Empire Rising es-2

by Sam Barone

  At the house, two soldiers stood guard, and inside, he found Hamati asleep sitting at the big table, his sword beneath his hand. Eskkar stopped to check on Ninazu, and found the prisoner had fallen into a restless sleep.

  Nevertheless, his guards remained alert, watching their charge through the open door.

  Sisuthros had taken one of the bedrooms for himself, and gone to bed an hour earlier, his snores audible in the common room.

  Eskkar bid good night to Grond and entered his room. He didn’t bother with the lamp, just left the door open. The soft glow from the main room gave him enough light to see the bed, covered with fresh linen. He unbelted his sword and pulled the weapon from its sheath and laid it on the low table that stood beside the bed, then sat to unlace his sandals. He went back to the door, pausing for a moment to make sure he knew where everything in the room was placed. Eskkar closed the door and dropped the wooden bar to seal it. Pulling his tunic over his head, he tossed that on the foot of the bed, and sank tiredly onto the bed.

  He thought he would be asleep in moments, but instead he lay there, staring up at the faint moonlight that shone in through the tiny window set high in the wall. A long day had finally ended, but everything had worked out well enough. Bisitun would enjoy its first night of freedom. Now he just needed… He sat up in the bed, his hand reaching for his sword.

  Something moved at the window, and his hand tightened on the hilt of the sword as the movement repeated itself, a darker blackness against the night sky. The shadow moved, and he heard the thump of something landing on the floor next to the bed. Still, Eskkar had caught a glimpse of it as it jumped down.

  The cat had green-gold eyes that gleamed in the faint light, and Eskkar saw them watching him. For a moment he considered taking a swing at the creature, thinking it might be some demon sent by Ninazu. Then he reconsidered. The animal seemed to think it belonged, as it sat down in the middle of the floor, a dark shadow without color, except for its eyes, which stayed focused on the bed. As Eskkar’s eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, he saw that the cat looked alert, but not frightened.

  Eskkar muttered to himself and put the sword back on the table. The creature had climbed into the room. It could get itself out again. “Stay if you will. Just let me sleep.” Nothing much bigger than a cat could get inside, he felt certain of that. He fell back on the pillow, let his breathing relax, closed his eyes, and soon began to drift off into sleep.

  The soft knock at the door had him moving in an instant, on his feet and up from the bed, his hand again finding the sword without any fumbling. He stood by the door. “Who is it?”

  “It is Lani, lord. I’ve brought you some wine.”

  She kept her voice low, and he could barely hear her through the door.

  He didn’t want any wine. He wanted to tell her to go away, but instead he opened the door. Lani and her sister both stood there, Lani’s face flickering behind a small candle that she carried on a tray. Behind them, Eskkar saw Grond watching from the table.

  “May we come in, lord?” Lani asked.

  He hesitated, not sure that he wanted to see her, but he opened the door wider and stepped back. The tray that Lani carried held a pitcher of wine and a cup, while Tippu carried a bowl filled with water and some cloths. Lani stepped into the room, almost as if she worried he might close the door once again. Tippu followed, though more slowly. He watched them pass by him. The cat had vanished, no doubt leaving the way it entered, and just as silently.

  “We thought you might want some wine before bed, or that you might wish to wash your hands and face.” She put her things down on the table, then went to the door and closed it, though Eskkar’s hand was still on it.

  Before she shut the door, Eskkar caught another glimpse of Grond standing there, a frown on his face. Eskkar turned to Lani, and for the first time he noticed that she’d changed her dress from the one she’d worn earlier. A much finer garment, and one woven from something softer than the usual linen, and not one that you pulled on over your head. Instead, it looked as if it would open from the front, the two edges crossing over her breasts and tied together at her waist.

  Eskkar had drunk more spirits tonight than he usually allowed himself; he didn’t plan to drink anything more. In the old days he’d guzzled as much as he could afford, which had only allowed him to get properly drunk two or three times a month. Trella had changed all that, and he’d sworn never to lose control of himself again.

  “No, Lani, I don’t need any wine.” He smiled at her. “And I washed up at the well before I returned. You and your sister can go.”

  She peered at him in the fl ickering light, almost as if checking to see if he had really washed. Lani went on as if she hadn’t heard him. “Perhaps you would like one of us to stay with you… to pleasure you tonight? If you prefer Tippu, she is more pleasing to look at, or… or we could both remain, if that is your wish.”

  He looked at Lani, then Tippu. In the light from the tiny flame, Lani’s eyes met his own, while Tippu stared at the floor. The thought of both of them in his bed sent a wave of desire through him. Eskkar had always taken a woman after every fight. Even during the fighting for Akkad, he’d taken Trella after every encounter. He remembered Lani’s naked body, and the temptation surged through him. Battle did that to a man, made him want a woman just to prove he’d survived while others had died. Another thought struck him.

  “Tippu,” he began, and thought he saw Lani’s lips compress for a brief instant, “Tippu, my bodyguard is outside. He is more than my bodyguard, he is my friend as well. And he has looked at you with longing, and told me of this. Perhaps you could spend tonight with him.”

  Tippu looked at her sister without showing any emotion, and waited until Lani nodded approval. “Yes, lord, I will go to your friend,” Tippu said. She began putting down the bowl and cloths she still held.

  “And I, lord? What should I do?” Lani asked.

  He wanted her to stay, but his days of taking women against their will had passed. If she thought she had to please him to get what she wanted, he would send her away. But he didn’t want to do that, not yet.

  “If you like, Lani, you can stay with me tonight. But only if you want to. You already have my protection, and I don’t need you in my bed to remind me of my promise.”

  “I will stay, lord.” Lani called after her sister. “Wait, Tippu. Go to our room. I will send Grond to you there. Treat him well, Tippu.” She guided her sister to the door, opened it for her, and followed her out.

  Eskkar watched in surprise as Lani crossed the room and spoke to Grond, who still sat at the table. Lani spoke to him for some time, before gesturing toward the room that her sister had just entered. Grond answered Lani, then listened for another moment before nodding his head.

  Lani came back to the bedroom, and this time she dropped the bar across the door. She moved within arm’s length, and began untying her dress.

  He reached out and took her hands, then pulled her closer to him.

  “You don’t have to do this, Lani. I don’t take women against their will, or because they are afraid.”

  “I know, Lord Eskkar. I spoke with many of your soldiers today. They told me much about you, about Akkad, and about your wife.”

  She pulled her hands free from his grasp and continued untying her dress. When the knot came undone, she opened the dress wide and pushed it back over her shoulders, letting it hang from her arms as if to frame her body. “They told me so much about you that I feel safe in your care. But I also saw in your eyes today that you wanted me.”

  Eskkar started to say something, but she put her finger up to his lips, the movement swirling the dress around her. “There is nothing to say, Lord Eskkar. I want to be in your arms and in your bed.” Lani took her hand away, and this time the dress fell to the floor. She stood on her toes and put her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

  He inhaled her hair and noticed she smelled faintly of cinnamon, a delicate perf
ume that mixed with the warm, musky smell of a woman. She made a small sound as she felt the pressure of his erection, and moved her hips against him.

  “I do want you, Lani,” he whispered into her ear. “And you are wrong.

  You are much more beautiful than your sister.”

  She lifted her head up and he kissed her, a long, lingering kiss that aroused him even further. When the kiss ended, she leaned down to blow out the candle. As the darkness enveloped them, she began unfastening his undergarment. Soon that dropped to the floor, and they lay down on the bed, their arms wrapped around each other.

  In the dark, her body felt soft and full, her full breasts brushing against his chest whenever he took his hands from them. She kissed him with abandon, almost possessively, until he grew more and more aroused. At last she moved on top of him and guided him inside her moist body.

  Lani gave a long sigh of pleasure when he slid deep within her and for a few moments, she stayed still. He pushed up against her and she began to move, slowly at first, then faster, stopping often to let him kiss her breasts or leaning down to find his mouth with her own, while she squeezed her muscles around his penis.

  Fully aroused now, Eskkar’s hands tightened around her waist, and she moved against him, forcing him deep inside her, pushing herself against him until he thrust up hard against her and cried out as he emptied his seed, both hands grasping her breasts, her hands on his chest. She stayed atop him, holding him tightly inside her, until he began to soften. Then she lay next to him, in his arms, letting him touch and caress her.

  “Lani,” he began, but she kissed him again to stop his words.

  “Tomorrow we can talk, Lord Eskkar. Tomorrow. Now you need your sleep. Let me stay with you.”

  She shifted her position on the bed, wrapping her arm behind his head, letting his face fall on her breast. At first he kissed her, one hand caressing her stomach, but soon he stopped, as the long day’s effort washed over him.

  Just before he drifted off, or in his dreams, he couldn’t be sure which, he heard her voice again. “I will stay with you, lord.”

  9

  Eskkar woke in darkness. Like most people, he tended to rise with the dawn, but this morning something had awakened him, though he heard no one moving about the house. He wondered if the strangeness of his surroundings or the unfamiliar woman beside him had cut short his sleep. Lani stirred, murmuring something into the blanket that he couldn’t make out.

  She lay on her side, her back toward him. He slid his arm free from under her neck. His arm felt numb, and he worked his fingers until the tingling disappeared. Lani didn’t wake, just kept whispering unintelligible words in some strange language.

  Eskkar glanced up at the dark outline of the tiny window. The blackness it framed seemed a shade lighter, and he knew the sun would soon be up, the household rising with it. He turned onto his side, so that his face rested against Lani’s hair, and caught the last trace of her perfume, or perhaps just her scent. Her closeness soothed him, and he had no desire to arise.

  Wide awake now, and refreshed by a long night of sleep, he knew he should be thinking about the coming day, the dozens of tasks that needed his supervision. Instead he found himself worrying about Trella-what she would say about this woman, what he would tell her, how she would look at him. He knew she would not be pleased, not so much because he took a woman while away from her. That would be expected from a soldier on campaign.

  No, Trella would be concerned because she would see in Lani more than a mere bed companion. In fact, Lani seemed in many ways like Trella.

  The similarities between the two made him uncomfortable. Perhaps he should have taken Tippu to his bed, merely to quench his lust. Tippu, who could be forgotten in the morning, a pretty face frightened for her life and eager to please. Trella would not be concerned with a woman like Tippu, any more than she worried about the other women in Akkad who offered themselves at every opportunity to her husband.

  Since that first night when he’d bedded Trella, he had ignored those offers, no matter how beautiful or willing the woman. Trella had made him aware of how satisfying a strong-minded woman could be, someone who could share and understand his feelings. Lani possessed much of that awareness, yet was somehow different. Eskkar should have sent her away last night, even packed her off to Akkad, or simply given her to one of his men. But he’d sensed a quality in her, something that quickened both his desire and curiosity. He’d wanted her, wanted to keep her close to him. Now he couldn’t send her away, not after she had pleasured him so completely.

  Even this morning his desire remained strong. Maybe the need would lessen in a few days, when the excitement of a new woman had worn off.

  Eskkar hadn’t slept with anyone except Trella for many months, and even longer since he’d lusted after another woman. Trella always equaled his passion as she loved him, and he had not wanted any other woman, not even for an afternoon’s dallying.

  Until last night. Now another woman troubled his thoughts, and what should have been a simple pleasure had turned into a problem. He looked toward the window, as the first gray light of dawn arrived, providing enough illumination to see inside the bedroom.

  Lani twitched in the bed, and he knew her dreams troubled her. She spoke again, but he still couldn’t comprehend the words, soft and indistinct, like a sleepy child in its mother’s arms. Her head tossed about, then her arm, and she called out a word… a name, he realized.

  “Namtar… Namtar.” She gave a small cry and sat up, her eyes wide but empty. Her hand covered her mouth, as if to prevent herself from speaking further. Lani remained motionless, until he reached out and touched her arm.

  “Oh!” She whirled in the bed, pushing herself away from him. She seemed confused to find him beside her. “Please don’t hurt me! Please!”

  “Why would I hurt you, Lani?” She still wasn’t fully awake. “You’re safe here. Nothing can harm you now.”

  She took a deep breath and tried to speak, but all he heard was a chok-ing sound. “You’re safe, Lani,” he repeated, and this time his words seemed to calm her. “Who is Namtar?”

  She jumped, as if he’d summoned a demon by speaking its name. Lani’s body shook, and she started sobbing. Eskkar had seen enough women cry before, but nothing to equal what he now heard and felt. Lani fell back on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest, her whole body trembling.

  Until last year he’d never wasted a moment over a crying woman, walking away from whatever sorrows plagued them. He considered leaving Lani to her misery. Instead he remembered the times Trella had cried into his chest, those nights she’d felt helpless before the barbarians. Eskkar had sworn an oath that Trella would cry no more if he could help it.

  So he stroked Lani’s head and held her lightly. Dawn had risen, and he heard people moving about the house. No one would disturb him, he knew, but they would hear Lani crying and wonder.

  Her tears subsided, and her body sagged against him as whatever demons tortured her spirit faded with the morning’s light. She attempted to sit up, but he held her close, trying to give comfort.

  “I’m sorry, lord,” she began, her voice so hoarse that at first he didn’t understand her. “Please forgive me, lord. I did not mean to ruin your night’s sleep.” Again she tried to sit up, and this time he let go, but kept hold of her hands. In the growing light, he saw her face red with tears, her eyes swollen and filled with blood.

  “Who is Namtar?” he repeated. She shuddered, and he thought the tears would start again.

  “Namtar was my husband, lord. Ninazu killed him in front of me.”

  Her eyes closed, as she no doubt relived the moment. “After Ninazu captured us, he said he would put Namtar to the torture, if I did not pleasure him willingly… give him much pleasure.”

  She turned her face away from Eskkar, her eyes staring at the wall.

  “So I pleasured Ninazu, while his men laughed, and my husband watched, bound hand and foot to a cart.” Her lips trembled a
s she fought back the tears. “I had to please him… had to… do many things. We had already seen men and women put to the torture. Namtar never said a word. He just closed his eyes. After Ninazu finished with me, he stood naked over my husband, letting him smell my scent on his body, then Ninazu laughed and stabbed him in the heart with his sword.”

  Eskkar let his hands drop from her arms. “There was nothing you could do, Lani. We’ve all seen men put to the torture. You saved your husband from that.”

  She shook her head, letting her hair fall in front of her face, as if to hide her shame. “I did not kill myself, lord. I should have killed myself, thrown myself on the same sword that took Namtar.” Her voice hardened.

  “Or I should have killed Ninazu in his sleep. But he told me he wanted Tippu to be as willing. Ninazu said he would put us both to the torture, if we did not please him. I did not want my sister to die. Though she has not been the same in her head since that day. But she obeyed my wishes, and we lived. We stayed alive and hoped to escape someday, or for someone to kill Ninazu. The goddess Ishtar answered my prayers. She sent you and your soldiers to free us from him.”

  Her voice cracked with her words, and Eskkar heard the dryness in her throat. He got out of bed and looked down at the table, at the empty water cup. Lani followed his gaze.

  “I’ll fetch water, lord,” she said, swinging her feet off the bed.

  “Stay where you are,” he ordered, then strode to the door, unbarred it, and stepped out into the great room.

  Most of the men had risen earlier, and Sisuthros already sat at the table with Hamati, no doubt talking about the coming day’s events. No one seemed surprised at the sudden appearance of their captain, naked.

  “Have someone bring water to my room,” Eskkar said, then turned back into the bedroom. He stood by the door, waiting, and in moments Tippu stood there, a large goblet of water in her hands.