Enchantress: A Novel of Rav Hisda's Daughter (36 page)

“This is clearly a spell for Torah scholars,” I said.

Rava shrugged. “It’s some of the esoteric lore from Maaseh Bereshit and Maaseh Merkava. I already know most of it from my studies with Rav Oshaiya.”

I put the papyri back. A Mishna from Hagiga taught that Maaseh Bereshit, the Account of Creation, may not be expounded before two scholars, and Maaseh Merkava, the Account of the Chariot, not even before one unless he was a scholar who could understand it on his own. Now I comprehended the difference between Rava’s magic and mine. Rabbis’ spells were self-serving, while those of
charasheta
were to protect and help others.

Rava pointed to the crumpled cloth. “What do you make of that?”

I picked it up and noted something surprisingly heavy inside. Immediately my hand began to tingle, the sensation of magic growing stronger until I hurriedly dropped the bundle back into the basket.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s powerful sorcery here. I can feel it.”

“Is it malevolent?”

I recalled the feeling and shook my head. “But it may be dangerous.”

“Of course it’s dangerous. That’s why Hamnuna hid it so carefully.” Careful not to tear the cloth, Rava slowly unwrapped it until a ring lay exposed in his hand. “It’s a seal ring.”

It did not appear valuable. It looked to be made of iron, not gold, and held no jewels or precious stones. Rava walked to the window and held it up in the remaining light.

I stepped back in alarm. The symbol on top was the six-pointed seal of Solomon, and within it was the four-letter Holy Name. “Surely it’s not . . .” I trailed off, too awestruck to say it aloud.

“It can’t be King Solomon’s ring, not after all these years.” Rava exuded confidence. “It’s likely just designed to resemble it.”

“But I could feel the magic in it.”

“Consider the matter,” he urged me. “Who could have kept such a secret through the generations? There would have been rumors and stories about it, men searching for it. I have never heard even a hint that it still exists.”

His arguments were reasonable, but he hadn’t felt its power. “Let’s show it to Mother. Maybe she’ll recognize it.”

Rava turned and gazed at me. “So you know,” he finally said.

As I nodded, the full implication of his words hit me. Rava already knew Mother was head sorceress. Rav Oshaiya must have told him, yet Rava had kept it from me. He’d explained that he couldn’t share his esoteric studies, and I’d accepted that. But now it stung that he’d known something so central to my life and I hadn’t.

“Please, Dodi, I struggled constantly with whether to inform you and if so, how much.” He paced the room, muttering to himself. “In truth, I am struggling now with my oath not to divulge my secret learning except to those who are worthy students.”

“You showed me this magic ring.”

“I couldn’t bring something potentially dangerous into our home without consulting you,” he pleaded. “Though some might say I broke my oath by doing so.”

He looked at me with such remorse that my anger began to melt. “Mother considers me a worthy student,” I reminded him.

“Perhaps I haven’t broken my oath then.”

TWENTY-TWO

“So what brings you both to consult me today?” Mother’s eyes were bright with curiosity.

Rava opened the basket and unwrapped the ring. “Rav Hamnuna left this for me, but without any explanation.”

“I felt the magic before I could see its source,” I added.

She gingerly picked it up, estimated its weight in her hand, and held it close to read the inscription. “This contains ancient, powerful magic. I suggest you show it to my husband.”

“I’ll take it to him now,” Rava said.

As soon as he was out of hearing, I turned to Mother. “Wouldn’t the simplest way to identify the ring be to summon Ashmedai and show it to him?”

“I am too weak to withstand him, and you are too inexperienced,” she replied. After some hesitation, she continued, “But you are probably right. Ashmedai’s reaction upon seeing it could tell us much.”

“Are there any rules about what a
charasheta
may tell her husband?” I asked. “I want as few secrets between me and Rava as possible.”

“Most bowl incantations are pronounced in public, so they clearly aren’t secret, and curative spells are available to any healer. Amulet scribes who try to limit competition don’t share their spells, but there is no rule against it.” That sounded encouraging, but what followed was more cautionary. “Still, it is best to be discreet about such things. An expert shares little except with others at her level . . . or with her acolyte.” She paused before adding, “However, I’ve never heard of any enchantress married to a man with Rava’s expertise.”

Mother’s tone seemed to invite the question “Rava’s expertise?” so I asked it.

“Your knowledge of Hamnuna’s ring changes things, so I will take you into my confidence. If Em and the others don’t approve, I will soon be in the next world where they will not be the ones to judge me.”

“What were you saying about Rava?”

“Rav Oshaiya informed me that with Rav Hamnuna’s untimely death, once he himself is gone, Rava would be left the secret Torah’s greatest authority.”

Now it was my turn to know something my husband didn’t. Suddenly I thought of an important thing Mother hadn’t told me . . . yet. “Who will . . . take your place?” I couldn’t bring myself to say “when you are gone.”

She took my hand and held it even after I regained my composure. “Almost certainly it will be Yalta, but there is a complication.”

There was a rustle at the doorway and Mother immediately grew silent, but it was only a slave with a fresh cup of goat milk. Mother was careful to finish it and send the empty cup back to Em.

“One of the highest priorities of the head sorceress is to maintain order among her subordinates.” There was a new urgency in her voice that frightened me. “To discipline or punish if necessary those who perform dark magic without permission.”

“Why such tight control? Rabbis who curse people don’t ask for permission and no one disciplines them either.” Sometimes dark magic was the only way to chastise the wicked.

Mother locked eyes with me. “Most people appreciate, or at least tolerate, sorceresses because the majority of our spells are for healing and protection. But they fear our power to do harm.” Her voice, already low, deepened into a warning. “If their fear were to overcome their need of us . . .”

I swallowed hard as I recognized the disaster that would ensue. “If too many
charasheta
were killed, or forced into hiding, it would lead to losing all knowledge of our beneficial magic,” I said with dismay. “The angels would have brought it down and taught it to us for nothing.”

“Usually this keeps everyone in line, but unfortunately there is a
kashafa
who continues to defy me and is too strong for me to punish. The best I can do is exile her to the desert.”

I gasped. “On the caravan trip home there was talk of a
kashafa
in league with a band of brigands. People were terrified.”

Mother closed her eyes and shook her head in dismay. “Your news distresses me but does not surprise me.”

“You mentioned a complication.”

“It is painful to say it, but this
kashafa
is Zafnat.”

“Yalta’s daughter? How is that possible?” And I’d thought Mother’s disclosures couldn’t get more incredible.

“Yalta taught both Donag and Zafnat, and they were so accomplished they could stir a boiling pot with their bare hands,” Mother said. “But bandits attacked and captured them when they were traveling, along with a certain Rav Illish. He escaped and reported overhearing Donag and Zafnat say they wished the bandits would go farther away so they could remain with their captors rather than be ransomed by their husbands.”

“What a terrible slander,” I exclaimed. “Surely Donag and Zafnat only said that so their captors wouldn’t hurt them.”

“It may have been true, at least for Zafnat. When they were eventually ransomed, only Donag willingly returned to her husband.” She shook her head sadly. “Zafnat demanded a divorce, which her husband refused. It wasn’t long before both Rav Illish and Zafnat’s husband died, after which she collected her
ketuba
payment and disappeared.” Mother didn’t say that Zafnat had cursed the two men, but her tone implied it.

“She rejoined her captors, and now uses her magic to assist them.” I was appalled. “Yalta must be mortified.”

“Nothing mortifies her,” Mother declared. “She is outraged at the damage to her family’s reputation.”

“Even in exile, Zafnat is a danger,” I said. “She threatens every caravan between here and the West. Something must be done to stop her.”

“The best solution would be to take away her magic, but that requires her presence,” she replied with resignation. “So it will be my successor’s problem.”

Clearly there was a great deal I had yet to learn about a
charasheta
’s powers. Before I could ask who Mother thought should teach me next, Rava returned with Father.

Father had only one thing to add to our knowledge. “King Solomon’s ring confers the ability to communicate with animals.” His eyes gleamed with excitement. “One might verify its identity that way.”

“What if the wearer needs to cast some spell first? What if donning the ring alerts Ashmedai?” Mother tried to temper his enthusiasm. “I say Rava needs to learn more before he dares use it.”

“I agree,” Rava said with alacrity, and our discussion ended there.

 • • • 

That evening, after informing Rava that Mother had taken me into her confidence, I recounted Zafnat’s sad story.

He lay back and stroked his beard in thought. “I heard that story years ago, but I recall a somewhat different account.”

“Tell me.”

“There was another man captured with Rav Illish, one who could understand the language of birds,” he said. “He heard a raven say that the bandits would soon come to a place where escape was possible. That’s when Rav Illish overheard Rav Nachman’s daughters and decided they were not worthy of his help. So he and the man fled together, but the bandits caught the man and killed him.”

“How convenient for Rav Illish that his corroborator died,” I said sarcastically.

“I’d say it was more convenient for the daughters that there was only one witness against them, although the part of this tale that intrigues me is the mysterious man who could understand birds.”

“He must have been a skilled sorcerer,” I suggested.

Rava closed his eyes. “If he were that skilled, Rav Oshaiya would have known him.”

Nestled in his arms, I wanted to think about something more pleasant than Zafnat or the fate of the rest of us if other
charasheta
thought they could do dark magic with impunity. So I told him how Em adjured Ashmedai to remove Eli’s curse from Abaye and Bibi.

Rava’s eyes opened wide as I recounted her tale. He evidently knew about this test of a
charasheta
’s power for he only said, “Abaye’s uncle was seventeen when Abaye came to him as a baby, so Em can’t be more than fifteen years older than Abaye.”

“Since Abaye won’t die until after she does, you should have time to find a better solution.”

He hugged me tightly. “What a fantastic day this has turned out to be.”

 • • • 

Father had just dismissed his students with instructions to review their studies and prepare for Shabbat when his steward, Timonus, announced that Rav Nachman had arrived. Timonus had been a Roman soldier until King Shapur captured and enslaved his legion. Father bought him long before I was born, and despite Timonus’s white hair and stooped posture, he still commanded the other slaves with a military authority.

“Prepare a room for them and inform Cook that our Shabbat meals should be more lavish than usual.” Father grimaced and turned to Rava and me. “I didn’t expect them so soon.”

Timonus cleared his throat, and when he had Father’s attention he said, “Rav Nachman’s wife is not with him.”

Father scowled. “I hope he didn’t bring a temporary wife.”

Timonus shook his head. “Just his usual retinue of bodyguards and personal slaves.” There was no mistaking the disapproval in his voice.

“In that case, house them at a distance from the women’s quarters,” Father replied. “Also ensure that our younger and more attractive maidservants sleep indoors, not in the courtyard or on the roof.”

“I will see to it that they perform their duties in pairs.”

Father stood up and stretched. “Come, Rava. We had better greet the great man before he feels insulted by the delay.”

 • • • 

I had invited Achti and Ukva for Shabbat. Achti hadn’t seen Mother recently, and it was past time to discuss Chama’s future with Ukva.

Once Chama and I were seated in the garden with Ukva, he said, “I assume you had some reason beyond a nice family visit for us to be here.”