East of Ashes (28 page)

"But let me tell you what's more likely: you hired those thugs to attack the inn, to kill Lord Gaal. And when they failed, you did the deed yourself - killing an unarmed man in his sleep. And then you fled. You yourself just admitted you were afraid you would get arrested when Lord Gaal's bodyguard returned with more soldiers."

Leala almost rolled her eyes.
As if killing an armed man in his sleep would somehow be better than killing
an unarmed man
, she thought bitterly. She wanted to throttle the smug look off his face.

Next to her Joash wasn't fairing much better.

 "That's preposterous!" Joash nearly shouted. "Do you know how many men I killed that night,
defending
Lord Gaal?"

"A good cover, to be sure," the prosecutor purred.

Joash stared at him incredulously, his face red with anger. He was about to retort when the pope suddenly spoke up: "That's enough."

Joash swallowed his words and closed his eyes, trying to regain his calm. The prosecutor returned to his seat, smiling happily.

"We will continue tomorrow," the pope continued, and then looked straight at Leala: "At which time you may call your first witness."

Leala and Joash stared at the pope in shock. They had hardly begun and already he was calling it a day. In so doing, he was stretching out Joash's torture.
Still, it's not like
we
have a witness to call right now
, Leala thought ruefully. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, assuming Lamech miraculously arrived before tomorrow of course. If he didn't, they were in real trouble.

But then again, if he did arrive she wasn't sure what to expect. It might very well make matters worse.

-------

The guards eyed him suspiciously as he climbed down the stairs, almost as if they expected him to whip out a sword and try to take their prisoner from them. One of them even had his hand on his sword and glared at him, his eyes shadowed in a small tell-tale sign of fear.

He smiled slightly at the guard, trying to put him at ease.
You don't have to fear me
, he thought.

Continuing down the stairs, he rounded the corner and came to a stop in front of Joash's cell, who immediately noticed him from where he was sitting against the wall. He was unable to hide the shock he felt, but he recovered quickly. He got up and walked to the cell door.

"Lamech," he said simply.

"Joash," Lamech replied, then added after a short pause: "It's good to see you."

Joash was taken aback to see he meant it -
really
meant it. He hadn't been sure that Lamech would come, but he was pretty convinced that if he did, things would be awkward between them at best.

But looking at him now, the slight smile on his face was surprising. More importantly, however, there was an unmistaken soft glint of light in his eyes. It unsettled him, but also left him strangely comforted. It was a disconcerting combination.

Joash said the first thing his mind could grab onto: "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"Nor I you. But the Lord had other plans," Lamech answered, his smile growing. Joash felt himself relaxing at Lamech's infectious smile.

"Sounds like you've got quite a bit to tell," he grinned.

"I do. Quite a bit."

They looked at each other, each silently weighing up the other man. They knew there was a lot that could be said -
should
be said - but for a brief moment no words were necessary.

Lamech finally broke the silence: "How long has the trial been going on?"

"It started yesterday, but then the pope stopped it after only a couple of minutes. They resumed it today, but spent most of their time telling me how evil I am. And when I couldn't call any witnesses yet, the pope suddenly stopped it again."

Joash shook his head, "I've spent the whole day trying to make sense of it, but I can't figure out what they're up to."

Lamech looked at Joash thoughtfully, but didn't comment.

"Go ahead, ask me," he said suddenly.

Joash smiled.

"Why did you come?" he asked, but Lamech knew what he was really asking.

"For you to believe me, you first need to know that I gave my life to the Lord," he replied.

That'll explain it
, Joash thought. He knew he should have expected it the minute he looked into Lamech's eyes, but the news was still surprising.

"It happened during the attack on Antioch, just before I received Leala's letter," Lamech continued and then briefly explained what had happened on the wall.

"The Lord had been building up to it for a while, using you and Leala to kick-start it during our trip to Arles. In that moment on the wall when I felt the Lord speaking to me, I had suddenly known -
really
known - that He existed. It was like a beam of light had suddenly cut straight through all the dark mess that had formed around my heart and touched my deepest being. It was... incredible."

"And then - as if to prove to me that He meant business - He healed me from a mortal wound." Lamech chuckled, "I tell you, it was like two massive thumps hitting me on the head, one straight after the other."

Joy began to creep into the pit of Joash's chest, slowly building in ferocity as he relived his own moment of salvation years ago. He and Leala had prayed for the Lord to get hold of him and show him the way somehow, but if he was honest with himself he had thought Lamech beyond saving. And yet, here he was standing in front of him, proclaiming how the Lord had done just that.

It deeply humbled Joash and made him feel like dropping to his knees and sobbing the Lord's praises through joyful tears.

Lamech instinctively knew what Joash was feeling and so reached out his hand. Joash clasped his arm in a brotherly hold and waited for Lamech to finally answer his question.

"I have come to help you," Lamech said. "And by this time tomorrow, you will be free."

-------

It was a partially clouded evening as Lamech walked from the prison to where Leala was staying. In places the moon broke through the cloud cover, basking the edges in a gleaming edge of light. Lamech hardly noticed what was in front of him as he craned his neck backwards to marvel at the dazzling display. Like a sunset, it was one of the most beautiful sights of nature he had ever seen.

While he was walking, his thoughts were twisting and turning in his mind, circling each other in a tumble of barely-conscious thought that was trying to find the right order so it could come out as a coherent argument.

Lamech was quite aware of the fight taking place in his subconscious
,
but he didn't try to help it along. Instead he basked in its strangely comforting shimmer. He knew that once it became coherent, the almost magical moment he was experiencing looking up at the clouds
,
would be over.

Understandably, Joash hadn't believed him when he said he would be free by the next evening. It was the reasons why he knew this for a fact - and the implications it held - that he wasn't too keen on exploring this very moment, never mind telling Joash about it.

Instead of explaining it to Joash, he had simply encouraged him, telling him to trust in the Lord in the knowledge that God would never leave him, nor forsake him. There was power in that knowledge and it had worked its way through Joash's fear, dispelling it with peace.

He had told Joash where he was going next and he had given him his blessing. They had parted on a very good note and Lamech was eternally grateful for it. But he had yet to reveal to Joash and Leala what he had intended to do that evening in Arles and he prayed that the Lord would help them to understand when the time came to tell them - and to forgive him.

Time was running out. The task the Lord had given him was lying in front of him, waiting to be executed. All he had to do was follow the path
down which
the Lord was leading him.

He was nearing Leala's house now. It was at the end of the street and he could see that a candle was still burning inside. At the sight of it, the tumble of thoughts in his subconscious suddenly lined up and marched out in single file. He could see it all clearly now and he fought back the despair that wanted to engulf him.

He came to a stop in front of Leala's house. He raised his hand to knock, then paused, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Lord
, he prayed,
help me through this. I am afraid of what I must do - of what it might mean - but I trust that whatever you allow to happen, that your name will be deeply glorified by it. I am yours to send, yours to command. All I ask is that you give me the strength and the courage to see it through.

As he said the last words, he let out his breath slowly, opened his eyes and knocked.

CHAPTER 14

--- Avignon, August 1098 ---

The hungry
manner
in which they were looking at them was deeply troubling to Leala. She was standing next to Joash, with Lamech sitting next to them. They were in the hall once more, surrounded by the pope and all his officials on the third day of the hearings.

She couldn't stop thinking about the conversation she had
had
with Lamech
the previous
night. She had been overjoyed to see him, even though she was feeling a bit apprehensive. And what he had to
ld
her
ha
dn't serve
d
to lessen her concern.

He had been slightly evasive, not wanting to go into details. He
’d
just told her that he would testify in Joash's defence and that he would be free by the end of the day's hearing.

She had tried to get more out of him, trying to gather some idea of what he was going to say, but he simply asked her to trust him. Then, sensing that he was asking a lot of her, he told her what had happened to him in Antioch and how he had come to the Lord. She knew by the intensity of the way he described the events that what the Lord had done in his life had been deep and real. This was not the same man she had gotten to know all those many months ago.

In the end she
ha
dn't ha
d
much choice but to trust him. After he had left she had made her mind up to not try and figure it out too much. It would only
have
drive
n
her crazy. But peace - and therefore sleep - had nevertheless been long in coming last night.