by Fiona Tarr
'I can think of nothing which would give me more honour my King. There is one small concern, I gave my word to my father that I would make sure I returned with news of his sons.' David was careful to make his feelings obvious. He wanted the King to know he was torn between his obligation and his genuine desire to stay and serve. Martinez gently nodded his approval.
'There must be some way we can work around this surely?' The King looked deep in thought over the matter. He looked to Martinez, who shrugged a reply. 'Keeping your word is indeed a necessity, especially with your own father. I commend you for honouring your family. Another of your brothers must go in your place. I will excuse one from service, you choose and he can go home in your place.' The King smiled at his solution obviously happy with the resolution he had devised.
Martinez barely concealed his thoughts. David would hopefully choose that useless Jerim to go home.
David was pleased but which brother should he send home? Jerim was the obvious choice, but he would be quickly side tracked with thoughts of Amelia and this would not help their father at all. At the same time, Jerim was very dispirited and needed some sort of reprieve from his own dark moods.
'Would it please my King if I took this evening to make a choice between my brothers? Such a decision should not be made hastily.' David bowed as he made his request.
'Of course my boy, you are quite right. Such a choice should be made with thought. I understand choosing a brother who will go home to safety is a very large burden of responsibility. Martinez will escort you to our guest quarters and I will see you mid-morning with your decision. Then we can plan how you will serve as my courtier.'
David bowed again as he made to leave with Martinez. He was exhausted and he could not remember having had such an intense day. He was elated at the prospect of serving the King. He was also looking forward to spending time with Martinez; he really liked the man. As they walked he noticed the camp had grown quiet. Men were gathered tightly around small fires while others had made their way to their blankets. The stars were spectacular in the sky. They reminded David of the vastness of the heavens and the little insignificant dot he was on the universe. He now had a grave choice to make and decided that he would ponder it alone and not meet with his brothers.
Martinez sensed David was deep in thought about his choices and left him to his thoughts as they walked. As David was shown to his bed he was acutely aware it was far more comfortable than his brothers would be forced to endure tonight.
'You handled yourself well this evening.' Martinez complimented as he went to leave.
'Thank you, although I have dug myself a very deep hole to crawl out off I think.' David placed his harp down safely and nodded a farewell to Martinez as he was already backing out to leave David to ponder the decision.
****
Jezebel had heard the boy play from her tent alongside the King's pavilion. He always kept her close at hand. He played well, although his story had not pleased her. It was certainly not how her ancestors remembered it. No Pharaoh of Egypt would ever bend a knee to this God the Israelites worshipped. The boy was dangerous. Jezebel could not discover at this stage what it was exactly, yet her intuition had been alerted. She would meditate and call on Amun for guidance. Already she could sense the King's mood lifting with David's presence. He was now unconscious beside her in a drug induced sleep. He had not taken her with the usual desperation, which accompanied her absence from his side. She would commune with her father in spirit and ask for his advice.
As Jezebel sat before the embers of her small fire she offered up her meagre sacrifice, the rat was not much but it would suffice. As she cut its throat she began to chant, a slow rhythmic chant in an ancient long dead language handed down by magicians and sorcerers. Black smoke began to rise up into her nostrils as she smeared the rat’s blood on her cheeks and chest. Small candles lit the area, while scented oils burned in pots around the perimeter of her glowing fire. As Jezebel chanted, her body began to convulse and she became unconscious. This was a dangerous time when anyone who might enter the tent would see her smeared with blood and she would be unaware of their presence. With the King at her side, it was unlikely she would be interrupted. She did not like having him present in case he was to stir, but there was little choice. The mandrake and henbane potion she used to drug him was very effective, slowing the heart, deadening the senses and inducing sleep. The dosage needed to be right. Jezebel did not like using it as an overdose could be deadly, yet she was well practised in its administration. Saul would awaken thinking he had drunk too much wine the night before.
Her spirit sped to the West, over the hills which rimmed the Israeli and Philistine battlefield, across the forests and over the massive river which was the life blood of her country. As she hovered over the Pharaoh’s palace she could see her father lying below her on his bed. He had a suite in the north tower, allowing him total privacy. On seeing his apartments, she felt ill at ease, even home sick. Deciding there was no hurry to disturb her father, she allowed her spirit to fly over the remainder of the palace. Childhood memories flooded back to her. There were places amongst the gardens which brought back vague recollections of her mother’s face, her touch, her embrace. Yet the memories were hard to find. Her mother had died when she was very young. As a young woman she had often asked why her memories were so elusive, yet these questions always infuriated her father and brought nervous shrugs from any of the slaves.
'Father, I need your counsel.' she said as she reminded herself of the reason for her spirit travel.
His eyes did not open yet his spirit rose up and came to meet her among the stars above the palace.
'What is it my child? What brings you to call on me this way? You should be preserving your strength.' Her father spoke with genuine concern.
'I know father, however there has been an unexpected turn of events which I must share with you urgently.' Jezebel told her father about David and the effect he already had in lifting the dark moods of the King.
'You must do what you can to cause distrust in the boy.’
'That will be difficult father as everyone warms to him so easily. He has a gift for befriending people, almost as strong as I do for persuading men,' she sighed, 'I have never seen the like, he is unnaturally talented.'
'You must seek to have him killed in some accident Jezebel. I feel there is more to this boy than we now see. I will meditate on it, but you must be watchful for any opportunity. Do not be careless as he is aided by powers I can sense, but cannot yet identify. We will prevail; no powers are as strong as the archaic arts and the god Amun we serve.' The magician spoke with confidence yet the small crease barely visible on his forehead made Jezebel uncomfortable yet she said nothing.
'Thank you for your counsel father. I must return to clean up before the King awakes.' Jezebel was already thinking of possible ways to deal with the boy. The spirit of Amun was with her and she would devise something appropriate which would not arouse suspicion.
****
Martinez had left David to his rest. The boy had experienced a very full day and had handled it like a veteran. He made his rounds through the camp. He checked the perimeter, including the guards he had ordered to keep watch. The skies were clear by day, making the nights cool and crisp. There was something about the crisp night air of the desert which invigorated Martinez.
‘Good evening Bartholomew, how is the evening faring?’
‘Very well sir. It was wonderful to hear the shepherd boy play. I enjoy hearing the old stories retold with such passion.'
‘Yes, the boy certainly has plenty of that.' Smiling, Martinez headed back to his blankets. It had been a long day for everyone.
As he made his way past the tent the King currently shared with Jezebel he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. Immediately his hand was on the hilt of his sword. He scanned the entire boundary of the tent. The guards were in place. He could hear soft moaning from inside. What could have raised such an alarm, he was no
t sure. He approached the guards.
'Is everything in order?' he asked.
'Yes sir, other than the strange singing that we heard from the lady Jezebel earlier. She may be beautiful sir, but her voice is not.' The guards both chuckled. Then both suddenly felt unsure as if jesting about the King’s mistress was not really a good idea. Seeing Martinez smiling, they relaxed. Martinez let his hand fall from his sword, carrying on to his tent with the other officers.
As he walked he thought of Jezebel. She was not unattractive, however he would love only one woman, one he could never have. As children they had known each other and grown to be the best of friends. They ran together in the mornings for exercise and he had taught her to shoot a bow. This was frowned upon in his community as women were not supposed to do anything but serve the men. However he was of mixed race. His mother had been from a distant land, where women enjoyed the same freedoms as men. Derai, his childhood friend was the most beautiful woman he knew, not only in her outward beauty, but also in her spirit. Her crystal green eyes were deep and honest and rare among the Israeli people. She possessed elegance no other woman Martinez had even known could possibly match. Martinez was crushed when she was betrothed to another; he had always held the hope they would be together. A futile hope, with his mixed-race he would not be high on anyone’s list of prospective husbands. When Derai had told him, she had stroked his cheek as the tears ran down his face and hers in unison. She promised to love him always which made the fact he could not wed her even more difficult. He now chose to be far from her whenever he could, which is why he had accepted the role of the King's envoy. He was usually travelling somewhere distant or fighting in a neighbouring land.
There had been one night however which would haunt him forever. Derai had come to him at his apartment. She was twenty and had been wed for nearly five years. Martinez had avoided contact with her and had not seen her except in passing for most of those heartbreaking years. He had begged her to return to her apartment, as her presence was torturous, however she was distraught. She confided in him of her loveless marriage and how her husband had already taken many more wives. Martinez was acutely aware of this fact and it grieved him beyond explanation. She told him she was barren and because her husband longed for offspring to carry on his line he had all but cast her aside. He only visited her for a short period each month in the hope of her conceiving. She broke down into convulsive tears and Martinez had not been able to stop himself. He held her as she cried and stroked her beautiful dark hair. She looked up at him and he sank into her green eyes and loving lips. They had made love that night at first desperately with longing, and later slowly and passionately. It was a night that both shamed and elated him. He would not change a thing about it or ever regret the moment, but it still haunted him.
He made for his bed now, as it was time for sleep and for dreams of Derai. In the next few days he would accompany Jonathan and most likely David hunting and scouting to the North. It would be a good opportunity to start David’s training and test his existing skills while checking out the lay of the land and any threats from the Philistine army.
****
Sleep would not come easily for David. He tried to relax his muscles and began to pray for some guidance. He knew he was going to have to choose against sending Jerim home. Nate was the much wiser choice as he was quiet, but a hard worker and demanded very little for his trouble. Jerim would be off to see Amelia in no time and would shirk his work in favour of tending Amelia and her family to keep favour with her father. What could he do to ensure Jerim was given something important to do, but something that also kept him safe? A thought for another day, his decision now made to send Nate home, David slipped off to sleep, his physical exhaustion finally taking over his anxiety.
Chapter 6
David awoke to the sounds of battle and he quickly threw on his tunic and slipped on his sandals without tying them so he could see what was going on. Another skirmish had broken out in the front lines of the battlefield. Nobody seemed to really know how it had started. There were no orders given from either side as an unofficial truce had been causing a stalemate for some time. Orders were now being yelled from both sides to cease fighting and slowly the fighting was being reduced to a rabble of sorry looking warriors. The frustration of doing nothing had been taking its toll on some of the less experienced soldiers. There were no deaths in the battle only a few minor nicks and scratches. The giant warrior appeared to have been in the middle of the fighting. His taunts had been turned to humiliation, therefore it was little wonder he was right in the fray, trying to restore some honour. With the skirmish now settled, David stopped to tie his sandals and he decided to join his brothers to break his fast. He approached Nate who was busy tending to his cooking over the previous night’s campfire.
'Where is everyone?' David asked, in particularly seeking his brothers. He had only had a short time the day before to talk with them and he now wished to see them again before he accepted the King’s offer. Nate handed him a bowl of cooked fish and flat bread.
‘They are around behind the surgeon’s tent. Join them and I will be there in a moment,' said Nate, as he indicated the direction with a nod, his hands otherwise occupied.
'Thank you for the food. I have exciting news to share with you, so do not be long.' David could hardly contain his excitement and Nate seeing his expression began working more quickly at tidying and finishing his work.
David started eating as he walked, He did not realise he was so hungry. He had eaten plenty the night before, however the sheer excitement of the day must have sapped his energy. As he passed the tent, he deliberately avoided looking inside. The surgeon would have been attending to the wounds of the soldiers form the skirmish by now and the last thing he wanted was to be put off his food. He stopped just out of sight to look at the group of his brothers huddled together eating. Jerim sat back not really including himself in the conversation. It was going to be hard to explain to him why he had chosen to send Nate home. David was tempted to say it was the King’s choice but he knew that he could not do that. He believed in his heart that Jerim needed to stay. He did not really know why, but he would explain this to him and hopefully he could forgive him. Nate was approaching from behind him now, so he waited and walked with him to join his brothers. As they approached the group they were laughing and recounting the previous day’s episode with the giant warrior and the stone, which had humbled him. David noticed again that all his brothers were looking thinner and now that they were smiling, they actually looked better for it. They would return home in better health than they had been for many years. Some of them had grown fat at the hand of their wives’ cooking. Most were much older than David; he was the last of the boys born and there were only a few sisters younger than him. His father was getting old now and would unlikely to sire more children.
'David, what news do you have then?' asked Nate with a smile on his face.
'I have been asked to join the King’s court to play the harp for the King personally. He wishes to have me trained by the King’s envoy to be his bodyguard. I will be seeing him mid-morning to give him my reply, which I have been fairly well advised must be yes.' David blurted out the news with a mixture of anxiety and excitement which was evident to all his brothers.
'That is wonderful news. You play so well and it is a great opportunity to gain wealth.' Nate genuinely seemed pleased and patted him firmly on the back as he spoke. Jerim did not speak. He did not even make eye contact with David. This was going to be more difficult than he could ever have imagined.
'There was one condition as I explained that father was expecting me home to tend the herd and assist the servants and women left at home. He told me to choose a brother to go home in my stead.' As he spoke he surveyed the faces before him. It did not appear to bother them that only one could go home, only Jerim continued to brood.
'Who have you chosen?' grunted Jerim at last. He appeared to be aware it was not going to be him.
/> 'I spent a lot of time considering all the options and reasons for each of you. Most of you seem to have fared well here. You all look stronger than I have seen you in years. I know it has been hard and it is not like I am taking your place in this war, however I believe my road will not be paved with gold. Kings can be easily offended and I might end up crucified yet. I have decided Nate will go home to help father.' With no further explanation, he walked to Jerim.
'There is another plan for you I feel. Be patient and you will gain the favour you desire. I have sensed that your path will be revealed.' He spoke softly for Jerim only, while the brothers were distracted congratulating Nate. Jerim seemed to accept this. He pretended to scowl; however his features appeared relaxed. David thought he may even have seen a slight smile.
'You know me too well little brother. Am I so easy to read that you knew I would take the news harder than the others? I try not to be so focused on my own needs, but it does not seem to matter how hard I try, it is a natural instinct of survival I think,' he spoke in an almost shameful tone. David gripped his arm gently.
'You are my brother and I love you. Your desire to gain what you want is merely a human one. Do not begrudge it, being aware of it is possibly more important I believe. We all have a destiny to fulfil and I firmly believe you need to be here to travel your path. I must go and give my answer to the King.' David made to leave.
'Thank you,' Jerim breathed ever so softly. David nodded and smiled as he left Jerim, approaching Nate.
'Can you send my love to father, mother, Nina and the family? Tell them what I am doing, how much I will miss them.' With that he embraced his brothers and walked to meet with the King and Martinez.
As he walked he felt like he was travelling on air. He was looking forward to the hunting expedition with Martinez and Jonathan. He recalled Jonathan’s unfinished words. He was indeed not going home. He reasoned that Jonathan must know the King very well and decided he must ask him how long he had known him when he got the opportunity. As he approached the King’s pavilion, Martinez was waiting for him.
