Heavens Before by Kacy Barnett-Gramckow Read Free Book Online Page B

miserably.
    “Well, she’s alive,” said Iltani, her voice scornful.
    “Ugh, look at her jaw.” Ayalah sounded squeamish. “It’s puffed out like a frog’s. Almost the same color too. If we hadn’t run, Yerakh would’ve beaten us the same way.”
    “He will catch us eventually,” Haburah said, shifting from foot to foot. She was restless, angry. Her voice lowered conspiratorially. “We should find Yerakh before he finds us, and we should kill him.”
    Annah listened, appalled. Would Haburah really kill him? Could any of them—including herself—actually lift weapons against Yerakh? To cover her fear, Annah practiced her vacant stare, gazing at the sparkling, swift-flowingwater.
    “How?” Ayalah asked. Her lilting voice dared Haburah to act on her brave, impulsive words. “How would you kill him?”
    “I said we! ” Haburah retorted. “We will kill Yerakh. If you’re too frightened, child, we could get Chathath and Gammad to help us.”
    “You sound as if you would actually do it!” Iltani burst out shrilly. “This is my husband you want to kill! Why do you say these things in front of me?”
    “You should hear them,” Haburah answered coldly. “You’ve been married to him for five years now, and you’ve given not one hint of bearing him a child. I’d wager every hair on my head that he’s going to discard you soon and marry someone else. No man will have you after that. I say you should strike him first.”
    “Why aren’t you saying anything, O mother of my husband!” Iltani demanded of Parah. “Are you too frightened to stand with me? Or do you really want your son to die so you’ll be free to marry that seducer, Tseb-iy?”
    “Tseb-iy has nothing to do with this,” Parah answered, unmoving. “Yerakh is a tyrant, and it’s only a matter of time before his family rebels. I warned your husband, Iltani; he chose a dangerous path by enslaving his own brothers and sisters. And he threatened to kill me for telling him so.”
    “He nearly killed Annah today,” Ayalah added.
    Hearing this, Iltani squealed indignantly. “So he nearly killed the creature! What would it matter?”
    Annah stared into the water, feeling darkness rise within her against Iltani. She longed to scream, I’ve never hurt you, Iltani! But if your husband did kill me, you would shrug and never think of me again. Why do you hate me so?
    Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a violent shudder beneath her. The trees lurched, groaning above her, while the river dashed cold water onto her chest and face, like a living thing subduing her. Gasping, Annah struggled to pull herself higher onto the riverbank. Her mother and sisters were screaming and falling to their knees beside her. Iltani fell with them, wailing in terror, clawing at her, then at Parah.
    Wave after wave of river water rushed upon them as the terrible shaking of the earth continued. Annah tried to brace herself, feeling the sand seeping away from beneath her, fearing the force of the water would pull them into the river. But then the shaking subsided. Annah felt herself trembling helplessly. This was more frightful than being beaten by Yerakh.
    Ayalah was sobbing like a child, and Iltani’s wails faded to wretched groans. Haburah was the first to speak, all her courage apparently gone, crushed into a whisper of horror. “I’ma, has the earth ever shaken before?”
    “No,” Parah said, hushed. “I’ve never seen such a thing. And none of the stories of old tell of the earth moving.”
    “Will it shake again?” Ayalah whimpered. “Don’t let it shake again.”
    As if we could prevent it , Annah thought, still in shock. But how did it shake? What is strong enough to shake the earth?
    “The earth is alive,” Iltani moaned. “The earth is angry because we were planning to kill Yerakh.”
    Haburah grabbed Iltani’s arm and shook her, screaming, “Shut up about Yerakh! Shut up! If you tell him what we’ve said, we’ll kill you before we kill