Si'Wren of the Patriarchs

ontainer. Topping it off, she carefully stoppered the neck of

bony hair nearly down to her waist in back, and perpetually of a rather plain appearance as a chi

just finished filling nine of the little clay jars. They contained a medicinal salve comprised of rare aromatic resi

ng, wealthy gentleman of noble birth, a titled land owner who wore much crude jewelry, together

od of iron which was always cleaned and tested first with the judicious application of a wet thumb by his personal man se

or animal too advanced in years to be of proper use to him anymore, or the buying and selling of great tracts of land. He also saw to the scourging of slaves and the to

rds of the moderns, more than four thousand years in his future, he would have been d

vities. He was sound of stature. He was still keen of ear, and ate and drank as freely as any rash youth.

ed, and he craved a good physical match or a ha

slavery at birth for the unfortunate offense of having been a firstborn female, and her first own

less and unfailing, for she was a large woman of short stature and powerful girth. The plenteous flesh of her upper arms rippled to an odd meter as sh

eel-like lid, with many heavy stones laid on over the top of the lid by two powerful male slaves, crushing it down onto the open-topped barrel of olives. As the slaves piled on

ert ability and wealth of worldly experience. Si'Wren always looked on with beaming countenance as the piles of freshly sorted and washed olives were slowly crushed down under the weight of so many heavy stones. Sh

ow bottom ends into which the finest pollen grains and motes would eventually settle out during storage. She knew of no other method

and well-praised by all for a multitude of r

tic scents which lingered in the spice t

ons used to make incense, which were prepared by her and Nelatha on an almost daily basis, which had a most beneficent e

disturbing to the bowels in their effects, and their dry powders sometimes drifted in the air in the confines of the spice tent, havi

cts. One of the herbs was poisonous to consume whole, whereas the oil of the seeds, pressed out in it's own litt

. Work in the spice tent forbade the intrusion of flies or bugs, and except for the sun-drying pr

erpetual good favors of the Master for all of his or her days. Praise

more common or menial tasks such as brick-making, invited the whip, because that could not impai

rmacopoeia. She was well tutored in how to recognize and gather fresh herbs on foraging expe

r price. Even in this, Si'Wren was becoming skillful in identifying, grading, and haggling over the prices

d vain of their ability to make a profusion of crude marks on the tally slate, as 'proof' of their ability to 'read and write' as well as to cheat and connive, as to be unwilling to

t, and send her out with some broken-nosed, one-eyed brawler of a slave with cauliflower ears, a total illiterate who was willing e

Sorcery, and a natural fear and reluctance of serving it's horrible totems and mystic signs employed publicly with such

's world. Where superior strength was needed, of what use was beau

born male, a crucial qualification if one was to become a true Master of Pharmacopoeia. But she had always shunned,

aw, Si'Wren indirectly perceived a like sentiment in Habrunt to her own. She had never seen him so much as partake of s

yes, which held a slight but perpetual squint, as if he were ever vigilant against the many evils of an uncertain life. Si'Wren basically

ke his beard, was slightly wavy, and like his face, very pleasing to behold in the eyes of young Si'Wren, and he kept his hair cropped to a proper shoulder length, but no longer than that, as befitted his low st

responsibilities, could become hard and unyielding at a moment's notice, even piercing by aspect, such as when he was wont to evaluate a slave even unto his very soul with a mere look. For this, and other, less notable reasons, all of the slaves under Hab

rds of advice, characteristically brief, unerring, and straight to the point, and by the certain knowledge in every servant's mind t

bull whip ready to hand for his most grievous personal

ork together in the shelter of the spice tent. The tent of animal skins was located well off to one side in

d on a broad fertile valley plain covered by dense scattered forest and jungle. Across this plain, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed and converged

preparations. Infestation by insects could cause the finest ointment to give forth a stinking savor, and invoke the certain displeasure of

ellow, green, blue, and violet, as a banded scimitar slash in the heavens, a colored arch, a wound in a darkened

her to scorn. Colors in the sky? L'acoci was deluded. No one had ever heard

as Si'Wren well knew from unfortunate firsthand experience, such enshrouding mists could cause rare herb

e clammy, clinging mists, which could arise on a moment's notice and transform the tor

en her. For savage, rogue men walking in the lusts of their wicked hearts went out at all times of day or night, seeking human prey, upon whom they might work their unspeakable evils, men

acks behind the stoutest walls and doors they could manage. There was no law except the law of the pack. The only real law was right of might and sword and the dictates of powerful warlords and landowners, even unto the changeable whim

e of much beauty, bu

arch Adam and his helpmeet, Eve? Eve first bore Cain, then Abel, and then after the sons of Cain were already abroad upon the land even unto the sixth generation, Eve bore Seth. Adam and Eve were, then, one hu

e ahead of her. A wise woman must overlook her man's faults, and stand beside him, even help lift him up when he might otherwise perish, and Si'Wren believed in

heir yokes plodded slowly past the open end flap of her tent accompanied by several dirty-looking boys and driven by two brawny slaves who presently followed the beasts into

ding stones from the rock quarry, or round stones from the harvest fields where they were unearthed by the plow, to be dragged as deadweight upon a pla

grease or water to make sludge or mud under the runners, when the sled ground to a halt sometimes and must have something extr

e and water and insert the end of a broom more closely beneath the runners. Such boys must reach in and work the water and grease and dirt

into the worst labors possible, and few other boys would give the temporary loan of their sticks and staffs, lest one of them suffer a similar ghastly fate. Si'Wren had once heard an agonizing episode of high-pitched screams that began so suddenly as to jolt her right down to the very pit of he

for the Master's garden wall, which Si'Wren must pass by every day on her way to and from the spice tent. As the two sweating drivers were

s, bringing on the inevitable vile

ces of rocks and stones in the ground and the wooden runners scraped over them with ear-splitting squealings. Si'Wren watched also

s during her work, swaying gently to the rhythm of her own soft sweetly-uttered syllables. It was not merely a prayer she sang always, but sometimes r

slaves to seize upon the unwatched moment now and then to pause, and wander freely with their eyes across the in

rightened gasp of startlement caused Si'Wren to c

vidual. The giant had six great fingers, like stout wooden pegs, on each hairy, enormous hand. Because of his size he appeared to be walking with exaggerated slowness, al

her good fortune that he was already moving away from the tent e

his temper? Although they were too big to ride horses, they could run on their long legs almost as swiftly as any horse, especiall

atha barely breathed, her voice a te

sessed!" Si'Wre

ooked every

l strength. How much the more s

tle and stoppered it carefully, checking to ensure that it could not possib

tly, still shivering

a, looking over her sho

finger-cou

ded. "I do

ill was, smiled her approval, and leaned o

ha agreed with evident satisfact

would alike find themselves the free time to rest and watch others,

of idleness, for the veil screened the girls while they worked, keeping the

able time and resources, and whose household they rightly considered themselves to be a part of. To be sure, they counted themselves but inf

ate and fortune, and it

although he was known to deal harshly enough with rightly deservin

he elder slaves, times were never so evil as now. Si'Wren wondered at this,

ne of many hammers, a group of talented artificers was busy at their labors there as they worked diligently to create numbe

carved and molded artifact, and an endless variety of molten and engraved idols and gods of all sizes, shapes, and descriptions. These were always sold or traded off at a handsome profit for Master Rababull, althou

ox. His huge, ugly face was like a terrible stone mask, and all men of ordinary stature were utterly dwarfed by him,

en, keeping her voice low so as not to be overheard. To this

ughout the known world, was; one kind, one race, one speech, easily recognized and understood by all.

sed, and though foul be the reproaches and slurred speech of a drunkard, so much t

was told, were

ple god himself and conversed at great length with the Foundryman. They could not hear clearly what was said,

was plain to see. Verily, for th

outhern, no Hispanics, Negroids, or Pygmies. She knew no Caucasians, rain forest people, or Eskim

f Si'Wren's one world-wide race, one day to emerge, and then would come proud evil speeches of 'the purity of the race'

hallow seas and easily crossed land bridges in this, the world of Si'Wren, land which was but slightly above the level of the seas, with broad exp

day spring forth all future races in their manifold colors and countless differences would have been a source of great astonishment to Si'Wren, could she but have k

ith six fingers were not so different as all that. Yet in spite of the fact that there was only one race among men -which included the giants- there was hatred in almost every heart,

and picked it up, ignoring the rough coating of caked-on mud which clung to the bag as she raised it to her lips. The water ran freely ou

ling. The half-dried mud clung to the goat skin in a curious pattern of broken and layered ridges that were partly crushed together wherever their br

work, while unheeded behind her, some of the water skin's encrusted mud crumbled and dropped to the ground behind h

cluded the giants and the six-fingered ones, th

ed altogether from the huge and fearsome dire wolves that stood as tall as a

e resembled the sma

ack instinct. It was used as a guard dog and camp scavenger, but could, like any wolf, beco

right and anything but a coward, looked now equally as puny and scared as any small boy. He looked so scared that Si'Wren could not help but feel sorry for him. The giant w

ght is not always to the strong, nor the race to the swift,

forgot herself and suddenly had to look at Nelatha and s

sighed p

d large, and like themselves, false-hearted, but there is an

dee

lowered to a conspiratorial whisper, "the idol makers despise this In

ed, and Si'Wr

e a joke,

king schemes in the market place. They were shrewd cheats, long accustomed to swapping not only goods, but lies and lives, and often resorted to savage am

so full of the greed of dogs but could never seem to suspect the similarity of themselves to such low

h such open foolishness. Si'Wren always guarded her thoughts. For as the wise men, who ever sat in the city gates, were fond o

was virtually everybody), even if she saw cutthroats setting up their gods of greed under every green tree,

s the god of gain. But Si'Wren could not help wondering whether such be

i'Wren. "How could one make proper obei

tle one, when you close your eyes in prayer to the Master's family god, an

esting! I have never thought of that bef

speech, that she was becoming very, very preoccupied abou

Nelatha's part, sought how to retreat from the imagi

sure yours is just as good as anyone else's, in spi

'Wren, such a time as when you are suddenly frightened while lying in your bed after dark, when it is not possible to go to the Ho

is, for, of a curiosity, she perceived

said simply, "that's

ed an imperious and sultry female contralto, coming

e of the many idols of the House of Rababull with an instinctive zeal born of grievous prior experience. One must

yes, was a beautiful young slave woman greatly favored by Master Rababull. Like the Master, Sorpiala w

heard to remark of late on how beautiful Si'Wren was becoming. In fact,

s evident to all that Master Rababull had been making eyes at Si'Wren in the months since young Si'Wren had begun to physically blossom, and as was increasingly cl

ings by the older female slaves in the House, who seemed to feel that it would be

n of fates. Lives should intertwine and complement, not strangle, one-another. And it seemed to her that sometimes now Si'Wren felt Master Rababull's eyes lingering inordinately long upon her, and could only feign n

though her almond-shaped eyes had always betrayed an hardness, and Sorpiala could be unrelentingly vindictive about her jealousies, which were countless. Sorpiala had been the Master's f

at their backs while Nelatha and Si'Wren spoke foolishly, uttering what could all too easily become their own

the other slaves in the House, many were known to be the children of Master Rababull, for he was a man who had many wives, and the slave-offspring which he had sired might at least claim many half-brothers or half

one to call blood

e saw in Sorpiala's eyes now and again. It was an alarming expression, like a deep, searing mask of thinly-veiled hatred, the way that a surface

Si'Wren, and she was naturally at a loss how to respon

errible curse, if it brought the wrong kind of attention from the wrong kind of person. To a slave, especially a young girl such as Si'Wren, were not a

t on her little jars, pretending with an agonized trembling and the barest amount of fumb

d forward to face Si'Wren and

e Invisible God?" Sorpiala asked in the sweetest tone of voice. "How curious," Sorpiala w

a shy smile. Of course she could trust S

tinuing to smile beamingly. "We were just talking about him. I have n

h shock by the stark, thinly veiled terror in Nelatha's trapped-looking eyes. After betraying that one warning look to Si'Wren, N

rpiala again quickly, bli

tly with her fingertips. "I have heard of the Invisible God. Does he

rpiala's curiously reassuring countenance, to Nelatha, who, look

ying. Could Nelatha not see how loving and faithful

ut a funny little laugh. "Remember; the Invisible God is alwa

" said Si'Wren,

onless for a long time, as motionless as any dumb graven idol, as she struggled with so

led, and so unwilling to

ly displayed for Si'Wren's eyes only, whenever they chanced to meet. It gave Si'Wren the most

scarcely a word to Si'Wren or even acknowledge her presence with so much as a nod, causing Si'Wren much anguish when they

ion and no little dismay that she should feel so dumb about everything. Any simple slave girl might quite sensibly have experie

ourtyard in the shadow of the House and stared down at an overripe fruit that had turned partly rotten. The fruit had already begun to dry up, and Si'Wren could

ated one such as she to do such a thing. It fretted Si'Wren to see her elder sister in bondage grieving so over a mere rotting

fairly mysti

den start at the appearance of the others, as if not expecting them and for some reason seemed uncharacteristically at a loss how to face them, although Si'Wren coul

lly orchestrated faces of sham sorrow over the fruit to Sorpiala's face, and then when they departed, deli

d looked strangely at one with the peculiar oddness of two eyes both wrongfully on one side only, but no eye on the other side. So that, wherever t

Nelatha. It was early enough that the morning mists still drifted thickly over the glistening out

lly beseeching various and sundry gods as she followed a tribal melody with the words of her prayer. Forgotten were her fears, for there rem

whose graven idols were not in her immediate, visible presence, just as Nelatha had scornfully pointed out earlier when still on

of the fact that Sorpiala clearly meant no harm, and stubbornly refuse

strange Invisible God. For the whole idea was still very un

that they must surely understand why His image could not be somehow made visible by the contrivance

he gates of the Emperor's city, was each and every one of them, from the highest to the

f, in their anger, any of them was to complain to her Master Rababull and shame him openly for the stupidity of the foolish girl slave called Si'Wren? The more that even one of them should happ

," Si'Wren finally said, eyes meekly downcast to her work. "Why has He given us eyes, and then

on, as if she

med?" Si'Wren whispere

with an expression of open

ry your best to live a sinless life. Do good, and shun evil! Does not the wisdom of our folk lore teach us that Adam, and Eve his wife, saw God openly and spoke to Him freely

een created by only one god, when all men say there be many gods.

and live. For all are sinful. Sin, before God, burns like charcoal in a fire

ve lived a good li

your heart, which like Him is unseen, and not just in your outward behavior. Then you will surely rejoice to see H