Silence fell over the room.

I asked Ovadia, “You said Eliyahu wasn’t one of the prophets. He is, though. I saw him receiving prophecy after he left Hiel’s house. Was he not known as a prophet before?”

“I do not know. In his youth, he was among the last disciples of Achia, Uriel’s master. I do not know if he ever achieved prophecy before. I have known him only at the court. He has always been respectful of the monarchy there. Did anything happen in Jericho before he spoke?”

I shifted uncomfortably on my stool. “The King told Hiel that he blamed himself for Seguv’s death.”

“As he should.” Ovadia planted himself opposite me. “To hire a man to rebuild a cursed city…. Of course, Hiel himself is also responsible for agreeing to do it. Did he say anything else?”

“The King thought it strange that the curse of Joshua would work.”

“Why did he think that strange? Few prophets were as great as Joshua.”

“Because Moses said that if the people worshipped other gods, there would be no rain.”

“What does that have to do with Joshua?”

“The King said that the people have turned after the Baal, yet he could never remember having so much rain. He wondered why the curse of Joshua would work when the curse of his master failed.”

“What!” Ovadia leapt to his feet again. He drew his hand across his clammy forehead. When he spoke, his voice trembled. “Eliyahu invoked the curse of Moses?”

I remembered Uriel saying that Moses’s words were not quite a curse, but they certainly seemed like it to me. “Yes.”

All eyes were on Ovadia as he paced the room. “I had it all wrong. This is not a battle—it is a siege.”

Yonaton looked confused. “But the battle has already begun.”

“By the Queen, yes. But Eliyahu brought a drought. It may take years for its effects to be fully felt.” He turned to Batya. “This changes everything—our plan will not work. We need to think of something else.”

“But this should make our resistance even stronger!” Batya said.

Ovadia shook his head. “It cannot be done.”

“Batya is right.” I rose to my feet. “The Holy One gave Eliyahu the Key of Rain! What better weapon could we have? As you said, the Queen acted too soon—the people are still more loyal to the prophets than they are to the Baal. Why change the plan now?”

Ovadia shook his head. “Because the Holy One did not give Eliyahu the Key of Rain to fight Izevel.”

“Then what is it for?”

But Ovadia’s thoughts were elsewhere. “Nothing, nothing is as we thought.”

Batya approached his side. “Tell us what you mean.”

“It is the people. The Holy One’s wrath will fall on all those who have turned to the Baal—and on all those who have been loyal as well.”

Batya took his hand in hers. “But isn’t the Queen the cause of their turning away?”

“Maybe. Yes.” Ovadia shook his head. “It does not matter. Either way, Izevel will be the last to feel the lack of rain. The poorest will suffer first.”

I couldn’t understand why Ovadia was suddenly losing resolve. “But won’t that rouse them against the Queen and the Baal?”

“Perhaps. But the Queen will tell them this is not just a temporary stop to the rains, it is a drought, brought on by Eliyahu, a prophet. She will claim he’s a tyrant and that she has come to rescue the nation from his grip. In their misery, the people could turn against the prophets themselves.”

Tears rolled down Batya’s cheeks. “Then what do we do? Nothing?”

“We have thirty prophets already hidden. We’ll hide as many more as we can.”

“But how will we sustain them? We have sufficient barley for the hidden ones only until the new moon. What will you do then, sell land to buy grain?” Terror lit her eyes. “And you’re being watched. How long can we keep this up before someone discovers what we’re doing?”

“I don’t know.” Ovadia slammed his fist on the table; our bowls bounced with a clank. “But when it is known that a drought is coming, at least buying a store of grain will not appear suspicious. We must continue hiding the prophets—I see now that any battle will not succeed.”

“But why not?” Batya cried.

“Didn’t you hear the boy? Eliyahu evoked the curse of Moses. There will never again be a prophet of Moses’s strength.”

“But shouldn’t that make victory even easier?” I asked, but even as the words left my mouth, I recalled Uriel telling me that the forces of light and the forces of darkness had to exist in balance. The more powerful Eliyahu’s curse, the more powerful the counteracting forces would be. Perhaps if Eliyahu were leading us into battle, our strength could prevail, but with Eliyahu in hiding, could any force we set into motion be strong enough?

As if answering my thoughts, Ovadia said, “If this war is won, it will not be by ordinary men like me, nor even by the prophets of today. If we send the prophets out of the cave now, we send them to their deaths. We just have to do what we can, help as many as we can, for as long as we have bread. If we fail, we fail.”

Ovadia sighed. “We’ll need to find a way to get Uriel and Shimon here without being detected.”

“Bring them here?” The words leapt out of my mouth.

“Yes, here. There’s nowhere else I can sustain them.”

I shook my head. “Master Uriel doesn’t want to hide. He would support your original plan.”

“We can save his life!”

“He said he will spend his last days serving the Holy One in any way he can. I don’t think he’ll go meekly into a cave.”

“Shimon won’t either,” Yonaton added. “He’d rather fight.”

Ovadia slapped his palms on the table and bore into my eyes. “Listen to me—it is crucial that Uriel survive.”

“He won’t want it. He says he doesn’t have long to live anyway.”

“Uriel must live. In the struggle between Eliyahu and Izevel, he may prove pivotal.”

“If Eliyahu fails?”

“No, if Eliyahu succeeds. It may take the wrath of Eliyahu to defeat Izevel. But it will require one like your master to rebuild the nation—and there is none other like him.”

“Why?” Yonaton asked.

But I thought I knew. “Master Uriel believes we must turn to the Holy One from love, not fear.”

“That’s part of it,” Ovadia said. “But Uriel is not the only prophet dedicated to the path of love.”