The priestess stood at the entrance to the stall as I went through the routine that I had learnt as a small boy. First I brushed Remus’ back to remove any dirt or grit that may cause chaffing under the saddle.
‘How long have you been a priestess at the temple?’ I asked, brushing him from his neck towards his hindquarters so all the hairs laid flat.
‘Since the goddess spoke to me as a small child, highness.’
I inspected him to ensure there were no sores or wounds on his body.
I walked past her to fetch the saddlecloth lying on the bench opposite the stall, under my saddle hanging on the wall. Strangely the other stalls were empty of horses and this particular stable block was also deserted of people. It was suddenly very quiet and very still. As I passed her I inadvertently stared at her breasts.
I threw the saddlecloth on Remus’ back, positioning it forward over his withers and sliding it back so that his hair lay flat beneath it, running my hand over the white material, a red griffin stitched in each corner.
‘My body pleases you, highness?’ she purred.
I could feel my cheeks flush at her words as I took the saddle from the wall and placed it gently on my horse’s back, slightly forward and then settling it back.
‘What? My apologies, I did not mean…’
She laughed. ‘There is no need to apologise, highness. Ishtar is the goddess of love as well as war and fertility. Her servants aspire to possess her qualities.’
I checked that there were no wrinkles beneath the saddlecloth and then grabbed the free end of the girth.
‘What qualities are those?’ I asked, tightening the girth gently to leave enough space to be able to slide my fingers between it and Remus’ body.
She moved closer to me, the alluring smell of her perfume filling my nostrils.
‘Ishtar is the perfect woman, highness, tempting and sensual, a seductive and voluptuous beauty.’ She breathed in and her breasts rose. The stall suddenly seemed very small.
She smiled as I brushed past her to fetch the bridle that had been placed on hooks beside the saddle. She stroked Remus’ neck.
‘Your horse is a most beautiful beast, highness.’
He moved his tail casually and adopted a relaxed stance to indicate that he was very content. I smiled as I put my right hand under his jaw and held the bit with my left, pressing it gently into his mouth and up over his tongue.
‘Yes, he and I have been together a long time.’
With the bit in his mouth I gently slid the bridle’s headpieces over his ears, then pulled the forelock over the brow band.
She continued stroking him, fixing me with her brown, oval eyes as she did so.
‘He was sent to you, highness, so that you would not lose your way.’
I stood in front of him and ensured that the bit, noseband and brow band were level and without twists.
‘No, I found him in a town called Nola in a land a great distance from Babylon.’
She stopped stroking him and smiled at me once more. ‘No, highness, he found you.’
I fastened the throatash and then the noseband, running two fingers between it and Remus’ nose.
She moved closer to me until her face was inches from mine, her full lips parting invitingly. She placed her hands on my hips.
‘I will give myself freely if you desire it, highness.’
As my loins stirred with lust she moved one hand to behind my neck and caressed my groin with the other. She smiled.
‘Your body says yes, highness.’
She moved her lips closer to mine and it was with god-like will that I suppressed my lust for her.
‘My body may say yes but my marriage vows say no,’ I replied, gently pushing her away.
‘I am here to serve you in all things,’ she persisted.
I backed away from her and held up my hands. ‘You are most generous but showing me the way to the temple will suffice. We will have to find you a horse so that we may ride to the temple together for I do not know the way.’
I walked round the other side of Remus so temptation was out of view.
‘He will lead you there, highness.’
I only half-heard her words as I checked that there was a width of two fingers between the brow band of the bridle and Remus’ brow.
‘All done,’ I announced. ‘Now, let’s get you a horse and then we can ride to the temple together.’
I turned to discover that she no longer stood behind me. I walked out of the stall and looked up and down the corridor. She was nowhere to be seen. I led Remus from his stall outside into the expansive courtyard. An elderly stable hand came towards me carrying a bucket and spade, bowing his head to me.
‘Did you see a young woman leaving these stables, she was very beautiful and wearing a white dress?’
He shook his head. ‘No, majesty.’
He called to one of his companions nearby on the paved courtyard, who also reported not having seen the priestess. I vaulted into the saddle.
‘A striking young woman cannot just disappear into thin air.’
‘Do you wish for me to fetch the captain of the guards, majesty?’ he said.
‘No, carry on with your duties.’
He bowed his head and continued on his way, leaving me none the wiser.
‘Well,’ I said to Remus, ‘I had better find a guide to take me to the temple so that I can resolve this little mystery.’
Without prompting Remus began to walk forward purposely, across the courtyard and out of the palace compound. He ambled past the guards at the gates and swung left to take us north up the Processional Way.
‘You seem to know the way,’ I said to him and sat back to enjoy the ride.
He took me to the northeast quarter of the city, along an unpaved road at right angles to the Processional Way. Away from the royal thoroughfares citizens threw their garbage and filth onto the streets, which was then covered up with layers of clay. I thus rode along a street that was significantly higher than when it had originally been constructed.
I came at last to the Temple of Ishtar, which was surrounded by a high wall built of mud-bricks. Guards stood at the entrance to the temple complex to keep the throng of worshippers at bay, spearmen dressed all in white with wicker shields painted gold. As soon as they saw me one called inside the tunnel entrance to the temple and a score of other guards appeared and roughly pushed aside the worshippers with their spear shafts to make a passage for me. Remus was unconcerned by the assembly of well-dressed dignitaries, half-naked mystics, poor people, cripples and visitors from other lands dressed in exotic robes who protested and wailed as they were shoved aside to give me access. We passed through the tunnel in the thick perimeter wall and past two guardrooms that flanked its other end to exit into a rectangular courtyard surrounded by stables, barracks and other accommodation. In fact it looked more like a palace than a temple.
‘I told you he would find his way here, highness.’
I looked down to see the beautiful priestess who had tried to seduce me in the stables standing on my right side. She smiled at me.
‘Shall I take him? The high priestess awaits.’
I was going to ask how she got here before me but then I saw Afrand coming towards me, like her other priestesses dressed in a low-cut white dress, white slippers on her feet and a gold diadem in her hair. I dismounted and my beautiful messenger led Remus to the stables. Guards ushered worshippers from the temple grounds. One man, obviously of some importance judging by the amount of gold on his fingers and round his neck, and the richness of his accompanying wife’s apparel, was protesting loudly.
‘Do you know who I am? I will tell you. I am the governor of Sippar and a member of the royal council. I have paid handsomely to enter the temple and object strongly to being treated in this way.’
His wife was making noises like the shrieks of a crow as they were unceremoniously ushered from the courtyard.