and stared at the scene before us.
A hundred warriors stood in formation around the pool, facing a platform that had been erected on the near side of the oasis. Upon this platform stood Kahil in regal attire, watching us.
Thick branches from a large tree reached over the platform, and from the thickest branch extended a frayed rope. At the end of the rope hung a limp body.
For a long moment that refused to release me, I could not breathe. I could not mistake Judah’s swollen face.
I could not move. My eyes would not leave the vision of death. Saman had executed Judah in the most demeaning fashion. Even as my heart had beat with Judah’s, so they ceased together.
And Talya?
I quickly scanned the scene and found no sign of him.
“Be strong, Maviah,” Saba said. But I could hear the revulsion in his soft voice.
The warrior who’d been leading us turned back, saw that we’d both stopped, and spoke for the first time.
“Come.”
Judah…My dear Judah! What have I done?
I followed Saba, numb. I had done this. I had allowed Judah to embrace his rage. I had joined it! How many times had Saba repeated Yeshua’s teaching that those who lived by the sword would die by the sword? How many times had he said that all would reap from others what they sowed into them?
Talya…
All I had now was my son.
We stopped ten paces from the platform and I kept my eyes on Kahil now. To look at Judah again would be to lose any strength I still had.
He returned my gaze, wearing a twisted grin. Then he turned to two warriors and motioned to the body. They crossed to the rope, lowered Judah, and freed his neck from the noose. As if he were only a sack of grain, they hauled him to the back edge and dumped his body to the ground, out of view.
Then they fixed the rope in place so that the noose hung from the limb, empty.
“They say that to hang a queen is to invite demons into your bed,” Kahil said, pacing along the platform’s edge, hands behind his back. “But my priests tell me that hanging you now will chase them away.” Kahil faced me, resolute. “You are the queen who betrayed us. What would you advise?”
I swallowed the pain in my throat and spoke, but hardly more than a whisper came out.
“Are you a queen?” he cried. “Speak like one!”
I took a deep breath and gathered strength.
“Where is my son?” I bit off.
“Ah…Yes, of course. The child. You will have your child if you wish.”
My heart leaped.
“But first…tell me, was this insanity your own notion, or Judah’s?”
“You took my son!” I screamed, unable to restrain myself.
“Because Judah sought to kill my father’s son!”
He was speaking of himself.
Kahil stroked his beard. “Maliku played you perfectly, did he not? He knew that Judah would raise the battle cry if he took the children. And that the Bedu would lose their minds. History will show our actions fully justified. Not once did we attack first. You, not I, have brought all of this upon your people.”
His reasoning was twisted but acceptable in the Bedu way.
“You attacked a king,” Kahil said. “I have no choice but to hang you from your neck until you are dead.”
In a flash I saw the utter insanity of the ancient way, which sought an eye for an eye. There was always one more retaliation to be had, one more grievance to be righted, one more life to be defended.
Only Yeshua’s Way of forgiveness could stop the endless cycle of punishment and retribution. Without it, the way of the desert would trade in violence for thousands of years to come.
This is what Yeshua had taught.
And then I thought of Talya and Judah, and I forgot that teaching.
“Then take my life if you must,” I said. “Only give my son to Saba and let them live free. I beg you.”
Kahil lifted his hand, fingers heavily ringed in silver and gold. “But you are no longer as valuable to me dead, dear Maviah, queen of the outcasts. You still have so much work to do.”
Warning whispered through
A hundred warriors stood in formation around the pool, facing a platform that had been erected on the near side of the oasis. Upon this platform stood Kahil in regal attire, watching us.
Thick branches from a large tree reached over the platform, and from the thickest branch extended a frayed rope. At the end of the rope hung a limp body.
For a long moment that refused to release me, I could not breathe. I could not mistake Judah’s swollen face.
I could not move. My eyes would not leave the vision of death. Saman had executed Judah in the most demeaning fashion. Even as my heart had beat with Judah’s, so they ceased together.
And Talya?
I quickly scanned the scene and found no sign of him.
“Be strong, Maviah,” Saba said. But I could hear the revulsion in his soft voice.
The warrior who’d been leading us turned back, saw that we’d both stopped, and spoke for the first time.
“Come.”
Judah…My dear Judah! What have I done?
I followed Saba, numb. I had done this. I had allowed Judah to embrace his rage. I had joined it! How many times had Saba repeated Yeshua’s teaching that those who lived by the sword would die by the sword? How many times had he said that all would reap from others what they sowed into them?
Talya…
All I had now was my son.
We stopped ten paces from the platform and I kept my eyes on Kahil now. To look at Judah again would be to lose any strength I still had.
He returned my gaze, wearing a twisted grin. Then he turned to two warriors and motioned to the body. They crossed to the rope, lowered Judah, and freed his neck from the noose. As if he were only a sack of grain, they hauled him to the back edge and dumped his body to the ground, out of view.
Then they fixed the rope in place so that the noose hung from the limb, empty.
“They say that to hang a queen is to invite demons into your bed,” Kahil said, pacing along the platform’s edge, hands behind his back. “But my priests tell me that hanging you now will chase them away.” Kahil faced me, resolute. “You are the queen who betrayed us. What would you advise?”
I swallowed the pain in my throat and spoke, but hardly more than a whisper came out.
“Are you a queen?” he cried. “Speak like one!”
I took a deep breath and gathered strength.
“Where is my son?” I bit off.
“Ah…Yes, of course. The child. You will have your child if you wish.”
My heart leaped.
“But first…tell me, was this insanity your own notion, or Judah’s?”
“You took my son!” I screamed, unable to restrain myself.
“Because Judah sought to kill my father’s son!”
He was speaking of himself.
Kahil stroked his beard. “Maliku played you perfectly, did he not? He knew that Judah would raise the battle cry if he took the children. And that the Bedu would lose their minds. History will show our actions fully justified. Not once did we attack first. You, not I, have brought all of this upon your people.”
His reasoning was twisted but acceptable in the Bedu way.
“You attacked a king,” Kahil said. “I have no choice but to hang you from your neck until you are dead.”
In a flash I saw the utter insanity of the ancient way, which sought an eye for an eye. There was always one more retaliation to be had, one more grievance to be righted, one more life to be defended.
Only Yeshua’s Way of forgiveness could stop the endless cycle of punishment and retribution. Without it, the way of the desert would trade in violence for thousands of years to come.
This is what Yeshua had taught.
And then I thought of Talya and Judah, and I forgot that teaching.
“Then take my life if you must,” I said. “Only give my son to Saba and let them live free. I beg you.”
Kahil lifted his hand, fingers heavily ringed in silver and gold. “But you are no longer as valuable to me dead, dear Maviah, queen of the outcasts. You still have so much work to do.”
Warning whispered through
Similar Books
