According to Mary Magdalene Read Online Free PDF

Lucifer's. Euphrosyne met the child's eyes and in her turn thought she had never seen such eyes before.
    “I rely on you,” said Leonidas. “And I'll pay you well.”
    “Go and get your wounds seen to.”
    At this stage, the whole house had woken and young women were standing in amazement around the child, all talking at once: “How pretty she is, how enchanting. And how dirty!”
    Mary was lowered into a bath of warm water smelling of spring flowers. She was not afraid of water, but was ashamed of her nakedness. And yet she knew she was in heaven and that was what they did there with the unclean.
    Then she was dried with soft towels and put on a bed. That frightened her more than the bath, for she had never slept in a bed before. She was given a piece of bread with herb-spiced yogurt on it. And hot milk with honey, she could taste that, but also something else, a bitter flavor that was still on her tongue as she fell asleep.
    She slept all that long day, but was awakened toward night by music and laughter. Euphrosyne had put the child's bed in her own room and left young Miriam to keep watch over her.
    “She must have someone to turn to when she wakes. And you're the only one who can speak Aramaic.”
    Miriam was grateful. She dozed off now and again, then fell asleep and woke from the sense that someone was watching her. Mary had been gazing at her for some time, at the fine Jewish face, the nobly curved nose, red lips, and long brown curly hair. Just the kind Mary had always wanted to have.
    As Miriam shook herself awake, Mary pretended to be asleep, needing time to try to remember where she was, and she had to think about why this beautiful girl looked so sad. Then she began to weep in despair. She wanted to scream but nothing came but a whisper: “Mother, they killed Mother.”
    “There, there,” said Miriam, drying her tears and quietly calming her. “Your mother is with God. All is well with her now.”
    “Where am I?”
    Miriam hesitated, but in the end told the truth. “In Euphrosyne's house of pleasure.”
    “Is that why they're playing so beautifully?”
    “Yes, you could say that.”
    “But you're not happy. You're sad.”
    “I miss my mother, just as you do.”
    Then Miriam did something she would probably be scolded for. She crept into bed with the child and drew her to her. As the dawn light shimmered over the lake, Euphrosyne found them both sleeping soundly, and gratefully, she took the opportunity to rest herself. It had been a troublesome night.
    The house slept until the sun reached midday height, the silence occasionally broken by a woman's shrill voice whimpering, or praying to one of the many gods of eastern countries. Mary was sometimes awakened by the voices, but soon fell asleep again, not wanting to, not wanting….
    Then everyone seemed to wake at once, laughter and cries filling the rooms, water splashing and more and more calls for something to eat.
    By all the gods, they were hungry. The slaves had cleaned the house and there was no sign of the activities of the night.
    Mary would never forget some of the events of that first day.
    The person cooking the food was a man!
    And you could eat as much as you liked.
    They pressed it on her.
    “Have some more bread. Have you tasted the chicken? Here's a bit of breast. Try the cheese, no, perhaps that's too strong for you. But here's something you'll like, fig cake with honey and dried grapes.”
    She was praised for every mouthful she took…clever girl.
    There were other peculiar things, too. Mary nearly choked when she noticed the woman beside her had yellow hair. And blue eyes!
    Then she noticed that Euphrosyne herself was blue-eyed, but the most astonishing thing of all was her hair, gleaming red like fire.
    They were all interested in the child, and when they realized she could not understand their language, they turned to Euphrosyne:
    “She can stay, can't she? We'll make new clothes for her. She's so enchanting, we can teach