Eskkar drummed his fingers on the table, then glanced at Trella. “The stranger who came in the night. . Trella and I have sworn never to divulge his name, unless some new danger threatens our family in the future. Perhaps someday we will reveal his name. But for now, that must be one mystery that remains unsolved.”
“Yes, that is for the best,” Trella agreed. “But we will repay him for his warning. If he still lives, I have an idea about how best to do that. I believe he will find it a most interesting and pleasant surprise.”
Soon everyone was busy with their meal. Eskkar, however, left his food untouched for a few moments. His gaze rested first on Sargon, then Zakita, and Melkorak. His sons and daughter. The ones who would carry his blood down through the ages yet to come, the ones who would make certain his name would always be remembered.
Trella had spoken the truth. There would be many more challenges in the future. But for the first time, Eskkar knew that he would not need to face them by himself. His family and his loyal friends would shoulder much of the burden. Eskkar’s remaining years would be devoted not to war, but to peace. It was past time, he decided, to study the stars and learn what he could from the wise men, as the old shepherd had advised Eskkar many years before.
He remembered Trella’s words, whispered in his ear long ago, when she had challenged him to become someone greater than himself. From that day, he had worked hard to build the city that she wanted, and now others, his heirs, would someday turn that into a mighty empire. For the first time since that first day, Eskkar felt worthy of the extraordinary woman who sat at his side.
“Is something wrong with the food, Husband?”
“No, Wife.” He smiled, then clasped her hand in both of his and held it tight. “Everything is as it should be.”
Chapter 42
The Elamite Palace at Sushan. .
Just awakened from a deep sleep, King Jedidia stepped onto his palace balcony. One look, and his teeth clenched in a seething rage. Oblivious to the cold night breeze on his naked body, Jedidia watched the harbor of Sushan burn.
Tall pillars of flame along the water’s edge lit the night, and sent long red shimmers reflecting off the black water. Even from a quarter mile away, Jedidia heard the crackle of the fires above the shouts of the frantic boatmen struggling to save their vessels.
Not that the harbor itself was actually burning. But twenty or thirty of Sushan’s boats, crowded together along the docks and shoreline, blazed furiously. Several nearby storage depots were also in flames, fed by the cargoes stored under their awnings and covered porticos.
Along the length of the docks, plumes of gray smoke rushed upward, one streamer twisting across the face of the full moon. That glance told him midnight had long passed, and that dawn approached.
Fully awake now, Jedidia counted seven Akkadian ships responsible for the ongoing destruction. They glided at will through the black water, oars flashing in the firelight. Every deck appeared crowded with archers launching apparently endless flights of fire arrows at any target they could find.
New blazes sprang up wherever an oil-soaked shaft struck home in the dry hulls of Sushan’s ships. A few of Jedidia’s soldiers shot back, but the unorganized response of Sushan’s hastily turned out guard had no effect on the attacking vessels.
Brave men attempting to douse the flames died, too, as other shafts sought out anyone who dared approach the conflagrations. They died in vain, Jedidia knew. By now, nothing could quench these fires. Months of hot weather had dried everything above the water line into tinder.
The leader of King Jedidia’s personal guard, standing discreetly behind his sovereign, broke the silence. “My Lord, they slipped ashore and killed the guards at the watch station. Others landed by the docks, and used torches to set fire to the storage places and supply depots.”
King Jedidia ignored the commander who, only moments ago, had awakened him from his comfortable bed with the grim news of the surprise raid. Of course the cursed Akkadians had killed the no doubt sleeping guards stationed at the mouth of the harbor, supposedly to prevent such an attack. If any of them remained alive in the morning, he would have their heads chopped off.
As he stared, Jedidia saw the ships maneuvering away from the shore, heading out into the river for their return voyage south. The raid had ended. By noon the Akkadian dogs who had recently harried Elam’s supply route to the west during the war would have traveled the thirty-plus miles back to the mouth of the Karum River and disappeared into the Great Sea. They would have accomplished their mission unscathed, while leaving behind only devastation and destruction.
What ships the Akkadians had failed to sink or capture during the Sumer campaign now lay burning in Sushan’s harbor.
The flames continued to roar as the last Akkadian vessel vanished into the darkness. Except for a few boats fortunate enough to be plying their trade up river, the remains of Sushan’s merchant fleet would soon settle onto the harbor bottom.
As a result, the city would endure shortages of food and supplies for months, perhaps years. For the second time in as many months, Akkadians had struck a heavy and personal blow to Jedidia’s authority, and as before, he could do nothing about it.
He turned away from the balcony. The unhappy commander and three of Jedidia’s personal guards faced him, their faces pale as they awaited his instructions.
“Find out the extent of the damage,” Jedidia ordered. “Talk to the trading masters, and bring them to the Palace at midmorning.” The commander stood there, obviously expecting more instructions. But aside from mouthing empty threats or curses at the Akkadians, Jedidia had nothing else to say. “Get out. All of you.”
He returned his gaze toward the water. The wind shifted, and within moments he inhaled the stench of burning wood and cordage. Another discomfort Jedidia would have to endure, courtesy of the thrice-damned King of Akkad.
Only thirty-six days ago, as soon as he slew Lord Modran, Jedidia had returned to Sushan in haste. He brought with him five thousand mounted fighters, the only effective fighting force within hundreds of miles. Riding all day and long into the night, Jedidia outran any news of his presence as well as his setback in the Jkarian Pass, and Modran’s defeat and death.
With a handful of soldiers, Jedidia used his rank to gain entry to the city’s main gate, and hold it open until the rest of his horsemen arrived. Once inside the serene city of Sushan, he took every advantage of his numbers.
Catching King Shirudukh and his soldiers by surprise, Jedidia’s soldiers stormed the Palace, overwhelmed the King’s personal guard of two hundred Immortals, and slaughtered all of them.
Captured alive, Shirudukh did not survive his men for long. After denouncing Shirudukh as a traitor and the one responsible for the defeat of Elam’s armies, Jedidia ordered every member of his family and inner circle put to death. Jedidia had then shoved his sword into the King’s belly, and stood over him, watching with satisfaction as Shirudukh slowly and painfully bled to death.
The rest of King Shirudukh’s Immortals, eight hundred men, had camped outside Sushan, about a mile from the city. By the time they learned what had happened, the former King’s head decorated a pike just outside the Palace’s gate.
The only remaining Immortals within three hundred miles were stationed in Elam’s capital city of Anshan. Shirudukh, with his armies marching into the Land Between the Rivers, had worried more about Anshan’s security than any threat to himself at Sushan.
Jedidia sent word to the commander of the Immortals outside Sushan’s gates, informing him of the destruction of Modran’s Immortals in the Dellen Pass, and warning the commander that Jedidia’s forces were ready to destroy them as well. The Immortals were ordered to swear oaths of fealty to Jedidia at once. Cut off from the city and with no hope of reinforcements, the commander prostrated himself and accepted Jedidia as the new King of Elam.