A Husband's Qualifications
"Not interested."
As expected, Inanna rejected Dumuzi's courtship without a second thought and climbed straight aboard her sky-ship.
Dumuzi could only watch with a dejected face as she departed without so much as a glance back, cold and unyielding.
Once she arrived at her own palace, Inanna meant to rest a while before going to see Sunya — but an unexpected matter arose, and she never got the chance.
"It's been a while since I've been here."
"I told her not to come."
Ningal and Utu had walked into Inanna's palace unannounced.
As Inanna's expression began to crumple, Utu hastily scrambled for an excuse.
"…What brings you here?"
Inanna made no effort to hide how little she welcomed the visit. But against Ningal's iron hide, the display had little effect.
"We just saw each other a moment ago. Did you really need to come looking for me again?"
"That wasn't the place for this conversation. And if I tell you I'm coming, you always find a way to disappear."
"…"
Even with Inanna's lips pushed out in a full pout, Ningal showed no sign of backing down. The goddess of the reeds was gentle by nature — but that was a separate matter from her stubbornness, which rivaled Inanna's own. Like mother, like daughter, one might say. Utu, who had brought Ningal over in his solar chariot, could only stand between them and sigh.
"Still, this place is always so clean, no matter when I visit. Ninshubur must work hard."
"Thank you, my lady."
Ningal sipped the tea Ninshubur had brought and continued.
"I won't dance around it. You're a proper adult now. Isn't it time you got married?"
"I'll handle that myself."
"I know. That's why I'm only asking you to meet someone once. You can manage that much, can't you?"
"Did you find some decent men somewhere?"
This was hardly the first time Ningal had brought up marriage. Ever since Inanna had fully blossomed into her divinity and grown into her adult form, Ningal had periodically pressed the subject. A woman who had never once nagged about anything else somehow became relentless on the matter of marriage — and Inanna could not fathom why.
Ningal had her reasons. She felt a measure of responsibility for the way Inanna had grown into her present temperament. She could not change her daughter's nature now, but she believed that loving someone and marrying might soften her, or instill a sense of duty. Of course, given Ningal's own disposition, she never scolded or forced her daughter. She always tried to persuade her with the gentlest words she could find. To Inanna, though, it was nothing but a nuisance.
If you'd just waited quietly, I would have brought him home myself.
Inanna felt a petty surge of spite. Even if Ningal was her mother, barging into her palace without warning was rude. And so she decided to mess with the goddess of the reeds a little.
"Fine."
"You'll meet them, then?"
Ningal's face lit up at once.
"But if I'm going to meet them, I'll meet them all at once."
"All at once?"
"Yes. We'll open a five-day window for suitors. Everyone Mother thinks is suitable, and everyone who wants to marry me — I'll call them all."
"Inanna…"
Ningal clasped her hands to her cheeks, looking thoroughly moved. She seemed to believe her daughter had finally steeled herself for the real thing.
"What are you scheming?"
Utu, of course, did not take Inanna at her word. One eyebrow furrowed, his entire body broadcasting I don't trust you for a second.
"Who knows?"
Inanna shrugged and played dumb.
"Why five days specifically?"
"Do I have to tell you?"
She had set the window at five days because she had told Sunya the whole thing would take about a week. But she had no intention of explaining that to Utu. Only Ninshubur, who knew the truth, sighed quietly to herself.
Word that Inanna was seeking a husband spread across all of Dilmun. She was famous for her unpredictable temperament — and yet throngs of suitors still flocked to her palace. Among them were many candidates that Ningal and Utu considered first-rate. To Inanna's eyes, every last one of them was worthless chaff. From the start, none of them could possibly have measured up.
"Too short."
"Too fat."
"Too skinny."
"Bad proportions."
"Looks like he has a rotten personality."
"Don't like his eyes."
"He stutters."
"Talks too much."
"Ugly."
"Not handsome enough."
Inanna lined the suitors up and rejected them one after another on sight. And her reasons were uniformly half-hearted. Before long, most of them left the palace with nothing but humiliation and slumped shoulders. Only then did Ningal begin to grasp her daughter's true intentions, and she let out a long sigh. Utu pressed a hand to his forehead.
"How is it that you never change?"
Utu's scolding did nothing. Inanna continued her ruthless culling without so much as a blink.
"Two suitors remain."
Ninshubur checked the list inscribed on her clay tablet. Just as she said, only two male gods still stood before Inanna. One of them she had already met once before.
"One is Dumuzi, god of sheep and shepherds. The other is Enkimdu, god of agriculture."
For all her lack of sincerity, the fact that these two had survived several rounds of elimination meant that, at least in appearance, there was nothing to fault. The two men could not have been more different in presence. Enkimdu gave off a solid, earnest air, while Dumuzi looked less like a grown man than a beautiful youth. If one judged by face alone, Dumuzi came closer to Inanna's tastes — though even then, he was nothing more than a pale imitation of Sunya.
"They are certainly fine-looking young men."
Ningal and Utu both seemed satisfied with their outward appearance. Unfortunately, Inanna herself had no intention of choosing either of them.
"Inanna. Choose Dumuzi."
"What?"
Utu approached the seated Inanna and whispered in her ear. His meddling in her marriage set her teeth on edge.
"I think the farmer would be better, honestly. The bread we eat, the beer Ninkasi brews — all of it comes from Enkimdu."
She didn't mean it. The words came purely from contrariness. Unaware of that, Utu pressed on, determined to persuade his younger sister.
"Why do you dislike Dumuzi? Marry a shepherd and you'll have cream and milk. And you love meat, don't you?"
It sounded like a joke, but there was unexpected sense to it. Outwardly, the two men were too evenly matched to rank. All that remained was to weigh the benefits marriage would bring. Personality and character were impossible to judge without living together — even for gods — so those factors could not enter the calculation at all.
"Don't you know I love clothes? Marry Enkimdu and I'll have fine linen whenever I want. I might eat less meat, but good beer makes up for it. Besides, Dumuzi's clothes are shabby and covered in wool. Not for me."
As the conversation went on, her voice rose. Dumuzi, who had heard enough, stepped forward.
"If Enkimdu offers you flour, then I will offer Inanna black sheep and white sheep! Instead of beer, I will give you rich, fragrant milk. I may not serve soft bread, but I can offer sweet cheese as much as you desire!"
He stepped closer still as he spoke. Despite the insults, Dumuzi's love for Inanna showed no sign of cooling.
"So please — choose me. O goddess of love and war."
Before anyone noticed, Dumuzi had come right up to Inanna and dropped to one knee. He met her eyes with a passionate gaze. Ningal and Utu were moved by his courage. Their hearts, which had been leaning toward Enkimdu, began to tip toward Dumuzi instead.
I have so little I can offer you, my goddess.
No jewels, no gold — I cannot even fill your belly with grain or meat.
I cannot promise you a life of comfort and wealth.
But Inanna was not looking at the Dumuzi before her. She was thinking of Sunya, who was not here.
Sunya, who had said he had nothing to give her. And yet she had chosen him because he filled her heart. No matter how rare and delicious the food she ate, no matter how dazzling the treasures and jewels she wore, no matter how much awe-inspiring power she wielded — the emptiness inside her never left. But when she listened to Sunya speak, when she simply sat beside him, her chest felt full. That alone was enough. More than enough. It overflowed.
And so Inanna spoke without a shred of hesitation.
"I don't need any of it."