Warmaidens

by Kelly Coon

  She was right.

  They were beautiful.

  Twin blades of beauty.

  Twin blades of death.

  And now, they’d be twin blades that would cut Uruku’s reign much shorter than he probably thought possible.

  AROUND THE PIT’S perimeter, row after row of clay-brick benches were crammed with citizens curious about the spectacle they were about to witness. Typically, a Trial of Ordeal wasn’t held in the Pit. This bloodstained oval was usually reserved for known murderers and thieves. In fact, the freshness of the spatter spoke of many punishments that had been given under Uruku’s rule.

  But today wasn’t a typical day. We were going to overthrow a ruler and use his punishments against him.

  The Palace horns blared to announce the arrival of Uruku and Gudanna. The cushioned benches to our left, where they would sit in this sumptuous viewing box, were positioned just above the row of twelve ensis that made up Uruku’s council.

  “There’s Ensi Puzu.” I nodded at the man with the gray beard oiled into a triangle. “I wonder if he managed to convince the two holdouts to consider Arwia’s rule.”

  “Which ones are those?”

  I pointed at the row of council members. “Ensi Adda is the bald one with the red tunic, and Ensi Mudutu is the younger one on the end with the long hair.”

  As if sensing that we were talking about him, Ensi Puzu turned back and looked at me. His face was swollen and bruised.

  Dear Selu.

  Someone had beaten him, probably to keep his mouth shut! Ensi Puzu shook his head at me and turned back around.

  My heart sank to my filthy feet.

  “If the ensis don’t want Arwia in, we’re in a lot of trouble.”

  Iltani bumped me with her shoulder. “No.” She shrugged. “If Dagan goes and gets the Manzazu army in Laraak, then they’ll just kill the entire council if they don’t comply. Now it doesn’t matter if they agree or not.”

  “It will to Arwia. She’ll want them to approve her. And I think Alu needs to see that she isn’t just a sarratum who kills people to get her way. She doesn’t want to be like Uruku or even like Sarratum Tabni.”

  I met her eyes, then looked past her at Gala, who was much less ill since Iltani hadn’t been around to administer the dosage of the stomach tonic, though his ear looked like a dog had gotten to it. As we’d walked by him, he’d acted the part of an abused husband, scowling and kicking at the sand, but Iltani, in a burst of inspired brilliance, had begged for his forgiveness for injuring him and for her trickery. The poor fool had actually forgiven her, and rubbed her freshly shaved head. Said he was looking forward to a new start.

  I’d yanked her away before she could get another shot at his ear.

  “I still cannot believe he removed our restraints.” The ropes were coiled under the benches beneath us.

  “He’s as senseless as those stupid sticks he whittles day and night.” Iltani winked at Gala and he grinned, blushing madly. She laid an arm across my shoulders, the smile falling from her face. “It’s too bad that he found the shard of pottery and took it, because I was going to plunge it into Uruku’s heart and be done with the whole thing.”

  “I understand the feeling.” I lowered my voice and looked cagily over my shoulder. “But there’s no sense sacrificing your own life now. We have a plan.” I looked into her wide brown eyes over her bruised cheek from the many backhands she’d received as of late. “Nasu will pretend to kill him, Dagan will ride back to Laraak, and the Manzazu army will ensure Arwia can ascend the throne by coming into the city and capturing Uruku. Whether they kill him outright or just take him back to Sarratum Tabni is no longer our concern.”

  If it works.

  She sighed. “Yes, well. This will be much less personally satisfying.”

  The smattering of applause from the noble crowd as the caravan of Uruku’s guardsmen and horses paraded down a path toward us was overshadowed by cries of anger from the poor. Uruku’s crimson sedan chair with gold tassels came to a stop right below where we sat, and he stepped down, wincing with the effort, every move seemingly filled with pain. He ordered a guardsman to assist Gudanna, who was wearing a deep blue tunic that hugged her big belly. Her eyes were puffy, with dark circles beneath. She moved with obvious fatigue as she descended from the chair with a soft “oof,” and stopped and clenched the guardsman’s arm for a moment before continuing on slowly.

  Uruku waved to the crowd and ascended the stairs toward our viewing box, shaking us slightly with each step. Gudanna, heavy with child, and pausing now and again, grunted up the stairs behind him. They crossed in front of us to get to their tufted seats, Gudanna holding her abdomen with care. Her eyes flitted once to me, some anxiety hidden behind them, but she looked away, sweat beading on her brow.

  “She’s going to have that baby soon,” I whispered in Iltani’s ear. Automatically, my hand strayed to my healing satchel, which was on my hip under the heavy trader’s robe.

  “With Alani’s evil offspring, no doubt.”

  “Alani is a goddess, so your insult doesn’t even make sense.”

  “The gods can impregnate whomever they want.”

  Several moments later, a great, shrieking groan at the left of the arena drew the crowd’s gaze to the heavy gate swinging wide open on rusted hinges.

  Dagan and Nasu walked out of the shadowy corridor, blinking into the day’s brightness. They both wore sickleswords, daggers, and even maces about their waists, but no breastplates, likely so it’d be easier for them to deliver death blows. The sunlight shone on their bare chests, and even from this distance, it was easy to see the angry red welts and lacerations from their whippings

  Without a word, Iltani pulled me into a side hug that was a little too tight. “Keep a brave face.”

  My stomach turned over. “I’ll try.” But the thought of them accidentally hurting one another as they feigned a fight was unnerving.

  Both Dagan and Nasu wore masks of complete concentration. Dagan’s eyes roamed the platform and the viewing boxes, and when I caught his eye, he sent me a tight-lipped smile, which only made me more nervous.

  On the far corner of the benches surrounding the Pit stood a podium high above the crowd. The town crier laboriously climbed, his knees hitting his great belly, sweat pouring off his brow. With a mighty grunt, he hoisted himself up the last steps to speak. He paused, his face flushed with exertion.

  I shuddered as he raised his hands, and the drummers rolled out a warning for the crowd to silence themselves, each strike on the hide matching the thump in my own chest. He lifted the trumpet to his mouth to project his great voice across the empty cavern of the Pit.

  “Ladies and gentlemen of Alu!” His voice echoed off the sandstone walls. “I must speak of the unprecedented spectacle you are about to witness, made especially difficult to test these two young men since the lugal deems honesty such a worthy venture!”

  From his cushion down the viewing box, someone was watching me. Turning, I caught the disgusting grimace of a smile from Uruku.

  My knees bobbed beneath the heavy cloak, my healing satchel shaking, rattling the tinctures inside. I didn’t like that look. Not one bit.

  Below, the town crier reminded the crowds about the sacredness of the Trial of Ordeal, instructing us that today, both men would fight to prove they were honest. “He who dies will have been proven a liar by the gods, and he who lives must be believed, for he speaks the truth.” He paused, glanced down at the clay tablet in his hand, and shifted his body to address Dagan and Nasu directly. The crowd leaned in to hear his words.

  “Today, Guardsman and Farmer, you will need to truly earn your honesty. You’ll be facing…an almost insurmountable task.” He swallowed, his voice faltering. “You will not be fighting each other to prove your innocence, as you’ve been told. You will be facing a challenge even
greater than that.”

  They weren’t going to fight each other? Panic bubbled up into my throat. “Iltani, our plans aren’t going to work if Nasu doesn’t cut him with the blade!”

  Dagan and Nasu glanced at each other, fear plain on their faces. I looked at Uruku, who was grinning widely.

  The town crier continued. “But we know that you are strong. Able. And determined to share your innocence with all of us in Alu. The last man standing will prove his word is true! Young men, I pray that Selu keep you!” At that, the crowd roared. The town crier climbed back down the stairs, his hair dampened with sweat, and cast one worried look back at Dagan and Nasu as he left.

  I gritted my teeth in panic. What were they going to do? Who did they have to fight?

  The trumpeters blew once more, signaling that the trial was to begin, and Nasu spoke urgently to Dagan, his lips near Dagan’s ear. After a second, they briefly bumped their forearms together, and Dagan drew his dagger and sicklesword from his belt. Nasu drew his sicklesword and a mace, and they crouched into a fighting stance, their backs together. Whatever they would encounter, they would face it together, as friends.

  With a harsh grating sound, the massive gate swung open once more and a group of guardsmen marched out in battle formation to the sounds of the drums. Dagan and Nasu tensed, clutching their weapons in white-knuckled fists.

  Then more guardsmen spilled from the corridor, pulling a large, covered cart, which creaked and groaned beneath the weight of its contents. The men tugged, their muscles straining, until they’d pulled it to the center of the ring. As they locked the wheels, Uruku stood, a dark smile pulling his lips toward his ears.

  The soldiers marched back toward the gate, leaving the cart standing where it was, the cover tied down with thick hemp ropes.

  But something was under that cover.

  Something alive.

  Dagan and Nasu stood before it, crouched in anticipation. The crowd murmured below me.

  “Iltani, what’s in the cart?” My voice came out warbly. Wrong. Off-kilter, fear changing the tone and tenor. Below us, the crowd quieted.

  “Only the gods know what that maggot has done.”

  As the guardsmen marched toward the exit, the last one pivoted and sliced through the rope, then ran to join the others behind the closing gate. The clang of the metal slamming shut reverberated around the Pit.

  At once, the cover of the cart fell away as the rope split, and the contents of the cart were finally exposed.

  Lions.

  Two of them.

  The male lifted its head and roared, and I screamed Dagan’s name loud enough to fill the Pit, the city, and hopefully, the ears of the warriors all the way in Laraak.

  Come help us. We need you.

  * * *

  In horror, the people sitting closest to the Pit scrambled to find seats on higher ground, but the walls were much too high for the lions to escape. Dagan and Nasu, too.

  My chest heaving, I wrenched myself out of my seat.

  “Dagan!”

  Nasu unsheathed his nerium-encrusted blade, spoke quickly into Dagan’s ear again. Dagan nodded and sheathed his sicklesword, then took up both his and Nasu’s daggers.

  “Stop this!” I screamed furiously at Uruku, who was tense, his hands braced against the edges of the box in front of him, a gleeful smile on his lips. He wanted to watch them die! He must not have even cared about Arwia or he already knew where she was. This wasn’t a trial. It was a slaughter.

  Uruku glanced at me and laughed, the violence about to commence bringing his bloodthirst out in full bore. He pointed to the fracas that was unveiling itself below.

  “You can end this, Healer! Just tell me where the nin is.”

  “As I stated, I don’t know!” I bellowed. He’d kill us all anyway if I told. They just had to survive and prove themselves to be true in front of the council. Both of them.

  The lions, ribs protruding, had leapt from their cart and now prowled the perimeter of the Pit in full crouch, hungry rumbles coming from their chests, lips pulled back to expose the sharpest teeth I’d ever seen.

  Dagan and Nasu stood back to back in the middle of the Pit. Both of their faces were pale, and I could see Dagan’s hands shaking, even at this distance. At the side of the Pit there was a commotion, as Dagan’s little brothers Marduk and Qishti shoved through the guards to yell to Dagan.

  “Brother!” Marduk’s thick torso strained to push past the guardsmen stationed around the Pit. “Kill Nasu so you can be declared the winner!”

  The guards roughly pushed the younger brothers against the stands, but they weaseled back through, shouting at Dagan.

  “They’re going to fall in.” I grabbed Iltani’s arm. “His brothers are going to fall in, Iltani!”

  “Gala, do something!” Iltani commanded him.

  “The guardsmen down there have it under control.”

  “Gala!” Iltani cried. “If you want to prove yourself a man, and were ever a friend of Dagan’s, get those boys away from the Pit!”

  He looked at Marduk and skinny Qishti, who were both shouting to Dagan in a frenzy, dangerously close to the edge of the Pit.

  Gala rubbed his lip. “I’d like to stay here with you.”

  “Aren’t you a guardsman, supposed to protect Alu’s citizens? Those boys need your protection, Gala, not me. You don’t have to watch me. I’ll stay put. I’ll never betray you again.”

  After a moment, his eyes lit up with what looked like hope. He nodded once, and raced down the stairs and around the Pit to do her bidding.

  With a horrible growl, the female lion lunged forward and swiped at Nasu with a massive claw. Nasu swung the sicklesword to counter, but missed. The lion lunged again. Nasu swung the mace with his left hand, and caught the lion on the side of the head in a sickening crunch. She growled, blood dripping down onto her face, baring her teeth, and prepared to pounce.

  “Fight, Dagan!” I screamed until I felt my throat would bleed as Iltani wrapped her arms around me, tight.

  Oh Selu save them!

  Dagan drew back and hurled the first of his daggers in one clean move. The lion raised up, about to leap, and Nasu’s blade plunged deeply into her throat to the hilt. The lion writhed and squirmed, rubbing her paws against her neck, trying to dislodge the dagger, but as she struggled, the nerium was taking effect, sending her to sleep. Her movements became thick. Unsteady.

  Nasu lunged, reared back his spiked mace, and finished off the beast with a splattering crack. She sank down in the dirt with a massive rumble, blood darkening the dirt around her throat.

  The crowd roared in approval as the lion fell silent. They chanted, “Turn them loose! Turn them loose!” but Uruku only stood straighter, arms folded tightly, puckering his mouth. He waved them off as if swatting away flies.

  “Dagan! Over here!”

  Marduk and Qishti were trying to push past the guards to throw a rope down into the Pit in some reckless attempt to rescue their brother, but Gala was in the mix this time, trying to keep them away.

  Qishti managed to squeeze between two of the guards while they were busy with his older brother. Gala tried to wrench him back, but was knocked by a guardsman’s elbow, end over end into the Pit.

  Directly in front of the male lion.

  Gala screamed as the lion roared. He tried to scramble away through the sand, half crawling, half running, but the lion leapt on him at once. Yellow teeth flashing, it tore into his leg and shook him violently from side to side. Gala wailed and unsheathed his sword, swinging with all his might as the lion mauled him, but swung wide.

  Dear Selu, he missed!

  I covered my ears. Shrank away as the shriek of the Boatman filled my head. But Gala’s screams echoing off the walls pierced through anyway.

  Iltani stood stock-still, staring at the c
arnage below. Her face was white.

  “It’s eating his leg.”

  “Stop it, Iltani. Turn away. Please!”

  “Dagan and Nasu rushed over and are trying to kill the lion. Nasu is beating it with his mace!”

  “Stop looking!” I screamed, shaking her violently, but she stared on, eyes unblinking. Mouth open in horror.

  But after a moment, the crowd stilled and I chanced a look at the Pit. Dagan and Nasu took a step back, chests heaving as the lion slowly sank to its bloodied side. They stood next to it, wiping their faces of gore. Finally, the beast stilled, its tongue lolling out of its mouth. I dropped my hands to my sides.

  The crowd grew silent as Gala writhed on the ground. He moaned, ashen-faced, holding his right leg, which was mangled to the thigh, blood pouring from the main bloodline.

  No one spoke. No one moved. We stared, horrified at the scene below us. The wreckage of Gala’s leg. The entrails of a lion. Two blood-spattered brothers-in-arms who’d fought to bring down a wild beast. Guardsmen tensed and ready inside the gate, waiting for instructions on their next move.

  It was probably too late for Gala with an injury like that. But I could try to do something.

  “Bind his wound!” I yelled, my voice echoing in the stillness. I had to try to save him. I was a healer.

  But a hand on my arm brought my eyes to Iltani’s face. Her eyes were shining with malice.

  “Let him die.”

  “Iltani—”

  “No. Do not give them any more instructions. Gala tried to lie with me without my permission, no matter what he promised Dagan. He laughed at me, Kammani when I told him to stop, and told him I’d kill him if he succeeded. He said he’d make me love him.”

  She met my eyes and I recoiled from the hatred burning inside.

  “So he will die, and I am glad for it. I am glad.”

  I nodded, silencing myself. It wouldn’t matter if I told the guardsmen who were coming to collect him what to do, anyway. It was too late. He’d lost too much blood. They opened the gate, slipped into the arena, and scooped the groaning Gala into their arms. They carried him out as quickly as they could, black blood dotting the sand behind him.