“May your child bring you great happiness, Lady Trella.” For as long as it lives, he thought.
On the other side of Akkad, no lamps or fires burned in Tammuz’s alehouse. The sun had gone down moments ago, but for once the alehouse stood empty. The usual customers had departed, to partake of the food and ale that fl owed freely today in Ishtar’s honor, thanks to Lady Trella. A few would undertake to help themselves to goods left unat-tended, especially when their owners grew lax from too much wine. En-hedu heard laughter and the sound of loud voices coming from the lane, rising and falling as people passed to and fro.
Since there were no customers, En-hedu asked Tammuz if he would close the alehouse for a few hours. He suggested they walk the lanes and enjoy the crowds, but En-hedu asked him to wait. She left their chamber and went into the common room, closed the door to the lane, and set the bar in its groove. When she returned to the bedroom, Tammuz started to rise from the table.
“No, don’t get up. There is something I wish you to do for me,” she began, rushing the words a little more than she’d wanted.
There was just enough light for her to see the puzzled look on her master’s face.
“Why, what do you need?”
She stood directly in front of him. “I want you to take me to bed.” En-hedu had forced the words out, and now they couldn’t be called back. She pulled her dress up over her head, and stood there, not even a step away.
He’d seen her without her clothes many times, but she’d never displayed herself like this, never simply stood there for him to see. And enjoy. She took a deep breath, and moved her legs a little apart.
His eyes caressed her body, lingering on her breasts and the jutting mound of hair beneath her belly.
“En-hedu,” he began, “are you sure…”
“Yes, I’m sure. I need to be your woman, to bring you the pleasure of the gods, and to give you children. More than that, I want to please you.
You are a good man, and I want to stay with you forever.”
He stood and took her in his good arm. “You will never leave me, En-hedu. I want you with me always. And you do not have to…”
She leaned closer and kissed him, a long kiss that silenced him. When the kiss ended, he had her breast in his hand, causing her to gasp with pleasure.
“Your clothes, master,” she said huskily, feeling a wave of pleasure run through her body. Her head felt light, and she wondered if she would fall when he released her. She led him to the bed, then helped him with his tunic, for once her fingers moving clumsily instead of with their usual efficiency. Then they tumbled onto the bed, her head swimming with new sensations. This time he kissed her, and something shot through her like a tongue of fire. She felt herself grow moist between her legs, accompanied by an unfamiliar flash of warmth that excited her even more.
Now his hands roamed her body, exploring, squeezing, touching. He moved along her body, and she felt the heat of his skin against her. She moaned when he stroked her mound, and he stopped.
“Don’t stop,” she gasped, as surprised at her words as the speed at which she uttered them. “Don’t stop.” She pressed his hand against her, holding him there until his fingers slipped inside her. Never had she felt this way. There was no pain, no roughness to make her wince or cry out.
Instead a wonderful feeling of warmth passed over her in waves. En-hedu heard herself laugh, a tiny sound that startled her as much as it did Tammuz. She’d never laughed in bed before.
Before he could speak, she grasped his shoulders and pulled him on top of her, spreading her legs wide, using her hand to guide him inside her.
This time she heard herself moan with pleasure, and he whispered something. En-hedu didn’t hear the words, but they didn’t matter. She wrapped her legs around his body and clutched him to her.
She felt him hesitate, but then he began moving against her, thrusting himself and twisting his hips faster and faster. She moaned in pleasure, arching her back, while he pushed himself deeper inside her. Then he cried out her name again and again, his body moving uncontrollably, as he drove himself into her. She heard herself cry out, as much at the pleasure she was giving as her own, though her own secret place trembled uncontrollably as it grew even more moist.
At last he slumped against her, breathing hard, still murmuring her name over and over, telling her he loved her and that she must never leave him.
“Never, master,” she promised him, “I will never leave you.”
When he began to move off of her, she giggled and held him tight.
“No, stay where you are. I want to feel your body against mine.”
“Oh, yes,” he said, whispering the words in her ear. “Hold me tight.
That was so good… so good.”
She held him in her strong arms, feeling proud that she could please him so easily. Caressing his face with one hand, she felt glad the darkness hid her smile. She kissed him again, and suddenly he responded, his tongue penetrating her mouth and exciting her. She felt him growing hard again, so she slid her hands down his back and pulled him tight against her. That elicited a gasp of pleasure from him, as he buried his face in her neck and hair.
But only for a moment. He started moving again, growing firmer, each thrust sending a wave of pleasure through her, and she heard herself moan. Another wave of pleasure swept through her. This time it lasted a long, long time.
Only a single lamp burned in Trella’s bedroom. The feast had finally ended, at least for Trella and her household. She sat on the bed, Annok-sur next to her, holding Korthac’s emerald in her hand.
“And he asked for nothing, Trella? No gift in return?”
“Nothing. Just my favor. He didn’t mention Eskkar, didn’t even suggest that I tell him about this great gift. As if Eskkar didn’t matter.”
“What will you do with it?” Annok-sur set the precious stone down on the bed between them.
“Nothing, for now. After the child comes, as soon as I can, I’ll sell it. It will fetch enough to pay Corio’s builders for some time, I’m sure.”
“If you can find someone with enough gold to buy it, at anywhere near what it’s worth.” Annok-sur sighed. “Perhaps you should keep it.”
“No. If the people saw me wearing such a thing, they’d lose their trust in me. How could I ask everyone to make sacrifices for the sake of the wall, if I showed myself in public wearing a jewel worth so much?” Trella shook her head. “But this Korthac… something about him troubles me even more than when he first arrived. You’ve learned nothing new about him?”
Annok-sur sighed. “Little enough. His men are never out of his or that Hathor’s sight. He bought two women in the slave market, to cook and satisfy his men, but they rarely go out. When they do, they’re always escorted by one or two of his men. We’ve tried to speak with them, but they’ve been warned not to speak to anyone, and they’re too frightened to disobey. They buy their goods, or wash their clothing in the river, and return to Korthac’s inn. Aside from that, they seldom leave his house. I’ve seen them. They look wretched.”
“He’s hiding something, Annok-sur.”
“Maybe he committed some crime in Egypt, something so horrible that he fears it even here.”
“Whatever his secret, we need to discover it.”
“I don’t know what else to try, Trella. We watch his men, we watch him, but all he does is spend time at the trading carts along the river. Still, he can’t live like this forever. Even servants need time for themselves.”
Trella picked up the emerald and returned it to the pouch. “I think I’d give this away to learn what Korthac is hiding.” She knotted the lace securely. Standing, she went to the bed and knelt down. Pushing hard, she slipped aside part of the leg of the bed, exposing a tiny hollow barely large enough to conceal the pouch. When she fitted the wood back in place, the jewel had vanished. Only a very keen eye and a close examination would detect the tiny compartment. There were more such hiding places secreted about the bedroom. She’d searched the room often enough, and discovered three others, but there might still be more. The previous owner had many secrets.
“Perhaps you should send word for Eskkar to return,” Annok-sur said.
“He’s been away long enough.”
“What would I say to him? That some rich trader worries me? That I can’t fi nd out if he’s hiding something?
