by Daniel Caet
“But, there must be something we can do. I cannot understand that you stand there, doing nothing,” I said in a more aggressive tone than I had intended.
Suriath's eyes burned with fury but her voice echoed cold in the courtyard.
“They are my husband and my daughter we are talking about and you will respect my decision as the lady of this house while you live under our roof. You do not know anything about our traditions or the ways of our people, so I recommend that you follow the instructions of those who see beyond you.”
I could read immediately between the lines of that speech. Suriath was clearly telling me that it was her vision that told her we should wait, and I did not say another word. The day was eternal, the hours seemed to pass with an exasperating slowness and every time I heard a noise in the house I went out to the patio hoping to find someone with news of Armesh and Liliath. But we did not receive any news all day. Finally, when the sun was beginning to set, I heard Liliath's voice in the courtyard and I ran. Armesh and Liliath were talking to Suriath. The man seemed exhausted and was embracing his wife who now cried profusely, but this time for the joy of reunion.
Liliath came running to me as soon as she saw me. To my surprise she was euphoric.
“Helel, Helel! It's all sorted,” she said with a smile I had never seen before.
“I do not understand,” I replied confused.
Armesh turned to see me and came up to me to hug me.
“My good friend!”
“Armesh, what happened? What did the council say?”
“They've dropped all the charges,” Liliath said without letting her father talk. “It's all forgotten. And they are going to take me to the temple. Don't you think it's wonderful?”
I looked at Armesh without understanding what Liliath was referring to.
“Let's sit down,” he said, leaning on the edge of the fountain. “The council wanted to know our version of what happened at the wedding. One of the guests has filed a complaint against us accusing Liliath of witchcraft. It is a very serious accusation in this city and the council wanted to evaluate to what extent it was true and if Liliath could constitute a risk for the city, as I expected.”
“What have you told them?”
“The truth. We could not do otherwise. Remember that they already have a version of what happened. Telling a completely different story would not have helped us. We explain that what happened was true, but that it was not any act of conscious witchcraft, that we did not know that Liliath had this power and that she is the first one who does not know what originated it or how to control it.”
“But that is what makes her in their eyes an uncontrollable risk.”
“That is what I believed, but Arpasetaj intervened in a very eloquent way in defense of Liliath.”
“Arpasetaj?”
“Yes, I was the first one surprised until he proposed his solution, and I could understand his strategy.”
“Solution? What solution?” I asked, thinking I understood what Liliath had just said about the temple.
“Arpasetaj is not an idiot like Gilgamesh. He sees in Liliath a strategic advantage for the city if they can control and use her power. But for that, they need to have her under their mantle. Arpasetaj’s proposal is that Liliath goes to study in the temple of Inanna with the priests, and that these help her to explore and control her abilities.”
“You mean, turn her into a puppet.”
“I'm not a puppet, Helel,” Liliath replied angrily. “My father and you have the same closed mentality and you are not able to see what this can mean to me. They have offered me the possibility of joining the temple, of developing my power to the fullest. What is the problem with it? It is envy that makes you see double intentions where there are none.”
Suriath's hand flew straight onto Liliath's face and the blow sounded throughout the courtyard.
“Respect your father!”
Liliath's eyes returned a look I had never seen in her towards her mother, full of hatred, rage and, although they could not see it, full of power; but she did not say a word, just turned and headed for the garden.
“She does not understand it. Arpasetaj has been able to flatter her with the wonderful things she can do and how great her power is, and I fear that she is dazzled by all that means. If you had seen her in the council! She was not the shy girl we would have expected. There, in front of those men, explaining what happened, she seemed to be above all of us, as if something had awakened in her, something magnificent but, at the same time, something terrible. I swear, my son, there have been times when I was not sure if the one in front of me was my daughter ... or something else.”
Armesh's eyes showed me for the first time something I had not seen in them since my arrival at his home, fear. A fear of something unknown and that he knew he could not control. And although at that time we could not know, that fear was something we were all going to share.
I left Armesh with Suriath and went to the garden in search of Liliath. I knew exactly where I could find her, and I was not wrong. She was in her little hiding place in the wall.
“Do you want company?” I asked.
“If you come on my father’s orders to convince me of the danger of all this, you can save it.”
“Nothing further from my intention. I just wanted to make sure you're fine.”
“I'm better than fine, Helel! Since I was born my existence has been directed by what my father wanted or not for me. I was denied the possibility of going to Ishtar's temple like my sister because my destiny was to be educated to be the perfect wife, devoted to my husband and mother of many children. For the first time I have the possibility to achieve what I truly desire.”
“And what do you desire, Liliath?”
“Power to do my will, not to be a slave to any man’s.”
“But, don’t you see that is precisely what will happen? You will become a puppet of Arpasetaj’s and the priests of the temple. They are only interested in your abilities and will use you for their purposes without you having a choice to do otherwise.”
“Do you think I do not know what their intentions are?” she said with a smile. “But I'm one step ahead of them. You have seen what I can do. And that's just the beginning, Helel. I feel how power grows in me and with their help I can learn to control it and make it even bigger. And then, when I've got everything I need from them, when I'm invincible, let them try to stop me!”
Her words sounded decided, no trembling in her voice or doubts. The shy girl she had been had disappeared to make room for a confident, ambitious woman and, even then, I could feel that she was extremely powerful. Her eyes like ice watched me, but it was not coldness that they induced in me, but an intense fire that I felt devouring me inside. From the way she held my gaze I knew that she had also noticed it, over time I have come to believe that she knew what she was causing in me, that she even wanted to do it. She approached me slowly without turning her eyes away from mine and her voice became a whisper.
“Stop talking about what I want, Helel. The question is, what do you want?”
Her lips joined mine and I noticed how her tongue entered my mouth and played with mine. My whole body abandoned itself to her without remedy. And there, in that garden, with just one kiss, she took possession of me.
Betrayal
The following months passed very quickly and brought something resemblant to happiness for everyone. Liliath was happy with the increasingly longer time she spent daily in the temple, I was happy with Liliath and Armesh was happy with our relationship that had been the worst kept secret in history. The fact that he knew of our love and approved it, made us not have to hide anymore, but that did not take a bit of intensity from our encounters.
Each day Liliath returned from the temple with a new skill. Her control over the elements was now complete and she was able to bend nature at will, growing the most beautiful plants where and when she wished or making the animals follow her orders. Her vision abilities had a
lso grown and were now voluntary, something that Gilgamesh knew how to take advantage of, both politically and militarily without her appearing to care. She enjoyed the opportunity to demonstrate her power in public, and to know that this power guaranteed her some form of superiority even if it was temporary. The speed at which that power was growing was incredible even for me, and my head made titanic efforts to avoid the question that everyone else was asking. What was she becoming?
However, there was someone who throughout this period was not happy in any way, Suriath. Looking back, I realise that maybe she knew, by vision or by instinct, something that the rest of ours ignored. Although she never publicly disapproved of my relationship with Liliath, it was obvious that it was not to her liking, neither were all the changes that her daughter was suffering and that ended up making their relationship increasingly cold. Suriath began to show herself more and more away from her and, at times, even from Armesh. I also knew from the servants that the letters to Sadith had increased in frequency, and I wondered what image she was giving her little daughter of everything that was happening in our lives.
Finally, one summer morning Armesh called Liliath and me to tell us that the time had come to set the wedding date. That announcement caught me by surprise. I had been so absorbed in my relationship with Liliath and all that it implied that I had completely forgotten everything that had taken me to Armesh's house. During those months Liliath had occupied all my time and my thoughts, and I had been simply Helel, the man. The step that Armesh proposed to me meant going a little further in my human nature and, perhaps, forgetting definitively what I was. But Liliath's eyes and the happiness that showed on her face and on Armesh's was something I could not fight against, and any doubt I might have immediately dissipated. Embracing the happiness of my life among those humans we set the date of the wedding and put my previous life in a chest. Or that's what I believed.
The preparations for our wedding were very short. In just three months everything was organised and ready for the celebration that would take place in the house of Armesh. Due to his position in the council, the list of guests was very extensive, and the amount of money needed for a celebration of that type was enormous. However, Armesh paid no attention to expenses. To our surprise, he acquired the land located next to his property, and built a small house for us; knowing the intimacy that two newlyweds need, but reluctant to let us go farther than the threshold of their door. That made us very happy because none of us really wanted to leave their side either. I never knew if Armesh was happier for me to join his family as the son he always wanted or the possibility that I could control Liliath and prevent something like what happened at the wedding from repeating itself.
The big day finally arrived. From first thing in the morning the hustle and bustle in Armesh's house was constant. Tents were placed in the gardens to serve food and drink to the guests, including all the members of the council, Arpasetaj, and other relevant persons of the city as well as family and friends from all the surrounding cities and even from Akkad. And of course, Sadith. At first, I found it hard to recognise her among the rest of the guests. We had expected her a few days before the wedding, but something kept her in Akkad and she could only arrive the same day of the ceremony. My mind had expected to find the girl who had left for the temple in Akkad, but the time had passed for everyone and she was no exception. Sadith had become a tall, thin young woman, with the same beauty as her sister, but with long, black hair like the wing of a raven instead of fire red. Her eyes, of an intense green and her red lips like ripe pomegranates attracted the attention of all the men of the party to whom she paid no attention. Her hands already showed the tattoos of a priestess, and although that office did not prevent her from choosing a husband and getting married, everyone knew that the requirements of any possible candidate were now extremely high.
“Sadith?” I asked when I saw her. “I cannot believe it's you, you're so changed ... Where is that little earthquake that revolutionised the whole house?”
“We have all changed in recent times, Helel. None of us is what we were anymore.”
Her response, icy as her gaze left me standing and not knowing what to answer.
“Well, in any case the change is for the better, you're very beautiful,” I said trying to be nice.
“Be careful, Helel, I do not think your wife will like you to praise the beauty of other women,” she replied without smiling.
“Now we're family, Sadith …”
“You're wrong,” she said, staring into my eyes. “I know who my family is, as well as who I am. Can you say the same, Helel? Do you know who you are?”
“I do not know what you mean,” I lied.
“Of course, you know. You can play the happy family as much as you want, Helel, but we both know that you are something else, something that is not compatible with this pantomime. How long do you think your past will take to reach you? And when that happens, how do you think the power-hungry monster you're about to take as a wife will react? Enjoy your small play while you can, Helel, because it is one that will not last!”
My fists twitched at her words, but I knew how to control the anger growing inside me. Her eyes were two daggers, especially sharp for the occasion. I never knew if everything came from her vision or from the uncertainty that was generated by everything that was happening in her family, but those words would haunt me for a very long time. Sadith did not wait for any reply, the message had been delivered, she turned around and she was lost among the guests, and I did not see her again all night.
The musicians rescued me from the state of confusion in which she left me. It was time for the bride to make her entrance in the tent and everyone was expectant, but I the most. Liliath was a vision. Her chiffon dress embroidered in silver clung to her body, emphasising each of her attributes. Her hair in a high bun decorated with the same silver threads as her dress and her kohl-covered eyes made her look like one of the goddesses of men. The spell was served, and it worked on all of us. A murmur of emotion ran among the guests followed by an ecstatic silence, and in the center of that wave of adoration was me, who in a second had understood that, not only loved that woman as much as my human body and heart allowed me to, but I knew I was hopelessly lost because I would not know how to live without her.
Liliath came to me crossing the whole tent and the ceremony began. The procedures were very simple. Armesh tied her hands with a bow of gold thread and gave it to me to represent the submission that was expected from the wife to the husband, and said a few words about how happy he and his family were due to our union. I could not help but wonder if he was aware of the unreality of that statement.
Liliath and I spent the rest of the evening greeting all the guests and thanking them for their gifts as expected from us. Neither of us had any idea who had given what, but we kept ourselves out of awkward conversations because of it.
Finally, the moment that Liliath and I were waiting anxiously arrived. The guests accompanied us to the entrance of our new house. They threw flowers on our doorstep as a sign of prosperity and Liliath and I entered our new home. We were both nervous. Liliath had insisted on the importance of being a virgin that night and, although I knew that this had more to do with the fear of how it could affect her powers, I respected the idea without problems, especially because, although my desire for her was more and more difficult to control every day, the sex of a human body was something absolutely new to me. Obviously, I knew how the logistics of that worked, but the associated emotions were going to be completely new to me. Luckily, Liliath had all the security I lacked.
Our room was illuminated by several lamps and a small fire on the back wall that made the room warm and cozy. Liliath stood in front of me and with a quick movement of her hand she undid the clasp that closed her dress that fell slowly to the floor. The next thing she did was undo her hairstyle. And there she was, in front of me, completely naked, bathed in the golden light provided by the lamps with her red hair falling behind
her and defying the ardor of the flames of the fireplace. That vision made me lose the control I had so arduously kept until then. I noticed how my member grew under my tunic anxious to escape. Liliath approached me and without stopping staring into my eyes she kissed me, and her anticipation was also evident. My hands traveled over her body as she kissed me, the softness of her skin excited me even more. I felt her hard nipples under my fingers and I thought I was exploding. Her hands were stripping me bit by bit as her tongue played in my mouth and my breathing stirred. Suddenly, her mouth no longer kissed mine. Her body kneeling in front of me and her tongue running through my member made me scream with pleasure. She knew what she was doing, she knew exactly what fibres she should touch to make me become her slave. On the verge of losing control I took her in my arms and put her on the bed. Her legs hugged my body automatically as her chest rose and fell breathing hard. She grabbed my member with her hands guiding me towards her, asking me to penetrate her. I entered her body without delicacy, without control, like the inexperienced person who in reality I was, but far from complaining she only whispered a word in my ear. More. And I lost my control completely. That night, in Liliath's arms, I was more human than I had ever been. And that I had been ever since. The sunrise found us exhausted, and finally we fell asleep naked and united in a hug that we thought was unbreakable.
The following days and nights were an incessant repetition of what happened that first time. Liliath and I removed ourselves from the world to recreate each other and she even stopped going to the temple for a few days. The passion never diminished in intensity although, with the days, it became more temperate, fuller of tenderness and became the perfect complement of our love and not so much the love itself. In the following months our lives were not very different from those of any other marriage. Busy with our love, our house and our daily occupations we almost forgot who we were, that within us resided powers that even we ourselves could not imagine. Little by little I had discovered that I also had control over nature and the elements and, although at that time my control was not as great as Liliath's, I was able like her to dominate the will of some creatures, modify the climate by short periods of time or grow plants at will. Liliath enjoyed challenging me to try to do the same things as her, but the speed at which she gained control with her daily lessons in the temple was much greater than what I could acquire by myself. However, each of these new powers, although they were not new at all, reminded me that I was not the man I pretended to be and that, even then, it was obvious that I would never be. Sadith's words came again and again to my head and I also began to wonder if that dream that I had created for myself could last or for how long I could believe it myself.