The Sentinels of Eden, Books 1-4

Chapter 79

Chapter 22

‘The people of Eden at Telassar,’ Tessa announced, jiggling around in her chair. Dinner was finished and I was teaching Dallmin how to stack the dishwasher, which was tricky while he had his head inside it trying to work out where the water came from.

‘Where’s Telassar?’ Noah peered over her shoulder at the computer screen and began to massage her neck. Everyone was gathered around the kitchen table yet again. Tessa said she had read something back in the early days when she’d first found out about Eden, and thought it could be relevant now. We’d all tried to research as much as we could from biblical and other ancient texts, but my opportunities for research had been cut short. I hoped the others had done better because I needed to know if any other Eden residents had come across, and if they’d made it home again. Had I broken some sacred rule, allowing Dallmin to leave the Garden? Perhaps history had some clues for me.

‘It was a city in Mesopotamia, somewhere in the middle of the Euphrates river region near the Persian Gulf. It’s mentioned briefly in the account of the prophet Isaiah 37, 9-13, and also in the book of Kings. The king of Assyria was trying to get Jerusalem to surrender by bragging about these other nations that had fallen to Assyria in the past:

… he sent messengers to Hezekiah with instructions to deliver this message: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you so naively lean, deceive you, promising that Jerusalem won’t fall to the king of Assyria. Use your head! Look around at what the kings of Assyria have done all over the world—one country after another devastated! And do you think you’re going to get off? Have any of the gods of any of these countries ever stepped in and saved them, even one of these nations my predecessors destroyed—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who lived in Telassar?

We were all thoroughly entranced. Aunt Lily couldn’t help herself. ‘So what happened? Did they surrender?’ she queried, scratching her old grey cat under its chin as it snuggled on her lap. Inara purred as a tuft of grey fur floated away.

‘Of course not. King Hezekiah prayed to God who basically told him to chillax, then not long after that, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were killed in the night by an angel of God, which sent the Assyrian king retreating back home where he was killed by two of his sons who then ran away. Another of his sons became the next king.’

Wow. The Old Testament was harsh! Noah stared at me with a horrified expression and I understood why. There could be an awful lot at stake depending on our actions. We were biblical creatures, after all. It was a terrifying thought.

‘And the people of Eden who lived in Telassar?’ Noah prompted.

‘It doesn’t say anything else. Let me look into it.’ Tess pursed her lips thoughtfully. ‘It does open the possibility that there were others who may have come out of Eden at some point, or it could have nothing to do with it. Either way it sounds like it didn’t end well for them, so I’m not sure how that helps.’

‘It helps,’ I assured her. ‘At least I know I might not be the only Cherub who allowed Eden citizens to wander over here. You have no idea what that means to me.’ A whole city of elf-like Edenites in ancient Mesopotamia. What a thought. I wasn’t surprised that the peaceful race had been conquered. My hand sought Bane’s for comfort. ‘I suppose the solution is fairly obvious,’ I said, glancing at Noah.

‘No way,’ he said. ‘Bad idea.’

‘We can’t risk this happening again.’

‘I know, but there are other options,’ he argued, looking like he’d just been told he had to give away his autographed Sherrin. I knew how he felt. My mouth had gone dry and my stomach churned.

Bane squeezed my hand. ‘You’re considering collapsing the cave once Dallmin returns home?’ He gave his head a quick shake. ‘Don’t decide anything yet. Not if you don’t have to. Give yourself time to get some more perspective,’ he advised.

I leant my head against his shoulder in relief and gratitude. It was a decision I wasn’t ready to make, especially if Noah was against it, and Bane knew it.

Dallmin pulled his head out from studying the inside of the dishwasher, and came to sit next to Tessa. He couldn’t seem to stay away from her for long unless she told him she wanted time alone. He’d been hovering incessantly, trying to think of things he could do for her. I’d been doing it too. The culture I had been immersed in for the last few years would have held Tessa as by far the most important person in the community. She was to be waited on hand and foot. Anything she desired was automatically our top priority. Dallmin started carving her an apple flower, in case she felt like one, while I poured her some water because I didn’t want Noah to glare at me like he did when I’d tried to comb her hair with my fingers. Unable to think of anything else to do for her, I sat and watched her as she studied the screen, intent on her research. So did Dallmin.

Eventually we heard Tim arrive back from the Ashbrees’ farm and I glanced at Dallmin to remind him not to speak out loud. He threw me a quick smile—he didn’t mind at all.

Once Tim had polished off the leftover apple pie and we’d finished teasing him about his new extensive knowledge of sheep breeding, Bane turned back to Tessa. ‘So have you come up with any names for the baby yet?’ he asked.

I was intrigued. There was a whole new person coming. That person needed a name. There were so many to choose from, how would they know which was the right one?

Tess stroked her baby bump. ‘We have a few we like. There was a girl’s name we both agreed on right from the start, but of course we need a boy’s name and that’s proving to be a bit trickier.’

‘Are you so certain it’s a boy?’ Tim asked. ‘Sometimes those ultrasounds can be misleading, or so I’ve heard.’ He put his dishes away and then flopped down in a spare chair. I threw his new socks at him.

‘We’re pretty certain,’ Tessa replied with a smile. ‘And Noah’s family history tends to lean heavily to the first-born being male.’

I could see Aunt Lily silently cacking herself behind Tim’s back.

The penny dropped. The new baby would be a male Cherub. Noah’s line. My first born would be female. The line had to continue. What had I been thinking? If I had stayed in Eden, I would have broken the Cherub line. Even now the continuity of the line wasn’t really safe. What would I do if something happened to Bane the way Annie had lost my dad? Would I still be able to continue the line with someone else? The idea was unthinkable. I did not want anyone else, no matter what happened.

I shook Bane’s arm to get his attention, this was important. ‘We need to have a baby!’

The rest of the room fell silent.

‘Right now?’ he asked calmly, with only his lips twitching and a glint in his grey eyes.

I could see Tim’s eyes bulge as he took in Bane’s straight-faced reaction. His shocked response reminded me to try to see it from a Nalong perspective. I frowned at Tessa. She had her swollen feet up on a stool and Noah was still massaging her shoulders. It would be hard to go hang gliding with Dallmin like that.

‘Maybe not yet,’ I conceded. It could wait a little while. Bane gave a disappointed sigh and Aunt Lily rolled her eyes.

Tim just stared at Bane as if he had suddenly grown an extra head. ‘I worry about you country folk, I really do,’ he muttered.