Christina Rich - The Guardian's Promise

The corners of Ari’s mouth lifted. Mira’s tongue could be viperous when she was in a good mood. Given the way she had left him only moments before, her mood was far from joyous. He should at least try and deter his master from a confrontation with his daughter.

“You should allow Leah to tend you, adon.” Ari grasped his master’s arm and assisted him along the cobbled pathway. Caleb’s tunic dragged along the stones.

“Bah, I may be old, but I can still walk outside of my walls. Even if my daughter thinks otherwise.”

Ari halted the chuckle in his chest. His master sounded much like his daughter. “The heat is heavy. Look.” He swiped beads of moisture from his forehead.

Caleb laughed. “Then maybe it is you whom Leah should tend to.”

Having learned long ago that his master was as stubborn as two oxen with full bellies, Ari chose to keep quiet.

Caleb glanced at Ari, his eyes filled with emotion. “If you choose to stay as my son, you are most welcome.”

His heart swelled at Caleb’s affection. “I am honored and blessed by your offer.”

He gazed toward Jerusalem. His deception made him unworthy of such an honor. Until he received word, he would not be free to make his own decisions. Although, he wouldn’t mind staying. Caleb’s family had become like his own. But it was not up to him. Resigned to continue his trust in the Lord, he nodded. “If the Lord wills it.”

“There are many who would think my daughter cursed because of her maimed fingers and scarred hand and thus wish not to marry her, not even for the price of my land, but you, my friend, you treat her with respect and kindness. You would care for her with or without my legacy.”

His heart clogged in his throat. He had only moments before entertained thoughts of a union with Mira, if only to keep her from a wicked marriage with Esha, the drunkard. However, with the words spoken aloud by her father, he knew it impossible. “I treat all the same, adon. As God would have it.”

Caleb’s breathing became labored as they crested the hill. “I understand. You must have family somewhere.”

Ari shrugged his shoulders. What was he to say? The truth would bring more questions. Caleb might be aged, but he was not addle minded.

“Abba.”

Mira. The sound of her soft lilt rolled along the cobbled stones and banded around his heart. Ari lifted his head and locked his gaze on her. She did not sound, nor look, as if she’d just been accosted by armed men with evil intentions. Instead, she sat on the edge of the well at the bottom of the hill, her posture elegant, graceful. Like the purest of waters cascading over the contours of lifeless rocks, she brightened the mundane and turned the barren landscape around her into a breathtaking oasis.

Had Caleb’s offer cemented her into his thoughts and turned him into a poet? Or was it his fear for her life, the need to protect her?

Respect and kindness was not enough to spend an eternity together, not when he wanted the love his parents shared. What Caleb and Leah had, too. Besides, even if he could be swayed to marry Mira, she did not like him much.

“Allow me to give you a piece of wisdom.” Caleb chuckled. “Nothing puts the fear of the Lord in a man more than seeing his daughter, whether it is seeing her for the first time upon her birth, or seeing her now, knowing her rebuke, though meant with every breath of her love, will flay my bare flesh like a whip.”

His master actually looked as if he had paled at the sight of his daughter. Ari felt pale himself, but it had nothing to do with fear of her tongue and everything to do with how she had begun to make him feel. She made the air seem freer, lighter. She brought out his protective instincts. At the same time, she drove him mad with confusion. And that alone was enough to reject his master’s offer, if one were to officially come. However, if Mira showed any amount of willingness...

“Save me, will you?”

Ari laughed. “Of course, adon.” But who was going to save him from being shackled with a contentious wife if he couldn’t remove the madness plaguing him where Mira was concerned.

Chapter Three

“You have eyes for the slave, now?” Rubiel asked. “He is not for you.”

Mira dipped her head to hide the blushing of her cheeks at her sister’s words. It had not been the first time she’d watched him over the years, though she had never before been caught. He was a fine man, as handsome as any. His bearing strong and proud, yet humble and diligent. He was unlike any man she had ever known, free or slave. His heart seemed good. Yet, he angered her often.

True, he saw past her imperfections. He never looked at her with disgust. Instead, he coddled her, suffocated her as if she were...helpless. Defenseless. Of course, today, she would have been at the mercy of the soldiers if Ari had not intervened. She was thankful, yet angry. Why?

“What authority have you to say such things, sister?”

Rubiel gripped Mira’s chin and looked her in the eyes. “He is a bond servant, Mira. You should seek to marry your equal.”

Mira bowed her head releasing her sister’s hold. She recalled the way the corded muscles in his shoulders and arms vibrated. The coldness in his eyes as if he could fell the soldiers with one look. Even armed with their swords they had backed away from Ari as if they, too, thought him deadly.

For a small moment she had glimpsed a different man. A dangerous man, one who was not from humble means. A man far above her status. In that moment he brought to mind the stories of King David’s mighty men. Men who single-handedly defeated great armies. “It does not mean he is any less of a man.”

“Oh, dear. Ari is very honorable, but he will soon leave us.”

The thought hitched in her throat. What would her father do without him? “Perhaps, he might stay.”

“What of his people? Have you thought of them? He might have a wife.”

Although she’d often wondered where Ari had come from she never once had imagined he might have a wife. True, he often left their villa with her father’s permission, but she never thought it was to visit family. Surely, if he’d had one she would have known.

“You need a local man. What of Esha? He seems to like you well enough. He works hard and is handsome.” Rubiel raised the jar full of water from the well.

“Esha works hard on drinking Abba’s wine.”

Rubiel laughed. “What does that matter? He’d be a good husband sleeping all the time as he does.”

“Bah, I would rather have no husband than one of Esha’s character, even if he is handsome enough as you say. I have enough chores to attend. I do not need to take care of a drunkard, as well.”

“Mira, you must truly consider Esha. My Nathan says he is the one man who does not mind that you are maimed. Besides, if Ari stays, he can help you take care of your husband.” Rubiel glanced at the man walking beside her father with appreciation. “He’s certainly strong enough to tend to your future husband. Ari does everything else for you.”

“Esha is not my betrothed, nor will he ever be.” Heat flooded her cheeks. “Besides, if Ari stays it’ll be for Abba and no other reason. He only helps me to repay a debt he believes he owes.”

“For saving his life?” Rubiel nodded toward Mira’s hand. “It is commendable of you, sister, for saving him from those dogs when he was left for dead, especially with your fear of the beasts. Does the slave know? Does he know why your fingers are scarred and twisted?”

Mira shook her head and curled her mangled fingers into the folds of her tunic. If only she had listened to her father when she was but a girl she never would have wandered off alone and been attacked by a wild dog. Then she could have married long ago. Married for love, not for the price of her father’s land, which she had no doubt was all Esha hoped to gain. She closed her eyes and gathered what courage she could find.