“She’s the princess from Tanniin who helped stop the war, isn’t she? Her story has been circulating, and her fame is spreading. He knew her?”
Hoda shared with her husband Noraldeen’s passing and the aftermath. He listened silently. His eyes became blurry. “You’re not going all mushy on me, are you now?” she protested.
“No, not at all, but I’m thinking of her father. I don’t know what I’d do if it was the child who died. Wow, that’s tough.”
“Speaking of our daughter,” his wife said, “Ahiram couldn’t believe we haven’t named her yet.” She chuckled while gazing into her daughter’s eyes. “You know what he told me? He said that it was child abuse.”
“Well, which of the three names do you prefer?” he asked. “You know I like Suraya best.”
“I have another name in mind.”
Karadon crossed his arms and prepared for the next round of battle over the naming of “the child.”
Ahiram stood in front of a small puppet show. Someone tied him with strings and forced him on the small stage. A puppet that looked like Nebo was introduced on the small stage.
“You are looking for your parents? Very well, let me bring them in,” the puppet Nebo said. The puppet left the stage and the scenery changed.
Ahiram stood in front of an executioner, who was ready to behead two other puppets whose heads were covered. The executioner looked like Prince Olothe. Ahiram wanted to leap forward and save his parents, but could not. The master puppeteer had decided otherwise. Ahiram watched with horror as the executioner laughed hysterically and beheaded the victims. The heads rolled on the stage and one of the hoods came off. It was Bahiya, the high priestess. She looked at him and said “my son.” Ahiram screamed and woke up in a sweat.
He sat on the bed, breathless. “It is only a dream,” he said, “only a dream.” He got up, drank two cups of water, and washed his face. His sister knocked then entered with her daughter in her arms.
“Ahiram, are you alright?”
“I had a dream. More like a nightmare, really.”
Hoda sat on the bed and rocked the baby. “Tell me,” she said. After Ahiram had finished, she kissed her daughter’s cheek and smiled. “I think you should talk to Ashod. He might be able to make sense of your dream.”
“Sure, tomorrow,” he said as he sat next to Hoda on the bed. He leaned over and looked at his niece. She had blue eyes like her father, ruddy cheeks, and wisps of blond hair. She was cooing gently while gazing at her mother. She smiled hesitantly at first, and then more broadly. Ahiram was instantly smitten.
“She is sooo cute,” he said. “Wow, she’s so beautiful.”
“Isn’t she?”
“She’s got your nose, and your cheeks, and your forehead, and your ears, and she’s got your smile, and look at those hands, she’s strong, and those eyes, she’s definitely smart like you.”
She glared at him. “You’re worse than Karadon, you know.”
“She’s got his eyes,” he said. “They’re blue like his.”
“I see that. By the way, you’d be happy to know that Karadon and I finally agreed on a name.”
“You did?” Ahiram replied distractedly. He was holding the baby’s hand and was fascinated by how small her fingers were. “That’s wonderful, what did you name her?”
“Would you like to hold her?”
As if on cue, someone knocked at the door.
“Come in,” Ahiram said.
Ashod opened the door. “May I?” he said with a gentle smile.
“Sure,” Ahiram said.
Ashod walked in, followed by Sheheluth. The young girl drew close and watched the baby. Her expression softened, and became wistful. Ahiram was surprised by the sadness and longing in her eyes. “She’s beautiful,” she said after a while.
“Thank you,” replied Hoda as she passed the baby to Ahiram.
Ashod’s hand gripped the side of the table and Sheheluth tensed.
“I’ve never held a baby before,” said Ahiram with a flushed face. “What if I drop her or something? Is she fragile? Do you get extensive training before you—”
Hoda laid the child in his arms, and Ahiram felt as if the world had come to a stop. The infant looked at him and smiled.
“Did you see that?” he said triumphantly, forgetting that Ashod and Sheheluth were in the room with them, “she smiled at me, Hoda. I think she recognized me as her uncle. Wouldn’t you say?”
“Definitely worse than Karadon,” his sister grumbled.
Ahiram sat with his back against the wall, raised his knees, and laid the baby against his legs and held her hands. He could not stop smiling. “She’s so beautiful, Hoda. I mean, I never thought there’d be something in this world so beautiful. That’s amazing. What did you name her, then? I’d hate to have to call her ‘the child,’ you know?”
Ashod got up and mouthed, “We’ll talk later,” and he and Sheheluth quietly left.
Hoda smiled. “Her name is Noraldeen.”
Ahiram froze. Time stopped and the universe faded away. There was nothing left of the past, present, and future save the little baby in his arms. Noraldeen. The name flashed in his mind like lightning over a stormy sea, and Ahiram thought he had found his true calling. At last, he knew what his mission in life would be, what he was meant to do. “Love me as I have loved you,” Noraldeen told him before she passed away, and there she was, back in his arms, an innocent, fragile little babe. He would protect and defend this baby with all his might. In his state of confusion, he interpreted Noraldeen’s words literally.
And just like that, Ahiram turned into a doting uncle.
Two months later, in the Black Robe’s camp located in Mitani, deep in the swamps of Kirk, Karadon stormed out of his cabin in search of his wife. I’ve had it, he thought. This must end now.
He did not have far to go. He found Hoda coming back from a long walk with their two children, Dunal and Pyram. Seeing Karadon coming their way, they ran over to him and he lifted them both in his arms.
“Dunal caught a toad,” Pyram said, “but it excaped.”
“Escaped,” Dunal corrected.
“That’s what I said,” his sister protested, “excaped.”
“How big was this big toad?” Karadon asked.
“Not too, too big,” Pyram replied as she wrapped a lock of his hair around her index and began playing with it. “It was sort of big but not really too big.”
“Were you scared?”
“I’m hungry,” Dunal interjected.
“I wasn’t scared,” Pyram said and she leaned her head on his shoulder.
Karadon smiled. “I see.” He set the children down and looked at the young boy standing proudly next to him. “Did you take care of your mother like I asked?”
“Yes, sir,” Dunal replied. “Mother almost stepped in the pond but I didn’t let her. That’s how I found the toad.”
“What did you do with it?”
“Took it back to the swamp.”
“Good,” Karadon said. “Why don’t you go wash-up.”
“No,” both kids said at the same time.
“Why not?” Karadon asked.
“I don’t like it when Uncle Ahiram washes my hands,” Pyram said looking at her hands. “He makes me wash them three times.”
“Yes,” Dunal added, “and when we’re done eating, he wants us to walk like this,” he raised both hands over his head, “because he doesn’t want us to dirty anything, and then we have to wash our hands three times.”
“He doesn’t let me touch baby Nora,” Pyram complained. “Not before I take a bath and I’m ‘as clean as soap,’ that’s what he says.”
“And he won’t let me carry my sister and walk with her,” Dunal complained. “He’s afraid I’ll drop her or something.”
Karadon glared at Hoda and she avoided his eyes. “Children, go over to the main hall and tell the Black Robes in charge to feed you.”
“But that’s food that we give to the refugee
s running away from disaster,” Dunal protested.
“Exactly,” Karadon said, stressing his word. “Exactly. Go on. I’ve got to have a conversation with your mother.”
“So I don’t have to wash my hands then?” Pyram asked, hopeful.
“Just once,” her father said. “Once and you’re good to go.”
“I love you, daddy,” the little girl said, and she gave him a big hug before skipping away after her brother.
“Hoda, this has got to stop,” Karadon said. “This has gone too far.”
“Karadon,” Hoda said, trying to reason with him.
“Don’t you ‘Karadon’ me,’” he interrupted. “I’ve been patient, I understand he needs time to heal, but this is not healing, this is madness.”
“Don’t exaggerate,” she said.
“Exaggerate? Exaggerate? Let’s see: how about when Nora wakes up in the night for a feeding and suddenly, there’s your brother, in our room, handing her over to you?”
“He’s a bit protective, that’s all. It’ll pass.”
“A bit protective? So what of the pigeons?”
“What of them?”
“These birds had the misfortune of hovering a bit too close to Nora’s crib and he chased them with his sword. His sword, Hoda, as if they were monsters from the Pit. And what about his obsession with washing everything? He’s washed the walls of our home about three times already and he won’t let me get close to my own daughter unless I take off my shoes and wash my hands, and even then, he’s always eyeing me with suspicion, like I’m a thief or something. I’m no longer sure who the father is anymore.”
“Karadon, you’re exaggerating.”
“I’m not, Hoda. Nora doesn’t have an uncle, she has a draconian bodyguard who thinks a buzzing bee is an agent of Baal. This has got to stop, Hoda. I want my daughter back.”
Hoda sighed. She knew that Karadon was right. Ahiram had turned into a tyrant, focusing all of his affection on his niece. She did not have the heart to tell him to stop, for she could see how happy he was, how content he was being the little one’s guardian. She knew it would not last. Eventually, he would be called away. Already, rumors of war were brewing and the camp had gone through two evacuation exercises. Ashod had drawn-up contingency plans for everyone so that, if he gave the order to scatter, they would all know where to go. But Ahiram had been oblivious to the entire matter. His days consisted in taking little Noraldeen places: a secluded area where he could watch her while he trained, or up the hills when he carried her on his back. Nora loved the constant attention and care she received, and whenever she smiled, cooed, or laughed, Ahiram’s face would light up. Hoda knew better than anyone the deep scars in her brother’s heart. Her own sense of guilt at the death of Princess Noraldeen—at what might have happened had she not prevented Aquilina from going to her brother’s rescue earlier—led her to be lenient with him beyond what was acceptable. She knew she had to stop him, but could not find the courage to do so.
“I’m not certain what to do, Karadon,” she said at last. “I just found him, and I’m so afraid of losing him again.” He was about to speak when she placed her finger on his lips. “Let me talk to Ashod, and if he agrees with you, then so be it.”
“When will you speak to him?”
“Today. How about you come with me?” she added, smiling. “This way, you get to tell your side of the story.”
Karadon breathed a sigh of relief and walked with his wife, arm in arm. They saw Sheheluth crossing the camp to Ashod’s cabin.
“What do you make of her?” he asked.
“She’s not human,” Hoda replied.
He gave a start, “What do you mean, not human?”
Hoda shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t explain it, but there’s something about her which is inhuman. I’m glad she’s on our side, though.”
“Is she?”
Hoda nodded. “She’s scared of my brother, but she’s not against him.”
“What do you mean?”
“The way I was scared when he would go in a rage. I loved him but he scared me sometimes.”
“And now? Does he scare you now?”
“No. There’s something broken in him. When Noraldeen died, something in him died as well.” She gazed into the distance, over the treetops, toward a cluster of thick clouds in the east. “And maybe it’s for the better.”
“You’re speaking in riddles.”
“Maybe it was necessary for Noraldeen to die.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“My brother is like a taut bow, ready to release a deadly arrow. He’s like a powerful beast about to swallow the world. The discipline he received in Tanniin did him some good, but still, there’s a raging power in him that wants to be released, and when it is released, who will hold him back? Who will help him? Noraldeen understood him well, perhaps even better than I. She told him, no, she commanded him to love her as she has loved him, and that command has become for him more precious than life. It’s that command that causes him to act the way he does now with our daughter. Ahiram has always been a pleaser. He wants to please his dead friend. He will do anything for her.”
“So, you think that this request acts like a shield that stops him from going off the deep end?”
“Something like that, yes, but he’s got a way to go. I thought that after two months of caring for his niece—”
“You mean abducting my daughter,” Karadon grumbled.
Hoda ignored his jibe. “I thought he would come to his senses and realize there’s so much more to what Noraldeen said than that.”
“So you’ll talk to him?”
“Yes,” she said, sighing, “and I’m afraid to do it.”
“Why? He needs you, obviously.”
“I held back Aquilina, Karadon. I did it. Because of what I did, he suffers. Noraldeen could have been alive today. She could have been here with him. He would have been so much happier.”
“Hold it, Hoda, now you’re the one going off the deep end. It’s true that you acted out of fear. You had lost Ahiram and you were not ready to lose another child to that medallion, that’s normal. But I don’t think Ahiram would have been with Noraldeen. Not in a long shot.”
“Why do you say that? You think he wasn’t not good enough for her?”
Karadon laughed. “Ah yes, I forgot that Finikian pride of yours. That’s not what I meant, and you know it. See how he’s protecting our daughter? She’s a baby who can’t talk, so she puts up with it. She’s got no choice. Can you imagine a princess being doted over like this? They’d be fighting all the time. Nope, Hoda, your brother is not ready for a relationship.”
Hoda bit her lip. She knew her husband was right. “When will he be ready then?”
He stopped and looked at her, surprised. “You mean you don’t know? We’ve been together for all these years and you don’t know what it takes to be ready?”
“Oh, stop lecturing me, Karadon, you know I hate that.”
“Alright, alright,” he said. “You married me even though I could die tomorrow. You agreed to value the present despite the risks of tomorrow. You don’t take anything for granted and you’re prepared, should I die. The same holds true for me. I’d miss you something terrible if you were dead, but I would go on, I’d live and make you proud. Do you think Ahiram is doing this right now? Is he making Noraldeen proud?”
Hoda sighed. “Yeah, I agree. He who cannot lighten the load of others, even when he suffers, should not be in a relationship. Ahiram would be too heavy to carry.”
“Unless he’s a big fat boar, a ripe turkey, or a juicy goose, in which case, the heavier the better.”
She elbowed him and he laughed. Hoda smiled and looked into his eyes, and once more, she saw in them the ship that could take her to the ends of the world.
“These things—I mean wars and such—are a headache. A headache, I say. You have to deal with displaced populations, destroyed homes, and the ants. The ants: can someone expl
ain to me how come the ants continue to reproduce when all else is destroyed? Ants, if unchecked, can devour a kingdom without so much as a sigh. In times of war, watch out for the ants.”
–Soliloquy of Zuzu-The-Hip, Jester at the Court of Tanniin.
Baal’s military might covered nearly every known kingdom. This permanent force of two and a half million soldiers was organized in seventy-two battalions—the number of recorded celestial bodies. The size of these battalions fluctuated between thirty and forty thousand soldiers. An angon, similar in rank to a colonel, commanded a battalion. The seventy-two battalions were grouped into twelve armies, each led by a baalos, equivalent to a general in rank. All twelve armies were under a central command, known as the gehon, led by the baalitarch, the supreme commander of the military forces of Baal.
The gehon was housed inside a tall, surly building adjoining the temple of Baal in Babylon. Nebo, followed by his military retinue, stormed out of the building’s iron door. “Cursed be the priests of Baal,” he muttered as he rushed down the bronze staircase at a rapid, undignified pace that forced his companions to scramble after him. They crossed Babylon’s suspended gardens without as much as a glance toward the magnificent architecture that gave the appearance of a floating forest.
“A one-eyed, dim-wit is leading the blind, and a hard-of-hearing is leading the dumb. May the kôhrosh brand them and bind them in the Pit, where the rahhal will shear their tongues and the ninith will fill their soul with the worst spiritual spores the Pit hides in its hellish depth.”
Even though he had just been made baalos and was given the command of the second army of the Temple, Nebo did not receive the approval to proceed with the invasion of the northwestern countries that were still outside the realm of the Temple, which comprised the northern part of Mycene, the Empyrean Kingdom, and Tanniin. Kyrilianne, the current baalitarch, supreme commander of the united forces of the Temple, hailed from Kalian-Thor, which shared a long, continuous border with the Empyreans. She told him, in no uncertain terms, that he was foolish to think of such an invasion.
“You have just been raised to the dignity of a baalos,” she admonished him, “and you are proposing a campaign that any seasoned general would think twice before launching. You do not know what you are asking for. I forbid you from engaging the Empyrean forces.”
The Wretched Race (Epic of Ahiram Book 3) Page 46