Chapter 11: Dragon's Eye
Piya's POV
I took a sip of my newest concoction; I swished it around in my mouth a second before pursing my lips and spitting it out into the empty urn next to me. The medicine would work, but it was still way too harsh. The plague has stopped spreading, and people were getting healthy but the vast majority of the people still sick were either very old or very young. I was too afraid to give them the same medicine as everyone else and have been trying to give it to them in doses, but their condition doesn't seem to have improved.
"Have you tried to just water it down?" Akil leaned over to look at my notes. I frowned at him. He should be in bed. He had insisted on helping me late into the nights at the hospital and as a result, contracted a touch of the illness. I had quickly administered medication and he was fending it off well, but it wasn't out of his system yet.
"I tried. It's the Goldenseal in it. The flowers react with the sickness and have played a big role in the cure; but it is a harsh herb that only youthful people can deal with. " I grabbed a large, light green bulb from the basket next to me. Akil had been kind enough to gather as many plants and flora from the surrounding area to see if any of them could be of use. A sticky white sap leaked out of it and I swiped a drop of it off, about to put it in my mouth.
"You best be careful with that stuff. That little flower will start off a war one day." My mother's voice floated out from the doorway. My finger stopped before it reached my lips and I turned to face her. My mother doesn't know much about herbs. She says she only knows a few from her homeland but she doesn't know their effects. She came and plucked the bulb out of my hand.
"What is it?" I asked, eager to hear about the strange plant but even more eager to hear how this little plant caused a war. Perhaps it was a deadly poison and killed royalty.
"It's called a poppy. A powerful painkiller. One of the best in the world, if I remember correctly." She passed the bulb back to me. I carefully twisted it in my fingers, the sap getting sticky on my fingers.
"A painkiller? Why would a painkiller cause a war?" Akil asked the question before I had the chance.
"This plant makes pain disappear; it brings on a numbness of not just your body but your mind. People latched on to this numbness. The latched on because the world can be a cruel, mean place. And people wanted that escape from such a world, but you cannot live in your mind forever. The world keeps moving forward, and it will leave people behind. Remember this, dear, no matter how hard and mean the world can be, face it head on. Even if you escape into your own mind, the world will keep moving, and it will leave you behind. Use that plant sparingly." She smiled and handed me a piece of cloth to clean the sap off my hands. "Oh! I nearly forgot why I came in! Piya, dear, thank you so much for taking status reports and notes for all of the time I was out. It was very helpful."
"I didn't write you notes." I shrug nonchalantly, pawing through the rest of the herbs.
"…Piya, are you absolutely sure? Your papa didn't, and it was written in code. Did you teach that code to anyone? If you did, you have to tell me right now." My mother's voice got deadly serious and I froze. My mother had an intricate set of codes she wrote with, the one she used for notes should only be known by the King, Queen, Papa, and me. If someone had broken that code, there could be trouble. A broken code is more than useless. It is a danger. Who knows what information someone could glean with that code.
"I-I haven't taught it to anyone." I stammer, racking my brain. I often use that code to talk to my mother and in my own personal notes…
"My apologies, Miss, but I noticed that Piya's notes were written in that code so I wrote your notes in that same code." Akil suddenly interjected. Wait, when had Akil learned that code? He never really explicitly read my notes, only glanced at them over my shoulder.
"Hold on, back up. You broke my code?! You've been here for what, a few months?" My mother suddenly invaded his personal space, forcing him to back up. It was a funny sight, really. Broad shouldered and muscled Akil backed into a corner by a skinny woman that barely even came up past his chest. His face was priceless, a mix of guilt and mischievous amusement. He looked like Nenatti when she steals and hides poor little Keskal's toys.
"I-I um, I picked it up looking over at Piya's notes, I mean, I didn't mean to…I just um…" The poor boy flustered. My mother narrowed her eyes a bit, giving him a searching look before giving a huff and turning on her heel and stalking out of the room. Akil and I both stared at the door in silence.
"You think she's mad?" He broke the silence first. I shrugged. My mother was pretty unpredictable, and sometimes it was hard to judge her mood. Well nothing to do about it now. I rustled around in the basket of herbs. I suddenly felt a sharp sting and pulled my hand back.
"Ouch! What in the world?" I peered into the basket while I nursed my stinging hand. It was beginning to itch. Akil was at my side in seconds, snatching my hand to stare at it intently.
"What happened?" He examined my hand before putting my stinging fingers into a bowl of water I kept nearby. The cool water washed some of the sting away, but it still itched. I leaned over and grabbed a handkerchief and fished the offending herb out of the basket.
It was a wide leaf with what looked like soft fuzz over its expanse. The fuzz was obviously not soft, the evidence on my stinging fingers. But the water was really helping my hand, so maybe…. I withdrew my hand from the bowl of water and plopped the leaf in.
The leaf floated for a moment before drifting down to the bottom of the bowl. My fingers had stopped stinging and were merely red now.
"Is it poison? Will you be ok?" The panic was starting to seep into his voice. Suddenly my mother swept in and yanked Akil's collar, turning him around and thrusting a clay tablet into his hand.
"Try and decode this." She demanded. I glanced at the tablet and recognized my mother's handwriting, but not the code. Must be one I she hasn't taught me.
"Uh, I'll try, but a plant just stung Piya and…" The words were barely out of his mouth before my mother grabbed the hand I was nursing.
"What stung you?" She demanded, taking in the redness on the pads of my fingers. I noiselessly pointed to the leaf in the bowl and she noticeably relaxed.
"Stinging nettles. You'll be fine. Queen Yuri and I accidently ran through them once on a school trip when we were young." My mother waved off the redness and turned back around to talk to Akil. I reached into the bowl and plucked out the leaf. It seems soaking it had removed that fuzz so it didn't sting anymore. I considered it a second before popping it into my mouth. It tasted like…spinach.
Gross. I really hate spinach. I thought as I scrunched up my nose. Akil looked over and mistook my expression and panicked.
"Ah! You ate it?! What is wrong with you?" he groaned, "Miss Yuki, you knew what that plant was, is it toxic?"
"You're asking the wrong person. Unlike my daughter here, if something hurts me I don't usually make a habit to then eat it." My mother sighed. "I am going to go to the physician's here and see if I can borrow their notes for you."
"…tastes like spinach…" I grumbled unhappily, trying hard to finish chewing and forcing the mush down my throat. I don't recall a spinach taste in any medicine, but I don't think it was in any poison either. But really, the previous queen's collection didn't really hold herbs that weren't poisonous in some way. But who knew the effects it could have on other people? I clenched my jaw; this fear has been crossing my mind constantly. I hold a lot of lives in my hands right now. Some have gotten better, and some I watched slip through my fingers. By now, my tears have run dry.
The first few days, I would cry as I watched the life leave a patient's eyes. I would lay in bed and sob into my pillow until I fell asleep. I had to prepare myself mentally before I entered the hospital.
"You can't save everyone."
"It isn't your fault, you didn't cause their pain."
"No one will blame you for anything. Just do the best you can."
I know that. I know all off that. But that doesn't make it hurt any less. It doesn't stop my heart from cracking. I tried not to show it, but I think people knew. Akil and Papa would go out of their way to be kinder to me and Arias tried so hard to keep my mind off of things. One day, the hospital was too stifling. I had gone outside and sat myself under a tree, letting my sadness overtake me again. I don't get it. Why was I so weak? Why? How does mother always find the strength to push on.
I had heard footsteps, and someone had sat right next to me. Only one person could move that silently, and I refused to lift my head and bare my weakness to my mother. She sat in silence for a while, seeming like she was just enjoying the sunshine.
"…So is it helping at all?" She finally asked in that quiet, wispy voice that was unique to her.
"…w-what?" I sniffled, still refusing to lift my head.
"Crying. Is it working? Is it making anything any better?" She tossed off, as if we were merely discussing dinner. All of the sudden, I was angry. I can't help it, there are lives in my hands! And she speaks as if we were just discussing the weather.
"It's not! I know! But I am not you! I am not strong! I-…I" I had lifted my head, shameful, angry tears streaming down my cheeks when the look my mother gave me silenced me. Her eyes were cold and hard. This was not the soft look of a mother, but of a general. Right now, I was not her daughter, I was a physician.
"You think I am strong? That I can watch my men die and feel nothing? That I can tell a mother, sister, or wife that their loved one was gone; and that it is my fault. There is no human in the world that would feel nothing. But if I fall apart on the battlefield, that how many more will be lost. You are not a child anymore, Piya. Right now those people are counting on you to do what you can. Being strong does not mean having no emotions. It means controlling them for the sake of others. When this is all over, you can cry all you want, and I will be there to dry your tears." My mother's look melted from that hard look to the one I was accustomed to. I haven't cried since.
I turned my attention back to my work. I need to see if I can find out the effects of this "stinging nettle" as my mother called it. But how can I be sure of the effects on the illness? I can't possibly test it on people, but I have not contracted the illness so I won't know if I tested it myself. Before I could think of anything, Akil had plucked the leaf out of my hand and popped it in his mouth.
"…you're right it does taste like spinach. Not as bad as that bitter concoction you made me drink last time." He shrugged. I blinked and nearly jumped on him.
"Hey! Spit it out! I don't know what it could do to you while you are still recovering." I tried to get him to throw it back up, but he effortlessly pushed me off.
"Well the point is to find out what it does. Don't worry, I'll tell you if I don't feel right." He laughed. "And this doesn't count as testing on a patient. A patient merely ate something odd and you are documenting the results."
I groaned and gave up. Akil could be more stubborn then Arias at times like this.
"Fine. You have to stay here, though. No coming to the hospital tonight." I negotiate.
"Sure, I have to read that tablet your mother dropped off anyhow." He shrugged, getting up and snagging the tablets. He leaned over and pecked my cheek before leaving. I couldn't help but raise my fingers to where his lips brushed my skin as I smiled.
A week later:
Yuki's POV
I stared at the tablet in disbelief. I heard the door open and immediately felt my husband's familiar presence as he leaned over my shoulder.
"Is that the message we intercepted from Babylonia?" He asked. "You finally broke their encryption?"
"Ha! I wish. No, Akil did. He broke my codes to Piya. And he broke the Babylonian encryption in a week. Looks like Babylonia isn't playing as nice as we thought. They have a spy in Emar. A guard by the looks of this." I passed the tablet to Ilbani so he could read it for himself.
"That is a bit too close to Kadesh for my liking. They are still in chaos thanks to Taharqa. We don't need them setting the former Queen Nakia free." He said as he scanned over the missive. "Your plan?"
"I know who it is. I already went through all the guard papers again and contacted Zettel about anybody who stood out. The guard known as Alam. Born in Babylonia, he was sent here around the time I arrived in Hattusa to be a personal guard to the previous Tawananna. After the former Queen's banishment, Alam disappeared. He reappeared in Emar last year under the name Mukam." I reported, passing another tablet back to him.
"And how in the world did you figure all of that out so quickly?" My husband pulled a chair next to me to read the tablets as I wrote new ones.
"Who do you think I am? It is not only in foreign lands that we need spy networks. My networks stretch all over the Hittite Empire." I say with a quirked smile. Ilbani didn't seem surprised. I scowled a bit.
"Frankly I am not surprised to hear this." He said without even looking up, though a smile graced his features.
"Oh phooey! I can't surprise you anymore! Next thing I know, you will be bored of me and search for someone who can surprise you!" I say overdramatically as I put my hand on my forehead in a mock swoon. I heard him snort before chuckling.
"As if I can get bored with you. Even if I did, I doubt that I could find another woman as reckless as you. Though that was a spot on impression of Lady Uelui. Speaking of which, her husband requested an audience with you." He laughed at the sour look that crossed my face.
"Uhg, what is wrong with those two? I don't think I have ever met anyone so petty!" I sneered, turning back to my notes. "Though it is nice that I can still keep you on your toes after all these years."
"On my toes. I guess you can say it that way. I had a vague hope you would settle down after time, but I see even if you settle down, that son of yours will have me running after him as well." He leaned over and kissed the sneer off my face.
I smiled and turned back to my notes. I had left more notes with Akil, seems I found myself a new cryptologist. Our last one had let some of our codes "slip" to foreign nations. What a mess that turned out to be. At least I knew Akil would be wiser than that.
I tapped my stylus against my cheek, and suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Yes?" I called, not bothering to get up to get the door. Kash swept in an kneeled immediately.
"My Lady, sorry to interrupt your work, but I was hoping you could convince Piya and Arias to retire for the night. It is getting late and I worry for their health." He said, some temper bleeding into his tone. Obviously he had been trying to convince them to come back for a while.
"…I foresaw chasing Arias around, what I did not foresee was chasing Piya." Ilbani sighed while I laughed and began to put away my notes.
"Well, good thing there's two of us. Which one do you want to get?" I reached into my trunk and pulled a cloak around my shoulders.
"I'll get Piya. YOU can chase Arias around the barracks." Ilbani grumbled.
"Gods and Goddesses, please let Keskal take after you! I can't do this again in ten years!" I snicker as Ilbani groaned and Kash seemed to send that very prayer up to the heavens.
Piya's POV
It's worked! The stinging nettles did wonders for lowering the fever and combined with some myrrh and a touch of rosemary, the concoction encouraged the bodies of those too weak for the original medication to fight off most of the sickness so that the regular medication could be administered without fear. Arias had worked with Kash and Mittanamwa and the riots had been quelled. Mittani was far from a recovered empire, but it was on its way. His Majesty, King Mattiwaza was pleased and wished to see us before we all returned to Hattusa.
Once again, I kneeled in the throne room with my brother, Kash and Mittanamwa. Only this time, I was not nervous, and this time both my parents were there as well as Akil.
"Oh, Yuki you really saved our skins! And it was such a pleasure to see you and your children again, you must come visit more often!" Her Majesty, Queen Nadia gushed. I had come to find her very kind, in a strict sort of way; almost like Aunt Hadi.
"Indeed, Yuki Ereshkigal, you have done us a great favor and will be rewarded as such. It is a pleasure to see Piya again and to see that boy Arias is an exact copy of you in your youth." His Majesty, King Mattiwaza laughed.
"Please think nothing of it, My lord, it was a favor between old friends. And besides, it was mostly my children doing all the work. This old lady was confined to bed rest" My mother sent a wink at me as I blushed. Arias puffed his chest out proudly.
"I really must apologize for that catastrophe with that man Taharqa. Had I known he was here or even still alive, I would have never put you or your family at risk. I have something to give you not only for helping our Empire, but also as an apology for my oversight." His Majesty continued, my mother waved off the apology.
"That man was after me. He would have found a way to me either way. Please, My Lord, as I said, we are old friends. No thanks are needed. It was a pleasure to see you and Queen Nadia again after all these years." Mama grinned. Only she would be brave enough to speak to royalty with such familiarity at her status. And I suspect only she would get away with it.
"Then, Yuki, accept this as a gift. Between friends. Monetary funds were sent to Hattusa, but this is for you, from me." King Mattiwaza waved as a servant came in and presented a box to my mother. My mother politely took the box and opened it, immediately gasping in shock.
"Your Majesty, this…this is…do you understand what this is?" I have never seen my mother struggle so to get words out. Father seemed confused as well and peered into the box. His eyes widened in shock.
"The dragon's eye!" He gasped. My mother gingerly lifted it out of the box as if it were a child, yet only her fingertips touched the jewel; as if it burned. The gem was the size of my palm and was a dark forest green around the outside and lightened into a dull yellow in the center. The gem seemed to glow with a light all on its own.
"It is a gift, Yuki. For being a friend. This was what you sought when we first met, no? It was found in the treasury as we righted the Empire again. Technically, it is supposed to be my sisters, but I feel that you should have it." Queen Nadia said calmly.
I saw my mother's hand quiver a bit as she held it. I was confused; my mother is not one for precious jewels. Though this one was beautiful, I didn't think it would solicit such a response from my tomboyish mother.
"My Lord, I cannot accept this, do you know what this is? Its power? For someone like me to have it…I cannot possibly." My mother had torn her eyes away from the gem in her hand to meet those of the King.
"I am fully aware of the power of the dragon's eye. It can control the minds of anyone. I am not giving it to Hattusa, I am giving it to you because I know you will ultimately know what to best do with it. I cannot trust myself to hang on to it while the Empire is still recovering, Yuki, I can only trust you to hold such power." The King met my mother's eyes. There was a silence. An awe. I stared at the gem in my mother's delicate hands, the gem that could control minds, could such a thing exist? If it works, then it could have so much potential!
"…My Lord, you are giving it to me? To do what I feel would be best, is this correct? If it is not, you must tell me now." My mother's voice had returned to its calm manner, the shock in her eyes had worn off.
"Yes. I trust your judgment whole heartedly. I trust you to know how to use it correctly." His Majesty nodded.
My mother smiled softly. She closed her eyes in thought and clenched the jewel tightly in her hand. Suddenly, before anyone could react, there was a crash. She had lifted the gem and smashed it onto the ground. The once powerful jewel laid in a thousand pieces. I saw soft green smoke emit from it before disappearing into the air.
"M-mother?!" I asked in shock. Such a thing; destroyed. Father nodded with a knowing smile, as if he had expected that.
"Yuki Ereshkigal. You are the only one in the world who would willingly give up such a thing. Do you not trust yourself?" The King looked shocked, but smiled knowingly.
"It is not just that I distrust myself. I am human, My Lord. Even if such power did not corrupt me all my life, I will still one day die. And this gem would live on. In someone else's hands. And I cannot guarantee how it will be used after I am gone. Besides that, I don't want to use such power. Just because someone disagrees with me does not make them wrong. We have independent thoughts. It is what makes us human. It is how new ideas form and how we move forward as a species. Our thought is sometimes the only freedom we are allowed, and to take that away from someone…it does not sit right with me. Humans should not have the power to control someone's thoughts. I am no exception to that." My mother said as she watched the last of the smoke disappear as my father squeezed her hand.
"You have always been wise beyond your years, Yuki. I agree with your decision. We can all rest easier now that we know that the power is gone." The King nodded.
"Hmph, neither you nor my husband seem surprised with my actions. I must be getting predictable." My mother huffed childishly.
"Yes, predictably unpredictable." My husband grumbled and His Majesty nodded in agreement.
"Yes, you are a unique young lady, and it seems whenever I prepare to meet you or that sister of yours I find myself steeling myself for surprises. On another note, I had something to ask you." The King leaned back in his throne.
"Ask away." My mother smiled.
"Well, I have gotten to know your children while they were here, and they are strong, resilient, and loyal. Very much like you. And I hear you had an arrangement with User Ramses of Egypt…" The King began, my father was getting a panicked look in his eye. " I also hear you have another daughter, and I have a son around that age…"
"No."
"Darling, don't interrupt him!" My mother admonished my suddenly surly faced father.
"I don't need him to finish. I am not betrothing my little flower." He hissed back.
"My Lord, Please forgive me, and perhaps give me some time with that favor. I am barely getting him used to Akil being Piya's b-"
"Do not say it." My father snarled. My mother gave and exasperated sigh.
"Being Piya's friend. It will take time before he is ready to let go of Kohana." My mother finished, I was suddenly blushing from my hairline down. "But let me just point out that I do not believe in arranged marriages that only work for politics. If they do not get along, I refuse to push an unhappy marriage on them." My mother says solemnly.
"I can agree with that. Perhaps I will send him down to Hattusa for a visit over the hot season? See if they get along. If they do not, then I will not push it either." His Majesty nodded in agreement.
"Why do you want the daughter of a noble from a foreign nation anyhow? Your young prince could have any princess he wants as his. There is not political value in such a union with my daughter." My father said. I heard the slight desperation in his voice.
"No political value at all, sir. Merely the hope that she grows to be a strong woman like your wife. It seems to me that those of her bloodline are stubborn and strong. As well as have a marvelous moral compass." The King seemed a touch amused at my father's reaction. My father had moved from the spark of fear to a murderous look on his face.
"King or not, you are going to have to try harder than that to get to my little flower. I won't give her up easily." He snarled, getting up and sweeping out without being excused. I blinked in surprise. My uptight father, just leaving royalty so rudely? It didn't seem like him! My mother suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.
"Please excuse my husband. He is having trouble coming to terms with his princesses growing up. Go ahead and send your prince over for the hot season, we will be happy to have him. Queen Nadia, you are also welcome to come visit if you wish. I know His Majesty must be very busy with work; otherwise I would love to invite you as well." My mother said through her giggles. "Oh Gods, it is going to be a long ride home with him brooding the whole way!"
I know, it's been forever and a day since the last update. But I am plan to release more chapters and finish this story soon and start one with Ramses.
Thanks for being patient and still reading!
~EternallySnowy