“The next circle is the land of boulders.” The Queen rose and gracefully adjusted the golden shawl draped over her shoulders. Her dark skin shone like polished ebony, exuding a purple hue as rich as her voice. “Those who hoard for no reason roll boulders toward the pit’s edge, while those who were exceedingly wasteful roll them back. They do this endlessly as a representation of the uselessness of their life’s pursuits—punishment for squandering oneself so successfully in life. Step forward again, but be careful. The next circle moves fast.” With a hand steadying Yitz, Hephaestion led the way.
“Next is the abandoned city of Dis, a place for the Hellbound long ago. Hell’s free population became too large, so a great migration occurred, founding New Dis and trade with Purgatory. But horrible things still haunt the vacant palaces of old Dis. Step forward again.”
Looking ahead, Hephaestion realized that as they approached the throne, each circle moved faster. Hephaestion and Yitz had to be spry.
“Here is the river of tears, filled with those who are wantonly wrathful without purpose, as well as those who are intently sullen in an effort to drag those around them down.”
This time the Queen extended a hand gently toward the men like a life-line soon to be in reach. They obeyed and leapt forward. Both men jostled and clung to each other for balance as they circled her throne, her open hand following them.
“And now The Wood—saddest of all. Why people do not leave those trees in peace shames humanity. Please step gently on that ring, as we all have family there.”
“We’re trying, your Highness!” Yitz blurted, one arm clinging to Hephaestion while the other grasped outward for balance.
“Here is true horror and violence. These men and women are so bathed in the blood of the living that they boil in the blood of the damned in the fiery river of Phlegethon.” The circle they stood on glowed red with tiny bones peppering the crimson tide.
“Forward again, gentlemen, to the frauds! Fakers, falsifiers, and deceivers! Thieves of hearts and minds! Manipulators and sowers of discord!” She roared as if the mention of such crimes raised her ire. The wide circle spanned dozens of smaller, shifting sections, like a puzzle that actively evaded its solution.
As both men stumbled for footing, she leaned out to them. “Take my hand, gentlemen, and step over the last and most heinous of all: the traitors. Do not pollute your heels with them.”
Hephaestion winced at what Yitz must be thinking: of his boy and what he must endure. Thankfully, Hephaestion would be the one to see Yitz and Adina’s son in the throes of torment, because a father could surely not tolerate such a sight and remain whole.
The Queen hoisted each man up to her throne’s pedestal, and the two of them stood close enough to feel her hot breath. A hint of cruel joy sullied her gaze as she met Hephaestion’s, her height of equal measure to his.
Suddenly, every circle stopped in a resounding clank, and all was still. “And, much like the Fallen One deep below, the throne is at the center,” she continued. “You stand in the map room of Songhai, designed by Euclid himself. He has charted the rates and motions of each circle over the course of eight expeditions. It is the most accurate map of the Hells to exist.” She bowed deeply. “I am Queen Nikaule Sungbon of the Songhai enclave, and I am at your service.” Her gold jewelry tinkled, emphasizing her angles, and her crisp pagnes was cinched tight against her muscular frame.
Hephaestion returned the bow as best he knew how. Yitz awkwardly followed his example.
“And you are Yitzhak Isserles, infamous gambler as of late and investor in Euclid’s ninth expedition into Hell, yes? Your tall and comely companion is instantly recognizable to me, but I can’t fathom why you’d keep such a famous associate secret. Why did you not make me privy that Lord Hephaestion of Macedonia himself was to grace my chamber? I would have prepared a feast.”
She offered her hand to Hephaestion. He found her grip firm and steady.
“Where do you recognize me from, my Queen?” Hephaestion asked.
“Yours is a face carved in the mountains of much of the world. I remember being a little girl on Earth, and in a garden, there stood a statue of you, perfect and bold. This was in North Eastern Africa.”
“I’m embarrassed to say I am unfamiliar with that particular statue.”
“Don’t be, Supreme Champion of Macedonia. Greatness such as yourself cannot fathom its echo across the ages. Even today on Earth, they know your face.” Queen Sungbon raised her eyebrows. “I was informed that you wanted to meet in order to procure maps of the coming expedition, yes? I must ask some probing questions before I part with the greatest treasure of Songhai.”
“Of course,” Yitz said.
She clapped her hands sharply, and servants from the shadows emerged with a long wooden table and three chairs. “Please be comfortable.” She beckoned as she sat at the head.
Both men joined her.
“It is atypical for anyone to request access to our maps. While they are highly prized, to put it bluntly, most know better. Euclid’s ninth expedition will be well conducted, I assure you. There is no reason for you to see any maps prior.”
“We have complete faith in your further handling of such explorations, Queen Sungbon. I apologize for any disrespect my request for your maps may have caused.” Yitz spoke with his hands folded and spine straight.
She nodded in acceptance of his apology. “Then it is settled. Let us talk about the transfer of funding, and we can hammer out the details regarding when the expedition will launch. We already have the team assembled.”
Yitz swallowed hard. “I look forward to acquiring the money from my debtor to forward onto you.”
She glared hard at Yitz, her nostrils flaring briefly. Her gaze turned toward Hephaestion, who sat calmly leaning back in his chair. “Am I to assume you do not have the funds with you? Even a promissory note?”
“No, my Queen,” Hephaestion confessed.
Yitz interjected, “As I said prior, we have complete intention—”
“Intentions mean little to me, the Queen of Songhai, Mr. Isserles. Commitment through money, however, means quite a bit. I am also getting the sinking feeling that you only came for a glance at this room and perhaps my precious maps. Was this a feeble attempt to get something for nothing from Songhai?” Her volume increased without yelling, its richness reverberating against every curve of the room.
“I need a map,” Hephaestion said flatly. “I might be able to find others elsewhere, but you clearly have the best.”
“And what do you, pray tell, need my maps for, Lord Hephaestion?”
Yitz’s foot jabbed into Hephaestion’s shin from under the table, but he ignored the small man. “I’m going into Hell myself on a personal expedition. What I intend will not harm you or come back to haunt you in any manner. I’ll leave here, and you’ll never see me again.”
“So this is all personal?” she asked, eyes narrowed.
Hephaestion nodded while Yitz slumped in his chair.
“This would explain the cable I received from a Father Jose Acanth Franco earlier today. He said that you two were planning something illicit, and if I was involved in your expedition, I would be held culpable by law.”
Yitz nodded. “Madam, we very much do intend to fully fund Euclid’s next expedition that you sponsor. Please do not think for a moment our intentions are anything but genuine. Granted, it is true that we have additional intentions. But they are far from illicit.”
“What are they?” she demanded, voice booming again.
Shrugging with defeat toward Hephaestion, Yitz sat back and let him take over. “I am going to do two things,” Hephaestion began. “I am going to first find Yitz’s son and deliver a message to him from his loving parents. Second, I am going to find Alexander.”
“What do you intend to do with Alexander once you find him?” she pressed.
“You will never know, because I will never be returning to New Dis,” Hephaestion retorted.
The Queen drummed her fingers against the armrest. “I do not appreciate being in this position,” she whispered, as though half to herself. “On the one hand, you have no money, so why would I even cater to you? But on the other hand, I deeply desire a ninth expedition, and by the off chance you fulfill your financial commitment, I will have it.”
Hephaestion opened his mouth, but Yitz’s hand squeezed his forearm. The gesture drew the Queen’s attention. Her gaze pinned Yitz first, but when she turned to Hephaestion, her slanted eyes softened. For a moment her gaze was distant, thinking deeply.
She clapped her hands sharply once more. Men came again from the shadows, and the tallest one bent his ear to her lips. After receiving his whispered commands, he nodded to the rest of the men, and everyone scattered as quickly as they had come.
“Gentlemen, I don’t appreciate the Jesuits issuing veiled threats to me. I suspect whatever law they speak of is their own, which merely encourages me to violate it. Tell me exactly what it is you need, and the fewer details regarding your intentions, the better.”
Though they’d asked only for maps, clearly she wished to provide more. With growing boldness, Hephaestion and Yitz requested kindling, rope, several flambeaux, and before the afternoon was done, Hephaestion found himself being fitted into a splint mail cuirass with a short sword at his side and a javelin in his hands.
Eventually, Yitz felt comfortable enough to allow his curiosity to run his mouth. “What changed your mind, my Queen? Why the sudden desire to aid us?”
“When I was a little girl I used to play at the feet of a mossy statue. I pretended it was my guardian, and I would place flowers between its toes. It bore Hephaestion’s face.”
“Was the statue really that accurate of a likeness, my Queen?” Hephaestion asked.
She smiled. “Not entirely. Your statue was completely naked.”
Chapter 16
Queen Sungbon offered Yitz and Hephaestion lodging for the night in the palace, and both men graciously accepted. Yitz wandered off to the pleasures of the bathhouse, a scrawny pale figure among the taller, darker ones. Taking full advantage of the Queen’s hospitality, he received massages and mud baths that eased his stresses and rejuvenated his humor.
The Queen challenged Hephaestion to a game of chess in her personal chambers. Her rooms were extensive, but the décor provided a small and intimate setting, adorned with paintings of animals, mountain ranges, and oceans.
“Earth changes so much. We try and paint it as best we can remember. Future generations will have their own Earth to adore and remember. On our walls here, you will see our Earth.”
A chessboard awaited, with intricately carved bone pieces. “This chess set was a gift from a man named Emmett Landis. He is an unusual man, and you will most likely make his acquaintance when you descend into the pit. He has a tower on the edge of the Suicide Wood, and he keeps watch there to scare away lumberjacks and offer safe haven to travelling Buddhists. You need only show him that you have a map from Songhai in your possession and he will guard you ferociously.”
“Thank you, again. For all of this,” Hephaestion said.
“You are welcome.” The Queen moved her pawn. “And it is your move.”
The two played in silence, their strategy spreading wide over the board. Each square became a dangerous trap with multiple pieces protecting each other in a battle of foresight and strategy. Ulfric had taught Hephaestion the rules to the game, as well as several dirty maneuvers to ensure a quick and cheap victory. Hephaestion restrained himself, instead wanting to draw the game out for the sake of his rare company.
“So, Alexander is in the blood-river of Phlegethon,” she offered.
“I know.”
“Despite having a map through the Hells, it would be extraordinary to locate a single man among the millions of murderous people that boil there.”
“I know, but it can be walked. Every league if need be.”
She nodded in understanding before moving her bishop. “I would do the same for any of my sons.”
Hephaestion finally took a leap to attempt a victory, nudging his knight into position. “How many sons do you have?” he asked, intending to distract her with conversation.
“Six.”
“Six? That’s a lot of sons.”
“I know it.” Her smile was filled with fond memories.
“Did you have to hunt them down in the afterlife?”
“No, they were all Heavenbound and came to me in Purgatory.” She beamed. “They were very good boys.” She intercepted Hephaestion’s knight and claimed the space.
The game quickly cascaded into a war of attrition, pieces falling on either side rapidly.
“So many different cultures and nations claim to have invented chess,” she mused. “The Chinese had a version they play with dice so that no outcome is certain. The Koreans had several different kinds of pawns.”
“Do you know who actually did invent chess?”
“People living south of the Hindu Kush along the banks of the Indus River. But perhaps that is merely the people I choose to credit. Perhaps everyone reached the same idea of chess…”
Silence reigned again as they exchanged killing blows against the other’s chessboard minions.
“Some expeditions go missing when they descend near the River Phlegethon.” The Queen broke their focus. “Even some monks have gone missing. Things are strange down there, and it certainly isn’t our maps that are at fault. Mr. Landis writes us letters reporting that he sees smoke in the distance, and some sections of Suicide Wood are entirely stripped clean. You must be mindful of the pits of Hell.”
“I will be.”
“If you are caught with our map, you must swear to me its destruction. It cannot fall into the wrong hands. Especially the Jesuits. Most of all, them. They did not earn this knowledge and yet demand the privilege of it,” she commanded.
“I will be certain to not let them have it.”
“The Jesuit Order has driven out the Shinto and Buddhists from the Japanese enclave, and many seek glory under their banner. The Jesuits promise the fastest path to Heaven through them. They are powerful and have alluring promises to those who are desperate.”
“I understand.”
“Do you? Do you know how many people in the afterlife would love you as a trophy? Or feel vindicated in peeling off your skin or making jewelry of your member?” the Queen asked as she took Hephaestion’s queen with her own.
This gave Hephaestion pause.
“You have many enemies, Lord Hephaestion. All conquerors do.”
“That life is over. I’m just a man looking for another.”
Queen Sunghon placed a long-fingered hand on his arm. “Moving on isn’t so simple, Lord Hephaestion. You certainly can understand that, for some, all they have is what they loved on Earth. And you and I both know you took much when you lived. You took much of what others loved.”
Her attack surrounded his king, leaving him with no other move to make.
Chapter 17
Their eyes wide with wonder, Yitz and Hephaestion’s heads craned over the “map” of the Hells. As their car teetered and rocked on the rails, they took turns spinning and twisting the various dials and gears on the device.
“So, it isn’t a map, per se, but more of an astrolabe?” Yitz asked, befuddled while examining the small globe—no larger than a dinner plate. “Makes sense, I suppose. How else would you map a moving landscape?”
Hephaestion glared at the thing. “She said it will be far easier to use while in the pit itself.”
Several icons on the astrolabe appeared to indicate landmarks and particular environments, and he was confident that if he deciphered the astrolabe correctly he would be guided toward Alex
ander.
“Stunning marvel of engineering, this. These markings here seem to indicate bridges and towers. If we can find something distinct like that, you are golden.” Yitz combed his fingers over the object, investigating each nook and crevice for information. “Strange worlds require strange maps.”
The Queen’s generosity hadn’t ended with the astrolabe, either. Hephaestion now possessed proper armor, worn over Minu’s kameez for the sake of comfort and warmth. Leather combined with small scales—similar to those of a fish—sculpted his broad physique, along with boots reinforced at the ankle and heel. “Armoring the shoulder slows down the killing blow,” Queen Sungbon had insisted, and so his protection left them bare.
At Hephaestion’s side hung a short sword of perfect weight and edge. The dark shadows swirling over its planes indicated the finest steel that Persia had to offer. And the leather ergonomic grip made it a perfect thrusting weapon.
Hephaestion found the spear too light and flexible. When he lunged with the javelin, the tip bounced and shivered, skewing his typically precise strikes.
“This is not a spear, but a hunter’s tool. Lovely as it is, I would be better suited to slaying gazelle than men with it,” he’d concluded. Practicing his form only frustrated him.
“And the pistol?” Yitz asked. The Queen’s final gift was a pepperbox pistol. A tiny firearm, the four barrels were designed to fire at once. Cushioned in a holster high between his shoulder blades, the inlaid handle peeked out from behind his neck so his right hand could draw and fire on one continuous motion. Hephaestion had never shot a gun before, and he found the weapon heavy and awkward.
“I honestly have no idea. While warfare changes on Earth, I suppose it does here too,” Hephaestion said, allowing himself to sink into a plush chair. “But when we return to your home, I’ll prepare and head out soon after. I’m eager to get underway. Please do not take offense.”
Yitz perked up an eyebrow. “Why would I take offense?”
Trampling in the Land of Woe_Book One of Three Page 9
