Dancing with Jesus by Linda Fitzpatrick

Author:Linda Fitzpatrick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Destiny Image, Inc.
Published: 2012-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Cloak of Darkness

Pewter goblets were in the fists of each guest. They were constantly being refilled with royal wine, which gave its desired effect in record time. From behind Abia and Judith’s hidden confine of beautiful silk, they could hear the voices of the richest people in the region. The conversations at first centered on kingdom and commonplace concerns: royal taxes, military triumphs, fast horses, hiring laborers, marketplace debates, monarch gossip, Passover preparations, cures for illnesses, building projects, Olympic games, and travel tales. These topics were among the many buzzing around the gigantic room.

Abia soon discovered, however, that the faster the wine consumption was, the freer the tongue became. Having been raised with a very strict moral code and with Yaron’s intentional protection from the ways of the world, the sights and further conversations caught Abia totally off guard.

Yaron’s tone and manner toward Hannah had always been filled with respect, with honor, and with a sweet tenderness that spoke only of love and devotion. Hannah’s response to him was in like manner. Abia and Judith always enjoyed watching them together. What Judith and Abia were about to witness was so far removed from their personal experience that the mere thought of it did not have a place in their minds.

Wine, wine, and more wine flowed, coupled with the delectable foods that were now splattered on the beautiful table coverings the family had labored so long to make. As night settled outside the massive estate, an evil darkness was consuming the inside. With no regard to their surroundings or to the company they kept, these men and women of wealth and influence now acted no differently than ignorant peasants or animals from the streets.

All protocol and decorum were washed away and replaced with such acts of the flesh that Abia’s stomach retched from viewing them. The voices of the people became so loud that there seemed to be a need to increase the volume in order to be heard. Streams of wine and morsels of food on the corners of the bearded faces of the men were being licked by the women as if they were dogs. The free movement of the men’s hands on the bodies of the noble women and servants alike gave Abia’s eyes no safe place to alight.

Abia’s senses were being invaded by the worldly, the flesh, and sin in ways never before seen. In the cloak of such darkness, her innocence was being ripped from her, and there was nothing that could be done to keep it from happening. It was not safe to close her eyes because she had to be on high alert in fear of being discovered.

All the excitement and wonder first felt when they landed in such prime seating for the birthday celebration now died within Abia. Fear and dread gripped her from opposing sides, making her very much afraid now that they could be more than witnesses to such atrocities; if discovered, they might become part of them. Abia’s hearing and sight had become as keen as any prey with its predator so near.

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