Except for Grace and Mercy

Chapter 11

The crowd are filled to capacity; my men have been placed all around in circles, some from the fortress' barracks, while the rest are my men. The emperor discussed with me how some of the resistance fighters had broken into the temple and carted away the temple offerings. He was certain, they had regrouped strongly and that was another warning to the Romans. Presiding over a large crowd was something else, particularly for the priests who are thirty in number and protecting them is most paramount but I wouldn't dare the foolishness of commander Pompey who entered the Holy of Holies probably to add a Laurel to his pompous nature. The singing coming from the Levites, awakens my attention to the festivities; some barely responded to the hymns. I wouldn't blame them as these were fearful times; nobody wanted to be caught up between the rebels and the Roman soldiers. Most would love to be in the comfort of their homes. I informed my men never to feel relaxed even if the atmosphere felt safe: to my left, there's a ruckus between two Jews or so it seems when one thing leads to another and am seeing swords and arrows flying from among the crowd; an arrow misses me by a whisker and I dive from atop my horse to the ground, I peek a chance glance towards the temple entrance and see the priests scurrying inside, my men have successfully risen their shields brought out their spears to ward off all fiery arrows and plunge into any rebel trying launch at them, next I see the resistance fighters scampering from the now scared crowd who are trying to make their way out screaming and calling out to their loved ones. That's when I see her - she's been pushed to the ground, her veil on the floor and those long tendrils of dark smooth hair flying wildly around her face... I need to get to her; rising, I see one of the rebels approaching her from behind while she's on the ground trying to fetch her veil. He's holding what looks like a linen big bag, understanding feels me at what he's trying to do to her even as I run in her direction pushing any colliding walls.