“Oh, not again,” Zeus sighed, slapping a knee buried in many folds of drapery. “What are you charged with this time?”
“Disrupting sacred blood rites,” the accused spoke up, not seeming the least bit ashamed. The pale, dark-haired female grinned, exposing sharp teeth. “I thought it was just a normal orgy.”
“How do you know this woman, Zeus?” Konohana asked, curiously.
“I can guess,” Shiva chuckled. The accused smirked and winked at him.
“Since she admits her guilt and appears to be in your orbit of association, I defer her punishment to you, Epiphanes,” Quetzalcoatl interrupted, using one of Zeus’s formal titles. Shiva and Konohana signaled agreement, wondering what fate Zeus would choose.
“Looks like another one for the Seven Hills,” Zephyrus commented quietly to Eros as they watched Zeus transform the woman into a sheep. The ewe cavorted off, temple guards in pursuit. The organized line that had been formed fell apart as the sheep and its pursuers zigzagged around the room. As a result, Eros and Zephyrus suddenly found themselves at the front of the new line.
“Eros? Zephyrus?” Zeus reacted, surprised to see the two deities from his own realm.
Konohana tilted her head. She sensed these two were not here to be judged. “You have witnessed something terrible,” the goddess said insightfully, and Zeus leaned forward.
“Is this more fuss about Venus’ problem?” he asked. “Do you have evidence to present?”
“Not about that specifically,” Eros said, “but what we saw may be related.”
“Speak” Zeus said wearily. He was annoyed that the criminals and disasters originating from his realm were making him look incompetent as a ruler.
“We came upon a massacre at the Shrine of Prometheus. The humans were ripped to shreds. There was no one left alive to say what happened,” Eros said.
Quetzalcoatl turned his steely eyes upon Zephyrus, suddenly interested in the gruesome story. “And what did you see?”
“Uh, the s-same,” Zephyrus answered, startled to be addressed directly. He’d expected to let Eros do all the talking, but Quetzalcoatl’s intense gaze demanded he say more. “And we saw two centaurs running off and the vultures from the grove eating the dead.”
“Where is the one called Prometheus?” Shiva asked Zeus. “Why has he not come to seek his own vengeance?”
“He left our realms several cycles ago. He may have gone back to Earth.” Zeus said. “With or without him, this scourge in my realm must be found and stopped.”
Eros recalled the conversation he had overheard and it gave him an idea. “Perhaps someone could find enough clues at the shrine to track it.”
Quetzalcoatl suddenly scoffed. “This perpetrator is surely too clever to be followed, or Great Zeus would have caught him after he first struck Venus’ followers.” Zeus narrowed his eyes at Quetzalcoatl, wondering why the god seemed to be sparing him any blame.
“We are judges, but we cannot judge what we cannot find,” Konohana said logically.
“A simple truth,” Shiva supported. “So, in order to perform our duty, we must attempt to find this destroyer. I do know of one Freeman who has earned the trust of many gods for his skill at finding the lost. He is called D’Molay.”
“I know nothing of this D’Molay,” Quetzalcoatl protested. “We should look into it ourselves. In fact, I am willing to lead the search.”
“If the crime had occurred in your own realm, I would cede you that task,” Zeus said evenly. “But as it did not, we should vote on Shiva’s proposal before considering alternatives.”
“Face facts, Feathered Serpent. Zeus does not trust you around his nymphs,” Shiva jested. “So then, we vote. Those in favor of engaging the tracker D’Molay, stand.” Shiva and Zeus rose from their chairs as Konohana floated up from her mat.
“Very well,” Quetzalcoatl said grimly. “But first you must track the tracker. Which of us will find him?”
Zeus turned his head back toward the center of the hall. “They will,” he decreed, pointing at Eros and Zephyrus.
Chapter 10 - The Education of Aavi
When Aavi woke up, she felt strange sensations all over her body. Her head pulsed with a pounding pressure and her arms felt like they had been pulled almost out of their sockets. She could not remember experiencing any pains like this before. She also realized she didn’t know where she was, or how she got here. That, at least, was a familiar feeling. She worried that was going to happen to her every time a new day came along.
This worry increased when she realized that she was now in a cage. She tried the door but it was locked. Aavi also noticed that just like the day before, she was naked. Only this time, her lovely clothes were scattered around the cage, ripped and cut up. People who were nice to her had given her those clothes, and now they were destroyed. Aavi’s eyes stung and began to water. This strange wetness and the intense feeling of emptiness in her chest that came with it disappeared as she regained composure. Aavi knelt in the cage, looking down at the ripped fabric pieces that had been her clothes, possessively fingering the small whistle that hung around her neck. It was all she had left now.
Past the bars of her cage, was the rest of the room. It had a dark, ornately carved desk and matching chair. The floor had green stone tiles arranged in a checkerboard pattern. Unsettling stone figures of lions with men’s bearded faces stared at her from the corners. The only thing she liked about this place was the balcony, which let in sun and air from outside. She couldn’t see the ground beyond the balcony, only the deep blue sky. Aavi wondered if she was near the lake, the City, or some entirely different place. Was she still in Buddha’s Retreat? If so, she hadn’t been in this room before. But she certainly hadn’t seen all of the Retreat last night. Then she remembered she’d gone outside to look at the night orbs. Something had grabbed her and pulled her into the air, but she could recall nothing else.
As she waited, Aavi looked again at her shredded clothing and tried to put the pieces back together. Since she really didn’t know how they were created in the first place, she had no idea how to restore them and the idea was quickly abandoned. She sat for a long time before she heard a rustling noise outside.
Hope suddenly filled Aavi’s entire being.
“Mazu? D’Molay? I’m in here!”
Aavi saw something flying toward the balcony. As it got closer, she could see a figure with the body of a man but wings and face of a fierce bird. Aavi was entranced by the dark brown feathers with white stripes that covered him. He landed on the edge of the balcony with no effort at all, turning his head toward her.
His yellow bird beak moved as he spoke to her. “So, you have awoken, my new Princess. I hope you are well rested.” His voice was deep, but had an odd almost lyrical ring to it as he spoke. When he laughed, she could hear his beak click together as soft cawing sounds slipped from it. Aavi could not take her gaze from him, for she had never seen a birdman before. She was so shocked by his appearance that she hadn’t really heard what he said to her. Then he walked over to her cage.
He turned his head sideways and looked at her again with his large ebony eyes. “I heard you calling names as I flew in, so there’s no point in pretending you can’t speak, my little Princess.”
This time she did process what he said and replied. “My name is Aavi. Why am I in this cage? Did I do something wrong?” Then she remembered what had happened when she first woke up yesterday. “I’m sorry about being naked. Honestly, I was wearing clothes last night. If I promise to put more clothing on, will you let me out of this cage?”
Namtar stared at her for a second, and started laughing again. “CA CA CA! Oh, you are amusing!” He was pleased with her voice. It was gentle and soothing. He had worried she might sound whiny or harsh. Yes, she would bring a good price at the auction. Getting over his mirth, he folded his muscular arms and tried to look at her sternly. Namtar was about to give a little speech that he had given to captive slaves many times before.
&n
bsp; “By rights given by the Council of the gods, you have been claimed as property of Lamasthu. As such, you will be made available for sale to the highest bidder. If you resist, try to escape, or fight with other slaves or your masters, you will be severely punished. Do you understand what you have just been told?”
Namtar knew there would be questions. There were always questions from those that had been claimed for being unbound. Some slaves brought in were delivered by gods who had become displeased with the servant or no longer needed them. Others had served the losers in battles between rival gods. Anyone on the defeated side became the property of the winning god, and often they would be sold off for quick gold. Occasionally a human from Earth would arrive here due to some strange alignment of mystical circumstances, but that was uncommon.
“No, I - I don’t understand. Who are you? Why am I here?” She looked up at him with those violet eyes as her golden hair caught the sunlight from outside. It almost made her glow.
“I am Namtar, the High Sulgi, in charge of selling captured slaves. You were captured last night out in the open. You’ll be sold to whatever god bids the most for you. It’s all simple enough,” he finished with a shrug.
“But why did you grab me? Why not any of the others walking around out there?” Aavi whined. She really didn’t understand why she, among all the others she’d seen in the City, had been taken.
“Because you have no right to be free. What god are you bonded to, eh? If you are a goddess, then to what Pantheon do you belong? Well?” He turned his head slightly sideways and tapped his foot in a mocking way as he waited for her answer.
The strange wetness returned to her eyes again as she searched for an answer. “I don’t know if I’m bonded to a god or not, and I - I can’t remember anything before yesterday.” The water flowed steadily from her eyes and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She got a strange feeling in the back of her throat and gritted her teeth to try to fight it back.
Namtar gave her a haughty, skeptical gaze, “How convenient, you can’t remember anything. If I had a gold piece for every slave with amnesia, I’d be as rich as Midas! You’re better off not remembering your past. It means nothing to you now, my little Princess. Today your life starts anew. You will be sold to a new god and you will be bound to that god. You will do as you are told and serve them as long as you live.”
Aavi was still on her knees in the cage, bowing her head as tears flowed down her cheeks. She leaned forward and held the cage bars in her hands for support. Namtar recognized the signs that his golden-haired prize was surrendering to her fate. Usually new slaves argued and fought with him for much longer. They’d threaten that their friends would kill everyone in the slave market once they knew they had been taken like this. Or they vowed they would break free and kill all the slavers themselves. Others had faith that their god or goddess would swoop down and whisk them away. In two thousand years, those things had only happened a few times.
For just a second, he actually felt a little sorry for the girl. He decided to soften the blow somewhat so she might look less miserable when he was showing her off to buyers. A happy looking slave was always worth more than a miserable one. “Don’t fret so. You are a very valuable commodity. Whoever purchases you will pay quite a fee. You’ll eat well, wear fine clothes, live in a decent chamber, and all you’ll have to do is be obedient. You can do that, can’t you?” he asked her condescendingly.
Aavi was still staring at the floor looking at her tears, but in a very quiet voice she said, “What choice do I have?”
“Well, none really,” Namtar said in as pleasant a manner as he could muster. “Would you like to get out of your cage for awhile? I could let you out, if you promise to obey me.”
“I promise. Please, please let me out.” Aavi had never felt as panicked or sad as she had been in this cage. Something about being in a cage was anathema to her, though why, she did not know. It just felt wrong to be so constrained.
Namtar went to the wooden cabinet, opened it, and took out a leather collar attached to a long silvery chain. “I’ll let you out, but you’ll have to put this around your neck,” he said as he walked back to Aavi’s cage. Namtar showed her the collar then tossed it between the bars to her. The collar and chain landed right next to her knees. When she saw that Namtar was still holding one end of the chain in his hand Aavi realized what the chain was for. It reminded her of the leather collar and reins that the horses had worn when she and D’Molay rode to the lake. She also remembered that she had seen people in the City with animals that wore a collar and chain similar to this one. She looked at him like a deer that had just spotted a mountain lion in the forest.
“You want me to wear this around my neck so you can lead me around?” Surely he couldn’t mean that.
This time his voice was forceful and his large black eyes narrowed a bit. “Put it on if you want out of the cage, or stay there until I drag you out to auction you.” He impatiently shook his end of the chain at her.
Desperate to be out of the cage, Aavi clumsily tried to slip the open collar over her head “Like this? I’m not sure how it goes on,” she said.
Namtar opened his beak and clicked it loudly in annoyance. “Beautiful and stupid. I shouldn’t be too surprised. If anyone else tried to put a collar on like that, I would beat them for purposely playing the fool. But in your case, I believe you really are clueless.” The slave trader wondered if the spell kept her clean at the cost of her intelligence.
Aavi appealed to him as earnestly as she could. “I’m sorry, I really don’t know how. I didn’t know how to put those clothes on either. Someone else put them on me,” she said, pointing at the fabric pieces on the cage floor. She realized that someone else had also taken them off her.
Namtar got the key from the cabinet and unlocked the cell door. “Make no sudden movements or I’ll snap your neck. I’ll put the collar on you.”
Aavi swallowed nervously and tried to stay very still. Namtar entered the cage, grabbed the collar from her hands and roughly clamped it around her neck. He freed some of her thick curls that had become caught in the clamp and dropped the hair back down around her shoulders. Aavi winced as he yanked on her hair but managed not to move. Namtar rotated the collar so the chain was at hollow of her neck and tugged it, leading her out of the cage.
“Now, Princess, you will be by my side today. Do as I say, when I say it. Do not speak unless I give you permission. If you disobey or cause trouble, you will be punished. I don’t think you really have any idea what punishment is, but I suspect that before this day is over, you are going to find out.”
Aavi tried to pay attention to the birdman’s orders, but the tightness of the collar she now had to wear made it difficult for her to think of anything else as he continued to instruct her.
“I want some of today’s buyers to see you so that word will get around and we’ll get a good price for you later.” Namtar pulled on the chain a little. “Do you understand me?”
Aavi stood very still. “Y-yes.”
The feathers of his bird face ruffled a little. “From now on you will call me ‘High Sulgi’. When I tell you something you will say, ‘Yes High Sulgi.’ Let me hear you say it.”
“Yes, H-high Sulgi,” she replied nervously.
He smiled. “Very good, let’s go.” Namtar led Aavi out of the room and down the stairs.
Chapter 11 - The High Sulgi’s New Pet
Once downstairs, Aavi confirmed that she wasn’t anywhere near Buddha’s Retreat. From what she could see through the windows, it looked like she was back in the City of the Gods. A little hope sprang up within her; at least she knew a few people in the City. Maybe one of them would see her and help her somehow.
Namtar had stopped at the foot of the stairs to discuss something with one of his underlings. While he did, Aavi had a moment to take in the scene. The downstairs area was much busier and more cluttered than the rooms upstairs. The whole place was filled with strange and unfamiliar sm
ells. Some of them reminded Aavi of things she had experienced yesterday. She could smell food cooking, and another odor was like that of the horse stable she had been in. Aavi’s nose wrinkled at many other sweet, earthy and repugnant things she could not identify. The mix was unpleasant to her.
There were many people, all talking to each other and looking at what must be other slaves that the High Sulgi was going to sell. She was surprised that so many could all be talking and laughing at the same time yet still understand what was being said. It was all a babble to her ears. Some of the people here had animal heads and were dressed in elaborate clothing of many different styles. She thought they must be gods.
At one end of the big room was a raised stage where the slaves were shown and sold. The middle was more open, where beings of all kinds stood talking together. At the other end of the room were tables where people were seated, drinking and eating. Some of them were blowing smoke out of their mouths.
Aavi wasn’t completely sure, but the slaves seemed to be the ones who weren’t wearing fancy clothes and who looked sad or scared. Most of them were chained up at the wrists or feet, or wore a collar like hers. She could see a group of slaves standing on the stage while more well-dressed people looked them over. Being completely naked made her feel vulnerable for reasons she didn’t quite understand, but there was nothing she could do about it.
The one thing she knew that made her definitely feel embarrassed about her nudity was her lack of a navel, a fact that the healer Kafele had whispered to her. Right after that, he had gotten her some clothing that hid the fact. Kafele had also told her that it was nobody else’s business if she had one or not. She had no idea what a belly navel was for, but she was now noticing that everyone whose belly was exposed had one. Aavi instinctively moved her hands to cover the spot where hers should be.
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