He made one stop at a small Jewish butchery before returning to his modest home within the small Jewish neighborhood of Babylon in close proximity to our quarters. I waited in a dark alley adjacent to his dwelling for two hours before retiring to my quarters after being satisfied he would remain there for the evening. I picked him up leaving for the palace the following morning one hour after dawn and followed him undetected back to the palace gate. One observation I did have was those who noticed me in the Jewish enclave paid me particular attention since I was clearly an outsider within an ethnically homogeneous minority community. I decided I would pick him up at a busy intersection outside the Jewish neighborhood in future to avoid the increased scrutiny. Gilad made this decision easy since it was apparent he walked the same route every day. Upon his entry to the palace, I returned to my quarters and slept several more hours before calling on Vettias.
He was in no condition to receive company. He was still in bed and his eyes were bloodshot. He was unintentionally awake, however, since it appeared he was severely nauseas and his water bowl lay next to him filled with dried vomit. His eyes followed me as I walked in and purposely sat on the side of his bed opposite the stinking mess.
“You look like shit. You piss the bed as well?”
A raspy grunt was his response.
“And you mock me for my drinking abilities? What did you have – one or two cups of wine?”
“Go fetch an attendant to bring me more water. We’ll talk at dusk.”
I complied with a slight grin and left my mentor’s foul-smelling chamber.
****
I returned several hours later to find Vettias in better spirits but still not properly clothed.
“So, how is our young Gilad? Is he a debauched little deviant?” Vettias asked with some sarcasm.
“So far he is as you initially assessed him; walks to and from the palace using the same route, totally unaware of his surroundings and not performing any alerting acts.”
“Well, keep on him the next week. I met an old friend at the banquet last night – a master Babylonian courtesan named Yasmina. Much like your precious Mara, I once fell in love with her and begged her to accompany me on Alexander’s eastern campaign.”
“You scorned me for over a year about Mara yet you’re guilty of the same transgression?” I asked annoyed and somewhat surprised.
“Only because I’ve seen where that road leads and knew it would inevitably interfere with our larger goals. I admit I underestimated the feelings you two hold for each other – and the affection I now hold for our female accomplice from Tarsus as well. That is all history and I have arrived at a point where I am happy for you and your family.”
“And why didn’t your precious Yasmina follow you to the ends of the earth?”
“Yasmina is a native of Babylon and came up through the ranks of prostitution to ascend the pinnacle of success in the trade. She has shared a bed with every Babylonian dignitary, to include Seleucus himself, and now she is the most sought after female in the entire satrapy. Unlike Mara, she always pursued the trappings of wealth and wanted nothing to do with living in a baggage tent on the Indus River during a monsoon with a mid-level staffer. While I don’t doubt she had feelings for me, I acknowledge now that they were not as strong as mine were for her. That being said, we parted on very amicable terms and seeing her last night brought a rush of emotions back that neither of us have felt for many years. I spent most of the night at her lavish accommodations near the palace before returning here in the early morning. That girl drinks as good as she fucks,” Vettias added looking out the window longingly toward the palace – remembering whatever decadent experience he had the night before.
“I bring this up because she will be a help to our cause should we require it,” Vettias added. “Not only does she know every important man in Babylon, she has her finger on the pulse of Babylon’s underbelly like no one I’ve ever met. She was my greatest source of information during my time here. This was a result of her starting from nothing and working her way through the sordid streets of this city unscathed. I made some vague promises about my new position and my ability to further her fortunes with the Greek administration of Babylon once Antigonus arrives. I will probably spend a few more nights with her this week while you finish up with Gilad’s comings and goings.”
I nodded my consent and returned to my quarters. The next morning I waited at the same busy intersection outside the Jewish neighborhood. After one half-hour I saw my unsuspecting friend unwittingly pass me as he made his way to the palace gate. He followed the same route as previous instances and after watching him pass the palace guards I continued on to a small food vendor that served excellent lamb kabob.
This routine continued for several days, with Gilad walking to and from the palace while making the occasional stop at a grocer of other vendor of wares. Never once did I feel I was in danger of being discovered and never once did his patterns or routes deviate. The monotony of my task provided ample time for my mind to wander and it frequently settled on Mara and Talos. I ached for their company as I never longed for anything in my life. I obsessively remembered our perfect afternoons in Sidon along the Middle Sea coast – laying together as a family in that small inn near the harbor. My hands clenched at the feeling those moments instilled in me and I wanted nothing more than to embrace them again. The fact Mara and Talos would arrive in Babylon in the coming months did not alleviate the burning in my gut.
On the fifth night of my tedious chore, I followed my unsuspecting friend back to his home when he unexpectedly detoured before entering the Jewish quarter. I watched as his movements became more deliberate and his eyes lifted from the street and became suddenly alert. His heightened level of vigilance caused me to increase the distance between us and, on several occasions, I feared he saw me. My demeanor started to change as I raced to keep him in my line of sight while still remaining unseen. Gilad made one last check of his surroundings before entering a dwelling with several small apartments inside – perhaps my new friend was living a life after all.
I waited two hours but Gilad did not emerge. I suspected he was visiting a woman but he did not seem like the philandering type, nor were we in a neighborhood of ill repute. If she wasn’t a prostitute, could it be he had a woman of his own? From what I knew of him, Gilad’s persona did not exactly inspire women to lust. Although he came from a family of means, he was too young to have any real wealth of his own. Could someone have beaten us to our little palace mouse? I decided my attention would turn to the occupant of the apartment for the next few days. I returned home and informed Vettias of this new development. He was, as I expected, pleased with the news and agreed I would determine who Gilad had met with. I slept for a few hours and, at dawn, I was there waiting.
CHAPTER 25
Gilad was up and out of the apartment early that morning with a lingering alertness. I let him depart and kept watch over the dwelling’s entrance. A number of dreary commoners came and went during the course of the morning but none resembled my notion of Gilad’s contact. The residential street did not lend itself to outsiders loitering for long periods without notice and, after two hours, I walked to the corner and rented a small room at a decrepit lodging with a window overlooking the target entrance. I procured some food from a vendor three blocks away and settled into my drab accommodations to wait for a little flower to sprout from the dregs.
At two hours before dusk, I observed a promising candidate exit the dwelling at a brisk pace. I darted out of the room and down the stairs to the street and caught the last glimpse of her turning a corner. I quickly ran to the junction, stopped, took a deep breath, and turned the to find I was at an acceptable distance from the young girl. Her clothes were of modest fabric and her hair was thick and black like most Babylonian women. She had a better natural feel of her surroundings than did Gilad and she looked to be about twenty years old. From the few instances where I could see her profile, it appeared she was a pretty woman,
clearly out of Gilad’s league – which added evidence to my initial assumptions.
I watched as she walked into a tavern and waited to determine if this stop was an errand or her place of employment. After a half-hour, I assumed she had some affiliation with the venue and decided to return in one hour to remove all suspicion I may have followed her there. When I returned, I entered the seedy establishment to the unwelcomed leers of several old drunks. Four nefarious younger men sat in a corner behind me and quietly commented to each other about my presence while harshly staring. Undiscernible Babylonian scrawls covered the walls of the musky tavern and the floor was a mix of compacted earth and rotted wooden planks. Despite its ignoble character, the tavern did not appear to be a brothel and I did not see my new female target.
I summoned my composure after the terse welcome and sat down to confidently order a cup of wine. No one approached me to take an order so I sat in solitude, fending off occasional sneers, until a grizzly old barkeep finally made his way to my seat. He remained silent but his eyes asked me what I was doing here and what request was I to impose upon him.
“Hello, friend,” I greeted, “I am a visitor to Babylon. Might I trouble you for a cup of wine?”
An affirmative grunt was his curt reply as he motioned to a boy who quickly ran through a door in the back of the establishment. My irritated host retreated back to his regular customers and after a few minutes my girl emerged from the back room with my libation. She was even prettier than I had first given her credit from afar, yet she held the same inhospitable scowl as the rest of my new acquaintances.
“Hello, my lady, many thanks. Might I ask where the house wine is from?”
“A donkey cart,” she answered with intentional rudeness.
“Excellent, that is where all my favorite vintages hail from,” I replied while taking a sip. My sarcasm cracked a small grin on her cold façade and I ordered a small jug.
“Money up front,” she demanded after returning to her hostile self.
“Of course. You can never be too careful,” I responded while retrieving the proper funds plus a small tip for my hostess. “And this is for your kindness to a foreigner,” I stated with some sarcasm. She grabbed the payment and quickly returned to the back of the establishment. I decided against engaging her in conversation since she was intentionally aloof and, given the overt hostility of the venue, thought it sufficient to only gather her name and place of employment before leaving. With any luck, Vettias’ Yasmina would be able to find out more.
I sat quietly and drank my cup of pedestrian red while discreetly taking in my surroundings. It appeared everyone in the tavern knew each other and inherently held a distasteful view of my presence. Eventually the boy returned bearing my jug and I thought my attempts of subtle elicitation would fare better with the youth.
“Thank you, son,” I acknowledged while inconspicuously passing an extra coin to him. “They pay you well for your services?”
The boy nodded before turning to leave.
“Ever consider some side work for extra coin?” This unexpected offer captured the attention of the urchin and he casually turned back around after ensuring no one was taking an interest in our seemingly innocuous banter.
“I am a stranger in this city and looking for unassuming agents who know their way around sordid environments,” I teased while rubbing several coins together. “It wouldn’t interfere with your duties here, but discretion is a must.”
I watched as the common boy’s nominal powers of deduction churned through my offer. “You need not answer immediately, I plan on remaining in Babylon for an extended stay. If you are unable to decide now, however, you can meet me at the fountain of Marduk two blocks from here three hours before dawn two days hence. If I haven’t already found another boy to accept my proposal, I will be waiting.”
The boy nodded his assent to the second option and turned to walk away before I stopped him one last time.
“There is one stipulation,” I added. “The girl in the back room, what is her name?”
The boy looked around again to ensure no one had yet taken an interest in us before whispering: “Davcina.”
I nodded my approval and he scurried to the back room. I finished my cup and took the jug with me as I exited the tavern and made my way to Malick’s.
****
I entered Vettias’ quarters to find him sitting by the window, looking out upon the vast expanse of Babylon on a warm evening while sipping a cup of wine. He looked over to me with an uncharacteristic smile – as if he almost pitied me for being incapable of feeling the current of euphoria he had rediscovered with Yasmina. I handed him my jug and he refilled his empty cup with the provincial vintage.
Vettias no sooner touched the cup to his lips than did he theatrically spit it out and dumped the contents off the balcony. “What was that swill? After all our time together you still can’t recognise a respectable drink in a city where the best wine in the world can be found at any reputable vendor?”
I smiled at his feigned outrage and poured another cup for myself. “This city has made you soft,” I replied calmly. “Good thing you didn’t have to suffer drinking this shit while associating with a bunch of Babylonian low-lifes in service to the oath,” I quipped while holding my cup up in salutation. “Now, toast with me this rancid urine and prove once and for all I do not serve under a Persian eunuch!”
Vettias laughed as he held out his cup, received my liberal pour, and together we drank down our local libation. “I’ll have to change cups now,” Vettias laughed as he sucked down the beverage with a sarcastic wince. “So, mixing with Babylonian miscreants while shadowing our simple Gilad? Does he have more of a story to tell?”
“Quite possibly,” I proudly conjectured. “If I interpret the situation correctly, our boy is being seduced by a pretty little Babylonian flower. I haven’t discerned by who or for what purpose, but he spent the night at her apartment and I followed her the next day to a dingy tavern where I was provided the unsophisticated vintage you so condescendingly denigrate.”
“A tavern, not a brothel?” Vettias inquired.
“My initial thought as well, but no, she appears to be a barkeep.”
“Hmm, sounds like maybe part of a criminal syndicate?” Vettias speculated. “Regardless, Yasmina will know of the venue’s affiliations and possibly even the girl herself, especially if she is a player in Babylon’s underground. Did you get her name?”
“Davcina, and she’s too pretty and cynical to be enamored with a lackey such as Gilad.”
“Maybe a young lad with access to the satrapal treasury might have piqued someone’s interest. Well, its time you met Yasmina anyway, so let us call on her this evening and see what she may know. Go get cleaned up and put on your best clothes – we’re not going to some Ilandran meat market, Yasmina’s pleasure house is one of the finest establishments in the entire Empire.”
****
As we made our way down the royal procession in the direction of the palace, Vettias turned right at an immaculate thoroughfare lined with open gardens, administrative buildings, opulent manners of Babylonian nobles, exquisite eating and drinking establishments and open forums lined with Persian columns. The street was busy with traffic for the late time of evening, and city guardsmen were stationed at every corner. Despite its grandeur, this street was no anomaly. Several boulevards of similar stature and wealth jutted off of the royal procession at regular intervals, each bustling with Babylonian elite. At the end of this avenue lay an expansive three-story brick structure that looked to have been recently adorned with a white Parian marble façade imported from Greece. Four stone pillars with bull-head capitals supported the newly added Greek-style portico that extended out from the main entrance. A marble statue of Ishtar stood within a fountain to greet visitors to the pleasure house and Vettias described the particulars of the diverse architecture with an aberrant enthusiasm.
“Ishtar is the Babylonian Goddess of love and sacred sex, amon
g other things,” Vettias explained almost giddily. “Those capitals in the shape of a bull’s head represent the epic hero Gilgamesh. Ishtar was infatuated with Gilgamesh yet he rejected her overtures and incurred her supernatural wrath.”
“Sacred sex?” I asked.
“Temple prostitution for certain religious rites. It’s an ancient custom here. Yasmina’s beauty at a young age caught the attention of the High Priest of the Ishtar Cult. She was taken from her mother, herself a prostitute of lesser accommodation, where she participated in these forced sexual rituals. It is common in some areas for the King himself to participate in these ceremonies and Yasmina was given to King Darius on the night of Ishtar’s annual celebration. He became infatuated with her beauty and grace and ordered her to the royal harem where she remained for several years until being cast out of the palace, narrowly escaping death at the hands of King Darius’ jealous wife Stateira. From there she worked her way through various brothels and pleasure houses until Alexander’s successful conquest of Babylon. It is at this time the two of us met and we helped each other advance our interests until it was time to depart for the campaign in the Far East. Since my departure, Yasmina has become owner of her own pleasure house and the most powerful madame in the city. She caters mostly to the Greek aristocracy and has cleverly made several architectural improvements to the building in the Greek style.”
We walked past a large Babylonian man guarding the door who gave a nod of recognition to Vettias as we entered the grand foyer of the pleasure house. A smooth Persian eunuch, dressed in a silk green robe and smelling of jasmine, greeted us warmly.
“Vettias, sir, how are we this evening?” the eunuch inquired.
“Very well, Zaduga. I am here to speak with her.”
“And will this be a meeting of business or pleasure?” the eunuch queried while looking at me to determine the intent of my presence.
World on Fire Page 20
