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Book: The Sons Of God - Page 8

Onam motioned for her to follow him, and carrying the goblet, walked toward the edge of the camp. Every person close enough to see them pass stopped whatever task they were about, and bowed to the ground until they passed. At the edge of the camp, the maiden and her god entered the knee-deep grass, and walked toward a large tree. Onam stopped in the shade, then turned to face the beauty behind him.
Again, she dropped down to put her face to the earth, then straightened her back to face him, but stayed on her knees in respect. Her eyes looked directly at him and she spoke firmly with no fear in her voice. "My Lord, the people have no idea of the value of the goblet you have in your hand, but my father knew. He made them for our king. Then he ran with them when the king was assassinated. The king's soldiers killed my mother when they searched our house, and didn't find them. We fled our homeland, and lived here and there for ten summers before we settled with these people. The goblets and their secrets are all I have left of my father. I will not give them up to man, or god, without something in return."
Onam couldn't believe what he had just heard. He was surprised at her firm statement and lack of fear. He could just take the goblets. But he wanted to know the source of the gold, and still show her he was in control. After a few moments thought, he asked in a menacing tone, "You would bargain with your God?"
Maya never wavered, or showed any sign of weakness, but continued to look straight at his eye shield. "My mother paid for those goblets with her blood. My father protected them most of his life. I have known for many summers, that in most small countries I could be queen for the price those goblets would bring. I watch the married women around me, so I am well aware that without those goblets, I am worth nothing. If I give the gold away, I will be just like them. I don't want to be just one of the possessions of some man, tending cooking fires, and children the rest of my life."
Onam's mind worked quickly. This woman was quick, honest, beautiful, and she had something he wanted. So he asked, "What do you want for your gold, and your secrets?"
"Since I was a child, I dreamed of flying like the birds. I wanted to be taken up through the clouds to be with my God, yet I wasn't even considered for the Sacrifice of the Virgins. I want to be important. I want to be looked up to. And I want to be in control of my life, with no man telling me what to do."
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Onam was pleasantly surprised that Maya would give up her gold and her secret to be taken where he wanted her anyway. He would take her, but he knew he would have to face Lijalem if he told her she could fly, and be in control of her life. He decided to worry about Lijalem later. "Are you sure you want to trade the gold and its secrets to live the rest of your life with your god?"
"My Lord I will gladly give all I have to live my life with you, and fly."
"Early tomorrow morning bathe in the river and be clean. Use sweet smelling oils on your skin. Comb your hair. Wear your best robe, and be beautiful. At mid-morning, walk to this place with the goblets, and you will be swept into the air to be with me."
Maya kept her back straight, but quickly bowed her head. She didn't want her god to see her eyes overflowing with tears of happiness and relief. But then, although she could feel them spilling down her cheeks, she lifted her face to look directly at his eye-shield. "Thank you, Lord."
Onam signaled and was picked up in the rotor bird. As he was lifted from the earth, he looked down to see that everyone in the camp had their face to the ground except Maya. She was defiantly watching her god rise from the earth. He knew he had let her get the best of him, but he told himself, If she's too defiant I"ll just get rid of her, and I"ll still have the gold.
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"It's ours Lijalem, the gold is ours!" Onam's voice echoed against the walls of the bird storage.
Lijalem came to the door of the common room to see what the noise was all about. "What's ours? What's all the noise about?"
"Lijalem, I can't believe it was so easy. Remember your concern about going slow until we found out where the gold came from? It was no problem at all. The goblets were brought here by the daughter of The Old One, and all she wants for them is to be sacrificed to her god, and learn to fly. She'll be here tomorrow with the goblets. Can you believe it was that simple?"
Lijalem stepped through the hall door into the bird storage, "And you told her she could fly?"
"She has all that gold. I had to."
Lines appeared in Lijalem's forehead, and his eyes narrowed. He spoke a little louder, and every word was sarcastic, but distinct. "No. I don't believe it's going to be that simple. Did she tell you where the gold came from?"
"No. Jorham said The Old One brought the goblets from a far off place, but Maya hasn't told me where yet. She did tell me that her father made them for a king, and her mother was killed because he ran with them when the king was assassinated."
Lijalem became angrier, and began to speak louder, until his voice echoed from the walls of the bird storage. "We agreed the reason to be patient was to find where the gold came from." Workers in the storage stopped what they were doing, stunned because they had never heard Lijalem raise his voice. "Onam I don't like what you"ve done. Do you remember how hard you worked, and how long it took for you to gain our confidence? She hasn't told you where the gold came from, yet you"re bringing her here because she said she would? She hasn't told you where it came from, and you told her she could fly?" He was waving his hands in frustration, and getting even louder. The confused workers turned away, and pretended to be busy. "Females can't fly! We didn't even try to counsel Tigist to fly. What if this maid decides she doesn't want to tell us where the gold came from, and she's seen us as men? What then?"

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Onam had decided earlier that no matter what Lijalem thought, he was now valuable enough to do some things his way. He knew that Lijalem was aware of his ability to play god, and control people. He was the only one that had these abilities. Without them Lijalem would never have the city he wanted, or the gold for the new temple. He knew Lijalem well enough to know he would calm down soon, so he ignored his anger, and continued.. "I believe this woman would do anything to keep from spending the rest of her life at the cooking fire, and I don't believe getting the information we want is going to be a problem."
Lijalem held his hand up so Onam would be quiet. He hesitated for a moment, trying to calm down, then said, "I hope not Onam." He was silent again, long enough that Onam turned to go. Lijalem caught his arm, and turned him back. When they were face to face again, he looked Onam straight in the eyes and his voice was very quiet, but still very angry. "Because I"ll make sure she dies if she causes trouble. You made the law yourself." Lijalem turned and left without saying another word.
Onam went looking for Habtamu. He knew Lijalem wanted those goblets as much as he did, and he needed to make arrangements for the next mornings flight. One of the storage workers said he thought Habtamu was in the women's area. Onam found him in the garden with his new wife. She was feeding Habtamu grapes, one at a time.
"Habtamu, aren't you the one that thought he was too old to be happy with a young woman? Look at you. I've never seen you so relaxed. Could I drag you away for a few moments to discuss some flying I need you to do tomorrow?"
Habtamu didn't want to talk about flying at that moment. But he reluctantly pulled himself away from his pretty wife, and followed Onam into the hall toward the bird storage, still chewing the last grape. Onam latched the heavy door behind them.
"Habtamu I need you to pick up a maiden tomorrow. She"ll be just outside the camp.
Habtamu laughed, "What do you mean 'she?" Are you taking another wife already?"
"Go ahead and laugh. But you won't laugh when you see what she's bringing with her. Now let's talk about when and where. At mid-morning she"ll walk away from the camp to wait by the big tree at the high place. I'm going fly the firebird for thunder. When everyone puts their face to the ground, you and Yetbarek fly down in the rotor bird and pick her up. Bring her here, see that all the wives are in their rooms, and leave her alone in the garden."
"All right Onam, but I don't know what your going to do with two young women. If either one is jealous you"ll have more trouble than you can take care of."
Onam laughed, "I'll give you the ones I don't need."
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Long after sunrise the next morning, when the shadows were beginning to grow short, a beautiful young woman walked from the camp toward a tree in a nearby meadow, and a meeting with her God. As she approached the tree under a cloudless sky, she thrilled to hear the power of his thunder echoing across the valley. She carefully placed a cloth on the ground, bowed her face low in the tall grass, and listened to the rolling thunder grow quieter, and disappear into silence.
A breeze moved the tree above her, and made the shadows of the leaves dance on the grass around her. Only moments had passed when the birds started singing again, but Maya grew impatient. While still on her knees she straightened her back to watch for her god. When she heard the faint wop, wop, wop of the rotor blades, she bowed her face back to the ground. The noise grew louder and louder as it came in her direction. Finally it was directly over her head, and she began to feel the power of the wind. There was another loud roar as her god cracked his thunder across the sky. She was so thrilled she could hardly breath. This was real, and it was happening to her. When the wind began to blow away from her in all directions, she pulled her robe in tight around herself, but her hair blew as the grasses blew, in all directions. She had never heard such noise, or felt such wind. The power of her god was far beyond her understanding. Gentle hands guided her up and placed her in the rotor bird, then reached back for her heavy bag and placed it at her feet.
The opening closed behind her, and she was lifted away from the world she knew, on a flight that she had dreamed about so many times. As she combed her tangled hair again, she looked down and was thrilled to watch the bowing people and trees get smaller. Wild animals ran from the noise of the rotor bird, and splashed into the river. As Maya watched, the disturbed water broke the suns reflection into many small pieces. After what seemed like a very short time, she approached the earth again. Maya was disappointed. She had dreamed of flying high and far, but the rotor bird was coming down. The beings helped her out of the rotor bird and led her down a long hallway through a heavy door and into a garden. She was told to make herself comfortable, and wait for her god. Maya was still thrilled, but now she was beginning to grow nervous. She would soon see her god in all his glory. Finally there was a loud clank of the heavy door and she turned to see a tall young man appear. As he walked toward her, she noticed his confident, relaxed walk. He had short dark hair, no beard, blue eyes and a smile that was very easy to return. But she quickly stopped smiling remembering that she was waiting for her god. She didn't want to be friendly with a stranger and ruin this moment.

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"Maya you look beautiful, more beautiful than I have ever seen you look."
Maya could not have been more shocked if he had slapped her. She was having trouble accepting what she was seeing and hearing. Thoughts passed quickly through her mind. The voice is the voice of my God. Has he taken the body and appearance of a man, a beautiful young man? A shiver of excitement ran through her whole body. This is too good to be true.
"But I thought you, I, I never dreamed..." She had trouble putting her thoughts into words.
Onam laughed. This beautiful creature was even more shocked than the first four maidens had been when the head shields and gloves came off. He sat beside her, took her hands in his, and looked into her eyes. He recognized what he saw there. He had seen it once before in Leah's eyes. Awe, admiration, openness, and joy. It was his turn to be excited. The thought of his conquest for gold was totally forgotten for the moment. Onam stood and pulled gently at her hands until she stood with him. One hand held hers, the other came up to her chin and gently tilted her head while he kissed her.
For Maya the earth, the sky, the beautiful garden, and the bird-song, all ceased to exist. Her whole world, for this moment in her life, was this beautiful man.
This had started with his desire for gold, while the thing she wanted most was to get away from the cooking fires. But in a moment when the sun and the earth stood still, they both realized they were involved in much, much more than either of them had expected.
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Lijalem, Habtamu and Yetbarek were already eating the morning meal when Onam came in. Lijalem couldn't resist being sarcastic. "Good morning Onam. I was starting to think you were never going to come back to our world."
"All right, all right. I haven't been around for awhile, but I'm back now, and I'm hungry. Can I have my morning meal before we talk?"
"Since we haven't seen it yet, our real concern is the gold. Are you sure there was gold, or was that just an excuse to bring back another maiden?"
"There is gold, but let me eat first, then I'll tell you all about it." Onam piled his plate high and started eating.
And although Lijalem was serious, Yetbarek and Habtamu just wanted to have fun with him. Yetbarek looked serious, "Onam your first wife was wondering if she would ever see you again."
Then Habtamu had his turn. "My wife wanted to know when you were going to bring me another wife to share her responsibilities."
Onam pushed his plate back, "All right! I'll talk. But before you ask again, yes we have the gold. What else do you want to know?"
Habtamu started to speak, but Lijalem held up his hand for silence, then leaned across the table and looked straight into Onam's eyes. "Did you find out where it came from?"
"No. Maya freely gave me the gold, but she wanted much more for her secret. She wants as much power as we have. She wants to share in decisions involving power, gold and slaves. But more than anything else, she wants to learn to fly. I told her I would talk to you and promised her nothing."
The three men sat in stunned silence. Finally Habtamu said, "I won't even consider it. She wants too much!"
Yetbarek agreed, "We have spent our lives building all this, and she wants an equal share for four gold goblets?"
There was complete silence for a few moments, then Lijalem finally spoke. He had been doing a lot of thinking. His voice didn't show anger now, but he was careful with his words. "Onam has taken it upon himself to bring her here without consulting with the group. But since it is done, let's not be frightened. He obviously thinks a great deal of this woman, so let's go along with his plan for the time being. Just for now, let's look at this with only the thought of gain or loss. This woman is smart. She gives some, and promises more. She knows how to get what she wants. We have the gold, but she has the information we want. We know how to get more gold. She knows where it is. If we take her into our circle we have everything to gain, and very little to lose. And by Onam's own law, if she's too much trouble, we"ll just get rid of her."
Habtamu spoke in sarcastic disbelief, "A maiden wants to fly and make decisions? We brought her here as a slave, now she wants slaves of her own.? She wants power? This woman brings us too much trouble. And Onam, ...maidens can't fly!"
Yetbarek broke in, "Habtamu, don't forget she already holds a lot of power, she holds the secret to more gold. Besides anyone that wants to fly as much as she does must have some good about her."
Everyone was quiet, with thoughts of their own, until Lijalem asked, "Onam, what do you want to do? She's your wife."
"She knows where the gold came from, and she said she would make sure the women were cared for properly and kept in their place. I want to give her a chance."
No one was totally convinced, least of all Lijalem, but they were four goblets richer than before Maya came into the picture. "All right, Onam, we'll try it, but don't hesitate to take care of a problem should it arise. If she gets out of hand with the information she'll have, she could cause us no end of trouble."
********************************************************************Onam found her relaxed on her mat. "Maya they accepted you, but there's something you have to know. You will have information that no other woman on earth has. If you use it against us, you will die very quickly, just as any of us would under the same circumstance. Do you understand?"

Edited: mousetrails on 27th May, 2008 - 6:55am

Page 8 God Sons Book

Maya rose from the mat and came to where Onam was standing. She slipped her arms around his waist and pulled him close. For a long moment she looked deep into his eyes, then laid her head gently on his shoulder and in a very soft voice said, "I will never turn against you. You are my God."
The meeting he just came from was still fresh in Onam's mind, so Maya's advances meant little. "Maya they asked me again where the gold came from. Will you tell me now?"
He had broken the feeling she was trying to create between them, so she backed away. Her answer was very firm. "No. I'll sit down with all four of you and tell you everything after my first flying lesson."
Onam didn't understand why she was holding the information back, but he instinctively knew that she had to have what she wanted, so he replied, "Then we'd better start this morning. The first lesson isn't really a lesson, it's a flight to give you some idea what flying is all about. Then we'll come back here and start your training."
"Here? On the ground?"
"Yes. On the ground. You"ll learn how a bird flies, and what the controls do long before you ever touch them. Now let's go try one of Lijalem's head shields on you. I know it will be too big, but it will do until we have one made for you."
Onam reached high on a shelf to pull down an old, dusty head shield. He took it to a bowl of water to clean the outside, then wiped the spiderwebs from the inside. When it was clean, he stood in front of Maya holding it over head. He slipped it down past her ears, then taught her how to fasten the chin strap, and pull the eye shield down over her eyes.
They walked out to Onam's old pedal bird. Onam walked around the bird with Maya, examining and explaining the control surfaces and wind creator. When he was satisfied that everything was in order, he helped Maya climb in the back seat. He showed her how to fasten herself to the seat, made sure she was comfortable, and explained that when two people fly this bird, they both have to pedal. He showed her where to put her feet, then watched as Maya turned the wind creator a few times, before he climbed in.
"Onam does this bird make much noise?"
Onam laughed, "You mean does it make thunder?"
"Yes"
Onam began pedaling, and they started their roll with the wind toward the end of the bird path before he answered her. "It doesn't make thunder, and it's much slower than the firebird."
"Then it's the firebird that makes the thunder of my god?"
"Yes. But how did you know it came from a bird?"
"I watched the sky one day when everyone else had their face to the ground."
"You what?"
Maya ignored his question and continued. There was something she had been longing to ask. "If I learn to fly this bird, can I fly the firebird?"
Onam's mind hadn't yet accepted the fact that she had dared to watch, so he wasn't really listening. He started to tell her how wrong she had been, but realized she had asked yet another question. "What did you say?"
"Can I learn to fly the firebird?"
Her thinking was far ahead of his. He couldn't think of a reason to say no, so he answered in resignation, "After much learning."
Onam moved the control to his left, and the little bird turned to point its wind creator down the long bird path.
Maya's feet were moving with the pedals, but her mind was racing far ahead. She said softly to herself, "Someday, I"ll be a goddess."
While he was making the final inspection of the control surfaces, Maya was deep into her day-dreams, already rising high above the clouds. This was excitement beyond her wildest dreams.
"Maya, you have to help!"
"This makes my legs tired."
"If you don't pedal, you don't fly!"
Flying was her only desire at that moment, so she put more effort into her pedaling. But as the bird rose, she tried to see everything below. She entered a dream world as she watched the earth slip away. The trees and the river slowly became smaller, but soon her legs brought her back to reality again. They were tired, and they hurt!
Onam read her thoughts. "You"ll get stronger with practice. Is there anything you"d like to see?"
Maya thought a moment, "I"d like to see the village where I lived when you found us."
Onam tipped the wings and turned the bird north. The flight was boring for him since he was used to flying much faster. As they crossed the low ridges, Maya looked intently at the deep shadows in the small valleys between them. She could see large herds of wild animals feeding on the tall grass in the cool of the morning. Suddenly she shouted, "Look, Onam, look! There's a lion!"

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Onam tipped a wing to look, but he had seen lions stalk their prey before, so he just leveled the wings and said, "Maya, if you don't pedal, I"m going back."
Her efforts increased again, but she was still looking back in disappointment when the lion disappeared from view. They had crossed another ridge to fly over a large valley when Onam tipped a wing and said, "There it is." Below was Maya's old village. Smoke was coming from some of the chimneys and there were people in the streets looking up, pointing at the bird.
Maya shouted in excitement, "Someone has taken our village! People are living in my old dwelling! Look you can see smoke from the cooking fire." Then in disappointment she realized, "There are people everywhere!"
"Maya you don't need to shout. I can hear you."
"I know but,..."
"Maya you don't live there anymore. It's not your dwelling they're living in."
"But Onam!"
"Maya what do you want to do, move back here?" She didn't answer. She just sat in silence until Onam reminded her again, "Pedal, Maya!"
As they made the return trip, Maya was still fascinated by the miniature objects on the earth below. There were trees and streams, and wild animals that didn't look up, but the lion she had seen was gone. Her mind was wandering in many directions when she felt the sensation of falling. Everything looked the same, and it only lasted for a moment, but it focused her mind sharply on where she was. Just as she decided it had been her imagination and began to relax, it happened again causing her to gasp. Then, as before, the feeling went away. Suddenly her whole being told her she was definitely falling. As she screamed in pure terror, the sensation stopped again. Everything looked as it had before, but now she felt sick. Onam was still pedaling, and the bird was upright, but she could hear him laughing. Then it felt like the seat under her was pushing her into the sky.
"Maya, are you going to help me pedal?"
"Onam, what are you doing!?"
"I"m not doing anything. It's the air we"re flying through. Pedal!"
"I want it to stop!"
"I can't just will it to stop."
"Why?"
"Maya, we"ll land soon. I"ll explain it then."
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Onam wasted no time guiding his little bird back to the outside storage area. As soon as the wind creator stopped turning, Maya was all questions. "What was that? Why couldn't you make it stop?"
"Maya it was just the air rising and falling because the sun heats the earth. You"re going to feel a little or a lot of that every time you fly, except early in the morning, or when you"re very high above the earth."
"It's exciting now, but it felt like I was falling, and I didn't know why!"
"You also felt like you were rising. It's nothing to worry about."
"Onam, its still early, please take me up in the firebird. I want to see what it feels like to be a goddess. Just take me up for a few moments."
She left no doubt in Onam's mind that flying excited her, but he was surprised that she wanted more so soon. "I thought you were afraid of the falling air."
"I was afraid because I didn't know what was happening. Onam, didn't you tell me the firebird can fly very high?"
"Yes."
"Then we can go above the falling air." She paused to give him a very loving look, and in her softest voice she pleaded, "Please, Onam."
"All right, Maya, I'll see if there's a bird ready, but no promises."
Maya climbed out of the small bird and helped Onam tie it down, then they walked in to find Yetbarek. He was lying on the floor of a bird with his head up behind the flight-knowledge table. "You weren't gone long."
"Maya wants to fly higher. Is there a firebird ready for flight?"
"We"re through with the one outside."
"Thanks Yetbarek. We"ll return soon."
Maya wasted no time. She had already started back toward the firebird. When Onam reached the bird, he climbed the wing, then reached down to give Maya a hand up. She locked her arms tightly around his waist and looked straight into his eyes, "I can't believe this is really happening to me. A few days ago I was the most unhappy woman in the world. Now I"m about to fly in a bird that makes the thunder of my god."
He looked into her eyes and saw nothing but admiration. He kissed the tip of his first finger, then touched her nose, "We must start if you want to see much. The sun will be down soon. Here, give me your hand." He helped her climb into the rear seat, and once again fastened her in. They rolled with the wind, then turned to look the length of the long wide bird path, and stopped. Onam moved all the controls and watched their effect on the wings. Then he looked at the flight-knowledge table once more, and started his take off roll.

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There was no daydreaming on this flight. Maya was all eyes from the start. She could feel the power of the thunder shake her body. As the bird rolled faster, she felt very heavy against the back of her seat. The edge of the bird path became a green blur, and the faster they moved the heavier she felt. When they rose from the earth everything was a blur, and try as she might she could not lift her arms. She looked back to see everything on the earth getting smaller again, but this time it was happening very quickly. As she watched, the world outside the bird suddenly turned bright white. She couldn't even see the ends of the wings. When she was about to scream out in fear, her world suddenly turned back to a beautiful blue again. "What was that?"
"Maya calm down. It was only a cloud, and I can hear you through my head shield, You don't have to shout."
She said, "Sorry," then looked down on the cloud that had frightened her. It looked soft like lambs wool. "Can we do that again?"
"What?"
"The cloud. Can we go through a cloud again?"
Onam turned, saw a small cloud, flew through it, and heard Maya laugh. "All right Maya, see the staff between your knees?"
"Yes."
"Put your hand on it, and hold it lightly."
Maya touched the vibrating staff with the palm of her hand, then gently wrapped her fingers around it. A shiver of excitement shook her whole body.
"That's too tight. Let go. Now, hold it lightly with your fingertips."
"Is that better?"
"Now, as you hold the staff lightly, I'm going to move it. Watch what happens." Onam continued to explain what he was doing as he moved the staff to the left, and the left wing dropped to start a gentle left turn. Then he made a small movement to the right to stop the wing from dropping lower. He held the bird in the turn for several moments, then moved the staff to the right again. The bird rolled into a right turn. Then he rolled it back level.
"Can I try it Onam?"
"Be sure to make small, gentle movements and balance the tilt of your wings after you start your turn." Onam released his grip on the staff but kept his hand close. He watched as the staff moved left, and the bird began its tilt. The tilt became steeper and steeper, until the bird was on its side and still slowly rolling.
When they were upside down, Maya screamed in terror. "Onam!"
"What?"
"Do something!"
"Let go, Maya." Onam rolled the bird on over to see the sky above them again. The silence lasted so long he was beginning to wonder about her. "Maya, are you all right?" When she finally spoke, he could tell she was not herself.
"I'm sorry, Onam. It looked so easy."
"You'll learn." His eye shield hid his smile. He was glad she had done exactly as he had expected. Now he would get no argument about starting her in the slow pedal bird. He knew she would never be able to pedal his little bird by herself, so she would never learn to fly, even though he had said he would counsel her.
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As they climbed down from the firebird, one of the bird storage workers walked out to tell them Lijalem was waiting for them in the common room. Onam turned to Maya, looking very serious. "That doesn't surprise me. He's waiting for you to tell us where the gold came from. Are you ready to talk about the gold, now that you've had your first flying lesson?" As he talked, he noticed that she didn't look well. She was very pale, and her hands shook a little as she took her head shield off, so he had a hard time not showing surprise at her answer.
"Onam, I'm ready to tell you anything you ask, but I want to fly again tomorrow."
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Lijalem, Yetbarek, Habtamu, and Tigist were in the common room enjoying a warm fire while they waited to hear Maya's story. When Maya and Onam entered, Maya begged their pardon, and went to change raiments and brush her hair. When she reappeared, everyone watched in expectation as she crossed the room to stand with her back to the fire warming her hands. Onam admired the beauty of this small female with the fire lighting the edge of the red hair around her head. It reminded him of the sun behind a cloud, lighting only the edges like a halo.

Book Sons God - Page 8

For a long moment, she looked at the floor, then raised her head and looked at each person in turn as she spoke. "I know you"re all waiting to hear my story. Thank you for your patience. I"ve told Onam. Now I"ll tell you my reason for being so careful. It's very simple. It was because as long as I had the secret of the gold, I felt important. I didn't want to be a nobody, just some man's wife to tend the fire, and bear children. When I heard about the Sacrifice of the Virgins, I was excited. I have felt for several new moons that I couldn't stay in camp the rest of my life. So I was willing to sacrifice myself to my god for a chance to fly away like the maidens. I wanted so much to be a part of the maiden's excitement, but I was told I was too old. I was sure I was doomed until Onam noticed me and brought me here."
Lijalem sat forward in his chair, "Weren't you angry with Onam when he killed your father?"
"No. I was actually happy. He was mean to me after my mother was killed, and beat me for nothing. I"m sorry. I promised you a story and I haven't started yet. When I was a child, my father fashioned gold for the king. Soldiers came one day looking for my father. They had beheaded the king, and my father had run away with some of the gold. My mother wouldn't tell them where he was, so they ran a sword through her. They searched the house, but found nothing, so they set it on fire. My baby brother died in that fire. A neighbor hid me for two moons. Then my father came for me in the dark and we fled the country. I still remember my father digging in the night to move his gold from one village to the next. He told me never to talk about his digging. It seemed that as soon as I made friends, my father would get suspicious of the people around us, go digging in the night, and move again. We moved from village to village every six or twelve moons. When I was still a child, he got the idea that I was telling people about his gold, and he started to beat me. I began to hate him and his gold. I ran away once, but he found me and beat me again. After that, I didn't make friends or talk, and I did my best to stay out of his way. That didn't work either. He would hear someone in the village mention gold and come home to accuse me of talking too much, then beat me again. One day we moved to the village where Onam found me. There was never any talk of gold, so my father began to ask where he night find some. The people didn't know what to tell him. They had never seen gold and weren't impressed when he showed them a small piece. It was just a new metal to them, too soft, and too heavy, to be of value. My father was overjoyed. He could live in peace with his gold, and beat his daughter at will. I was glad when he was dead. I was glad when Onam killed him. He was evil." Maya was quiet for a few moments while she looked at Onam, then at the floor, and back at Onam. She knew she had gone too far to stop, and fear gripped her throat so she couldn't speak.
Everyone waited in silence until Onam said, "Maya, we have waited patiently. Tell us where you were born. Where does the gold come from?" Maya stood looking at them not saying anything. He stood and walked to her, taking her hand in his. "Maya?"
She whispered, "I'm afraid, Onam. I feel stronger carrying this secret. If I give it up, I'll be nobody again, just another woman to tend fires and bear children."
"Maya, I made you my wife and took you into our inner circle. You"ve flown in a firebird. You're going to spend the rest of your life here because you know too much for us to ever let you leave. We"re committed to you, but if you won't commit to us, my agreement to treat you different than the others is ended. You will be just another wife tending the fires. Now, whatever you do helps or hurts the whole group. You can help us all to have riches, or you can hang onto your secret and feel powerful, but no one here will care."
Maya still stood silent, looking down, but for only another moment. When she did look up, everyone in the room was watching her, waiting for her to speak. She took a deep breath, but panicked.. Then she took another deep breath, slowly brought her chin up to hold her head high, and forced herself to speak. "All right, Onam, it was a land called Kynon." Then, after she told them the name of the country, the words seemed to come easier. "The earth was good there. It grew plenty of fruit and vegetables, and no one ever went hungry. Everyone had some gold, but rich people and kings had most of it."
"Where does the gold come from? Where do the people get it?"
"My father told me all the new gold is dug from the earth in Kynon. But my father also told me the easiest way to get gold is to take it from someone that already has it. Kings raise armies to take it by force. If you had an army, you could just go take it like the kings do."
Lijalem stood. "Whether we dig in the earth for it, or just take it from those that already have it, we"re going to have to fight for it. We're going to have to raise an army, make weapons of war, and build my city at the same time. We don't have enough men for that."
Suddenly Maya realized why the group wanted her information, and she was caught up in the excitement. "Onam, we could go back to my old village. When we flew over, I saw as many people as there were when I lived there. If you add those to the people already here you would have about seven thousand men."
Onam started to answer, but Lijalem interupted. "That's a start, but we'll need more than seven thousand. We should have more like fifteen or twenty thousand."

Book Sons God The Bible Revealed - Page 8

Yetbarek had been quietly listening, "Would you need so many men if you used the weapons you"ve created? If you used inferno eruptions against an army that has never seen such weapons, fear alone would have a great effect on any battle."
Lijalem agreed. "I know. I was counting on that, but you need men to hold the land as we take it, and more men to carry supplies. When we are successful, you'll need men to haul the gold back here. Bringing Maya's old village here should be only the start. We"ll have to bring great numbers here if we are to be successful in Kynon."
Onam finally had a chance to speak and asked, "Lijalem how many people will this valley sustain?"
"It's a five day walk to the other end. The river runs the whole length for watering crops, and there's grass in the hills for several days" walk in all directions. I believe this valley could sustain forty or fifty thousand people and their animals, but what about my city and my temple? Onam, we"ve already laid the foundation. I want to see my temple finished before I die!"
"Lijalem, you can't have everything at once. You"re going to need a lot more gold than you have now to decorate your temple the way you"ve dreamed. Let's concentrate our efforts on increasing our population. Then we"ll have the army to get you the gold you want."
Lijalem was disappointed. He stared long moments at the fire, then spoke with resignation in his voice. "All right. I"ll build without more gold. We have enough to finish my temple while you build our numbers, but when you get more gold, it must be used to finish the final decorating of my temple!"
"Every worker will be needed to build homes for the people I"m bringing here. Your temple will have to wait." Onam turned away from Lijalem and changed the subject. "Yetbarek will you start Maya's flight training tomorrow?"
"Do you want her to learn to fly in your old bird?"
"My old bird would be best. I want her to start in something slow." Onam was getting excited. Things were happening the way he wanted again, and he felt he was in control. "Habtamu can you help me look for other villages we might bring here?"
"All right Onam, but I think Lijalem is right. You"re moving too fast, and I think you"re asking for more trouble than all of us can take care of."
Onam was looking ahead, and Habtamu annoyed him. "What is it you think we couldn't make right with our powerful weapons?"
"If we have so many people that close to us, they could overwhelm us before we could get one bird in the air."
Onam was quick with his reply. "I"ll make sure they"re afraid to come close to this mountain." Then he turned back to Lijalem, but the possibility of attack stayed with him. He thought about it for a moment, then dismissed the concept as too unlikely to worry about.
"Lijalem, will you be able oversee the building program with just Jorham to help you?"
Lijalem wasn't happy with the way Onam was taking his help. "Jorham is good help, but these people aren't trained. I have to counsel them about everything. None of them have ever set stone, or leveled the soil, and their wood-cutting skills are still poor. We"ve made progress so far, but all the training is slowing us down. I haven't seen you at the building site recently." Then in a more sarcastic tone he added, "Do you suppose you could take time from your flying to come down and help?"
"You"re right. I haven't been. I'll come tomorrow. Oh, Lijalem, could I see you alone for a few moments?"
When everyone was gone, Lijalem moved closer and asked Onam, "I"ve noticed you haven't said much these last few days. What's bothering you?"
"Lajalem, you have people to rule, your city is being built, and we know where the gold comes from. I have served the group well."
"Yes"
" I would like to use a firebird to visit my father."
"You still want to get even with him, don't you?"
"More than anything. He killed my first love. He took young women and murdered their families. He haunts me in my dreams to this day. "
Lijalem saw his chance, "It will have to wait until my temple is finished."
Now Onam wasn't happy. He knew Lijalem had been thinking while he had been talking. He knew he was caught in a snare of his own making, so he just said, "All right, the visit can wait."
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The birds knew the new day would come soon. They were starting to flutter and twitter in the bushes, but there was only a suggestion of light in the east when Onam and Habtamu walked around their firebirds. They examined all the control surfaces, moving each one with their hands to make sure they were free, then climbed up and settled down into the dark seats. Workers drug heavy wire ropes out of storage, and attached them to each bird. Onam pushed a small button and down deep inside the bird a low pitched growl began. The sound got louder, and higher in pitch, until it was a whine that turned into a scream of fast-moving air. A small movement of his hand added the continuous thunder of a storm, and flame could be seen at the tail of his bird. Another hand movement, and a soft glow of light marked the ends of the wings and tail, and both birds began to roll between two lines of small lights marking their way through the dark.