Twilight in Babylon

by Frank, Suzanne

  “First there was the blood moon, then stars falling through the house of Puabi’s birth, and now the failed crops. The gods are displeased. The blood moon means blood is needed to wipe the clay smooth. So we can be free from curses, and starvation. Such are the ways of the gods.”

  Kidu spoke calmly. “What of the lugal and me?”

  “Your star is safe, secure. Just the ensi.” Asa swallowed audibly. “Just Puabi.”

  The three fell silent. Ezzi watched the en’s face, blank, though his eyes seemed to search the air before him for answers. “Who will bear her this news?” Kidu asked.

  “Actually,” Asa said, “as it will be an official funeral, all her handmaidens, attendants, and the like will go with her, to serve her in Kur.”

  The en blinked. He said nothing.

  “Perhaps, we can negotiate with the gods?” Asa said.

  Again, the en didn’t speak. However, he did raise a brow in query. Finally, he said, “Speak at your will.”

  “The gods need a sacrifice to be named the ensi, they don’t actually need Puabi—”

  “Substitute another for her!” Ezzi interjected.

  The en looked from one man to the other. “Is this your suggestion, stargazer Asa?”

  The stargazer didn’t acknowledge Ezzi, but Ezzi felt Asa’s ire and his surprise. “The asu and asipu have used this technique with the ill for quite some time,” Asa said. “It is a secret practice among the initiated.”

  Ezzi felt the en’s gaze again, this time not quite as dismissive. The en assumed Ezzi was among the initiated. The gods rewarded bad behavior, Ezzi was sure of it now. Though perhaps from the gods’ point of view, his behavior was good. After all, who knew what those divinities had planned for the slave humans?

  “Let us speak directly, Asa,” the en said dryly. “You enter these chambers, with news that Puabi must die. Now you suggest the gods will be pleased if another woman goes to her death in the guise of Puabi, and the ensi actually lives.”

  Asa shrugged. “The minds of the gods are convoluted. This arrangement would not be offensive to them. A man may assume the debts of a family member and be sold into slavery for him.”

  “It’s the same principle,” Ezzi said.

  The en’s smile was thin. “Death and slavery are not the same, sir.”

  “Truth.”

  “Do you know any woman who would do this? By being buried as Puabi, she would lose her own name and face in the… afterlife, truth?”

  “In Kur, it matters little,” Ezzi said.

  Silence.

  “My… assistant speaks the truth,” Asa said. “In Kur, the names matter little. As you well know, there is no hierarchy, no luxury, no reward or punishment.”

  Ezzi thought the en’s golden eyes flashed for a moment, but perhaps it was his own excitement. “I know a woman—” Ezzi said.

  The en swung on him. “Boy, if you do not keep silent, you will join the retinue of Puabi in the tomb!”

  Ezzi trembled as those cold eyes swept over him. This was not the same man as before; perhaps a demon had taken possession of the en. Perhaps he should die.

  “Do you know anyone who would do this willingly?” Kidu asked Asa.

  “Uh, willingly, with no accolades? I, I must confess at this moment, no one comes to mind.”

  Ezzi bit his lip; he wouldn’t waste his idea on the en, he would go directly to the ensi. She, after all, was the one with power. She made the decision. She was the one they were trying to kill.

  “Then perhaps this plan is a little premature,” the en said, rising. “Come to me when you have a willing victim.” He strode from the room, barely giving them time to bow.

  * * *

  The Tablet Father belched and leaned back. “Your wife can do more with sheep—”

  “Sheep!” Asa shouted. “Gods, how I tire of that word.”

  “I’m sorry,” the Tablet Father said. “I didn’t mean to remind you. Your wife pines for those sheep yet?”

  “The yellow spotted ones, kept at the gate.” Asa rubbed his temples. “She has approached the herders repeatedly, but they will tell her nothing except the female Chloe is the one who owns the sheep. Nothing about where to find her, or how much she might charge—”

  “Chloe?” the Tablet Father said. He could imagine how the conversation went between Asa’s culinary genius of a wife and the sheep-dip-stained shepherd. First, Asa’s wife would look down her long, sharp Shemti nose and request to speak to the head sheepherder. It would take producing a seal before she would believe she was speaking to him.

  Then she would demand the yellow sheep. The shepherd would tell her they were on loan to the commonwealth. She would demand he tell her the name and address of the owner, to notify him the sheep had been purchased—oh yes, the Tablet Father could see quite easily that Asa’s wife would learn nothing except the name.

  “I believe,” he said, covering Asa’s hand, “I know who this Chloe female is.”

  The stargazer, whose eyes were bloodshot and bleary from attempting to see into the heavens, looked hopeful. “Who is she? I’ll pay anything, I swear by Ninhursag I will.”

  “Chloe is the female little brother in my Tablet House,” the Tablet Father said. “I was pressured by the lugal to take her but… “he pondered. Several of his Boys had come to him, complaining about her presence, threatening to change Tablet Houses. The Tablet Father dreaded the day their fathers came to him and made good the threats. Then there had been rumors of a tussle, but Kalam had handled that situation before it went anywhere. That Old Boy was a tribute to the House.

  “A female human has been attending the Tablet House?” the stargazer said. “That could be… well, possibly, the reason for the evil omens.”

  “You mean, instead of the ensi?”

  “No, no,” the stargazer said. “The signs are clear enough for the ensi’s judgment by the gods, but… “Asa’s words came to a stop. His gaze was fixed on some distant point, and the Tablet Father had a sense Asa was weighing something of which the Father knew nothing about. “Does she have family who would protest? The sheep, I mean?”

  The Tablet Father straightened his cloak. “She is a protégé of Ningal’s.”

  “She’s that beautiful?”

  The Tablet Father shrugged. “If you care for Khamite females, I guess.”

  Asa looked interested. “Khamite?”

  “She owns the sheep your wife will stop at nothing to get.” The Tablet Father spoke of the sheep, but he knew they were discussing something else. “Think of the silence.”

  Asa looked away, his red-rimmed eyes thoughtful.

  “Ensi Puabi will need attendants, will she not?”

  The stargazer’s head jerked back at his lover’s words. “She… will.”

  “I will add Chloe’s name to the council’s list,” the Tablet Father said. “I can tell several of my Old Boys to do the same.”

  “Won’t Ningal—”

  “He is a just man. Surely, he can see the relation. Floodwaters brought the girl, she’s sought to bring chaos to the commonwealth by her demands and ideas, it is right she should pass into Kur on the day of an eclipse.” The Tablet Father put his arm around Asa’s shoulders and spoke softly. “You are the stargazer, your words to the lugal are beyond truth.”

  Asa reached for the Tablet Father’s hand and placed it on his body. They spoke no more.

  Chapter Two

  She woke up with one thought: Cheftu is a big blond now.

  Sean Connery was seated by her bed: Ningal. “How are you, Chloe?”

  Chloe followed the hand that was holding hers, up a white arm to the painted face of a brown-haired woman. The woman smiled. Chloe smiled back.

  “This is Ulu; she helped me while you were sick.”

  “Thank you,” Chloe said through dry, cracked lips. Ulu handed her a drinking tube, and Chloe sucked down some sweet breakfast beer. She immediately felt light-headed. She turned to Ningal, then turned to Ulu. She lifted a hand
to her head; it was lighter.

  “He had to cut your hair,” Ulu said. “The fever.”

  Her hair was chin- and ear-length. Short. Chopped. “I had a fever?” she asked.

  Ningal nodded and proceeded to tell her she’d been in bed for the last four days. Mostly unconscious. “Do you remember what happened?”

  Cheftu said he’d come see me that night. Did he? Does he know I was hurt? “Those boys,” she said carefully. “I fell—”

  “You landed on a gardening fork.”

  “No wonder it hurt.” Please leave, Chloe thought. Let me be alone so I can figure out what to do about Cheftu. Spies everywhere, he’d said. Puabi would recognize Chloe’s name. Simple: She’d use another name, and now with cut hair, she probably looked like someone else, too.

  “Would you like some food?” Ningal asked. “More beer?”

  “And don’t worry about your hair, child. I have a friend Guli, who is a master hairdresser.”

  Ningal froze, his eyes on the woman.

  “I’m sure the justice did a wonderful job, but it wouldn’t hurt to have Guli trim it up.”

  Especially since I want to make a good impression on Cheftu. Not that she doubted his love, or attraction, but when your husband is the high priest of fertility it helps to look one’s best. And short hair, in all of Chloe’s travels, had never been in vogue. -Either it was a sign of shame, of public humiliation, or illness.

  I may have to start a whole new trend.

  Ningal stood. “Ulu and I must converse, but I’ll send you something to eat. And a bath; would you like a bath?”

  He didn’t have Connery’s brogue, but he had everything else, including the pointed eyebrows and broad chest. “Yes, please,” Chloe said. She felt a little tired already.

  They left the room, and Chloe fell asleep.

  * * *

  Ezzi walked down the stairs. The table was clear, the scent of fresh bread filled the air.

  “What’s wrong?” his mother asked from the courtyard.

  She was clean and coifed, her makeup lightly done and her dress fresh. The house even looked better, smelled better.

  “What is bothering you? You are in and out, you never mention the copper tub anymore. Something has you worried. Don’t insult me with lies.”

  He halted. His body went hot when he realized the opportunity facing him. He could have everything, if he would just be bold enough. The gods had blessed his bad behavior—what more blessings could they give?

  Or perhaps he should seize any blessing he wanted. Ezzi sighed and stared at his feet, his shoulders suddenly slumping. He swallowed and ran a shaky hand across his brow. He blinked, until he felt moisture in his eyes. Then he looked up. “You don’t want to be insulted with lies? Very well, I will tell you.” He took a deep breath. “The en has declared I will be buried as Puabi.”

  “Buried?” Ulu said. “What babbling is this?”

  “Because of discovering the star,” he said. “I am committed to die.”

  “With Puabi?”

  “In her place.”

  “You’re a man, the ensi is a woman.”

  “I will be substituted, no one will know.”

  Ulu’s eyes narrowed. “Nonsense,” she said. “The ensi is supposed to step down, no one has mentioned anything about dying. The gods are heartless, but they are not cruel.”

  Ezzi shrugged and sat down at the table. “Of course, you know, don’t you.” He started to pick at a piece of bread. Ulu watched him, silent.

  “What do you know?” she asked at long last.

  “Asa just revealed that the ensi must die. But,” he forced a halfhearted chuckle, “we both know that won’t happen. I go in her place. I’m nobody, with nothing really to live for.”

  “Don’t say that, Ezzi, you have a fine future ahead of you,” Ulu said. “I just cannot believe this is serious.”

  He looked into his mother’s eyes. “It’s serious.” He looked away.

  “This is why you haven’t asked about the copper tub?”

  “Why ask? It makes no matter to me anymore. I’ll be dead.” Ezzi got up, straightened his kilt, and walked to the door. When he reached it, she spoke.

  “You won’t be killed,” she said. “I won’t allow it.”

  “Words mean nothing, female.” He smiled as he faced the painted wood. “You are just trying to assuage your guilt,” he said. “You don’t really care.”

  She rushed at him, hugged him around the waist, spoke against his back. “Ezzi, my son. Don’t you know how I love you? I will go to Sin and beg for your life. Don’t say—”

  Ezzi turned to face her. He was repelled by the press of her breasts against his chest, the fragrance of her in his nostrils. “You won’t have to worry about me anymore,” he said. “You’ll be able to have customers here, you won’t even have to be quiet.” He tore away from her. “I was always just in the way.”

  “What? Never! I fought for your life, to give you—”

  “I doesn’t matter, I’m going to die.”

  “Stop saying that. You are not going to die. No one has that authority—”

  “The stargazer, Puabi, the en.” He blinked the tears in his eyes, so they fell down his cheeks. “You probably think I deserve it.”

  “Don’t babble. You won’t die.”

  “You can’t change their minds.”

  “No, but I can go in your place. I’m female. I’m old. I’m of your family.”

  Ezzi buried his face in his mother’s neck. “You would do such for me?”

  Her voice was choked, but she finally believed him. “I would do anything for you, son.”

  He’d won.

  * * *

  Cheftu’s door flew open and Puabi stood there, proud of her nudity, red in the face. “I have a substitute!”

  He put his head in his hands. He’d known that young stargazer wasn’t to be trusted. Puabi marched up to him and pulled his hands away, holding them in hers. “A woman is willing to die as Puabi. Then the lugal can assure my win as ensi in the next election, under another name of course.”

  “No one can know, should we choose to use a substitute,” Cheftu said. “Not even the lugal.”

  “It’s impossible. The lugal will know. I see him every afternoon. It’s my duty.”

  Cheftu had forgotten her relationship with the man. “What woman?” he asked. “What woman is willing to die as you? Have you met her?”

  “I’ll summon her,” Puabi said, as she looked at her fingernails. “I am the ensi. You’d do best to remember that.”

  “She agreed to it?” He couldn’t keep the surprise from his voice.

  “Of course. It’s a great honor to her.”

  He didn’t know what to say.

  “Now that we have her, the ceremony can take place anytime. I don’t care.”

  “You know it means the death of all your attendants, your maids, your scribes,” he said.

  “Yes.”

  “Even Shama.”

  “Yes.”

  “Does this woman know her name won’t be mentioned? She’ll die unknown.”

  Puabi looked at him. “Of course, but she will have attendants, friends. The stargazer gave me their names. She won’t die alone. You think me cruel, but I’m not. I’m just searching for the best situation for the commonwealth. Which is my survival.”

  “More will die?” Cheftu asked, horrified.

  “Have you seen the fields? Many women must die, preferably of childbearing age. The ones you got pregnant will, of course, be spared, but how else are the rest of the people supposed to survive?”

  “How many?” he asked. “Which women?”

  “Oh, they have to be beautiful. Young. Maybe… a hundred, I think?”

  Cheftu felt his throat growing tight. “Who?”

  “There’s a whole list; I don’t know specifically, just some females.”

  “You told them they’re going to die?”

  “They’ll be collected, and informed. It
’s not inhumane. They’ll have wonderful drugs, they won’t even be scared.”

  “Why was this woman picked?”

  “Ulu, the woman, well, we were born on the same day.”

  “How do you know? Have you met her?”

  “No, no, the stargazer,” she said. “The young one. He came to me because he’d had a dream, and I was the only one who could answer it. I am the goddess Inana, consort of the Moon god Sin,” she said as a reminder.

  “I’ve met Ezzi,” he said. “How does he know Ulu?”

  “I don’t know, but he must have told her immediately after your meeting, because he told me last night.”

  Cheftu was dubious about this woman volunteer and Ezzi’s relationship with her.

  “So that is settled,” Puabi said. “Now, come tell me how happy you are that I’ll still be ensi, because you know that means you’ll still be en Kidu,” she said as she kissed his chest. “Unless you stay out of my bed and displease me further.” She poked his chest with a long fingernail. “Be wary, Kidu, you are becoming a nuisance to me.”

  “Then get rid of me,” he said, exhausted and reeling from her callousness. A hundred women would be put to death, and no one was trying to prevent it? It was some form of population control?

  She opened her mouth to speak, but a knock at the door saved him. A scribe opened it, and the lugal chose this moment to walk into the room. “Greetings of the dawn to you en, and ensi. The list is complete.”

  * * *

  Shama broke the seal to the deepest passageway and tottered in. The tablets were there—written in the priestly code that required an equality of minds, a divine balance. Lesser male humans, and females, had shunted them in here as nonsense written by their forefathers.

  One by one, Shama loaded them into his wheelbarrow.

  The en might be interested. And Shama had a feeling that this new side of Kidu might be able to attain the balance needed to read, and comprehend them.

  * * *

  Her third night since waking up with short hair and without a concussion, Chloe swore she heard Cheftu calling her name. Either that, or she was hallucinating that the trees were. No other sounds in the house. Probably Ningal was in the courtyard drinking his evening wine. Ulu hadn’t been around since Chloe had met her.