Ur
Terah limped in to check on his wife and the baby. Belessunu had laid Abram next to her and they both appeared asleep. He tried to imagine the tiny lad as a toddler, then a youngster, then a grown-up. That last he found nearly impossible. Abram lay so still that Terah leaned close on his crutch to make sure he was breathing. Belessunu had freed his arms from the enveloping cloth, and he had them pressed against his little body, tiny fingers interlaced as if on purpose.
Sure enough, Abram’s tiny chest rose and fell ever so slightly. Terah reached tentatively, careful to keep his balance, and laid his palm lightly on the boy’s torso, his hand seeming to cover half the child. That caused the baby to jerk, both arms shooting straight out. Terah pressed lovingly. “Shh, little one. I’m here.” And the wee hands settled over his own.
Terah could have stood soothing his son that way forever, but his only good leg grew weary and began to shake. He had to reposition himself, but pulling his hand away made the boy start again. So far, Terah had not been much of father. But I will be, Abram. I will save your life this very day. Especially if his plot had indeed come from the gods.
Terah slowly made his way out of the bedroom and found Ikuppi kneeling before the table of broken idols. “You do well to pray, my friend,” Terah said, settling into a chair. “The gods will assure you we are doing the right thing.”
“Don’t say ‘we,’ sir. They offer me no peace about this. I am not part of it.”
“You are whatever I say you are, and you will do what I say you’ll do.”
“But it doesn’t even make sense, Terah! How will you explain—”
“It is not your place to judge the sense of it, man! All you must do is what I ask. Don’t judge my wisdom.”
“With all due respect, sir, it is more than your wisdom I judge. I question your morality.”
“How dare you?”
“How dare I, Terah? How dare you?”
“Come close so we can hear each other without waking mother and child.”
Ikuppi joined him. “You’re going to regret this the rest of your life, Terah.”
“I shall not! Even Belessunu’s God says our son will become an exalted father. That’s why we named him Abram. And to ensure that, I must protect him from the king.”
“But if you do it the way you say you will, I will regret it the rest of my days. In fact, I don’t know if I could live with myself.”
“How can you say that, a father yourself!”
“And my family needs me. They do not need a man so weak he would violate his own conscience.”
“If it is so distasteful to you, remember that you are merely doing what you’re told and don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Ikuppi closed his eyes and shook his head, patting the long bronze sword at his waist. “I have killed many with this blade in the service of the throne. I have even flayed rebels strapped to walls. But never have I murdered an innocent.”
“You will not be murdering anyone,” Terah said. “You will only be doing what your superior tells you to do.”
“But how can I make Mutuum and his wife, or anyone, believe such a preposterous tale?”
“They don’t have to believe it, as long as they accept it.”
“I don’t know how to be convincing.”
“You don’t have to convince them. You serve their master, so you will be speaking for me. They have no recourse regardless what they believe or don’t believe.”