Excerpt of Wisdom's Daughter : a Novel of Solomon and Sheba by India Edghill

PROLOGUE: BAALIT SINGS

Solomon was a great king, a man of wisdom and power; Bilqis was a djinn's daughter, a creature of sand and fire. So a harper would begin this tale; it is tradition, after all. And so shall I begin my own song to tell the tale of my father and the woman who became more to me than my own mother -- for when one has broken every rule and violated every commandment, only tradition can redeem that tale, make it sweet to swallow.

Sing it so, if you choose: a golden king and a queen from the land beyond morning, well met in a contest of wits and wills. She tried him with hard questions; he answered each with ease. Whereupon the lady bowed before his wisdom, praised his greatness, and then retreated to her faraway kingdom, laden down with priceless gifts freely given by the all-knowing king.

Whatsoever she desired, sing the harpers now. King Solomon granted all the great queen's heart desired --

But not freely. No, what Solomon the Wise granted unto the foreign queen from the south, her heart's desire, was given unwilling; forfeit to a king's honor. The harpers do not sing of that; hard Truth is no man's daughter.

So I shall sing their song in my own words, and in theirs, trusting their tale to the winds of time. I, who in my turn shall be Queen of the Spice Lands, Queen of the South -- I will sing for you the tale of Solomon the Wise, and Bilqis, Queen of the Morning.

PART ONE: THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH

ABISHAG

I am no more than memory's echo, but my name is still spoken and so my voice whispers to the living, carried upon the winds of time. For many tales still are told of Abishag the Shunammite, and not all of them to my credit. But this much I can call my heart's truth: I never schemed to become queen. The plots I aided, the intrigues I carried out, all were done to one end only: that Prince Solomon should wear the crown when King David died. That goal I worked towards always, after I was brought to King David's court.

For that -- and to win Solomon for myself, to turn his heart to me and to me alone. What was a king, or a crown, compared to that prize?

And I was granted my heart's twin desires, for all the good either did me. For I was denied the one thing that would have paid for all the rest, have redeemed all the deeds that put Solomon on the throne and a queen's crown upon my head: Solomon's son, a prince to be king hereafter. That prize, I was not to win.

But in the end, it did not matter.

CHAPTER ONE: BILQIS

Her land of dreams and spices lay beyond the morning; its very name meant "sunrise". Spices and dreams, twin jewels in Sheba's crown -- a crown that had smoothly passed from mother to daughter, from aunt to niece, from sister to sister, in a chain of life unbroken for a thousand years.

Until now.

The ancient treasure rested in a casket created for the circle of gold and gems so long ago that the images carved into the ebon wood had all but vanished, worn smooth by generations of reverent hands. The court's High Clerk could recite the details of the design as clearly as if it were new-carved. Upon the ancient wood, Ilat, goddess-mother of Sheba, bestowed the gift of spices upon Almaiyat-Quqnus, Sheba's first queen, herself born of sun and fire.

The goddess's gift had been wealth and peace; Sheba's queens had guarded both, loving mothers to Ilat's land and people.

From sister to sister, from aunt to niece, from mother to daughter. Bilqis lifted the crown from the casket; a circle of flames burned in hammered gold. From queen to queen.

Until now.

Now she was the only woman living who could claim pure descent from Sheba's royal lineage. I am the last queen. She stared at the crown weighing down her reverent hands. Why? I have been dutiful, devout, dedicated. Sheba's good has been dearer to me than my own life. Always, always, she had cherished her kingdom like a child. She had given it her life. She had given it a daughter, only to see her child die before her.

Now she alone remained. And Sheba's crown waited....