Hello! I really enjoyed your piece and first and foremost would like to thank you for sharing. And thank you for requesting a review. The following is a thorough review for your piece and I hope you find it helpful.

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I found a few errors with your grammar and punctuation. I made the following suggestions below:

Keep your characters' words and actions together. Each character gets their own paragraph, but you don't need to add a paragraph between their actions and their words.

Avoid adverbs. Let your actions speak for themselves because adverbs tend to be "telling" words rather than "showing" ones. For example: Zahara said softly. She clasped her hands together on her lap and rubbed at her fingers uneasily. Can be rewritten as: Zahara said, her voice barely audible. She clasped her hands together on her lap, wringing them until her knuckles turned white. When you take out the adverbs, you can add more description to show your characters rather than telling the reader how they're feeling.

Watch your tenses. I noticed a few times where you switched into present tense instead of sticking with past tense. I'd suggest combing through the piece to find those areas that need rephrasing.

your betrothal to Timothy should’ve never happened.

He held out his shaking hands in front of him and then closed them.

moan for myself,” she shut her eyes and replied. Switch word order: she replied and shut her eyes.

Matthias closed in the distance between them, his voice changing to a lower tone.

sense of awe--not in the present circumstance.

“You risk too much.” Shaking her head

Zahara sensed when he raised his head and looking at him, she followed his gaze to the terrace.
Awkward. Consider something like: When he raised his head Zahara looked at him and followed his gaze to the terrace.

“I’ll be on the mount at noon waiting for you to come to me with your answer in a week.”
Awkward. Consider switching around the words: In a week I'll be waiting for you on the mount at noon. Come to me with your answer.

he leaned against the wall behind him and covered his face with his forearm.

Tell me what has happened to have you looking like this?”

I need to see Jethro. I know he wouldn’t be pleased that I did not show up tonight, but I have my reasons.”
Watch your tenses. It should be: I knew he wouldn't OR I know he won't

The awkward entry stung, but he stood his grounds.

Matthias looked at him, astounded at his jolly demeanor. Maybe he’s drunk.

and though he was anything, but hungry, Matthias decided he would eat--if only to avoid unnecessary questions.

If I choose to have nothing to do with Asa and his affairs, that’s my business--none of yours.

He bent and held on to the table next to him

Is this not proof enough, I am trying to do something good for you?
Awkward. Try placing this sentence after the bit about how he chose Matthias overr his own son. That's where the proof lies. When you start the paragraph with this, it falls a little flat and just sounds awkward because the true proof hasn't been presented yet.

Don’t you ever call my mother’s name in your mouth again,
Awkward. Try: Don't you ever dirty my mother's name with your mouth again.

Matthias stormed out of his uncle’s private quarters.

I'd like to see your characters interact with the setting a little more. You give them actions which provides life, but I'd like to see more around them. On their walk you could mention the objects around them. You can also use the setting to set the mood: what is the weather like? What do the houses around them look like? What season is it? It can be fun to play around with the surroundings to set the tone for your scene. I'm not sure if you've described some of the setting of say Jethro's house in the previous chapters, but if you haven't, I'd like to see you develop this world a little more. I'm not seeing much of the surroundings. Really delve deep and show me the world you've pictured in your mind because I get the sense that it's really interesting.

I think this chapter provides a lot for the plot. You've got a lot of interesting things going on and definitely introduced some key pieces of information. As a whole, I find that this chapter holds up on it's own. I think you've got the right amount of suspense and other elements that hold it together and provide enough to complete the chapter. You left on a sort of cliffhanger which definitely is good to draw the reader into the next chapter. I like that you started with Matthias introducing the idea of running away and then ultimately ending with it. That was a good use of foreshadowing. Overall, I think you've written this chapter well in terms of plot development.

I like that you switched between Zahara and Matthias in this chapter. It was interesting to see both their points of view. I guess something I would like to see is more their thoughts on each other. Does their presence linger with each other? If they're in love I'd like to see more of their emotions towards each other. However, I also understand they've got a lot going on. I liked Zahara's interaction with her cousin. I thought her cousin was a good foil and that I'd like to see how their relationship develops with her nosiness. I also found the part with Matthias and his uncle interesting and a great way to reveal a lot of plot points. I think you've captured a good omnipotent third person narrator to reveal these situations.

I find these characters to be interesting, but not fully developed. I'd like to see them have little quirks all their own. I like the way they talk, I think you've developed a certain voice for all your characters that's well done. I'd just like to see more in their actions and how they interact with their environment specifically. I think one thing that could help with this is if you go through and get rid of adverbs and replace them with descriptions that "show" your character rather than just telling them that they're uneasy or whatnot. How does that character express uneasiness? I think this will allow you to add a little more depth.