“Yes.”
“So, then, you conspired with Herod to convince Phasa to flee him. He may now say that Phasa fled because she wanted to be rid of him, not he of her! Having been abandoned by his wife, he is free to find comfort in another woman’s embrace.” She paused. “As well, you may now claim you rescued her from Herod, and so win the grace of Aretas for your return to Dumah. Both you and Herod get what you want, and we are left the fools.”
I had never considered such a convoluted plot, but I immediately saw how a cunning mind might.
“So, then…” the queen said. “Your plot has been uncovered.”
“This is absurd!” Phasa cried. “I was with Maviah day and night and this was not in her heart!”
“By Isis, I swear no such thought passed my mind,” I said. “I found Herod to be a greedy man, smitten by lust for another woman. I am a Bedu, bound to my father, a slave who knows how to serve a master, a woman who seeks honor. I am not one to deceive a king or his daughter!”
Shaquilath studied me.
“Herod has been with Herodias for many months,” I continued, adamant. “This you will learn. I only met him the day before his departure from Sepphoris, just weeks after Dumah was overtaken by the Thamud. Did Herod and I conspire to this elaborate scheme in the few minutes I was with him the night before his departure? I am a mortal, not a goddess to work such spells.”
A thin smile curved the king’s lips.
He nodded after a moment. “I think she has made her case.” He set his elbows on the table and touched the tips of his fingers together. “So, then, Herod has defied me of his own will. And for this he will feel my full wrath. I will crush him, you must know. No one can be allowed to defy my kingdom. Not one.”
“I would expect no less,” I said. Shaquilath glared at me. “And to this end, I have no doubt that you will succeed. All I ask is that you grant me grace by returning Dumah to the rightful control of the Kalb in return for saving Phasa.”
“Ha!” The queen scoffed. “What Kalb are left to control Dumah?”
“If they knew that King Aretas, friend of his people, supported the Kalb, they would rise from the sands and crush the Thamud,” I said. “Who would you prefer control the northern desert? Rami, who showed no aggression, or the Thamud, who are treacherous and will surely bite the hand that now feeds them?”
“Now you tell the king how to conduct his affairs?” Shaquilath demanded.
“I only speak what a woman might know, which is nothing.”
I let the statement settle upon her, for she too was a woman.
“What you ask is impossible, naturally,” Aretas said, but I believe he was intrigued by me. “Dumah has found its fate with the Thamud. My only concern now is Herod.”
“Herod, yes,” I said. “But if your eyes are only on the north, the south may—”
“Silence!” Shaquilath snapped. “Matters of state are none of your concern. Remember who you are!”
I looked at Phasa, who smiled, clearly encouraged by all she’d heard. And I remembered who I was. Judah had told me. As had Yeshua.
“I do remember who I am,” I said to Aretas. “I am Maviah, who crossed the Nafud and made her way to Herod’s courts. I am Maviah, who found the favor of the king. I am Maviah, who delivered Phasa from certain death. And now I will be Maviah, the servant of King Aretas in his bid against Herod.”
No one spoke, for they had not expected such a bold statement.
“How so?” Aretas asked.
I glanced at the others seated in silence, each one watching me intently. Not one of them so much as coughed.
As I now understood my predicament, I had not the slightest leverage except grace from Aretas, which Shaquilath would never condone.
Even if Aretas released me to the desert, I would return only to bloodshed and bitter enemies. My only hope was in gaining Aretas as an advocate, and the only way to gain his trust was to prove myself further. Saving Phasa was not enough.
“I will prove myself to you further, my king.”
He did not protest my use of his title.
“And?”
“You now have an enemy far greater than Rami. Herod defies you to your face for all the world to see. I will return to him.”
Even the queen seemed intrigued now.
“You are under the impression that I need your help?” Aretas said.
“No. But I have my ways with Herod. He has a fascination with women, as you know. I will return in great distress, claiming to have been taken by force, as Phasa’s letter to him has said.”
“Brilliant!” Phasa cried, standing to her feet. “That’s it! Maviah will be a spy in his bed and learn of his plans, then betray him as he betrayed me.”