The Sighs Of The Priestess Ch 10

Lugalbanda and Nisi-ini-su decided that they would allow Enmerkar one more conquest with their help, knowing full well that before anything of a combative nature occurred, there could be years of posturing. They were not disappointed. Both kings remained adamant in their claims to the affections of their love goddess Ianna every night.

The priestess commented that the nightly burden of the goddess must be easing at least a little, now that she only had to deliver a cup of warm milk to each one of the old fools to make them sleep.

And so it went, with one king threatening the other, back and forth for a long while, long enough for Ur-Nammu and Dimme to play together with others of their age among the tents and the chariots of Lugalbanda's army as he took other cities in Enmerkar's name while he waited for something concrete to come out of the boasting.

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Nisi-ini-su sighed as she held her man to her. She knew that in another few seconds, he would slide out of her.

"What was this last sigh for," he smiled, "have I disappointed you?"

"No," she smiled back, "Over all of the years and the many times that we have done this, I have never been unhappy. It is just that if I had my way, I always have the wish that I could hold you there longer afterwards, that is all."

The door opened and Anat walked in with a platter of food. "You said that you sought the counsel of your women, Ba'al. We already have the wine with us, but here is food to eat while we think."

"If there is one impractical bone in your body, Anat," the priestess laughed as she untangled herself from the warrior-priest, "I have seen no sign of it yet."

It took a little careful thought, but the three of them moved to the carpet in front of the hearth to sit and hold their discussion.

"This endless bickering that Enmerkar does with Aratta is taking more time than I am prepared to allow," he said. "I do not see what there is for him to enjoy in it, but he must, somehow. The plan is stalled over the waiting."

His two wives nodded, "We all grow a little older and though it gives us the time to raise our children to warriors, it serves no useful purpose," Anat said.

"It is so," Nisi-ini-su nodded," but there is another aspect which must be considered. All of this waiting does little more than test the alliances of the tribes as they wait and chafe. Perhaps he thinks that new leaders would emerge in the tribes to test your hold on them."

Lugalbanda smiled, "So we three are all of one mind once more on an issue. What is to be done then? Give me an idea – some way to force Enmerkar's foolish mind to see that he must act or lose something out of it all. I have a thought, but, ..."

"No, Lugalbanda," Anat grinned, "You would let us do all of the work."

"Anat is right," the priestess laughed, "If you have a thought, then say it. You have asked for advice, not us."

"I would like to move against Babylon," he said, "It is a jewel worth plucking and it is in Enmerkar's thoughts as well, thought I know not when he would ever get to it. It irks him that many tongues are allowed to be spoken there and he would subjugate the place.

But I know it for what it is, a Martu city of long ago as it always has been. I would allow what they have, for I cannot think of it as a bad thing that all tongues are welcome to be spoken there. If I have a need of one who can understand a tongue that I cannot, where do I send for one to help me? I send to Babylon as I always have, no?

But I do not want to move yet, for it would be too soon, and only because of this endless arguing with Aratta. I do not want to take the place in his name, for he would only ruin what is there. I want its conquest in our names, the first of the new, not just more of the old.

I want to shake the gaming table a little. At the same time, I want to give the tribes a new reason to want to play at the same table as the rest."

He nodded as he lifted his goblet to his lips, "I cannot be seen to have much of a hand in this, but I would send Fox and her man to guide the tribes in an uprising against Uruk. The old king will need to do something and it will make him see that he risks all in his folly. Do you think this has merit?"

They thought about it and discussed as they ate. "I think it must be bolder than you have said," Anat remarked, "Let the tribes from far away join in as well. Show this to be a wider thing than just the tribes near to Uruk."

The priestess grinned and nodded, "Yes! Let other kings see that Enmerkar has troubles. He will know that his neighbors would watch to see weakness in him and he will even know that. The other kings would do nothing but watch, wondering at what might cause him such trouble and thinking about their own weaknesses. For if it can happen to Enmerkar, it can also happen to any of them.

It would force him to act, for if he is thought to be weakening, then he is in danger. He knows this and it would force his hand. As well, if there are many attackers, then each tribe would lose only a little of their strength in the game."

Lugalbanda chuckled a little, "Sometimes I fear how I lie asleep defenseless with two lionesses in my bed. I like it, but we will need other leaders to rouse the other tribes. Let the Martu in the south rise up against Uruk directly. Let the others all over Sumer be roused as well, but let the ones in Akkadia give the most worry, for if it is seen that they come from that far off to attack Uruk,..."

"Then Enmerkar might shake a little, "Nisi-ini-su said, "and hopefully he would shut up for a time about having the tired old goddess work so hard at getting a cockstand out of his wrinkled old thing."

"Who is to lead then and where?" the warrior asked them.

"Move the Fox and the Wolf to the rest of Sumer," Anat said, "They always move quickly and it is a lot of road to cover. Let Yanna and Illya lead in the south, but not until the rest are at least a little close."

The Ba'al nodded, "Yes, I see it. Who leads out of Akkadia then? We need someone who knows the land there and the tongue well."

The priestess laughed, "Your women are not dull at all, warrior. I know you. You already had the thought, I am sure. Send Sorn and Besha to the tribes in Akkadia. They can pass through there like water through sand and bring the Martu back out of the deserts with them."

"Are we agreed then?" he asked them.

They nodded back at him. "Yes, husband," Nisi-ini-su said as she stood up to wrap a robe around her, "as we always are. I will make sure that our brats are asleep and do not give their guards fits, since it is my turn, I think. My friend Anat has thoughts of you again. I can see it in her eyes from where I stand."

Anat did her best to look innocent as she sat back with a shocked expression, shaking her head, "Not I," she laughed, "I think it is only the light of the fire that you see reflected there, surely."

"Suit yourself then," the priestess said as she walked toward the door. "If nothing has begun when I return, then I will have to start something between us, I think."

Lugalbanda set down his empty goblet as he watched her walk off. When he turned back, Anat's robe had already slipped off her shoulders and she was on her hands and knees moving to him.

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It took some months, but at last, King Enmerkar knew that he was beset from closer in than he'd have ever thought as Amorite warriors rose out of the sands around Uruk. Nearly half of his armies were occupied either in fighting the attackers directly – when they seemed to attack out of nowhere to vanish as quickly as they'd come, or in reinforcing the garrisons of his other holdings out of the fear that the rebellion would spread.

"Why do the Amorites attack me?" he asked his most powerful general one day near the entrance to one of the dead caves. Messages had gone back and forth between them for a time and now the king wanted to speak face-to-face. "Call your hounds off."

Lugalbanda appeared to shrug, "They grow tired of waiting, my king. They have helped you many times to take cities, knowing that one leader over one nation of Sumer is what is needed for all of us, not only Sumerians," he said.

"You said that you wanted to rule all of Sumer. How many lifetimes do you have for this? I have spent years helping you as well – as I promised that I would. Look, I am here with you, am I not? I am not leading them, am I?" He held out his hands in a helpless sort of gesture.

A bowman in the trees on the other side of the main road began to draw back his bow, knowing that he'd likely have only one chance to kill the problematic general in the name of his own general – if he was successful.

The arrow passed right through the apparition of Lugalbanda to splinter against the wall of the cave opening. Enmerkar gasped, but was even more shocked to see Lugalbanda walk toward him from the other direction a few moments later dragging the corpse of the archer beside him.

"I suppose that you would tell me that you know nothing of who sent this man to kill me, Enmerkar," he smiled. "I even know that it is true, or you would already be dead. But let us see what we may learn."

He dropped the body face-first into the dust of the road and waved his hand over it as he muttered for a moment under his breath. The dead man rose up to stand before them, weaving a little. Enmerkar jumped back in horror.

A few minutes later, the body went limp again and fell down in a heap. The general regarded his king. "Tell general Marek that his life is forfeit for this. He can hide himself behind as many guards and fighters as he need to feel safe, but I would like it if you would tell him that I will come for him soon."

"But I need Marek to lead in the north," the king objected.

"Find another to lead," Lugalbanda shrugged, "Marek is mine for this. Tell the others that you forbid something such as this from now on. Get off your rump and begin the war with Aratta, and I will help. You need me again for this, for Aratta's king has a sorcerer that I want more than I now want Marek." He turned to go.

"What of the Amorites?" Enmerkar called after him, "I use too many troops trying to keep them down, troops that would serve me better used against Aratta."

"Then get more troops and better generals, Enmerkar," Lugalbanda said as he walked to the cave entrance. He stopped once to look back.

"The Martu have helped you and see that they get nothing from you for it. They now grow tired of waiting for a king who calls them hounds. Hounds will only work for you if you toss them food now and then, no matter how tame they might be. These are not hounds anymore, Enmerkar. They are slavering wolves now."

"Peel them off your own face, for I will not try to hold them much longer."

With that, he was gone from sight into the cave and the king stood alone with a corpse.

His stopgap measure was all that he could think of and a long wall was built stretching for miles across the land around Uruk to keep the Amorites out.

It changed nothing.

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Until he was finally forced to act after the incident at the cave, it had taken ten years before Enmerkar sent an envoy to Aratta claiming that Ianna had instructed him to seek Aratta's submission. The king of Aratta stated that it was out of the question and that the same goddess had chosen him. Undaunted, the envoy stated that Ianna had promised Enmerkar to make Aratta bow to Uruk. Enmerkar offered one last tribute out of politeness to Aratta's king and waited.

When the next demand for another came, Enmerkar prepared to send send his hosts against Arata and its king, Ensuhkeshdanna.

Lugalbanda was kept informed of all of the diplomatic traffic and thanked the gods that he had been spared the endless travel back and forth between the two old men as they bickered. Lugalbanda sent word to his king to ready his troops to move within the week.

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King Ensuhkeshdanna looked up angrily at his servant. He'd left instructions not to be disturbed for the rest of the day. He'd taken a new concubine and the girl was finally getting somewhere in her attempts at something miraculous to him as he felt his old manhood twitch and swell slightly in her mouth. He'd been feeling hopeful and a little joyous.

She had thoughts in her mind that this was surely what was meant when his women spoke to each other of raising the dead.

"There is a group of envoys from Uruk, lord." The servant said in a fearful voice.

"A group?" the king smiled, feeling his penis grow a little more, "How many is the group? What tributes do they bring, and where are they, in the throne room? Tell them to wait for me there. I will not be more than an hour perhaps."

The concubine wanted to groan and not out of hopeful anticipation. She'd been at this for a while already and her lips were long numb, though for the first time in her life, her jaw didn't ache doing this since the old man had little to stretch her mouth open for.

The servant wanted to groan as well, fearful for the reaction that might come from what he had to say now. "They will not wait," he said, "they stand on a hill near the city surrounded by your troops. When anyone moves to take hold of them, they fall dead, and the envoys remain. They say that they will show you a sign that you must make some haste, or they will be gone and there will be war."

The king looked up from where he stood holding the girl's hair, "Then I will not –"

There was a crash followed by screams as a section of the palace came down. The king walked to the servant and took his arm, "Show me where they stand."

The servant took the king to a balcony and pointed. The envoys were not far off beyond the wall on the nearest hill and there looked to be only five of them. The largest drew back a bow and sent an arrow toward the palace. It would have been a foolish thing, but King Ensuhkeshdanna saw the arrow as it grew into a large round projectile in flight which landed in his courtyard making a din with its impact which cracked walls and other masonry as it sat next to the first one.

Twenty minutes later the king stepped from his chariot and walked to the group. He was amazed to see that two of the five were women.

"Your final chance to agree to bow to Uruk's king, mighty Enmerkar," the large warrior said emotionlessly.

The king nodded, "I see no need to cause great loss of life and destruction by a war. I propose a test of champions between us, here on this very spot in one month's time. Take that back to Enmerkar and begone." He saw the large warrior nod once and he turned to walk back to his chariot. Lugalbanda smiled a moment longer.

The king turned back as he stepped up onto the chariot. He'd expected to hear something – some argument or offer of terms. But when he looked, the envoys were gone. He looked at his astounded servant.

"They just faded away," the man said, "we are surely lost."

"Shut up, fool," the old king said, "The large one will surely be their champion and mine will be a great sorcerer."

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But it didn't go quite like all of that. On the appointed day, the sorcerer Urgirinuna materialized on the hill top and found himself bound and struggling in an instant. He was released near where the Euphrates opens out to the sea a moment later and he was alone.

He looked around himself and hoped to find the one that he was to fight, but saw only a single woman walking toward him dressed in black leather armor. When he saw her long black hair, he had hopes that this one would be the best cat that he'd ever created. She had much power that he could take when she died.

"You are lovely," he said, "tell me your name while I wait for the champion who I am to fight."

She made no answer, other than the cause his robe to burn.

He waved his hand to put it out and cast flaming pellets at her. Not one reached her. He stepped to the water's edge. Opening his hand, he cast fish eggs into the water and in a moment, the water boiled with sea creatures that began to rise out of the foam and step onto the land.

The woman smirked and the water ran red as his creatures screamed and thrashed as they were devoured by the predators that she caused to appear.

The wizard grew desperate and caused wave after wave of the creatures to appear, but his creations were gone from sight moments later every time.

He turned, feeling his power gone, a lifetime of gathering, years beyond his own memory spent pulling power to himself, and all of it gone.

He felt like the old man that he was. His robe fell away from him in tatters and he stood naked before her.

The beautiful woman smirked a little and turned, walking away in silence.

Urgirinuna stood staring, but he heaved a sigh of relief, seeing that at least she would spare his life.

But that changed when he heard the low growl from behind him.

He spun around and saw another woman walking toward him slowly. She was naked and her moves exuded pure sexuality and he was confused. He'd heard the feline growl, but, ...

His eyes opened wide in terror when he saw her body change into a tall dark cat, still walking toward him on her long and shapely legs. He could even see the place in the sand behind her where the footprints of the woman were replaced by the paw prints.

She walked up to him and smiled. Raising one pawed hand, she dragged her claws along his cheek and he felt the warmth of his own blood as it ran.

Yanna smiled as she spoke.

"You should run."

King Ensuhkeshdanna stared into the metal plate that Lugalbanda held for him, watching the final moments of his champion's existence.

"I can take you to the place if you wish to see what remains," the warrior said quietly.

The king shook his head, knowing that this was no illusion. He took his crown from his head and set it on the table.

They walked together to his balcony, going from there to the top of the long stairway that led to the square full of Aratta's people. King Enmerkar waited for them there. The walls outside were lined with his troops, and outside them, past the gate which stood open, held that way by some magical power that no one could circumvent, stood Enmerkar's host, thousands of troops standing quiet and orderly in the sun.

"Allow them to see me as I bow in defeat," the king said, "after that, I will go."

The warrior nodded, but before the old man could get to his knees, his head was off his shoulders and bouncing down the steps.

Enmerkar was furious. "Why did you do that? I've waited years to see him grovel."

"I have waited years longer for you to become king of Sumer," Lugalbanda said. "This was the last city of your plan. Declare yourself king of a land soon and not just of a group of cities. It is what all of the people need." He leaned forward so that only Enmerkar could hear him.

"And do not be too long about it."

A gasp rose from the crowd as Lugalbanda disappeared from their sight.

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Three years later, the general appeared before the king. He could see that the king's health was failing him by the minute.

"Lugalbanda," the old man gasped, "tell me, is this from that hair that your woman tied so long ago? Have I done anything to cause her anger? I have never had the chance to thank her for what she did for me on the beach against the sorcerer."

His general shook his head, "No. The knot was untied long ago, Enmerkar. This is only the killer who stalks every one of us."

The king nodded weakly. "I have left orders for my passing. You will be king of Uruk. I think that you would only take it anyway."

"I likely would," Lugalbanda said without malice.

He sat down next to the bed and the two old fighters waited for death to take the king.

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Lugalbanda preferred to teach the young warriors whenever he had a bit of time. It was a better way to test his patience than anything else, he'd found. The role of a father came easily to him, bit to teach other young ones along with his own was always such a challenge.