The Crimson Cord: Rahab's Story (11 page)

“Have you wearied of me so soon, my lord?” She touched his knee and looked into his calculating gaze, showing him the vulnerable expression she had long ago perfected. What a pretender she had become!

He cupped her cheek, and she knew by the longing in his eyes that her act had its desired effect. “Would you miss me, my girl?”

She lowered her eyes, feigning respect. “I can barely wait for the hour of your visit, my lord. If there is something I have done . . .”

He lifted her chin. “You have been everything I expected, Rahab. You have nothing to fear,” he said, though she knew he lied as easily as she did.

“Thank you, my lord.”

He pulled her onto his lap, and she sifted her fingers along the edges of his beard. “Whose villa? Did the family come under hard times?”

Dabir traced a line along her jaw, his breath catching as she drew nearer, kissing him. “The man took his family and moved north.”

Rahab felt his arms surround her. Her kiss lingered. “Why would he leave?” she whispered. “Jericho is so well protected.”

Dabir stiffened and pushed her slightly from him, his gaze hardened. “The fool heard a rumor about those wandering Israelites coming to attack Canaan, so he took his family, sold everything he could, and fled.” Her heart beat faster at the intensity that suddenly filled his face, reddening his cheeks. This was a subject that always heated Dabir’s ire, and she realized too late that she should not have asked the question.

“Where does he think he will go? What city has stouter walls?” she said, hoping to appease him. She stroked his arm. “Besides, everyone knows the Israelites are a bunch of slaves who can’t find their way out of the wilderness.”

He looked at her, his body slowly relaxing, the tension easing. “No one can breach these walls, Rahab. And no one can escape them without my notice.”

She saw the threat beneath the mask of his charm, but she leaned closer, teasing his ear. “Who would want to try, my lord? You are the great Dabir.” She let her warm breath touch his neck. “I trust he sold his villa to you at a more than reasonable price?”

His laughter brought a sigh to her lips. He would forget his anger now. Relief coursed through her as he set her on her feet and rose, taking her hand. “But of course, my dearest. Do you think I would give him what it was worth?” He kissed her then, harder than she liked, but she did not flinch.

She fingered the hair above his ear. “So tell me what else happened today?” She knew how to play his game and forced herself to continue the role.

He chuckled again, pulling her so close she could barely breathe. “How you try to thwart me, my dear girl.” He ran his finger over her painted lips. “I am in no mood for games tonight.” He lifted her with ease and walked toward her bedchamber, lowering her onto the bed beneath the canopy. He
placed his hands on either side of her and searched her gaze. “But I will tell you this . . . I received an invitation to the king’s ball to celebrate the Feast of Keret today. I have been asked to pick the woman who will play the king’s virgin daughter to ‘marry’ the prince during the feast.”

“How wonderful for you, my lord.” She touched his cheek, then played with the fringe of his tunic. “Who will you pick?”

His sudden silence caused her to meet his gaze.

“Your younger sister is a beautiful virgin.”

Rahab’s heart did a painful flip, and she felt the blood drain from her face.
No!
“My little sister is still a child, my lord.”
Please, Yerach, do not let them take Adara.
She must offer a sacrifice . . .
something
.

“She is nearly a woman. She would do for the feast.”

His smile unnerved her, and she found it difficult to breathe. How had she not seen this coming? Pure hatred for the man nearly choked her. She closed her eyes, fighting for control of her emotions. She swallowed hard. Looked into his dark eyes.

“I beg you, my lord.” She paused, summoning control from a place deep within. “Please do not ask this of her. She is innocent and knows nothing of the ways of men.”

“That is the definition of a virgin, my dear. This is a great honor for her, to ‘wed’ the prince of Jericho.” He brushed the hair from her face, and for the first time she felt nauseated at his touch.

“Let me take her place.” The words were out before she could think another thought.

“You are by no means qualified, my dear.” He chuckled, even as he lay beside her on the raised bed.

She turned, forcing every true emotion from her, and sidled closer to him. “But is this not a part to play? I can be anything
you ask of me, my lord. I daresay I would know from all you have taught me how to please the prince.” Though the thought of the man who had sent her husband into bondage did not bring her pleasant feelings. Dealing with his advisor was already a struggle. How would she continue to deny her feelings and give herself to yet another man?

But she could not let them take Adara.

“Do you think it a small thing for me to give you to another, Rahab?” He acted offended, and for the brief moment their gazes met she sensed honesty in him. Did he actually care for her? The home he had provided flashed through her thoughts. He did like to give her things.

“I would never think of giving my heart to him, Dabir.” She stroked his arm. “You know that it is you alone I love.” She smiled and kissed him before he could respond, desperate to prove her lying words. “I would not disappoint you, my lord. The prince would thank you, perhaps even promote you at the end of the feast. Anyone else would surely disappoint him.” Her heart beat faster. She dared not even speak her sister’s name lest he lose his focus on her.

“You drive a hard bargain, my sweet.” He gave in to her kisses and closed his eyes. He would not speak of it again, despite her desperate need to pull a promise from him. But experience had taught her how far she could push him.

So she did as she had always done since the day Dabir had purchased her—submitted to his choices and pretended to be someone she was not.

A week later, on the sixth day of the yearly Festival of Keret, Rahab awoke to the deafening march of soldiers stomping
the circular streets of Jericho. They had repeated the same silent parade for the past five days. On the seventh, tomorrow, they would shout and dance in the streets, blaring trumpets and clashing cymbals and fairly shaking the earth beneath them
.
And at the end of it all, she would “marry” the prince, as she had begged Dabir to allow her to do.

If only she had not been forced to make such a choice.

She rose from her bed, pushing anxiety from her heart for the hundredth time. She could do this. She
must
do this, for Adara’s sake. But though she had once appreciated his mercy, she did not like Prince Nahid. And she thought the ritual of Keret a farce meant to appease the desires of men more than the needs of the moon god. But even her father had insisted that the land’s fertility was at stake. Had the decision been given to him, he might have offered Adara in her place.

What if Dabir changes
his mind?
The thought greeted her again, as it had every dawn for the past week, with the first sound of the soldiers and the silent parade of her fellow citizens following solemnly behind the prince, Dabir, and most of the royal court. What if he had spoken to her father about Adara and pulled a switch on her at the last moment?

She drew in a long, slow breath.
Stop.
She could not continue to worry.

Tomorrow.
One more day and she could stop fearing Dabir’s treachery
.

But in her mind’s eye she saw the look of malice in Dabir’s eyes as he watched Gamal on his knees, pleading for his life. And the gleam of greed when he looked at her, at moments he thought she did not notice. Dabir wanted more from her than he had yet let on. She knew it in a place deep within her, in a place she did not want to visit.

Dabir was capable of evil beyond what she could imagine.

Sweat drew a thin line along her brow, even as a chill swept over her. What had she agreed to do? Why had Dabir given in to her so easily? He had brought up Adara on purpose. Had he done so to get her to unwittingly do his bidding?

But why? Why share her with the prince?

She sank back among the covers, her stomach suddenly heaving. Something was wrong.

With each staccato march of the soldiers, her dread grew.

At dawn the following morning, the familiar march began once again. This time they would circle the city seven times. She rose quickly from her bed, greeted with the rich scent of spikenard, a gift sent to her from Dabir for the evening’s festivities. Sweet delicacies awaited her at a small table in the corner of her chamber, but her stomach revolted at the thought of food. Tonight she would be escorted to Prince Nahid’s chambers dressed as his consort. Their union, if the gods were merciful, would bring a fruitful harvest to the land.

What if it also brought about a real child in her womb?

The thought stirred the desire she had lived with every day of her marriage. But three months with Dabir had proven her barrenness was not Gamal’s fault. Why had the gods not looked on her with such favor?

You are a worthless whore.
Gamal’s words rang as sharply as they had four months before.

She rose stiffly, forcing all thoughts of a child, of whatever womanly longings she had once possessed, from her
heart. She could not dwell on them. If she did, they would consume her.

Time dulled with the incessant marching.

As the hour approached, servants came to dress her hair and fitted wide circles of silver filigreed earrings into the holes in her ears. The white tunic dipped low at her neckline, and a long slit below her waist easily showed one long leg. A sheer scarlet robe did little to cover what the tunic exposed. One look in the long silver mirror caused her face to flush nearly as crimson as the robe.

She was dressed as a priestess, not a princess. A king’s daughter was to be the part she played. Unless . . . Her earlier fears surfaced like rushing water in a dry wadi. Dabir had lied to her all along. Hadn’t she always known it? Would she arrive at the banquet to find Adara dressed as a princess ready to be given to King Keret/Prince Nahid?

Her skin tingled with rage, but in a moment, a breath, the rage gave way to the too familiar shame. She pulled at the tunic, trying to raise it above her nearly exposed breasts, to no avail.

A knock on the outer door startled her, and before she could ponder her conflicting thoughts, Dabir stood before her, arm extended.

“My dear Rahab, how lovely you look tonight.”

She merely nodded, her throat too dry for words.

He chuckled. “You seem quite taken with yourself in that mirror.” He stepped closer and grasped her hand. Raising it above his head, he motioned for her to twirl about. “Ah yes. The fit is perfect, my dear.”

For a harlot.
Though she did not say so.

“If you please the prince tonight, then tomorrow night we
will begin to expand your services.” His smile and calculating look brought the heat, the rage, to the surface again. He viewed tonight as her unveiling to all of the wealthy men of Jericho, men who would happily line Dabir’s pockets if she pleased the prince.

“I see.” She looked away from his scrutiny.

“This is part of your debt, Rahab. You knew you had to earn your keep eventually.” He held her at arm’s length.

She lowered her head.

Silence filled the room until his coarse laughter broke its barrier. “You did not actually think that I was giving in to your pathetic begging to save your sister, did you?” He lifted her chin. “You did!” His continued laughter burned her like hot sand on bare skin. “I thought you wiser than that, Rahab.”

His words felt like one of Gamal’s slaps against her cheek. Her heart beat too fast, and she closed her eyes, grasping for dignity.

“No,” she whispered at last. “Of course I did not think so.” But she had hoped. What a fool she had been.

He studied her. “The truth is, Rahab, that Prince Nahid has shown interest in you from the beginning. When he invited me to pick the virgin, he said it in such a way that I knew it was not truly a virgin he wanted this time. This is why you will play this role and wed him tonight. After that, we will see what shall be done with you.”