Ark(45)

Neses looked up, feeling Noah’s eyes on her. “I have accepted my lot in this life, Noah. Do not seek to spare my feelings.”

Japheth looked from Neses to his father, and then at his mother. Zara was looking at Japheth with the same disapproval and hurt as Neses had given him. He cursed under his breath, slipped his arm free of Aresia, and left the house.

Beyond the walls and away from the fire it was cold. Stars winked and flashed in their millions above him, each one seeming to glare at Japheth with disapproval. What was he doing wrong? He never loved Neses, and he didn’t think she had ever cared for him any more than he did her—it was an arranged marriage. He’d known her for many years and liked her well enough, but he simply did not love her, and refused to marry someone simply because his father said so.

Shem came out after a moment, holding a wineskin in one hand. He took a swig and passed it to Japheth without a word, and Japheth drank, grateful for the burn on his throat and the heaviness in his stomach.

“She loves you, brother,” Shem said, his voice a sudden rasp in the darkness. “Neses, I mean. She’s always loved you. She was heartbroken when you left. She wept for weeks, thinking it was her you were rejecting. Mother eventually helped her realize the problem was between you and Father, but it didn’t help, and she just . . . never left. She is as much a part of the family now as Ne’eletama or my own wife.”

Japheth stared at Shem, disbelieving. “She barely knows me! How can she love me?”

Shem smirked in the darkness, rubbing his scar with a thumb. “That Nephilim princess of yours, how long did it take before you knew you loved her? Did you need years together to know? I think not. Give me the wineskin back . . . Father disapproves of wine, so I must drink in secret.”

Japheth handed over the skin. “Well, what am I to do? I love Aresia, and she loves me. I can’t go anywhere else.”

“Why not?”

“Gods, Shem. Do you have any idea how complicated that is?” Japheth took back the skin and drank, feeling a lightheadedness set in. “No, I don’t suppose you do. She’s King Emmen’s daughter, you know that. But she was also married to Sin-Iddim. She did it to protect me, because Emmen-Utu found out I was a worshipper of Elohim.”

“I thought you had forsaken Elohim,” Shem said.

“I did, but things . . . changed.” Japheth gave a quizzical look. “How did you know about my feelings for Elohim?”

“I left home too, not long after you did, and I only came back last harvest. I lived in Bad-Tibira most of the time. I apprenticed to a metalworker, and eventually had my own business. At least, until that foolish war with Larsa.”

“You fought in that?”

Shem nodded, tracing his scar. “Got this from a Nephilim arrow. Nearly killed me. You know, I saw you in Bad-Tibira a hundred times, but you never saw me. I fought in the same unit as you, three rows back. I watched you take out those Nephilim like they were mere mortal men. The men in my unit, they spoke of you with awe after that. You were an idol to them, but you never knew it . . . and then you disappeared.”

“I found work with a mercenary company,” Japheth answered. “It frequently took me away from Bad-Tibira.”

Shem strode away, took a long piss into the grass, and then returned, staring up at the bright wash of silver stars. “Neses is a good woman, Japheth,” he said, eventually. “No one can make you love her, but . . . don’t hurt her any more than you already have. She’s been through enough.”

“What does that mean? And how would I hurt her?”

Shem shot Japheth a frustrated scowl. “Are you dense? I told you, she still loves you. She always has. Seeing you with that princess, Aresia? It hurts her. Can’t you see that?”

“I suppose. But what did you mean, she’s been through enough?”

Shem shook his head. “That’s her business, not mine and certainly not yours. If she wants to tell you, she will—I surely won’t. Just . . . have some tact, will you?” Shem turned to go back into the house, but stopped, and spoke over his shoulder. “And just so you know, when the floods come, Father won’t let your Nephilim girl onto the ark. She’s part of the corruption Elohim is wiping out, Father would say. Remember what he said Elohim told him? ‘Your wife, and your sons, and your son’s wives.’ You know what that means, in his eyes, whether you agree or no. He’s softened some these past years, but not that much.”

Shem went back inside, leaving the nearly empty wineskin with Japheth.

The stars continued their bright gaze. Japheth drained the wineskin, and tried to count the stars above his head. He passed a thousand, and then another thousand before he lost count and began again. The skies lightened to gray and the stars began to fade, but Japheth was no closer to knowing what to do, or what to believe.



When he returned to the house, the fire was stoked and the sound of snores echoed. Aresia, alone, was left awake, sitting near the fire pit where she’d been, the embers casting an orange glow on her features. She did not look up as he sat beside her.

After a few moments of silence, Japheth said, “I understand if you don’t want to talk about this, but . . . what happened?”

Aresia shook her head, wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist. “As you say, I have no wish to talk about it. I want to forget.”