The Olive Conspiracy by Shira Glassman

ready for the journey that would take them
back to the palace in time to sleep tonight. Hadar joined her,
already instinctively treating her as her commander.
    The air was so still and so peaceful, Shulamit
almost couldn’t believe what they were about to do to
it.
    Well, there was no reason not to start now.
“Isaac, go ahead.” She was surprised at how confident she
sounded.
    Down in the grove, the great dragon nodded,
then reared back on his haunches.
    Brilliant yellow flame shot from between his
jaws. It consumed the tree in his immediate path and began to move
down the row to the next.
    His wings were starting to work again, but they
were frail like a chicken’s. He was able to get about his own
height into the air again before he was forced to land. Here he set
another tree ablaze.
    Soon, more trees were on fire. Everything was
orange, and the air was full of the scent of burning
wood.
    Halleli was crying. Shulamit hugged her, and
then she was crying too. Her shoulder was sticky from the other
woman’s tears, but she ignored it and held her closer.
    Hadar stood on the top of the hill, her hands
on her hips as she watched the inferno consume the
grove.
    Finally, as if she’d seen enough, she walked
over and joined the other two women, putting her arms around both
of them.
    Shulamit’s breaths were deep and even. The
decision had been made, and it was all over. Hadar and Halleli
would come to Home City and rebuild.
    But the danger was only halted, not
stopped.
    Shulamit watched the fires leap into the air,
licking the blue sky. If only there were a way to surround all her
country’s farmlands with such fire, benevolent fire, protective
fire, that would keep out all who threatened them. She imagined
them, guarded like a sleeping goddess on a hilltop, protected from
harm.

11. A Night for Heroes
     
    Shulamit and her found family did their best to
make the ride back to Home City as cozy and rejuvenating as
possible. Isaac rode on Rivka’s shoulder as a lizard so that Hadar
and Halleli would have the other cushioned seat to themselves, and
he and Rivka entertained and distracted the two women with stories
about their days on the battlefield together.
    In between, Shulamit told them all about Aviva
and how they’d met because as the palace’s Second Cook, she was the
only person to figure out that the queen—well, Princess Shulamit at
the time—was sensitive to certain foods.
    “ I can’t eat chicken or any other
fowl,” said Shulamit, “and wheat gives me stomach
cramps.”
    “ Wheat?” exclaimed Halleli with
surprise. “But it’s in everything!”
    “ Tell me about it!” the queen
agreed. “No pita, no challah, no sufganiyot at Chanukah, she has to
make me my own separate batch of tabouleh without the
bulghur…”
    “ What about beer?” asked Hadar.
“Does the fermentation get rid of… whatever it is?”
    Shulamit shook her head. “No, but I mean,
that’s not something I miss.”
    “ What about the princess?” Halleli
shifted against the cushions to get more comfortable. “Can she eat
any of this?”
    “ She’s really too young for us to
know,” said Shulamit, “but we’re being careful.”
    Isaac sang for them to pass more of the time;
his voice was deep and luscious and he knew it. Shulamit could tell
he was deliberately choosing cheery or exciting songs that wouldn’t
send Halleli into fits of tearful nostalgia, and she was grateful
for his foresight.
    The sky was already a rich lapis-blue deepening
into black by the time the royal carriage and its guards on
horseback arrived at the palace with their wagon and donkey cargo
in tow. Members of the palace staff were gathered to meet them, and
Shulamit was glad to see their happy faces in the light of the
hanging lanterns when she stepped out of the carriage.
    Especially two faces in particular. “I missed
you guys sooo much .” Shulamit enveloped Aviva and the baby
in a meaningful hug. Aviva felt warm and squishy, and Naomi