The Lioness of Shadi

30 - Dreams of the Red Star

As more and more ate their fill at the King's table and the wine flowed like water, Ilati found herself fading into the background of Lugal's sacred feast-day, listening more than speaking. Zidanta stayed to one bowl of wine and so did she, but few others were so conservative in their consumption. The constant chattering air was one of relaxation, as if for a moment the men of Ulmanna could forget the looming threat of civil war poised above their capital city like the hanging spear of the Lawgiver himself. A sudden clanging brought Ilati's focus back to the head of the table, not an alarm, but the rings that the great King wore bashed against the resonant rim of his drinking bowl. Easing himself up like a corpse rising from its funeral seat, the dying Tudhaliya swayed slightly as he stood. Ilati doubted he was actually so deep into his cups that he had lost faculty: no, those burning eyes were as keen as ever, hungry for something. It was either the frailty of his condition or, more likely from the stories she had heard of the jackal-clever king, an affectation.

"In the name of the great god of this city, I hope you all have had your fill of my hospitality." His voice rasped and struggled against his infirmity, but was clearly audible in the sudden silence. "Gathered before me are the sons and daughters not only of Sarru, but of all four corners of the world! Some of you are merchants, some warriors, some emissaries, and some, perhaps, are even wise!" He grinned, but Ilati was not certain if he jested or bared his teeth. "This day is a sacred day to our people, my countrymen and esteemed guests, and it is said that oracles cast on the day of the River God's rebirth gaze deeper into the truth of the matter than on any other."

Ilati shifted her gaze for a moment to Eigou. Her mentor sat stone-faced, no longer the animated and affable guest he had been, but instead a man contemplating as one condemned to the gallows might.

"So let it be said in the presence of all: for twelve moons, I have dreamed of a great red star rising in the East, so great it blots all others save the moon and the sun from their places in the sky. It rises from the shores of a flooding river to the very zenith of the sky, coming to rest at the point of a mountain like a god taking their place at the heights of a ziggurat. I promise to any soul who can interpret this dream for me to my satisfaction a just and fitting reward: a sword of gods-blessed bronze, a shield embossed in silver, a chest of fine jewels and unguents, and a place high in my esteem."

Tudhaliya sat again once he had tossed the problem to the center of the room, a faint smile curling the very corners of his lips. Immediately the clamor began. It was, after all, a most generous offer. Most seemed a little tempted, even those who would normally never delve into prophecy. Then again, most had also had rather a lot of wine.

"There are only a few he actually cares to hear," Zidanta murmured for Ilati's benefit. "He will let the mob's words devour each other until Muwatalli, Yaeeta, and Eigou are ready to speak. You have not met the first of them, but he is the eldest and wisest priest of Lugal. If I were a gambling man, I would wager none of the three will speak a word until the King has commanded it. For dramatic convention, if nothing else."

Ilati watched the rival soothsayers from various places squabble with each other, before letting her eyes settle on each of those Zidanta had named in turn. Muwatalli looked almost as aged as Tudhaliya himself, but in far better health. The priest had a scribe's stoop and pallor, with a paunch to his belly suggesting his days of missing meals were many years behind him. His hair was white and wispy, a few gauzy strands collected and arranged in a grand effort to conceal the balding to his head. His beard more than made up for what his locks lacked, cascading down his chest in plaits kept collected by gold bands instead of the angled cuts worn by Sarrian royalty. While he probably had little use for the sword or shield, the promise of Tudhaliya's esteem would only further elevate his temple and jewels never went amiss.