The Dovekeepers

by Alice Hoffman

In that moment the map of my life arose upon my skin in a burst of red marks, speckles that, when followed, one to the other, have led me to my destiny.

This boy had been afflicted with deafness and had not even heard the command, but no one cared about such things anymore. A world of hate had settled upon us.

Once you possess something others do not, you are a target for the wicked.

I ban and make an oath against destroyers and demons and plagues and afflictions and terrors and nightmares.

Our rest is formed by our waking life and our waking life is formed by our sorrows.

The seven sisters that the Greeks believed moved through the sky in a burst of stars had been set upon the wall, lifelike in their human guise, along with the moon, the most beautiful woman of all, in a dress of silver with strands of gold leaf running through her garment; so present it seemed real thread had been stitched through the painted fabric.

Nahara meant the light that shone upon great beauty.

Chimah, the messengers of wrath and of vengeance. Chimah is also said to be the name of the stars in the sky that are the seven sisters, who look down upon us in times of sorrow.