Isle of Woman (Geodyssey) Read online

  Honey shrugged. “I do not protest it. He saved me from much pain and mischief.”

  “You have not been raped?”

  “No. He protected me from that. Neither did he take me when I was willing.”

  Seed shook her head, bemused. “Come inside, to the courtyard. I will talk to you further.” She looked at Stone, her glance seeming curiously compassionate. “Then I will talk with you, my husband.”

  That was what he had feared. What should have been a passionate, delightful homecoming had been rendered into a strained dialogue.

  Stone went to his private chamber and cleaned himself. He changed into a clean Hurrian shirt, which was a long woolen tunic decorated with brocade. He put on his long-toed shoes, which he had left at home rather than take on the campaign. He took a sharp bronze blade and shaved the growing stubble from his face. It was some time before he was done, and he did not rush it. He wanted to give Seed time to draw her conclusions.

  In due course she came to find him. “Ah, you look handsome again, my husband,” she said.

  “And you are beautiful,” he said with feeling. But he did not approach her.

  “I have talked with Honey. She’s a lovely girl. She says it really is true: you protected her, and did not use her yourself.”

  “Yes. But I don’t know what to do with her. She did not want to return to her village.”

  “She knew it would be futile. She was tainted by her capture. And she wanted to stay with you.”

  “I was a noncombatant. It was safer. The officer who captured her was killed in battle.”

  “It is more than that, Stone. You are a decent man, without ill will toward others. You would never mistreat her. When her world ended so abruptly, you were the one she could trust. Without you she would have had nothing to cling to. I understand the way of it. It would be unkind to cast her out.”

  “She said I could take her as a concubine, but I knew she meant she would not fight me,” Stone said, feeling awkward. “I would never take a woman on that basis. In fact the only woman I ever wanted was you.”

  Seed shook her head. “I must tell you something. You know I was not a virgin when I came to you.”

  “I never cared about that! When I first saw you, and you smiled at me—the only thing that made Honey appeal to me was the way she reminded me of you. Except for her eyes.”

  “Perhaps more closely than you realized,” she said soberly. “The girl is not a virgin, Stone.”

  He was taken aback. “I assumed—I mean she was living with her father—”

  “He was not her father.”

  He stared at her. “Not—?”

  “He owned her. Her family expiated its debt to him by giving her up to him. You treated her better than he did. That is why she did not wish to return.”

  “I never realized!”

  “You did not inquire. You merely assumed the best of her. She liked that.”

  “I did not know her at all.” Stone was bemused.

  “She knew you. That was all that was necessary. Now you must decide whether you wish to have her for a concubine.”

  “Oh, Seed, you are the one I love! I was just trying to do right by her.”

  “You have no desire for her?”

  “She reminded me of you!” he repeated defensively.

  “As I was when I first came to you,” she agreed. “I am older now.”

  “Nothing has changed. I never wanted to go on the expedition or to take booty, and the girl was just chance.”

  Seed looked unhappy. “I think I would have preferred it if you had made a mistress of her and sold her before returning home.”

  Stone was appalled. “I would never—”

  “I know. So we must deal with this now. I must tell you how it was with me before I met you—and after.”

  Stone felt a chill. “After?”

  “I was like Honey. My world had been lost. One man was kind to me. I clung to him. But he was married, and he would not marry me. I knew that. So I gave him all I had to give, and took from him all he would give me, and I loved him and learned from him. Then I was brought to you. If I pleased you, it was because of what I had learned from the man I loved. I loved him still, though I knew I could never be with him again. He was the one I would have married, had I had my will. Even after I married you, I wanted him.”

  Stone knew that his mouth was hanging open. “You did not love me?”

  She gazed at him, and the tears were flowing in twin streaks. “Oh, Stone, I love you now! But I knew him before you, and it took time. You were always good to me, and I never had any complaint of you, and I bore you your sons. That other man is gone from my dreams now, and you are in them. But I wronged you in my heart, for a time.”

  He was stunned. “I never knew.”

  “I never wanted you to know. I did my best to love you, knowing you were good. Knowing you were better for me than he could have been. And you believed the best of me, as you did of Honey. That was part of your goodness.”

  “You were so ardent,” he said. “I thought you loved me as I did you.”

  “It was guilt that drove me. I knew I was not worthy of the love you gave me. Until finally I believed, and then I loved you as I had loved him.”

  Stone grasped at a decision. “We must forget the past. I want only you, as you are now.”

  “But I must expiate the past,” she insisted. “Now you may serve me as I served you. Take her as your concubine, and have the joy of her youth and beauty. I have no right to stand in your way.”

  “I can’t do that!” he protested. “I never knew the injury you thought you did me, and I have no wish to return it in kind. I want only you and your love.”

  “You have both, Stone. But you can have her too. You must consider it carefully, for she will gladly give you what I gave my lover. She is young and fresh and ready to love you.”

  “I can’t consider it! We must free her and send her away.”

  “In a city that is strange to her? No, we must keep her here. So you must decide. Have no fear; I will see that she is treated well. I have already fed her; she is eating in the courtyard.”

  He realized that she was serious. She had loved another man, so she was giving him leave to love another woman. There was a logic there, but it was alien to him.

  “I will consider,” he said. He walked out of the room, and out of the house, deeply troubled.

  Stone did not return to the shop. Instead he went to the storm god’s temple, to make an offering and seek enlightenment. But the god did not speak to him.

  He walked on past a section where new buildings were under construction. He had to detour to avoid a great wooden beam being hauled into place. The thatch roofs and mud-brick walls were constantly wearing down during the winter snows, and in summer it could be easier to rebuild the structures than to repair them. Stone’s own house had been rebuilt ten years before, and before he died it would have to be built again.

  He passed doors through which he could glimpse the assorted artisans of the city: potters, leatherworkers, stone chippers, weavers, and jewelry crafters.

  His feet took him to the shop of his father, Blaze, who was a ranking ironsmith in the city. Iron was the most precious of metals, because of its hardness; it required a special forge to heat it so that it could be shaped. Blaze was old, forty-eight, but still well able to work the divine metal. He had always been there when Stone needed advice or support.

  As it happened, the forge was still heating when Stone arrived, so Blaze had time to converse. “I am glad to see you back, son,” he said as he poured a jar of water into a stone basin. This was for quenching, which was one of the secrets of ironworking. Without it, the iron turned out less hard than bronze. With it, iron could become the hardest of metals, excellent for knives and weapons. It was a secret every apprentice swore to keep, even from other metalsmiths, so that iron would remain useless to foreigners even if they knew how to smelt it. “I heard that you acquitted yourself we
ll on the campaign.”

  “I fixed the chariots,” Stone said. “I got a captive girl. But now I don’t know what to do with her.”

  “Sell her or give her to your wife. What is her age and appearance?”

  “She is fourteen and beautiful. Seed says I should take her for a concubine.”

  Blaze turned serious. “There is trouble between you and Seed?”

  “She told me that she loved a man before me, so I should have leave to love another woman. But Seed is the only one I want.”

  Blaze shook his head. “Seed has a rare understanding of the passions of men. The captive is fourteen? That can be a nice age for a woman.”

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  “I can’t advise you, son. You are more honorable than I.”

  “I am full of doubt!” Stone protested. “The girl is beautiful and willing, and would be easy to love. But I have no wish to hurt my wife. Now to have Seed tell me to do it—I don’t understand her attitude.”

  “I loved a woman other than your mother, once,” Blaze said. “Yet Bunny was constant, and in time my love returned to her. Men are less constant than women.”

  “You loved another?” Stone asked, amazed.

  “She was beautiful and willing, as you describe this captive girl. She wanted to be with me, and I lacked the gumption to deny her. So I can not tell you not to do it, imperfect as I am.”

  Stone had sought iron for his spine, and instead had found what he had never suspected. “How can this be, and I never knew?”

  Blaze laughed. “Naturally I did not proclaim it to my family and neighbors. Your mother was the only other one who knew, and she never spoke of it. I think if you take this captive girl, Seed will not speak of it either. It is this way in many families; accommodations are made. You are free to do as you wish.”

  “I don’t know what I wish!”

  “You’re a good man, son. Better than you know.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Blaze tested the forge, found it still not hot enough, so inserted some more charcoal and made sure his bellows was ready. Then he stood back and looked pensive. “You know the story of Telipinu, of course,” he remarked, gazing into his fire pit.

  “The god of agriculture and fertility,” Stone agreed. “Are you saying that I should pray to him for guidance?”

  “Perhaps. Do you remember how Telipinu, indignant because of a frustrating incident, was so distracted that he put his right shoe on his left foot, and his left on his right, and wandered away?”

  “Of course. During his absence everything went wrong with the world. Fog seized the windows, smoke clogged the houses, and the logs were stifled in the fireplaces, for nothing would burn well. Because these things related to his powers. But what has that to do with me?”

  “Everything was stifled, because of his anger and his absence,” Blaze agreed. “Misfortunes abounded, until the other gods knew they had to go to find him and bring him back. But none of them could locate him.”

  “Until the insignificant little bee took up the search,” Stone said. “And the bee accomplished what the gods had not, and found him sleeping in a distant meadow.”

  “But still he would not come back,” Blaze said. “In fact he was angry at the bee for finding him. He sent further plagues upon the land. He diverted the flow of rivers, and shattered whole houses. Things were worse than ever.”

  “Until Kamrusepa, the goddess of magic and healing, came to him,” Stone agreed, enjoying the rehearsal of the story, however familiar it was. “She offered him the essences of cedar, figs, ointment, malt, honey, cream and other delicacies. ‘Let your soul become sweet and your heart smooth,’ she implored him. ‘O Telipinu, give up thy rage, give up thy anger, give up thy fury!’ And she embraced him, and her body and manner charmed him, and he realized that he had no reason to remain angry. So he returned with her, and all was well again.” Stone shook his head, perplexed. “But how does that relate?”

  “Do you remember what made Telipinu angry, in the first place?”

  “Of course. He had discovered a wonderful nymph girl, but his father the storm god had admired her also and taken her from him. Telipinu could do nothing but depart in anger. But I still don’t see what—” Stone broke off, making a connection. “He realized that it wasn’t that important! He did not have to punish everyone, when there was a goddess like Kamrusepa. He could just accept things the way they were, and be satisfied.”

  Then the forge was ready, and Blaze had to go to work. The mark on his forehead became more pronounced as he exerted himself. But no further dialogue was needed; Stone had the key to his resolution.

  Stone walked home, his emotions still in turmoil, but clarifying. He had come to this problem so innocently, and discovered things he would have preferred not to have known about his wife and his father. Both had had affairs! Certainly he would not discuss this matter with his mother, lest he learn even worse news. But he could simplify the situation, and be at peace.

  He entered his house and returned to his room. Seed was there, as if she had never left. She smiled, but there seemed to be a strained quality about it.

  “I talked with my father,” Stone said. “It happened to him too. He had an affair. I never

  knew. So I have no reassurance, only further doubt. But perhaps a resolution, thanks to Kamrusepa.”

  “How do you feel about your father’s revelation?” she asked tightly.

  “How can I feel anything? It was his business. I don’t even know the girl.”

  She remained oddly strained. “Perhaps one like Honey.”

  He shrugged. “Perhaps. He indicated as much. It doesn’t matter. It was no business of mine.”

  “But you’re his son! Surely you have feelings about it.”

  Stone considered. “If my mother forgave him, so can I. He remains my father. A girl like Honey—I can see the temptation. Anyway, it’s over, and should be forgotten. That’s the lesson of Telipinu and Kamrusepa: I must accept what I have, and be satisfied, not asking for more. It is already more than enough.”

  “But you have Honey. Will you take her?”

  “No! Seed, I want only you. I always have.”

  “Though I transgressed against you, as your father did against your mother?”

  “I forgive you too! I have no wish to quarrel with anyone. Let Honey take care of our sons, who will surely like her. Let her help you in whatever ways will make your life better. Please—can’t we forget all this, and be as we were?

  Slowly she smiled, the tenseness dissipating. “Yes, I think we can, now. Let me attend to just one thing, and I will return to you.”

  She walked out of the room, leaving him perplexed. He heard talking elsewhere in the house. Then, after another pause, Seed returned.

  She was beautiful. She had loosened her hair and donned a light robe, and her face was painted with rouge. “We are alone in the house now,” she said, smiling.

  “But—”

  “I sent the boys shopping, with Honey to watch them, as you suggested. That was an excellent idea of yours, Stone.”

  “It was really my father’s idea, I think. But I meant only for her to help you in the house.”

  “The market is as safe as the house.”

  “But they’re children, and she doesn’t know the city!”

  “She’s not a child, and they do know the city. They will get along perfectly.”

  He realized that it was so. He was forgetting to accept what offered without getting upset. “She can be their nursemaid, wherever they may be. She seems to be of good conscience.”

  “Yes. Now I will give you what you declined to take from her.” Seed threw off her robe and stood beautifully naked, her body glistening with fine, scented oil. She was older than she had been when he married her, but maturity had only added to her splendor. She was, to his eyes, the most wonderful creature alive.

  “Oh, yes!” he agreed. “You are Kamrusepa to my Telipinu! Your body is
malt, honey, cream, cedar and all things sweet and smooth, and I love you always.”

  “Kamrusepa!” she said, surprised, then pleased. “Yes, let me be that to you, always.”

  And soon any remaining frustration was abated amidst his wife’s remarkable passion. The empire of the Hittites was a great thing, as was the profession of metalworking, but it was his family he truly cared about.

  Egypt claimed the battle of Kadesh as a victory, but historians consider it a draw or a net victory for the Hittites, who kept the city and the region. But after that encounter, both powers declined, and in the next century the Sea Peoples—probably tribes driven from Crete and the coast of Anatolia by the invading Dorian Greeks—attacked Egypt and so weakened the Hittites that its empire was overrun by former vassal states, the Phrygians and Luvians. The Hebrews were said to have escaped Egypt at this time, commencing their history as an independent people. Soon the vacuum was filled by the expanding power of Assyria.

  The origin of disciplined ironworking is unknown, but the Hittites seem to have been the first people to do it systematically. When their empire fell, the closely guarded secrets leaked out into adjacent areas, and the use of iron spread. In time it would cease being a rarity and became a staple throughout the civilized world.

  CHAPTER 14

  * * *

  IRON

  Meanwhile the effects of civilization were extending westward across the Mediterranean Sea. The Greeks traded and colonized widely along the northern shores, while the Phoenicians were as extensively active along the southern shore. Thus there was the Greek Syracuse near the toe of Italy, and the Phoenician Carthage across on the northern coast of Africa.

  But one culture seems to have achieved civilization without being part of the spheres of either Greece or Phoenicia. This was that of the Rasenna, in northern Italy. The Greeks called them the Tyrrhenoi, while others called them the Etruscans, or Tuscans. They had a language of uncertain affinity, a literature which has been lost, and a high level of civilization. The people seem to have migrated from central Europe anywhere from three to four thousand years ago, and to have started their cultural rise about 900 B.C. Some historians suggest that they started as a remnant of the Hittite Empire, and the timing of their rise fits. But so few of the distinctive Hittite attributes carried across that this seems unlikely. Their shoes may have been similarly pointed, and their burial vaults bear some resemblance to the Hittites’, and the Etruscans used griffin and other Eastern motifs in art. But their language was not Indo-European, and there is a general cultural continuity in the archaeological remains, suggesting that they evolved locally. They may have borrowed what they chose from adjacent Greek colonies, including the general layout of their cities and the Greek alphabet in their own script, but they developed their own distinctive style of architecture and art. They were a sea power and a land power, extending their influence throughout northern Italy and to some settlements along the southern coast. Yet soon after their time of greatness they were destined to be eclipsed by an unlikely and relatively primitive city-state on their fringe.