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Sleep Escapes UsChapter 1 – LotteryZelmis slowed his breathing. He needed a steady hand as well as a sure eye, and he didn’t wantany suddenness in his intake of air or exhalation to jar his grip and throw off his aim. He had his preywell targeted; it was just a matter now of launching his weapon and taking down the animal foraging before him.He felt the drape of his multi-coloured zeira across his back, dyed with subtle natural colours for camouflage. The air was not chill enough yet for him to feel the need to wrap himself in its wovenwarmth. It was early in the year for the redheaded man to be hunting, out of season, but it was necessarynonetheless. His uncle was lying in state after being carefully bathed, clothed and groomed, a three dayaffair as was the norm with the Getae people. It was required, they believed, to allow his soul to ascendto a better place. At the end of those three days there would be a funeral feast to celebrate his uncle’sdeath. It was also a means of thanking Hecate for guiding him to the Crossroads and Zalmoxis for accepting him over to the other side, and elevating the dead man to greater power and status.That last thought did make Zelmis’s hand tremble, despite the fact that he had moderated his breathing. He had hunted for this same purpose a mere eight months ago, when they had laid his beautiful Iulia to rest. He was supposed to rejoice at her elevation, but he still missed her desperately, practically to the point of paralysis if he dwelled on her memory.She had been a stunning woman, with hair the colour of the sunset, even more brilliant thanZelmis’s own, and eyes the azure hue of the sky. When she laughed, it was like the muses were singing.She had stolen his breath away the first time he had seen her, and when they had spoken, he had realizedthat her spirit was even more beautiful than her face.Zelmis had not thrown his spear yet, the tremor in his hand worsening. His throat was tighteningas a result of his painful reflections and he worried that the tears might begin to flow again, somethingthat had not happened for several weeks. He bit his lip to steel himself, and tried to refocus, but themorose thoughts refused him his escape.Iulia had been a willowy creature, and while healthy, she had not been robust. After they hadmarried, she had been quick to conceive their first and only child, a daughter, Alina. The pregnancy hadtaken a toll on his slight wife. She did not have the womanly hips needed to bear a child easily and Alinahad been breach. Iulia had bled out well before they had resorted to cutting the baby from her.Zelmis sank to his knees in the brush, the noise startling his prey. It sprang to safety, now alertedto the hunter’s presence. He realized its flight would mean he would have to repeat the process of tracking and trailing some beast in order to honour his uncle properly, but he was lost in mourning again,his tears flowing freely. Drawing in deep gasps, the man tried to brush the evidence of his grief from hiscopper-stubbled cheeks. Trying to restrain the sobs only made his chest ache and eventually he yielded tohis sorrow, collapsing back into the foliage.
 
At least he still had his Alina, his precious little girl. She was as beautiful as her mother, with thesame sweet face, and already had wisps of sunset-coloured hair and Iulia’s eyes. He could imagine her growing into the svelte image of his late wife, and he had sworn that he would do all within his power to protect her and teach her everything he remembered about her mother. Iulia might be lost to him, but atleast he and Alina had each other. Zelmis had left her in the care of his cousin’s wife, Dentysyskos, inGil-Doba, while he hunted. His cousin, Mukaburis, was a member of the peltast, the royal guard, and as aresult he was unable to provide for his father’s feast himself.A snapping branch caught Zelmis’s attention and he sat up, wondering if he could be so lucky asto have another animal wander close enough to feel the sting of his spear. Perhaps the gods had taken pity on him and his sad circumstances, and were offering him a second chance to do his part for his kin.If that were the case, he would show a little more self-control and not give in to emotions that should not be lingering the way that they were. If he were a proper man, Muka liked to tell him, he would haveconquered his grief by now and moved on. Muka felt that Zelmis should already be searching for a newwife, so that Alina would grow up with a proper mother. Zelmis didn’t believe he could offer another woman the life she deserved, not as long as Iulia’s passing left him heartbroken.The noises he had heard were not those made by an animal, he soon discovered. He found himself in the shadow of another and was extremely surprised when he looked up to find Muka looking down athim. His cousin was not alone. In fact, the black-haired, swarthy man was accompanied by three rather strapping members of the peltast. Zelmis couldn’t imagine why four members of the royal guard would be standing over him in the middle of the wilderness. It was enough to strike fear in his heart. Hadsomething happened to Alina? That would explain why Muka’s expression was so grim.“Alina?” Zelmis whispered hoarsely, staring up at the hulking form of his cousin. The armouredman shook his head.“Your daughter is fine and still in Dentys’s care. No, I’m afraid the reason that we have beenforced to track you out here is because of the lottery.” Muka spoke the words quietly andcompassionately, knowing what a shock this revelation would bring. Zelmis blanched and his headswum. He almost fainted there on the spot.“The lottery? No, no, no – not the lottery. Surely the gods would never be that cruel. Alina hasalready had her mother taken from her before the child even drew her first breath. They would never ask that her only living parent be offered up as sacrifice.” He shook his head in denial. The notion was preposterous.Zelmis had forgotten, between burying his wife and awaiting the death of his sick uncle, that thetime of the lottery had been growing near. Every five years, one of the people in King Rhemoxos’s realmwas selected at random to be slain as an offering to the God of Death, Zalmoxis, in exchange for theliving god’s mercy. Zelmis’s peers believed the gesture was necessary, to make sure that his people keptin Zalmoxis’s good graces so that he would continue to accept the souls of the dead from the Crossroadsand elevate them to a heavenly place amongst the stars. They were convinced that this was why theGatae and Dacian people continued to enjoy good fortune, blessed by their powerful ancestors whowatched over them.
 
Muka’s look darkened, and he extended a hand to his cousin, an offer to help lift him to his feet.“You can’t argue with the gods’ decree, Zelmis, at least, not with us. If you want to plead your case to those who officiate the lottery and the sacrifice, you will have that chance. Until then, you willremain in our custody and Alina will remain with my wife. It will hurt less if we don’t allow you to seeher again. The separation is the worst part.”Zelmis took the offered hand with great reluctance, still reeling from the news. He was beginningto grow numb, spiritually, as Muka pulled him off of the ground.“Those who officiate the lottery? Do I get to appear before King Rhemoxos himself? Do I get to beg for my life before him at Seuthopolis?”Muka shook his large head.“No, that’s not how it works. You will get to stand before him, but not at Seuthopolis. You will be travelling to Lagina instead, where the seers will validate the lottery selection. The king will merely be there to oversee the process. Your fate will lie in the hands of the witches of Hecate.”Zelmis shuddered at the thought. The witches were rumoured to be man-haters and nobodyunderstood their ways. They were subject to their mistress’s whims and the torment of foresight. Theirswas not an enviable life, for while they had powers far beyond those of the typical mortal woman, theycould not use them as they chose, nor could they change anything that they would predict would happen,a slave to their premonitions. They lived a cloistered life within the catacombs beneath Lagina, avoidingothers and rarely coming to the surface, and they were known to be frighteningly strange in appearance.The idea of having to stand before them made Zelmis draw in a sharp breath, and hesitate when Muka andhis brothers-at-arms started forward. Muka turned to face his cousin with an air of disapproval.“I cannot change this, Zelmis, and I cannot treat you any differently simply because we share blood. Be glad that it was you that was chosen and not Alina. At least she will be safe for the next fiveyears. You have benefited from others’ sacrifices for the sake of your good fortune, and you never  protested on their behalf. Your time has come. You must make peace with that. Resist, and I will berequired to take you by force. I would much rather you go willingly and we make the last of our timetogether as pleasant as is possible under the circumstances. I have children, too, but if I had beenselected, I would not fight it. It would be my duty to respect the gods’ wishes.”“That’s not fair,” Zelmis murmured. “You still have a wife at home to care for your young ones.What if it were just you? Would you want to see Sur an orphan?”Zelmis knew it was cold to offer up Muka’s favoured son as an example, but he also felt the needto defend his own honour. He knew what Muka had really meant. His cousin had always considered hima coward for choosing to be a hunter rather than one of the peltast, a role that was a family tradition. HadZelmis let his fate be chosen for him, he would have never strayed beyond the limits of the lands of theGetae, and would have never met Iulia and conceived Alina. Their time together may have been short, but Zelmis would always treasure it. He did not regret his choices. It struck him that if he were to be presented with the opportunity to fight fate again, he would do so this time without question, havingreaped the benefits of doing this once before.
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