The Third Day

off.

They returned shortly, and after the next few words, we needed little imagination to visualize what was beginning to happen.

“As you know, some call him King of the Jews,” said Azariah.

“So,” Herod groused.

“Well, then,” said Azariah, “if he is a king, we also must honor him.”

I heard a loud guffaw from a distant courtier, but for the moment, the others kept silent. Like parasitic sycophants everywhere, Herod’s entourage waited to see which was the safe side.

The king himself said nothing for a brief instant, but then he, too, burst into laughter. “Yes, yes; you are correct. We must all bow before our new master.”

At this, the floodgates opened.

“A monarch must have a scepter, and a crown,” said one of the retainers.

I heard footsteps recede into the distance and return shortly thereafter. After a short interval, whoever it was must have been satisfied with his handiwork.

“All hail, King of the Jews,” I heard him declare.

“All hail,” shouted other retainers.

One even came forward with a bucket of water, with the excess sloshing over the side.

“We have run out of wine,” he said. “If it’s not too much trouble, we’d like you to make us some.”

“Hear, hear,” said another.

Then a woman’s voice burst out. “I will prostrate myself before my lord, just like the Amazon here.”

We could hear her throw herself to the ground.

“All hail, my lord and master” she said. “We celebrate your visit.”

Two other women joined her, and the mockery continued until the courtiers finally began to grow bored.

“What do you recommend that we do with him now?” Herod asked as the chamber fell quiet.

“Send him back to Pilate,” said Azariah. “Tell him we have paid homage to our king. He must now do the same.”

Laughter echoed through the room as guards led the prisoner away. We learned later that Herod then walked over to a prostrate Sharon and gave her a vicious kick in the side before launching into a couple of obscene hip thrusts.

“She wants a lord,” we heard him say. “Now, I will go to the baths. When I return, we will have a small festival, and I will show her who is lord around here.”

Chapter 54

I felt that old familiar sense of dread. In the parlance of my instructors at the Army War College, our plan, such as it was, had been “overtaken by events.” I could only be thankful that the king had not assaulted her on the spot.

Lavon and Naomi whispered briefly amongst themselves as they considered our new situation.

“They must bathe her also,” she finally announced.

Apparently, Herod had a fetish for cleanliness.

“Where?” I asked. “Will they take her back to the tower?”

She considered this briefly and then said no.

Sharon’s preparation would require two to three hours. Given the king’s newfound impatience, the attendants would not want to delay matters further by escorting her all the way back to the opposite end of the palace. Instead, they’d prepare her in the baths under the women’s dormitory, under heavy guard.

I started to ask whether we’d be able to intercept her party, but Naomi was already thinking several steps ahead.

“Follow me,” she ordered.

Since it was still almost pitch-black, we crept slowly down the tunnel until I could make out a dim light about thirty yards away. We paused. She and Lavon whispered again, and then she motioned us forward once more.

At that point, the tunnel broadened out and intersected what appeared to be a regularly used corridor, complete with ventilation shafts leading to the lawn above. These admitted a faint hint of the morning sunlight, so we could finally see exactly where we were going.

Naomi stepped into the corridor and looked both ways. Seeing and hearing no one, she directed Lavon to cross over to the other side and to back himself into a small indentation, a relic from a section of tunnel that had been bricked up years before.

After he was securely ensconced in his hiding place, she stripped completely and tossed me her undergarments, which I then passed back to Bryson. Then, she draped her robe back over her olive skin in a loose and provocative manner.

I glanced across the corridor to Lavon and quickly got the picture. He held a leather sap — an item he picked up at the bordello while I squatted in that basket — and pointed to my leg. I nodded and unstrapped the gladius, motioning for Bryson and Markowitz to take a few steps farther back.

We waited quietly until we heard footsteps approaching. When they had come within about twenty feet of our position, Naomi tugged on her robe to reveal more of her ample cleavage. Then she staggered into the corridor.

The girl could have won an Oscar.

She gasped as she saw the soldiers and immediately yanked up her robe to cover her breasts. She blinked both eyes twice, signaling to us how many opponents we faced. Then, she began to ease herself backwards, as if she wanted to make a run for the baths but didn’t dare to turn her back on these strange men.

The first of the guards took three quick steps forward. Apparently, he was unable to resist an opportunity to ravish a stray lamb before returning her to the fold. The other man, a bit more senior, rushed up and barked an order — no doubt telling the kid that they had a job to do and had better be getting on with it.

Those were the last words he spoke. Lavon swung the leather sap and caught him squarely on the back of the head. The soldier, who wore no helmet, crumpled without a word.

Before his young comrade could react, I held the point of my sword to his throat, while Bryson, per my instructions, managed to jam my last ampoule of Sufentanil into a vein in his foot.

He collapsed without a peep. More importantly, neither man left a drop of blood.

I lowered my gladius and turned to face Sharon, who stood, frozen, as if her mind had not yet comprehended what her eyes were telling her.

When it did, she rushed forward, threw her arms around me, and squeezed as if she were holding on for dear life.

I held her as long as I thought prudent, though we really did need to move on.

And I wasn’t the only one to share that thought.

“We’re not yet out of danger,” Lavon insisted.

I gently pulled away. I continued to clasp Sharon’s shoulders with my hands, although by then, she scarcely seemed to notice.

Instead, her initial shock at encountering us in such an unexpected spot had been replaced with an odd, almost beatific, radiance that made me wonder whether she had been drugged.

“I have seen him,” she said.

“Seen wh — ”

I cut myself short as I realized the obvious.

“I have seen him,” she repeated, more insistently this time.

I glanced over to Lavon, hoping he’d have an answer to this unexpected complication.

I took a half-step sideways as he shook her gently and spoke.

“Sharon, we’re not home yet. Until we get there, we are all in great peril. Do you want to go back to Herod?”

She didn’t respond for a few seconds, but the mention of the king’s name snapped her out of her