Among the Gods Read Online Free PDF Page B

tambourines as Amariah’s procession arrived at her gate. Dinah lowered the veil over her face, thankful that it would also hide her tears. She thought of King Manasseh as she watched his brother enter the torchlit courtyard. Prince Amariah slowly walked across the cobblestones and stopped in front of her chair. He looked pale and somber, not at all like a joyful, expectant groom. He reached for her hand and drew her to her feet. Dinah’s knees shook as she looked up at him.
    Amariah was so tall he towered above her. He was more than a head taller than Manasseh, half a head taller than Hadad. King Manasseh had been compact and sinewy, Hadad brawny and muscular. But Amariah was lanky and awkward, unsure of himself, and not nearly as good-looking as either of the other two men. Nothing about him stood out as extraordinary. His hair and beard didn’t have quite enough copper in them to be auburn, his eyes were an undistinguished hazel. Dinah felt nothing toward him except a faint loathing for reminding her of Manasseh.
    As she stood beneath the wedding canopy beside him, Dinah glanced at the courtyard gates one last time, searching for Hadad, wondering if he would force his way past the guards and carry her away. Hadad was a skilled warrior; Amariah would never be able to stop him if Hadad decided to fight for her. Joshua probably couldn’t win against him, either. But Hadad didn’t come to her rescue.
    Dinah brought her attention back to the ceremony and dutifully recited her wedding vows. Then it was over. She was Amariah’s wife.
    All of Elephantine Island’s most important families had been invited to the marriage supper, held in the courtyard of the home Prince Amariah had prepared for her. The feasting and music and laughter lasted long into the night, but Dinah enjoyed none of it. She found herself dreading the moment her husband would take her to their marriage chamber. She wondered if she could go through with it.
    Finally Amariah stood and reached for her hand. Dinah’s legs felt heavy and leaden as she allowed him to lead her to their bridal chamber. The sounds of the marriage supper faded in the distance as Amariah closed the door behind them. As she smelled the fragrant aroma of perfumed sheets and remembered her nights in Manasseh’s bedchamber, panic welled up inside her until she could scarcely breathe.
    “You are a beautiful bride, Dinah,” Amariah said. The sound of his voice, so different from his brother’s, brought her back to the present.
    “Thank you, my lord.” Gradually, her panic subsided as she remembered what Joshua had told her: She would have another son; she was doing God’s will. She looked up into Amariah’s eyes. They were wide and long-lashed like Manasseh’s and nearly the same color, but they lacked his startling flashes of topaz; they also lacked his glint of cruelty. She thought of Hadad’s eyes—deep, vivid brown like rich loam—and remembered the love she had seen reflected in them. Then she remembered the pain that had replaced it, pain she had caused. Tears came to her eyes.
    “It’s not too late to change your mind,” Amariah said softly. He had been studying her, as well. “We don’t have to go through with this.”
    She brushed away her tears. “I haven’t changed my mind.”
    “What’s wrong, then?”
    “I … I’m just so sorry that I had to hurt Hadad.”
    “I know. I am, too.” He folded his arms across his chest awkwardly, as if he didn’t know what else to do with them. She had expected him to embrace her, but he hesitated. They were both silent for a moment. Dinah could hear the distant strains of music from the wedding feast and the swish of palm branches against the window shutters.
    “I’ve been thinking about both of our fathers all day,” Amariah said. “Your father raised me after mine died. I loved him and Abba both.” He leaned against the door and sighed. “Joshua is convinced that this is what they would have wanted—that