AN: I own nothing btw thank you to my betas disturbinglyprofound and cocoidie-18 and some other friends who don't have accounts on this site. This story is like all re done because I looked at it and I was like what was I thinking? So ya 3/3 stories updated by around mid February not bad actually followed a time line for once. So enjoy and tell me what you think by you guessed it reviewing
Reuben:
The door to our cell closes and all hell breaks loose.
I turn to the others with a suggestion. "My brothers, perhaps we should all calm down and think about this."
"You should learn to keep your big fat mouth shut, Simeon!"
"What? You are the biggest, loudest, rudest loudmouth, Judah."
Judah throws back his head and laughs. He cringes and says in a high pitched voice, "Please sir, please believe us, sir. We're not spies, sir; we don't know anything, sir. Can I lick your boots, sir?"
I stop listening with a sigh. I am used to being ignored. Our cell is dark; not much light breaches the one small window in the square room. There isn't even enough room for all ten of us to lie down. I watch the thick wooden door, wondering if my brothers would shout themselves out or if guards would come to silence them first.'
I'm propping myself against the wall in the corner closets to the door. I don't even think that my brothers notice me half the time.
But maybe that's a good thing. Even though I'm the eldest brother I have no wish to lead or control.
Two hours later
Simeon has lost his voice from yelling at Judah, and they are driving the rest of us insane. Dan and Asher have moved as far away as possible from them, but that's still not far. Surely there must be bigger cells around here; at least bigger than .
All of the sudden the door slams open, and three guards come in and start to crack their whips, hitting us in the process.
"Shut up, you lot! If you keep making all this noise, we will take you all and beat you black and blue, understand!" the leader yells at us.
I have heard stories of what happens to Egyptian prisoners and I can only hope that they keep their mouths shut and listen for once. That finally gets them to shut up, even after he shuts the cell door.
Ten minutes later, out of the blue, Issachar says in deep thought, "What if this is God punishing us for what we did to Joseph?"
"Stop dwelling on the past, Issachar that was a long time ago and none of this has to do with anything else," replies Judah in a rough tone.
And then I hear something from behind one wall. Someone is laughing at us but since we can't see out the door I can only hear footsteps turning around the corner.
I start to think about when we were with the governor; he seemed to know us but I don't know how he could, we are just shepherds and he rules in Egypt, maybe we saw him before he was in such a high position.
I don't know if we will ever find out, but I could tell that he reacted to our words before his servant translated our words for him.
Flashback to meeting
After waiting in the line leading to the grain silos for hours we reach the front where a man is sitting and takes our order.
He looks up at us and asks in a commanding, "Where are you from and how are you paying?"
Judah speaks for all of us. "The land of Canaan my lord," he says, and pulls out a bag of silver. It looks like the same bag they traded Joseph for. But just as he is about to put it on the table a man dressed in fine robes steps out from behind a pile of bags filled with grain. I would guess this is the governor everyone talks about.
"STOP!" he yells. "Do not give them anything, they are spies!" After the translator tells us this Simian speaks up.
"No, sir, we are all brothers who have come to buy food to take back home to our father."
"Why would your father send all his sons here leaving himself alone?" he challenges.
"He is still with his youngest son at home. He has had eleven sons."
I think I see something flash in his eyes for a moment but it's gone just as fast as it came. "It's nice for a man to have such a big family, but are you really telling me the truth about your numbers?" he says in a confident manner, as if he knows that we have another brother.
Judah takes over speaking for us. "At one point, there were twelve of us, my Lord, but he was killed by wolves while we were tending our father's flocks."
At this point even before the translator is finished telling I'm what happened if see the man at the table look at the governor with a questioning look and he just nods back. "No. You are all spies – this I can tell. Guards, take them all to the prison." He then looks at the head guard and says, "You know what cell."
All I know is maybe this is because of what we did to our brother. After all, we did sell him to people on their way to Egypt. Maybe this man knows something about him. I just hope that he won't be too offended. Though I don't think that it would be any worse than staying with my brothers.
So I quietly knocked on the door.
After a while, a guard opens it. "Which one of you knocked on the door?" he asks in a gruff voice.
"I did, sir," I tell him. "I was wondering if I could have a word with you."
"Very well," he says, pulls me out of the cell by my arm, and pushes me against the wall.
"Now what do you want?" he demands.
"I was hoping that I might have a word with the governor, sir. If that would be at all possible," I say as calmly as I can under the circumstances.
He looks at me for a minute then decides "Fine. I will take you to the warden to ask." He then cuffs my hands and pulls me along.
We go through many corridors and end up in front of a door that is being guarded by two guards. He knocks and we both go in. The first thing I notice is that the warden is not alone but is talking to the governor. We both bow to them, though it is a little awkward with my hands bound. I wait to be addressed.
"What are you doing in here? And with one of the prisoners who are in here for..." the warden looks over at the governor.
"They were suspected as spies." he replies calmly, and leans back in the chair he was sitting in.
"I wished to ask for an audience with the governor," I say, bowing again.
"Well," he said, "that's up to him. What do you say?"
"Yes, that is fine," is all the governor replies.
"What do you want to say?" the jailor asks.
"Well, my Lord," I start, but I am cut off.
"Not here. I will speak to you at my home."
He then gets up and turns to leave, beckoning me to come with him. I obey, getting on the chariot behind him with a guard and go off to his palace. When we get there I follow him into a beautiful room. It is colourfully decorated with a comfy feel, and has pillows and couches around the room for guests to come over or to talk with friends. He orders the guard and his servants to leave the room then he sits on the couch. I bow down to the floor in front of him, and then he speaks, saying with kindness I did not suspect, "You do not need to bow to me like that; no one is here so it doesn't matter to me. Please get up."
So I do as he says and stand in front of him.
"Come closer to me," he says.
I do, and he grabs my hands and unties the rope that binds them together. "I don't know why your hands should be tied, for I do not think you will hurt me," he says not unkindly.
"How can you be so sure?" I respond in a curious manner.
"You wanted to talk to me not hurt me, so what do you want to say?"
"Well, my Lord, I wished to know if you understood our language because it seemed like you knew what we said before your translator even spoke."
"Yes that is true I know your language and you, I see, know some Egyptian." He looks vaguely impressed.
"Yes I have picked it up over the years. And I was also wondering, please don't be offended by what I'm about to say my Lord, but I must ask, have you ever met a man called Joseph?"
His face reveals nothing.
"Why do you want to know?" he asks.
So I say, "My Lord, he was our brother, and I thought that since we had sent him to Egypt, maybe you knew him. One of my brothers thought that perhaps it was because we sold him as a slave that this has happened to us. So, if you knew him, I would beg you to tell him how sorry I am for what we did. It was a cruel thing to do and he was our brother."
"So, then," he asks, "do you want me to ask him to forgive you?"
"No my lord I could never ask for that. Only to tell him that his father is alive, sad for the loss of his son but other than that, he is well."
"Hmm," he replied after thinking, "so you don't want to clear yourself, just give him a message? Why?"
"I don't… deserve any more. I tried to save him but I failed him," I say softly, looking down at my feet.
"Very well, then, if that's what you want, I do know him and what he's been through. You and your brothers should know that he suffered as a slave."
"My Lord, have you met him?" I am happy that he is still alive, and at the same time, saddened by the news of his sufferings.
"You could say that, I suppose. Now I know that you would like to guess my name. Would you not?"
"Yes, if my Lord will allow it. Are you, perchance, my brother Joseph?"
He is silent.
"I did not mean to offend you, my Lord..."
"It's alright, you did not offend," he says calmly. Then, I know he must be my brother. So I bow till my head touches the cool stone floor.
"Please my brother, forgive me for failing you, and if you wish to punish me..."
"Enough of that, Reuben, get up. I forgive you and our brothers, I do not wish to harm you at all."
I can't believe this. It is my brother, lost for so long and he starts to cry. And he asks me if I have lost my daughter.
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Well… I found her."
Joseph asks me to take a walk with him, and I agree to. We stroll around the beautiful gardens, admiring the lush grass and flowers, and then to a bench where a young girl of seventeen is sitting with a slave attending her. When she sees us coming she gets up and runs over.
"Father, Father!" she cries, and I realise that this girl being treated like a queen is my daughter. So I run over to her and pick her up.
"What? How? You're alright, I'm so happy."
"I found her hanging around in Egypt so I took her home and made sure she was comfortable. I've given her all she wants. She has a nice-sized room by my sons and has a slave to attend her." Joseph tells me then he points to the young boy of seventeen who's on the ground.
"Get up," he tells the boy, who does so immediately, "Go to the kitchen and tell them I will have guests for dinner."
"Yes master," he says, bows and leaves.
"Aw uncle, but we were just about to go play a board game," my daughter complains.
"He will be back soon, my dear, go amuse yourself for now. By the way, have you seen your aunt Asenath? I've been looking for her. My wife," he tells me.
"Yes, I saw her around the house just a while ago," she tells him.
"Come on, brother, she desperately wants to meet my family, and she will be so mad at me if I don't introduce the two of you shortly." My good-hearted brother Joseph leads Maya and I back to the house to see the family we never knew we had.