21
We Need a Bigger Boat
When she hit the water, instead of feeling the dark water closing in around her, she found herself back in the shallow river where she had first met the jackal-headed man who called himself Anpu. As she watched him wade through the water, she asked, “Is this Paradise?”
“Some have called it that, but no, it is simply the end of one path and the beginning of another. Before you ask, I am not Allah or God by any name, and I am just as subject to His will as you are. I have been given a task just as you have. If I do the work assigned to me, the way becomes clear. If I do not, my path is filled with obstacles.”
“Can I move on to the next path now?” She knew the answer before she asked, yet still hoped for an unexpected reply.
In a gentle, sad voice, Anpu replied, “No, that is not your path, and you are not yet ready for the path to come. You still have much to learn. Do you remember your name?”
She struggled for a moment to recall the name her father, no, her mother, had given her. That name felt distant and hidden behind a name that could not be spoken, one the herd had given her. That name was built on a name for the mare whose body and soul were now merged with her own. The effort to sort it all out left her feeling confused. She could remember being sure of who she was. Why was it so hard to remember that now? “What value is a name if no one will use it?”
“These are all parts of your name, and some come from a language that is seen and smelled, not spoken. It might be amusing to see a wizard try to deal with that. You were about to receive your adult name and be introduced to the people when old man death came for your mother, sister, and brother. If you will accept it, I have a name for you. I know it to be yours, but it is not from your people. It speaks of a dark struggle on a broken road, and comes from people who understand such things. In a land far to the north, my role is carried out by Valkyries who value courage above all else. It is from them that I give you the name Griselda, dark battle. Keep it safe and only share it with your most trusted friends. Such names hold power. When you need a name to tell the world, give them Selda. You might make that a name of power.”
“I have other work that I must attend to. Please rest in my home.”
“Zelda?” The softer Selda was hard for her to say.
“Zelda, if you like. Make the name your own. Rest now, I must leave.”
A handful of stone steps led from the river, opposite the temple, into gardens surrounding an open structure. Zelda walked slowly through the gardens and into a comfortable house that seemed unoccupied. She found a couch with a view of the river, relaxed, and gradually drifted off to sleep, watching the tiny sails on the river she had recently waded across.
She woke up in the cage back on the pier with a clear yet indifferent memory of her time with Rafique. He could no longer frighten her. He might try, but eventually, she would be here, and he would not. There was a price to pay for what he'd done with his life and the lives of others. If she could, she was determined to help ensure he paid that price.
“What will you tell the authorities when they ask about the Jinni?” Pisser asked Rafique as the two of them walked through the cool early morning air to the pier that held their slaves.
“I shall ask if you have ever seen a jinni before. Since they will not have seen one, I shall then suggest that it would be absurd to think I had a real jinni and leave it at that. If they ever find it in the river, we will be long gone from here.” Rafique smiled at his friend and partner. “We will sell what we can here, then travel downriver to Alexandria and sell the rest, including the hide. That alone should let us both get out of this business and live with …” Rafique’s voice died in his throat as he spotted the cage with Zelda inside resting on the pier right where it sat before he pushed it into the river last night.
Drawing his sword, Rafique rushed to the cage, closely followed by Pisser. He paused beside it, eyes widening with terror, his sword held high. Trembling with rage at the thought that one of his people had defied him and brought this creature out of the water. “Rafique, think, your sword was useless against it earlier. We will find the man who hauled it out of the water and kill him, but not here in Meroe.”
“Most assuredly you shall kill no one here in Meroe.”
Rafique took several deep breaths, his mouth and eyes wide open, slowly regaining his composure, and finished with his mouth closed and his eyes steady. With his composure restored, Rafique turned to face a well-dressed man, accompanied by a group of large men in uniform armor, walking down the pier toward him.
“Not your largest batch of slaves, but well up to your usual standards, and this year you have something very unusual. Tell me, Rafique, what is it?”
“Malik Faddi, it’s so thoughtful of you to visit. Honestly, that’s a hoax—a strange creature I picked up in the south. I don’t know what it is or where to find more. Would you like this one?”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“My father still lives. I am not Malik yet.”
“The world will be a less joyous place when he passes.”
“Yes, it will. There are rumors that you have an immortal jinni. The look on your face as I approached would tend to support that rumor.”
“Sheikh Faddi, it pleases me to have people believe I have a jinni contained. It boosts my reputation and profits, but how can I capture something as intangible as smoke and air?”
“I am sure I do not know. Maybe I should ask the jinn?” Faddi walked around to one end of the cage where he could see the face of the thing inside. “Well, Jinni, what would you do if I let you out?”
Zelda looked up and, with her best Arabic, answered, “I am no jinn. This man has enchanted me so that he can pass me off as one. He hopes to become as rich as a sultan. If you let me out, I would kill this Rafique son of Rashid and tan his skin to make shoes.”
“Rafique, it seems this one believes you have a price to pay, and it speaks better than you do. As I approached, you were frozen in terror. That is a look I have seen many times among the condemned. Enchanted or jinn, you can't keep it here. By tomorrow noon, it will be gone, and so will you.”
Rafique smiled and extended his hand, “Thank you for your visit.”
Faddi left without taking Rafique’s hand, but the guards remained at the shore end of the pier.
Rafique told Pisser, “Find us two boats. I think business will not be so good here. I will handle the market today.”
As Pisser left to find two available boats, Rafique sent an enforcer to get a plank and some cloth to cover the cage. The people of Meroe had seen him afraid and wouldn’t buy from him if they saw the jinn. The guards would see him cover it and know there was no deception if it was still there at the end of the day.
In short order, the enforcers had the cage covered and disguised as a bench seat or low table. Rafique would sell what he could and leave in the morning.
As evening fell, a very tired Pisser returned. “Try as I might, I can find only one boat, and that one is not of our usual standard. I have other sad news. Anis has died from his wounds. ‘Peace be upon him.’”
Rafique whispered to Pisser, “With only one boat, we can send my son by land. The walk will do him good, but we need to sell at least five more slaves, or we will have to give some of them away to fit everything else on the boat. Make whatever deals you need. I will gather what I can from Anis and see that he is properly buried. I don’t want his ghost haunting me.”
“Pay your respects, the other is taken care of. The walk will do you good. I will handle things here.” Pisser watched as his friend walked off the pier.
This display of compassion from these two men confused Zelda because it was so out of character for them.
Early the next morning, an older boat arrived and tied up at the end of the pier. Three rough-looking sailors made her fast to the pier and stood expectantly on the deck. Rafique and Pisser had a brief but animated discussion with the crew, which involved more than a little pointing at Zelda in her cage. Rafique wanted to take all the slaves and Zelda, but he planned to throw her overboard once they were out of sight of the city. The sailors did not believe she would stay gone. They had heard about Rafique’s earlier attempts to get rid of the jinn. Rafique argued hard, but he couldn’t sail the boat, and the sailors weren’t willing to overload their older vessel.
“Is there a problem?” Faddi asked pleasantly as he walked to the end of the pier.
“These men will not take all my slaves, and you were quite clear that I must not leave anything behind. What can I do?” pleaded Rafique.
“This man would have me carry too much in my boat. We will run aground, or worse.” The sailor speaking was quite insistent.
“Rafique, can you sail the boat? Or would you rather walk?” asked Faddi.
“I can't do either," admitted Rafique.
“I have a solution.” Faddi paused, looking at the slaves still on the pier. “Release this one and ... this one. I will take them for Meroe and save you the gold for the rent of the pier.” Faddi then walked up to the boat and examined it for a moment before scratching a line on it with a knife. “Load the jinn and your slaves. When the boat sinks to this level, whatever is still on the pier will remain behind. You will set the order and climb aboard. I will watch the line.”
Rafique and Pisser discussed it for a while before deciding to load the women first, then most of their supplies, followed by the men and whatever remaining supplies they could carry. When they went aboard, the two of them moved to the far side of the boat and told the slaves to follow them there, to ‘make room’ for the others. Loading continued until only two male slaves and a few supplies remained on the pier. Faddi drew his scimitar. “Stop! There is no more room on this boat. Clear this pier and return to your homes if you wish. I do not need either of you.” The two men needed no more encouragement than that.
Faddi’s men untied the ropes holding the boat to the pier, and it began to drift with the gentle current as the sailors worked to set the sail.
The two former slaves had only a brief pause as Rafique’s son passed by them with a puzzled look on his way to the boat. “Father, what is happening here?”
Rafique waved and called out, “I am sorry, son, but there is no room on the boat. Catch us at the cataracts. If not, we will wait in Alexandria.”
Faddi could be a callous man, especially when he had to be, but leaving his family behind for a bit more gold struck him hard and further lowered his already very low opinion of Rafique. “Young man, did he leave you any money?”
“Yes sir.” Rafique’s son produced three silver coins from a pouch inside his pants.
“That will not take you to Alexandria. Can you sail a boat?”
“No sir, but I will learn.”
“Young man, can you read? If you can, I have work for you. You can earn a safe and comfortable ride to Alexandria, if you still want to go there.”
Watching the boat with his father as the wind caught the sails. “How could he do this?”
“I do not know. Will you take the work?”