young and blurred. For your mother stood with the power of the Keeper in her, and with the love of her husband and children inside her. If you and Luet and I had not been in the field with her, do you think she would have done it?”
“
We
were there,” said Akma. “But where was the Keeper?”
“Someday,” said Akmaro, “you will learn to see the Keeper’s hand in many things.”
When the children were asleep, Chebeya rested herhead on her husband’s chest and clung to him and wept. “Oh, Kmadaro, Kmadaro, I was so frightened that I would make things worse.”
“Tell me your plan,” he said. “If I know your plan I can help you.”
“I don’t know my plan. I have no plan.”
“Then here is the plan that came into my mind as I watched you and listened to you. I thought at first that you were simply trying to get those boys to rebel against their father. But then I realized that you were doing something far more subtle.”
“I was?”
“You were winning Didul’s heart.”
“If he has one.”
“You were teaching him how to be a man. It’s a new idea to him. I think he’d like to be a good man, Bedaya.”
She thought about it. “Yes, I think you’re right.”
“So we won’t tear these boys away from each other. Instead we’ll make friends and allies of them.”
“Do you think we can?” asked Chebeya.
“You mean, Do I think we
should?
Yes, Bedaya. They can’t help being what their father taught them to be. But if we can teach them to be something else, they might be good men yet. That is what the Keeper wants us to do—not destroy our enemies, but make friends of them if we can.”
“They’ve hurt my children so many times,” said Chebeya.
“Then how sweet the day will be when they kneel and ask your forgiveness, and your children’s forgiveness, and the three of you say, We know that you are no longer the men you were then. Now you are our brothers.”
“I can’t ever say that to them.”
“You can’t say that to them now,” said Akmaro. “But you, too, will have a change of heart, when you see them also change.”
“You always believe the best of other people, Kmadaro.”
“Not always,” said Akmaro. “But in that boy today, I saw a spark of decency. Let’s blow on that spark and give it fuel.”
“I’ll try,” said Chebeya.
Lying on his mat, Akma heard his parents’ conversation and thought, What kind of man is he, to talk to Mother about making friends with the very ones who lashed her skin and made her bleed today? I will never forgive these men, never, no matter how they seem to change. Men who are friends with diggers can never be trusted. They have become just like diggers, low filthy creatures who belong in holes under the earth like worms.
For Father to talk of teaching and forgiving a worm like Didul was just another sign of his weakness. Always running, hiding, teaching, forgiving, fleeing, submitting, bowing, enduring—where in Father’s heart was the courage to stand and fight? It was Mother, not Father, who stood against Didul and the diggers today. If Father really loved Mother, he would have spent tonight vowing revenge for her bloody wounds.
FOUR
DELIVERANCE
Monush followed Ilihiak into his private chamber and watched as the king barred the door behind him. “What I’m going to show you,” said Ilihiak, “is a great secret, Monush.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t show me,” said Monush. “My loyalty is sworn to Ak-Moti, and I will keep no secret from him.”
“But that’s why I brought you here, Ush-Mon. You have the deepest trust of your great king. Do you think that I don’t know that my kingdom would be hardly a small district of the empire of Darakemba? The stories reach us even here, that the Nafari who went down the Tsidorek have now become the greatest kingdom in the gornaya. What I have here is a matter for a great king, a king like Motiak, I think. I know it’s beyond
me.”
Monush felt strongly that if there
“
We
were there,” said Akma. “But where was the Keeper?”
“Someday,” said Akmaro, “you will learn to see the Keeper’s hand in many things.”
When the children were asleep, Chebeya rested herhead on her husband’s chest and clung to him and wept. “Oh, Kmadaro, Kmadaro, I was so frightened that I would make things worse.”
“Tell me your plan,” he said. “If I know your plan I can help you.”
“I don’t know my plan. I have no plan.”
“Then here is the plan that came into my mind as I watched you and listened to you. I thought at first that you were simply trying to get those boys to rebel against their father. But then I realized that you were doing something far more subtle.”
“I was?”
“You were winning Didul’s heart.”
“If he has one.”
“You were teaching him how to be a man. It’s a new idea to him. I think he’d like to be a good man, Bedaya.”
She thought about it. “Yes, I think you’re right.”
“So we won’t tear these boys away from each other. Instead we’ll make friends and allies of them.”
“Do you think we can?” asked Chebeya.
“You mean, Do I think we
should?
Yes, Bedaya. They can’t help being what their father taught them to be. But if we can teach them to be something else, they might be good men yet. That is what the Keeper wants us to do—not destroy our enemies, but make friends of them if we can.”
“They’ve hurt my children so many times,” said Chebeya.
“Then how sweet the day will be when they kneel and ask your forgiveness, and your children’s forgiveness, and the three of you say, We know that you are no longer the men you were then. Now you are our brothers.”
“I can’t ever say that to them.”
“You can’t say that to them now,” said Akmaro. “But you, too, will have a change of heart, when you see them also change.”
“You always believe the best of other people, Kmadaro.”
“Not always,” said Akmaro. “But in that boy today, I saw a spark of decency. Let’s blow on that spark and give it fuel.”
“I’ll try,” said Chebeya.
Lying on his mat, Akma heard his parents’ conversation and thought, What kind of man is he, to talk to Mother about making friends with the very ones who lashed her skin and made her bleed today? I will never forgive these men, never, no matter how they seem to change. Men who are friends with diggers can never be trusted. They have become just like diggers, low filthy creatures who belong in holes under the earth like worms.
For Father to talk of teaching and forgiving a worm like Didul was just another sign of his weakness. Always running, hiding, teaching, forgiving, fleeing, submitting, bowing, enduring—where in Father’s heart was the courage to stand and fight? It was Mother, not Father, who stood against Didul and the diggers today. If Father really loved Mother, he would have spent tonight vowing revenge for her bloody wounds.
FOUR
DELIVERANCE
Monush followed Ilihiak into his private chamber and watched as the king barred the door behind him. “What I’m going to show you,” said Ilihiak, “is a great secret, Monush.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t show me,” said Monush. “My loyalty is sworn to Ak-Moti, and I will keep no secret from him.”
“But that’s why I brought you here, Ush-Mon. You have the deepest trust of your great king. Do you think that I don’t know that my kingdom would be hardly a small district of the empire of Darakemba? The stories reach us even here, that the Nafari who went down the Tsidorek have now become the greatest kingdom in the gornaya. What I have here is a matter for a great king, a king like Motiak, I think. I know it’s beyond
me.”
Monush felt strongly that if there
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