Michal (25 page)

The guards shoved David to his knees, and he fell forward, hands braced against the cool mosaic floor.

“An Israelite, my lord. I believe we’ve captured their king without even trying. Seems he seeks refuge among us.”

David kept his gaze on the red and blue tiles, simultaneously berating his own foolishness and begging Adonai for wisdom and rescue.

“What is your name?” Achish’s tone was stern, menacing.

To not answer could get him killed, but to speak would reveal his own clear thinking. On impulse, he slid his hands forward, then tilted his head to look behind him. His gaze grazed the king’s as he let his eyes roll back. In slow motion he stood, grasping at air, spittle pooling in his mouth. He let his lips go slack, the fluid dripping onto his beard. He turned away from the king, stumbled to one of the marble pillars, and dug his fingernails along the smooth surface.

Forgive me, Adonai. I should never have come. If You could
just see Your way clear to intervene . . .

Had he gone too far? Would God change His mind and reject him as king before he ever started to rule? The thought made him physically ill. He’d be better off a madman than to forfeit the privilege to lead Israel. He was a complete and utter fool.

“Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me?” Achish said. “Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house? Take him away.” Two staccato claps followed his words.

Guards moved in, encircling him. They stood for a moment as if uncertain how to approach him in his new irrational state. At last, when the king’s impatience grew in a string of angry curses, two Philistine soldiers gripped David’s arms and half dragged him out the palace doors, through the city streets, and to the guard towers framing the gate. His heartbeat quickened from a state of near dead to a normal rhythm when they shoved him through and stationed a guard to bar his reentry.

“I won’t marry him, Mother! You can’t make me.” Michal limped from her narrow bed to the curtained window, ignoring the pain in her foot. “I’m David’s wife! Father can’t just deny that fact.” Her voice rose with every syllable, and a deep shudder swept through her. Michal leaned forward, elbows on the window ledge, her senses assaulted by the pungent odor of roasting meat. Armfuls of wildflowers were being arranged in earthen vases around the large courtyard. In the garden, in the exact location where she’d first shared David’s love, the wedding tent stood like a lone sentry watching for signs of an approaching battle. If her father made her go through with this, there’d be a battle all right.

She whirled on her good heel and stared at her mother, who calmly brushed lint from Michal’s wedding clothes, the ones she’d worn over a year ago—for David.

“I’m not wearing that, Mother.” Michal’s throat felt raw from the tears she’d shed the moment Paltiel, Benaiah, and Joash had deposited her back at the palace. “I’m not marrying that man!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Michal. You don’t actually think you can go against your father, do you?” Her mother looked her up and down. “Now come. Wash your face so Keziah can reapply your makeup. You’ve got kohl streaked over your cheeks from your tears. Then I’ll take you to the mikvah and you can wash yourself. No man wants a dirty, disheveled bride.”

“Aren’t you listening, Mother? I’m not going to marry Paltiel. I’m David’s wife, and I’m going to wait for him.” She limped over to the bed and flopped on her back, arms behind her head, staring stubbornly at the ceiling.

“Now listen to me, young lady.”

Michal kept her gaze on the ceiling despite her mother’s harsh tone.

“Your father has been good to you all these years, giving you everything you wanted, including David, when it went against his wishes. Now your husband has deserted you and is threatening your father’s life. Do you honestly think he will let you return to the man?”

Michal turned on her side and rose up on one elbow. “Why not? Father is the true threat here. He has tried to kill David repeatedly. David has never once raised his hand against him.”

“How do you know for sure, Michal? Do you really know David? Didn’t you say he threatened to kill you, his own wife, if you didn’t help him escape? How can your father trust the man to take care of you if he’s threatened to hurt you?” Ahinoam shook her graying head, her long turquoise earrings swinging with the movement. “David will soon be dead anyway, if your father has his way.” She stepped closer to the bed and placed one hand on Michal’s arm. “Let the king take care of his baby girl, Michal. Cooperate with this marriage. It’s for your own protection.”

Michal’s whole body gave in to a tingling sensation. She couldn’t decide if she was going to pass out or be sick. Had her lie to protect herself from her father allowed him to think he should give her to another man? Had she forfeited her marriage because of fear?

She rolled onto her stomach and stuffed a pillow to her lips to muffle the sobs rising within her.
Oh, David!

What had she done?

“So how does it feel to be marrying a man you don’t want, little sister? I’d say you’re getting what you deserve.” Merab walked up to where Michal was standing between the main hall and the center court.

The earlier sick feeling invaded Michal’s stomach again. She lifted one hand to her middle in an effort to quell the fear-induced nausea and met Merab’s triumphant gaze.

“What are you talking about?”

Merab’s lip curled in a smirk. “Oh, come on, Michal. You know I was supposed to marry David, and Father just happened to find out about Adriel’s interest in me and betrothed me to him instead. Now who would have spoken that idea in his ear? Adriel says Father approached him. But who told Father?”

“Any one of the servants could have suggested the idea.”

“You were the only one with a reason.”

“As far as you know, you mean.” Michal’s limbs shook with nervous tension. She should just tell Merab the truth. It didn’t matter now anyway. “I don’t know what you’re so upset about. Adriel loves you. If Paltiel loved me, he’d return me to David.” Michal’s gaze darted past her sister, and she lowered her voice. “Besides, you didn’t love David the way I do.”

“You have no idea how I felt about him.” Merab’s sharp tone slashed through Michal’s heart.

A distant look passed through Merab’s dark eyes, and she cradled her protruding abdomen in a protective gesture. The movement pierced an arrow of jealousy through Michal’s soul.

“Just leave me alone, Merab.” She knew her tone carried waves of hurt, and her throat closed as she fought tears.

Merab studied her sister for a long moment. “You won David deceitfully, Michal. And now Paltiel has done the same with you. I hope you’re happy.”

She stalked off, her bitter words meshing with the discordant notes of the tuning musicians. Michal pulled her multicolored robe tightly across her body, a sudden chill shaking her.

The musicians, their instruments now ready, began one of the wedding songs, and her father appeared in the courtyard dressed in full royal garb.

A touch on her shoulder made her jump. She turned to stare at Benaiah.

“What do you want, Benaiah? Haven’t you done enough?”

She glanced into the young man’s mammoth face, curious at the sorrow etching his brow.

“Forgive me, Princess.” He motioned her closer to the shadows, his wary gaze darting about before resting on her. “If I can arrange it, I will try to take you to David.”

Michal blinked burning eyes and gaped at him. “How?” He hadn’t helped her when Paltiel came for her.

“During the feast, before Paltiel leads you to the bridal tent, I’ll be standing guard over you. Watch for my signal.”

“You’ll never get me past my father’s soldiers, Benaiah. They’ve been watching every entrance like a pack of jackals.”

“I have it all worked out, Princess. Trust me.”

The tapping sound of hurried footsteps sent Benaiah scurrying down the hall and out of sight.

“Are you ready, my dear?” Her mother appeared in the arch of the door, killing Michal’s hope and bringing all of her fears back in a rush. “It’s time to join your husband under the chuppah.”

Michal pressed her glossed lips together and nodded, thankful no words were required of her. She couldn’t believe she was letting them do this to her. Just the thought of Paltiel’s touch sickened her. Maybe in time she could convince him to return her to David.

Unless Benaiah could be trusted.

Her leaden feet moved to the canopy where Paltiel stood waiting, smiling down at her. She glanced about and spotted Benaiah a few paces from her father. He nodded in her direction before she looked back at Paltiel. When she stopped beside him, he draped one end of his robe across her shoulders and solemnly promised to love and protect her.

“To the marriage tent at once!” her father said.

Michal’s heart leaped, and the hairs on her arms rose in little bumps. She turned and saw her father standing with a gleam in his crazed eyes. This wasn’t the proper way to start a wedding. Benaiah would never be able to whisk her away if she had no time to sit on the dais and greet well-wishers.

“At once!” Her father’s voice rose in intensity. He stalked over to the two of them, grasped their arms, and looked sternly at Paltiel. “You must fulfill your vows at once! She must become odious to David. Now!”

Michal frantically searched for Benaiah. Where had he gone? Through blurred vision, Michal looked at Paltiel’s profile. His head dipped forward in acquiescence. “Yes, my lord.”

“Good.” Her father took a step back, allowing Paltiel to grasp Michal’s hand and tug her toward the wedding tent. An occasional cough or an awkward laugh filtered from the stunned crowd. The drum began its steady cadence, reminiscent of a year ago when David had pulled her from the dais. She had felt his excitement seep through his fingers, which had been tightly clasped around hers. Paltiel’s hands were clammy, and she wondered what thoughts raced through his mind. How would she convince him to wait with her father standing guard outside? And where was Benaiah?

Paltiel lifted the flap and motioned Michal to pass under his raised arm. She ducked into the candlelit tent, a thousand romantic memories assaulting her. When the flap dropped in place and Paltiel moved closer to her in the center of the room, she backed away from him, wishing somehow she could rush past him, past her father, to David. If she had a knife, she would slit the tent’s linen fabric and crawl through, away from this awful night. Instead, she stood rigid, willing him to keep his distance.

“Are you afraid of me, Michal?” Paltiel’s tender tone surprised her. He took a step toward her, then another, until he was within arm’s length. His fingers touched a smooth strand of her hair and tickled the back of her ear. She turned away, embarrassed and confused. Why did his touch send pleasant feelings through her?

“Stay away from me, Paltiel.”

Silence.

“Let her go, Paltiel. She belongs to David.”

Benaiah! He must have slipped in through the back of the tent. Hope surged, and Michal took a step toward the sound of Benaiah’s whispered voice.

“Don’t be a fool, Benaiah. One word from me, and Saul’s guards will cut you down. There is no escape for either of you. Do you honestly think I would be foolish enough to disobey the king?”

“You can’t do this. She’s another man’s wife!”

The drumbeat masked their heated, whispered words until Paltiel raised his voice. “If you don’t leave now, Benaiah, I will call the guard at once and have you put out of Gibeah. I suggest you disappear, before the king does worse things to you than Michal will ever experience from my hand.”

Michal studied the young guard, her heart sinking. Despite his obvious strength and massive size, he was outnumbered. Like David, running from danger was his only option.

“You must go, Benaiah. And God be with you.” She met his miserable gaze and forced a smile, her back to Paltiel.
David.
Her mouth formed the word, and she caught the guard’s almost imperceptible nod. A moment later he slid under the back of the tent, leaving her alone again with Paltiel.