Read Online Day of the False King by Brad Geagley - Free Book Online Page B

confessed that a
lingering death in the Insect Chamber would be his fate if Semerket
vanished within the city. He begged Semerket to see reason, and spare
him so terrible an end.
    Cursing his luck, furious at Marduk for his
silence, Semerket reluctantly agreed to follow the hapless clerk to the
hostel. There, Semerket knew, the priests would spy on him, reporting
his every movement back to the palace — exactly what he had hoped to
avoid.
    The clerk mopped his brow, relieved. “And if
you wish, the priests can surely furnish you with a proper valet.”
    “I already have a servant.” Semerket tersely
indicated Marduk, who reached out to grab, entranced, at a passing fly.
    “Forgive me, Great Lord…but…but is he quite
right in the head?”
    “He’s new,” Semerket said, lips thinned with
suppressed anger, “recently purchased. I haven’t broken him in yet.”
    The clerk nodded. “We have a saying in Elam,
Great Lord — one must turn a slave inside out before they become a
proper servant.”
    “A sage piece of advice,” said Semerket
ominously, narrowing his eyes at Marduk. “And one that I will certainly
try.”
    From the Ishtar Gate the trio walked down
Processional Way, a wide boulevard paved in stone on which the city’s
massive celebrations took place. Semerket attempted to speak to Marduk
in whispered Egyptian, demanding to know what possessed him, but Marduk
continued to affect an idiot’s shuffle and refused to speak. Semerket
grew increasingly frustrated; all his plans for seeking Naia and Rami
from the shadows were in ruins, thanks to this stubborn man. He
deliberately turned his back on Marduk then, listening as the Elamite
clerk pointed out the city’s wonders with a pride born of recent
acquisition.
    “And its walls are so wide,” the man
concluded with a flourish, “that four chariots can ride atop them!
Abreast!”
    Semerket murmured appreciatively.
    The hostel was a massive six-story affair
situated along the Processional Way. Semerket’s rooms were on the fifth
story, as sumptuous as any he had seen in Pharaoh’s palace. Skins
covered the tiled floors, and a wide doorway led out onto a terrace
overlooking the city. Gazing down from its ledge, seeing the people
congregating so far below, Semerket suddenly felt a wave of profound
dizziness overtake him. Never having been so high up before, he was
astonished that his reaction could be so immediate, and so acute.
Semerket retreated hastily into his rooms, to stand as far away from
the terrace as possible. At that moment, he heard a cry from the
Elamite clerk, who had discovered the final and most amazing of the
suite’s luxuries — pipes that conducted hot and cold water into his
indoor privy. Diverted, Semerket crossed the room to pull at the silver
taps, first with timidity and then with delight, allowing the water to
spew forth into bronze basins.
    “Come see this, Marduk,” Semerket called,
forgetting his irritation. “Tell us how it’s done!”
    But no answer came. Semerket grew angry
again, tired of Marduk’s pretense at simple-mindedness. He turned, a
scowl on his face — but Marduk was not there.
    A quick examination of the rooms told the
rest of the story. Marduk had slipped away while Semerket and the clerk
marveled at the gushing water. Even the priestly servants who waited in
the hallways had not seen Marduk leave.
    Semerket smiled ruefully to himself. He
should have expected it; Marduk had never promised he would stay.
    For the first time since Mari, Semerket was
alone. As he gazed out to the darkening city, careful to avoid the edge
of the terrace, he saw Babylon’s myriad cooking fires begin to light up
the sky. It was only then that he truly appreciated the city’s
immensity, for it gleamed in front of him like a blanket of rubies
without ever seeming to end.
    Sweet Osiris, he thought, how was he ever to
locate Naia and Rami in such a place?
    DAWN FOUND SEMERKET
on his way to Babylon’s Egyptian Quarter. A man was