We had barely stepped foot into the Ziggurat or all the other priestesses came running, making sure we were all right. It was a relief to see that everyone was unharmed, although worry reared its head again once I realised that Dingira was still out there, somewhere, looking for Idal. I needed to find her, needed to go out and get her back before anything happened to her.

I could not bear losing her as well. Pulling myself free from the doting hands, I tried to make my way back to the city.

"Enheduanna, you cannot go outside again." Shula cried.

The priestess clasped her hands around mine with an iron grip. "Outside are those dangerous men. Here you are protected."

"But Dingira is still out there. I cannot leave her."

Kituzda blocked my path. "We will start searching at dawn. Right now, you must go to the safety of the Giparu."

Her order wasn't as harsh as usual, her eyes carrying a slither of compassion. But I didn't want to remain useless any longer. I could not save Idal, but maybe there was still hope for Dingira. "I am going to look for her. We have lost one of our own tonight. I'm not losing another."

"This is madness, Enheduanna." Kituzda grabbed me by the shoulders, holding me back with all her weight. "Someone tried to kill you tonight. The arrow missed your head by a hair."

I pushed forward, "that won't stop me."

"Then you leave me no choice. Shula, carry her back to the Giparu."

Under loud protest, while kicking and struggling, I was carried back to my room. I did not have the strength to free myself, nor the agility to lower myself down the window, the way Dingira did the night we first met. But that didn't stop me from trying.

"You are going to break your neck like that."

That warm, sweet voice made my heart stop. I looked up to see amber eyes smiling back at me, a slender hand stretched out to take mine. Within the dim light, it almost seemed as if she was a figment of my imagination, but the warmth of her hand was real. The softness of her bare shoulder was real, the scent of lilies in her hair was real.

She was really here.

There were no words to describe my elation. I kept running my fingers through her hair, over her cheeks, as if to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. My thumb graced her lips and without realising it I leaned it.

In our kiss was the sweetness of passion. A million loving thoughts condensed into this one moment. Cupping her face, I poured all my emotions into the kiss, letting them move with a passion that transcended all the greatest hymns combined.

"Your husband is watching," Dingira whispered when we broke apart for air.

"I do not care. All I care about right now is you. You being safe and being here with me."

Stretching up on her tiptoes, her lips found mine once more. I sighed against the warmth of her mouth, letting all the tension of that night melt out of me. She was here. She was unharmed. Holding her firmly against me, I felt her arms running down my back. There was no distance between us now, and it felt like she made me whole.

"Stay with me," I whispered against her cheek. "I don't want to be alone tonight."

"I wouldn't leave you even if Nanna himself came down to pry me away," she whispered back before she kissed me again, hungrily.

That night was the first time in weeks I slept soundly. At dawn, I found myself entangled with Dingira nuzzled in the crook of my neck. She looked so peaceful as she slept that I couldn't wake her up. But letting Kituzda or Shula find us like this, within the most sacred part of the temple, was a horror I didn't want her to face either. As I took one last look at her slumbering state, Dingira opened her eyes and smiled at me. "Good morning, Anna."

"Good morning, Enheduanna. Are you awake?" I heard Shula shout from the other end of the room, forcing me to jump out of bed as quickly as I could.

"Yes. Yes, I am awake. Ready for another day. Shall we eat?" I sat down with the platter, realizing too late that Shula walked passed me towards to the disheveled bed.

"Goodness, look at the state of you bedding. You must have been tossing and turning all night. I know I have after what happened last night. It was just dreadful. Who would shoot an arrow at a high priestess while she is performing a sacred ritual?"

Walking up to her as casually as I could, I tried to see where Dingira was hiding, but as Shula pulled all the sheets and blankets off the bed, the woman was nowhere to be found.

Had I been dreaming the entire time?

No, that could not be right. It all felt too real. Still, I had to ask her, just to be sure.

If only I got the chance.

Shula accompanied me at breakfast, helped me bathe and get ready to receive the prayers of the people. In the Pillard Hall the priestesses met with more hesitance than usual. Instead of a row of seven, there were now only five priestesses before me. Shula and Kituzda flanked me on each side. One holding the sword of Nanna, the other his statue. Besides the eagle-headed staff of Ur, Kituzda also pressed a small dagger in my hands. "Just to be safe."

A collective sigh breathed throughout the Hall as we all stiffened our nerves and presented a smile towards the people. No one could know what happened last night. The Ziggurat was holy ground; it was sacred, and the priestesses were the guardians. If the people of Ur knew someone made an attempt on my life here, during the ceremony of the New Moon no less, they would lose all faith in us.

An old man came begging for some provisions for his family. He was just skin and bones himself, a newly freed slave, he told me with pride. That must have been some cruel master if he left his slaves in such a state. Shula handed the man a loaf of bread and a small bundle of dates.

"Give the man some more," I added.

Her warm smile cooled within an instance to a worried coldness upon Shula's face. Her chestnut eyes flicked between me and Kituzda. Eventually, the priestess dismissed the old man with a sigh. "We cannot give more than this, Enheduanna."

"Why not?"

"Because we will not have enough for everyone otherwise."

My feet fell from my dais. "How can that be? The harvest was bountiful this year and combined with the offerings from the lords of Ur—" The words died within my throat. Of course, the lords had not brought any offering at the last ceremony. And as I recalled all the rations Shula and I had inventoried, there was hardly enough to last us until next spring.

"Perhaps it is best if we give the people grain directly. Or maybe we should grind all our grain to flour so that it can be preserved longer." I suggested as I calculated in my mind how long we had until the next new moon.

Perhaps the lords would bring offering then or maybe I was just wishful thinking, and they wanted our provisions to run out.

If we didn't have our provisions, the temple couldn't provide food for the people. And if the people went hungry, they would lose faith in us. The lack of support from the general population meant that the lords could justify an uprising. Maybe even a war. It hurt just thinking about it.

Kituzda gritted her teeth, "they are doing this on purpose."

"The question is who are they?"

"The lords, of course."

I glanced to the people outside, praying most of them would come for anything but food. There seemed to be a surprising amount of emaciated people among them, which was both alarming and odd. Harvesting season had just finished.

"All the lords? I think it is only a small amount that is pressuring the rest into staying on the Sumerian side." I whispered.

"But how do we know who makes up that small amount?"

"We ask their slaves," I said, pointing towards the awaiting people. "I want you to write down each and every master they name. We shall get to the bottom of this if it is the last thing I do."

And so we continued. Shula granted the people what little provision we had as I asked them about their circumstances and pasts as discreetly as I could, while Kituzda wrote down the names of their former masters.

At the end of the day, we had a list with a total of twelve names, but only three were named the most frequently; lord Meannesi, lord Adalu and Lugal-ane.

The only question was, what could we do with this information?