From Heaven To Earth (The Faith of the Fallen) Read Online Free PDF Page A

area, she could move to another and experience
something completely different. The Circ had more than enough authentic
establishments to choose from. This alleviated Riell’s need to travel when The
Falling Curtain required her to remain in Nuevas Cruces.
    At the outskirts of the section devoted to southern Asia, the sound of an
Indian woman’s voice caught her attention. Riell immediately knew the woman was
singing a portion of “The Ramayana.”
    Riell had originally heard the epic from her teacher Devi in the
Himalayas. It, among other Hindu texts, had shaped her during the first century
of her life. She walked into the restaurant to listen to her.
    The two-story high building looked like a temple dedicated to Vishnu.
Small statues of the god stood in niches cut into the orange-red stone of the
place. Its stepped pyramid roof climbed fifteen feet into the air.
    She could hear the woman’s voice plainly now and recognized her lament.
She sang of Rama, an incarnation of the god Vishnu and his decision to banish
his wife Sita. The epic had reminded her of her relationship with Shrazz.
    Shrazz was twenty and she eighteen when they moved together from London
to Paris. Three years of leisure culminated when Riell found Shrazz with three
other women.
    She had heard their moans outside the apartment and watched their orgy
camouflaged.
    Although they had been romantically involved from time to time, they had
never declared themselves as a couple. Riell could tell that he did not love
any of the women and had used them to satisfy his voracious exous passions. It
had been years since he had seen combat, so she gave him the benefit of the
doubt and tried to alleviate his tension by ambushing him from time to time.
    Introducing unexpected violence into Shrazz’s life curbed his appetites,
but eventually the same women returned.
    Weeks went by. With every one that did without Shrazz uttering a word
about his continued affair, Riell packed more of her things. She had assumed
Shrazz would want to work things out and be mature about the situation.
    She had received a letter from her old mentor Dejanto before Shrazz’s affair
began. He wanted her to continue her education and suggested a teacher in the
Himalayas. Devi was that teacher.
    By the time Shrazz had noticed that his possessions outnumbered Riell’s
in their flat his silence had already proved him to be only a selfish child.
She decided to leave.
    Riell remembered her talk with Devi about the epic. Riell had not agreed
with Rama’s banishment of Sita when she had been completely faithful while in
the hands of the demon, Ravana.
    “So you feel like Rama knew that she was telling the truth?” Devi had
asked.
    “Yes,” Riell said. “He just wanted her to leave so he could be unfaithful
with a clean conscience. He never really loved her. She was just a beautiful
trophy of dark skin and curves that he could wrap his fingers around. Then he
used her to entrap Ravana, who may have truly loved her.”
    “An interesting retelling,” Devi said. “Ravana was a demon who reveled in
destruction though. He had thousands of concubines waiting on his beck and
call.”
    “Rama had concubines too,” Riell said. “But, while he fell prey to
temptation and lost his love for Sita, Ravana somehow fell in love with her
despite succubae being more than likely included in his band of mistresses.”
    “You speak as if this story has historical truth,” Devi said. Her black
lips smirked, dimpling her dark wrinkled cheeks.
    “You were the one that spoke of the truth behind the gods, goddesses and
demons of these epics,” Riell said. “Most of them actually lived as
half-breeds, which means some truth does exist in these tales.”
    “You are astute,” Devi said. “So which are you? Rama or Sita?”
    “What?”
    “You told me about you and this exous, Shrazz,” Devi continued. “That he
had mistresses and still loved you. Despite that, he did not tell you the truth
and you left