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“No, Mira, thank you. You do my son proud.”
Mira swallowed hard. “Your son?”
“Yes. Ari, he is my son.”
Chapter Fourteen
Ari sipped the cool spring water from the cup offered him by his younger sister. “I am very grateful it is you who occupied this area and not one of Athaliah’s guards.”
“It is fortunate for you, my son,” Ishiah, his father, responded. “Word spread quickly that they’d been terrorizing the area. I knew it would only be a matter of time and sought to offer our assistance.”
“How did you know I would come this way and not make straight for Jerusalem?” Ari’s curiosity had nipped at his tongue since he had spied his family, but he had let it lay dormant.
“Ah, my nephew,” Daniel spoke. “We have our ways.” He laughed as he lifted his own cup to his lips.
His Uncle Elam’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “That we do.”
Ari ignored his uncles and looked to his father and wondered if his father had broken his vow to keep silent about Joash. “Although I have no doubt in your abilities to know things that leave the best of spies baffled, even I did not plan our retreat thusly.”
“This I know, my son. Your brothers and cousins are branched throughout the area.” His father paused to take a sip from his cup. “If you’d not arrived when you had, we would have come after breaking bread.”
“I near turned around and went to Seth’s when I saw the firelight,” Ari responded with a smugness that was overdone even for him. His father and uncles always knew things, even when he did not and it set him on edge. He lacked their ability to discern details. Details that often came in handy when one was on a mission.
“Is that so?” Elam asked.
Ari hid his smile behind his cup as he took a sip. He had not lied.
“You fool yourself, boy,” Daniel added. “You have ever been curious. You would not have left without investigating further.”
Ari conceded with a nod.
“Besides, your brothers Isa and Melchiah wait with Seth along with their wives. They will join us soon.”
In the comfort of his family he had near forgotten that danger lurked. He rose from his seat, his eyes on Joash. His thoughts on Mira. “I must return. I must see to it they did not infiltrate and if they did...” He raked a hand through his hair as he turned from them and faced the opening in the cavern from whence they came.
A heavy hand gripped his shoulder. He did not need to look. It did not matter whose it was for it brought little comfort. “You have carried a heavy burden all these years, my boy,” Daniel said.
Another hand, this one stronger, firmer, laid on his other shoulder. “Of course, I had not realized all you’ve sacrificed until recently. I did not even know you were alive until Jehoiada confided in me, something I should have learned from my own brother.” Elam glared at Ari’s father. The terseness in his voice set Ari on edge.
“Forgive me, Uncle. My father was sworn to secrecy as was I. If I hadn’t been in need of his help he never would have known, either.”
“All that matters, now, is you are home, and fortunate, too, as your burden has cost you much,” Elam added.
What his uncle said held a great wealth of truth, but an image of Mira kneading dough, the comfort of her music offered during his sleeplessness contradicted the words, for he had gained a greater wealth than any man could have asked for, even if he might have to walk away from her in the end.
He heard his father rise from his seat. He shuffled to stand in front of Ari and looked him in the eyes. “Ari, it is time to share your burden. Besides, your brothers will see to it our hideaway is secure.” He waved a hand toward the youngest of his children. “Lydia prepares a meal. You must rest and build your strength for the fight ahead of you.”
“Your father is correct, Ari.” Mira’s soft-spoken words wrapped around every one of his muscles. His heart filled with a combination of overwhelming joy and tormenting pain. They seemed to fight for precedence. Fear of her rejection left him utterly helpless. Hope of her love had him spinning on his heels, dislodging the hands that sought to bring him comfort.
She was a vision to be treasured. The rich blue dyed linen set her eyes to flames, like a lamp lit with oil. Her cheeks glowed even in the dimness of the cavern, and her smile was the first genuine one he had seen from her since she had last spoken with her father. She left him breathless, and his heart pounded like a madman trying to escape the chains of death. He worked his lips to respond, but no sound came.
“You need your rest.” Mira folded her hands before her. She seemed relaxed. Comfortable among his family, which was good. Her eyes sparked with mischief. “Even now circles grow beneath your eyes. You look as if you are about to faint from exhaustion. Tell me you did not carry my father around the fields.”
