She opened her arms in the Linaza salute as we approached. “Sarratum Tabni prays. Do you have business with her?”
Tamping down my nerves, I bowed my head as Humusi edged past us and slipped inside. “We do. Will you let her know?”
“Of course. Wait here.”
She followed Humusi into the cool interior, where the queen sat on a narrow wooden bench, facing an altar piled high with gifts for the goddess: Talents falling out of baskets. Gold coins, beaded jewelry, fruits, and even sheaves of wheat.
“I suppose this is it, then.” The diminutive Arwia stood as tall as she possibly could, but her lips were trembling.
“What are you going to say?” I bit my thumbnail, then quickly dropped my hand.
“I’m going to ask her to advise me on how to keep you all safe, and perhaps she will invite us to stay in the Palace while we sort everything out. My first piece of business is keeping everyone alive. Then…” She blew out a breath. “I’ll ask her to remove the threat and spare the Alu citizens.”
“Even if that means you’ll take the throne?”
She shook her head, her eyes bleak. “What else is there to do?”
Murmuring echoed from inside the cavernous temple, where Ummi and the sarratum stood talking.
The stately woman angled herself toward us, her thin eyebrows raised on her wide forehead. “Do not stand there darkening the doorway,” she called. “Enter and ask what you will.”
We both took off our sandals and walked toward the sarratum, bowing to the shrine of Linaza. We added our offerings—a sampling of embroidery, a few coins, some fresh honeycake made by Simti yesterday morning before she’d left to be a bride—and turned to bow.
“You may rise.” The regal woman’s voice was rich like a bell. “Ummi tells me you have business with me, Sarratum Arwia.” She stared at us, eyes wide and honest. Gold glittered on her lids, while her mouth was tinted a purplish brown like a date. She folded her hands neatly over her crimson tunic.
Arwia dipped her head in acknowledgment. “Well—my lady—yes.” She cleared her throat. “You’ve heard of the assassination attempt on me, and I’m wondering what you would do in my position. I have friends here, who are like family, since, as you know, my family is all gone to the Netherworld, and I don’t know how best to keep these friends safe. Should we flee to Enlidu? I think I can get us all there in a day’s journey with provisions, but I don’t know if that would expose us on the road. It might be better to hunker down here in place, especially because Kammani here has a great healing practice—”
“Arwia, you’re rambling.” Sarratum Tabni studied her, brow knitted. Behind her, Ummi’s eyes lit up with mirth.
Arwia twisted her hands in her skirt as she flushed furiously. “My apologies. I’m trying to keep my friends safe.”
A flicker of a smile landed on Sarratum Tabni’s face. “An honorable desire. What does your god tell you to do?”
Arwia blinked rapidly. “He says to protect those I love.”
“So you should do that.”
“But how would you suggest I proceed? Our home is not that secure.”
Sarratum Tabni lifted a thin shoulder. “Do you want my best recommendation for your ultimate security and that of your people?”
“Well, yes, of course. That’s why I am here.”
“I’m waging war on Alu. I will put down that impostor who rules your city, and will need to replace him with someone honorable and loyal. That, dear child, should be you.”
Although we knew it was true, hearing the confirmation of her decision to besiege our city, our old home, felt like a kick directly in the gut.
Arwia nervously twisted her hands in front of her. “But how does that protect those here? With me?”
The queen furrowed her brow. “Don’t you have an entire city under your veil of protection? One currently being ruled by a man who was wily enough to take your throne from underneath you, and punish those citizens he is supposed to serve? He is harming your people, Arwia. Did you know that?”
“I suspected it, but…it was not confirmed.”
Sarratum Tabni crossed her arms over her chest. “My spies tell me a skirmish broke out several moons ago in your city—maybe right after you left Alu—between the poor and the wealthy. Those with coin, no doubt bolstered by the lugal’s favor to them, began tormenting the poor. Taking their silver after trading in the Libbu. Harassing their women. Worse. A group of the poor banded together and entered the Palace to stand in front of Uruku. They called for something to be done. For someone to be held responsible for the crimes. When he did nothing, they set fire to the counselor’s home. Several other homes nearby caught fire, too. That started the skirmish, which led to every single poor person who’d been involved in the initial group being killed in the Pit by the guardsmen as traitors.”
Arwia’s face drained of color. She pressed a knuckle to her lip beneath the birthmark.
“That is your new lugal’s way. My spies tell me he kills anyone, especially the poor, who oppose him. He’s been ransacking the ships that come in from the ports. Disrupting trade in the entire river region. Harming city-states much weaker than we are. That’s the man you allowed to take your throne.”
Sarratum Tabni looked up at the shrine of Linaza glittering in the soft light from the torches that lined the room. “Do you know why our goddess is so important to me and earns my daily worship?”
We both shook our heads.
“Because she knows there is a time to love and there is a time to fight. And when a mangy dog of a ruler brings a fight to me, I believe it is time to exact retribution.”
“But how will you do that?” Arwia asked.
“We attack the city-state with every weapon at our disposal. The full force of the Manzazu army.”
“But what of the innocents?” I blurted.
Arwia delicately stepped on my foot as Sarratum Tabni turned to me. When I swallowed, I was certain my gulp could be heard all the way down into the marketplace.
“My apologies, Sarratum Tabni. I spoke out of turn—”
“No, no.” She smirked. “I like your forthrightness, and I admire your sentiments, but innocents are always lost in war.” Her voice softened in fervor. “Our cause is holy. I will have retribution for the slaughter inside my city. He will pay tenfold with the blood of his citizens.”
Arwia bristled. “Those are my citizens.”
Sarratum Tabni pursed her lips. “Are they? You left those people in his care to save your own skin with no plan of taking back the throne. I would think someone desperate to care for her people would also be willing to do whatever it took to ensure his tyranny ceased. Taking him and anyone who stands with him down means peace in the region, a restoration of trade here in Manzazu, and protection for my citizens down the line. We must put down this rabid dog before he attacks with an even stronger bite.”