Servant of the Bones

" 'You are Cyrus, King of Persia and Babylonia, King of all the world,' I said. I was horrified that I did not know the names of those I loved, for surely I had only moments ago. And that old woman who had died, I had known her all my life! I turned and looked around the room in confusion. It was filled with offerings, gifts from noble families of all Babylonia. I saw a casket, made of cedar and gold. It wasn't big. I went to it, and opened it.

"The King watched speechless. Inside were plate and goblets.

" 'Take them if you wish,' said Cyrus, very well masking his fear. 'Let me call my Seven Wise Men to me.'

" 'I want the casket only,' said 1.1 emptied out the contents gently, so as not to dent these precious things and then I held the cedar box and I could smell the cedar beneath the red silk padding that lined it. I tore open the poor linen sack and into this casket I first put the tab let with all its writing, including words I hadn't even read aloud yet, and then I laid down gently my bones.

"I wasn't even finished when the beautiful harlot had come, and she put out a golden silk veil. 'Here, to wrap them,' she said. 'To cushion them.' I took it and it wrapped the bones, and she brought me another of deep purple, and I accepted that and wrapped them more securely so that when the casket moved now they wouldn't make any sound. I had scarcely looked at them.

" 'Send me into them, Cyrus,' I said. 'Send me into the bones!'

"Cyrus shook his head.

"Marduk spoke up. 'Azriel, go yourself into them and then come out again, do it now or you will never be able to do it, or you will never know. This is the advice of a spirit, Azriel. Cast aside all the particles that make up your form and seek the darkness and if you cannot come out, I will call you forth.'

"The King who could neither hear nor see Marduk was confused. Once again he mentioned his Seven Wise Men, and indeed, I could hear men outside the chamber, I could hear their whispering.

" 'Don't let them enter, Lord,' I said. 'Wise men are liars; priests are liars; gods are liars!'

" 'I understand you, Azriel,' said Cyrus. 'You are an angel of might or demon of might. I don't know which, but no ordinary wise man can guide you.'

"I looked to Marduk.

" 'Go into the bones,' he said. 'I promise to use all my power to bring you out. See if you can seek refuge there as I do in my statue.

You must have refuge!'

"I bowed my head. 'Into the bones, until I will myself to return; all of you that are parts of me, you are to remain near and wait for me till I summon you.'

"A huge wind caught the bed hangings. The harlot ran to the King and he quietly enfolded her in his arms. And I felt immense and sly - indeed I touched the walls and the ceiling and the four corners of the painted room and then the whirlwind tightened around me, and I felt the intolerable press of the howling, screaming souls. 'No, you don't, damn you!' I shouted. 'The bones, I have the refuge of my own bones. I go into my bones.'

"There was darkness. Perfect darkness and stillness. I drifted. It was the sweetest rest I had ever known. Only I should do something now, should I not? But I couldn't. I couldn't. And then came the voice of Marduk,

" 'Servant of the Bones, rise and take form.'

"Of course, that was what I had to do, and I did it. It was like a deep intake of breath and then a soundless shout. I found myself again a tolerably perfect replica of Azriel standing beside the open casket and the golden bones. My body shimmered in my own eyes and then grew steady. I felt the cool air as if I had never known it before.

"I looked at Cyrus. I looked at Marduk. I knew now that if I entered into the bones, I didn't have the power to return. But what did it matter? There was velvet sleep. There was the sleep you sleep when you are a boy and lie on the warm grass of a hill and the breeze strokes you, and you have no cares in all the world.

" 'Lord King,' I said, 'I beg you. I will go now back into the bones. Send them in this casket with the tablet to your wise man in Miletus. Do that for me, and if you do betray me, what of it? I won't know. Someone else . . . has betrayed me, but I can't remember who it is . . .'

"He came forward to kiss me. The kiss was on the lips in the Persian style of kings and equals. I turned and looked at Marduk.

" 'Marduk, come with me, I can't remember what is between us except that it was always good.'

" 'I haven't the power, Azriel,' he said calmly. 'It's as the Lord King Cyrus says. You are what the Magi call an angel of might or a demon of might. I have no such power. The tender flame of my thoughts is fed by the people of Babylon who believe in me and pray to me. Even in captivity, the devotion of my captors sustained me. I can't go with you. I don't even know how.'

"His brow became furrowed. 'But why trust any man, even a King?' he asked. 'Take the casket yourself and go where you would . . .'

" 'No. Look, even now the body quavers. I am newborn and not that strong. I can't. I have to trust in ... Cyrus, King of the Persians, and if he would get rid of me, if he would be as vile to me and as cruel as all those whom I loved, if he would do that, I will find a way for vengeance, won't I, great King?'

" 'I won't give you cause,' said Cyrus. 'Turn your hatred from me.

It wounds me. I can feel it.'

" 'So can I,' I said. 'And it feels divine to hate! To be angry! To destroy!'

"I took a step towards him.

"He didn't move an inch. He stared at me, and I felt myself gently transfixed, unable to do anything really but look into his eyes. I didn't try very hard to oppose him, but I felt his domination, rooted in fearlessness and victory, and I stood still.

" 'Trust in me, Azriel, for today you made me King of the World, and I will see that you are taken to the Magus who will teach you all a spirit can be taught.'

" 'King of the World? Did I do that for you, beautiful man?' I asked. I shook myself all over. Of course, I knew him. I knew the drama. The lion's breath.

"But then I didn't. I knew nothing.

"Marduk spoke up, but by now Marduk was merely a spirit standing there, friendly and good.

" 'Azriel, do you know who I am?'

" 'A friend, a spirit friend?'

" 'What more?'

"I was anguished. 'I don't remember,' I said. I told him that I could remember the cauldron, murdering that nameless priest and the dead old woman. I knew the King. I knew him. But I couldn't really remember. I caught the sudden scent of roses. I looked down and saw the floor was littered with petals.

" 'Give them to him,' said Cyrus, pointing to the petals as he spoke to the harlot.

"And the sweet gentle harlot gathered up the petals in handfuls.