enough talking, let’s go.”
The rains had failed again, and the underbrush crackled dry under his feet. Remembrance of naked hunger gnawed his ribs. Ahead, around a hillock, the city of Gath loomed above the countryside. Perched on a natural fortress of rock, it appeared as fierce and impregnable as the legendary giant had once been.
David forced his feet forward. He’d become a Philistine ally. The dream had been a mirage. He was never meant to be king. He’d throw his lot with the enemies of Saul. Leave Israel behind. Leave Michal behind. Leave God behind?
Crazy, stupid crazy. That’s what she did to him. The image of a man between her thighs pierced his heart with pain and sorrow and loss. You should have a wife who loves you, who loves you, who loves you. David tried to stomp the mocking voice from his head.
Back upright and shoulders squared, he strode to the gate and stood in front of the barrel-chested guards.
“Who goes there?” a guard called.
“David, son of Jesse, requests an audience with King Achish.”
Beady eyes scanned his body. Another pair of hands checked for weapons. “Did you say, David? As in the Hebrew David?”
“Take me to your king.” He stared at the first guard and did not flinch at the sound of drawn swords.
A blade poked his back. “Shall we slay this madman and leave his blood for the dogs?”
“Perhaps the king may have objections,” David said in a flat, monotone voice.
“Why would that be, Slayer of Goliath? Know you not that he was kin to the king?”
“I dare suggest you let the king decide,” David replied.
Feet shuffled behind him, and weapons dropped to the ground. The first blow landed between his shoulder blades, the second in his kidneys. His head lolled, his face marred and swollen, they plucked his beard. Two hundred bruises for two hundred men. He deserved every blow—killed them for a worthless prize, a woman who no longer loved him. Blood seeped from his broken nose and cracked lips.
“Ho, what goes there?” A sharp voice split the air.
The men dropped David to the ground. “Prince Ittai, we’ve captured the man who killed Goliath and murdered two hundred stout men.”
The Philistine prince lifted David’s head and stared in his eyes. “So, you’re the man. What do you want?”
“To seek asylum, my lord.” Words gurgled through bloody lips.
The crowd of gawkers jeered, “String him up. Execute him. His blood be on his own hands. Avenge our kin.” They surged with axes and sticks.
“Step back,” Prince Ittai ordered. “The king will decide his fate.”
Ittai dragged him to his feet, led him bound into the palace, and cast him into a prison cell. At midnight, he set meat before him and washed his wounds. Then he kissed him on both cheeks and said, “I remember your mercy.”
* * *
I walked to the well, alone.
Jada grasped my hand. Her face shone with a calming smile. “I knew you would come.”
“I am not in need of healing, but of wisdom,” I said. “I’ve prayed incessantly to my God, but my heart is troubled, and I cannot see a way.”
“Come, child. Let’s walk to my house. You are under a great weight, and a burden clouds your face. Come and pour it out on me.”
We walked arm in arm.
“Are you a Philistine?” I asked.
“My father might have been an Israelite, but then again, maybe it was a legend. This much I know. My mother and I lived in a house in the Valley of Sorek. She was a healer and an enchantress. She taught me the arts of medicine, magic, and love.”
“Love? Is there an art for love?”
“Oh, yes,” she replied. “There are techniques and spells. Would you like to know?”
“Yes, definitely. Have you a man who loves you? Are you happy?”
Jada’s laughter trickled like a peal of bells. “Oh, Michal, I may know the art of love, but love and happiness are two completely different creatures.”
“My mother always said, ‘To be loved is to be happy, and to be happy is to be loved.’”
Jada stopped and faced me. “Let me ask you. Was your mother both loved and happy?”
“Neither. But her parents arranged her marriage. As for me, I married for love.”
“Are you happy?” Blue-green eyes searched my face.
My chest tightened, and I shifted my face to the side. “No, I was happy while my husband and I were together—every moment, until my father drove him away. Now I have to find him.”
We walked along a small footpath through a grove of oaks, alive with the breath of honeysuckle and the song of a lark. Jada gave me a sidelong smile. “So, the handsome scribe’s a ruse?”
“He’s insufferable. He won’t take me to David, and he won’t allow me to leave and find him myself.”
“Never count on men.” She picked bay leaves off a tree. “No matter how well intentioned, they want to imprison you in one form or another.”
“Is that why you have no man? You wish to be free?”
Her eyes grew as big as pools. “No, child, the man I love let me go, even as I wished he would bind me with chains. Perhaps it is the same with you.”
“I don’t wish to be free of David, ever.”
Her eyebrows bunched together, almost tenting in the center of her forehead as she placed a consoling hand on my arm. “Tell me what’s in your heart. You’ll find I’m a good listener.”
We entered her house, a cozy one with walls of mortared river stone topped with thatch. She plied me with sweet wine and tea. I lay on a couch and told her my life story, starting in my mother’s lap and ending at David’s escape from my window.
Her fragrance, like warm honey in jasmine tea, pulled me into her arms. My heart ached for my mother�
��s touch, and a pang of loneliness clung to my breast. She stroked my head and muttered soothing sounds. “I’ll help you in any way I can.”
“Can you see for me?” I took off a bracelet, gold set with carnelian, which had belonged to my mother. “Take this.”
“No, no, dear Michal. Let’s not discuss payment. Let me hear you first.”
I placed it on the table and stared at the bottom of the wine goblet. “I have prayed night and day to my God, and He has chosen not to answer me. Perhaps He does not regard love as a proper motivation for prayer. To hear Elihu and Phalti talk, the desires of a mere woman do not move our God, not when He has kings to raise and princes to punish.”
Jada poured more wine. “Asherah is the goddess of love. Nothing is more in her heart than the plight of lovers. You want to know about your husband, where he is, whether he loves you, and when he’ll come for you. Stay here while I consult her.”
She headed for the beaded curtain that led to another room.
“May I come with you?”
“You are a daughter of the Law, no? You must not appear in her presence. Is there anything else you want?”
“Yes, ask her to send a message in his dreams.”
“What would you like to tell him?”
“That I, his wife, love him. Not to despair. I will seek him and find him and come to him.” I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my breast. “I love him so much it hurts.”
Jada hugged me. “I once loved a man as much as you love your David. But as much as we loved each other, we could not be together.”
“Why is that?”
“Your Law forbids it. I’m a strange woman, and your God hates us. It has been this way since your people entered our land.”
“But many men violate this law. I see it all the time. As much as Samuel detested it, they still marry those of the land.”
Jada sniffed. “Not the man I love. He feared the curses. I would give anything to see him before I die. But he’s forgotten me. May the goddess grant all your desires and return you to the man you love.”
She stepped behind the beaded curtain. Incense bloomed spicy and gentle green. She sang a lilting melody that lifted the skin on the back of my neck. Tears wet my eyes. The rope of regret wound around my heart and pulled me to my knees. Dear God, help me.
Jada returned from her incantations and fingered my hair. “Give me a lock of your hair.”
Running her fingers through my hair, she unlocked the thick braids and snipped off a long wavy lock. “Now I’ll add a little henna to give you some copper highlights.”
Deftly, she worked the powder into my hair and finished with a dusting of jasmine. She handed me a mirror. My hair undulated like a waterfall of tortoiseshell colored snakes, dark brown, streaked with amber.
I pressed her hand to my lips. “I must go. Phalti might be worried.”
“You’re a good girl. Come back after the next full moon. I shall have an answer for you.”
* * *
The moon waxed fuller night after night. David, are you looking at the moon? Do you know how I long for you? Have you dreamed about me yet?
I approached Phalti’s house and quieted my steps. The rooms were darkened. Not bothering to light a lamp, I gathered a few crusts of bread and cold meat. Lately Phalti and I had been avoiding each other.
“Michal?” His voice startled me. “Where did you go? You’ve been gone all day.”
I stared at the table and fingered the whorls and knots in the wood. “I went to the forest to collect plants. I’m sorry I didn’t prepare your dinner.”
He pulled his chair closer. “I’ve been busy, too.”
The damp silence hung awkwardly. I glanced at his chest. His body warmed the space between us, but his eyes closed warily, and he gripped his hands so tightly his knuckles whitened.
“Has something happened?” My voice stalked out of my constricted throat. “You look frightened, why’s that?”
He stared at the table. “The king’s men came today while you were out.”
I drew my breath sharply. “What did they want?”
“There’s no good way to say this.” He avoided my gaze.
I grabbed his hands. Panic shot through my heart. “Have they caught David?”
“No, they haven’t.”
I exhaled in relief. “Then what?”
He palmed my hands and rubbed them. “David has forsaken the covenant, and you’ve been granted a divorce.”
“What?” A gaping emptiness hollowed my stomach, and I pushed from the table. “I don’t believe you.”
Phalti pulled a scroll from his robe. “Read it.”
Michal, David has deserted the covenant of God and left the land of Israel to serve the Philistine king. I hereby grant you a divorce. Elihu, priest of the LORD.
A cold shiver grabbed my shoulders and throttled my neck. I threw the scroll on the floor. “No, this cannot be. He loves God more than himself. He would never serve the enemy. He killed Goliath and hundreds of Philistines. His greatest desire is peace in Israel, a land freed from our enemies and the people worshipping God as he does.”
Phalti gaped. “I don’t know what to say. Your father is furious, but since he can’t catch David, he’s put a price on his head.”
I glared at him. “How do I know this note’s not a forgery? You’re a scribe. Easy for you to imitate an old man’s writing.”
“Michal! How can you accuse me? I’m your friend.” He tried to grab me, but I jerked away from him.
“No, you promised to help me. I bet none of my notes were delivered.”
“I gave them to Jonathan. I swear. Michal, don’t look at me like that.” He fell to his knees and hugged my legs. “I’ll send another one begging David to come back for your sake. I know how much you love him.”
He looked so distraught I hated myself. Of course he had not lied. Why did I mistreat him? I patted him. “I’m sorry. You tried.”
I didn’t believe he could get a message to David, but I allowed him to think he could help. “I’ll leave a note on the table. Don’t stay up on my account.”
His mouth turned down. “I’ll be gone before dawn. I won’t disturb you.”
He lumbered from the room.
I bit my lip as my heart ached for him. I’d been too hurtful to him. It would be better if I left.
* * *
I woke early the next morning and waited for Phalti to leave. As soon as the hoof beats faded down the lane, I hastened to the stable and fastened my bags to the back of a mule.
“Where are you going?” Naomi’s voice was quiet and tremulous.
“You can’t come with me.”
“You’re going after David, aren’t you?”
“Yes, and you can help me by not raising an alarm. When Phalti returns, tell him I went to visit Jada for a few days. That should give me plenty of time to get away.”
“But how will you know where to go?”
I pulled out my emerald pendant. “My heart will lead me to David, do not worry.”
Two fat tears rolled down her cheeks. “I shall miss you. Please send for me when you can.”
“Of course I will. You’re more a sister to me than a servant.” I kissed her on both cheeks and hugged her. Naomi had been gifted to me on my wedding day. No one knew who her parents were or how old she was, but I imagined her to be the younger sister I never had.
I mounted the mule and headed up the river toward the valley behind the grove of oaks. Jada sat on her haunches, washing pans at the brook under a terebinth tree.
She clasped her chest and stood. “I’m so glad you came.”
“What’s the matter?” I dismounted and rushed into her arms. “Did you have a vision?”
“Help me pack my things. I have to leave right away. King Saul has given orders to slaughter all who deal with familiar spirits. Last night, after you left, a friend from the village told me about a man with a map. He marked my house. In a few short days, it will be burned
to the ground, and I with it, should I remain.”
“But you’re a healer, a seer. Do you also channel spirits and talk to the dead?”
“My dear, there are many things you do not know about me. Come, let’s go. I need to be gone before the king’s men return.”
I hitched Phalti’s mule to the tree and followed her into the house. “I’m coming with you.”
She kissed my cheek. “I knew you would. There’s a trapdoor behind the storeroom. Take as much of the gold, silver, and jewelry you can carry and bury the rest for me—these urns, packets of herbs, and medicines.”
We spent the next few hours rearranging everything in her house, burying most of her medicines and tools. I piled rocks over the trapdoor.
Jada packed a bag, a few clothes, some sandals, herbs, and salves. She showed me a purse made of silver tapestry with scarlet threads. “My mother’s treasures are in here. A few locks of hair, hers, and my father’s. I’ve woven them together. If anything happens to me, take it from my body and keep it in remembrance of me.”
She took out the weaving. It was finely done. The sun’s pale rays pushed against the black mat of the night.
“Nothing will happen to you,” I said.
“Just promise me.”
“I will. Do you have kin, anyone I should deliver it to?”
She fixed me with a pointed stare. “I trust you’ll know who should keep this. Now, we must go.”
I had no idea what she hinted at, but I let it go. We mounted the mule and rode down the trail away from the village.
“Did your goddess tell you where David is?” I asked.
“No, she didn’t. But the ladies in the village said he has joined the Philistines and pledged his loyalty to King Achish.”
A sharp chill prickled my scalp, and I berated myself for blaming Phalti. “But why? David is an enemy of the Philistines.”
“Common enemies make strange bedfellows. Your father is a more deadly enemy to David than King Achish. We’ll inquire of the Philistines and find him easily.”
“Why would it be easy when we couldn’t find him in Israel?”
“Silly child, everything is easy in Philistia. We are a joyous people, unburdened by sin and scruples. With my gold and silver and my divination bowl, I can buy and sell information. And my goddess Asherah shines her face on lovers, true lovers.”
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