"Thank you Lady Hakuno, thank you so very much."

Hakuno blushed as the old man held her hands tightly in his. Tears were streaming down his face. Lying on the bed, next to them, was a young man, his son. She had just healed him from grave injuries caused by a rampaging bull.

"It was nothing," stammered Hakuno. "It was just perfect timing, that is all." She was just about to leave this azu house when the man was brought in. Any later, he would have died. Thankfully she still had enough strength left to perform the healing.

"Hakuno, we need to head back to the palace now if we are going to make it before the sun sets," Shub said.

Hakuno slowly pulled her hands out of the old man's grasp. "I am sorry but I need to get going now. I have an audience with the King at sunset."

"Oh, of course!" He released her hands. "Thank you again Lady Hakuno."

"I do not think I can ever get used to the 'Lady Hakuno'," she admitted as the girls made their way through the streets of Uruk. Their personal guards were following them a few feet back to give the girls a bit of privacy but not too far back that they could not react if something happened.

Shub giggled. "I think you are the only slave that went from being a free person to being a 'lady' in a short period of time. You even have your own personal guard!"

"I think you are more excited about it than I am," Hakuno laughed. It was true though. In all the texts she had read, she did not find anything about slaves rising to the status of a noble in a mere couple of months. Of course how many of those slaves had inhuman abilities in the first place?

People would stop on the street and greet Hakuno as she passed them. She waved back but did not slow her pace. If she did not make it back to the palace in time Gilgamesh was sure to be grumpy and passive-aggressive the whole time. It had already happened a few times and she did not want to have to deal with a repeat of that.

"Is there anything you want me to get done while you are in your audience with the King?"

"When you say that it is an audience with the King, you make it sound like it is incredibly important," Hakuno laughed. "We just play games and whatnot."

"Well for the rest of us it is," Shub pointed out. "The King is in a much better mood after spending time with you. He is not as harsh to the slaves and guards."

Did her playing games with him really mean that much? Thinking about it, he did seem to be in a better mode after they had played. That was interesting.

"Is there anything you want to get done?" Shub prompted again.

Oh right. "I have a finished papyrus translation on my table. Can you transfer the text over to a clay tablet?"

Shub nodded. "Got it." The slave was still learning to read but Hakuno found out that she was very good at copying. That cleared up a lot of time for her. Although she translated texts onto papyrus, the texts needed to be transferred to clay tablets in order to be preserved in the harsh desert climate.

"I really wish I could help you out with translating," sighed Shub.

"One thing at a time Shub," laughed Hakuno. She let out a small yelp in surprise as someone rammed into her shoulder.

The man looked down with a clear look of surprise on his face. It was like he was not expecting someone to be there. Despite it being a hot day in Uruk, the man was wearing a black cloak. His eyes caught hers. They were black, like a moonless night in the desert.

She sensed the guards bristling and moving forward to protect her.

"Sorry," mumbled the man before disappearing into the crowd.

"Are you alright?" asked Shub. "Check your pockets."

Hakuno was already ahead of her friend. "No. My money is still here. Do not go after him."

The guard paused and returned to Hakuno's side. "If you say so Lady Hakuno. However, I will advise you if the King found out about this, he will not be happy that we let the man go."

"Then do not tell him," replied Hakuno. She rolled her eyes. Even though Gilgamesh was the King, he did not have to know everything that happened to her. She survived without him around before and her street-smarts did not leave her after being elevated to the status as a noble.

Once they reached the palace, her guards went to the barracks. Shub and Hakuno walked together until they reached the main hallway.

"I will return to my room after I am done to help you with the texts." Hakuno bid farewell to Shub.

She smiled and greeted the guards outside Gilgamesh's room. They moved to the side and let her through.

"There you are!" Gilgamesh tapped clay cards on the table. "Where in the world were you? I was going to send a search party to get you back."

"I was on the far edge of the city. It takes a while to get back here by walking."

"Then you should have taken a carriage," huffed Gilgamesh. He dropped the pile of cards on her side of the table.

"I would rather not take a carriage if I do not have to." After taking her seat, she began shuffling the cards.

But why not?" He was staring at her like she had grown a second head. "I really do not understand why you would want to walk on those dusty roads. And you would be better protected in a carriage. "

"You worry too much."

"And you worry too little. You are not as invisible as you were before," he replied.

"I am not as prolific as you though." She had to agree with his opinion though. She was known now in the city, especially in the azu houses. Maybe she should start taking the carriage. But would that not make it even more obvious who she was? Such a paradox.

"You are thinking about something," he murmured.

She gave him a look of surprise. "How could you tell?" She finished dealing the cards and checked hers. Not a good hand. However, if she played her cards right she could turn the game around.

"I have developed superpowers as well!" He laughed. "I can tell what you are thinking."

Alright. If he wanted to believe that, whatever. She probably got a furrow in her brow or something when she was thinking deeply and he had picked up on that. "Can you tell me exactly what I was thinking about?"

He opened his mouth to respond but shut it again. Hakuno smiled. She knew he would not risk being wrong. Instead, he removed one card from his hand, returned it to the deck and then picked up another card in its place.

"This conversation bores me. Let us speak about something else," he growled.

She bit her lip to stop herself from giggling. "Alright. What do you want to speak about then? Nothing interesting has happened to me recently. Unless you would like to hear about a text Ekur and I have found about toothaches and the worms that cause them."

"Please spare me that knowledge," he grumbled.

"If you say so. I would say it is incredibly fascinating though!"

She had to bite her lip again to avoid laughing. The look he was giving her reminded her so much of a grumpy child who hated studying. A part of her wondered how he even became King with how much he seemed to detest the paperwork side of it.

"I will be leaving the city for a few days tomorrow."

"Oh? How come?"

"Business. The King of Nippur and I need to meet to discuss negotiations terms."

Hakuno was not privy to the information relating directly to the state but she thought that negotiations with Nippur were already done and over with. Maybe both kingdoms were waiting for tempers to cool a bit?

"Will you be alright? They did ambush you last time…"

"That is why I am taking more guards with me," he replied. "We will also be meeting in a 'neutral' zone. If Nippur wants peace then this should go smoothly. And no, I am not getting a divination done to tell me what is going to happen," he snapped.

"You do know Ekur is going to do one anyway right?"

"Of course. That does not mean I am going to listen to it though."

"You know the divination about me was right though? I did cause some problems with me revealing my powers."

"But you ended up doing a lot of good with you being here so the divination was wrong. And you better not argue with me about this!"

She was not planning on it. It would be waste of a breath to try to change his mind when he really believed in something. "Well, I will take care of the palace in your absence. Who is going to be in charge of decisions while you are away?"

"Ekur of course. If it is one thing that man is good at, besides those divinations that you insist on believing, he is good as a substitute ruler. People believe in barus and he has been with the kingdom for a long time now." He leaned over the table. "It is not like I am going to be gone forever. It is only going to be for a couple of days."

"And how long have you known that this meeting was going to happen?"

"The meeting?" He shrugged. "A couple days now….wait. What's wrong?"

Was she showing what she felt about this on her face? Darn it. She thought she would be better at hiding it. Or maybe he had spent way too much time around her and could read her better. Either way she did not want to explain her annoyance with him at the moment. It was too childish and illogical.

"Do not worry about it." She focused back on the cards in her hand. Which card should she get rid of next?

Gilgamesh's hand clamped over her cards. His blood-red eyes were glaring at her. "It is not nothing. Do not tell me to not worry about it. What made you upset?"

Why did it seem like he was getting worse with insisting to know when something was wrong with her? "I was just wondering why you never seem to tell me in advance about this kind of stuff. Usually you tell me at the last possible second."

"And that makes you angry when I do that?"

"I would not say angry. Annoyed more or less." She shook her head. "It does not matter. I understand that you are the King and do not need to inform me of your travel plans and whatnot. It is logical."

"If you want me to tell you in the future, I will tell you in advance. I just did not want to worry you or ruin our schedule in any way."

She almost dropped her cards in surprise. He actually cared about her opinion that much? Her face was heating up and she prayed the lamplight was not strong enough for him to see that she was blushing. "Do not worry. I am stronger than you think. I would be fine knowing earlier."

He chuckled. "I thought you might say that." He laid his hand of cards down on the table. "And I win."

She looked over his cards and grinned before she showed her hand. "Sorry. I think I win."

"What!?" Gilgamesh stared at her cards and then up at her. "Rematch," he growled.

Hakuno had already begun gathering the cards. "Of course," she laughed as she dealt them out again.

Hakuno passed by the King's hallway on her way to the gardens. She gave the hallway a quick glance but did not slow her pace. It had been about a day since Gilgamesh had left for negotiations and she hated to admit it, but she was missing their daily meetings already.

"I am getting way too attached to that man," she sighed.

She bid hello to a few slaves tending to the flower bushes as she made her way to the bench that overlooked the small pond at the center of the gardens. After settling on the bench she pulled a tablet out of her satchel along with a papyrus sheet.

It was a nice day today so it was a nice change in pace for her to work outside. Shub was running a few errands for her in town. She had orders to rush back if anyone in the azu houses needed healing right away.

Hakuno focused her full attention on the text. Like so many of the ones she had translated recently, this one was also related to the gods. It was about demon Pazuzu and his battle to protect humanity from the demonic divinity Lamashta. It was also written in an ancient version of Sumerian. There were differences from modern Sumerian but not enough that it was unreadable. Hakuno was just rewriting it so it would be easier for people of today to read it.

"That is an interesting text you got there."

Hakuno jumped at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and almost dropped the tablet into the pond. She turned and she clamped her mouth shut in order to not have a squeak escape her lips.

It was the cloaked man from two days ago. Like last time, his black eyes were boring into her. "You are translating it?" he asked.

"Oh." She put a hand to cover the papyrus. She silently prayed that the ink had enough time to set. "Uh, yes. I translate texts in my free time…" She noticed a boy, had to be in his early teens right behind the man. His gray eyes were flickering around nervously.

She tightened her grip on the tablet. It may be made of clay but it was still hard. It would be a good weapon. Plus there were guards everywhere in the palace along with the slaves. She was kind to them, said hello when she passed by any of them. They had to help her too if anything happened…right?

"Munzur! There you are. I was waiting for you in the palace temple." Ekur approached with a wide grin on his face. He noticed Hakuno sitting on the bench. "Hello Hakuno. Did not see you there."

Hakuno felt her shoulders relax at the sight of the old man. If Ekur knew this Munzur then he should be a good man right? "Hello Ekur. I am hard at work translating one of the texts from that vault." She held up the tablet. A quick check of the papyrus told her that the ink had dried, thankfully.

"You are always a hard worker," Ekur chuckled. He gestured to the man and the boy. "May I introduce you to Munzur, a traveling baru and his apprentice Urash. Munzur, this is Hakuno. One of the noble ladies within Gilgamesh's kingdom." A twinkle appeared in his eye. "And also a translator of ancient texts."

"Hakuno…" said Munzur slowly. He tilted his head slightly as he examined her with his dark eyes. She wanted to break eye contact with him but she forced herself to not avert her gaze. "You appear foreign." A spark appeared in his eye. "I have been hearing rumors of a foreign woman who can perform miracles located in this kingdom. Those rumors are…true I am assuming."

She bit her lip and dropped her eyes to the ground. She flickered her eyes over to Ekur. Should she deny it?

"Yes, that is Hakuno here," laughed Ekur. "Blessed by Gula, she is."

"Gula huh?" Munzur repeated slowly. A small smile lit up on his face. On any other person it would have looked kind, on him it seemed a bit sinister. Why though? He was a baru like Ekur. His duty was to the Gods and not to any worldly things. "I hope we will speak with each other in the future Lady Hakuno. We can speak...much about Gula and her power." Munzur turned to Ekur. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, of course," Ekur replied, seemingly unaware of the tension. "This way."

Hakuno gave Ekur a weak, pained smile. Urash gave her one last look before following his master. She did not realize she was gripping the tablet tightly until she tried to relax her fingers.

"You want me to keep an eye on Munzur?"

"Shhh Shub! Keep your voice down!" Hakuno looked around but no one had heard Shub's outburst. Maybe it was a bad idea to ask Shub about this in the garden. She glanced around but, thankfully, the slaves were all busy with work. She did not doubt that they were keeping an ear open to the interesting conversation happening in front of them.

"Yes, I want you to keep an eye on him," she whispered. "Ask the slaves that are taking care of him about him. Anything you can find out about him."

"Sure, of course Hakuno." Shub's eyes were filled with question. "Is there a reason why you want me to ask around about this man?"

"This might sound silly but…he gives me a bad feeling."

"A bad feeling?" Shub's eyes widen. "You do not mean… like Naram? Should I warn the female slaves to stay away from him?"

She shook he head. "No, nothing like that." Munzur did not give her the same fear sense as Naram. It was something else. Something that she just could not put her finger on. "Anyway, can you do what I asked?"

"I will take care of that right away."

"Thanks Shub."

Hakuno got to her feet and returned to her room for the rest of the day.

The next morning Hakuno checked with the guards but apparently Gilgamesh would not be returning for a couple more days. A bit nervous due to Munzur being allowed to roam the palace as a guest of Ekur, she decided to spend the day out at the various azu houses.

"Is there a reason you do not want to return to the palace Lady Hakuno?" asked her guard. "We have been wandering around the streets for hours now and it seems like you do not have a place you would like to go."

"I just wanted to spend a day outside the palace, that is all," she replied lightly.

"There you are Hakuno!"

Shub weaved her way through the marketplace stalls with expert precision. "Took me forever to find you. You really should stay on one path when you go visit the azu houses."

"What are you doing here Shub?"

"Looking for you obviously. You were not at the palace and I knew you would want to know what I found out. It was quite easy to find you, you know that? Just say 'the one blessed by Gula' and people usually have some idea who you are."

Hakuno put up her hands so Shub would stop talking before she got too off track. "Why were you looking for me? What did you find out?"

Her guard took a couple steps back. Shub leaned in and whispered. "So apparently everyone I talked to liked Munzur. He is a good guy and is kind to the servants. Also Ekur likes him a lot too."

Hakuno relaxed. If the slaves thought that he was a good man then he had to be right? "Thanks Shub. I am quite surprised you were able to get that information really fast."

"Do not doubt the information network in the palace. We are the best at getting information fast!"

"Do not let that praise get to your head," giggled Hakuno.

"I am not!"

"Let us return to the palace now." Her guard returned to his position behind her.

The sun was setting by the time they made it back to the palace. Shub went to the kitchens to get Hakuno some supper while she headed for her chambers. She stopped in her tracks when she saw a black-cloaked figure standing outside her door.

She gulped as he turned his black eyes onto her. Shub said he was a good man…

"Can I help you?" She winced at how high pitch her voice sounded.

"Oh there you are. I was wondering if we could speak. About your ability."

She resisted the urge to tighten her hands into fists. This man was Ekur's guest and a baru. She needed to treat him with respect. "Of course." She gestured in the direction of the gardens. "Some water lilies were put in recently in the ponds. They are very pretty."

Munzur seemed surprised for a moment but then he chuckled. "Of course. A young unmarried woman should not have strange men in their rooms."

Was this really a good idea? At least the garden would have many slaves as witnesses if something was to go wrong.

She forced a pleasant smile on her face as they entered the gardens. "The lilies are over here."

"Lady Hakuno, do you know what a magus is?"

She almost tripped on her own feet. "I have heard that name once…a long time ago." Her memory flashed back to the old woman. The same one that told her to keep her powers secret had also mentioned that name.

"So you are a magus then. Not blessed by Gula."

She winced. "Ekur…thought it would be for the best if it was said like that."

"I agree with him. The everyday folk do not trust people like us."

She almost tripped again. "W…What?" Did she hear correctly? Did he say what she thought he said? "You…you are a magus too?"

He gave her a gentle smile and she wondered why she doubted him. Despite his odd black eyes and need to wear a black cloak, he seemed like a nice man.

They settled on a bench near the pond of water lilies. "What kind of powers do you have?"

"Nothing as impressive as yours," he replied with a chuckle. "It is not worth talking about."

"Nonsense. It is worth something. I just know it."

He shook his head. "I will tell you at a later date." His eyes flickered to the slaves working around them. "Unfortunately the bushes around us have ears."

Oh right. "They can be very discreet though."

"I am in the palace of a foreign King. If word gets back to him about this…" Munzur shook his head. "I fear for my safety."

Hakuno nodded. "I understand. I almost drowned when the people first discovered my powers. If it was not for the King along with Ekur stepping in, I would probably be at the bottom of the Euphrates."

Munzur was staring at her in horror. "Thank the Gods it did not come to pass. Why did you end up revealing your power in the first place?"

She hesitated. Would this be too personal to tell? It did involve the King after all and the shaky relationship with Nippur. However Munzur was giving her such a gentle look. His face was very trustworthy, she realized. Plus he was a traveling baru. They did not have allegiances to any one kingdom. It would probably be safe to tell him.

"The…King was gravely injured. I used my power to save his life. It was in the courtyard that you need to pass through to get to the interior of the palace so there were many witnesses."

"How noble of you. Using your power to save the King." Munzur shifted so he was a little closer to her. "If I may ask, why did you save him? Are you loyal and a member to this kingdom? Your foreign looks say otherwise."

Hakuno shook her head. "It is a long story to how I ended up here."

"A long story?" Munzur seemed to perk up. "Do you mind telling it?"

Again she hesitated. Why did he seem so interested in learning about her? She scoffed at her distrust. Of course he would be interested! A foreign woman, a magus woman, was living in one of the best quarters in the palace of a King. Anyone would be curious how something like that could happen.

She was saved from answering as she spotted Urash walking towards them. "Your apprentice is over there."

A look of annoyance seemed to pass Munzur's face but it disappeared as fast as it had come. "What is it?" he asked gruffly.

Urash's gray eyes flickered to Hakuno before focusing back on his master. "Ekur was looking for you. You two are supposed to perform a liver reading under the light of Sin."

"Oh right, of course. I almost forgot." Munzur got to his feet. "We shall continue this conversation at a later time?"

She nodded. "That is fine by me."

"Good. Come Urash, let us go."

Hakuno turned her attention to the water lilies and enjoyed how pretty they looked.