Banished (Forbidden) Read online

  “You are my family, Jayden. Forever. Once we’re in the frankincense lands you’ll see how hidden away and safe we are. Nothing can touch us there.”

  I nodded wordlessly, uncertain, but I’d cling to the promise of hope.

  A hundred men on horseback came into view, their sleek horses jangling with decorations. Dancing on their hooves, ready to ride into the empty desert. Behind them, a string of camels was packed with supplies and bedrolls.

  Chemish rode up, accompanied by his son, Asher. The two of them dismounted and bowed to me. Chemish said, “You’re looking well this morning, daughter of Pharez.”

  “Sleep and a bath suit me. I’m grateful for your family’s kindness and hospitality.”

  Kadesh formally presented me to the young man. “Jayden, this is Asher, Chemish’s son, and an Edomite prince. I’ve asked him to take a special role as we travel. Especially since Chemish has asked me to be his captain over any skirmishes we might encounter.”

  I glanced up at Kadesh curiously. “You have soldiering experience?”

  “Military training comes with the responsibility of overseeing my uncle’s caravans the past two years.” Kadesh paused, slipping a hand reassuringly along my arm. “I’ve assigned Asher as your personal bodyguard—with Chemish’s permission, of course.”

  “What about the Edomite prince’s permission?”

  The young man stepped forward, back erect, his expression solemn. “I volunteered to do anything Kadesh needed from me. This journey is more dangerous than a normal caravan trip. Kadesh is like my elder blood brother. I’d follow him to the ends of the earth if he needed me.”

  Kadesh put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “If you recall, Asher, you have followed me to the ends of the earth before. A place called Sariba, my homeland.”

  “I was thinking it was all just a bad dream,” Asher quipped in return.

  I stared between the two of them. “The trip is that bad?”

  “One day at a time keeps the madness of the empty desert at bay,” Kadesh said lightly. “For now, look forward to seeing your family in Tadmur. And pray we’re faster than Horeb.”

  Chemish began calling out orders to the Edomite army. Asher helped him arrange the pack camels within the ranks of soldiers, organized into companies of twenty for traveling.

  Asher’s humility piqued my curiosity. He didn’t walk or speak as an heir of a kingdom. No arrogance or pridefulness in his demeanor. So unlike Horeb and the Maachathite tribe men. But what did that late-night rendezvous with Laban mean? What would a young man like Asher have to do with a hardened thief? Despite Kadesh’s assurances, I dreaded spending the next few months so close to that man.

  I needed to learn how to protect myself. To fight Horeb when—and not if—the time came. For it would come. I knew it. I wished I’d taken the chance to grab Gad’s sword, after the hyena finished eating him and slunk off into the hills.

  “How do your horses endure the desert between wells?” I asked. “Horses need more water than camels. Or are they magical camels in disguise?”

  Chemish’s face crinkled into a smile at my question. “We only take our horses away from our lands during the winter months when food is more plentiful and there are occasional ravines with rivers flowing.”

  “Our horses have another secret, my lady,” Asher added almost shyly. “One evening around the hearth, I will tell you the story.”

  “But it’s not the custom for women to sit at the fire with the men. . . .” I blushed. I would be the only woman of the company.

  The Edomite army split in two, half going before me and the other half behind me as I joined the caravan. It was comforting to be cushioned from any strangers we might encounter.

  Sand swished under the horses’ hooves. Winter sun warmed the top of my head. The pack camels carried our food and water, and for the first time in weeks I could doze while my camel followed the other animals. I didn’t have to be afraid I’d wake up to Horeb and an army surrounding me, a knife at my throat.

  We pushed through the day, past dusk and the moon’s rising. We had to make it north to Tadmur as fast as possible, and then leave again just as swiftly.

  When we made camp the men brushed down their horses, corralled them together, and then fell into their beds. Kadesh created a sleeping spot for me, tying blankets between scrub bushes for privacy. The same customs I’d experienced on the trail since I was born. As second nature as breathing.

  I spotted sentries posted around the camp. Others would take their place during the watches of the night. Kadesh and Chemish squatted together under the partial moon. The scouts had arrived from the north, four bedraggled men with lathered horses. The male voices were low, but carried in the stillness, despite the rustlings of sleeping men, the neighing of the horses, and grumblings of our camels.

  “What is the news?” Chemish asked.

  “We found them,” the first man said. “The Nephish army traveled west from Mari to Tadmur—”

  I slipped out of my bed, unable to lie still. “I can’t let you do this,” I said, kneeling behind Kadesh. “You and your army get nothing but the possibility of death. I can’t in good conscience—”

  Chemish held up his hand. “We all hope to avoid a confrontation, daughter of Pharez. Nobody is hungry for war. We know these deserts well. It’s the reason Sariba and the Edomite kingdom made an alliance a generation ago. We plan to slip past Horeb, and we’ll succeed.”

  Kadesh brought me closer, his presence calming me as the fire’s flames flickered against the men’s faces. “It’s the middle of winter,” he said thoughtfully. “Horeb’s men should be on the open desert with their camel herds following the rains, not at the oasis.”

  “They waited several weeks at Tadmur,” the second scout said, “thinking Horeb’s betrothed would return to her family after escaping them at Mari.”

  I cringed at words I never wanted to hear again: Horeb’s betrothed. But the scouts dared not call me by my given name.

  “We heard a strange tale,” the first man added. “One of the Nephish prince’s scouts must have discovered her camp. Pieces of his body were found in the Mari hills.”

  Chemish jerked his head in surprise, and his son, Asher, glanced over at me. “How do you know the body belonged to a Nephish soldier?”

  “His sword and bedroll lay near the remains of an old fire,” the scout continued. “Horeb’s army must have assumed she turned northwest to Damascus to try to lose herself in the big city. Upon his arrival in Damascus, Horeb got into a skirmish with the Adummatus, long-time enemies of the Maachathite tribe. In fact, the Nephish and Maachathites have declared an alliance and fought together to strengthen that treaty.”

  The second scout shook his head. “The Maachathites are old enemies, but the alliance appears strong.”

  “Fighting the Adummatus in Damascus is good news,” Kadesh said. “They’ll be licking their wounds and resupplying. But there’s something you aren’t telling me?”

  The scout leader nodded soberly. “The Nephish princess was spotted by merchants when she traveled to the Edomite lands. They sold the information to Horeb, who is now making plans to reverse his army’s directions—and intercept us as we head north.”

  Those figures I’d seen in the distant desert. Wearing the male cloak hadn’t fooled them. Horeb knew where I was. I’d been afraid of this, but to have my fears confirmed made it somehow so much worse.

  Sensing my distress, Kadesh squeezed my fingers in his. “How far away are they?”

  “A few weeks by the regular northern trails—less if they cut through the mountains. Knowing they’re highly motivated to retrieve Horeb’s bride—”

  “Jayden is not his bride!” Kadesh said sharply.

  The scout bowed his head. “I apologize, my lord. I meant—his betrothed.”

  Those words didn’t help either. Kadesh jumped up from the hearth, his expression a mix of impatience, anger, and sadness. Turning back to the scout, Kadesh added, “We are also
highly motivated to retrieve my betrothed’s family from Tadmur.”

  “Who is to say which motivation is the strongest?” the man said with a helpless shrug.

  His words were a clear reference to the fact that the outcome of our journey was completely uncertain and fraught with intolerable danger. To be traveling toward Horeb was insane.

  Kadesh rubbed at his face, wincing when he got too close to the jagged scar surrounding his blinded eye. “The Edomite army and this prince of Sariba will show you who is stronger—and who will win.”

  The second scout spoke up. “We should turn now before it’s too late, and go south along the Red Sea, which will take us home to Sariba. We have Dedan forts that will protect us if the Nephish and Maachathites catch up.”

  Kadesh had once told me the Dedan forts had been built by his family. The forts protected the frankincense caravans along the dozens of journeys they made every year to deliver the costly spice to the cities and towns along the Red Sea, the Canaanite lands, and the great rivers of Babylon.

  “I won’t run from Horeb or be outmaneuvered by him,” Kadesh said. “If we come upon his army, we will kill them and be done with it. We don’t have a choice. You know that, Chemish,” he added, turning to his friend. There was a tone of respect in Kadesh’s words, and a willingness to listen to the older man’s experienced suggestions.

  “We have a good chance of reaching Tadmur before the King of Nephish,” Chemish said. “As soon as we have the princess’s family we flee south—and never confront him at all.”

  “The timing is risky, my lord,” the scout interrupted. “We have no friends in that country. We might become the slaughtered army.”

  Kadesh eyed the men sitting about the campfire. “If we ride hard, sleep little, we can cut our time nearly in half. Are you with me, Chemish? Asher?”

  The father and son stared at each other briefly. “We came to help you,” Chemish said. “We won’t leave you to die a second time at Horeb’s hands. If that man is allowed to continue, he will spread death and destruction over all the desert lands—bribing and killing to force the smaller tribes to join him.”

  Kadesh’s chin lifted. “Join him or face extinction.”

  A bitter taste was in my throat. “When we get to Tadmur,” I said, “we’ll need to get my family and leave again within hours.”

  “Exactly, my dear,” Chemish said, touching my arm with his fatherly warmth. “And once we’re beyond the borders of the Red Sea and reach the far southern regions, we’ll lose the Nephish army along the borders of the Empty Sands. They won’t know how to survive that country.”

  I pictured Horeb’s army losing their way in the Empty Sands, dying of thirst. The Empty Sands was a realm where there were no wells or shrubs—a place where no one who ventured in was ever seen again.

  If Horeb got lost, his army would be forced to kill their camels one by one to stay alive. And when the camels were gone, his men dead, Horeb would curse God and die. The scene in my imagination brought an awful satisfaction, but also horror. I knew what it was like to be so hungry and thirsty I wanted to claw my throat out. To weep without tears because I was so dehydrated. To be coaxed by desert demons to lie down in the soft, warm sand and never wake up.

  The circle around the fire quieted. There was nothing left to do but retire to our beds. I gathered Kadesh’s cloak around me as I moved away from the fire. The night was filled with the usual noises. Rustling rodents. A stirring of wings from soundless owls and bats overhead.

  Even with an army surrounding me, I was troubled. So much could happen between here and Sariba. So much would happen. On the way to my sleeping area, I saw Laban slip away from the fire. His shadow disappeared into the darkness. The man sent shivers down my neck and I avoided his presence, pretending he didn’t exist.

  I spotted Asher’s figure walking in the opposite direction to his bedroll and wondered whether the two of them had just held a private meeting. Or was it a coincidence to see the pair only moments apart? I was too tired, too weary, to ponder it.

  Sometime in the middle of the night I was awakened by a light touch on my shoulder.

  “Kadesh!” I jerked upright. Blackness surrounded me as though I’d gone blind. But the stars were gone now along with the fire.

  “It’s me,” a male voice whispered. “Asher.”

  Instinctively, I pulled up my blanket.

  “Kadesh sent me to wake you. We leave within moments.”

  I stumbled to my feet, sleep clinging like cobwebs. “That was a—a short night.”

  “Nights are always brief while traveling.”

  “Where’s Kadesh?” I asked, wishing he were here to wake me.

  “Your camel managed to loosen her ropes and strayed off—”

  “Shay? I hope she’s not lost! Although she never got me permanently off the trail on the way from Mari to Edom.”

  “Then she’s a good camel. You’re fortunate to own her.”

  “I bought her in Mari because of Kadesh. I mean, his generosity paid for her.” A flush burned my cheeks. What did he think of me—a girl from a different tribe chasing after a man to whom she wasn’t officially betrothed, let alone married?

  “With frankincense, right?” Asher asked.

  I glanced up from rolling my bedding. Dawn brushed a pale hue across the sky and his features were becoming more distinct in the morning light.

  “Don’t be afraid of his secrets. We all know him well. We work for him, actually . . .” His voice trailed off as if he were uncertain about how much he should confide.

  “What do you do for Kadesh?”

  “We run his caravans through our mountain canyons. One day we hope to build a beautiful city in the cliffs of Edom’s red land. The crossroads for all caravans.”

  “You are a prophet to see into the future?”

  He glanced away as though I’d embarrassed him. Having a personal guard was disconcerting. I don’t know why Kadesh should be so worried since I was protected by a hundred Edomite soldiers. But once again I found myself wishing I had a sword of my own and not just a small dagger.

  Every time I looked at the weapon it reminded me of Gad. The sight of his blood dripping from the bronze blade. The thought of needing to use my blade again in the future brought little comfort. Thrusting a dagger into someone meant face-to-face combat. So close you could smell your enemy’s breath.

  Asher stared at me curiously. “Are you all right?”

  I started, realizing I’d been lost in thought. “Edom has the potential for great wealth, then,” I stammered, trying to pick up the thread of our conversation.

  Asher paused on the path, holding out an arm in case I needed to steady myself, but careful not to touch me.

  “I suppose the frankincense trade could grow enormous,” I said, bypassing his chivalrous hand. “As cities and towns multiply from Damascus to Salem. Nineveh to Babylon.”

  “We don’t just manage Kadesh’s caravans and maintain the tribal forts and wells for greedy wealth.” A lock of hair fell over his serious brown eyes, and my eyes dropped to take note of the well-crafted slingshot tied at his hip. “We’re his partners in all things. Alliances, trade, protection, war.”

  “Why would you risk so much for a girl and a tribe you have no formal treaty with?”

  “The Sariba Prince is one of the finest men I’ve ever known. We are blood brothers in many ways. We—I love him. I would do anything for him.”

  His underlying meaning dawned on me. “This army is for Kadesh and his tribe’s safety, not me personally.”

  Asher’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t mean to imply that—”

  I tried not to laugh at his expression. “You don’t have to justify your devotion to him. I know of Kadesh’s generosity personally. I can imagine he elicits the same from his friends.”

  “No, you don’t fully understand. We’re here to help you—because you are the woman he now loves.”

  “Your loyalty is noble and kind. More than kind
because one day I will owe you my life. I pray to the God of Abraham our lives are spared. That war with Horeb will come to naught.”

  A calm steadiness stared at me through those solemn brown eyes of his. “With that I agree wholeheartedly.” He directed my attention up ahead. “We’re gathering at the trailhead around this cliff outcropping.”

  I walked behind him, bewildered. One moment Asher was timid and unassuming, the next he was speaking passionately about his loyalty to Kadesh. The next he was holding clandestine meetings with the ugly Laban.

  The first horses galloped ahead and a cloud of fine dust sprayed the air. Kadesh rode up on Shay, my wandering, frisky camel. Bending to kiss my hand, his whisper of love brushed my skin as he helped me onto the white camel.

  When I kicked Shay’s sides to take my spot in the caravan, Asher’s words came back to haunt me. What did he mean when he said, “The woman Kadesh now loves?”

  Those were not careless words, but had the power of a subtle insinuation. The power to turn my world completely upside down.

  Had there been another girl in Kadesh’s past? Had he loved someone before we’d met? And if so, why had he chosen to keep her a secret?

  7

  We pushed hard, rarely dismounting, eating and drinking as we rode. At night, when we stopped, Asher began showing me various moves I could do with my dagger—thrusts and slices and parries, making me practice with both my right and left hands so I’d be able to continue if my arm or hand was struck in a fight.

  Those first few evenings, Asher watched with amusement. Finally, he allowed me to try the moves with his own sword. It didn’t take long before even I could see my improvement.

  I had a long way to go to defend myself against Horeb or his men, but I felt a glimmer of hope. By the time I faced him I’d be even stronger. As long as I didn’t face him until we reached the southern lands.

  “Kadesh observes our lessons for a bit each night,” Asher said after a few days, “but doesn’t say anything. What does he think about me teaching you?”