The Dovekeepers

by Alice Hoffman

If a man sees his brother tied with ropes and dragged down the cobblestone road, does he ever see anything else?

If ten men are kept in a room with a lion and only one survives, what does that man become?

Perhaps that was the sin I committed. I forgot that even the worst of lives is a treasure.

Any weapon touched by a woman, even by accident, must be cleansed with both water and prayer so that her essence would not linger, diverting the warrior who might use it next, for even the faintest touch could bring lust to that man’s heart. Perhaps that meant a woman who was well trained in arms would be the superior warrior, her attention never wavering from her task.

Let us not speak, or tend to our troubles, let us lie together and forget the world, remembering only each other.

♥️