Heart of a Lion Dark Sun Dawn, #1 by Stephen Zimmer

Author:Stephen Zimmer
Format: epub

Chapter 5

The night, morning and the following day crawled by in laborious fashion. Aside from conversation, little else could be done in the small dwelling space to pass the time. At least the interior provided relief from the relentless sun baking the streets outside.

Early in the day, Asherah prepared Rayden and the boy a meal including figs, bread, mutton, and a little wine, announcing that she would go into the city afterward to inquire about the use of a boat. Sharing the food and drink with them, she spoke at length about a number of things regarding Katarjen.

Over the past year, the sacrifices had increased in response to spreading conflict with Teveren. The rising power across the sea had seized many holdings of Kartajen and swayed a few prominent allies to switch allegiances.

The sharp downturn in fortunes had only increased the demands of the priests for Kartajenian children to hurl into the fires of Malech. To Asherah’s knowledge, the bull-god had still not intervened to reverse Kartajen’s losses.

The ruling Council of Elders had appointed new commanding generals in the hopes of stemming and reversing the course. Sent abroad to confront the Taverenians closer to their lands, the generals carried the hopes of all Kartajen with them.

Rayden valued the information. Having been in the south for quite some time, she did not know of the escalation of fighting between the rival powers.

Watching the door shut when Asherah departed to conduct her inquiry, she harbored little worry. In allowing Rayden and the boy refuge within her home, Asherah showed the kind of character that would not waver so easily.

Her eyes brimmed with contempt whenever she spoke about the sacrifices or the priests of the bull-god. She would not easily betray the two fugitives she now harbored.

Rayden found it strange that Asherah never mentioned having a child, though she referenced her dead husband many times. She did not press Asherah on the matter, sensing a dark, haunting tale lurking just under the surface. She caught a distinct sadness in the woman’s eyes more than once, during moments when she thought nobody was looking and her gaze lingered upon the boy.

Rayden passed the time talking with the boy and trying to get some rest. She learned that his name was Hamilcar. He had a pair of older brothers and a younger sister. His father labored daily as a porter, loading or emptying the cargo from the ships in the harbor from dawn until dusk.

She found it hard to believe any father enduring such backbreaking work at a low rate of pay would cooperate with the desires of soft, wealthy priests. Yet Hamilcar’s parents had readily given their own son over to the high priests, when the latter made their choices of sacrifices deemed suitable to Malech.

Her heart ached listening to Hamilcar’s story, watching the boy break into tears more than once. He had evaded the fires of Malech, but a new and uncertain world awaited him.

Walking away from everything he had known would not be easy.

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