BRIDE OF JERU

Chapter 4: Walls of Babel

~∆~ Naamah's POV ~∆~

"Walk," the guard said in a rough voice, pushing me through the wide bronze doors.

I stepped into chaos. Drums beat slow and sensual, their sound matching the moving bodies on couches and soft pillows. The air was filled with wine, sweet smoke, and sweat.

Men rested on silk cushions, wearing gold chains that caught the firelight. Women lay beside them, naked from the waist up, jewels shining against their brown skin. One man wore a crown of gold leaves and had a woman sitting on his lap, her head thrown back as he pressed his mouth to her neck.

I stopped walking. My legs would not move.

A hand pushed into my back. "Keep moving, Princess," the guard whispered harshly. "The king waits for you."

Eyes turned toward me like hungry animals. People began to whisper.

"Is that the girl from Jeru?"

"Look how she covers herself like a nun."

"That will not last long in this place."

The words made my skin crawl, it felt like a thousand insects were climbing on me. I wanted to run back through those bronze doors, but I made myself stand tall. My mother always told me to be brave. Elior would have told me to fight back.

I walked forward.

The king's throne was not at the far end like in my father's hall. It sat right in the middle of everything, a great chair carved from black stone. The wild party danced around it like water around a rock.

King Ashur sat back in the chair, one arm hanging over the side, a cup of wine loose in his fingers. His dark eyes caught mine right away and held them tight.

"Princess Naamah of Jeru," he said. His voice was smooth like honey poured over steel. "Welcome to my kingdom."

I bent my head but said nothing.

He smiled slowly and knowingly. "Come closer to me."

I stepped forward until the firelight lit up my face. I could feel it all over me, the hot stares, the sly grins, the drunk whispers of people who thought I could not hear them.

A woman laughed loudly and sharply to my left. I turned my head before I could stop myself. She was on her knees between the legs of a fat man in rich robes, her hands holding his thighs. His eyes were closed, his mouth open.

My stomach felt sick. I looked away fast, but everywhere I looked was worse. Men and women tangled together on the cushions, hands moving over naked skin, mouths locked together. Sounds of pleasure rose above the music like a song from hell meant to torment me.

Ashur watched me the whole time. "Does this shock you, little princess?"

I swallowed the sickness in my throat. "It is not how we live in Jeru."

"Your way of living," he said softly as silk, "is a cage built by scared old men who fear their own bodies and desires. Here, we take what we want."

"You take what belongs to marriage and make it cheap," I said back before I could bite my tongue.

The hall got a little quieter. Some people laughed. Others held their breath.

Ashur did not look angry. He leaned forward and put his wine cup down. "Tell me something, Naamah. Is it wrong to take what your heart desires? To taste every sweet thing the world offers you?"

"It is wrong to forget the God who made the world at all," I said. My voice stayed steady, but my hands shook inside my sleeves.

His mouth curved up, but his eyes stayed cold staring at me. "We shall see about that."

He stood up from his throne and walked down toward me. People moved out of his way. He was taller than I thought he would be, with wide shoulders and the easy walk of a hunting cat I owned in Jeru.

He stopped close enough that I could smell the spiced wine on his breath. "Tonight, you will sit next to me. You will watch everything. You will learn how we live in Babel."

"I do not want to..."

"What you want," he said in a low voice that sent shivers of fear through me, "does not matter here."

A guard put his hand on my arm. Not hard, but tight enough to remind me that I was not free to leave. They led me to a low couch next to the black throne. A servant filled a gold cup with dark wine and put it in my hands.

"Drink it," Ashur said.

I kept my mouth shut tight.

He laughed and sat down beside me. His leg touched mine. He was warm like a fever. All around us, the party grew wilder. Women danced with their skirts spinning high. Men shouted and drank from big cups. Lovers kissed with open mouths where everyone could see.

I tried to look at the floor, but the sounds filled my head with pictures I did not want. A woman crying out like she was hurt but was not. A man is making deep sounds in his chest. The slap of skin against skin. My face burned hot with shame.

Ashur leaned close until his breath touched my ear. "Does it disgust you so much, Princess? Or does it call to something inside you?"

I turned my head fast to glare at him. He was already smiling like he knew a secret about me that I didn't know.

"Be careful," he said softly as a snake. "Your eyes tell the truth better than your mouth does."

Before I could speak, someone moved in the shadows at the edge of the room. A tall man in black armor walked through the crowd and bent down to whisper in Ashur's ear.

The king's smile went away. His eyes turned to me, then back to the man in armor.

Whatever the man told him made Ashur smile again, but this time it was dangerous. He reminded me of a wolf showing its teeth.

"Princess," he said, standing up. "Our evening together must take a different path."

He made a signal to his guards.

Two of them appeared next to me. "Take her," Ashur said. "Bring her to my private rooms."

The drums seemed to pound louder and the laughter got louder.

"To your rooms?" I started to ask, but the guards already had hold of my arms.

They pulled me up from the couch. Around us, people were staring and grinning like they knew something terrible was about to happen.

A woman with painted eyes licked her lips as I passed. A man with gold teeth called out something in a language I did not know, but the way he said it made my skin crawl.

Ashur picked up his wine cup again and watched me as the guards dragged me backward through the crowd. His voice broke through all the noise, low and sure as death.

"Before the moon goes down, Naamah, you will understand what it means to belong to Babel."