Lilah Read Online Free Page A

purpose withpitchers of milk, loaves of bread, cheese, bags of almonds, barley and dates. The basket had become so bulky over time that it weighed more than a dead ass, forcing Lilah to tense her muscles beneath it.
    Today she wanted to be alone with Ezra.
    What she had to tell him would be difficult enough without Axatria’s bustling presence.
    Cries jolted Lilah out of her thoughts when she was half a
stadion
from the lower town. As if they had emerged from the earth, a group of about twenty boys, aged from four to eleven or twelve, wearing nothing but loincloths, appeared between the first tumbledown houses and came running barefoot on the hard pebble-strewn ground, yelling their heads off.
    Two old men carrying tubs of tar on a hoist towards the upper town moved aside quickly to let them pass.
    Raising as much dust as a herd of young goats, the children reached Lilah and came to a sudden standstill, their screams ceasing just as abruptly as their run. Smiling sweetly, they lined up in two perfect rows, the little ones gripping the rags of their elders.
    â€˜May the mighty Ahura Mazda and the God of Heaven be with you, Lilah!’ they cried in unison.
    â€˜May the Everlasting bless you,’ Lilah replied, earnestly.
    Surprised that Axatria was absent, the children looked from the basket to the chariot, which they could glimpse on the road to the upper town. Lilah smiled. ‘Today, Axatria is waiting for you in the chariot. She has brought you honey bread.’
    No sooner had she spoken than the children leaped into the air like a flock of sparrows.
    Lilah adjusted the basket on her shoulder. The two old men bowed respectfully, then set off again with their burden. She responded to their greeting, and hurried on.
    â€˜Lilah!’
    She heard the shout at the same time as the sound of running feet. ‘Sogdiam!’
    â€˜Let me carry your basket.’
    He was a well-built boy of thirteen or fourteen, but looked two or three years more. When he was not yet a year old, a fall from a brick wall on a stormy day had left him crippled. The bones of his legs had set haphazardly, but he had learned to use the misshapen limbs through an effort of will. Today, although his gait was grotesque and lopsided, he could run and walk for long distances without pain.
    His fine features made people forget his misfortune, and his eyes burned with intelligence. Soon after Ezra had settled in the lower town, he had spotted Sogdiam among the orphaned children whoran around the streets. Before long, he had become Ezra’s capable and devoted servant.
    Lilah pointed to the piece of honey bread that Sogdiam was carrying. ‘Eat that first.’
    â€˜No need,’ Sogdiam said, as proud as a warrior. ‘I can do both at the same time.’
    Glad to relieve the pressure on her shoulder, Lilah passed him the basket. The boy strained his young muscles and slid the straps over his own shoulder. ‘Axatria has filled it even more generously than usual today,’ she said.
    â€˜It’ll be all right,’ Sogdiam groaned, gallantly.
    Lilah smiled at him tenderly. He set off, arching his back proudly, to conceal the strain on his neck. They were being watched from the houses at the other end of the path, and Sogdiam would not have missed for anything in the world the opportunity of showing everyone that he was privileged to help Lilah, the only lady from the upper town who dared to enter the lower town.
    â€˜Axatria shouldn’t have let you carry this,’ he said severely, as he hurried along. ‘At least she should have helped you.’
    â€˜I wouldn’t let her,’ Lilah said.
    â€˜Why? Because she is ill-tempered this morning? She was shouting at us just now.’
    Lilah could not help smiling. ‘It won’t last,’ she said.
    â€˜What’s the matter?’ Sogdiam threw her a questioning glance. ‘Did the two of you have an argument?’
    Lilah shook her