Nawirnushu left his chamber and walked down the hall and the stairs to the throne room. All along the hallway the windows which looked out over the city skyline illuminated the impressive murals of Ninanna's snarling lions.

Since he won the palace by arms, even though he had resided there for more than a decade, it never felt anything like a home to him. When Nawirnushu thought of "home" his heart more often drifted to the villa on the coast of the western sea where he would spend his summers as a prince in exile. The whole time he was there he would torture himself and think "O how much sweeter must it be to bathe in the light of Shamash by the royal canal of Kharani!" 'If only I had known then that I had always had the better view!' he thought.

No, instead the palace, the seat of fifteen of his ancestors, his very own father among them, felt like a cage. An obtuse maze of mudbrick and secrecy.

Descending the stairs from his loft, Nawirnushu entered the throne room from the back entrance and looked out upon the long hall from the raised stage, its bottom speckled like an egg shell in tiles of alabaster, lapis lazuli blue, and carnelian red. Across the hall, twixt every few forearms in the distance stood flanking pairs of rams, vigilant protectors of his domain.

All the way across from the throne, on an implacable balcony above terraced steps, stood the ancient image of Lord Bazi, the Shepherd King of Kharani, divine patron of the shakkunakku's authority. The expression on his face, his beaming eyes and soft smile, once seemingly cheerful, now appeared snide and mocking to the living king after his unpleasant dream.

Kneeling before the throne, awaiting Nawirnushu's approach, were his five most esteemed advisors:

His Rab Kallapi, Rapashzili-Zumun, general of the expeditionary forces, his Amuru kin, childhood friend, and ceaselessly loyal comrade. They had preserved the life of one another on the battlefield more times than either of them could count.

His Rab Abullati, Adad-Naszir, general of citygates, an old commander of the guards who worked his way up, having served under both his father and the usurper who followed before him. 'Now here is a man who takes his oaths seriously.' Nawirnushu had reasoned.

His Shapittu, Aliatawat-Lim, the governor of the city, slow to repair the damaged mudbrick and slow to redistribute the necessary rations, yet tolerable, for he had always remained faithful and profitable in his audits.

Then there was the illustrious, Asqudum, The Rodent, the king's official court ummanu and personal baru. The great scholar whose expertise Nawirnushu had plucked from the libraries of Subartu. His insight into the will of the gods was invaluable, yet his influence was the envy of the whole court, and an endless center of dubious gossip.

Last was the noble Awilu, Idin-Dagan, the abarakku of the E-Kur-Kug-Babbar-ani. He was the father of Zumun's entu priestess and the esteemed patriarch of the most ancient Akkadu family dynasties in the city, or at least one of the handful which managed to live through and profit off of the Hanigalbatu purge. He was possibly the wealthiest noble in Kharani, and certainly Nawirnushu's absolute least favorite of the lot.

After surveying his audience, Nawirnushu took his seat upon the throne dais.

He began the proceedings, motioning for his advisors to stand before him: "As we are here primarily to address the situation of the death which I discovered, let us first dispense with our mundane priorities. Rapashzili-Zumun, what intelligence has your reconnaissance work on our borders and the communication with our allies yielded? Has the situation changed?"

Rapashzili-Zumun stepped forward. "Shakkunakkiya, here I offer to you my fortnightly report from the frontlines: The situation to the southern border is increasingly serious, the brash Burnaburiash of Karduniash sends his Kassu cavalry force to harass and raid the free cities of the Sealands. It would not be such a stretch for him to send a vanguard north, yet the forces we have seen so far are certainly not equipped for the heavy combat and the prolonged siege that would be required to successfully assault Kharani itself. He seems more interested in the less expensive effort of causing chaos to the rebels in his demesne rather than recapturing that territory.

To the East, as with each year, the Subartu war season approaches, and it is yet inconclusive whether the legion will head west, north, or perhaps even relent on us altogether and head further east into the mountains. Our ambassador at Kalhu assures us that we keep friendly relations, as this is the holy city of Zumun, but Ashur-iddin has shown himself to believe he is above the confines of oaths and treaties, and he is not wrong! The Subartu army may launch another a campaign against the Hatti city-states on the west coast, coming dangerously close to us. We might also expect them to resume their campaign against the Vainili confederacy in the North.

In the North at least, the Vainili border seems to remain quiet and insular as always, but who can be certain? As always Subartu and Vainili continue to plot each other's annihilation, as they have for the last century, though the age when such a conflict will finally come to pass seems remote.

In the West, the homelands of the Amuru tribes are secure to us, so long as we remain sponsored by the Piru of Muzraiyu, and as long as the shadow of Subartu hangs over the coast we shall always remain in the Piru's good graces. The Hatti cities reel from Subartu attack and are in no position to take the offensive at all! They are the tattered shade of their former glory!

In summation, Beliya, there are many serious threats gathering on our borders, but none yet concrete or discernible. Trust in your eyes, my lord. Make me your eyes, and your gaze shall pierce deep."

"Thank you, my brother. The news may be bad, but to hear it from your lips is always sweeter." Nawirnushu approved.

Rapashzili-Zumun smirked.

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The king made his formal response: "So as for what you say, it sounds almost inevitable that Burnaburiash will come, not to wrest the city from us, but to raid, and goad us, and cause all kinds of problems. Therefore we need larger patrols south to discourage him at the border. You will take a reasonable defense force and secure the bank of the Purattu river."

"As for the Subartu, now, that is something to be afraid of! Though at many other times they have had ample oppurtunity to seize Kharani in the past, they have simply decided it was not in their strategic interests to do so."

Nawirnushu turned to his other general. "Adad-Naszir, for all of your efforts, I know that this city would likely not withstand a siege force. This is why we need to secure any possible weaknesses in our defenses of the city right now, as well as maintain surveillance at the ruins of old Washukannu in the north and track the movements of the Subartu armies."

"Just as your name, 'your wisdom is as his luminance', Beliya." Adad-Naszir proclaiming, appearing to savor the warrior's honor of unwavering service to his lord.

Nawirnushu sighed. "So now let us address the grave matter of the murdered child. Rapashzili-Zumun, what did the palaceguard discover with the body?"

Adad-Naszir took a deep breath. Nawirnushu noticed that it was disturbing to see such sullenness in a man who had seen so many battles. "We found the boy cut into three large pieces, the torso and upper body, the pelvis and right leg, and the left leg, floating alongside each other. His belly had been torn open, his intestines exposed...as if... as if he was a baru sacrifice!"

The whole room, including the kind, turned their gaze to Asqudum, who stood expressionless and snorted to himself, pointedly ignoring the obvious implications of Adad-Naszir's description.

Adad-Naszir continued. "The murder must have been recent, because the boy still bled as his body floated. This morning the canals ran red with blood. Even the flowing statues, like the image of Nanshe at the E-Sirara, spouted blood!"

Asqudum gasped. "Did they?"

"They did!" confirmed Rapashzili-Zumun.

"Is there not more you can learn from observing the boy's body itself?" Nawirnushu asked.

Asqudum interrupted the king's conversation with his general. "Beliya, if I may explain-"

For a brief moment this caused a hubbub of whispers among the advisors which Nawirnushu silenced with his palm. He had no patience for such court sniveling, and Asqudum's expertise was often invaluable.

"The boy's body was taken to the Bit Mashmashu for study. They will report to me with the results in the next day." The great scholar announced.

"That is good to hear, Asqudum." Nawirnushu approved before he turned his attention to his city administrator. "Now, Aliatawat-Lim, first of all, I am alarmed to have discovered such evil had polluted the sacred canal! You must stop all boat traffic at the bottlenecks of the city, inspect and account for them, and extract a tariff. Know that any river inspector who fails to account for a ship or to account for its fine will be charged the tariff fee sevenfold.

Have you managed to identify the family of the murdered boy? Have you been able to find any witnesses of the crime?"

Aliatawat-Lim sheepishly stepped forward. "I... have not, my lord. I will begin to question each resident of the dock district near where the boy was found."

Nawirnushu could not believe that his Shapittu had not taken such initiative independent of his insistence. He scolded him. "Aliatawat-Lim, if you love me, you should uproot everything! You should search every storehouse! Audit every slaveowner! You have absolute authority t-"

"Beliya! The information I have to offer you strongly disagrees with this course of action you are setting on!" Asqudum spoke out.

Nawirnushu was stunned. Asqudum had interrupted a king. Many men had died for less... but certainly not from Nawirnushu's own judgment.

"Explain." He commanded.

"Beliya, alongside the bad dream which you spoke of having before the boy was found, I feel that the mounting omens should discourage any rash action which could cause unrest among the populace! The tension of such an event as this seems destined only to compound itself at this time." Asqudum asserted.

The king was surprised. "Asqudum, I trust these omens you have drawn must be significant, yet, I still do not know why it is that I should not exert every effort and measure at my disposal in order to uncover the child slayer!"

Asqudum continued. "Sharrumiya, with all due respect, I fear you miss the larger pattern which has emerged with the accumulation of ill-bearing phenomena and mistidings in the past year, and especially the last month. They are so overwhelming in volume that I fear for your kingdom! To be frank, I fear you have not received my omen reports with due urgency! In order to educate you as to this crisis, my lord, I ask that I be allowed to present to you some of the evidence which I have used to reach my interpretation of the present situation. If it would please my king, he should join me for the baru ritual tonight at my office in the Prince's Palace!"

The king took a moment to consider his ummanu's request. Asqudum was a petty bureaucrat to be sure, but a uniquely wise man if not for his excessive sense of pride.

"Very well, I will join you as you draw baru lots this evening." Nawirnushu conceded begrudgingly. It pained him not to be able to spend all evening dallying with his queen, but he knew better than to ignore Asqudum's warnings.

Out of frustration and a frenzy for cruel jest, Nawirnushu turned to the worst of all of them, Idin-Dagan. "What say you, O Idin-Dagan? What does such a pious man advise his king to do?"

"Beliya, Asqudum's counsel clearly demonstrates the gods' displeasure in your rule. It is imperative for your own life and the lives of your family that you relinquish your claim to kingship and restore the throne to an established senior of Kharani's community." Idin-Dagan suggested, condescendingly.

'Well fuck you too, old man.'

To Nawirnushu it was not a matter of conjecture which of the two men hated the other more: It was he. There's little in the world more unrelentingly depressing than an old man whose anger only hardens with age. Nawirnushu imagined Idin-Dagan dreamed of a world where the usurper he had backed still sat in his station. Idin-Dagan must have longed for a time when the old lineage of Kiyengi still helmed the throne, yet in a kingdom ruled by the arms of the Amuru and now comprised of as many Houri and Hatti people as Akkadu people, such an aspiration was best snuffed out.

In spite of his malicious will, Idin-Dagan represented one of the oldest, richest, and most conservative families in Kharani. His daughter served as the entu priestess of Zumun's great temple. Nawirnushu had decided to let him keep his head and position after he slew the pretender, and for that courtesy Idin-Dagan had never forgiven him. The king kept him on the council to satisfy the sense of security among Kharani's old aristocracy, and nothing more.

Asqudum cut in to stave off any spark of open conflict. "-Beliya, as for the matter of the investigation of this heinous crime, allow me to send one my agents to look into the matter, discretely."

"So be it. You have done well Asqudum. Your expertise is a credit to our house." Nawirnushu praised, still staring down the spite in Idin-Dagan's eyes.

Now satisfied that each of his trusted advisors had a corrective task to carry out, Nawirnushu now turned to his own personal concerns to preoccupy him.

"You are all dismissed." The shakkunakku announced.

Each of the five of them cupped his hands at his stomach and bowed before slinking back to their shadowy posts. When they had left, Nawirnushu took notice that for a rare and brief moment, the vast throne room was deathly still.