Stone of Help (Annals of Lystra) by Hardy Robin

Author:Hardy, Robin [Hardy, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: series, fantasy, Christian, fiction
ISBN: 9781934776346
Publisher: Westford Press
Published: 2011-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

When the head cook finally dismissed her at the end of day, Deirdre bundled Arund up and hurried out to the servants’ house. She was anxious to see Josef. In this past week she had learned so much from him that made her life here bearable—not the least of which was his conviction that God had allowed her enslavement for a reason. She had a purpose here, other than caring for Arund, though what that might be was beyond her knowing. How much she would rather escape! But alone, in a strange country, she would never find home. And Arund—what would happen to him if she left to seek her own freedom? No—she saw no choice but to stay and work. So she kept alert, observing, learning, reading Josef’s Scriptures and listening to him explain them.

Holding Arund as she sat on her straw bed to nurse him, she fretted over the painful-looking rash on his bottom. It made him cry more, she was sure, but she was helpless to know what to do for it. “Lord, must he suffer with it?” she muttered, then smiled to herself. “Josef will have me praying over the ants on the floor next.” Not the ants, but Roman and Galapos, a thought answered.

Roman. She had not prayed for him, had she? “Oh, what good would it do?” she muttered again. “He doesn’t need me to pray for him. He doesn’t need anyone’s help to do anything.”

He is suffering. At that thought, her heart broke a little. “Is he suffering without me?”

She glanced self-consciously at the door, and as neither Josef nor Sevter had yet appeared, she bowed her head over Arund and imitated Josef as best she could: “Father in heaven, please protect my husband, Roman. Enable him to bear the burden of my absence. Please—help him understand that everything will be well, and bring us safely back together again. And please . . .” she murmured, faltering, “keep safe my baby. . . .” She stopped as Josef entered with their evening meal.

He handed her one bowl of insipid mash to eat while she nursed Arund. Deirdre sighed, “I don’t see how you can live on such small portions. . . . How long have you been a slave, Josef?”

“Ten years this winter,” he said, licking meal from his fingers. His hands were so chapped, they bled.

“Ten years? Somehow, I thought you were born into slavery,” she said. When he looked up in amusement she reddened, realizing the thoughtlessness of the remark. “What did you do before you became a slave?” she asked.

“I was a tutor here—rather, in Savin’s court. I taught a number of the children of the courtiers and officials,” he said.

“Artemeus?”

“Yes, Artemeus, for a while,” he answered.

“What happened?” Arund’s lips loosened and she gently detached him to lay him beside her in the straw.

“Well, Deirdre, one of my disciplines was philosophy. And in teaching it, I searched out the wisdom of the ages to draw upon—Amenemope, Homer, Cicero, Aurelius, and, the Septuagint.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.