Free Seventh Dimension - The King - Book 2, A Young Adult Fantasy by Lorilyn Roberts

a
friend.
    When I entered,
I saw Scylla slapping Nathan’s face. “Stop it, you stupid child,”
she screamed at him.
    I rushed over to intervene. “Don’t slap him,” I
said. “Let me help.”
    She stepped
back, surprised at my sudden appearance. I’d heard his cries before
they were audible. No one knew about my special gift. I had caught
her doing something that Brutus would never approve of. How often
had she done that? I wrapped my arms around the young
lad.
    “Nathan, I’m here.” His pain could not be
spoken. Now I could be his voice. I gave him hope.
    Scylla walked
towards the door. “Thank you for coming. Things are not as they
appear.” She slammed the door behind her.
    When would
things ever be as they appear? I rocked Nathan to soothe his cries.
The boy probably had reason to be frightened when his father
left.
    I took Nathan
outside and we spent the afternoon in the pasture with the sheep.
Perhaps being around the timid animals would do him good. Soon he
forgot about the incident as his thoughts went elsewhere,
particularly when we came across a snake. He pointed at it
excitedly and I could hear him say through mental telepathy, “It’s
not poisonous.”
    ‘How do you know?” I asked.
    “I know all the
snakes around here,” he said through unspoken words.
    I was
impressed. I didn’t know much about snakes, except for the Palestinian viper, the most common poisonous one, and I didn’t know if it was around in the first
century. I suppose when you can’t speak, you find ways to
occupy your time, especially when you feel isolated and alone.
    I noticed Judd watching from a
distance, as if noting everything I did. I shook off the distraction and became
preoccupied with Nathan. Our laughter lifted his dampened spirits.
Perhaps someday a miracle might loosen his tongue.
     
     

CHAPTER 15 ATTACK

     
    Five months later
     
    Brutus’s trips
had become more frequent because of unrest in the country. Yochanan the Immerser had stirred things up, though I
hadn’t heard word of his beheading. I had even heard Yeshua
mentioned in passing on the streets. I knew the firestorm that was
about to be unleashed.
    I sighed. I couldn’t have been brought to a more
controversial place than Galilee in the first century. If God
existed, and I believed he did, why did he bring me here? I was a
non-practicing Jew who wanted nothing to do with Yeshua of
Nazareth. Why hadn’t God found a Christian to bring here? Why
me?
    The days turned
into weeks. I had not been back to Dothan but fondly remembered Dr.
Luke, thankful he had found me this job. Brutus paid well and my
money was growing. I kept it hidden in my room.
    One afternoon I
was repairing the leg of a chair in the dining area. I considered
taking it to the local carpenter, but I didn’t think the chair was
fancy enough to warrant the expense.
    Brutus was
somewhere else and Mari had gone into town. Nathan was taking a
nap. The house was quiet. I was on my knees finishing up when what
I perceived to be fingers caressed my neck. I reached behind me and
felt a hand.
    I stood and turned to face her. Scylla’s eyes were
drunk with wine. She threw herself at me.
    “No,” I said.
    I tried to extricate myself from her embrace.
    Scylla
persisted, running her fingers through my hair. “Oh, Daniel, my
love—the signs in the heavens are there, like when Brutus came to
me to read his future.”
    I looked away
so she couldn’t kiss me. “What signs?”
    She burned with
unbridled passion. “I have powers you don’t know about.”
    I fell
backwards tripping over the chair that I had just fixed. The noise
echoed in the room, loud enough to wake Nathan.
    When I stood
and tried to escape, she trapped me against the wall. She whispered
into my ear. “How do you think I got Brutus to marry
me?”
    “I—I don’t know.”
    Suddenly she
clawed my neck and cried out in a haunting voice. I writhed as she
ran back into her private quarters. When I touched the open