But the queen commanded.
Chapter Twelve
Bakku fingered the amber rock, called ambrosia. It always sent him to paradise and he saw visions of great and strange things. It was the finest amber. Sometimes the queen gave it to the court in liquid form. He did not know what he had done before he had it. He was reclining in his palace, his growing harem on the top floor. It was time to meet with the priesthood again. The litter ready to carry him, he grudgingly put away his pipe and went his way. Another secret meeting. All sorts of things were happening with lightening speed, some advantageous and some less so. And the strange events. He had word a few days ago that the temple in Galieh had burned down. He had heard rumor of this so-called witch of the desert before and her so-called sayings. And now this crime against the kingdom was being attributed to prophecy. It disgusted him that these desert folk were still on the loose for so long wreaking havoc.
Arriving at the temple he saw the familiar sight of Nimnet even here and a small altar for offering incense to her before going in. He took a pinch of incense into the fire next to her image and climbed the broad steps to the temple and to one of the inner rooms where the others were waiting. Some were still washing their hands and arms. He noticed an astonishing advancement in the metal work of their armbands. Gold, silver with intricate filigree and precious gemstones inlaid within such precious stones as jade, sapphire, lapis lazuli, garnets, topaz, rubies and star rock. Bakku himself had left off wearing his some time ago but managed to squeeze it back on for appearance's sake.
"You are late Bakku. What has kept you?" Asked Mustapheh flatly.
"Queen's business. You still keep to this silly old custom?" He waved his hand dismissively at the gold washing bowls. Some of them blanched at this comment.
"Yes, the only exception is that we now boil the water first before washing in it." Said Zarhaz. Bakku made a disgusted sound.
"Are you sure it was not amber that kept you from us all these months?" said Zarhaz snidely. Bakku threw him a malevolent look.
"What? Your eyes are always red these days. One wonders how you can put one foot before the other one."
"Zarhaz, let the meeting begin in dignity without your incessant haranguing." Said the high priest.
"If it were not for my haranguing no one would notice things falling down around here. First that filthy image of that blood sucking Nimnet and now priests and scribes come into the temple uncleansed!"
"That is enough." Silam Tybbl-Awat said coldly. "Now that we are all here, things can begin." He shot Zarhaz a deadly look. Zarhaz remained cantankerously uncowed but didn't say anything else.
"What news of the north, Mustapheh?"
"Rhe is empty and we have a colony to mine the rock and hills there. They have found more iron than they previously thought possible and besides that, there is much silver and star rock in the area as well."
"Star rock." Whispered Lord Igun.
"No more trouble from the semi-nomads. They are gone. What is there from the queen, Bakku?"
"With the queen's permission fifteen percent of the ore found goes to the Golden Temple. I have the contract she has written up here. All she is looking for is your agreement." He said. He drew out the papers and laid them neatly out on the table.
"Good. This relationship has worked well for us so far." Said Shishak.
"What else? What of the Karig and the remaining Raea and the lands they rove to the east?" Asked the high priest.
"We have just began harrying the eastern tribes. She is also looking to the south for more land where the Elapu and the Arvadites travel through. It is not easy work but we have only begun the battle to the east and the south."
"We lost many men, they have some losses. We will need far more men to remove them from the surrounding land. They seem to have the ability to hide very well." Said Mustapheh.
"They cannot hide forever. Let the queen know that to deal with these tribes we need more than our own militia. We will need many trained warriors for the task." Said the high priest.
"She is eager to see them removed. I am sure she will agree to put more men to the cause. Besides, I have heard a disturbing report out of the north." Said Bakku.
"What report?"
"I just heard word only last night that the temple of Nimnet up there has burned to the ground." This elicited gasps from the other men.
"What do you mean? How did this happen?" Asked Ganu.
"Why have I not heard about this?" Asked Mustapheh.
"My brothers, I have only just heard about it by falcon."
"By whom? Do you know?"
"From one of the princes in Galieh. He and others suspect the desert witch of Shima. The tribes support her."
"So? Why should we care? It is offensive enough that she is allowed in our holy temple." Spat Zarhaz.
"Here, here!" Said another priest.
"My brothers, our destiny is wrapped with the throne and the throne recognizes Nimnet as supreme, so we recognize Nimnet if we are to keep on progressing. There is no need to overreact." Said Bakku.
"That thing is a disgusting travesty and an offense!" Said Zarhaz.
"It is only a statue of stone." Said Bakku.
"It does not matter-"
"What I say is what matters and we live and prosper because of the power of compromise. There is wisdom in compromise, Zarhaz." Said the high priest.
"You mean we keep our lives because of compromise." Said Zarhaz.
"Well I am sure that if you are ready to hail forth with sword and spear against a stone image the queen would be more than willing to make room for you in the forest of the impaled and I for one would be more than happy to send you off." Said the high priest scornfully. "We make compromises and that is why we still thrive. Therefore you will make compromises if you intend to remain in the priesthood. That is how this has always worked. Unless you wish to go the way of Ilim." Silam threatened.
"Who we need to mainly be concerned with is the witch. She is the real danger." Said Bakku.
"But how would she be able to do something like this?" Asked Garu.
"Evil forces are at work in the land, some of them great. She is able because she has a demon. Once such a one works with forces such as that, anything can happen." Said the high priest.
"And do not forget that this false prophet Ilim has opened the door for other false seers and prophets to mislead many." Said Mustapheh.
"What does the queen say?" Asked another priest.
"I have not yet talked to her on the matter. As you know, there were executions recently. I do not know what her reaction will be over the temple but it will be ugly." Said Bakku.
"What is she planning anyway? All these strange actions she has taken recently. First, taking the king's bones from the Valley of the Royal Tombs in Egi. What is she planning to do with those bones? Then building all these schools." Asked Zarhaz. Bakku gave him a withering look and ignored him. Silam continued.
"As long as it helps keep her busy it matters not. Bakku, this business about the temple of Nimnet, no one thinks we are behind this, do they? Or the Aishanna-La? The last time a temple burned it was difficult to persuade the people we had nothing to do with it." Said Shishak.
"Some still do. It is because of our growing the ranks of the militia that keeps them silent." Said Garu.
"We need more men. Tell Ochorus I need to see him tomorrow. Besides that, there is other news." Said the high priest. He turned to Bakku. "Bad news from Egi and the queen will not like this either. The Lord Chieftain is gathering forces in Yilphaeus."
"That is against the law! What forces is he gathering?" Cried Bakku.
"Those in Egi who want to flock to his standard. Apparently there are many."
"How large? How many?"
"I do not know as of yet. Enough to cause a stir in that land, however. A great stirring. What do you suggest, Bakku? Where do we stand in all of this." Bakku was in shock and had not recovered from this announcement from the high priest.
>
"As of yet I do not know. I have not heard this at all!" Bakku sputtered. The high priest calmly went on.
"I myself have only heard very recently but it has disturbed me to such an extent that I must find out if these rumors are true. I have dispatched a messenger there to find out how many actually support him and any rumors of when he plans to move against Hybron. That is not all. There are growing rumors that King Kufun II is moving to finish building the fortress city off the coast and that he plans to renew a possible marriage alliance with Zapulia. It is only a rumor. But these rumors will not go away."
"Perhaps if you could try to persuade her again to think about marriage with Kufun -" Said Ganu.
"She will refuse as she has refused all along. She will not marry. The last ambassador from Zapulia that tried to pressure her into marriage was sent back with his lips cut off."
"So then she leaves him another out, to go around her and look for an alliance with Zapulia." Said the high priest quietly.
"I get the distinct feeling that you do not support the queen." Bakku said. Silam clasped his ringed hands together.
"We support her wholly. There should be no question of our loyalty but these things are disturbing to us and her uncle and the king of Jura threaten the realm. They threatened the realm when the king was alive. What does she plan to do about these threats?"
"The ascension will stop them. They will be handled in due time. When she ascends she will then be more powerful than all the kings that ever lived in this world." They were all quiet after he said this.
"Do you doubt her? What do you have now that she has not allowed you all to have or has not given you?" Bakku's voice took on a the high pitch of agitation.
"We recognize all the great things she has done for us. Have I not said so, Bakku? I only hope it does not take too long, this ascension."
"You do not believe?" Bakku accused, looking around at them suspiciously. They were silent, non-committal.
"We believe, but in the quest for the spiritual, the temporal should not be shoved aside. We have real problems here that do not have religious solutions, Bakku." Said the high priest. Bakku shook his head at him.
"All problems have religious solutions when the gods are on your side." Said Bakku. Silam looked around quickly and rose to signal the end of the meeting.
"Agreed. We shall meet again soon my brothers. Clearly we need more information before we know what direction to take. Bakku, you should have told the queen immediately about this affront to her and to Nimnet. I wonder how happy she will be when she realizes you have kept this from her? Temporal action must be taken against all rebels and swiftly." Bakku knew that old trick from Silam's, finding a wound to tear at and cast blame. He remained unruffled.
"She deals with them swiftly, as you all know. There was the den of rebels in a theater executed a few days ago. She will turn her attention to the Lord Chieftain soon enough and he will regret the day he thought to cross her. All her enemies, within and without will be found. All of them. Do not think she does not know what goes on. The contract there. I need a signature." He pointed to the contract. Silam took up a stylus and dipped it in ink and wrote his signature in sprawling script. Each of the priests present, except Zarhaz, then signed it in their turn. All present gave Zarhaz baleful looks.
"What is the matter, man? You do not care for profit?" Taunted Bakku.
"No."
"Perhaps Zarhaz is too good for his brothers." Came a snide remark from Mustapheh. The high priest looked him up and down carefully but said nothing. There was an uncomfortable silence. Zarhaz, it seemed, remained unmoved. Bakku blew the ink upon the paper to dry it and when he was done he gave them a curt farewell.
"Goodnight, my brothers. The queen will want to hear of any information you have about the stirrings in Egi."
"Indeed. I shall keep her appraised of what I know, when I know it." With that the meeting was adjourned.
Once Bakku was gone however, some of them held back. A trusted few among Silam's confidantes.
"Zarhaz will have to be dealt with. Soon." Said Shishak. The high priest nodded.
"Yes, but the more important things, first. So, what do you all think?" He asked, tapping his fingers together.
"He cannot be trusted any longer. He is a creature of the queen." Said Garu.
"I thought as much." He said.
"Who knows what sort of sordid things go on between them." Said Shishak.
"I do not trust him either. In fact, I believe he spies on us for the queen these days." It was a suspicion that was now confirmed in Silam's mind.
"Have you spoken with Teraht?" Asked Garu.
"I have, through a messenger. It is difficult. Falcons coming and going from the temple would be watched closely and we may have more than one of the queen's spies among us in the temple. So, information is intermittent. However, one of his sons has written to me saying that their numbers are sizable and growing. That even the Egians, wicked as they all are, tire of her. They are still offended that a woman dares to rule them. A greater crowd than even his father the Lord Chieftain had dared to hope has flocked to him. So he says." Said the high priest.
"When?"
"Before High Summer. We do not have much time. From what I know only Jhis will be besieged. If Jhis acquiesces to them they will not attack the other cities. The official reason is that they believe Her Greatness is being led astray by corrupt Hybronian officials, Bakku being named one of her foremost corrupters. It is said that they incite her and encourage her misrule. They intend to ask the queen to put aside her favorites and take on good leadership from good rulers."
"Such as her uncle." Said Mustapheh. Silam nodded.
"In actuality they hate her. They mean to depose the queen."
"Teraht hates anything that is not Egian and he especially hates the Aishanna-La. How does this help us?" Asked Ganu.
"Khalit, if you remember, hated us as well. We survived him. We will survive him and the queen. We must seek power where it lays and if it means we make agreements with enemies to get rid of another enemy, the better for us. There is the image of Nimnet right here in the temple. He cannot fail to see that we are friendly to his culture. If need be we can erect an image to his god Nisrok." Said Silam.
"He is friendly enough to inquire of the doings in the land from me. Do not worry overmuch about the matter. I am positioning the priesthood to make an alliance with him when it comes to it and cement our own security. Our true worry is the one sitting on the throne. How she has turned so many into fawning fools over her! It has become a cult. The cult of the queen reborn as a goddess. I did not imagine when we first supported her that she would turn out to be insane." Said Silam.
"Well, not all of us have fallen for this cult." Said Mustapheh.
"And if it were not for the looming war from the Lord Chieftain our lives would be in great danger because of that fact. How long can we go on not drinking the water?"
"Why is it do you think that Bakku did not tell her of the burning of the temple?" Asked Shishak.
"You heard what he said. She is becoming stranger and more cruel every year. She has defiled the Processional Way with her forest of the impaled. I think he worships her. He sees her as the goddess Nimnet reborn." Said Silam.
"She has not aged. It bothers me. What is she doing?" Asked Mustapheh.
"Something wickedly unnatural. I have heard she drinks the blood of those sacrificed in the temple." Said Ganu. The high priest templed his ringed fingers together.
"Well, I do not know about that. I know this, she is ascending, from what I have heard Bakku and others of the court call it. I believe it. Which means we need to draw up our plans to ally with her uncle now. Whatever she and that high priestess of hers is beginning, I do not want to see the end of it."
. . .
Zarhaz slowly descended the last stair to the ground floor of the temple. The lower priests would be preparing themselves and the temple for Night Prayer in a few hours. But it did
not call to him in his soul anymore. In fact, it had been years that he had actually cared or prayed in sincerity. He'd lived half his life going through motions and rituals and scheming and politicking. But he was tired and burnt out. He had no fire in him anymore unless it was to shoot fiery words to those on the council who irritated him and he could tell they were weary of him and the high priest would not let his refusal to sign the contract pass. At some point it would be the death of his priestly vocation.
The bloom of the day was fading and the sun had already gone down. A fading fire, like him. He remembered when there were no statues or images in the Golden Temple. Airend-Ur had forbidden it. Now everything under the sun was allowed. And this Nimnet! It was galling but he was finally awake. Would God even listen to an old and corrupted man like himself? Zarhaz feared what might follow. There were no human sacrifices at the Golden Temple but Silam was even more ruthless than the last high priest and he would do anything to remain connected with the throne. Times had changed. Even those left who came to the temple were not the same. Some would come to worship and pray here in the morning and visit brothels or go to wild revelries where anything happened - even murder. And others worshiped both at Airend-Ur's temple and Nimnet's. How could such a beautiful place house such ugliness? A thought came unbidden to him: "The beautiful tree that bears rotten fruit must be cut down and thrown in the fire." In his ponderings he nearly walked into a willowy figure who was approaching the steps. It was Lady Trione, Demos's mother.
"My dear lady! Have you come for Night Prayer? It is early yet."
"Sometimes I come early. I cannot bear to stay in the house alone anymore."
"Do you not have friends to comfort you?" He asked. Her eyes held a weary, desolate expression.
Red World Trilogy Page 44
