(Ereshgal POV)
We had gathered in one of the rooms near the great hall while preparations for the Ordeal continued. No one had said much since we entered.
Kisaya was the first to break the silence.
"This wasn't part of the plan."
"No" I said. "But it's a good way to end this."
She looked at me as if I had just said something particularly stupid.
"He's stronger than you."
"I know."
That did little to improve her expression. I crossed my arms and looked toward Hadan.
"They'll restrict him to my level, won't they?"
I had no idea how many times Kudur had deepened his pact. Three, at the very least. Probably four. At full strength, I wouldn't stand a chance.
Hadan nodded.
"Yes. That is one of the reasons the Ordeal exists. Neither side is allowed to rely on a difference in the depth of their pact."
"How do they restrict him?" Kisaya asked.
"With the artifacts used for the Ordeal. They'll reduce the purity of his spiritual energy to that of an Ascendant." Hadan paused. "His runes will be restricted as well. He'll only be able to use his first three."
"How long has it been since anyone actually did this?" I asked.
Hadan thought for a moment.
"Nearly four hundred years. Your ancestor, King Enmerkar, was the last person to take part in one."
"Four hundred years?"
"There hasn't been much need for one since."
Kisaya had barely taken her eyes off me since we entered the room and I could already guess what was going through her head.
Then she spoke.
"I want to fight for him."
For a moment, I thought I had misunderstood.
"What?"
Hadan shook his head.
"You know you can't. The Ordeal is judged by the gods themselves. Only those with a legitimate claim to the throne may take part."
"Yes, but—"
"If the gods judge him worthy of the throne, he'll win."
I almost laughed.
Maybe that was true. But whether the gods wanted Kudur on the throne or not didn't matter. I was going to beat him. And when I did, even more of his supporters would turn on him. Losing an Ordeal meant more than losing a fight.
Kisaya looked away, clearly unconvinced.
"If we at least knew what his runes did…" she muttered.
The door opened.
"Did someone call for me?" Ishtal walked in with a smile.
I stared at him. When the hell had he gotten to Uruk?
"Did you have something to do with this?"
His smile widened.
"It was the only way to keep the two of you from fighting. You know as well as I do that our uncle was ready to start a fight right there."
"You did what?!"
Kisaya moved before anyone could answer, crossing the room with her fist already raised. Ashren caught her by the arm just before she reached Ishtal and pulled her back.
"Let go of me."
"No."
Ishtal raised both hands in surrender, though the smile never left his face. I ignored them and kept my eyes on him.
"You could've told me."
"I could have. But if Kudur suspected you were prepared for the Ordeal, he might not have agreed so easily."
Twice now, he had used me to get what he wanted. First with Darim, and now this. At some point, I was going to make him pay for it.
Ishtal's smile didn't fade.
"But don't worry. If you're the rightful king of Uruk, you'll win." He paused. "Besides, I'm not letting you go into this empty-handed."
…
Two nights earlier...
Nadira climbed without making a sound.
The main stairway rose in three long sections along the face of the ziggurat. Priests and servants still moved between the terraces, carrying oil, offerings, and baskets of clay tablets. Guards watched from the landings, their spears resting against their shoulders while the wind tugged at their robes.
Nadira counted them as she climbed. The stairway was too exposed to use on the way back if she had Lugalbanda with her.
None of them saw her pass.
The sanctuary rose before her, painted white beneath the moonlight. Stars, horned crowns, and the great central eye of Anu covered its outer walls.
Nadira noticed the entrance before any of it.
Unlike the temples built at ground level, there was no public courtyard large enough for crowds. The people worshipped from below.
Nadira stopped beside one of the walls and looked back over the city.
From there, she could see almost everything. The palace dominated one side of Uruk. Preparations for the coronation had spread through the streets surrounding it, marked by hanging cloth, torches, and patrols moving along routes that had been cleared for the procession.
Somewhere inside that palace, Ninsun was being watched. Beneath Nadira's feet, Lugalbanda was being held.
She repeated Ishtal's instructions in her mind: confirm their locations, learn the guard rotations, find out what she could about Kudur, and prepare an escape route.
Nadira liked orders she could follow without having to guess what anyone meant. Ishtal's were usually like that.
She still did not understand why he was willing to work with him.
The thing wore his brother's face and used his voice. She had watched it lift a grown man by the skull with one hand, without using a trace of spiritual energy.
And now Ishtal wanted to put that monster through an Ordeal of Kings. What was he trying to accomplish? The gods would reject a thing like that. They had to.
Nadira drew a slow breath. Ishtal never did anything without a reason. If this was what he wanted, then there was something she wasn't seeing yet.
She didn't have to understand it. She only had to follow his orders.
Inside, rows of candles burned in shallow bowls throughout the chamber, their flames steady in the still air. Priests, servants, and guards moved between them, but she ignored them and kept walking.
Without slowing, she passed the area used for the Selection and continued behind the sanctuary.
The rooms there were smaller and almost entirely undecorated. She checked each doorway for people before looking inside. Most held nothing dangerous: ceremonial clothing, records, jars of oil, incense, or grain reserved for offerings.
What bothered her was how little security there seemed to be. Not once had a spiritual zone appeared. Were they really so confident no one would try to infiltrate the temple?
At last, she found the staircase leading down. Two soldiers stood guard on either side of the entrance. There was enough space between them for her to slip through without touching either one, so Nadira kept moving.
"How long has it been since they fed him?" one of them asked.
The other shrugged. "Three days. Maybe four."
"You think he's still alive?"
"Not our concern. We're told to guard the stairs, so we guard the stairs."
One of the guards shifted without warning, stepping directly into her path. She stopped just in time as his arm moved through the space where she had been about to pass.
She twisted sideways and slipped between them, careful not to let so much as a sleeve brush against either man. One touch would be enough to reveal her.
This would be much easier if she could just kill them.
The staircase spiraled tightly around a thick stone column, descending into darkness. Torches burned at intervals along the outer wall, each one illuminating only a small stretch of steps before the shadows swallowed everything again.
She went slowly, placing each foot with care as she followed the staircase deeper beneath the temple. There were no doors or side passages along the way, only the spiral continuing downward.
One way in. One way out.
Good for keeping a prisoner inside. Much worse for getting one out.
The farther she descended, the colder the air became.
At the bottom, the staircase opened into a long stone corridor. Iron-barred doors lined both sides, each one leading into a narrow cell. A few torches burned along the walls, but there were long stretches between them where the corridor disappeared almost completely into darkness.
Nadira stopped long enough to look from one end of the corridor to the other.
No second exit that she could see.
Then she heard the prisoners. Low groans. Someone crying somewhere ahead. A man muttering words she couldn't understand.
Then the smell reached her.
Nadira pulled her scarf higher over her nose and kept walking. She caught glimpses of people lying against the walls or sitting behind the bars, too exhausted to do much more than stare into the corridor.
More than once, she found herself looking into a cell longer than she should have. She could do nothing for them without risking the entire plan.
So she kept moving.
Only when she reached the final cell did she stop.
A man sat against the far wall.
For a moment, Nadira thought Ishtal's information had been wrong. The man barely resembled the king she remembered. He was painfully thin. Filthy hair hung around a face hollowed by hunger. Scars covered his body, some old, others barely closed. A dark cord had been wound tightly around his wrists, faint traces of spiritual energy running through it.
Then he raised his head. The movement was slow.
Lugalbanda.
She remained invisible beyond the bars for another moment, listening, then lowered herself into a crouch and released the rune, her body slowly coming back into view.
Lugalbanda's eyes settled on her. He simply watched her in silence.
Nadira lowered her head slightly.
"Your Majesty."
Lugalbanda did not answer at first. His lips parted, but no sound came out. He swallowed with difficulty and tried again.
"Don't…" His voice was little more than a rasp. He paused, breathing through the effort. "Don't call me that."
She looked up.
Lugalbanda let his gaze fall to the floor.
"I'm… no king." There was no bitterness in his voice.
Nadira hesitated before continuing.
"Ishtal sent me."
For the first time, something changed in his expression.
"I need your help."
"Kudur's runes" Nadira said. "We need to know what they do."
"No." The answer came immediately, though the word was barely audible.
Nadira frowned. "My lord—"
"No."
Lugalbanda swallowed again, then drew a slow breath before forcing himself to continue.
"Kudur will be king." He paused again. "I won't… give his weaknesses."
Nadira bit the inside of her lip. Even here, he was putting Uruk before himself. She had hoped Ishtal's name would be enough. Apparently, it wasn't. There was one thing she had not intended to tell him.
"Ereshgal is alive."
Lugalbanda went still.
Nadira almost wondered if he had heard her.
Then his eyes slowly lifted to hers.
"What did you say?" The weakness in his voice was gone.
"Ereshgal is alive."
He stared at her without blinking.
"I've seen him myself" she continued. "He returned to Uruk."
Lugalbanda's fingers curled against the stone.
"Kudur told me he was dead."
"Kudur was wrong."
Silence filled the cell. Nadira could hear Lugalbanda breathing now, each breath a little less steady than the last.
"There's more" she said. "Ereshgal can use spiritual energy."
His eyes widened slightly. Nadira let the silence linger before continuing.
"And he's going to face Kudur in the Ordeal of Kings."
Lugalbanda straightened as much as his body allowed.
"If you are lying to me…"
Nadira froze. Her hand moved toward her weapon before she even realized what she was doing. Every instinct told her to back away.
She stared at him.
He was starving. Bound. Barely strong enough to speak. He couldn't even use his spiritual energy.
So why did she suddenly feel like she was the one in danger?
Lugalbanda held her gaze.
"....you will regret it."
Nadira swallowed.
"I'm not lying," she said. "I saw him with my own eyes. He's alive, he can use spiritual energy, and he intends to fight Kudur."
She moved slightly closer to the bars.
"That's why I need to know what Kudur can do. If Ereshgal is going to face him, then anything you tell me could give him an advantage."
Lugalbanda stared at her.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he laughed.
It began as a low, broken sound, so unexpected that Nadira thought he might have started coughing. Instead, the laugh grew louder. Lugalbanda threw his head back against the wall, the sound echoing through the cell.
"I was right."
Nadira stared at him.
"I was right! I knew the prophecy was true!"
There was something almost wild in his eyes now, but beneath it was something that had not been there when she arrived.
Hope.
His laughter slowly faded.
Then he looked at her again.
"You wanted to know about Kudur's runes?"
Nadira nodded.
Lugalbanda shifted against the wall and drew a slow breath.
"Then listen carefully."