Game of Queens (9 page)

“Like scandalous gossip?” Arioch suggested.

“Oh. Well, then you know all about it already,” Daniel said. “Sama, may I please have some more wine?”

“Later. We don't know
all
about it.” Samamat smiled and patted the bench. “Come, Daniel, tell us how you knew those men were lying about the most beautiful and most virtuous lady in all the Jewish Quarter—”

“Aside from the fact that their lips were moving,” Arioch said, and Daniel laughed.

“Aside from that? It wasn't difficult, really.”

No, not difficult, only pathetically ridiculous. And if Susannah's foolish husband hadn't been fond enough of her to seek Daniel's advice, she would now be dead, victim of two men's rejected lust and her iron virtue.

The most beautiful and most virtuous lady in all Babylon
 … Susannah held her beauty cheap compared to her faith, her virtue, and her husband's honor.
It would have been better had she prided herself on her perfect face and figure …

“Daniel? You're thinking again.” Arioch waved his hand in front of Daniel's eyes. “Men? Lying? Remember?”

“Oh, yes. Well, you heard about the accusation?”

“All Babylon heard about it.” Samamat frowned. “As if the Most Virtuous would actually lie with a man not her husband—and in her own garden.”

“Yes, that did sound odd, didn't it?” Arioch said.

“Especially since her husband's young and handsome and utterly besotted with her,” Samamat finished, and Daniel nodded.

“Very odd.” But with two venerable elders both swearing that they had seen Susannah seduce a young man into her garden and then into her arms; two men able to describe every beauty mark upon her body, Susannah was doomed. Of course they could describe her in loving detail; the two men had spied upon the lady as she bathed. “Clearly more than once,” Daniel added.

Susannah's only defense was to state that she had not sinned and to call upon God to witness to the truth of her words and the purity of her body. Against her two accusers, her words weighed nothing. But at least Susannah's husband possessed some sense, for he had urgently sought out Daniel.

“So I went, of course. First I spoke to the Most Vir—to Susannah, and I took each of Susannah's accusers aside and spoke to him alone.”

“By the way, could these reputable elders of yours describe the young man our virtuous lady supposedly risked her life to embrace?” Arioch asked.

“Actually, they could. Of course, one said he was tall and dark, and the other that he was fair like a Greek.”

“A
Greek
? Daniel, what would a Greek be doing in the Jewish Quarter?” Samamat demanded.

“Having an affair with Susannah, obviously.” Daniel shook his head. “Clearly the two men hadn't bothered to come up with a consistent story.”

“Of course not. Accusation constitutes proof, against a woman.” The bitterness in Samamat's voice made Daniel wince.

After a moment, he continued, “It was simple, really. The two men claimed Susannah and her lover lay together under a tree in her garden. So I asked Susannah's accusers what kind of tree she and her lover lay under. One said it was a mastic tree and the other said it was an oak.”

“Just as her lover was both dark and fair. So
that's
how you knew they were both lying,” Samamat said earnestly, and Daniel looked at Arioch and saw that Arioch, too, was trying not to laugh.

“Sama, it didn't matter
what
kind of tree they said it was. These two men supposedly watched a beautiful naked woman in the arms of—”

“An equally beautiful naked man,” Arioch added helpfully.

“—so it is extremely unlikely that they paid the least attention to the tree,” Daniel finished. “But yes, their stories didn't fit together at all.”

“And?” Samamat prompted.

Daniel sighed. “And then, since they had borne false witness against an innocent woman, the two men who accused her were sentenced to death. I came away as soon as I gave Joakim some advice.”

“What did you tell him?” Samamat asked.

“To let his wife wear whatever veil she wished.”

“Preferably one made of very, very thick cloth,” Arioch added, and Samamat slanted a glance at him.

“Because all the gods forefend that men act like civilized creatures.” It might have been a jest; her tone made that possible.

But Daniel didn't think Samamat jested. “I think you're right. A man acts like a rabid beast, and claims it the woman's fault—that can't be either just or righteous.”

“And you?” Samamat turned to Arioch. “What do you think?”

“What I think,” Arioch said, “is that Susannah's husband needs to build a much higher wall around his wife's garden.”

*   *   *

The Susannah affair sealed Daniel's reputation as a truly wise man for all time—and sent Daniel from Babylon to Shushan. For saving Susannah, Daniel had been repaid with open hostility from much of Babylon's Jewish community, a fact that baffled Daniel. Arioch seemed unsurprised. “You made them realize they're so stupid they'd stone a woman first and look at the facts later.”

“Now, Arioch, that's not completely fair—” Daniel began.

“Just
how
many of those commandments of yours did they all break? Two? Three? Do you think they
like
you for pointing out their stupidity and hypocrisy?”

“And you deprived them of their fun,” Samamat added. “Those men looked forward to stoning a beautiful woman to death. You stopped them. Arioch's right. Now the Jews here hate you too.”

Daniel sighed. “I don't know what I can do about it. I had no choice. Susannah was innocent.”

Arioch smiled. “I've done something about it. King Darius is finished with Babylon. He's going back to Shushan and we're going with him.”

The king had appointed a governor to rule the city and ensure Babylon would be reminded it now existed as a satrapy of the great empire Darius had carved out of dozens of bickering kingdoms. The king and his court were to return to the ancient city of Shushan, and Arioch had—“Tactfully,” Arioch claimed—suggested the king take Daniel Dream-Master with him. “The king wanted to take you along anyway, but you know how considerate he is. He hesitated to offend the Jews here by stealing away their famous and pious—don't forget how pious you are—Daniel Dream-Master. So the fact that the Jews here hate you is an excuse for King Darius to do what he wanted to do in the first place. A really
good
excuse.”

“Don't look so tragic,” Arioch said, as Daniel stared at him. “Sama and I are going too. And I suppose your priestess and her dragon—”

“Elu-ki isn't
my
priestess,” Daniel began, and then abandoned the effort. The news that they were all moving to Shushan stunned him. Daniel had lived in Babylon since he had arrived at the Gateway of the Gods when he was a fourteen-year-old captive from conquered Israel. “But Arioch, I've never been to Shushan. And I'm no good at traveling…”

“Oh, Daniel, you are so!” Samamat put her arm around him. “You traveled with King Nebuchadnezzar on hunting trips and—”

“And I didn't like it.”

“—it's not as if you have to walk to Shushan, you know.”

“And good luck never lasts forever. I'm amazed you're still alive. So this move is a
good
thing,” Arioch told him. “I don't know about you, Daniel, but I'm very, very tired of mad kings. At least King Darius has the sense to get out before he's worshipping alien gods and eating grass.”

“Well … I hear Shushan's a fascinating city,” Daniel had said hopefully.

“And I hear Shushan's hot as Ahriman's hells and dusty as Nineveh's archives,” Arioch said. “But at least it's not Babylon.”

Samamat had pointed out that Shushan's merits and drawbacks were irrelevant. “Since we go by the king's command.”

“There's one other good thing about Shushan…” Arioch came over to stand beside Samamat and draped his arm around her shoulders. “Those three bigoted friends of yours won't be there.”

“They haven't really been friends of mine in years.” Daniel tried to be sorry, but as the years passed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had grown so intolerant, so rigidly pious, that they could hardly bear to acknowledge Daniel at all. Not seeing them was the simplest way to avoid endless argument.

*   *   *

Somewhere, somehow, along the road to Shushan, the priestess Amunet-Nefer-Setmut-Elu-ki and the dragon Bel had vanished. Daniel assumed the priestess and her pet god had seen a chance to return home to Egypt and taken it. Daniel suspected Arioch knew more about their disappearance than he would ever admit.

And since Samamat would happily recount her own intervention on their behalf, Daniel knew better than to ever ask her.

Sometimes, in his dreams, Daniel saw Elu-ki leading Bel over pale hot sand, girl and dragon walking steadily into the west.

Toward Egypt.

Toward home.

*   *   *

At last the day came when the three of them stared across the flat plain at the city that was to be their new home. There was a long silence no one seemed in a hurry to end. At last Daniel said,

“That's Shushan?”

“Yes, Daniel,” Samamat said, “I'm very much afraid it is.”

“Why does everyone call it ‘Shushan the Beautiful'?” Daniel asked plaintively.

“Because, Daniel, if everyone called it ‘Shushan the Flat and Ugly,' no one would ever come here,” Arioch said.

“The palace is very—very grand,” Samamat added, after gazing at it for several long, silent moments. “And the Great Staircase is supposed to be a wonder.”

“I'm sure it is.” Arioch studied the citadel and sighed. “I wonder where—or
if
—the architects of that palace studied their craft?”

“Well, at least it isn't Babylon,” Daniel offered up hopefully.

“I
liked
Babylon.”

“Arioch, you were the one who insisted we had to leave even before King Darius ordered us to come with him!”

“That's because I like being alive more than I like Babylon. Come on, let's get this over with.”

*   *   *

Distance deceived under the steady blazing of the sun. Shushan had seemed to be only a few miles away—but it took hours for the king's caravan to reach the city. Shushan seemed to hover just above the burning plain, a shimmering illusion forever beyond their reach.

At last they drew close enough to see past illusion to the Choaspes River, and past the river to the city walls on its eastern bank.
Sand.
Daniel stared at the city that would now be their home. High walls built of mud brick; the harsh sun had dried the bricks to the gold of sand. The city walls veiled most of Shushan.

But you couldn't miss the palace. It stood at the north end of Shushan—and in a land flat as a mirror, the palace loomed above the city walls.

“A man-made hill. A good idea, for a citadel.” Samamat stared at the palace; Daniel suspected she was calculating how many men, buckets, and hours of grinding labor it had taken to create such a huge mound.

“At least the river doesn't run through the city,” Arioch said, his voice flat.

Daniel knew Arioch was remembering how King Darius had taken Babylon, and with Babylon, what was left of a once glorious empire. The Euphrates ran through Babylon, dividing the city in half. King Darius ordered his engineers to divert the river and open the water gates.

And then Darius's army had simply marched into the heart of Babylon.…

“Arioch. Done is done.” Daniel gently touched Arioch's hand.

“The Choaspes is said to have the sweetest water in all the world.” Samamat, gentle but firm, changed the subject. “It's said to be the oldest city in all the world, too.”

“That doesn't surprise me. Mud is cheap,” Arioch said. “What in the name of the Seven Hells is
that?”

The Great Staircase, newly gilded in honor of King Darius's return, burned bright under the midday sun. Daniel studied the wide sweep of steeps and terraces. Shushan could not compare with Babylon in beauty—but it was impossible not to admire Shushan's hard-won magnificence.

“Who do you suppose sweeps the steps?” Samamat asked, staring.

“The royal step sweepers, of course.” But even Arioch sounded impressed.

*   *   *

King Darius entered Shushan to an enthusiastic welcome. Daniel hadn't realized there were so many rose petals in the world, and all of them seemed to have been gathered to fling joyously at King Darius and his attendants. Arioch had been assigned by Darius to ensure neither Daniel nor Samamat absentmindedly wandered off to investigate Shushan; as a result, they managed to arrive at the foot of the Great Staircase with the rest of the procession.

They looked up a long hill of stairs wide enough for a dozen horsemen to ride up abreast. In honor of King Darius's return home, the entire stairway waited, golden and empty, for him to ride up from the city to the palace citadel. Once the king and his advisors, followed by the king's guard, the famed Immortals led the way, everyone else was at last free to climb up to the palace citadel.

It took them almost an hour to make their way up the Great Staircase. When they reached the top, Daniel looked back across the smooth plain. Babylon lay far away. Shushan was home now.

I hope Shushan proves more peaceful than Babylon. I'm tired of solving problems for kings and queens.

*   *   *

Daniel arrived in Shushan to discover that his part in Susannah's deliverance had transformed him from a man who could spin meaning out of puzzling dreams into a sage as wise as Ahura Mazda Himself. Or, to the empire's Jews, into a man wise as Solomon in all his glory. Daniel tried to live a quiet life, and hoped he would no longer be called upon to meddle in the affairs of kings.