"The King wants to take you hunting?"
Enkidu nodded. "He asked me this afternoon in the gardens. With the baru, Ekur back in the palace, the King wants to go out to the forest for a few days and go hunting."
"What did you tell him?" Hakuno stacked the empty bowls from dinner into a pile.
"I told him I needed to speak with you first." They smiled. "He got a little grumpy after that."
"Of course he did." She sighed. "Do you want to go? Will you be alright going?" Enkidu may no longer feel the same connection to the forest as before, but the forest was a part of them.
"I like it here in the city but it will be nice to see the forests again. Is it weird to admit that I miss it?"
"Not at all. I would be more concerned if you did not."
"Will you be alright here though? I could ask the King to have you come with us."
"No, I should be alright. I have plenty to do here."
Enkidu grimaced. "But I worry about you Hakuno. What if something were to happen to you and I am not here?"
Hakuno grasped Enkidu's hands in her own. "Do not worry. I have allies here in the palace that know who I am. The purpose of me being like this is to find out the truth. I need to find out who it was that leaked the plans and who has allied with the enemy. And I want you to stay close to him, to Gil. Protect him in my place. For now that he is acting more like his old self, they will probably want to strike again."
"And that is why I worry about you." Enkidu pulled their hands out of Hakuno's and placed them on top of hers. "Because you are connected to me, these…people might go after you."
"I will be careful," she replied softly. "And as someone that has been a slave of this palace, I know the backways and can get to many places quickly."
"Am I interrupting something?"
Shub stood in the doorway and looked back and forth between Enkidu and Hakuno and then their clasped hands.
Hakuno released Enkidu's hands. "Did Urash have anything more to add?"
Shub startled and then took her place at the table. "Do you know how hard it is to find him? I think Ekur needs to wear a bell collar or something like that."
Hakuno had to laugh at the mental image. "You did find him though?"
Shub nodded. "Ekur was busy with a divination so Urash was able to give this to me." She pulled a small slip of papyrus from her skirt pocket.
Hakuno took it and opened it. There was one word on it. "Guards."
Of course.
How could she be so blind?
Like the slaves of the palace, the guards were everywhere. They were always patrolling the halls, guarding rooms, being allowed in places that they would not be otherwise. Even she would admit, she did not know the names and faces of many of the guards in the palace.
"Shub. Remember that guard that opened the curtain when we were in the cart and he told me to go hide in the forest?"
Shub's eyes widen. "You do not think…"
"I do not know what to think." Hakuno grimaced. What did that guard look like? So many of them had been brought along as escorts that she had only learned the names of a couple of them. She had wanted to get to know all of them but it made them uncomfortable when she acted less like a queen. If only she knew his name…
"I do not know how we can get the list of the names," said Shub.
That was true. If she was Queen she could demand it but Shub could not get that list. "Perhaps Urash can help?"
"I can try asking him," replied Shub. "He is a baru's slave after all. He might have more reach."
"Yes. That will probably be the best way to go about this. And we both need to try to remember what this guard looked like."
"Hakuno, should I stay here?"
She glanced over at Enkidu in surprise. They had been so quiet she had forgotten they were here. "What do you mean?"
"This sounds dangerous. I mean a guard is someone with training. They know how to fight, how to kill."
"Do not worry Enkidu, I will not act upon it. I am just going to be looking for information, that is all. And we do not know if this guard played a role or not in these turns of events. Go on, have some fun hunting with Gilgamesh."
Enkidu nodded slowly. "If you say so Hakuno."
The bird's neck snapped on impact as the arrow passed into its neck and pinned the bird to the tree. Gilgamesh lowered his arm and turned to Enkidu, ready to bask in praise.
Only Enkidu was looking in the opposite direction with their arms spread out. The wind was a little strong up here in the mountains and it ruffled their hair and oversized tunic. Gilgamesh had a few clothing styles sent to Enkidu's room but for some reason or another Enkidu would always default to the tunic.
As if sensing the King's stare, Enkidu put down their hands and turned. "Oh. Yes? Were you saying something?"
"I killed a bird." He gestured to the animal still attached to the tree by the arrow.
"Oh! You did." Enkidu walked over and pulled the arrow out of the tree with the bird attached. They looked at the bird and smiled.
"What is it?" huffed Gilgamesh.
Enkidu shook their head. "It is nothing my King. This just reminded me of something. Of how I used to kill and eat birds."
"How you used to?"
"That is a story for another time." They held up the bird. "There is some good meat on this. I think I saw herbs I could use for seasoning in that direction."
Gilgamesh stared at them blankly. "What? You want to eat it?"
"Of course?" Enkidu gestured to the nearby tethered horse. Dead birds, rabbits and foxes hung off the sides of the animal. "We have so much to eat!"
Gilgamesh watched as Enkidu gathered kindling and build a firepit. They looked so excited that he did not want to spoil it by telling Enkidu that he just took the dead animals to the palace and had the chefs in the kitchen prepare it.
He had to smirk at his own thoughts. When did he care about what other people thought?
"Would you like to pluck the feathers?" Enkidu held out a dead bird by the feet.
He would rather not but he did not want Enkidu to think he could not do it! Gilgamesh was the King! He could do anything!
The glassy dead stare of the bird though was very unnerving. Thankfully Enkidu was also plucking a bird so Gilgamesh watched and copied what Enkidu was doing.
"Do you always make your own food?" asked Gilgamesh. He waved his hand wildly to get a few feathers off. This was incredibly messy!
"I did. I used to hunt and catch it myself." They smiled at the small fire. "It was someone else who taught me how to take apart and cook my food."
"Who was that? That slave of yours?" Such a scrawny kid could teach Enkidu something? The King yanked out a few feathers. Probably with too much force by the way Enkidu side-eyed him. It was not his fault! Kings did not pluck birds. It just was not done. "What is your relationship to this slave?"
Gilgamesh hated to admit it but it annoyed him how close the two seemed to be.
"Relationship?" Enkidu tilted their head slightly and Gilgamesh startled. It was such a similar gesture to what she did when she was thinking.
What was he doing? Thinking of Hakuno right now?
"Well, Zaibu is my dear friend. My closest friend like I have told you before."
"Just a friend?" He doubted that. He put down the half-plucked bird and Enkidu scooped it up and began plucking it quickly and effectively. "Not lovers? Not like that matters to me," he scoffed.
"Just friends." Enkidu seemed confused for a moment but then their eyes lit up in some kind of understanding. "Yes, we are nothing more than dear friends. Zaibu's heart belongs to another."
"Oh really? Who is it?" Perhaps he could use his power to demand the slave to get the person the boy wanted. Then Enkidu might get ignored and focus more on Gilgamesh!
Enkidu's smile was secretive in nature. "May I learn more about your Queen? I admit, I have been curious after you mentioned her."
"My Queen?" What was this change in subject? "She is an extraordinary woman. Incredibly smart but very bossy." He frowned. "Quite condescending to a King. She called me a child on many occasions."
"A child?" Enkidu skewered the meat onto sticks which they placed by the fire. A chuckle. "Oh yes."
Gilgamesh frowned. "What?"
"Do you have any stories of her?" they asked softly. "How about when you two first met?"
"Our first meeting was not what one would expect." Gilgamesh recounted the tale of their first meeting, quickly glossing over the fact that she managed to kick him in the one place that would cripple even him. As soon as story finished, he could not stop himself from launching into another. Mundane things, like how she bit the end of her stylus while translating texts to how she stood next to him when he declared an order to the kingdom.
"Do you think there is a chance that she is still alive?" Enkidu scattered the bones from the meal into the firepit. "You said only her amulets were found."
"The place was marred, bodies everywhere. She is…" He could not finish that statement. Despite the fact he knew it was true, he could not say it.
Enkidu nodded. "I understand but hold onto that hope. Perhaps you will see her again someday." They got up and pointed. "Look, there is a boar over there. Let us try to catch it."
Hakuno knew this was a horrible idea.
Sure she promised Enkidu she would not take risks but this was not that big of a risk in the grand scheme of things right? She was a slave wandering around the soldiers training grounds looking for Ishne because she had a message from Enkidu. That was all! And, of course, she did not know that Ishne went with Gilgamesh and Enkidu for this hunting trip (although the guards usually camped a distance away).
The training grounds was not a place she visited often as her time as Queen. Gilgamesh usually came out here to wrestle with his men (he always won). Of course, she found that to be incredibly boring and Gilgamesh sometimes came into her room with caked on mud. That always made her super cranky.
It was interesting to see how the men trained though. There was an archery squad practicing against straw tigers and wolves. Another group was sparring with swords and shields in the muddy field and a few were wrestling as well.
Overall very loud and boisterous.
A few of the soldiers looked familiar to her but none reminded her of the solider that told her to get out of the cart. Was he not on duty yet?
"Enjoying what you are seeing?"
Hakuno jumped and turned to the voice. A solider stood a few steps away. One hand rested on his sword but it seemed to be more of a relaxed habit than anything malicious. At least that's what she hoped based on the smile on his face.
"Oh, uh, yes?" Damn, why did she make it a question?
"You are Enkidu's slave correct?"
"Oh, uh yes." Why did she sound like an idiot right now? She was about to go into her lie about wanting to find Ishne but she changed tactics at the last moment. "I was bored so I wanted to explore the palace more. I have not been out here before and it is very fascinating-your training regimen I mean." She gestured to the fighting soldiers.
The solider stared at her for a few moments and she wondered what she said wrong and if she should start running in the opposite direction.
"Oh, sorry," he said. "It is just, you speak very differently than the slaves around the palace, but I guess that makes sense since you are not from around here."
Hakuno shook her head. "No. I am from the mountains. Enkidu is a unique individual. They wanted to make sure I got an education as well." That lie would probably not cause any issue unless Gilgamesh let something slip but she doubt he would say anything.
"An education huh?"
"But Enkidu did not teach me the way of weapons. I can set traps and can shoot a bow to hunt game but…" She gestured to the sword fighting. "Nothing like that."
"Your lord does seem like the peaceful sort."
"Enkidu can take care of themselves if need be."
"I imagine so," replied the soldier. "Considering they were able to end a wrestling match in a draw with the King…" The guard smiled. "My name is Ri-is."
"Zaibu," she replied. "Well, you probably knew that." Mentally she tried to remember if she had seen Ri-is anywhere, but nothing came to mind. He was probably a guard of a lower rank so she had not had much contact with him.
He chuckled and grabbed two practice swords and handed one to her. "Come on, let us see what you can do."
Hakuno rested her hands on her knees, the sweat dripping down her back. Ri-is did not even look winded from the brief bout. Damn it, she thought she was fit but wow. She also understood why men kept their chests bare. It helped with the sweat and the heat of the day was lending to making it worse.
"You are not bad for a beginner. You are small and quick and you use that to your advantage." Ri-is held out a cup of water and Hakuno took it gratefully.
"Well, you still defeated me, and I know you were holding back." She handed the empty cup back to him.
Ri-is chuckled. "Well, of course."
She blinked. Oh, right. She was Enkidu's personal slave after all. Would do no good if she was injured. "Well, I hope you will be forthcoming in the future, I would like to learn a few tricks." She pointed to the archery range and was surprised to see that many of the guards were paying attention to her rather than their own practice. Her face flushed.
"I'm sure a few of us can spare a bit of time," said Ri-is with another laugh. "If you do not mind me being frank, you are quite different from your lord."
She smiled but said no more.