“Yes,” he said quietly. “It was the day after our wedding. Back then I thought I was the happiest man on earth.” He shook his head as though staving off the pain and the loneliness of the past years.
“Then what happened?” she asked softly.
“I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember the cavern with golden walls?”
“No,” he replied unconvincingly.
“You remember the prophecy, don’t you?” He did not reply. “The prophecy of the Letters of Power?”
“Yes, I remember,” he said bristling with anger. “Empty promises, hollow words. We were young and impressionable. We found the Cave of Gold and we convinced ourselves that a being of light had spoken to us. We were stupid. It was a cheap, fanciful dream, nothing more.”
“Cheap, fanciful dreams?” replied Bahiya, shocked. “The Order of Baal exists because of this cheap, fanciful dream. Since the fall of the Great Tower, the Order has destroyed entire villages in order to repress any knowledge of the Letters of Power. Baal destroyed every libre it could, and those it could not destroy, it foredoomed with every conceivable curse. Those it could not curse were hidden in dark places, and inhuman watchers were assigned to protect them; watchers I do not want to meet in my worst nightmare. The Letters of Power scare the Temple. According to the lore of Baal, a Seer will find these Letters and use them to bring chaos and destruction to the world. He will open the Pit and set himself as the archlord of darkness—”
“Archlord of darkness,” interrupted Tanios on a sarcastic tone. “It sounds trite and stupid.”
“You are right. Pure evil always sounds trite and stupid because one of its greatest weapons is to convince us it is a harmless charade. We use poor labels to speak of what we cannot fully understand. I assure you, the Pit is real. Every high priest and priestess experiences the Pit.”
“You’re losing me, Priestess.”
“I destroyed Baher-Ghafé because of these Letters, do you understand? I loved this village. I loved its people. They were dear to me. I killed them because of the Letters.”
“You’re confusing me. Stop speaking in riddles.”
“Why did this being of light reveal the prophecy to us?” asked Bahiya.
“I don’t know and I don’t care to know.”
She glared at him, barely repressing her anger. “Let me remind you of this prophecy first, then perhaps you will care.”
Tanios shrugged his shoulders and waited. He was a man used to action, not historical tirades or reflections on obscure prophecies. Nevertheless, Bahiya had killed four men for Tanniin in order to break a cryptic curse. I am not certain I believe any of this, but I need to find out if I can trust her before we meet the urkuun.
Bahiya looked at Tanios as she recited:
“’A Seer each of you is given in this vale of tears,
To find what was lost and bind what was broken.
A joyful light shall shine in the fullness of years,
To reveal what you heard and what I have spoken.’
Now before I go on, Tanios, I want you to think about the ‘joyful light’, and then think about what happened right before the start of the Games.”
“What are you getting at Bahiya?” he replied in a guarded voice. She could see he had connected the show of lights the night before the Games and the “joyful light” of the first stanza of the prophecy.
“‘Twenty-two uncreated Letters of Power,
To heal and redeem by a shout of command,
Or free the Lords of the Pit beneath the fallen tower,
Lay scattered to the four corners of the land.’
“This part is clear. There are twenty-two Letters of Power hidden all over the world. The Temple believes there are only twenty Letters,” she said with an intensity that surprised him.
“All right, Bahiya,” he said heaving a deep sigh. “I’ll humor you and assume that any of this makes sense. I am doing it because I need to know if I can trust you. So, what are these Letters of Power?”
“We don’t know. Sureï alone, who had cursed these Letters, could have shed some light. The Temple believes the Letters can break the Rohmarim, the Seal of the Pit, and free the Lords of Darkness.”
Tanios threw his arms to the heavens. “I am starting to lose my patience, Priestess, I—”
“I never wanted to involve you in any of this but now that you are involved, I need you to understand. Please, listen to the rest.
‘They must be gathered by one of the two Seers,
Who will bind them in a final word of light.
The second Seer must lead in this vale of tears
To eternal darkness into the depth of night.’”
“So there were supposed to be two Seers then,” said Tanios. “Funny, I don’t remember any of this.”
“Who was in the Cave of Gold that night Tanios?” she asked softly.
“You and me, Corintus and his wife Amaréya, and two others.”
“Two others?” she asked surprised. “I did not see anyone else.”
“You were not looking,” he replied with a wistful smile. “I am certain Balid and Kwadil were hiding in one of the lateral passages, listening in.”
“Kwadil?” she asked dumbfounded. “I should have known,” she added in a whisper. “I should have known.”
“How does Kwadil have anything to do with this?” asked Tanios, losing his patience.
“Listen to the last stanza:
‘A boy will be carried by a double-finned shark.
And when unexpectedly the night will be lit,
By supernal light across the sky so dark,
The Seer will rise against the wiles of the Pit.’”
Her eyes never left his while she recited the verse, and she could see in his eyes, that at last, the truth had begun to dawn.
“You mean to say that Ahiram is—”
“The first of two Seers,” she completed softly.
Tanios frowned. “What does this prophecy have to do with Ahi …” He was starting to relate Bahiya’s statements. “But that would mean that he is—” He looked at her with eyes filled with a fearful disbelief.
“Your son.” Tears fogged her vision and she struggled to control her voice. “Our son, Tanios. Ahiram is our son.”
Tanios was stunned. The words hit him in slow motion.
“Our son?”
“Yes, when the Lord of Light told us about the prophecy, I did not yet know I was pregnant with Ahiram.”
“You were what?” asked Tanios who had not yet registered the full impact of her words.
“Pregnant with Ahiram. With your son and mine, Tanios.” Tears were now streaming down her cheeks. “I am his mother and you, his father.”
Tanios suppressed his raging emotions—something he was all too good at—and focused on the facts. If Ahiram is her son, that would explain why she tried to save him.
“Are you certain? When did you find out?” he asked.
“After I joined the order of Baal.”
“You mean after you ran from me?”
“Yes. I was young. We had run away, and I married you against my father’s wishes. Tanios, I loved you, but I was frightened. You were so wild and adventurous, you cared nothing for order and stability, and I needed these. I desperately needed structure in my life, to go back and tell my family about you, about us, but you wouldn’t listen. The prophecy had scared me and I didn’t …” she heaved a deep sigh. “I didn’t want to be with child, not from you. The Temple offered me security and honor. I ran away, Tanios. I ran away from you. I embraced the Temple.”
Focus on the facts, thought Tanios. “What happened then?”
Bahiya breathed deeply before continuing with a low, anguished voice. “Shortly after joining the Temple, I discovered I was already pregnant. I was so stricken with fear that my child, your child, would be the Seer of the Prophecy. If the Temple would ever find out, they would kill him. Kill our child, Tanios.”
Tani
os drew close to her, his eyes now full of concern. Bahiya felt compelled to continue.
“Back then, Hayat, one of my maids, was serving in the Temple. She had married a man from Baher-Ghafé and was to leave my service. She was pregnant as well. I was desperate, Tanios, I had to save our child. I used herbal potions to quicken her delivery and we gave birth within hours of each other. If a woman gives birth on Temple grounds, she must undergo the Right of Purification, during which time, a wet nurse cares for the baby. The midwife had briefly shown Hayat her baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. Following my orders, she told Hayat that it was a boy. Two months later, she left the Temple with Ahiram, and I kept Hiyam.”
“And the midwife and wet nurse knew your secret.”
Bahiya shook her head in agreement. “A Mist Spell works wonders on recent events. They both forgot what had taken place.”
“Why did you keep all of this hidden from me? Why did you not tell me? I would have helped you.”
“I tried,” said Bahiya with deep sorrow. “I sent you many messages, asking you to come and see me, but either you did not receive them, or you refused to come.” She looked at him, and he looked away. She had deserted him and he had been too proud to respond. “I tried, Tanios.”
Still looking away, he said, “Then what happened?”
Bahiya took a deep breath and continued, “Six years ago, a few months before Kwadil had brought Ahiram to you, an order came from Babylon. It was like a sword piercing my heart. ‘Destroy Baher-Ghafé.’ I sent someone to warn Ahiram’s family, but more I could not do. I gave the order to kill my own son. I was the high priestess of Baalbek, Tanios. The order came from Sharr. One act of insubordination and he would have exiled me to the Arayat. Later I found out that Ahiram’s family had survived, but there was no news of our son. Six long years went by without a word, without a glimpse of hope. For six years I thought our son was dead. I silently grieved for him without hope, until that fateful evening when I told the King the slave should sit by my side. Ahiram. The slave who was trying to win the Games of the Mine, the one person I had orders to eliminate, the one I had set Prince Olothe after.”
“I remember,” said Tanios. “You cried out loudly and dropped to the ground. How did you recognize him?”
“By his birthmark. Ahiram has three small dark circles at the base of his neck. When he sat by me at the table of the King, I looked at him and noticed the circles on his neck. I knew he was my child. The shock was so great, I fainted.”
“So you thought about the lights before the Games and you figured out he was the Seer? A bit outlandish don’t you think?”
“Not when you consider the prophecy. Don’t you see? Many high priestesses will gladly sacrifice their sons for power and the chance to join the Inner Circle. Something held me back. The raid in Baher-Ghafé should have killed him, but he survived. Six years later, he is a trained Silent, an accomplished athlete. Then, the incredible lights that no magic could have produced—”
“Still, this does not explain why the four men are dead,” replied Tanios, matter-of-factly. “I believe in facts. In facts and in objects I can touch and see.”
“Sureï came to Tanniin,” she began to explain.
“Yes, the Queen told me,” said Tanios who leaned against the wall. He was dizzy and nauseous, and for the first time in his life, he felt lost. “She told us that whenever Sureï traveled far from Babylon, it was to curse a Letter. To break the curse, one must shed blood on the corners of the Letters of Power.”
“Sureï’s curse would have killed him as soon as he got close to the Letter,” continued Bahiya.
“You knew then the location of this Letter?”
She looked at him, taken aback. “Yes, why? Does this surprise you? The Temple has spared neither effort nor expense to locate these Letters. The location of the Letter in Tanniin is ancient news to the Temple.”
“Why can’t the Temple take them if it knows where the Letters of Power are? Why all this complication?”
She shook her head. “The Temple cannot touch the Letters because none of its members can see them. What the Temple wants is to make the Seer a high priest, a servant of Baal who would help the Temple control the Letters. The Seer alone knows the shape of the Letters. Have you not heard of the enchanted cedar tree in Laban-Arz?”
“Who has not heard of this wonder of wonders? A tree the wind cannot move, the rain cannot touch, and time cannot change.”
“It’s not a real tree. It is one of the Letters. Everyone knows where it is. We see its appearance, but no one can get close enough to touch it.”
“Why?”
“Because you need to see it in its true form. Sureï cursed the area around it and Baal keeps watchful eyes on it day and night. Ahiram would see its true form; a Letter. He would call it by its name, the tree would vanish, and the Letter would appear to him. But the curse would kill him before he could call the Letter.”
“If he were to have all the Letters, what would happen then?”
“No one knows, but the balance of power would shift irrevocably and I am not sure the Temple would survive.” Bahiya looked hard at Tanios before continuing. “This is what you have set in motion by allowing Ahiram to enter the Games.” Tanios looked at her and she sustained his gaze. “When the Inner Circle of Babylon realized the Seer was here, they unleashed the urkuun to destroy him. ‘Better that one child dies, than see the entire order perish’, they said. Well, not my child.” Bahiya fell silent and Tanios peered down the corridors once more. All was quiet in this deserted part of the fortress.
“Did you act on your own or were there others involved in these … sacrifices of yours?”
“Alone.” Bahiya hesitated. “Although, I admit I do not understand how he managed to hit Hiyam with his dart.”
“What do you mean?”
“During one of the Games—I do not recall which one now—he threw a poisonous dart at Hiyam.”
“The Game of Silver, and it was not poisonous. He was bluffing.”
Bahiya waved the explanation away. “Hiyam had used a spell of protection. Not the strongest spell, but strong enough to stop his darts from reaching her. Yet it did. Someone must have helped him then.”
“Could he not have done this? I mean, as the Seer—”
Bahiya shook her head. “No. Without the Letters he is powerless. Someone helped him. But aside from this event, yes, I worked alone.”
“But you did not protect Ahiram from Hiyam. She could still have killed him during the Game of Silver.”
“She is my daughter,” snapped Bahiya with exasperation. “What was I to do? Shackle her and …” She took hold of herself before continuing. “I had to rely on your training. He is a Solitary after all. The Temple watches my every move. I did what I could.”
“Then what?”
“Ibromaliöm asked me if the Temple would be interested in recovering an ancient libre, written before the fall of the Tower of Babel. I reminded him of the curse. He shrugged his shoulders and left. This was the only conversation I had with Ibromaliöm concerning his search. I must admit, I did not take him seriously. I thought this was the whim of a bored judge and would soon pass when confronted with the difficulties of finding this libre—supposing it does exist. I should have acted a lot quicker.”
“But you said that the blood—”
“The sacrifices allowed Ahiram to come out of the mines alive and well. I know nothing about him looking at the pages of a cursed book. It is beyond my understanding. Had I not done what I did, the curse would have killed Ahiram if he had gotten too close to it. He would have died a horrible death, alone, and unloved. I could not bear the thought of losing him again. I did what I did so that he may live. When I saw him walk into the council, my heart leaped for joy. I was elated and relieved. My son is alive and he wasn’t cursed. I broke the curse.”
“But you killed four innocent lives.”
“Don’t you care about your son? Are you not happy he is alive?
“They were hardly innocent. Besides, these sacrifices were worth it.”
“How could you be so heartless? Those boys have parents who will miss them. How could you justify their deaths with the life of your son?”
“He is your son too, Tanios.”
“I have loved him like my son. I have always loved him like my own son. But I could not have shed innocent blood to save him.”
“I do not believe you.”
“You do not have to. It is enough that I do.”
“Then I stand condemned in your eyes,” she said in a tone of complete resignation. “What are you going to do? Are you going to help me fight the monster, or will you help it destroy me? I do not fight for kingdoms, nor do I fight for Baal. I fight for my son.” Bahiya looked at Tanios and he held her gaze. Despite their arguing, their love, though wounded and distraught, had withstood time and space. Mistrust and wounds, had perdured in spite of their will to break away from the warmth of shared memories. And now, standing between them, unseen, unheard, unstoppable was Ahiram. To Bahiya, Ahiram meant an unbroken world, a reunion with the only man she had ever loved. Tanios, had embraced a life of unremitting discipline as Commander of the Silent Corps to atone for the chaotic life he had imposed on Bahiya. If he were complicit of the priestess’ crime, a violation of justice, he would then betray his discipline and the woman he had loved with all his heart. In the vast loneliness of Hardeen, in passages given to cobwebs and unbroken silence, their love stood between them like a chasm, an abyss where the extended and open arms of Ahiram was now the only bridge back to each other. Tanios was the first to break the silence.
“Promise me that if we survive this mission, you will stand before a tribunal and abide by its judgment.”
“I promise,” replied Bahiya without hesitation.
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Fine. One last thought. I do not believe the prophecy. Corintus disclosed to me that his wife gave birth to a stillborn boy. If you were hoping their son was the second Seer, then I hate to disappoint you. You need to look elsewhere to find him.”
Wrath of the Urkuun (Epic of Ahiram Book 2) Page 51