Nezzar

Part One: A Time To Take

Nezzar's wing had at least three pools from what Amytis had seen so far. There was a broad long one past the towering pillars at the west of his private wing, another not quite as wide and long just outside the broad living area he had presented Usman to her, and now they were in a much smaller open-air pool surrounded by pruned potted bushes and softly glowing lamps. Stretched before them was eastern Babylon. It was well past midnight, but she was still wide awake.

The water was warm and soothing in all the right places and Nezzar sat relaxed next to her, arms stretched and resting on the rim of the pool.

"Were you expecting the eunuch as a gift?"

Even though they'd been intimate, Amytis still felt the low heat of fading shyness in his presence. Nezzar on the other hand remained relaxed, face cast to the sky, and eyes shut.

"No," Amytis answered. "I thought he was dead. I grieved him."

Nezzar nodded but remained silent. She observed his profile. His hair, wet from his short swim in the pool, fell to his broad shoulders. And the scars on his chest.

Amytis blinked. She had assumed Nezzar would fall asleep as her mother had stated in her regular lessons on how marital intimacies worked. But even after their time together, the king had remained awake. Though he had given her a handful of small gentle smiles and held her affectionately after they were joined, he later released her, sat with his back against a long stuffed pillow, and stared ahead almost unblinkingly. Then he suddenly asked that they take a dip in the pool.

"I will show you around my quarters before that. I never get used to the sight of the city from the east wing. There is a pool there as well."

So Amytis walked with him as he showed her this and that. It was a marvel. The dedication, attention to detail, and luxury poured into his living quarters. She had been in awe and didn't attempt to hide it.

"Tell me you understand?" Nezzar asked, dragging Amytis from her thoughts. "Tell me you understand that to remain in power I must be the most brutal of all. If I show weakness, my enemies will take advantage."

Water lapped over Amytis naked torso as she drew nearer to him and placed a tentative hand on the ball of his shoulder. "I am the daughter of a king; I understand what kings must do."

"Do you?" When he opened his eyes and glanced her way, the lines of his face were solemn. "This is not Media, Amytis. Babylon...Babylon is different—it's like a kingdom with several kingdoms within it. Now that you are the queen of all this," he gestured at the city before them and frowned, "you must be brutal as well."

How? It was on her tongue to ask but she stopped the word. She cast her mind to the things she had read about Nezzar before they met. The numbers killed by his men. The plundering. Burning whole cities. Carrying away captives. Leaving only the sick, maimed, and aged behind. Was that the type of brutality he was speaking of?

"Do you know how to use a weapon? Perhaps a dagger?"

Colour leeched off Amytis' face. She shivered in the warm water. Did he expect her to kill a person?

"Do not look so terrified." He gazed at the sky once more, the strong column of his neck exposed. "I only asked for your own protection. Several years before I was born, my father had a beloved brother who preferred a simple life. He was married. The king of Assyria sent assassins to teach my father a lesson on loyalty. They murdered his brother and his wife at their farmhouse just outside the town of Hillah. Left their bodies in the sun to rot. She was pregnant." His eyes grew vacant, lost again as they had looked before he took her on a tour of his wing. "My father made sure my mother could at least put up a fight and not succumb to a weak death. Forgive me, princess. I have seen death too many times. One must be prepared to defend their life with swift savagery."