Every conversation in the hall died at once. Even the music stopped. Kudur's heartbeat stood out above everything else.
I was sure most of the people here recognized me. Almost everyone looked stunned, though a few showed no reaction at all. Mekar, Belari, and Zarik were among them. Darek didn't seem surprised either. His eyes met mine for a moment before he looked away.
Kudur stared at me in silence, his gaze moving over my face again and again. A few steps behind, Tarin had gone completely still.
"My nephew is dead"
"You certainly tried to make sure of that."
A murmur swept through the hall.
"I don't know what kind of trick this is, but—"
"Stay where you are" Hadan ordered.
Kudur narrowed his eyes, but stopped. This time, the murmurs grew louder.
"Everyone in this hall remembers the prince who supposedly died five years ago" Hadan said.
"That's him…"
"How?"
"He didn't die?"
"The Unchosen Prince…"
Kudur raised one hand, and little by little, the hall quieted.
"This is an insult to the dead" he said. "I don't know who you are, but wearing my nephew's face is a disgrace."
I laughed.
"The prince is alive," Hadan declared. "Everyone standing with me can attest to that. And we have evidence that parts of the case against Lugalbanda were fabricated. This coronation must be suspended."
Talia looked toward him. "You do not hold a seat on this Council."
"I do." Mekar spoke from his seat. "If that truly is Ereshgal, then whatever he has to say deserves to be heard. I ask that the coronation be suspended until this matter is investigated."
Another voice cut across the hall.
"I cannot believe we are doing this now..."
Belari spoke next. "I support Mekar's request."
Talia let out a quiet sigh. "Then the Council will decide. Those in favor of suspending the coronation while the matter is investigated?"
Mekar raised his hand first, with Belari following a moment later. Ninara and Narek, the high priests of Inanna and Enki, followed almost immediately. Both had remained loyal to my father.
That made four.
My eyes shifted to Belzur of House Kisal and Tashira of House Mazar. According to Ishtal, those were the two he had managed to bring over to our side.
Neither moved at first.
Belzur glanced toward Tashira. She kept her eyes on the center of the hall, visibly weighing the decision. Then, after a few tense seconds, both raised their hands.
Six.
Kudur said nothing.
He simply looked from one member of the council to the next. The surprise never quite reached his face, but I heard it again in the sudden change of his heartbeat.
Uren, high priest of Anu, rose from his seat.
"If a recognized heir lays claim to the throne before the oath is sworn, the council is required to hear him."
Sagar turned sharply toward him.
"Recognized by whom? His father is imprisoned. Is he even still the hei—"
"How dare you question the royal bloodline?!" Ninara cut in.
"If it is true that Lugalbanda was framed, then this coronation cannot continue."
Her gaze shifted toward Kudur. He understood that as well as I did. Zarik was just beginning to raise his hand when Kudur spoke.
"Very well" he said. "Let us hear them."
The coronation was put on hold, and those without the rank or reason to remain were ordered out of the great hall. The Council stayed, along with every chosen present and the other high-ranking guests.
Hadan stepped forward and pulled out an orb.
"This is a Truth Orb. Some of you may already be familiar with it. Once a chosen channels spiritual energy into it, the orb reacts to the words of the person holding it. Speak the truth, and nothing changes. Lie, and it turns black."
He held it up for everyone to see.
"So there can be no question about what it does, we'll test it first. Who would like to volunteer?"
"Sagar. Why don't you?"
Sagar glanced at Kudur. Only after receiving a small nod did he rise and take the orb. Spiritual energy flowed into it, and its surface lit with a warm golden glow.
"Where are you?" Hadan asked.
"In the palace." The gold remained unchanged.
"Now lie. Are you standing?"
"No."
A moment later, the gold disappeared. The orb turned black. The Council members who could see it nodded.
Hadan continued with several more questions, alternating between truths and deliberate lies. The orb responded exactly as he had described. Then he passed it around the room, allowing others to test it for themselves. I recognized Ilkar among them.
"This is absurd." Kudur shook his head. "A tasteless joke."
His gaze settled on me.
"Even if you truly are my nephew, what exactly do you expect to happen? Kish is moving against us. Uruk is on the verge of war." His voice carried easily through the hall. "Whoever sits on the throne cannot afford to be weak. Our king must be a powerful chosen, someone our enemies will think twice before challenging."
There it was.
I held out my hand. "The orb."
A brief hesitation followed before it was passed back through the room and finally placed in my hand. The moment my fingers closed around its surface, I let my spiritual energy flow. Crimson spread through the orb. A sharp intake of breath came from somewhere among the council.
Every chosen in the room felt it.
Ninara had half-risen from her seat. Narek simply stared at the orb, while Sagar's expression hardened into something I couldn't quite read. Even those who had remained calm since I entered were looking at me differently now.
I raised the orb where everyone could see it.
"My name is Ereshgal, son of Lugalbanda, and I was named heir to the throne of Uruk."
The crimson light remained unchanged. Several heads turned toward Kudur.
I continued.
"And I'll make you an offer."
His eyes narrowed.
"Take this orb. Infuse it with your own energy and tell everyone here that you had nothing to do with fabricating evidence against my father." I paused, making sure every member of the council was listening. "If you say it and the orb proves you're telling the truth, I'll leave Uruk."
The room went completely still.
"You'll never see me again."
The orb remained crimson in my hand.
One of the Council members shifted in his seat. Another looked toward Kudur, then toward the orb. The longer he remained silent, the more attention moved away from me and settled on him.
He had wanted them to question who I was. Now they were beginning to question him.
"No one becomes chosen outside the Ceremony of Selection" Kudur said at last. "Whatever that is, whatever you've done to make it respond to you, it proves nothing. There is no god who would grant a blessing this way."
Whispers started again. I looked down at the crimson orb in my hand, then back at him.
"I'm more than willing to answer that."
Kudur said nothing.
"You can ask how I survived. You can ask where this power came from. You can even ask which god gave me this spiritual energy." I extended the orb toward him. "I'll answer every question you have."
His eyes dropped to it.
"But first, take the orb."
The hall quieted again.
"And say what I asked you to say."
Kudur turned toward the Council.
"For five years, I have kept this city standing while forbidden rituals spread through our streets and Kish moved soldiers closer to our roads. And now, on the morning of the coronation, this happens." His gaze moved from one seat to the next. "Can Uruk really afford this?"
No one answered.
A few of them looked uncertain, but the longer he avoided the question I had put to him, the more he made my point for me.
Kudur noticed it too.
I handed the orb back to Hadan. He had already made it clear he wasn't going to take it.
"And yes, apparently he is chosen" he continued. "But even if he received his blessing six years ago, what does that make him? A Consecrated at best?"
I laughed.
"An Ascendant, actually."
Not technically. I had never deepened a pact in my life. But it was the closest rank they had for what I could do, and they didn't need to know the difference.
That earned another stir from the room.
"And the moment I become king, my father will be released. Isn't that right?" I looked toward the council. "He can help me rule."
The members who had remained loyal to my father looked almost pleased. So did the ones we had managed to bring to our side.
Kudur's supporters looked considerably less comfortable.
"And there's more," I said. "We have two witnesses. Both were used by Kudur himself to help plant the evidence against my father."
Kudur exhaled slowly and raised one arm. Across the hall, bodies tensed and hands moved closer to weapons.
I looked around. A few were already gathering spiritual energy. Was he really about to start a fight here?
"Why don't we settle this another way?" Tashira said.
Every head turned toward her. Even Kudur looked over, though he kept his arm raised.
Tashira looked between us.
"You both have a claim to the throne" she said. "There is an old rite for this, isn't there?"
I stared at her. What is she doing?
This wasn't part of the plan. Unless my brother had told her to do it… or someone else had. I looked back at Kudur. He was watching me now.
Waiting.
"The Ordeal of Kings" someone murmured.
I knew that name. I just hadn't expected to hear it today.
Tashira nodded.
"Let the gods decide which of you deserves the throne."
I looked at Kudur. His arm was still raised, but the men behind him were no longer watching us. They were watching him.
Kudur slowly lowered his hand. His eyes settled on me.
"Well?"
The orb was still in Hadan's hand. I could still force the issue. I could make Kudur take it, bring the witnesses forward, and tear apart everything he had built in front of the Council. But if he had already reached the point of threatening violence, then he knew he had lost the argument. Pushing him further wasn't going to make him confess. It was going to make him act.
I had promised that Uruk wouldn't bleed over a dispute inside my family.
The Ordeal gave Kudur a way out of answering the question. But it also gave us a way to settle this without turning the hall into a battlefield.
Besides, once I beat him, some of those who still supported him would switch sides.
I stepped forward.
"Then I invoke the Ordeal of Kings."