NEW DAY (PG-13) - Chapter 7

[Penina Spinka]

This story introduces one more of our friends from Moonlight. See if you can recognize him. Francis Radu is telling Sam – his once twin brother in prehistoric Transylvania, about their travels in Babylon 3000 years earlier, when Radu was only 1000 years of age. Miceas, is of course, Mick. Serali was Sam. If you read this, please take the time to send me a comment, thought or question.

NEW DAY (PG-13)
(2510 words)
Chapter 7


While my ladies slept, I explored the ship. For what it was and for those times, this was comfortable enough. I’d been on smaller. My first trip on water was to cross the Ister River into Thrace more than 4000 years ago. It was no more than a raft.

Slaves rowed below deck. There was a small cargo area smelling from spices, newly dyed linen, and almonds. The shipmaster kept nine sailors who worked in shifts. Some kept watch and managed the sail. Others threw nets into the river and dragged fresh water lobsters and fish over the side. In a tied off section of the foredeck deck, the off-duty sailors slept.

With my night vision, I looked into each sleeping face and, as I suspected, found the young man I had fed on yesterday. Whip marks were newly cut into his shoulders and back. His blood still seeped from his cuts into the cool night air and he shivered but went on sleeping. It was partly my fault he was groggy that morning. He saw me when we came aboard, but made no flicker of recognition. I would not approach him that way again, at least not soon, but I had an idea how I could right the wrong I had done him.

I knelt down and touched his shoulder through his leather shirt. “What?” he whispered hoarsely, careful to keep his voice low to not disturb his mates. “Who’s there?” I was a shadow against the starlight to him. He couldn’t see me in the dark as I could see him.

“I’m one of the passengers, a doctor,” I said, lowering my voice an octave in case he remembered it from last night. “I wondered if you’d let me tend to your injuries?”

“Why?” He groaned, but pushed himself into a sitting position. “Don’t tell me it’s because you like sailors.” He wasn’t that far gone into his drink last night if he remembered the very words I had used. A cagey young man could be useful to me. He hurt all over. I doubted the wounds I left gave him more pain than the whip burns, but I felt responsible for both.

“I won’t tell you that. I don’t like sailors especially, but I concocted a new salve I’d like to try on you. Will you let me?” He strained his eyes to see me and gave up. “It won’t hurt you more, I promise.”

He shrugged, groaned again, but held still. “Doctors always say that, but do it if you want to,” he said. “I hope it won’t sting.”

I pretended to take something out of the pouch at my belt, but actually grazed my finger with one sharp tooth to gain a few drops of my own blood. I turned him slightly, moved his greasy hair aside and spread it over the marks I’d left on his neck. There was enough left to soothe part of his shoulder as well. “How do your neck and shoulder feel now?” I inquired.

He made an odd face, trying to feel the pain. He began to smile at the relief my little trick had given him. “It’s stopped hurting. Do you have more of that stuff for the rest of my back and the other shoulder?”

“Sorry, no. I must use this salve sparingly. It’s not easy to get more. Some of your wounds are still open. Where is the drinking water? I’ll wash the blood away for you. They will heal better if they are clean. That might sting, but it can’t be helped.” He pointed. I used a bit of linen in my pouch to clean away the blood I had smeared on his wounds and found his skin smooth underneath. I didn’t want to chance someone recognizing the bite marks.

“You could make your fortune selling that salve,” he said, but then clamped his mouth shut when he realized I probably already had a fortune.

I leaned close to his ear. “Are you a slave or a free man?”

“Free,” he said with some determination.

“Do you like your captain?” He clenched his teeth because he dared not answer the question honestly and keep his skin if the wrong person overheard him. “I have never been to Nineveh. I’m going to need a guide. Do you know the city?” He nodded adding that he grew up there. “If you are willing, I’ll take you into my employ as my guide and messenger during my visit. If you do well and you want to say with me, I will take you home with me to Babylon.”

I paused to see if he had questions. He did not speak, but he was listening, so I went on with my thought. “Once you’re mine, I’ll feed and clothe you, pay you a dinar monthly, and I won’t beat you unless I find you disloyal. Should you wish to leave my employment, you may once I have found a replacement for you. I have always treated my servants well. What do you say?”

It didn’t take him long to decide. “I agree. My name is Esok. How may I call you, Master Physician?”

“Master will do once you are mine, but my name is Radu. Do not speak of this to anyone. Until we disembark, you belong to your captain. Continue with your assigned duties, but be ready to leave when we do. I will tell the shipmaster myself. He will not dare to argue with me.” Esok whispered that he understood and I left him to his rest.

Dawn was approaching. I planned to avoid the early sun, doubled by the river’s reflection, in the cool shelter of the tent. When I pulled back the tent flap, Lady Undassa alone reclined on the cushions. Like the predator I was, I focused my hearing on the sounds aboard the ship. Half the slaves were still at their oars on the benches below deck while the other half slept. Two sailors stood watch for river traffic, whispering. “The younger priestess is a beauty. To afford the likes of her for one night, I’d happily sell my wife and children.”

“I’d sell myself if I could have a night with her first,” said his companion. “I wonder if that is how the House of Ishtar gets its eunuchs.”

“I would not go that far,” responded the first man, and they laughed softly. “We are lucky we’re able to look at her unveiled at all. She left her tent to look for the morning star and the trader came up to her. They talk like old friends.”

I left the tent and neared Serali and Miceas, keeping out of sight. She had taken my command to heart and was already feeling out the trader with gentle probes. Their voices came to me. “Do you always rise so early?” Miceas asked.

“The morning star is a sign of my Lady Ishtar,” she said. “I give the Divine Mother thanks for each new day and ask for her blessing.” She lifted her arm for her silver armlet to catch the reflection of the star. She was wearing it as I bade her, except when she was with me. “This is beautiful, this armlet I bought from you. Silver on silver. Is silver so plentiful in Nineveh that you can sell it for clay coins?”

He leaned his head closer her ears to reply so his words would not carry. Of course, I heard him anyway. “The coins of the realm represent more than clay. Surely you know that. They are worth goods and grain and land.”

“And who will claim these goods and grain and land? Your master?”

“I have no master. I work for the artisan. I’m a simple distributor of goods. I will take my commission and never see him again.”

I left Serali to her discoveries and retired to the tent just before the sun’s first rays hit the water. Undassa was rising. “Doctor Radu,” she said, seeing me. She stretched and blinked. “I didn’t see you come to bed. Have you just awoken?”

“I’ve been on the deck, listening to the sailors and watching all aboard to see if I can learn anything. I must sleep now,” I said. I reclined where Serali had slept and breathed in her scent from the cushions. “Be careful not to say why we go to Nineveh, Lady Undassa. Our lives may depend on it.” She wrapped herself in her cloak against the morning air. “Don’t let anyone disturb me,” I warned. As soon as I was alone, I closed my eyes and slept like one of the dead.

It was late afternoon when I rose and exited our shelter to see the river. The banks of the river slipped by slowly, but we had made good progress. For a good distance, the view was filled with green – the slender stalks of new wheat and the wider leaves of melon. Canals from the Tigris and its tributaries irrigated the fields. Date palms swayed above the river. We sailed upriver to a cooler clime. Occasionally, we passed small clusters of dwellings where farm owners housed their slaves and stored their supplies and grain. We sailed through marshland where the confluence of the Two Rivers produced their annual spring flood. Villages here stood on stilts and people harvested fish and river plants from small boats. They worked in a light rain for which I gave thanks. I still suffered somewhat from direct sun.

The ship’s cook came to collect the ladies’ dishes. When he saw me outside the tent, he asked if I would take a meal of barley bread, fish and water. I wrinkled my nose. “Just water.” He had to assume I brought my own food aboard and that his wasn’t fine enough for me. In those days, believe me, the nobility had no choice but to act like arrogant snobs. It was expected of us. Were we to speak to underlings like equals, they would think us imposters.

The rest of the day went by. I did not have a chance to speak with Serali alone but I saw her often standing by the rail and looking off into the distance. This was her first time away from Babylon so she was eager to see new sights. Miceas was always by her side, explaining, talking. He said much, but nothing of use. Both of them smiled as they spoke. He looked at her shamelessly. I tried to tamp down tendrils of jealousy when I saw how she returned his attention. I had no claim to Serali I could explain to her at her tender age. I’d even told her another man would give her children, as I could not. If Miceas was to be that man, all I could do was to make sure he never betrayed her.

I watched the river and the stars all night and finally slipped into the tent when Serali left it before dawn. It was midmorning of our second day on the river when Mother Undassa shook me awake. “Radu!” It took me a moment to return to consciousness. “We’ll be pulling into Nineveh’s harbor shortly. You will want to ready yourself.” I nodded and followed her out to the rail.

We watched until the City came into sight. Inside its wall, Nineveh was as vast as Babylon and probably older, but I couldn’t say for sure. The city was built on a hill. From the ship, I could see roofs and doors were painted blue to honor Anu, the lord of heaven. Bits of green on trellises indicated grapes for wine and raisins. The pastel painted temples were built in the ziggurat shape we were familiar with in Babylon. It was a wealthy city. Mansions stood above fields of poppies. Most of the flower heads were still green, but there were spots of red. “Why all the poppies?” I asked Miceas.

“Many find its essence comforting. A form of poppy syrup makes people sleep. Doctors use it during surgery.” I decided to explore this knowledge in addition to the other. “A smaller amount makes people forget their worries or hurts. Some forget too much.” I thanked Miceas for his information and asked where I could find him at home when I was ready for him to take me to the designer of the arm and bracelets. I also inquired after the best hostels for travelers should I not find my old friend available.

We were pulling through the harbor lanes when I found the captain, but he was busy giving orders to his men. He signaled that he saw me, but that I had to wait. It was true; the captain of a ship is like a king of a small island. I found a spot out of the way. His men lowered the sail. The slaves were given direction to row slowly. The pilot guided the ship to the Silver Moon’s slip along the dock. When we had safely slid into our assigned place and tied up to the mooring poles, the captain turned to me. “I’m ready to hear you now, Lord Physician,” he said.

“Thank you for bringing us safely to our destination. I will escort my ladies to the House of Ishtar and then come back for you so we can go to the king’s treasury building. You are to receive your payment, as we agreed.”

He nodded, having no choice but to trust me to keep our bargain. “I’ll be by the Silver Moon or waiting at the tavern with the sign of the fish in front. Ask for me by name. Do you need a guide to the city?”

“No. I already hired one.” I turned and saw my new servant ready to follow me, his duffle bag on his shoulder. “Esok, you can carry the ladies’ bags,” I said.

“Wait!” the captain shouted. “You can’t hire someone off my crew. Esok, get back to your unloading.”

I stopped the captain’s harangue with my raised right hand. “You’ve seen the ring, Shipmaster, and you know what it means. Please stand back while we depart. Be prepared for my return to claim your wages.” His mouth worked silently, probably cursing me, before he turned away to continue directing his crew.

“Miceas,” I said, as we stepped off the ship. “I will call for you after the third hour on the sundial. Be ready.”

“I’ll be expecting you, Lord Physician,” he said. He hefted his heavy bags, and walked onto the dock calling for a porter slave.

[LadyAilith]

I have always loved historical novels. Your work puts me in mind of a book I read many years ago about the bull dancers and the Minotaur. It has the same flavor and detail. Of course, yours has vampires, but none the less, the history and details are there... Thank you for such an interesting read!

LadyAilith

[Penina Spinka]

Thank you for following, reading and commenting on my story. I means a lot to me that you like it. I LOVE Mary Renault and all her works. I even wrote her a letter once and she answered it. I have kept that letter in my jewelry box since 10th grade in 1960. If my work can be compared to hers, I have a good thing going.