Warring Desires (The Herod Chronicles Book 3)

by Wanda Ann Thomas

  Her insides heated. What was wrong with her? She ought to have more control. The attraction between them was simple lust. Nothing more. She was vulnerable and tired and yearned for someone to hold her in the night. Gabriel’s presence merely brought her longings to the surface. She managed a weak smile. “We got carried away. There’s no need to apologize.”

  He raked his hand through his dark lion-like mane of hair. “When you thought you might be killed or captured, you said you wished you’d married a man like me. But you didn’t mean just any man. You meant you wish I was your husband.”

  She squeezed her eyes closed. The strength of his concern for her and the boys, and his readiness to act on their behalf, up to and including laying down his life, had prompted her confession. She wished she could take the words back. “Gabriel, this won’t do either of us any good.”

  “Did you mean it?” his asked fiercely.

  “My answer won’t change anything.”

  “Look at me,” he whispered. “Please, Shosha. Talk to me.”

  How was she supposed to resist when he spoke her name like a tender lover. “Why are you pushing the matter?” she asked, afraid to hear the answer.

  “I recoiled when you compared us to my father and Anina. You had it half right. What they did was wrong, and lust played a part, but they also loved each other. There’s more than lust between us.”

  “Don’t,” she begged. “I need to believe it is only lust.”

  “I’ll walk away now. And you will never see me again. Is that what you want?”

  He was offering her an escape. Leaving what happened next in her hands. “You’re not fighting fair.”

  “My heart won’t allow me to fight fair.”

  How was she supposed to not fall in love with Gabriel? He surpassed her most impossible dreams. “What are you asking?”

  “I want to visit you and your family again.”

  The attraction between them shouldn’t be encouraged. No longer clothed in youthful abandon, she ought to be the one to take the safe, sensible route, the one to heed the voice of wisdom. Her thumb brushed the smooth square of cloth clasped behind her back. “If you come to Samaria you will be welcome.”

  His smile was dazzling. “I have one more request.”

  She smiled back. “I thought Leonidas was the incorrigible one.”

  The light in his eyes faded. “I want to speak to Rahm, force him to agree to a divorce.”

  Her muscles tensed, worried for Gabriel’s sake. “Please don’t.”

  “Priest,” Herod bellowed. “We don’t have all day. Kiss the woman, or I’ll do it for you.”

  The mules shifted restlessly, flicking their tufted tails.

  Gabriel frowned. “Rahm has deserted your marriage. And he has subjected you and your family to unconscionable danger. Someone needs to make him do what’s right.”

  “Rahm will take advantage of you.”

  “Priest!” Herod shouted. “Are you coming or not?”

  Gabriel’s shoulders hitched. “I want to help. Allow me to do what I can for you and your family. I’ll offer Rahm a king’s ransom if I have to.”

  Arguments fled. She would do anything for her family. She twisted the square of cloth into a knot. “Don’t trust anything Rahm says.”

  “Catch up with me at your leisure,” Herod announced, striding to his horse.

  She stood tall. “Go, go.”

  Gabriel brushed his knuckle along her jaw. “I will come to Samaria as soon as I'm able.”

  She swallowed, remembering the feel of his mouth on hers.

  Her grandfather and Big Lev coaxed the mules apart, Gabriel joined Leonidas, and they hurried to Herod’s waiting horsemen.

  The mule train drivers gave the brothers a leg up onto the tall war-horses. The leather-clad soldiers offered Gabriel and Leonidas some brief instructions, then they were off.

  Heart heavy, Shoshana ignored the chaos of mules and men preparing for departure, and watched Gabriel grow smaller and smaller in the distance.

  Her grandfather joined her. “I will pray every day for their safety, and for a quick end to the war.”

  She exhaled a heavy breath. “Grandfather, we need to find a way to make Rahm give me a bill of divorce.”

  Her grandfather frowned. “For Gabriel’s sake?”

  She shook her head. There were more barriers between her and Gabriel than Rahm. Men must have male heirs. Gabriel needed a young wife who could give him sons. She and Rahm had never conceived a child. Her womb was as barren as her hopes. “Gabriel asked to visit. I shouldn’t have agreed, but I did. If he comes—”

  Her grandfather raised a brow. “If he comes?”

  Heat rushed to her face. “Gabriel asked to speak to Rahm.” Her stomach sickened again at the thought of Gabriel being dirtied by Rahm’s underhandedness. “We should have stood up to Rahm. The war has made him greedier than ever. He’s putting us into greater danger.”

  Her grandfather folded his arms across his bony chest. “I will send a message to Rahm. Tell him he can’t use our mules to resupply Jerusalem or Herod’s camp.”

  “He will retaliate.”

  “So he says.”

  “He might tell Herod we cheated him.”

  “We’ve never said no to Rahm. We’ll soon find out if his threats are as empty as his heart.”

  She picked up the wooden club laying at her feet and hugged it. “Rahm is our problem. We need to stop him. What if we set a trap for Rahm?”

  Her grandfather’s wrinkled face winked to life. “What sort of trap?”

  CHAPTER 20

  Five days after arriving in Herod’s camp, every muscle in Gabriel’s body ached thanks to Nathan of Rumah, who was working to make life a living misery for Gabriel and the other new recruits.

  A formidable warrior, Nathan paced as he drilled his students on offensive and defensive sword and shield tactics. “Watch your left side, Leonidas,” Nathan ordered.

  “Elbow close to your body, Gabriel,” Nathan said for the third time. Then grabbed a sword from a stonecutter-turned-soldier and swung it full force at Gabriel’s shield.

  Gabriel braced for the hit and the blade skittered across the face of the shield.

  Nathan nodded his approval. “That’s the way it’s done.”

  Herod repeatedly assured Gabriel and the other new recruits that Nathan was an expert soldier, who knew how to handle a sword, and who pushed them hard with the aim of imparting the skill necessary to kill the enemy and come out of battles alive.

  At this point Gabriel was just hoping to survive the training. He couldn’t ask for a better teacher in the art of swordsmanship and armed battle than Nathan, an ex-soldier who had learned to fight at Herod’s side. Nathan eventually laid down his sword to run his family’s olive farm and had done well for himself by marrying Gabriel’s cousin, Alexandra. Cousin Simeon complained about his son-in-law’s humble bloodlines, but Gabriel found much to like in the strong, keen-minded man... when Nathan wasn’t trying to kill him.

  Pleased at the compliment, Gabriel adjusted his grip on his sword and shield. “Are you sure you’re not needed back at your farm?”

  Nathan chuckled. “The farm work will keep till spring.”

  Upper Galilee, where Nathan and Alexandria made their home, had been spared when the Parthian army invaded and looted and ransacked the countryside. A majority of Galileans were pro-Herod, due to their disgust with the Parthians. But a remnant of zealots fiercely opposed Herod. They refused to acknowledge defeat. Using the Sepphoris fortress as their base, they had started killing Herod’s supporters, promising to fight to the death rather than bend a knee to “King” Herod.

  Intent on securing the safety of his family and the olive farm, Nathan had recruited a small contingent of men to join Herod, even though Herod detested the sight of Nathan due to a past falling out. Nathan had told Herod he was in this fight to stay. End of story.

  So Herod ceded. Not that he’d done Nathan any favors by saddling
him with a hundred raw recruits—a collection of priests, stonecutters, farmers, stable boys, ex-robbers, and a baker’s son. The career soldiers jested, saying it was Herod’s secret plot to get Nathan killed.

  Nathan dismissed them. Leonidas accepted an invitation from the stonecutters to join in a knife throwing contest. Gabriel shuffled toward the eight-man, dung-colored tent that was his new home. Bless the heavens, each tent had a slave assigned to tend to the cooking and menial chores. Leg, arm, and chest muscles ached with every step.

  A short, lean man who looked familiar hurried toward Gabriel waving.

  “Commander Obodas said you’d take me under your wing,” the young man said, admiration shining in his eyes. “The commander almost turned me away, but changed his mind when I told him I was a priest.”

  Gabriel finally placed the undersized man who had the dubious distinction of being the shortest of all the courses of priests. Embarrassed he couldn’t recall the man’s name, he asked, “What are you doing here?”

  The small man smiled. “You probably don’t remember, but my lot was chosen the same day you and Leonidas defied your cousin and left the Temple to join Herod’s army. My name is Matthias. I’m in your course of priests. But I’m sure my family is too poor for you to have noticed me.”

  The man’s humble acceptance that he was beneath notice kicked at Gabriel’s conscience. Was he that self-centered and arrogant? He still couldn’t make sense out or Matthias’s presence. “Did my father or Simeon Onias send you?”

  Matthias frowned. “I’m here for the same reason you are. To fight as a soldier in Herod’s army. I admire the way you and Leonidas stood against the corruption of the Lord’s ordinances.”

  Gabriel’s stomach knotted. Still grappling with his own decision to join Herod’s army, he didn’t want Matthias’s blood on his hands. But he couldn’t think of a way to discourage the diminutive man without insulting him.

  Snarls and yips sounded at the rear of the camp, announcing a camp dog’s displeasure with someone. Gabriel glanced down the orderly row of tents and spied a burly man swinging his foot and just miss the spotted dog who had recently birthed eight pups.

  The scrappy female yelped and scampered off, and Gabriel recognized the overweight man.

  “Rahm!” he shouted.

  Rahm frowned, then slunk out of sight behind a supply tent.

  “Who is he?” Matthias asked.

  “Excuse me,” Gabriel said distracted. “An urgent matter needs my attention.”

  Muscles complaining, Gabriel limped down the narrow row between the tents, dodging wooden stakes and the overlapping ropes. This was the first glimpse he’d had of Rahm since arriving at Herod’s camp. He’d asked around about Rahm and been told the spy paid intermittent visits. This might be his only opportunity to speak to Rahm about Shoshana.

  Gabriel wiped the sweat pouring down his grit-covered face. He turned down the lane bordering the back of the camp and came face-to-face with Rahm, who was lounging against a collection of crates.

  “You look half dead,” Rahm said derisively.

  “I’m not too tired to muster up the might to kick you in the belly. See how you like it.”

  “The bitch nipped me first.”

  But Rahm bore no evidence of an injury. Gabriel carefully loosened his fists and tamped down his ire. He wanted shake the truth out of Rahm. Make the obnoxious man confess he was a traitor, guilty of passing information to High Priest Hasmond.

  Gabriel reigned in his disgust and anger. If he accused Rahm of being a double spy, Rahm might retaliate against Shoshana’s family for betraying the secret. Gabriel strove to keep his voice flat. “I sought you out to discuss Noach and his family.”

  Rahm’s eyes turned calculating. “What interest is it of yours, Priest?”

  Soldiers, slaves, and camp followers traversing the lane cast curious glances their way. A bustling town unto itself, the camp afforded little privacy.

  Gabriel stepped closer to Rahm. “I will give ten times the value of the mule operation for your half.”

  “You want my mules?” Rahm asked amused.

  Gabriel swallowed his distaste. “Noach is too old to travel so far. And war and army camps are no place for boys and a woman. We both know you have treated the family abominably.”

  Rahm smiled. “Have I?”

  “You take half the profits of the mule train operation without lifting a finger to help. You deserted the household for years, then reappear to meddle in their affairs to enrich your purse.”

  “And this has what to do with you, Priest?”

  “I admire the family and don’t want them to be cheated anymore.”

  “That’s pretty talk coming from a man who left his daughter and parents behind in a besieged city.”

  Gabriel’s gut clenched. He ran his thumb over the raw calluses on his sword hand. He’d been at home when the Parthians invaded Jerusalem, but that hadn’t saved Talitha. Painful as it was to be apart from Helen and his mother and sister, he no longer doubted the decision. His study of sword wielding and hand-to-hand combat was arming him with the expertise to properly defend his family. The next time someone tried to take or hurt his loved ones, they would have a deadly fight on their hands.

  He gave Rahm a level look “How much do you want for your half of the mule train operation?”

  “Ten times what it is worth, of course.” Rahm’s smile turned smug. “For your sake, I hope you’re more skilled at soldiering than you are at deal making.”

  Gabriel ignored the taunt. “I do have one stipulation,” he said, trying to sound casual, uneasy over what Rahm would make of his next request. “You must give Shoshana a bill of divorce.”

  Rahm shrugged. “I should have divorced her a long time ago.”

  Gabriel studied Rahm for a long moment. “You agree? That easily.”

  “My appetites run higher than mules and a cave home.”

  Rankled on Shoshana’s behalf, Gabriel blood heated. “You used Noach’s family to climb out of poverty. And now think you are too good for them?”

  Inspecting his fingernails, Rahm dug at the dirt. “My second wife’s family buys and sells jewels. I want to join the jewel trade.”

  “Does the unfortunate woman know you also go by the name John the Beggar?”

  Rahm’s face hardened. “Watch your mouth, Priest.”

  “Show more respect for—” Gabriel clamped his mouth shut. Much as he wanted to defend Shoshana’s honor, he wouldn’t be doing her any favors if he gave Rahm reason to suspect she’d attracted the interest of another man.

  A donkey cart rattled down the lane. Gabriel waited for it to roll by, then switched the direction of the conversation. “It might take some doing to get you the coins, but I’ll work something out.”

  Rahm swiped his hand over the strands of hair plastered to his balding head and leaned in close for a private word. “Conveniently enough for both of us, your cousin James Onias is about to pass on a goodly number of coins to me in exchange for poisoning his father. I’m sure you could arrange for James to make your payment at the same time.”

  Gabriel wanted to believe Rahm was lying, but couldn’t dismiss the notion, not in light of the abominable way Cousin Simeon treated his children. James had most likely been provoked, but that didn’t mean it was right. To make things worse, James didn’t know who he was dealing with in Rahm. Didn’t know Rahm was the double spy. And of equal importance, did Rahm know James also spied for Herod?

  Gabriel searched for a safe response. “If what you say is true...why did James choose you?”

  Rahm’s face split with a horse-toothed grin. “I know where to purchase poison on the sly.” Rahm glanced over his shoulder, then whispered, “I also have a contact who could slip some poison into High Priest Hasmond’s soup. The war would come to a quick end, and you could go home. It would cost you a hefty sum.”

  Gabriel shifted away from Rahm’s pickled-fish breath. The offer was tempting. He wouldn’t have to
lift his sword in battle. He could remove Leonidas from the bad influence of the army camp before he picked up bad habits. They could go home. But poisoning High priest Hasmond would be murder. Hasmond might well be killed when Herod’s army invaded Jerusalem, but it wouldn’t be by Gabriel’s sword.

  Of course, Rahm might be selling Gabriel a pack of lies. “I want to see High Priest Hasmond removed from power,” Gabriel replied. “And nothing more.”

  “Just trying to do you a favor.”

  That was one lie Gabriel was in no danger of believing. He was beginning to hate the sight of Rahm. “I will contact James...ask him to give you coins for the mule train. I’ll also implore him to put aside any schemes he might have to harm his father.” Gabriel rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. “If you care about your well-being, you won’t supply James with the poison.”

  “Save your boldness for the battlefield. Back alley dealings require dirty fighting. That’s not something they teach here.”

  Gabriel wrapped his hand around the handle of his sword handle. “Do we have a deal?”

  A patrol of Roman soldiers approached, talking and laughing loudly. Gabriel recognized a few curse words, but the rest was gibberish.

  “Keep the bags of coins coming,” Rahm said, and wagged his brows in a lewd fashion. “And you can buy whatever you want.”

  Heat rushed to Gabriel’s face. Had he given away too much regarding Shoshana? If so, had he made her plight worse? Or did Rahm plan to bleed him dry in exchange for his silence concerning James’s murderous intentions?

  Gabriel squared his shoulders. “Don’t push too far. I’m not some simple-minded, rich fool you can take advantage of.”

  Rahm smirked, then slipped in among the Romans and strolled off without a backward glance.

  Exhausted and weak-limbed, Gabriel slumped against the crates. Rahm posed multiple threats. Finding the best way to deal with him would require subtlety. He couldn’t go to Herod and accuse Rahm of being the double spy without hard evidence. Otherwise it would be Rahm’s word against Gabriel’s—a battle Rahm would win, as he still held the advantage with Herod. No, Gabriel could either wait for Rahm to make a mistake, or find a way to outwit a liar.