Enkidu hated to admit it, but Suse had a very nice garden. The flowering plants were all thriving, and the smell was sweet. A few of the plants even reminded Enkidu of their home on the mountains. They checked on Hakuno and saw she was still sitting on the bench. She waved again, and they could hear her telling them to not be so protective.

They were in a garden and no one was around.

They kneeled to smell the flowers and relished in scent. It was a mountain flower, hearty and strong and yet artificial. This was not a plant that had suffered to grow.

And then they heard Hakuno yelp.

It was a quiet sound, some faint noise. They whirled around and saw a man grab Hakuno's shoulder.

There was no thought. Enkidu bolted towards her. They made it a moment later and shoved themselves between Hakuno and the man. The ur-sal glared at the man and growled low and deep. Let them try to hurt her now!

"Enkidu, calm down." Hakuno put a hand on Enkidu's arm.

"Uh…" The man looked at Enkidu with a mixture of concern and fear.

"Enkidu, he is not an enemy. You can stand down."

Enkidu stared at Hakuno, giving her a once over to make sure she was not under a spell. They could not see anything on her. But what did they know? They could not see the spell on her when she was disguised as a boy.

"Hakuno…you have an interesting friend," commented the man.

Enkidu glared at him. How did he know her name?

"They are," replied Hakuno. She stepped forward so she was in between Enkidu and the man. "Enkidu, this is Kalbum, Kalbum, this is Enkidu."

Enkidu relaxed slightly. Slightly. "Who is he?" They realized this was considered rude behavior but Hakuno's safety was at stake here.

Kalbum raised an eyebrow. "Uh what?"

Hakuno gestured to the bench. "Everyone sit, let us have a chat."

"I will stand," said Enkidu.

Kalbum shrugged and sat down next to Hakuno. Enkidu frowned and sat down in between Kalbum and Hakuno.

"Gods." Kalbum slid over to make room.

"Enkidu…" Hakuno sighed. "Never mind." She gestured to Kalbum. "He was on the traveling caravan with me."

The traveling caravan? Enkidu remembered her mentioning she was raised on one. She did not speak much of it though. Just that it was where she learned many of her skills. Enkidu really took in this Kalbum. He looked like any other man from the area with dark skin and black hair.

"What are you doing here anyway Kalbum?" asked Hakuno.

"The caravan is here. We are visiting Suse and the King and Queen were interested in some of the items we have for trade." He leaned forward so he was able to look at Hakuno and talk. "We have a person on now who trades in foreign plants and they are looking for more to add to the gardens. Anyway, enough of that, what about you Hakuno? How did you end up here? We need to go tell the others, I know they will be happy to see you alive and well." Kalbum's eyes sparkled in a way that Enkidu did not like.

Hakuno hesitated. "Kalbum…I cannot."

Kalbum frowned. "But…why not?" His eyes widen. "Did something happen when you snuck into the Uruk's King palace? I knew that was a horrible idea." He seemed to finally take in her outfit. "Hakuno, what happened to you? Your outfit…" His eyes settled on the Queen amulets. "Hakuno is that…"

Hakuno grimaced and looked down at her hands. "A lot happened," she said slowly.

Why was she trying to hide it? "Hakuno is the Queen of Uruk," said Enkidu.

"Enkidu!" she protested.

"Q…queen!?" Kalbum repeated. He stared at Hakuno and then at Enkidu. "Queen. Queen of Uruk." He looked like he was going to faint but he blinked and shook his head. "And who are you anyway?"

"Enkidu is…Enkidu," said Hakuno. "They are a close friend of mine as well as my…husband's."

"You have a husband," repeated Kalbum. "Of course, that makes sense. You are a Queen of a nation. How…how did you manage that!? Seriously Hakuno how?"

"A lot happened," she admitted. "We can perhaps talk about it later." She glanced at Enkidu.

"I can imagine so." Kalbum ran his fingers through his hair. "You always seem to have things happening to you." He stared at Enkidu. "Sorry but I really am wondering what is with your hair. It's green."

Well that sounded rude to Enkidu. They looked down at the long strands of hair. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, there is nothing wrong with it Enkidu. Kalbum, that is a part of the stuff we can talk about it later." She stood. "Unfortunately, the two of us need to head back to our quarters or we will be missed."

Kalbum scrambled to his feet but Enkidu stood up first and offered a hand to help Hakuno up. Hakuno took it and stood, her bracelets clinking against each other. "We can speak later Kalbum."

"Of course Hakuno, I really hope we can. We are in the visitors quarters." He gestured in the direction.

She nodded. "Yes, let us catch up later."


Gilgamesh collapsed on the bed and rested his hand over his eyes. He was exhausted. Sure, the hunt itself was fun but keeping up with King Ditanu was what tired him. The King would deflect any attempt to prod about the apparent "third" son. He was also more about telling stories about the land and while saying these stories, would throw questions at Gilgamesh about his kingdom.

He had dealt with situations similar to this in the past but this was so overt, he did not know how to handle it.

"I assume your hunting trip did not go as planned?" He sensed his wife sit down next to him.

He lifted his arm to look at her. She was dressed in a simple shift, her Queen's amulets not around her neck. Obviously ready for bed.

"Not at all," he grumbled. "He was quite tightlipped about the boy and I did not end up finding and killing the lion that was prowling around. You?"

"Nothing from the Queen." Hakuno shook her head. "But this was only the first day. Urash did not have any visitors either."

Gilgamesh looked around the room but refused to get up to actually search for the slave.

"I told him to retire for the evening before you got here. I do not want you to patronize him."

"I was not going to," grumbled Gilgamesh.

"Hakuno, what about Kalbum?" asked Enkidu from the foot of the bed. "We met him in the gardens."

Did Hakuno just flinch? Gilgamesh sat up. She looked uncomfortable. "Who is Kalbum?" he growled. It was a male name.

"He is no one important," said Hakuno.

"I doubt that." He stared at her and then at Enkidu. "Who was he?"

"Hakuno said he was from the traveling caravan. They seemed to know each other quite well." They tilted their head to the side. "But I do not understand why you do not want to talk about it Hakuno. And why do you seem so distressed?" Uncertainty crept into Enkidu's expression. "Hakuno, are you okay?" They scrambled closer and clutched Hakuno's clenched hands in their own.

Gilgamesh had to admit, Enkidu seemed to have hit the mark. Hakuno grimaced and would not look either of them in the eye. "It is really nothing. Really."

"I doubt it is nothing." Now that he was thinking about it, he did not know much of her time before she had come into his life. There were years there he knew nothing about. "Now explain or I will go find this caravan myself."

She flinched and sighed. She pulled her hands out of Enkidu's grasp and pulled her knees up to her chest. "He is just a friend from that time. Do not look at me like that Gil, that is all there is." She pushed a few strands of hair out of her face. "I am just worried about what this could mean though. With them here, it is dangerous."

"Dangerous how?" Gilgamesh frowned. What in the world had happened on this caravan.

"Not in the danger you are thinking of Gil. They know me. They know who I am, who I was before. If the King and Queen of Suse learn about these caravan people knowing me, they might put it together. They will realize I am not of noble birth."

"So?" scoffed Gilgamesh. "There have been Kings and Queens that raised through the ranks."

Hakuno bit her lip. "Gil, that is not the point. We are in enemy territory! It is best they think a nation is backing me like Uruk backs you. What is to stop them from killing us in our sleep and taking Uruk for their own?"

"I will stop them," said Enkidu. They cracked their knuckles. "No one hurts my dear friends."

"What if they get past you Enkidu? Gil, I do not know if they believe in my connection to Gula, in fact, since they are connected to Nippur, they probably know about maguses. And if they know, they will realize my power is just that, magic."

"I think you worry too much."

"I think you do not worry enough Gil!" Her voice was louder than she seemed to intend it to be and she winced. "It would be better to stay away from them," she said softly. "I left that behind. Please, just leave it." She crawled into the bed and wrapped the blankets around herself.

Enkidu crawled in as well and laid down with their back to her. They exchanged a concerned look with Gilgamesh. He shrugged. What were they going to do about it? If this was happening in his kingdom he would have stormed down there and demanded to speak with the caravan troops. But she was right, they were in foreign territory, any weakness could be disastrous.

However, at the same time he could not help but wonder. Was this Kalbum truly just a friend to his Queen?


It was in the deep, dark parts of the night when Urash slipped out of the guest rooms. The torches in the braziers were faint, casting barely any light but just enough to see by. His steps were light. Sure they were light before, but his position as a slave, Ekur's slave, taught him a new way to walk.

He turned the corner and skidded to a stop. A guard was waiting on the corner and he turned, having heard Urash's sudden stop.

"Halt, who goes there?"

Urash relaxed as he noticed the thin black band of fabric that was wrapped around one of the guard's arms.

Urash stepped forward and held his hands up to show he was unarmed. "The light of Sin enlightens the morning star of the goddess Ishtar."

The guard relaxed. "Down the hall and to the right."

Urash dipped his head and hurried down the hall. He might have said the right phrase, but he did not trust the guard to not change his mind.

When he reached the end of the hall, on the right was a room covered by a cloth with an elaborate design on it. It was probably very pretty in the daylight but in the torchlight it looked ominous.

"Excuse me." Urash cautiously pushed the curtain to the side.

The room was sparse, with only a large stone table with a lantern sitting on it. A man stood behind the table and he looked up from the broken stone envelopes on the table. Urash felt rooted to the spot as those cold eyes met his.

The man slowly stood straight, his movements deliberate. His clothing was dark and simple but Urash knew that was to just throw people off on who this man actually was. Now that he was standing straight, Urash could see the dagger hanging off the waist. And Urash knew this man knew how to use it.

Urash bowed slightly. "Hello, we have never formally met Imi but-"

Imi held up a hand. "We do not need to go through pleasantries, Urash, apprentice of Munzar. Well, more accurate to say, ex-apprentice of Munzar." His eyes flickered to Urash's cheek and the boy resisted the urge to cover the brand mark.

He smiled and walked around the table and leaned against it. "So? What can you tell me, magus of Nippur?"

Urash clenched his hands into fists. "The King and Queen of Uruk are here to investigate what happened in their kingdom. They sense a connection between Suse and Nippur and they are aware of the attempt on the Queen's life."

"Speaking of attempt, how did the Queen survive the attack?" Imi's eyes narrowed. "Was it the green-haired one?"

Urash nodded. "Yes, Enkidu was involved. I cannot tell you exactly what they are, as I am not sure but it is thought they are a creature of the Gods."

"A creature of the Gods." Imi smirked. "And they have the abilities of such?"

"They are stronger than a human. They can move faster and fight stronger. They are not to be taken lightly."

"And what of the Queen herself?"

"What about the Queen?" asked Urash.

Imi blinked slowly. "You know what I want to know."

"She is a magus, or I assume she is one. Her gift seems to be that, but I am not sure. It is strong." Urash hesitated for a moment and Imi seemed to sense it. "Her gift activated when she was unconscious during the attack. She sustained great injuries but was able to heal them subconsciously. To tell you the truth, I am not sure."

"Well it is something." Imi waved Urash away. "Go, continue your work."

Urash bowed before he backed out of the room. He did not turn until he was well out of the room.

His shoulders slumped, and his body relaxed. Imi, the spymaster of Suse was as terrifying as the rumors fortold. He nodded to the guard and hurried back to the rooms.

The rooms were quiet as he slipped back in and settled back into his palette.

"Hmm?" Shub seemed to have sensed the movement and she lifted her head, her eyes squinted. "Urash?" Her voice was garbled with sleep.

"Needed to listen to nature's call," he whispered.

Shub turned over in her palette.

Urash let out a long sigh of relief before he turned over and tried to catch some sleep before the sun rose and the King started making demands of him.