The Wolf and the Lamb Read Online Free

the Fortress or perhaps a holding room for prisoners. That possibility nearly brought him to an abrupt stop.
    “Greetings, Excellency,” he said. “You summoned me and I came.” He waved his arm in a circle, “I am sure there must be an explanation for this…ah…setting. I am here and at your disposal.”
    While he spoke, Gamaliel scrutinized the Roman. In all his dealings with the Prefect in the past, the man had been trim, well turned out, and supremely confident. But this Prefect slouched in his chair, wine cup atilt. He had not shaved his beard, the peculiar custom practiced by Gentiles. His clothing seemed rumpled. He had left off his signature decorative body armor and wore only a short toga and a crude leather belt which would have seemed more appropriate for a soldier than the Emperor’s official overseer of the Promised Land.
    Pilate waved him into a chair. “As you have noted, this setting is not my usual place to conduct business. To be perfectly honest with you, I am in laribus .”
    “Pardon?”
    “I am under house arrest. That is if it is possible for one to place the current and only anointed Prefect in that condition.”
    “Excellency, you need to be more specific. By whom and for what crime have you been arrested?”
    “Sit. It is a long story. Knowing how gossip floats about Jerusalem, you will have heard by now that the Emperor recently dispatched several emissaries to the city. I was to provide the usual hospitality afforded people of their rank and position. They, in turn, were to deliver dispatches, witness the city at its busiest, and report back on my efficiency. At any rate, I assumed that was the reason they were here. With the Emperor and his Commissions you can never be sure, but, as I had no other information, it is what I must accept as their purpose.”
    “That is all well and good but, with respect, you have not answered my question. Why are you here in this shabby room and arrested for what?”
    “Patience, Rabban. You of all people should know that proper exposition requires time and a certain attention to detail and to context.”
    “I do know that. I did not realize you did as well. In all our dealings in the past I have never seen any evidence of this virtue on your part.”
    “Best keep a careful tongue in your head, Rabban. I may be constrained at the moment, but I am still the Prefect, and you are still a subject under the Emperor’s rule.”
    “My apologies. Pray continue. I shall be silent and listen.”
    “Good. So, these men and their entourages arrived a few days ago. Among them I discovered an old rival. Do you know how it is to be walking along the street and there is someone behind you who wishes to pass but cannot? He presses hard and close and his boots continuously tread on your heels.”
    “I can’t say that I have, but I take your point. So, one of these visitors has lusted after your position and place?”
    “Exactly. For years, Aurelius Decimus has been the one dogging my heels. Within months of my appointment to any new position, he would begin a campaign to take it from me. It never worked, but it was never a pleasant experience. He spread one calumny after another about my character. I believe it is why I have been posted here and not to Africa or Sicily. I thought when Tiberius sent me to this godforsaken place, I was done with Aurelius. But no, he arrived with the detachment from Rome determined, I assume, to find fault with my performance and attempt to wrest the post from me by reporting my failures to the Emperor.”
    “This Aurelius had you arrested?”
    Pilate raised his hand, palm out. “Listen, Rabban. I will tell all, but in my own time. No, he did not. He could not. He is dead, murdered, and I am accused of doing the murdering. That is why I languish in this dreary cell.”
    “And that is why I did not receive my usual detachment of legionnaires to escort me here.”
    “Your usual detachment of…? Oh, I see. Yes.”
    “And there