A Persian Tale
Other Books by Kevin J. Todeschi
Non-Fiction:
Dream Images and Symbols
Edgar Cayce’s ESP
Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records
Edgar Cayce on Soul Growth
Edgar Cayce on Soul Mates
Edgar Cayce on Vibrations
Family Karma: The Hidden Ties that Bind
God in Real Life
Soul Signs
Fiction:
The Rest of the Noah Story
A Persian Tale
A Novel of the Ancient Past
By Kevin J. Todeschi
Yazdan Publishing • Virginia Beach • Virginia
Copyright 2010
By Kevin J. Todeschi
Printed in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles of reviews.
Published by:
Yazdan Publishing
P.O. Box 4604
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
ISBN 13: 9780984567201
Cover design by Richard Boyle
Text and design layout by Cathy Merchand
From time to time, throughout the history of the ages, seemingly the hand of God has gently reached down to touch the face of the earth. Lands scattered upon the planet have been transformed, often within a relatively short period of time–even as it is measured by humankind. On occasion, through the activity of a solitary figure, hope reigns anew. In the course of events, nations rise and fall.
Time and again, one fraction of the peoples of the earth has arisen from the depths of anonymity to become a leader among nations. Often spiritual, sometimes secular, leadership has driven them towards a new direction–civilizations each attempting to reach that same glimmering vision handed down to them by their prophet.
Unable to look upon that same visionary horizon, however, humanity’s eyes became clouded. Time and opportunists took their toll and the picture became lost. In the end a nation’s leadership was forfeited and a civilization forgotten, becoming more obscure than before its miracle of transformation–lost and buried beneath the faded memories of time.
And yet, stories persist as fables. Remembered tales of hope handed down as things that might have been true. Places where the potential of humankind flourished for a time in the vast history of human endeavor.
This is one such tale . . .
Humata, Hukhta, Hvarshta
(Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Deeds)
CONTENTS
The Return
7638 BC
Answer me truly, for this I ask thee, Ahura Mazda: Who set the earth in its place below, and the sky in the heavens above? Who gave forth the waters of the deep and the plants of the ground? Who yoked the wind to the clouds and did cause the creatures of the world to come forth? Answer me truly, Ahura Mazda, Who, Oh Wise One, is the Creator of all?
1
Never before had the Lydian Empire known such splendor. Throughout the Emperor Croesus’s citadel, lavish cloths of silken brilliance hung from marbled walls, gems of intricate design adorned palace women and delicacies able to entice even the palates of foreign ambassadors could be summoned from the kitchens with a solitary command. Riches of gold and silver from Ophu and Abni and every corner of the continent lay scattered about palace chambers, given no greater significance than fine fabrics from Syria, incense from Baghdad, spices and ornate treasures from the East, or merchant wares having undergone exchange or not-so-friendly barter. Pearls from the Gulf found their way to the city as readily as imported gems, spices from Ceylon, or the polished ivory of India. Croesus’s iron rule guided the empire with fervor and unquenchable zeal.
Treasure stores were continuously replenished by the steep one-quarter duty imposed upon all merchants trading within the city’s borders. The moneys assured merchants safe passage through a desert filled with thieving nomads and vicious marauders just waiting to ambush unsuspecting caravans. However, some believed that the majority of murdering nomads were, in fact, Croesus’s own mercenary patrols making certain the payment of duty remained a necessity. The kingdom was one of opposites, where the glamour of wealth comfortably ignored dark alleyways and unspeakable crimes of lack. Life was rewarding for those who received the emperor’s favor. Those who lacked value or had managed to outlive it simply disappeared
And within the idle luxury of the fortified palace, there arose a school for the palace maidens, which included Croesus’s daughter, Lila, and Serena, the emperor’s beautiful niece.
All her life Serena had been surrounded with pomp, grandeur, and all good things that could be had