The Other Big Secret 1: Must He Die?

MUST HE DIE? / CH. 1:INTRODUCTIONS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER THE 18TH, 1909

Jacob had been doing a lot of praying recently, for a very traditional reason. He was twenty-five, had no sense that God had called him to live out his life as a bachelor, and he was sure that none of the women he knew were going to be his wife. He was a gifted young man, trained as an engineer, and like many young men in those days, fascinated by the new scientific and missionary discoveries that were opening up the world. His elderly parents had died, leaving him their home and fortune, and he had a good job. He should have been an ideal catch. But he had standards and unusual abilities and no fortune-hunter was going to trick him.

He'd thought, once, that his second cousin Mabel might be the one, but God had said no, not her. Today he'd just been a witness at her wedding. She'd been gloriously happy, her new husband was Jacob's friend from university, a good sound Christian, and he was happy for them both. They were not well off, but they were perfectly suited for one another. So, Jacob rejoiced with them, and then, that evening, privately in his room, he sought the Peace about his own future.

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[I've had what people here call the call.] He told the other gifted the next morning.

[You're going to be a missionary? But, what of your other God-given tasks?]

[Our Good Lord has told me I must leave them to another, I must pray for her to receive the gift, and I must leave for a strange land. Help her learn, my brothers and sisters, for she married my best friend yesterday, and I will not be able to teach her in person. I leave before they return from honeymoon. And when I arrive at my destination, there will be so many things that none must know — it is not God's time yet — that it would be better if you do not call to me, and nor should you seek to find me.]

[You sound like you are sure.]

[I am sure.]

[And you have no doubts?]

[God tells me I will meet my wife there, and that his gospel must be preached to all of creation.]

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER THE 21ST, 1909 A.D.

“You are certain of this?” his lawyer asked.

“I'm called to be a missionary and Bible translator to a remote tribe. I have no need of a house here, and my good friend William Smith has a new wife and lives in rented accommodation that will not suffice for children.” Jacob answered.

“And you also name him and his wife your heirs?”

“For half of my estate yes. The fact is, I doubt I'm coming back, myself --- you know the statistics for tropical diseases, and I have no real ties here. And she is, after all, my second cousin. So... I will seek to write and reassure all that I live, but I anticipate travel might be very hard, and translation is a long work. But who knows, perhaps one day I will marry and have heirs. It would be remiss of me not to plan for their future at all.”

The lawyer looked at him in horror “You plan to go native? Marry some heathen woman?”

“Not at all.” Jacob answered the second question “I would never marry a non-Christian. I just wish to plan for any eventuality. Should it be that the good Lord bring a decent young woman into my care as wife, far be it from me to leave her and any children unprovided for.”

“Oh, very good sir.” the lawyer felt his racist concerns had been addressed, and Jacob had no intention of disabusing him of that notion. The idea that there might be anything positive in a culture without the steam engine, gunpowder or rampant tuberculosis hadn't quite become popularly acceptable.

“But,” Jacob continued, “if letters are lost and I am declared dead, that would be somewhat difficult, so I believe a trust is in order, is it not?”

“Oh, yes, sir. But how would identity be proven?”

“It is a little archaic, perhaps, but could possession of my grandfather's signet ring be taken as proof?”

“A unique family heirloom, alongside a letter from yourself telling your son or widow our address? The law would allow it, sir.”

“Excellent!”

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER THE 18TH, 1914

Five years later, Jacob sat in what he thought of as his work room, though others would probably call it a prison. Beside him, the warrior who'd caught him. He hadn't seen her often recently, though she had come frequently before. He was very glad, on this anniversary that she was prepared to spend time with her prisoner. He'd told her the story of the wedding at Cana, but when he'd translated the first draft he had really struggled to find the word for wedding, eventually settling on 'celebration joining man and woman'. And he kept using it as they discussed it, and though she had looked at him strangely she did not correct the phrase. Eventually, she said, almost as an accusation, “I think you know nothing about this 'celebration joining man and woman' among us, do you?”

“You have not told me, nor has any other. But I am sure it happens. Will you tell me?”

“Among my people, if a man traps a warrior woman, and she is pleasant in his sight, then he chains her, and he takes her to his home. None may interfere once she is caught. And if she still pleases him still after a week then he asks 'will you vow that you will not harm me if I release you?' and if she vows it, then after the vow, they go and hunt together and share the meal of their first hunt with friends. It is called their 'first hunt meal'. She is then his companion and, until they tire of each other, she fights and hunts beside him. Her vow remains until death. If she does not agree to take the vow, she stays his slave, and she can kill him for dishonouring her when she gets the chance, or, if he tires of her, she can choose to fight him or just leave, it is her choice. If she does not please him even for a week, then he has a problem. He must give her her choice of weapon and they fight to the death. Else there would be much dishonour.”

He wanted to say that was terrible, but he'd made that mistake too many times before, and even bore some scars to prove it. “What happens if a warrior woman finds a man who is pleasant in her sight?”

“Then she secretly brings the chains.” she said, with a small smile. “One of my sisters did this.”

“It is very different among our people.”

“Your favourite phrase. I expected it would be.”

“And is there dishonour in her bringing the chains?”

“No. But... it should not be publicly done.”

“But you are a powerful warrior, I doubt many could overpower you.”

“Not when I am alert.” she agreed, “And I have good hearing, and I do not sleep unprotected. No one gets near me with chains.”

“So any that would seek to chain you would have to use guile?”

“Yes.” she agreed. “One tried. He was young and foolish and I showed him his folly and let him live. His scars will heal, eventually.”

“And it must be chain?” he asked.

“No. It could be rope, or vine.”

“But if he ties her hands, she must be unable to escape?”

“What is the point of tying her hands if she is able to escape?” she asked, confused.

“Among my people, the proper way is that she is free to choose; perhaps not entirely — perhaps her parents encourage her or she feels that circumstances force her, but she should be free to choose. He asks if she is willing to be his companion for life. And then the priest asks if she is willing. And then are vows made, in public. And then they are man and wife, and there is a celebration, then he takes her to his home. And there is no fighting to the death, and no slavery, or dishonouring.”

“Your people are not warriors.”

“Oh yes, they are, sadly. My people fight wars all over this world. But for us the war should not happen in the home, not in marriage. If my people knew of your people... they would come with chains and nets and guns.”

“We would fight.”

“And you would die. I have told you of guns before.”

“Yes. We have seen them too, the sticks that kill men, and the barrels that kill boats.”

“You did not say.”

“You did not ask. But now I ask you. What happens when a man takes a woman in chains to his house among your people?”

“Our women are not warriors, normally, so he may not need chains, maybe just a knife. It is a crime. A terrible crime.”

“Dishonour?”

“If he is caught, we do not give him a blade or a spear to hurt the woman more. He is taken in chains and a rope is tied around his neck, and the rope is tied to a piece of wood above him, and he is dropped. He dies without honour.”

“So what of the men of your people who my ancestors saw do this to dark-skinned women, and who would do this to us?” She was speaking of the slave trade. Jacob had not known they were so knowledgeable.

“I am ashamed of my people.” Jacob said. “There are many, even now who think the colour of skin makes the dark-skinned people not people. It is not right, but it has happened. Among us, men are the warriors and the women not... I am sure you can guess the rest. If they treated white skinned women this way, they would die without honour. If they treated animals as women, they would be locked away as evil men. But this sin, that treats people as slaves is among us still, and some even think it is acceptable. The law does not, God does not. But the crowds...? I do not know.”

“So, our people would be treated as animals still, you believe?” He would have to explore that later.

“I expect so. You are not unwise to lock me up, though I will not try to leave, and I am not a risk to you.”

“How did you find us?” it was a question she's asked before, many times.

“God told me to come.” He'd answered as before, many times.

“How?”

“I am unusual. Most of my people cannot even hear thoughts.”

“Nor can you.” she accused.

“Not when I am in water, no, not naturally. But I've told you, I have a special gift from God: supernaturally, I could know your every thought if I chose to. But I do not. It is how I first came to understand your language, because it is part of my gift that I understand any language when in thought.” She was half sitting in the pool in the cave where he was held prisoner, this powerful beauty of her people, her long skirt and top were smooth against her skin — scandalous for his home but better for swimming — and her long dark hair was held back with a hollowed shell.

“You avoid touch, too.” she said.

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“You who hear thoughts ask me this?”

“You have secrets.”

He glanced into her sea-green eyes. “Not as many as you.” It wasn't a challenge, just a statement of fact.

“How did your God tell you to come here?”

“My gift allows me to know where people are. He told me to look for a certain person.” He admitted, finally. Knowing immediately it had been a mistake, or maybe not, perhaps it was time.

“Who?” It was the obvious response. He'd hidden his thoughts, knowing that she mustn't hear the answer that sprang to his mind — that God had told him to use his gift to find the woman he would marry, after she'd turned to Christ.

Knowing where she was, he'd picked his time and simply walked along on the lonely beach and waited outside the little cave. He'd checked: there were no other exits. She'd waited for him to go, but he hadn't, he'd simply sat and read his Bible. She'd come out, blade and spear in hand, ready to fight, and he'd simply looked up at her, unafraid of what would come next. After all, if she would marry him, then he didn't need to be very afraid of this strange warrior maid.

“I am still your prisoner, I have no weapon. Do you insist that I utter this woman's name? You may not like the answer.”

She nodded.

“Her full name?” he asked, knowing that they treated full names as important.

“You do not know anyone's full name, prisoner.” She challenged. “Let me hear your guess, so I may laugh at your so-called gift.”

He looked deeply at the skin of the cave, and found her name. “You do not yet know the power of God who made all things, knows all things, and gives gifts to people, Sathzakara Karella Lamura.”

Instantly her knife was at his throat, but not touching, since the knife was metal, and she knew that trick.

“How do you know that?” she demanded.

There was always someone watching him, teaching him. They'd decided he was mostly harmless quite quickly, and Sathzakara had refused to kill him. He'd heard arguments, conversations, but they normally just called her Sath. He certainly hadn't learned her name from any of them. “Your name sounds like the waves breaking on the shore, but that is not your full name. You also have the names Wavesong Tidestrong and Moon-glint.” he added other names from what he'd seen. Thinking he was somehow hearing her thoughts, she backed away.

“I hope you know you don't need to fear me. The full name of the woman I was sent to meet is your name. Sathzakara Karella Wavesong Tidestrong Korelia Moon-glint Glad-eyes bnt Karella Japathe hi Lamura. This much I saw from my God, just now, at your request. But I knew I was sent to meet you, and that you were alone in that cave, which is why I waited for you to come out.”

“Glad-eyes? You even heard Glad-eyes from me?” she asked, not really believing his words.

“No, I said, I was not searching your mind. I sought to know the full name of the woman in this cave. Is it not your name?”

“I've not heard it since I was a child. Why were you not afraid of me? I hold your life in my hands.”

“It is a secret I must try to keep, I think.”

“Your fantasy that you will catch me, and we will be companions?”

“Ah. Then you know.” It explained her recent questioning. “I hoped to hide that knowledge from you.”

“You are a peculiar man. Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you seek me out? Why aren't you afraid of my spear?”

“The whole truth?” he shrugged “Not that I have any secrets from you, now. I sought you out because five years ago today, God told me that sometime, after you had become his follower like I am, we would one day become companions for life, and that I would translate this book about God for your people. So I left my comfortable home and my friends and came to find you. Why should I be afraid of your spear if I know we will be companions one day?”

“So, you think one day you will trick me into putting down even my knife, somehow chain my hands, and force yourself on me?”

“No! I would never force myself on you more than I have done, that would be a great sin.”

“More than you have?” she was confused.

“I knew you were in the cave, I sat and waited for you to come out. In a way I forced myself upon you, there.”

“Ha! That's not forcing yourself on me. What you call a great sin, we call finding a companion. Either the girl is naive or she knows what the man plans. You have said your God tells you I will be your partner, but you will not seek to catch me?” She laughed, “You are going to look very silly when someone else does. I warn you, I will not bring you any chains. I am not such a one as that, it is not my nature to choose slavery to anyone.”

“Do I have a rival?” he asked.

“It depends on your point of view.” she said, ambiguously. Then laughed, “If you try only as hard as you've promised, old age will catch me before you do. So, how long would you have waited by the cave?”

“I had tools to make a fire. I had water, and food. I had planned to cook a meal for two, if you didn't come out. I would have put your portion near the cave, so that you could eat further from me, if you desired.”

“You would have cooked for me?” She was surprised, shocked even. Among her people the men hunted, the women defended the camp against predators — human and animal — and cooked.

“Yes. I think I am quite a good cook.”

“That I would like to see.”

“I think it would not be good to light a fire here.” There was a narrow crack of an opening which let in light and fresh air, but a fire would have quickly filled his prison cave with smoke. “Your men do not even cook for themselves on hunting trips?”

She shook her head. “Among us, only women cook.”

Jacob thought about how to explain the restaurant trade. “Among us, the most important, or at least, the richest, women do not cook, and often they pay money to eat meals cooked for them by men who have trained specially for this.”

“You use this money for a lot of things, don't you?”

“Yes. It is the way of our people. One man makes something, and another exchanges money for it, and then perhaps the man who now has that money puts it with other money and buys his wife a gift he could not make himself. Money goes from person to person, and it is up to the people how they use it. Some people use their money for stupid things, other people use it to travel faster than they can walk. I used some to come on the ship that brought me to the island where I found you. My parents gave a lot of money for the house I gave to my friends. They give me no money, but they repay my gift by praying to God for me, for this work I am doing.”

“You are a strange man, from a strange place.”

“Yes, I've told you that before. Or perhaps you are a strange people, and I am a strange man because I have left a normal place. Sathzakara. I have a question for you, now that you know my great secret.”

“What is it, strange man?”

“A little under five years ago, I spoke to you mind. I said 'This strange man from a strange place wishes you no harm.' May I again?”

“It was you? Speaking to my mind with no touch? Prove it!”

[I spoke to you like this.]

“I thought I had imagined it, or it was from a god.”

“Indirectly it was. I used the special gift that is from God. I would not lie using it.”

“You can think to me without touch?” She dived into the pool and quickly swam to the other side. “Even over here?”

He laughed. [Anywhere. I could have talked to you from my home, which is far far away.] he switched to voice. “But I am not listening to your replies. May I?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because it is like touching, closeness. But I do not want to force myself on you.”

She regarded him for a long time. This strange, crazy, miracle man. He couldn't swim properly, he couldn't hunt, his skills were alien and he viewed the normal as sin. Were there crimes he would think normal? She doubted it. She had thought she knew all about him, but maybe that was not the case. He should have been terrified, but he was so certain. She was also becoming sure that his god was not a complete stranger to her people. But, she had no alternative, and pronounced the death sentence: “My sisters are fed up with feeding you when you do not hunt. My brothers are fed up with hunting for you when you neither hunt nor fish.”

“It is hard to hunt from this cave.”

“That keeps us safe. We know well your marks that carry meaning, since you have been teaching them to us. You could so easily betray us. Tell others where we are.”

“Really? That is all you are afraid of? That I send out a message saying 'Help, I am held prisoner', and tell them where?”

“You have said it yourself, that we are not unwise to keep you locked up.”

“I have also told you more, all my secrets, and you are clear of thought, Sathzakara.”

He was always doing this to her; making her think, setting her puzzles. “You said you are no threat to us. How are you no threat?”

“How did I find you?” he fired back the question.

“You asked your God where your future companion was.”

“No. God told me to look. How far away could I talk to you?”

“Across the sea, you said, all the way to your homeland.”

“Yes. How do I know this, for sure? How do I know my friends pray for my work?”

Her eyes narrowed and she tightened her grip on her spear, as a dreadful realisation came to her. “You can talk to them. You do talk to them. There are others like you, with this gift.”

“There are others. I talk to them, one lives in the house I gave to her and her companion for life. I ask God to help them with their problems. They ask God to help me with mine. Their problems are greater. My home country is at war. Half the world is at war.”

“You exaggerate.”

“I do not think so. It is a new kind of war. Already tens of thousands are dead, perhaps hundreds of thousands. News travels fast, now. I have told you of radio and telegraph and telephone. Attacks are planned and orders given by people who never see the horrors their orders cause. The guns are more powerful, more accurate. I keep watch. So far, there are no battles near here, but soldiers are getting closer.”

“Your troubles are smaller?”

“I think so.”

“You have told me you can communicate with outsiders. You do communicate with outsiders.”

“Yes. So you have no need to hold me prisoner, it is not unwise, but in my case it accomplishes nothing.”

“Or I should have killed you five years ago.”

“I'm glad you didn't.” he smiled at her.

“I have not been to see you until today, for a long time.”

“That is true.” he agreed.

“What I told you, it is your death. I could not bear to say it, but I could not delay more. Even today, I wanted to pretend it was not true, so we have talked as though you had a future. Now, you tell me I have betrayed my people, by letting you live a second after I saw you.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Sathzakara, I have not betrayed your people. I will not betray your people.”

“What proof have I?”

“My word of honour.”

“If you are an honourable man, your word is good. If you are a dishonourable man, your word has no value.”

“Have I shown you dishonour?” he asked.

“Not recently. Not intentionally.”

“You need more proof?”

“How can you prove intentions?”

“Past actions? I have lived here for four and a half years. I have learned your language and I have taught you mine. I have told you why I came, and why I will stay.”

“I have told you why you will die.”

“By your hand?”

“I wish it were not so. I wish your God would save you from what I must do, would save me from doing this, and that he would give me a way out. There is none.”

As a crazy idea formed in his mind, he hid his thoughts. It might work, but first, there was the question of her soul. He'd explained much, in their talks. He was sure she knew enough to decide.

“His book says everyone who calls to him will be saved. Do you wish this enough to trust him? To put your future in his hands? To accept the humiliation of asking him for forgiveness? You cannot serve him and another god, for bowing to other spirits than the creator God is exchanging the truth for a lie. Do you wish God to save you?”

“Yes.” she said, realizing it was true.

“Beautiful Sathzakara, will you give me a piece of your hair?”

“You want to cut my hair like Samson's?” she asked “I don't think you will overpower me that way.”

“Probably not, and it would be a shame to try. But one hair?”

“It is part of the ritual? How much?” she held her knife to her hair.

“Don't cut lots! Just one hair, if you are willing. Please.”

“This is a strange ritual.” She swam over to him, and gave him a hair.

“You will understand soon. Do you believe that you cannot do anything to earn God's love, because he loves you fully and unconditionally already?” he asked.

Realising she did, she replied “I do.”

“Do you believe that our rebellion against God deserves death?”

“I do.”

“Do you believe that God who made the stars, the sun, the land and water was born as a man, Jesus, in order to die, to pay the penalty we could not pay and so save us from our sins? And that he sends his spirit on those who trust him, to teach them and guide them” he asked her, holding the hair carefully.

“I do.”

“Then ask God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to save you, call on his name, and reject all other gods, ask him to wash away your sin.”

“Jesus, save me, please. I can't do this, I don't want to hurt Jacob, my friend. I don't want to live with that sin. I don't want to die a sinner. make me clean, take away my sins please.”

With his heart trembling he checked the Christians in the cave, and with joy he said “By my gift, I know your true confession and prayer have been heard by God. So I tell you that your name has been written in the book of life, you have turned from death to life, and that the Holy Spirit will guide you in all truth. I have told you of baptism.” Jacob prompted.

“Yes. Symbol of burial and of rebirth. Of washing and cleansing. I would like to be baptised.” she stood up at the edge of the pool. “Do you need the hair for that? You didn't mention it ever.”

“No, not for baptism either.” but he wrapped it around his finger a few times, just to be sure it didn't float away. He stepped into the water beside her, showed her how to hold her hands, and said. “On confession of your faith, Sathzakara, I baptise you into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And he did. She, who was almost as at home in the water as out, was still a little dizzy from the motion as she came up. She staggered and as he put her on her feet once more, and he supported her and then, shifting his grip from encircling her fingers to one where he held her wrists together, he wrapped her hair around them, binding her hands together.

As he did, he thought to her [I deceived you a little, warrior woman.] he admitted to her. [I did not need the hair for any ritual from my people. I am uneasy that there was deception at all, and I ask your forgiveness if I have sinned. But it seems to me that I have now bound your hands together. If you are cross with me for the deception, you can break the bonds, I am sure. But I think you said none may interfere between us now.]

“You thought to bind my hands with a hair?” she asked, incredulously, shocked but not breaking the bonds.

“I have no chain.” he pointed out simply.

“I could break this without any effort.” but she didn't.

“Yes. So as with your people, I have tied your hands together. As with my people, I ask a question — are you willing to stay bound? But first I will remind you of the story of Ruth. If you choose to be bound by me, then never will I leave you, never will I abandon you. Where you go I will go and where you stay, I will stay. My God is now your God, but your people will be my people.”

“You thought you could tie me with one of my own hairs?” she repeated, still flabbergasted.

“Not really. But with a choice.”

“You haven't even taken my knife from me.”

“Should I? You said you didn't want to use it on me.”

“What would happen, if I went to your country?”

“If you dressed as women in my country, and behaved as women of my country, and spoke my language, I could explain your skin colour by telling them that you had Greeks in your ancestry.”

“That is true. Not the whole truth, though. And not exactly recently.”

“Nevertheless, it is not a lie. They would say I had a beautiful wife, and perhaps some would ask if you had any sisters. But if they ever saw the skin between your toes, and found out you can swim underwater for more than ten minutes, they would want to know how, and some would say you are not human, and want to cut you up to find out how different you are, others would want to put you on display for people to look at. You would have a terrible life.”

“And if I wore my clothes, with my spear?”

“Then they would certainly put you in a tank and say, come and look at the barbarian mermaid. And on one hand, people would be disappointed to find your skirt is not part of you, but on the other, the question that school-children have often asked, of how mer-children are born into the world if a mermaid is a fish from the waist down, would be answered.”

She laughed at that and then said “But knowing that our people are so different, you still bind my hands?”

“I knew before I came. I told people at home that I would probably not return, that the travel would be difficult. But if you wish, we could visit.”

“How did you know?”

“Five years ago today, when I looked to see where you were, you were swimming around a sunken ship. At first I thought you had been on the ship when it sunk, but no, you were going in and out, for a long time. And I told my friends, who share my gift, do not look for me, for there are so many things no-one must know. It is not yet God's time to tell where some of the grandsons of Noah found their wives.”

“You believe that old story?”

“It explains quite a lot, I think, don't you?”

She shook her head. “I do not know. I was amazed at how much your book says similar things as the old tales without being the same. There are not many land people who have come among us, and they were not the sort of men to tell of the founding of the Earth.”

“You have still not broken your bonds.”

She looked at her hands, and his which held the hair. “I choose not to at the moment.” she said, glancing at him, through her hair.

“I am glad. But you have still not answered my question.”

“Which one?”

“Will you consent to me listening to your thoughts?”

“Jacob, you are a strange man. You have bound me, I have not freed myself, so I am your slave, to do with what you will, and you ask me about hearing my thoughts which is so normal?”

“I will own no slave, Sathzakara. I would rather you free yourself than think of yourself as my slave. Must I pretend to others you are my slave before I can ask you for your vow?”

“Must I take a vow before I know how you will treat me?” she threw back the question.

[{Pain} Do you not know me well enough?] he thought to her.

She touched her head to his [Sorry. You will treat me as kindly as you know how. In answer to your question. Your gift, how much can you know?]

[If I look with my gift at you, your inner being, I will know the thoughts behind the thoughts you do not even know you have, if you are close to me. Or I can choose to know less if I look with my gift at you heart, I will learn only the reasons for your worries. If I look at the top of your skin I will know only if you are hot or cold, hungry or thirsty. If I look a little deeper then it is like this.]

[You can know my every thought?]

[Yes. I cannot follow your thoughts — but I can take a glimpse.]

[Even the ones I do not know... So, tell me what they are.]

[Now?]

[I do not know what I think about your question. To take a vow before the week is over? It is something from a story.]

[Did the story end well?]

[The story is of a foolish girl who thinks she knows the man well. She takes a vow to her image of him, and finds he is not like his image. But then it is too late, he beats her every night. She has vowed not to harm him, but has taken no vow about not harming herself, so she kills herself because she cannot stand more beatings.]

[I do not ask you to accept beatings.]

[You do not need to. We take vows seriously.]

[So do I.] “I vow to you, by my faith in God and by the gift he has given me, Sathzakara, that you will be guiltless of harming me if it is to stop me from harming you. If you ever need to defend yourself against my brutality, then let any curse from vow-breaking fall upon me and not on you. I will repeat this vow before your elders or any who should hear it.”

[{shock}]

[A Christian husband loves his wife as Christ loved the church, and gives his life for her. I ask you to be my wife, not my slave or my concubine.]

She looked at him in wonder, as his gift allowed her to finally understand what he was

asking properly. “You do not want me as your companion.” she said, quietly. “You want me as your life-bonded-one.”

[Companion is your word for what I called concubine?]

[Your last word? Yes.]

[Will you tell me of how a man and a maid become each other's life-bonded-one?]

[I do not know.] She said [It is a word from stories.]

[Who would know?]

[Perhaps my grandmother. She is eldest.]

[Can you ask her?]

[All think I am here to kill you. If I leave, then they will come to remove your body. That they do not insist I do. This hair saves your life if someone comes. Maybe. But it is so fragile! If I swim, then I am sure it would break.]

[Perhaps some more? 'A cord of three strands is not so easily broken.' Or perhaps I could call someone?]

[You could. Yes. My mother is the best to call, I think. If you tell her that Sathzakara Glad-eyes smiles at you, and asks you to call her, then I expect she will be here quickly.]

[I have not met her.]

[No. She thinks you are dangerous and does not approve of you. But perhaps I can convince her eventually. At least if she reports you have bound me then you will be safer.]

[What is her name?]

[Karella, of course.]

Including Sathzakara in his thoughts, he called [Karella, honoured mother of Sathzakara. I am Jacob, the land-man, not a spirit. Your daughter often tells me I am a strange man with strange ideas. She asks me now to use a gift I have from my God and tell you this: Sathzakara Glad-eyes smiles at me and asks me to call you and beg you to come.]

As Sathzakara had predicted it didn't take long, and her mother was not alone; emerging with her from the pool was a mer-man also. Both were armed, of course.

“Mother, Father.” Sathzakara said, “Thank you for coming. We were all correct. You were right, father: he could be dangerous, he could be more dangerous than any thought, but he is not. And you were right, mother. He has turned my head.”

“You told him your child-name?” Lamura, her father asked.

“No, father. I now realise what I should have known earlier. Jacob has not kept secrets from us, but I did not understand. He is a servant of the god Yah, the creator, and the book he translates tells of the promised serpent-crusher. Jacob has the same powers that are spoken of in the story of Eved. It was easy for him to tell me my child-name; my full name. He knew me as a mer before he left his home, and one who would be his life-bonded-one, and has protected the secret. He has been able to talk to others as he talked to you, mother, all the time he has been here, but just as Eved, he has kept the secret. At my request, Jacob told me how to start to follow his God. Yet, still I thought I must kill him. But he tricked me into giving him a piece of my hair, and after he had baptised me in obedience to Jesus, the serpent-crusher, he bound my hands.”

“What manner of binding is one that you could break so easily!” her mother asked.

“A strong one, surely, if I choose not to break it? Already he has vowed to me that he will consider our people his people, and he will hold me guiltless should I harm him in self-defence, and has called on our God that any curse for harming him fall on him rather than me. But it is not what he wishes, that I should become his companion. He asks rather that I become his life-bonded-one.”

“As a servant of Yah, it is an appropriate request. The servants of Yah always taught against anything but a life-bond.” Her father said.

“A life-bond.” her mother shook her head. “And to one gifted as Eved! Daughter, do you not understand the implications?”

“Not really, mother.”

“Eved's prophesy:” Lamura said. “'Upheaval and change, the mer nation will one day flee from death and discovery. The servant of Yah will have my gift, and will warn. His life-bonded-one will guide.' And after the plague, the servants of Yah among us were killed by the madmen, hoping to invalidate the prophecy. Did you hear the scout's report of war-boats?”

“No. But, Jacob says there is war as has never been seen before, that soldiers march almost the whole world.”

“I have not heard of this Eved.” Jacob said.

“Many centuries ago, when we first came to this island, there was a man called Eved who called many here to worship Yah. And he knew truth from lie and could find the lost and talk to thought-hearers, wherever they were.” Sathzakara said. “My father has said the prophesy, I'd forgotten it. When my grandmother was young, there was a plague, or perhaps it was poison, but many died, on this island and others.

Then ten mer, called the madmen, came here. They killed all who worshipped Yah, who I am sure is your God and now my God. Not just here, but others in other places too. The next morning they had been struck down dead, and the name of Yah has been treated with respect since.”

“Hallelujah is a word of the Hebrew language, which means praise Yah.” Jacob agreed. “Yah is a short form of God's name, which I learned means the one who is. He is the all-powerful God. Other spirits will all bow to him one day.”

“We will talk of this later.” Karella said. “You should have said your Jacob was a servant of Yah, Sathzakara. Yah is truly a powerful god: though none now serve him, we fear him.”

“I only realised it today, mother.”

“But you are sure?”

“Both my parents can hear your thoughts, and it is better that way, I think. Jacob, tell my parents of your God, please.”

[Among us, it is not normal to name the name of God, as if there were others, so great is He. We call him LORD, or God. For He alone is worthy of those titles. He made all things, visible and invisible. He made the Earth and the Sea and the Sky. He made light, and separated day from night. He put the stars in their places and made the Sun and the Moon to mark day and night and seasons. He created the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the animals of the land, creatures that buzz and crawl and bury in the dirt, and He made people, male and female, alone of the creatures bearing likeness to Him. When He speaks the mountains shake, when He wills it the sun stands still. When He says silence, the storm stops. When he decides, the universe obeys, and when he gives the word, then time will stop. He is the all powerful one. He does not live in shrines or woods, for these things are made things, and he is the maker of all. He is the judge of the living and the dead, for all will have to give an account of their lives before his judgement seat. He is Holy, and in him there is no deception or darkness, nor does he change his mind as we do, for he is all knowing and all wise. The greatest command He gives is that we love Him with all of our being, the second is that we love one another as we love ourselves. Because He is Holy, and we are not, we would be doomed to eternal destruction, but He loves his creation, and he has made a way for all who trust in him to be saved. Nineteen hundred years ago, the immortal one became a baby, born of a virgin. His mother, and her life-bonded called the boy Jesus. He lived a life without sin, showed his nature and power in many ways and spoke to his chosen people, who knew God as Jehovah or Yahweh, telling them to turn from their sins. He fulfilled the prophesies that showed him to be Messiah or Christ, which means promised anointed King. The leaders hated and feared this man who was their God and had him killed. He was killed upon a cross of wood, a criminal's death, and was buried. In doing this he sacrificed himself for our sins, and took them to the place of destruction. On the third day he rose from the grave, breaking the power of death itself, crushing the power of the serpent. He showed himself to his followers on many occasions. After a few weeks he returned to heaven, and his followers speak of him and the victory he won over sin and death wherever they go. In Him I trust, Him I obey, and He is the one who spoke to me five years ago today, telling me to come to your people and tell your people this good news, that all who turn from their sin and trust in him who made them will be saved from destruction, but will live with him eternally.]

“Daughter, you have trusted in this God?”

“I have, mother.”

“If you think this man's words are true, that is appropriate. I cannot yet decide.”

“I am sure they are true.”

“You are in love, then?”

“I do not know. To symbolise the washing away of sin, and raising to life, Jacob put me backwards into the water, and lifted me out. It was disorientating. As I was recovering he bound my hands. If I break my bonds, I must kill him, must I not? I do not choose to do that.”

“It would not be good to kill a servant of Yah.” Her father agreed.

“And now I understand that he asks me to be his life-bonded. I do not know the ritual for that.”

“Nor I.” Her mother agreed.

“I know how it is done among us, but there are so many differences...”

Jacob shrugged “To me the exact ritual is not very important; I know they differ in different places. But there are limits to what I will accept. It would be a sin for me to chain your daughter and treat her as a slave. She thought that your honoured mother might know.”

“Even if my mother knows, she may not speak of it. She does not like to speak of those bad times.”

“May I try, mother?”

“You may try, both of you. None will interfere if you are bound, daughter.”

“If they see the hair.” Her father pointed out.

“Sathzakara, daughter, will you continue to refuse to break this man's binding?”

“I will, mother.”

“Then so that all may see you are bound, will you not lend him a chain?”

“I told him I was not such a one, mother. Of course, he has caught me.”

“Land-man, you refuse to chain my daughter?” Lamura asked

“Her honour and free choice are important to me.” Jacob asked.

“How strong are you? Could you carry her?” Karella asked.

“Will you allow me to try?” Jacob asked the woman he loved.

“You have bound me, you...” she started, then, learning, stopped herself, and smiled at him, “Of course, Jacob.”

“You must carry her in a way that makes it clear her hands are bound.”

Karella instructed him. “Over your shoulder, or under one arm.”

“As a prize of a hunt or of war.” Lamura added.

“Unless a chain is preferable?” Karella asked.

“Shoulder.” Sathzakara replied to the question in his eyes.

“You are not heavy.” he said. “Are you comfortable?”

“It is not dignified.”

“It's not supposed to be. Tell him if you'd prefer a chain, stubborn daughter.”

“I'd prefer a chain. Jacob, please?”

“My watch!” he suddenly thought, putting her feet back on the ground.

“Pardon?”

“I do have a chain, I am sorry, I forgot.” He went to the watertight chest that he had brought his possessions in, and unwrapped an object from an oiled cloth — his pocket-watch. He carefully detached the gold chain and returned the watch to the cloth. Turning to Sathzakara, he asked her “May I? It is not nearly as weak as the hair, but it is gold. I think you could break it if you wanted to.”

“It is still not as strong as my decision, Jacob.” she replied.

----------------------------------------

“Grandmother, I bring to you Jacob, who bound my wrists with a hair, but I told him that was too weak and now I have a thin gold chain.”

“Why do you bring him to me? Surely he should drag you off somewhere?” her grandmother asked, pointedly.

“Because he is a servant of the God we know as Yah.”

“What's he doing messing about with chains then?”

“He does not know the ritual for life-bonding, grandmother. Nor did I, nor my mother.”

“I thought you were going to kill him today.” her grandmother accused.

“He bound me before I could. Not that I wanted to.” And she explained once again what had happened.

“Hah. So, do you want to be life-bonded, girl? Do you want to live with him until death parts you?”

“I can think of many worse futures.”

“Not good enough. You're choosing him for forever. Think about it some more. He's probably going to be patient, if he's asking you, not dragging you off in chains.”

“But what is the ritual, no one seems to know!”

“What ritual, girl? There is no ritual! Walk with him hand in hand while you think about it, then when you've decided call the village together, throw a party, make your vows and swim off somewhere! You've really become a follower of Yah? Called on his name to be saved?”

“Yes, grandmother. I will worship no other god.”

“Good girl. He is a true god, not like many.”

“Did his followers speak of the serpent-crusher having come?”

“It was a big debate among them. Some said he had, others said no, it was not right. What do you say, friend of my granddaughter?”

“Nineteen hundred years ago..” Jacob began.

“Christus. The man on the cross.” Japathe, her grandmother interrupted, nodding.

“Yes.” Jacob agreed.

“We do not have much contact with you land-people. You carry diseases we cannot cure. Do not go among his people, granddaughter, for that is how the plague came. A hunter, and follower of Yah, got hurt and was healed of his wounds by a land-man priest. He learned a little of their language. He returned home, and told what he'd learned. There was division, and he was sent back with another to learn more, with a couple of others. They returned ill, and death followed. Thus the followers of Yah were blamed for the plague, and I was too afraid.”

“Too afraid? I don't understand, honoured grandmother of my friend.”

“Too afraid to join them. Too afraid to ask for forgiveness. And now I am old and it is too late for me, I have no life left to give to him now.”

“No, it is not, grandmother.” Sathzakara corrected, “Everyone who calls on His name will be saved.”

“When Christus was hanging on the cross,” Jacob said “There were two thieves dying beside him. One heaped insults on him, saying 'you are supposed to be the serpent crusher, prove it by freeing us all.' The other showed faith in him, and confessed his sin. Christus said to that man who had only a little time to live: 'I say to you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.' It is never too late to seek forgiveness, for God is abounding in love, and does not wish any to perish.”

“Tell me, then granddaughter. How can I be forgiven for my life of hiding from your God?”

----------------------------------------

It was early in the evening when the village elders assembled. “Sathzakara, you were given a month to execute this intruder, but instead you walk with him hand in hand! Japathe, you honour us with your presence, but Karella, Lamura, why do you stand with her? Why does he still live?”

“Should we kill a servant of Yah the Judge, sent here by his God? If so, do you expect to live until morning?” Lamura asked.

Sathzakara thanked her father and said “I walk with Jacob hand in hand because he does not wish to keep a chain on me, although he bound my hands earlier. He asks me instead to be his life-bonded, and has given me time to decide. So I will never kill this man, who treats my honour as equal worth to his life. My blade and skill are at his service and by law and by custom none may interfere between us. He was my prisoner, but that has changed.”

Japathe spoke “I have questioned this land-man, who wishes to swim among us beside my grand-daughter. He is a true servant of Yah, the creator and judge, and has the gift of Eved, and is no threat to us. But by his gift, he warns us of war among the land-men. It may be that the time of the prophecy is coming near. Let the name of Yah be praised among us once more, for he is Judge and is good and his love endures forever.”

“Alleluia.” Jacob and Sathzakara murmured in agreement.

“So the decision of this council is ignored?” asked one of the elders.

“The decision of this council was made without enough information.” Karella said. “My daughter went to him today, intending to carry it out, but Jacob trapped her and bound her hands, so she could not. As he explained to her why he would never treat her as a slave and vowed that she would be free from guilt if she needed to harm him to prevent him from beating her, and spoke other words about his gift to her, she realised that the God he serves could be no other than Yah, and although Jacob rarely uses that name he agrees that it is so. So now we come to the council and ask that the decision be unmade.”

“Sathzakara, come!” the council leader ordered, holding out her hand. Sathzakara took her hand, while pointedly not releasing Jacob's. “How did one such as this man trap you and bind your hands? Whose plan was it that saved him from your spear?”

“It was his plan, or his God's. I said I did not want to kill him, and prayed that his God would find a way that I would not need to. He asked if I would trust his God, and I found that I wanted to, and I prayed for forgiveness. I still thought I must kill him, but I asked first to be baptised, as is normal for a new believer in Yah. He had asked earlier for one of my hairs. I'd given it to him, thinking it was part of the ritual, but he used it to bind my hands, and he pointed out that it was only as strong as my choice. Since breaking it meant that I would have to kill my friend, I chose not to, and I listened to his promises of care and his rejection of taking me by force, and realised that he did not want me as companion, but as life-bonded-one.”

“And when did you understand that he was a follower of Yah, and that he had the gift of Eved?”

“Before then, while I still expected to kill him, but was enjoying what I thought was one last conversation with him. He finally told me why he came.”

“And why was that?”

[Jacob, may I tell?] she asked, silently.

“Of course you may tell.” Jacob said.

“He waited outside the cave because he knew I was there. His God had told him that he should go to a people who knew Him not and tell them of the great salvation that He had wrought. His God told him that he should use the gift he had to find the maid he would be life-bonded with, for it was her people. I asked him who that maid was, challenging him to say her full name. And he told me mine. He named me, and said this was why he did not fear my spear, for if his God had told him he was to be life-bonded with me, how could I kill him? He also told me that he knew I was mer before he left his homeland, and though he has been in contact with others who have his gift, he has always protected the secret.”

“If he has the gift of Eved, he can tell us where your brother Lakara is.”

“He is missing?” Sathzakara asked, concerned.

“Where is he?”

Jacob looked for Lakara, Sathzakara's younger brother, and found him. “I can see where he is, but I will give the image to Sathzakara, for I do not know your names for places.” He sent the image to her.

“He is in the cave of Agool.” [It is a good hiding place. Is he OK?]

[I'll check.] Jacob checked Lakara's skin: terror, trapped. He checked the skin of the cave: there were three men there, with European names, not mer. He checked their thoughts. They were bored, and playing dice.

“He is terrified and feeling trapped. There are three land-men in the same cave, who are bored and playing games.” Jacob reported, then asked “Does Lakara hear thoughts?” not all did.

“Yes.” Lamura, his father said.

“I could talk to him. What should I ask, what should I say?”

“Ask him if he is hurt, or has been seen.” the chief elder said.

“Tell him first how he hears your thoughts, Jacob. Tell him you are a servant of Yah, and have the gift of Eved. It will reassure him he is not mad. And tell him I pray for him.” Sathzakara said.

“And tell him the elders and his parents know his plight.” Her mother added.

“I will,” Jacob said.

[{comfort} Do not be surprised, Lakara, brother of my friend Sathzakara, that you hear my thought. I am Jacob, you have met me, but you perhaps do not know that you know of my God: you call him Yah.]

[My sister was to kill you. Are you a ghost?] the young man, ten years younger than Sathzakara, asked.

[No, I am not a ghost. Sathzakara tells me you know also of the gift by which I found her as the gift of Eved. She is praying for you. She now follows Yah, as does your grandmother. I gave Sathzakara an excuse not to kill me, which she seems to like. I am here, before your elders, with your sister and parents here also, and they know what I have told them, of the three land-men, and your fear. Have they seen you?]

[No, I do not think so, unless they seek to lure me out.]

[Their thoughts are of boredom and of their game, not of hunting.] Jacob said. [You are not injured?]

[No. I was watching their army march down the valley from the cave when two of these ones came up. One stayed, the younger went back down and returned with the third. They look like they will spend the night here, perhaps even longer. The rest of the army marched away.]

[You think it looks like they will use the cave as a lookout?]

[Yes, just as I did.]

[But they have not explored it?]

[Not much. If they do, they will find me. I am not well hidden here, but I dare not move.]

[Was there anything else that they did?]

[It is strange. When the two came, they carried a drum of thin rope or string. When the one went down, he carried it away again. Do they try to make a speaking-through-string device, like you showed us? It will not work, the string is much too loose.]

[Ah. I understand. I will tell this to your elders.]

[What was the excuse you gave her?] Lakara asked.

[She was a little dizzy after I baptised her. I was holding her hands together anyway for that, and I bound them with one of her hairs. She was very surprised, but did not break the hair. Then as we talked she understood I do not want her as just slave or companion, but as my life-bonded-one.]

[She said she would never willingly submit to slavery, even for a day.]

[I would never enslave anyone, even for an hour, so we are well matched. She still carries her knife, I have no weapon.]

[Then you enslave yourself to my sister?]

[No. I ask that she think of uniting with me. It is a big decision and must be her choice.]

[You wait for her to choose you?]

[Of course.]

[What if she says no?]

[Five years ago, God said she will say yes eventually. I trust Him who knows the future. I have waited five years to ask her; I can wait a little longer. But now I must talk to your elders.]

[I think she will choose you, you are both equally crazy.]

Jacob laughed “Lakara thinks you will choose me, Sathzakara, for we are equally crazy.”

Sathzakara smiled at the joke, but said nothing.

“My grandson always was a good judge of character.” Japathe said with her own smile. “What of the men?”

Jacob relayed what he'd learned from Lakara. Then he explained about the telegraph wire. “They are using the cave as a lookout. With the wire, they can send news of whatever they see, very quickly. They could signal that there are strangely dressed people coming, that they are under attack, or that they have found a strange man with webbed toes.”

“You say it is not enough to make sure they do not leave?” Sathzakara said.

“It is not enough.”

“Are they your tribe?”

“No. I do not know if they are allies or enemies of my tribe, but it would not help, even if they were of my tribe, from my own village. If they have orders to shoot people who approach, then the best I could hope for is a warning that I should turn around.”

“So if Sathzakara were a warrior from your people, you would be dead?” one of the elders asked pointedly.

“It is possible. But if Sathzakara were a warrior from my people, she would be a he. Our women are not warriors.”

“A silly conceit.” Sathzakara said.

“Not so silly.” Karella disagreed. “It keeps the men from showing off all the time. But what of my son?”

“If there will be an attack on the men, the wire must be cut first, and cutting it may be dangerous, like the eel that makes fish die so it can eat them. I do not know what tools you have, but it would be better if it seems natural, like a tree falling and breaking the wire, or a rock-fall. Perhaps there will be no need to attack them with my help.”

“You would help us against your people?”

“Their names are not the names of people from my tribe. They are people who would kill my friends and those I care for because of where they live or who God has made them.”

“So you feel no ties to these land-men?”

“I would prefer that they not be killed, because killing needlessly is not good in the sight of my God, but I feel less ties to these men than any of the mer. If they are there to watch the valley and warn of approaching soldiers, I am sure they have orders of what to do if the wire is broken, I expect it will be that one man tries to mend the wire, while the other two guard him against an ambush.”

“You could break this wire?”

“Not from here.”

The elders held hands, to discuss this. Eventually, the leader stood. “Sathzakara, you seem as unwilling to let go of this man as you were to kill him. We do not wish to kill any servant of Yah, but both of your loyalties are questioned. Go with your land-man, if he can secure the return of your brother and any other that go with you, we will trust him further. If not, it would be better neither of you return. But first, you will vow to protect the secret, even in death.”