Chapter 43
"You have doomed us all!" the serpentines wailed and fled across the sky.
Paul followed Daniel and Diana into the Garden. It was truly a marvelous place. The paintings on the library barely hinted at its beauty. Paul's friends were standing in front of a marvelous tree.
"Here is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," the child said. "Its Fruit will set all your people free of the Books. They will be able to choose joy for themselves."
"Or evil," Daniel said sadly.
"Just taste it and be free."
"Free of what?"
"Free to choose Good or Evil for yourselves."
Diana reached out and picked a fruit from the tree.
Daniel took it from her and looked at it for a long time.
"In the story," he said finally, "it is the serpent who tries to convince the man and the woman to eat the fruit in disobedience of God. The serpentines are afraid of what we might do here, but you aren't, are you?"
"You have the power to shake the heavens to its foundations," the child said.