A few days later, Hakuno spotted Rigiljo in one of the gardens. She paused in mid-step and darted behind the closest pillar and peered out. He was not in uniform, so he probably had the day off. He seemed to be staring intently at the fish pond. Probably thinking deeply of something? It was hard to tell from this angle.

This had to be an intervention from the Gods. She had just come back from the kitchens and a quick conversation with Shub. She had been unable to find out anything more about the family, so they had turned their attention towards the other soldiers to see if any of them had any suspicious behavior recently.

Hakuno did not know why but she had a feeling that Rigiljo was involved somehow. If only she could find out proof of how.

Rigiljo straightened and he began walking out of the gardens. Not towards the exit like she thought but deeper into the palace, towards the areas that only slaves traversed. Odd.

She made a mental note to ask Shub about it later. Someone would definitely notice a non-slave that did not belong in that area. It was probably a very recent behavior and the main question was, why.

Knowing that Shub would come by tonight, and there was not much else for her to do today, she retreated to the rooms. Perhaps she could spend the afternoon looking through the solider lists, to see if she missed any name that seemed familiar to her.

A movement out of the corner of her eye.

Before she could react, something grabbed her and yanked into a small side room. Something clamped around her neck-an arm? Panic set in as her airway was constricted. Her arms flailed and her legs struggled to find purchase but nothing.

Her vision swam and then blurred. She tried to suck in air but nothing would come in. In the last moment, before the darkness overtook her, she threw a few futile prayers to the Gods.

Hakuno awoke lying on her side, her arms and legs bound. Panic welled within her, her thoughts flitting back to Naram and the storage room. Her mind caught up a moment later when she heard multiple voices coming from down below. She looked like a male right now. She had obviously not been grabbed for that reason. Or was it? Some did have tastes running in that direction after all.

She focused on the room itself to avoid her thoughts from spiraling out of control. She was not in the palace, that was for sure. The wall she was facing was made from dark clay, obviously it was a home in the city proper.

Her left side ached, the floor hard beneath her. The only light seemed to come from a lantern behind her, her shadow stretched out huge against the wall like a monster.

"How could you bring the boy here!?" A voice rang out from below, Hakuno was probably on the second floor.

"Mother please, what else was I supposed to do? You wanted this to happen, I just raised the timetable that's all." A male voice. Possibly Rigiljo?

"We will use this blessing, relax," spoke a gruff male voice. "Return to the palace and give that thing the note before you are missed. Go."

A door slammed shut and the voices again dropped to a low murmur.

Hakuno let out a long sigh and rolled over so she faced the stairwell that led to the lower floor. All she could do for now is listen.

Gilgamesh strode down the hall towards Enkidu's room, a board game under one arm, the pieces in the other. Usually he would not have carried them himself but he did not want to wait. Tonight was a game night and he was going to teach Enkidu one of the games he had played often with Hakuno and that slave girl friend of hers. It was one of the games he had thrown into the back of his collection as it was one she was very good at and whenever he looked at it, he could only think of her winning the game.

Of course, the memories were still there when he took it out but it was not as painful as before. And perhaps, by playing it with Enkidu and their slave boy, it would help give him some new memories with the game.

"Enkidu!" Gilgamesh threw back the curtain with a flourish.

The first thing he noticed was Enkidu standing in the middle of the room. They stared down at a sheet of papyrus, their expression darkening every moment.

"Enkidu?"

Enkidu looked up in surprise, the dark expression fleeing for the moment. "My King, I did not see you come in."

"What is that?" Gilgamesh gestured to the papyrus. "It seems to have upset you." He looked around the room. "Where is that slave boy of yours?" The boy always seemed to be in the corners, always lurking in the background like an animal ready to pounce. He was not here though.

Enkidu's expression darkened again as they focused on the sheet of paper. Their grip tightened, the papyrus, crumpling in their hand. An expression Gilgamesh had never seen before arose on their face. Anger. No, rage would be a better way to put it.

"Where are you going!?" Gilgamesh grabbed Enkidu's arm before they could storm past him. Enkidu's forest green eyes flickered down to the King's grip and for a moment he thought Enkidu would rip his arm off like a wild animal would.

"Let me see," Gilgamesh said firmly.

Enkidu shook their head. "I cannot. It says no one must know."

Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed. He might not be as smart as his Queen, but he was the King after all and it did not take much for him to put things together. "Someone has taken your slave boy. And now they want to meet with you alone to discuss demands, unless they have written the demands down already."

"How did you know my King?"

Gilgamesh smiled but it had no traces of happiness in it. "I am a King after all. This sort of treachery is not a rarity." He held out his hand. "Let me see, I can help with my power as King." He might not care for the slave boy but Enkidu valued him highly and that is all that mattered in the moment. If she was here, he had a feeling he would be getting some praise from her about his actions.

Enkidu hesitated but, in the end, relented and handed the note over.

A quick read told Gilgamesh it was typical ransom note, stating that the captors had the boy and Enkidu should meet them in the dead of night alone and if not, the boy would be killed. A lock of dark brown hair was attached to the note with glue, proof that they had the boy as claimed. Thankfully it was not a finger as Gilgamesh had a feeling Enkidu would have already been out the door, roaring like a beast.

"I can rally the guard to be on standby close to the location. They will be in civilian clothes as to not draw attention. I will have it be only members of my personal guard as to not draw any attention to the kidnappers."

Gilgamesh handed the note back to Enkidu. "You focus on getting the slave boy to safety." He had seen Enkidu fight. When they were hunting, Enkidu had tackled a wild boar and took it down without hesitation. They were fast and Gilgamesh had the feeling that no matter what occurred, the boy will come out of this alive, and possibly unscathed.

"I know someone that can help us," said Enkidu. They still looked panicked and angry but it looked under control, at least for the moment. "I will speak with them discreetly while there is still time."

Hakuno could not help the yelp that escaped her lips as she was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. Her shoulder smashed against the floor and she released a burst of magic before the pain flared up. She had been doing that a lot since she had been transported from their house to somewhere else. She was not sure where it was as she was stuffed into a bag for the trip. They did not gag her but threatened to gut her if she screamed so she had stayed silent and continued to listen.

"Do not injure the boy!" scoffed the woman-the shopkeeper and Rigiljo's mother.

The man shrugged. "As long as the boy is alive, does it matter?"

Rigiljo's mother said something under her breath and turned towards Hakuno. "You are not going to beg for your life?"

"I do not see the point to," said Hakuno. Thankfully the time alone had given her time to calm down and gather her wits. This needed to be played right.

Rigiljo opened the front door and stepped into the room. "I spotted the ur-sal coming this way and they were alone."

"Are you sure about that? They are very close with the King," said the mother.

"There could soldiers upon us at any moment." Rigiljo's father paced around the room. "Are you sure you saw no one else around?"

"I have seen how much they care for this slave boy, it is obvious to anyone in the palace. They will not risk the death of the boy to turn to the King for help."

"Not that you are aware of," grumbled his mother. "Anyway, I will leave it to you two." She walked behind Hakuno, probably to leave through a back door. To wait at home and hide the evidence?

A knock on the door broke her out of her thoughts. The door swung on its hinges and Enkidu stepped in the small home with eyes blazing. Their attention landed on Hakuno and she could see them mentally calculating her appearance.

"What do you want?" they growled. It was like they were tethering on the edge of animal and human. It reminded her of when she had made the deal with the witch. They were barely holding onto the humanity, but the animal was much more contained than before.

Rigiljo stood behind Hakuno and grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up, exposing her neck for a knife pressed against her throat. "You will leave here. You will go far away from here without warning."

"So you want to break the King again," Hakuno said coldly.

In surprise, Rigiljo looked down at her. The angle made it difficult, but she glared back at him the best she could.

"You hurt him once by trying to kill his Queen and now you want to do it again. Your family are filthy traitors to the Uruk crown and you most of all."

"How…how dare you!?" The knife wavered slightly against Hakuno's neck and she could feel the blood trickling.

Enkidu growled and before anyone could react, they had darted to the father's side and slammed him into the ground, his fingers curled into claws as they wrapped it around the father's windpipe. "Release her now."

Of course, they did not know how fast Enkidu could move.

Rigiljo stared at Enkidu in horror but still kept the blade pressed against Hakuno's throat.

"Just to let you know, they can crush your father's windpipe faster than you can kill me." She did not know if Enkidu was too human now to kill a human but in the moment, they did seem more animal than human so who knew?

"My father is a weak man." Rigiljo's voice wavered, obviously trying not to show emotion. "I…I know this is for the greater good. And this…this will break them if nothing else."

Sin protect her, talking was definitely out of the question now.

"Enkidu, I can heal it, just do it!" she yelled, gathering her magic.

Enkidu leaped off the father's body, with the grace and speed of a wolf.

She felt the blade cut deep but thankfully did not get stuck in her neck as Enkidu landed on Rigiljo with a loud roar, the knife clattering to the ground. Without him supporting her, she fell to the ground. She ignored the pain in her head and side as she focused all her energies on healing her throat before the panic of not being able to breathe set in.

By the time the healing was complete and Enkidu had freed her, a few guards stormed into the room-Gilgamesh's private guard. Of course, they had nothing to do as Enkidu had taken care of both men in animal simplicity.

"They have to go to the actual home," rasped Hakuno. "There is evidence there. They use the pots to smuggle notes and whatnot out of the kingdom. I heard them while they had me tied up."

"The King already has some people taking care of that location. Shub," Enkidu explained to Hakuno's unanswered question.

Of course, Shub would realize it pretty quickly.

Enkidu helped her to her feet and she almost lost her balance as Gilgamesh walked into the hovel.

Well, it looked like the boy was in one piece. For the most part. The front of his tunic was covered in blood along with the skin around his neck. No injury though. That was odd.

The boy also seemed shocked that Gilgamesh was there.

"We took care of everything at the other location," he told Enkidu. "The woman tried to escape but she was caught." His attention flickered to the two dead bodies. "At least we have someone to talk to."

"Make sure you take the wares," said the boy, his voice raspy, like he had used it too much. "The vases and pots, they used it to hide information to and from Suse."

Gilgamesh frowned. "What makes you think that?"

The boy hesitated and looked at the few guards still milling in the room.

He looked over at Enkidu, who just nodded. Fine then. After a quick order for the guards to leave, Gilgamesh was alone in a very dirty and old building with his closest friend and a boy with creepy piercing eyes.

The boy let go of Enkidu and approached the King. His attention did not waver, his eyes did not leave Gilgamesh's. "Suse is involved. The family is from that area. They came here to act as spies for many years to give information to Suse. They were involved with the attempted murder on the Queen. Rigiljo made sure he was a good solider, so he would be involved in the escort mission. It did not take much to get the Queen into a position where she could be killed.

"And again, this attempt was to isolate you, to make you feel like you were alone and fall into despair. As unhappy people means an unhappy kingdom and unhappy kingdom means rebellion. They wanted you to fall as it means Uruk will fall. And then they win.

"Nippur wins as it is allied with Suse. Suse has protected the king and queen and the heirs. Suse may be the main player but Nippur is the true mastermind. The war is not over, it has not been over, instead it has just been brewing under the surface."

"What are you talking about…" Gilgamesh backed up a step, the intensity of the boy was too much. And how did this boy know so much!? "Who in the world are you?" he growled. "A baru?" He looked to his friend. "What is this boy?"

"You know who this boy is," Enkidu said gently.

The boy walked up until he was standing before the King. He gestured for Gilgamesh to bend down.

He wanted to do anything but that. He wanted to move away, get away from this boy with the piercing eyes. But then he wondered why. Why did this boy bother him so? A nod from Enkidu. He gritted his teeth and bent slightly, pissed that a King needed to bend to a commoner.

The boy stood on his toes and whispered one word. Gilgamesh reeled back and stared down at the boy with shock.

"Gilgamesh."

The boy had spoken the King's name. No one alive should know that name. Not even Ekur did.

"Gil, stop looking at me like that, honestly, you can be such a child sometimes." The boy put his hands on his hips and smiled.

It could not be. But those eyes. Those eyes that he thought were piercing through him, it was because they knew him. They knew everything about him. And he…oh gods. He had been a monster to her.

"It cannot be," he whispered. He reached out and touched the boy's face. "You cannot be, it is a trick." Hollow words but a part of him wanted it to be true. She could not have been so close this whole time.

"It is not a trick Gil." He, she, this was so confusing! She rested her hands over his. "Gil, the first time we met I stole from you and I kicked you in a place we will not repeat. You put me in shackles and let me go. You saved me from being a witch, Ekur gave me the blessing of Gula, I helped our people." Tears poured from those eyes. "And…and I promised you, I would come back to you."

Gilgamesh swept the boy into a hug and buried his face into the shoulder. "Hakuno. Hakuno."

"I, I am here Gil, I have always been here."

Gilgamesh released her and gave her a once over. "But what, why do you look like that?"

"It is a spell to alter my appearance. I knew that it was probably not safe here for me unless we could root out who had betrayed Uruk."

"I thought you were going to drop the spell once you were safe," Enkidu spoke up.

Oh yes, Gilgamesh forgot the ur-sal was here. The question was valid.

"I thought I was going to but…" The frowned, thinking expression was so similar to Hakuno's that Gilgamesh wanted to hit himself for not noticing it before. The boy walked, acted and talked like her. How could he not realize this!?

"It probably would not be for the best to for me to break the spell now."

"But why not!?" scoffed Gilgamesh. He wanted to see her face, not the boy covering it.

"Think about it for a moment Gil. What would the people think if I just appeared out of nowhere? They would think I was an agent of Lamashtu, here to kill you and take you to the underworld. Give me some time to think about it."

How annoying but he knew she was right. For now he would just need to keep reminding himself that her form was under this disguise. A thought crossed his mind. "By the way… do you have a ngis?" He stared down at her crotch area.

The boy's face flushed, and the eyes darted to Enkidu and then back at Gil. "Did you really need to ask such a question?!"

"it's a valid question!" he retorted.

"My body is technically male so uh, yes but Enkidu does not seem me as male but female right now so I am not sure on how that works but, oh why am I answering this question seriously!?" She massaged the bridge of her nose. "Anyway, let us return to the palace for now. I think we have much to discuss."