Chapter 24: Chapter Twenty Four – Old Moon

Chapter 24

 

???????????????????????? - Ugarit, 1254 BCE

"...And with the advancements in earth magic from Hattusha successfully implemented, we are expecting a harvest forty percent larger than last year!" A chubby earth channeller gleefully declares, beaming across the large stone table at Queen Ahatmilku.

The queen smiles warmly at the agricultural minister, the sunlight streaming into her the royal council room from the open wall behind her, illuminating a faint halo of light around her soft black hair. She wears a simple gown, the cut of which could possibly be found on any common craftswoman or merchant. The color however, a deep tyrian purple, betrays her royal status. 

Goddess, these council meetings are so boring!

"That's excellent to hear! Will we need any more hands to bring in the crops? I'm sure Aššur would be happy to lend us some workers, in exchange for a portion of the harvest." She replies. 

The agricultural minister chuckles. "That's the great thing about it! We actually need less workers! Our new magic will automate most of the process!" The woman turns to address me. 

"I gotta say, ????????????????????????, when you Spawn announced yourselves to the world, I was afraid what all this change could mean, but if collaborating with your kind on magical research means more grain in our storerooms, and more wine in my belly, then I'm proud to call you a friend!" The dirty woman slaps her stomach, kicking up a puff of dirt from her tunic. 

I jolt out of a daydream, and back to reality, surprised at being addressed so early in the meeting. "What, oh yea, no problem. I'm sure human earth channelers in Hattusha should be thanked more than any Spawn though, after all earth magic is light magic."

I nervously adjust my bronze armor chest plate. I glance at the queen from my place by her side. Her expression tells me that I was caught not paying attention.

The Agricultural Minister opens her mouth to reply to me, but the queen gently raises her small hand to silence her. "That's enough of this, we are behind schedule. Thank you for your report. Reward your eldest, sick, and injured laborers with the season off. When you are finished harvesting, send twenty percent of the grain to Aššur anyway. Their land is far less irrigable than ours." 

The earth channeler holds her hand to her chest. "Yes my queen."

The queen sighs, looking around the room. "Where is my minister of construction?! I swear, if I have to pull her out of the gardens off some muscular woman's lap again I'll have her head!"

"I'm here my queen! I'm here!" A tall, skinny woman with shiny dark brown hair nervously scurries out of a dark corner. 

Queen Ahatmilku frowns at the young woman. "You are one of my most important ministers, you have a seat at this table, why won't you use it?" 

The nervous woman sits down in the empty seat next to me with a grunt. "I..I have bad knees my queen. It's easier to stand. Y-you weren't seriously thinking of…of beheading me, right? Right, my queen?" The woman stammers. 

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Ahatmilku scowls at the minister. "Of course not! I've never executed anyone, and I never will. The days of that practice being used in Ugarit ended with my mother's reign." 

The queen's face softens. "I just wish you put half as much effort into your work as you do chasing after ????????????????????????'s guards!" 

The architectural minister nervously glances at me, but isn't able to meet my eyes, before darting her own to the ground. "Sorry my queen! They're just so…strong…"

The queen rolls her eyes so hard I'm surprised she doesn't fall out of her chair. "Oh please, just give your report, woman! Even if you only put half your effort into your work, you're still the best architect from here to the nile." 

The tall woman perks up in her chair, unable to hide her smile. "Thank you my queen! I'm happy to report that our work is going well, very well actually! The new qanats are all fully operational as of last week! We should take a few years to monitor the water levels just to be sure, but I think we will have enough water supply to build a system to send fresh water directly to individual households!" 

The queen can't help but perk up and return her joyful minister's smile. "That's excellent news! Good work! Monitor our water reserves for three years. Bring me those numbers and your proposal for a household water delivery system, and I'll consider it at that time. Now go, enjoy what's left of your day in the gardens. You're too young to be stuck inside all day! I'll have ???????????????????????? send her largest and strongest guardswoman to keep you company when we're done."

I shake my head at the queen’s sudden change in mood.

Ahatmilku always did have a soft spot for that girl. I do know just the guard to send though…

"Thank you my queen, but I have more good news first!" The young woman excitedly bounces in her chair. 

"Go on." The queen waves her hand. 

"Thanks to the four Shadow Spawns from Dur-Kurigalzu, construction on the magical research institute is far ahead of schedule! We should be finished in one, maybe two more years at most!"

The Queen's eyes widen. "Two years?! My goodness, that is ahead of schedule! I thought you said we were a decade away!"

"Yes my queen, I thought we were. I just didn't realize how strong shadow spawns were. They can move blocks with their bare hands that would take a hundred human women just to wobble! They are really, really, really strong my queen…" 

I catch the architect staring dreamily at me out of the corner of my eye. 

The queen stiffens in her chair. "We must act quickly then! We need to start gathering scrolls and scripts now to fill the great library. We must invite scholars from every corner of the world! Mark my words, Ugarit will become the greatest center for magical learning and research the world has ever seen, for both light magic, and dark!"

Ahatmilku turns to address me. "????????????????????????, dispatch a messenger to every city in the Coalition of the Sun and Moon. I want all their best scholars and channelers in Ugarit by next summer's solstice. Don't let them argue either, I have authorization from the Pharoah to take them!"

"Yes my queen." I nod, then wave a hand to a burly guard standing behind me, who quickly scurries off to carry out the task.

“Anything else, young lady?” Ahatmilku asks the architect.

“No, my queen.”

“Very well then, off you go.” The small queen waves her hand to dismiss the woman, who happily skips out of the room in the direction of the royal gardens.

Ahatmilku turns to me now. “????????????????????????, what of my guard this cycle?”

I sit up a bit straighter in my chair to deliver my report. “We are still training hard to get all the new recruits up to speed. They are coming along nicely, but I have very high standards. It will take some more time for this class. The next class however has even more applicants than this one. As of now I have one hundred and seventy nine women applying to join the guard in the next training cycle.”

The queen whistles. “Wow, that is a lot. I guess every spearwoman from here to Babylon wants a chance to serve under a Spawn. How many slots do you have available right now?”

“Three.” I reply.

“Only three? I guess nobody wants to retire now either. Very well then. The city is growing rapidly, we could afford to expand the guard. I authorize you to accept twenty additional women, but make sure you take only the best!” She wags a small finger at me.

I nod. “I always do my Queen.”

Ahatmilku frowns at me. “Unfortunately you won't be able to train them yourself.”

“My queen?” I ask, confused.

She folds her hands in her lap. “I have an assignment for you, or rather the Pharaoh has an assignment for you. After you select the twenty three women for the next class of guards, I want you to hand off their training to one of your lieutenants. You are going to the field. The Pharaoh wants you, and she requested you by name, to investigate the disappearance of a Coalition envoy. The Pharaoh lost contact with the Spawn representative living with the Terramara. She sent Heqanefer to reestablish contact three moons ago, but hasn’t heard from her since. You are to travel to the west to find them both, and report back directly to Thebes.”

I scoff at the details of my assignment. “The Pharaoh can’t be serious. Is she still paranoid about Mother? It’s been ten years, and we haven’t seen one drop of blood on the moon since! We won! Mother can’t stand up to the combined might of the Coalition, that’s why she disappeared! She’s not coming back, and even if she does, all of humanity knows about the Spawn now. We’ve made so much progress in the last decade, that no human would ever support going back to how things were before. The secret is out, my queen! If Mother wants to return to how things were, she’ll have to kill nearly every human on earth!”

Ahatmilku gives me a stern look, letting me know I’ve gone too far. “Yes, I know, but we cannot be too cautious when it comes to the Blood Mother. I am in agreement with the Pharaoh, and that’s why I’m sending you. I want you on your way by the new moon, understand?” The queen raises her eyebrow at me, as if daring me to refuse.

Despite her being a woman half my size, I do tend to lose my courage when she gives me that look. I stand and bow to the queen who has more than earned my loyalty and respect.

“As you command!”

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