For the sake of all those you lead, take your lover and go back into the sands. I beg you.”
“You would send us away without food?” Fahak cried, unimpressed by Judah’s deliverance. “You have taken all we have! We cannot enter the sands without food and camels!”
Maliku faced Saman, who considered the request and offered a curt nod.
“I will return with—”
“A thousand camels!” Fahak said.
“Don’t be absurd.” Kahil sneered. “Food for scavengers is all you require.”
“A thousand camels or we butcher the lot of you where you stand!”
They said more, but my mind was on Judah, because I knew already that I was to be reunited with the man I loved.
“A hundred camels and two hundred goats,” Saman said, cutting the discourse short. “No more.”
“And wheat!” Arim said.
“Silence,” Fahak snapped.
But Arim went on. “And tea. And spices. And ten coins for each family so that we might trade for food on the long journey far away from you.”
Saman grunted, then conceded with a sigh. “Food and five hundred coins—no more. And let my mercy be known.”
Fahak spat once more, earning the respect due him, sheikh to sheikh.
Maliku spoke again, watching me closely.
“Maviah. Take what is offered and live in peace. As your brother, I offer my word. It’s all I have left.”
I turned my head and stared at Kahil. His eyes were dark, and deep lines of bitterness and treachery were etched upon his face. I knew I would see him again, and the next time he would not be held back by a father weary of bloodshed.
“I would see Judah’s eyes,” I said, facing Saman.
Saman nodded at Maliku. My brother stooped, stripped off the cloth bound about Judah’s head, and pulled free a scarf that muzzled him. Lowering himself to one knee, he gently slapped Judah’s face.
But Judah’s eyes remained closed. So Maliku quickly retrieved a skin and splashed water on his face.
Slowly, like a rising sun, Judah’s eyelids opened. And then, lying there on his side with his cheek pressed against the sand, my lion’s bright eyes gazed up at me.
I turned to Saman. “We agree to your terms. Return in two days’ time with all you have offered. Now take your army from our Garden of Peace.”
Chapter Six
THE THAMUD hadn’t broken Judah’s spirit, but they had chased it into the shadows.
So I took him with me to the desert, where he could regain his strength free of prying eyes. I left the camp and Talya in Saba’s hands and went to the red cliff called the tower, two hours west.
Using one of the waterskins, I gently washed Judah’s stained body and bathed a wound on his head, then trimmed his beard, allowing him the silence he required. I held his head in my lap and let him weep while I hummed and stroked his hair. I knew that his spirit would return, but not as it was.
Only when I made a fire late in the afternoon and served Judah some hot tea did the sparkle begin to return to his eyes, but then only for brief periods.
He made a feeble attempt to help me prepare food, but I hushed him and served him as he’d served me during our journey across the desert two years earlier.
We ate goat meat cooked on the fire, and flatbread that I baked with coals in the sand—these served with dates and butter, for it was all we had. Then I drew milk from Zahwah and we drank it warm, still frothy.
I told him about Talya, my son. I told him how Yeshua had saved me from the storm and healed me of my blindness in Petra. I told him about Stephen, who’d jumped out of the boat to go to Yeshua, and about Sarah, who’d been healed of an issue of blood. I told him of all the wonders, and the more I told him, the more he wanted to know.
He was Jewish to the bone, and I could see that his longing for his Messiah and for Israel tugged at his heart.
As it did mine. We would find Yeshua together, I said. We would rush to him and fall at his feet. He, not I, had brought salvation to the desert. He, not any queen or
“You would send us away without food?” Fahak cried, unimpressed by Judah’s deliverance. “You have taken all we have! We cannot enter the sands without food and camels!”
Maliku faced Saman, who considered the request and offered a curt nod.
“I will return with—”
“A thousand camels!” Fahak said.
“Don’t be absurd.” Kahil sneered. “Food for scavengers is all you require.”
“A thousand camels or we butcher the lot of you where you stand!”
They said more, but my mind was on Judah, because I knew already that I was to be reunited with the man I loved.
“A hundred camels and two hundred goats,” Saman said, cutting the discourse short. “No more.”
“And wheat!” Arim said.
“Silence,” Fahak snapped.
But Arim went on. “And tea. And spices. And ten coins for each family so that we might trade for food on the long journey far away from you.”
Saman grunted, then conceded with a sigh. “Food and five hundred coins—no more. And let my mercy be known.”
Fahak spat once more, earning the respect due him, sheikh to sheikh.
Maliku spoke again, watching me closely.
“Maviah. Take what is offered and live in peace. As your brother, I offer my word. It’s all I have left.”
I turned my head and stared at Kahil. His eyes were dark, and deep lines of bitterness and treachery were etched upon his face. I knew I would see him again, and the next time he would not be held back by a father weary of bloodshed.
“I would see Judah’s eyes,” I said, facing Saman.
Saman nodded at Maliku. My brother stooped, stripped off the cloth bound about Judah’s head, and pulled free a scarf that muzzled him. Lowering himself to one knee, he gently slapped Judah’s face.
But Judah’s eyes remained closed. So Maliku quickly retrieved a skin and splashed water on his face.
Slowly, like a rising sun, Judah’s eyelids opened. And then, lying there on his side with his cheek pressed against the sand, my lion’s bright eyes gazed up at me.
I turned to Saman. “We agree to your terms. Return in two days’ time with all you have offered. Now take your army from our Garden of Peace.”
Chapter Six
THE THAMUD hadn’t broken Judah’s spirit, but they had chased it into the shadows.
So I took him with me to the desert, where he could regain his strength free of prying eyes. I left the camp and Talya in Saba’s hands and went to the red cliff called the tower, two hours west.
Using one of the waterskins, I gently washed Judah’s stained body and bathed a wound on his head, then trimmed his beard, allowing him the silence he required. I held his head in my lap and let him weep while I hummed and stroked his hair. I knew that his spirit would return, but not as it was.
Only when I made a fire late in the afternoon and served Judah some hot tea did the sparkle begin to return to his eyes, but then only for brief periods.
He made a feeble attempt to help me prepare food, but I hushed him and served him as he’d served me during our journey across the desert two years earlier.
We ate goat meat cooked on the fire, and flatbread that I baked with coals in the sand—these served with dates and butter, for it was all we had. Then I drew milk from Zahwah and we drank it warm, still frothy.
I told him about Talya, my son. I told him how Yeshua had saved me from the storm and healed me of my blindness in Petra. I told him about Stephen, who’d jumped out of the boat to go to Yeshua, and about Sarah, who’d been healed of an issue of blood. I told him of all the wonders, and the more I told him, the more he wanted to know.
He was Jewish to the bone, and I could see that his longing for his Messiah and for Israel tugged at his heart.
As it did mine. We would find Yeshua together, I said. We would rush to him and fall at his feet. He, not I, had brought salvation to the desert. He, not any queen or
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