Sharon Shinn - Samaria 1 - Archangel

Archangel

by

Sharon Shinn

PUBLISHER: Ace Books

ISBN: 0-441-00432-6

"A delightful world to escape into ... Shinn has set out to create a

sweet and beautiful story about love, magic, and honor and has proven

that she can accomplish that task nobly, enjoyably, and well."

--Locus

"Ms. Shinn takes a traditional romance and wraps it in a fantasy, rousing"

--The Magazine of Fantasy

"The most promising and original writer of fantasy to come along since

Robin McKinley."

--Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn

"The spellbinding Ms. Shinn writes with elegant imagination and a

steely grace, bringing a remarkable freshness that will command a wide

audience."

--Romantic Times

"I was fascinated by Archangel. Its premise is unusual,

to say the least, its characters as provocative as the action. I was

truly, deeply delighted."

--Anne McCaffrey

Ace Book by Sharon Shinn

ALSO BY SHARON SHINN ...

THE SHAPE-CHANGER'S WIFE

ARCHANGEL

JOVAH'S ANGEL

THE ALLELUIA FILES

ACE BOOKS, NEW YORK

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that

this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and

destroyed" to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher

has received any payment for this "stripped book".

This Ace Book contains the complete text of the original wade

edition.

ARCHANGEL

An Ace Book/published by arrangement with the author

Ace trade edition May 1996

Ace mass-market edition April 1997

Cover art by John Jude Palencar.

ISBN: 0-441-00432-6

For my aunt, Mary Krewson

CAST OF CHARACTERS

In the Eyrie

Gabriel, leader of the host; an angel

Nathan, his brother; an angel

Hannah, a mortal woman; widow of the former leader

Judith, a young mortal woman

Obadiah, an angel

Matthew, an Edori

In Monteverde

Ariel, leader of the host; an angel

Magdalena, her sister; also an angel

In Windy Point

Raphael, leader of the host and Archangel of Samaria

Saul, his foremost follower; also an angel

Leah, Raphael's wife; the angelica

In Semorrah

Lord Jethro, a wealthy merchant

Daniel, his son

Lady Clara, Jethro's wife

Lady Mary, Daniel's bride

Anna, a bondwoman

Rachel, an Edori slave

Others

Elijah Harth, a wealthy Manadavvi landowner

Abel Vashir, another Manadavvi landowner

Malachi of Breven, a Jansai war leader

Peter, a former priest now residing in Velora

Naomi of the Chievens, an Edori woman

Luke, her husband

Josiah, oracle of Bethel

Ezekiel, oracle of Jordana

Jezebel, oracle of Gaza

CHAPTER ONE

The angel Gabriel went to the oracle on Mount Sinai, looking for a

wife. He did not go gladly, even hopefully, as befitted a man eager to

find his lifelong companion. In fact, he had put off this journey as

long as he could, but his deadline was rapidly approaching. In six

months, he would lead the annual Gloria to praise and gladden Jovah,

and it was a task he would be unable to complete without his ordained

partner at his side. Because he was next in line to be Archangel, and

therefore Jovah had a special interest in him, Gabriel went to the

Mount Sinai seer to learn who the god had chosen to be his bride.

Flying, Gabriel took less than three hours to cross the hundred and

fifty miles from his home in the Eyrie to Josiah's rockbound retreat.

It was easy flying, for the air was very thin in the valley between the

two mountain ranges, with no treacherous currents such as one might

encounter over the western Gaza mountains or the southern coast of

Jordana. To a mortal, the frigid air this high above the ground would

have been deadly, but angels carried heated blood in their veins,

ideally equipping them for surviving the icy wind in the higher reaches

of the stratosphere. Gabriel wore only a leather vest and leather

pants, tucked into his boots, and he felt no cold.

When he arrived at Sinai, one of Josiah's acolytes led him to the

oracle's room, moving soundlessly through the shadowy gray corridors of

rock. They came at last to a small, well-lit chamber where the oracle

could be seen leaning toward a glowing plate of glass and metal

embedded in the slate-rock wall. The acolyte put a finger to his

lips.

"Quietly," the boy said. "He is communing with the god." Gabriel

nodded, and gestured for the boy to return the way he had come. Clearly

the acolyte would have preferred to stay, making sure Gabriel did not

disturb Josiah at his prayers, but very few people would gainsay an

angel, particularly this one. The boy left, and Gabriel leaned against

the wall, waiting courteously. He was nothing if not respectful of the

will of the god.

In a matter of moments, Josiah straightened, murmured an amen, and

touched the face of the lighted screen. Instantly, the plate went

blank. Gabriel stepped forward.

"Josiah," he said.

The oracle turned to him with a smile. He was a small, gray man,

nearly lost in a voluminous blue robe. Unlike the angels, he suffered

from the cold.

"Gabriel? he exclaimed. "An unexpected pleasure."

The angel laughed, coming forward to take the seer's hand and bow over

it. "Come, now," Gabriel said straightening. "You must have been

expecting me anytime these past six months."

"These past three years, more like," Josiah retorted. "If by that you

mean you have come at last to seek my advice about your bride."

"Jovah's advice," Gabriel corrected.

"You have not given yourself much time to woo and win," Josiah said.

Gabriel shrugged. The gesture caused his immense, immaculately white

wings to flutter gracefully behind his shoulders. "These things are

laid down by the law of Jovah," he said. "If I have no choice about

it, then neither does she. I do not know that it will be a courtship

in the traditional sense."

Josiah was watching him. "Nonetheless," he said, "she may need some

time to accustom herself to the idea. She has not had fifteen years,

as you have, to dream about becoming the angelica."

Gabriel smiled. He was a black-haired, blue-eyed man, with fair skin

darkened to a perpetual tan from constant exposure to sun and wind. He

was always striking, but never quite approachable until he smiled. "I

thought all girls dreamt of becoming the angelica," he said.

Josiah snorted. "Those who have not met you, perhaps."

Gabriel looked faintly amused. "Well, at any rate, the girl handpicked

by Jovah must be suited to me in all things, as I understand the

theology," he said. "So she will be eager to be my bride."

Josiah regarded him, his small head turned a bit to one side. "She

will complement you," he amended. "She will know things you do not,

have skills you do not. If you were an angry man, she would make you

calm. If you were a timid man, she would make you strong. As you are

an arrogant man, I must assume she will make you humble."

"I am not arrogant," Gabriel said mildly. "Confident, perhaps."

Josiah smiled. "Well, then. We will let the god determine. Come sit

with me while I ask him his will."

They pulled up two chairs before the screen where Josiah had been

working when the angel arrived. Gabriel settled himself carefully,

spreading his wings wide so that they unfolded lavishly across the cold

stone floor. Even among angels, his wings were remarkable--entirely

white, exceptionally broad in span, and taller than he was by more than

a head.

Not waiting for Gabriel to grow still, Josiah leaned forward and

touched the glass plate in the wall. Instantly it came alive with a

soft bluish light. Strange hieroglyphics danced across the screen,

changing as Josiah pressed the knobs and buttons on a small shelf lying

before the interface. Gabriel watched, fascinated. As often as he had

seen Josiah communing with Jovah, he never failed to be impressed. A

man or a woman must be trained since birth to understand the rituals of

the god; mere mortals, even angels, could not understand the words of

the holy language.

At length, Josiah completed his dialogue with Jovah, murmured an amen,

and closed down the window between humanity and divinity.

"Well?" Gabriel demanded.

"She was born in a small village in Jordana, not far from Windy Point,"

Josiah said. "Her parents are farmers, her family are farmers. She is

twenty-five years old."

Gabriel stared at him in disbelief.

"It is unlikely," Josiah said, maintaining a serious expression, "that

she has ever entertained thoughts of becoming angelica to the Archangel

Gabriel."

Gabriel found his voice. "This is ridiculous," he said. "A

farmer's daughter? From the wilds of Jordana? What do we know of

these people? Are they educated? Are they civilized? Can they sing,

by the love of Jovah? For in six months, this girl will need to stand

beside me on the Plain of Sharon and lead the Gloria. Can she do so?

Can she sing a note? Can she be taught? Six months, Josiah!"

"Perhaps you should not have waited so long to seek her out," Josiah

responded.

Gabriel was on his feet. "No doubt! But I did not expect Jovah to

have such a sense of humor! An untutored hill-farmer! I expected a

girl from the gentry of the Manadavvi, or even a woman from one of the

river cities--someone trained to take on the duties of a household such

as mine--"

"You really have no one but yourself to blame," Josiah said

unsympathetically. "As it is, you still have six months. A lot can be

accomplished in that time frame. Search her out immediately."

"I will," Gabriel agreed somewhat grimly. "What is her name? Or did

Jovah seek to make my task harder by withholding that information?"

"No, it was part of the registry," Josiah said. "She is called Rachel,

daughter of Seth and Elizabeth. It is a small village in the shadow of

the Caitana Mountains. There should not be many with that name and

those parents."

Gabriel was still angry--fruitlessly so, because it was of no use to

rail against the god, and he knew it. "And if she has changed her

name? Or refuses to believe me?"

Josiah nodded at Gabriel, indicating the small amber stud embedded in

the flesh of the angel's right arm. "There should be no mistake," he

said quietly. "The Kiss will react. You will feel heat, and its light

will flare--yours and hers. There is no denying the Kiss."

Automatically, Gabriel put his hand over the acorn-sized crystal in his

arm. Like almost every child born on Samaria, he had been dedicated to

the god when he was only a few days old--in fact, Josiah had been the

one to perform the ceremony, though there were priests who did no work

but this the whole year round. The Kiss of the God was embedded in

Gabriel's flesh, grafted to the bone, to remain there until he died,

and to be buried with him. It was through the Kiss that Jovah

acknowledged the existence of all his children, tracked them through

their lives, knew if they were ill or unhappy or dying. At times, when

he had been most exhilarated or most afraid, Gabriel had felt the Kiss

flicker against his skin, a slight sensation of warmth, a brief flash

of light in the brandy-colored depths of the stone.

But. "I thought that was a myth," he said slowly."

"What? That the Kiss shoots sparks of light when true lovers meet for

the first time? No myth. Have you never seen it occur?"

Gabriel shrugged impatiently. "Among some couples who have been

married a long time and who feel great mutual affection-yes, I suppose

I have seen a glimmer now and then," he said. "But--this business of

recognizing your true lover the first time you meet--"

"Well, there should be some reaction," Josiah said. "As you are only

seeking to confirm an identity--"

"And as I am not looking for true love--"

"Perhaps the reaction will be slight. Go to this village. She should

not be hard to find."

Gabriel was still frowning. "I admit, it seems odd to me that she

comes from a place so near to Raphael," he said. "For Leah came from

Jordana as well."

"Jovah does not care about the angelica's origin," Josiah said. "He

cares about her heart."

Gabriel made a slight gesture of disagreement, but continued to brood.

Well, it was true. The Archangel Raphael, who ruled the host of angels

quartered in the bleak mountain retreat of Windy Point, had twenty

years ago chosen a bride from among his own people. Her name was Leah,

and she was a pale, silent woman of whom very little had been seen

outside of the annual Glorias held on the Plain of Sharon. If Jovah

did indeed look to meld opposites when he selected consorts for his

Archangels, he had come up with a definite contrast here. Raphael was

suave, smooth-spoken and self-assured. Leah was tongue-tied, shy and

docile. Or so she seemed. Gabriel had not troubled himself to

converse more than politely with her for the past twenty years.

The fact was, he did not care much for either Raphael or his angelica,

though he had done his best to work with the older man during Raphael's

reign as Archangel. Harmony was, after all, the central tenet of their

religion, and it was not for the Archangel-designate to cause

dissension among the angels. But he had been shocked at some of the

abuses that occurred during Raphael's tenure--the growth of power among

the city merchants, the gradual impoverishment of the lowland farmers,

the increasing violence directed against the nomadic Edori tribes.

These were circumstances that were within the Archangel's power to

control, and Raphael had not controlled them. To Gabriel, it seemed as

though the harmony of Samaria was out of tune--but Jovah had still

accepted their singing at the Glorias, and so to Jovah, perhaps, all

still appeared well.

His dark meditation was interrupted by a woman's laughing voice. "Let

me guess," said the newcomer. "He is reviewing all Raphael's misdeeds

and vowing to do better during his term as

archangel."

Smiling, Gabriel turned to meet the speaker. "Ariel," he said. "Don't

you have your own oracle to consult up near Monte-verde?"

"I do," she retorted, crossing the stone floor to greet him. She was a

tall, slender woman with lush brown hair, just now somewhat ruffled by

the flight of her passage. Her wings--flecked with patterns of beige

and gold--were folded tightly to her back, but the tips still trailed

behind her on the floor. She led the host of Monteverde and was

generally popular with the angels from all three realms. "I did not

come for advice but for pleasure. You, on the other hand, are looking

so unpleasant that you must have come for advice."

"Which has not agreed with me," he said.

"Advice seldom agrees with you," Josiah observed. "Ariel, Gabriel, may

I order refreshments for either of you?"

"Certainly," Ariel replied. "Whatever you have on hand." "I'm not

staying," Gabriel said."

"I hope you're not running away just because I've arrived," Ariel

commented.

He smiled briefly. "You would hardly be enough to rout me. No, I've

got to attend to business--following Josiah's advice."

She gave a crow of laughter. "At last! You've come to seek the name

of your angelica! No wonder you look so cross. Has he picked out

someone you cannot bear?"

"Someone I've never met," Gabriel said. "I imagine no one's met her.

She lives secluded in Jordana, not far from Windy Point. A farmer's

daughter."

"A farmer's daughter! But how quaint!" Ariel exclaimed, hugely

delighted. "We'll have to hope she is not overwhelmed by all the pomp

and pageantry at the Eyrie--"

"Which is nothing to compare with the pomp and pageantry at Windy

Point," Gabriel said dryly.

"If she's a hill-farmer's daughter, it's unlikely she's been there,"

Ariel pointed out.

"In any case, I do not have much time to waste. I'm off to find her,

assuming she is where she is supposed to be."

"She should be easy enough to locate. Farmers generally do not stir

ten miles from the place of their birth," Josiah said as he left to

fetch refreshments. "Now, if she had been an Edori--"

"An Edori!" Ariel repeated. "Surely Jovah would not have chosen an

Edori for the angelica. Why, most of them have not even been dedicated

to the god! He has no idea that they exist."

"He knows they exist," Gabriel said evenly. "Jovah brought them to

Samaria when he brought the angels and the mortals. Just because they

do not all choose to receive the Kiss of the God does not make them any

less his children."

"Oh, don't start again," she said warmly. "About the enslavement of

the Edori--I can't bear it." "Well, it is wrong, whatever Raphael

thinks. Or you think."

"If Jovah objected, would he not have spoken by now?" Ariel demanded.

"Gabriel, Jovah does not care about the Edori! At last year's Gloria,

there were no Edori singers--none! not one!--and there was no

thunderbolt from the god in disapproval."

"There was one Edori singer," Gabriel said. "In my pavilion. I did

not wish to risk the god's wrath in such a stupid manner."

Ariel shrugged impatiently. "Well, then, your virtue has again saved

us all. But don't you thinkg"

"I am not trying to parade my virtue before the whole of Samaria. I

know you think I'm hopelessly self-righteous, but in the matter of the

Edori--"

"My children, my angels," Josiah interrupted, reentering the room with

a tray of refreshments in his hands. "If there is not harmony among

angels, can there be harmony among men?"

"When angels sow discord among men, no, I doubt it," Gabriel said.

Ariel turned toward Josiah. "He's going on about the Edori again."

"His passion does him credit. We are all the children of Jovah,"

Josiah said gently. "But you should not discuss it if it makes you

both so angry. Come, Ariel, sit with me and tell me of happy

things."

Gabriel nodded to them both and turned to go, but Ariel, who had

stepped away with Josiah, suddenly ran back to Gabriel before he could

quit the chamber.

"Don't leave angry," she said, catching his arm. "I can't bear the

dissonance you create when you're angry."

He smiled briefly and touched her hand where it lay on his arm. "All

right. I'm not angry. It was good to see you, Ariel--it always is."

"Will I see you next month?" she wanted to know. "At the wedding in

Semorrah?"

He raised his brows. "How could I miss it?" he replied sardonically.

"Lord Jethro has practically made it a command appearance."

She smiled. "Will you be there and in a good temper?" she teased.

"I will be there. I cannot make promises about my mood," he said. "I

bring Nathan with me."

"And your bride?"

"If I have found her by then. If she is fit to be seen in company."

Ariel choked back a laugh. "Gabriel, you're horrible."

He smiled. "Don't start another quarrel with me," he warned.

"I wouldn't think of it. Fast flight to you, and sweet dreaming."

Gabriel nodded again to the oracle. "Josiah," he said, and left the

room.

It was with some circumspection that Gabriel entered the realm of

Jordana. It was not that Raphael would have--could have--any objection

to his presence there, but still. Gabriel was not eager to explain to

the Archangel that he had come here seeking his own bride, who would

stand with him when Gabriel took over the position Raphael had held for

twenty years.

Nor did he feel like admitting that his angelica was a hill-farmer's

daughter who had probably never heard his name.

Josiah had used a map of Jordana to show Gabriel the village where the

girl had been born--Rachel, Gabriel reminded himself, Rachel, daughter

of Seth and Elizabeth. It was half a day's flight from Windy Point,

outside the protective bulk of the mountains, but some distance from

the rich farmlands that characterized southern Jordana. They had

probably eked out a spare existence for centuries, Rachel's family and

their ancestors, knowing little more than the turn of the seasons, the

capriciousness of the climate and the stinginess of their rocky soil.

None of this knowledge would translate well to the girl's role as

angelica.

Gabriel flew high for most of the journey, dropping to low

reconnaissance altitude only as he arrived in the vicinity of the

village. From the air, there had been little to see--no hearth smoke,

no cultivated patches of green against the undomesticated brown and

gold of the prairie grasses and weeds. Lower to the ground, he was

surprised to find nothing yet--no outlying huts, no hard-won orchards,

no sounds or smells or sights that spoke of human habitation. He flew

in ever-widening circles, wondering if he could have missed a crucial

landmark, or if Josiah had misread the information Jovah had supplied.

There appeared to be no village here at all.

He had been quartering the same area for a good hour, looking for

clues, when his attention was caught by a random scattering of boulders

half a mile from a streambed. Not so random, if looked at just

right--if a few of the boulders were rolled back into place, and a few

more dug up from the loamy earth, they would form a series of

rectangular shapes that once could have been small houses standing side

by side.

Gabriel canted his wings and came down, landing with practiced ease on

the balls of his feet. There was scarcely a hitch between the last

wing beat and the first footfall as he strode forward to inspect the

boulders. Yes, definitely the remains of walls and foundations, three

or four homes that had once housed near neighbors. But that had been

some time ago, judging by the extent to which the wild grasses had

reclaimed this section of land and the land for miles around it. Ten

years, maybe more, since anyone had lived here.

Frowning heavily, Gabriel looked around him. What he had taken for

underbrush and the large nests of prairie wolves now assumed a

different aspect--of huts knocked down and fences pulled apart. He

counted another half a dozen piles that might have once been houses,

and it was safe to assume that he had overlooked a couple of solitary

habitations a few miles away in each direction.

Sharon Shinn - Samaria 1 - Archangel

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