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Sons of the Flaming Throne 2 – Ch. 8 | KT OLLA

BENAIAH opened the talk with a brief about their mission. About the King’s matter that brought them touring those parts.

He did let their host know also what sort of lady they were seeking.

Now he hoped Abishum would help; but her eyes wandered from him to the nobles seated there. And he was almost chiding himself for asking a loner for help, when the woman broke the silence and spoke.

‘Well, your maidservant is only a common woman, who is no worthy at all to take the King’s matters on her lips...

‘Let alone talk of a big thing as finding a queen for him.

‘So I have lingered until now. But since am I requested to speak, I will say just what I know.’

Benaiah could see it that the woman knew someone. And since he loved her for her uncommon grace, he nudged her on.

‘Oh let us hear it, good woman.

‘You have honoured the King’s servants, and offered us shelter and food. I ask of you, please speak to your heart’s content.

‘We shall give heed, I assure you.’

The woman sat up before the listening nobles. She cleared her throat, and then spoke.

‘These times, my lord, are those when sexes bond. Every girl is already taken by a young man; and older maidens are getting wedded. Only a cursed maiden is left in all of Israel.’

Benaiah was surprised. ‘A cursed maiden?’

The woman stayed silent.

‘Tell me what you mean by that!’ he asked.

So it was Abishum’s turn to tell. And she told a story that everyone knew. Everyone in her township and beyond.

She began: ‘Once there was a man, he had only one son. In an age when men had tens of sons and daughters.

‘And then his son grew up and bore only one son. And then that son grew, too, and got himself a wife. Shall we call her name ‘Aleph’.

‘But then Aleph’s husband didn’t have a son to continue the lineage. Instead, Aleph bore him a beautiful daughter. Maybe we call her ‘Beth’.

‘Now a few years after Beth was born, her father died. So he left young Aleph with his beautiful child to grow and nurture, along with property to maintain.

‘Yes, Aleph’s late husband had no one. His father and grandfather were late by then. She herself was an outcast in her family; so no relative remained to take care of her.

‘And now, she stood alone to nurture her baby. Her daughter, her only family.’

The men sat back and breathed a sigh.

Abishum picked up anew. ‘You see, Aleph’s girl grew up beautiful and loved, and the mother too was considered an angel.

‘But the townsmen wouldn’t give their sons to marry Beth. They said that they fear that the family is cursed.

‘So Beth grew up to be a lovely but lonely girl. It was the pain… the only pain, that Aleph knew.’

There was silence. And her listeners sank in thought.

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