The Prophecy (Daughters of the People Series Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

partially on its side. Over
time, dirt had filled in the space between the bones, holding the remains in
place, allowing the archaeological team to examine it in situ . Wisps of
what could’ve been fabric clung to some of the bones. Aside from an armband
encircling the humerus of the top-facing arm, the only other items resting near
the body were the remains of a long, fire-hardened wooden spear with a rusted
metal point, still partially submerged in the dirt.
    Maya inhaled
deeply, willing her racing heart to calm. “Female?”
    Dani tilted her
head in a slight nod.
    “Quite exciting.
Burials from that time period are very rare. Immolation.” Dr. Lindberg leaned
against his cane, both hands pressing into its top. “Pyres were very popular in
the fifth century. Good for the soul, but bad for archaeologists, eh?”
    “Have you
definitively dated the burial?” Maya asked.
    “Still waiting
for the lab to settle that.” James shifted into a wide-legged stance and
crossed his arms over his chest. “Some of the artifacts appear to be centuries
older than others. It’s made dating the burial itself a little tricky, but the
team here believes she was buried at the same time as the massacre.”
    A tendril of
excitement wound through Maya. Dani caught her eye and inclined her head toward
the skeleton, her eyebrows raised.
    “Dr. Lindberg,
would you mind if I took a closer look?” Maya asked.
    “Certainly not.”
A gentle smile lifted Dr. Lindberg’s expression. “We welcome your good
opinion.”
    The sketch
artist gathered her material and climbed out of the pit, heading toward the
main encampment. “Be back when you’re done.”
    “Thanks.” Maya
maneuvered herself carefully into the pit and examined the skeleton’s upper
torso as she picked her way around the remains. “Strange that this one body was
buried when the others were left laying where they fell.”
    “She must have
been quite significant,” Dr. Lindberg said. “Perhaps a courier or a diplomat of
some sort.”
    Maya paused in
mid-step. “What makes you say that?”
    “That’s the reason
I’m here.” James waggled his eyebrows. “Late last week, the team found a small
stash of documents sealed in a metal box that was buried with our mysterious
female.”
    Indigo had
reported that cylinder seals had been found with the body, possibly worn as
jewelry, but not documents. Maya filtered through her knowledge of Iron Age
Scandinavia. “Documents, in northern Europe during the fifth century? Maybe Roman
in origin?”
    “Only one.”
James’ smile exuded the same excitement clawing at Maya. “But it wasn’t
produced in northern Europe, best I can tell. There were at least three
languages written on a variety of media buried here. Some pictographs as well.”
His smile stretched into the grin of an academic with a rare treasure on his
hands. “One item was a small clay tablet written in Linear A.”
    Maya blinked,
clamping her jaws together against a disbelieving gape. “No.”
    “Oh, yes.” He
rocked forward onto the balls of his feet and back again. “So far, we’ve
uncovered the clay tablet, animal skin, papyrus, half a dozen cylinder seals.
Some of it just fragments, but still.”
    She sucked in a
breath. The smell of freshly turned dirt seeped through her, comforting in its
familiarity. “A regular library, then.”
    Dani cleared her
throat. “Maetyrm, the armband .”
    Maya knelt in
the dirt beside the skeleton, carefully balancing herself above it. The armband
glittered dully in the late afternoon sunlight, and a small chill went up
Maya’s spine. It was crafted of hammered copper, greening with age and exposure
to the elements and the dirt it had been buried in. In the dimming light, she
could just make out a symbol stamped into it, a single eye staring at her from
across at least fifteen centuries. It was a symbol she knew well and it raised
her hopes higher than she’d ever allowed them to soar.
    She stood and
brushed her hands