As Sure as the Dawn(140)

Rizpah felt Freyja studying her and smiled at her mother-in-law. Though the woman was high priestess for a pagan god, Rizpah did not feel the misgivings she did when she had looked upon Anomia. She saw no enemy when she looked at Atretes’ mother. She saw instead a woman who was deceived by a cunning adversary.

Lord God of mercy, help us to open her eyes.

“Sunup comes early,” Usipi said. “The burning is over and we’ve fields to plow.” He embraced Atretes. “We have need of you,” he said quietly, his words full of hidden meaning. “We’ll fight as we did in Hermun’s time.” Marta gathered the children, who didn’t want to leave Caleb. She kissed Atretes and let him hold her for a moment, then followed her husband from the longhouse.

Varus rose. Supporting himself with a walking stick, he made his way to a sleeping bench. “Let the Roman sleep in a stall.”

Atretes took offense, but it was too late. Varus sat heavily on his sleeping bench and fell back. Freyja covered him with a blanket. “You can sleep over there,” she told Theophilus, nodding toward a far corner.

“A stall will do, my lady.” He took up his pack and slung it over his shoulder. Pushing open the gate dividing the animal shelter from the family’s quarters, he entered the corridor.

Freyja watched him close and latch the gate. She was surprised by his mild manner. He looked at her before turning away. There was no threat in his look, but she felt a sudden certainty that this man would turn her life inside out.

She didn’t look away until Theophilus went into a back stall. “Your Roman friend walks like a soldier.”

Atretes looked at her but said nothing. Telling his mother that Theophilus had been a centurion and a personal friend of Emperor Titus up until a few months ago would make an already grim situation deadly.

Everyone settled for the night. Crickets chirped. Mice scurried in the hay.

The fire burned low, casting soft flickering light. Atretes lay for a long time, staring up at the beamed ceiling, watching the shadows dance as he had when he was a boy. He had imagined then that they were spirits sent by Tiwaz to guard him.

He breathed in the smell of dirt, straw, manure, and wood ash. Rizpah moved closer, her body curved into his side. He turned and took a handful of her hair, breathing in her scent. She moved at his touch, and he knew she was awake. Smiling, he raised up slightly and pressed her shoulder back. “What are you thinking about?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” she said.

“Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Anomia. She’s very beautiful.”

He had looked overlong at Anomia, he knew. It would have been impossible not to look at her, and foolish now to deny it. “She is beautiful,” he conceded.

“And she looks like Ania.”

“She’s more beautiful than Ania.”

“Oh.”

He turned her face toward him. “And within, she is like Julia.”

Rizpah thanked God. “I love you,” she murmured, tracing his face in the darkness. “I love you so much I think I’d die if I lost you.”

He slipped an arm beneath her and drew her close. “Then close your eyes and rest easy,” he said softly. “For you’ll never lose me.”





34


Theophilus awakened with the dawn’s light coming through a narrow break in the roof. Rizpah and Atretes were still sleeping. He shook Atretes’ shoulder, awakening him. “I’ll be out in the woods, praying.”

Atretes sat up and rubbed his face. His head ached from too much beer, but he nodded. “Give us a minute, and we’ll go with you.”

Theophilus, Atretes, and Rizpah with Caleb in her arms walked out into the forest and prayed together as the sun came up. The air was crisp, dew heavy upon the grass. Theophilus surprised Atretes by praying for Varus. “He gives you a stall near the pigs, and you pray for him?”

“I prayed for you from the day of our first meeting, Atretes, and you hated me no less than your brother. When Varus looks at me, he sees Rome, just as you did.”

“When he insults you, he insults me.”

Theophilus’ mouth curved. “A man who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, Atretes, and he who rules his spirit is greater than any warrior who captures a city. You did battle with your brother last night. What did you win by it?”

“I told him the truth!”

“You beat him over the head with the gospel, and he heard and understood none of it.”

“All the while you sat silent,” Atretes said through his teeth. “Why?”

“You were saying too much,” Theophilus said as gently as he could. “Listen to me, friend. Lay aside your pride or it will entangle you in sin. Anger is your worst enemy. It served you well in the arena, but not here. When you give in to it, you’re like a city without walls. A man’s anger doesn’t bring forth the righteousness of God.”