Kurush: The First City - Chapter 12

Anka awoke from an after-lunch nap feeling utterly relaxed. Too relaxed. Disturbingly relaxed. Lurush was still at Alabaster Cove, giving Anka the opportunity for some much needed rest, but she still had the itch to do something, anything to secure her place in the Rush. But the bed was so comfortable she may as well have been glued to it.

There were noises coming from the terrace. She got up and went outside to see if there was anything she could help with, but quickly regretted it. On the dining table, on the largest platter Anka had seen, Dila was lain wearing almost nothing. Lashes of sauce zig-zagged across her body. Lurush sat at the far end of the table, Dila’s feet already down her throat, but once she saw Anka she pulled them back out.

“Anka, good to see you again. Have you settled in? Is Dila treating you well?”

Dila looked blankly at Anka, her head resting on her hand. Clearly she was quite used to being on that platter.

“Oh, er, yes,” said Anka, averting her gaze, “how was Alabaster Cove?”

“I had a wonderful time, I ate very well! But as soon as I came back, I found myself hungry again. Funny that, eh? By the way, I met an interesting man there who has a ship I’d like to buy. I’ve been wanting one for a while, but there’s only been fishing boats for sale. Is it too much to ask to see my face chiselled into the bow of big ship? Kurush really is going down hill. Anyway, he’s coming here this afternoon. I thought it would be a good opportunity to see your skills in action”

Anka knew nothing about ships. She had been on ships anchored in the docks to talk with merchants, but she’d never been out on the open seas.

“Okay, sure, I’ll get you the best deal you could ever hope for. But I’ll, er, leave you to finish your lunch”

She left to find the place on the estate furthest from the terrace so that she didn’t have to hear them, although a part of her was curious as to whether Lurush ate like a wild animal or whether she was the more gentle type. She went down to the shady forest by the entrance, and was surprised to see two hurums lounging by the pool. One was a teenage boy who jumped when he saw Anka, the other was a silver-haired woman who took one look at her before laying back and closing her eyes.

“Go get Lurush for me”

“She’s, er, catching up with Dila. My name’s Anka, it’s a pleasure to meet you”

The woman looked about as uninterested as if she had just presented her with an ant she’d picked up off the ground.

“I recently moved in here,” Anka continued, “I’ll be helping Lurush with her affairs. Are you a friend of hers?”

Her wasp-like face suddenly softened, “Yes I am, my name’s Sasha. This is my son Polur. I’m sorry, I assumed that you weren’t from the Rush”

“I’m not. Until last week, I lived not far from the Sun Temple”

“I don’t know where that is”

“The Sun Temple? It’s the big building just outside the Rush that looks like, well, the sunrise. Have you never gone outside the Rush?” said Anka with a chuckle

“No,” said Sasha, her face rigid, “why would I?”

Anka struggled to find words. She had spent her entire life in the Rush?

“Oh wait,” said Sasha, “I did go to Alabaster Cove once in my youth with Lurush. What an adventure that was! But I made sure the curtains of the litter were closed the whole journey there and the whole journey back”

“Well, I suppose you can go to the top of the Palace of the Ikark anytime”

“Oh really? Can you?”

“You didn’t know? You can see practically all of Kurush from up there”

“Oh really?” Sasha’s eyes were glazing over

“So you’ve known Lurush for a long time then?” said Anka, “She grew up in the Rush too, I suppose?”

“Yes, but she worked so hard to get into the Ikark. At first all she had was a small loan of fifty gold ingots from her father”

Anka’s jaw dropped as she tried to picture that amount of gold. Lurush came waddling through the forest towards them with Dila in tow. Dila looked as impeccably neat as ever, her hair tied into a bun without a single strand out of place. How she managed that when she had no doubt been in Lurush’s stomach mere minutes ago, Anka couldn’t guess.

“My dear, it’s lovely to see you,” said Lurush as she kissed both of Sasha’s cheeks, “and where’s your darling son?”

Polur was on the other side of the pool, trying and failing to hide behind a tree. Lurush crouched and slowly crept towards him as though she was trying to tame a frightened animal. She got out a small wooden box from her pocket.

“I have a present for you”, she said softly

“Polur, don’t be rude”, said Sasha

He gingerly came out from behind the tree and opened the box in Lurush’s palm. Inside was a ring with a ruby so large Anka had to wonder whether any of his skinny fingers would be strong enough to bear it. His delicate face was completely impassive as he picked the ring up.

“Thank you”, he mumbled

“I will go and collect our guest”, said Dila

“I’ll come too”, said Anka

On the crowded street outside, Anka tried to walk alongside Dila.

“Was it just me,” said Anka, “or was that incredibly awkward?”

Dila’s uneasy smile confirmed as much, “Lurush doesn’t just pursue women. She isn’t that fussy about her meals, as long as they’re… tender”

“Really? So that was Lurush trying to woo him?”

“I think it was more of an apology. A few weeks ago, she took him up to her quarters. I heard him crying”

“By the Sun, that poor boy. How old is he?”

“I believe he’s sixteen”

The same age as Shanessa, thought Anka. They walked past the barracks and through the archway in the walls of the Rush. It was the first time she had left the Rush since entering it, and she felt a strange tug on her mind, as though she was heading in the wrong direction, as though she was walking towards danger. But on the other side there was just the square and the high market she was so familiar with.

“You’re Lurush’s servant, right?”

A golden-scaled lisha wearing a flowing amber robe approached them. It looked like his robe had a thousand gold specks embroidered into it, making him shimmer in the sunlight. He even wore several gold rings on each of his fingers.

“Let me introduce myself, my name is Tyroz”

“Sorry, we’re actually waiting for a Nyroz”, said Dila

“Ah yes, I did tell Lurush that, didn’t I? I go by Nyroz, Tyroz, Pyroz, Zyroz, Lyroz, and so on and so forth. I find that a measure of ambiguity can be very useful in certain circumstances”

“And what should we call you today?” Anka asked

He tapped his chin, “I feel like a Ryroz today. Well, shall we go in?”

“Wait, you’ll need this”, Dila handed him a clay guest pass

“Ah, thank you. That saves me from bribing the guards”

Anka laughed politely, but he gave her a quizzical look. He had a copper ingot in his hand, which he slipped back into his pocket. She realised it wasn’t a joke. As they walked under the archway and though the Rush, Anka was painfully aware that the negotiation had already begun. Remember the basics, she told herself, make friends with him, make him relaxed, lower his defences, find out what he wants more than anything.

“My name’s Anka, I help Lurush with her affairs. I love those rings, where did you get them?”

“Ah, well I guess some people at Alabaster Cove just take off everything they have and leave it in piles on the beach. Rich pickings if you’re sneaky enough. Ah, the look on your face, I’m only joking! Or am I?”

He bellowed with laughter. He isn’t the kind of innocuous punter I’m used to, thought Anka, this won’t be as easy as I’d hoped. At the entrance to Lurush’s estate, he tried to shake Goresh’s hand, but he stood as still as a statue. Dila led them through the forest and up the stairs to the top floor.

Anka had never been in Lurush’s study before. It felt more like a throne room. There was a chair made of mahogany, its feet carved to look like lishas’ feet, its limbs and body intricately carved to look like it was covered in scales, facing the window overlooking Kurush. Underneath it was a hatch which presumably opened to Lurush’s vault, unless it was a bluff. Lurush herself was already sitting on her throne, and given how comfortable she looked, it must have been custom designed for her girth.

“Welcome, good to see you again, er…”

“Ryroz”

“Yes, Ryroz! Please take a seat”

He sat on a plainer chair opposite Lurush, while Dila and Anka sat on stools either side of her. Lurush looked down at Anka expectantly.

Anka cleared her throat, “I understand that you have a ship you are trying to sell. Could you tell us about it”

“Bow to stern, it is a hundred and twenty cubits, port to starboard twenty five cubits, and the mast is thirty cubits”

“Is… is that big?”

Ryroz looked over his shoulder, “You can probably see it from here”

Anka got up and went to the window. He pointed to a ship that dwarfed all the others in the docks. If the docks hadn’t been so quiet recently, she could easily imagine merchants angrily demanding that the ship be moved. The hull was painted a thick, blood red.

“How many amphora can it carry?”

“One hundred large ones, but it doesn’t just have to be used for freight. Just think of the parties you could have on it, maybe you could keep it anchored in the docks as a permanent floating venue? That’s never been done before, right?”

Lurush slapped her thighs excitedly, “That would be amazing!”

“Where was it built?” Anka asked

“The nightward isles”

Something didn’t feel quite right. Anka looked into Ryroz’s eyes, and he stared unfalteringly back. He was too confident.

“If we’re going to come to a deal,” said Anka, “we’re going to need you to be truthful about the ship”

“I am being truthful. I bought it from some fine gentlemen who came from the nightward isles. It was in a bit of a rough state, but I spruced it up, gave it a new lick of paint, and sailed it here”

Anka thought of Oresh’s father, who never returned from the nightward isles, “Were they pirates?”

“I didn’t ask what their profession was. Is this a negotiation or an interrogation?”

“Lurush has her reputation to consider. Piracy is strangling Kurush, it’s responsible for the loss of trade, not to mention the loss of life. It could cause her lasting damage if it became known that she had indirectly bought something so ostentatious from pirates”     

Ryroz shrugged, “It’s not my problem where or how those gentlemen acquired it. The only question is do you want it?”

Given everything he had said, Anka tried to calculate how much the ship might be worth. Ten gold ingots perhaps? But she had never bought a ship before, maybe that would be too high.

“What’s your asking price?”

“Fifty gold ingots”

Anka coughed, she felt like she’d been punched in the stomach, “How about ten?”

“I can’t go lower than forty-five”

“Are you saving up for a home here in the Rush? Or maybe even trying to get into the Ikark?”

“Ah, no, Kurush isn’t really my kind of place. I have a villa on Zemyz, such a beautiful island. I spend as much time as I can there, reading poetry, absorbing the tranquillity”

Anka couldn’t picture him doing that for an instant, “So what are you going to spend forty-five gold ingots on then?”

“Spend?” said Ryroz, “I’ll be putting it in my chest with the rest of my gold. You never know what’s going to happen, so you can never have too much, am I right?”

“Lurush is a philanthropist, the more she pays you today, the less she can give to those who need help. Yet you’re asking for more gold than most lishas and hurums will ever spend in their lives, just to throw it in your chest for safekeeping?”

Ryroz grinned, “Having a conscience is a wonderful thing. Let’s say fifty ingots, with a five ingot discount, a reward for your nobility. That’s my final offer”

Anka could feel her face growing red, “Lurush, I recommend that you don’t buy this ship. We can’t trust a word he says, we don’t even know his real name. Let him sell it to someone more gullible”

“I’ll have you know that I am known across the world for my honesty. Gyroz the Honest, that’s what they call me”

“You’re a greedy fucking charlatan! There are gulls stealing fish around the docks more honest than you!”

Lurush laid a hand on Anka’s shoulder, “I’ll take it from here. Why don’t you go back to your room”

“But…”

Lurush’s eyes were calm yet firm, but behind them was an unmistakable disappointment. Anka walked out of the room with as much dignity as she could muster. Her skin burned as she felt the three of them watch her leave. She went downstairs, crumpled onto her bed, and buried her face into the pillows.

Next chapter

Constructive criticism welcome

© Paul Bramhall