The Book of Joby

Author:Mark J. Ferrari
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Religion
ISBN: 0765317532
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 2007-08-20T23:00:00+00:00

Merlin waited until Joby and Hawk were well out of sight, then growled, “Don’t just hover there, old friend. Come in and visit for a while.” He turned without waiting for an answer. Gardening, he thought with chagrin. All his defenses undone by a moment of careless absorption in mulching roses! Then again, he’d never expected anyone, least of all Joby, to come waltzing all the way up here unannounced. The world was strange with luck these days. Upon reaching his parlor, he was unsurprised to find Michael there ahead of him, seated in casual glory on the couch.

“You’ve done a marvelous job with this place,” the angel said amiably. “But ‘old friends’ don’t usually hide from one another, Merlin. Or is it Solomon now?”

“Have you no old friends in Taubolt then, Michael? Or should I call you Jake?” He smiled grimly as Michael conceded the point. “You followed Joby here, I take it?”

“Hawk actually,” Michael replied. “You gave him quite a scare at first, and I pay special attention to Taubolt’s children. Your skills have grown mighty indeed, Merlin. I’d not have believed even you could hide all this right under my nose for . . . how long now?”

“December, more or less.”

“I thought so,” Michael sighed. “What on earth are you thinking, Merlin? Did you really believe the Creator could be deceived just by covering my eyes?”

“Deceiving Him was not my concern,” Merlin sighed. “It was only your own disposition toward my purpose here that concerned me.” He shrugged and smiled. “I apologize, if that will help.”

“To me?” Michael chided. “It is not my will you defy here.”

“You won’t hinder me then?”

Michael looked mildly surprised. “For all you’ve been set apart, you are still a mortal man, and like all mortal men, free to choose your own path, Merlin, for good or ill. You know that as well as I.”

“I feared you might have been commanded to enforce His will in this matter.”

“I have had no such command,” the angel assured him, looking troubled for the first time in their conversation. “In fact, I have been left without any word from Him at all since this matter started. His decree against interference was the last instruction I was given.” The angel’s gaze hardened some. “The same decree you surely received.”

“Yes,” Merlin said sadly. “Which I find I cannot obey.”

The angel shook his head. “Then the boy has not asked for your help.”

“Me?” Merlin laughed bitterly. “How could he? He thinks his grandfather long dead, and, if I read his boyhood journal rightly, even my real identity has been usurped by the enemy.”

“If you still call him enemy,” Michael replied, “why are you defying our Lord?”

“What do you expect of me, Michael?” Merlin demanded angrily. “Are fifteen hundred years of loyalty to Heaven not sufficient proof of my intentions?”

“Longevity was not thrust upon you unwillingly, as I recall,” the angel replied. “You accepted your mandate as a gift, and of him to whom much is given, much will be required.

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