Angelica by Sharon Shinn Read Free Book Online Page B

induct boys at Mount Sinai, to prevent such trouble in the future. And I immediately said that I would accept only girls here, just so the god did not perceive any favoritism among us. But I am a little sorry sometimes. I love my girls, but I miss the energy and chaos that boys can bring.”
    Gaaron grinned. “Take it from me, girls can bring just as much chaos if they put their minds to it.”
    She smiled back. “Which leads me to ask, how is your sister?”
    Now he grimaced. “Miriam is . . . Miriam. She is not very happy with me these days. I interfere too much in her life.”
    â€œIt wouldn’t matter if you didn’t interfere in her life atall. She would still be restless and turbulent. That is the nature of the woman who bears such a name.”
    Before he could reply, the acolyte entered again with a tray of refreshments. She set it on the table between them, bowed, and left the room soundlessly.
    Gaaron absently filled his plate; his mind was on the last thing Mahalah had said. “Her name has a meaning? I thought it was just one of the names from the Librera.”
    â€œAs is mine, and yours, and everybody’s,” Mahalah replied. “But, yes, most of those names did at one time mean something. You, for instance. Gabriel Aaron. Your names mean ‘God is my strength’ and ‘mountain of strength’—so you see, you were very well named. Mine isn’t so clear in translation, some texts say it means ‘dancer’ and some say ‘harpist.’ And Miriam—well, the name means ‘rebellion.’ Of all of us, perhaps, she was the most aptly called.”
    â€œI thought the names were just . . .” Gaaron shrugged, then smiled. “A collection of pleasing syllables.”
    â€œYes, we have forgotten much in the centuries since we have been on Samaria,” Mahalah said in a regretful voice. “We came to this place knowing a great deal—about the world our people lived on before, about the way we arrived on this world, about the order of the stars and the planets above us. We’ve lost all that. We’ve lost our history.” She snorted. “We’ve even lost our language, to some extent. Can you read the Librera? Not one in five can. Maybe not one in ten. Our language has changed, and some of the words in the great book are lost to us. How much more will we lose as the centuries roll on? Two hundred years from now, what else will we have forgotten?”
    Gaaron listened, frowning. “But what have we lost? We know that Jovah carried us away from the world where our fathers lived because there was such hatred and dissonance there that he feared we would all die in a fire of self-destruction. And that he brought us here to Samaria, and bid us live in harmony—as we have done. And because technology brought about the weapons that led to the ruin of our old world, we have chosen to do without technology on our new one. What else is there to know? What important parts have we forgotten?”
    She leaned forward, her black eyes intense. “How did he bring us here? Through what method?”
    Gaaron sat back, perplexed. “He carried us here in his hands. So the Librera says.”
    â€œAnd can you read the Librera?” she shot back.
    â€œI—a few words—not whole chapters,” he said.
    â€œSo you cannot translate the passage about how his hands wrapped about us and ferried us through the stars to this planet. But don’t you wonder about that? Just a little? How his hands held us? There were hundreds in that first settlement. Whose hands are big enough to hold that many lives at once?”
    Gaaron smiled a little. “Oracle, are you speaking blasphemy?”
    She settled back in her wheeled chair and shook her head. “No, I am sighing over the ignorance of the world,” she said. “I am a devout woman, but I have always had a lot of questions. It