Gilgamesh Immortal (Chronicles of the Nephilim) by Brian Godawa Page B

what he had become finally overwhelming him? By sheer will power, Enkidu forced himself to stop. He got up and embraced his beloved Shamhat. And everything was okay.
     
    Dumuzi wanted to bring the dead lioness with them back to Uruk to tell the amazing story and give Enkidu some rightfully earned recognition. But Enkidu asked Dumuzi to spare the attention. He wanted to bury the animal here in the steppe and with it, all the memory of his past. He did not want a stuffed reminder of the brutal world to follow him into the civilized world. He wanted to be human.

Chapter 9
    According to Enkidu’s wishes, Dumuzi arrived back at Uruk without announcing Enkidu’s presence in his entourage. Shamhat had warned Enkidu that he would become a freak on display: The Wild Born who became civilized. He wanted to be a normal human being, learn the normal human craft of shepherding from Dumuzi, and live a normal civilized life in the great city-state of Uruk. His big bone stature would make him stand out enough amidst the smaller slender people of Uruk. He did not want any more attention to make him an animal in the king’s zoo of caged carnivores.
    Shamhat was able to receive a dispensation to leave temple prostitution and the two were married on a beautiful summer day in the temple of Anu. It was a simple small wedding , perfectly in keeping with the privilege granted by the assembly of elders to any of the citizens. They went back to their banquet in the town square of the Dumuzi family’s district to finish the celebration. Since neither Enkidu nor Shamhat had family, Dumuzi took them into his family fold to help them get a new start together.
    Their wedding was a simpler affair than most. They had few celebrants and had streamlined the ceremony. But nonetheless, it ended on the seventh day with the traditional feast and much ale.
    Shamhat had previously prepared Enkidu for the king’s right to jus prima noctis , first night. She told him not to worry, that she would allow the king to have his way, but she would be thinking of Enkidu and would not engage her heart in the wedding night violation. She was much experienced in that.
    But Enkidu was troubled.
    “I thought marriage was for one man and one woman for the rest of their life,” he said.
    “It is,” she replied. “This is merely one of the pains we must suffer because the king has the right to whatever he wants.”
    “In the steppe, I would kill this so-called ‘king,’” he said.
    “Enkidu, this is not the wild,” she scolded him. “The king has the power of the city-state behind him. He would execute you for such treason.”
    Enkidu shook his head. “This is civilization? This is more barbaric than the wild.”
    “We have no choice in the matter,” she said. “If we want to live, we must obey the king.”
    “Is there no higher authority?” he asked.
    “The gods. But the gods give the king the right to do as he pleases.”
    “That is madness,” he replied. “Who are these gods of such capriciousness?” Enkidu had been learning a few words of larger vocabulary lately.
    “The king is part god himself,” she said.
    The debate had gone on like this for days. It was a debate that Enkidu would not be able to win because the king was the ultimate authority. He eventually grumbled and threw his hands up in frustration — until the next time the topic came up.
    But this time, it was not a topic of conversation. It was reality. The celebration night was coming to an end. The celebrants were starting to leave for home. And the King’s giant form was standing in the shadow of the threshold waiting to take the bride.
    It was not really her first night, but it was still the principle of the thing. And Enkidu was burning mad. His love for Shamhat would not allow her to be abused in such a way. He would protect her with his life. He had decided that if he was killed, he was killed, but nothing would stop him from protecting her virtue and her person. To him, she was