The day after Atretes visit, a guard comes in and tells Hadassah that the best way to ensure that she and the others go quickly and with as little pain as possible, when thrown to the lions, is to spread out and move around quietly and slowly, so that the lions will know they are alive and not a threat. \u201cThe end will come more swiftly that way,\u201d he tells her. She thanks him.<\/p>\n
After this, the guards come and this week\u2019s crop of Christians are ushered out of their cell and into the arena to face the lions.<\/p>\n
Hadassah looked up at the mass of people, drunk on cruelty, screaming for blood, her<\/em> blood. \u201cGod have mercy on them,\u201d she whispered, her eyes welling with tears.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAt the entrance of the lions, Hadassah faltered. She called on Jesus for strength.<\/p>\n
The calmness came upon her again, washing away the fear and filling her with joy that she would suffer for the Lord.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Last week, Melissa, a regular commenter with training in ancient history, noted that for many Christians, martyrdom likely offered a feeling of control over their own fate, which could have been powerful in the face of sickness, disease, and the many causes of ailment and death present in the lives of those who inhabited the Ancient Roman Empire. I find it interesting to bear that in mind, reading this section, whatever ahistorical stereotypes guided Rivers\u2019 pen.<\/p>\n
\u201cMama, I\u2019m afraid,\u201d a child whimpered.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember the Lord,\u201d her mother answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Hadassah said, smiling. \u201cRemember the Lord.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Of all the things I now find repugnant about the Christian obsession with martyrdom, it is the willingness to sacrifice children<\/em>. I would say whatever was asked of me to protect my children. You want me to espouse a given political ideology, or convert to a specific religion? If you\u2019re holding a gun to my child\u2019s head, I will do it.<\/p>\nWhen I was a child growing up in an evangelical home, my mother read aloud books of martyr stories at the kitchen table. I remember one where a man refused to deny Christ even as he watched men torture his son, driving nails under the child\u2019s fingernails. All the father needed to do was say \u201cI deny Christ, he means nothing to me,\u201d and it would have ended. In another story, a group of Christians in North Korea was forced to watch while steamrollers drove over their children. The book described the sound of the children\u2019s skulls popping. The parents could have saved their children in an instant by recanting of Christianity, but they refused.<\/p>\n
Even so, here we see a child die a horrific death, due to her parents\u2019 refusal to burn some incense and say a few words. There is a world of difference, in my eyes, between Hadassah\u2019s choice, and this mother\u2019s choice. Do the (frequently mythological) stories of early Christian martyrdom state whether children, too, were thrown to the lions? Were children expected to burn incense and pray to the emperor, or was this something required only of adults? I suddenly find myself curious. Perpetua and Felicitas\u2019 babies were not thrown to the lions, after all.<\/p>\n
Regardless, Hadassah walks to the center of the arena and begins to pray. \u201cSeeing she was alive and no threat,\u201d a lion heads for her. Here, Rivers draws the curtain\u2014or rather, changes perspective.<\/p>\n
Now we turn to Marcus, who is at the games with Julia.<\/p>\n
Marcus, whose marriage proposal Hadassah so recently turned down, has come to the games to forget\u2014and because Julia begged him to. As the games begin, he stands to go get some wine\u2014but Julia stops him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have wine, plenty of it, the best quality. Don\u2019t leave. The games are beginning.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Marcus immediately realizes that something is wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, Julia?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing\u2019s wrong, except that I want things to be the way they used to be between us. I want to go back to the way things were in Rome, before I married Claudius, before anyone came between us. Do you remember the first time you brought me to the games? I was so excited. \u2026 Things will be the way they were, Marcus. I promise you. After today we\u2019ll forget everything that\u2019s happened between then and now. We\u2019ll forget everyone who\u2019s hurt us.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Julia has miscalculated so badly it is almost painful. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve ever read any other story where a woman overheard her brother being jilted by a woman he had hoped to wed, and immediately followed up by having that woman killed\u2014<\/em>all the while thinking he will thank her for doing it. There has to have been an awful lot of lotus eating and wine involved, because I do not see how this logic holds up at all<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u201cDo you love me, Marcus?\u201d she asked, her eyes intent.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n
But not the way he once had,s he knew. His expression became guarded, pained. All that would change soon. Today would wipe away the past and avenge his wounds\u2014and hers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This would make a lot more sense if Julia had overheard the exchange between Marcus and Hadassah and been horrified that her brother had been willing to expose the family to the ridicule that wedding a slave would bring. Turning Hadassah over to be thrown to the lions would have been a way for her to eliminate a threat to her family\u2019s station and reputation\u2014and, she might have thought, a cold wake-up call to her brother. She could very well have said she was doing it for him\u2014to protect his standing in society. But that is not what\u2019s going on here.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s watch, Marcus. You\u2019ll see what I\u2019ve done for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
A chill of premonition swept through him. \u201cWhat have you done?\u201d he asked, willing his voice to be calm and steady.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At this point, the gates open. \u201cDo you see?\u201d Julia asks. \u201cChristians!<\/em>\u201d Marcus begins to freak out, searching the sand below until he locates Hadassah.<\/p>\n\u201cWhat have you done, Julia?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard what she said to you! I heard her throw your love back in your face. She preferred her god over you, and you said her god could have her. Well, now he shall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou arranged this?\u201d His voice was filled with desperation and loathing. he tore his hand from her, wanting to strike her. \u201cYou did this to her?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Julia tells Marcus that she took Hadassah to Vitellius\u2019 feast, and the yelling begins in earnest. At no point does Julia mention that Marcus was willing to risk her family\u2019s reputation, in proposing to Hadassah. Instead, she rails against Hadassah for putting her god above Marcus. \u201cShe\u2019s a thorn in my side, and I want her plucked out, destroyed.\u201d Julia says. \u201cI hate her!\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Marcus is horrified. \u201cHer life means everything to me!\u201d he cries. \u201cI love her!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nAt this point the lions come out. Marcus watches in horror as a lioness hurtles toward Hadassah and tackles her as Hadassah reaches out her arms in an open embrace. Marcus turns his face away in horror, and then looks back at the sand before him.<\/p>\n
And in that instant, God answered Hadassah\u2019s prayer.<\/p>\n
Marcus looked back, and his eyes were suddenly opened as he stared down at Hadassah, lying crumpled on the sand, her tunic shredded and bloodstained. Two lionesses were fighting over her body, ripping at one another. One bit into Hadassah\u2019s leg and tried to drag her away. The other attacked again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI paid her back for what she did to us,\u201d Julia said, clutching at Marcus. \u201cWe can forget her now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll never forget her,\u201d he said hoarsely and grasped Julia\u2019s wrists tightly, looking at her as though he were something foul and hateful. \u201cBut I will forget you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cMarcus,\u201d she said, frightened by the look in his eyes. \u201cYou\u2019re hurting me!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll forget I ever had a sister,\u201d he went on, pushpin her away from him. \u201cMay the gods curse you for what you\u2019ve done!\u201d<\/p>\n
She stood staring at him, her face white, her eyes wide with shock. \u201cHow can you say such cruel things to me? I did it for you! I did it for you!<\/em>\u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWell this is delightful.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want her, Calabah?\u201d he asked, his voice low, filled with loathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted her,\u201d Calabah said, eyes glowing with black fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can have her.\u201d And Marcus turned his back on Julia, pushing his way past Primus, who as just returning with the wine bags. \u201cGet out of my way!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019m still trying to figure out exactly which prayer of Hadassah\u2019s has been answered, here. I\u2019m pretty sure Hadassah didn\u2019t want Marcus to turn on Julia and hand her over wholesale to Calabah, leaving her with curses in her ears. Where is the answered prayer?<\/p>\n
Marcus runs from the stands and through the gates. \u201cHe ran to get away from the sound, the smell, the sight that was branded in his mind,\u201d Rivers tells us. He runs until he can run no more, alway through the mostly empty city (everyone is at the games, it seems).<\/p>\n
Marcus heard the familiar rumble in the distance \u2026 undated humanity. He covered his ears, and a sound came up from deep inside him, a cry of pain and despair, a cry of remorse and guilt. It tore from him and rose, echoing down the empty street.<\/p>\n
\u201cHadassah!\u201d<\/p>\n
He fell to his knees. Hunching over, he covered his head and wept.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And there the book ends.<\/p>\n
No really\u2014the end.<\/p>\n
Now, our review series isn\u2019t quite over. The end of my copy of the book also contains chapter one of book two\u2014a sneak peak to keep the reader hooked\u2014and a Q&A with the author. I intend to cover both.<\/p>\n
I do want to mention one other thing, though. Many mental health advocates criticized the teen television series 13 Reasons Why because the series portrayed the aftermath of the an individual\u2019s suicide in a way that felt like wish fulfillment\u2014it seemed to promise teens that if they really wanted to get back at all of those who had bullied or mistreated them, committing suicide was the way to do it, as their death would fill their abusers with remorse and offer the payback they were not able to mete out to their tormenters while still alive. This feels similar.<\/p>\n
Hadassah is dead, but her prayer has been answered\u2014and her death will force Marcus to face the questions he avoided while she lived. It is her death that creates the change she was unable to create while still alive. She lives on after the grave.<\/p>\n
Well, assumed grave. There can\u2019t exactly be a book two without Hadassah.<\/p>\n
I have a <\/b>Patreon<\/b><\/a>! Please support my writing!<\/b><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Julia has miscalculated so badly it is almost painful. I’m not sure I’ve ever read any other story where a woman overheard her brother being jilted by a woman he had hoped to wed, and immediately followed up by having that woman killed—all the while thinking he will thank her for doing it. There has to have been an awful lot of lotus eating and wine involved, because I do not see how this logic holds up at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Click through to read more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":36010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[630],"class_list":["post-36007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-voice-in-the-wind"],"yoast_head":"\n
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