royal, um, presence.”
A satisfied grin crossed Herod’s face. “Indeed they did.”
“When this one is able to see your manhood with both eyes open, she, too, will be unable to resist, but until then, she is a forced captive who does your reputation no credit.”
Herod considered this as a reveler a few tables away cried out. “I just get them drunk.”
His retinue broke into riotous laughter.
The king stared at her for a few moments, and then waved a hand at the eunuchs.
“Take her back and salve her wounds. I will enjoy her tomorrow night. Her eye should heal sufficiently by then.”
But before they could do so, something caught the king’s eye.
“Wait,” he said. “Bring her back. Let me see her up close.”
I saw a look of confusion cross the Roman’s face. Publius wasn’t sure what was coming next, either.
Herod reached up and ran his fingers across Sharon’s breast and then up toward her neck. It was only then that I saw the pendant dangling, half caught in the golden collar.
“What is this?”
She glanced over in my direction, but there was nothing I could do. I just stared ahead as Herod grasped the listening device in his fingers, trying without success to figure out what it was.
At that moment, a man slid into the room from the nearby tunnel — Azariah, probably, if I had understood Sharon’s description correctly.
“She values it for some reason, your majesty, though I cannot understand why,” he said. “It is not made of a precious gem, nor of gold, yet she became very upset when we tried to take it away.”
Herod smiled and reached to lift the pendant over her head. Sharon had no choice but to let him have it, though her struggle to keep an even expression did not pass unnoticed.
“Look at her now,” said the king. “Parting with it is causing her great distress.”
Herod then draped it around his own neck.
“She must not worry: I am only keeping it a reminder of the pleasure we will enjoy tomorrow. Afterwards, I will give it back, along with another one of pure gold.”
This was unwelcome, to be sure. Without her ability to guide us with the transmitter, our task of extracting her from the palace complex had become considerably more difficult.
She glanced in my direction.
I nodded as imperceptibly as I could, to acknowledge that I had observed what happened. But I could do nothing else.
Herod waved his hand as a signal for the eunuchs to lead her away. Sharon, though, had taken only five steps when she suddenly stopped and turned around. She made a deep, slow bow to the king, going all the way to the floor while extending her arms out to each side
Then she stood, raised her arms and sang — not shouted, mind you —
***
Shortly thereafter, another naked girl bounced onto the king’s lap, and I could tell from their exertions that Herod wouldn’t spend another moment of this night pining after unrequited love; nor would anyone else at the head table, for that matter.
Given the circumstances, the king’s jovial conviviality was easy to understand. What followed, though, took me by surprise.
As the evening’s festivities began to wind down, Herod leaned toward the centurion and glanced over to me.
“Publius,” he said. “Is this man a slave?”
“No, your majesty; he is a free man, who now serves us as a physician.”
“A physician? Is he good?”
“We have found him quite skilled.”
“He looks like a soldier.”
“He was, but he is now retired, as I hope to be in three years,” said Publius.
The king called for a more wine, though he took only a half goblet this time. After drinking it, he glanced in my direction again.
“Since this man serves you well, I will give him a girl.”
He pointed to the closest nearby woman. “You there, see to this man’s, um, requirements.”
Before the girl could comply, Publius shook his head.
“I am afraid he is on duty, your majesty.”
“Ah, duty. You Romans all talk of duty. You should learn to enjoy life more.”
“Unfortunately, that is our law.”
“Well, then, here’s what I’ll do. Tell him to take her to the fort when you go back tomorrow morning. You can send her back here the following day.”
Publius considered this to be an altogether satisfactory arrangement and managed to pantomime the gist of what the king had in mind.
I forced a grin — any servant who had been awarded such an unexpected boon would have done so — but at the same time, I realized that the king’s choice, a timid creature not much older than sixteen, just wouldn’t do.
I gestured toward another woman dancing at the end of the adjacent
I’m not always the best judge of human character, especially at first sight, but she had alert, intelligent eyes. More importantly, her spirit did not appear to have been crushed by her “responsibilities” in Herod’s service. If anyone knew the ins and outs of the palace, she would.
Publius saw whom I had in mind.
“I believe he would rather have that one, if it is not too much trouble,” he said.
“An excellent choice,” said Herod. “You may take her when you go.”
Chapter 49
Servants directed our party to our quarters through a series of narrow tunnels, which only compounded my belief that without inside knowledge, we’d never find our way through the palace’s tangled web of passageways.
Publius sent the woman to a side chamber and then scribbled something in Greek on a wax tablet. He gestured that I should take advantage of my free time to have a look around, which I did — though after half an hour of stumbling about in the dim light, I decided that I could accomplish more by getting a good night’s sleep.
A slave woke us just before dawn and led us down to the stables, where I could see that my reputation for horsemanship had preceded me. The Romans all laughed as one of the hands brought up an elderly mare only a step or two away from the glue factory.
At least it wouldn’t throw me. I hoped.
We made our way around the northern perimeter of the city at a leisurely pace, though we sped up toward the end as the Romans sensed trouble brewing.
They weren’t wrong in their assessment, either. A crowd had begun to gather at the northern end of the plaza fronting the Antonia. Though I couldn’t understand what they were saying, there was no mistaking the angry murmuring. This was not a happy bunch.
The interior of the fortress had turned into an anthill of activity as well. As soon as we charged through the gates, grooms took our horses — mine to cut up for breakfast, in all likelihood — as a Roman messenger called out to Publius.
The centurion directed me to follow him and shortly thereafter, I found myself once again in Pilate’s
