Title & Copyright Page

 

 BABYLON BURNING

 

Author: Hernando Enriquez de la Barca

 

 

This book is fully copyrighted.  Copyright © 2013 to La Isla Bonita Hawai’i, LLC. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this material or portions thereof, in any way, shape, or form.  No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or introduced in any form, or fashion into any information storage, or retrieval system, or by any other means, whether electronic, or mechanical without the written permission of the author.  The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the internet, or via any other means is punishable by law, and needs the permission of the publisher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Funeral Procession

The grand funeral procession had begun. The dead Kings’ soldiers led the long procession, marching a long slow somber march through the winding streets of Babylon to where the body would be laid to rest. Crowds had gathered to line the streets in mourning but also to celebrate their beloved Kings’ life. King Sibri’s body laid in a wooden coffin, heavily ornate with gold.  The high priest in all his finery and robes walked behind the Kings’ coffin, muttering prayers of well being for the King in his afterlife. The Kings’ wife, Belit was flanked both sides by their two daughters Beltis and Ishtar, heads held high with pride whilst composing their grief behind the High Priest.

The King had brought peace, health and abundant wealth to the kingdom, after many turbulent years prior to him becoming king, when his brother had ruled the land. His brother had been greedy, heartless and cruel, which had led to many wars with neighboring kingdoms and a revolt from the people of Babylon. But the gods had looked down upon the people and struck him with bolt of lightning which instantly killed him. The people rejoiced and felt blessed when King Sibri came to the throne.

“Have you seen them yet?” a woman’s voice whispered to her son.

“I’ll tell you when I have? Duzi replied.

Duzi and his mother, Mylitta, were standing in the shadows of a back street, watching the procession, unnoticed by the people lining the streets. It had been twenty years since she had been banished from Babylon by King Sibri, and this was the first time she had dared to return. She was apprehensive, but ready to make her presence known. This was her time now and this was her sons’ time too.

Mylitta was an attractive provocative woman, and looked a lot younger than her thirty eight years of age, with her long black silk hair that framed her bronzed facial features. Her eyes were large, dark brown and oval, like large deep pools which were hypnotic. Her captivating beauty entranced everyone who looked upon her, and she was extremely aware of how her appearance and presence affected her audience.

Duzi was her only son, her only child, and she adored him, and since his childhood years, she had promised his time would come. He had questioned her many times as he was growing up what she meant by this and that he didn’t understand. But she never told him, until last week. Now, he was confused and apprehensive himself, yet he could hardly contain his excitement. When his mother had told him his time had come, he was bewildered, confused and speechless but then a barrage of questions had followed, with his mother answering every single one of them.

The crowds began to cheer as the procession neared them; Mylitta pulled her veil over her head and wrapped it around the lower half of her face, so only her eyes showed.

 

“Come now” she urged Duzi to follow her. They scurried and weaved their way through the crowds, pushing their way to the front of the roadside so they could have the best possible view. Some people ignored these two strangers, others complained and shouted to them but almost immediately their attention was diverted again to the funeral procession, as it was upon them now.

An old man sitting at the roadside, looked up at these two people who had suddenly appeared beside him. There was something about their presence that slightly unnerved him, he looked up again then quickly looked away. There was something familiar about that woman., he thought.

He was suddenly distracted by the soldiers slowly marching by, and then the Kings’ coffin was in front of him, he looked down, closed his eyes and prayed. The old man didn’t look up until the rest of the royal cortege had passed and the Kings’ servants and the rest of the musicians and entertainers finished walking by. He glanced next to him, just in time to see the two people pushing their way back through the crowds and vanished from his sight.

Mylitta and Duzi scuttled their way back through the streets to the edge of the city, and didn’t stop until they were half way up the side of one of the hills surrounding the city. They sat down on the lush green grass and could see the royal palace on top of another hill providing protection of the city and its people below it. She threw her shawl from her head and shoulders onto the grass.

Mylitta spoke first “Soon, my precious son, this will be all ours!” Duzi stared in awe at the city below him. He still could not believe this was happening to him. “I have waited many years for this day to come and at last our destiny has arrived” she continued in a soft wistful voice. “This is our destiny Duzi; this will be how our life was meant to be!” She cupped her hands on Duzi’ face and turned his face to look into hers and said: “Two more days, that is all, two whole days before you can claim the throne and be the next King of Babylon”

“How do you think the people will react to me, mother?” Duzi asked.

“They will love you Duzi as much as I love you. They will be happy to have a rightful king ruling their city and their kingdom. Come now, we must find shelter” she allowed her son to help her to her feet and they began to search the hillside to find suitable shelter for the night.

                                               

The New Heir Comes to Babylon

The funeral procession continued through the city streets, and turned back towards the palace to where a well prepared tomb stood open for his body to lay to rest was awaiting, at the side of the Royal Hill. The people followed behind the procession, including the old man, whose mind was now at unrest, something was disturbing him, and he did not like

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 26.03.2013
ISBN: 978-3-7309-1663-6

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

Widmung:
This book is dedicated to my son Isaac (which means “the one who laughs”). It is told in the Bible that Sara (the wife of Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation) could not, but giggle or laugh in disbelief, when the Angel of the Lord told Abraham (when he was a hundred years old and Sarah was ninety) that they were going to have a son and his name would be Isaac. Anyhow, Isaac is the second patriarch of Judaism (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the three patriarchs) and the heir of the promise of God that would bring forth the messiah: Jesus the Christ of Nazareth, the founder of Christianity.