Eleanor Jong - Jezebel

Jehoshaphat looked down over the parapet, then jerked around angrily. ‘That is the headdress of an Israelite official. How dare you invite them to join our negotiations!’

Jehu strode across to join his father and peered over the edge. ‘From his unsteady gait on the horse, I’d say the intruder is Ahab’s aide, Obadiah.’

‘I believe King Ahab of Israel is as entitled to be addressed by his rank as your own grandfather,’ said Ithbaal patiently. ‘Obadiah isn’t party to our discussions, but as I explained, it isn’t in the interest of my own kingdom to build relations with only one nation at a time—’

‘I will be consulting with my officials about this,’ snapped Jehoshaphat, barging past Hisham down the stairs.

‘Balazar,’ continued Ithbaal, ‘please invite Jehoshaphat and his staff to join you on a tour of the Silk Halls. He is sure to find the beauty soothing, and the merchant opportunities extremely lucrative.’ Ithbaal turned to Jehu. ‘You are very welcome to accompany your father on the tour.’

‘Perhaps I will await the outcome of your discussions with Obadiah before I accept,’ said Jehu coolly. ‘It would be foolish to become intrigued by goods that were no longer available to me.’

‘You may slay a man with a single thrust of a knife,’ said Ithbaal, ‘but to build a partnership takes more than one passing of hands.’

Jezebel watched her father and Balazar walk away down the stairs, then she glanced at Jehu. Perhaps he was still cold, for he shook, and his shoulders were tense beneath his tunic.

‘Come down to the gardens,’ she said suddenly, surprising herself. ‘They’re far prettier than the Silk Halls, and we’ll be out of the wind.’

Jehu raised his chin. ‘I apologise. You must think I’ve insulted your father.’

‘I’ve argued with him just as fiercely.’

‘But not with so much at stake.’ He looked towards the stairs. ‘And now my own father is angry with me too.’

‘You were only defending Judah’s interests.’

Jehu shook his head and sat down on a stone bench. ‘If he trusts me to know what they are. My father would rather have brought my older brother instead, but my mother is the second wife—’

‘And she has more influence than the first?’ Jezebel couldn’t help but laugh. ‘You must forgive me now, for I don’t understand the purpose of these ranks of wives and children.’ She sobered her face. ‘But clearly it troubles you.’

‘I’ve much to prove if I’m to rise to my proper place in the Judean Kingdom.’

‘If what I hear is right,’ said Jezebel gently, sitting down on the bench beside him, ‘you have little to worry about.’

Jehu glanced at her. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Rival kings might argue but their servants always gossip happily together. I’m told you are thought of very highly in your household.’

‘How would you know what the servants have been saying about me?’ he enquired, his mood abruptly lightening. ‘Have you been asking about me?’ he asked, teasingly.

Jezebel blushed. ‘I too have a proper place in my kingdom, to listen to what others say.’

‘I am quite sure there is more to your talents than that,’ said Jehu reaching for her hand, not in greeting this time, but lifting it carefully from her lap, his thumb delicately stroking her palm. ‘I confess there are some attractions to this Phoenician custom of openness.’ His eyes locked on hers, so dark and deep, and she felt his breath warm against her lips as he leaned in towards her.

A gull screeched loudly as it landed on the parapet beside them and Jezebel jumped. ‘You noisy bird,’ she laughed.

‘I suppose there are even Gods in the birds who look over you,’ muttered Jehu, leaning towards her again. But this time Hisham’s discreet cough interrupted them and Jezebel stood up abruptly, smoothing down her skirt.

‘Yes?’

‘Jehoshaphat is asking for his son,’ said the attendant.

Jehu straightened himself and strode towards the stairs without another word. And Jezebel turned her back on Hisham and looked down the coast towards Judah.

She was late to the banquet that night, having spent such a long time choosing what to wear that even Beset had lost her enthusiasm for the game. ‘You are as choosy as a child sometimes,’ Rebecca had said. ‘I’m sure that your Jehu will notice only those beautiful eyes of yours.’

‘He isn’t my Jehu yet,’ Jezebel had replied, but that light retort echoed rather dismally as she approached her father’s chambers. For Jehu was not on any of the couches, nor was there any sign that he was expected. Instead Jezebel’s couch was drawn tightly between King Asa and Jehoshaphat, who was already loudly criticising the Israelite visitor, Obadiah.

‘How can I possibly endure an evening of that?’ muttered Jezebel, her shoulders sagging.

‘Are you all right?’

Jezebel looked into the shadows. ‘Daniel?’ A tall slender youth a year or two older than her emerged from behind a pillar, his dark straight hair tucked behind one ear. His brown eyes narrowed as he peered into the room, and his face was taut with concentration. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Eavesdropping for my uncle,’ he murmured, moving close beside her. He smelled of the sweet medicines of the herb garden, rosemary and sage.

She glanced around the walls of the dining room, where a number of both Phoenician and Judean officials were silently watching on. ‘Is your uncle not here?’

‘He is with the other priests giving thanks to Dagon, so the Gods might bless the grain negotiations. But he sent me to find out whether tempers had improved since Obadiah’s arrival.’

‘Do you know why the Israelite has come?’

Daniel only shrugged.

Jezebel sighed. ‘Well, he is making everyone feel bad. I came down for dinner but now I don’t feel much like eating.’

‘Shall I make you a warm drink? Menes was teaching Eshmun and I only last week about how mint can help soothe the stomach. Go up to your room and I will bring it straight away.’

Jezebel squeezed his arm and headed for the staircase. But as she reached the corridor outside her room, she found Beset waiting for her, her face flushed with the delight of a secret.

‘I don’t know what you’re looking so cheerful about. Jehu was not at the dinner. Perhaps his father is keeping him out of affairs.’

‘He’s not at the dinner because he is waiting in your chamber,’ whispered Beset. ‘Mother’s gone off for the evening to see her sister.’

Jezebel’s heart leapt and she fussed with her beaded belt. ‘What is he doing here?’

Beset gently touched her shoulder. ‘I believe you should find that out for yourself.’

‘But Daniel is on his way up.’

‘Leave that to me.’

‘Does anyone else know Jehu is here? If my father finds … if anyone—’

‘You know you can trust me,’ said Beset, giving her a gentle push into the room.

Jehu was standing at the window, his outline lit softly by the glow from the lamp nooks in the wall. Jezebel glanced back but Beset had already let down the heavy curtains over the door.

Jezebel ran her fingers over the neck of her dress. But Jehu didn’t turn from the window. He must be as nervous as me. She hesitated, watching him, her breath quick and shallow, then she slid off her sandals and crossed the room in her bare feet, drifting silently to his side like a moth settling on a night-scented flower.

Jehu slid his arm around her waist without breaking his gaze from the sky, and Jezebel entwined her fingers into his, hoping he couldn’t feel how hard and fast her heart now beat beneath her skin. She felt giddy as he lifted his free hand and pointed to the sky.