People of the Tower (Ark Chronicles 4) (8 page)

Nimrod spoke with a fervid pitch
. “You said: ‘If Rahab was really dead.’“

“
Eh?” Minos asked.

Nimrod scowled, shaking the fine-boned poet.

“Why, ah…” Minos licked his lips. “Did Noah ever raise the dead? No. And he’s the holiest man that ever lived. Surely, no one thinks that Shem is more holy or spiritually more powerful than Noah is. How then could Shem have raised the dead? It’s impossible.”

“
Shem didn’t do it,” Semiramis said. “Jehovah did it through him. That’s what Beor is saying.”

“
That’s not the point,” Minos said. “Who said she was dead?”

Nimrod released the poet and became thoughtful.

Minos rubbed his shoulder.

“
Nimrod presided over Rahab the day before the burning, or when the burning was to have taken place,” Semiramis said. “Nimrod praised her as one does the dead. Are you suggesting that Nimrod can’t tell who is dead and who isn’t?”

“
Not at all,” Minos said. “Nimrod, that day, did you examine the body?”

Nimrod shrugged.

“Well, it really doesn’t matter,” Minos said. “Who could blame Nimrod for thinking that Rahab was dead when Kush and even Ham pronounced her dead? The point is that maybe instead of being dead she was in a deep form of deathlike sleep. So then when Shem arrived, he certainly didn’t raise her from the dead but simply revived her.”

“
Hmm,” Semiramis said. “That has possibilities.” She turned to Nimrod. “Didn’t I say he was clever?”

“
The idea has merit,” Nimrod conceded.

“
It does,” Minos said, not bashful in the least. “But it still isn’t good enough for what you need. People will say that you’re jealous, that envy fills you against Beor and Shem. What you need is a clincher.”

Nimrod studied Minos with the same intensity he had used on the gazelle.

“I suggest you hurry and tell us your plan,” Semiramis said.

Minos
’s grin broadened. “The clincher is the destruction of the bearer of the news, the utter shattering of he who strides through our city on a peg leg spouting his lies.”

“
Ah,” Nimrod said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “One of us walks up to Beor and slays him. Oh, that’s very clever. Then the people turn and rend us apart for slaying a man of Jehovah. Minos, I commission you to the deed.”

“
That isn’t what I mean by
destroy
,” Minos said, undaunted. “My way is more refined, one that will destroy not only Beor but in the process kill his lying message.”

“
What is this method?” Semiramis asked.

Minos proceeded to tell them.

13.

Somewhere in the darkness
, a cricket chirped. On the roof and while on his sleeping mat, Beor rolled over, staring at the stars. He couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was because after all these years he was finally in Babel. He still found it hard to believe. He was here, thwarting Nimrod. He grinned. He was among his own again, the sons of Ham. He was respected as he had once been. And yet…that scoundrel Nimrod still had his wife.

Beor closed his eyes
. He remembered the good times, when he had first brought Semiramis back from Japheth Land and to the settlement in the Zagros Mountains. He’d had both his legs then and they had been man and wife. He looked up, finding the constellation Andromeda, the third decan of Pisces. Andromeda was a beautiful woman chained down by her wrists and ankles, unable to rise. He imagined Semiramis up in the stars, chained down by Nimrod, the wife-stealer.

With a silent
groan, he dropped his head back on the pillow.

How he longed to look into her eyes, to drown in them
. What had gone wrong between them? He bared his teeth. Nimrod is what had gone wrong. Despite his preaching, his real desire was to pick up an axe and split Nimrod’s skull, to feel the crunch of Nimrod’s bones.

Beor
sat up, shaking his head. What was wrong with him? He was doing Jehovah’s work. He had to stay pure.

“
I’m no different than I ever was,” he whispered. “I’m a fraud and a hypocrite.” He shuddered and lay back. He wanted to obey the divine injunctions. Yet he also wanted his wife.

Beor rolled onto his side, with his eyes open
. He must resist temptation. He mustn’t think about her or about slaying Nimrod. Noah counted on him. Shem had told him many deep things. There was a disaster waiting to happen. Events hung on a knife’s edge. He had been called to preach and explain this to the Hamites.

“
Remember,” Shem had told him during their journey to Babel, “in the end Jehovah’s will is never thwarted. So we can disperse on our own or Jehovah can drive us to it. But if through Divine wrath then it will cost humanity dearly.”

Beor tried to dwell on that
. Yet soon his thoughts drifted back to earlier today. He had been trying not to think about it as he lay on his mat, yet it was the reason he couldn’t sleep. He had seen Semiramis sauntering down a lane with a water jar on her head. She had walked—no one walked like his Semiramis. She had paused, turned, and found him staring. She smiled. The smile had torn at his heart. Once they had lain together as man and wife and she had smiled like that in the moonlight.

As he lay on his mat under the
stars, Beor shook his head, trying to drive away the image. Then he found himself standing. The others slept soundly. They were all old, Shem, Ham and Rahab. He slipped on a cloak and thrust a hatchet through his belt. He had to relieve his bladder. He had no other reason for going down.

Quiet as a mouse
, he moved to the stairs, soon stepping onto the street. Earlier, he had spoken to his former wife. Semiramis had laughed and looked into his eyes as she stood in the lane with a water jar on her head.

Beor had noticed people glancing at them
. He had grown uncomfortable. He was the preacher. He shouldn’t speak so long to a married woman.

“
Beor,” Semiramis had said, “I despise the way people are so quick to judge. It’s reprehensible, don’t you think?”

“
I suppose I do.”

“
We’re old friends, you and I. Is it wrong for us to talk like this?”

He shook his head.

She put a hand on his wrist. “Those prying eyes, they give me the chills. Why not meet me tonight outside your house so we can talk without worries.”

“
What? No, I can’t.”

Her smile had become like fire in his veins
. “I’ll slip out my house tonight as the moon moves past Pisces. If you’re here, we can talk. Nimrod will be out checking the canals, and I heard him say he lays a trap at midnight for some elephant.”

“
Where Nimrod goes makes no difference.”

“
You’re right, for we plan nothing wrong.” She had squeezed his wrist and retreated, stopping, turning and smiling at him.

Now Beor brushed his eyes with his sleeve
. He stood beside the house, scanning the darkness. This was madness. Now was the moment to turn back, and he knew it. So he turned back for the stairs, and then his eyes widened.

Semiramis
fervently slipped down the lane, with a hood over her head.

Go, Beor
! his conscience screamed.
Run
!

He didn
’t run. He couldn’t run. He stood transfixed. He felt, for an instant, like an ox going to the slaughter. Then he was grinning, holding Semiramis’ hands.

“
Oh, Beor,” she whispered, smelling so lovely. “I’m glad you waited. I’ve missed you so much and I wanted to talk to you tonight without others watching and whispering.”

He was aware of her hands, how he held them
. Yet he was the preacher. Normally he wouldn’t have dared touch her. But the truth was, because of his righteousness, he had the power to let go of her when he willed it. With his newfound moral resolve, he had the new ability. Thus, he could afford to do this for a little while.

“
Can you give me a small hug? I so need one today.” She grinned. “I have nothing naughty in mind. I know that as the preacher, you’re above that sort of thing.”

He licked his lips
. He shouldn’t hug her. Yet she needed one. A hug wasn’t evil. It was reassuring. Then she slid next to him. She hugged him, breathing on his neck. All at once, he realized this was a dream come true. He crushed her to him, even as guilt screamed in his head.

“
Semiramis,” he said, thickly.

She looked up into his eyes, the hood around her making her seem vulnerable.

A last moment of sanity caused Beor to let go.

She didn
’t let go. She pressed against him, letting him
feel
her.

He kissed her
. He kissed her lingeringly. Then in horror, he let go. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry.”

She rearranged the folds of her gown.

Now was the instant to flee. But he didn’t. He had to explain. “I-I don’t know what to say.”

“
It’s all right, Beor. We…we used to be married. I don’t blame you. I hope you don’t blame me.”

“
Oh, no, no, Semiramis,” he said. “It wasn’t your fault. The fault was mine.”

She shook her head, seeming to marvel
. “That’s how I remember you, my dear, Beor. You’re so noble and upright. I was such a fool to leave you. Can you ever forgive me?”

“
Of course, I forgive you. You must now forgive me, please, I beg you.”

“
Yes, Beor,” she said, smiling, holding out her hands. “I forgive you.”

It was an innocent gesture this time, holding hands
. They smiled at one another. Then he let go. See, he was under control. He could manage his emotions. He was the preacher. That one moment…the devil tested him and he had bested the devil.

“
Let’s not dwell on that little mistake,” she said.

“
Tell me what happened after Festival, after that terrible tragedy,” Beor said.

She did
. They stood beside Ham’s house in the moonlight, speaking softly. As they talked, he thought how good it felt having her in his arms. It stirred him, but that was under control now. She spoke more, softly, demurely, telling him how hard life was under Nimrod. Then he found that he held her hand. It was so natural doing so while talking in the dark, in the moonlight, the hour slipping away. She moved closer. This time, without guilt screaming at him, with it only whispering, he held Semiramis and he kissed her once more.

“
We shouldn’t do this,” she whispered, as she peered up into his eyes.

“
I know,” he said. But he kissed her again.

“
Oh, Beor, Beor, I’ve missed you so much.”

With
passion he had forgotten, he crushed her to him and smothered her face with kisses.

“
Let’s go inside,” she whispered. “I don’t want somebody finding us.”

He hesitated only a moment, soon leading her into the house
. When the door closed, his resolve fled. It vanished. When she pulled off his cloak and ran her hand over his chest, it seemed so natural, so easy, to unwind her robe.

Time passed.

He found himself in bed with her.

“
Take me, Beor.”

At that
moment, a terrible pounding of feet and shouting woke Beor to his danger. One of the voices sounded like Nimrod’s. He rolled off Semiramis and fell to the floor on his hands and knees, searching for his weapon, tossing his clothes aside, terrified he’d die like a fool.

The door crashed open
. Semiramis screamed, pulling the covers over her nakedness. Men peered from the hall and into the bedroom. They held torches and daggers. Nimrod and Uruk stood in front, with Kush and others in back.

“
Adulterer!” Nimrod shouted.

Beor howled
with rage, guilt and misery. He couldn’t find his axe. He probably looked hideous to them. They had caught him naked on his hands and knees. He leaped up as they piled into the bedroom. His rage and his state caused
them
to hesitate, but
he
didn’t hesitate. Beor threw himself at them. Uruk fell to a mighty blow. Nimrod sprawled onto his back, blood pouring from his nose. The others turned and ran. He bellowed, a madman, a monstrous sight.

What might have happened next
—Beor glared at Semiramis crouched in bed, with the covers pulled up to her chin. He scooped up Uruk’s dagger. They had tricked him. He stood panting, scowling, and he stepped toward Uruk.

Ham and Shem burst into the room, staring in shock.
Shem groaned in dismay.

Beor dropped the dagger, drawing on a cloak
. Tears of misery began to fall from his eyes. Quietly, with what little dignity he could muster, Beor left with Shem and Ham.