TC38

Sarah said, “Did you know, Teacher, that some of my Fallen Angels are actually men who have been driven out of the army for coming up short of some ideal of manliness that has nothing to do with how well they can fight?”

All this the priest ignored. He made one final go at Michael, demanding yet another sign he was authorized to forgive abominable defects in ritual.

Michael said, “El forgives the unrighteous in the very moment they wish to make amends. The healing itself is a sign of this, and it is also a good in itself, because El himself is good. Thus does the good abound. You, however, seek signs only to plug holes in your own belief.”

At this the Eyes of Belial murmured among themselves and departed, taking the Adanite partisans with them in their foul-tempered wake. Word of their disputations with Michael made its slow way to the Imperial capital.

When he finished the meal Michael cordially thanked the princess for sharing the hospitality of her safe house and he also departed. By then it had grown dark, and Michael’s brothers asked of him where they should go next. He said, “I have more silver. We shall lodge here in Odargas tonight, and when it is light tomorrow we shall go home.”

Indeed there was no limit to the amount of silver and copper and gold Michael could obtain directly from the body of El. This wealth needed only a bit of time and a private place to cool. And he could make present anything he kept in Anshar at any time. Michael knew that all the people around him, and in fact the whole culture of Kemen, was obsessed with scarcity. In a world of inexhaustible riches humans beings faced bitter lack everywhere they turned, and they imagined even the gods themselves could dole out blessings only to a limited few.

Though Michael went cross-country there did not lack the lame to be made to walk, and the dumb to be made to speak, and the blind to be made to see. In the village of Senna on the shore of the great sea Michael spoke to the crowd that gathered around him.

Michael said, “The spirit is fulfilled by its activity. The body is fulfilled by its substance. The people are fulfilled by living. The noble are fulfilled by good governance. The noblest king is fulfilled by being called the servant of the people. But when the palace is splendid while the harvests are poor, when noblemen gorge on meat and wine while the storehouses are spare, when the rulers of the city carry weapons because they fear the ordinary people, the city has fallen far from the way of El. Some seek long life because they fear death. Some seek an early death because they are reckless. She who embraces El neither fears death nor hates life. She knows when hellberries flourish it is impossible to walk through them, and when they store their juices for winter the way becomes clear again. Flourishing is not eternal, retreating is not eternal, but flourishing and retreating, taken together, are eternal. From the beginning all the generations have come and gone in good order.”

Then was seen in the eleventh hour the boat owned by Zvadyah, the husband of Michael’s sister. With him were the sons of Zvadyah, two nephews of Michael, Gemalli and Eder by name, bringing to shore the day’s catch of fish. Michael and his brothers T’oma and Heth cheerfully lent their own labor in the final hour of the day.

The fish was packed onto wagons to be driven away for salting and packing. But Michael knew much of the fish would never get that far. A portion of it would be lost to toll takers on the road and in the towns along the way.

In the evening they went across the strait to the great city of Shalem crowding on its island perch. Seated at the rudder, Zvadyah sailed to his home in Shalem on a gentle wind, guided by the city lights he knew so well.