Herod rumbled with laughter and shook his head. “I’ll wait for you over the next hill.” He flicked the reins and the white stallion surged ahead.
Alexandra sighed loudly. It felt as though she was competing with Herod for Nathan’s loyalty. Could she win such a battle? A gray cloak of doubt wrapped itself around her. She prayed it was a test she’d never have to face.
Joseph, Rhoda, Mary, and Timothy came closer and laid their hands on Nathan and her, wishing God’s speed on them.
The bondmaid, Sapphira, approached and patted the horse’s nose. She turned her freckled face up to Nathan. “Have a safe trip, my lord.”
“You don’t need to call me lord,” Nathan said. “You are part of our family.”
Sapphira smiled shyly. “I’m happy you chose me, Nathan.”
Alexandra blinked. Something in the girl’s tone didn’t settle right. Sapphira’s eyes met hers. The slave maiden blushed and dipped her head.
Nathan nudged Royal forward and the family waved and called out more farewells.
Alexandra looked back at the pretty bondmaid. Sapphira was staring at Nathan. The girl was smitten with him. Well, who could blame her? Alexandra tightened her hold on Nathan and tried not to dislike the young girl.
Joining Herod, they rode over hill after hill. The hours rolled by. The terrain became rockier and steeper the further north they went. Impatient with the slow pace, Herod volunteered to ride ahead to find a place to camp for the night.
She laid her face against Nathan’s warm back and noticed again the steady bump of his sword against her leg. The hilt bounced against his hip with each step the horse took.
“How does it feel to wear a sword after all this time?” she asked.
He laughed softly. “Good and bad. I like knowing I am equipped to defend you. But I feel less like my father’s son. It’s hard to put it into words. When I take a sword into my hand, I feel at one with it—like I was born to swing a length of steel. Yet my father is a peaceful farmer. Where did this talent for violence come from?”
“Talent for violence?” She wrinkled her nose. “I have a hard time imagining it.”
“I assure you that, come time for a battle, you wouldn’t be able to tell me from a barbarian. I might as well have been born a Celt, I become that much the brute.” He squeezed her hand. “There’s a reason I never talk to my family and friends about my days fighting with the Jewish army.”
“Something terrible happened, didn’t it?” A shiver went through her. She wanted to help ease his pain, but dreaded what she might learn.
His muscles went rigid under her hand. “I shed a lot of blood.”
“And?” she coaxed.
He rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter now.” He urged the horse into a gallop.
Alexandra swallowed back a yelp and held tight to her husband. It did matter. And they would have this conversation again.
CHAPTER 13
Alexandra lay beside Nathan on a straw mattress, staring up at a ceiling painted with cherubs lounging about on fluffy clouds. They’d been in Antioch four days now. As formal members of Antipater’s large delegation, she and Nathan had been assigned a small but comfortable room in the Governor of Syria’s palace-fortress. The room had the sole amenity she cared about—privacy. A luxury they’d taken advantage of to indulge in some mid-morning lovemaking.
She sat up, pulling a cover with her. “I’m surprised Herod hasn’t come looking for you yet.”
“Give him time.” Nathan stretched and yawned. “The day’s still young.”
“Herod is very fond of your company. It’s no wonder, fighting side by side the way you two did.”
A long pause ensued. She held her breath. Please let him trust her enough to share the inner sadness and anguish he carried close to his heart. He’d done so much for her. She wanted to repay the kindness.
Nathan twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. “Herod is very fond of beating me into the ground, as you’ve probably noticed. I’ve gone up against him twice with a sword in the last two days and lost both times.” He kissed her and pulled away. “You don’t have to keep coming to the arena to watch. You’ve seen all there is to see.”
She wriggled her nose at the suggestion.
There was a knock at the door. “Wait a moment,” Nathan called out. They scrambled up and quickly got dressed.
She finished securing her bluebird-colored head cover just as Nathan pulled the door open.
Herod of Idumea stood in the doorway wearing a licentious grin. “I’m on my way to the jewel of a temple everyone is talking about. Come with me. I’d like the company.”
Nathan laughed. “I knew you’d have to see it.” He looked back at her. “I won’t be long,” he apologized.
“Take me with you.” Alexandra rushed her words. “Please.”
Nathan gave her a sympathetic look.
Herod studied her with some amusement. “What makes you want to visit Jupiter’s temple? Thinking of converting to paganism, are you?”
She managed a polite smile. “Me? Never. Are you?” She resisted the urge to take a step back. Using wit on Herod might be as wise as poking a venomous snake with a stick.
Nathan was trying not to smile. Herod laughed outright. “You sound spirited enough to survive a tour of Antioch’s back alleys.”
Interpreting his answer as a yes, she grabbed her cloak off the hook by the door and followed Nathan and Herod on a zigzagging path through the palace’s maze of narrow stone corridors. Her stomach churned and her heart beat fast, but it wasn’t because of the coming adventure. She hoped to find a few moments to speak privately with Herod about Nathan’s fighting days. A daunting thought, indeed.
They emerged from the dark innards of the palace into bright daylight.
Herod led them to the edge of a long, steep stairway, where they could see the city stretched out in all directions. Her breath caught. So many people. All of them busy with their own lives. The road running behind the governor’s residence teemed with activity, most of it involving people and animals trying to navigate around each other. Workmen crawled over the face of a half-finished tower. Closer at hand, a team of oxen strained to haul a pillar upright. Antioch was bursting with evidence of prosperity.
“You can see the roof of the temple from here.” Herod pointed.
The abundance of gold-leaf trim was practically blinding.
“The builders must have melted a river of gold,” Nathan said admiringly. Scanning the city, he emitted a soft whistle. “I can’t believe how much Antioch has changed since the last time I was here.”
Herod nodded. “The Romans arrived twenty years ago and they’ve just kept building and building.”
Alexandra moved closer to Nathan. “When were you here last? Was it with the army?”
Nathan blanched.
Her stomach dropped. She wished she hadn’t said anything.
Herod turned a quizzical eye on her. Remembering her father’s rants about the evils of pushy women, it required all her determination not to look down.
Herod squeezed Nathan’s shoulder. “It was close to ten years ago. Those were heady days, weren’t they? My father’s army joining forces with Mark Antony’s army here in Syria, and then marching on Jerusalem.”
Alexandra had been a young, frightened girl at the time, quaking at the sounds of battle outside her home. It was hard to believe Nathan had been one the soldiers she had so feared.
Nathan scrubbed his hand over his face. “What’s Antony up to these days?”
Herod grinned wide. “Wherever he is, you know he’s drinking and whoring himself into an early grave.”
Nathan glanced over at her.
Equal parts fascinated and embarrassed, she felt her face flame.
“Stay close to me,” Herod said, chuckling and moving on.
They descended the steps and waded into a river of people. Herod veered down a tunnel-like lane lined with multi-level
tenement buildings. The ground floors were given over to shops decorated with colorful pictures of the goods sold within. They crossed a major intersection and passed a bakery that filled the neighborhood with the fragrance of freshly baked bread. Alexandra’s mouth watered and her stomach growled.
Then the street narrowed and the shops became dingier. The stick figures drawn on one wall caught Alexandra’s eye. She stopped. But no, the images were indeed what she had thought. The paintings showed men and women engaged in various sexual acts, complete with a list of prices.
A hand touched her arm. She jumped. Nathan scowled at his friend. “Come along, while I go wring our guide’s clever neck.”
Herod held his hands up. Incorrigible grin in place, he feigned innocence. “What?”
The door to the disreputable establishment banged open and three whores tumbled outside. Gathering around Herod, they fawned over him. Alexandra stared, aghast and amazed. Despite appearing too old and fat to do most of what was so boldly illustrated on the wall, the giggling trio assured their potential customer that, given enough sestertii, they were willing to have a go at most anything.
Nathan’s hand touched the small of Alexandra’s back, encouraging her to move on. She looked back, half-expecting to see Herod take the women up on their offer.
Herod was walking backward away from the women, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. “Sorry, ladies,” he gasped. “I’m busy just now, but I will keep you in mind for another day.”
A thousand questions bouncing around her mind, Alexandra leaned closer to Nathan. “Do people actually—”
He cut her off with a terse, “We’ll talk later.”
They certainly would. She sighed. “Antioch has proved very interesting so far.”
Nathan smiled. “Interesting? You are interesting.”
“And very curious, I think.”
“You think you’re curious?”
Alexandra laughed, relieved he was amused. She knew he’d been afraid she’d hate Syria or find it offensive. She’d wondered about it too. “How could I know?” she answered. “Aside from the disastrous trip to Galilee with my family and outings to the Temple, my whole life was lived inside the four walls of my father’s house.”
Nathan frowned. “What about your relations...aunts and uncles? Surely you went to visit them.”
“Not after my mother died.”
Nathan came to a stop. “You told me you’d had a hard life. I just never imagined—”
Herod, who’d outpaced them and reached the end of the street, turned and yelled, “What’s taking you so long? The temple’s just around this corner.”
Nathan waved Herod on and focused his kind eyes on her again. “I know the strictest of the strict Pharisees are zealous in guarding the purity of their wives and daughters. But your father’s measure seems extreme, even for Pharisees.”
She swallowed. “I wish that was the case.”
Nathan’s brow lifted questioningly.
“If Father kept us locked away because his conscience toward God demanded it, I could excuse it. But the truth is my father scarcely thought of us at all.”
Nathan put his arms around her and rubbed her back. She tucked her head under his chin, listening to his heart beat against her ear. What an absolutely lovely feeling. She touched her hands to his waist. “And now here I am, visiting pagan Syria with my husband the olive farmer. And I am too fascinated by it all to be the least offended.”
Nathan kissed her forehead. “We’d best be on our way before Herod comes and drags us to the temple.”
She sighed. “He doesn’t have a lot of patience, does he?”
“Hardly any, and someday it’s going to get him into trouble.”
The lane emptied out onto a busy boulevard. They found Herod standing at the bottom of the tall rows of stone steps leading up to a white-walled temple. Slender marble columns loomed overhead. Creamy white statuettes, atop pedestals festooned with ornate rosettes, stood watch over a plaza full of worshippers coming and going from the temple.
Standing this close to a pagan temple made Alexandra’s skin crawl. Moses’ Law was deadly clear. The Lord God hated idolatry.
Nathan offered her a reassuring smile. “We won’t stay long.”
Herod slung one arm over Nathan’s shoulder. “Look at the exacting detail displayed in the grapevine. Have you ever seen more beautiful work? If I were building a palace or a temple, I would insist on making it as fine as this.”
Nathan grinned. “Are you still holding on to those other absurd notions of yours?”
So she wasn’t the only one who thought the idea incredible.
Herod shook his head in mock dismay. “Absurd notions?” He turned his boyish smile on her. “You have to agree, Judea is a backward nation. A first-class amphitheater and bathing facility would bring Jerusalem into the present age.”
“Jerusalem?” The idea was beyond foreign. It must violate one of the commands of God, though she couldn’t think which one. “Would the Sanhedrin allow it?” she asked.
“The Sanhedrin?” Herod’s rude hand gesture made it clear what he thought of the rulers of Israel. “Those asses have no imagination. Jerusalem could be the jewel of the east. Why can’t anyone besides me see that?”
She and Nathan shared astonished looks.
It was hard to know what to make of Herod. Though an obnoxious braggart, he also had another side, an imaginative, idealistic side that evidenced itself when he spoke of his vision for his country and its people. He dreamed of a Jerusalem called the jewel of the east.
Nathan and Herod fell into a discussion involving porticos and lintels. Alexandra wandered over to a statue of a smiling woman dressed in a flowing garment. An invisible wind molded the gown to the lush curves of her body. Alexandra touched a fold in the dress. The cold immovable stone beneath her fingers felt at odds with the movement and life bursting from the statue.
Nathan and Herod joined her. Alexandra pulled her hand back. “Who is she?”
Herod stood with his hands on his hips studying the statue, a glint of appreciation in his eyes. “She is Fortuna, the Roman goddess of fate and prosperity.”
Alexandra shaded her eyes and examined the line of statues bordering the plaza. The mosaics, paintings, and statues depicting man and beast found around every corner in Syria still came as a surprise.
Nathan’s arm brushed against her arm. “Jerusalem is probably the only place in the world devoid of images.”
The dictates of Moses’ Law prohibited graven images. A fact she had taken for granted. “Then we Israelites are the strange ones and not the gentiles?” The idea made her proud and sad, all at the same time.
A loud fanfare sounded.
“He’s here,” Herod said.
Trumpet-blowing heralds filled the main thoroughfare. Next came a hundred red-caped Roman soldiers seated on spirited warhorses. This was followed by the main attraction, a tall, white stallion carrying a man outfitted in a gold cuirass and a red-crested helmet. Julius Caesar. Military aides dressed in bronze breastplates rode on either side of him, followed by more red-clad soldiers.
Transfixed by the spectacle, Alexandra tried imagining Nathan and Herod marching with the Roman army. An easy task, given that they were every bit as much warriors as the men riding by. She had a harder time dismissing the question of whether or not men serving the Lord, God of Israel should be marching with Romans. Her father would answer with a definite no. Thankfully, Nathan was done with that life. Herod was welcome to answer to his own conscience on the matter.
They watched until the soldiers disappeared from view.
Nathan rocked back on his heels. “I’ll give Julius Caesar one thing, he puts on a good show.”
“Public executions always draw a crowd,” Herod said, grim-faced.
Nathan moved closer to his distraught friend. “Have faith. Your father has no peer when it comes to escaping danger.”
Herod shook off his malaise and led them down an
alley crowded with people and shops. An old man came around a corner carrying a thick, crusty round of rye bread. Alexandra rubbed her growling stomach and gazed after the man until he walked out of sight. Turning around, she bumped into a wide chest. A hasty apology on her lips, she looked up to find Nathan smiling down at her. He raised one brow. “Hungry?”
“Famished to distraction, apparently.”
Brown eyes twinkling, Nathan turned and disappeared into a shop with a large loaf of bread painted on the wall above the doorway.
“You couldn’t have found a better man to champion your cause.” Herod’s mouth was indecently close to her ear. “Nathan was a first-rate soldier.”
She ducked her shoulders and turned around. Grateful Herod was the one to start the conversation, she came straight to the point. “What happened to Nathan when he fought with you and the Romans?”
Herod shrugged. “I wish I knew.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you are too clever for your own good, that’s why.” Herod’s smile dimmed. “Nathan saved my life more than once. He is the kind of man anyone would want at their side in a fight. He will pursue your attackers unto his last breath. He would die to protect you.”
She put a hand to her heart. “I wouldn’t want him to.”
Unholy glee lit black eyes. “That’s where you and I differ. I want Nathan by my side in battle, ready to throw his life away for me, for my father, for my brothers. And I finally have hope of luring him back. Thanks to you.”
Unease prickled through her. “Me? What do you mean?”
“I’ve been trying for ten years to lure Nathan off the farm. He isn’t married to you two months yet and here he is in Syria.” Herod clapped his hands together mockingly. “Well done, Alexandra, well done.”
She blinked. “You want Nathan to rejoin the Jewish army? He won’t do it.”
“He will if he wants my help apprehending Judas the Zealot.” Herod’s lips curled back from his large, white teeth. “I predict Nathan will be riding as one of my men before you’ve been married six months. He will say yes for your sake.”
Her mind spun dizzyingly. She didn’t doubt Nathan’s selflessness. He’d be forced to return to a life he’d sworn off, one still haunting him. She reeled back. Someone caught her by the arm.
The Warrior (The Herod Chronicles Book 1) Page 12
