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Then everyone, even Maggy and Jack, who had joined us in the meantime, put their hands on hers. Goosebumps covered my whole body at the sight of this symbol of cohesion. Hope! This is what hope looked like.
CHAPTER 27
Aweek later, the feeling of hope had faded, and my life was different than before that night. During the day, I usually slept for hours, appearing only for meals or my so-called evening confessions, with Aza covering for me and even secretly finishing my embroidery work. She never asked me the reason for my permanent fatigue. She probably suspected it concerned something that could put her in danger, too. So we both kept silent, and each of us had consented to this tacit agreement.
The nights, however, were filled with training, research, and planning. Aspasia and I worked together with Edward, Chris, and Alex. We trained for the first part of the night, then turned our attention to the books Edward had smuggled from the Columbia University library.
Maggy and Jack searched with a group of Amazons for more tunnel systems and a secret passage that would lead them to the docks of the museum ship.
Since there had been no success in our squads so far, the mood became more and more depressing and hopeless.
That night, too, we had trained first. The archery and the handling of a light rapier always came more effortlessly to me.If I didn't concentrate on the instructions and step sequences but followed my instinct, I could even parry Edward for a short moment. I still didn't feel comfortable around him, but by now, it worked better to suppress this feeling by vehemently pushing aside any doubts. Maybe Alex was right; the literature student needed time to settle into a group.
I had admiringly observed Aspasia, who was far superior to Alex in hand-to-hand combat. Fighting, weapons, and defense seemed to be in her blood. Her movements were so smooth, and one could think she already knew in advance which steps Alex would take next.
Now, we sat sweaty and out of breath at the large table, drinking water and gathering our thoughts before diving again into the literature ahead of us in the following hours.
"I've been thinking about something," Edward suddenly interrupted the silence. "Maybe we're just searching in the wrong way. In every one of the Christian traditions we've searched over the past week, Eve and the story in Paradise are portrayed the same way. We need a new perspective on what happened." Surprised, we all looked at him.
"Are there any other prospects?" I asked between sips of water.
Chris jumped up, and his eyes shone like those of a child who had just seen Santa Claus.
"Yes, of course, there is!" he exclaimed excitedly, pacing restlessly up and down the room. "You're a genius, Edward! I can't believe I didn't think of that myself!"
"It's nice that you two understand what you're talking about. Are we going to be in on the secret, too?" Alex teased him, laughing as he watched my brother.
"Of course!" said Chris apologetically and sat down with us again. Nervously, his leg bobbed up and down under the table.
"So, as you know, before the Knights of the Seals took over, Christianity was not the only world religion. Besides the great Asian religions, there was Judaism and Islam. The latter share many stories with Christianity. Among other things, Adam and Eve appear in both the Koran and the Torah." Tensely, the priest turned to Edward. "Have you been able to find these two holy scriptures?"
An unfamiliar grin flitted across the student's usually severe and grim face. "Yes, I did!"
Without hesitation, he reached into his pocket and pulled out two old-looking, leather-bound books, which he handed to my brother with trembling hands. Chris took them as excitedly as if they were the greatest treasure he had ever received.
He carefully flipped through the yellowed pages, and the scent of old book pages wafted over to me. Unnoticed, I leaned toward it and felt the urge to dive directly into the pages steeped in history.
"Unbelievable! Where did you get them?" Chris asked, looking at his counterpart slightly suspiciously.
The latter immediately closed his eyes again, lowered his gaze briefly, and then replied coolly, "My father was a theologian. He had them hidden from the Brotherhood in my parents' house."
"I'm sorry about your father," Alex interrupted. Friendly, he patted him on the shoulder. "He was a good man and a hero."
"What happened?" I asked before I could stop myself. This kind of insensitivity, which always came through when my curiosity got the best of me, was a trait I hated. Contrite, I bit my tongue. However, the words were already out and could not be retrieved.
Edward's gaze now settled on me. Anger and hatred seethed in his eyes, darkening them and making me flinch.
"My mother was a gynecologist. After she helped a few women have an abortion after they were raped, the Knights of the Seals sentenced her to death at the stake." Memories of what I had seen myself intertwined with his story, and once again, I could smell the burning bodies and hear the screams. Nausea rose up in me.
"My father loved my mother more than anything. She was his life, and he couldn't bear to see her suffer like that. In the end, he threw himself and a can of gasoline into the flames with her as well. There was a huge explosion, and they were both killed instantly."
Silence fell over the room. The shock robbed it of all energy and oxygen and put us all in a stupor that held us firmly in its grip with its cold hands.
Had he been present at the execution? Had he had to watch it all? Did that explain the coolness that always seemed to surround him?
I was ashamed that I had never really trusted him. I had doubted him so often; perhaps he had the biggest right of all of us to hate the Brotherhood. To want to destroy it.
"Let's not talk about my parents anymore," I heard his voice cut through the silence like a knife. "We need to focus on the texts. Chris, you take the Torah. Myrina, you take the Koran. Meanwhile, Aspasia, Alex, and I will summarize the results of the various Bible texts on Adam and Eve's story."
