Lilith curled herself up in agony.
The elder man just nodded. Lilith grew nauseated from the rumbling feeling in her stomach. The men filled their plates a second time. When they had finished those plates as well, Pavel picked up the pan and said to Lemuel, “There’s still something left, did you want some more?”
“No thank you, I’m full.”
Pavel glanced at Lilith before he got up and walked in her direction. “I’m full too.”
Expecting to get the leftovers, Lilith sat back up again. Pavel, however, walked past her.
“I’ll bury it at the edge of the wood, so it won’t attract wild animals.”
At first Lilith thought the man was provoking her, but soon after he returned with an empty pan. He really did rather throw it away than give it to her. Defeated, Lilith lay back down. Pavel gave her a self-satisfied grin. A voice in the back of her mind told her that all of this was her own fault.
For the remainder of the journey, Pavel and Lemuel wouldn’t let her walk any more. In the morning, Lilith was given a single piece of bread, and that had been all. The men clearly were in a hurry now that they were so close to their destination. In spite of a new storm, they didn’t stop for shelter. Snow fell through the torn hood and formed a small layer on the floor of the wagon. Lilith licked it up to quench her thirst. She immediately realized that she had made a mistake; her mouth became even dryer and she felt even colder. With a great deal of effort, she turned to her other side when the wagon bounced over a bump. She slid down to the back and was pressed against the tailboard. Lilith tried to crawl back but she kept sliding down.
Out of curiosity she propped herself up a little to peek through the fluttering flap. To the right was nothing but a thick snow screen, but to the left there was a sheer cliff along which the path ascended. As soon as they turned the corner, Lilith could make out another rock pillar. When it dawned on her that they were nearing their destination, Lilith lay back down, feeling apprehensive.
It took forever for the path to level out again. The horseshoes clattered on bridges and grew silent again on firm rocky soil. The snow muffled all sounds.
Suddenly the wagon came to a halt. The flap was pushed aside and Pavel pulled Lilith out. With the first step, pain surged through her leg, but she managed to fight it off while the men dragged her to a building in front of them. They pushed her inside through a huge gate. Amazed, Lilith took in her surroundings. The walls were painted a dark green, and lamps, giving out a static white light, were suspended from the ceiling. It looked completely different from what she had been used to, because in the caves where Lilith had been raised, torches and candles had been used for illumination. The light had, therefore, been orange and forever moving because of the draught in the tunnels.
The walls in this palace were decorated with tapestries, but because of the speed with which Pavel dragged her along, Lilith couldn’t make out what was depicted. There were many people in the palace. The Merzians made way for the trio and broke off their conversations.
Lilith received inquisitive looks but she didn’t take notice. She counted her steps and tried to remember which corridors they took in case she would be able to escape.
After a while they reached a less crowded part of the palace. When they turned another corner they encountered a soldier of the Royal Guard. He regarded both men closely and then rested his gaze on Lilith. The soldier frowned for a second. “What brings you to Nadesh?”
“We wish to speak to our king,” Lemuel answered calmly.
The soldier opened his mouth to ask another question but before he could say anything Pavel pushed Lilith forwards.
“This woman broke into my house and attacked me and my brother. My brother is badly injured. That’s why she deserves to be punished.”
The soldier looked at Lilith again. Her thin clothes couldn’t conceal the emaciated state she was in and she barely reached Pavel’s shoulders, even though he wasn’t all that tall himself.
“She did all that?” the soldier asked incredulously.
Lilith bowed her head to conceal her smile and let out a sob. Maybe she could use the ignorance of these humans to her advantage.
“All right,” the man said. “This, indeed, sounds like a case the king should handle.”
Another soldier joined and they led the way to the chambers of Merzia’s ruler. Lilith stopped hiding the fact that her leg was hurting and followed obediently. It would be to her advantage if the king was to take pity on her. It was good to have a plan and she felt confident.
The soldiers escorted them to an elongated room that smelled of sweet herbs. There were large windows on one side. The curtains were open, but only a little light came in. This room was also illuminated by the cold light that Lilith had noticed before and it made her shudder. There were paintings on the other wall. Portraits of kings and queens preceding the current ruler looked down on her. Some faces were friendly but they all emanated determination and authority. Their eyes followed her while she walked on.
Now her gaze was drawn to the king. He was sitting on the far side of the room, close to the fire that was burning fiercely. The closer Lilith came, the warmer she felt, but she kept shuddering all the same. The king leaned back and regarded the approaching group with fascination.
Her confidence suddenly dissipated. Of course nobody would plead her case, especially not the king. Humans were her enemy. She tore herself loose from Pavel’s grip. She was immediately grabbed on two sides. Lemuel and Pavel dragged her forwards until the king gestured they weren’t allowed any farther. She struggled to break free, but Pavel forced her to her knees. The two men made a deep bow and Pavel pushed Lilith’s head all the way down, until her forehead touched the cold tiles. She furiously looked aside.
After the guard had introduced them, it was again Lemuel who spoke.
“Lord Yvar, our king. Thank you for making time for us. This woman broke into my son’s house. We beg you to punish her.”
“Did she steal anything?”
Hearing his voice for the first time, Lilith looked up. Even though Yvar’s question was directed at the man, he looked straight at Lilith. The resemblance to the pictures on the wall was striking. King Yvar had the same piercing eyes and his demeanour radiated both inner peace and power. He held her gaze for a few seconds, during which it seemed as though he could look into her very soul.
“Food and clothes.”
“Was that all?”
Lilith finally managed to avert her eyes.
“She was also extremely violent when we caught her in the act.”
It was of course Pavel who brought this to attention. He took out Lilith’s dagger and made a step forwards. One of the guards immediately jumped between the man and the king. Pavel started back. Stammering his apologies, he handed the weapon to the soldier. The king ignored the entire incident.
Then he addressed Lilith, but she kept avoiding his gaze.
“What’s your name?”
She replied almost inaudibly.
“Why did you want to steal food and clothes?”
“I hadn’t eaten for days and I was cold,” she snorted. Why else would she even go near his species?
“She nearly killed my brother, lord.” Pavel related what had happened.
“Do you deny this?”
Lilith shook her head but remained silent.
“Wouldn’t you like to say something in your defence? Don’t you realize that I’m going to have to punish you and that this is your only chance to tell your side of the story?”
“I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt,” Lilith sighed. She wondered if anyone would believe her. “All of a sudden two men threw themselves on me. I don’t remember grabbing the knife, I just suddenly had it in my hand. I’m sorry.”
There was a brief silence before she continued in a soft voice, “Honestly, I didn’t want to use violence. You must believe me.”
“Lord Yvar,” Pavel interjected agitatedly and pushed her away
from him. “She fought like a lunatic. She could have surrendered but instead she became violent.” Pavel pulled up his clothes. A red stain on the bandages around his upper body emphasized his words, “She used the knife very efficiently.”
“Is there anything else you want to say, woman?”
“There’s nothing to add.”
The king sighed deeply, thinking hard.
“The woman is to be punished for theft and assault by means of flogging.”
Pavel was mumbling contentedly, which worried Lilith. She didn’t understand the meaning of the words the king had used, but during their journey the man had repeatedly wished that Lilith would be punished severely.
“Furthermore, I will award you, Pavel and Lemuel, a sum of fifteen gold pieces in damages. The woman will repay me this sum by working for me.”
There was another moment of silence. Cautiously, Lilith looked up at the king. She hoped his eyes would give away a hint on what was going to happen to her, but she saw nothing. Then Yvar addressed his guards.
“Take these loyal citizens to the kitchen where they can eat something. Bring the prisoner to the flogging room and notify everyone.”
The two soldiers pulled Lilith to her feet.
“What are you going to do with me?” she whispered. She didn’t receive an answer. She glanced over her shoulder at the king. He was bent over his papers again. “What’s going to happen?” Lilith wrestled herself free and turned around. Without looking up, the king motioned for the soldiers to take her away. “This isn’t fair. Tell me what’s going to happen,” she growled.
The men grabbed her by her shoulders to drag her away. Lilith realized that this would be her last chance to escape. She sized the men up. Obviously they were big and muscular, but that wasn’t necessarily an advantage. If she could only surprise them… Lilith slid her gaze farther down. The men’s swords were temptingly close at hand.
Almost immediately it dawned on her that this plan was doomed to fail. Even before she could obtain a weapon, one of the soldiers would have worked her to the ground, and the other would be pointing his sword at her. They might even kill her on the spot. To die was her biggest fear. Lilith believed that her Creator would punish her severely in the afterlife. It was best to go along willingly. Whatever punishment the king had imposed upon her, it clearly wasn’t the death penalty. After all, he had said that she had to work for him. It was her only hope.
In the corridor they passed a tapestry that caught Lilith’s attention. It depicted a yellow, grassy plain with a cloudless, clear blue sky in which brightly coloured birds were flying. Near a pond stood some trees, and animals were trying to quench their thirst. A zebra looked at her and drew Lilith into the world she knew so well and almost longed for right now. At least she knew what to expect there.
Lilith had halted for a second, but now the soldiers urged her on. Soon they reached another wing of the palace. The soldiers opened a door and, after having pushed her into the room, closed it with a muffled bang. She was alone.
Lilith looked around the room suspiciously. On the walls there were pictures of people engaged in horrible acts. They were tumbling over each other to kill others or to get away after having raped and robbed a woman.
But there was something else that drew her attention as well. The red-tiled floor sloped down towards the middle of the room, where there was a large pillar surrounded by a gutter. Lilith hesitantly approached it. There were four metal shackles on chains riveted to the pillar. Even more anxious, she again wondered what flogging was and she had a deep sense of foreboding. A text had been chiselled at the top of the pillar. She made it out letter by letter and whispered the words: “My blood for my sins.”
That didn’t bode well. She turned around and limped towards the door. She rattled the door handle and pounded on the wood. When the door suddenly opened, she fell headfirst. Two masked men caught her.
“If you don’t cooperate you’ll only make it harder on yourself. It’s your choice,” one of them warned her.
Lilith, however, kept fighting to break free.
A third soldier loomed up in front of her. “Need a hand?” His face wasn’t covered and his eyes glistened with amusement.
“Of course not, we can handle a little lady like her. We have done this before,” was the irritable answer.
The men dragged her backwards into the room. Lilith didn’t get a chance to regain her footing. She tried to bite an arm, but one of the men immediately pulled her head back by her hair. Now she noticed that the ceiling was painted as well. The people behaving shamelessly on the wall were punished in the outer ring by creatures with strange faces. They were as void of any expression as the masks of the two men dragging her along. In the middle ring, twelve men and women sat on thrones with their backs to one another. Some were talking to each other as though there was nothing going on around them, but most of them were looking attentively at sentences being carried out. Then she recognized the God Jakob. He was pointing at a man who was tied to a wheel.
“Please help me, Lord!” she prayed. “Please!”
The two men didn’t stop until they reached the pillar. Now that Lilith could stand again, she kicked the soldier on her left in his crotch. He lashed at her, cursing. His fist hit her jaw in the exact same spot where Pavel had hit her before.
“If you think that hurt,” hissed the other one while she groaned, “then wait until we’re finished with you.”
Next, he undid the ropes around her wrists. Lilith didn’t hesitate for even a second and pushed him away from her. She grabbed her amulet. “Qi ga ullar brut i-qi libèr…” Her hand was pulled away and a man put a metal band around her wrist. Her other arm was grabbed as well, in order to secure it. Nevertheless, she sang the final words, “…qi ouander i-a drag!”
The chains rattled when the men pulled them in until Lilith was pressed tightly against the pillar. In spite of this, she smiled. They wouldn’t be able to stop her in a few seconds. But when the men fastened the shackles on her ankles, Lilith understood that she hadn’t been fast enough. Now it had become impossible to draw on the power inside her. She desperately started to pull on the chains, but they wouldn’t yield.
Suddenly Lilith felt something cold beneath her clothes. With a tearing sound, the back of her tunic was cut open. She begged the man to stop, but he didn’t listen. She felt the blade on her arms when the man cut her sleeves. After that, he did the same with her trousers, so Lilith was hanging naked in the shackles.
“What are you going to do to me?” she gasped.
The other man appeared in front of her. He took an object from his belt and held it in front of her face. Tied to the end of the wooden stick were three leather thongs. “This is a scourge. Do you know what that is?”
Lilith shook her head.
“In a few minutes you will.” He let the thongs slide over her arm. The metal beads on the ends felt as cold as ice. He stopped when the door opened again.
Judging by the sound of the footsteps, a big group now entered the room. Lilith couldn’t see them until they were well into the room. Pavel and Lemuel were following two soldiers. The son was smiling contentedly at her as he took up the seat that he was directed to. A veiled woman looked at her with concern but then averted her head like the other women.
Suddenly the king appeared in front of her. In a clear voice he informed her of her punishment. “Woman, because of your wrongdoings against Lemuel and his family, I sentence you to fifty lashes with the scourge.”
He gave her one final stern look, as if he was waiting for her to say something. Then he turned around and sat down next to the veiled woman.
“The punishment shall be carried out now.”
Before Lilith could prepare herself for what was coming, she heard a crack and felt a blow against her back that slammed her into the pillar. The ensuing sharp pain spread through her spine and radiated to the rest of her body. All her muscles contracted briefly. Another blow immediately followed the f
irst, but this time she was hit on the other side. Now Lilith understood what her punishment was.
The executioners counted each blow they inflicted and after the third one Lilith started to groan. She pulled at the chains with all her might. Time and again the scourge swished and the thongs cracked, resulting in excruciating pain. This was cruel: the men were beating her up while she couldn’t even defend herself. Lilith shook her head wildly because it was the only part of her body she could move.
It wasn’t long before Lilith felt blood seeping down her body. “Seven.” Crack. Pain. “Eight.” More swishing and more pain. She couldn’t do anything to cushion the blows. She knew when the scourge was going to hit her, but it was impossible to be prepared for it.
At nine she started to pray. “Lord, give…”
“Ten.”
“…me the… strength… to get… through… this… Please… help me.” Her words kept being interrupted by new blows to her back. “Jakob!”
Lilith pulled forcefully at the chains. Suddenly her left hand was free.
She started pulling at the other chain. The next blow curled around the side of her body.
Then the executioners walked up to her. Her hand was pulled away, but Lilith yanked herself free. She lashed out wildly at one of the executioners. Her nails scratched his mask before her fingers got a hold on it. Lilith pulled it down so fiercely that the laces on the back snapped. Her hand was grabbed again.
“It’s no use resisting,” the executioner whispered. His eyes flashed with anger. Lilith spat at him in response. “Vixen, you’re asking for it.” The man wiped the phlegm off his face while his companion tied her hands together with a rope. After that, the men walked away again.
“Twenty.”
He had aimed for the back of her knees and had hit even harder than before. Lilith’s knees gave way and all of a sudden the chains had to carry her entire weight. When her wrist broke, she didn’t feel the scourge any more for a brief moment. Lilith started screaming and clenched her right fist around the chain in an attempt to get her weight off the shackles.
The Lilith Trilogy Box Set Page 2
