“We won’t talk of any of it again,” he said and stepped by her.
She turned, watching him cross the room and pick up the wine pitcher. Finding it empty, he swore and set it down. He looked around, distracted, undecided, restless. She’d never seen him look so tired and drawn. “Rest, Atretes,” she said gently. “We’ll continue on when you’re ready.”
He stretched out on the larger couch and put his arm up behind his head. He stared at the ceiling, his body tense.
She took a blanket from her couch. He studied her as she came to him, taking in each feature as though he had never seen her before and was trying to read who she was by the way she looked. She put the blanket over him. He caught her wrist as she started to turn away.
“You said there was a room at the baths where you could wash in private.”
“Yes,” she said, heart racing.
He let her go. Removing his belt, he dropped it with the money pouches on the floor beside the couch. “Take what you need and go. Take Caleb and bathe him as well.”
She was taken aback with surprise. “Th-thank you,” she stammered softly, wondering silently at his reasons. Was his decision a test or sign of trust? Either way, what did it matter? She knelt down and took a few copper coins from the pouch. Rising, she went and picked up Caleb from the pillows. Opening the door, she glanced back and saw Atretes watching her.
“We won’t be long.”
There were few patrons at the baths in the morning and most were women with children. For a second copper, a bath attendant washed her tunic while she bathed with Caleb. He loved playing in the water. When she finished, she rubbed the scented oil on her skin and scraped it off with the strigil.
On the way back to the inn, she used the last few coins to purchase enough bread and fruit to feed them all. Water would have to do for she hadn’t enough money to buy wine, but then, perhaps Atretes had had his fill the night before.
She entered the room quietly, certain that Atretes would be asleep. He wasn’t. He lay on the couch as she had left him. Theophilus had returned as well and was asleep on the couch nearest the wall. Atretes relaxed as she entered the room. He moved, making himself more comfortable, and fell asleep even as she watched.
A test, she thought and wanted to brush the hair back from his face.
Rizpah longed to sleep as well, but there was Caleb to tend. Having slept all night, he was wide-awake and in a mood to play. She made sure there was nothing on the floor or within reach to harm him and sat with her back against the door, trying to keep watch. Caleb was content, entertaining himself among the cushions.
* * *
The tot’s baby chatter awakened Atretes. Rolling over, he watched his son push a cushion across the floor. Sunlight streamed in the window revealing an hour well past noon. Rizpah lay curled on her side against the door. Atretes studied her, taking pleasure in the sight of her. He rose and crossed the room quietly.
As he lifted her, he felt the slight dampness of her tunic from having been washed the night before. He laid her on her couch and stood over her, letting his gaze take in every curve and plane of her body. He curled a strand of dark hair around his finger, rubbing it between his fingers. To look at her, no one would guess she’d lived in the streets of a city like Ephesus, stealing and trading her body to stay alive. She looked young and unsullied. He let the strand of hair uncurl. She shivered slightly, curling on her side. He looked for her blanket and realized she had given it to him.
He saw his cloak hanging near the brazier. He had dumped it on the floor upon their arrival at the inn and forgotten it when he left. He had been too intent on getting out of the room and having time to think about what she had told him. The heavy garment had been soaked anyway and would have been of little use to him. He took it up now and found it dry and warm.
He covered her with it. Brushing his knuckles lightly against her cheek, he stood amazed that her skin could be so soft.
When Rizpah awakened late in the afternoon, Atretes was gone.
Caleb was nowhere to be found.
26
“I’ll borrow a horse from the fort and follow the road north,” Theophilus said. “Atretes knows enough to go that way. You stay here and wait in case he changes his mind and comes back.”
“And if he does return?”
“Start out. Camp near a milestone. I’ll find you.” He left enough money for her to pay for two days’ lodging.
Rizpah paced, praying fervently that Atretes would come back, sure he wouldn’t. Lord, you are my rock and my shield, my everpresent help in time of trouble. O God. Caleb. Caleb!
Her breasts filled with milk until she hurt with heaviness. With the physical pain came doubt, gripping her heart with taloned fingers.