Pekari -The Azure Fish

by Guenevere Lee

Just before they threw her inside, she saw the pile of bodies next to the ram. How long had they been roasting her co-conspirators before they had dragged her before the Sisters? How many deaths had been carried out that day? No. Ka’rel. Ba’rek. Farek. No! Underneath the beast, another man was raking at the coals, adding logs of wood, stoking the fire.

  She was lifted from the ground, and they began to stuff her through the door. She tried to grab onto the sides. The metal was searing hot to the touch, but she gripped it with all of her strength. The crowd jeered and laughed at her plight. Then, frustrated, one of the guards punched her. She fell backwards into something shallow and wet, and screamed in horror when she realized it was the simmering red juices of the victims before her. She kicked out, but the door closed and her foot only hit searing metal.

  No.

  She got to her knees in the steamy and dark space, feeling her skin blister. She pounded at the door, clawed at the edges. She felt her nails catch, tear from her flesh, but the agonizing pain didn’t stop her from her desperate attempt to pry the door open. She could hear commotion from outside, muffled as it was and then noticed the temperature rising. The fire roared around the ram.

  It’s just a mistake. Someone’s going to open the door.

  “Please!” she screamed, one of the few Matawegan words she’d mastered, but if anyone outside heard her she couldn’t tell.

  The heat rose. She couldn’t ignore it anymore. Her hands were slick with sweat and blood and the juices of the dead. She wanted to vomit. She cried instead. She was going to die. She tried to force the thought into her head. She stopped pounding on the door. She wanted the fear to go away, so she kept repeating the truth to herself.

  You are going to die.

  Ka’rel, standing before her, her spear in his hands. Come back alive.

  You are going to die.

  She knew she was weeping, but what did it matter? The liquid she was crouching in was boiling. She tried to push herself out of it. She grabbed onto the sides, but the metal burned as well. There was nowhere to hide from the heat. The air itself was becoming unbearable. She screamed, and as she breathed in, it was like taking fire into her lungs. And the pain made her scream louder. She was desperate not to breathe anymore because of the pain, but there was nothing she could do.

  She wanted to keep Ka’rel in her mind. She wanted to think of her children, lying next to her, naming the stars, but all she knew anymore was pain, and how the metal was beginning to glow bright red and she screamed…and screamed… and screamed…but outside the ram, all the audience heard, was the bellow of a great beast, joyfully devouring its victim.

  THE SILVER CHALICE IN THE PALACE OF THE RISING SUN

  THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE

  Looking at the heavy golden doors leading to the Paref’s harem, you would assume it took a great amount of strength to push them open with any speed. The twin doors, each as wide as a man was tall, were intricately carved with images of former wives, servants bowing at their feet, and children playing and growing into strong rulers. The paint decorating their faces and clothes was shiny and metallic, and even though Kareth had been staring at them for half the day now as he waited, he still hadn’t grown bored. So it was a shock and a surprise when the doors swung open with such force and speed that the two guards standing at the entrance jumped out of the way to avoid being crushed. The open doorway revealed a small girl, panting with fear in her wide eyes.

  “Kareth, we need you now!” Harami yelled.

  They’d been summoned to the palace in the middle of the night. Harami’s older sister, Merneith, had gone into labour. For days, Yunet had done nothing but prepare for this moment, turning away other women seeking her help, and forcing Kareth to make the same potion over two or three times to ensure it was of the highest quality. There was no way Yunet was willing to let child or mother die.

  It had been more than a turn of the moon since he’d been to the palace last, though Yunet had gone several times. He always asked to go with her, but she dismissed him out of hand, saying it was more important he work on the medicines. He knew the truth of it, though; she just wanted to keep him from seeing Harami. This time, she couldn’t refuse him.

  Kareth had really just come along to carry things. He was not allowed beyond the golden doors, for the simple fact that he was a man, and the Paref and his eunuchs were the only men allowed to enter the harem, for obvious reasons. He now understood why the guards had laughed so loudly when Kareth had tried to gain entrance the night he’d foolishly thought he could sneak in unnoticed, the night Yunet had saved his life and taken him into her service once more.

  Harami looked at him with a terrified expression, and Kareth immediately suspected the worst. Either Merneith or her child was in peril of dying. Kareth took a step forward. The guards, recovering from the shock, crossed their spears and barred Kareth’s advancement.

  “Stand down!” the calm, sweet princess he’d spoken to all those days ago had been replaced by this panicked creature. She was sweating, shaking, and her voice was shrill and frantic. The guards looked uncertain. “The midwife, your master, something’s happened!”

  “What?” Kareth cocked his head to the side. The midwife? Something had happened to Yunet? But that didn’t make any sense.

  “She collapsed. The midwife collapsed, and Merneith is going to die!” Harami began sobbing. The guards looked at each other, confusion and anxiety on their face.

  “Yunet…collapsed?” He couldn’t picture it. Yunet was old, of course, but she always seemed so strong. Certainly the force of her hits had convinced him of that. How could someone like that collapse?

  “Go get the tzati,” one of the guards nodded to the other, and he took off running down the hall.

  “Come,” Harami reached out and grabbed Kareth’s arm, pulling him towards the harem.

  The remaining guard grabbed Kareth’s other arm and sternly held him back. “Unless you want me to chop off his manhood first, he’s not going through those doors.”

  Harami was small and thin, she looked like a papyrus reed swaying along the shore of the Hiperu, but when the guard spoke she turned on him with such anger Kareth was afraid she might break the broad-shouldered guard in two with the same force she had swung open those heavy doors.

  “If you don’t let him in I’ll have to drag my sister out here and that could kill her! That could kill her, and the Paref’s son will be born in the hallway in a puddle of blood! Do you really think he’s going to try something in the harem when the High Wife of the Paref might DIE!” She screamed so loudly the guard winced, and in that moment let go of Kareth’s arm.

  She didn’t wait for the guard’s response, she tugged Kareth’s arm so hard he yelled out in pain, and then they were running down the hall, past the startled faces of young girls. Kareth didn’t have time to take in anything around him, all he could think of was Yunet collapsed on the ground, of Merneith’s dead body being wrapped in linens, of meeting the Paref for the first time and having to let the man know he hadn’t saved his son.

  He could hear Merneith’s screams echoing down the gilded halls, and he wanted to pull away from Harami and run away from the palace as quickly as he could, but before he could process the idea, they entered the room, sticky with heat and sweat, the sweet smell of incense mixed with the copper smell of blood.

  Merneith screamed, tears running down her face. She stood next to her bed, clutching the frame to remain standing. There were two servants on either side of her for support. It was hard to make out the features of her face, twisted as they were in pain, her face streaked with the dark lines of the makeup her tears were washing away. She had the same small, delicate body of Harami, and her stomach looked impossibly large and distended.

  “Help me!” she screamed pitifully.

  “Kareth,” he could barely hear the weak old voice, and turned to see Yunet lying on a couch in the corner, a young girl by her head, dabbing her forehead with a cold cloth. Yunet was breathin
g hard, clutching her chest in pain. “The baby…the bab—” she coughed and Kareth ran to her side.

  “Tell me what to do. Tell me what to do,” Kareth whispered desperately.

  “You have to save them both. You have to be a man, boy. You have to—” she muttered, and her eyes rolled back. She became still, and Kareth felt like the world was falling away.

  “Yunet!” he called out, giving her a hard shake.

  The servant girl leaned over her, looking relieved. “She’s breathing.”

  “Please!” Harami cried as Merneith screamed in pain.

  “All right, all right,” Kareth looked around the room and found the table on which Yunet had placed their potions and tinctures. A silver chalice had been knocked over, deep red wine dripping to the floor. “Lie her on the bed so I…I can get a better look,” he swallowed uncomfortably as he looked through the bottles. He obviously needed to sedate Merneith. She was in far too much pain, but there was always the chance of harming the baby, and of course, if he gave her too much, she could die from an overdose. She was so small and weak. Kareth shook his head, trying to shake the thoughts out of his skull, taking a deep breath. He pushed out the noise, the smell, the fear, and panic.

  “I am the speaker of the Goddess of Life,” he whispered in his own tongue. “I am the speaker of the Goddess of Life,” he said louder, in the tongue of Mahat.

  He opened his eyes and saw the servants helping Merneith lie down, propping her legs up. Kareth hadn’t felt strange about seeing the merchant’s wife open like this. He knew it was a deeply intimate place, but after seeing a babe’s head emerge from there it took away any of the embarrassment from him. He didn’t know if it was the fact she was the Paref’s wife or Harami’s sister, but seeing her spread legs on the bed and everything laid bare, he felt his face flush with heat. Luckily everyone was too busy trying to reassure Merneith to notice his embarrassment.

  Kareth grabbed the salve from the table. He and Yunet had modified the scorpion venom, mixing it with some herbs to help make it less dangerous for a baby. He breathed in deep, like he was about to jump into the Hiperu, then dipped a clean cloth into the salve and began to spread it around her swollen vagina.

  “For the pain,” he stammered then added in a louder voice. “I’m sorry, I need to…to uh, reach in.”

  “What?” Harami turned her head in surprise.

  “I need to make sure the baby, is, uh—”

  Merneith screamed.

  “Just do it!” Harami yelled.

  Kareth reached into the dilated opening, and let out a heavy sigh when he could feel the crown of the head. He pulled his hands out and rested them on her knees, his fingers were wet, slightly bloodied, and he couldn’t help but be aware of dirtying her unblemished skin.

  “Okay, okay,” he whispered to himself. Then he looked up at the scared sets of eyes staring at him. There were over half a dozen servant girls in the room, young faces with terrified looks. He knew he wore the mark of a man, that he felt like a man should, but he couldn’t help but realize that it wasn’t that long ago he was their age, that everyone in the room had only seen one full cycle. He looked at the still form of Yunet and at the servant dabbing her forehead. “Um, honourable, Merneith—”

  Merneith’s head lolled back and forth as she moaned, but she paid no attention to Kareth.

  “Merneith,” he said with more force, squeezing her knees slightly. She looked up, and their eyes met. He smiled at her, tried to soften his face. “Everything is all right, Merneith. When you feel like you need to push, just push. Keep your breathing steady. Harami,” the princess was kneeling on the bed next to her sister, holding her hand. “Help her keep count. In, one two three, out, one two three. All right?”

  “In, one two three, out, one two three,” she said, taking a breath at the same time as her sister and the two began to breathe deeply in unison.

  Kareth looked back at the birth canal, frowning to himself. She was fully dilated, the head was presenting. Shouldn’t the babe be crowning by now? And why was she in so much pain? Was it just because her body was small? He wished he had seen more births. Sometimes women hollered in pain and there was no mortal problem, so he couldn’t be sure, but something…

  “No, it hurts!!!” Merneith screamed, her entire body becoming tense.

  “It’s all right, just push!” Kareth squeezed her knees again, trying to encourage her.

  Merneith screamed, not a scream of exertion, but a scream of genuine pain and fear. Kareth wasn’t sure if he’d ever heard a more terrible noise. Her eyes were wide, her pupils darting around, unable to focus, her mouth twisted open. The girls around her, some fanning her, some petting her arms to comfort her, all were crying.

  “Stop pushing, stop pushing,” Kareth said, but Merneith had already gone completely still and started sobbing. “I need to check something,” he delicately inserted his fingers again, trying to feel deeper. Yes, there was no mistaking it, the head was coming first, but…then he felt the brow. The baby was facing sideways, he realized. He could feel the small nose where the ear should have been.

  He pulled away and backed up, trying to keep his face as still as the stone carvings decorating the walls. He didn’t even bother wiping his hands as he grabbed for the bottle of poppy and water lily. Too little and it wouldn’t dull the pain, too much and she might die. She was so small; how could he be sure how much was too much? Her sobbing was getting worse. She screamed again, and Kareth could see a steady stream of blood beginning to stain the bed. He took a small bowl and poured a sip’s worth in. Then he remembered the merchant’s wife, who’d died in horrible pain birthing the twins, and biting his lip he added a little more. If she had to die, he’d rather she died peacefully.

  “Have her drink this,” he handed the bowl to Harami, who was still counting, though Merneith was barely able to follow along. The servants helped steady her head as Harami poured the tincture down Merneith’s throat, who coughed and sputtered, but managed to swallow between sobs. Almost immediately her tense body began to relax.

  “Okay,” he took a deep breath and looked at Harami. “I need to turn the baby.”

  “What?” Harami turned in surprise.

  “If the baby is stuck, it will die, and your sister will shortly follow.”

  Harami’s mouth hung open slightly, and then she slowly nodded. Kareth got on his knees, readying himself.

  “This is outrageous!” a woman’s voice screeched.

  All the heads turned towards the door to see three people standing there, looks of complete shock on their faces. The woman who had spoken was an older lady, clearly someone of standing judging from the golden circlet adorning her expensive wig of black curls. Her dress was made from white linen, only a few shiny beads decorating her. Her clothes may have been simple compared to the regality surrounding them, but her eyes were fierce and intelligent, and he felt like a mouse caught in the stare of a cobra.

  With her was a tall man, though his dress was rather feminine, and his face was soft and pretty. And then there was the least physically impressive of the three—a short skinny boy with a nose and ears that looked too big. The top row of his teeth jutted out from his mouth, but he wore a golden menes and had a long, black braided beard tied to his chin by a golden cord. The pleated skirt, his belt, and sandals too, were all gold.

  “How dare you come into this sacred place,” the soft man gasped, and his voice sounded like a boy’s, high-pitched and clear. Kareth briefly wondered if he was a eunuch.

  “Kareth is the midwife’s apprentice, we needed help, he—” Harami cried, but the woman held up her hand.

  “Silence, you foolish girl!”

  Merneith groaned on the bed, and Kareth felt something shift inside him. These people were just a distraction. Save them both. He had a job to do. Be a man.

  “You be silent!” Kareth screamed. “She will die unless you let me work. The Paref’s son will die unless you shut up! You can punish me later, but right now
let me save her life!” He turned back to Merneith, just as the woman’s face began to turn bright red and she looked like she was about to scream, just as the golden boy raised his hand to silence her.

  He needed to turn the baby. Just a little. He had to twist his body to reach in, contort his hands to feel around, careful to do no harm. The babe’s tiny shoulder was stuck against Merneith’s pelvis. Merneith screamed. He should have given her more of the poppy. It was too late. He shifted the baby, terrified it might have already been too late to save it. He’d seen a stillbirth, carried away the unmoving babe while the mother screamed in horror.

  I am the speaker of the Goddess of Life.

  “Help me stand her up!” Kareth got to his feet, motioning for the women to follow.

  Merneith was dazed, unable to hold her own head up. The servants held her limp body. “Push!” he screamed, unsure if Merneith could even hear him now, he crouched beneath her open legs, hoping the pull of the earth would help the baby to come loose. The baby began to crown. “Push!” Merneith seemed to come alive, a last store of energy. She yelled, her face scrunched up, and she pushed with everything in her body. As she collapsed in the arms of her servants and sister, Kareth saw the brow, and the lids of the eyes and the bridge of the nose, and suddenly he was pulling the tiny child out.

  “A knife,” he called, reached out, and felt someone put a blade in his hand. He cut the cord as the servants helped the unconscious Merneith back onto the bed, and the baby began to cry.

  There was a cheer in the room, and Kareth felt tears on his face, but he was also laughing as he held the wriggling child. He couldn’t believe how happy he was.

  “Let me,” Harami was at his side with a blanket. She took the baby from him, bundling the tiny child up. She turned to the three standing in the doorway. They hadn’t moved since entering. She took a few steps forward and then kneeled before the boy, raising the baby up high towards him. “A son, my dearest Paref.”

  And Kareth stopped laughing. He felt suddenly rather lightheaded. The Paref… The Paref? He winced internally. Had he just yelled at the…? His thoughts were cut off as a gasp came from the corner.