Echoes of Avalon (Tales of Avalon Book 1) by Adam Copeland

Author:Adam Copeland [Copeland, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Adam Copeland
Published: 2009-11-12T05:00:00+00:00

By early afternoon, Lokutis stood in his tent with his arms outstretched as Akahamet dressed him. Being a god was delicate business, and he wouldn’t let just anybody dress him.

His robe was of luxurious lavender silk, tightly belted at the waist with a gold chain. A gold breastplate adorned his chest with at least one of every kind of precious gem. A gold ring encircled each of his fingers. Rings also dangled from his long pointy ears, which seemed to move independently of his head, scanning the room for the faintest of sounds. His dark hair glistened with expensive oils and perfumes, as did his beard, which hung in coiled ringlets from his angular chin. A pointy bronze helmet held the boar’s tusks above his brow, each of which was sleeved in bronze.

“Marduk approaches?” Lokutis asked.

“Yes, my lord.” Akahamet was almost as richly dressed. His garb was his customary violet robe and black sash, but now he wore a bronze skull-piece that fit the contours of his shaven head. His wrists were covered in bronze braces. A large gold ring hung from his ears and nose, and an ivory-handled short-sword hung from his hip.

“He is accompanied by the agreed-upon number of men?”

“Men, yes,” Akahamet said. “But he pulls in train twenty women, most likely as tribute gifts or as incentives for the transaction.”

Lokutis scowled, deep in thought. Akahamet now applied kohl to his master’s eyes. He had already painted his own eyes and brows with gold dust.

“Speaking of the transaction, does it appear that they bring the gold?”

“It’s hard to tell. Their beasts of burden pull heavily laden wagons that leave deep ruts in the earth, but the cargo is shielded by cloth.”

Again Lokutis scowled. “And what do the scouts at the valley mouth report?”

“All is well. There are no others in sight. If Marduk brought an army, it is well out of range.”

“But none of this is what troubles you, is it Akahamet?”

His advisor paused in applying the kohl, but then continued with his strokes. “It’s nothing. Mere foolishness on my part, really.”

“Out with it,” Lokutis insisted. “You are my closest advisor for a reason. I trust your intuition.”

Akahamet drew in a breath. “It’s the sphinx, my lord, and all its talk of doom.”

“But it was you who said that was just nonsense.”

“If that were all of it I’d agree. But that, the strange nature of Marduk’s request, the location we’ve chosen for the transaction, the storm brewing in the east, and now I hear from the scouts that they have come across a crazy man and his family outside the valley who have fashioned a giant boat in the desert. All ill portents.”

“A giant boat?” Lokutis said. “Surely you’re jesting.”

“No my lord. The man is a simple farmer, Noam by name, who claims a flood is coming and has convinced his children and their families to take refuge in the boat.”

“There isn’t a large body of water for hundreds of leagues from here. Sounds like a crazy, harmless old man whose family is humoring him.

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