Warring Desires (The Herod Chronicles Book 3)

by Wanda Ann Thomas

  “Stay behind me,” Gabriel instructed his father, retrieving his sword from Leonidas.

  Jal frowned. “I’m sorry, but I have orders to arrest Nehonya and Andrew Onias.”

  “Arrest my father and brother?” Gabriel asked not believing his ears.

  Clearly uneasy, Jal shifted in place. “Herod has ordered the arrest all the high-ranking supporters of High Priest Hasmond.”

  Gabriel’s father’s face was pasty white. “I don’t care about myself, but Andrew...”

  Wails of lament and the rattle of chains resounded through the neighborhood.

  Sickened at the thought of his father and Andrew locked in a dark cell, Gabriel glared at Jal. “I won’t allow you to arrest them.”

  Leonidas took a defensive stance. “You will have to go through both of us.”

  Jal grimaced. “Don’t make this difficult.”

  Two soldiers carrying shackles stepped forward.

  Gabriel hefted his sword. “Tell Herod—”

  “I will go with you peacefully,” his father said, rushing to the edge of the porch, arms stretched for the shackles.

  Leonidas’s face drained of color. “Don’t, Father.”

  Frightened in earnest, Gabriel tugged his father’s arms down. “You can’t surrender.”

  Tears welled in his father’s eyes. “This is the first correct decision I’ve made in some time. You and your mother and Leonidas and Elizabeth have suffered enough because of my weaknesses and failures. I don’t want any more blood shed because I was too cowardly to protect my own.”

  Gabriel muscles twitched, everything inside him screaming to unleash his deadly talent on his father’s behalf. “I can defend you, Father. Trust me.”

  “Please, Son, allow me to reclaim my honor.”

  Gabriel had thought picking up a sword was the most difficult challenge he’d ever face, but the hiss of the deadly length of metal sliding home as he sheathed his sword wrenched his heart.

  “Take him,” Jal ordered.

  The men holding the shackles stepped forward.

  “No chains,” Gabriel said, pinning Jal with an icy stare. “If you don’t treat my father with the utmost respect, you will deal with me.”

  Jal swallowed and nodded. “I’ll guard his safety with my life.”

  Gabriel gripped his father’s elbow. “I’m coming with you.” And he glared at Jal, daring him to disagree.

  “Herod might show mercy,” Jal offered half-heartedly.

  Worry for Andrew ate at Gabriel. “Where’s Herod?”

  Jal hitched his thumb over his shoulder. “He stormed the palace with his elite guard.”

  “Do you want me to search for Andrew?” Leonidas asked.

  Gabriel glanced toward the twin turrets dominating the outline of the Upper City. Gabriel had heard rumors about the hellish condition of the detention cells buried in the bowels of the Hasmonean Palace. “No, stay with mother and Elizabeth until I return. But don’t expect me back soon. I plan to confront Herod once I discover Andrew’s fate.”

  Gabriel guided his father down the stairs and attempted to offer solace. “I will do everything in my power to save you and Andrew.” But all he could picture was Herod blind with hate, slaughtering whole towns and burying those who opposed him with his hate and revenge.

  CHAPTER 38

  Herod’s sunken-eyed secretary led Gabriel through the Hasmonean Palace’s gilded reception hall. Gabriel had visited the gilded chamber many times before, and thought nothing of the opulence. High Priest Hasmond and the line of High Priests before him never called themselves kings, but they lived like royalty. They surrounded themselves with gold ornamentations and lavish furniture, meanwhile poor priests like Matthias ben Tobias dwelled in one-room hovels. Priests of the Lord shouldn’t have to live in poverty while High Priest Hasmond’s extended family and loyal supporters grew fat with wealth from the Temple’s rich coffers.

  Sadducees, foreign ambassadors, and merchants crowded around the raised dais at the front of the high-ceilinged hall, waiting to have an audience with Herod. High Priest Hasmond might as well be presiding as king for all the difference it would make to ordinary Jerusalemites and poor priests.

  The platform held a gilded chair and the portable desk from Herod’s command tent. Ink stylus poised above a sheaf of parchment, Herod glanced up. His gaze darkened. “Priest. I was expecting a visit.” That Herod would have his beat-up old desk dragged into the throne room made him likable.

  “I bet you were,” Gabriel said, climbing the brightly polished stone stairs bordering the platform. “What do you mean by arresting my father and brother?”

  Herod stood and folded his arms across his wide chest. “Your father’s generation represents the past. Jerusalem will know a new era has arrived when I execute High Priest Hasmond's inner council.”

  “You plan to murder my father and brother and half the Sanhedrin?” Gabriel asked horrified.

  “My father made the mistake of coddling his enemies and died because of it. One swift strike is for the best. It will save Jerusalem from more war.”

  “You are going to kill my father and brother for your peace of mind?”

  Herod shrugged. “The choices and alliances we make have consequences.”

  Gabriel’s stomach sickened. His conscience had led him to join Herod’s army, never suspecting it would lead to his father and brother’s execution. “Don’t ruin your victory with revenge and bloodshed. Use your power for good.”

  Herod picked up a stack of papers and shoved them at Gabriel. “I’m giving you three estates...lands, homes, fortunes.”

  “Don’t insult me. We are talking about my father and brother’s lives.” Gabriel flung the property and monetary notes back at Herod.

  Sheets of paper swirled and drifted down to the floor. Herod’s face hardened. “Did you cry with me for my father and brothers?”

  Gabriel was guilty of not feeling the depth of sympathy he should have. And he’d been overgenerous in his estimation of Herod’s character. “Jerusalem has traded one selfish ruler for another.”

  “If you cared about your fellow Jerusalemites, you would take a seat among the Sanhedrin.”

  “To be your puppet, agreeing with your every decree?”

  Herod leaned across the desk and pointed. “Hear me, and hear me clearly...you will obey me as your king. You will take whatever gifts I see fit to give you. And you will marry the woman I pick for you.”

  Gabriel knew better than most the deadly depths Herod would go to punish those who resisted his rule. Herod showed no mercy at the cliff caves, showed no mercy to the Galilean cities when they revolted, showed no mercy to Joseph’s murderers.

  Sickened by the path of death and destruction, Gabriel lifted his chin. “I can’t and I won’t bow to you.”

  The assembled men ranged around the dais stared wide-eyed like the priests of his course had at the Temple when Gabriel confronted Cousin Simeon over the tainted drawing of the lots.

  A crazed look entered in Herod’s eyes. “You aspire to my throne. You want to be High Priest. That’s why you are resisting.”

  Gabriel blinked in astonishment. “I’m not Simeon Onias. I have no desire to rule over Jerusalem.”

  “You say that now.”

  “I will place my hand on a Torah scroll and swear that I am speaking true.”

  “There’s no need to be dramatic,” Herod said, mollified. “Aside from the matter of your father and brother, I’m sure we can come to acceptable terms.”

  Herod’s flight of madness was more frightening than his out-sized anger. But Gabriel wouldn’t be intimidated or deterred. “I will marry Shoshana Ehud before the month is out. I will never sit as a member of your Sanhedrin. And I will be your enemy forever if you execute my father and brother.”

  “You will regret this,” Herod warned.

  His life hanging in the balance, Gabriel was suffused with a deep calm. “Do what you have to.” Turning his back on Herod, Gabriel stro
de down the dais’s wide stairs and marched out of the deathly quiet hall.

  CHAPTER 39

  After leaving Herod behind, Gabriel bribed one of the palace guardsman to take him to a closet-sized chamber where his father was being held. Andrew’s cell was deeper in the bowels of the palace.

  The overpowering smell of urine stung Gabriel’s eyes. Rat droppings littered the gray floor, and lamplight flickered over his father’s drawn face.

  Muscles strung tight, Gabriel searched for an answer or strategy that would save his father and brother. Clawing grief rose at the very real possibility this was the last time he’d see his father alive. “I failed, Father.”

  “No...It’s my failure, not yours,” his father whispered back.

  The future looked bleak. Herod hadn’t called for Gabriel’s arrest, but it was only a matter of time. If Herod executed him and his father and Andrew, the duty of caring for Helen and Mother and Elizabeth would fall on Leonidas. You couldn’t ask for a better man in a battle, but Leonidas’s interests revolved around exchanging tall tales about battles and weapons and war-horses. At twenty, Leonidas was still more boy than man.

  Gabriel rolled his shoulders against the dragging weight of his leather armor. “I thought joining Herod was the right thing to do, but—”

  “Don’t blame yourself. You had no way of knowing Herod would take revenge against half the Sanhedrin. Antipater preferred to wield power behind the scenes, but his son is a different sort of man.”

  The image of Herod’s crazed eyes flashed through Gabriel’s mind. “He wanted me to take a seat with the Sanhedrin, but I couldn’t.”

  His father hung his head. “You wouldn’t be in this position if I’d stood up to Cousin Simeon. I’ve always chosen what was expedient over what was right. I was secretly proud when you and Leonidas walked out of the Temple. And I’m equally proud of you for standing up to Herod. Believe me, you would hate yourself every time you gave your nay or yea in accordance with Herod’s lawless whims and unrighteous actions.”

  Reluctant to speak of his father’s infidelity with Anina, Gabriel wanted his father to know he had more sympathy for him now. “I regret my hateful words...about a matter I—”

  “They weren’t hateful, they were the truth. And I will die happy knowing I have your forgiveness.

  “You speak so easily of your death.”

  “Promise me you will put my death behind you. Don’t seek to avenge me.”

  Gabriel’s anger at Herod flared. “How can I turn my back?”

  His father clasped Gabriel by the arms. “I should have been killed for my sins long ago. Too many people have died or been hurt because of my cowardice. I want you and your sister and brothers and mother to live long, happy lives. That is the justice I desire.”

  The guard rapped on the door. “Your time is up.”

  His father kissed Gabriel on both cheeks. “You are a good son. Be patient with Andrew. His loyalty to me and the Hasmonean family has made him blind, but he has a good heart. Tell your mother and sister I love them, and...” his father swallowed and cleared his throat “...and though I have no right to ask, I must beg a favor from you.”

  “You want me to look after Anina and your young daughters, as well as Elizabeth and Mother?” Gabriel said, glad his father’s last thoughts included his second family.

  Tears welled in his father’s eyes. “They are very dear to me.”

  The guard knocked again.

  Gabriel wished he had time to speak of his love for Shoshana and to tell his father he understood the temptation of wanting a woman you couldn’t or shouldn’t have. “I promise to care and watch over Anina and my half-sisters.”

  His Father smiled through his tears. “Bless you, Son.”

  The cell door scraped open. Heart heavy, but grateful for the peace between them, Gabriel kissed his father on both cheeks. “I love you, Father.”

  CHAPTER 40

  By the next morning peace had been restored to Jerusalem. But it was an uneasy peace. The city’s streets looked bleak, despite the blue skies overhead and efforts to scrub away the bloodstains. Gabriel nodded to familiar faces, men and women he’d known since boyhood, but his neighbors avoided his eyes.

  Jal shared a quick summary of the actions taken to save the city from total plunder, as he escorted Gabriel, Shoshana, Noach, and Jacob from the abandoned bakery to the section of the city where Gabriel lived.

  After accepting High Priest Hasmond’s surrender, Herod had immediately turned his attention to ending the Roman excesses. He confronted the Roman commanders, asking them if by allowing their men to empty the city of riches and men, they meant to leave him king of a desert. Fearing victory would be a worse affliction than defeat when the Romans clamored to enter the precincts of the Temple and see the sacred vessels in the holy place, King Herod had promised to give a reward to every soldier, and to give a double portion to the commanders out of his own funds.

  Jal grinned. “The riches cured the Romans’ anger. They retreated posthaste to their hillside encampments.”

  Gabriel halted and gave Jal a dark look. “The reward won’t be coming from Herod’s purse. He is confiscating the property and wealth of those he arrested.”

  Properly embarrassed, Jal shuffled in place. “The king asked me to tell you your life and riches are safe and he won’t interfere with your plans to marry...if you give your word you won’t work against him.”

  Shoshana’s shoulders relaxed a fraction and a relieved smile curved her lips. The concessions were more than they’d hoped for. But Gabriel couldn’t rejoice yet, especially in light of Herod’s extreme mood swings. “What about my father and brother?”

  “The king might change his mind,” Jal said, sounding unconvinced and departing before Gabriel could ask any more questions.

  Gabriel’s chest tightened as he approached the spot where Talitha had been run down by the Parthian cavalrymen.

  Shoshana’s arm brushed his in a quiet show of support. He found her hand and threaded their fingers together. Public displays of affection were scandalous, especially among the upper classes, but the suddenness of Talitha’s death and the bloodiness of battlefields had taught him the meaning of true indecency.

  He led Shoshana to the stately front porch of his house and up the wide stone stairs. They walked over the marble threshold and entered an airy entry hall. He watched her carefully, waiting for her reaction to the immense wealth that would now be hers.

  She crossed to the center of the brightly polished floor, and turned in a circle, examining the colorful floral trim painted by a young artist from Rome. “We won’t have to worry about bumping into each other when my grandfather, Naomi, and the boys come for visits.”

  Needing the assurance of her touch, he joined her and pulled her into his arms. “I thought you might find it too ostentatious.”

  “It’s beautiful.”

  Surrounded by evidence of wealth that ought to be distributed among poor priests like Matthias ben Tobias, a family of nine who lived in a one-room hovel, Gabriel no longer found joy in his splendid home. “Would you be disappointed if I sell this house and take you to live on my Galilean farm?”

  “A house is just a house...even a large, grand home fit for a prince,” she teased, then her smile faded. “Home is the people, and the joy of eating, working, and sleeping close to those we love. We will be happy no matter where we live.”

  He pressed a kiss to her palm. “Your trust means everything to me.” He didn’t know the first thing about farming, but wouldn’t allow that to stop him. He’d learned to be a skilled soldier. Now he would put his heart and mind into running an olive farm.

  Her brow creased. “What about your duties as a priest?”

  Glad and touched she would ask, Gabriel squeezed her hand. “I’m not forsaking the Temple or my duties. We will return to Jerusalem for the feasts, and for the two weeks of required service with my course of priests.”

  “But you love Jerusalem.”
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br />   Bitterly disappointed in Herod, Gabriel exhaled a heavy breath. “Even if Herod frees my father and brother and the others, I can’t stay in Jerusalem. Herod isn’t going to end the corruption. It was foolish and immature of me to believe he would be a better ruler than High Priest Hasmond and men like my Cousin Simeon. I couldn’t have been more wrong. But I can’t regret it, because we never would have met you.”

  Shoshana traced a finger over his simple brown tunic. “And when I saw you running from the bandits I thought you were a pompous, pampered prince. I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

  He brushed a kiss over the hint of freckles sprinkled across her nose. He’d been saved from more than the bandits that fateful day. “I look forward to telling our children how their beautiful mother looked brandishing a gnarled club.”

  She laughed. “It’s a good thing you plan to sell your lovely house. My club would look out of place. But so would your sword. Of course, once we marry, I won’t need my club.” A soft sigh escaped her coral lips.

  “Don’t even consider throwing it away.” Though he didn’t hold his sword like a girl anymore, and he was well equipped to protect himself and his family, he derived great satisfaction from knowing Shoshana would and could come to his defense. Just as it pleased him to know she wasn’t marrying him for his wealth or his name, but because she loved him and wanted to spend her days and nights with him.

  Amusement shone in her cinnamon eyes. “Jacob will be disappointed when I tell him we won’t live here. He had his heart set on seeing me live in a grand home.”

  “Talitha would be sad...she loved this house.” He bit his tongue.

  Shoshana and Talitha couldn’t be more opposite. Talitha had possessed a refined, soft beauty and gentle spirit, and their marriage had been sweet and happy and perfect. Whereas Shoshana exuded a wild allure and fiery courage he found equally captivating and enticing and satisfying. Talitha had been the perfect match for his younger, innocent self. And Shoshana was the exact partner he needed and craved now. Comparing them wasn’t fair to either woman.