NEW DAY - Chapter 13 (PG-13)

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Penina Spinka
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NEW DAY - Chapter 13 (PG-13)

Post by Penina Spinka »

Thank you in advance for reading and commenting. I hope this chapter satisfies.

New Day

Chapter 14


“Are you sure you’re not falling asleep?” Francis asked, looking down at his companion.

Sam rubbed his eyes. “You said the part in Nineveh was nearly over. What happened next?”

“Where are your priorities? I think you’d rather hear a story than eat. All right. When this part is over, I have to get some sleep myself. Here’s the rest of it.”

“When Miceas returned to his house. He wrote out notes of manumission for his slaves. He brought the notes as well as the deed of his house to the Office of the Treasury to sell for him, granting them a rather large commission. If Babylon survived, he’d get the balance to set up a household in the southern city. If it didn’t, at least he’d be with Serali. He did not intend to return to Nineveh anytime soon.”

Sam’s eyes narrowed into the dark of the room, but Francis saw. “Did Miceas already know Serali would accept him?”

“It seemed so. I wasn’t a party to their intimate conversations, but she gathered from me that it was all right. I think she grew to love him the longer they knew each other. They did have six children together.”

“Whoa!” Sam exclaimed. “That’s why Mick and I feel so connected. And you guessed who he was when I told you how we met at the Vanguard last January and what happened afterward.”

Francis drawled a lazy, “Mmmm hmmm.”

“If humans could growl…. So tell me what happed to Sulil.”

# #

I checked my money belt for what was left. Sulil had relieved me of the king’s signet ring, but I still had redeemable notes of credit. I already planned to go to Haggai one last time, to speak with him as well as to collect Esok. But first, I made my way to a camel lot to hire mounts for our return trip.

You could smell when you were approaching camels in the middle of a city. Horses were not as important to the Babylonian economy, but they were important in war for pulling chariots. War was costly. There had to be supply trains of grain for the animals and the drovers, not just the warriors. Horses were kept near the city, out beyond the dams that directed the rivers for Nineveh’s needs. Great herds of them grazed in fenced horse fields near the army camps. I expected the Persians had their own horses, but I learned later that they planned to steal ours.

The camel lot extended over several acres. It was well fenced. Each section held about 30 female camels with their young. They were well trained as caravan mounts and pack animals, both for sale and for rent. I walked the perimeter of the stalls, looking over the lots for a healthy grouping that would speed us on our way to Babylon. I planned to buy our mounts since my plans did not include returning to Nineveh.

While I walked and judged the camels, I listened to the voices around me. Because my hearing was acute, I managed to pick up whispers, bits of war conversation as I studied individual pens. Too many people were in on the conspiracy. I heard Sulil’s voice and backed into a doorway, pressing into the shadows. He was speaking to a camel dealer. I meandered closer, blending into the crowd of passersby in the marketplace on all sorts of business. It was a cosmopolitan city, even more so than Babylon, with traders and visitors from all over the empire and other countries as well.

Many caravans boarded their camels here. I looked like any other man with long, dark hair, a cloth headscarf wound around my forehead, and the usual dark blue pleated garb of a noble. I kept my face averted so Sulil wouldn’t recognize me.

The camel dealer and Sulil were discussing a transaction in whispers. Their voices would not have been heard by a human standing a few feet away, but that was no problem for me. Sulil said, “I received a dispatch. The king wants 25, enough for his captains. You can trust him for your payment. I’ll see to it that he receives notice of your investment. You’ll be paid in full after the Persians take Babylon. You’ll never have to work again.”

“And what about Nineveh?”

“It’s practically ours already. Don’t worry about your payment. King Marduk is as good as dead.”

“Not if you lose.” The camel dealer crossed his hairy arms. “Come back with treasury notes and you can take the camels.”

Sulil hesitated, and his brow lowered. The dealer did not wear one of his silver or copper charms upon his wrist or arm. “There are other dealers. I gave you the first opportunity to serve your new king. He will hear of your refusal.”

The dealer leaned closer to Sulil. “I didn’t say I refused. I said I want surety. I’ll send five camels with enough feed for the four days it will take them to reach Babylon, but for my risk, I want 25 dinars. I don’t expect to see them again, so you must pay for their sale, not their hire. Get another five from each of 4 other dealers. Let us be equally culpable or equally rich. I won’t take all the risk of supplying Babylon’s enemies.”

“I didn’t have to offer you money. My servants can take them from you in the night.” I smiled at his words. He did not know those servants would soon be far from Nineveh.

“My stock will be well guarded. Bring money and we’ll talk again.” So saying, he turned his back on the Syrian.

“When I’m the viceroy, you’ll suffer for your impudence,” said Sulil. He left calling on Dagon to strike down the foul-smelling camel dealer. The sight of his own raised fist brought his focus to bear on my stolen ring. The dealer would not have recognized it, but the city’s treasurer certainly would. I guessed his intention by the look on his face and how resolutely he set off. I followed him to his house, listening when he told his servants to draw his bath and make him look important. When I was sure he was going to the treasury building, I sprinted ahead to get there first. I moved too quickly to be noticed.

The Treasury doors were reinforced with iron. They stood open, ready for business, but its guards still challenged me. There was unrest and the city was rife with rumors. Any stranger was suspect. They asked me to state my business. “Lord Haggai knows me,” I said. “Tell the High Treasurer that Radu has come.” Without the signet ring, I had no authority. The guard departed to announce me.

Esok came running from the inner office first, giving me a grin and a bow. “He’s coming, my master. I told Lord Haggai about how Sulil tried to detain you.”

I looked at Esok carefully, noticing the word he chose, and gave him half a smile. “Detained,” I repeated. “A good word.”

“I told him you escaped. Lord Haggai can have Sulil arrested.”

“Have patience, Esok,” I said. I kept him near me when I turned to greet my friend.

Haggai embraced me, and then stood back to look me over for injuries. Fortunately, I no longer had any. “I worried when you did not return yesterday. Your servant said you were in jeopardy from the Syrian designer of the bracelets and that Persian hordes are about to invade us. Tell me if the boy is exaggerating.”

“Actually, he is not. Did he give you your key?” Haggai said that he did. “I was lucky to escape his clutches with my life. He has taken King Marduk’s ring and with it, he can command the king’s own troops against him. He must be stopped. I happen to know that Sulil is on his way here to impersonate me. He will demand money notes from the treasury to help the barbarians with their invasion. He is unaware that you and I know each other.”

I’d never seen Haggai enraged before. He was normally a mild man, with his mind on matters of finance, contracts and wills. “This is an affront against King Marduk himself. His governor in Nineveh will have something to say about it. Guards, come!” Four armed men rushed to his side. “Prepare to accompany me in a short while. I shall seize a certain villain and you will guard him when we bring him before the governor. I’ll accuse him myself. He will be beheaded for his audacity! Return now to your assigned positions, but be prepared to come at my order.”

“Wait, Haggai,” I said after his guards had backed away. “Did you remove the bracelets and armlets from the men in your command as I advised? Those wearing them will tend to obey Sulil, not you.”

“My workers and guards turned in the ornaments at my order. I had them brought to a smelter to be melted down to bars and gemstones for the King’s treasury.”

“Good. Don’t accuse Sulil yet. I have a better idea.” I told Haggai we would stand behind the curtained alcove. “Return to your study and wait for him to be announced. I expect he’ll use my name. The king would have sent missives on another ship to Nineveh’s governor to give me all aid while I’m about my mission in the city. Sulil will guess that, but he will not guess that you know me. Before you go, instruct the treasury’s guardsmen to make no comment but to behave as if they had not already brought me to you.” Haggai withdrew to do as I directed.

A short time later, the Babylonian physician Radu was announced. In his new clothing, Sulil passed as a visiting dignitary from the southern city. From my dark hiding place with Esok, I peered though the thin curtains. Haggai somehow managed to keep his face calm, but his heart raced. No one else could have heard it. My friend was not used to deception, but despite his qualms, he carried off his part well. His voice was steady.

“Lord Radu,” he said graciously. “I am the High Treasurer of Nineveh. You requested my presence. The king sent messengers to us here that we were to assist you in any way we can. How may I serve you, my lord?”

“Royal Marduk sent me to North to visit the courts of the Magi, to share their knowledge and to see how it is with the nobles. I will need moneys for expenses during my stay and for my journey home. As you see, I wear the king’s insignia on my ring.” He raised his hand, fingers separated, so the king’s insignia was plain to see. “Would you be good enough to give me notes for 500 dinars?”

Being mild mannered didn’t detract from Haggai’s shrewdness. “The request for such an enormous sum must have the governor’s signature. It is just a formality for the Treasury’s records. I will prepare a clay tablet for the transaction. When it is done, we will go together to the place. Guards will accompany us to keep Your Excellency safe. If you will kindly wait here, I’ll have one of my servants bring you some wine and honey cakes to refresh yourself until I am ready. Tell them if there is anything else they may do for you, Excellency.” Sulil had no choice but to take a chair and wait.

Haggai walked away and came to me via a second passage that led to my hiding place. He motioned me to follow him to his study. “I’ll prepare a tablet that says I know you and that this man who claims to be Lord Radu and wears the king’s signet is an imposter. It will say you are the real Lord Radu from Babylon. Go to the governor’s palace and give it to him. I will prepare another tablet to tell the governor that Sulil is a Syrian, and a leader in the plot against Babylon. You are right. Beheading is too good for him. There is nothing more damning for an imposter then to face then the man he impersonates.”

“Although I agree with you, I would rather if he doesn’t see me yet. Will you be able to handle this alone?”

“I’ll bring the first note,” Esok offered. In the decent clothing Haggai had procured for him, he no longer looked like the scruffy 16-year-old I had hired off the Silver Moon.

“Esok can be trusted,” I said.

“That would work,” agreed Haggai. I’ll change the second tablet to say you and I are friends and I am a witness in your favor.” He worked on the tablet. When he was satisfied, he handed it to Esok. “Young man, tell the guards at the governor’s palace that I sent you. Tell them I will follow shortly with the imposter. Show them my ring and ask to be escorted to the governor himself.” He took off his ring and handed it to Esok. The boy slipped it on his finger, but looked between Haggai and me in wide-eyed wonder. He had been a lowly sailor boy and now, he wore the treasurer’s ring.

He waited for the rest of his instructions. “Tell the governor Haggai said he should inspect the ring of the man who calls himself Radu the physician. Once he has determined its authenticity as Marduk’s signet, I will hand him the second document for his signature. It will be Sulil’s death warrant. Only the manner in which the Syrian will die is yet to be determined.”

“It will be as he decides," I said. "Esok. Come with me."

Esok hurried along at my side, holding the precious tablet. For his sake, I walked slower than usual. “You should have let Haggai order Sulil’s beheading, Master,” he said. “He might still worm his way out of danger.”

“Do you think he’ll escape me? I want him to live long enough to think about what is coming, as I had time to do.”

Esok gathered his courage and spoke again. “He’s a sorcerer. He might call on Dagon, his fish god, to fight for him. He might escape in a swirl of lights like a genie.”

I stopped and stared at my servant until he dropped his eyes. “Ishtar is stronger than Dagon. I answered your questions because of what I owe you, Esok but don’t forget who I am and what I am.” I let just a little of the menace I could project touch him.

He cowered a little, but then he stood straighter. “I don’t forget, my master. You could have killed me from the first, but you cared for my wounds instead. You are kind.”

“Let that be our secret,” I advised him. “Now, go ahead to the governor's palace. I did not look for him, but Ishtar gave the Syrian into my hands. Watch and learn whether Ishtar knows how to dispense justice. I'll find you later at the treasury building.”

Esok told me what happened later. The governor allowed Sulil and Haggai to approach him. As I had directed, he removed the king’s signet ring from the imposter’s hand and read Haggai’s clay tablet. Haggai stood beside the Syrian sorcerer.

“You say you are Radu, royal physician and magus?”

“This ring says it all. King Marduk trusted me to look out for his interests. The tablet is just a formality. I need the money to carry out my mission.”

Sulil began to seem jittery, according to Esok’s report. He had moved down the hall, but the governor looked to him. Haggai motioned to Esok and he moved forward. “I know Lord Radu too,” he said. “This man lies. He’s a Syrian agent for the king of Persia who intends to bring an army against Persia.”

“Seize him!” shouted the governor. “Guards! Tie this imposter’s hands behind him.”

“No!” shouted Sulil. “The treasurer is mistaken. “I am Radu. Arrest the treasurer for giving false testimony.”

It was too late. The governor was convinced. “I have two witnesses, the king’s treasurer and Lord Radu’s personal servant. Guards, take this conspirator, cover his face and bind him. Don’t let him out of your sight while I decide what will be done with him.” Sulil was taken away, cursing in Syrian, a cloth over his head, with his hands tied behind him to await the governor’s justice.

Nineveh was unlike Babylon in that it did not have the king’s fiery furnace to be heated up for the condemned. Nor did it have a lions’ den. There was no such thing as long-term prison sentences such as there are now. Justice was swift and final. The king or the governor decided on the punishment and it was carried out the same day.

An announcement went up through the city. I saw Miceas among the great crowd that came to watch the spectacle above the den of wolves. All the city workers and a large contingent of citizens assembled on the rooftops to watch. Word would reach the Persian king soon that his chief agent within the city had been found out, and the invasion would begin. I would have to race them to Babylon, but one thing at a time.

The wolves paced their enclosure in the man-made ravine. These were dire wolves, a remnant of a species of wolf that went extinct. They were kept in captivity and fed once a week on prisoners. When the city guards marched Sheik Sulil to the den, he ordered the guards to release him. He called as well upon his fish god to come to his defense. Not one guard wore a copper armlet. When no one sprang to his aid, he shouted that Nineveh would soon feel the wrath of his god Dagon, and the Persian army. There would be no stopping them when they heard that he had been sacrificed.

The guards had their orders to uncover Sulil’s face, shove him into the first entrance and bar it behind him. There was a second door through which the prisoner must walk to meet his destiny.

I kept in the shadows near the entrance until Sulil was safely locked inside. The guards departed to the rooftops to watch what would happen next. I had different plans. I would not see Sulil’s punishment if the wolves were to have him. Since Ishtar placed him in my hands, I was going to give him a choice.

I entered the vestibule to the wolf den by leaping the wall in a corner not visible to bystanders. I landed lightly on the sand floor of the vestibule. Sulil stood uncertainly in a circle of sunlight, blinking against the sudden light and waiting for his eyes to adjust. He had run out of options. If he didn’t enter the wolf’s den, he would die of starvation. Long before that, the crowds would get tired of waiting. His guards would be back to kick him into the den. Perhaps he wondered how his high plans had led him to this and if he could preserve a bit of dignity before he died.

When I walked out of the dark and into his sight, he backed to the brick wall, trembling and making signs against evil. “Do you remember me, Sheik Sulil?” I asked softly. “You had your servants kill me and seal me into a crypt. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“You can’t be here. You’re dead,” he ranted. “I saw you die!”

“That’s right, Sulil. I’m dead. I had a few words with your servants. You won’t be seeing them again.”

“Get away from me. You’re an unnatural creature, a living dead man.”

“You are right again. I came back from my crypt to put an end to your evil existence, but I will be more merciful than you were.” Sulil shuddered as I closed the distance between us. He saw my eyes go white and he began to keen. He screeched when he saw my fangs extend. I growled and spoke. “Choose, Sulil. Which will tear out your throat? The blood drinker or the wolves?”

He ran for the door to the wolf den and flung it open. I hurried to close it. The wolves were for him, not me. I listened to their snarls and their rending teeth. His cries, as they tore him to pieces and swallowed him bit by bit, were nearly drowned out by the cheers from the rooftops. It seemed they were more blood thirsty than I was. Sulil’s final moments might have been pitiable had he not condemned me to death first. At last, the sounds stopped. I would have killed him more swiftly, but the wolves did it well enough.

# #

In the dark of the bedroom, Francis smiled faintly. “Do you approve of how Sulil died?”

Sam took a moment to catch his breath. “It was appropriate. Sulil’s death reminds me, we’re going to see The Apple Tree tomorrow. There’s a scene in part of the play where a prisoner must choose between two doors in an arena. Behind one, there is a lady. If he chooses her, they will be wed. Behind the other, waits a hungry tiger. The prisoner doesn’t know what Fate had prepared for him. The story doesn’t say which door he picked. The playwright might just as easily have written The Vampire or the Wolves.”

“At least the prisoner in the play had one good choice. I’ll tell you about our ride back to Babylon and the battle next time. Now, I must sleep. I have work to do tomorrow before I meet you at the theater.” He kissed Sam’s forehead, then his eyes and finally, his throat. “Sleep well, my brother.”

Sam sighed heavily and finally relaxed. “I would have chosen you,” he murmured before he lapsed into unconsciousness.

Francis laughed softly before he closed the lid on his freezer.
Read Sam stories by Penina My index: http://www.moonlightaholics.com/viewforum.php?f=560
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LadyAilith
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Re: NEW DAY - Chapter 13 (PG-13)

Post by LadyAilith »

It may sound like I'm a blood thirsty thing, but I think that Sulil got exactly what he deserved! Too bad he wasn't smart enough to choose the easier of the two deaths...

Thanks so much Penina!

LadyAilith :rose:
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Penina Spinka
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Re: NEW DAY - Chapter 13 (PG-13)

Post by Penina Spinka »

Thank YOU so much for reading and writing to me. I'm hoping my other current story BECOMING might have a chance at publication, but this one has Josef and Mick in it. I could change the names, but I'd know it was them. I think Sulil would rather be killed by natural creatures than a demon, which is what he considers Radu. Of course, he didn't mind enslaving vampires. I wish the 3 released slaves good luck.
Read Sam stories by Penina My index: http://www.moonlightaholics.com/viewforum.php?f=560
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