The Ring of Solomon

achieved? Nothing. I’ll still be as empty as I am now.’
    Empty? The spear-bearer scratched his manly chin. Humans and their problems. It’s not my strongest suit. Oh sure, it was pretty clear to me that the girl had been seeking to emulate her mother all these years, only to find – at the moment of her triumph – that she didn’t quite believe in what she was doing. I saw that well enough. But in the face of her sudden desolation, I was unsure where to go next. Probing psychological analysis is one thing, 4 constructive suggestions quite another.
    ‘Now listen,’ I began, ‘there’s still time to take the Ring back to Solomon. He wouldn’t take revenge on you. He gave his word. Plus he’d be too relieved, I think. Or, another alternative, which you may not have considered, is for us to chuck the Ring into the sea. Get rid of it for ever. That would solve the problem big time – no more threat to Sheba, no pain for your queen – plus it would save a lot of inconvenience for a host of spirits too.’
    The girl neither agreed nor disagreed with this sensible suggestion. She remained slumped, shoulders sagging, staring into the dark.
    I tried again. ‘This “emptiness” you talk about,’ I said. ‘I think you’re getting too worked up about it. Your trouble, Asmira, is you’ve got something of an issue with your—’ I broke off in sudden alarm. My handsome nose twitched. It twitched again. I sniffed about me intently.
    That woke her up a bit. She stirred indignantly. ‘You’re saying I smell? Great Sheba, that was one thing I wasn’t worrying about.’
    ‘No. Not you.’ My eyes narrowed. I looked around the walkway. Pillars, statues, scattered chairs – all seemed quiet enough. But somewhere close … Uh-oh. ‘Can you smell anything?’ I asked.
    ‘Rotten eggs,’ the girl said. ‘I thought that was you.’
    ‘It isn’t me.’
    Spurred on by sudden intuition, I stole away from her on silent feet and padded up the centre of the aisle. I stopped, sniffed, listened, went a little further, sniffed again. I took another step –
    – then spun round and blew the nearest statue to pieces with a Detonation.
    The girl gave a cry; the spear-bearer gave a spring. Even as the glowing shards of stone were still tumbling, rolling, pattering down upon the tower’s dome, I landed in their midst, brushed aside a few remaining filaments of lilac cloud, and seized the blackened foliot from his hiding place behind the shattered plinth. I grabbed him by his green and sinewy neck and lifted him aloft.
    ‘ Gezeri ,’ I snarled. ‘I thought as much. Spying again! Well, this time I’m going to finish you before you get a chance to—’
    The foliot slowly stuck out his tongue at me and grinned. He pointed to the south.
    Oh no.
    I turned, looked. Far off above the palace roofs, a small black cloud rose vertically into the night, a rushing cone of wind and fire. It was far away at first, but not for long. Slender bolts of lightning sprang from its sides; it boiled, churned, spun with avenging fury, and shot above the gardens towards the tower.

    1 At a rough glance they seemed to be inscribed with some songs he was writing. I didn’t bother reading any. They were unlikely to be much good.
    2 Four, in fact: three of them ultra-cool, deliberate acts of political assassination, and one an unfortunate mishap involving a barking dog, a child’s toy chariot, a slippery corridor, a short, steep ramp, and a cauldron of boiling beef-fat. That one had to be seen to be believed.
    3 Four-faced demon : a guise used occasionally to guard important crossroads in ancient Mesopotamia. The faces were a griffin, a bull, a lion and a cobra, each more terrifying than the last. I sat on a pillar, a picture of noble gravitas, gazing implacably in all directions. The problems started when I had to get up and run after someone. Then I just got confused and tripped over my feet, which made the passing urchins laugh.
    4 Namely, impartial observation liberally spiced with sarcasm and personal abuse. Let’s face it, I’m good at all that.

32
    T he appearance of the cloud came at exactly the wrong time for Asmira, at the precise moment when her resolve had fallen clean away.
    She stood on the balcony and watched it grow: a tornado of whirling flames, lighting the trees and lawns as it passed above them, staining them red like blood. She heard the screaming of the air, heard the laughter of the little demon, heard the urgent cries