‘Never mind that.’ The elderly woman linked her hand into Jezebel’s arm. ‘Would you see me to my room, my dear? That way, you will always know where to find me.’
‘Of course, Your Highness.’
‘Call me Raisa. After all, I am mother to the man you have been dragged down here to marry, and we are to become family.’ They set off across the courtyard, between elaborate statues and ponds that shimmered in the lamplight. ‘My son is a good man – don’t let that shaggy haircut fool you into judging him otherwise – but he takes little care of his appearance because he spends too much time thinking. Not all of them useful thoughts, but I’m probably the only one in the Palace who is allowed to say so.’
Raisa paused beneath a lamp that lit the foot of another staircase and clamped her bony fingers around Jezebel’s chin. ‘Hmm. Not enough to see you clearly by, but you have a strong face, a good straight nose, and a nice figure on you. I think you will do very well in the House of Omri.’ She patted Jezebel’s cheek then began to climb the stairs, leaning heavily on Jezebel’s arm.
‘Not everyone seems to agree with you,’ said Jezebel. ‘I met the King’s first wife.’
‘Leah sought you out already, did she?’ Raisa chuckled. ‘Then you’ll know you have nothing to compete with there, not least in temperament, for you look to me to have a good heart. Bad-tempered people, the Judeans, impetuous angry souls with a born sense of entitlement, and Leah is no exception.’
‘She’s from Judah? I thought—’
‘We were sworn enemies?’ Raisa smiled. ‘All the more reason to attempt such an alliance. The marriage was brokered while my husband was still alive. I’m afraid, as so often with these arrangements, there was never much affection between man and wife.’
Jezebel tried not to wince, but she obviously didn’t completely succeed.
‘I’m sure it will be different for you two,’ said Raisa. ‘Leah never showed any wish to make it work.’ The old woman waved her hand, as if to shoo the subject away. ‘I’ve tried to influence Ahab in the way he raised Esther, of course, but one can only hope.’ Raisa took a step back from Jezebel and peered at her with sparkling dark eyes. ‘Of course, your people have recently endured a long visit from the Judeans so you know what I’m talking about. Leah’s brother is Jehoshaphat.’
‘So she is Jehu’s aunt?’ said Jezebel.
Raisa frowned. ‘He’s the child of the second wife, isn’t he?’
‘Yes,’ said Jezebel, colouring. ‘He accompanied Jehoshaphat to Tyre. I do see a certain family resemblance.’
Raisa laughed. ‘You are an intelligent girl for your years. You think a lot and don’t say too much. That will help you with Ahab but …’ She paused. ‘Well, you’ll work it out.’
Jezebel wasn’t sure what Raisa had been about to say, but as Obadiah had already stated, clearly not everyone was as happy with the match as her mother-in-law. She knew well enough about the long period of distrust between Israel and Judah. Since the kingdoms had separated in the bloody civil war after King Solomon, outright hostility had been avoided, because diplomacy was preferential to antagonism, and both sides found common ground in their homage to Yahweh, their one true God. Jezebel had not realised that Ahab’s first wife was a daughter of Judah, and could see that failure to produce an heir and heal the wounds under the auspices of Yahweh would carry heavy disappointment for Leah and those who had arranged the wedding.
She and Raisa walked together in silence to the top of the stairs, where Ahab’s mother reached up and cupped Jezebel’s face in her hands. ‘I hope you produce many children for my son and for Israel. That is what you have come here to do and so I bless you in the name of the God we share. It will be good to hear children running through the Palace.’
‘I am sure that in the daylight I will learn to appreciate its beauty.’
‘My husband, the former King, built it. His House, the House of Omri, should continue to prosper with you here.’
Jezebel thanked her for her kindness, and the old woman disappeared through a curtained doorway, leaving Jezebel alone once more. Surely there must be more than half a dozen people living here, she thought, but though she strained to hear sounds of life, she felt as alone once more as one of the tiny stars in the great firmament above.
She looked around her, trying to get a sense of the layout of the Palace, but as she followed the balcony round, searching for her own room, she found only a wall and another corridor leading off in a different direction. She wandered along it, looking for a stairway so that at least she could return to the garden level. But it was all so confusing in the shadows and she felt a little sick. She leaned against the balcony and put her hand on her stomach, but she immediately let it fall again, for someone like Obadiah would surely seize on such a gesture. For though the baby had not yet begun to swell in flesh it was already growing in her mind, and around it such intense thoughts of Jehu that she was sure anyone who knew him – his aunt Leah, for example – would somehow see them reflected there. And what of Ahab, tonight, in the marriage bed?
She gazed up at the sky, looking for Kesil once more, but her attention was caught by a quiet sobbing somewhere below. She peered down into the small courtyard and identified the shadowy outline of Esther in a corner.
Jezebel walked swiftly along until she found a staircase, then she padded down it, her cape dragging behind her. Esther sniffed and glanced up, her eyes shining with tears. ‘You shouldn’t stay here. Mother will be furious.’
‘I’ve no wish to get you into more trouble. But you shouldn’t be out here in the dark. And besides, if we’re all going to be living here together, we can’t really avoid each other.’
‘Obadiah has seen to it that we should. Mother and I have been relocated to this wing.’ She nodded towards the small courtyard. ‘I apologise for the way my mother spoke to you. She hates being in Israel and she has always hated the Phoenicians too. She says you sacrifice people and not animals.’
‘No wonder I’ve had such a hostile reception,’ laughed Jezebel nervously. ‘It’s not true, I promise you.’
‘And she says your Gods are so malicious they will sink foreign ships if they sail in your waters.’
‘Without charts and plans of the coast, the sea can be dangerous. But that could happen to even the most experienced sailor, whatever kingdom they come from.’
‘She despises you.’
‘Look, Esther, I’m only here because my father and your father agreed that it was in the interests of both our peoples. It is what young women like us must do.’
‘I hope it never happens to me.’
Jezebel chewed her lip. It felt so strange to be making friends with this girl, almost the same age, when in just a few hours she would be lying down in a bed with her father. Perhaps Esther sensed that too, for she stood up.
‘If Mother goes back to Jerusalem, as she keeps threatening to do, your life here might be a bit easier. It’s a shame though, because you seem so nice.’ Esther smiled shyly then she glanced up at the balcony. ‘I must go before Mother misses me.’
‘Of course. But maybe we could take a walk together tomorrow? You could show me round the Palace?’
‘Perhaps,’ said Esther uncertainly. ‘Your wing is that way.’ She pointed through an archway lit with torches. Then she set off quickly across the courtyard, her fingers sketching a wave.
Jezebel walked back towards her room, listening to the strange sounds of the Palace around her as it slowly came alive in the dark, to the distant barking of the dogs and the calls of the servants behind hidden doorways. She smelled the roasting of meat and the stewing of fruit for the wedding banquet in her honour, and heard a lonely bugle call drift into the night sky. But it was of