NEW DAY - Chapter 11 (PG-13)

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Penina Spinka
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NEW DAY - Chapter 11 (PG-13)

Post by Penina Spinka »

If you read, please comment. I try to improve this story whenever I send out a new chapter. I hope it holds your interest.

Thank you. Penina

New Day - Chapter 11 – (2050 words)


I awoke to pain, forgetting where I was and why I could not move my limbs. As though she stood at my side, I heard Serali’s worried voice in my thoughts. Radu. You never came back to the Treasury. Esok waited for you and then came to tell me. You need help. Where are you?

I didn’t know if I imagined Serali’s voice in my mind. I might have been deceiving myself. Since I hadn’t dreamed since I awoke to my new life, it was most assuredly not a dream, but what was it? How could I have heard her? Did the Goddess know where I was? Did I have any reason to hope?

I don’t know where I am. A sorcerer called Sulil and traitorous members of my brotherhood conspired against me. They plan to help the Persians invade Babylon. Ask Ishtar for help, but don’t risk yourself. Stay safe.

According to what he told me later, all the time I was in Sheik Sulil’s house, Miceas had been keeping watch outside. No bracelet or armlet compelled him to obey Sulil, only his dreams of wealth. Miceas turned over the bags of coins he received for the ornaments, never knowing what the bracelets could do. His half of the bargain was to dispense the ornaments, and to report any strangeness he’d noticed concerning them. That was why he told Sulil how Physician Radu seemed to tear off the silver bracelet.

Sulil thanked him for his work and handed him his note of reward, redeemable at the Treasury. The note would supply him with sufficient notes of exchange for a larger house, more servants to run it for him, all he could desire, including the wealth to support Serali in the style of a rich man. He wondered why he felt guilty.

During our voyage, he had begun to like me, but then, I threatened him. If I was not Serali’s father, I had behaved unreasonably possessive. He had not minded reporting my reactions and questions to Sulil, but he knew Serali cared for me. With my blood on his conscience, he had no right to ask for her.

The day grew late and the sun descended. Miceas did not go home or to the House of Ishtar. Instead, he continued to walk back and forth, keeping his eyes on the house. When it grew dark, three men emerged from Sulil’s door, two of them carrying me between them, covered with a linen sheet but for my face. It would look to anyone like I was drunk or dead. Serali would never forgive Miceas if his actions led to my death. He decided to follow those who carried me; at least he might learn something.

Miceas never ventured close enough for the three to single him out of the workers and tradesmen hurrying home from their daily pursuits to supper and bed. Pickpockets and thieves mingled and tarried. He did the same, aware that he held riches in redeemable notes in his pockets, but he did not lose sight of my captors.

The men emerged from the cemetery on the edge of the city without me, and walked away, for their night was just begun and they were hungry. When they were gone, Miceas walked down the brick-lined path to the entrance of the mausoleum. He descended by a series of curved steps until he was in an underground passageway, the smell of death all around him. Torches and flint had been left behind. Miceas struck a spark and lit one the torches. He walked forward, but the passageway had no egress. All the crypts were walled, but if I was anywhere, I was here.

“He’s dead and buried,” he said to himself. “There’s nothing I can do for him.” He gave a shuddering breath. “Damn Sulil. He didn’t have to kill the man.” Miceas’ voice awakened me again. I thought it might be part of a troubled dream, but he seemed close enough that I tried to take a breath to call out to him. I wanted to tell him to tear down the wall and free me, but I could not control my lungs or my voice.

“At least, I can tell Serali where he’s buried,” he said. Bring her to me, I thought, but it was no use. The last I heard were his footsteps hurrying away and running up the steps. I lapsed in and out of consciousness. I wondered how long I would lie here on a brick slab among the truly dead. I wondered if I could starve.

# #

Miceas rapped on the door until his knuckles hurt before it was opened. “This is not a festival day or the night of the New Moon,” said the guard. “The priestesses will not be on the holy mountain. Does one of them expect you?”

“I have important information for the priestesses from Babylon concerning their friend. Will you announce me so I may speak to them?”

“You must leave a donation.”

“I only need to talk to the Lady Serali, not to lie with her. Here are two shekels. That is enough to deliver a simple message. Will you get her for me or not?” He didn’t know what he would do if the guard said no.

The guard held out his hand and let Miceas deposit the coins in his curved palm. “Follow me and wait,” he said. He led the trader to a receiving room near the door and told him to wait there. “If she won’t come, I tried. You don’t get your money back.”

“By all the gods!” Miceas swore. “Just give her my message. Move!” A few moments later, both Undassa and Serali came to greet him. Undassa said, “May the Goddess give you welcome. Why do you call on us at such a late hour?”

“I have terrible news. Radu is dead.”

Undassa’s hand few to her mouth. “His servant boy from the ship said he never came back to Treasury. Haggai, the chief treasurer told the boy to wait for him here. You say Radu is dead. Did you see him killed? What happened? Where is his body?”

“He entered the designer’s house walking and came out carried and still. He’s already buried.” Miceas wondered why Serali did not react to his chilling announcement. Perhaps she had gone into shock. She was fond of the physician. Women were known to overreact or be overcome by shock, especially young women.

“Radu is not dead,” Serali said. Her tone was low and serious. There was no sound of panic, no cry of mourning. “His servant’s name is Esok. The boy is waiting for word of his master. He refused to desert him. Do you know where to find Radu?”

Her words increased Miceas’ feeling of guilt. “I think I know where he is. We’ll need strong men to tear down the brick wall that sealed his crypt.”

Serali called two of the temple eunuchs over. “Prepare to come with us and bring tools. We need to break down a wall.”

Lady Undassa tried to stop her. “What are you thinking? Ishtar’s priestesses do not leave the temple precinct to go to cemeteries with unrelated men.”

Again, Serali’s steady voice surprised him. “I’m going. I’ll break down the walls myself if I need to. Lord Radu is not dead. He’s trapped and he needs help.”

“How can you know that? Are you saying they buried him alive?” asked Lady Undassa. The eunuchs returned, carrying a bronze pick and a crowbar. They stood silently, heads bowed, awaiting orders from the young priestess.

“If he’s buried, they buried him alive. If you refuse me permission, I still must go. But I won’t be back.”

“You can’t take temple guards out of this house. What you would have them do is unholy. The dead must remain buried. It’s against the law to disturb their rest.”

“Radu is not dead. If the guards cannot come with us, I will find another way to free him. I must go with your blessing or without it.”

Miceas did not know what to do. How could the girl be so sure? Undassa pressed the pads of her fingers together. It was a sign of submission to what must be. “You have been faithful to the Goddess since you entered Ishtar’s doors in Babylon. I pray She will assist you with this madness. Whatever you learn of Radu’s fate, come back to the House and tell me.” Serali nodded.

“I’ll guard her with my life,” said Miceas. They and the men exited the House of Ishtar.

My servant Esok waited in the garden. He had seen Miceas go inside the House. “Is my master alive?” he asked. “He was kind to me. I will do whatever I can to help him.”

“He is alive. Come, but let nothing surprise you,” Serali told him, striding after Miceas. “Lord Radu might need more help than I can spare.”

Esok didn’t know what she meant, but whatever his master needed, he was willing to do it or to give it. The lad was of an age with Serali, but to him, she sounded like a commander. He was used to taking orders, but never from one so beautiful. Esok grinned, and hurried to keep up the priestess and the trader.

Miceas led them to the cemetery, but he halted. “Before I bring you down to the crypt, I must tell you what I did.” He swallowed nervously.

The eunuchs crouched, waiting for their orders from the Maid of Ishtar. Serali saw Esok about to take himself out of hearing like a proper servant. She motioned for him to come closer. “You can speak before his servant. The boy is loyal.”

Her whole attitude amazed him. Miceas had seen her as a Maid of Ishtar. Although she was a holy priestess who sold the favors of her body for her Goddess, she was young and inexperienced in the intrigue of the outer world. She was barely old enough to be a wife. “How have you become like a king?” he asked.

Serali regarded him with a serious expression. “Me – being like a king? I don’t know about that. I only know that my dear friend needs me. If what you must tell me is important, say it. Radu must not be kept waiting longer than necessary.”

Miceas had been practicing how he would tell her about his part in my death, or if not my death, in whatever state of captivity I was in, but all his practice didn’t help when it was time to speak. He could only blurt it out. “You know I worked for the designer of the bracelets. All I knew was that I must sell them to the nobility and soldiers of Babylon. When Lord Radu couldn’t touch the silver without pain, I reported it.”

“So you think the designer had Lord Radu killed because of this?” Serali asked.

“I don’t know. I certainly didn’t think Sulil intended Radu harm. If there’s anything, anything I can do to make it up to him, I will do it. I owe him that. I never meant to get him harmed or killed.”

Miceas stood with his head bowed like a supplicant before Serali, and held out one hand. She took it and spoke quietly, so only Esok and Miceas could hear her words. “He’s not dead, but once we free him, he will need nourishment. Are you willing?”

She hadn’t said enough. How could Miceas know if he was willing? Willing to do what? “What do you mean?”

“If you truly want to make amends for leading Radu into danger, don’t ask. Just say you will do as I tell you. It’s the only way to save my friend.”

Miceas wished my servant Esok wasn’t there to overhear. She hadn’t asked the boy if he were willing, but he had already said he would do whatever it took to free me. “Know this, Serali,” Miceas said. “I love you. Whatever you need me to do, I am willing.”

Serali smiled, and added as an afterthought. “In that case, we go forward. I’ll try to keep Radu from killing you.”
Last edited by Penina Spinka on Sat Aug 14, 2010 5:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
Read Sam stories by Penina My index: http://www.moonlightaholics.com/viewforum.php?f=560
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AggieVamp
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Re: NEW DAY - Chapter 11 (PG-13)

Post by AggieVamp »

Serali is a force to be reconned with! But then we can't forget her true connection to Radu! On to the next chapter

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Penina Spinka
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Re: NEW DAY - Chapter 11 (PG-13)

Post by Penina Spinka »

Hey Karen. I'm happy your wrote again and you knew who Serali really is. In every incarnation, the brothers find each other and love each other. I don't know how this idea came to me, but I love writing it and I'm glad you're enjoying. Pop over to LLOL and look in my studio in fan fiction for BECOMING to read Radu and Sammik's first life story. It is being posted in fanfiction.net under TV/Moonlight/Vampire Reader. I'm in chapter 28 now of a pre-WB publishable story. Always, Penina
Read Sam stories by Penina My index: http://www.moonlightaholics.com/viewforum.php?f=560
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LadyAilith
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Re: NEW DAY - Chapter 11 (PG-13)

Post by LadyAilith »

You write the historical fiction so very well! I just love reading your stories. Your characters are written so well that they come to life...

Will there be more of Radu and Sammik's later lives? I'd be quite interested in reading more about them.
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Penina Spinka
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Re: NEW DAY - Chapter 11 (PG-13)

Post by Penina Spinka »

Dear Lady A.
Thank you for reading and thank you for asking for more. It is a pleasure for me to go over this story written more than a year ago to improve it for re-presentation here in MLA. There are several other Sam/Francis stories. I'm currently posting BECOMING on fanfiction.net (under tv, moonlight, vampire reader (me) as author.) It tells the story of the twins' first lives and how Radu became a vampire. His sire is a major influence. I've fallen for him. I'm also posting BECOMING on LLOL where the story is further along. Are you familiar with that? I'm now struggling with chapter 27. BECOMING is under fan fiction under Penina Spinka's studio, and, I think, in Moonlight Forever under Moonlight PG-13 fiction. FINDING SAM tells about how Francis Radu found Sam in Greenwich Village playing drums at the Vanguard. That is where Mick found Sam 2 years later, the night Beth left him alone in NYC. In THE BEAT, Sam brings Mick to his Mohawk Reservation (St. Regis) and they have an adventure. Francis Radu is only mentioned in this one, but in POSSIBLY SAM, Radu makes a visit to NYC. Mick and Josef meet him at Sam's place and the pair help Josef communicate with Sarah and make a decision that will help them both Josef & Sarah. DURING POSSIBLY SAM is a romp between scenes when Francis introduces Sam to the owner of the vampire club in downtown NYC. The owner is someone historic that Francis brought over in England about 1100 years ago. I hope I've whetted your interest. All of these are in fanfiction.net. I will be happy if you read them.
I am trying to sell BECOMING. I sent the proposal to 3 agents a few days ago, although I have a few more chapters to write. BTW, if you like my writing, go to peninakeenspinka.info for my web-site about my published novels and projects. FINDING SAM is in there under Fan's Corner. Please check it out. Thanks again, Penina
Read Sam stories by Penina My index: http://www.moonlightaholics.com/viewforum.php?f=560
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