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Ari nodded.
“You have done well, Ariel. I do not know how I will repay your service.”
“None is necessary,” he replied.
“I can place you in charge of training our warriors. Of course,” he said, waving his hand, “you must first grow your beard.”
“We both know the law prohibits me from returning to do my duties. I am defiled. I have shaved my beard, which is the least of my impurities.”
“Ari, your service—”
“It does not matter. God has been faithful and just. He has shown me another path that I must take.”
“I see.” He scratched his beard. “What is her name?”
Ari was taken back. Was his love so plain for all to see?
“Do not worry. I know there is only one thing that would keep you from what I offer. Your heart belongs to a woman.”
“Her name is Sh’mira.”
“Ahh.” Jehoiada smiled. “Her name means protector.”
Ari smiled, knowing that she had been suitably named. “And rightly so,” he added.
“My niece will make you a wonderful wife,” Jehoiada said.
“I am anxious to see to her well-being. She was attacked protecting our king not far from the city gates. Although she will not speak a word of it, I am sure she is frightened. And I am not sure she came away unscathed.”
“Your vow is complete. However, before you leave Jerusalem, I would ask that you help in removing Athaliah.”
“Of course, I would like nothing better than to offer my assistance, especially after what she’s done to the temple.”
“It is a shame, but with Joash as king we will restore the temple to Solomon’s glory. We must act quickly, before Athaliah realizes Joash is alive and in Jerusalem.”
“I fear she knows.” Ari told the priest of the events leading up to their arrival in Jerusalem, even of the Philistine who helped them fight the queen’s men. “I would give all my possessions to know who betrayed us,” Ari said.
“As would I. No matter, the Lord will reveal all to us in due time, of that I have no doubt.” Jehoiada paced before him. “The last word I received, Athaliah had near one hundred faithful in her ranks.”
“After the fight outside the city you should be able to reduce that by about twenty or thirty.”
“That gives us the advantage.”
“God is on our side. That alone gives us the advantage. My family will enter the gates on the morrow and will be of whatever assistance you need. They’ve come to celebrate Jubilee.” Ari smiled.
Jehoiada chuckled. “And what a grand Jubilee it will be, too. We’ll begin the next fifty years with a new king and the promise of restoration.” The staff Jehoiada leaned against began to tremble. Ari rushed to his side and aided him to his bed. The high priest patted him on the arm and smiled up at Ari. “You’ve done well, my boy. You’ve done well. On the morrow at the setting of the sun, when she is offering worship to her god, we will act. I will call upon those who have not turned from God. How many have come from Manna?”
“Fifty men and their wives and children,” he said with thought. “I dislike putting them in harm’s way, especially knowing there is a traitor in the midst, but I understand the necessity.”
“So you believe the traitor has come from Manna?”
Ari closed his eyes, and then opened them. “Not only am I certain the enemy has come from Manna, but I’m certain it is one of my own closest kin.”
Jehoiada raised his brow. “You say this with reason?”
“Whoever betrayed us knew the intricacies of the tunnels near En Gedi.”
Jehoiada emitted a low wheeze. “Even I do not know the passages.”
“None do, but my grandfather’s sons, and their sons.”
“That makes things difficult, does it not?”
Jehoiada did not say anything Ari had not already felt, but how was he to explain all to his father when the traitor was ousted? Especially if it was the man he suspected.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Mira sat in silence as Sara packed a thick salve over her eyes. Tears stung the backs of her lids but she refused to allow them to fall. She would not cry over the discomfort caused by the salve on her burns, not when she worried over whether Ari had delivered Joash safely to Jehoiada.
If only she could have gone with them, but if their entrance into the city had been anything like hers then she understood. Ari could not have divided his protection. His focus needed to remain on Joash.
She exhaled, feeling deflated, weary from the events of the past week. Had it been only a few days ago that she had dropped an oil jar on her feet? Had it only been a few days ago that she had discovered Ari’s secret? Had it only been a few days ago that she’d become aware of Ari as a man and not just as an annoying servant?
