Game of Queens (5 page)

He walked slowly, making each pace deliberate, measured. At the steps of the throne, he bowed again. He hoped his slow, steady movements would calm the king, that he would seem no threat to whatever raged within Nebuchadnezzar.

“O king, live forever. How may I serve the king?” Daniel's voice soothed, coaxed. King Nebuchadnezzar's glare softened.

“I have dreamed a dream,” the king said. “And I would know its meaning. And none of these useless creatures”—Nebuchadnezzar swept his scepter in a wide arc, aiming it at his fearful audience—“will tell it to me. If you can tell me, I will raise you high above all other men, and if you cannot, you and all these worthless mages will be cut into a thousand pieces and fed to the royal lions. Now what dream troubles me?”

Daniel glanced over at Samamat. She smiled encouragingly, nodded very slightly; Daniel hoped he would prove worthy of her faith in him. He drew a deep breath, and began.

“O great king, I myself am nothing, but God in heaven is great, and He reveals secrets. He makes known your dream to you.”

Nebuchadnezzar's eyes narrowed. “You don't know. You're trying to gain time, just as the others did. Arioch, you've deceived me!”

Daniel took a step forward. “No! This is your dream, O king—” Certainty filled him; gave his voice strength. “You saw a huge image, the image of a king. His head was of gold and his chest and arms were silver. His thighs were brass and his legs iron, and his feet were made of clay.”

The king was leaning forward, intent on Daniel's words. His rapt silence gave Daniel new strength. Apparently this hastily spun dream appealed to the king.

“And then—then a stone hit the image and it fell to pieces and was carried away upon the winds. The stone became a mountain, filling all the earth.”
I have no idea what I'm saying. But whatever it is, Nebuchadnezzar seems to like it. Thank you, God of my fathers.

“Yes. Yes, that is it. That is my dream!” Nebuchadnezzar clapped his hands together in childish delight. “And its meaning? Tell me that! Tell me!”

Daniel bowed again, and took a moment to stare at the inlaid tiles beneath his feet. “You are the gold head, O king. You are a king of kings, and your kingdom is precious as gold. And after you shall come a lesser kingdom, and then a lesser still, and after them a kingdom strong as iron.” Then Daniel heard himself saying unplanned words. “And after all of these, a kingdom of iron and clay, strong as iron and weak as clay. And the God of heaven shall create a kingdom which will never be destroyed, but hold all the other kingdoms within it. And it will endure forever.”

Daniel stopped talking. There was a long silence.
I failed. It didn't work. I'm sorry, Samamat. I'm sorry Arioch—

“How did you know my dream? And what it meant? How? How?” Nebuchadnezzar demanded. He stared almost blankly at Daniel.

“I asked my God, who is great, and He showed me the dream.”
Why did none of the others have the sense to create the king's dream for him?
Perhaps they had feared the king's wrath too greatly. Samamat, of course, had taken the king at his word, and told only truth, disastrous though truth might be.
I must thank God with all my heart, for He truly aided me.

Nebuchadnezzar smiled—an oddly ominous expression on his ravaged face. Abruptly, he stood, and half-flung himself down the steps. He threw himself at Daniel's feet. “You are great. You are greater than the gods. You are greater than I. Bless me. Lend me your favor. I will worship you and raise you above all men.”

As Daniel stared down at the king, horrified, Nebuchadnezzar kissed his feet. Then the king sat back on his heels and called loudly, “Bring incense, bring sweet oils. Bring them now! We will all bow down before Daniel and worship him!” Nebuchadnezzar glared around the throne room. “Bow. Bow before Daniel, Master of Dreams!”

“No, O king—” Daniel tried to lift Nebuchadnezzar up, but the king flung himself at Daniel's feet again. And all around Daniel, men and women were kneeling, bowing—Daniel looked across a sea of heads to where Arioch stood. Arioch shrugged, then bowed. Daniel stared down at the king, who was once again kissing Daniel's feet.

Me. They're worshipping
me
.
Daniel hadn't realized blood really could run cold until this moment.
This is not by my will or wish, Lord!
But Daniel knew he must stop this, and at once. After the great favor the Lord had granted Daniel, to repay Him by violating the first and greatest commandment—Daniel shuddered, and hastily tried again to raise King Nebuchadnezzar up. “O king, I did nothing but speak the words the Lord my God put into my mouth. Please do not do this. I am no god, nor am I worthy of worship.”

The ranks of dutifully bowing and kneeling courtiers opened to allow half a dozen priests to pace solemnly in, carrying golden bowls full of incense. Smoke drifted upward, thin silver cords of fragrance. Daniel knew he must not permit the priests to offer him incense. And he could think of no way of stopping them, for every man and woman in this vast chamber was far more afraid of King Nebuchadnezzar's wrath than of the wrath of Daniel's God.

Daniel searched for Arioch, seeking aid. At last he saw Arioch, half-hidden by one of the winged Beings. Samamat had wrapped her arms around Arioch, and the two were kissing as fervently as if they were Ishtar and her Consort.

Of course. Why should I be surprised?
But he was, and as he gazed wistfully upon the two dearest to his heart, Daniel sensed the presence of the Lord again. And the Lord seemed to be laughing.…

“Bow down to Daniel!” King Nebuchadnezzar glared at the assembled courtiers as if they might actually argue with him—and Daniel dragged his attention away from his friends and back to his own danger. He held his hands out in supplication.

“Please, O king, if I have pleased you and found favor in your sight—”

“You have,” Nebuchadnezzar roared, “which is more than these useless vermin have. They will bow to you and worship you and—”

“—and the Lord my God will strike me down for blasphemy.” Daniel only hoped the king would believe this.
It's true, after all.
“If the king would grant my petition and request, let my service to him be reward enough.”

To Daniel's intense relief, this pleased King Nebuchadnezzar. The king promptly began berating the courtiers for bowing to a mere man, and the incense-bearing priests swiftly began chanting the king's praises. And a strong hand gripped Daniel's arm and drew him backward until a stone wing hid him from Nebuchadnezzar's eyes.

“Hug Daniel
later,
Sama—we're not out of sight, out of the king's mind yet. Now
come on.
”

Daniel had never been quite sure what happened after Arioch dragged him and Samamat back to his chambers. When he was being honest with himself, Daniel admitted he didn't
want
to know. They had gotten very drunk on a jug of highly spiced wine—
That I remember, and the headache the next day—
but for the rest of it—well, both the Lord and Daniel's memories had remained silent.

*   *   *

The events of the next few years convinced Daniel that the Most High God surely enjoyed watching mere mortals make fools of themselves. Daniel named himself as first among the fools.

The affair of the King's Dream was the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's fall into total madness. Oh, for a time the king seemed to become once more the ruler who once had laughed and loved enough to create the incredible beauty of the Hanging Gardens for his favorite wife. And perhaps, had Queen Amytis still lived, she might have anchored the king in sanity. Without her …

With no one ruling his heart, King Nebuchadnezzar had no reason to remain sane any longer. As Daniel said one night to Arioch, “I think the king looks forward to his bouts of madness. He can forget his sorrows when he forgets himself.”

“Yes, and he causes a lot of sorrow for a lot of other people.” Arioch shook his head. “I don't know, Daniel. I think something seriously bad is about to happen. Remember the king's dream?”

Who didn't? No one who had been in the throne room that night could possibly forget standing before Death, knowing no one could answer the king's impossible question. Daniel still thanked God daily for the inspiration that had saved them all—

—and had raised Daniel high in King Nebuchadnezzar's favor. The king had created Daniel ruler of the province of Babylon, governor over all other governors. It hadn't taken Arioch's warning to make Daniel see the danger in this promotion to a rank only one step lower than that of the king himself. Taking advantage of Nebuchadnezzar's embarrassingly great gratitude, Daniel begged that the position be given to three of the most talented of the young men who had been brought from Israel and trained up in the king's court. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made better governors than Daniel ever would—

“Not nearly as concerned as you are with morality, just with appearances,” Arioch said. “Good idea, Daniel. Let those three be targets for the evil eye. Better them than you.”

“I don't see why so many resent me, Arioch.” Daniel knew himself to be the target of much malice and envy now that King Nebuchadnezzar had proclaimed him little less than a god.

“They don't resent you, Daniel, they
hate
you. And they hate you because you've got the king's ear and at the moment he'll do whatever you say.”

“So they're afraid of me.”

“It took the Great Daniel, Master of Dreams, this long to figure that out? Yes, Daniel, they're afraid of you. So since you won't remember to watch your back, I've got men watching it for you. Oh, and Samamat says be careful what you eat and drink.”

“Does she read danger for me in the stars?”

“She reads danger for you because she's not stupid. But yes, I think she did mention something about the stars and poison in the same sentence. Maybe you should buy a food taster.”

“I won't put another's life at risk just to save mine.”

“It isn't that much of a risk, assuming you buy a good food-taster. Haven't you ever wondered why they cost so much?”

“Because they don't live long?”

“Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar's food-tasters are both older than my grandfather'd be if he were still alive. Good food-tasters spend years becoming immune to most poisons. All that time and training costs money.”

“So … you think I should—”

“Take some of that treasure the king keeps handing over to you and buy the best food-taster in the market. Yes, I think that's a good plan, Daniel.”

The combination of Arioch's firm insistence and Samamat's worried pleading convinced Daniel. Reluctantly, he paid an exorbitant amount for a rotund, middle-aged Greek who swore not a morsel of food or sip of drink would get to Daniel untested.

Wonderful. Now I, too, can live like a king. Paranoid and hungry.

*   *   *

The Greek turned out to be a sound investment; within a month, the man fell ill after tasting wine that had been sent to Daniel—supposedly from the king. Guilt flared as Daniel stood at Pontos's bedside, watching as a doctor laid cool wet cloths upon the man's swollen lips.

“I'm sorry,” Daniel said, and to his surprise, Pontos managed to whisper,

“You see? I'm worth it.”

“Your man's a treasure,” the doctor said. “Most would be dead, even of such a small dose.”

“You mean he'll live?” Daniel could hardly believe that, but the doctor nodded.

“Trust a Greek for poisons. And Pontos here has a great reputation, you know.”

“No,” said Daniel. “I didn't know.” He supposed the doctor thought him a fool, and was now ruefully certain that Pontos considered him so.
And I suppose Arioch will say “I told you so.” Well, and so he did.

Daniel told Arioch and Samamat of the poisoned wine, but refused to complain of it to King Nebuchadnezzar. Not that everyone in the palace didn't already know—but Daniel thought it better if the king could pretend ignorance.

“After all, Arioch, the poisoned wine allegedly came as his gift.”

“And?”

“And Daniel's right, Arioch.” Samamat reached out and clasped Daniel's hand in hers, a rare intimacy.

“He is?” Arioch regarded Daniel doubtfully.

“Suppose the wine really was sent by the king?” Daniel asked. “I don't think I want to remind him of something like that, do you?”

For once, Arioch agreed with Daniel. When dealing with a mad king, discretion became survival.

*   *   *

Nebuchadnezzar's next venture into the kingdom of madness was on so vast a scale it became impossible to conceal. The king ordered a statue cast in gold, a huge image of the goddess Ishtar. Reasonable enough, in Ishtar's own city. But the golden idol had not been intended for a temple, or to crown the Ishtar Gate, or to adorn the throne room of the palace.

King Nebuchadnezzar commanded this exquisite example of the goldsmith's art to be conveyed to the plain of Dura, a dozen miles from Babylon. There the precious idol was set in the middle of an open field, as if it were nothing more than a clay figure for a roadside shrine.

And all the great men of the kingdom—the princes, the governors, the generals, the priests, the treasure-masters—were commanded to attend the king there at Dura.

All except Daniel. For no reason Daniel could ever determine, the king ordered him to remain in Babylon.

“And fortunately, the king has commanded no women be permitted at his great assembly, so I don't have to trek out to Dura. In this weather, too.” Samamat shook her head. Summer was no time to hold a gathering on the plains bordering the Tigris River.

“Well, you can help me rule in the king's name.” Daniel still couldn't believe Nebuchadnezzar's orders, and couldn't decide if it would be wiser to obey and put the crown on his head, or to disobey—humbly. He put the question to Samamat, who shrugged.