Ur
“Glory to the gods!” Ikuppi said. “What good fortune has been bestowed upon your wife, Terah!”
“Yes, glory to the gods, but I cannot go! I can barely move. How soon does Yadidatum think the baby will come?”
“This afternoon for sure,” Wedum said.
“Ikuppi, you must go now and bring them here.”
“Who?”
“Belessunu and the midwife! She must have the baby here.”
“Oh, Terah, no! That would be foolhardy.”
Terah scowled at him. “It is not a request, Ikuppi. Wedum will lead you and also fetch blankets and pillows to make her comfortable for the journey back.”
“Terah! There is nothing comfortable about a chariot ride over this terrain.”
“It’s less than half a mile, man. But do not bring her servant girls back. I want no one else to see me.”
“Your wife was in great distress, master,” Wedum said. “I don’t know if we would get there in time to—”
“Then go!”
“Yadidatum may forbid—”
“The midwife is also a servant, is she not?” Terah hissed. “And with her son in danger for his life, she dare not cross me. She will do what I say! Be gone!”
As the men hurried out the door, Terah called after Ikuppi, “Prepare them both for what I look like!”
As soon as Ikuppi and Wedum charged off in the king’s chariot, regret overwhelmed Terah. What had he done? He could not abide losing a newborn, even if it was a male who would be sentenced to death anyway. And Belessunu! Regardless of their disagreements, even over matters as weighty as what gods they believed in, she meant everything to him. Serving the king had become profitable, and Terah was known, respected, even feared throughout the realm. But Belessunu was his whole life. He would give up all the rest for her. But now he risked her life, and for what?