GABRIEL (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 4) (40 page)

"Is she down here somewhere?"

The girl nodded.

"I was with her parents all day," Shara continued. "Perhaps if I told her how they are and give her their love, she would feel a little better."

Odette thought that was a good idea but she had to return to the cookery, so she could not dally. Before returning, she showed Shara the bathing room. "All temple slaves must rinse their bodies before reporting to work, lest they offend the nobility with a foul odor." She pulled down a lever on the wall and water flowed from an open pipe in the ceiling. As she pushed it back up, the shower stopped. The stone floor slanted sufficiently for the water to drain into a hole in the center. "You may relieve yourself in that hole as well."

The girl then took Shara to the sleeping area, where hundreds of women were laying on woven grass mats on the hard floor. After directing Shara to a vacant mat, she turned to go.

"Wait," Shara whispered. "Where is Rebekah being held?"

Odette pointed to a wooden door in the corner.

"Thank you," Shara mouthed and touched the girl's cheek. Looking confused by the gentle contact, she hurried away.

As much as Shara wanted to speak to Rebekah, she needed to use the bathing area first. She was grateful for the sanitary measures, even if they were only for the benefit of the nobility's aristocratic noses. The warmth of the water coming out of the pipe was a welcome surprise to her tired muscles. She recalled Gabriel's comment about being sore tomorrow after crawling on his knees in the field, and she mentally reached out to him again. It was unusual for him to sleep so soundly that he didn't sense her thinking about him and instantly awaken. As she went back to the sleeping area, she kept part of her mind focused on Gabriel.

The wooden door to Rebekah's cell had a large lock on the outside. There was no key in sight, but the door did have a much smaller door in its center which was probably used to pass food through. Shara opened it and bent down to look inside.

A torch within the enclosed cubicle allowed Shara to see a little girl curled up on a mat on the floor. She had long black hair and a white gown was tangled around her brown legs. Shara seethed with anger. The child couldn't have been more than ten years old! It didn't matter what she had to do, she was not going to stand by and let Ester's baby be murdered.

"Rebekah," she whispered. "Wake up, little one. I have a message from your mother and father." The girl stirred and Shara sent her a mental message to bring her fully awake. The look of raw fear on her face wrenched Shara's heart. "I'm a friend of your mother's, Rebekah. She told me where to find you."

Rubbing her eyes, Rebekah sat up and tucked her feet beneath her. "Why hasn't Mama come to see me?" Her voice sounded as though she would start crying any second.

"Sh-sh. Let's keep our voices very quiet so that we don't wake any of the others. The soldiers won't allow your mama or your father to come, but they want to very badly. They love you, sweetie, and even Elo misses you."

"Elo?" Rebekah's eyes opened wide and for a moment it looked as though she were about to smile, then sadness clouded her expression again. "I miss them too. But the man who took me away said that this was a greater honor to my family than if I remained with them."

"Rebekah, I want to help you, if I can. Do you understand why you have been brought here?"

"Oh, yes. I have been tutored on many things since I have been here so that I will not displease the gods or King Jupiter during the ceremony. I must do everything that I am told and I must not cry or make noise of any kind, even if something hurts."

She sniffled. "Being a virgin sacrifice is a very great honor. You see, I am a woman now and only little girls cry." Her voice cracked, and she sniffled again. "The first part of the ceremony does not seem so bad, but I have very bad dreams about the second. I am most afraid that I will cry out and shame my family."

Shara desperately wanted to reach through the little door and pull Rebekah out so she could give her the hug she obviously needed, then run off with her. "Your parents would never be ashamed of you, no matter what you did, and they do not consider losing you an honor. I promised them I would try to save you but I need your help. Do they allow you out of here at all?"

Rebekah shook her head. "I will only be taken from here on the seventh eve."

"Have you been told anything about the ceremony? You mentioned two parts."

"Do you really think you might save me?" Rebekah asked, hope brightening her features.

"If I have to fight the king himself, little one."

That made her smile. "I was told that when the seventh sun of the gathering sets, I will be taken to the court and placed on the altar before the statue of Poseidon. I am to make my body ready for King Jupiter while the nine princes castrate the bulls they have brought to sacrifice to Poseidon. Then each one drinks a cup of their animal's blood that pours from the wound so that the bull's power flows into its master. Then the king will take my virginity."

Shara tried not to react but Rebekah saw her concern.

"It will not be too bad," she reassured Shara. "A man and woman have given me many lessons in how to prepare myself and how to please the king. I am not afraid of that." Her little mouth twisted back and forth. "Well, not
too
afraid. But I do not believe that what he will do to me will end my life. That is left to his bull."

Shara felt the meal she had eaten churning in her stomach and fought down the nausea. "I'm sorry to ask you to speak about it, Rebekah, but I need to know as much as possible if I'm to be of any help."

"I understand. When the king is finished with me, each of the nine princes will take pleasure from my body. Then I will be put into the pit with the last bull—the one that belongs to the king. It will already be upset by its confinement in the pit. My virgin blood should excite it even more. I must not make it too easy for the bull to take my life. If God is pleased by how I behave with the nobility and the bull, He will make sure I pass on the first time I am gored by the beast's horn. I pray that is the way it will be because after the sand passes from the top to the bottom of the timing vase, the pit is set on fire and the bull and I will go to Poseidon together. The other nine bulls follow behind us. I know it is very childish but I am most afraid of the fire."

The horror of the child's words was magnified by the fact that she had been told the gruesome details, so that she could dwell on it for days before her execution. The way she spoke of it however, told Shara that she was repeating the words, yet not fully connecting them with herself.

No plan came to mind immediately but she hadn't had a plan to get the hair samples either. Now she understood why none of the higher nobility came for her spell. They couldn't promise to abstain from sex for a week when they had to perform in two nights before an audience. Perhaps circumstances would simply work themselves out again. In the meantime, she would stay as near to the girl as possible and take advantage of the first opportunity that came along to free her.

"All right, Rebekah. I will do whatever I can. I have a friend named Gabriel who might be able to help also. He's a very tall, handsome man with light hair. You can trust him. Go on back to sleep now. I'll try to talk to you again tomorrow."

She closed the pass-through door and went to the mat Odette had pointed out. The urge to lie down and close her eyes was difficult to resist but the lure of testing the hair samples helped give her the impetus she needed to stay awake a little longer. She got out her microputer and the samples and went to work.

Right after beginning her work, she felt another sharp pain in her head that slowly settled into a throbbing ache. Once the pain lessened, she realized it wasn't her head that was hurting. It was Gabriel's.

Gabriel? What's wrong?
She felt his mind clearing and opening to hers and she helped him block the pain.

I made a mistake.

I don't understand.

Gabriel abruptly remembered why he had erred.
Sweetling, are you all right? Did that cretin hurt you?

She smiled as his sincere concern flooded through her.
I'm fine. I talked him into a week of celibacy instead. He was so pleased with my sorcery, he recommended me to his friends.

I don't like you taking such risks!
With effort, he stopped himself from lecturing her.
Any matches?

No, but I haven't tested them all yet. Why does your head hurt so bad?

When I thought you were in trouble, I tried to get back to you. As near as I can figure, that soldier was an expert with a rock and slingshot. Got me in the base of the skull with one try. I've been out for hours.

Where are you now?

He sat up and looked around, careful not to move his head too quickly.
Holy stars! Can you see what I see?

Shara closed her eyes and concentrated on seeing through his. He was in a large field, cleared of all trees, and at least a thousand other men were lying on the ground around him. The moon appeared to be a giant spotlight placed in the universe for the sole purpose of illuminating Jupiter's nearly completed monument—a pyramid of gigantic proportions.

That one's larger than the House of Spiritual Renewal in Innerworld,
Shara thought.

And all the pyramids in Outerworld's Egypt put together,
Gabriel added.

Shara recalled what both Jarad and Odette had said about the monument.
Gabriel, the slaves working there are beaten and killed. You've seen the monument. Now get back here.

He asked Beauty to give him directions and distance to Poseidon's temple.
I'm only about a kilometer away, just outside the royal city walls. But that's not the problem. My ankles are chained to the men's ankles next to me and they're chained to the men beside them and so on. It looks like I'm here for the night.

Dear heavens! What are you going to do?

I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out. Just stand by in case I need to borrow your power of suggestion. For now, though, why don't you finish your tests so we can both get out of here as soon as I'm free? Beauty is picking up severe ground disturbances all over the continent.

He stayed with her mentally while she checked the rest of the hair samples and felt her disappointment grow with each failure. When she was finished, she had checked off all but seven names on the list Misha had given them, the most notable of those being Poseidon. She had no idea how many other names he had not told them or how many of the ones left had remained among the nobility. There was also the possibility that the two descendants she was looking for were among the women, since she hadn't gotten samples from any of them yet.

One more day, Shara. That's it.
Gabriel sensed her pulling away.
What is it? You may as well tell me.

I saw Rebekah.

He knew he wasn't going to like this.
And?

She's just a little girl!
She's acting very brave but she's terrified.
She let him know what Rebekah had told her.

He was sickened by the account but it didn't change his attitude.
You know how I feel about this.

Yes, I do, and you know how I feel. I'll help her escape if I can, without your assistance.
She lay down on the mat and mentally turned away from him.

Gabriel started to do the same but the movement caused a wave of dizziness to wash over him.

Are you going to be all right?
Shara asked instantly.

Gabriel figured out how to position his head on the ground for the least discomfort.
I'll live. I'm just not up to an argument with you tonight.

She sighed.
Neither am I.

I could really use that massage you promised me.
He could feel her smiling and it made him feel somewhat better.

You'll have to come back to me to get it.

May I at least have a kiss good night, then?

Shara needed no further encouragement to set aside their difference of opinion for another night. In her mind she pictured them as they had been the last morning on the ship from Norona and invited him to remember with her.

She imagined bringing his face closer to hers and pressing their lips together. Mentally, her hands roamed over the body she now knew as well as her own. She felt his body hardening as his mouth moved to her breast and her desire for him swiftly ignited.

Take me inside of you, sweetling. That's it. Hold me tight.

Yes! I can feel you.

Sensations of dreamy pleasure floated back and forth between their minds, carrying them out of their physical bodies to a shimmering place they had never been before. They hovered there together and discovered the unique sense of oneness that could only come from a spiritual and mental joining. Their release came not in a burst of physical energy but in gentle waves of peace and contentment.

Shara drifted off to sleep, feeling his arms wrapped protectively around her.

Gabriel gazed up at the stars. He couldn't sleep after such an incredible experience. Having sought solitude for so long, it was extremely difficult to believe how sweet it was not to be alone anymore. He didn't understand how it had happened, but Shara was now as much a vital part of him as his own heart. As far as he was concerned, it no longer mattered that they had not willingly joined. He needed her in his life and he wanted to remain a part of hers.