Free David Ascendant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 7) by Brian Godawa

see her melting. He first sang of the king in his splendor. The next lyric was about the bride.
    Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
forget your people and your father’s house,
and the king will desire your beauty.
    Since he is your lord, bow to him.
    He knew that singing of a woman’s desire to submit herself to a king would feed that sentiment in her toward his benefit. The power of musical lyrics could soothe a soul or inflame a passion.
    All glorious is the princess in her chamber,
with robes interwoven with gold.
    In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions following behind her.
    With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.
    Miriam moaned with delight through closed eyes. She was enraptured with this young shepherd’s angelic voice. She began to see herself as the virginal bride and David as her king to whom she should give herself.
    She barely noticed that he had stopped playing. It sounded like a mere selah , a musical pause. But the touch of his lips on hers opened her eyes her with a start.
    He smiled at her.
    She smiled back.
    They embraced with a passionate kiss. He held her tightly. It frightened her. She knew she was in trouble. She had lied to her parents, telling them that she was going to a gathering with the other girls of the village. Instead, she met with David out in the field where he was tending his family’s sheep. She did not know why she was so drawn to this troublemaker. He had a reputation for wooing the girls. But he was handsome with his long brown hair and beautiful puppy-like eyes. He was lean but muscular because he was also trained in war as most young Israelite males had to be.
    And he made her feel like a queen.
    Unfortunately, she suddenly realized what kings wanted to do most with queens. She had gone too far with her romantic fantasies. His hands wandered all over her, trying to open her tunic. She wanted to push him away, but she also wanted to fulfill her longing. She knew they were about to do something shameful, something that would ostracize her from everyone, something that Yahweh himself would not bless until marriage. She had been raised all her life to save her precious virginity as a prize for her husband. And if she did not, she could be divorced for it and shunned by her community.
    In spite of all these terrible consequences, she could not think straight. Her conscience screamed for her to stop, but her body screamed for satisfaction. She felt at the edge of a precipice. She should have listened to her parents.
    She gasped with fear, but she could not say stop. It made him even more aggressive.
    He said, “I love you, Miriam. I love you.”
    All she could get out was, “David.”
    He could not tell if her cry was an expression of surrender or of frustration. The ambiguity excited him even more.
    He was about to pull open her cloak when a noise stopped him, the sound of his sheep. It was an unusual sound. He knew the different sounds of his flock of several hundred. He could tell when they were content, when they were hungry, and when they were distressed.
    What he heard was the sound of fright. A predator was approaching.
    He looked over to the flock. He saw them moving north, up the hillside. They were trying to get away from something.
    David jumped up and grabbed his staff. He hissed at Miriam, “I will be right back. Do not leave. It could be dangerous.”
    Miriam pulled her cloak tighter around her body. She watched him leap into the mass of sheep like a heroic warrior.
    David trotted through the flock to the cause of their disturbance. He gripped his staff tightly, ready to use it as a weapon. This area was known for its wolves and bears that often preyed upon the Israelite herds. David had been training in preparation for serving in the Israelite army. But fighting animals was different than fighting men. Men had rules of war, animals did not. David’s experience with men did