Chapter 14: Do You Know Him?

It was a while after the sun went down before the shop was closed up and everyone gathered upstairs. The room was big enough for all of them, though there weren’t enough beds for everyone. Peace and Yevish had their bedrolls however, and there was plenty of floor room. Justice and Zeal, being as stubborn as they were, forced Peace and Yevish to sleep on the beds and took the mats for themselves. Dafrin watched the whole process with amusement. He remembered how they had always used to argue over such things when they were young. The way they interacted hadn’t really changed, save that they were so glad to see each other that they couldn’t stop laughing and smiling. That was different. Dafrin remembered several good fights when they were young. They had sometimes gone days without speaking to each other. Granted, they were younger then. They hadn’t known as much of the world and of the things in it, and they hadn’t been quite mature then. Though, watching them now, Dafrin wasn’t sure if they were mature yet.
When dinner had been finished and the sleeping arrangements had all been sorted out, Yevish and Dafrin headed to bed. Peace prayed with Yevish before he went to sleep, it was the one prayer time they had managed to almost never miss. Peace kneeled beside the bed and smiled as she watched Yevish drift off to sleep. He did so quickly, he had had a long and exciting day. Peace stood and walked over to the small table where Justice and Zeal were sitting. A single candle sat on the side of the table and shed light on the three faces. Peace sat down opposite Justice and Zeal. The three didn’t speak for a while, they just watched each other. They were all still in a sort of shock at the fact that they were actually reunited. When they had sent Peace off, Justice and Zeal both knew they would most likely never see her again. Peace knew the same. In fact, it was almost a guarantee that they would never see each other again. Yet, here they were, all together again.
Finally Zeal broke the silence. “Peace, there is something we must ask you.”
Peace looked at Zeal. She and he had always been a little closer. She had been very close to Justice too, but for some reason, likely their personalities and though patterns, Peace and Zeal had always been a little closer. “What is it?”
Zeal looked at Justice, who nodded. Zeal turned back towards Peace. “Well, we saw you praying, with Yevish.” He nodded towards the sleeping boy. “Though truth be told we’ve been wondering ever since we saw you. Many years ago we learned about a God. A God of love and healing and hope. This God changed our lives. This God sent his only son to this earth, to take away our sins. And we were wondering…” He looked at Justice again. He was obviously afraid of Peace’s answer. It was most likely that she had not heard of this God, and that she would not be willing to accept Him.
Justice finished Zeal’s question. “We were wondering if you had heard of him. If you know Him.”
Peace suddenly broke out in a smile, tears threatening to flood from her eyes again. Could it really be? Could her brothers also have found Yeshua? “You know Him? The son of this God, He is called Yeshua, yes?”
“Yes.” Her brothers nodded.
Peace reached over and grabbed her brothers’ hands. “Thank the Lord of heaven and earth.”
“You know Him?” Zeal cried out in excitement.
“Yes.” Peace nodded, tears happily flowing down her smiling cheeks.
Justice laughed. “What are the chances?”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with chance. It’s God.” Peace stated gently. Zeal and Justice nodded in agreement. 
The three sat for a few more minutes, firmly grasping each other’s hands and silently rejoicing in the fact that they were all united in their belief and salvation in Yeshua.
Finally Peace spoke again. “So what happened to you two? What’ve you been doing all these years?”
They gently released each other as Zeal and Justice began their story.
“We stayed around here for a few years after we sent you off.” Zeal began. “How did that go anyway?”
“After you finish.” Peace smiled. She wanted to know everything that had happened to her brother’s since she’d left.
Zeal nodded and continued. “We kept working here, just making a living. Justice fell in love with a local.” Zeal shoved Justice with his elbow. It had obviously been a point of teasing between the two of them.
“Oh?” Peace looked at Justice questioningly.
“Yeah, she was a beauty.” He smiled as he playfully punched Zeal. “But then the wars came.” Justice and Zeal became a bit grim. “The first battles were only two towns away, in Zerachith. We feared that it would come to us next. So all the men of the village joined the army, save those too old or too young.”
“Though even some of those joined.” Zeal added.
Justice nodded sadly. “Yeah. A lot of us died within the first two days of fighting. Zeal and I managed to keep each other alive.”
“Did Dafrin go?” Peace interjected.
“No. He was injured at the time. And there would have been no one to run the business in his place, with us going off and all.”
“In a sense, he was the smart one. He didn’t see all the death and destruction that the war brought. He didn’t… didn’t…” Zeal struggled to find the right word.
“He didn’t lose himself.” Justice finished for him. Zeal nodded. Peace could see the sadness in their eyes. She knew what it was like. Justice continued. “Anyway, we kept fighting. We traveled to the far side of Dragna and then all the way around her borders. Through the heartlands, and the deserts and then the wastes. So many died from the elements. It seemed that the war went on forever, and we were never really sure who we were fighting and why.”
“We later found out that we actually battled three of the five neighboring countries in that war. Arthea being one of them. We invaded her, at one point. None of the soldiers knew that it was Arthea, or none of us would have followed the captain’s orders. Arthea has always been known as a land of peace and healing. They have sent many people here who try their best to help. Or at least, they used to.”
“Anyway, the five head captains finally killed each other off in their lust for power and blood, and that war ended. So nine and half years after we’d left, we returned.” Justice paused and shook his head. “Rebecca, the girl I fell in love with. She was married to one of the wealthiest men in town, and she had three kids. I couldn’t really blame her. I would have never expected her to wait for all those years.”
“She was a pretty one too, so she’d always had lots of suitors.”
“Yeah” Justice laughed a little. “I saw her around. She wasn’t specifically happy with her husband, but she’d learned to love him anyway. I was happy that she’d found such a good home. So we came back here. Dafrin had a wife, Eloria. She was a sweet lady.”
“By the time we got back they’d been married for four years.” Zeal smiled.
“It made things a little interesting around here, but we all managed to work it out.”
“It was Eloria who taught us of God, and Yeshua. It was through her example that we all came to know Him.”
“Dafrin is saved as well?” Peace asked.
“Yes.” Zeal replied. “By the time we got back from the wars, he’d known Yeshua for years. He also helped to bring us to our savior.”
“Where’s Eloria now?” Peace asked gently, unsure of how sensitive the question was.
“Dead.” Justice responded sadly. “ About five years after we got back, she fell ill. No one really knows what it was that took her. It wasn’t contagious. Only about five others in the village had it. No one could find anything that helped it. She was in a lot of pain for about a week, and then she was gone.” He paused, in memory of her.
“We were sad, but we all knew that she was in a far better place.” Zeal added.
Justice nodded. “Her and Dafrin never had any children. Dafrin never remarried. He had had a good marriage, and he was happy. He never saw a need to.”
“And what of you two?” Peace asked. It seemed curious to her that neither of her brothers were married.
“Well Zeal here is determined to die and old maid.” Justice smiled teasingly.
“The only problem being that I’m not a maid.” Zeal smiled back.
“And me, I guess I never really thought about it again after the wars.” Justice shrugged. Then he smiled again. “So there you have it. Without all the nitpicky details and boring tidbits.”
Peace laughed. “I don’t think I’d consider them boring. Anything about what happened to you is exceptionally exciting right now.”
“Well in that case…” Zeal started off with a wide smile.
Justice cut him off, “No, no. We feel the same way about you. What happened to you?”
Peace smiled. “Well, as you can tell, my trip to Arthea was successful. I was taken in by an old army commander and his wife. They continued to raise me. He was a leather crafter and he taught me the trade. It settled down and helped him out with his business. It was they who introduced me to God. I spent many years learning at the local monastery. All the while I kept up my sword skills by practicing with the local soldiers in training. There was an academy there for them. I couldn’t enter it because I was female, but I basically learned everything they did. I became close friends with a one of the students named Flieshiv. After he finished his schooling he went off to join the army. He returned a year later and managed to smuggle me into the army under the disguise of a new soldier. I fought with his unit for many years in the guise, returning to the couple whom I called family whenever I could. Neither of them were particularly happy about what’d I’d done, but they loved me anyway. Anyway, eventually Flieshiv became commander of his own unit. It was then that he told me it was time, and we finally revealed who I actually was. The men were shocked, specifically my superiors. For a while I was thrown in prison till they could decide what to do with me. God was watching out for me. They didn’t sentence me to death. They had been ready to make me a commander as well, though I hadn’t known such. Through Flieshiv’s arguments on my behalf and the loyalty they had seen in me in my years of service, they decided to let me keep serving. I continued to serve in the army under Flieshiv and eventually became his second commander. It took the other soldiers a while to get used to me, but I had fought beside all of them, and they knew I was one of them, no matter my gender.
I was in prison when your captains ordered the invasion on Arthea, but Flieshiv told me of it later, and of how our army had driven yours back. I had always wondered why Dragna would attack us, but I just blamed it on the corruptness of it leaders.”
“You were right.” Zeal nodded.
“Yes. Anyway, I continued serving in the army. Then came the Urogonos invasion. They came upon us like a plague. We couldn’t stop them. They’d taken the bordering kingdom already. They’re why I came here. The council, which governs our country, didn’t want to send for help, especially not from a land such as Dragna. But Flieshiv and I both knew that we needed help if we were to defeat them. So I came here, looking for you.”
“Do you really think that we can save Arthea.” Zeal looked at Peace in surprise.
“I don’t know. I came looking for a small group of warriors. People whom we could get to go into the enemy camp and figure out a plan. They would be foreign and they enemy hopefully wouldn’t see any reason not to let them in. But truth be told. I have no idea if anyone can save us. It’s our last hope, so I have to try.”
“We have to try.” Justice stated firmly as he grasped her hand.
“I couldn’t ask you to…”
“You didn’t, we volunteered.” Zeal smiled
“Thank you.” Peace smiled. This was an answer to prayer that was greater than she imagined.
“When do we leave?” Justice asked.
“The day after tomorrow.”
The three siblings stood and walked to the side of the table.
“Are you sure?” Peace asked again. “You have a good life here.”
Justice and Zeal looked at each other. “We’re sure.” Justice replied. “You’re the only family we have left. You’re fighting for a good cause, and we want to help. Dafrin’s been more than good to us, but he also understands the desire for something new. He also has several of the young men who would be more than happy to take our places.”
“And in all honesty, there’s nothing here, that we won’t find out on the road with you.”
“Save maybe a little stability.” Justice finished. “But I’m not sure I really like stability anyway.”
The three laughed quietly and embraced. A new chapter was about to start in all their lives. A chapter of hope.