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"Tomorrow, then, same place, same time?" asked Alex unnecessarily and therefore received no answer. Everyone was already starting to get up when Aspasia suddenly cleared her throat.
"Wait!" she said, and an unfamiliar uncertainty resonated in her voice. "I've been hiding something from you." Guiltily, she looked at us. "There is another woman who may come into question."
“Who do you mean?” asked Chris in amazement.
“I mean Adam’s true first wife,” she said now in a firm voice. “I mean Lilith.”
CHAPTER 41
Lilith is just a legend!” Chris was sure. “Just like the Holy Grail.”
"Legends are as important to our research, I think, as the true Bible stories," Edward interjected. "So, Aspasia, please tell us what you know about Lilith. And Chris, thank you for bringing up the Holy Grail. This is a hotly contested topic, and other brotherhoods have been searching for it. There is scientific conjecture. The so-called chalice may have actually been a person."
"I have never heard of a first woman other than Eve. The Bible doesn't mention someone named Lilith either, or did I miss something?" I asked, confused. I wasn't Bible literate, but everyone had heard the creation story so many times in school and at church. Everyone just knew it.
"Indeed, it's not a story found in Scripture, yet Lilith is revered in Jewish feminist theology as Adam's first consort. She represents a learned, strong woman who did not want to be submissive to Adam but sought equality in their relationship and thus of man and woman in general," Aspasia explained. "Adam did not like this at all. He accepted only a submissive wife, disowned Lilith, killed the 100 children they had together,and demanded a new partner from God. This is how Eve was created."
In disbelief, we all looked at Aspasia.
"So that means Eve was not the first woman at all and that feminism already originated with Lilith?" recapitulated Chris. Aspasia nodded.
“What happened to Lilith after that?” Alex wanted to know. “Was she killed too?”
Aspasia swallowed and lowered her eyes.
“No,” she murmured before turning her gaze to us again. “Legend has it she asked God to tell her his holy name, which gave her all the power and wings she flew away with. And …” she hesitated for a moment, "and she is said to have given birth to another daughter, which gave rise to a second line of inheritance besides that of Adam and Eve."
“A bloodline formed by a feminist, a strong, learned woman who knew the holy name of the Lord?” exclaimed Chris, visibly shocked. “That must be what the Knights of the Seals are searching for. The daughters of Lilith. Those women who will not be oppressed but will go out to fight.”
Edward nodded thoughtfully and then looked at Aspasia and at me.
“Women like you two. Amazons, warriors, and scholars. The apostle women of our time! You are in greater danger than we had previously suspected.” Thoughtfully, he bit his lip. “We need to shift our focus to Lilith and women of history who stood out.”
“Do you mean like Joan of Arc or Cleopatra?” I asked in amazement. Edward nodded.
“It may be that they were descended from Lilith’s line,” he explained as he took notes.
“And we shouldn’t forget the Holy Grail,” Chris reminded us. “Something tells me that it, too, may have a deeper meaning.”
“You’re right,” Alex agreed, “I think we’re finally on a promising track.”
“Why didn’t you tell us about Lilith earlier, Aspasia?” I asked, and everyone else now observed her puzzled. It seemed as if she had known this legend for a long time. Why hadn’t she shared it with us earlier?
“I didn’t think it would matter at first,” she justified herself, turning away.
“How do you know the story, anyway?” I probed further.
Uncertainly, she lifted her gaze. “From my grandmother. She was a follower of that Jewish feminist theology.”
I looked at her thoughtfully and couldn’t shake the feeling she was still hiding something from us.
"Let's train!" Alex urged us. "Aspasia! How about a duel? You and me!" He didn't even look at me. I knew we would have to discuss our fight, relationship, and future sooner or later. But he didn't seem to want that at the moment, nor was my head up for it after last weekend's events.
So I did what was easiest: I got out of his way.
Behind the screen, I slipped into my workout clothes and headed straight for the punching bag. I avoided Edward's questioning stare. Unsure whether I should tell anyone else about my discovery in Edward's Koran after the disastrous conversation with Alex, I had also withdrawn from him.
The punching bag hung heavy and challenging on its chain at the very back of the training room. As Jack had shown me, I carefully wrapped the bandages around my hands and started with a few warm-up exercises.
