The Whore of Babylon

Chapter 28 | part 1

Ashan confirmed her fears that very evening.

'The king intends to sacrifice Sarri to Marduk when she comes of age,' he said. 'He has it set in his mind that the god will not be good to him again unless he offers proper thanks.'

Eliana heard his words as though her head was under water. The world seemed to slow down around her, and she felt like she was trying to breathe through damp silk.

Her knees buckled beneath her – Ashan stepped in and caught her around the waist. For once, his touch barely registered in her mind. There was nothing else but Sarri.

'How – how can we stop him?' she whispered, as he guided her to a bench.

'I'm not sure we can,' he said seriously. 'There's no reasoning with him any more – he is worse than he's ever been...'

His voice caught in his throat, as if he was going to say more, but thought better of it.

Eliana looked up at him, saw the hesitation before he could wipe it from his face. 'What?' she pressed, her voice urgent. 'What else is there? You're keeping something from me.'

'He... he is talking about marriages. Mine. And Nisala's.'

If it was possible, her heart sank even lower. She had always known that she was foolish to cherish any hope of being with Ashan – he could not remain unmarried forever. That was painful in itself, but worse was the thought of losing her daughter to some unknown man – Nisala was only nine years old.

'To whom?' she asked weakly.

'To... to – each other,' he choked out.

Her jaw dropped – she stared at him in undisguised revulsion. 'No!' she whispered. 'But you're – you're...' she remembered the servants in the room at the last moment, finishing pathetically with '... so much older than she is.'

You're her father! she wanted to scream, How can you even speak of it?

He nodded. He knew exactly what she wished to say.

'We must stop him,' she said. 'First Sarri, now this... how many more wild ideas will he have?'

'I know,' he muttered, 'things are becoming dangerous. And not just for us – he will tear this fragile empire apart with the new policies he talks about.'

Eliana was not interested in policy right now, only in how she could protect her little family. Ashan was right... it would be impossible to change Samsu's mind. The only way she could think of to stop him was...

'Death,' she breathed.

'Pardon?'

'Don't you see? He has to die – we will never be safe while he lives. Our children will never be safe,' she was barely audible, so afraid was she of being overheard, though no servant stood anywhere near them.

Ashan looked at her with blank horror, forgetting all courtesies, 'kill the king? Eliana, if we failed...'

'We must not fail,' she stared him in the eyes. 'You said to me many, many years ago, that one day I would be free of my chain... when the time was right. Now is the time. If we do not act soon, it will be too late. I could do nothing to save my sister – I can save her child.'

Before Ashan could form a response, Tabi burst into the room and ran to them. 'Your Highness!' she called, her voice frantic, 'is Eshu with you?'

Eliana leapt to her feet, 'No! Have you lost him?'

'We haven't seen him for hours – I asked Adra, she said the Brute took him for exercise after the audience, and he hasn't been seen since.'

Ashan's military side immediately took over, and he began issuing orders. 'Tabi – go with Mari down to the exercise yard and start asking questions. Ask every person you find if they have seen Eshu. Eliana, you come with me – we're going in search of the Brute.'