Game of Queens (19 page)

“Or to ride. I wish to ride with one of the guards.” Already I began to demand, rather than to plead, and such waywardness always made Amestris smile. As yet, my imagination had not stretched far: it did not occur to me to demand to ride a horse myself.

Instead of correcting me when I insisted I must ride, Amestris seemed to consider this a reasonable request. “Poor Vashti—this journey is very tedious for you.” Amestris nodded to her attendant, who leaned out and ordered the riders to halt.

And then, to my astonished delight, I was handed from the Queen Mother's litter into the care of the captain of the guard, who swooped me up to sit before him on his horse. My joy vanished as the horse danced sideways and I stared down at hard ground as far below me as Ahriman's pit.

“Hold tight, princess. And don't worry, I won't let you fall.” The captain spoke in a matter-of-fact tone that somehow convinced me.

Already I began to believe that whatsoever I wished would be granted me. Queen Mother Amestris ordered my life now—and she seemed to delight in my newfound boldness.

“You will be Queen of Queens, Vashti,” Amestris told me, whenever I acted with the meekness my mother had taught me to display. “Queens do what pleases them. Hold your head high—it must bear the weight of a crown soon.”

*   *   *

After that day, whenever I grew bored with riding in the litter, I demanded that the captain of the Queen Mother's guard take me up upon his horse with him. He was very old—silver gleamed through his hair and beard, and long years in the sun had darkened his skin and scored lines around his eyes and mouth. But old or not, he smiled and talked with me; like Queen Mother Amestris, Dariel of the guard spoke to me as if I were his equal. An odd thought, for I, soon to be Queen of Queens, was far above him in birth and station.

Dariel, too, regaled me with stories, but his were less fantastic than those of Amestris's song-master. Long journeys he had taken to Egypt and to the Spice Lands; battles he had fought; intrigues he had avoided. Later I realized that all he had truly told me of himself could be written on a tablet smaller than my palm. I did learn that his father had been a soldier too. A famous one, Dariel told me.

“My father captained your grandfather's father's guard, and when King Nebuchadnezzar died, my father captained your grandfather's guard. His name was Arioch, who was Daniel Dream-Master's friend.”

I learned that Arioch had been summoned from Babylon to Shushan when Great Darius had overthrown my grandfather King Belshazzar and gathered up the kingdom of Babylon to adorn his empire. “That is why I have so odd a name: I was named for Daniel and for Darius both.” I learned that Dariel had been born in Shushan, and his father had died there. And I learned that Dariel missed his wife.

Most of what Dariel told me I forgot by day's end. Dariel's words were merely another diversion. All the Queen Mother's staff and servants devoted themselves to amusing me; Dariel no less than any of the others.

*   *   *

Half of our journey lay behind us when we reached the western bank of the Tigris. The river spread wide, its waters smooth and heavy with golden-brown silt.

“How do we cross over the river?” I asked. Our caravan had halted where the river stretched widest. The far bank seemed miles away.

“We don't. We cross through it.” Dariel turned his horse so that we faced Queen Amestris's palanquin, behind us on the road. “Does my lady princess wish to cross in the Queen Mother's litter, or trust herself to me and my horse?”

I hesitated, questions crowding my mind. The river loomed, broad and imposing, and I could not imagine how we could cross without a bridge. I tilted my head, looking up at Dariel's face. He waited, smiling slightly, for my answer.

I wanted him to tell me which would be safer: to ride across on a horse, or in a litter. But even as I opened my mouth to question him, I found myself thinking:
Why, it is a—a trick. Neither carries a greater risk than the other. Dariel would not offer a choice if either held peril.

For a breath I glared at him, indignant. I was a princess of Babylon, soon to be a great queen. How dare he mock me? “You may carry me across.” I tried to make my tone one of cold command; my mother's weapon. I failed, of course.

“So my lady princess would rather ride? Good choice.” Dariel raised his voice and called to one of the guards. “Tell the Queen Mother that the princess and I will cross first.” And to me, “Hold on to me, princess.”

Dariel spurred his horse forward to the river's edge, and as I clung tightly to Dariel, the horse walked unhesitatingly into the water—which never rose above the beast's knees. Halfway across, I eased my clasp on Dariel's arm. “You deceived me,” I accused.

“I? A mere captain of the Imperial Guard? Deceive a princess of Babylon?” Dariel commanded his voice far better than I did mine; not even a whisper of laughter tinged his words.

“You didn't tell me the water was so shallow I could have walked across myself.” A startling notion—that I could cross a river unaided.

“Very few people tell everything they know,” Dariel said. “There's a bridge ten miles downstream, and a ferry ten miles upstream. But the Sirrush Ford is the most direct route—at least at this time of year. In the spring, the water runs higher than a camel's head.” A pause. “Does my lady princess wish to walk the rest of the way across by herself?”

Something made me consider my words with care. “If I said yes, would you set me down?”

“Does my lady princess think I would?”

I looked up at him. “No,” I said, and Dariel smiled. He did not look half so old when he smiled.

“Good answer,” Dariel said. “My lady princess is as clever as she is beautiful.”

Delighted, I smiled back. I had spent my life hearing that I was beautiful. No one had ever before called me clever.

By the time the palace of Shushan loomed at the end of the Royal Road, I had learned to hold a vastly high opinion of myself. And if I felt any guilt at abandoning the harsh rules a highborn maiden should obey, it vanished under the weight of Amestris's praise and flattery.

*   *   *

The ancient city of Shushan lay on a plain by the river Choaspes. The Choaspes was not a great river such as the Euphrates or the Tigris, but it served Shushan well enough. If I looked past the lazy river, the plain stretched far into the east. On the eastern horizon the Zagros Mountains climbed the sky; silver flashed on the highest peaks.

Snow. I had heard of mountains and of snow, but this was the first time I had seen either. Both mountains and snow were far away, and that day I did not dream I ever would dwell among either. I knew my life would be within Shushan's walls now.

Although it had become the dazzling capital of empire, Shushan had no soaring towers, no vast gardens. At first I thought Shushan possessed nothing to match the glories of the Ishtar Gate or the Hanging Gardens. Then I lifted my eyes to the palace of the King of Kings.

The hill supporting the palace rose high above the flat land. Even as far away as I was when I first set eyes upon the great palace at Shushan, I looked up at its shining walls. I could not see past them.

*   *   *

I entered the great palace of Shushan through the King's Gate. The Queen Mother's litter was carried up the Great Staircase, past stone lamassu taller than ten men. I did not see much of all this, for indulgent as Amestris was, she did not permit me to open the curtains and stare out. But what I saw through the narrow gap she allowed enthralled me. I had plenty of time to stare, for it took the bearers an hour just to climb the Great Staircase.

At last we were carried through a long courtyard open to the sky and ringed with columns tall as cedars. “The Men's Palace is ahead of us,” Amestris told me, “and the King's Palace lies beyond that. The Women's Palace is to the left of the men's, and the Queen's Palace beyond that. From the Queen's Palace, you can look out and see the city, and the mountains. You'll like that, Vashti.”

Of course I would. How could I not? To look out on all the world, after my confined views of Babylon? Having grown greatly daring, I flung my arms around Amestris. “O queen, I love you more than—than anything!”

My mother would have scolded me for such forward, uncontrolled behavior. Queen Mother Amestris smiled. “Than anything, Vashti? Well, we shall see.” She patted my cheek. “Patience, sweet child; you are nearly home.”

The Immortals left us at that first courtyard, and the bearers left us, too. Eunuchs came to take their place; the changeover was made so swiftly and skillfully I felt no lowering of the litter at all. That exchange made, the litter was carried through a gate guarded by four tall soldiers armed with two swords each.

“The gate into the Women's Palace,” Amestris said. “And now you may pull the curtains open, if you like.” Amestris smiled again as I yanked back the heavy silk.

I leaned out to stare at the gate behind us. On this side, too, the gate was guarded. Half a dozen richly garbed eunuchs had posts at the gate. Two stood in front of the gate itself, and the others sat nearby.

I gazed avidly at all we passed. A long narrow garden planted with lemon trees and roses. An open courtyard bounded by a colonnade of pillars carved with flowers painted red and yellow and white. Women stared back at me; women dressed in vests and gowns so fine I wondered if this might be some great feast day. Gold chains draped about their necks, gems glowed in their ears and on their hands. Their cheeks glittered gold and lips gleamed crimson.

“Vashti, I must ask you not to stare so.” Amestris's rebuke was soft, but I flushed and ceased gaping at the palace women.

Then the bearers stopped and lowered the litter to the ground. A hand—large, soft-skinned, heavily weighted with rings—reached in. “O queen, may you live forever. Welcome home.” A kind voice; a strong voice. Amestris laid her hand in his and gracefully rose from the litter.

“Thank you, Hegai. And here is—”

“Princess Vashti,” Hegai said, and even though I could not yet see his face, I knew he smiled. Then Hegai bent and held out his hand to me. “O little queen, live forever. Welcome home.”

Now I could see him, as he bowed low so that I could reach his outstretched hand. A man with dark, kind eyes and a smooth face; a eunuch, of course. He was richly garbed and most kings would be pleased to own the jewels he wore. And I had been right: he smiled.

I liked his face, and his smile. I held out my hands to him and he lifted me out easily. At last I stood within the palace at Shushan. “Thank you,” I said.

“Vashti, this is Hegai, who is very dear to me—and I know he will be just as dear to you. You may regard him as head of your household now. Listen to him, and learn. Now follow me.”

As Amestris walked forward, Hegai held out his hand to me again. I took it, and we followed Amestris through another garden—this one was round, with a round pond at its center in which I saw golden fish swirl about—and a hall whose walls were painted with scenes of cats and dogs and monkeys. That led to a corridor, and another gate. This gate's bandings of bronze were gilded, and the cedar was inlaid with gold and silver suns and moons. Two eunuchs guarded this gate, although it was far within the Women's Palace.

Beyond that gate we entered into a garden so beautiful it truly seemed the paradise it was named. “This is the Queen's Palace, Vashti. Now it is yours.”

“Isn't it yours?” I asked. “I do not want to take away your palace.”

“You are not. I dwell in my own palace, on the other side of the House of Women. I will leave you here with Hegai and your maidservants. They will take good care of you—and Hegai can tell you anything you need to know.”

I was about to say that I would do as Hegai bid me when I remembered that now everyone was to do
my
bidding. So I merely nodded. I wanted to ask when I would meet King Ahasuerus, but even as I began to speak, Amestris walked away, leaving me staring after her.

“Princess Vashti?” Hegai's voice was gentle, soft; he put a hand upon my shoulder. “You must be tired. Come and let us bathe you, and then perhaps you will wish to eat, and to rest. I know all here is strange to you, but this is your home now. And I will help you. You have only to ask, and whatever you wish will be granted.”

His voice soothed, his hand on my shoulder comforted. I looked up at him. “Can you tell me when I will see the king?” I asked, and Hegai smiled.

“Soon, little queen.”

“And will he like me?”

Hegai seemed to weigh his words before he said, “His mother chose you for him out of all the maidens in the empire. Now come and let us make you happy here.”

*   *   *

The court astrologers studied their charts and the stars and agreed upon the most auspicious day, and so the ceremony that made me Ahasuerus's wife and queen took place three days after I entered the great palace. The stars were the only thing Amestris waited for, since everything a royal bride required lay ready for me in chests of cedar and sandalwood.

I spent all the day before the wedding being bathed and massaged with oil perfumed with myrrh. My hair was washed and dried over a brazier in which frankincense burned. My hands and feet were tinted with henna.

The morning of the wedding day Hegai and seven maids spent all morning garbing me in heavy robes of cloth of silver, clasping jewels about my arms and throat and ankles. They braided and gemmed my hair, painted my face—as my mother had done. I now knew that my mother had dressed me as a king's bride the day I had been shown to Queen Amestris. But today I also wore a veil that covered me to my knees, a veil so sheer the gems shone through it, bright as stars.

When Hegai pronounced me ready, Queen Amestris came to examine me. She said nothing, merely smiled upon me and held out her hand. She led me through the corridors of the House of Women and through a bronze gate into a courtyard set with azure tiles that shone like summer sky. In the center of the court stood a priest beside a brightly burning fire. Across the court was another gate. That second gate led to the great palace itself.