The Gift

by Bryan M. Litfin

  “Where did you go?”

  “I just hit the road. I don’t think the shamans were expecting that. They didn’t know I was onto them. I slipped through their fingers and became invisible. Joined up with a bunch of vagabonds. Good folk, those people. They’re quick to share a stew with you around the campfire. Of course, they’ll rob you too. I had my pack rifled more than once. Ha! Those hobos had no idea what I was carrying in my tunic!”

  Teo arched his eyebrows. “What was it?”

  Sol crawled to the stall’s door and peeked out, then turned back to Teo. He used a pocketknife to slice open the hem of his garment. Four iridescent gems, pale blue, spilled into his hand. “My life’s savings,” Sol said proudly. “They’re moonstones.”

  “Those gems could keep a man comfortable for a long time.”

  “I was thinking of two men.”

  Teo gave Sol a quizzical glance but did not speak.

  “Alright, let me explain,” Sol said. “I came here to Likuria for a reason. When I got your message that you had taken the stable job with Count Federco, I was disappointed. I had grown to like you quite a bit.” Sol smiled affably, and Teo nodded to show the feeling was mutual.

  “But there was something else,” Sol continued. “I felt safe with you. You have a way of making people feel you have things under control—or could get them under control if something came up. Do you know what I mean?”

  “I guess so. Anastasia has said that sort of thing to me before.”

  “She’s right. You take good care of her.”

  Teo tsked, shaking his head. “Not lately. I haven’t talked to her in over a month. She’s in deep with Lady Vanita, and now the dohj too. Those aristocrats have a way of putting up walls.”

  “Unfortunately, Anastasia isn’t trying to climb out.”

  Teo was glum. “I know.” He looked up at Sol. “I did drive an assassin away from her though. A leader of the shamans.”

  “She was attacked by them too?”

  “Yeah. And I barely survived.”

  “What happened?”

  Sol listened, astounded, as Teo described his battle in the sea with the Iron Shield. “I think his eye injury forced him away from Likuria,” Teo said. “His caravel hasn’t been seen since our fight.”

  “Have the local Exterminati been up to any trouble?”

  “I’ve been keeping tabs on them. As far as I can tell, they’re lying low.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “I can’t let the shamans get near Ana. But since I don’t have access to her, I can only look for anything suspicious and be ready to act immediately. Believe me, I’ll be watching those rats like a hawk in the sky.”

  “Okay then, listen to my idea. Since you’re cut off from your woman but you want to stay close and keep an eye on her, let me make you a proposal. I need the kind of protection you can provide. You have the ability to sniff out those killers, see what they’re up to, fight them off if necessary. The safest place I can be right now is near you. Otherwise I’m going to wake up with a knife in my chest.”

  “I won’t let that happen, Sol. You’re welcome to stay with me. I rented a cottage on the property of a farmer’s widow.”

  “Good. That’ll be perfect for the project I have in mind.” Sol rummaged in his rucksack and pulled out his version of the Old Testament. “Remember this? It’s written in Talyano. You want a version in the Chiveisian speech, right?”

  “Definitely. I’ve only translated bits and pieces of it, and most of those scrolls were left back in Chiveis. There are large portions of the Old Testament I’ve never even read because I haven’t had time to translate them.”

  “I assume you have your original copy of the Sacred Writing? The book you found in the lost city?”

  “Sure. It’s in my pack right now. I try to keep it with me so thieves don’t get it while I’m gone. That happened to me once, and it wasn’t a good feeling.”

  “And didn’t you tell me you have a dictionary too?”

  Teo laughed as he recalled his unintentional theft. “Yeah. I found a lexicon in a Chiveisian temple that I intended to take to my university. One thing led to another, and I never got to do that. The lexicon stayed in my pack until I discovered it again.”

  “Excellent! Then we have everything we need to make a new translation. My moonstones will keep food on the table for the time being. You can quit this dirty job and get back to doing what you really love. With nothing else to do, we can knock out a version of the Old Testament in the Chiveisian tongue in just a few months!”

  The idea excited Teo. The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He grinned at his friend. “It might be possible,” he admitted.

  “Of course it is!” Instead of speaking Talyano, Sol answered Teo in the guttural speech of the Chiveisi.

  “Hey!” Teo exclaimed. “I forgot you know my language.”

  “A dialect of it anyway. That should speed things up for us. And my penmanship is decent too. If you’ll do the bulk of the translating, I’ll make a nice, clean copy. All I ask is that you keep the shamans off my back.”

  Teo considered the proposal. His previous translations of the Sacred Writing for a community of believers in Chiveis had been slow—partly because he was being meticulous and partly because his other responsibilities had demanded much of his time. But if I devote myself to translation full-time, and I have Sol’s help, and I don’t linger over each verse . . . The possibilities were intriguing. By the time the translation was finished, the seas would have opened up again, and the long-distance sailors would be back in Nuo Genov. Then perhaps he could find a ship to take him to Roma. Teo figured if he could help the Papa locate the New Testament to complement the Old, he would be well on his way toward a recovery of Deu’s religion.

  “Alright, I’m in,” Teo said, holding up his pitchfork. “I’ll trade this for a quill any day.”

  The winter months slipped by, sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy, but never truly cold. As the vernal equinox approached, a spell of unusually warm weather set in. Ana decided seaside Likuria was a much better place to spend the winter than the frigid mountains of the north. Back in Chiveis, snow would still be falling, but here in Likuria it was time to get out and enjoy the sun even though it was only the third month. I could get used to this, Ana thought.

  She and Vanita strolled arm in arm through the grand aquarium near Nuo Genov’s harbor. Sea creatures of all kinds had been given new homes in glass tanks to amuse the spectators. Fish swirled around the two women in every direction, some in large schools of flashing silver, others in proud displays of multihued color. The aquarium even had tanks with the large, playful fish called delphini. Ana had seen them jumping and frolicking around ships in the ocean, but seeing them up close with their bottle-shaped noses and permanent grins made her appreciate them even more. She had never known there were so many kinds of fish in the seas of the world.

  “Oh, look at that!” Ana pointed to a sea turtle drifting by with lazy flaps of its fins.

  Vanita grinned. “It would be fun to sit on its back and ride it.”

  “Cristof said the turtles live as long as a man. Eighty years or more.”

  For a moment Vanita was silent, then she turned toward Ana with an inquisitive glance. “So it’s just ‘Cristof’ now, is it? Apparently you’ve grown quite friendly with the sovereign of the realm.”

  Ana felt her cheeks flush. “Oh, he, uh—he told me to call him that. Because we’re close, he said.”

  “Sounds like you two have really hit it off over the past few months. Lots of face time with the dohj for Anastasia.”

  “Not really. Just here and there.”

  “It seems like more than that.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Vanita’s remarks embarrassed Ana. She had told herself many times she wasn’t romantically interested in Dohj Cristof. However, she couldn’t escape the nagging thought, Then why do I enjoy be
ing in his inner circle so much?

  “It’s nothing!” Ana insisted. “And even if it were, I’d only be taking your advice. Aren’t you the one who told me to set myself up for life by finding a man?”

  “Not that man.”

  “Well, don’t worry. I’m not after him like that.”

  “Then why do you spend so much time together?”

  “I don’t know,” Ana blurted out. “Somehow he just makes me feel secure.”

  “He makes you feel secure?”

  “Yes—I guess that’s what you’d call it. Cristof gives me a feeling of safety, like he would take care of me if things got bad. He’s rich, he’d pay for what I need.”

  “Every girl’s dream, huh?”

  “That’s not fair! You told me to go after this. You said men have all the power in the world, so we have to attach ourselves to them. Perhaps I finally realized you were right and decided to take matters into my own hands.”

  “Are you intimate with the dohj?”

  “Intimate? You mean . . . ?” Ana glanced at the fish tanks, knowing her face had grown red. “No, Vanita! Of course not!”

  “Why is that such a crazy idea? Everybody has heard about his insatiable appetite for women.”

  “Maybe so, but you know I’m not like that. I told you already—my feelings for Cr—for Dohj Cristof aren’t romantic. I’m spending time with him because he’s interested in my faith. I have to keep a good relationship with him so I can bear witness to Deu.” Even as Ana said it, she knew it wasn’t the whole truth. Although she had spoken to Cristof about Deu, she was aware that evangelism wasn’t her only motivation to be in his company. The realization was painful to her, and she brushed it away.

  “There you go again, talking about your god,” Vanita said. “You’re obsessed with religion. You’d be a lot better off if you had never even found that ancient book.”

  Ana put her hand to her forehead, feeling confused and upset. “You don’t understand. The words of Deu used to comfort me so much. When I was in the wilderness with Teofil, he would read to me every night. But now . . .” Ana’s voice faltered. She turned away from Vanita.

  “I thought you had forgotten about that soldier. Don’t start up with him again.”

  Ana didn’t respond. Over the winter months she had written letters to Teofil at the Labella estate in Ulmbartia. Though she had waited anxiously for a reply, the letters had gone unanswered. Ana felt hot tears rise up. She squeezed her eyes and covered her mouth, but her sniffle gave her away.

  “Are you crying?” Vanita demanded. “Anastasia, are you crying?”

  Ana shook her head as Vanita came around and stood in front of her. “Listen to me—what you need isn’t Dohj Cristof, and it isn’t some working-class soldier boy. We’re going to find you a handsome lord when we return to Ulmbartia. No more fooling around! As soon as we get back, I’m going to make some arrangements.”

  “I might not even be going back,” Ana said bitterly.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Ana waved her hand. “Nothing, probably. It’s just that a few days ago Cristof asked if I would stay down here with him.”

  Vanita did a double take. “He asked you what?”

  “I know it’s crazy. He asked if I would stay in Likuria at the palace. He said—oh, never mind.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said he liked being around me. He called me ‘regal,’ though I wasn’t sure what he meant by that.”

  “Oh, so now you’re regal?” Vanita folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. “Are you aware that the di Sanjorjo house has been exploring plans with the Labella clan for an alliance?”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I’m supposed to marry the dohj, you stupid girl!”

  Ana was shocked at her friend’s venomous tone. “I told you, Vanita . . . I’m not trying . . .”

  “Right, of course not! You’re not trying to do anything!” Vanita’s voice assumed a high-pitched, breathy tone. “I’m sweet, innocent Anastasia,” she mocked, fluttering her eyelids. “How can I help it if the dohj falls for my angelic face and perfect little figure?” She pointed her finger at Ana. “Don’t think I can’t see what you’re up to!”

  “Vanita, stop!”

  “No, you stop, Anastasia! You’re the one who’s conniving here. I’m warning you—keep your hands off Dohj Cristof! I’m going to be the Queen of Likuria someday, and when that day comes, you’d better find yourself on my side!”

  Ana didn’t know what to say. Vanita stared at her a moment longer, then whirled and marched off. “Find your own way home,” she spat over her shoulder. “I don’t want your company right now.”

  Sol sat at a table, hunched over an open book. “How about this: ‘Behold, I will send you Élie the prophet before the great and horrible day of the Lord happens; and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.’ What do you think?”

  Teo considered Sol’s translation of the last two verses of the Old Testament into the Chiveisian speech. “It’s fine, except we would probably say, ‘before the great and horrible day of the Lord arrives.’”

  “Alright,” Sol agreed, “we’ll do it that way.” He wrote it out, then set his quill on the table.

  “I guess we’re done then,” Teo said, pumping his fist triumphantly.

  Sol returned Teo’s broad smile. “I guess we are.”

  The translation had required five months of intensive work on the part of the two linguistic scholars. Throughout the Likurian winter, they had sat together day after day with their texts and parchments and dictionary spread before them. Toward the end of the book of Habacuc, Teo’s water-damaged copy of the Sacred Writing had become illegible, but Sol had urged him to continue the translation by using the Talyano version. “It’s a literal rendering of the Old Words,” Sol said. “Let’s finish the job.” Teo had been happy to comply, so the two men pressed on with the task.

  Sol was indeed a good copyist. He wrote with a fine, clear hand, easy to read and beautiful in appearance. Teo had fashioned a leather cover for the book, and the men had bound the pages inside it, using the best vellum they could obtain. Though a professional bookbinder would have done it better, all in all the first Chiveisian copy of the Old Testament was a work of art.

  “I have a name for it,” Sol said, holding up the book. “We’ll call it the Versio Prima Chiveisorum. The First Version of the Chiveisi.”

  “Great! Maybe we can call it the Prima for short.” As Teo looked at the brand-new volume, the fruit of so much hard labor, a sense of accomplishment filled him. He rose and went to a cabinet. “I think it’s time to celebrate,” he said, uncorking a bottle of good wine and filling two cups. Sol’s emphatic nod signaled his wholehearted agreement with Teo’s suggestion.

  The two men went outside to enjoy the spring sunshine by reclining against the trunk of a gnarled cork oak. The widow on whose property Teo was living liked to boast that the tree had been producing cork for a century. “Many a bottle has been stopped with the bark of that tree,” the old woman had said, but the only bottle Teo cared about right now was the one in his hand.

  Sol held the Prima in his lap, gently thumbing the pages. “I imagine this has been quite an interesting journey for you. Now that you’ve read the entire Old Testament, what do you think of it?”

  It wasn’t an easy question. Teo stared at the puffy clouds in the sky, sipping his wine and turning his thoughts over in his head. It seemed a thousand new characters had been introduced to him since he first encountered the sacred book: Adam and Eve, the original human pair; Noé and his boat of animals; Abraham the patriarch; Isaac, his nearly sacrificed son; tricky Jacob, who wrestled with Deu; faithful Joseph, sold into slavery; the great lawgiver Moses, who led the people of Israël out of Égypte; heroic and brave King David; wise but tragic Salomon; and many others too: kings an
d queens, prophets and priests, warriors and shepherds, prostitutes and widows, people of every age and personality and walk of life. It was a lot to take in. Teo felt overwhelmed. At last he gathered his thoughts and spoke. “I think what impresses me most is the faithful loyalty of the God in this book. I knew Deu is the All-Creator and that he has high demands for his followers. But what I noticed throughout the book was that even when his people failed him, he always sent a deliverer.”

  “Like Moses?”

  “Moses is one good example, but there are others. Joseph and Néhémie were deliverers, and so were the magistrates. And the kings were supposed to be deliverers too, though not many of them lived up to it.”

  Sol smiled but didn’t say anything. Teo looked over at the old man. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking you just put your finger on something important,” Sol replied. “The kings didn’t live up to expectations. That’s why the prophets kept pointing ahead to someone else—the Promised King.”

  “Right, I noticed that too. Deu promised to send a mighty deliverer who would defeat the wicked and bless the righteous. That’s consistent with everything Deu has revealed about himself in the Old Testament. He’s a saving God who overcomes evil.”

  “So the question is, who was this Promised King, and how can we receive his strength?”

  “I’m sure the New Testament must explain all this,” Teo said. “We know Iesus Christus was involved somehow. Even though he died, the Promised King was able to win. But how? That’s what we’ve got to figure out. How did the king tap into Deu’s power? If we learn the secret, maybe we could have that power too.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Sol said, draining his glass.

  The two men sat in contemplative silence for a time, allowing the breezes and the birdsong to quiet their souls. The little cottage under the oak tree had become their place of refuge for the past five months. Laboring in obscurity during the winter, they had been free from the malicious attention of the shamans. The Iron Shield’s caravel had never reappeared in Likuria, which Teo viewed as a welcome respite. Yet while Teo had enjoyed these months of sabbatical, he could feel the wheels of human events starting to turn again with the coming of spring. A sense of urgency was beginning to gather in his soul. He knew some hard decisions had to be made.