He shook his head. “She isn’t my wife. I ran out before we finished the marriage ceremony.” He reached into his pocket.
“Go on,” Ashmedai said. “Pull out that shriveled flower.”
“This?” He revealed the desiccated boutonniere. Its petals hung like dead skin.
“Hear me, Daniel. Rebekah’s true essence is like that flower. A wilted, shriveled corpse. Cut short before its prime, left to fester. Like my brothers, who were scorned by the Creator. But there are ways of making things appear beautiful again.”
He waved his hand over the flower, and it blossomed back to vibrant life. A waste of his power, but Daniel needed to understand. Its wine-purple petals, like the dual sunsets of Sheol, glowed of their own light.
Daniel’s eyes grew wide.
“Rebekah is no different. A dead thing revivified. Ultimately, a mirage.” With another wave of his hand the flower reverted back to dead skin. “Daniel, your Rebekah doesn’t exist. What lies beneath is horrid. Her name is Mashit, an ancient and cunning demon.”
“Mashit?” Marul said. “You were about to marry Mashit?”
“He was,” Caleb said. “She usurped my throne, robbed me of my power, and cast me out of Sheol. Her love for you is a ruse, Daniel, for once I believed she loved me too.”
Daniel squirmed. “Rebekah works for a charity. She’s helped countless people. I’ve seen her work. She’s no demon. You’re lying.”
“I won’t deny I have a tendency toward falsehood. As king, it was not easy to maintain power without dissembling. But I swear by Great Abbadon, the first king of Sheol, that Rebekah is as much a demon as I am.”
Daniel shivered once. “What would a demon want with me?”
“A profound question. Why, among billions, did she choose you, Daniel? Marul, you should guess the answer to this one.”
Marul scowled. “I’m not playing your foul games.”
“This is no game. I’ll give you a minute.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “He looks like any boring Upper Worlder to me.”
“Exactly!” he said. “Look at how ordinary he seems. A common man, easily forgotten. But there’s a spark of wisdom in Daniel’s eyes, is there not?”
Marul stirred. She approached Daniel cautiously, as if he were a caged beast. “It wasn’t his face that was familiar. It was his name! I knew I recognized it! It’s been so long, I’d nearly forgotten! Is he Daniel—Daniel Fisher?”
Caleb smiled.
“Goddess Almighty!” Marul said. “Damn you, Caleb, have you brought one here? Is that possible? How did you cleave him from the Earth?”
Caleb nodded. “Mashit did all the work for me.”
“What are you talking about?” Rana said.
“Daniel,” Marul said, “is a Lamed Vavnik.”
Caleb laughed, his voice careening down the corridors of stone. “Now there’s the Marul Menacha I remember! The Witch Who Gives Demons Pause indeed. Behold, Daniel Fisher, one of the thirty-six anonymous people who sustain the Cosmos. But anonymous no more.”
Daniel cocked his head. “A Lamed Vavnik? Me?”
“What’s a Lamed Vavnik?” Rana said.
“A Jewish myth,” Daniel said. “In the Hebrew language, letters are numbers. The letters lamed and vav mean thirty-six. The Lamed Vav are thirty-six just people who sustain the world. If any of them should cease being righteousness, the world would be destroyed.”
“I’d hardly call them righteous,” Caleb said. “Privileged, perhaps. Naive.”
“What would you know of righteousness?” Marul said
“Mashit was about to destroy Daniel,” Caleb said. “I saved him. Is that not just?”
“Saved?” Daniel said. “From what?”
“From whom. Mashit used the wedding ritual to cleave your soul from Earth, Daniel. This is why you saw, as you put it, ‘cubes of salt.’ It was your perceptual system losing its attachment to Earth. Had you stomped on that glass, Daniel, Mashit would have gained full power over your soul. Separated from Earth, she could then destroy you. It was her separation that let me bring you here, safe from Mashit’s evil, for the moment. But she will come, I can promise you that.”
“Nonsense!” Marul said. “Demonkind have spent millennia seeking to slaughter the Lamed Vav. You want us to believe you’ve had a change of heart and you want to save him?”
“Not just Daniel,” Caleb said. “I hope to save them all.”
Marul shook her head. “I’ve heard many absurd things, but this is madness!”
“The Earth is a fountain, overflowing with energy, the water of life that sustains all the worlds,” Caleb said. “It spills down to water the broken worlds of the Shards. The thirty-six Lamed Vav uphold the Earth like pillars. If the Lamed Vav were removed, the water comes splashing down in a great flood upon all the Shards. But soon after, Earth will dry up, and all the Shards will wither and die.”
“What are the Shards?” Rana said.
“Are you speaking of the klippoth?” Daniel said. “The husks of failed worlds?”
“I am,” Ashmedai said. “The Shards are broken universes, shattered eons ago, by the Creator, she who exists beyond all ken. There are countless Shards. Most are uninhabitable. But on many of them live sentient beings—demons and humans—who live torturous lives. Were it not for the waters of life dripping from the Earth, the Shards would dry up. If you destroy the Lamed Vav, as Mashit hopes to do, the Earth shatters, and the Cosmos will die.
“This is why I’ve gathered you all here! Mashit commands the Legion of the First, a fearsome demon army. She and her allies have killed two Lamed Vav. They will soon destroy a third. One by one, they remove the pillars of Earth. There is an order, and it must be followed.
“If they kill enough, soon the foundations of the Earth will crack, and the water of life will pour out. The Upper World will crumble, destroying the Earth. The sustaining waters will cease, and the countless Shards that depend on Earth for life will wither and die.
“But that won’t be the end of you and me. Though all the worlds will dry up, our souls will persist. We will be conscious long after our bodies turn to dust. Trillions of lost souls will drift across the Great Deep, a sea of limitless nothing. And after a trillion, trillion, trillion years of untold suffering, the Great Deep will close, swallowed once and for all by the Creator’s light, finishing the cycle of creation forever.
“This will happen. It is a certainty. Unless we stop Mashit from killing the Lamed Vav. And if we work together, we can stop her. If you help me, together we can save the Cosmos.”
“After what you’ve done to me,” Marul said, “you dare ask for my help?”
“By any reckoning, you owe me nothing, Marul,” he said. “I made you suffer in ways few have. But would you let Rana suffer for your hatred of me? And what of the countless human souls in all the Shards who will suffer horribly if the Legion succeeds? I know your heart has not room enough for so much pain.”
Marul took a deep breath. She squinted at him. “There’s treachery here, but I can’t see it yet. What game are you playing at?”
“This is no game! I am fighting for life itself. But I understand the irony. Here stands the former King of Demonkind, hoping to save the Earth. But like all creatures, I do not wish to die. I need your help, Marul. I need to get back to Earth to protect the remaining Lamed Vav.”
“Why did you leave in the first place?” Marul said. “You could have stayed to protect them while you were there.”
“Mashit would have killed me, once I showed myself to her. I had to protect Daniel from her. Now that I’ve upset her plans, I’ve given us precious, needed time. “
Marul shook her head, but he knew he’d piqued her interest. “You want to travel all the way to Earth? I was a powerful witch, but have you seen me lately? I need Grug to light my candles now. Besides, the one time I traveled to Earth, I got the power I needed from your brother. Go ask him!”
“He and I are not on the best of
terms.”
“I’m not surprised,” she said.
“The Quog Bedu possess such power,” Caleb said. “They will help us.”
“Ha!” Marul laughed. “It’s said the Bedu can move stars in their sleep. But stories are like mirages—they disappear if you look too closely. Besides, the Bedu despise demonkind. Why would they help you?”
“They don’t have to know I’m a demon.”
“Oh, they’ll know.”
“Chialdra didn’t sense me. The Bedu won’t either. With your spellcraft, Marul, and their power, we can form a vessel to bring us back to Earth. Help me, and I’ll release you from your bonds, forever.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then you can rot in this cave, and I will find someone else.”
Marul frowned as she considered his offer. “What about Rana? You don’t need her for anything. Rana goes free, if I help.”
Caleb needed Rana more than she could know. Without Rana, he was a carpenter without an architect, an engineer without a design. Yet to reveal his goal to them now would be too soon. “Very well,” he said. “Once we leave these tunnels, she’s free to go.”
“You’re not really going to help him, are you, Marul?” Rana said.
“If it means you can go home, I will.”
“But he’s lying!” Rana said.
“About something, I’m certain of it,” Marul said. “Without him, there is no leaving these cold walls. We have no choice.”
“There are always choices,” Rana said.
“Indeed,” Caleb said. “So best make sure you pick wisely.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
All this talk of Shards and Lamed Vavs and distant worlds beyond Gehinnom made Rana feel as if she were spinning in a sand devil. But when she saw Marul’s cactus-green eyes under the nap of tangled hair, her heart warmed, and her confusion faded.
Goddess—Marul was alive. She was here!
The demon—Adar, Ashmedai, Caleb, whatever his name was now—stared at her as he said, “Grug and I need to fetch supplies for our journey into the desert. I’m sure while I’m gone you’ll want to discuss with each other how I am deceiving you. I’d expect nothing less. But I speak the truth. All existence is in danger, and we are the only ones who can stop Mashit.”
All existence? Rana huffed. His cocksure swagger irritated her. Did he feel no shame at being naked in front of women? “Fetch some clothes while you’re gone,” she said.
He smiled at her, and she blushed. Then he and Grug left the chamber. Something in Caleb’s gaze made her feel awkward, exposed, as if he’d seen something inside her that she couldn’t quite see. She hated the funny little quiver it made in her belly.
Daniel sat on a stone bench against the wall and looked as if he were deep in thought. How could so few people hold up a whole world, especially one as flaccid as Daniel? Surely it wasn’t by strength.
Marul gazed at the floor, shaking her head.
“I’m sorry,” Rana said. “When the dog told me you were alive, I knew he was probably lying. But I had to know. I had to see if it was true.”
“No apologies,” Marul said. “I’m the one who should be sorry. If it wasn’t for my arrogance, you wouldn’t be in this cage with me.”
“Arrogance? How so?”
Marul swept her foot across the dusty floor. “I’ve had too much time to think in these caves. I’m not the person you think I am, Rana. I’ve done terrible things.”
“We’ve all committed sins against the Goddess we wish we could forget.”
“Not like mine. Rana . . . you should have stayed home. This world you’ve stepped into is full of terrible dangers.”
“Better danger than another day of drudgery working on the Ukne Tower. Besides, I had to come, Marul. For you.”
Marul rubbed Rana’s cheek, and Rana closed her eyes to savor her touch.
Daniel walked over, and in a gentle voice he said, “Are you hurt, Rana?”
She rubbed her wrists, her forearm. The bleeding had stopped but the cut was still raw. She felt exposed, helpless. “I’ll live.”
Daniel stared at her. “Do you really believe that I’m a Lamed Vavnik?”
Rana imagined Daniel holding up a world over his head, the way Papa used to heft stone. Then she imagined Daniel dropping it.
“How would I know?” Rana said.
“There are specific traits a Lamed Vavnik has,” Marul said.
“Like what?” said Daniel.
“Selflessness, empathy,” said Marul.
“Plenty of people have those traits.”
“Humility, another sign.”
He shook his head. “You’re reaching.”
“There are subtler signs,” Marul said. “It’s in the gaze, the body language, and something that could best be described as a feeling of quiet support in your company.”
“Or maybe,” Daniel said, “Caleb is lying. Maybe I’m no more a Lamed Vavnik than you’re a demon.” He looked back and forth between them. “You’re not demons are you?”
Marul snickered, and Rana smiled at the familiar sound of it. “We’re human,” Marul said. “But Caleb is telling the truth about you. Daniel, you’re a Lamed Vavnik.”
“How can you be sure?” he said.
Marul closed her eyes. “It’s complicated. Let’s just say your name is known to me.”
“You believe his story about the world collapsing?” he said. “This demon army coming for us? The Legion of the . . .”
“First,” Marul said. “I’ve seen the horrid ranks of the Legion, and that vision still haunts me. I’ve visited many Shards, and I’ve seen many beings living tortured lives upon them. As for Mashit—” she made eye contact with him— “your almost-wife, she and her ilk have been trying to destroy the Lamed Vav for millennia. But the Lamed Vav are expert concealers. You are the Tzadikim Nistarim.”
“The hidden righteous ones,” Daniel said.
“Yes,” Marul said.
“If this is true,” he said, straightening, “then we have to help Caleb. We have to save the Lamed Vav before—” he swallowed— “before Mashit kills them.”
“Or,” Rana said, “Caleb is using you for something else.”
“Like what?” Daniel said.
“Why did he save you, Daniel?” Marul said. “Why bring you here to Gehinnom? And your story of the perverted wedding ritual sounds just like what Mashit would need to do in order to cleave you from Earth. Caleb’s story makes a lot of sense, actually.”
Rana shook her head. How were they so gullible? “Let me take you to Bedubroadstreet,” she said. “A thousand hucksters there would make a fortune off the two of you. He’s a demon, you idiots! Lying is his blood.”
Marul winced, and Rana regretted her outburst. But Marul had been alone for too long and had lost her wisdom. “Marul,” she said, “I thought you were dead, and now here you are, alive. You’d have me leave you in the arms of your jailer and just go back home?”
“Rana, you’re a child. You’ve so much life ahead. This world you’ve entered is not a game. You could die. Now settle down and let the adults handle this one, all right?”
Rana felt as if she had just been slapped. Did Marul share the same sentiment as King Jallifex? As Chief Jo? That she was just a child, incapable of self-determination? By Mollai, why wouldn’t anyone ever let her try?
“Maybe I was a child when you left,” she said, “but I’m a woman now.”
Marul’s eyes came to rest on Rana’s bust. “In shape, perhaps. But in wisdom?” Marul waved her hand dismissively. “Hardly.”
Rana squeezed her fists. She felt like smashing something. “You think you know me, but you know a child. That child has died, and a woman has replaced her. I have lived a thousand days without you. While you were gone, I built towers a hundred stories tall. I set the capstone on the Great Arch at the King’s palace. I designed the bridge over Olam’s Gap, which uses no mortar and supports the weight of a thousand loaded camels.”
She squinted at Marul, as if seeing the woman’s face for the first time. How had Rana not seen it before? Marul was entirely impressed with herself, even in this dark cave.
“Suffering?” Rana said. “I fell in love with a mason. I hoped to marry him. Then I saw him splatter on the cobblestones when he fell from a construction site. Papa used to lift stones over his head no man could carry, but he broke his back and now he can’t sit up without screaming. I was supposed to succeed Papa as chief architect, but King Jallifex gave that job to his nephew, who doesn’t know slate from shale. The greasy king declared war with Guernia because he could, and I saw the sad, scarred faces of the men returning from the first and only battle, having witnessed things too ghastly to mention. The city lost half its males in that pointless war.
“And I’ve seen wonderful things, Marul. I’ve known the joy of a new sister, whose eyes sparkle like stars. I’ve seen the avatar of Goddess Mollai descend over the desert at night, bright as the moon, her nacreous light fanning out like a star-bird’s tail. I’ve known the love of a man and shared a bed with a woman. And while you were gone, I made things. Wonderful things. I taught myself more arts than you can imagine. You say I haven’t lived, and I say you don’t know a damned thing about me!”
Marul’s mouth had opened in a little circle of shock. “Fat Jallifex is still king? I didn’t expect him to last a week after his father died.”
“He outlives everyone’s expectations, in girth as well as in rule.”
Marul smiled. Then she blinked, as if taking in Rana anew. “I’m sorry,” Marul said, “about the boy you loved. It’s not an easy thing to lose a loved one. And, Goddess, you have a sister? Why didn’t you tell me that first thing? How old is she? What’s her name?”
“Liu. She’s eighteen months, and she’s the most beautiful thing in all the world, and maybe a thousand others.”
“I hope I can meet her,” Marul said.
“So do I,” said Rana.
Marul beamed, and the tension between them vanished like smoke. “It seems we have a lot of catching up to do. But I’m afraid we haven’t time.”
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