Chapter 57The Star and the Argument

They argued before leaving the first day's road. Ardeshir believed the sign marked a royal birth. Mehrdad warned that kings had hired star readers for centuries to decorate ambition. Parisa said both interpretations had to remain open until human evidence appeared.

At a village raided by bandits, the travelers delayed three days to help bury the dead and rebuild a cistern. Ardeshir complained that the configuration would not wait. Mehrdad answered, 'A sign that requires us to step over suffering is not from the Wise Lord.'

They joined a Nabataean caravan and learned rumors of Herod's fear. Parisa recognized the pattern of every threatened court: information became ownership, and visitors became instruments.

At night they read fragments of the archive. Cyrus had been claimed by Marduk, Yahweh, and Persian memory. They swore not to repeat the mistake by claiming the child before hearing him.

A caravan mother asked why priests from the east cared about a Judean infant. Parisa replied that Asha was not a Persian border. If truth took flesh in an unknown village, wisdom would be ashamed to stay home out of national pride.

Mehrdad carried gifts suitable for honor but worried that royal gifts could endanger a poor family. Ardeshir carried astronomical notes. Parisa carried the seal and a copy of the oath translated into Aramaic.

When Jerusalem's scholars supplied a location from their texts, the Magi respected the knowledge and noticed the scholars did not travel with them. Possessing the correct passage was not the same as choosing the road.

They left the city by night, uncertain whether the star guided them or whether they were fitting hope to the sky. The keepers allowed the uncertainty to remain. Faith without the possibility of error had too often become empire.

Four watchers saw one star: one saw mathematics, one prophecy, one grief, and one invitation. The star remained large enough to survive their disagreement.