The Plank

Everybody knew Hannu. He was hard to miss. Boisterous, friendly, unfettered by the restraints of civilized society, he made a quick impression on the people he met. Not everyone liked him—he was a bit of a handful—but he’d make funny faces to stop a baby’s crying or carry an old woman’s market bag. He was mischievous, true, but a serious thief? Inconceivable. But Hannu had confessed to the theft, a crime punishable by death. The crowd was so disturbed by the news that some started to call out. They wanted to hear Hannu’s side of the story. They wanted to hear it, they said, with their own ears.

Admiral Bitias pulled Hannu forward and peppered him with the same questions he had been asked behind closed doors. Did he take the sacred mask? Yes. Had he been hiding it? Yes. Did he know it belonged to the temple? Yes.

Bitias threw up his arms, “A confession! What more do you want?”

Amaal watched in horror and disbelief as two sailors brought Hannu, bound by the wrists, to the edge of the deck and prepared to put a blindfold over his eyes. They were going to throw him overboard and watch him drown.

Bitias’s voice was tinged with impatience. “We have left Tyre behind. We have escaped the grip of tyranny. Under Pumayyaton, innocent people were threatened, tortured, even put to death. But this young man is not innocent. He has confessed to a serious crime. We will not allow thieves to dictate our way of life. This thief robbed the Temple of Melqart. The Queen has ordered his execution.”

The people wept in shame and confusion. They agreed that thieves should be punished, but they didn’t want Hannu to die.

Before she even had time to think, Amaal made her way to the plank that joined the two ships. She climbed up on it as words poured from her mouth, “Stop! Stop! You’re making a mistake!”

Many people knew Amaal by now. They had seen her tagging around town with Hannu. They had heard her flute solo at the wedding ceremony. Most importantly, given the circumstances, she was recognized by the Queen’s advisors. Reluctantly, Bitias halted the execution.

“What is it, Amaal?”

Amaal blurted out, “I can speak for Hannu. He’s not a thief.” The board shifted under her feet. She held out her arms for balance. She remembered watching Hannu steal candy in the merchants’ quarter, a childish dare compared to this serious crime. She took a step along the plank. “He’s a wild boy, yes…” She took another step, stopped again to regain her balance, and took a few more steps. “…but he’s not a thief!”

Amaal raced to the end of the plank and jumped aboard the Arbiter. She felt the perspiration dripping down her back. Now face-to-face with Bitias, she took a deep breath and looked straight into the Admiral’s unsympathetic eyes. In her mind, she cleared the deck of everyone but him.

“Hannu didn’t steal the mask. He…he rescued it.

Admiral Bitias raised an eyebrow.

“He said Pumayyaton had no right to rule the people of Tyre and no right to any of its treasures. He said if he could raise an army against Pumayyaton, he would drive him from the throne. If Hannu took a sacred mask from the temple, you can be sure he did it for safekeeping.”

Bitias turned to Hannu. “Is that true?”

Hannu nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I was afraid you’d arrest me for saying I wanted to overthrow the King.”

Several in the crowd laughed lightly but fell quiet again as the matter was far from settled.

“Why didn’t you turn the mask over to one of the Queen’s advisors?”

 “I didn’t know whom I could trust. There were spies everywhere.”

Someone from the Sage shouted, “That’s true—there were spies!” The crowd murmured in agreement. Bitias quieted them down.

“I wanted to give it to the Queen,” Hannu said.

“Then, why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t have a chance before I got caught with it.”

            Hannu had strengthened his case, but Bitias remained unconvinced. He threw up his hands in disgust and turned to the Queen.

“Amaal!” Elishat said. “What do you have to say?”

Amaal’s mind flashed on Uru’s powerful defense of her right to take over her family business.

“Queen Elishat…” The words sounded strange, for she had never spoken to Elishat as Queen. “…when the Lieutenant ordered me to stand in for you, he did not give me a choice. Your people stripped me naked and took away my flute. They dressed me in your robes and made up my hair and face to look like yours. I was terrified and angry, but I didn’t resist when they sent me out into the streets of Tyre, and made me a target for the King’s assassins.”

The passengers looked at one another in surprise, this being the first they’d heard of Amaal’s role in Elishat’s escape.

“I’m a stranger among your people. In all honesty, I’m a stranger to myself. I don’t know who my father was or where I come from. I’m alone in this world, but I believe that I—perhaps not as much as Admiral Bitias or General Barca, but as much as any common citizen of Tyre—I have proven my loyalty. Hannu is my friend. He may not be perfect, but he is a good person and a loyal subject. He dreams of being a hero, not a thief. He didn’t take this object for himself; he took it from the grasp of a scoundrel he calls ‘Pumayyaton the Hyena.’”

Bitias suppressed a smile. Queen Elishat failed to suppress hers.

“I ask your mercy for my friend. Give Hannu his life, and he will make you proud.”

The fleet was silent save for a metal ring high up the mast of the Arbiter, tapping out the seconds in the steady breeze.

At last, the Queen spoke. “All right, Amaal, I will test your claim of this boy’s loyalty, for what is a queen without mercy?”

The crowd relaxed a bit but waited to hear Hannu’s punishment.

“I hereby make the boy, Hannu, caretaker of the sacred mask. I charge him with its safekeeping not only for the duration of our voyage but for a thousand years to come. If anything should happen to it, you will both suffer serious consequences.”

The crowd nearly jumped out of their skin with joy. They embraced each other as though they were hugging Hannu himself. A thousand-year duty in exchange for a lifetime seemed like a fair deal. The color returned to Hannu’s face as the sailors unwound the ropes from his wrists and let him go.

In the excitement, General Barca called Amaal over. He pointed to her flute and gestured for her to remove it from across her back. Still feeling the sting of resentment for having been coerced into Elishat’s escape, she refused, guarding the flute with her hand. He repeated the gesture more insistently, and Amaal relented. Barca opened the case. Amaal was astonished to see what lay inside: the crescent moon turquoise necklace. With it, Elishat possessed the power of a goddess. Barca lifted it carefully from the flute case and showed it to Amaal.
            “Good thing you didn’t fall into the sea when you crossed that plank,” he said. “This might have been lost.”

“And what about me?” Amaal replied brazenly. “I might have been lost, too. Or hadn’t you thought of that?”

Barca smiled, unruffled. “Now that we have it safely in hand, your mission is over. The sailors will help you to your ship.”

“I made it here and I can make it back again.”

“Amaal,” he said calmly.

Amaal merely cocked her head in reply.

“You did well.”

She grumbled and said, “May I go now?”

“Melqart bless your steps.”

Admiral Bitias closed the meeting and Amaal returned safely to the Phoenix, her flute case hanging noticeably lighter across her back. Bitias insisted that Hannu remain on the Arbiter for a while so he could keep a watchful eye on the pardoned thief. Queen Elishat stood on deck and watched as the ships pulled out of formation.

“What is it, Princess?” Barca asked. “Something is bothering you. I see it in your brow.”

“Our numbers.”

“Our numbers? We have good numbers. Every ship is half full.”

“Yes, but males far outnumber females.”

“Ah, I see.” Barca stroked his beard with the palm of his hand.

“The imbalance does not bode well for populating a new city, much less a second and third generation.”

“And how do you propose to recruit more women?” Barca asked.

Elishat tapped the side of her head with her fingertips.

Barca smiled. “Don’t tell me. You have a source in mind.”

“I do. I only wonder if I possess the skills to get them.”

“What skills would those be?”

“Diplomacy…and persuasion,” Elishat said.

“A delicate balance,” Barca admitted. “You’re in the real world now, Princess. It’s time to put them to the test.”

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