by Brian Godawa
John had lost track of the time. And where he was. He looked about him. A couple of his men had just hacked to pieces two men who had refused to give them the food they had hidden. Their bodies lay in the street as their wives and children wailed in pain over them.
Gischala looked up and noticed a group of ten other soldiers on horseback down the street. He squinted in the moonlight. They were not his men. And they were coming his way.
He recognized the young man in the lead. It was the warrior monk, Aaron ben Hyam.
CHAPTER 52
Aaron ben Hyam had been on security rounds in the city, trying to keep some order in the midst of the growing chaos. He had led his ten warriors through the Essene quarter when he entered into a thoroughfare and saw two men cut down dead in the street by a group of soldiers on horseback. Their wives and children ran to the dead men, wailing and tugging at their bodies.
Then Aaron noticed the leader, a man whose stature and face he was very familiar with.
John of Gischala.
Their eyes met, and Aaron realized this would be his opportunity to kill the monster who had caused so much pain and misery in this city. Aaron had long ago given up believing in God’s providence, so this had to be luck. Yes, Simon had made a treaty with Gischala to join forces against Titus. But this son of Belial deserved to die, and Aaron was willing to take the flack for it. He narrowed his eyes and launched after his target.
He saw Gischala notice him and yell to his men.
They drew chase.
Aaron could see by the way Gischala was fleeing that he was not sure of where he was. As if he had gone on a scouting mission and was lost. Good. Because Aaron knew this Essene quarter like the back of his hand.
He was already gaining on them.
They cut through a small alleyway. Aaron was in the lead. He saw the last soldier in Gischala’s team miss a low-hanging pole and get smashed off his horse to the ground.
Aaron’s horse trampled over the poor fool and kept hard on the trail.
Four of them left. It would be an easy kill. And an easy task to bring Gischala’s body to Simon so that he could take over the temple as well as the city.
Yes, perhaps this was truly good luck.
They broke out onto a market street closed down for the night. Aaron saw Gischala look up. The huge aqueduct towered above them, bringing water from Solomon’s pools in the south all the way to the inner temple. Gischala was lost and was trying to find his way back to the temple. The aqueduct would lead him there.
But to Aaron’s surprise, his quarry split up. Two followed the aqueduct. Gischala and the other man went back into town. He must have thought the aqueduct was too much in the open and that maybe he could lose Aaron in the labyrinth of the alleyways.
That was not going to happen. The warrior monk gestured for the other half of his men to follow the two under the aqueduct. Aaron and four others followed Gischala.
As Aaron broke onto the main street, he saw Gischala make an unusual move. He and his fellow horsemen rode their steeds right into a government building.
Aaron and his three followed.
He rode his horse up the marble steps of the building. The marble was slippery on the clacking hooves of the horses.
One of Aaron’s men’s horses slipped and fell to its side, injuring itself. He was out.
Four of them left.
Aaron trotted inside the building to see Gischala’s horse click-clacking up a staircase to an upper floor.
Aaron took a chance at the fact that horses would be slower on this slick pavement than humans could run.
He shouted, and he and his men dismounted to follow on foot.
They raced up the stairs.
When they got up to the third floor, they burst into a palatial assembly room.
Aaron saw Gischala out on the balcony with his comrade. The two men got off their horses and slapped their haunches.
Spooked, the horses ran at Aaron and his men, who ducked out of the way. Aaron yelled, “Slings!”
His companions pulled out their slings with a rock each just as Gischala and the other soldier stood up on the balcony ledge.
What were they doing? thought Aaron. Are they going to jump to their death to avoid being caught?
Aaron’s men twirled their slings and released.
Their quarry jumped.
Gischala’s comrade was hit twice, once in the head.
But the other rocks missed Gischala as he leapt into the air and disappeared from view.
Aaron sprinted to the balcony to see what had happened.
When he got there, he saw what Gischala had done.
Ten feet below and seven feet from the balcony was the aqueduct they had seen earlier winding its way through the city.
Gischala had jumped into the water of the aqueduct and was now rapidly floating his way back to the temple out of Aaron’s reach.
The cunning badger had gotten away.
The other man was dead on the ground a floor below.
Aaron turned away and cursed to himself. This would ruin the truce that Simon had negotiated, and it would be Aaron’s fault.
What would he do? What could he do? He had missed his opportunity and had endangered the entire city as a result.
He might even have reignited a civil war.
CHAPTER 53
Simon sat alone with Aaron in his war room in the safe heights of the Tower Phasael. The monk had told him everything that had happened that night in the Essene quarter; the discovery of Gischala, the chase, the escape.
Simon said, “Do not let the other men know. I’ll have to meet with Gischala.”
Aaron reiterated his justification. “General, he was murdering civilians for their food. Killing our own people.”
“I know. But he is the general of our alliance, which is the only means of defending Jerusalem. If you had killed him, his army would have risen up against us.”
“But I didn’t kill him.”
“Yes. And now he doesn’t trust us.”
It seemed to Simon that there was no good outcome. “You could have just chased him back to the temple where he belongs.”
“Chase the vulture back to the carcass,” Aaron muttered in response.
The monk had lost his faith. The temple had become a body of death to him.
They were interrupted by a messenger. “General Simon, a secret envoy from the Romans is here.”
Secret envoy? Simon raised a quizzical eyebrow at Aaron, who appeared as surprised as he was.
Simon descended the tower into a side chamber at the bottom. He passed a guard at the door and entered, closing it behind him.
A cloaked figure looked out the small window over the night city. It turned and pulled down its hood, revealing the princess Julia Berenice, sister of Herod Agrippa.
Confusion hit Simon like a battering ram. He almost lost his balance.
“Simon.” Her voice was soft, pleading.
Simon could barely contain the flood of memories that filled his mind. This was the first time he had seen Berenice in five years. This Herod, this princess of Judea, this woman he had once loved and lost. Her raven-black hair, her eyes of intensity and mystery. She was still as beautiful as he had remembered her. But her look was gaunt, lost, broken.
“Berenice.”
“It’s good to see you, Simon. After all this time.”
She stepped toward him.
He found himself taking a slight step backward.
He didn’t have to ask her how she’d gotten into the city. The known tunnels beneath the city were usually guarded. But he knew that the Herods had their own secret passages below their palace known only to themselves. Like the one used for the battle of the second wall.
He said, “It’s dangerous for you to be here.”
She looked into his eyes, searching for the past. “Dangerous for whom?” She stepped forward again. This time he didn’t move.
“Why would Titus send you?”
&n
bsp; “Titus does not know I am here.”
“What does he know—about you?”
She looked away. “Not what you know.”
“And your brother?”
“I come in secret. I loathe my brother, and I wish he would be struck dead by a Jewish arrow.”
“Why are you here, Berenice?” Simon wanted to grab her, embrace her, and make love to her. He dared not bring up their past together.
“Simon, I need you to know that my brother and I opposed the starving of the city.”
“Yet you preside over it.”
“Titus would not listen.”
Simon was not convinced. “The wily princess of the house of Herod could not get what she wanted. Now that is something to behold. What did you expect from the beast? You delivered us into his hands.”
“You have no idea the Jewish lives I’ve saved in the campaign.”
“And how many have died in the campaign?” he responded.
“I am here to help. I can show you secret stores of grain in Herod’s palace underground.”
This surprised him. What is in this for her?
She continued, “If you promise me to give half of the stores to the sick and needy.”
He hardened. “My soldiers need food or we will lose this war.”
“Everyone needs food.”
He shook his head. “There are too many of them. There is no way we could help them all.”
“The women and children did not ask for this war.”
“And they didn’t leave when they had the chance.”
“Simon, please. Do not let the innocent die.”
Simon looked away from her. He weighed his options. Half was better than nothing. He could torture her to reveal the location. He could lie to her as she had lied to him and then take it all.
No, he could not hurt her, and he would not lie to her. Even after all this time. Even after everything. Unfortunately, their problems were manifold.
He said, “Gischala will want it all for himself.”
“Then don’t tell him about it.”
“He’ll find out. And we’re already on the edge of civil war. This would push us over.”
She said, “Then let me appeal to him as well.”
Appeal to the man who would gut her at his first opportunity? Had she learned nothing from how Gischala had betrayed her in the past? Sought to take her as his own, to dominate her.
He said resignedly, “Unfortunately, one of my men tried to assassinate Gischala. I have lost his trust.”
“We must try, Simon. The lives of every single person in Jerusalem is at stake. They are dying by the hundreds every day.”
He hated that she was right. And he would hate himself if he brought her into this mess only to see her killed by the hand of his enemy. But he could see she needed this redemption as much as he did.
He said, “Take me to the grain, and I’ll take you to Gischala.”
CHAPTER 54
Gischala looked down upon the Romans from the wall on the Antonia. The fortress base was on a forty-foot incline, so Titus was building another earthworks ramp up to the gate. The newly rebuilt ram Victor stood in the distance, ready for deployment.
A messenger arrived to alert Gischala to visitors at the Huldah Gates of the temple.
When Gischala arrived at the gates, he found Simon and Berenice surrounded by thirty soldiers. Gischala stepped out with his own squad of thirty protecting him. He looked up at Simcha, the six-foot-tall mass of muscle beside Simon. He muttered, “You again.”
Gischala turned to Berenice. “You I never would have imagined.” He looked at Simon, “And you are a man of many surprises. And betrayals. Where is your young assassin, or are you planning on using this Goliath this time?” He gestured to Simcha.
Simon said, “That was not my order.”
“Your man tried to kill me, Simon.”
“Without my approval. And what were you doing in the Upper City?”
Gischala hesitated. He decided to tell the truth. “Scouting for food.”
“Killing civilians for food,” Simon countered.
Gischala leaned in with an air of condescension. “And from whom are you drawing the food for your troops to save the city, General?”
Simon said, “It appears we have a situation of extreme actions under strained circumstances on both sides.”
“It appears we do,” agreed Gischala. Their agreement was implicit. They could not blame each other for their guilt because they were both guilty.
Simon changed the subject. “The princess has intelligence that will benefit us.”
Gischala considered the offer. He said, “Leave your guards, especially this one.” He gestured again to Simcha. “And your weapons.”
Simon said, “My guards, but not my weapons.”
Gischala smiled. He could still defeat Simon in a match. He would welcome it. “Granted. How is that shoulder wound of yours, Simon?”
Simon responded, “Fully healed.”
“Good. That keeps you at your peak of skill and strength.”
He was goading his competitor. Hinting that he needed no handicap to destroy Simon. And Simon appeared to have caught on, welcoming the challenge. Perhaps they might have their long-awaited showdown after all.
But now was not the time. Gischala said, “You know this temple as well as anyone. You pick the location.”
“The Hall of Hewn Stones,” said Simon. “And I bring one messenger of my own.”
Gischala glanced at Simcha. “Just not him.”
• • • • •
Gischala led Simon, Berenice, and a strong, long-haired warrior named Uriah down into the Hall of Hewn Stones. Simon left Uriah outside the door but within hearing range. If Gischala pulled anything on Simon, Uriah was to flee back to his headquarters to launch retribution.
The hall had not been used by the Sanhedrin for many months since the temple had been taken from Eleazar. Gischala chose the head chair of the sanhedrin as his throne to look down upon his two visitors.
Simon got to the point. “Gischala, the Antonia is the gate to the temple and city. Titus is aiming for the heart of Jerusalem. And you are all alone.”
Gischala said, “And when I have turned my back to you to engage Titus, is that when you plan to assassinate me?” He saw Simon sigh with closed eyes. Gischala added, “You have the gall to plead for unity. And you bring Titus’s whore no less. Or is she playing you both?”
Berenice was not intimidated. “You cannot win. Titus will not harm the temple unless he is forced to. And that is precisely what you are doing—forcing his hand.”
Gischala mocked, “This is the ‘intelligence’ you promised?”
Simon looked at Berenice. She swallowed and spoke. “I can offer you secret stores of grain from the Herodian palace if you promise me that the civilians will receive half of the food.”
Gischala raised his brow in surprise. He smirked. “Why does it not surprise me that the Herod aristocracy has withheld yet more from the city?”
Berenice remained silent, but her face went flush with shame.
Gischala considered the offer. Half to the populace, half to the army. That would mean his soldiers would not receive the amount they really needed to feed their strength and defend the temple. The Herodian palace was strongly in the hands of Simon, so Gischala could not simply take it away from them. And if he agreed, it would be a concession of weakness.
Gischala had the upper hand. He was not going to give that away.
He withdrew a sacrificial dagger from his belt. He saw Simon flinch, ready to defend himself and Berenice. Gischala smiled. “This is the high priest’s sacrificial dagger.” He spun it around in his hand, fingering the tip. “They say that when Messiah comes, he will brandish it as a weapon against his enemies.”
He jammed the dagger into the wood of the armrest of the chair. He saw Berenice cringe with fear. “Without Messiah, all this is a lost cause. An empty symbol. And the temple, a carca
ss of a dead religion.”
Gischala stood up, leaving the dagger in the arm of the chair. “And that is the difference between us.” He walked right up to Simon, daring him. “I have never been under the delusion that I could stop Romans with human force.”
Simon looked confused. “You want Titus to attack the temple?”
Gischala grinned. “Of course.” He saw Berenice’s horrified look. “That is why I burned the food supplies of the city. That is why I attacked your forces. And that is why I had one of my own most trusted men guide the invading legionaries into the city from the tunnels the Herods revealed to Titus.”
He held up a red cloth, exactly like those Simon had discovered were being used to guide Tiberius’s men through the streets for sabotage.”
“I did not reveal the tunnel to Titus,” Berenice protested.
Gischala replied, “But your brother did. Herod.”
Simon could not believe what he was hearing. So all this time as he’d applauded himself for catching the mole, it had been Gischala who was traitor to the city!
Berenice’s beautiful eyes blazed with fury at Gischala. “You betrayed your own people.”
The general smiled mockingly. “Not as you have, Herod. You see, it is only when the invading infidels attempt to attack the holy temple that God himself will intervene. It is only then that his supernatural power will flow from heaven into the body of his anointed one, his promised deliverer, Messiah.”
Turning back, Gischala pulled the blade out of the arm and held it like a talisman of power.
Berenice gasped, “Oh my God.”
Simon said it clearly, “You think you are Messiah.”
Gischala responded, “I will not unite with you again, Simon. I will not accept the food that will only prolong our misery. That would eliminate my chances of supernatural victory. Instead, I am going to imprison you.” He sat on his throne again and used his fingers to whistle loudly.
