Crown in the Stars (17 page)

Submitting reluctantly, Shoshannah dropped gracelessly to the brick-paved ground, fearing Perek might “help” her. Demamah looked scandalized, but Adoniyram smiled and shook his head. “You behave like a little boy.”

“So do you,” Shoshannah argued beneath her breath. “Though I’ll be completely dignified now.”

“Be sure you are. It would be foolish to offend Rab-Mawg and his priests.”

Don’t worry; I haven’t forgotten that men like your “priests” tried to kill my mother
. Apprehensive, she smoothed her garments and followed Adoniyram up the high, wide stairs that angled sharply up the sides of the tower.

“Who is Rab-Mawg?” she asked Demamah as they neared the top of the first level.

“Our chief magician,” Demamah whispered. Even more softly, she added, “Father says Rab-Mawg is young and impatient, but very… acute. Please, weigh everything you tell him—several times.”

“What are you whispering?” Adoniyram demanded, pausing, then descending a step to join them. “More secrets?”

Quickly Shoshannah explained, “She was telling me to think carefully before speaking to Rab-Mawg. And I intend to.”

“Good,” Adoniyram murmured, studying her closely. “And what you don’t tell him, you
will
tell me.”

“Do you think I’m keeping other secrets from you, Cousin?”

“Are you?”

“None that I know of.”

“That’s reassuring,” he said. But he didn’t sound convinced. He started up the stairs again. Shoshannah glared after him, aggravated.

Tugging her arm, Demamah gave Shoshannah a pleading look. Shoshannah nodded reluctantly. In unison, they started up the endless stairs, with Ormah following them at a distance. When Shoshannah looked back down at her, the countless steps seemed to merge together; the effect was dizzying.

Catching her attention, Demamah said, “Father insists we should be reverent when we climb all these stairs… to calm our minds before entering the temple above.” There was a softness in her voice and in her dark eyes that made Shoshannah stare.

“Just now, you sounded so much like our I’ma-Annah. You even looked like her. But she would detest this place.”

Adoniyram heard and turned suddenly, almost wrathfully. “If you say anything like that up there in the temple, Shoshannah, you’ll be thrown off the edge of the terrace to your death! Is that what you want?”

She halted on the steps, shocked. “No, of course not. Forgive me. I won’t say anything else until we leave. Except… why are you so determined to bring me here?”

“I’m asking myself the same question.” He resumed climbing.

Is he trying to decide if I should live or die?
she wondered, furiously irreverent.
O Son of Heaven, quit tormenting me; make up your human mind!

With Demamah still clasping her arm, she followed him to the top of the stairs. The uppermost walls protecting the terrace were low and unfinished; Shoshannah resolved to stay away from them. But she lingered, inspecting the numerous small, pampered, mostly dormant trees and plants. The terrace had been coated with bitumen to seal it against the water used to irrigate the mulched, brick-enclosed gardens. Several roughly clothed young men were laboring in a far corner with bricks, slime, and sand, apparently building the foundations of another raised garden.

Gently, as if speaking of normal things could erase Adoniyram’s threat, Demamah said, “The trees will be lovely this summer.”

I pray I won’t be here to see them
, Shoshannah thought. But she nodded, determined to remain silent.

Adoniyram beckoned them toward the unfinished temple. As Shoshannah reached him, he said, “Remember, say nothing unless I permit it.”

Again she nodded and lowered her eyes, pretending meekness. The pretense vanished as soon as she entered the chilling, lavish temple. Gold, polished stone, and rare gems glimmered at her from every direction, illuminated by deftly placed oil lamps, which heightened the mysterious, humbling aura of this place. And its inhabitants, the priests, added to this daunting impression.

They all looked the same to her, brown, blade thin, with dark, glittering eyes, shaven heads, and smooth
faces, all wearing pale single-shouldered woolen robes and sandals. One of them wore a leopard-skin mantle and stared at Shoshannah, unblinking as any predator.

Rab-Mawg
, Shoshannah guessed, looking down swiftly as he approached. She understood why Adoniyram and Demamah had warned her against him. Young as he was, Rab-Mawg was fierce. Extreme. And focused on her.

“This is her daughter?” he asked Adoniyram, his voice unexpectedly soft.

Watchful, cautious, Adoniyram agreed. “Yes.”

As Shoshannah glanced at her cousin involuntarily, Rab-Mawg suddenly flashed a hand toward her throat. Something thin, cool, and sharp rested just below her jaw. Shoshannah froze. Years of dealing with unexpected teasing shocks from Kaleb and her younger brothers had finally taught her to stand still, hiding her inward turmoil.

As Demamah gasped, Adoniyram stepped closer, warning, “Don’t hurt her.”

“I won’t,” Rab-Mawg told him. But to Shoshannah, he murmured, “I’ve heard that your mother didn’t retreat when our He-Who-Lifts-the-Skies put a knife to her throat. I see you are the same.”

And I see you are insane
.

Rab-Mawg continued, “I was also told that your mother pledged herself—on her own life—to this temple. And she hasn’t fulfilled her vows. Perhaps our Shemesh has brought you to us in her place. I believe you should receive the sacrifices and offerings she should have received… or be one instead.”

Unable to move, Shoshannah prayed she would escape alive. He lowered the knife, smiled politely, and stepped away. Demamah hurried to Shoshannah’s side as Rab-Mawg talked to Adoniyram. The rest of Shoshannah’s
visit to the temple was lost in a haze of terror. She said nothing.

For five days, Shoshannah hid pieces of bread and dried meat and fruits in a bundle within her bedding. For five nights, she arose in the predawn darkness, feigning visits to the privy, allowing Demamah to become used to her early wanderings. She “carelessly” left her belongings and weapons in Demamah’s courtyard but otherwise behaved perfectly. And she studied the tree in the courtyard, thinking of her mother. Of I’ma-Annah.

Before the sixth dawn, after the dreadful confrontation with Rab-Mawg, Shoshannah pretended to visit the privy again. But this time, she took her stash of food and went into Demamah’s little courtyard.

Stealthily she tied her belongings and weapons together, climbed the tree beside the wall, lowered her belongings down the outside wall with a leather cord, then tied a thicker leather cord to a branch and struggled down the wall, shaking with fear. Halfway down, the cord snapped. Shoshannah landed hard in the dirt, gasping and bruised.

Recovering, praying she hadn’t been heard, she snatched up her belongings and sped off in the darkness toward the stables.

Nine

HER HEART THUDDING, Shoshannah set down her weapons and crept into the dark, manure-scented stables. Where were the guards? She waited and listened. Rasping snores sounded from two areas: a stall to her far left, and the opposite corner behind stacks of bundled hay.

Let there only be two guards
, she begged the Most High silently.
And let them continue to sleep
.

As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, Shoshannah noiselessly lifted a bridle and reins from one of the pegs by the door, then slipped over to the nearest stall.
Be good
, she thought to the horse, judging its size, offering a dried date. The creature breathed lightly into her hand, nipped up the fruit, then cooperated as she worked the toughened leather bit into its mouth and fastened the bridle. Stroking the horse coaxingly, she opened the reed gate to its stall and led it outside.

I wish you were Ma’khole
, she thought, tremulous, wishing she could bid the little mare good-bye. Swiftly, fearing she might awaken the guards, she tied her weapons and few belongings across the horse’s sand-pale withers, took a small running start, grasped the mane, and bounded onto its back. She struggled to seat herself, grateful the creature hadn’t jolted away beneath her—she was out of practice. But he was well trained. Catching her breath, she guided the horse behind Ra-Anan’s residence to avoid the busiest streets and rode south out of the Great City. Shortly afterward, she urged the animal east, away from the boggy, rain-swollen southern marshes. And for the first time in her life, she hated a beautiful sunrise.

Furious, Ra-Anan grabbed the broken leather cord from the ground. Pointing to its match dangling from the tree near the wall, he confronted his shocked guardsmen. “Look at this! You saw nothing? You heard nothing? If you don’t find her
now
, you’ll see and hear nothing permanently!”

The guardsmen fled, seeking their horses. Perek approached, planted himself in front of Ra-Anan, and bowed. “I beg you, Master Ra-Anan, let me hunt her down.”

Ra-Anan waved him on impatiently. Perek snatched his gear, whistled for his horse, and rode out after the other guardsmen, who were scattering in confusion.

Aggravated by their chaotic departure, Ra-Anan headed for the stables. He’d find the girl himself. A stable guard greeted him weakly, saying, “My lord, your horse is gone.”

Fool
. Disbelieving, Ra-Anan strode into the stable and glanced to the left where his best horse should have been, at an empty stall. He struck the guard to the ground. “In my
sleep
, from behind a brick wall, I heard someone riding a horse past my residence! But you didn’t hear someone stealing a horse from beneath your nose! Were you drunk? Get away from me before I kill you!”

While he was fuming, someone rode up outside the stables. Thinking they had caught Shoshannah, Ra-Anan hurried outside. Adoniyram and his three guardsmen looked down at him from their horses, perplexed. For the past week, Adoniyram had visited almost every morning, and Ra-Anan had welcomed him. But now, Ra-Anan stared up at his nephew, disgruntled. “Don’t you have a residence of your own?”

Obviously restraining a smile, Adoniyram said, “I do, Master-Uncle, but clearly, it’s not as exciting as your own. What’s happened?”

Ra-Anan enunciated his words carefully, so he wouldn’t stammer in his fury. “Your ungrateful cousin stole my best horse and escaped. Alone.”

“So that’s why Perek and the others were riding off in such a hurry.” Swiftly, Adoniyram inclined his head. “If you don’t mind, Uncle, I’ll join the chase.”

Before Ra-Anan could say another word, Adoniyram goaded his horse away, followed by his guardsmen, all of them eager for this unexpected adventure. Ra-Anan watched them head north onto the main street, then returned to his house. There was no need for him to pursue Shoshannah; there were enough guardsmen after her. Instead, he would question Demamah, who had—reluctantly, he suspected—alerted him that Shoshannah was gone.