you.”
When Rahab followed Jebir into the war room, Alyun was alone. She looked around seeing no others, and knew something was amiss.
“My lord called for me?” said Rahab.
“Rahab,” said Alyun. He looked disheveled, distraught. He had not slept in two days. “What do you know about these Habiru? What did the two men say who visited your inn?”
“I told your Right Hand everything I knew, my lord. They did not say anything. I did not even know they were Habiru until Jebir told me.”
Alyun looked at Jebir, who nodded.
“They ate and drank—and paid for their pleasure. Just as all men do. They left out of the gate before it was closed for the night.”
Alyun was dead serious. “You do know, Rahab, that harboring spies is punishable by death.”
Rahab protested, “I did not know they were spies, Alyun.” She switched to more personal language as a way to throw him off her scent. “Surely, my love, if they said anything that endangered this city and with it, my family, I would have immediately contacted you.”
“Hmmm, yes,” he agreed.
She slipped up closer to him and brushed his hair aside with a soft caress. “You look very distressed and pent up. Do you need a release, my lord?”
He turned from her. “No. What I need is intelligence on these Habiru.”
“I will ask my servants and harlots,” she said. “Maybe they saw something I did not.”
But then Jebir broke in, “ I have heard that you have expressed an interest in the god of these Habiru, who is he, Yahwo, Yahwa?”
He was trying to get her to say the name correctly and indict herself. But she did not take the bait.
Instead, she said, “So now you are spying on me ?”
“No,” said Jebir. “It is no secret that you are one of the most gossiped about person s in the fort, Rahab. One cannot help but run into such tales.”
Jebir did not have the balls to tell her he only found out about it because of his own obsession with stalking her just to watch her. He was still harboring the tiny little hope in his heart that if he could survive this battle, and maybe if Alyun would be killed, then he would rise to leadership and he might have a chance to finally have her all to himself.
Alyun said, “But you do have interest in this god?”
Rahab decided to tell as much of the truth as she could so that it would not sound like the lie it would be.
“My lord, in all the years you have had me as your consort, have you ever asked me about my past?”
Alyun hesitated. “No, I guess I have not.”
“Well, if you had, you would have discovered that I have endured the greatest of hardships under a variety of deities that has caused me to have less than faithful trust in any gods.”
Alyun’s face turned sorry. He had actually taken his mind off his own troubles as his heart turned toward Rahab’s painful reminiscences.
“I was a hierodule for the goat demons of Banias.” She spoke the insulting word demons with spite while remembering Izbaxl. “Are you aware of the responsibilities of a nymph of satyrs?”
Alyun and Jebir were both drawn into the story with empathy.
“They serve the god Azazel, an antediluvian deity most known for his violent sexual appetite. And then there is the goddess Lilith who guards Gaia, the Mother Earth Goddess who cannibalizes her own worshippers. I escaped from there to Gilgal Rephaim, the Serpent Clan, who sought to use me as a womb for breeding Nephilim from the god Mastema.”
Alyun and Jebir could not believe what they were hearing. Jebir was even tearing up.
“While I was there, I was introduced to the gods Ba’al, the bully Ashtart, and Molech. Molech, as you know consumes little children, as he did my first brother and sister that I never told you about.”
She never told him about them because it was not true. But they knew the violence of Ba’al, the extraordinary wickedness of Ashtart, and the lusts of Molech.
Alyun broke in, “Rahab, I am so sorry you have had to experience
When Rahab followed Jebir into the war room, Alyun was alone. She looked around seeing no others, and knew something was amiss.
“My lord called for me?” said Rahab.
“Rahab,” said Alyun. He looked disheveled, distraught. He had not slept in two days. “What do you know about these Habiru? What did the two men say who visited your inn?”
“I told your Right Hand everything I knew, my lord. They did not say anything. I did not even know they were Habiru until Jebir told me.”
Alyun looked at Jebir, who nodded.
“They ate and drank—and paid for their pleasure. Just as all men do. They left out of the gate before it was closed for the night.”
Alyun was dead serious. “You do know, Rahab, that harboring spies is punishable by death.”
Rahab protested, “I did not know they were spies, Alyun.” She switched to more personal language as a way to throw him off her scent. “Surely, my love, if they said anything that endangered this city and with it, my family, I would have immediately contacted you.”
“Hmmm, yes,” he agreed.
She slipped up closer to him and brushed his hair aside with a soft caress. “You look very distressed and pent up. Do you need a release, my lord?”
He turned from her. “No. What I need is intelligence on these Habiru.”
“I will ask my servants and harlots,” she said. “Maybe they saw something I did not.”
But then Jebir broke in, “ I have heard that you have expressed an interest in the god of these Habiru, who is he, Yahwo, Yahwa?”
He was trying to get her to say the name correctly and indict herself. But she did not take the bait.
Instead, she said, “So now you are spying on me ?”
“No,” said Jebir. “It is no secret that you are one of the most gossiped about person s in the fort, Rahab. One cannot help but run into such tales.”
Jebir did not have the balls to tell her he only found out about it because of his own obsession with stalking her just to watch her. He was still harboring the tiny little hope in his heart that if he could survive this battle, and maybe if Alyun would be killed, then he would rise to leadership and he might have a chance to finally have her all to himself.
Alyun said, “But you do have interest in this god?”
Rahab decided to tell as much of the truth as she could so that it would not sound like the lie it would be.
“My lord, in all the years you have had me as your consort, have you ever asked me about my past?”
Alyun hesitated. “No, I guess I have not.”
“Well, if you had, you would have discovered that I have endured the greatest of hardships under a variety of deities that has caused me to have less than faithful trust in any gods.”
Alyun’s face turned sorry. He had actually taken his mind off his own troubles as his heart turned toward Rahab’s painful reminiscences.
“I was a hierodule for the goat demons of Banias.” She spoke the insulting word demons with spite while remembering Izbaxl. “Are you aware of the responsibilities of a nymph of satyrs?”
Alyun and Jebir were both drawn into the story with empathy.
“They serve the god Azazel, an antediluvian deity most known for his violent sexual appetite. And then there is the goddess Lilith who guards Gaia, the Mother Earth Goddess who cannibalizes her own worshippers. I escaped from there to Gilgal Rephaim, the Serpent Clan, who sought to use me as a womb for breeding Nephilim from the god Mastema.”
Alyun and Jebir could not believe what they were hearing. Jebir was even tearing up.
“While I was there, I was introduced to the gods Ba’al, the bully Ashtart, and Molech. Molech, as you know consumes little children, as he did my first brother and sister that I never told you about.”
She never told him about them because it was not true. But they knew the violence of Ba’al, the extraordinary wickedness of Ashtart, and the lusts of Molech.
Alyun broke in, “Rahab, I am so sorry you have had to experience
Similar Books
