Gods And Kings Read Online Free Page B

lamplight. Mama tightened her grip until Hezekiah could scarcely breathe. Her heart was beating as rapidly as his was.
    “What is that boy doing in here?” Ahaz asked. He was wheezing from his climb up the stairs to the harem, and his forehead glistened with sweat.
    “Good evening, my lord,” Mama said, her voice almost a whisper.“I-I didn’t think you would come tonight. Your son had a bad dream.He came to be comforted, that’s all.”
    “Well, send him back to his room.” Ahaz seemed so frightening that Hezekiah wished he could melt into his mother’s arms. Instead, she slowly released him, lowering his feet to the floor as she stood.Then she tugged on his hand, urging him to bow down to Ahaz, as she was doing.
    “Your father is our king,” she told him. “We must bow to show respect to His Majesty.” Hezekiah did as he was told. When he glanced up, his father looked pleased.
    “Your son Hezekiah is much like you, my lord,” Mama said, resting her hands on Hezekiah’s shoulders. “He will make a fine choice to be your heir and successor one day.”
    Ahaz crossed the room until he stood in front of them. Hezekiah’s heart raced so wildly as his father studied him that he was afraid it would burst. He wanted to run and hide.
    “But you aren’t my firstborn,” Ahaz said. “I gave my firstborn as a gift to Molech.”
    Hezekiah began to tremble as the awful truth sank in. It wasn’t the soldiers he needed to fear—it was his father. He was the one who had ordered the soldiers to throw Eliab into the flames. And Ahaz had the power to kill him the same way.
    At last Ahaz looked away. He loosened the belt of his tunic as he turned to Hezekiah’s mother. “Didn’t you hear me, Abijah? I said send the boy away.”
    “Of course, my lord.” She smiled, but Hezekiah knew it wasn’t her real smile. She looked so different that a chill shivered through him. Mama was afraid of King Ahaz, too—almost as afraid as he was.
    Hezekiah wriggled free and ran past his father, not stopping until he reached his own room. He slammed the door and leaned against it, as if to barricade himself inside. He felt sick with fear. His father had killed Eliab. The king was the most powerful person there was. Who could possibly protect Hezekiah from the king?
    He was wide awake now, every muscle and nerve ending tingling. Where could he hide? His mother’s room was no longer safe. He was afraid to stay here, but terrified to leave. He stood frozen in place, wondering what to do.
    Gradually his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness and his breathing slowed to normal. The corridors outside his room were quiet and still. As the familiar contours of his room began to take shape, the shadows seemed less menacing. He could distinguish the bronze lampstands against the wall, the ivory table beneath the win-dow, the charcoal brazier glowing faintly, his rumpled, empty bed.And Eliab’s.
    Tears filled his eyes and ran down his face as he remembered his brother. They had clothed Eliab in a tunic of white linen and forced him to walk in the procession to the Valley of Hinnom, sleepy and bewildered. Their father, dressed in royal robes, had led that procession. He had offered his firstborn to Molech. But what Hezekiah didn’t understand was why. Why had his father killed Eliab?

    Abijah moved forward into Ahaz’s arms, desperate to hide her emotions from him. He seemed proud of what he had done, calling Eliab a gift to Molech. But Abijah remembered the holy laws her father had once taught, and those laws said that firstborn sons belonged to Yahweh. Their lives were to be redeemed with silver, not offered to idols. Yahweh wanted His children to serve Him with their lives, not their deaths. But Abijah didn’t dare speak such thoughts out loud.
    She leaned against her husband, forcing herself not to cry or yield to the grief that still consumed her. For Hezekiah’s sake, she had to push aside her own revulsion as Ahaz’s hands touched her.