The Rolling Stone
"There are plenty of reasons I love her."
Sunya listed the reasons he loved Inanna without the slightest difficulty.
"She possesses a beauty that is radiant even among the gods, and her charm as a woman needs no further explanation. The majesty with which she wields her spear makes one understand, in the marrow of the bone, why she is called the goddess of love and war. That she is always bold and honest is a great virtue in itself. Her vitality is so abundant that merely standing at her side fills me with strength without my even realizing it. I am grateful that she always listens carefully to what I have to say. The way she cherishes those dear to her — myself included — continually reminds me that I am loved. And when I happen to catch her sleeping soundly, she is so endearing I can hardly bear it. But above all, the finest thing about her is that she is strong enough to be my pillar. It is thanks to Lady Inanna that I have been able to endure."
Sunya's tone remained calm from beginning to end. The way he continued speaking without pause in that soft, measured voice was, in many respects, almost uncanny.
"Th-that's enough. It's embarrassing."
Inanna, sitting beside him, drove her elbow into his side. The sound was like a leather drum bursting — it looked as though she had struck him with considerable force — yet Sunya showed not the faintest sign of pain.
It was a trivial moment, but Ningal was deeply impressed by it.
Inanna was her daughter, yes — but she was no ordinary goddess. Born alongside Ereshkigal with formidable divinity from the start, and possessed of a fierce temperament to match. She managed, more or less, to uphold her parents' dignity, yet as a direct descendant of the King of Gods her standing rivaled that of any of the great deities, and she never once allowed herself to be cowed by anyone. Given enough time, there was no telling what kind of catastrophe she might cause.
It was precisely this worry that had driven Ningal to push for Inanna's marriage. She had believed that once her daughter was wed, all that surplus power would be spent not on causing havoc abroad but on protecting a household. And in that regard, Sunya was a perfect fit. Indeed, the rate at which Inanna caused incidents had dropped dramatically. She even seemed, to some degree, to have grown more settled.
And look at that composed face of his. No matter what uproar Inanna stirred, he looked as though he could absorb it without breaking stride. Moreover, considering that he had managed to free Inanna from the Underworld and return himself unscathed — whatever the process — he was almost certainly a man of genuine capability. And above all, the love he held for Inanna seemed utterly sincere. As a mother, Ningal could ask for nothing more than a son-in-law who truly cherished and adored her daughter. She had known him only a short while, and already her fondness for him kept growing.
"…So after turning away all those distinguished suitors, you mean to marry a man of no consequence like this?"
Nanna, by contrast, made no effort to hide his displeasure with Sunya. Unlike the women, he — as a man — found little to admire in the fellow. The worn ochre robes alone made him look destitute, and the admission that he truly owned nothing only reinforced the impression of incompetence.
In truth, Nanna's attitude was fueled largely by his own inferiority. Called the god of the moon, Nanna was Enlil's eldest legitimate son. In the world of mortals, he would have stood first in the line of succession. But among the gods, while bloodline mattered, the magnitude of one's divinity — one's divine rank — took precedence. And so Nanna was constantly compared to his half-brother Ninurta.
Ninurta was a god celebrated even among the gods as a hero. Where Nanna appeared gentle — and truly was gentle — Ninurta was brave and powerful, a warrior who had defeated Asag and his stone legions, who had slain monsters such as the Six-Headed Wild Ram and the King of the Date Palms, and who had piled up great deeds. Among the people, talk already named Ninurta the next King of Gods, and Enlil himself seemed to have marked him as successor.
To have someone superior standing constantly at one's side is torment in itself. Merely thinking of Ninurta filled Nanna with inferiority — and a bitter sense of deprivation. So when his precious daughter had bested Ninurta in a sparring match, he had felt a surge of pure elation.
And now that same precious daughter had brought home some nobody as her husband. If word got out, he would be a laughingstock. He already endured enough of that kind of treatment; he had no desire to hear more idle talk on account of a son-in-law.
Of course, to the goddess of love and war, her father's circumstances meant nothing at all. Inanna was one breath away from her eyes rolling back in fury. Had Sunya not spoken, she might well have overturned the entire table then and there.
"I understand well the concern you hold for your daughter, sir. Truthfully, it is rather absurd for someone who has never been a parent to presume to know a parent's heart — and yet I am certain this stems from how deeply you cherish Lady Inanna."
"You understand well enough, then."
"Even so, I have no wish to give her up. May I ask what I would need to do to earn your recognition?"
"What is your specialty, young man?"
Sunya's specialty was thrashing people. Gods and monsters, too, when the occasion called for it. But saying as much outright would have been problematic in any number of ways.
"I suppose one could say I have a modest talent with my hands? Haha…"
"What a ridiculous laugh."
Listening to the exchange, Inanna found her temper fraying. Watching her father put on an uncharacteristically tough act in front of his son-in-law left her at a loss for words. But as time wore on and the situation took an unexpected turn, she could only marvel.
"So… when I asked Father whether he was going to make that Ninurta fellow the next King of Gods, you know what he said? He told me to mind my own business instead of asking about things like that!"
"Dear me…"
"What did I even do wrong? Father's full of inferiority complexes himself! He's always feeling inferior to Lord Enki, and yet he only ever takes it out on me."
"Parents sometimes project themselves onto their children. And at times that projection grows so excessive that they come to view their children through a distorted lens."
"Is that so?"
"Your father-in-law is a thoroughly admirable man. The time of the humans on earth flows by the measure of Lord Nanna, and on dark nights when one cannot see even a step ahead, the one most needed — and needed first — is none other than him."
"Son-in-law!! You have a way with words! Ugh!"
Nanna, who had been drinking steadily, eventually grew drunk and began pouring out his grievances. Where Ningal and Inanna found it tiresome, Sunya matched Nanna's drunken rambling with a practiced ease that was almost impressive.
"When war breaks out, people will seek out Lord Ninurta. That much cannot be denied. But in daily life, it is you whom people rely upon far more. I do not believe you fall short of Lord Ninurta in any respect."
"Kh! I was wrong about you. You're a fine fellow, aren't you?"
"I am grateful you would see me that way."
"Honestly, at first I took you for some pretty-boy freeloader who might bolt at any moment. But the more I look at you, the more I see you're a damn fine man."
"Haha…"
"Come, drink! I'll pour you another myself."
Drunk though he was, Nanna had at some point begun to show genuine goodwill toward Sunya. Ningal could see that her husband's heart, so hostile only moments before, had turned completely around.
"Thank you. He has been under a great deal of strain of late — I think your words brought him real comfort."
Some time later, when Nanna could hold out no longer and collapsed into a deep sleep, Ningal offered her thanks.
"Not at all. I merely ran my mouth, nothing more."
"Truthfully, as his wife, those are words I should have spoken myself… but I have never had the gift of speech, and so I have never been able to comfort him properly."
"There are times when comfort lands more deeply coming from an outsider with no close ties than from someone near at hand. And in truth, I have long heard of your father-in-law's renown, and my respect for him is genuine."
"I see."
"And you, Mother, will surely be a great source of strength to Lord Nanna as well. Simply being at someone's side can give them tremendous power."
"Heh. I truly hope so."
From their very first meeting, Sunya had thoroughly won over both his father-in-law and mother-in-law. Inanna had known her parents were not particularly wary people, but she had never expected him to draw out such a favorable response so soon after meeting them.
"Come to think of it — when shall we hold the wedding?"
"When would be good?"
Inanna looked at Sunya. From his perspective, going through a formal ceremony would only be cumbersome. In this age, a common-law marriage would have been more than sufficient — but unlike him, Inanna had her dignity to consider, and he saw no reason to make that plain.
"Any day Lady Inanna desires is fine with me."
"Then we'll do it in a week! As grandly as possible!!"
"Ah — something too grand might be a bit…"
And so the family introduction of sorts came to an end, and the wedding date was set.
The appointed day arrived without any particular incident. The wedding was held grandly, just as Inanna had declared, and a great many guests made their way to her palace. Among them were a large number of the great Anunnaki gods. Naturally the ceremony included a banquet, and once the rites had concluded at a suitable point, the gods set about drinking and eating and exchanging fellowship without reservation.
"Hey there, newlywed!"
Someone draped an arm over Sunya's shoulder as he stood beside Inanna, nursing a drink. He was a handsome man with a cheerful air and hair as blue as the deep sea. There was something slightly frivolous about the easy way he smiled.
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Enki, god of wisdom. It's an honor to finally meet the man of that little girl I've heard so many rumors about."