. 05

Author's notes:

This is the continuation of

A Long Time from Home

and if you haven't read that, I advise you to do so. The series is self-edited, so any mistakes are mine, though I now have a proofreader, that can catch missing words ect. Thanks to Jessejames932006 for doing that.

Some of the chapters will take place in the ancient past and while I have done a lot of research for that, there might be small errors here and there. If you think you found such an error in the story, please double check to be sure that you're correct and then PM me about it, so I can fix it. :)

Due to its length, I placed ALTFH under the 'Novels and Novellas' section, but as you can see, ALTFH II is placed in the 'Sci-fi and Fantasy' section, which fits it better due to the elements of magic that's in it. At least in my opinion :)

Have fun and while you're at it, please rate the chapter and leave a comment :)

I have stated that I would upload chapters of 'Into the Chaos' (my Star Wars: The Old Republic story) every other time and that is still the case.

About the notation:

Mental communication is denoted by a < and ends with a >, so a mental communication will look like this: "< Who are you? >"

Some warnings

:

This is erotic action adventure, meaning that there will be both sex and violence, but I don't mix the two.

This story is posted on the Literotica website and the author does not give permission for it to be reposted or reprinted anywhere else without consent.

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Chapter 5 -- Flashback: Mysteries

The city of Susen, Haltamti (Susa, Elam, present day Southern Iran), 1203 BC

There was a light breeze of cold mountain air that made the summer heat bearable, as I made my way through the market in Susen, heading towards the eatery where I usually got a cup of a meal at this time of day. I could have done it at home but eating with the other merchants that frequented the place gave me a chance to hear some news from the rest of the world and even make some deals from time to time.

A shout brought me out of my thoughts, and I stepped to the side to avoid being run over by a loaded cart, driven by what looked like two Assyrians. On the other side, a small group of locals were carrying a load of cloth somewhere, followed by sailors from Megan, who were looking around like it was their first trip here.

I chuckled to myself, as I knew how they felt. Few cities in the human world were as old and advanced as Waset in Kumet, but Susen in the Haltamti area was one of them. Like most of the old cities, it was built on the bank of a great river, which in this case was the river of Choaspes, in the lower end of a mountain range. In this case the area around the city was extremely fertile, as another river, the Coprates, ran through the same valley and while the rivers never met, they were only about half a day on foot from each other. Each year, when the snow in the mountains melted, both rivers ran over, flooding the entire area south of the city and leaving fertile soil behind in the same way as the Nile.

That made the area extremely well-suited for crops and for that reason the city could support a much larger population than its location near the mountains would normally allow for, making the area a near perfect place for a city. Susen had not only been the capital for the Haltamti kingdom as long as anybody remembered, but it was also a great trading hub, with goods coming in from as far away as Bharat, Kumet, Assyria and Babylonia.

The wars going on and the destruction of the City of Babylon had just added to the city's importance, as the caravans and ships that used to go to Babylon were now travelling to Susen instead, avoiding the war-torn areas as the Assyrians were still on the warpath, despite the death of King Tukulti-Ninurta I. His death hadn't meant peace to the area, as he had been killed in a civil war between him and his three sons, with one of them, Ashur-nadin-apli, taking the throne as the new king.

That was still new though and as the Assyrian empire tried to sort itself out, and the rest of the area waited to see if they were going to war or not, the merchants took the more secure route up the Choaspes and sold their wares at Susen.

As fate would have it, we had ended up here as well. Originally, I had wanted to go to Sheba, since there was a faint chance that Mernepath or Amenmesse would send out people to get Princess Neferure back. With Guard Captain Huy knowing that I had planned to go to Dilmun, that made the island kingdom the first place they would look for us, so going to Sheba instead made sense.

However, we ran into a storm as we rounded Oram Aromatum (Baylon: Spice Coast. Present day Arabian Peninsula), which blew us past the relevant harbours and right into the Gulf of Magan (Present day Strait of Hormuz). I talked with the captain about it, and he persuaded me to stay on the ship all the way to its destination in Susen. Not only was it the largest city in the area not currently involved in a war, but as a trading hub with lots of foreigners, it was fairly easy to blend in there.

As it turned out, he had been partly right. We had arrived at Susen without any difficulties, and it hadn't taken long to find a house that was large enough to house all five of us. As we had agreed upon, Neferure pretended to be my wife, while Merit, Tutu and Kiya were our servants.

However, the part about blending in had been easier said than done, which I had to admit was mostly my fault. I could hide my blonde hair, but not my size, and with me being a head taller and correspondingly wider than most of the men here, I stood out in a crowd.

Fortunately, the inhabitants of Susen were used to foreigners and in the almost five years we had been here, I rarely had anyone comment on my looks, except for a few women that clearly had a thing for tall men. That was another thing I liked about Susen and the culture here in the kingdom of Haltamti: Unlike so many other places in the world, with the exception of Kumet, women were regarded as equals, instead of being treated as some kind of second-rate citizens at best and property at worst.

One might argue that it was simply a function of the many wars in the area. Since women didn't go to war, they could manage the family business, while the men were out fighting, making sure that the Kingdom had enough resources to continue the fight against the often much bigger Assyrian or Babylonian armies. Considering that it had only been a decade since the last time the Babylonians had tried to conquer the Haltamti, it was most likely even one of the most important reasons, but it really didn't matter to me.

The equality meant that instead of just being a merchant's wife, Neferure could work as a healer, something she not only had been trained in as an acolyte, but even had a natural talent for, while Merit and her sister Tutu took turns helping her. Kiya's dancing and singing had been too different from the local ways to be any success, but her weaving and looks proved to be enough for one of the local weavers to ask for her hand in marriage. After some consideration she had said yes and had moved in with him. A year later they had moved to Anshan, the other big city of the Haltamti and that was the last I had heard from her.

"Well met, Zabu!" Greeted Arwia cheerfully in Assyrian when I entered the eatery, and as always, I returned the greeting in the same language. Despite the many wars and the cruelty of the Assyrian armies, their language was the most commonly used trade language in this part of the world. It was for that reason I had learned it years ago and I was extremely grateful for it now. With the shift in both Ars Magica and Ars Mentalis, I simply didn't dare use the Ars Mentalis trick that enabled me to learn languages at a fast pace. With Susen being a trade hub, most people here spoke Assyrian as well as the local language, which was a relief as the local language didn't remind me of any other language I had ever heard before and therefore would take a long time to learn.

Just to be able to use my natural ability to command people, I did learn a few phrases like 'Stop', 'Go way', 'come closer' and so on, but beyond that and the typical polite phrases to say 'hello' and 'goodbye', I was no closer to speaking the language than I had been when we arrived here.

"A meal with beer as usual?" She asked with a smile that showed a few missing teeth.

"Yes, please. Fish or lamb if you have it."

"I have both." Arwia replied, waving a meaty hand towards the grill where various forms of meat were sizzling over the hot coals. "Fresh from this morning."

"That is nice. Can I get a plate with a little of everything?"

She nodded eagerly. "Sure. Just go to the roof and I'll send Kiri up with it."

I nodded and walked up the stairs to the open upper level. What had once been a flat roof was occupied by eight tables with surrounding chairs placed in the shadow of the wooden roof, and instead of walls, there was a railing allowing the breeze to cool the customers down and made it possible to see what was happening on the market.

The place wasn't empty as several merchants were having their dinner, but as soon as they could see me, one of them lifted a hand in a greeting. "Well met, Zabu! Come join me."

With a smile, I nodded and walked in the direction of his table, nodding to the people I knew. Murdus was a merchant, importing wares from the surrounding nations and selling them in Susen. Mostly semiprecious stones and metals, but he would deal in everything he thought would yield a profit and he was right often enough to be fairly successful.

"Well met, Murdus." I said as I sat down opposite him. "I hope the Gods are treating you well."

"Well enough." He replied with a smile. "The latest deal went sour, but the gods are merciful and Ettu is pregnant again, so we will need the skills of Merit again."

Ettu was Mordus' third wife and while she wasn't the youngest of the three wives, she was very fertile, having given birth to three babies already. During the years we had been here, Merit had become a well-known midwife and a favourite of the merchants I usually traded with, and she had delivered two of them.

"Congratulations and I'll tell her that you requested her help!" I said with a slight nod.

He faked a grimace, but on his bearded face, it didn't really come across. "Thank you, but no blessings without a drawback. It's harder for her this time and the wives have agreed that they need help, so I'm forced to buy a slave for her."

"You can afford it." I said drily. "Unless you lost more than I think on the deal you mentioned."

"No, but it was a wasted trip, as I never got the wares I was hoping for, and wasted time is wasted opportunities." He said with a shrug. "Have you heard the news from Kumet?"

"No. As always, it's only rumours without much substance."

He nodded and started to explain. King Merneptah had died, leaving the throne to his son Seti II. Unfortunately, things had progressed just as I had feared they would. Amenmesse had challenged Seti II, seizing control of Upper Egypt and Kush, and the two was now fighting a civil war. While the war was at a stalemate at the moment, Amenmesse's people were raiding the trading route, trying to cut off trade and forcing Seti II to rely on the Middle Sea trade as the only source of wealth.

That had made Murdus unable to transport any wares and thus the deal had been cancelled. On the bright side, he managed to get some spices from Sheba on the way home, so the trip wasn't a total waste of time and money.

I was about to ask a few questions, when Arwia's daughter Kiri arrived with a platter of meat, fish and bread, along with a small bowl with a sauce for dipping. It smelled fantastic, and I sent her a smile to go along with the 'Thank you', which for some reason made her blush and hurry away.

Murdus laughed softly. "It has to be those blue eyes of yours, Zabu. I've known Kiri since she was a little girl and she has never reacted that way to me."

"That's exactly the reason." I chuckled as I took a piece of fried fish. "I'm the mysterious foreigner from far away. You're like the cuddly uncle."

That made him laugh louder and I chewed my fish, while waiting for him to calm down. Eventually he did and was drying tears of laughter away from his eyes. "It's been years since anybody called me 'cuddly'. Not even my wives say that."

Swallowing the fish, I said. "Not to your face anyway. You never know what women say about you to their sister-wives."

"True that." Murdus said, still chuckling. "But the thought of me being a 'cuddly uncle' is still fun, though I doubt my nephews and nieces think of me as such."

"So more like tough and fair?"

"Yes, I like to think so." He grinned as his eyes shifted to another table. "But we can settle that easily." He gave a wave like the one he had given me. "Hallutush, could you come over here for a moment."

As I looked over, a young man said "Yes, sir." and walked over to the table we were sitting at.

Of middle height, but with broad shoulders, he walked with confidence, and I had no doubt that he knew how to use the knife in his belt for something else than eating. He was also a good-looking young man, with a well-kept beard and dressed in quality clothing.

"Yes, Uncle Murdus?" The young man said as he came near enough to be heard without talking loudly.

Murdus waited until Hallutush had taken a seat at our table and then said. "Zabu here seems to think that most of my family think of me as a cuddly person. What do you think?"

Instead of answering right away, the young man looked at me with a straight face. "What exactly do you mean with 'cuddly'?"

"Friendly, slightly rounded and generally in a good mood." I said with a smile, as I took a piece of lamb. "That's not to say that he can't be a shrewd businessman or, if need be, a determined leader."

The young man laughed a deep pleasant-sounding laughter and looked at Murdus. "I'm sorry, Uncle, but he got you."

"Betrayed by my own kin." Sighed the merchant, but there was a smile on his face. "By the way, Hallutush, this is Zabu the Merchant. He's also married to Kherta the Healer, whom I'm sure you have heard off." Hallutush nodded slowly, causing Murdus to continue. "Zabu, this is my nephew Hallutush. Despite my best intentions, he is only a moderate merchant, but on the other hand he's a formidable warrior and a Captain of the guard. Oh... and he's the son of my sister, Dwura, meaning that he's a noble."

"Nice to meet you." I said, while my thoughts were racing. Murdus had a lot of connections and many of them were due to his extended family being married into the various noble houses in the kingdom. At some point he had mentioned that his much older sister Dwara was one the many wives of Napirisha-Untash, the former king of Haltamti, and the father of the current king, Kidin-Hutran III. Putting that together meant that Hallutush was a minor prince and part of the royal family.

Hallutush nodded with a smile and turned the attention back to Murdus, as the merchant asked, "By the way, do you know when Kidin-Hutran will return? I've heard that he has had great success in Babylonia."

The young man nodded. "Yes. He raided several cities and is on the way home with a lot of loot and slaves. He should be here any day now."

As the two of them debated the news, I settled in to eat a piece of lamb, while thinking the situation over. After the Assyrians had devastated Babylon, the Assyrian king, Tukulti-Ninurta, had placed one of his sons as a puppet king on the throne there, but as Tukulti-Ninurta died, the puppet king had lost much of his backing. He was also extremely unpopular among almost every surrounding nation, as Tukulti-Ninurta had not only defeated Babylon, but also taken many of their religious symbols and holy statues with him back to Assyria. An act that had enraged pretty much everybody. Especially the Haltamti, who accepted every religion on equal value, as long as they didn't directly work against the Haltamti, even when the Haltamti were at war with the country of the religion.

So, when Tukulti-Ninurta died, Kidin-Hutran III had gathered an army and attacked the Babylonians, using the excuse of trying to get the holy items back, though a much more likely reason was that Kidin-Hutran III was married to a princess from Babylon and wanted revenge for the Assyrians killing her family member.

Chewing on the lamb, I sighed. Politics, religion and revenge, personal or otherwise, were a bad mix. Especially when coupled with dynastic ambitions.

I was almost done eating, when Murdus leaned back in his seat with a sigh. "I guess I cannot put it off anymore."

"Buying a slave for your wives?" I guessed, earning a nod in return.

"Yes. In a weak moment, I promised them that I would return with one today." He said and stood. "Have a good day, gentlemen."

"Likewise, Murdus." I said with a small bow.

Hallutush stood as well. "Let me escort you, Uncle."

"Sorry for stating the obvious," I said. "But considering that the King is only a few days away and has a lot of slaves along with him, wouldn't you get a better deal by waiting? I mean, the market will be flooded with slaves within a week."

Murdus looked at me with surprise on his face and then sighed. "You're right, but as I said, I did promise them that."

I shrugged. "There's still a lot of time. Go home and ask them if they would rather have whatever is on the market now, or a very good one for a better price in a few days and let them make the decision."

That made Hallutush chuckle. "He does have a point, uncle. That would be better."

"I know," Sighed Murdus. "Let's go to my house and speak with the wives."

Still chuckling, Hallutush accepted with a nod and the two of them walked off, while I remained seated, drinking the rest of my beer, before heading home again, with a slight detour to two cotton merchants to secure their stock of Kumetian cotton. With a civil war going on in Kumet blocking the export of almost everything, the price on cotton was certain to rise and with just a little work and some patience, I could make a good deal of money.

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A good evening (Unfinished)

The city of Susen, Haltamti (Susa, Elam, present day Southern Iran), 1203 BC

I was greeted by Merit almost as soon as I entered the house, going through the entrance that led to the area of the house we used as a healer's place, where people could come to get help.

"Hello Merit." I greeted with a smile when I saw her. During the last five years she had flowered into a good-looking young woman and the local style of clothing with light colours showed off her olive skin, as well as her long, dark and curly hair, and big brown eyes.

Unfortunately, Merit was just as convinced as Neferure, that I was an avatar of the Lion-headed god Maahes, but unlike Neferure who seemed to find that exciting, Merit didn't belong to the Kumetian religion and the concept of sharing pleasure with a perceived avatar was just not part of her thinking. Consequently, she was extremely grateful for me taking her out of captivity and would do anything for me, even going to bed with me if I asked, but as I had never felt any desire from her, that was one thing I had never asked of her.

She returned the smile, saying "Good afternoon, Master."

"Oh, I ate dinner with Murdus the merchant and his wife is pregnant again. He asked me to ask you for your help."

Her smile grew a little wider. "I'll be happy to. Did he mention a date?"

I shook my head. "No, so you'll have to ask them yourself."