Free People of Babel (Ark Chronicles 3) by Vaughn Heppner Page B

howled in surprise and tried to shake her off, and he knocked against Thebes. The hot hands lost their grip.
    “ Daddy!” Hilda screamed, launching out of the grass.
    Beor ’s eyes widened in shock and then into black rage.
    Olympus, Thebes and Minos sprinted for the forest.
    The chariot-driver flicked the reins. The donkeys leapt forward. And Beor, as befitted a master hunter, snatched a javelin from the chariot case. The javelin flashed past Hilda, and she heard a scream as Minos fell to the ground with a javelin through his thigh.
     

21.
     
    Beor and the Scouts took the wounded Minos and a captured Olympus to Lord Japheth.
    “ I’ve come to you for fair judgment,” Beor said, and he explained how he had turned back from his trip to Shem, deciding the punishment for Hilda had been too harsh. He said that he thanked Jehovah for his merciful heart regarding his precious daughter.
    Japheth retired to deliberate, even as anger filled his sons and grandsons in attendance.
    “What should I do?” Japheth asked.
    Europa wore a long gown, with her blonde hair in braids and wound upon her head like a crown . She held a paintbrush and stood before a smooth piece of wood, with pigments of green, red and white in small clay cups.
    “ If I give Beor justice, I might alienate Javan,” Japheth said, brooding. “But if I do nothing, Beor will become even more enraged. He might return to Canaan, and Canaan might go to Kush and raise a host.”
    “ Over one girl?” Europa asked.
    “ Over an insult to a Hamite. You know how they are.”
    “ Yes,” Europa said. “Try as I have, my sons think less like kings than Rahab’s children. It’s very frustrating. Ham’s children are warriors. This curse on Canaan…” She shook her head. “I don’t see its evidence. In fact, this one-legged Beor is more than a match for any of our sons. You would do well to retain his allegiance.”
    “ At the risk of alienating Javan?” Japheth asked.
    Europa became thoughtful . “Injustice drives men to rage. What happened to Hilda was despicable. I do not condone it. So give Beor justice. Show the world that we know how to uphold what is right.”
    Japheth returned to his sons and grandsons, giving Beor the verdict . They marched to Javan Village. There, in the biggest lodge, and before the assembled clan, Japheth fined Minos, Olympus and Thebes for their wicked deed.
    Their grandfather Javan protested, demanding justice for Minos ’s wounding.
    “ No,” Japheth said. “Minos deserves worse. He can thank Beor’s temperance that he’s still alive. Beor had every right to slay him.”
    “ Will you side with them over us?” Javan cried.
    Japheth looked troubled . “Right must triumph over blood.”
    “ It wouldn’t be so in Babel,” Javan said.
    “ This is not Babel,” the Patriarch said. “This is Japheth Land. Your grandsons must pay the fine.”
    “ And if they don’t?” Javan asked.
    Japheth swept his hand to the armed sons and grandsons behind him, those from other villages . “I have brought men to enforce the judgment, which, if it must be gained by arms, will be doubled.”
    Javan brooded as torchlight played off the high wooden rafters . “This will cost you, Father. So I urge you to reconsider.”
    “ As Heaven is my witness,” Japheth said angrily, “my judgment stands.”
    Weeks later, Javan and his entire clan uprooted and began the trek to Babel . “One way or another, I’ll be revenged upon Beor and show my father that my word rings as true as the purest bronze,” Javan said. “And lest anyone forget, Semiramis is my granddaughter. We will be welcomed in Babel.”
    Lord Japheth pondered the meaning of this: that one after another , his sons and grandsons headed to Babel. So, at Europa’s urging, he called Beor. “You must convince your father and brothers to move from the Zagros Mountains and to us, for strength lies in numbers.”
    “ It’s a long journey,” Beor said. “And there are certain