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Pontius made a gesture of acquiescence.

“Now, since the Chief Vestal brought up the first issue, that is what we will tackle.

“Yeshua ben Miriam, you wish to tell the tribunal that you are more properly referred to as ‘Yeshua ben Yahweh’?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“How did this come about?”

Yeshua struggled to sit up as Julia pulled her veil back.

“He came to my mother in a dream. He told her that with her consent, He would put a child into her womb, to be the peace and strength of all people. When she heard this, she declared that she was the Lord’s handmaiden and would do whatever He asked.”

Julia shot a look at Analenya. “Since we cannot prove or disprove what the gods do, especially in regards to conception, we cannot judge you on your claim.”

“Hearsay!” the Vestal shouted.

“I repeat: can you prove that Miriam of Nazareth did not have such a dream? And even if you could, could you also prove that said dream was not a true telling?”

Analenya sat back in her chair.

“Now, on to the matter of your so-called ‘kingdom’. Regardless of whether it is ‘not of this world’, as you claim, I believe it frightens Lord Pontius to think you are ruler of anything,” the Imperial Priestess explained. “If you are some sort of authority figure, then you might challenge his power. It is clear that the Sanhedrin already has this fear, or they would not be demanding your execution.”

“My tale will be told in different ways in the generations to come. Some will say that I am the son of Yahweh, made flesh to demonstrate His love to the world. Some will say that I am Yahweh Himself, and that those who curry My favor on Earth will find themselves sitting at My right hand…or My left…or even at my feet…once they get to Heaven.”

“This heaven you speak of…that is your kingdom?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“And I assume that when you say that it is not of this world, you mean that it is…” Julia struggled to find the words.

“Like the Egyptian concept of
Duat
,” said Yeshua.

“Paradise, in other words,” Julia added for the benefit of the others.

“So let me get this straight,” Analenya said after a moment of silence. “You do not believe you pose a threat to Rome, because your kingdom is actually your version of paradise. You believe you have a right to this kingdom because you are the son of the Jewish deity Yahweh. You are here to bring peace and love to this world, nothing more.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“Then why is the Sanhedrin so afraid of you?”

“And why do they riot almost everywhere you go?” Pontius demanded.

“That is not rioting,” Yeshua replied. “They merely get overexcited when they know that I am coming.”

“That can be a danger to the citizens,” Analenya warned.

The members of the tribunal looked at each other for quite a long time. Finally, the prefect said,

“I see no reason to kill him.”

“You will,” Yeshua replied abruptly. “Caiaphas will pester you until you give in.”

“I can take my
own
counsel, thank you very much!

“Ladies,” Pontius said, returning to Latin. “You are dismissed.”

Julia watched as Analenya got to her feet, spat in Yeshua’s face, slapped him and walked off. The prefect didn’t seem to notice, having already engaged in conversation with Jacobus. Julia sighed quietly, rose and removed her veil.

“May you travel safely and speedily to the Otherworld,” she murmured in Hebrew as she used her veil to carefully remove blood and spittle from his face. Tossing it toward Pontius’s feet, she took Yeshua’s head in her hands and added, “And remember me on the other side.”

“I will forget you never.”

When the sun rose, the tribunal was already lined up across the portico; Analenya to the prefect’s left and Julia to his right. After a bit of a wait, the guards had dragged in Yeshua, now clothed mockingly in a scarlet cape and crown of thorns. A second prisoner appeared behind him, one the guards called Barabbas. He was placed between the prefect and the Vestal, but not before he had cursed out the imperial priestess in colorful Aramaic.

“How big of a moron
are
you?” Julia demanded. “Did you think I was too Roman to know your language?”

“You’re not a priestess, you’re a fucking
whore!
” Barabbas spat. “The sun should be ashamed to shine upon you!”

“We’re sorry,
Domina
!” A soldier came panting up and motioned to his buddies to haul the criminal away. “He’s usually an anarchist, not a misogynist!”

“People of Jerusalem!” Pontius thundered suddenly. “I stand before you with two men, both of whom have reputations as enemies of the Empire. I will not repeat their crimes; for surely, you know to what I refer when I say ‘Barabbas’ and ‘Jesus of Nazareth’.

“But I am feeling generous on this, the first day of your feast. Say his name and I will give one of these men his freedom.”

“Barabbas!” several people shouted.

“Barabbas?” Analenya repeated. “But why would you choose
him?
He starts riots and is a constant threat to your safety!”

“We want Barabbas!”

“Nice job pretending to defend Yeshua,” Julia muttered.

“But what does Barabbas have that Jesus of Nazareth does not?” asked the prefect. “Surely, you want to free your king!”

“We have no ruler but the Emperor Tiberius!”

“
Dominus Praefectus
?” the Imperial Priestess put a hand on Pontius’s arm. “
Dominus
, listen!”

He raised a hand for silence. Still, there was a soft cry toward the back of the courtyard.

“Do you hear it?” Julia questioned. She focused her voice toward the back gate. “LOUDER!”

“FREE JESUS!” The words were clearer now. “Free Jesus! He has done no wrong!”

“Look,
Dominus
!” She pointed. “Is that the Nazarene’s mother?”

He squinted. “How can you tell?”

“What are you waiting for?” someone at the front of the crowd shouted. “Release Barabbas to us!”

“Why?” asked Julia.

“Why not?” Analenya countered.

“Enough!” the prefect snapped. “Jacobus! Front and center!”

Pontius conferred with his centurion for several minutes before gesturing him away.

“Amnesty for Barabbas has been granted,” the prefect announced. “As for Jesus of Nazareth…”

Three servants stepped forward with bowls of water and Julia’s breath caught in her throat.

“I wash my hands of him and all that he stands for,” Pontius finished.

“Goddess Isis, mother of us all…” Tears crept into her voice as she murmured her plea. “Forgive me for what I am about to do.”

The Imperial Priestess plunged her hands into the bowl for a count of nine, then took the proffered towel.

“Cleanse me this day of the blood of the rabbi and protect me from such travesties in the future.”

No sooner had she finished her prayer than the prefect said,

“Crucify him in the first hour of the afternoon.”

Fingers lifted from Julia’s neck and a voice said, “If the Lady doesn’t wake soon, we’ll have to send to the prefect’s physician to figure out what he put into that draft.”

“Whatever it takes,” replied a voice she was certain belonged to Livia. “I’ll not have a retired high priestess die on my watch!”

“Why would you send to the prefect’s physician, anyway?” Julia’s eyes opened and quickly landed on Aurelia.

“He dosed you with a sleeping draft,” the assistant healer explained as the current high priestess slipped out of the room. “He said you were up all night and had seen so much that he wanted to ensure you slept. You and the Chief Vestal were then sent back to your temples in litters with orders to leave you alone as long as possible.”

Julia glanced around. “Why am I in Livia’s chamber?”

“It is
your
chamber, My Lady.” The high priestess reappeared with the others in tow. “I refused to take residence until a full moon cycle had passed. Now that you have returned, you may take up the mantle of high priestess and I will return to my role as maiden.”

“I’m afraid I’m no longer permitted to be a priestess.”

Eight pairs of eyes widened and Julia thought she heard Sabrina and Claudia gasp.

“Whatever the prefect did to you, it can be purified,” said Livia.

Julia bit her lip. “But I think I
enjoyed
it!”

Aliyah caught her gaze by Ziva catching her as she nearly keeled over.

“As you have taught me, the law of the temple is not permitted to change without a unanimous vote,” Livia reminded her. “However, this time, I am exercising my autonomy as high priestess. It doesn’t matter if you had fifteen orgasms and enjoyed every second of it; I did not release you from your vows. Ergo, you were raped and will be purified with the proper rites and ceremonies.”

“There’s more.”

“Pregnancy doesn’t matter.”

“It will,” Julia insisted. “Pontius Pilatus named me his Imperial Priestess. I am a slave in fact, if not in name. He will send for me in the third hour of the morning on the Day of Saturn.”

“Marriage,” Aurelia murmured. When the other priestesses looked at her, she continued. “He intends to marry you, doesn’t he? I heard rumors, but until he returned you, I wasn’t certain.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tatiana. “Roman law says he can raise the child to his knee and claim paternity. He has no need to marry her.”

“Word in the marketplace says that Lady Claudia’s trip to Pompeii isn’t just a holiday,” the maiden explained. “It will take another few days for her retinue to reach the coast, but I have little doubt the prefect will send a message ahead to Herculaneum informing her of their divorce.”

“My Lady, there is a woman in the courtyard who swears she will see only you,” announced Aliyah. “I told her that you were resting and that Lady Livia would be happy to see her, but she was adamant.”

“I’ve rested enough,” Julia replied. “Send her in.”

As soon as the priestess disappeared, Julia hopped out of bed, straightened the covers and fluffed the pillow. She had just finished stirring the brazier when Aliyah returned with a figure swathed in veils.

“You may leave.”

Aliyah hesitated, but the high priestess paid her no mind as she took a seat. When the girl left, Julia said,

“What do you want of me?”

“I want to apologize,” Maggie answered, peeling off her wraps. “What happened to our rabbi was no business of yours. You should not have been swept up in it.”

“Pontius Pilatus only wanted me for my supposed connection to Josh that first day. After that—”

Sabrina swept in with a tea tray, glowering at the high priestess.

“You should be in bed, My Lady,” she said, filling a cup and passing it to Maggie.

“I am
tired
, not bedridden,” Julia grumbled. “Allow me this, while I still have some freedoms left, hmm?”

Sabrina shook her head, passed Julia the second cup and disappeared.

“Goddess knows I’m already bought and paid for,” the high priestess added as she took a sip.

“Am I missing something, Rabbi?”

Julia’s eyes widened at Maggie’s use of the title, but the younger woman simply offered her a small smile.

“The prefect’s house arrest didn’t last long. Soldiers came for me within a few hours, and when I say that Pilatus was ‘no longer interested in Josh’, I’m sure you know what I mean.”

Maggie gasped and choked out her words. “He…
violated
…you?”

“Perhaps you have heard that priestesses of faiths other than your own are expected to remain chaste,” Julia said after a moment. “This has been true in my order since before the time of Queen Nefertari.”

“But even
my
people can be made clean in most situations! Even women who have recently had their moon blood—and they’re supposed to be the most impure of all!”

“Livia offered to cleanse me. She said that even if I enjoyed every moment I spent with the prefect, she would use her power as high priestess to purify me and she would happily return to her previous role.”

“But you refused her.”

“I had no choice, Maggie,” Julia replied. “The prefect only allowed me to come back to the temple to say my goodbyes. The moment the guards come for me, I will be the Imperial Priestess of Judea, bound only to the wishes of Pontius Pilatus and the will of Rome.”

“So you were complicit in the murder of our rabbi.”

“I saw no reason to execute him,” the high priestess remonstrated. “The chief vestal…perhaps Josh ruined her image of the status quo. Pilatus may have been leaning toward exoneration—or more jail time, at the very least—but at heart, he was ambivalent.”

“Then why was Josh killed?”

“Your high priest was exceptionally…persuasive.” Julia emptied her cup and contemplated the pot. “Plus, I must admit; it is a little unnerving when the defendant tells the prosecution in no uncertain terms that no matter what we decide personally, we will still opt to crucify him.”

Maggie was quiet for a moment. “How long had he known?”

“I got the impression that it was quite a long time before that Day of Saturn.”

The high priestess filled her cup and that of her guest before the latter spoke again.

“I think he was in love with me.”

“Would he have married you, had he lived?”

“I don’t know,” Maggie admitted, taking a sip. “Sometimes, I thought he might, and others, I thought he was married to his ministry.”

“What do you seek?” Julia asked at length.

“Excuse me?”

“You do not visit a Gentile priestess without intent, Mary Magdalene.”

The younger woman sighed and put her cup down.

“Sometimes I felt like an idiot, following him around. Most girls marry at fifteen or sixteen. When I was fifteen, I was doing my best to smarten myself up before tracking down the disciples. I spent my sixteenth birthday in camp.”

She hesitated. “Now I’m twenty-three and in love with a man I can never have.”

“If I thought you would take it, I would offer you a place in the temple.”