01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
CHAPTER 8
It was strong stuff but he had always had a flair for histrionics - quite apart from which, he
had the tendency to get carried away in the stress of the situation. It had the desired effect.
Steve had the feeling that Jabez was not quite so pleased with himself. The shouts of acclaim
and religious fervour from his followers were not directed towards him.
Hara swayed and Steve caught her as she dropped into a dead faint. He glared fiercely at
Jabez, who shrank under the look. It was all quite melodramatic. They trooped down from the
top of the hill and dispersed to their work places. Steve insisted that Hara should remain with
him - nobody dared to argue. When they were back at the house, she broke down and sobbed
wildly. Steve tried to calm her, telling her that everything was all right and that nothing could
harm her anymore. She quietened down eventually enough to tell what had happened.
When she had left his room earlier, Jabez had been waiting for her. He had marched her out
of earshot and then had accused her in front of witnesses who had been dragged from their
beds. The Keeper of the House of Virgins reported that Hara had been missing from her
sleeping place for a number of nights. Jabez had known that Steve was the only one with
whom she had been but had managed to convey that she was acting the prostitute with any
man who could buy her favours. They had kept her locked away until they had dragged her
off to the hilltop and then Jabez had roused Steve.
Steve's suspicions were confirmed. Jabez was a very dirty piece of work. He knew that he
no longer dared to remain under his roof. There was something behind the care and attention
that had been lavished upon him. Something more than solicitude. Jabez had hoped to make
religious capital out of the strange way Steve had arrived on the planet. After the events of the
morning, his plans might have changed. Steve had stolen his thunder. A declared Messenger
of the Gods would have to eclipse the importance of a mere religious leader of a small
community.
In the day that followed the confrontation at the Place of Worship, the community went
about its duties as if nothing had disturbed them. Hara was still very shaken by her
experience but she could tell little about the affairs of the men. There were deeper ceremonies
which were completely male affairs. Women and children were invited to festive occasions
but were never permitted to witness the secret rites. She told Steve that her experience was
not something that happened very often. Usually, if a woman was caught in adultery, the girl
got a good hiding and the man was beaten up by her male relatives. The old way had been
death and for some reason Jabez had decided to reintroduce it in her case. Jabez was up to
something very deep and Steve didn't like the way things were shaping. The more he thought
about it, the more he became convinced that he couldn't stay another night under Jabez's roof,
without the suspicion that he might find a knife thrust between his ribs while he slept. The
other consideration was Hara, it was obvious that she no longer qualified to continue
residence in the House of Virgins.
"What are we to do?"
She thought about it for a long time.
"We could go to the House of Nuptials."
"That sounds interesting."
She blushed very prettily and explained that the House of Nuptials was where newly weds
spent their first night. It was hidden away in some discreet place in the woods. It sounded a
better alternative than the house of Jabez.
"We won't disturb any one there?"
She shook her head.
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