Queen of the Persians

    ASTUR heard them coming. The sun had just risen again and she was surprised to discover that she was still alive after a night of constant torture. Beneath her, she could feel the gentle breathing of Artakhshayarsha and knew that he, too, had somehow survived the freezing hours of darkness.
    She tried to open her eyes but found she could not, they seemed to be pasted together with the evil crust which had formed over them. It was the hoof-beats that she noticed first, drumming on the hard ground as they approached. As they got closer, she also heard voices in conversation and knew then that she would soon be dead, away from the dreadful pain which was racking her whole body. Surely, even having her belly ripped out could be no worse than this. In an last, desperate, bid to protect herself she peered through one narrow slit and was now certain that she was dying.
    She had heard once that your whole life passes before your eyes at such a time. In her present dreams, she saw Marduka and Artaynte. She smiled inwardly. At least they would survive, wherever it was they were hiding. As the heat from the sun began to scorch down again, she blissfully passed into unconsciousness.
   

    THE first rider stared at the lone horse which had remained while the others had flown.
    'Is it the one?' asked Artaynte.
    'It certainly looks like Mercury. Astur must be around here somewhere.'
    The young Princess shielded her eyes from the sun and peered around her at the place where the sulphur geyser had recently erupted and covered everything in another layer of salt and sulphur hardening in the blistering sunlight.
    'You look over there,' said Mordecai. 'I will try to catch the horse.'
    Artaynte dismounted and felt the intense heat through the soles of her leather sandals as she searched around for any trace of her friend. Suddenly, she saw a piece of red cloth half-covered in the fallout.
    'Mordecai,' she called. 'I have found her.' Frantically, she began to scrape away the deposit and check for life signs as her husband arrived and dropped from his horse.
    'Water, Artaynte. Wash it off with cold water or you will damage her skin. It looks pretty raw to me.'
    He dropped the two full water sacs beside her and Artaynte began to splash it onto Astur's back and arms.
    'Artakhshayarsha is here, too,' she said.
    'Are they alive?'
    Artaynte nodded. 'Just. They will need shelter before the sun begins to blister the damaged skin.'
    'There is no shelter here,' observed Mordecai as he scanned the landscape. 'We will have to get them clear of this place before we can do much to help them.'
    'We cannot move them. They will die.'
    'We must. I know not how long it will be before the geyser erupts again.'
    By this time, Artaynte had them both free from their imprisoning crust and was gently smoothing cool water over Astur and Artakhshayarsha.
    'It was the night that saved them,' remarked Mordecai. 'In this heat, they would have survived no more than a few hours. We must get them away from here.'
    'Very well. I will wrap Astur in the water skin to keep her cooler. Artakhshayarsha does not seem too badly burned.'
    'No. I think Astur prevented that by shielding him with her own body.' He looked around. 'Are you sure you can find your way out of here?'
    Artaynte sighed. 'I must, for Astur's sake. And quickly.'
   

    THE day became hotter as the three horses trotted slowly upstream along the arroyo that soaked up the water from the hills. Several times, Artaynte halted and went off to spy out the land. Once, they had to wait while horsemen rode nearby, still searching for the royal fugitive.
    Artaynte was good. By high sun, they were out of the Kavir and riding for the low-lying hills to the west. By sunset, they were on the other side and they camped beside a stream into which Astur was laid to ease the obvious agony.
    'Well?' asked Mordecai with concern.
    Artaynte shook her head. 'It is a miracle they are alive at all, especially Astur. She must have been in terrible agony before she passed out.'
    'And Artakhshayarsha?'
    'I think he will live. It looks as if he was mainly overcome by the fumes. There seems to be little external damage.'
    'Do what you can for Astur. She is still my little girl.'
    Artaynte smiled. 'And my best friend. I will do everything possible.'