Ashan confirmed her fears that very evening.

'The king intends to sacrifice Sarri to Marduk when she comes of age,' he said. 'He has it set in his mind that the god will not be good to him again unless he offers proper thanks.'

Eliana heard his words as though her head was under water. The world seemed to slow down around her, and she felt like she was trying to breathe through damp silk.

Her knees buckled beneath her – Ashan stepped in and caught her around the waist. For once, his touch barely registered in her mind. There was nothing else but Sarri.

'How – how can we stop him?' she whispered, as he guided her to a bench.

'I'm not sure we can,' he said seriously. 'There's no reasoning with him any more – he is worse than he's ever been...'

His voice caught in his throat, as if he was going to say more, but thought better of it.

Eliana looked up at him, saw the hesitation before he could wipe it from his face. 'What?' she pressed, her voice urgent. 'What else is there? You're keeping something from me.'

'He... he is talking about marriages. Mine. And Nisala's.'

If it was possible, her heart sank even lower. She had always known that she was foolish to cherish any hope of being with Ashan – he could not remain unmarried forever. That was painful in itself, but worse was the thought of losing her daughter to some unknown man – Nisala was only nine years old.

'To whom?' she asked weakly.

'To... to – each other,' he choked out.

Her jaw dropped – she stared at him in undisguised revulsion. 'No!' she whispered. 'But you're – you're...' she remembered the servants in the room at the last moment, finishing pathetically with '... so much older than she is.'

You're her father! she wanted to scream, How can you even speak of it?

He nodded. He knew exactly what she wished to say.

'We must stop him,' she said. 'First Sarri, now this... how many more wild ideas will he have?'

'I know,' he muttered, 'things are becoming dangerous. And not just for us – he will tear this fragile empire apart with the new policies he talks about.'

Eliana was not interested in policy right now, only in how she could protect her little family. Ashan was right... it would be impossible to change Samsu's mind. The only way she could think of to stop him was...

'Death,' she breathed.

'Pardon?'

'Don't you see? He has to die – we will never be safe while he lives. Our children will never be safe,' she was barely audible, so afraid was she of being overheard, though no servant stood anywhere near them.

Ashan looked at her with blank horror, forgetting all courtesies, 'kill the king? Eliana, if we failed...'

'We must not fail,' she stared him in the eyes. 'You said to me many, many years ago, that one day I would be free of my chain... when the time was right. Now is the time. If we do not act soon, it will be too late. I could do nothing to save my sister – I can save her child.'

Before Ashan could form a response, Tabi burst into the room and ran to them. 'Your Highness!' she called, her voice frantic, 'is Eshu with you?'

Eliana leapt to her feet, 'No! Have you lost him?'

'We haven't seen him for hours – I asked Adra, she said the Brute took him for exercise after the audience, and he hasn't been seen since.'

Ashan's military side immediately took over, and he began issuing orders. 'Tabi – go with Mari down to the exercise yard and start asking questions. Ask every person you find if they have seen Eshu. Eliana, you come with me – we're going in search of the Brute.'

Tabi ran off to fetch Mari, and Ashan turned and marched from the room; Eliana had to run to keep up. Her heart pounded, she could barely think straight. 'Where will he be?' she panted, chasing him down stairs and along passageways.

'We'll start at my mother's apartments,' he growled. 'If anyone put him up to this, it will have been her. Try not to panic; this is likely just a ploy to put the wind up you. To keep you afraid.'

They charged into Susa's rooms unannounced. Sure enough, the Brute sat laughing with Ani on a bench; water dripped from his hair, and his tunic was damp.

Ashan strode up to him. The Brute stood as he approached, looking down on him. The atmosphere was suddenly thick and tense.

'What have you done with the prince?' demanded Ashan.

'I took him for exercise, as the king commanded,' replied the Brute, smoothly.

'And where is he now?'

'Still swimming, I presume,' the man folded his arms smugly.

'Swimming!' cried Eliana, from the doorway. 'Eshu can't swim!'

The Brute shrugged, 'If he couldn't before, he should be able to by now. The little whelp cheeked me – I left him down there to learn by himself.'

'Where were you swimming?' roared Ashan, his patience snapped.

'The canal,' smiled the Brute.

Eliana was immediately off again at a run, heading for the palace wharf.

'I wouldn't bother hurrying yourself,' Ani called after her, spitefully. 'He's probably drowned by now!'

Ashan was close behind her as they sprinted through the hallways and passages that led down to the canal. The air became noticeably cooler as they drew near, and the smell of the water grew stronger.

They burst onto the wharf, looking around wildly for any sign of their son in the water.

'Eshu!' screamed Eliana. 'Eshu! Answer me – Eshu!'

The merchants on the wharf stopped to look at her in astonishment. Ashan rushed to the edge of the canal and peered down.

'There!' he shouted, springing to his feet and running alongside the water. Eliana gave chase.

She threw herself to her belly beside Ashan and leaned over the edge. There, in the water, half-frozen and terrified, Eshu clung tightly to a mooring ring set into the side.

'Eshu!' she cried, overwhelmed with relief to see him alive. 'Are you hurt?'

'N-no mother,' he shivered, teeth chattering. 'G-get me out, p-p-please.'

'Hold on!' she called.

Ashan had run back to the wharf and snatched a length of rope from a merchant without so much as a word of explanation. He twisted it into a noose as he rushed back to where Eliana lay on the bank.

'Here, son,' he said, trying to keep his voice calm for the boy's sake as he lowered the rope. 'Slip this over your head and under your arms – I'll have you up in a moment.'

Eliana watched on as their son did as he was told and Ashan began to haul on the rope, hand after strong hand, gently bringing their boy back up. The seconds seemed like hours.

Finally, Ashan brought him over the edge, and Eliana gathered him into her arms and hugged him as if she could never let him go again. Water from the canal seeped into the silk of her gown – she hardly noticed. Cold, pale and almost sick with the amount of water he had swallowed, her little prince was safe beside her again.

Scooping Eshu into his arms, Ashan strode off back towards the palace, Eliana at his heels. He turned to her, 'run to the exercise yard and let Tabi and Mari know that we've got him,' he said.

She hesitated, not wanting to leave Eshu's side.

Ashan saw her indecision in a heartbeat. 'He'll be fine with me – safer than with anyone else. I won't let any harm come to him.'

With one last, yearning glance at Eshu, she did as she was told.

When she found Mari and Tabi, they sagged against each other with relief to hear that he was safe, and only a little worse for wear for his misadventure. The three of them made their way back up to the apartments. As they neared the doorway, Eliana stopped. Ashan stood there, Eshu still in his arms, talking to Samsu.

Waving Mari and Tabi away to the nursery, she approached cautiously.

Samsu looked around sharply at the sound of her footsteps. 'There you are,' he growled. 'Is it true, what Ashan tells me? Did my man do this?'

Eyes on the ground, she responded quietly, 'Yes, sir.'

'Ashan also tells me that this is not the first time he has threatened the lives of my children – that he tried to kill them in your belly just hours before you birthed them?'

'That's true, sir.'

'Right.' Samsu's eyes glittered dangerously. 'Get inside your rooms, now. Ashan, put my son down, and fetch that traitorous cur here. We'll settle this.'

She followed them inside, and fussed over Eshu while they awaited the Brute's arrival. Anything to stop herself from thinking – she must keep busy. Wrapping the boy in a blanket and drying his hair, she stripped off his wet clothes and sent Tabi to fetch him a hot drink from the kitchens.

By the time the Brute arrived, some colour was beginning to return to the prince's cheeks – he sat up straight beside his father, staring defiantly at the man who had left him to drown.

'You have served me well over many years,' said Samsu, coldly. There was no preamble, everyone knew why he was here. 'By rights, the crimes you have committed demand execution.'

The Brute folded his arms again. 'The boy cheeked me, sir. I left him there to teach him discipline.'

'DO NOT lie to me,' bellowed Samsu. 'Of all the insults you have offered, do not crown them with lies and forfeit my mercy.'

The man stared at him in silence.

Ashan appeared in the doorway, four soldiers at his back.

'Because of your years of loyal service, I could commute your sentence to exile in exchange for your word that you would never raise a weapon against me. My father advocated equal justice for all, but I would feel some regret over your death, after all we have been through. Your crimes against the queen put me in a very difficult position – I am forced to make a choice.'

The Brute looked straight at Eliana with a smirk on his face. 'Perhaps you should offer the choice to the queen,' he said, mockery in his eyes. He thought her soft, she realised. Knew that she abhorred suffering and pain, particularly any of her own making. She stared at him and remembered every moment of agony he had ever caused her – the way he had forced his cock down her throat when she was young and innocent, the way his eyes had flashed like his dagger in the moonlight when he tried to kill her that night, the suffering he had inflicted on her at every opportunity... what he had done to Eshu.

'Kill him,' she said.

The laughter in his eyes died. His jaw tightened, his fists clenched. He took a menacing step towards her.

Samsu gave the signal, and Ashan's four soldiers leapt forward to bind the Brute and take him away. He swung round violently, catching one of them around the head with his outstretched fist, sending the man sprawling. Ducking another blow, Ashan drew his blade and, in less than the time it took to snuff out a candle, had it at the Brute's throat.

'Go on,' the man snarled. 'Kill me – deny that whore the pleasure, not that you have ever denied her the pleasure before. You smarmy little princeling – you're just like the boy. Perhaps he's yours.'

Her heart galloped in her chest, but Eliana kept her expression carefully blank, kept the alarm from her eyes.

Ashan pressed the blade harder against the Brute's neck as the three remaining guards snared him with ropes and bound his arms.

'Even a lion is no match for four dogs,' snarled Samsu. 'Take him away.'

Eliana felt awash with triumph as one of her greatest enemies was dragged away, bound and helpless. She had expected to feel some twinge of guilt as she sentenced a man to death – examining her conscience, she found nothing.