He smiled at me, then walked to the table that held his wine.
“Now… tell me about your father’s problems.”
Judah and Saba stood still, hearing all of it without any outward reaction, for they too were hypocrites now. Their presence gave me courage.
I stepped to the room’s center, glanced about to be sure no one else had entered, and saw that none had. My audience included Herod, Judah and Saba, the guard Brutus at the entryway, and the silent servant by the table. I could not allow his wife, daughter of Aretas, to hear what I was to say.
“Go on, Maviah.” Herod waved his cup at me. “Don’t be shy. Play your part.”
I ignored his barb.
“You know that my father’s control of the trade route was sealed with his marriage to Nashquya, niece to King Aretas?”
He eyed me and took a drink. “Those crafty Nabataeans—always with the upper hand. Of course I know this.”
“Did you also know that Nasha took sick and has passed?” I said. “And that the Thamud accepted Aretas’s blessing to attack Dumah for control of the trade?”
He stilled with the revelation.
“And Rami?”
“Is taken,” I said. “But he is sheikh of all Kalb and would have his honor restored.”
“Then you’ve come to the wrong king. Petra is your destination.”
“I do not come for Aretas. I come for Rome.”
He spoke after a long pause, cautious now, for there was no end to backstabbing among rulers.
“A slave asks for the world,” he said.
“As you said, we are all slaves. Giving Rome what she has always wanted would not be without its reward. With Rome’s help, all the Kalb under Rami will regain control of Dumah and the trade route. Together the Kalb and Rome would conquer.”
He paced to his left. “And Aretas?”
“If the Kalb and Rome were to join in the desert, no force could stop them, not even Aretas. He would accept the loss to protect his other interests in the west. Furthermore, you would not be harmed. I seek only an audience with Rome.”
I could tell that the idea intrigued him, but Herod was shrewd.
“You underestimate Aretas,” he said. “He is a worthy adversary with more wealth than he knows what to do with. Why do you think Rome keeps going back to him for assistance?”
“Perhaps you underestimate the Kalb, who are as worthy. It is clear that Rome has ambitions beyond the Nabataeans. Perhaps you do as well.”
I could not read him.
“This was Rami’s plan or yours?”
“Both,” I lied. “As you said, though slave, I am queen.”
A voice cut my thoughts short.
“A queen?”
I turned to see a woman walking into the chamber, dressed in a long white gown with a golden mantle draped over her shoulders. Her arms were accented with gold bracelets. She wore a stunning pearl necklace over her breastbone and a band of pure gold about her forehead—appointments that made my own appear as if they’d been drawn from a river. Her skin was olive, betraying her Nabataean heritage, and her eyes were brown, set in a kind face. I thought her to be at least twenty years younger than Herod.
“And who is this beautiful queen gracing Herod’s court?” she said, eyes twinkling like Judah’s stars.
Herod quickly set his goblet down and walked toward her. “My dear Phasa. You brighten my day already.” He swept his arm toward me. “This is Maviah, queen of Arabia.”
Phasaelis glided to me in slippers strapped to her feet with golden ties. “I had not known there was a queen of Arabia as of late.”
I dipped my head. “I am from the Kalb, as far as Dumah.”
“The Kalb. I have heard of no queen among the Kalb. But the Kalb are friend to my father and so friend to me. It is my honor to know you.”
I had to tread carefully. “The honor is mine.”
“What then brings you to this pit of despair called Galilee?” she asked.
Herod caught my eye. “She comes with a gift from her father, Rami.”
“A gift?” Phasa studied me, then let her eyes linger on Judah and Saba before looking at her husband. “For me, I hope.”
“Of course… if you wish.” For a moment I thought she meant Saba and Judah, but Herod set my mind at ease. “She brings the very dagger that Varus gave him when he aided Aretas in driving the Zealots from Sepphoris thirty years ago.”
“I see. A dagger. And to what end is this… gift?”
“To the end that Rami knows how valuable my relationship with your father is,” Herod said. “And his ties with me as well. To the end that we be a family of kings and queens to rule this godforsaken desert.”