Cavalier

Chapter Seventeen

David hates playing the part of sitting duck. It's not that he can't sit still, can't quiet his mind and relax for long periods of time; he was a shepherd for years, and much of that time was spent sitting against a tree with his guitar in hand and waiting for the sheep to unknowingly try something stupid. He has his guitar with him right now, because David's men are awesome and it's possible that he doesn't deserve them. He could very well go outside and find a tree and lean against it and play, but that's what he did yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that.

President Saul is out there, somewhere, looking for him with the intent to kill. David's had time to get used to the idea so it's no longer quite as shocking, and he'd been making due on his own just fine but now he's responsible for other people as well. If Saul manages to locate him again, it's no longer just David's life at stake. He's re-embraced his role as man in charge with ease, embraced it even, but it's hard to be the man in charge when there's nothing to defend against or to fight for.

When you're just—sitting.

So when Uriah comes to his tent before he concedes to another day of playing guitar and doing nothing, says, "There's some sketchy reports coming out of Keliah," David pounces on it.

"What do you mean, sketchy?" he asks, following Uriah to the communications tent where Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Benaiah are already waiting for him. Benaiah's got a set of headphones on, as does Jash, and both of them are listening very intently to what they're hearing as Eleazar reads over the printouts. Eleazar is the only one who looks up when David enters and David can see that he is reluctantly excited. Eager for this monotony to end, although perhaps not at the price that might have to be paid.

"What's coming out of Keliah?" David asks, because sometimes Uriah sucks at answering questions.

Eleazar says, "Not much, that's the problem."

Keliah is an important farming city near the border. It's one of the main grain suppliers of their country and there are no military outposts near it. David frowns. "What?" 

"They sent out an emergency request for immediate military assistance." 

"Any particular reason?"

"Phils robbing the grain stores."

That—that's kind of a big deal. "Does the President know? Is he sending help out or—"

The wound left behind by the massacre at Nob is still too fresh, so he lets the sentence hang in the air. Eleazar is not the one who answers him, however; Benaiah pulls the headset off his ears with a grin on his face and says, "Ah, this is where it gets interesting."

David frowns. "I fail to see how."

"They specifically asked for help from you."

He takes it back. That is very interesting. "And nothing else has come out of it?" 

"Nothing at all."

That's a cause for concern. Keliah is, by and large, completely unprotected. If the Philistines got in it'd be hard to get them out without military intervention. However, the call for help has been broadcasted (over all airwaves, if the frown on Jashobeam's face is any indication), which means that President Saul's camp has at least gotten word of it. If they answer, Saul will have a general location to target him within.

"And Saul hasn't replied or acknowledged?"

"Nothing from his end, sir. Either he's ignoring it or he's dispatching troops really really quietly." Benaiah 's brow furrows. "I'm inclined to think that it's the first one more than the second."