The Whore of Babylon

Chapter 26 | part 3

It was all part of the ritual, Asag had explained. The tables were arranged around the statues of the gods as at a wedding feast, and Marduk, in the person of Samsu, was to marry the goddess Ishtar, in the person of the highest priestess of Esagila, a noble girl from a Babylonian family.

Eliana had been forced to watch their 'marriage' ceremony earlier that day – she loathed her husband, but there was no joy in watching him stand beside a lithe and nubile girl who looked up at him with such puppy-like devotion that he almost smiled at her.

The pair recited love poems before an assembled congregation, and sealed the union with a chaste kiss. It was this noble girl who sat on a throne beside Samsu tonight. The love between Marduk and Ishtar symbolised a union of heaven and earth, and would bring forth life when the new crop of barley was planted.

Samsu directed smug glances at Eliana throughout the evening, watching carefully to see if she exhibited any signs of jealousy. She did not attempt to curb her sulkiness – if he perceived it as jealousy, perhaps he would begin to believe that she loved him after all. It had not taken her long, as she sobbed herself to sleep the night of his attack, to decide that if his believing that she loved him would ensure the safety of her children, it was a small price to pay. He could believe whatever he liked – it would not make it true.

The priestess sat to Samsu's right. To his left... Ashan.

Her stomach somersaulted every time she looked at him. She could break off their love with words, but never in her heart. His tousled hair fell about his sun-bronzed face, his teeth gleaming white in his easy smile. He ate and drank as though he had not a care in the world.

She masked her own pain, pretending not to notice him, unsure if he had even seen her. Perhaps he hadn't recognised her, displaced from her position and with her face swollen and disfigured. It was a heartbreaking thought.

The final ritual took place the following day, as the gods met again in the Hall of Destiny to decide the fates of the people of Babylon. The happiness of the gods could not be complete if their servants, the humans, were not happy. After much stilted and scripted speech-making, it was decided that a human's destiny was to be happy, on condition that they served the gods. With this decision, Marduk's covenant with Babylon was renewed, and he was able to return to his house in the heavens.

For the first time, Eliana wondered if she was serving the wrong gods. Perhaps Marduk was superior to Enlil. If her destiny was to be happy as long as she served the gods, she was failing in her duties to them somewhere, that much was evident. It was time to add a Babylonian goddess to her prayers. If Ninlil could no longer protect her in this foreign land, perhaps Ishtar would take pity on her.

She breathed a deep sigh of relief as, on the twelfth and final day, the statues of the gods were taken down to the boats to be returned to their own temples, and daily life could resume at last.

It was bliss to spend a few days in her apartments, visiting the nursery and watching the children grow. Sarri was a little beauty now, imperious and demanding, but fiercely protective of her fragile baby sister and utterly fascinated by the twin babies. Eliana spent hours each day, playing with her and holding and talking to the others. Between her, Mari and Tabi, there were plenty of hands to see to the children's needs now.

Her bruises had almost healed and her tranquillity almost returned within a week of the end of Akitu. She had not seen Samsu, not been summoned by him, not been required to leave her apartments.

The respite was temporary, she knew, but she was grateful for it. She had begun to include Ishtar in her daily prayer ritual – perhaps the love goddess had something to do with it.

When he eventually visited, he took her entirely by surprise, bursting in while she crouched on the floor with Sarri, playing with a little cloth doll.

'Karkittu!' he barked.

She leapt to her feet as though pricked by a dagger. 'Yes, sir?'

'You will attend audience with me tomorrow. Emissaries are arriving from Nippur – I would have you hear what they have to say.'

'Yes, sir.'

'And do you have anything else to say?'

She looked at him quizzically. 'No, sir. Should I?'

'Well, you were so talkative at our last meeting, I wondered if you had decided to reconsider any of your words.'

'Oh, yes,' she thought quickly, trying to pull the right falsities into her mind, searching for the words that would satisfy him. 'I spoke rashly, of course. I was strained and tired. My... my great affection for you cannot be overstated. You are right, you have given me everything, and I have no wish but to please you in every way I can – though I can never sufficiently repay you for all you have done.'

At least the very last part was true, she thought.

Samsu nodded, grunted his satisfaction and left without another word.

Relief washed over her like a cooling breeze. The man may profess a desire to hear the truth, to hear things as they were and drink his medicine with no sweetening, but he was as shallow and foolish as any – only interested in hearing of his own importance.

It was a lesson she would not soon forget. She had told him what was in her heart when he had said he wanted the truth, and the punishment had been severe. Flattery and beguiling words were all he wanted.

She got back to the floor and resumed her game with Sarri, wondering what her father's emissaries would have to report tomorrow.