No Turning Back | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: No Turning Back | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
02/13/25
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When the first fingers of dawn crept their way over the hills, down the valleys, and into the open windows of the palace, the king had no clue how his world had changed because of what he had done. He failed to notice that the prayer candles calling his attention to the Almighty were no longer lit. He failed to notice the whispers of his attendants as they pondered his choices. He failed to notice the old man with the grey beard shuffling down the hall and out the door.

The man had been his friend; his closest adviser.

The crowing rooster that morning provided no clue that the king’s betrayal of the relationship would bring back a tidal wave of pain. The breying donkey, set aside for the next enthronement, gave no insight that it’s rider would be someone different now. The barking dog, stilling its clamor as the sandals of the senior passed on by, shared no rebuke that wisdom is so often learned through the wrong road chosen.

The encounter with the woman had been impulsive, stimulating, and transitional for the king. A moment of stolen pleasure. He’d used his power over the powerless without a second thought. After all, he was the king.

Not once did he hesitate in consideration that the woman was married to another. Not once did he ponder that she was the daughter of one of his warriors and the granddaughter of the old man who had been his top adviser.

“Ahithophel,” called the gate guard to the old man. “Where are you off to so early?”

“Where’s Absalom?” Ahithophel asked back.

“Sulking in his apartment waiting for the king,” the guard answered.

“It’s funny how those closest to you can become those who hate you most,” he muttered. “Where’s my granddaughter?”

“Bathsheba is home, I think.”

Ahithophel moved to her door and then turned away. No, Abasalom would understand what it was like to have someone you cherished violated.

His stomach churned and his heart burned. To be betrayed by a friend clouded the mind, numbed the soul, and drained the heart. Where else was there to turn? He spat into the dirt at the side of the path. The king no longer deserved his throne.

He had left everything to pledge his loyalty. He had walked the path of commitment in good times and hard times, neither turning to the left nor to the right.

Tears streamed down his face as he looked back one more time at the home of the one who he had dandled on his knee. He’d sung to her, told her more stories than he could remember, and nurtured her in the faith of their people.

Where was the Almighty when all this happened? Was he no longer able to guard the innocent? Was he so focused on this choice of leader that the failures could be overlooked? Where was justice that a man at the top could override the law, violate the sanctity of relationship, and pervert justice with impunity?

The energy burned within him. All that he had done to promote David would now be fashioned to elevate the son and to destroy the unworthy father.

He glanced one last time over his shoulder at the palace. At the window of the room where the king would be waking. “You don’t know the violence, the sin, the destruction, that you have called down upon yourself, your family, and your people,” he said. “This was more than taking someone’s lamb. You may have slain giants and overthrown kingdoms but you could not slay your own lust or overthrow your own pride and arrogance.” He raised up his fist, shaking it. “You have turned your greatest friend into your greatest enemy. The curse of this moment will shake and shatter all you have done up until now. Your choices will be folly and your attempts at peace will become a sword to those who are closest to you.”

A cart driver nearby shook his head. “What is it old man?” he called. “You look furious enough to overthrow an army.”

“You have no idea,” Ahithophel said. “When everything you believed in is snatched from your heart, when everything you hoped for is ended, when the world you knew is turned upside down and you know the pain of betrayal, there is nothing you cannot be tempted to overthrow.”

“I’d hate to be your enemy,” the driver said.
“So would I,” Ahithophel responded. “So would I.”

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