“You mean wavy and high, like a pompadour?” Maddie asked in surprise.
“I guess that’s what you would call it. His lips are thinner than this, and his nose is a little bit longer.” She exhaled a deep sigh. “Otherwise, that’s him. That’s the guy who figured a piece of rock was more valuable than my sister’s life.”
Maddie’s expression was grim. “We’ll find out who he is. Don’t worry. He won’t slip away from us. Just give us a little more time, OK?”
The girl nodded mutely, unconvinced. It could take years.
Sensing her visitor’s skepticism, Maddie added, “A guy like this has made a career out of shoving people around to get what he wants. He’s left a trail somewhere for us to follow. But I’d be willing to bet that in all his years as a professional bully he’s never come up against a goddess before.” She gave a harsh laugh. “I don’t like his odds this time.”
Cassie noted the sharp gleam in Maddie’s eyes. Her doubts faded away.
Chapter 19 – Conjugal Wrongs
Daniel let himself into his wife Annabeth’s chamber unannounced. He caught her sitting at the small table waiting, her hands jammed into her apron pockets, no doubt to keep from biting her nails. At the sight of him, she sprang out of her chair and ran to the mirror above the dresser. She smoothed her hair and tried to pinch some color into her pale cheeks before nervously turning to face him.
He paused at the threshold, feeling confused. “What is it, Annabeth? Is everything all right? Is our daughter sick? I received a message that you needed to speak to me.”
Tugging lightly at his sleeve, she drew him into the room and hastened to reassure him. “Everything is fine with the child, Daniel. Don’t worry.”
“Then what?” The young man asked, still puzzled.
Annabeth looked at him expectantly for a moment and then rushed toward him. Flinging her arms around his shoulders, she attempted to kiss him.
He recoiled as if bitten by a snake. “Annabeth!” he exclaimed in shock. “What are you doing?”
She hesitated for a moment and then tried to twine herself around him again.
He pushed her away. “Stop that. What’s gotten into you?”
Annabeth looked as if she was about to burst into tears.
Daniel relented. “Come over here and sit down, and you can tell me what this is all about.” He led her to a chair and winced as he caught a glimpse of his formal portrait hanging above the table. It reminded him of the portrait of his grandfather that hung in his father’s prayer closet. He couldn’t bear the comparison.
She sat on the edge of her chair and looked at him beseechingly. “I don’t know what to do. You must help me, Daniel. I don’t want to lose my place in the kingdom.”
Daniel was growing ever more bewildered. “Lose your place? What are you talking about, Annabeth?”
She couldn’t speak for several seconds. Her lips were quivering as she dabbed away the tears streaming from her eyes. “The thought of being separated for all eternity—from my baby, from my kin, from you, from everybody I ever loved.” She shook her head emphatically. “No, no. I can’t even think about something as terrible as that. I don’t want to go to hell. I don’t want to be damned.”
“Who said anything about you being damned?”
She ignored his question. “Do you find me domineering? Am I a bad wife?”
“A bad wife,” he echoed uncomprehendingly. “Where would you get such an idea?”
She didn’t answer him immediately. Turning her head, she looked over her shoulder at the bed. “It’s been a long time since you visited me—since we had relations. What have I done to displease you?”
Her words had the effect of an electric shock. He sprang out of his chair and began to pace around the center of the room. “Nothing, you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Then why?” Her voice was plaintive.
“I’ve had a lot on my mind. You can’t understand the kind of pressure I’m under. Father has charged me with a grave responsibility, and I fear the thought of disappointing him.”
“But it’s been almost four years, Daniel,” she said softly.
He stopped pacing as a new thought struck him. “Who have you been speaking to?”
She didn’t want to meet his gaze.
“Annabeth, tell me who,” he commanded.
She raised her watery eyes. “The diviner came to see me.”
The sound of that name chilled him to the bone. He had hoped this moment would never come but had secretly expected it. Daniel knew it was inevitable ever since his father had remembered he was alive and singled him out for attention.
“He… he said he was concerned.” She began twisting the hem of her apron into knots. “He said we should have more children by now. And he told me…” she struggled to go on. “He… he… told me,” she started to sob. “That I was an overbearing wife and that maybe I don’t deserve to be among the consecrated.” The words tumbled out in a rush before she began sobbing in earnest.
Daniel knelt down next to her chair and shook her arms gently. “Listen to me, Annabeth. Listen.” He shook her again until she stopped sobbing and sat limp and quiet. “You are a good wife. A very good wife.”
She raised her eyes to meet his. “Then why?”
He avoided giving her a direct answer. “If my father asks about the matter again, you are to tell him that we are trying to conceive another child.”
“You want me to lie to the diviner?” Her pasty face drained of color completely.
“It isn’t a lie.” He tilted her chin upward. “We will try again. That’s what you want, isn’t it? Another baby?”
She nodded, sniffling a bit. “Why else did God create woman? What else am I fit for? Without a husband and children, I have no place in the world. No place in the kingdom.” Annabeth hesitated.
