Warring Desires (The Herod Chronicles Book 3)

by Wanda Ann Thomas

  Unease trickled through Gabriel, studying the last barrier separating him from his loved ones. Eager to hold curly-headed Helen in his arms and set eyes on his mother and Elizabeth, Gabriel wouldn’t have a night’s sound sleep until he knew they were safe.

  “Why doesn’t the city surrender?” Leonidas asked, cracking his knuckles. “They must know they can’t win.”

  “Blame the ‘prophets,’ ” Gabriel replied derisively. “A new one arises every week, promising the people the Lord will deliver the city from Herod.”

  Leonidas wrinkled his nose. “It’s easy to call yourself a prophet, but—”

  A tremendous rumble and crash came from behind. Wincing, Gabriel looked back. The front wall of the potter’s shop lay in a heap at Herod’s feet. Dust billowed upward.

  “Holy heavens!” Leonidas exclaimed. “We could have been killed.”

  “The constant rumble of the catapults must have weakened the shop walls,” Gabriel said, hurrying to Herod’s side. “Is anybody hurt?”

  Remarkably composed, Herod poked at the pile of rubble with his sandal. “Stone shards pelted my calves and my heart leapt into my throat, but I’m fine otherwise.”

  Commander Tavi blinked and rubbed his eyes. “That was close.”

  Herod brushed the dust from his shoulders. “I never did like pottery shops.”

  They all laughed too heartily.

  “I’ll be in my tent if you need me,” Herod said. “At least I don’t have to worry about it killing me if it falls down.” And he walked away grinning.

  Commander Tavi stared at the heap of stones and whistled. “That’s twice the king has been spared.”

  Gabriel hadn’t given too much thought to the first incident, but Herod’s men had talked about the “miracle” for weeks. After a long battle with rebel fighters outside of Jericho, Herod had retired to a private bath where three enemy soldiers had taken refuge. The slave accompanying Herod recounted the tale wide-eyed, telling how the first soldier emerged from hiding with a sword and slipped out the door, then a second and a third soldier. Though naked and unarmed, Herod came to no harm.

  Leonidas’s eyes gleamed in awe. “Do you think it’s a sign?”

  “King Herod is beloved by the Lord,” Commander Tavi said with conviction. “He is meant to be King of Israel.”

  “The Lord delivered him out of Jerusalem when the Parthians invaded,” Leonidas said in agreement.

  Commander Tavi pointed south. “And gave him a great victory in the desert when the Parthians gave chase.”

  Gabriel dearly wanted to believe the signs pointed to the lord’s blessing, but his doubts wouldn’t be quieted. “You were there?”

  Commander Tavi’s chest swelled. “We were outnumbered three to one, but King Herod never lost heart. The whole army will cheer when they hear what happened today.”

  Leonidas smiled wide. “I can’t wait to tell my friends about today’s miracle.”

  “Go ahead of me,” Commander Tavi said and cocked his head in the direction of the collapsed wall. “I’ll set some men to cleaning up the rubble.”

  Leaving the outlying limits of Jerusalem behind, Gabriel and Leonidas walked north toward tents set out in a series of precise squares on the surrounding hillsides. The stones paving the road radiated heat stored from the sunny summer day. Moths fluttered over tufts of wild flowers. The braying of a mule came from a distance.

  A moment later two riders crested the rise.

  “Did you invite Noach and Shoshana to come to Jerusalem?” Leonidas asked.

  The sight of the setting sun reflecting off of Shoshana’s copper-hued hair and orange scarf made Gabriel’s heart kick. “Something is wrong.” He gripped the handle of his sword and dashed up the road.

  Shoshana spotted him and urged Rabbit into a fast trot. Concern etched her beautiful face.

  “What’s happened?” he called, running faster.

  When they reached each other, Shoshana slid off Rabbit and flew into his arms. “Jacob ran away.”

  Breathing hard, he examined Shoshana to assure himself she was whole and well. “Ran away? To Jerusalem?”

  “He’s with John.”

  “John?”

  “I mean Rahm. Jacob followed Rahm to Jerusalem.”

  Dread coiled through Gabriel’s gut. “What did Rahm do?”

  “Jacob had been acting more and more hostile. Two nights ago he defied a direct order from his mother and stormed out of the house. I went searching for him. After walking through half the back alleys in Samaria, I rounded a corner and spotted him talking to Rahm.” Fury flared in her eyes. “Rahm laughed it off. Claimed meeting Jacob was a coincidence, but Jacob’s guilty expression told me otherwise.”

  “What did Jacob have to say?”

  “Nothing. He remained tight-lipped, even after I got him home and his mother and grandfather questioned him. He ran away later that night.”

  “You believe he is with Rahm?”

  “Rahm kept promising to take Jacob under his wing,” she said, voice shaking, and teach him how to negotiate deals and contracts. Rahm said it to goad and threaten me, but Jacob took the lies to heart.”

  Wondering if Jacob had been the one spying for Rahm, Gabriel rubbed Shoshana’s back. “You’re sure Rahm came here?”

  She blew out a sharp breath. “I was prepared to visit every acquaintance Rahm has in Samaria to learn his whereabouts, but an innkeeper with a grudge against Rahm was happy to tell me the fiend was on his way to Jerusalem.”

  Disgusted with Rahm for taking advantage of an innocent youth, Gabriel grit his teeth. “Jerusalem or Herod’s camp? It’s possible Rahm meant to meet with High Priest Hasmond.”

  “I asked the same question, but the innkeeper didn’t know.”

  Noach’s mule ambled to a stop. Shoshana and Gabriel broke apart. Leonidas, who had been standing off to the side listening, joined them.

  Noach climbed down from the mule and stretched. “You and your brother look as though you’ve taken on and beaten a legion of barbarians.”

  Muscles and mind hardened from weeks of fighting, Gabriel felt years older than twenty-seven. “For a couple of soft priests, we’ve done well.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Noach said. “You have the hearts of lions.”

  Radiating calm and confidence, Leonidas pushed his unruly hair away from his face. “Where do you want to start the search?”

  Gabriel surveyed the sea of tents. Rahm could be hiding anywhere. “You know more of the men than I do.”

  “I will visit as many campfires as I can tonight,” Leonidas volunteered and strode away.

  Commander Tavi and a handful of officers trudged up the road, the men eyeing Shoshana and Noach with interest.

  Gabriel’s muscles tightened. Taking Shoshana into his arms had been natural, but an unacceptable risk. Gossip spread through an army camp faster than through a Persian harem. Tongues would soon be wagging all over camp, embellishing details of Gabriel’s tryst with a married woman and other dangerous speculation.

  Commander Tavi waved the other officers on, then turned greedy eyes on Shoshana.

  The safest thing to do would be to send Shoshana and Noach off in the care of someone he could trust, but Gabriel wasn’t about to let Shoshana out of his sight, not while she was surrounded by a legion of lusty soldiers. That she had made the journey from Samaria with only her grandfather for company made his skin crawl. Of course he knew she wouldn’t return home until she found Jacob.

  Gabriel stepped between Commander Tavi and Shoshana. “Noach and Shoshana Ehud are here as my guests. Leonidas and I will be acting as their protectors until they depart. We will be staying at the abandoned baker’s shop.”

  Commander Tavi frowned. “Under whose orders?”

  “Under Herod’s, once I speak to him.”

  “The king won’t be pleased.”

  Gabriel shrugged. “Will you send word to me if you see the Samaritan spy Rahm?”

  “I don’t want
any trouble in the camp,” Commander Tavi said and moved on, chased by the forlorn bray of a mule.

  “You’d think he’d never seen a woman before,” Shoshana said, her trusty club clutched tight in her hand, gloriously fierce and beautiful as the first time he’d seen her.

  Gabriel smiled. “Did you fear I’d need rescuing again?”

  Shoshana’s wild loveliness gave way to a vulnerable tremble. “We rescued each other.”

  The need to hold her in his arms was an ache that strengthened with each breath. He wouldn’t allow Rahm or Herod or his family’s disapproval to keep him from marrying Shoshana. “We will find Jacob and start our lives together.”

  “I want that more than anything in the world,” she whispered.

  “Soon,” he promised. “Soon.”

  CHAPTER 35

  Two mornings later the rhythmic thud, thud of a battering ram hitting stone vibrated up from the hard-packed dirt floor, through Shoshana’s feet and legs, along her arms, and out her fingertips.

  She drew wavy lines through the flour coating the nicked wooden tabletop. Loaves of charred bread sat untouched in the cold brick oven. A bowl of crusty dough, open sacks of grain, and cups half full of wine attested to the baker’s family’s hasty departure from the otherwise tidy shop.

  Though exhausted and on edge after combing through every corner of Herod’s vast camp, Shoshana wouldn’t be able to rest until they found Jacob. Gabriel promised her they would search through the equally large Roman camp right after he responded to the summons from Herod.

  Leonidas reclined against the frame of the open door obsessively cracking his knuckles. Her grandfather slept fitfully, propped up against the brick oven.

  “Rahm and Jacob are coming this way,” Leonidas announced straightening, his hand going to the deadly sword hanging from his hip.

  “Thank the Lord,” her grandfather said, climbing to his feet.

  She hurried to the door. Cocky and arrogant as ever, Rahm advanced with a smirk. Jacob’s narrow, pinched face was white as the belly of a fish.

  Shoshana’s ire and frustration with Jacob melted away, leaving her only with concern for his welfare.

  “I’ll go find Gabriel,” Leonidas said, heading toward the back of the bakery.

  Shoshana turned to stop him. “That’s not necess—”

  The rear door swung on its hinges. Her grandfather joined her. “Gabriel needs to be here.”

  Even the practical, independent side of her knew this to be true. Though no wedding contract bound them, and though they had not joined in body, their hearts and spirits had become one.

  She readied herself for whatever dirty surprises or tricks Rahm might spring.

  Her grandfather’s shoulders stiffened and his lined face hardened. “I’m getting my grandson back. Rahm’s done enough harm to our family.”

  “Is that anyway to greet your son-in-law?” Rahm asked strolling in, reeking of prideful confidence and smug satisfaction. His arm was draped over Jacob’s shoulder, a move designed to goad her grandfather.

  She bit her tongue against calling Rahm a pompous fool or a sadistic snake.

  Jacob’s beaky nose and sunken round eyes looked too big for his thin face. “He made me come. I found Jerusalem on my own and wanted to return to Samaria on my own.”

  “You traveled to Jerusalem by yourself?” she asked incredulous and mortified.

  “I caught the little rat hovering outside my tent in the middle of the night,” Rahm said. “He followed me all the way from Samaria through Jericho, and then here.”

  Jacob scowled at Rahm. “He told me Gabriel wants to steal our mules.”

  Shoshana broke for Jacob’s innocence. “Gabriel is fabulously wealthy. Our mules would be nothing to him.”

  “Come and we will talk,” her grandfather said, holding out his arms in welcome.

  Rahm raked his fingers through the thin wisps of hair covering his bald pate. “Be sure to ask your precious grandson about the secrets he shared with me.”

  Jacob’s face turned bright red. “You promised!” he shouted. “You promised you wouldn’t tell.”

  Rahm directed his cruel smile at Shoshana. “Your nephew has been spying on you.”

  Her breath caught. “Jacob would never—”

  “How do you think I learned you were setting a trap for me at the White Dove?”

  “You’re lying,” she said, but the misery on Jacob’s face told the truth. If Rahm had punched her, the hurt and shock couldn’t have been worse.

  Rahm wagged his brows. “The boy deceived you for a few coins. He told me about the letters Anina helped you write, told me about you kissing your lover beside the goat pen, told me—”

  “Be quiet,” Jacob yelled, charging and flailing his long thin arms at Rahm.

  Anger flashed in Rahm’s eyes, and he backhanded Jacob into the wooden door frame.

  Jacob’s head hit with a sickening thud, and he slumped to the floor.

  Shoshana cried out, rushed to Jacob, and dropped to her knees. “Jacob!”

  Jacob sat up, blood pouring from his nose. “I’m sorry, Aunt Shosha. Please forgive me. I was foolish to listen Rahm.”

  She hugged him and pressed kisses to his dust-caked hair. The betrayal stung, but she was more worried about her nephew. She didn’t want him to go through life burdened by guilt. He was young and impressionable, and this kind of scar would be difficult to overcome. “I forgive you, Jacob. No real harm was done. Everything will be fine.”

  Her grandfather squatted down beside them and patted Jacob’s back. “You are not the first man Rahm has tricked, Grandson.”

  Rahm stood over them shaking his head. “The boy is as gullible as you, old man.”

  Her grandfather narrowed his eyes at Rahm. “What made you so hateful?”

  Rahm laughed, but his words were lost on Shoshana, upon spotting Gabriel watching them from the back doorway. He cracked the door open a bit wider, and she caught a glimpse of the swarthy, curly-headed commander she’d seen the day she arrived. Gabriel made a rolling motion with his hand—he wanted her to keep Rahm talking.

  Shoshana blinked an acknowledgment. This was the opportunity they’d been hoping for. With a credible witness listening, she needed to lead the conversation in such a way that Rahm would confess he was spying for High Priest Hycranus.

  Gabriel’s eyes flicked between her and Jacob and Rahm. Anger and trepidation and fierceness played across his face. She could only imagine what it must be costing him not to burst into the room and confront Rahm.

  She knew Rahm's weakness, knew he took pleasure in other’s suffering. Mouth dry as dust, she rose on her knees, folded her hands together in beggar-like supplication. “Please divorce me. I can’t live like this anymore. I’ll do anything you ask.”

  Rahm grinned. “Your lover must have told you what I want.”

  She held onto her anger. “But you already have two wives.”

  Rahm stroked a finger along her jaw. “I hate to give up any of my possessions, but I will be glad to be rid of you and your quarrelsome mouth.” He pinched her chin. “You will convince your lover to give me his sister in marriage or I will expose you as an adulteress.”

  Tempted to pull away, she pretended to tremble. “You would see me stoned to death?”

  Her grandfather knocked Rahm’s hand aside. “Do not threaten my granddaughter.”

  “Don’t interfere, old man,” Rahm growled.

  Shoshana grabbed the hem of grandfather’s tunic and gave him a pleading look. “He’s my husband. This is between us.”

  Misery filled her grandfather’s aged eyes, but he did as she asked, and turned and helped Jacob to his feet.

  The stones embedded in the hard-packed dirt floor dug into her knees. She suffered the pain, knowing the satisfaction Rahm received when he could lord over those weaker than himself.

  “What do you hope to gain by marrying Elizabeth Onias?” she asked. “You’ve already earned the favor of Herod and High Pr
iest Hycranus.”

  “I have, haven’t I?” Rahm said, pleased with himself. “Hasmond is finished. I gave him Joseph of Idumea’s head, but Hasmond failed to take advantage of it.”

  The confession surpassed her wildest hopes. She pressed for more. “Herod’s brother Joseph? You were involved with his death?”

  Rahm tucked his thumbs in his belt and rocked on his heels. “I encountered Joseph as he was moving his army south. My message alerted Hasmond to Joseph’s rash—”

  The back door banged open and the swarthy, dark-haired man charged across the shop. “You lying, murdering traitor!”

  Contorted face aghast, Rahm backed up against a shelf lined with various-sized clay bowls. He cringed and looked about wildly, searching for a means escape. “Herod...how long have you been—”

  “Shut your mouth,” Herod bellowed, fisting his hand in Rahm’s tunic.

  Rahm’s face turned the same shade of gray as the deserted lump of dough.

  Sword in hand, Leonidas joined Herod.

  Then Gabriel was at Shoshana’s side, helping her to stand. “You beat Rahm at his own game.”

  A hot, painful prickling weakened her legs and feet. “That’s Herod? But how—”

  “We were inspecting the perimeter of the city wall when Leonidas found me. I told Herod Rahm was spying for Hasmond and invited him to come hear the proof himself.” Gabriel threaded their fingers together and squeezed her hand. “I wanted to tear Rahm’s head off when I saw him shove Jacob and treat you abominably, but Herod kept a steadying hand on my arm.”

  Herod shook Rahm hard, rattling the clay dishes. A bowl clattered to the floor and shattered into pieces. “Mercy. Have mercy,” Rahm begged.

  Hand still fisted in Rahm’s tunic, Herod held out his other hand. “Your sword, Leonidas.”

  Shoshana gasped.

  Gabriel released her hand, and barged between Leonidas and Herod. “You’re not going to put Rahm on trial?”

  Hate raged in Herod’s black eyes. “Rahm knew the fate awaiting if I learned he was responsible for my brother’s death.”

  Gabriel glanced back at her with a questioning look.

  She despised Rahm, but that didn’t mean she wanted him dead. If he’d just given her a bill of divorce, she would have left him to his own devices. She forced the words past her constricted throat. “Rahm has always been too greedy for his own good.”