Sam Barone: Empire Rising

“Thank you,” Lani said, when she reached the safety of dockside.

Alexar repeated the process for Tippu, who gazed nervously at the rau-cous villagers. After both women disembarked, he relaxed for the fi rst time since leaving Bisitun with his charges, grateful that the voyage had ended.

Alexar’s first assignment after his promotion to commander took him to Bisitun. Eskkar had asked him to escort Lani and her sister to Akkad, as soon as a suitable vessel could be found. The easy errand gave Alexar the chance to rest for a few days. He knew his new duties in Akkad would soon occupy all his time. Eskkar had an army to rebuild and a city to defend, and Alexar knew much would be expected of him.

The two soldiers who’d accompanied him upriver followed the two women ashore, each soldier carrying a large cloth sack that contained the women’s belongings in addition to their own weapons. The ever-helpful crewman leaned over the boat’s side and handed up the last piece of cargo to Alexar: a good-sized cage containing a miserable-looking cat that hissed at its latest indignity. With a prayer of thanks to the river gods for his safe deliverance, Alexar led the little cavalcade off the jetty.

The trip downriver from Bisitun had gone without incident, but it had still taken three days, and Alexar felt anxious to deliver his charges to Eskkar’s house, and start his new duties.

After he finished his commission, Alexar, too, intended to spend the rest of the day and evening drinking wine at Zenobia’s Pleasure House.

For the first time in his life, he had enough gold in his pouch to pay for the exotic services Zenobia’s girls provided. Zenobia had just opened her business when Korthac seized the city, and his Egyptians had commandeered the establishment for their own gratification. Takany, one of Korthac’s commanders, had forced Zenobia to service him, before taking most of the other girls. Alexar found the Egyptian second in command dead in Eskkar’s courtyard, one of Mitrac’s arrows in his belly.

Despite all the chaos, Zenobia had somehow reopened her pleasure house for business the day after Eskkar’s return, after gathering her girls and spending a whole day cleaning her establishment of its “Egyptian stink.” That was the same day the council put Korthac and the other traitors to the torture, and Alexar had commanded the soldiers who guarded the Egyptian. Zenobia, accompanied by three of her girls, had joined the chorus of those denouncing Korthac, though she and her girls would have preferred torturing Takany. One of the girls, a brown-haired beauty named Malika, winked enticingly at the newly promoted Alexar, so that evening he visited Zenobia’s for the first time. Malika kept him awake most of the night, and in the morning he’d barely reached the dock before Yavtar sailed, his pouch considerably lighter after enjoying the good food, fi ne wine, and Malika’s pleasant and energetic company.

Thinking of Malika made him quicken his steps. The sooner he delivered his passengers, the sooner he could avail himself of her services.

On the riverbank, an old woman sat in the shade of the wall and watched the passengers disembark. For two days, Uvela had waited there, observing boats come and go, an agreeable enough assignment from Lady Trella. Uvela’s daughter, Shubure, stopped by occasionally to keep her company. Uvela was proud of Shubure, the very first person in Akkad to acknowledge Trella as the head of Eskkar’s household. Shubure, now pregnant and married to a prosperous shopkeeper, still worked in secret for Lady Trella, gathering information.

Uvela had never met the two women who walked together, holding hands and glancing around in fascination at all the activity. Nevertheless, she recognized the Hawk Clan emblem on Alexar’s shoulder, and knew these must be the passengers Lady Trella sought. Before Alexar and his charges reached the gate, Uvela stood in his path.

“Good day, Commander Alexar,” she said with a bow, her voice qua-vering a little. A scarf struggled to contain the long gray hair that flowed around her head, but her lively eyes more than made up for a weak voice.

“My name is Uvela. Are these the women from Bisitun summoned by Lord Eskkar?”

“Yes, elder,” Alexar replied politely, surprised that anyone at the dock would know his business. “Why do you ask?”

“A place has been prepared for them by Lady Trella. I am to take you there.”

Alexar looked more closely at the woman. He’d never seen her before, but guessed she must be one of the many women working for Lady Trella.

“Then we’ll follow you, elder,” Alexar said, giving her a nod. He trailed Uvela away from the docks, through the rear gate and into the city of Akkad, the women and soldiers following behind.

They wound their way through the narrow lanes, passing the barracks area before moving into the better quarter of the city, toward Eskkar’s house. As they drew closer, Alexar thought Uvela intended to take them to Eskkar’s home. But a few doors away, the old woman turned left instead of right, and passed into a walled courtyard.

A bored young soldier stood guard a step inside the narrow gate. He smiled at Uvela, then straightened up and greeted Alexar respectfully when he recognized him. They entered a private garden scented with jasmine, and scarcely big enough to hold all six of them. Despite the diminu-tive garden, Alexar knew this must be one of the better houses in the city.

He didn’t see a private well, but that minor inconvenience didn’t detract from the house. In this part of Akkad, with living quarters scarce and expensive, his charges would enjoy pleasant surroundings.

Alexar put down the cage and dismissed his men; he escorted Lani and Tippu inside, carrying their possessions himself, and depositing their sacks in the chamber Uvela indicated. The residence, a medium-sized, single-story structure, enclosed four small bedrooms set off from a comfortable-sized communal room.

“Good-bye, Lani, Tippu,” he said. “I must report to Lord Eskkar.”

“My sister and I thank you for your help, Alexar,” Lani said. “You have been more than kind. May the gods keep you in their favor.”

“Lord Eskkar is not in the city,” Uvela offered. “But at this hour Captain Gatus should still be at the council house.”

“Then I will find him there.” Alexar bowed to all of them and disappeared into the garden.

“These two will be your rooms,” Uvela began as soon as Alexar left, indicating two adjoining rooms farthest away from the kitchen area. “I suggest you take the larger one, Lani.”

So Uvela knew who Eskkar had chosen. Lani wondered what else the people here knew about her and Tippu.

“This house is owned by Lady Trella,” Uvela went on, “and is reserved for important visitors and guests. One room is vacant, and the other is occupied by a trader from the south. He will be leaving in a few days, so you should have the house to yourselves. Lady Trella asked me to meet your boat, bring you here, and help with whatever you need.”

“You are most kind, Uvela,” Lani answered courteously, “but what we both need more than anything is a bath, if such a thing is possible. We have been journeying in the company of men for more than three days.”

Uvela nodded her understanding. Traveling for women remained a difficult and dangerous task, even by river. “It’s best to bathe in the Tigris.”

She gathered up two blankets from a small table next to the bed. “Leave your things here. They will be safe. The guard is always here, and no thief would touch the property of Lord Eskkar. Follow me.”

“The cat,” Lani said, “Lord Eskkar said to bring the animal. Can we get food and water for the poor creature? It’s been caged up the whole trip.”