If Eliana had been impressed by the size and grandeur of Susa's rooms in the Red Palace, they nothing compared to the queen's apartments in the Palace of Gold.
The floors were tiled in elaborate mosaics symbolising health, happiness, fertility and fidelity; the walls were gorgeously painted with deity stories enough to keep her amused for weeks. Shell lions prowled across bright lapis lazuli plains, and statues of the Babylonian gods occupied niches all around the rooms.
In all, the apartments were bigger than the entirety of her father's house back in Nippur. They did not have the lush private gardens of the Red Palace, but there was a roof terrace with trees and plants and flowers of every colour and description.
Her belongings had not yet been brought up, and she wandered from room to room, keenly feeling the emptiness. Once the babies were here, things would be better, she told herself. The rooms would not feel so vast when they were filled with the cries and laughter of children.
There was a knock on the door, and Ashan entered to discover her looking like a lost little girl, separated from her mother on market day. His heart went out to her, and he wanted nothing more than to go and put his arms around her, make her feel found again. He had fond memories of these rooms from his days as a child at the palace – he was eager that she should feel as at home here as he had.
A dressmaker entered immediately behind him. They bowed and straightened as one.
'Your Highness,' began Ashan. 'I have come to brief you on the arrangements for the king's coronation next week. He sends a dressmaker to have you some gowns made in the native fashion. His will is that you should look and behave as much like a Babylonian as possible.'
'Highness,' the man inclined his head. 'Might I take your measurements?'
'Of course,' Eliana gave a weak smile. 'Do what you need to do.'
She was still tired from the journey, and overwhelmed by the newness, the unfamiliarity of everything. She had not even had time to adjust to becoming a mother before she had become a queen, and then had immediately been uprooted from her environment and brought here to be dropped alone in an expanse of luxurious nothingness. She was so dazed that she would have agreed to anything at that moment. The whole world seemed to have turned upside down.
The dressmaker scurried about her as she stood for him to do his work. He had a closed-in, ferret-like face, beady eyes scrutinising her as he pulled a thin strip of fabric about her in all different places, marking in paint where the ends overlapped. His face twitched as he worked, clicking his tongue and occasionally bearing sharp little pointed teeth.
Ashan ignored the man completely as he began to give Eliana details of the coronation.
'The most important thing that you really need to know, is that your presence is not required.' He said.
'Oh,' Eliana did not know whether to be relieved or disappointed – she had been looking forward to getting out into the city, but would be grateful for the rest. 'Why is that?'
'Queens are not crowned, merely proclaimed. You would have no part in the ceremony, which is purely a religious rite. It is not the Babylonian way to make a great public spectacle of private communion between gods and man – Marduk has chosen to ordain Samsu as king, and the ways of the coronation are known to a precious few. It preserves the magic and mystery of kingship. I will be present, along with a few of Samsu's most trusted men, but no women will be present at all, to my knowledge.'
'So, do I have to do anything at all?'
'Well, Eshu will be taken to the ceremony and invested as crown prince at the same time. Afterwards, as mother to the heir, you will be required to appear on the balcony before an assembled crowd, to receive their homage. You'll need to look your very best. Samsu wants the citizens to see the royal family all together on coronation day – past, present and future.'
'Who will be taking care of Eshu in all that time?'
'I will,' Ashan could not resist a grin. They could say no more, with the dressmaker present, but Eliana felt his joy radiating out – it would be the longest time he had spent with his son since the birth.
She nodded, enjoying the moment.
The Brute stalked in unannounced, and the atmosphere immediately felt thick, laden with tension. He bowed slightly, though it looked like the very movement pained him.
Ashan's hand went immediately to his dagger, and he took a step between him and Eliana.
Rolling his eyes, the Brute said, 'I've come to see her.' He pointed to Adra.
For all the girl's sullen rudeness, Eliana immediately pitied her. Had the Brute found a new target? She looked over at her maid.
She was shocked to see the girl's eyes lit up at the sight of this monster. Adra scrambled to her feet, bowed to the queen and hurried away after him without even waiting for permission.
Eliana's mouth hung open. She turned to Ashan, 'she looked as though... as though she were happy to see him.'
'I thought that,' Ashan frowned. 'I suppose you know she is one of my mother's?'
'Of course, I recognised her almost immediately.'
'I don't think she's a danger, but I'm glad you haven't sent her to the nursery.'
'Not a hope of that,' Eliana shook her head vehemently. 'I would rather she endangered me than the children. I don't think she will try anything, she seems to be just a set of eyes and ears. It seems more trouble than it's worth to go to Samsu and try to have her removed.'
Ashan agreed. 'Seeing as he sent you that specific girl as a gift, it would be best to keep her for the time being. He probably agreed to send her to mollify my mother.'
There was a pause. Eliana sighed, 'do you think she will ever accept it?'
The corners of his mouth turned down. 'Never. She has always cared more for power than anything else on this earth. I was her ticket to that – then you came along and bore a son to push me away from the throne.'
But that son is her grandchild! Eliana wanted to protest. She could not say it in the dressmaker's presence, and she already knew Ashan's answer. Eshu was Susa's grandchild, but more importantly, he was Eliana's son. Susa would have no influence with him while he remained in the care of his mother. That was the way she intended for things to remain.
The dressmaker rolled up his fabric and gathered his paints. 'My work is concluded, Your Highness. Have I your leave to depart?'
'You do, thank you.'
The man bowed himself out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Eliana and Ashan were left alone together. She could not say who moved first, but they were drawn to each other as if by an ever-shortening rope.
His arms slid around her body, feeling like paradise as the heat from his hands warmed her body through the thin silk of her gown. He bent his head and kissed her neck – the merest brush of lips against flesh, but it set her afire and sent a prickling sensation along the hairs at the nape of her neck. A bolt of desire struck her and her stomach tightened with longing as he raked his hands through her hair, giving a gentle tug.
She trailed her fingertips over the hard muscle of his arm, enjoying watching the trail of gooseflesh she raised as her hand travelled. Lifting her head to his, she met his eyes; they blazed with intensity, black as polished jet, taking her breath away. Tousled hair fell across his face; she reached up to push it away as he bent to kiss her again, pressing his lips against hers.
The kiss was gentle, slow at first, as though he was afraid of startling her. Something inside her screamed impatiently – she pressed harder against him, opening her lips under his and searching for his tongue with her own.
His hands travelled, caressing her as though he would touch her everywhere at once. Ignoring the protests of her aching body, she slipped a hand up under his tunic and began to stroke him where he was already hard and aroused; he groaned deep in his throat, loosening the shoulders of her gown and allowing his fingertips to drift inside, lightly grazing the soft swell of her breasts.
Their breathing grew faster as their passion grew; with a moan of longing, Eliana guided Ashan's hands to her shoulders, urging him to remove her dress altogether.
As he was about to throw it off altogether, a knock at the door froze them in place.
Heart pounding like a war drum in her chest, Eliana sprang back from Ashan, eyes wild with horror. She gestured frantically at him as she smoothed her hair and pulled her gown back to its place.
Ashan knew this place inside and out – he immediately remembered a favourite hiding place of his as a child, and slipped into the alcove behind a great statue of Kishar, the mother earth goddess of Babylon.
'Come in,' called Eliana, trying to steady her voice.
Adra entered, her hair dishevelled, her face flushed, and a blue-black bruise blooming on her upper arm.
The girls eyes and expression had softened, as though she had just seen a glimpse of happiness, but the bruise belied it.
They paused for a moment, staring, taking each other in. Looking at Adra, Eliana saw a girl in love. She would be blind not to recognise the symptoms.
She wondered what the maid saw, looking at her queen; wondered what she was thinking.
Adra made to move further into the room. Eliana thought quickly – she needed to get rid of her, to get Ashan away. Her hands shook as she said, 'ah, Adra. Go to the kitchens, will you? I am thirsty after the journey – fetch a jug of honey and lemon.'
The girl's eyes narrowed suspiciously. 'As you say, Highness.'
She left, closing the door behind her again.
Ashan emerged from behind the statue, his expression dark with anger, brows knotted together. 'That was too close.'
Eliana could hardly force the words out. 'We can't do this again, Ashan. You and I must never be alone together again – we can't control ourselves. I just... I want you too much. It frightens me.'
'You're right,' he nodded. 'We have children together, and we're endangering them now, not just ourselves.'
'We have to say goodbye. For good. The twins will forever be a reminder of the love we shared, but it's time to bury it. We can never be together while Samsu lives.' Her stomach lurched and her eyes filled with tears. She clenched her fists to stop the shaking from showing.
'Not while he lives,' said Ashan, softly. 'But nobody lives forever. No matter how long it takes, if I outlive Samsu, I will be waiting for you when you are free.'
The tears threatened to spill over. It was too much – she could not dare to hope. While hope remained, love and longing lingered. She must quash it once and for all. To cover her bitter disappointment at a moment of happiness snatched away, she snapped, 'you assume that I will outlive Samsu? I might never be free; do not fill my head with false hope. I am your queen now, I expect you to treat me as such, as if I were any other queen, in public and in private. Do not overstep the bounds. Let us take the children as testimony to our one-time love, and leave it at that. I will not see you privately again.'
She saw it, the moment that he put on his soldier's face to mask his pain. 'Whatever you say, Your Highness.'
He bowed brusquely, turned on his heel and marched from the apartments.
Absolute silence drifted in his wake. Tears spilled down her cheeks.
Adra would be back at any moment, Eliana knew. She could not see her crying. The aching knot of misery in her throat threatened to choke her as she moved out amongst the trees in her garden terrace, taking deep breaths as she fought to bring her emotions under control.
When she emerged several minutes later, she was pale-faced and dry-eyed, ready to face the world with one fewer friend at her side.