Vespasian thought back to Hormus telling him that no god would even have noticed his existence. ‘Yes, I can see that being very attractive, especially to slaves.’
‘Quite so. And to make it more appealing and easier to understand for the better-off, Paulus has added facets of Mithraism. He is very well acquainted with it, having been brought up in Tarsus, one of the biggest Mithraic cities in the Empire. He has created a virgin birth for Yeshua, which would make his mother laugh if she still lived, and, like Mithras, has it witnessed by shepherds. He’s also encouraging the Mithraic hierarchy of priests even though Yeshua rejected priests and temples, arguing that no man should have dominion over another when it came to understanding and worshipping God. But Paulus calculates that the educated classes will be attracted to the power that priesthoods would give them. Paulus knows that a new movement consisting only of the meek will get nowhere; he needs the wealthy and the powerful. But the worst thing that he has done is to create the idea that Yeshua was pure, almost as if sex was a sin, and should only be performed for procreation. So now, instead of wanting to kill Miriam and her children in order to wipe out Yeshua’s bloodline, he now wants to kill them because they are proof that his version of Yeshua is nothing like the real man. His lies would be undone and this new religion that he is trying to create would fall apart if his followers knew of Miriam’s existence.’
‘But surely all those who knew him in Judaea knew that he was married and had children?’
‘Oh, yes, but it is not them that Paulus is preaching to. Yeshua’s other disciples preach his real words to the Jews in order to make them better Jews; but Paulus travels all over the East preaching his lies to people who never knew Yeshua and therefore can be made to believe anything about him. Paulus is afraid of Miriam and calls her a whore; he sent men to Gaul to murder her, young Yeshua and young Miriam. They nearly succeeded but she managed to escape and fled to take refuge with me here, out of the Empire.’
‘But now the Empire has come to find you?’
‘Exactly. Where can she and the children be safe now? But that’s a problem I’ll address after I’ve helped you retrieve Sabinus.’
‘Cogidubnus tells me that the druids fear you.’
Yosef chuckled softly into his beard, lines creased around his eyes. ‘I wouldn’t put it that strongly but, yes, they are certainly wary of me. The powers of their supposed gods cannot affect me because I know them for what they really are: lesser daemons; angels that fell from God’s grace with their master, Heylel, the Son of the Morning. These daemons who masquerade as gods are pale shadows of their master; what power they do have is in their malice, but that is also their weakness because they cannot use it to do Good. The power to do Good is the greatest force in this world; it is a God-given power. Yeshua had it and through his teachings I have learnt how to use it.’
Magnus looked unimpressed. ‘What are you going to do then, walk into their valley, do them a couple of favours and say nice things to them?’
Vespasian shot his friend a venomous glance. ‘That’s not helpful.’ However, he could not help but sympathise with Magnus’ cynicism. ‘But I have to admit, Yosef, that I don’t understand what you’re talking about.’
Yosef put up a conciliatory hand. ‘That’s all right; I can see how strange it must sound to someone who does not believe in the one true God. I cannot explain it to you; you’ll just have to trust me and see for yourselves. The daemon that they will conjure is known as Sullis. She is full of wrath and her anger heats the springs. Heylel, her master, dragged her down with him against her will when God expelled him from His presence. He keeps her locked in that valley and she cannot escape, however much she would like to. That will be the key to it; I know, I have been there. We will rest tonight and then travel to the valley tomorrow. To have our best chance of success we must go in at the dead of night, once the moon has set but before the morning star rises, which is, as his name suggests, the embodiment of Heylel or, as you could say in Latin, Lucifer.’
Vespasian stared at Yosef, trying to decide if the man was in earnest. As when he had first met him all those years ago, he could find no guile in his eyes; he quite evidently believed what he had said. It now came down to whether Vespasian felt that he could put his faith in this strange mystic. He turned to Cogidubnus. ‘What do you think? Can we really defeat the power of Sullis as Yosef says?’
Cogidubnus pulled on his moustache for a few moments, observing Yosef, who returned his look with a serene smile. He reached into his tunic and pulled out the Wheel of Taranis. ‘If faith in this sign can work for the Kings of the Atrebates then I see no reason why this man cannot do as he claims if he has equal faith in his god.’
Yosef nodded. ‘You are right, my lord.’ He pulled on a leather thong about his neck and brought out a pendant.
Vespasian saw with surprise that it was the same as Cogidubnus’, a four-spoked wheel; but then he noticed the downward spoke had been extended so that it looked like a cross with a circle around its top.
Yosef held it up to Cogidubnus. ‘You may be surprised that I too have my own version of the Wheel of Taranis. I have adapted it to symbolise my faith and yet keep it recognisable to the people of this land whom I hope to convert to Yeshua’s teachings of Judaism and bring them close to the love of the one true God.’
Magnus grunted. ‘I can’t imagine that anyone here is going to be too keen to have their foreskin cut off.’
‘It’s a small price to pay to come closer to God.’
‘You can keep your god and I’ll keep my foreskin.’
Magnus’ theological musings were brought to a close by the opening of the door; a handsome woman in her mid-thirties walked in accompanied by two children, a boy in his early teens, holding a lamb, and a girl a year or two younger. It was more than ten years since Vespasian had seen Yeshua’s woman, Miriam; he had not thought about her once and could only vaguely recall what she looked like.
Miriam, however, recognised him instantly. She walked quickly across the room, knelt at Vespasian’s feet and clasped his knees. ‘Legate Vespasian, every day when I look at my children I think of your mercy and how you saved their lives; every day I say a prayer for you.’ Behind her the two children looked at Vespasian in awe.
Vespasian placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face. ‘Thank you for your prayers but I can assure you that they’re not necessary; please stand.’
Miriam got to her feet. ‘I will always pray for you, legate, as I shall always pray for your brother who gave me my husband’s body back. I have seen him, you know?’
Vespasian grabbed Miriam’s hand. ‘When and where?’
‘A few days ago. Yosef sent me to the valley of Sullis once he was sure that you would be arriving soon. The druids allow people to take the hot water from the springs for medicine. They have Sabinus there in a wooden cage hanging from an oak tree in one of their sacred groves by the hottest of Sullis’ five springs; he’s naked and filthy but he’s not without hope. I made sure that he saw me and he recognised me; he knows that someone is coming for him.’
‘He’s always known that someone would come for him; that I would come for him.’
Magnus frowned, chewing on the last of his bread. ‘Let’s hope that it’s just Sabinus who knows that someone’s coming and not everyone else in that valley.’
Yosef stood and walked over to Yeshua. ‘I’m afraid that is a vain hope; the druids will be expecting us. The very fact that they’ve made no attempt to hide Sabinus means that they want you to come.’ He took the lamb from Yeshua and cradled it in his arms. ‘Tomorrow at dawn I shall offer this lamb and ask that God blinds them to our arrival and confounds their plan to capture you, Vespasian, and make a double sacrifice of two brothers, both legates. They think that will be very powerful; so you see, they’ve always wanted you to come.’