Mac Tire � Son of the EarthPart 1 - Don't Kill the MessengerThe blue eyes flashed fire as the Lord of the Two Lands read the scroll, and the messenger retreated a few paces. The shapely lips compressed into a thin line and the Great One's complexion became as pale as milk. "Ingrate! Impossible, stupid, rash...inconsiderate fool!... When did the Lord Payankhi give you this?" Lij waved the rolled papyrus under the trembling messenger's nose. The man fell to his knees again, bowing his head, not willing or able to look his God in the eye. "Five days ago, Great..." "Five days!" interrupted Lij, now incandescent with rage. "It took you five days to ride here from the palace? Has he left for...?" Lij grabbed the man by his shoulders and dragged him to his feet. "Speak!" The man, incapable of coherent speech, nodded his head. Liv, wide eyed, watching her husband from the curtained area on the deck, thought she had never seen him in such a passion. "Lord...please..." the man croaked. Lij suddenly let go of the wretched man, and pushed him hard. "Get out of my sight!" The man turned to run, and stumbling against a pile of cushions, fell over the side of the Royal Barge into the river below. Lij did not even glance into the water to see if the man was safe. Liv could see the man swimming to the bank, and then clamber up its steep sides to where his horse was tethered. Leaping onto it, he rode as quickly as he could from the King's wrath. Lij strode about the deck like a caged panther, slapping the scroll into the palm of his other hand in a frenzy of frustration. "Menkh!" he yelled in stentorian tones. His cousin came rushing up from the lower deck, and knelt on one knee at his cousin's feet, head lowered. "Yes, Great One?" "Do you know of this Phoenician captain?" He thrust the scroll into Menkh's hands, who read it and blanched with fear. God was right to be angry. "Yes, Lord. We do much trade..." Lij strode to the table on the deck. "Fetch papyrus and ink!" he ordered Pen-Nekeb peremptorily. When it arrived seconds later, "Write as I command you!" he barked at Menkh, who did as he was told, following Lij's instructions uttered in a voice still shaking with anger, and - if only the onlookers had sense to note it - fear. Liv walked quietly up to her husband, and touched him gently on the arm. "Lij? Brother? What is it? Can you not tell me?" Lij stared at her as if he had never before seen her, his eyes blank with shock. "I must go, Liv. Bring the children to me - I must say farewell to them. I must go." Half an hour later, Lij was on the finest available horse, with a bundle tied behind the saddle and Menkh riding at his side. The twins watched their father gallop into the distance. "Will he find him, Jed? Will they come back to us? Where is this place he is going?" Jed shook his head. It was far away, that was all he knew. "Of course he will come back, Titi. He is a God. Gods do not come to harm. Besides, we shall pray to his brother gods to keep him...them... safe for us." His lower lip trembled somewhat. He wasn't sure, not sure at all. He loved his father and his Dom greatly. And he and his sister were only eight years old. Two years or more his father had said he might be away. That was a long time for a child. The twins stood on deck, flanked by their servants, and watched until the dust of their father's horse could no longer be seen. They did not notice - nor would they have cared if they had, wrapped up in grief as they were - the figure following behind the two riders, well out of sight of their father's dust. *** Sen-Adom, otherwise Payankhi, Prince of Thebes, Master and Guardian of Kishlan and Hivara, Spouse of God leaned on the wooden rail edging the vast Phoenician trader, and watched the dawn coming up blood red in the east. His heart was heavy for he had left Egypt in a hurry. He had sent a letter to his spouse, Lij, who was making a Royal Visit to Karnak with his children and his wife. Dom should have gone with them, but an emergency had occurred at Kishlan. The king had died in his sleep, of what cause no one had been able to tell. Dom, as Guardian, had had to travel there to confirm and ratify the succession, which took two weeks. Garmen was now king of Kishlan - the others who might have aspired to the kingship refusing it with alacrity; no one knew, after all, how or why Argamus had died. Dom had eagerly left him settling into his new position, and raced back to the palace to organise his visit to Karnak, intent on following in his lover's wake. Dom sighed. If only! How sad were those words, and how futile. If only he had not, in his haste to meet with his love and his children again, fallen from his chariot on his way back from Kishlan. If only he had not needed treatment for his sore muscles. If only.....he would be with Lij, now. Warm and happy in their bed on the Royal Barge, not sleeping alone in his cramped quarters on a Phoenician Trader. "My Lord?" the captain spoke quietly at his shoulder. "Is all well with you?" Dom nodded. "I am well, thank you, Ninus. I could not sleep, that is all" The captain smiled gently - the Egyptian Lord had not slept a great deal since they embarked on their journey two weeks before, that was certain. Dom looked at his companion. He saw a tall, slim man, dressed in a red skirt heavy with gold embroidery and fringes. His bare chest hung with three heavy gold chains. His black hair curling to his waist, shone in the sun. A straight nose and charming brown eyes were complimented by a strong chin. His smile turned up at the corners. Dom fervently hoped the man would not signal any interest in visiting his bed. Dom knew how life was on board ships, and that the captain may be put out if refused - and the journey was long. Dom would refuse him, he was certain of that. Since he swam into Lij's magnetic orbit nine years before, no one - man or woman - had the power to attract him. Only one man moved him, and that man was hundreds of miles away, perhaps had kept the same watchful night, missing Dom as Dom missed him, with an aching heart.... "....break your fast, my Lord? There are the little honey cakes you like." Dom nodded his assent and walked beside Ninus to the captain's cabin. A bunk against the wall, a couple of chests and a small table with two chairs graced the apartment. Much the same as his own quarters. There was no luxury there, but the housings were adequate. The captain's boy brought the food, bowed low and left them to eat. Dom looked at the captain, who was eyeing him speculatively. Dom rushed into conversation, nibbling a honey cake absently. "Have you a wife at home, Ninus?" Dom regretted the question as soon as it passed his lips. It left the subject of bed-mates wide open for comment. Ninus nodded as he swallowed his cake, and said thickly, before taking a mouthful of wine. "Yes, indeed, my Lord, a fine plump wife and seven children, five of them boys. And you?" Dom remembered that Ninus had no idea who he was, apart from him being a rich Egyptian Lord able to pay well to indulge his fancies. "I have a spouse, yes, and two children, a boy and a girl. Eight years old." Dom thought of the twins, and his heart lurched again. He missed them...he missed them all. But especially ...Lij. The boy came back with hot cakes, and the captain smiled and patted his shoulder. "Good boy!" he smiled, as the boy smiled back and left. Dom raised an eyebrow unthinkingly. Ninus laughed. "No, my Lord..." "Call me Adom", Dom interrupted, grinning. "Being called Lord will become tedious over the coming weeks." "...No, Adom. He is not my bed-mate if that's what you mean. My tastes run to more, um...mature men. On long journeys like this it is always the same, we have to be content with each other. The first mate is my companion on this voyage, and a pleasant trip it will be too, with someone of equal mind and intellect to share it." Dom grinned again, relieved of his most pressing care. "Although", Ninus continued, "I must confess to having an eye to the new oarsmaster. However, he so rarely comes up for air I'm afraid he is hiding from me, having seen me looking." The men laughed together, and continued eating and talking as new made friends do. Having finished their meal, they went out on deck again. The morning was clear and fair, the ship running smooth and fast. There was little wind blowing so the sail lay limp against the mast, and the thump of the oars against the rowlocks was the only sound to be heard, apart from the occasional order shouted by Ninus' bed mate from the upper deck. The ship was well run by an expert master. It was spotlessly clean, and Dom could not help but contrast it with the vessel that had transported him from the coasts of Erin what seemed a lifetime before. Dom shook his head, trying to clear it of the tangled thoughts that jostled around in it. He sighed. It all rested on two subjects. His duty and Lij. Lij and his duty. His duty to Lij as his spouse and his Lord and his duty to...... A voice shouted from the upper reaches, and Dom watched as a young lad swung out from the deck on a thick rope, and was lowered over the side. Dom leaned out to see what he was doing. There were leather pails being pulled up, one after another from the lower decks. Ninus came to stand a Dom's side again. "They, too must eat. It is quicker to lower it over the side than for the galley minions to struggle down moving ladders with the food. We have the best oarsmen in the world. We value them, and feed them well. They are well paid, not like some..." The buckets continued to travel between the decks. "How many are there...oarsmen, I mean?" "One hundred and twenty, plus the master and ...most important, he who signals the beat on his drum." Dom looked astonished. "So many? I've never seen any of them." "They usually come on deck at night, when the boat is still. There are sixty on the oars and sixty resting at any time, but the resting men usually sleep as the others work. It is a hard life, but a worthy one. The men are strong. Look, there are a few of them just going back down from taking a breath of air." Dom studied the well muscled men as they descended the ladder to the lower decks. They would make good time with men such as these behind the oars Dom spent a leisurely week observing ship board life and talking to the men; and as the ship met a strong wind, it was making good time. Dom had played knuckle bones and Hounds and Jackals with the crew, and someone on board had produced a small kithara. Dom borrowed it and played in the nights. Some of the men had flute like instruments and some could sing, and the tedium of the sound of the endless rolling sea was lessened by music and laughter. One morning Dom rose early to find the captain in a dilemma. One of the sailors in charge of the ropes had quarrelled with another rope-man over the ownership of a roast leg of fowl. They were both drunk, Ninus explained to Dom over a cup of watered wine, but that was no excuse. One had been knifed, causing him not only serious harm, but depriving the ship of an essential crew member for some time whilst he healed. An example had to be made; the man must be flogged. Ninus did not often have to resort to corporal punishment. As a rule the men were well trained and well behaved . He had taken this man on against his better judgement, but he had needed another rope-man urgently, just as he had needed a new oarsmaster. Neither man was what he really wanted, but at least the oarsmaster seemed equal to the task he had been given. "He has to be flogged, Adom, and hard. The men will not suffer it to be otherwise. One of their own has been deliberately injured, and by a stranger. There is a penalty affixed for woundings of this nature. They know this as well as I." Dom sighed, and picked up his winecup. "I do not need to attend the punishment, I trust?" he asked, quietly. Ninus shook his head. "No, indeed. This is ship business. You will be better in your cabin. I will inform you when punishment will be given, and you can stay there until the matter has been resolved to everyone's satisfaction. I'm afraid you will hear it all, but that cannot be helped. Here, have more wine, and an apple. I know you like those." Dom bit into the apple thoughtfully. He was in no mood for blood and broken flesh. He must save that, if it came to it, for later. *** Dom lay on his bunk listening to the lashing of the whip, and the grunts, then the cries of the rope-man as he was flogged. He was surprised that he didn't become hard, but it was only the sight or thought of Lij with a whip in his hand that caused.... Dom closed his eyes and thought of Lij. The journey would prove long, and Dom wondered if he would ever return to what he now regarded as his home. To his family. To his people. To Lij....... It was sheer misfortune that he had misjudged the speed of the chariot. He had leapt off before the charioteer had even slowed down, anxious to set forward on his journey to Karnak, and to meet with his love. He fell hard onto the stone floor, and had wrenched his shoulder. The charioteer, pale with shock, had rushed to help him rise. He had reassured the man, and went straight away to the medical quarters to find someone he knew could help him. Raya was mixing some foul smelling concoction when Dom came into the room. She looked up and saw him holding his arm, a pained expression on his face. She handed the bowl to an apprentice, and ushered him out of the room and into her sanctuary, where she led him to a couch, firmly and deftly assessing the damage. "You have torn the muscles, Dom. What happened?" She enquired as she smoothed some warm oil into his shoulder. He had told her, berating himself for his clumsiness. She smiled. "Lij would still be waiting for you there, on the river, if you had taken a few more moments to collect yourself, my Lord!" He grinned at her, wryly. "I know." Then he winced as her deft fingers found a particularly painful spot. To distract him she talked about the daily happenings in the palace, Gia's new appointment as High Priestess of Amun - the old one having recently been gathered to her fathers - and, picking up a particularly beautiful stone she used in the treatment of sore muscles and wounds, remarked... "This is a new one, Dom, so should be full of life-giving properties." Dom could not see the stone, lying flat on his stomach on the couch. Raya talked on, her voice soothing and low... "The Phoenician captain Ninus brought them only yesterday, and he spared me three. They were very expensive because he has to travel a long distance for these healing stones, and in the place where they are quarried there is much unrest at the moment, he says"... Dom had felt warmed and comforted both by Raya's voice and the heat of the healing stone on his back. .. "...apparently the lawful king of this far away place was murdered and his heirs disposed of. The king is now a tyrant intent on forcing the people to his will, murder and rapine apparently being the order of the day. So it is becoming very difficult to travel within this land to collect the stones, which, for their powers, are desired throughout the known world." Dom had then asked the fatal question, the one that had changed his life and brought him to this ship. "Where are they gathered, Raya?" She had moved another stone onto his back. As the first one heated up, she removed it to let it cool. "I think Ninus said the place was called Connemara, or ..." Dom struggled upright, his pain forgotten. "Connemara?" he gasped, unable to believe his ears. The stones fell onto the bed, and Raya was glad they had not slipped to the floor and smashed as they were very valuable... but her train of thought was arrested by the look of horror on Dom's face. "Dom?.." He had grasped her hand tightly, too tightly. "Where is this Ninus, now, Raya? Has he left? It is most imperative that I speak with him!"......... *** ... Dom lay on his bed on the ship, thinking of the feelings brought to the surface by Raya's words, and the detailed explanation given by the Phoenician captain he'd located in a nearby town the next day. The man had agreed to take him with him on the last voyage he intended making for some time to the green land where the stones were to be found. No-one in the town recognised Dom. It was not a place he had ever visited. Dom gave his name as Sen-Adom, a common enough name, and although richly dressed there was nothing overtly royal about his clothing or demeanor that would put Ninus on the alert. He was just a rich man seeking adventure. Ninus agreed to take him on the journey for a hefty price. Dom paid in gold without a murmur, and asked when the ship was leaving, and from where. Discovering to his horror that the departure was to be in seven days, and that Ninus was leaving for the ship the next morning, Dom rushed back to the palace, hastily gathered together such belongings as he thought he needed, and scribbled a note to be delivered to Lij before meeting Ninus at the agreed place... The sounds of the flogging had stopped. The only noises Dom could hear from his small cabin were the everyday sounds of shipboard life. He thought of Lij and the children reading his note, wondering why he had left them without a word. He thought of Lij lying in their bed, lonely and afraid, worrying and wondering if he - Dom - would be safe on this long journey to his homeland. To Erin, the Green Isle in the cold sea. He wondered if his Lij was angry. Knowing him as he did, he was sure of it. He smiled wistfully. Lij was most beautiful when angered. Dom wondered if he would ever see that beautiful face again. He was travelling into the unknown, to battle with a faceless enemy who had killed the only blood family he had left on the earth. If he owned it, Dom was afraid. Very afraid. He turned his face into the pillow, and wept. |