THE SHEKEL's BLADE

He fumbled his way to the window. In the street he could hear the cry of frightened horses stomping in the mud, their hooves crackling against the stones of the walls that kept them in place. Far below him where he could see passers-by, he could see a terrified-looking beautiful lady looking around and screaming loudly. Almost like a screech.

The screaming grew louder and louder as the horses kept running about. Wolves rushed out of the palace to surround her and it felt like a war was about to go on. But, she was only a woman in need of help.

Rex looked through his binoculars and saw what he had been waiting for. Who, he had been waiting for—the star whom the soothsayer had asked him to wait for.

"Can it be true?" He wondered aloud as he rubbed his face nervously with his hands. "It can't be. How do I explain to my wife that I'm going to marry another woman? She'll think it's because she hasn't given me a child." He pondered to himself.

In the east, the sun began slowly to rise. It w