Childen of Isra'El: Bloodlust
Perhaps it was only the lighting that made the conversation seem so sinister. Perhaps, Levi thought, it was merely the shadows flickering across his brother’s face that were making the intentions behind what he was saying seem so malicious. Perhaps that was all that made him respond to Simeon’s request with, “Well...I don’t know...”
“Don’t know?” the elder sibling shot back. “This is our sister’s honor, not some game that you can decide on a whim whether or not to play. That bastard has defiled her.”
“But we don’t know that,” Levi insisted, almost pleading with the tone of his voice for Simeon to keep his temper and his wits about him. “Father has said…”
“Father is so set on keeping the peace with every single worthless tribe we come across that he’s lost sight of what he’s doing it for! We, on the other hand, cannot stand by and allow that heathen prince to treat Dinah like a common harlot!”
The shadows across Simeon’s face seemed to flicker faster and faster, sharper and sharper. “Have you even spoken to her?” Levi queried. “Has it occurred to you that this might be what she wants? To marry Shecham?”
Simeon leapt up, eyes blazing with such anger that it seemed as if the fire in front of them had taken over his soul. “How dare you? How dare you even suggest that our sister could stoop so low? To listen to you, she is a common harlot!”
“That is not what I-”
“She will not marry that trash, and I will stop it even if I have to do so single handedly. And so the question remains, are you with me or against me?”
Levi swallowed hard. “I have always been with you, brother,” he said softly.
Simeon’s smile was cool. He reached behind him and picked up a sword that had been waiting there for this decision, handing it to Levi hilt first.
Levi squeezed his eyes shut and grasped the hilt.