Hello everyone!
It is with a great pleasure that I announce the launch of Blood & Fur''s first volume, The Last Emperor, on Amazon and Audible! I''ve posted a bonus chapter to celebrate this occasion!
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Amazon: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0D61473NG
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Last-Emperor-Audiobook/B0D9MHBZRP
It''s been a pleasure sharing this story with you for now over a year and a half; I was very apprehensive about its reception (vampire mesoamerican dark fantasy isn''t exactly a big hit premise) but it''s managed to make a place a place for itself on Royal Road. I''m very happy to have shared that adventure with you, and I hope you will enjoy the rest of Iztac''s adventures :)
As always, I would super thankful for any review, readthrough on KU or shares for the launch. It''s gonna be a tough sell on amazon so any help counts!
Best regards,
Voidy.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Mother & Son
Ash rained relentlessly upon Tlalocan, each flake burning as if it came straight out of the oven.
The Land of the Dead Suns¡¯ second layer was even more sterile and lifeless than the first. Mictlan had been an unliving city of the dead bustling with activity. The marshes and lakes of tears surrounding it had been gloomy, but hospitable enough for lost souls to travel through.
I could hardly believe any form of life or unlife could survive long in Tlalocan as I observed it from above. Vast volcanic wastelands of fine pumice, pulverized glass, and soot-buried ruined cities covered a smoldering landscape. What the cinders didn¡¯t coat like mountain peak snow, raging flames consumed. The sky rained fire and the land churned smoke through great stone pits and sundered mountains. The wind howled as it carried the heavy smell of sulfur and burning flesh.
None of the layer¡¯s hazards touched me above the clouds. Flames and cinders alike slid over my blue-painted feathers and the mask of Tlaloc I carried on top of my owl face. These symbols protected me from the wrath of the layer¡¯s angry, jealous sun¡ for now at least. The carrying frame weighed heavily on my back. Even in my Tonalli form, its heavy load slowed down my flight considerably.
My mother showed none of my issues. She did not need paint and a disguise to protect herself from the rain of ash. It bothered me greatly until I used the Gaze spell. When sunlight poured out of my eyes to reveal the hidden and the invisible, I noticed a very subtle detail about my mother: a current of air swirled around her talons and feathers, so close to her I could hardly notice it with the naked eye. That wind coated her body like a protective cloth, repelling the fading flames and ash.
¡°What do you carry?¡± Mother asked me as we flew. ¡°It must be precious for you to bring such cumbersome cargo.¡±
I hesitated to answer truthfully. I did not trust my mother yet, and I doubted I ever would. She clearly lived up to her reputation as a criminal and spirit thief. I only followed her because she possessed the knowledge I needed, and because I wanted to confirm my father¡¯s survival. I couldn¡¯t trust her with the First Emperor¡¯s codex, let alone the urn that the goddess Chalchiuhtlicue asked me to deliver to her husband Tlaloc.
A silence settled between us, which my mother swiftly broke. ¡°It is best that you do not bring your package into Xibalba proper,¡± she warned me. ¡°If it is so precious that you will not share its content with your own blood, then the twelve Lords of Terror would delight in using it against you.¡±
¡°The Lords of Terror?¡± I¡¯d read about them in the First Emperor¡¯s codex. ¡°They are the demonic masters of Xibalba, are they not?¡±
¡°They are its masters and its prisoners both,¡± Mother replied with a short nod. ¡°Those primordial nightmares have existed in one form or another since mortals first experienced fear. They taught me a great many things.¡±
¡°But you do not trust them,¡± I guessed.
¡°Trust is for fools. Do not bring anything to Xibalba that you might lose or see turned against you. The Lords test the strong and drag the weak to hell.¡± Mother looked forward to the horizon. ¡°Everyone can enter Xibalba, but only the truest of the brave can escape it. For most mortals, it is hell. For a sorcerer, it will be a training ground. Once you pass the Lords¡¯ trials and win your freedom, then you will be ready to conquer Tlalocan and meet with its master. You will leave the House of Fright as a powerful sorcerer, or not at all.¡±
A powerful sorcerer¡
My mother clearly possessed greater sorcery than me from her years of experience. Still, a doubt kept gnawing at me. If she possessed the kind of magic I needed to take down the Nightlords, why hadn¡¯t she confronted them herself yet? Why would she rather hide than fight?
I could only see two reasons. The first was that all the power in the world wouldn¡¯t guarantee success against the Nightlords; a prospect I tried very much not to think of. The second option was that she simply didn¡¯t care enough to make an effort to overthrow them, even with my life on the line.
I didn¡¯t know which option I liked the least.
¡°How does that spell protecting you work?¡± I asked Mother after canceling my Gaze spell. I¡¯d better fish for information as soon as possible. ¡°You seem to command the wind itself.¡±
¡°This spell is called the Cloak, my son,¡± she replied. ¡°An Ihiyotl defensive spell born of the Ehecatl wind.¡±
¡°The Ehecatl?¡± That was the patronym given to those born under the auspices of the Wind month, like me. My name Iztac Ce Ehecatl literally meant ¡®the white born on the first day of the wind.¡¯ This system allowed priests and soothsayers to make predictions based on birth. ¡°Not the Yaotzin?¡±
¡°The Yaotzin draws its power from the curses of humanity,¡± my mother replied. ¡°The Ehecatl is born from its thanks and blessings.¡±
In this world, every force begets its opposite, I thought as I remembered the red-eyed priests¡¯ old lessons. Male and female, light and day, blessing and curse. Where Quetzalcoatl whispers to kings who govern with a just heart, Tezcatlipoca encourages the slaves to rebel in freedom¡¯s name. Where Xipe Totec taught man how to cultivate the earth, Huitzilopochtli told mortals how to master fire.
Perhaps those false priests could speak the truth now and then.
¡°That wind never whispered to me.¡± How wonderful it would have been to hear it. All I ever listened to were threats, tales of sorrow, and cryptic prophecies.
¡°Because it is weak.¡± My mother let out a snort. ¡°Gratitude is rare, while anger is plentiful.¡±
No matter how sad it sounded, I didn¡¯t argue with her. I had learned that lesson from experience.
A lesson that my mother had apparently put me through willingly, leaving me at the mercy of Necahual and fools who hated me on sight for how I looked. I could have forgiven her for running away from the Nightlords¡ªmany nights spent in their company had taught me to fear and loath them both¡ªbut leaving me and Father behind? That I could not get past. Nor the fact she had only bothered to contact me again after I had awakened my owl-totem. I had the very distinct impression she wouldn¡¯t have cared half as much if I hadn¡¯t been a Nahualli.
My mother Ichtaca was not a nice person. Our very meeting earlier had made that clear. If I had any illusion that she might have hidden a good heart beneath those black feathers, I now stood corrected.
But for all her coldness and twisted ideas of parenthood¡ She remained my birth mother and a witch of great power. The moment she gave me details about that Cloak power, I immediately sought to make it mine. The flame within my heart desired more spells, more magic to use against the Nightlords.
¡°What spells do you know?¡± my mother asked me.
My hunger for knowledge must have shown in my body language. ¡°Spiritual Manifestation, the Doll, the Veil, the Gaze, and the Augury.¡±
My mother paused for a short instant, the silence only broken by the noise of distant thunder and eruptions. ¡°To learn five spells in a week¡¯s time is nothing short of astonishing,¡± she said, ¡°but insufficient to take on any of the Nightlords. We will need to follow through with an intense training regime if you are to survive the year.¡±
I snorted. Her words reeked of condescension. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have been in such a position if you had been willing to teach me earlier.¡±
¡°And how?¡± My mother looked over her wingspan, her blue eyes meeting mine. ¡°A Tlacatecolotl only awakens in those who taste death. Would you have preferred that I try to drown you in the crib in the hope you would survive with powers?¡±
¡°It would have beat stabbing myself in the chest.¡± I matched her gaze as we passed through a sulfurous cloud. ¡°How did you even awaken your totem yourself?¡±
She turned away from me to stare at the landscape ahead. ¡°By being strangled when I was six.¡±
Her cold words took the wind out of my sails.
My mother did not elaborate further, her gaze set on the journey ahead. Her comment alone spoke more than any speech.
My father hadn¡¯t told me much about his wife even when he was alive. I¡¯d only learned details from him, Guatemoc, and other villagers. That she was a witch from another place than Acampa and who settled there after marrying my father, but not much else. No one would tell me how they even met.
Now that I knew my mother to be a Nahualli, a dark picture easily formed in my mind. The soothsayer who oversaw my birth considered me cursed, but she also forbade everyone from harming and killing me for fear of unleashing the evil within me onto the world.
However, I knew for a fact some people in Acampa wouldn¡¯t have minded seeing me exiled or watching me perish, though they never dared to take matters into their own hands. They certainly didn¡¯t help me eat during the drought. Those cowards probably believed the curse would only apply to them if they slew me personally.
My mother probably received a similar prophecy in her youth¡ and faced madder fools than those who lived in Acampa.
A terrible noise drew me out of my thoughts; a deep, mighty screech cutting through the sound of distant thunder and earth-shattering stones. I glanced around in search of its source, but I could only see fire clouds.
¡°Down,¡± my mother said, pointing at a dust-filled ravine below. ¡°We need to take cover.¡±
¡°Wouldn¡¯t it invite the Burned Men to hunt us?¡± I asked. ¡°Unless they can fly?¡±
¡°They cannot,¡± my mother conceded, ¡°but their dead gods can.¡±
She dived toward the ground before I could ask for more details. I briefly hesitated to follow after her until I heard the screech again, louder, closer. Whatever creature made the sound seemed to have picked up on our presence.
I¡¯d been warned by both Mictlan¡¯s inhabitants and the First Emperor¡¯s codex that greater terrors than Burned Men haunted Tlalocan. Ancient spirits of the old world who had perished in Tlaloc¡¯s flames or great terrors that were buried underground by King Mictlantecuhtli so they would not prey on the dead¡¯s souls.
Could one of these entities be after us?
Having recently survived a tussle with a spider-totem eager to eat my soul, I was in no hurry to confront another challenge. I followed after my mother as we descended closer to the ground. We passed by the petrified remains of calcified forests and descended into a dry canyon of old craggy stones. How many centuries had they spent battered by the wind and ashes? Hundreds? Thousands?
Whatever the case, the whole place was coated in ash now. As strange as it sounded, the closer we approached the ravine, the quieter the noise became. The cinders seemed to smother every sound coming their way.
My mother found a jagged hole in the canyon wall wide enough for us to enter; the remains of a cave that hadn¡¯t been entirely obstructed. She landed first and retook her humanoid form before taking cover inside. I swiftly imitated her. The cavity was roughly large enough for three men to venture into, its dark walls were covered in hardened volcanic rock. A few old inscriptions and paintings were carved into their surface.
¡°Stay on your guard,¡± my mother warned me. ¡°The Burned Men usually live underground. This tunnel might lead to one of their hideouts.¡±
I guessed as much from the cave paintings. This place had been inhabited, and might still be for all we knew. I activated my Gaze and swiftly illuminated the tunnel. It went on and on into the canyon¡¯s depths, far beyond what my light could reach.
The noise outside continued to strengthen. Its source had to be less than a mile away from the canyon.
¡°What are we hiding from?¡± I asked my mother. If only my Veil spell worked under Tlaloc¡¯s sun, we could have turned invisible and hidden better.
¡°Azcatlapalli,¡± she replied while being careful to stay in our hole¡¯s shadows. ¡°See for yourself.¡±
I dared to move near the hole¡¯s edge to peek at our pursuer. Its shadowy wingspan passed over the canyon and briefly obscured Tlaloc¡¯s sun. At first, I thought the creature was simply so high in the sky that my mind played a trick on me¡ but the longer I observed, the more I felt in awe of its immense size.
The¡ bird¡ªif one could call that thing a bird¡ªwas large enough to carry an adult longneck within its talons. If the creature once had feathers, the flames of Tlalocan had burned them away long ago, leaving only festering flames and flayed burned flesh caked in smoldering ash. Its translucent wings reminded me of that of a bat, except each was long enough to cover an entire district. A backward-sweeping crescent of flesh adorned its skeletal head alongside a massive beak and two burned black eyes filled with seething hatred. Smoke arose from its ribcage like the last remains of a dead fire; I saw no flames burning within, no Teyolia to fuel that undying cadaver.
Only malice kept it moving.
I knew hatred better than most men, but I had rarely seen such hate in the monster¡¯s black stare. That was not the cold, calculated anger that fueled me. It was something more primal, aimless, and savage.
I had seen that kind of seething rage in dogs trained to fight in the capital¡¯s pits. A lifetime of pain that had beaten away all fear and kindness, leaving nothing beyond depthless loathing for all that lived. That creature¡¯s existence was one of agony, for its size was its curse. In this desolate land, there was no hole big enough to hide from Tlaloc¡¯s fiery rains. The monster screeched with each flapping of its wings as falling flames bounced off its flayed flesh.
¡°What is that thing?¡± I whispered as I watched it run circles above the canyon. Thankfully, the creature¡¯s wingspan was too large to let it enter it.
¡°He was a god once,¡± my mother confirmed with a hint of pity. ¡°Not one of the great celestial beings whose Teyolia could power the sun, but a powerful spirit of the wind nonetheless. The Third Humanity worshiped him as a god of songs and beauty.¡±
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I could hardly believe that festering horror had been fair to look upon once. ¡°Why is he after us?¡±
¡°Because the living reminds him of what he has lost.¡± To my surprise, Mother did not appear frustrated with the creature. If anything, she appeared almost¡ compassionate. ¡°What he no longer has, he must destroy. It soothes his pain, however briefly.¡±
I understood the feeling. I had killed Tlacaelel for satisfaction¡¯s sake after all. However, it annoyed me since I had done nothing to deserve that creature¡¯s hatred besides the crime of existing.
¡°Do you still think that pain teaches us to become stronger?¡± I asked Mother. I couldn¡¯t resist the urge to take a jab at her.
¡°Pain teaches us when it serves a purpose,¡± she replied calmly. ¡°What Tlaloc has done, and still does, is no more than pointless cruelty.¡±
At least we agreed on that part.
The monster, Azcatlapalli, let out a series of soul-haunting screeches. The world answered his supplications with silence and it soon perched near the canyon¡¯s edge. His house-sized talons grabbed onto the stone, while his hateful eyes waited for any sign of movement. His gaze passed over our cave without stopping. The shadows provided good enough cover.
Mother remained unconcerned. ¡°He will leave soon. The mad have no patience.¡±
¡°How long is ¡®soon¡¯?¡± I asked.
She shrugged. ¡°Hours, days?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have days,¡± I replied, my voice brimming with frustration. ¡°The Nightlords will conclude their New Fire Ceremony in five of them.¡±
¡°The wise do not pick unnecessary fights,¡± Mother argued back. ¡°Yes, our spells and cunning could overcome Azcatlapalli. But what would we gain from it besides injuries? His Teyolia has faded away, the pain has devoured his mind, and he has no treasures to offer us. Leave the fleeting glory to the warriors. We sorcerers fight for knowledge and power.¡±
¡°Then we should look for another exit to slip past his gaze,¡± I pointed out. ¡°We are wasting time here.¡±
¡°No, you are wasting time here.¡± My mother calmly sat in the shadow of a wall. ¡°Instead of wallowing in thinly-veiled resentment for something that happened years ago¨C¡±
¡°You abandoned me,¡± I hissed. ¡°Forgive me for not worshiping the ground you walk on.¡±
She ignored me. ¡°You should instead tell me the details of this ritual, so we can sabotage it.¡±
¡°We?¡± I crossed my arms in skepticism. ¡°Will you assist me in fighting the Nightlords? Will we confront them as mother and son, two sorcerers against the might of Yohuachanca?¡±
Mother smiled thinly. ¡°I will make you the sorcerer you were born to be. Then you will break your own chains.¡±
As I thought. For all of her power and wisdom, she feared to confront the Nightlords in the open.
¡°You value your own life more than your family,¡± I accused her.
¡°I do,¡± she replied coldly.
I looked away, partly out of disappointment, and mostly because her answer did not surprise me. ¡°You won¡¯t even deny it.¡±
¡°Would you even believe me if I did?¡± Mother¡¯s expression softened a little. ¡°I do care for you, my son. I have used the Yaotzin to follow your progress since you were a child. I am proud of what you have accomplished, and I want to see you succeed.¡±
Empty words. ¡°Just not enough to fight for me.¡±
¡°Not enough to die for you,¡± she corrected me as if it made any difference in my case. ¡°I would rather see you live, and I will assist you in your quest for freedom. I will teach you my secrets and offer what advice I can. But I will not die for you.¡±
¡°Instead you will train me to kill the Nightlords for you at no cost for yourself.¡± I wasn¡¯t even angry anymore. Just bitter. ¡°How convenient.¡±
For once, Mother¡¯s gaze turned into a potent glare. I had gotten under her skin.
¡°The sisters¡¯ destruction would benefit me in the short term, I will not deny it,¡± she confessed. ¡°But whether or not the Nightlords perish is secondary to your survival. I would accept an outcome where all of them continue to rule Yohuachanca so long as you are alive and free.¡±
I didn¡¯t believe her. The Nightlords would never surrender me, least of all Yoloxochitl. My freedom would be honest and earned with blood.
¡°Moreover,¡± Mother continued, pausing for a few seconds as she chose her words. ¡°For all of their cruelty, I am not certain destroying the Nightlords would do the world any good in the long term.¡±
I held my breath, waiting for the joke¡¯s punchline. It never came. When I realized she was entirely serious, I found myself so outraged I couldn¡¯t even form a proper sentence. I choked on my own disbelief.
¡°Nature abhors a vacuum,¡± Mother explained herself. ¡°The Nightlords are the pillars on which Yohuachanca stands. If they disappear, the empire collapses.¡±
¡°Good,¡± I rasped upon finding the strength to speak again. ¡°Let that pyramid of blood and bones crumble to dust.¡±
¡°So that chaos and desolation may replace it?¡± Mother replied, insisting on her madness. ¡°The surviving Nightkin and their thrall nobles will wage wars to establish a successor to their late mistresses. The blood shed on the altar will be little more than a drop in the bucket compared to what the ambitious will spill for power¡¯s sake.¡±
¡°I would trade a hundred years of war against another year of systemic torture, slaughter, rape, and abuse.¡± Standing at the helm of Yohuachanca¡¯s government had only deepened my disgust for my own empire. My predecessors were right. Anything beat the current state of things. ¡°I will not accept a world in which the Nightlords continue to rule.¡±
Mother squinted at me. ¡°Even if you have already won your freedom by then?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I replied without hesitation. And I meant it. ¡°One way or another, I will destroy them all.¡±
I owed it to Guatemoc, to Eztli, to Nenetl, to the future emperors that would follow me if I failed, to the countless men sacrificed on the altars, to the many women enslaved as concubines and murdered at the Nightlords¡¯ whims. I could not forgive the vampires for the week of nightmares they put me through, and I knew the new year would only give me more occasions to witness more of their crimes. Each time I thought the vampires couldn¡¯t horrify me more, they proved me wrong.
So no. Even if I managed to break the chains holding my soul without destroying those who held my leash, I would still tear their throats out. Every fiber of my being demanded it.
¡°I see,¡± Mother said with a neutral, grounded tone. I couldn¡¯t tell whether she approved or disapproved. She wouldn¡¯t help either way. ¡°It is your choice.¡±
¡°It is.¡± And I would not falter. ¡°What outcome are you aiming for, oh mother of mine? For us both to ascend to godhood?¡±
¡°Is that not why you came here, my son? To follow in the First Emperor¡¯s path?¡± Mother tilted her head to the side like the owl she was on the inside. ¡°You tasted a sun¡¯s embers already. Surely you know what reward awaits once you have gathered them all?¡±
Yes, I did. The purple flame in my heart pulsated with hunger at the mere mention of embers. It sought to consume more power, to grow in strength until it could rival the sun itself in radiance.
However, for all my desire for freedom and power, I remained wary of where this quest might lead.
¡°I have seen him,¡± I whispered. ¡°The First Emperor. Or at least, I think I did.¡±
My mother¡¯s gaze sharpened and she listened in silence. I had her full attention.
Nothing in the Underworld¡¯s bowels had unsettled me half as much as the thing I glimpsed in the Nightlords¡¯ sulfur flame. King Mictlantecuhtli had inspired great dread in me, but he proved to be as fair and reasonable as death could be. There was nothing rational about the first vampire. He was darkness and pain made manifest. A primeval curse and calamity of bottomless malice.
¡°He is¡¡± Even now, I struggled to find the right word to describe him¡ it. ¡°Hunger. He is hunger incarnate. A bottomless pit that nothing can satisfy.¡±
¡°He is,¡± Mother replied, her voice low as a whisper. ¡°He emerged from the Underworld as a god of hunger, hatred, pain, and darkness. A divine effigy to human misery.¡±
King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s final warning echoed in my mind: ¡°Do not become what you fight against.¡±
¡°Is he who you want us to become?¡± I asked my mother, dreading the answer. ¡°What you want us to become?¡±
Her careless shrug sent shivers down my spine. ¡°You have seen Queen Mictecacihuatl. She too was a mortal once. The first woman. Her ascension did not deprive her of the good inside her. If anything, it magnified it.¡±
¡°Queen Mictecacihuatl is an admirable goddess,¡± I conceded. She had earned my respect the most out of all the deities I had encountered so far, real or otherwise. ¡°Whom you betrayed, or so I was told.¡±
¡°For no personal reasons. I simply needed knowledge some of her subjects possessed, but weren¡¯t willing to give me willingly.¡± Mother shrugged off the matter, as if stealing souls and betraying a goddess was a trifling matter. ¡°To answer your question, yes, I would like us to ascend to godhood. I would have included your father, but he is not a Nahualli. He cannot ascend.¡±
¡°Father?¡± It surprised me to hear him mentioned in my mother¡¯s plans.
¡°Why do you think I took his soul with me when I fled Mictlan?¡± Mother glanced at the sunlight peeking through the hole. Our pursuer was still out there, waiting for us. ¡°I hoped to revive his Teyolia in the Land of the Dead Suns and give him a chance at ascension. So far I have had little success. The Underworld cannot birth new life.¡±
I mulled over what she said. I always assumed Mother moved on from Father after abandoning us; that she had found another family to replace us with. Assuming she wasn¡¯t lying, then she had been waiting for him to die so they could reunite here in the Underworld. I struggled to reconcile this information with the rather poor image I had formed of her.
Abducting your dead husband¡¯s soul so they could both undergo a dangerous journey to become gods sounded almost romantic¡
¡°Do you love him?¡± I asked softly. ¡°Father?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Mother replied without hesitation. ¡°As much as I love you.¡±
She meant it as reassurance, I took it as a warning. I truly needed to check on my father¡¯s soul as soon as possible.
¡°Why do you want us to become gods?¡± I asked her. ¡°So we would no longer need to fear the Nightlords?¡±
¡°In a way,¡± Mother confirmed. ¡°Once we stand at the top of the world, no one can harm us. We will no longer have to fear death or slavery. We will no longer be subject to this universe¡¯s rules, for we will write them. Power is freedom, my son. Freedom from fear.¡±
I nodded sharply. Her motive didn¡¯t differ much from mine. It was a terrible thing to be weak, to see your life at the mercy of someone stronger than you. My mother might lack the chains binding my soul, but the threat of the Nightlords ruled her heart all the same.
I could only hope neither of us would transform into their abominable progenitor.
¡°You said you saw the First Emperor,¡± Mother said, changing the subject. ¡°When?¡±
¡°Shouldn¡¯t you know, if you have been using the Yaotzin to keep tabs on me?¡±
¡°I want to hear the details from your own mouth.¡±
After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I recounted what happened last night to her. At this point, I needed any help I could get to sabotage the ritual. If Mother was genuine in her desire to help, now was the time to prove it.
My mother listened to my tale in silence. Though she kept her composure, I caught a hint of tension in her body language. She feared the Nightlords¡¯ ritual as much as the gods themselves.
¡°Queen Mictecacihuatl is correct, the Nightlords likely intend to reshape reality through their ritual,¡± she said. ¡°However, I do not think they intend to drain the current sun of its strength. Instead, I suspect they wish to replace it.¡±
I squinted. ¡°To replace it?¡±
¡°Think about it, my son. The Nightlords have spent over six centuries convincing their empire that their father had become the sun in the sky. They repeated the New Fire Ceremony at each year¡¯s end, retelling the lie over, and over, and over again. The rehearsals are over, and the play will unfold when the universe itself is likely to believe in it.¡±
It took me a moment to connect the dots, and a chill traveled down my spine when I did. I remembered Queen Mictecacihuatl¡¯s warnings that the cosmos was at its most malleable at the end of a fifty-two year cycle. The power of magic and chaos reached its apex then.
¡°They want to turn the lie into truth,¡± I realized, horrified by the scale of the vampires¡¯ ambition. ¡°They want to place their progenitor in the sky as the new fifth sun.¡±
My mother nodded. ¡°No sorcerer has ever attempted a ritual so complex and powerful. But it has a chance of succeeding, which is all that matters.¡±
¡°Why?¡± I whispered. ¡°What would they gain from it?¡±
¡°I cannot say for certain, but if my hypothesis is correct¡¡± Mother joined her hands together, her gaze utterly focused. ¡°First of all, it would cause their progenitor to feed on the souls of the dead. Anyone perishing will have their Teyolia consumed by the sulfur sun. Such a buffer of life may very well keep the First Emperor¡¯s hunger sated.¡±
A process which, considering how the vampire curse worked, likely meant that mortal souls would not pass on to the Underworld anymore. A vampire god¡¯s belly would become the new afterlife for all living beings.
¡°Letting their progenitor usurp the sun will likely grant the Nightlords immense power,¡± my mother continued her explanation. ¡°Vampirism will become a cosmic keystone, and all those affected by it will share in the bounty. Moreover, a sulfur sun fueled by their progenitor might not burn them like the current one does.¡±
¡°The day will no longer offer sanctuary to the living,¡± I guessed. A prospect that angered me almost as much as the afterlife¡¯s destruction. The very thought of these parasites parading under the sun they once crawled away from disgusted me.
Worse, it meant the vampires would shed their only known weakness. They would no longer need fallible priests and servants to operate in the sunlight. They would become unstoppable, and the world would know eternal terror days and nights.
Not on my watch.
I couldn¡¯t resist taunting more. ¡°Do you think the Nightlords are no longer a long term problem?¡±
¡°I have flown into that one, have I?¡± Mother¡¯s jaw clenched in frustration. ¡°I will admit that I find this development¡ concerning.¡±
What a gentle understatement when faced with a potentially sun-shattering calamity. ¡°Then do you have any idea how I can extinguish their sulfur flame?¡±
¡°You can¡¯t,¡± Mother replied dryly, ¡°But you won¡¯t need to. A powerful ritual is akin to a play. It requires actors, props, and a stage. All must play their role to perfection. If any element is disrupted, then the ritual fails.¡±
¡°The Nightlords and I are the actors,¡± I summarized. ¡°The sulfur flame is the prop, and Smoke Mountain is the stage.¡±
I could read between the lines: if I couldn¡¯t destroy the flame, then I ought to sabotage another aspect of the ritual.
¡°The Nightlords won¡¯t let you interfere with their prized flame, and they will force you to play your part whether you like it or not,¡± Mother stated. ¡°However, securing the world¡¯s largest volcano is harder than preventing a single flame from dying out. You will have an easier time sabotaging the stage itself, so that it crumbles beneath the actors before the ceremony can reach its apex.¡±
I laughed at her absurd suggestion. ¡°And how am I supposed to destroy a mountain?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t,¡± Mother replied. ¡°Have you heard of the Curse?¡±
I shook my head. ¡°I have heard of curses, but from your wording I assume it is a unique spell?¡±
¡°The kind only a Tlacatecolotl can perform,¡± she confirmed. ¡°Owls are doom¡¯s messengers. By temporarily binding your Tonalli to an individual, you invite calamity to strike them. The ground crumbles under their feet. Their house collapses. Accidents become frequent. Their children sicken and die. The Curse takes and takes, until death comes as a mercy.¡±
The idea of cursing vampires with bad luck immediately appealed to me. ¡°I assume it won¡¯t affect the Nightlords?¡±
¡°I doubt it will,¡± Mother confirmed, much to my chagrin. ¡°Their magical defenses surpass your current stage of power. However¡ there is always a loophole to exploit.¡±
Mother grabbed a black feather from her owl mask. Blackened flames coursed through its vane and stained it with malice. She then planted it on the ground like a cursed flagpole.
¡°The Haunt is a more powerful version of the Curse that targets a location rather than an individual,¡± Mother explained. ¡°By marking an area with your Tonalli, you curse the very land to suffer from doom and calamities. It won¡¯t matter if you cannot harm the actors if the stage itself collapses on them.¡±
My eyes widened in astonishment as her mad plan became clear to me. ¡°You want me to curse all of Smoke Mountain?¡±
¡°Not for long, and not all of it.¡± A verbose way to say ¡®yes.¡¯ ¡°The Haunt¡¯s duration depends on multiple factors. The size of the area, its thematic resonance with death and doom¡ What you need is to trigger the curse on the New Fire Ceremony¡¯s eve, to stain it with calamity. Then all that can go wrong for those performing the ritual will.¡±
I clenched my fists. ¡°I will be performing the ritual.¡±
¡°The Haunt¡¯s curse will not affect its caster,¡± Mother replied. ¡°But I won¡¯t lie. There will be terrible consequences that I cannot predict for many, many people. The ritual¡¯s failure will induce an equally terrible backlash.¡±
I meditated on her words. I could see the blood written on the walls. The Nightlords¡¯ six-hundred year long ritual was meant to alter the cosmos itself. Its backlash might mean anything from natural disasters to something equally calamitous. I had no way of predicting the consequences; only that they would be catastrophic.
However¡ The alternative meant letting the Nightlords reshape reality itself in their own image. It meant the destruction of all mortals¡¯ afterlives and the start of a dreadful era where vampires ruled supreme. I could hardly imagine anything worse short of extinguishing the Fifth Sun, and even then the dead¡¯s souls would pass on to Mictlan.
While I hoped to find a less drastic solution to sabotaging the ritual, if all else failed¡ if all else failed, I had to consider that alternative.
Besides, while it sounded callous, a calamity befalling Yohuachanca on the onset of a major war with the Sapa would serve my purpose well. It might force the Nightlords to expose themselves on the frontline to reassure their living and undead followers alike.
¡°How must I proceed?¡± I questioned my mother.
¡°You will need to mark Smoke Mountain with your Tonalli¡¯s feathers,¡± she explained. So far so good. ¡°Moreover, to increase your odds, you should perform a counter-ritual. A series of actions aimed at symbolically striking against its actors that will strengthen the curse.¡±
¡°You mean the Nightlords?¡± I remembered Queen Mictecacihuatl¡¯s warning that symbolic representations of a god could affect the real deal. I assumed the Haunt worked in a similar way. ¡°So I must, what, destroy statues of them? Burn dolls made in their image?¡±
¡°Usually, yes.¡± Mother¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°However, considering the Nightlords¡¯ power and the scale of their ritual, the curse will demand greater effort.¡±
A shiver traveled down my spine as I realized what kind of price could pay for my foes¡¯ demise. The only price that death magic hungered for.
¡°You will need living dolls.¡± Mother¡¯s blue eyes flickered in the dark. ¡°You will need sacrifices.¡±
Chapter Twenty-Six: A Curse in the Family
My answer was short and to the point.
¡°No,¡± I said, first to myself, then to my mother. ¡°No. There has to be another way.¡±
Mother tilted her head at me with a quizzical expression. ¡°Why such a reaction?¡±
¡°Why?¡± How could she take a good look at me and say these words? ¡°The entire reason I fight the Nightlords is to avoid being sacrificed in one of their magical rituals. Now you ask me to do the same to others?¡±
Now she seemed even more confused. ¡°Yes, what of it?¡±
I stared at her for a moment before realizing the problem. My mother was a thief of souls. Of course she wouldn¡¯t see the issue with sacrificing others in occult rituals. She supported me in my quest because I was her son, not because she was against what the Nightlords did to their subjects and puppet emperors alike.
¡°I don¡¯t want to become what I fight against,¡± I protested.
Mother answered my doubts with cold logic. ¡°Forgive me, my son, but have you not started a war? Tell me how it is worse to kill a dozen men on a mountain¡¯s slope than ten thousand on the battlefield?¡±
My jaw clenched all the harder from the fact she had a point. ¡°I saw no other alternatives then.¡±
¡°Lies,¡± Mother replied implacably. ¡°There were alternatives available to engineering an international crisis¡ but none of them would have been as effective at weakening your foes and securing your power base, am I wrong?¡±
I lowered my head in silent shame. When faced with an honest truth, I didn¡¯t find the strength to lie to myself.
She was right, it was hypocritical of me to draw the line here after I¡¯d crossed so many earlier from murder to assassination. I¡¯d sowed the seeds of disasters whose bloom would claim countless innocent lives. Worse, I knew the Nightlords would force me to participate in human sacrifices during my year of rulership. Nearly all of the religious festivals involved spilling blood.
Even then¡ even then the idea of putting others through the same fate the Nightlords planned for me lurched my stomach. It felt like a betrayal, not just of others, but of myself. There had to be a better solution.
¡°Can¡¯t I slice a longneck¡¯s throat?¡± I asked. ¡°If the ritual demands blood, then such a beast will offer a hundred men¡¯s worth of it. Enough to fill a lake.¡±
¡°You think magic has anything to do with blood?¡± Mother snorted in disbelief. ¡°Animal sacrifice would not suffice. We need victims who can symbolically represent the Nightlords or Smoke Mountain itself.¡±
¡°The Nightlords liken themselves to animals,¡± I pointed out, still trying to find a way out of sacrificing my kinsmen. ¡°They do not call Ocelocihuatl the Jaguar Woman for nothing. Can¡¯t I skin a beast in her place?¡±
¡°You are more likely to anger the true god than its imitator if you try that.¡± My confusion must have shown on my face, for Mother let out a chuckle. ¡°Have you not noticed yet?¡±
¡°Noticed what?¡±
¡°The Nightlords have been trying to slowly replace the four celestial gods in men¡¯s hearts and minds for many years now,¡± she explained. ¡°Xolochitl, the Flower of the Heart, imitates Xipe Totec, father of agriculture. The Jaguar Woman impersonates the sorcerer Tezcatlipoca. Iztacoatl mimics our Feathered Lord Quetzalcoatl and Sugey promotes herself as Huitzilopochtli¡¯s successor as master of war.¡±
Now that she mentioned it, the similarities were quite eerie. The soldier god Huitzilopochtli was often represented by a hummingbird, and Sugey called herself the Bird of War¡ I cursed myself for not noticing it earlier.
¡°They are trying to slowly erase them from mortal memories the same way they are trying to outlaw Queen Mictecacihuatl¡¯s worship,¡± I guessed. It didn¡¯t surprise me much. ¡°Do they gain power from it?¡±
¡°Not yet, but who knows?¡± The flicker of a dark smile stretched across Mother¡¯s face. ¡°If they succeed in replacing the sun, they might try to replace the true gods in a few centuries.¡±
¡°Do not insult my intelligence with such blatant manipulation.¡± I glared at her. ¡°You only say that so I will go through with your counter-ritual.¡±
¡°I mean what I say,¡± she insisted. ¡°Do you think the vampires¡¯ thirst for power will ever be sated? They will always want more.¡±
¡°I won¡¯t deny it,¡± I confessed. If the Nightlords¡¯ arrogance let them hatch a plot to replace the very sun, then they were capable of anything. ¡°So you think animal sacrifices won¡¯t work?¡±
¡°No,¡± Mother replied bluntly. ¡°To disrupt a ritual of the New Fire Ceremony¡¯s magnitude, you will need humans slaughtered in a way that symbolically strikes at our targets. The more the better.¡±
My fists curled in frustration. ¡°What¡¯s the minimum number?¡±
Mother stared at me as if I had gone mad. ¡°The minimum?¡±
¡°One for each Nightlord? Half a dozen?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I want to reduce casualties to a minimum.¡±
¡°You cannot.¡± Mother kept hitting where it hurt. ¡°Our counter-ritual will pile bodies upon bodies in the best of cases, yet the deaths that will result from our enterprise will pale before the cosmic dawn of a sulfur sun.¡±
¡°I know,¡± I rasped. ¡°You do not need to remind me.¡±
¡°Apparently I must.¡± Her tone deepened in her quiet anger. ¡°Stop questioning yourself, my son. Doubt dulls the blade of the mind. The very foundations of our universe are at risk, and you squabble over a few dozen lives?¡±
¡°The universe would be safer if you helped me with the ritual!¡± I snapped back at her. Her criticisms were getting on my nerves. ¡°You live in the same world as I do, yet why must I be the one to dirty my hands?! If you think this is the best way to stop the Nightlords¡¯ ritual, then why don¡¯t you do it yourself?!¡±
¡°Quiet, son,¡± she said sharply, her eyes glancing into the tunnel. ¡°Quiet.¡±
I opened my mouth to protest when I heard a faint noise coming from deeper inside the cavern. I immediately activated my Gaze spell and prepared to fight whatever might hide there.
The light coming from my eyes illuminated the nearby walls, revealing cave paintings of longnecks, ancient birds, and other animals. Crude carvings crafted with red dust covered more ancient inscriptions written in a language I could not recognize. The tunnels descended deeper into the earth beyond my Gaze spell¡¯s reach.
The rattling noise of bones and nails scratching against stone echoed from further ahead.
¡°The Burned Men?¡± I whispered under my breath.
¡°Most likely,¡± Mother replied with surprising calm. With the giant undead bird outside blocking our way out, we had little room to deal with enemies. ¡°Cast a Veil. Show me what you can do.¡±
¡°But you said Tlaloc unveiled all lies in his territory.¡±
¡°His light does,¡± Mother replied, pointing a finger at the tunnel¡¯s exit while reminding me that we were enshrouded in shadows. ¡°It will not reach us here.¡±
If she said so¡ I cast my Veil spell and blanketed us both in an illusory barrier. We became one with the nearest stone wall, as invisible as fresh air, as silent as inert dust. I also canceled my Gaze spell in case our foes could sense it the way vampires did. I stood next to Mother as we heard the noise grow stronger, closer, sharper¡
A shambling horror emerged from the darkness, looking for blood.
Many times have I walked among Mictlan¡¯s citizens, whose death had stripped the flesh and skin off their bones. The appearance of the city¡¯s skeletal inhabitants surprised me at first, but their friendly and human demeanor won me over quickly.
There was nothing human about this creature except for the shape. It was a corpse alright, one with pulsating red flesh covering its bones. The burning winds of Tlalocan had flayed the skin off its raw muscles. An empty hole bled where it¡¯s heart should be and hate-filled black eyes peered at us; the same malice that fueled the dead spirit Azcatlapalli, but sharpened with human intelligence and malice. Its pointed teeth opened and exhaled smoke.
The Burned Man was neither alone, nor unarmed. Another of its kindred followed right after first, both of them wearing dust-stained rags and rusty metal plates; the remains of some armor I supposed. They wielded strange blades of a dull gray metal unlike anything I¡¯d seen. They resembled daggers, but longer than clubs and far sharper. Neither of them carried torches, but the darkness did not seem to bother them.
The two walked into the tunnel, their weapons grazing the stone floor and their throats letting out a threatening rattle. They stepped in front of us without noticing anything wrong. Mother and I had to lean back against the wall so as not to bump into the undead. Their black eyes could see in the dark, but not through my sorcery.
The Burned Men walked to the edge of the tunnel while carefully avoiding Tlaloc¡¯s sunlight. Did it burn them like the vampires I sought to destroy, or did they simply fear the god who scorched their entire world? Whatever the case they still took a moment to look outside the cave for any sign of intruders. One of the two made hand signs to its compatriot, who replied with a rattle.
Words, I realized. The pain stripped them of their sanity, but not their intelligence.
¡°What are those?¡± I whispered to Mother, the Veil preventing our words from reaching the Burned Men. ¡°The weapons they carry?¡±
¡°Steel swords,¡± Mother replied. ¡°Steel is a metal alloy.¡±
An alloy? My knowledge of metallurgy only extended to gold and copper. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it. Is it better than obsidian?¡±
¡°Much better and more durable. The Third Humanity discovered many wondrous things, and they have not forgotten all of them.¡± Mother¡¯s hand moved to her owl mask. ¡°This is a good opportunity to learn.¡±
I observed her with rapt attention. Mother plucked a black feather from her mask, kissed it lightly, and then whispered words to it.
¡°I want him to suffer,¡± she said. ¡°I want him to stumble and fall, for pain to wrack his bones and tear off his flesh. I want him to burn and suffer a thousand humiliations.¡±
The feather darkened as cruel wishes flowed out of Mother¡¯s lips. Its blackness somehow deepened into wispy shadows and ephemeral darkness. A witch¡¯s curses taking solid form in the world.
¡°Now watch.¡± Mother stealthily crouched without a sound and placed the feather against one of the Burned Men¡¯s shadows. The former swiftly merged with the latter and vanished from sight. ¡°To use the Curse, you must cast off one of your own feathers and plant it in the target¡¯s shadow. This stains the target¡¯s Tonalli with doom¡¯s call.¡±
I didn¡¯t have to wait long to see the effects. The targeted Burned Man looked over his shoulder as if he had heard us, only for a stone under his feet to crumble at the tunnel¡¯s edge. The flayed corpse suddenly lost balance, stumbled near the exit, and fell off into the canyon with a frightful cry. Its comrade watched the scene with what could pass for silent glee. It neither helped nor called out to the other warrior; it simply observed the fall with malice. The fiery rains had burned away all sense of kinship.
¡°Did the feather cause the fall?¡± I whispered to Mother. The accident had been so subtle I didn¡¯t detect any trace of magic.
¡°Yes and no. The feather does not command the flow of destiny, it simply makes it easier for doom to manifest.¡± Mother carefully watched the second Burned Man without summoning another feather; mayhaps she thought two Curses would be one too much. ¡°In general, it is best to suggest humble calamities. The more likely an event is to happen naturally, the easier it is for the Curse to turn it from a possibility into a certainty.¡±
A simple enough rule to understand. The Curse did not create outcomes from nothing, it simply improved the odds of them happening. A man was more likely to die from a bad fall than from battle, so telling the feather to induce the former would make the Curse likelier to take effect.
After a while, the last of the Burned Men lost interest in the tunnel and turned away, leaving its kindred to fend for itself outside. The creature briefly paused in front of the cave paintings as if to reminisce on long lost times before retreating further into the dark. I did not cancel my Veil immediately in case it returned later.
I briefly stepped closer to the tunnel¡¯s edge while avoiding Tlaloc¡¯s sunlight. The cursed Burned Man was nowhere to be seen. The canyon was so deep I could hardly see the bottom from our current position.
¡°How long does a Curse last?¡± I questioned Mother.
¡°Until the feather is removed, whether by magic or death,¡± Mother replied calmly. ¡°Experienced sorcerers can remove the feather from their shadow by plucking it with their Tonalli, but the uninitiated cannot cure themselves. The best they can do is mitigate a Curse¡¯s effects if they learn of it and avoid situations that would trigger it. Otherwise, they will carry it until their final hour.¡±
As far as spells went, this one might be the most cruel yet. It would probably fail to affect the Nightlords, but it would let me subtly assassinate their servants with little threat of discovery.
¡°The Haunt requires a similar process, but you must place the feathers into fresh corpses and then bury them in the place you wish to curse. The spell should then last until the corpses decay.¡± Mother smiled at me, anticipating my protests. ¡°Animals will do in most cases. You may use birds or rodents when a cosmic ritual is not involved.¡±
¡°Good,¡± I rasped. ¡°But it does not invalidate my prior complaint.¡±
¡°It does not,¡± Mother conceded without changing her mind. ¡°I cannot perform the counter-ritual myself, son.¡±
¡°Because it would endanger your fragile life?¡± I asked with heavy sarcasm.
¡°Because since you will carry out the New Fire Ceremony ritual, your spells will have an easier time disrupting it than mine.¡± Mother paused for a moment. ¡°However¡¡±
I squinted at her. ¡°However?¡±
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¡°I can secure the sacrifices and arrange for their death.¡± Mother observed my face sharply. ¡°Your assistance will be required to plant the feathers, but your hands won¡¯t have to wield the knife.¡±
I wasn¡¯t impressed. Giving the order to kill someone was the same as killing them yourself. I would simply use an intermediary as the weapon rather than use a dagger. It would make the operation easier though, and force Mother to tie herself to it more directly. If she had a stake and role in it, she was less likely to betray me at a critical juncture.
I let out a tired sigh. ¡°Is there truly no other option?¡±
¡°Triggering Smoke Mountain eruption is one,¡± Mother quipped. ¡°No mountain, no ritual.¡±
I shuddered, though I couldn¡¯t tell whether it was because of Mother¡¯s idea or the fact she seemed capable of humor. ¡°Is it even possible?¡±
¡°Everything is possible with effort,¡± Mother replied with a shrug. ¡°However, the cost and result of such an action would no doubt put a Haunt to shame.¡±
I snorted in disdain. My mother seemed to take the death of thousands no more seriously than a slight change in weather. Human life no longer mattered to her, if it ever did.
¡°I must think about it,¡± I said. I still hoped to find another, more palpable solution, and I needed to consult the Parliament of Skulls on the matter. I did not yet trust my Mother entirely. If she neglected to inform me of key details, my predecessors might help dispel her lies.
¡°Not for long,¡± Mother warned me, ¡°We only have a handful of days left.¡±
¡°Then begin to teach me now.¡± Even if a better option came up, the Curse and Haunt spells would help me out on my quest. I plucked a feather from my owl mask and examined it. ¡°Must I simply whisper words to it?¡±
¡°You must infuse the feather with your malice,¡± Mother explained. ¡°Whisper the target¡¯s name to it. Voice your grievances and offer suggestions. The purer and more personal the grudge, the crueler the Curse. Weave your hateful will into calamity¡¯s threads.¡±
Hate was the one thing I would never run out of.
I spent the next half an hour or so practicing the Curse with Mother, which mostly involved plucking feathers from my body and then whispering hateful words to it. Both came easily to me, yet no matter how many cruelties I came up with my feathers never gained the shadowy hue that Mother demonstrated.
¡°You must use all of yourself,¡± Mother advised. ¡°The Curse blends all three pillars of magic. Your Tonalli provides the feather and substance, but it is your Ihiyotl that anchors calamity, and your Teyolia that produces the malice.¡±
¡°I thought the Curse spell relied on my Tonalli alone?¡± I asked.
¡°All spells focus on a primary aspect of your soul, but it does not mean the others do not influence the result,¡± Mother replied. ¡°You must have noticed that your Doll and Spiritual Manifestation spells grew in power after you consumed the fourth sun¡¯s embers. If both relied on your Tonalli alone, why would strengthening your Teyolia improve them? Much like a strong heart helps the lungs quicken your breath, a spell will grow stronger if you can call upon all of your soul¡¯s resources.¡±
¡°And how do I do that?¡±
¡°Look inward,¡± Mother explained clearly. ¡°Remember events that put you through pain and echo the calamity you wish to brand the feather with. Do you wish to see a man fall? Then reminisce how it hurt to fall yourself. Do you wish to see a woman spurned by men? Then meditate on how it felt to be rejected yourself. Your Teyolia will burn with hateful flames, and your Ihiyotl will give them purpose through your words.¡±
I closed my eyes and meditated on a hated memory. I reminisced on that terrible night when I watched Eztli murder her own father on Yoloxochitl¡¯s orders. How helpless it felt to watch the unthinkable.
¡°I wish to see this boy watch his father die,¡± I whispered to the feather, the fire in my heart burning balefully and my words dripping with venom. ¡°I want him to stand by helplessly as his loved ones suffer. I want him to feel weak.¡±
A cloud of darkness floated around my feather when I opened my eyes again. Mother nodded in appreciation before ordering me to practice it again.
For all of her failures as a parent, she made for a pretty straightforward teacher as far as magic was concerned. Whereas Queen Mictecacihuatl had been attentive and Huehuecoyotl an utter pain to deal with, Mother spoke factually, pointed out my mistakes, and explained the underlying logic behind our brand of sorcery. She was refreshingly direct.
¡°The more information you give to your feather, the stronger the Curse," Mother explained. "A feather that targets a named person will inflict more harm than one meant for all of the world''s men."
¡°Can a Curse be tracked back to its caster?" I asked. If the Nightlords noticed a feather, it wouldn''t take them long to piece the truth together.
¡°If the sorcerer is inexperienced," Mother said before quickly reassuring me. "I will teach you how to hide such things."
I wondered how far I could push curses. If they could influence probabilities, would I be able to trigger complex scenarios with thorough planning? If I planted feathers on two different people and then cursed them to die by another¡¯s hand, would it cause them to fight? Moreover, the Haunt¡¯s ability to stain a location might serve me well in the palace itself.
I needed to experiment further, but it would wait for another time. My soul felt weaker, its spiritual essence pulled up towards the waking world.
¡°I¡¯m about to wake up,¡± I warned Mother. Leaving my carrying frame and its precious contents in a Burned Men-infested tunnel did not sit well with me. ¡°We need to hide my belongings.¡±
¡°I will take care of them in your absence,¡± Mother said sharply. ¡°And wait for your return.¡±
¡°I do not know when I will sleep again.¡±
¡°Hours or days, it matters not. I will be there when you sleep again.¡± Mother let out a shrug. ¡°I rarely leave the Underworld nowadays.¡±
I woke up before I could push her for details.
My awakening was rude and sudden.
I wasn¡¯t used to sleeping during the day after a sleepless night, so I supposed my body struggled to adjust. My flesh felt sore and tense. The prior day¡¯s exhaustion carried over into the next.
¡°Ugh¡¡± I grumbled as my eyes struggled to adjust to the luminosity. My bed felt so cold compared to Tlalocan¡¯s searing heat, and just as unwelcoming. ¡°What¡ what time is it?¡±
¡°Past midday, my lord,¡± Ingrid¡¯s voice answered my question. I turned towards my bedside and found her standing there, fully clothed. Tezozomoc was there too. I wondered how long they had been waiting for me to wake up. ¡°The sun is high in the sky.¡±
¡°I took the liberty of canceling your morning appointments and delaying the generals¡¯ assembly until this afternoon for the sake of Your Majesty¡¯s rest,¡± Tezozomoc said.
¡°You did well.¡± I would have been too tired for morning audiences anyway. I already struggled to sit up on my own mattress. ¡°What is the plan for the day?¡±
¡°Lady Chikal will oversee your afternoon training after the generals¡¯ assembly,¡± Tezozomoc explained. ¡°The Goddesses will then summon you at sundown for the nightly prayer ceremony soon after your evening bath.¡±
As expected, I would spend the night praying over their cursed sulfur flame. This did not sit well with me. The winter solstice had only recently passed, so nights remained long. If I could sleep from dawn to midday, I could hardly squeeze four to five hours of sleep in each day until the New Fire Ceremony; preciously short interludes to spend on spellcasting practice.
Should I take naps to catch up? No, it would hardly offer time for me to truly fall asleep. I would hardly stay longer than a few minutes in the Land of the Dead Suns before being yanked back to the waking world.
What other options did I have? I would still need naps to keep my mind sharp. Tiredness would dull my wits and weaken my body at a critical juncture.
Perhaps I should take an hour before or after the evening baths to practice Spiritual Manifestation? While my body would fall into torpor, I could have my Tonalli travel around under an illusory Veil.
Come to think of it, I¡¯d memorized a map of the palace¡¯s secret passages thanks to Eztli. I could have my Tonalli escape the palace through them. My flesh would recover in a state of half-sleep, and my soul could spy on people inside my prison¡ or contact individuals beyond its walls.
I could already think of a few.
¡°Are Tlaxcala and his mother still in the city?¡± I asked Tezozomoc. ¡°And Tlazohtzin?¡±
¡°Of course,¡± my servant replied. ¡°All of them await Your Majesty¡¯s judgment.¡±
¡°Tlazohtzin?¡± Ingrid raised an eyebrow. ¡°I thought my Lord Emperor intended to select his brother as their father¡¯s heir?¡±
¡°I haven¡¯t changed my mind.¡± But the scorned brother might yet prove useful. ¡°I will announce my decision another time though.¡±
Tezozomoc nodded sharply. ¡°Your Majesty is wise to preserve their strength and focus on more important matters. Shall I summon the generals soon?¡±
¡°After my daily meditation.¡± I needed to consult my predecessors. Much had happened since we last met, and critically important events would follow. ¡°What should I expect from it?¡±
¡°Lady Chikal and your military advisors will present Your Majesty¡¯s military strategy for the coming war to the empire¡¯s generals,¡± Tezozomoc explained. ¡°As customary, all of Your Majesty¡¯s consorts will be present.¡±
¡°All of them?¡± I repeated, my heartbeat quickening. ¡°Has Nenetl recovered?¡±
¡°Indeed, Your Majesty,¡± Tezozomoc replied. ¡°The Goddesses released her this morning, and she is eager to serve you again.¡±
I didn¡¯t fail to notice Ingrid¡¯s eyes squinting in displeasure. I didn¡¯t bother to hide my joy and relief. Nenetl suffered terrible injuries partly by my fault, and was delivered to the Jaguar Woman¡¯s cruel ministrations. I was eager to see her again safe and sound.
I could only hope the Nightlords didn¡¯t treat her too harshly.
¡°Good,¡± I told Tezozomoc. ¡°You may go for now.¡±
The red-eyed priest offered me a bow and then left the room. Lady Sigrun walked out of my bathroom almost at the same time, wearing nothing other than a jaguar fur mantle that covered everything but the head and ankles.
¡°I am pleased to see our Lord Emperor has woken up,¡± she greeted me with her melodious voice. ¡°You worried us.¡±
¡°You did not sleep well, my lord.¡± Ingrid gave me a worried look. ¡°Did you have nightmares?¡±
Yes, of a spirit-spider trying to eat me alive and a charnel realm of flayed men. ¡°Yes,¡± I replied sharply. ¡°You could say that.¡±
¡°Do you wish to talk about it?¡± Ingrid asked kindly. For once, her concern seemed sincere. ¡°Fears are like words, my lord. They go away when spoken aloud.¡±
Which, considering the Yaotzin existed, meant that they would come back stronger later. ¡°Maybe another time,¡± I said evasively. ¡°I am thirsty.¡±
Ingrid didn¡¯t insist further, and Necahual soon arrived to serve me a chocolate cup. As usual, she avoided my gaze and those of my silent guards. A thought crossed my mind as she approached me.
A Curse spell lasted until removed¡
I discreetly activated the Gaze spell while cloaking it in a Veil. My truth-peering eyes swiftly set on Necahual¡¯s shadow. I studied it carefully, looking for what I knew would be there. It took me a good minute to tell its shape away from the rest.
As I suspected, my Mother was a petty woman.
A black feather was subtly woven in Necahual¡¯s shadow. No wonder she had been unlucky in love. Mother must have placed this Curse early in my father¡¯s courtship or when Necahual discovered her identity as an owl-witch; since I could detect it, I assume she did so very early. Whatever the case, my mother-in-law had carried the feather for years.
I was tempted to remove the feather on the spot, if only because the Curse might affect Necahual when I needed her assistance the most, but I didn¡¯t know yet how to do so safely. I decided to leave the matter for later once I¡¯d mastered the spell.
¡°If my lord will forgive me for asking,¡± Ingrid said while I sipped my chocolate cup. ¡°But would you agree to let me witness your training session?¡±
¡°My training session?¡± I repeated, somewhat surprised. ¡°The one with Chikal?¡±
¡°If my lord does not mind,¡± Ingrid confirmed. Her mother observed her sharply, her expression an impenetrable mask. ¡°I have always been curious about amazons. I would love to see them in action.¡±
Whether Ingrid asked me that request out of genuine curiosity or to keep an eye on my other consort, I saw no reason to deny her wish. I assented with a quick nod.
¡°Must I bring food too?¡± Necahual asked with a low tone after I emptied my cup.
¡°No, not yet,¡± I grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m too tired to eat right now.¡±
Lady Sigrun smiled ear to ear, a flicker of mischievousness in her eyes. ¡°Perhaps our Lord Emperor needs more rest.¡±
My eyes lingered on her fur mantle. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind another massage.¡±
¡°I believe my Lord Emperor would appreciate a little novelty.¡± Lady Sigrun turned to her daughter. ¡°Ingrid, if you would kindly assist me.¡±
The daughter was usually as unflappable as her mother, so it surprised me to see Ingrid blush. My consort smiled sheepishly, almost as if she were embarrassed by the request. Now I was well and truly curious.
¡°If my lord would kindly sit near the bed¡¯s edge,¡± my consort said, her cheeks pinkish.
I did so. Ingrid¡¯s hands undid my loincloth, but instead of removing her own clothes as I expected her to she instead knelt before me. She moved her head near my manhood for a reason I couldn¡¯t fathom. What was she¨C
Oh.
Oh¡
I admit the contact of her lips startled me at first. Ingrid was timid at first, but my moan of surprise seemed to embolden her. Her mouth was wet and sweet, her hands warm and gentle.
Necahual lowered her head as she left the room, probably to hide either her disgust or her embarrassment. Lady Sigrun stayed and watched the scene without blinking. It added a certain transgressive appeal to the whole affair.
Ingrid slid up and down, like she once did with her thighs on our first night. It felt¡ exciting. Strange, but exciting. I closed my eyes, relaxed, and focused on that feeling of pressure building up¡ until I finally let go.
My loins ached and then came the bliss, that brief moment of absolute peace and contentment. My mind cleared like the sky and my strained back suddenly relaxed.
"Does our Lord Emperor feel better now?" Lady Sigrun asked as her daughter''s lips let go of me.
"It was, uh¡" Now it was my turn to blush. "Something."
"Salty?" Ingrid suggested as she wiped her mouth with her hand. She smiled sheepishly at me. "I hope my lord will forgive my inexperience on the matter."
"I¡" I wouldn''t mind her practicing this on me more often, but I was too embarrassed to say it. "I appreciated it."
"My Lord Emperor should call us again after his training," Lady Sigrun said with a chuckle, her hand suggestively brushing against her fur coat. "He has seen nothing yet."
How could such a simple, graceful gesture make my blood pump so quickly? Worse, her plan indeed filled me with renewed energy; for I now had something to look forward to.
Still, work came before pleasure. Ingrid and her mother helped me put on my imperial clothes, and I took the opportunity to ask the latter for information.
¡°I need the brothers¡¯ current address,¡± I whispered into Lady Sigrun''s ear. ¡°Quickly and discreetly.¡±
¡°A two-story mansion in the northern district for Tlaxcala, a smaller inn located a street away from his sibling,¡± my spymaster whispered back without hesitation.
How quick. If so, then the brothers¡¯ lodgings were only a short walk away from my palace. How appropriate. How convenient.
¡°I can arrange a message if you wish,¡± Lady Sigrun suggested, having guessed my intent.
¡°No need.¡± I would deliver that one in person; in a manner of speaking. ¡°How much will this information cost me?¡±
Her laugh sounded like a waterfall. ¡°Your best efforts when you call on us again."
It wasn¡¯t even a request. She knew I wouldn¡¯t resist.
By the time I left my bedchambers for the Reliquary, my muscles had relaxed and my mind had sharpened. I entered my predecessors¡¯ tomb with a renewed sense of purpose.
¡°We sensed a change in the Land of the Dead Suns, our successor,¡± the Parliament noted as I sat before them. ¡°You have entered Tlalocan earlier than expected.¡±
¡°A Tzahualli attacked me last night,¡± I explained while sitting down. ¡°Much has happened.¡±
A thousand eyes glowed in the dark. ¡°Tell us.¡±
I recounted last night¡¯s events to my predecessors, from Inkarri¡¯s ambush to my descent into Tlalocan, my reunion with my mother, and the information I¡¯d gathered on the Nightlords¡¯ plan. The more I spoke, the more I felt tension rising in the room. The emperors¡¯ skulls whispered between one another by the time I finished. My information had sparked quite the stir among them.
¡°The Sapa Apu¡¯s ability to target you in the Underworld is worrying,¡± the skulls declared after a moment¡¯s consideration. ¡°Queen Mictecacihuatl is correct, he no longer has the means to ambush you as you fall asleep so long as you remain in the lower layers. However, we doubt a sorcerer of Inkarri¡¯s standing lacks for other means of being a nuisance.¡±
¡°You think he will send other assassins?¡± I would be surprised if he didn¡¯t.
¡°It might take him much more time and effort, for fewer fiends haunt Tlalocan than Mictlan, but he will find it easier than targeting the Nightlords themselves.¡± It said something about my captors that an ancient undead sorcerer would rather strike me in another world entirely than confront the Nightlords in this one. ¡°The situation will change once the war comes to his nation¡¯s doors and forces him to protect his living subjects. Until then, stay on your guard.¡±
They did not need to advise me. Inkarri hoped to stop a war with Yohuachanca in its infancy by striking me down before imperial troops could mobilize. Once they did, he would focus on defending his own territory rather than trying to assassinate me quietly. I could expect to suffer the full brunt of his hostility until spring.
¡°What of my mother?¡± I questioned the skulls. ¡°I have my own opinion of her, but I would like to hear your viewpoint.¡±
My predecessors pondered their answer for a good minute before speaking it aloud. ¡°Your kin she might be, but you would be wise not to trust Ichtaca. Her reputation as a dark witch and thief of soul appears well-earned.¡±
¡°I do not trust her either,¡± I said. I could count the number of allies I fully relied on with one hand, and even then I remained wary. The Parliament of Skulls itself didn¡¯t hesitate to withhold information from me when its members wished to. ¡°Do you think she is lying about wanting to help me?¡±
¡°Mayhaps, mayhaps not,¡± the Parliament replied. ¡°You have seen Yoloxochitl. Even the vilest of monsters often cares for their progeny in their own way.¡±
I prayed to all the gods that my mother would not show me the same kind of love as the twisted Nightlord.
¡°Some will do terrible things to foreigners that they would never consider for their friends and kin,¡± my predecessors continued. ¡°Ichtaca may be that kind of warlock, but be wary. She is clearly ruled by her fears. Fear of discovery. Fear of the final death. Fear of the Nightlords. She will assist you only as long as she might remain hidden and safe.¡±
¡°I expected the same.¡± My fists tightened. ¡°As for her plan¡¡±
¡°Whether or not this particular New Fire Ceremony aims to replace the sun or not, we cannot allow it to proceed to its conclusion.¡± The Parliament let out a sinister rattle. ¡°Ichtaca is not wrong. We might have to resort to extreme methods to foil the Nightlords¡¯ plan.¡±
¡°I¡¯d hoped not to resort to more murders,¡± I confessed.
¡°But you will, if you must.¡±
I nodded. I wanted to explore less sinister alternatives, but if there were none¡ if there were none, I would not recoil from sacrifice. Victory and the world¡¯s fate both demanded it.
¡°Have you no other solution to provide, my predecessors?¡± I asked without hoping for much.
¡°Unfortunately, your mother¡¯s plan seems the most likely to succeed,¡± the Parliament replied. ¡°Targeting the priests who shall accompany you on your process to Smoke Mountain might help disrupt the ritual, but their mistresses will easily replace them. Moreover, there is another element we must consider. The Nightlords have invested time and effort into this ritual. Should Ichtaca¡¯s plan succeed in compromising it, the sisters will investigate. They will not stop until they find a responsible party.¡±
Damn it, I hadn¡¯t considered that. I¡¯d been so focused on finding a way to counter the Nightlords¡¯ rituals that I hadn¡¯t planned for what would come after. Mother might teach me how to hide my feathers, but I still needed better protection.
¡°I need someone to shift the blame to,¡± I whispered. ¡°A patsy.¡±
¡°You already know who we are thinking of.¡±
Yes, I did.
And I knew exactly the person who would let me plant the evidence.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: War & Games
Sixty generals had come from all corners of the empire to die in my name.
With the inclusion of the four leaders of the warrior fraternities and Tezozomoc, who represented the priesthood, this brought the total number of advisors to sixty-five; sixty-nine with my consorts. I¡¯d never faced such a large assembly of people since my coronation.
I hoped to cut down that number significantly by the end of my rule.
As expected of an emperor, I arrived at the assembly last. Warriors old and young sat on the ground in the shadow of my throne room¡¯s marble columns. All knelt before me as I ascended the steps towards my obsidian throne, a sea of muscled men draped in feathers and cotton armor. I paid more attention to the old veterans. Most soldiers died young, so those who had lived enough to become fathers and grandfathers were either terribly cunning or incredibly strong.
I found it strangely difficult to tell them apart from each other for the most part; only members of the various fraternities were allowed to wear more exotic uniforms like jaguar fur and quetzal feathers. For the most part, my generals felt interchangeable; a detail I assume the Nightlords planned for.
I counted no women among their numbers either. It didn''t surprise me much since Yohuachanca¡¯s military doctrine enforced strict gender rules when it came to the army, but it felt somewhat saddening after seeing Chikal and her amazons in action. I suspected my consort could match any of these generals in battle and come out on top.
Yet in Yohuachanca, women were meant to produce more soldiers to fuel the empire¡¯s expansion while men died in battle. I¡¯d never truly questioned that state of affairs until I ascended to the throne, but now it struck me as unfathomably cruel and restrictive. Doubly so since despite the fact the Nightlords were women, Sugey herself did not hesitate to wage wars personally.
We mortals were all disposable resources assigned as the Nightlords saw fit.
The four representatives of the warrior fraternities who had advised me earlier, Coaxoch, Cuauhteztli, Amoxtli, and Patli, occupied a place of status below my throne, but one lower than my consorts and Tezozomoc, who were allowed to stand next to me. Chikal had come dressed for battle, as befitting of her station as my minister of war; Ingrid offered me a respectful reverence; while Eztli smiled mischievously.
And then I noticed Nenetl.
My heartbeat hastened the moment our eyes met. I hadn¡¯t seen her since the tablet incident, where she awakened her wolf totem and fell into the Jaguar Woman¡¯s terrible ministrations. I had worried so much for her safety that simply seeing her alive came as a relief.
Nenetl seemed well, at least physically speaking. Her pristine skin showed no hint of scars or the kind of torture I had come to expect of the Nightlords. Servants had dressed her in ample, traditional robes adorned with jaguar fur, pearls, and feathers. A glittering ring of silver sat atop her long white hair woven with pale flowers, making her look quite queenly.
But when she immediately lowered her gaze and anxiously joined her hands, I knew she indeed bore new scars; the kind the naked eye could not see. Moreover, I immediately noticed the hint of a tattoo beneath her shoulders. Nenetl immediately raised her robes slightly to cover it fully, her teeth biting her lips in silent shame.
I immediately felt the crushing weight of guilt falling on my shoulders.
Nenetl had awakened her Tonalli while trying to protect me from a monster of my own creation. While I never intended to hurt her, I¡¯d been ready to cross that line if it meant securing a war with the Sapa; and in the end, she did suffer because of me.
I had to make it up to her somehow.
¡°Nenetl,¡± I said while I stood before my throne.
This time she dared to look at me. Half a hundred speeches and well-rehearsed words of comfort crossed my mind, but when I met her pale eyes so similar to mine, I forgot all of them and smiled.
¡°It is good to see you again,¡± I said from the bottom of my heart.
Nenetl briefly gasped, her cheeks reddening. ¡°I¡ me too, Iz¨C¡± Nenetl immediately stopped herself upon remembering we were at a public meeting and quickly bowed. ¡°My lord Iztac.¡±
Her adorable clumsiness soothed my bitter heart. I sat on the throne in a lighter mood than when I entered the room.
While Eztli appeared amused by this brief interlude and Chikal observed it with her usual coolness, Ingrid squinted in disapproval. I briefly wondered why before remembering that my deal with her mother involved treating her as my favorite. Did she think a brief show of affection to a friend in pain would jeopardize her standing?
I suppose I shouldn¡¯t have done that before all of my realm¡¯s generals, but for once I couldn¡¯t care less about decorum. I wanted to atone for what I did to Nenetl, even in a small way. I supposed I would make it up to Ingrid by asking for her input a few times during the meeting. That should assuage her wounded pride.
¡°You stand in the presence of the Godspeaker!¡± Tezozomoc announced. ¡°Emperor of Yohuachanca and master of the world!¡±
My mind more or less slipped away as he started reciting my titles. I cleared my throat when he finished, the entire hall growing silent. I rehearsed the speech I had carefully prepared with my predecessors one final time; these people only knew me as this year¡¯s emperor, and I would not have two chances to make a good first impression. Thankfully, the Parliament of Skulls had centuries of experience refining this art.
¡°Thank you all for making the long journey to my capital, my generals,¡± I addressed my audience. ¡°For centuries, warriors such as yourselves have stood vigilant over the blessed people of Yohuachanca. Our empire¡¯s writ extends as far as your spears¡¯ reach.¡±
Though I was younger than the dozen veterans who listened to me, the words came easily. I had grown almost comfortable in my current role, and facing the likes of King Mictlantecuhtli granted me more nerves than most.
¡°The empire requests your strength once again. The treacherous Sapa people made an attempt on my life while pretending to extend a hand of friendship.¡° After a short moment of hesitation, I waved a hand at Nenetl. ¡°My consort was nearly slain during the attack.¡±
Nenetl shrank in place. If she could have turned invisible, she would have. I somewhat regretted using her like this, but it had to be done.
¡°This act cannot go unpunished,¡± I declared. ¡°The Sapa have defied the heavens, thinking their mountains shall protect them. It is now our duty to bring them down to earth. We shall march on their golden cities, tear down their hills of stone, and return home crowned in glory. Your resolve will be tested, by our foes and the gods alike¡ but you will prove worthy. For the goddesses and their children themselves will stand witness to your trials.¡±
And I would ensure they would not survive long enough to deliver a final verdict.
Acclamations welcomed my speech, though how much of this applause was sincere remained to be seen. How many times had these generals been summoned to the capital to hear similar words? Yohuachanca had been at war since its creation. The oldest of my soldiers had survived a lifetime of bloody conflicts.
I waited for silence to return before waving a hand at Chikal. ¡°My consort will now explain to you what strategy we have chosen to shatter the so-called Sapa Empire,¡± I declared. ¡°I expect you all to play your roles to the fullest of your abilities.¡±
¡°Thank you, oh Great Emperor,¡± Chikal said with a respectful reverence. ¡°We will not disappoint you.¡±
I honestly hoped they did. The more disastrous the invasion went, the more the Nightlords and their spawn would be forced to expose themselves to salvage it.
Chikal and Tezozmoc proceeded to detail the plan the former had formed with my other advisors to the assembly. The gathering itself was mostly a question about who would be assigned which role; certain commanders would follow me in battle while others would have the task of managing the most ambitious coastal raid in our nation¡¯s history.
Another matter to discuss would be the attack¡¯s timing; our plan relied on officially challenging the Sapa to a formal Flower War on an agreed-upon place and date as a distraction while our main force would strike their coast from the sea. This meant a great deal of negotiation with our enemies would take place before any actual combat.
¡°I expect much from you in this case, Ingrid,¡± I whispered to my consort while Chikal continued her public address. ¡°As my chief of diplomacy, do you believe the Sapa would deny us a Flower War?¡±
¡°My lord selected a bold plan,¡± Ingrid flattered me. She relaxed a bit now that I publicly paid her more attention. ¡°I do not think they will refuse. Considering their current political instability, any would-be emperor will jump at the chance to gain victories and legitimacy. Of course, I expect my lord to crush them, but a Flower War will seem a better compromise than a full-blown conflict.¡±
I thought the same. Denying the offer of localized duels would seem like cowardice.
¡°Moreover, I believe I have found a way to all but guarantee an answer from my lord¡¯s enemies and utter chaos among their ranks.¡± Ingrid smiled deviously. ¡°We will address the war declaration to the Sapa Emperor without naming him.¡±
I thought over her proposal, but Eztli caught on to the trap¡¯s insidiousness before me. ¡°Oh, very clever,¡± she commented, leaning in to meddle with the discussion. ¡°Since the eldest and youngest sons of the late Sapa Emperor are at each other¡¯s throats over who will take the throne, this would imply we recognize whoever answers our challenge as our enemies¡¯ head of state.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Ingrid replied courteously, though her smile became a little more strained. She did not like her rival¡¯s intrusion. A fact that clearly amused Eztli. ¡°We should send the declaration as soon as possible. Waiting too long will give the Sapa time to settle their differences through diplomacy.¡±
I nodded in agreement, though I privately hoped for the exact opposite. If a direct threat from a foreign ruler and the counsel of a Mallquis sorcerer couldn¡¯t unify the Sapa royal house against Yohuachanca, nothing would. Nothing except perhaps the death of a prince in battle.
¡°Which of the Sapa brothers will answer our challenge, I wonder,¡± I muttered under my breath.
Ingrid chuckled lightly. ¡°The one with the most to prove.¡±
She proved her sharpness once again. These would-be emperor siblings fighting over inheritance reminded me of the feud between Tlaxcala and Tlazohtzin. I supposed all families behaved this way when a father did not settle his affairs before passing.
I¡¯d intended to settle the dispute in Tlaxcala¡¯s favor, since he could offer me the most support, but Ingrid¡¯s remark gave me a devious idea of my own. I could still make use of the spurned brother if I played my pieces carefully¡
Thankfully, the subject of the invasion¡¯s timing soon came up.
¡°Forgive humble Tlatilpa,¡± one of the generals said after being granted the right to speak, ¡°But it will take at least a month¡¯s turn to mobilize a fleet large enough to overwhelm the Sapa¡¯s coastal cities.¡±
Tlatilpa? I recognized the name as one of Nochtli¡¯s secret allies during his aborted coup. As more names from that list came up, I confirmed a few of his supporters had managed to keep their allegiances hidden. Not all of them, but a handful.
So far so good. I had already thought of a way to talk with these potential allies without having guards and priests watching over me, which I would test during my nap.
¡°Even taking into account the fleet¡¯s launch, I would wager on two weeks of smooth sailing before our troops might see enemy land,¡± another general suggested.
¡°It''s a pity that we have to keep some ships on the wrong coast to deal with the eastern islands,¡± Eztli commented lightly at my side. ¡°Since Your Majesty ordered forced conversions, the locals have started to prove¡ difficult.¡±
¡°And whose fault is that?¡± Ingrid replied, her sarcasm thinly veiled by courtesy.
Mine, since I¡¯d purposefully done my best to foster revolts within the empire; though Eztli did give me the excuse to make it reality.
Eztli gave Ingrid a hypocritical smile worthy of the late Tlacaelel. ¡°My, but who else than me? An emperor is never wrong, only badly counseled.¡±
She meant it as a joke, but the remark was sharply insightful. Since the Nightlords needed the emperor alive until the next Scarlet Moon, they would rather shift the blame on underlings whenever convenient.
¡°If I understand well¡¡± I started, my voice cutting through the chit-chat like an obsidian sword through flesh. ¡°You say it would take one to two months to organize the naval assault?¡±
¡°Indeed, Lord Emperor,¡± Chikal replied. ¡°It may be best to organize the Flower War slightly earlier to keep the Sapa¡¯s forces occupied on the wrong front.¡±
¡°Our astrological consultations confirm that a Flower War launched during the Wind month would bring great fortune to Your Majesty¡¯s efforts,¡± Tezozomoc added. ¡°The stars will align during that time.¡±
The imperial solar calendar would reset after the New Fire Ceremony. The first month would be Crocodile, then Wind, my birth month. Since I was born on its first day, starting a campaign then would make for a powerful symbol. Moreover, as emperor, I would be expected to oversee a sacred rain festival in the following House month.
I wasn¡¯t certain of how to interpret the priests¡¯ auspices, however. The Nightlords wielded great powers and understood the cosmos enough to consider reshaping it in their image. While I knew they were no true gods, their astrological predictions might contain a kernel of truth. They did predict my birth as a Nahualli after all.
Thankfully, Eztli read my mind and spared a potentially suspicious question. ¡°Will the emperor¡¯s efforts go well, or the war?¡± she asked Tezozomoc. ¡°This might prove a subtle, yet important, difference.¡±
¡°An emperor is favored by fortune during their birth month,¡± Tezozomoc replied calmly. ¡°I assume the goddesses will smile on all of their speaker¡¯s actions during that time.¡±
An evasive answer if I¡¯d ever heard one. Eztli also seemed equally amused. ¡°So you say the emperor¡¯s reign can only decline after that month flies by.¡±
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Tezozomoc smiled in embarrassment. ¡°I have no doubt His Imperial Majesty will steer his own fate towards a glorious future.¡±
¡°I shall endeavor to do so,¡± I replied, though I doubted Tezozomoc and I shared the same vision of a ¡®glorious future.¡¯ I turned to Ingrid next. ¡°Do you think you can negotiate a Flower War for the Wind month?¡±
¡°I believe so,¡± Ingrid confirmed. ¡°A campaign on the onset of spring would give the Sapa emperor claimants a chance to face my lord in battle and gain legitimacy before the rest of their realm may settle for one or the other.¡±
¡°Then it is settled.¡± I gave Ingrid a sharp nod. ¡°I will be relying on you for this one.¡±
Ingrid put her hand on her chest. ¡°I shall not disappoint you, my lord.¡±
Assuming I successfully foiled the New Fire Ceremony and that the Sapa Empire accepted the deal, this left me with a month to thoroughly sabotage the invasion before it could actually begin.
My plan for the generals went far beyond recruiting supporters among their numbers. Once Mother taught me to disguise my feathers, I would lay Curses on the invasion¡¯s key figures to ensure that it would end in a disaster. I couldn¡¯t infect every member of the assembly without risking discovery, but a few well-placed spells should achieve the expected result.
Henceforth, I spent most of the assembly taking notes of which general would be assigned to which part of the invasion. My predecessors had also given me a list of those who supported Nochtli¡¯s aborted coup, so I would check which of them survived the Nightlords¡¯ purge. I could not afford to curse potential supporters.
None of this will matter if the Nightlords rewrite the cosmos, I thought. Unfortunately, that matter will require all my attention in the short term.
The generals would likely stay in the capital a few days after the New Fire Ceremony¡¯s conclusion to plan the invasion¡¯s finer details. I would have opportunities to scout them out then.
¡°I have high hopes for what we might achieve together,¡± I told the generals as the assembly reached its end. ¡°While other duties are before me, please remain my guests until the New Fire Ceremony concludes. Let us begin a new era of glory for Yohuachanca together.¡±
Tezozomoc immediately bowed before me, quickly imitated by the generals¡¯ assembly. ¡°I will immediately make the necessary arrangements, Your Imperial Majesty.¡±
I nodded sharply and watched as the guards escorted the generals away from the throne room. My priests and jailers would have their hands full with so many dignitaries in the palace. This should give me a few opportunities to slip past their watch.
When my throne room became quiet again, with naught by my consorts and guards to share my company, I finally took the opportunity to check on a friend.
¡°You have been very quiet, Nenetl,¡± I said softly.
Nenetl shifted uncomfortably next to me. Whereas my other consorts participated in the planning session, she had been silent as a tomb from start to finish. Even while Nenetl had always been the most shy and reserved of the four, she would often comment on state matters anyway. Her lack of military experience could not explain everything.
¡°I¡¡± Nenetl cleared her throat and looked down on the cold stone floor. ¡°I am sorry, Iztac.¡±
¡°For not speaking up?¡± I shrugged. ¡°War is not your domain.¡±
Nenetl bit her lips in shame. ¡°For¡ for...¡±
Before I could say anything, she fell to her knees sobbing.
¡°I¡¯m so sorry I attacked you¡¡± Nenetl knelt, her forehead touching the ground. ¡°I swear, I¡ I could not¡ I could not control myself¡ I never wished to bring you harm¡ I swear¡¡±
I was so shocked I dared not say a thing. Her words took aback my other consorts too. Chikal observed the scene in silence, her thoughts hidden behind that facade of composure she had long mastered, while Ingrid took a step back as if Nenetl had suddenly become poisonous.
Eztli¡¯s reaction was the most puzzling. Since vampirism corrupted her, I¡¯d only seen her react to others¡¯ pain with disinterest. A wall had arisen between her blackened heart and humanity itself. Yet in this moment, she looked at Nenetl with a sorrowful look that could pass for pity.
¡°Nenetl, behave yourself,¡± Ingrid said, albeit weakly. It seemed that all of her mother¡¯s acting lessons had not prepared her to deal with someone in pain. If anything, the whole scene clearly made her uncomfortable.
As for me¡ the guilt I felt earlier was nothing compared to the sharp pain growing in my heart. Truth was, the thought that Nenetl would blame herself for transforming and nearly striking me while in a wolf state hadn¡¯t even crossed my mind. I half-expected her not to remember what happened while in that form. Moreover, she had transformed in the process of trying to protect me from what she believed to be a threat to my life.
Who in their right mind would have condemned her for that?
No one, except for Nenetl herself. She had spent all her life being told that she was a demon and saw all those lies seemingly justified.
¡°I knew¡ I knew I was unfit¡¡± Nenetl started to cry. ¡°This curse¡ I should not¡ I was warned, but¡¡±
¡°But nothing,¡± I said, unable to take this anymore. I immediately rose from my throne, decorum be damned, and bent the knee next to my friend and consort. ¡°Nenetl? Nenetl, look at me.¡±
When she would do nothing else but sob, I grabbed her shaking shoulders with my hands and forced her to raise her head. She finally looked up to me, her pale eyes red with tears. Somehow it made it worse. It felt like that night Necahual broke down before me all over again.
¡°I don¡¯t blame you for anything,¡± I comforted her. ¡°You¡¯ve saved my life.¡±
The lie came easily and tasted all the bitter for it; doubly so since it had become the truth as far as the world was concerned. She did try to save me from a monster of my own creation and suffered for it.
This irony hit all the harder since my words fell on deaf ears. When I struggled to find the right words to shake Nenetl out of her grief, I received help from an unexpected place.
¡°As Iztac said, there is nothing to atone for,¡± Eztli said. She put a hand on Nenetl¡¯s hair and gently stroked it. ¡°From what I heard, you tried to defend him from an assassin. You have shown great courage.¡±
¡°But then I¡¡± Nenetl joined her hands, her fingers shaking. ¡°That thing inside me¡ it nearly killed him anyway¡¡±
¡°Silly Nenetl, don¡¯t you know?¡± Eztli smiled joylessly. ¡°Only the goddesses alone can harm an emperor.¡±
Even when the new Eztli tried to show compassion, her behavior still managed to leave me unsettled. I still appreciated the gesture.
¡°Nenetl, don¡¯t cry.¡± When my words failed to reach her, I simply decided to hug Nenetl. Her head fell on my left shoulder as she let my arms close around her. She felt so thin and fragile within them. ¡°I am thankful, I swear. You have nothing to be ashamed of.¡±
Eztli kept stroking Nenetl¡¯s hair while I held her. Eventually she calmed down enough to stop sobbing and return the hug. I turned to my other consorts, who had observed the scene in silence without interfering. Chikal¡¯s expression could have been carved from stone, and Ingrid appeared completely at a loss on how to act. Had she never seen someone cry before?
¡°Our training will have to wait,¡± I warned them.
¡°It might be for the best,¡± Chikal replied with a neutral voice. I still couldn¡¯t tell whether she approved or disapproved of my conduct. ¡°The day is well underway anyway.¡±
¡°We will recover the time lost tomorrow,¡± I said before turning to Ingrid. ¡°My apologies. I know you wanted to observe in the training session, but it will have to wait for another time.¡±
¡°No, no, no need to apologize, I understand,¡± Ingrid said quickly. She dusted her robes and swiftly regained her composure. Her brief moment of weakness had come and gone. ¡°How about we take a bath together?¡±
I squinted at her. ¡°A bath? Right now?¡±
¡°Yes, all of us.¡± Ingrid glanced at Nenetl. ¡°Warm waters would help soothe her heart.¡±
I hesitated a moment, before realizing Ingrid might have a point. The imperial baths did wonders for relaxation and Nenetl clearly needed a little pleasure in her life right now. I glanced at the others. ¡°Is that agreeable with you?¡±
Chikal shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I would appreciate a moment¡¯s rest.¡±
¡°You know me,¡± Eztli replied with a mischievous smirk. ¡°I love water fights. I always win them.¡±
¡°Not all of them,¡± I replied, her quip making me crack a smile. I had briefly been reminded of better times. I gently broke my hug and faced Nenetl. ¡°Would you like that?¡±
Nenetl wiped her tears, then offered me a small, gentle nod.
Less than an hour later I found myself slipping into the vast marble pools of my palace¡¯s baths. The warm waters and the flowery incense in the air nearly lulled me to sleep immediately.
Ingrid was right. This place did have a way of soothing one¡¯s worries.
Speaking of Ingrid, she arrived first alongside Chikal and proved as graceful in the water as her mother before her. The two made quite the contrasting pair, one small and slender, the other tall and strong.
I¡¯d never seen Chikal naked before, and I had to admit that seeing her strong abs and raw muscles did not leave me indifferent. That woman was in better shape than most male warriors, her healthy body chiseled and sharpened by a lifetime of training. Her tanned skin bore a dozen healed scars near the thighs and chest. My eyes briefly lingered on them.
Chikal quickly noticed and smiled slightly as she walked into the baths. ¡°Are you fond of scars, Lord Iztac?¡±
¡°Someone told me each scar held a story once,¡± I explained.
¡°Wise words.¡± Chikal pointed at two marks near her left breast. ¡°I received this one from an enemy arrow and the other from a sister¡¯s blade. The latter nearly killed me.¡±
¡°A sister?¡± Ingrid asked curiously. ¡°I did not know you had any.¡±
¡°All the daughters of Chilam and Balam are sisters,¡± Chikal explained. ¡°We might not share the same parents, but we are all kin nonetheless.¡±
I noticed a flash of suspicion in Ingrid¡¯s eyes, though it did not last long. ¡°What could cause a sister to strike at another with the intent to kill?¡±
¡°A great many things.¡± Chikal shrugged her shoulders as she sat at the bath¡¯s edge and rested her arms on the marble. ¡°In this case¡ you could call it a political disagreement.¡±
Since that particular mark seemed more recent than the rest, I guessed Chikal received it after betraying her sisterhood to Yohuachanca.
¡°I believe you showed interest in witnessing our training session?¡± Chikal asked Ingrid. ¡°Are you interested in warfare?¡±
Ingrid showed a rare moment of hesitation before raising and lowering her chin. ¡°The women of my mother¡¯s native Winland are allowed to carry weapons and fight,¡± she explained. ¡°So tales of the brave amazons fearlessly waging war on even the mighty Yohuachanca always resonated with me.¡±
¡°Your homeland¡¯s people are wise, Ingrid,¡± Chikal commented. Though she didn¡¯t directly criticize Yohuachanca, her derisive tone revealed her true feelings on the matter. ¡°Any girl should learn to fight for the day when men fail her.¡±
¡°Interesting phrasing,¡± I noted. ¡°Did something of the sort lead the amazons to shun men?¡±
¡°So say our legends,¡± Chikal confirmed. ¡°Our ancestors overthrew the yoke of foolish rulers who nearly led us to extinction. It is quite a long tale.¡±
¡°I would like to hear it,¡± Ingrid said. ¡°I have always been fascinated by how myths shape cultures.¡±
Chikal gave Ingrid a sharp, pointed look. Although the fallen queen remained a master at hiding her emotions, I sensed a certain wariness in her posture.
¡°Come to think of it,¡± she said. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you carry any weapon before, Ingrid.¡±
¡°Mother refused to train me.¡± Ingrid lowered her body into the water until only her head peeked out of it. ¡°She said a warrior¡¯s skills would not serve me in my chosen role.¡±
And she was probably right, I thought. As a consort born of an imperial concubine, Ingrid would never see battle in her life. Her mother probably preferred to focus on teaching her spycraft and diplomacy instead.
¡°Do you regret it?¡± I asked her.
¡°A bit,¡± Ingrid admitted.
¡°Is that why you were interested in our lord¡¯s training?¡± Chikal asked, her eyebrows furrowing in my direction. ¡°Or to ensure I would not make a move on him?¡±
Going straight for the throat, I thought as I watched Ingrid tensing up. I kept my mouth shut and observed them.
¡°I do not know what you mean,¡± Ingrid lied, slightly taken aback by Chikal¡¯s bluntness.
¡°You do,¡± Chikal replied sharply. ¡°I saw the way you acted during the assembly, glaring and seething whenever he showed other women more attention than he should. You see our situation as a fight over a limited resource: his favor.¡±
Ingrid¡¯s gaze grew colder. ¡°We need not be enemies.¡±
¡°That is up to you, not me.¡± Chikal snorted. ¡°My only concern is to preserve my city from destruction. I am not interested in fighting over scraps of power, let alone those of a male.¡± She spoke the last word with barely hidden resentment at her current position. ¡°Let me do my job without interference and we will get along swimmingly.¡±
¡°How can I trust someone who sold out her so-called sisters for a place here?¡± Ingrid responded with terrible coldness. ¡°These scraps are all the power you have left.¡±
Chikal¡¯s hands curled into fists. ¡°I did what I had to do for my people.¡±
¡°So do I,¡± Ingrid replied.
¡°My my my?¡± Eztli¡¯s mocking voice cut through the argument like a sword through paper. ¡°Hasn¡¯t this gotten interesting?¡±
I felt almost thankful when Eztli and Nenetl entered the baths soon after; the former naked as the day she was born, the latter with a linen towel covering her back and chest.
¡°Please, go ahead and kill each other,¡± Eztli teased them. ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten yet.¡±
¡°This does not concern you,¡± Ingrid replied. Chikal¡¯s attention now focused entirely on Eztli, whom she probably saw as the greater threat.
¡°Of course it does. We should try to get along, don¡¯t you think?¡± Eztli fearlessly jumped into the pool like she used to do while we lived in Acampa, sending waves in all directions. ¡°We are all fellow slaves here.¡±
Ingrid recoiled as if she had been slapped, while Chikal¡¯s jaw clenched so tightly I worried she might break a tooth. Eztli had said aloud the truth they did not want to acknowledge. At least it killed this pointless argument and let me focus on a more important matter.
Although she no longer cried, Nenetl did not join us in the water. She anxiously stood at the pool¡¯s edge without daring to touch it.
¡°Come,¡± I invited her gently. ¡°It¡¯s warm. You¡¯ll love it.¡±
¡°Are you¡¡± Nenetl¡¯s hands tightened on her towel. ¡°Are you sure, Iztac?¡±
¡°You have nothing to fear,¡± I reassured her. When she wouldn¡¯t follow through anyway, my eyes lingered on her towel. I had a vague idea of what she so desperately feared to unveil, but I would not fault her for it. ¡°Or to hide.¡±
Nenetl hesitated some more, but my kind words reached out to her heart. She slowly removed the towel, revealing her slender, pale figure¡ and her naked back.
Ingrid covered her mouth in horror. Chikal¡¯s eyes widened, her composure briefly shaken. Only Eztli did not appear surprised, mostly because like me she had come to expect the worst out of the Nightlords.
I found myself at a loss of words, anger burning in my veins.
The Parliament of Skulls had warned me that the Jaguar Woman would mark Nenetl with spells meant to control her transformation. I didn¡¯t expect that sentence to be literal.
The tattoo on Nenetl¡¯s back was the most haunting piece of art I had ever come across, as disturbingly vivid as it was fascinating. A shackled silver wolf screamed under a pitch-black eclipse, spiked obsidian chains coiling around its throat and legs. The vicious restraints carved the beast¡¯s back open and dragged out a howling, bloody red shadow out of it. The picture painted the grim image of a wolf having its soul ripped from its flesh and shackled under a dark sun¡¯s auspices.
I briefly dared to use the Gaze on Nenetl in conjunction with the Veil to observe Nenetl¡¯s totem. I immediately regretted it. The phantom image of a leashed wolf flashed before my eyes; a proud great beast muzzled and shackled by the same black chains that bound my own heart.
I realized my mistake when Nenetl turned red from shame and embarrassment. The looks we¡¯d sent her only worsened her mood.
¡°It¡ It won¡¯t happen again,¡± Nenetl said weakly. ¡°The transformation. Lady Ocelocihuatl said so. She¡ she took care of it. She said this mark will seal the¡ the beast.¡±
My predecessors knew a way to subtly subvert the Jaguar Woman¡¯s control without her knowledge, to usurp ownership of the terrible spell; but I had no way of truly freeing Nenetl without alerting her tormentor.
Now that I saw the mark, the very thought of going through with the skulls¡¯ plan sickened me. I would become the worst kind of slaver: the one that oppressed his own kind.
¡°That¡¯s¡ good,¡± I lied through my teeth in an attempt to comfort her. ¡°This tattoo is¡ beautiful.¡±
¡°She is beautiful, Iztac,¡± Eztli added, catching on to my plan. ¡°She could be covered in scars and make them look good.¡±
The compliments might be utterly insincere, but they seemed to reassure Nenetl nonetheless. When I beckoned Nenetl to join us in the bath she slowly followed through, covering her breasts with her arms.
¡°You need not be so shy, Nenetl,¡± Ingrid noted. While she remained wary of her fellow consort, I noted a hint of compassion in her gaze. ¡°We are all naked as worms here.¡±
¡°I am sorry,¡± Nenetl apologized, blushing ear to ear. ¡°It¡¯s¡ it¡¯s my first time bathing with a boy.¡±
¡°I was the same,¡± Eztli commented with a devious expression I knew all too well. ¡°Then I found a trick to ease things up.¡±
I had survived enough water fights to see her sneak attack coming. I raised my arms to protect my face as Eztli¡¯s hand splashed the pool¡¯s surface and sent a wave straight at me. Nenetl gasped in surprise while Ingrid blinked a few times.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done that,¡± I warned Eztli, briefly forgetting all the horrors I¡¯d been through these past few days. ¡°I¡¯ve declared a war, you know?¡±
¡°But can you win this one?¡± she teased me.
I answered with a vicious wave of my hand that sent water all over her face. Nenetl¡¯s surprise turned into a giggle and Chikal smiled thinly at the spectacle.
Ingrid, however, clearly disapproved. ¡°My lord, must you truly rise to her provocations?¡±
¡°Have you never fought this way?¡± Eztli asked her.
¡°No, of course not,¡± Ingrid protested. ¡°It is childish.¡±
¡°Then you should make up for lost time,¡± Eztli noted before splashing water at Ingrid¡¯s face for her trouble. At first shocked, Ingrid attempted to keep her composure.
¡°Stop it,¡± Ingrid said. Eztli sent another wave her way. ¡°Stop it,¡± Ingrid repeated, an ultimatum that Eztli utterly ignored. ¡°Stop it!¡± Ingrid repeated, only for another splash to convince her that pacifism had never been an option. Her mask of self-control slipped and turned into a sneer of anger. ¡°Fine!¡±
Only then did Ingrid begin to retaliate with a splash of her own. She lacked my or Eztli¡¯s experience, but she was both a fast learner and a sore loser. She would not accept defeat. Soon Ingrid and Eztli ignored me as they waged a battle of their own; a spectacle that seemed to amuse even the mighty Chikal.
¡°That looks¡ that looks fun,¡± Nenetl commented shyly.
¡°Do you want to try?¡± I asked her. ¡°I will fight you if you want.¡±
¡°Oh, uh¡¡± She smiled sweetly. ¡°I would never dare¡¡±
Too much, too soon. ¡°How about a patolli game?¡± I suggested. I carefully avoided mentioning the tumi, in case it woke up bad memories. ¡°I will have guards bring in a board and we could play in the water.¡±
My suggestion caught Chikal¡¯s interest. ¡°Patolli, you say?¡±
¡°You play it?¡± I asked.
¡°I prefer more strategic games, but I do not mind playing that one,¡± Chikal replied, much to my surprise. The amazon queen sent a brief glance at Ingrid¡¯s and Eztli¡¯s childish feud. ¡°The Nightkin is right. We should try to get along.¡±
There might be room for diplomacy after all.
I suddenly realized I¡¯d never spent time with all of my consorts at the same time that did not revolve around work. I¡¯d enjoyed more personal interactions with each of them, some of them intimate, but not with all four.
Perhaps I should do this more often, I thought as I focused on the delightful feeling of warm waters flowing on my skin. I¡¯ve spent so much time focusing on the other matters that I forgot we¡¯re all on the same sinking boat.
¡°Oh?¡± As I expected, the possibility of playing a board game put Nenetl in a good mood. ¡°Oh, that would be great. The more players we have, the better.¡±
¡°Then say no more,¡± I said. ¡°I will have one brought to us immediately.¡±
Considering the night ahead of me, I welcomed a breath of fresh air.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Puppets Strings
As always, Nenetl proved undefeatable in battle.
Unlike the deeply strategic Tumi game, Patolli relied almost entirely on luck. When a player rolled the dice, their only real choice was to either advance an existing pawn according to the given result or put another in play on the board. That was all. There were no special effects to call upon, no magic trick to escape destiny¡¯s jaws. Since the game ended once a player got rid of all their pawns by reaching the board¡¯s end, Patolli focused on making the best out of a dice roll. Mortals did not decide fate¡¯s whim, but they could make the best of it.
Either Nenetl possessed phenomenal luck, or she had an uncanny intuition when it came to board games. We were on our fourth game and she appeared on the verge of winning this one too.
¡°You are good, Nenetl,¡± Chikal commented as she advanced her pawn by four spaces. ¡°Very good.¡±
¡°You are not so bad yourself,¡± Nenetl replied cheerfully. Whilst she remained in the lead so far, Chikal did not lag too far behind. ¡°No one has pushed me this far before.¡±
¡°It saddens me to hear that,¡± I complained. My poor pawns trailed twelve spaces behind the two.
¡°Don¡¯t fret,¡± Eztli mused at my left. ¡°You were never that good at Patolli.¡±
Ingrid smiled thinly at me to my right. ¡°Luck simply does not favor you today, my lord.¡±
When did it ever smile on me? Perhaps I should check my own shadow for a cursed feather. It would explain so many things.
At least Eztli and Ingrid were both offering me much needed moral support now that their water fight ended without a clear winner. I wouldn¡¯t say the childish feud had let them grow closer, but my consorts¡¯ general mood definitely improved around each other.
¡°I shape my own destiny,¡± I said before rolling the dice. Victory might be beyond my grasp, but I refused to surrender without a fight. ¡°If luck disdains me, then I must make my own.¡±
¡°A good way to live.¡± Chikal nodded in appreciation. She did not lose her composure even after Nenetl rolled the highest number possible, all but securing her victory. ¡°You would love playing Stone Warriors.¡±
¡°Stone Warriors?¡± Nenetl asked, her eyes looking up from the board in interest. ¡°Is that an amazon game? I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡±
¡°Our generals use it to train at troop deployment,¡± Chikal replied. ¡°The game is played with stone miniatures representing two armies, and does not allow for dice nor any form of luck.¡±
¡°No luck?¡± Eztli scoffed. ¡°Where is the thrill then? The surprise?¡±
¡°It¡¯s a match of pure skill and wits,¡± Chikal answered as she moved her pawn forward by three more spaces, deftly dodging a trapped spot. ¡°It is a good game¡ but terrible training.¡±
¡°How so?¡± I asked, slightly surprised. I would think a game that allowed a player to control all the variables would help sharpen their strategic skills.
¡°Stone Warriors involves both sides fighting with the exact same amount of troops on an open field, with no dice nor luck involved. The rules stay invariably the same and the soldiers always act as their general wishes them to. It is the fairest of all games.¡± Chikal shook her head. ¡°How does this mirror a true war, Lord Iztac?¡±
¡°I see what you mean,¡± Ingrid said, quickly guessing at the issue. ¡°Two sides may possess vastly disproportionate resources of manpower, equipment, and logistics.¡±
Chikal nodded sharply. ¡°Soldiers may misunderstand a general¡¯s strategy, or even betray them. Dead warriors do not magically come back to life for the next battle. Leaders obey and discard rules whenever either brings them an advantage. An unforeseen change in weather may doom a perfect operation or provide a crucial delay. I have yet to find a game that can take all these elements into account.¡±
¡°Board & Conquest comes the closest, but it has its limits too,¡± Nenetl said softly. The Patolli game ended with a final roll of the dice and her last pawn reaching the finish line. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡ this is the end.¡±
¡°Do not apologize for winning, child,¡± Chikal said after accepting her defeat with grace. ¡°You should celebrate life¡¯s victories. They are so few and far between, not to mention short-lived.¡±
Quite the cynical take on life. Chikal might have kept her dignity, but her true feelings shone through her words¡¯ bitter edge.
¡°We could play another game,¡± Eztli suggested. ¡°All of us.¡±
¡°Perhaps another time,¡± I said with a yawn. I needed to take a nap so I could survive a full night praying before the Nightlords¡¯ sulfur flame.
¡°It is getting late,¡± Ingrid confirmed. Her arms coiled around mine and tightly held onto me. ¡°My lord needs to rest.¡±
Eztli smiled at the scene, her fangs flashing beneath her lips. ¡°Indeed he must. He will spend the night with me after all.¡±
Ingrid¡¯s eyes did not smile when her lips did. Was she jealous of Eztli? Ugh, what a liability. I already had my hands full with the Nightlords. I couldn¡¯t afford to handle yet another private war.
¡°I understand,¡± Nenetl said, albeit without hiding her disappointment. ¡°Maybe we could play tomorrow instead? We can meet at the baths again.¡±
¡°I would not mind it after a hard day¡¯s training,¡± Chikal mused. ¡°If our emperor allows it.¡±
¡°Of course,¡± I replied, ¡°but only if you bring your Stone Warriors game.¡±
¡°Oh, great idea,¡± Nenetl commented, her eyes alight with interest. ¡°I would be delighted to try it.¡±
Her enthusiasm amused Chikal. ¡°With pleasure.¡±
I walked out of the baths happier and more relaxed than when I went in. Servants immediately arrived with towels to dry us up, with Necahual included among their number. Since a duo of amazons took care of Chikal and I caught Ingrid exchanging words with her own maids, I wondered if each of my consort possessed their own assigned staff¡ and how loyal they were to their mistresses.
¡°I am surprised to see you being so kind with Nenetl,¡± I whispered to Eztli as her mother dried our backs with a towel. I caught Necahual¡¯s fingers shaking as she touched her daughter¡¯s skin; sensing its coldness no doubt reminded her of her failure to protect Eztli from the Nightlords¡¯ grasp.
¡°What can I say? She reminds me of you.¡± Eztli shrugged as her mother dried her hair. ¡°She alone bears her heart on her sleeve.¡±
I nodded in agreement. Whereas Ingrid and Chikal pursued their own political agendas, Nenetl didn¡¯t have an insincere bone in her body. I admit it made me think fondly of her. She might very well become a true friend.
Alas, Tezozomoc soon arrived to ruin my good mood. The red-eyed priest bowed before Eztli and me before delivering the grave news. ¡°Lady Eztli, your divine mother calls for you.¡±
How shameless of him to speak these words before Necahual. My mother-in-law¡¯s crestfallen expression only worsened my mood, as did Eztli¡¯s blank face.
¡°I see,¡± my consort said with little enthusiasm. ¡°I shall go with haste.¡±
Necahual and I watched Eztli leave the imperial baths with the heavy steps of a condemned prisoner bound for execution. It tore my heart to see her like this, especially since I could do little to help her now. Necahual¡¯s eyes followed her daughter until she vanished from view, her hands clenching the towel with fury.
Tezozomoc noticed the gesture, but thankfully did not comment on it. ¡°Your Majesty?¡± he asked me next. ¡°Lady Sigrun also asked me if you intended to call upon her services.¡±
A thrilling sensation traveled down my spine. I remembered Lady Sigrun¡¯s last words to me when I asked how I should pay for her latest piece of intel: ¡°Your best efforts when you call on us again."
I glanced at Ingrid, who pretended not to listen in on our conversation and yet did nonetheless. I had accidentally snubbed her by showing more attention to Nenetl during the general assembly. Now would be the occasion to fill her hunger for fame and attention.
¡°I would delight in her company,¡± I answered Tezozomoc. Ingrid briefly glanced in our direction but quickly corrected her expression.
¡°I shall see that she learns it.¡± Tezozomoc gave me one last respectful bow before leaving. I admit that while he proved a much needed improvement over his predecessor, Tlacaelel, the less I saw this man, the better.
I turned to Necahual, whose hollow gaze made me pity her a little. While I felt little sympathy for her because of our prior history, but I didn¡¯t think anyone deserved to see their own child torn away from them.
¡°I am sorry,¡± I told her.
Receiving my pity seemed to jolt Necahual from her gloomy mood. She answered my words with a glare and then bent slightly to dry my shoulders.
¡°I stand by my decision,¡± she whispered into my ear with cold resolve. ¡°I wish to learn witchcraft.¡±
I glanced at Nenetl, whose servants covered the slave tattoo with a white cotton robe. Necahual¡¯s situation would not differ much from his consort¡¯s own if she continued down this path.
¡°You do not know what you ask for,¡± I told her once more.
¡°Mayhaps, but it will be better than what I have now.¡± Necahual¡¯s lips strained into that awful, hateful expression I had grown familiar with over the years. ¡°Nothing.¡±
She grasped for power in an attempt to regain her agency. Part of me wanted to grant her wish. The more spellcasters and tools at my disposal, the better. However, part of me did not relish in furthering another¡¯s enslavement; especially since I would hold the leash myself.
Necahual was no Nahualli. The Parliament of Skulls knew of a way to turn her into a Mometzcopinque, a creature with magic of its own, but the process would bind her soul to me. I would take another step toward becoming yet another slaver.
¡°What good is there in borrowed power?¡± I asked her. ¡°You will¨C¡±
Her nails sank into my shoulders.
¡°You think this is about me?¡± Necahual whispered with a hint of disdain. ¡°I will do anything to see my daughter freed and happy again. Anything. I do not care how you use me so long as I can get her back.¡±
The anger in her voice felt too vivid to be false. I could always trust Necahual¡¯s hatred.
The contrast with my own mother, who helped me only so long as she could afford not to risk anything, filled my heart with jealousy. If a petty soul like Necahual could find depths of resolve when it came to protecting her child, what excuse did Ichtaca have?
¡°Please,¡± Necahual pleaded as she let go of my shoulders. Sorrow and despair overwhelmed the anger in her eyes. ¡°She¡ she is all I have left.¡±
For all the resentment and bitter memories I kept for my mother-in-law, I couldn¡¯t help but admire her choice. I had impressed upon her the cost of witchcraft and she would still pay it for Eztli¡¯s sake.
If it was her choice¡
¡°Fine,¡± I whispered back. ¡°I will see what I can do.¡±
I found it hard to fathom that a woman like Necahual could find an ounce of courage in her situation, but I would respect her decision.
Necahual answered my words with a small nod and a brief, ¡°Thank you.¡±
I wondered how much it hurt her to say those words.
I offered my arm to Ingrid after Necahual finished dressing me. She swiftly took it and then I bade goodbye to my other consorts for the time; with a particular focus on Nenetl.
¡°Do you feel better now?¡± I asked her.
¡°I do, my lor¨CIztac.¡± Nenetl blushed slightly. ¡°You are very kind.¡±
¡°I had a pleasant afternoon too, Nenetl,¡± Ingrid said courteously while conveniently forgetting her water fight with Eztli. ¡°I look forward to playing games with you myself another time.¡±
I suspected Ingrid said those words only so she could keep an eye on Nenetl, but the latter¡¯s answer took her aback. ¡°Me too, Ingrid,¡± Nenetl replied with utmost sincerity, before taking Ingrid¡¯s hands into her own. ¡°I hope you won¡¯t not find me too boring.¡±
¡°Why would I?¡± Ingrid replied with an insincere smile.
¡°Well, you are¡¡± Nenetl¡¯s cheeks turned crimson. ¡°You are so cultured and refined¡ I do not want to embarrass you¡¡±
Ingrid observed Nenetl with a strange gaze. She reminded me of a bird of prey searching for any kind of weakness or deceit, only to find herself confused when she failed to detect any. Her sharply trained political mind struggled with the possibility that Nenetl¡¯s clumsy compliments hid no ulterior motives.
Ingrid eventually regained her composure and lightly kissed Nenetl¡¯s hands. ¡°Do not worry about that, Nenetl,¡± she said lightly. ¡°The four of us stand as equals in the gods¡¯ eyes.¡±
A fact that Ingrid clearly resented, but Nenetl believed her anyway. We gently kissed each other on the cheek, promising to meet again tomorrow, before servants led her back to her bedroom.
¡°I stand by what I said earlier, Lady Chikal,¡± Ingrid said as my last consort prepared to take her leave. ¡°I would like to witness your next training session, if you will have me. For curiosity¡¯s sake.¡±
¡°Suit yourself.¡± The amazon queen shrugged her shoulders. She didn¡¯t care either way. ¡°I will be waiting for you tomorrow, Iztac.¡±
¡°We¡¯ll make up for today¡¯s loss,¡± I promised. Unlike Nenetl, Chikal did not kiss me goodbye, nor did I make an attempt to do so. Whereas I¡¯d shared a bed with the others, or at least grown friendly with them like with Nenetl, the amazon queen kept our relationship strictly professional for now.
I would make an effort to break past this barrier over the next few days. I wouldn¡¯t say my consorts had become friends¡ªthe tense exchanges between Ingrid and Eztli attested to their mutual defiance. Nonetheless, I believed we had taken the first step towards understanding each other.
One day, we might all work in harmony against our true enemy.
¡°Shall we retire to my chambers, Ingrid?¡± I asked.
I expected her to agree with a smile. Instead, she appeared almost¡ reluctant. ¡°If my lord wishes.¡±
I raised an eyebrow. ¡°You don¡¯t want to?¡±
¡°No, no, let us return.¡± Ingrid shook her head and forced herself to smile. ¡°My mother awaits you.¡±
You? I noticed her odd turn of phrasing. Not us?
Ingrid dragged me by the arm back to my apartment without any comment. I sensed the tension in her hands, but the way she avoided my gaze convinced me to keep my mouth shut. My consort was in no mood to discuss what bothered her.
Ingrid¡¯s prophecy proved correct once we returned to my bedchambers and the guards closed the door behind us.
Lady Sigrun lay naked on my bed.
Before I went to sleep earlier this morning, I¡¯d asked her to put the bribe jewels she received from Tlaxcala on. She¡¯d followed my command to the letter. A splendid emerald necklace fell on her bosom, right below her torc, while rings of gold centered around her arms and thighs.
I had already seen her naked in the baths, but this¡ the way her necklace¡¯s glow complimented her eyes, the sight of gold on her milky white skin, of her hair falling on her breasts¡ I couldn¡¯t put it into words. Her jewelry heightened her allure the way statues of gold enhanced a temple¡¯s majesty. I stared at her perfect curves without a word, my lips unable to utter a word.
Lady Sigrun smiled at me with teeth whiter than pearls. Her right hand traveled up her neckline, brushing against her full bosom and necklace; the left moved to her thighs. I was watching a well-rehearsed spectacle meant to quicken my pulse, and it worked beautifully. My blood boiled in my veins and my manhood stirred against my loincloth.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Lady Sigrun glanced at Ingrid, who swiftly removed my clothes. I hardly paid attention to her warm touch on my skin. The daughter was but a shadow of her mother, and the latter had effortlessly put me under her thrall.
¡°Come over here,¡± Lady Sigrun boldly ordered me, as if I were the slave and she the master.
The nerve of her¡ I admit my body very much wanted to obey her command and join her, but my mind held back. So many days of scheming and treachery had made me wary of everything. I knew that much like she did not hesitate to throw Ingrid into my bed to influence me, Lady Sigrun would only offer me pleasure as a hook to obtain more concessions from me. She hungered for a queen¡¯s power.
However, I knew what awaited me afterward: a full night spent fueling a cursed flame with four vicious vampires breathing down my neck, followed by short hours of sleep trapped in a burning hellscape with Mother Dearest. Once I considered my trips to the Land of the Dead Suns an escape from the harsh reality of my waking days. No more. I would rest neither among the living nor the dead.
I might as well enjoy myself where I could. Evacuate the tension building up in my flesh and mind. The Nightlords designed this palace as a golden cage, with countless pleasures meant to dull my senses.
What harm was there in using a few of them for release¡¯s sake?
---- NSFW Scene Starts -----
So I anxiously walked up to the bed, doing my best to ignore the silent guards watching us with utter stillness. Ingrid did not say a word, her face once again blank and expressionless. I couldn¡¯t tell whether she disapproved or simply tried to hide her embarrassment. She glanced at her mother, looking for instructions; and in response Lady Sigrun silently gestured at the harp in the corner of the room.
She would not share me this time. Not even with her daughter.
Is this truly happening? I crawled onto the bed before I knew it and Lady Sigrun welcomed me without a word. I felt her daughter¡¯s eyes on my back as she started to play the harp. Somehow this only heightened the thrill. Or am I still dreaming?
I had shared a bath with Lady Sigrun before, and a bed with both Ingrid and Eztli. This time felt different, however. Stupid as it sounded, I still hesitated to touch Lady Sigrun. I knew she wouldn¡¯t push me away¡ªshe¡¯d invited me after all¡ªbut the difference in age and experience suddenly became clear to me. Though she kept her youth and beauty, Lady Sigrun was old enough to be my mother. She was a mature woman who had bedded over fifteen emperors and outlived them all; a queen who bore three princes and princesses without losing her legendary beauty.
I could brush it all off when we were merely playing stage games for outsiders, but now I felt¡ not intimidated, but anxious. Like a man who had only climbed hills now facing the challenge of an ancient mountain.
Sensing my wariness, Lady Sigrun clutched my hands, lightly kissed my fingers, and then pushed them against her bosom. All my hesitation vanished the moment I touched her. A jolt of lightning traveled through my skin.
¡°Earn me,¡± she said softly.
The sheer confidence in her words floored me. Somehow Lady Sigrun reversed our situation in a single sentence: I was the one who had to prove himself worthy of her. She challenged me, dared me to show I possessed the strength to hold her attention.
I knew it was a ploy, a tactic meant to arouse my desire; I was the one with the crown, the emperor. I held the power of life and death over her.
But just like the Veil ensnared the weak-willed into believing in an illusion, her plan worked. I¡¯d never wanted a woman more than this pale witch from the east.
I desired her fiercely. I desired her beauty, her wits, and her intelligence. And if she had been capable of loving me, I would have wanted her heart too. I knew she was only beckoning me because she hoped to profit from our union after I¡¯d proved my skills, but the mere fact she thought this dance was necessary aroused me. I felt worthy.
So I began to explore her, to touch her. Her smooth unblemished skin smelled of flowers and oil. I traced lines along her neckline and then seized her breasts. They felt like fruits in my hands, firm yet soft. Her fingers brushed against my hair and pushed my head closer to her bosom. Lady Sigrun let out a small gasp as I suckled her nipple. Her flesh tasted of salty sweat and spice.
¡°Pleasure me,¡± she ordered as her free hand guided one of mine between her legs. She moaned softly as I jammed my fingers in her lady parts, the sound making shivers run down my spine.
The rest was a blur, a whirlwind of kisses and whispers. Lady Sigrun proved an experienced teacher. Whereas I stumbled a lot with my previous partners, I only had to follow her directions this time. Somehow she always knew where to touch me to heighten my pleasure. A brush here, a bite there¡ I tasted her breast, her neck, her belly, her everything. Each brush of her fingers unleashed a jolt of lighting through my skin.
The fact Ingrid watched our coupling only heightened the experience. It gave our embrace a forbidden thrill, for lack of a better term. Perhaps it was her mother¡¯s ploy¡ªit certainly felt that way¡ªbut I didn¡¯t mind. I didn¡¯t care. I wanted to claim her, to own her, to conquer her.
Lady Sigrun finally granted my wish. She let me crawl above her, my manhood erect. She spread her legs and grabbed my shoulders with her hands, inviting me, welcoming me, daring me to claim the prize I¡¯d earned.
I could not resist. I did not want to resist. My hands grabbed her thighs and she buried her face in my neck as I thrust into her. I expected a rush of immense pleasure, a moment of absolute bliss.
Instead, I felt the trap¡¯s jaws closing on me.
The realization cut through the fog of pleasure like a blade of obsidian through flesh. A sensation of alertness and danger seized my heart instantly. A jolt of unease traveled through my back and caused my spine to stiffen.
What is this? I closed my eyes and focused. My breath was short, my body in the throes of pleasure, but my heart ached in my chest. My heart¡
My Teyolia.
I focused on my divine heart-fire. I sensed the presence of another flame besides mine; smaller, weaker, hungrier. A blazing torch to the hateful sun of my soul, but one that burned in perfect synchronicity with my own Teyolia.
Lady Sigrun sensed my sudden tension. Her legs coiled around my back before I could pull back, like the jaws of a great beast closing in on me.
I activated the Gaze the moment I opened my eyes again, covering the spell under a Veil. The invisible runes covering Sigrun¡¯s skin appeared to me, shining with the same gilded light as the torch connected to my heart-fire.
¡°Calm down, my lord,¡± Lady Sigrun softly whispered into my ear. Her arms seized me, her left hand sliding into my hair to better hold my head close. ¡°Let me guide you¡¡±
¡°What¡¡± I clenched my teeth, seething. ¡°What are you doing to me?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t you know?¡± Lady Sigrun smiled ear to ear. ¡°To receive, you must first give.¡±
My eyes widened. Death and beauty, I remembered. These runes represent the goddesses of death and beauty.
¡°When you asked about the runes¡ You wanted to learn my magic, did you not?¡± Lady Sigrun pulled my head into her bosom, our bodies joining in flesh. ¡°To receive my knowledge and pleasure¡ you must give in return.¡±
Death and youth. The pieces suddenly fell into place. I finally understood how Lady Sigrun had managed to remain so beautiful and ageless. Did my predecessors know? Probably not. Her method was subtle. So subtle I would have noticed had I not tasted a sun¡¯s embers and strengthened my Teyolia earlier.
¡°It might feel different this time,¡± I warned her.
¡°Good,¡± she replied with a soft exhalation. ¡°Worry not¡ I will only take what you give me¡¡±
I nodded and then thrust. She moaned and pushed against me, biting into my neck like a vampire. I closed my eyes to better focus on my Teyolia, to both bask in the pleasure and fully understand the process. Our heart-fires aligned like the sun and moon during an eclipse.
My loins ached and then came the bliss, that brief moment of absolute peace and contentment. My mind cleared like the sky while a surge of lightning traveled through my spine.
---- NSFW Scene Ends-----
I gave Lady Sigrun more than my seed; I gave her flames.
As our bodies became one, so did the fires of our souls. Some of my lifeforce flowed into her own; mere embers to the sun burning in my heart, but a searing flow of flames for her own meager Teyolia. Lady Sigrun let out a high-pitched cry during our union, her skin becoming searingly warm against mine.
The connection between our souls faded away. The fog of pleasure over my mind lifted as my manhood deflated. I looked upon Lady Sigrun, my sweat falling on her pink cheeks and youthful skin. Her smile of contentment filled me with masculine pride, but I was too exhausted to enjoy it for long. I collapsed against her chest while gasping for air.
¡°That was¡ wonderful, my lord,¡± Lady Sigrun whispered into my ear. Her hands stroked my cheeks and hair. ¡°Wonderful.¡±
It did feel that way, at least in the moment. An ultimate rush of pleasure right before the wave of exhaustion.
¡°That is how¡ You stay so young and beautiful,¡± I managed to whisper as I pulled out of her. ¡°You¡¯re a witch¡ no¡ you¡¯re¡¡±
¡°A vampire?¡± Lady Sigrun scoffed in amusement. She kissed my neck right where she bit me earlier. ¡°I do not drink blood, my lord.¡±
No. Instead, she used another body fluid to consume a man¡¯s Teyolia. She drained the vitality of her lovers to strengthen her own. Death transformed into beauty. And she had quite the appetite too. This single session left my body exhausted, so a normal man would have lost years of their own lifespan.
But since emperors never lasted more than one, who could notice? They would blame the exhaustion on a harsh day of work without thinking twice about it.
¡°How?¡± I asked her, the sound of Ingrid¡¯s harp covering our discussion. I¡¯d recovered enough for my breathing to slow down. ¡°You¡¯re not a Nahualli.¡±
¡°I cannot do what you do, no.¡± Lady Sigrun smiled at me. ¡°I¡¯ve suspected you were a sorcerer of great power for a while, but now that I¡¯ve tasted your lifeforce I am convinced of it. I could not explain your mysterious knowledge and interest in the codices otherwise¡ nor why the Nightlords catered such great hopes for you.¡±
I crawled over her and looked into her eyes. It took all of my willpower, and a Veil, to hide my unease behind a mask of composure. That was bad, truly bad. I should have expected her to figure out my magical gifts from my interests in the First Emperor¡¯s codices. The previous emperors counted Nahualli among their numbers. Of course someone of her intellect would have figured it out.
I doubted she knew I could travel to the Underworld or that I¡¯d staged all steps of the Sapa attack on my person, but she already knew too much. I could dispose of her easily enough with my current skills¡ no, no, someone with her skills would have taken precautions. Besides, I still needed her to gather the emperor¡¯s codices. She had all the tools to blackmail me.
My best bet was to remind her how unwise it would be.
I cast a subtle Veil; an illusion that covered my gaze alone. When Lady Sigrun looked into my eyes, she saw two sulfur flames burning with the First Emperor¡¯s boundless fury. The mirrors of my irises reflected the cosmic terror the Nightlords prepared to unleash upon the world.
However wise and composed she was, Lady Sigrun remained a mortal. She had never faced a god before, not even the illusion of one. A flash of fear lit up in her gaze.
¡°You do not want to make me your enemy,¡± I whispered with all the malice in the world. It wasn¡¯t a threat, but a fact. ¡°You were wise to keep my secrets so far¡ and you will be wiser to continue down that path.¡±
My hand moved up her neckline and subtly caressed her throat. ¡°Loyalty and treachery both carry their own rewards.¡±
Lady Sigrun quickly corrected her expression. The fear was gone, but the caution remained.
¡°The thought never crossed my mind, my lord,¡± she whispered back. ¡°Our interests align.¡±
¡°Good.¡± I removed my Veil spell and let my eyes return to normal. ¡°You did not answer my question.¡±
Lady Sigrun gently caressed my back as if I were a savage animal to soothe. ¡°It is said that the world came from a primordial being that sprung from nothingness. You people call it ¨mete¨tl and mine call it Ymir, but the tale is the same: when faced with loneliness, this primordial entity split into male and female before siring the first gods.¡±
Tired as I might be, it didn¡¯t take me long to figure it all out. ¡°Male and female were once one¡¡±
¡°The union of a man and a woman allows them to tap into great power,¡± Lady Sigrun confirmed. ¡°My people call this form of magic the Seier.¡±
A man and a woman¡¯s Teyolia could connect during a coupling under specific circumstances; and since the power came from the union itself rather than the individual, one did not need to be a sorcerer to practice it. At least from what I gathered.
I rolled to my back and glanced at Ingrid, who still played the harp in the background. She avoided my gaze, staring down at the floor as her hands pinched her instrument¡¯s strings. I couldn¡¯t tell whether she avoided my gaze out of shame at seeing me in her mother¡¯s arms¡ or guilt.
¡°Does she know?¡± I whispered into Sigrun¡¯s ears.
¡°Yes,¡± she replied while lovingly stroking my chest. ¡°I taught her the draining spell, just in case.¡±
I frowned and activated my veiled Gaze spell. To my surprise, Ingrid¡¯s skin showed none of her mother¡¯s runes. She hadn¡¯t used the spell on me without my knowledge, nor did she intend to. I guessed it wouldn¡¯t serve Ingrid well, since she would die at the year¡¯s end anyway.
¡°What practical applications does this Seier magic have?¡± I asked Sigrun. If this brand of sorcery could provide me with any tactical advantage, then I wanted to master it. ¡°Besides keeping one youthful?¡±
¡°Plenty.¡± Lady Sigrun smiled at me. ¡°I could teach it to you.¡±
¡°But not for free.¡± Never for free. Much like how she murdered Tlacaelel to convince me of her skills, she had given me a taste of power to better negotiate future trades. ¡°What will it cost me?¡±
¡°I will think over it. Your immense lifeforce might let me achieve feats formerly beyond me.¡± Lady Sigrun lightly kissed me on the lips, the sweetness of the gesture banishing my exhaustion. ¡°Rest now, my lord. You have earned it.¡±
I did. My body felt so tired that keeping my eyes open so far had been a struggle.
So I closed them and rested my head against Lady Sigrun¡¯s bosom.
But I did not sleep.
My body went numb beneath the bed sheet and my breath slowed down. A Veil of illusions cloaked my body and hid the shadow emerging from my chest from all gazes. When I opened my eyes I looked upon my own sleeping human face.
Casting both the Veil and Spiritual Manifestation spells at once took a great deal of willpower from me; so much so that I couldn¡¯t maintain my Tonalli¡¯s physical form. My soul emerged from my flesh as an ephemeral ghost of smokey feathers and shadowy talons, an intangible spirit unable to fully materialize among the living.
Perhaps that was for the better. The wispy strands of my soul faded through Lady Sigrun¡¯s fingers without alerting her to my spirit¡¯s presence. The Veil hid me from view with no one the wiser.
Fully escaping my own body as a disembodied Tonalli proved to be a strange experience. Whereas I kept physical sensations in the Land of the Dead Suns, now I felt numb all over. I intellectually knew where each limb was supposed to be and how to move them, but flapping my wings blew neither air nor filled my feathers with any stimulus. No perfume nor sweet taste filled my beak. At least I could listen to Ingrid¡¯s music and see the world in color.
My body lay on the bed in deep torpor, a corpse-like slumber, a dreamless sleep that neither pleasure nor pain could wake it from. Lady Sigrun rested next to me as if she owned the bed while Ingrid kept playing. Mother and daughter exchanged a heavy glance.
I was almost tempted to stick around and spy on them, but I did not have time. I floated through the nearest wall and phased through the stone without issues, abandoning my bedroom for a cramped, secret tunnel hidden from view.
I immediately sensed a presence in the dark passage. The absence of a torch or light of any sort caused me to struggle for a moment to find it, until I noticed two pairs of red eyes glittering in the shadows.
Nightkin.
Of course the Nightlords would increase security around me after the tablet incident. A pair of Nightkin could tear through stone and any assassin trying to take my life. They observed my body with unnerving vigilance, their attention so great that they failed to pierce through my Veil. I observed them for a second in case they might sense my presence, before fleeing through the tunnel.
I thanked Ezti in my mind for providing me with a map of the secret passages earlier. They were relatively easy to navigate through and nothing like the tangled maze I imagined. The passages and hidden stairways clearly lined up to the palace¡¯s rooms, allowing spies to follow my movements wherever I went.
Now I could turn this weapon against my captors.
Maintaining the Manifestation is easier than I expected. Strengthening my Teyolia with divine embers had increased my Tonalli¡¯s resilience; I might have been able to fully manifest had Lady Sigrun not drained me beforehand. I should be able to stay in this form for a while if I pace myself¡ and as long as no one ambushes me.
I could not defend myself in my current state. Materializing my talons taxed my mind too much, let alone casting a spell like the Doll. I could weave a Veil easily enough since it relied on keeping my Tonalli in an ephemeral state anyway, but a physical confrontation would end in defeat.
Neither could I afford to linger outside my body for too long. I had a short few hours before nightfall, at which point Tezozomoc would wake me up for the Nightlords¡¯ ceremony. A failure to awaken might become a cause for concern, and thus risk discovery of my powers.
Teyolia theft. The more I thought about Lady Sigrun¡¯s method of maintaining her youth, the more parallels I saw with the vampiric kiss. Both involved draining a target¡¯s heart-fire and lifeforce through physical contact. Did they work according to similar principles? Would studying Seier further my understanding of the vampiric curse?
There was a connection to be found. I could feel it in my bones.
I continued flying through the tunnels, following the mental map I¡¯d memorized earlier, and then phased through a wall. Rays of sunlight blinded me as I took flight under a bright winter sky. No words could properly describe the joy I felt when my wings carried me above my menagerie and the thick palace¡¯s walls.
I hadn¡¯t taken a step outside this cage of gold and stone since the Night of the Scarlet Moon.
The bustling streets of the imperial capital had never looked so beautiful to me from above. Great temples of red brick stood taller than hills and cast great shadows on statues and mosaics of all the beasts of the earth. Fleets of ships sailed to an immense port, delivering goods from all corners of the earth to wily merchants and hungry consumers. The city could not rival Mictlan in size and majesty, but it remained the home of countless thousands. All of the wealth and splendor of Yohuachanca gathered within its markets abuzz with songs and activity. Even the terrible Blood Pyramid and its plaza gained a certain aura of majesty when looked over from above.
If only I could simply fly away from this prison. A glance at the chained fire in my chest dissuaded me easily enough. My soul remains shackled wherever I go.
With luck, the New Fire Ceremony might grant me my freedom back.
According to Lady Sigrun¡¯s information, the brothers Tlazohtzin and Tlaxcala occupied locations near my palace while waiting for my judgment. Although I planned to rule in favor of the latter, I sought the former¡¯s current home among the great noble mansions, temples, and merchant houses forming my capital¡¯s wealthiest district. I quickly found what I was looking for: a mighty five-floor inn decorated with statues of two-headed serpents and jolly ocelot faces. I silently phased through the windows and searched my target through comfortable bedrooms, baths, and great halls.
I found Tlazohtzin inside a set of apartments on the fifth floor, praying before a small private shrine dedicated to the Nightlords. An offering of food and pulque burned inside a brazier, which I considered a waste. I knew very well what Tlazohtzin was praying for, and his wishes would go unanswered.
However, he could still be of use to me.
A perfect opportunity. I perched on the shrine and expanded my Veil. Now, let us see if I remember how King Mictlantecuhtli sounded.
Tlazohtzin looked up at the shrine upon finishing his prayer, and gasped in shock as I revealed myself to him; not as an owl of darkness, but as a great condor of light and gold. The very image of the Mallquis who tried to ensnare me in the Underworld not too long ago.
¡°I am Inkarri,¡± I lied, using illusions to mimic the deep and ancient voice of King Mictlantecuhtli. ¡°Messenger of His Divine Eminence, the First Emperor. I have come to deliver the heavens¡¯ words to you, Tlazohtzin. Listen well.¡±
I sense the weight of the man¡¯s disbelief pushing against my Veil, but he was a man untrained in sorcery. My divine appearance at a shrine, my voice borrowed from the god of death himself, my confidence inspired by the great powers I had danced with in the Underworld¡ All of these elements crushed his doubts under the overwhelming weight of zeal, faith, and surprise.
The heavens had listened to his prayers and answered them with a miracle.
I felt a little ashamed about crushing his hopes.
¡°Tomorrow, the mortal emperor will announce that he has chosen your brother Tlaxcala as your father¡¯s successor,¡± I declared. ¡°Your treacherous sibling paid for lies to reach the emperor¡¯s ears, and your hard work shall go unrewarded.¡±
¡°W-What?¡± Tlazohtzin blinked in shock and disappointment at the decision¡¯s injustice. His wrath was so great that he dared to complain before a divine messenger. ¡°But I¡ I worked myself to the bone to serve my father and preserve his legacy! Tlaxcala is a rotten fool unfit to lead!¡±
Which was why I selected him. The man would do anything for power.
However, as a wise man once said, let no crisis go to waste. The scorned brother would prove useful; doubly so since he stood to lose everything.
¡°Worry not, child,¡± I interrupted Tlazohtzin. Guilt¡¯s cold hands briefly seized my heart, but I powered through anyway. ¡°Your dedication has impressed my masters; the great gods who reward perseverance and hard toil. The mortal emperor¡¯s decisions may yet be overturned and true justice returned to the land.¡±
It was yet another lie, but one Tlazohtzin was desperate to believe.
¡°Alas, the heavens only help those who help themselves. You must prove your faith for fortune to favor you. A quest you must complete on my master¡¯s behalf.¡± I used the Veil to increase the glitter of my feathers for the sake of impressing him. ¡°As a master innkeeper, you must be acquainted with the Sapa and their game of Tumi.¡±
Tlazohtzin frowned in confusion. ¡°I am.¡±
¡°Good.¡± If birds could smile, I would have. ¡°This year shall soon come to an end and the gods shall reap a toll of foreign offerings upon Smoke Mountain. You must pay your own due on this sacred land, unseen and undetected; lest your brother sabotage you once more.¡±
Tlazohtzin drank in my words with rapturous attention, unknowingly putting his own noose around his neck.
I had my pawn and my patsy.
It was time to set the trap.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Value of a Life
I flew back to the palace, the fading light of the setting sun casting long shadows on my path.
My excursion went surprisingly well. Although I couldn¡¯t say with certainty whether Tlazohtzin would adhere to my instructions or reconsider his decision, I remained confident. The revelation of his brother being chosen as the heir on the morrow would cement his determination. Desperation had a way of erasing caution from men¡¯s minds.
By adopting Inkarri¡¯s identity, I also guaranteed that suspicions would fall upon the Sapa should Tlazohtzin be caught. I felt a pang of guilt for manipulating him this way. Unlike those I¡¯d tricked in the past, the man was innocent of any crime besides being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He deserved his father¡¯s inheritance more than his brother.
Alas, necessity knew no law. The Nightlords¡¯ ritual threatened more than Yohuachanca. Loathe as I was to follow my mother¡¯s advice, I resolved to do my best with the means at hand.
The most daunting task still lies ahead: cursing Smoke Mountain itself. Mother promised me her assistance, and for all of my grievances against her parenting I would have to trust her on this one. Four nights remain.
I soared over the palace walls without encountering any resistance. It felt a bit too convenient for my taste. My prison was supposed to keep me in and outsiders out. So why could my spirit travel about so easily?
Activating the Gaze spell in my current form proved mentally demanding, but not impossible. The palace quickly revealed its secrets to me. My fiery eyes revealed intricate lines of light tracing a colossal glyph in the ground; a primitive yet immense representation of a humanoid figure. The palace¡¯s architecture covered its chest and head, while the gardens and walls formed the rest of its anatomy. The Reliquary stood enveloped in Underworld mist on the glyph¡¯s head. The lingering grudges of my predecessors permeated every inch of this monumental barrier.
Of course the palace possessed magical protections against intruders. The desecrated remains of former emperors powered its magic from what I could tell; perhaps that was why the Nightlords began gathering them in the first place. Each new skull added to the pile fortified their successors¡¯ prison.
My predecessors had previously shown the ability to protect my divine Teyolia from detection. If their spirits fueled the palace¡¯s barrier, then they could probably influence it enough to grant me passage.
How ironic. The very spell designed to fend off intruders had inadvertently allowed me to roam about undetected.
I turned my Gaze to the Blood Pyramid and felt a chill run down my spine when I took a closer look. A sinister spiritual miasma born of innumerable sacrifices poisoned the very air around the vile edifice¡ªa monument to malevolence and brutality. Worse, a crimson mystical barrier stronger and more formidable than the one surrounding the palace enclosed the Blood Pyramid. It took on the form of a monstrous beast with expansive crimson wings, menacing horns, and outstretched claws.
A bat.
It¡¯s even better protected than the palace. I doubted I would enjoy the same exemption if I tried to cross that barrier in spirit. I will need to find a way past those defenses.
I remembered my predecessors¡¯ ominous warning. A secret maze sprawled under the Blood Pyramid, a womb of darkness and death. The empire¡¯s cruelest secrets awaited discovery in its depths. It was there that I would uncover the truth behind the fate of the past emperors¡¯ sons.
I was beginning to wonder if the Nightlords raised the imperial palace as a decoy. The secrecy and magical protections surrounding the Blood Pyramid appeared much more extensive than those defending the empire¡¯s seat of government. I didn¡¯t think it was the case¡ªthe Sulfur Sun¡¯s creation involved both sites at once¡ªbut it implied that the Blood Pyramid¡¯s secret could shake Yohuachanca¡¯s foundations.
But that revelation would have to wait until after the New Fire Ceremony.
I phased back through the palace¡¯s walls and entered its secret passages. I flew past Nightkin lying in concealed corridors without arousing suspicion. Good. Now that I¡¯d confirmed I could travel around the palace relatively undetected, I could think of expanding my operations. I imagined spying on Tezozomoc, my generals, and even my consorts under the cover of an afternoon nap. Wandering the palace in spirit-form would open new opportunities to build my spy network or secretly curse key targets.
I would nonetheless need to stay clear of the Nightlords on these future expeditions. Yoloxochitl had detected my presence in her vicinity the first time I experimented with Spiritual Manifestation. I couldn¡¯t take that risk again.
I slipped back into my room under the cover of invisibility. A good two hours had passed since my departure. Lady Sigrun and Ingrid shared my bed, each positioned on opposite sides of my inert body. The former rested peacefully, exuding the confidence of a queen who had reclaimed her lost throne; the latter, however¡
I loomed over Ingrid and studied her face. My consort lay naked by my side, her hands clenched tightly around the bed sheet, her eyes wide and fixated on the nearest wall. Her expression was somber, a stark contrast to the polite smile she usually displayed in public.
Ingrid had allowed herself to lower her guard since she believed me asleep, and I hated what she hid behind her composed facade.
Ingrid¡¯s vacant stare reminded me of that dreadful time I¡¯d caught Eztli gazing at the sun through an obsidian glass window right after we consummated our relationship. That awful look of utter desperation would haunt me for the rest of my life.
Ingrid¡¯s eyes lacked the same depth of despair as Eztli¡¯s, but the similarity hit unsettlingly close to home.
What¡¯s going on with her? I pondered. I had noted a change in Ingrid¡¯s demeanor following her mother¡¯s and my¡ intimacy, but I had anticipated discomfort at most¡ªnot this profound unhappiness. Her pain ran much deeper. She must carry a greater burden than I thought.
Ingrid had claimed that she accepted her fate the last time we discussed their impending sacrifice. That she had made peace with her inevitable death. The notion of resisting her unjust destiny did not seem to enter her mind. Or at least, that was how it looked to me back then. Perhaps she simply hid her anguish better than most.
I could not let her suffer in silence like Eztli.
I reintegrated into my body with no one the wiser. My limbs and fingers felt numb as my spirit slowly regained dominion over them. My weightless wings became heavy arms and my ephemeral talons reverted back to legs bound by gravity¡¯s laws. It took a few seconds for my immaterial soul to grow used to physical sensations again.
It almost felt wrong to become flesh once more.
¡°Ingrid?¡± I softly whispered into my consort¡¯s ear.
Ingrid peeked over her shoulder and greeted me with a fake smile. ¡°You are awake, my lord?¡±
Had I not caught a glimpse of Ingrid¡¯s true self, I would have mistaken her for the very incarnation of contentment. She possessed a real talent for acting. Her reaction reminded me so much of Eztli.
¡°I am.¡± I held my tongue and briefly considered how to approach the matter, before opting for bluntness. ¡°What bothers you, Ingrid?¡±
She feigned confusion. ¡°Nothing, my lord.¡±
I held her gaze, then put an arm over her waist to pull her closer. She did not resist me. Her back pressed against me, her chest softly rising with each breath. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Ingrid¡¯s fingers clenched mine. I did not say a word. I simply held her close while she turned to stare at the wall, her fake smile fading away.
Some gestures spoke louder than any word.
I lost track of time as we stayed there, silently intertwined. I knew it wouldn¡¯t last forever. The Nightlords would summon me for their nightly ritual soon. I was content to simply be there for Ingrid until that moment came, offering her my shoulder to cry on. So many emotions danced across her face¡ªfear, anxiety, doubt¡ Her innate caution clashed with her desire to speak her mind.
¡°She is already replacing me,¡± Ingrid murmured, her words so hushed I struggled to hear them.
She? I squinted as I struggled to make sense out of Ingrid¡¯s words. Was she referring to Lady Sigrun? It seemed plausible that Ingrid might harbor resentment over sharing her husband with her own mother. I tried to imagine sharing a woman with my father and¡
Ugh. My mind wandered to a dark place I would rather avoid.
Yes, I could imagine why the current situation might bother Ingrid. Still, hadn¡¯t she worked to set up this very situation from the start? I sensed her grievances ran deeper than jealousy or disgust.
Then it struck me.
Ingrid was born to be my consort. She had spent her life confined within these prison¡¯s walls and trained to become my advisor, all in the service of her family¡¯s ambitions.
But Lady Sigrun had swiftly taken her place. By using her own daughter as a stepping stone, she had schemed her way into my council, my bed, and my life. Her subtle magic and her vast network of spies had made her irreplaceable. Ingrid probably felt like a placeholder whose time in the sun had come to an end.
If Lady Sigrun was to assume her roles both in my bed and as my advisor, where would that leave Ingrid? The cruel and rigid imperial system denied her any other purpose.
¡°No one is replacing you,¡± I whispered before planting a kiss on her neck. ¡°You¡¯re my favorite.¡±
It was only half a lie. While I remained closer to Eztli and fond of Nenetl, I would honor my pact with Sigrun. I would lavish Ingrid with praise and attention. This ought to reassure her.
When Ingrid looked at me with the same strained smile as before, I knew I¡¯d missed the mark. Either she did not believe my words, or they failed to reach her at all.
My bedchambers¡¯ doors opened before I had the chance to correct my mistake. Tezozomoc entered with a polite bow, a cadre of silent guards shadowing his steps. ¡°It is time, Your Majesty.¡±
Lady Sigrun stirred beside me as she roused from her slumber. Ingrid tensed beside me, her body language reminiscent of a child bracing for reprimand. ¡°You should go, my lord,¡± she urged me. ¡°The goddesses await.¡±
¡°Yes, they do,¡± I replied, doing my best to hide my frustration.
I had to leave just when Ingrid needed me the most.
The sulfur flame burned atop a candle of ashes.
This marked my second night feeding the blasphemous blaze, but it was also the first where I noticed the architectural details. The towering mountain of ashes built from my predecessors¡¯ incinerated remains was bathed in a dark shade of gray akin to tarnished wax. It stood alone surrounded by a moat of boiling black tar reeking of death and decay. The sulfur flame burned with a bright blue light, yet the shadows did not recoil from it. Instead, they seemed to embrace it. Even the pale moonlight appeared to be swallowed by all-encroaching darkness. I did not miss the obvious symbolism.
This accursed candle would not keep the night at bay.
An evil miasma choked the air. An acrid stench of rotten eggs filled my nostrils. The taste of wriggling maggots lingered on my tongue. A suffocating heat pervaded the great hall to the point I started sweating under my cotton robes.
The evil grows stronger with each passing night. The sulfur flame¡¯s size remained unchanged since my last visit, but its intensity grew nonetheless. It appeared stronger, hungrier. A pitch black sphere grew at its core, like the ominous pupil of a baleful eye staring back at me. And something is.
¡°Come, child,¡± Yoloxochitl¡¯s voice beckoned, both sweet and revolting all at once. ¡°We are waiting for you.¡±
We. Once more I would spend the night in the four sisters¡¯ ¡®tender¡¯ company. If only I could go back to Lady Sigrun and Ingrid.
I stepped alone on the stone bridge crossing the moat and briefly stole a glimpse at the boiling tar below. Its temperature had increased since my last visit, enough for clouds of noxious smoke to arise from its bubbling surface.
Now that I thought of it, where did the vile substance come from? Was the palace built atop a bottomless pit of it? What purpose did it serve? So many questions filled my mind, and I had few ways to find the right answers.
I brushed these thoughts aside once I caught sight of Yoloxochitl. The Nightlord greeted me at the base of the ashen mountain, cradling a semi-comatose Eztli in a wicked parody of a mother¡¯s embrace. The dark stain on my consort¡¯s lips and the dazed stupor in which her mind seemed lost confirmed my worst fears. Yoloxochitl had once again force-fed Eztli her blood.
By now, hiding my fury beneath a mask of composure had almost become second nature. ¡°Greetings, Mother Yoloxochitl.¡±
Yoloxochitl¡¯s smile was usually sincere in its madness. So when she welcomed me with strained lips, I immediately knew something was wrong. ¡°Welcome, child.¡±
She is displeased with me, I realized to my utter terror. Yoloxochitl¡¯s anger always spelled violence and murder. Why? She was singing my praise after I set her cursed flame alight! Did she sense my spirit escaping the palace?
¡°Have I fallen from your grace?¡± I asked, feigning the anguish of a lonely child fearful of disappointing their loving parent. ¡°If I have done something wrong, I never¨C¡±
¡°You are faultless, Iztac,¡± Yoloxochitl reassured me with a tone that implied otherwise. ¡°You are still young, and that witch has ensnared many men before you.¡±
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That witch? Did she mean Lady Sigrun? Did her influence perturb Yoloxochitl somehow?
¡°Forgive my sister¡¯s sour mood, oh beloved emperor,¡± a sweet, singing voice said from behind my back. ¡°Losing our wager disappointed her greatly.¡±
A shiver of unease crawled down my spine as I sensed a loathsome presence looming over me. The shadows lengthened and split to let their masters slither around us. A pack of graceful predators surrounded me, ready to tear me apart at the slightest provocation.
The Nightlords welcomed me without their masked robes on.
I¡¯d regrettably grown familiar with Yoloxochitl and had already seen the Jaguar Woman¡¯s true face the night of the tablet incident, but it was my first time seeing the others in their full splendor.
The red-eyed priests described Iztacoatl as a goddess of beauty. Her divinity might be an illusion, but she was undeniably a breathtaking vision to behold, with her smooth pale skin, her hair as black and lustrous as the night sky cascading over her shoulders, and her exquisite face sculpted to perfection. Her capricious eyes flickered between a vibrant red and a mesmerizing shade of gold, captivating my attention more profoundly than her crown adorned with golden plumes.
All Nightlords enjoyed an inhuman allure, but Iztacoatl eclipsed all her sisters. Perhaps it was the absence of Yoloxochitl¡¯s palpable madness or the Jaguar Woman¡¯s frigid indifference that set her apart, or the way her charming smile somehow concealed the lethal fangs lurking underneath.
Whereas Iztacoatl possessed the same mysterious aura as Lady Sigrun, Sugey reminded me of Chikal. Despite sharing the same hair and eyes with her sisters, her face bore the ruggedness of cured leather and a pronounced jawline. She boasted a musculature rivaling that of my elite warriors and the jaguar-like grace of a trained amazon.
How can such fair faces hide such wicked minds? I had learned the answer to that question when Yoloxochitl unveiled her true, monstrous form to me. These four were no more than hideous nightmares hiding behind a dream¡¯s mask.
¡°Personally, I am elated with my victory,¡± Iztacoatl declared as she invaded my personal space, her cold fingers gripping my shoulders with the deceptive gentleness of a jaguar toying with its prey. ¡°You have chosen well.¡±
¡°Forgive my ignorance, oh great goddess,¡± I said while feigning submission. ¡°I do not understand what you refer to.¡±
¡°We wagered on which concubine you would choose to bed first. Consorts did not count, mind you. Since Sigrun comes from my personal stock, I have emerged victorious for the fifth consecutive year.¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s lips moved closer to my ears, though no breath escaped them. ¡°I might reward you for your exquisite taste.¡±
Like I need a skin rash. In spite of all my efforts, I could not suppress a chill traveling on my skin; a reaction that Iztacoatl maliciously celebrated with a sly chuckle.
Sugey snorted derisively. ¡°Do not get too cocky, sister. That cherished slave of yours is getting on in her years.¡±
¡°Sigrun has proven to be my most prolific breeding stock in centuries,¡± Iztacoatl replied with nonchalance. ¡°She is refined, intelligent, and possesses an exotic allure. Time has only served to enhance her flavor.¡±
I hid a shudder of revulsion. The Nightlords spoke of Lady Sigrun and myself not as sentient beings, but as livestock. They viewed our lives as nothing more than a source of entertainment and food.
Still, I covered my seething hatred with a facade of pleasantness. ¡°I am sorry, Mother Yoloxochitl. Had I been privy to your wager, I would have chosen differently.¡±
¡°No, no, no.¡± Iztacoatl shook her head. ¡°No cheating.¡±
¡°All is forgiven, Iztac,¡± Yoloxochitl replied with unexpected grace. Much to my frustration, she started playfully stroking the dazed Eztli¡¯s hair like a doll. ¡°I am pleased that you have finally taken steps to pass on your bloodline.¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± the Jaguar Woman said, her cold voice sharper than her sisters. She alone did not acknowledge me, her gaze fixed solely on the sulfurous flame and the mountain of ashes beneath it. ¡°This fire¡¯s glow is proof enough of the high esteem our Dark Father holds for you.¡±
I doubted the entity I had glimpsed within the sulfurous flame was capable of such sentiments. A mere glance at the cursed fire reminded me of its endless hatred, its insatiable hunger, and its unrelenting loathing for all existence.
Traitors, the entity¡¯s words echoed in my skull. Traitors, traitors, traitors.
¡°The next year¡¯s rituals will be of paramount importance, as will our impending conquest of the Sapa Empire.¡± The fact that the Jaguar Woman said conquest rather than war spoke volumes about her supreme confidence. ¡°Opportunities to pass on your precious lineage will be few and far between, Iztac Ce Ehecatl, but you must take them all the same. For your progeny will one day come to rule this earth."
As your slaves? My daughters would become concubines, and my sons would suffer a fate so terrible my predecessors would rather not speak of it. The Nightlord¡¯s promises were as hollow as her future.
¡°I will do my best,¡± I lied through my teeth.
¡°Your current best is not enough.¡± The Jaguar Woman finally deigned to face me, her icy, calculating stare infinitely more threatening than Yoloxochitl¡¯s madness or her other sisters¡¯ cruelty. ¡°Nochtli the Fourteenth bedded all his consorts in his first week and fathered over forty children over his reign. You clearly do not share his appetite for female companionship.¡±
¡°Nochtli the Fourteenth was never threatened with an assassination attempt, my sister. Nor did he ignite our sulfur sun,¡± Yoloxochitl defended me. ¡°Our dear Iztac does not have time for small pleasures yet.¡±
¡°His pleasures are also his sacred duty,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied, her voice echoing with unwavering conviction. ¡°He is a Nahualli and our era¡¯s prophet. The blood must flow.¡±
Why were they so obsessed with the emperor¡¯s children? The Nightlords¡¯ single-minded focus on perpetuating imperial bloodlines disturbed me to my core. What would make my sons and daughters so precious to the vampires?
Perhaps I was thinking along the wrong lines. Queen Mictecacihuatl taught me that actions visited on a god¡¯s symbols and representations could affect the deity itself. Imperial princes and princesses might not matter for their individual identities, but what they embodied.
The Nightlords claimed to descend from the First Emperor, or so the tales said. Although said stories were fraught with lies, that part seemed true so far. This meant an emperor¡¯s sons and daughters were symbolically associated with this loathsome quartet of false deities. Maybe the Nightlords derived greater power from their sacrifices than other men and women?
Would I find an imperial grave beneath the Blood Pyramid? Or something even more sinister?
The Jaguar Woman turned to Iztacoatl, her voice sharp as she asked, ¡°How many concubines do we shelter?¡±
¡°Nearly three thousand,¡± Iztacoatl replied. "All wet and willing."
The Jaguar Woman responded with a scoff of disdain. ¡°Three thousand is too much. Even should our current emperor lay with a different one each night, he would scarcely grace a tenth of our existing stock.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± Sugey said. ¡°We should cut down on quantity and focus on quality.¡±
My eyes widened ever so slightly. I understood all too well what the Nightlord meant by ¡®cutting down¡¯ numbers.
¡°The New Fire Ceremony will call for a banquet of blood,¡± Iztacoatl suggested with eerie enthusiasm. ¡°We could thin their numbers in time for the celebration.¡±
¡°No need to wait that long,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied. ¡°Our sulfur sun thirsts for blood here and now.¡±
I had to act before these monsters unanimously agreed on feeding thousands to their cursed flame. I cleared my throat just loud enough to command attention, yet soft enough to maintain politeness. Four pairs of eyes instantly fixated on me, the tension in the air as palpable as the edge of a blade.
¡°If I may plead with you, oh goddesses?¡± I said, my heart pounding vehemently in my chest as I carefully chose my next words. ¡°It is true that I didn¡¯t have the time yet to see all the beauties the imperial harem has to offer, but I hoped to take my pick after the New Fire Ceremony. I would be loath to see these wonderful women consigned to the flames before I could examine them myself.¡±
Sugey snorted contemptuously. ¡°Greedy, aren¡¯t we?¡±
¡°To offer one¡¯s blood to the Sulfur Sun is the pinnacle of honor,¡± the Jaguar Woman said. ¡°A tribute will feed our Dark Father in the sky and uphold cosmic harmony.¡±
I could hardly fathom the nerve of this monster, who so easily pretended to protect the very balance she sought to destroy in her mad grasp for power.
¡°It is true that while we must ensure the prosperity of our current generation, we must also not neglect those yet unborn,¡± I argued. ¡°The conquest of the Sapa will come at a great cost of lives. We will need more children to maintain our current population¡ and the flow of sacrifices."
The Nightlords only craved one commodity. The same thirst for blood motivated them. Moral arguments would fall on deaf ears, but appeals to their long-term self-interest might buy the poor women consigned to the harem at least a temporary reprieve.
"I shall play my part and so will my successor," I promised. "Once I have conquered the Sapa Empire and returned peace to our territories, what other task will the next emperor have other than to sire children? Let him find glory in his progeny, for I will have deprived him of other conquests.¡±
Iztacoatl erupted into laughter at my boast, and my words brought smiles on Yoloxochitl and Sugey¡¯s lips. Not the kind that inspired dread, thankfully. I took it as a good sign. I believed I had a chance of swaying them, until I checked the Jaguar Woman¡¯s reaction.
She did not smile.
The Jaguar Woman observed me with the chilling calculation I had come to fear most of all. Her unblinking eyes studied my face like a ferocious beast searching for a weakness. My heart pounded faster and faster in my chest. At least the heat would cover the source of my sweat.
¡°I can hear the frantic rhythm of your heart,¡± Iztacoatl whispered teasingly into my ear, her voice laced with mockery. ¡°Calm down, puppet emperor. Do you think we will devour you if you displease us?¡±
¡°He is wise to fear us,¡± Sugey noted with a touch of snide arrogance. ¡°Has he finally learned his lesson?¡±
Yoloxochitl immediately attempted to reassure me. ¡°Your words carry weight, Iztac. We shall take your proposal into earnest consideration.¡± Her gaze then shifted towards the Jaguar Woman. ¡°What is your stance on this matter, dear sister?¡±
A tense pressure settled in the hall as her question went unanswered. The Jaguar Woman¡¯s silence was ten times more threatening than all the others¡¯ cruelties combined. I wisely held my tongue. I could tell the wrong remark would trigger a terrible reaction.
¡°Sister?¡± Yoloxochitl asked with a hint of concern.
The Jaguar Woman remained focused on me alone as she asked me a question. ¡°What do you think is the value of a human life, Iztac Ce Ehecatl?¡±
I lowered my gaze, furiously trying to think of an appropriate res¨C
¡°I am not interested in what you think I want to hear,¡± the Jaguar Woman said. Could she read minds? ¡°I want your heart¡¯s answer.¡±
Curses. I couldn¡¯t lie my way out of this one. She would see through it in an instant.
¡°A human life is precious and must be spent sparingly,¡± I finally answered, ¡°if at all.¡±
Iztacoatl¡¯s hands slid from my shoulder to cover her mouth as she struggled to stifle a burst of laughter. Her sister Sugey didn¡¯t bother to show the same restraint and swiftly let out a hearty chuckle. Even Yoloxochitl gave me a smile akin to a parent humored by a child¡¯s innocently absurd proclamation.
The Jaguar Woman did not laugh. Not even the faintest hint of a smirk marred her sinister scowl.
I¡¯d made a mistake. I could feel it in my bones. Somehow I¡¯d offended the monstrous tyrant, said the wrong thing, and now she¨C
¡°Very well,¡± the Jaguar Woman said.
My back tensed up. Did my ears deceive me?
¡°There is no need for us to act with haste on the matter, and you have demonstrated your favor with the divine,¡± the Jaguar Woman said with a regal, magnanimous tone. ¡°You have swallowed your insolence and learned to put duty ahead of your desires. Obedience carries its rewards. The culling shall wait until another night.¡±
A fool would have sighed in relief, but not I. The Jaguar Woman had nearly strangled me to death within minutes of my coronation and brutally scarred Nenetl to enslave her very soul. She knew nothing of mercy.
Her gracious favor could only hide a gruesome punishment.
¡°I expect you to dedicate yourself to Yohuachanca¡¯s glory.¡± The Jaguar Woman looked up at their sulfur flame. ¡°Now, fulfill your duty. Feed the flame with your prayers and offerings.¡±
¡°Go,¡± Yoloxochitl whispered to Eztli upon freeing her from her wicked embrace. My consort nearly stumbled and massaged her forehead as if struggling with a headache, but quickly recovered from her previous stupor.
I knew better than to linger among monsters. I gently took hold of Eztli¡¯s arm and guided her to and then up the hill of ashes. The Nightlords watched our ascent without following us. The cinders burned under my feet.
¡°Are you holding up, Eztli?¡± I asked my friend as we climbed the ashen slope.
I expected Eztli to answer with a lie, but her silence caught me off-guard. She looked at the sulfur flame ahead of us without a word. Her tepid fingers would not clutch mine when I squeezed her hand.
¡°Eztli?¡± I repeated, more and more worried. ¡°Please, talk to me.¡±
¡°I am well,¡± she lied, hastily wiping Yoloxochitl¡¯s remaining black blood off her lips.
A wave of nausea washed over me. ¡°You do not look that way to me.¡±
¡°I am well enough.¡± Eztli shook her head, her red eyes blazing with anger and resentment. ¡°I do not want to talk about it.¡±
Every fiber of my being hated seeing her suffer in silence, yet Eztli¡¯s glare stopped me in my tracks the moment I attempted to comfort her again. Why could I curse my foes and travel to secret worlds forbidden to the living, but not help a friend in need?
Reaching the apex of the hill, I positioned myself in front of the Nightlords¡¯ Sulfur Sun. Its warmth offered no solace. I stared at its unnatural blue glow, then briefly dared to look over my shoulder. I saw the Jaguar Woman whispering with her sisters. Whatever they discussed, it seemed to amuse Yoloxochitl and irritate Iztacoatl.
I had the terrible feeling that I would soon discover the source of their argument, much to my sorrow.
I spent this night like the previous one: I whispered empty, meaningless prayers to the sulfur flame. Eztli traveled up and down the hill with the night¡¯s offerings. Instead of blood, she gave me other strange goods to feed to the fire: bones old and new; straw dolls; and death masks. All of them mementos of the dead.
The Nightlords¡¯ Sulfur Sun would feed on the living and the dead.
¡°Where do you think they go?¡± Eztli asked after many hours of mind-numbing work.
¡°What goes where?¡± I replied.
¡°The offerings. The flame devours everything we throw at it without spitting out smoke or cinders.¡± Eztli¡¯s gaze fixated on the fire¡¯s dark core, her expression filled with a haunting contemplation. Something in it chilled me to the bone. ¡°Do our offerings go somewhere far away? Or do they cease to exist when the flame touches them? What do you think is true?¡±
I remembered the time I dared to look into the cursed fire with the Gaze and the jaws waiting inside it.
¡°They fall into a stomach,¡± I answered. ¡°A belly that is never full.¡±
Eztli nodded slowly, then left to pick more offerings. I caught her muttering a single word as she climbed down, ¡°Disappointing.¡±
I knelt before the flame and waited for Eztli¡¯s return. I wondered if our task served any purpose at all beyond symbolism. I¡¯d grown weary of it.
At least the dawn would rise soon, then I could go back to sleep and plot the ritual¡¯s end.
The black blot in the fire¡¯s heart pulsed in response. Darkness briefly overtook my vision and swallowed me whole. I heard a dark whisper brush against the walls of my mind and the nauseating sound of gnashing teeth.
Y?????????o?????????????u?????????r????????????????? ?????????????????????????d?????????????????a??????????w????????n????????????? ?????????????????w?????????????i????????l???????????????l???????????? ??????????????????n?????????????e????????????????????v????????????????????????e??????????????????????r?????????? ???????????????c?????????????????o??????????????????m???????e?????????????????????????.
I recoiled in surprise and looked away from the heart¡¯s black core. I hadn¡¯t dared to use the Gaze with the Nightlords in the hall, and I still heard that vile creature in the fire.
¡°Iztac Ce Ehecatl.¡± I froze in dread upon recognizing the Jaguar Woman¡¯s voice. She had ascended the hill in a flash. ¡°You have performed well tonight.¡±
How can she do that? It wasn¡¯t the first time the Jaguar Woman had managed to sneak up on me completely undetected. Could she appear and disappear at will? Or disguise her presence better than any Veil? I needed a way to confirm it.
¡°I live to serve,¡± I lied. For death freed me.
¡°As a token of my gratitude, I shall bestow upon you the gift of wisdom: the value of a human life.¡± The Jaguar Woman loomed over me. ¡°Turn around.¡±
I obediently moved away from the flame and glanced at the temple. An audience of Nightspawn had gathered to pray in the light of their Sulfur Sun below¡ and they had brought mortal guests. The Nightlords had gathered in a circle, with Yoloxochitl holding Eztli close and Iztacoatl laying claim to Ingrid. My two consorts appeared terrified, but not for their own sake.
Their mothers knelt at the mountain¡¯s feet side by side, clothed in the most splendid of dresses. Necahual trembled in place, her hands shaking with abject fear; and while Lady Sigrun portrayed an expression of serene detachment, her eyes betrayed her disquiet.
¡°Do you recognize these two?¡± the Jaguar Woman asked.
I swallowed my fear. ¡°Yes, I do.¡±
¡°Are they not akin to night and day?¡± The Jaguar Woman did not wait for a reply. ¡°Each mother to a consort and each a slave to an emperor. A foreign captive who wields great wealth and prestige; and a poor woman of our people stripped of everything. One bestowed pleasure upon you in exchange for favors; and one who visited pain on you for free. Certainly, you must see the work of fate in bringing them together under this roof.¡±
My blood ran cold with dread. I could see only one reason why the Nightlords would bring concubines to this wicked place. ¡°Goddess, I do not understand¨C¡±
¡°Oh, I believe you do. You are wiser than most of your predecessors and show great potential.¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s tone never wavered, whether she offered scorn or compliments. "Nonetheless, I sense a detestable frailty in your behavior. A weakness you mistake for a strength."
Her hands clamped onto my shoulders, not with Yoloxochitl¡¯s perverse tenderness or Iztacoatl¡¯s mischievous brutality, but with an assertion of ownership. Her nails sank into my skin, staking her claim over me as her possession. Her puppet. Her tool.
"Human lives have no intrinsic value, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± the Nightlord said. ¡°Hence it is the emperor''s duty to give their existence meaning. One of these two women will be cursed with life. The other will be honored with an illustrious demise. Your will alone shall determine their fate."
¡°I need them both alive,¡± I rasped.
¡°You need neither of them,¡± the Nightlord replied coldly. ¡°There will always be more women, more men, more thralls. Each of them can be replaced. Your failure to grasp this truth is why they were chosen.¡±
I looked down on the sacrifices and then at their daughters. All of them stared back, pleading for my mercy.
¡°Now.¡± The Jaguar Woman waved her hand at the sacrifices. ¡°Which one of them will you kill?¡±
Chapter Thirty: The Reward of Service
Time behaved so strangely. There were moments in my life where months blurred into weeks, and where seconds seemed as if they had lasted centuries.
Tonight belonged to the latter case.
The march of time had come to a crashing halt. A thousand thoughts crossed my mind in the blink of an eye. The temple had fallen into a terrible silence and a hundred gazes lingered on me; none with more tension than the two women whose lives I now held in the palm of my hand.
The entire world waited for my decision. My heart pounded louder than a war drum and my blood boiled within my veins. Unbearable pressure crushed my shoulders, and the Jaguar Woman¡¯s hands holding on to them from behind did not improve things.
I was trapped.
And like any cornered animal, my owl soul raged inside my heart. I felt its silent call for arms, the caress of its invisible talons ready to strike, the burning hatred fueling the fire of my soul. Every fiber of my being demanded that I fight. Only the shackles of my reason held it back.
To reveal my powers now, in the very center of the Nightlords¡¯ power with all four sisters watching me, would be suicide. The Jaguar Woman alone had showcased spellcasting prowess far beyond mine. I was not ready to fight her, let alone the other Nightlords.
All I could do was¡
¡°I refuse,¡± I whispered under my breath.
The words escaped my mouth on their own. They sounded so strange to me, like my inner voice briefly breaking through the mask of submission I had grown accustomed to.
I shouldn¡¯t have said that. I shouldn¡¯t, but I couldn¡¯t help myself. It was stronger than me. When faced with such cruelty, my spine stiffened rather than bent.
I knew it was a mistake long before I sensed the Jaguar Woman¡¯s hands tighten on my shoulders. I had said those very same words to her atop the Blood Pyramid once. She had nearly strangled me to death in return and offered me a warning. I still remembered the words clearly.
¡°I will have none of your backtalk, insolent slave.¡±
The heartless witch tolerated no dissent, no matter how trivial. This parody of a trial was my punishment for failing to meet her expectations. The answer to my brief outburst would be even more terrible unless I could somehow salvage it.
Think, think! I told myself, calling upon all my willpower and wits to find a way out of this situation. You need to make those words seem like panic and not rebellion!
¡°Please, esteemed goddess, I beg of you,¡± I declared with a trembling voice. I looked over my shoulder and into her cold dead eyes. Mine were wide with genuine fear. ¡°Please¡ do not make me do this.¡±
The Jaguar Woman¡¯s most frightening quality wasn¡¯t her terrible power or cruelty, but the fact I couldn¡¯t read her at all. She answered my pleas with the same unfeeling gaze I had grown accustomed to. I couldn¡¯t tell whether my fear amused or angered her. I couldn¡¯t tell if she felt anything at all.
¡°It pleases me to force you,¡± she finally said, her words sharper than swords. ¡°My father¡¯s flame demands blood. It shall have it.¡±
Blood.
One way or another, someone would die tonight. That certainty hit me like a wave upon a shore. The Jaguar Woman would accept no other outcome. She would not give me the luxury of mercy this time.
Still, I struggled to find a third outcome. A solution beyond those presented before my eyes. A witty plan that would not turn one of my consorts into an orphan. If I could not fight, what leverage did I have? My own life?
Should I threaten to jump into the Sulfur Sun as a blackmail attempt? Considering how it devoured everything fed to it, it might very well destroy my flesh and soul beyond the Nightlords¡¯ power to revive me. Since they needed me for the New Fire Ceremony, I assumed such an act would disrupt their plan.
But that was all it was: an assumption.
Besides the fact I didn¡¯t wish for my soul to be devoured by a cursed flame for all eternity, I had no guarantee my death would disrupt the Nightlords¡¯ plans. Perhaps the whole emperor charade had only been meant to bring their vile Sulfur Sun into the world. My presence at the Smoke Mountain ritual could be nothing more than empty protocol, a final play to top a centuries-long charade.
With the Jaguar Woman standing between me and the fire, I doubted I could even get past her; not without revealing my powers at least.
Who else than me would stop the Nightlords ritual if I perished? Mother might make a token effort, but she would not risk her life. She would never take the dangerous steps required to achieve victory. And even if my desperate bluff succeeded, the Nightlords would not forgive this act of defiance. I would never enjoy any taste of freedom. My secret war against the vampires would end before it truly began.
No. The Jaguar Woman desired innocent blood. She wanted me to surrender what shreds of mercy I still possessed, to shed my humanity like how a lizard sheds its tail, to compromise my morals for her own amusement.
For the sake of my ambition, and those I loved¡ I would have to play along.
My throat hurt as I uttered my next words. ¡°Does¡ does it have to be them, oh merciful goddess?¡± I swallowed my hatred and my shame. ¡°Can¡¯t other souls¡ can¡¯t other souls satisfy you?¡±
The Jaguar Woman narrowed her eyes at me. ¡°Would you offer another in their place?¡±
At least she did not blow off my proposal immediately. My heart slowed down slightly, but I knew better than to rejoice. Who else could I offer? I would have suggested Tezozomoc if I could, but she would only laugh at me.
¡°There are¡¡± My voice died in my throat. Every fiber of my being, every ounce of pride left in me, fought against the shackles of my reason to keep me silent. Shrugging them off felt like betraying myself. ¡°There are¡ other concubines.¡±
The Jaguar Woman often threatened to smile. She rarely did so, but the shadow of her wicked smirk alone sent shivers running down my spine. The glitter in her cruel eyes promised a hundred nights of terror.
This entire mess began because I sought a way to spare those poor women a gruesome death. Because I had dared to argue with this brute of a false goddess. The Jaguar Woman no doubt delighted in putting me back in my ¡®proper place.¡¯
¡°A consort¡¯s mother shares their daughter¡¯s holy blood,¡± the Jaguar Woman said, her tone laced with a hint of amusement. ¡°It is most precious to us.¡±
¡°I am sure other concubines share¡ imperial blood.¡± How many princesses would I betray tonight? ¡°Surely an emperor¡¯s daughter would satisfy the flame more than a consort¡¯s mother.¡±
Forgive me, I prayed in my heart. Forgive me. I need these two.
¡°True, but you must still prove your resolve to me.¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s half-hearted smile faded away. ¡°One hundred lives. One hundred sacrifices, and then I shall reconsider.¡±
Her vile arrogance made me want to puke. I swallowed my disgust all the same and offered a weak nod.
It nauseated me to agree to those terms, but I needed two allies more than a hundred strangers. If I could not save these women¡¯s lives, at least I would give their death meaning. I would avenge them one day. I swore it.
The Jaguar Woman studied my expression for a while. It seemed my decision confused her.
¡°How easily do mortals visit evil on their kindred, so long as they do not know them,¡± she commented with cold stoicism. ¡°You would rather kill one hundred women you have never met rather than take the life of an acquaintance, even one whom you hate. Fascinating.¡±
¡°I want Necahual to suffer,¡± I replied weakly. ¡°By my own hands.¡±
¡°Is that truly reason enough to sacrifice a hundred lives in her place?¡± The Jaguar Woman glanced at Eztli. ¡°Or do you want to spare the girl more sorrow?¡±
I kept my mouth shut. Unfortunately, the Jaguar Woman had guessed right.
Necahual¡¯s head would already be on the chopping block under normal circumstances. She had been a source of misery for most of my life and her current usefulness to my cause was debatable. Lady Sigrun brought her spying network, intellect, magic, and a full volume of the First Emperor¡¯s codices to the table. By herself, Necahual wasn¡¯t worth ten souls, let alone a hundred. Her importance stopped at being Eztli¡¯s mother and last living relative.
And therein lay my problem.
Eztli¡¯s face was the very picture of indifference, for she could not afford to show sentimentality with Yoloxochitl watching over her back. Her red-rimmed eyes, however, revealed her true feelings. She stared at me with fear and dread, the way a desperate priest would pray to their god for a miracle.
I remembered too well the depressing way Eztli stared at the sun through the obsidian window, or her obsession with the sulfur flame. She chafed under her unbearable situation even more than me; and unlike me, she had no secret Underworld to escape to. The Nightlords have taken her life and saddled her with a miserable existence; one that filled her with pain and loathing.
My oldest friend was unraveling at the fringes. I feared Necahual¡¯s demise would push her over the edge.
¡°Touching,¡± the Jaguar Woman mused with a mocking tone. ¡°I have reconsidered.¡±
I held on to my breath.
¡°One hundred concubines shall be sacrificed tonight, as you promised.¡± The Jaguar Woman glanced down at Sigrun and Necahual. ¡°And one of these two shall be the one-hundred and first.¡±
I knew it was coming. A part of me knew it the moment I proposed my compromise, and still her petty cruelty managed to shock me into a brief silence.
¡°What?¡± I asked in disbelief.
"This is the cost of indecision, Iztac Ce Ehecatl: if you fail to seize an opportunity, then you shall reap only loss and bitterness.¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s amusement reeked of malice. ¡°The obsidian crystal cries under the carver¡¯s care, but it cannot become a dagger without shaving off part of itself. I will sharpen your edges whether you want it or not.¡±
¡°What value is a Godspeaker that cannot speak?¡± My fists curled into fists. Part of me knew I should just shut up and deal with the options I¡¯d been dealt with, but it was beyond me. ¡°What kind of lesson is that?¡±
¡°Here is your mistake, Iztac Ce Ehecatl. You believe you can negotiate with us. With the gods." What the Jaguar Woman lacked in divinity, she more than made up for in sheer arrogance. "Your role is to speak with our voice, to carry out our will, and to enforce our demands. This is one. Choose which of these two will die to save the other."
Hatred coursed my veins. I had met gods, true gods, great and small, kind and terrible, but none of them so cruelly heartless. Every word coming out of the Jaguar Woman¡¯s mouth mocked the true deities of the world and the world they gave their lives to preserve.
"I refuse to choose between them,¡± I hissed like a furious snake. Anger gave me wings and made me forget caution. I refused to play along with that fraudulent goddess¡¯ vicious game! "If one must survive by fate''s decree as you say, then let them draw straws."
The Jaguar Woman¡¯s hands moved from my shoulders to my skull. Her skin was colder than ice and her nails sharper than talons. She forced me to face her with such speed and strength I briefly feared that she might snap my neck.
¡°Here it shows again,¡± the Jaguar Woman hissed with quiet fury. Her hands pressed against my head so hard it hurt. ¡°That unsightly spark of insolence. I knew your last lesson was not enough to douse its flame. We shall correct that mistake tonight.¡±
She forced me closer until our noses touched.
¡°Listen very well to what I am about to say, insolent slave.¡±
I looked into her red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes, and then I saw it. A malice so great and so deep as to rival the horror lurking inside the sulfur flame. Cruelty refined to an art.
¡°My sister Yoloxochitl has spoiled you because she clings to the trappings of nostalgia. Whereas she doubts her purpose, I understand exactly what I am.¡± Her pupils were slitted like those of a jaguar ready for the kill. ¡°I am a goddess whose will is law. Death bows to my power and life ends at my command. This land and all of its people exist at my sufferance.¡±
Unlike Yoloxochitl, the Jaguar Woman wasn¡¯t mad.
She was evil.
Guatemoc once argued with me that good and evil were abstract constructs, a matter of point of view. He had been mistaken. So deeply mistaken. True malevolence existed, and it began to whisper such terrible secrets to me.
¡°If the next word that comes out of your mouth is not a name, Iztac Ce Ehecatl, then I shall kill them both.¡± The threat hung in the air like a black curse that grew stronger with each word spoken. ¡°Right here, right now, right under their daughters¡¯ eyes. I shall kill your concubines, all three thousand of them, and tear out their throats. Your palace¡¯s halls will run red with their blood. The stench of death will reach leagues away. And I shall kill them all in your name.¡±
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Her face changed in an instant. Bloodstained and black-spotted orange fur covered her skin, and snarling fangs tore through her lips. Her skull reshaped itself in the form of a fearsome, gnarling blend of bat and jaguar; the ugliness of both and the charm of neither, lean and mean and vicious. Slitted red eyes glared at me with savage, yet carefully calculated fury.
The owl inside me stopped struggling to escape. The fierce pressure coming from my heart cooled down instantly, the way a deer froze when finding itself face to face with a predator ready to tear out their throat. My very soul quaked in dread the way it once did when I knelt before King Mictecacihuatl. The pressure coming from the Jaguar Woman was unbearable.
Death had me within her grasp. Her fangs were ready to tear out my throat in a blink.
¡°We own you,¡± the beast rasped with a foul breath filled with rotting stench. ¡°We own you,¡± she repeated slightly louder, as if it would make it true. ¡°We own you.¡±
By the time she released me, I found myself stumbling. I nearly fell off the ashen mountain¡¯s slope, only for an invisible force to pull me back. The Jaguar Woman would not let me escape her grasp. Her strings recalled me to her side like an obedient puppet.
¡°Now choose,¡± she said, once again wearing the skin of a woman rather than her true monstrousness. The bloodstained fur and savagery were gone, replaced with a thin veneer of vampiric regality. ¡°Wisely.¡±
I gathered my breath, my skin sweating so much I felt like I was swimming in my robes. My chest hurt worse than it ever did before. The owl inside me had gone quiet, my animal spirit spooked into silence.
This¡ I looked at my own trembling hands and then at our audience below. Vampires and mortals alike studied me with a mix of confusion and impatience. If they had seen the Jaguar Woman transform into a monster, they showed no hint of it. I¡ what¡
Had it all happened in my head? Or so quickly that no one else noticed? Had they even heard our discussion? It didn¡¯t seem that way to me.
Did any of that happen at all?
Whatever the case, the threat felt all too real to me; as did the headache burning my skull from within. I held on to my forehead while trying my best to regain my bearings and composure. I struggled to string two thoughts together. My knees barely seemed capable of holding my own weight.
She is serious. I gasped while trying to calm down. I failed. My chest hurt almost as much as my head. There is no way out of this. She won¡¯t let me take any.
I couldn¡¯t negotiate with her, I could deceive her, I couldn¡¯t fight her. I couldn¡¯t do anything.
¡°It is unbecoming of an emperor to make a goddess wait,¡± the Jaguar Woman threatened me behind my back. I sensed two pointed fangs lingering near my skull and ready to carve it open. ¡°Unless you seek to keep silent so as not to break our accord? It would be amusing, no doubt¡ and so very foolish.¡±
What choice could I make? I glanced at Sigrun and Necahual, whose lives hung in the balance. Both knew I could do magic, as did their daughters. Both could reveal the truth as revenge if I selected any of them.
The two women remained silent. Unlike me, both of them knew better than to speak out of turn in a Nightlord¡¯s presence. Their eyes said so much though. Lady Sigrun squinted in the face of my hesitation, her gaze sharp and threatening. She expected me to save her. She had worked to make herself useful to me specifically so I would protect her in her time of need.
No doubt she wondered why I even considered choosing Necahual¡¯s survival over her own. Lady Sigrun offered me her spy network, her sorcery, her skills, and her intellect. For all I knew she had even taken steps to ensure my secrets would leak in the case of her death, or to destroy the First Emperor Codex to cover her tracks.
Seeing that I still hesitated, Lady Sigrun lowered her hand over her belly. She slowly massaged it and held my gaze at the same time.
My eyes widened when I understood the not-so-subtle message. I turned to Ingrid, who also noticed the gesture. She swiftly looked away from her mother with a grim expression. I recalled the words she whispered to me after I laid with Lady Sigrun.
She is already replacing me.
Another Ingrid.
Lady Sigrun sought to bear another Ingrid. Another daughter meant to die a cruel death, to stave off her mother¡¯s demise.
Lady Sigrun used her magic during our coupling. I thought she had simply taken some of my vitality, but what if she had instead used her magic to secure a child? A bargaining tool to use against me and the Nightlords alike?
For all I knew, three lives hung in the balance rather than two.
That scheming snake. Why didn¡¯t I see it? Plots within plots! I knew she was a viper and I still let her bite me.
It was a low blow, but could I truly blame her? Lady Sigrun used the weapons available to her. She understood this game¡¯s rules and played to win. She seized all the advantages required to ensure her survival.
I reluctantly turned at Necahual next. She quivered like a leaf in the wind, but to my astonishment, she studied Lady Sigrun carefully. She then looked up to me with depths of bravery I never expected from such a loathsome soul.
My brows curved in surprise. Was she¡
Necahual nodded at me, so subtly I almost did not notice. She was trembling with fear, her heart heavy with sorrow, and yet her resolve did not waver.
Necahual was asking me to sacrifice her.
When she said that she would do anything to save her daughter, she meant each and every word. Necahual would throw away her life if it meant giving me an advantage to do just that. She knew Sigrun would serve my cause better, and thus increase her daughter¡¯s odds of survival in the long term. She would pay the ultimate price if required.
Why is that hag finding her courage now of all times? It would have been so much easier to sacrifice Necahual if she had shown cowardice in the face of death. That way I could have hated her until she drew her last breath. Doesn¡¯t she realize that she is cursing her daughter to a life of loneliness?
Curse¡
The Curse.
A great and terrible idea crossed my mind. The Nightlords wanted to sacrifice Necahual to the sulfur flame, unaware that my Mother cursed her. Would the ritual go wrong if fed such a poisoned offering? The odds were long, but the potential rewards¡
If it works¡ I resisted the urge to glare at the Jaguar Woman. You do not own me, wicked beast. You do not own any of us.
Eztli glared at me. She had noticed her mother¡¯s gesture and now silently begged me not to follow through. She moved her lips without letting any sound come through, but I guessed her words easily enough.
Don¡¯t do it, Eztli said silently. Not her.
She would not like my answer. I wish I could settle for a third option rather than the lesser evil.
I am sorry, Eztli. I apologized to my dear friend in my heart. Please, forgive us. Please understand. She is doing this for you¡ and I am doing this for the world.
¡°Necahual,¡± I whispered, so low only the Jaguar Woman heard it.
I could not save her life, but I could at least give her life meaning.
¡°At long last,¡± the Jaguar Woman commented behind me, before clearing her throat and addressing the audience with a deep, regal voice. ¡°Our emperor has made his choice!¡±
The audience held their breaths, at least for those who could breathe.
Lady Sigrun kept her composure, though her steady back and posture betrayed her confidence. Ingrid held her hands together, shifting uncomfortably as Iztacoatl leaned on to listen to the announcement. Sugey and the rest of the Nightkin eyed both women with bestial bloodlust.
As for Necahual¡ when I looked at her with a guilty heart, I knew she knew I had chosen her. She looked down at the stone ground with resignation.
The betrayed, horrified glare Eztli sent me hurt more than any blade. Her expression twisted into a ghastly scowl of fury. Her nails became like claws and her eyes reddened into two pits of crimson. Her back bent slightly like a great cat preparing to pounce on an opponent. My heart skipped a beat in dread.
If I would not save Eztli¡¯s mother, then she would do it herself; or more likely, she would die trying. She had nothing else left to lose. The vampire curse had taken everything else, fear included.
Don¡¯t do it, Eztli. I inhaled sharply and waited for the inevitable disaster. Don¡¯t!
¡°Kill the blonde one,¡± the Jaguar Woman said.
The order echoed in the temple, and a terrible silence followed in its wake.
Lady Sigrun¡¯s confident eyes widened slightly as her mind processed what her ears told her. Necahual¡¯s head snapped at me in shock, while her astonished daughter flinched in surprise. Ingrid covered her mouth with her hands.
I looked over my shoulder, praying I had misheard. The Jaguar Woman leaned in to whisper one final cruelty in my ear.
¡°Here is your final lesson, our Godspeaker.¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s lips stretched into a ghastly, sinister smirk. ¡°You wield no power that does not derive from our providence.¡±
Eztli immediately moved to grab Lady Sigrun¡¯s shoulder alongside another Nightkin. My first consort struggled to hide her relief and jubilation at this sudden turn of events. She alone showed joy in the face of tragedy.
Ingrid let out a scream, which drew a look of annoyance from Iztacoatl. Yoloxochitl did not hide her disappointment, but did nothing to stop the execution. I was too shocked, too taken aback to come up with an answer.
¡°I am pregnant!¡± Lady Sigrun shouted.
Her desperate words hit me like a slap to the face. The Jaguar Woman raised her chin slightly, and Lady Sigrun¡¯s captors loosened their hold on her.
¡°I have shared the emperor¡¯s bed,¡± Sigrun hastily said. I would never understand how she managed to keep a cool head in such a cruel situation. ¡°I can feel it in me. I shall bear him a child.¡±
¡°How can you be sure?¡± Yoloxochitl asked with sudden interest.
Lady Sigrun straightened up. ¡°I took precautions.¡±
So she did use Seidr to conceive, I guessed, my hands tightening so much it hurt. That witch¡
¡°Perhaps you are pregnant,¡± the Jaguar Woman said with a neutral, unwavering tone. ¡°What of it?¡±
The sheer callousness in her voice took the wind out of Sigrun¡¯s sails. My concubine quickly regained her composure, though her expression became slightly more strained.
¡°I bear a child in me,¡± Lady Sigrun insisted. She placed her hands on her belly, perhaps hoping to appeal to whatever shreds of mercy the vampires still possessed. It seemed to work on Yoloxochitl at least. ¡°A princess of his blood; he who has lit your sulfur flame and shall herald an age of glory.¡±
¡°And that gives you protection from us?¡± The Jaguar Woman squinted at Sigrun with what could pass for genuine confusion. ¡°From your sacred duty as our sacrifice?¡±
Even the worst of villains would have hesitated at killing a pregnant woman. It didn¡¯t even phase the worst of the Nightlords.
¡°No,¡± I whispered. I couldn¡¯t muster the strength to speak louder. ¡°No¡¡±
I doubt anyone heard me, but my distress must have shown on my face. Eztli¡¯s jubilation briefly faded away, while Yoloxochitl took a step forward to plead my case.
¡°Sister, another can satisfy the flame,¡± she argued with the Jaguar Woman. ¡°We could delay her execution until she gives birth¨C¡±
¡°Her unborn child will die before it can live,¡± the Jaguar Woman interrupted her with a sharp tone. Her icy gaze remained set on Lady Sigrun. ¡°An emperor¡¯s blood is precious to us, true, but no offering may compel us to act in any way you wish. All life in this world is born to feed us.¡±
Her mind was made up. Nothing could change it. Anything I would say would only make it worse. The Jaguar Woman meant to hurt me. To stab my heart and twist the knife until I screamed.
¡°It¡¯s not¡¡± Ingrid sobbed, tears forming in her eyes as she realized death had come to her family. ¡°It¡¯s not supposed to happen¡ not this way¡¡±
¡°I have a book,¡± Lady Sigrun said, trying to bargain her way out of a gruesome execution. ¡°I have information, knowledge¨C¡±
¡°Spare your breath, fool!¡±
All eyes turned to Necahual. My mother-in-law kept her head down in resignation, her nails sinking onto her knees.
¡°Don¡¯t you see? They have already made up her mind.¡± Necahual briefly bit her lower lip. ¡°Nothing will save you.¡±
¡°Shut up,¡± Lady Sigrun hissed at her fellow concubine. ¡°You know nothing.¡±
¡°She understands more than you do, slave,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied with contempt. ¡°I can read your entire life written in your eyes. If I please the emperor, he will love me. If he loves me, he will protect me. If I have his children, I shall please the goddesses. If I please the gods, they shall not kill me. If I do this and that, I will be safe.¡±
I watched on as the light of hope died in Lady Sigrun¡¯s eyes with a heavy heart. I knew what it meant to be weak. To crawl in the mud for scraps of food. Lady Sigrun had been captured in her youth, spared for her beauty, and then forced to serve as an imperial concubine in a foreign land. She made the most of her situation and through wits and strength of will, she managed to carve a small kingdom for herself. One she ruled for over fifteen years; fourteen more than any emperor.
But what value could a slave¡¯s kingdom possibly have? Her reign would end with a snap of her masters¡¯ fingers.
¡°I betrayed my homeland for you,¡± Lady Sigrun rasped. ¡°I told you of Winland, of my people¡¡±
¡°And we shall grace them with Yohuachanca¡¯s glory in due time,¡± Sugey replied with a snort of rueful disdain. ¡°Your countrymen will bless your memory in time.¡±
I did not hide my disappointment, and neither did Ingrid. I should have seen it sooner. Ingrid told me she had been her expedition¡¯s only survivor; I thought Yohuachanca spared her for her beauty, but now the truth became clear to me. She had taught the Nightlords about Winland¡¯s existence to secure her survival when they first caught her.
¡°You still fail to understand,¡± the Jaguar Woman said. ¡°We punish those who defy us, but we are not compelled to reward those who please us. Your loyalty is already expected. Our mercy and kindness are subject to our whims, not your prayers.¡±
It was a mistake for the weak to expect gratitude from the powerful. So Lady Sigrun did not try to petition her masters further. Instead, she turned to me, a fellow weakling, for salvation I could not grant.
¡°Say something!¡± Lady Sigrun all but ordered me. The panic in her eyes immediately warned me of her intentions and forced me out of my stupor. ¡°Or I will tell¨C¡±
I interrupted her before she could sell me out. ¡°Think of your daughters.¡±
Lady Sigrun¡¯s words died in her mouth and her head swiftly turned in Ingrid¡¯s direction. My consort was alone among Nightkin and no more safe than her mother. Little Astrid was in no better a situation, waiting for her family back in the imperial apartments.
If Sigrun perished, who would take care of them? Who else but me? Necahual understood that well enough, so someone of Lady Sigrun¡¯s intellect should too. I prayed that for all of her ruthlessness and selfishness, she at least felt a modicum of parental affection for the lives she brought into the world.
My heart stopped when Lady Sigrun met my eyes again. I saw countless emotions pass through them. Fear, disbelief, resignation¡ and when she finally understood that I couldn¡¯t save her, she turned to fury.
¡°I curse you all.¡± Lady Sigrun dared to meet the Jaguar Woman¡¯s gaze and sneered at her with regal defiance. ¡°The true gods I worship know the truth! You have buried your secret and now cower in his shadow! May your betrayed father devour you¨C¡±
Her throat burst open in a shower of blood.
I couldn¡¯t tell which of the Nightlords had cast the Doll spell, but I recognized the magic nonetheless. An invisible claw had sliced through Sigrun¡¯s throat with enough strength to sever her neck all the way to the spine.
Ingrid¡¯s screams made me wince, as did the sight of Sigrun¡¯s head bending to the side like a fallen tree. Her blood dripped down her dress in a crimson rain and tainted the floor red.
¡°Do not avert your eyes, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± the Jaguar Woman whispered into my ear. ¡°This is the essence of godhood. The power to kill anyone. King or peasant, child or mother, man or woman¡¡±
No matter how much I wanted to, my captor¡¯s hands would not allow me to look away.
¡°You are all the same meat to us.¡±
Meat. That was what they had reduced Lady Sigrun to. A batlike Nightkin hurried to grab her convulsing corpse in its talons and carried her upward into the air. Her head remained attached by threads of bones, her white stare making me want to puke.
I had slept with her, laughed with her, plotted with her. She had been a woman of wisdom, wits, and experience, full of life and ambition.
Thirty years on this earth snuffed out in an instant.
The Nightkin threw her into the flame like a slice of turkey meat on a pyre. The cursed fire swallowed her whole in an instant. It ate her flesh, her bones, her soul¡ it would have eaten her screams too, if she still had the throat for it. She vanished in a burst of fire, leaving naught but memories behind her.
Ingrid had begun to cry; mourning for both her mother and the beautiful lies she had been raised in all her life. That no matter how useful she might prove, no matter how smart or beautiful or hardworking she proved to be, a vampire could kill her on a whim anyway. Safety was an illusion. There was no point in trying to find sense in senseless cruelty.
Her mother had been wise, beautiful, and driven. She had been perfect in every way. And she died anyway, all to satisfy a monster¡¯s savage hunger for death.
She was pregnant. That nauseous thought would not leave my mind. Pregnant. With my child.
¡°Twice I have humbled you, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± the Jaguar Woman warned me. ¡°There shall not be a third time.¡±
I stared at the sulfur flame and the all-consuming darkness at its core. A gullet of murdered souls from which nothing escaped. No afterlife awaited Sigrun. No more than me.
¡°I understand,¡± I whispered, so low I barely heard myself.
My answer satisfied the Jaguar Woman. ¡°Fulfill your duties so that we do not chastise you. Father children so that we never go hungry. And never forget your place again.¡±
I would not. Never again.
My role was to wipe out these monsters from the face of the earth, no matter the cost. To me, to the world, to innocents. No matter the cost, they all had to die.
If the Nightlords survived one more year, all of this cruelty would have been nothing.
The true gods I worship know the truth, Lady Sigrun had said. You have buried your secret and now cower in his shadow.
The true gods knew the truth. The buried truth.
The altar.
Lady Sigrun hid something in her room¡¯s private altar. Something related to the First Emperor¡¯s codices. A hint of the truth that could bring down the Nightlords. A final plot to avenge herself through me.
Lady Sigrun took my secrets with her to the tomb. I could not save her life, but I would give her death meaning.
I no longer doubted. I no longer felt remorse about what I had to do; about the people my Mother would kill to destroy Smoke Mountain, or the war I¡¯d started, or the lives I would ruin to see this through. The Jaguar Woman¡¯s cruelty had purged all hesitation from my mind. From now on, I knew I was capable of anything.
The Nightlords refused to compromise on their cruelty.
So neither would I.
Chapter Thirty-One: Consequences
The night ended like it began: in blood and tears.
The Jaguar Woman remained true to her word. To punish my hesitation, a hundred concubines were picked at random, brought to the temple, and fed to the sulfur flame. Old and young, foreign captives or locals, weak and strong, it mattered not. Some screamed, some begged, some prayed, and some fought, it mattered not. They all died. Every single one of them. They all perished, murdered for nothing, their throat slit by fangs, their tears drowned in blood.
I understood what the Jaguar Woman meant when she said we were all the same meat to her. By the twentieth execution all these lives started to blur together. A hundred victims became a procession of forgettable faces. Turkeys fed to the charnel pit.
The Jaguar Woman forced me to watch each time. Every last execution.
¡°This is your fault,¡± she would whisper into my ear when the Nightkin tossed a corpse into the sulfur flame. ¡°You killed them.¡±
Perhaps she thought I would believe her lie if she repeated it often enough.
It¡¯s not a full lie. No matter how much I told myself otherwise. My hesitation and foolishness did cost them their lives.
I would not make that mistake again.
Ingrid, Necahual, and Eztli also bore witness to the massacre. Ingrid cried and puked halfway through. I wanted to hold her in my arms, but the Nightlords would not grant me that small mercy. Necahual stood as still as stone all night long with hollow eyes, retreating into herself to spare her mind another nightmare. Only Eztli observed the massacre with unflinching coldness. Her mother survived the ordeal. That was all that mattered to her.
¡°This seems excessive, Sister,¡± Yoloxochitl complained. She alone among the Nightlords appeared disturbed by the gruesome spectacle. ¡°Iztac¡¯s suffered enough. He does not deserve this.¡±
Her concern might have been heartwarming, if she had shown any sorrow for the victims. She only cared about how their deaths affected me, her favorite.
¡°You cannot put a price on a lesson,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied dismissively. ¡°He will never forget it.¡±
No, I would not. I would never forget.
¡°Such a waste,¡± Iztacoatl grunted in frustration, but not out of any moral qualms. ¡°Sigrun added spice and intrigue to a routine that had become far too predictable. I hope your sister will prove as entertaining when she comes of age, Ingrid.¡±
Ingrid was too occupied holding back vomit with her hands to answer. This drew a sneer from Iztacoatl.
¡°Worry not, Ingrid,¡± the Nightlord said with all the sweetness of rancid honey. ¡°Your mother¡¯s soul is in a¡ warmer place.¡±
One day, I would feed Iztacoatl to the flames. I swore it.
¡°The night cometh to an end,¡± the Jaguar Woman said as we climbed down from the hill of ashes, her voice cutting through the chitchat like a sword through flesh. ¡°Necahual Ce Quiahuitl.¡±
My mother-in-law¡¯s back tensed up as a bowstring, as did mine. Eztli did her best not to show concern for her birth mother, but the worry in her eyes betrayed her true feelings.
¡°Our emperor has cursed you with life.¡± Somehow, the Jaguar Woman made gruesomely burning at the pyre sound like an honor. ¡°You shall dedicate it to him, body and soul.¡±
Necahual lowered her head to avoid the Nightlord¡¯s unfeeling gaze. ¡°I understand.¡±
¡°Escort him back to his chambers and fulfill his wishes. A long day awaits him.¡± The Jaguar Woman summoned a shroud of darkness and offered me a final, ominous warning. ¡°We shall wait for you until the next twilight, our Godspeaker.¡±
She vanished into the shadows without any other comment. Sugey and Iztacoatl did not linger long either, leaving only Yoloxochitl behind.
¡°I am deeply sorry for tonight, Iztac,¡± she said. She even sounded sincere. ¡°I shall ensure your consort and her sister are taken care of.¡±
I turned to Ingrid. My orphaned consort, once so regal and dignified, knelt in a puddle of her own vomit and tears. Her fair skin was paler than chalk. Her graceful hands covered her mouth in a desperate attempt to silence her own sobs.
I raised my hand towards her. ¡°Ingrid, I¨C¡±
Ingrid recoiled from my touch and comfort. The frightful look she sent me, so full of abject dread and horror, left me sweating and spooked.
She¡¯s terrified of me. The Jaguar Woman alone heard my first choice of sacrifice, so Ingrid believed I ordered her mother¡¯s death after all she did for me. She believed me to be a bastard willing to kill a woman only a few hours after sleeping with her. This is the worst outcome.
¡°Take her to her apartments to rest,¡± Yoloxochitl ordered a set of Nightkin. ¡°The priests will wash her.¡±
The thought of priests or vampires doing that to Ingrid¡¯s sister Astrid made me nauseous. These two would need comfort, for whatever it was worth in this prison. Thankfully, a voice interjected.
¡°If I may, Mother,¡± Eztli said with a dutiful tone. ¡°As her fellow consort, I would like to take care of her.¡±
Yoloxochitl frowned at her. ¡°Are you certain, my daughter?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Eztli confirmed. ¡°She is family too.¡±
Eztli understood how it felt to lose a parent. Even in undeath, she could still empathize with Ingrid over it. She moved to gently take her fellow consort into her arms and lift her up to her feet. Ingrid froze at her touch, but didn¡¯t push her back like she did with me. I could not tell whether I should rejoice or despair.
¡°Thank you,¡± I whispered to Eztli.
My oldest friend did not answer me. She looked up to hold my gaze, and all I could see was disappointment.
She knew.
Eztli knew I tried to sacrifice her mother instead of Sigrun. She had read it on my lips and my face, and resented me for it. I could see it written all over her sorrowful gaze. She wasn¡¯t angry or furious, or at least not anymore. She was simply saddened by my choice.
It hurt more than fury.
I watched Eztli carry Ingrid out of the temple without a word. I didn¡¯t know what to say, and whatever I could come up with would not soothe the pain. Had I lost two consorts tonight? I hoped I could salvage this disaster somehow, but I was too emotionally drained to think straight. We all needed to clear our heads.
¡°I swear to you, Iztac, I will do everything in my power to find better replacements for those you have lost tonight,¡± Yoloxochitl promised me. ¡°You will soon forget about that witch.¡±
There will always be more women, more men, more thralls, the Jaguar Woman told me atop the hill of ashes. Each of them can be replaced.
¡°I will ensure your favorites and descendants are shielded from my sister¡¯s wrath,¡± Yoloxochitl promised me. ¡°Ocelocihuatl is not unreasonable. If you show her you understood her lesson, she will let it stand.¡±
I had already seen how much her support was worth in the face of her sisters¡¯ cruelty: nothing. Instead of showing righteous anger, I pretended to accept her words as the truth with a short nod.
¡°Thank you, Mother Yoloxochitl,¡± I replied. ¡°You alone spoke up in my defense. I will not forget it.¡±
Yoloxochitl gave me what could pass for a motherly smile; one that only lasted until she remembered Necahual¡¯s existence. My mother-in-law did her best not to make a noise.
¡°Perhaps you should kill this one too,¡± Yoloxochitl said with a glint of madness burning in her eyes. ¡°I can tell that she will grow more insolent with time.¡±
Yoloxochitl loathed Necahual. She wanted my mother-in-law out of her way so she could claim Eztli for herself, and only allowed her to live because I promised to torment her myself. Twice now I had saved her from execution.
Necahual would never be safe so long as the Nightlords lived. The Jaguar Woman made that clear. The best I could do was to take Yoloxochitl off her back, and I could only see one way to guarantee it. One I loathed from the very bottom of my heart.
¡°No, she won¡¯t,¡± I replied with a cold dead voice. ¡°I will teach her a lesson of my own. She will remember her place.¡±
Necahual bit her lip at my tone, while Yoloxochitl rejoiced. Deep down, she was as cruel as the Jaguar Woman. She simply reserved her viciousness for the few rather than the many.
¡°Good,¡± the Nightlord said. ¡°We shall meet again at sundown then.¡±
At long last I could finally leave this temple and leave this madwoman behind. Necahual meekly followed after me, our footsteps filling the silence. My mother-in-law dared not to say anything. She still feared for her life.
She was right too. No one was safe in this prison of a palace. Defiance was punished and service went unrewarded. Even death was no escape from a vampire¡¯s appetite. Our pain followed neither rhyme nor reason.
It¡¯s so hard to keep your pride in this place. My body grew heavier with each footstep. The anger that fueled me lessened, replaced with gloom. How much more pain can I endure before I lose mine too?
This year of nightmares would feel like a lifetime, and the war with the Sapa hadn¡¯t even started yet.
My royal chambers felt cold and unwelcoming when I returned. I stared at the bed and its newly clean sheets. Lady Sigrun shared them with me a scant few hours ago. No traces of her passage remained. The undisputed queen of the imperial harem for fifteen years running would be replaced in a fortnight.
Ingrid and Eztli too. They¡¯d both shared this place with me, and now they were gone. Maybe forever.
It killed me.
I¡ I couldn¡¯t explain it. The anger that sustained me, the silent hatred that gave me the strength to lie to the Nightlords¡¯ faces and walk all the way to this pampered prison, the divine energy that flowed through my body¡ they all vanished in an instant. Candles snuffed out. Light swallowed by the night.
I had pushed back all the pain, all the fear, all the sorrow, and all the despair back into the dark corners of my mind. I watched Sigrun die, the first of a hundred. I buried the anguish deep inside my heart. When I tried to remember what I was fighting for, all I could recall were Ingrid¡¯s fear and Eztli¡¯s disappointment.
I had strained a muscle too hard, except it was inside my soul rather than beneath my skin.
I sat on the bed¡¯s edge, unable to muster the strength to do anything else. I stared into the distance with hollow eyes and shivering hands. I didn¡¯t have the will to do anything, even sleep.
A bucket of water had suddenly doused the fire in me and left a hole in its place. I didn¡¯t think I could summon my Tonalli. The owl in me had gone deathly quiet. The Jaguar Woman had brutally cowed it back into its birdcage.
I sat alone in silence, surrounded by unfeeling mute guards and the woman I¡¯d tried to sacrifice moments ago.
Of all people, it was Necahual who tried to comfort me. After a short moment¡¯s worth of hesitation, she sat at my side and clumsily hugged me.
I felt nothing.
No warmth. No comfort. No relief.
Just arms trying to give all these things and failing miserably.
¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault,¡± Necahual whispered to me. ¡°It is their own. No one should have had to make that choice. It wasn¡¯t your fault.¡±
I didn¡¯t have enough strength left to look at her. ¡°I chose you.¡±
¡°I know.¡± Necahual took a long, deep breath. ¡°I do not hate you for it. I would have accepted death.¡±
¡°You might wish they had killed you too.¡± Maybe I should have killed Sigrun. Spared her soul a terrible fate. ¡°Maybe they will kill you, or beat you, or rape you, or all at once.¡±
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°Let them.¡± Necahual leaned in closer to whisper in my ear, too low for anyone else to hear. ¡°So long as you kill them all and free my daughter.¡±
Free Eztli? Eztli was gone. I had clung to her shadow and even lost that.
¡°Why bother?¡± I asked.
For the first time since I¡¯d been branded by the Nightlords, I started asking myself: why bother?
The Nightlords hated strength, in me and everyone else. Resistance excited them like blood from a shark. If I held on to it, to hope, they would keep crushing it. They would find new tortures to put me through. Kill and maim. A month hadn¡¯t gone by yet and I¡¯d already seen a lifetime¡¯s worth of horrors. Sleep meant returning to another hell, under the guidance of a woman who would gladly let me die to protect herself.
Spending an eternity buried in the Parliament of Skulls couldn¡¯t be worse than a year of this treatment. Even gathering the dead suns¡¯ embers only offered a meager hope of victory.
Perhaps I should simply remember my place and enjoy my remaining time in peace. That was what everyone else did, inside these walls and out.
Necahual let go of me. I felt her judging gaze. I would have glared back at her once, matched hate with hate¡ but not tonight. Maybe never again.
No, I can¡¯t think like this. I held my head in my hands. My fingers were cold and numb. They offered me no comfort, but at least I did not fall down. This is just temporary, Iztac. Get a hold of yourself. You can¡¯t think like this. You can¡¯t let despair crawl its way in. If you don¡¯t save yourself, no one else will.
That wasn¡¯t me. I wasn¡¯t a meek turkey like everyone else. I wasn¡¯t weak.
A pair of hands took my own.
¡°You are not weak, Iztac.¡±
When I regained awareness, I found myself facing Necahual. She moved from the bed to the floor, kneeling in front of me and holding my hands. Did she think switching places would help?
¡°I feel weak,¡± I replied.
And it was awful.
Necahual glared at me. Here it was, that same look of disgust and contempt that had followed me for so many years. Somehow it still managed to raise my blood pressure a tiny bit.
After a short moment of silence, Necahual moved my hands to her throat. She placed my fingers around her soft neck and waited. Waiting for what?
¡°Do whatever you want with me,¡± she whispered.
My eyes widened slightly. Was she serious?
¡°Whatever it takes for you to feel strong again,¡± she insisted in her madness. ¡°I will bear it.¡±
By the gods, she was serious. ¡°You are insane.¡±
¡°And you¡¯re a coward,¡± Necahual said. When I didn¡¯t answer, she spat at my imperial robes. ¡°Cursed child.¡±
I squeezed.
Necahual coughed as my hands closed around her throat. My fingers warmed up as they tightened their grip. My cold dead heart pounded in my chest once again. The more her lungs struggled to grasp for air, the more fearful she looked, the more I returned to life.
Her contemptuous glare had turned into a look of fear and submission. Her face slowly turned pale streaked with blue. Her hands trembled, but they did not claw at my arms. She did not resist. Would not resist.
The guards did nothing to stop me. They would do nothing if I killed her. They would drag the corpse away, maybe bring me another victim.
Necahual¡¯s life was in my hands. Figuratively and literally.
And however wrong it was, it felt good. It felt good to be on the other side. To torment rather than be tormented. There was no nobility in being a victim.
That¡¯s how she felt when she threw stones at me. That was how Necahual dealt with her fear of me. Of Mother. I¡¯m seeing the appeal now.
I wasn¡¯t strong, because beating the weak couldn¡¯t possibly be true strength¡ but for a brief moment, I felt that way. The owl inside me woke up, attracted by the smell of death and carrion.
Necahual danced on the edge between life and death. Her face was turning blue. However, she did not defend herself. True to her word, she would accept death if it meant keeping me in the fight.
I let go of her throat before it came to that.
Necahual immediately gasped for air, her hands massaging her skin. My fingers had left red streaks where they touched her. I watched her slowly recover, scoffing to myself. I couldn¡¯t believe her audacity.
Necahual knew me well; perhaps better than anyone save her own daughter. She understood I didn¡¯t need comfort. I needed revenge.
¡°Anything, huh?¡± I said.
Necahual nodded slowly, her hands still massaging her throat.
If a woman so petty could find the resolve to carry on on behalf of another, then I had no excuses to give up.
It didn¡¯t matter whether Ingrid and Eztli grew to dislike me, so long as they lived through this year of nightmares. So long as no one I cared about died a gruesome death like their mother and father respectively. I had no more time to waste on guilt or pity. Not as long as the Nightlords haunted the earth.
¡°I need a bath,¡± I declared. No amount of water could wash away the stench of blood, but I could at least try.
I moved to my private baths, with Necahual following closely behind. I sank naked into warm waters until only my head remained atop the surface. My mother-in-law quickly rubbed my shoulders.
It didn¡¯t help. I felt unclean. I felt sick, and stained, and drenched in filth. No amount of soap would wash away that stain, that crippling sensation of weakness and humiliation. Only vampire blood could do that.
The bath helped me focus, however, and the running waters would cover our discussions. I thought of a new strategy going forward.
Lady Sigrun hid the First Emperor¡¯s codex, or at least hints to its location, under her room¡¯s altar. I would use the pretext of visiting Ingrid and Astrid to check up on it later after the morning¡¯s audience.
I would need to salvage what I could from her spy network too. Ingrid wouldn¡¯t fill the void even if she wanted to. No spy would swear long-term allegiance to a young woman promised to death within a year¡¯s time.
¡°I accept your offer,¡± I whispered to Necahual.
She leaned in closer to listen over the noise of running water. No one would hear us.
¡°I will make a witch out of you, but in return I will take everything. Everything.¡± I would hesitate no longer. ¡°Your service begins now.¡±
Necahual tried to hide her excitement behind a blank expression, but her eyes were alight with interest. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±
¡°Sigrun¡¯s death means the loss of her spy network, and I can¡¯t trust anyone else. You will have to pick up where she left off.¡±
My mother-in-law immediately deflated. ¡°I do not know how to.¡±
¡°I do,¡± I replied. ¡°I intended to settle the Tlaxcala and Tlazohtzin¡¯s feud in Lady Sigrun¡¯s presence. You will be there instead. Whenever I make important decisions, you will be there, in a corner, waiting.¡±
Necahual sneered. ¡°Like a pet.¡±
¡°Yes, like a pet. My pet.¡± I glanced at her wounded throat. I would bet the Nightkin hidden in the walls already reported the incident to Yoloxochitl with delight. ¡°This ought to take Yoloxochitl off your back for now.¡±
Necahual squinted slightly. She wasn¡¯t stupid. She could connect the dots. ¡°Even a tormented pet has the master¡¯s ears.¡±
¡°Exactly.¡± I briefly raised my hand above the water¡¯s surface, my movement sending a small ripple through the bath. ¡°You will go meet the other concubines. Those who survived this night¡¯s purging are sure to be on edge. All of them will fear for their lives once the truth comes out. They will want to get in my good graces, because like Sigrun before them they think that my favor will spare them an early grave.¡±
¡°I will say I can mention their names,¡± Necahual guessed. ¡°You want to make me your gatekeeper.¡±
¡°Lady Sigrun can¡¯t have been the only one with a spy network among the imperial harem. The institution must be rife with upstarts.¡± Desperate upstarts. ¡°Select those who can be helpful to us. Make it a competition.¡±
Necahual nodded obediently. ¡°I will do my best.¡±
¡°Next¡¡± I breathed in the steam of the bath. ¡°You will go to Ingrid and Astrid.¡±
Necahual scowled at me, puzzled.
¡°They need someone to support them in their grief,¡± I explained. And they won¡¯t accept me. ¡°Astrid especially. She has no one to take care of her besides her sister, who is not long for this world if we fail.¡±
¡°They will resent me,¡± Necahual warned me. ¡°Their mother died in my place.¡±
¡°Good thing you¡¯re used to being disliked.¡± I snorted at her glare. ¡°It is a bad job, but someone has to do it.¡±
Necahual gave me a quizzical look, but did not deny my request. ¡°I will do my best.¡±
I closed my eyes, letting the warm waves of the bath batter against my cheeks. I was tired.
So very tired.
I awoke among the dead and facing a wall of corpses.
The Underworld tunnel which my mother and I had retreated into changed greatly in my absence. A dozen Burned Men were nailed to the stone in front of me in a gruesome tapestry of flesh, their hands and feet joined together in a sinister procession. Baleful eldritch symbols had been carved into their seared bones and now burned with a sinister red glow. Their hate-filled eyes glared at me with bottomless malice.
¡°Welcome back, my son.¡± Mother greeted me while placing an obsidian nail in a Burned Man¡¯s feet. The undead had holes where the lungs and mouth should be; only silence escaped from them. My carrying frame and its precious content lay right next to them. ¡°I hope your day was fulfilling.¡±
I must have fallen asleep in the bath. I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off the wall. I counted twelve Burned Men, each of them surgically silenced. The brutality of this display paled before what the Nightlords could come up with, but it still unsettled me. What a gruesome sight.
¡°What happened?¡± I asked Mother. ¡°What is this?¡±
¡°They tried to rob your belongings in your sleep, so I punished them accordingly.¡± Mother contemplated her work with what could pass for professional satisfaction. ¡°Have you considered my proposition?¡±
¡°Yes, I have.¡± This nightmarish night cured me of my hesitation. ¡°I will Curse Smoke Mountain. You may bring how many sacrifices you need.¡±
Mother studied my face with her icy blue eyes. They reminded me of the Jaguar Woman¡¯s, cold and merciless. However, unlike the Nightlord¡¯s heartless cruelty, I detected a hint of concern coming from the woman who brought me into the world.
¡°Something happened,¡± she guessed. ¡°A hammer¡¯s blow that sharpened your edge.¡±
¡°The Nightlords forced me to kill over a hundred innocents.¡± My talons did not end Lady Sigrun¡¯s life, nor the women who followed her into the flame, but I bore part of the blame nonetheless. ¡°At this point, what is one more body on the pile?¡±
All these deaths couldn¡¯t have been for nothing.
Mother nodded in appreciation. ¡°You understand what it means to be a Tlacatecolotl then,¡± she said. ¡°We are the owl-fiends. Demons born of death and misfortune. If the folks above had lived dutiful lives, they would not have created us.¡±
¡°I do not care for reasons or excuses.¡± I would shoulder whatever sins I had to commit in the service of my cause. ¡°I just want the Nightlords gone. My predecessors are right. No matter what crimes I commit to destroy them today, it pales before the evil they will spread tomorrow.¡±
¡°Wise words. I can proceed with the ritual then.¡± Mother waved a hand at her mural. ¡°I am certain that you have heard tales of possession. Fools who say that spirits rode their bodies and drove them to madness. There is a kernel of truth to these stories.¡±
I quickly read between the lines. ¡°You can send souls up above?¡±
¡°No, not until the Day of the Dead. However, an Underworld spirit may temporarily control a living human from the Land of the Dead Suns under the right circumstances.¡± Mother placed her hand on a Burning Man¡¯s chest. The malevolent corpse helplessly attempted to reach for her with his head, as if to bite her throat off without his toothless mouth. ¡°This is the Ride spell: by inscribing a mortal¡¯s true name onto the etched bones of the dead, it can allow the latter to possess the former for a brief period of time.¡±
¡°You gathered the names of people living on Smoke Mountain with the Augury,¡± I guessed.
¡°Sharp boy,¡± Mother complimented me. ¡°The Burning Men despise everyone and everything. Whereas most spirits do their best to enjoy their brief time among the living, all they do is kill. Most throw their hosts off bridges out of spite when they feel their control waver.¡±
A chill traveled down my spine. She intended to send these madmen above and let them leave a trail of corpses in their wake. I would have no small amount of fresh bodies in which to place my feathers and sustain my Haunt spell.
However brutal, this method interested me. As far as most humans were concerned, this would be an untraceable method of assassinating targets.
¡°Can we use the spell on ourselves?¡± I asked, my eyes lingering on my exposed ribcage. ¡°To possess those above?¡±
¡°Yes, of course. I have ridden a few men and women myself.¡± Mother let out a chuckle. ¡°Now that I think of it, that may be poor phrasing.¡±
¡°Is the victim aware of the possession?¡± The more we discussed this spell, the more it appealed to me. ¡°What are its limits?¡±
¡°The victim does not remember anything that happens during the possession, although they might recall parts of it through nightmares,¡± Mother explained. ¡°We sadly cannot use our other spells through a host, however.¡±
¡°Because our soul remains in the Underworld?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Mother confirmed. ¡°Otherwise, the Ride spell cannot affect supernatural creatures like vampires or the Mallquis. Red-eyed priests are much harder to take over than most mortals due to their foul blood, but this limit can be overcome with sufficient preparations. Finally, most Riders rarely last more than a few hours before the native soul ejects them. My current best is twelve, though I have high hopes of refining the spell until the possession becomes permanent.¡±
¡°Permanent?¡± I squinted at her. ¡°You intend to steal another¡¯s life for yourself?¡±
¡°Why not?¡± Mother looked at me as if I had asked the stupidest of questions. ¡°Our mortal bodies have finite time, Iztac. A hundred years is too short a time to master the abyss of sorcery. If we are to ascend ever higher, we must find ways to extend our lifespan in a way that will preserve our magic. Becoming a Mallquis or vampire would bar us from the Underworld, so we must find other alternatives. Permanently transplanting our minds into new vessels is a potential solution.¡±
The idea left me uneasy, but I hardly saw any downside in permanently taking over the likes of Tezozomoc. Whatever new soul rode his body would be an improvement over its previous occupant.
However, the thought of living forever was a far away prospect. I would be greatly lucky to survive the year at all.
¡°The Ride spell will not save your soul,¡± Mother warned me, as if sensing my thoughts. ¡°So long as your spirit remains bound to the vampires¡¯ curse, it will find no rest.¡±
¡°I suspected as much.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I would like to learn this spell too. It will come in handy.¡±
¡°You will master it in due time.¡± A terrible screech echoed from outside our hideout. Mother glanced at the tunnel¡¯s exit. ¡°Azcatlapalli is growing restless and should fly away soon. Once he does, we should reach Xibalba before you wake up.¡±
Xibalba. The House of Fright. A land of terrors where my father¡¯s soul rested among ten thousand nightmares.
¡°Can Nightlords feel fear?¡± I asked Mother.
Mother chuckled. ¡°Of course they do. All vampires fear true death.¡±
I recalled Eztli¡¯s face when she looked into the sulfur flame. Mother was wrong. Some vampires craved death.
¡°Why did you Curse Necahual?¡± I questioned Mother. Eztli needed her family more than ever, so I should remove that insidious threat as soon as possible.
¡°Who?¡± Mother asked. ¡°The name sounds familiar.¡±
The fact my mother struggled to recall someone she had cursed in the past spoke volumes about how much she abused her power. ¡°My mother-in-law,¡± I said. ¡°Your rival for father¡¯s heart.¡±
¡°I have no rivals, son,¡± she replied with a hint of arrogance. ¡°I do not suffer from their existence.¡±
¡°She saw you transform one night,¡± I argued. ¡°You said you would kill her and her entire family if she revealed your secret.¡±
¡°Ah yes, that mundane wench.¡± Somehow, that part finally juggled Mother¡¯s memory. ¡°I considered killing her on the spot, but instead I decided to curse her on a whim. I bound her to die if she revealed my secret¡ and to be forever unlucky in love.¡±
I knew it. At least the Curse¡¯s clause spared her when I revealed Mother¡¯s true nature first. ¡°That was petty.¡±
¡°Those are a fool¡¯s words. When you want something, son, you must do everything in your power to get it. I wanted your father. I did what I had to do to claim him for myself. No more, no less.¡± Mother¡¯s head tilted to the side. ¡°Why these questions?¡±
¡°I require Necahual¡¯s services,¡± I explained. ¡°I need to remove your Curse undetected. I cannot let it accidentally interfere with my affairs.¡±
¡°Simply grab my lost feather in your Tonalli form. I was young and inexperienced when I placed it, so it should be easy to remove.¡± Mother suddenly tensed up. ¡°She is in the palace with you.¡±
¡°Yes, she is.¡± I quickly guessed what bothered her. ¡°I do not think the Nightlords have noticed the feather. Necahual is beneath the notice of most of them.¡±
¡°Most.¡± Mother squinted. ¡°Not all.¡±
I assented with a nod. I doubted Yoloxochitl had paid Necahual enough attention to detect the Curse placed upon her, but she might in time.
¡°Remove the feather as soon as you can,¡± Mother all but ordered. ¡°An ill-placed Curse can be used to track down its caster. I do not want the Nightlords to hunt me down.¡±
I briefly considered using the threat of using Mother¡¯s own Curse against her to exact concessions, before deciding otherwise. However fair-weather a friend she was, she remained my only ally in this stretch of the Underworld and could cause me many headaches. And neither did she deserve whatever the Nightlords planned to put her through if they caught her.
¡°I will,¡± I promised. ¡°However, you must teach me how to disguise my Curses. We have only three nights left before the New Fire Ceremony.¡±
¡°Yes, yes. Thankfully these silent gentlemen will kindly offer their bodies for you to practice on.¡± Mother observed me with what could pass for motherly pride. ¡°Fear not for your future, Iztac. Now that your mind is set, there is no way you cannot win.¡±
Yes, I would win.
No matter what may come.
Chapter Thirty-Two: The House of Fright
Hiding Curses came easy to me.
I should have expected that. I¡¯d grown used to disguising my malice from the Nightlords with a placid face and pretty words. A Curse was no little than hateful intentions made manifest, so all I had to do was wrap it up in a Veil of insincere words and empty reassurances. Both spells used my Tonalli and thus could work in tandem.
¡°I am impressed, my son,¡± Mother complimented me as I presented her with my latest work: a translucent feather. Were I not holding it in my hand, I would not even see it. ¡°It took me years to achieve a similar result.¡±
It felt strange to receive a compliment from Mother. I knew that I should shrug off her opinion¡ªthe woman had abandoned me after all¡ªbut her words filled my heart with pride anyway. I supposed a small part of me still yearned for her praise and attention. Or perhaps I simply appreciated having my hard-earned skills recognized by an experienced sorcerer.
¡°Practice makes perfect,¡± I replied before applying the feather to one of our captive Burned Men. The invisible feather meshed with the undead¡¯s shadow without leaving a trace. It took me using the Gaze to confirm my Curse stuck to its target; a spell that none of my enemies could access. ¡°Is this good enough to fool the Nightlords?¡±
¡°More than enough.¡± Mother examined the wall of pinned Burned Men. Half of them were trapped in a deep trance, their minds possessing helpless bodies in the living world. ¡°All that remains is for you to plant the feathers on the corpses above. This will trigger your Haunt and befoul the entire mountain.¡±
A prospect I relished, but one that would still require some planning.
¡°Making the trip to Smoke Mountain in my Tonalli form back and forth will take me hours,¡± I warned Mother. ¡°I will have to skip my next trip to the Underworld.¡±
¡°That won¡¯t be a problem. You have all the tools required to cast your Haunt spell now.¡± A polite way to say I would have plenty of corpses to corrupt and bury. ¡°Remember to repeat the same Curse with all the feathers you place. Choose something simple. The more likely the outcome you seek and the more you fervently wish for it, the easier your task.¡±
My Curse would be simple enough: I would wish for the Nightlords¡¯ ritual to turn back against them, for the power they sought to do them harm, for the threads of their magic to unravel. That was my sincerest wish.
Moreover, I suspected that another voice would pray for the same result during the New Fire Ceremony. The same one that the Nightlords dared to leech power from. If that entity would lend my Curse its strength, the vampires would soon learn the meaning of regret.
A pity I couldn¡¯t cast spells through a Ridden host. That would have made my life so much easier. I observed the wall of Burned Men and began to wonder how else I could use that spell. Riding my foes would let me see through their eyes and kill with their hands, but there were places no man could easily access. No man was allowed into the Blood Pyramid¡¯s bowels, nor permitted to delve into its terrible secrets.
A mouse, however¡
¡°I have a question,¡± I asked Mother. ¡°If the Ride spell lets us possess humans, can it allow us to take over animals too? Could I possess a bat or a snake?¡±
¡°Of course, but you will quickly find yourself facing a key limitation: you need a target¡¯s name to Ride them.¡±
I could see how that would prevent me from Riding the first mouse to cross my path. Fortunately, however, I had the world¡¯s largest menagerie at my disposal. ¡°If so, wouldn¡¯t naming an animal myself do the trick?¡±
¡°It can, if the animal answers to it.¡± Mother brushed her hand against a Burned Man¡¯s bones and the words carved into them. ¡°The Ride spell requires a name because it calls the host. Like any Ihiyotl spell, you need to build a connection through words or breath.¡±
I pondered her words. I was only familiar with the Augury when it came to Ihiyotl-based spells. That one involved catching the Yaotzin¡¯s attention from among all the winds and then concluding a deal with it. Unless I shed blood and provided the correct offering, the wind of chaos would not pay attention to me.
¡°I think I understand,¡± I said. ¡°It is akin to singling out a target from among a crowd. If I do not call the beast by a name that it recognizes, they will not understand that I am speaking to them.¡±
Mother nodded in confirmation. ¡°We humans receive a name at birth, so we learn since infancy to answer to its call. An animal requires training to understand the same.¡±
That complicated matters. The only animal that came to mind as a valid target for the Ride spell was Itzili, my young feathered tyrant. He was strong and quick, but not especially subtle. A flying bird or a small rodent would serve me better.
I always could have my animal trainers raise specific beasts for me. Or perhaps they¡¯d already taught the prisoners of my menagerie to answer their calls. Either way, it would take time and carry a risk. If a bird from my collection was somehow found dead in a vampire temple after escaping its cage, the Nightlords might suspect something was amiss.
¡°There is a simpler way to Ride the beasts of the living world,¡± Mother said after noticing my sullen face. ¡°What do you think is the foundation of magic, my son? The principle that guides all forms of sorcery, nay, the cosmos itself?¡±
I first thought of the three components of magic: the Tonalli, the Teyolia, and the Ihiyotl. The Parliament of Skulls taught me early that I was required to master all three to become a true sorcerer.
However, Mother mentioned a principle, singular. I could only think of one thing. The words that guided me on the first steps of my journey in Mictlan.
¡°Sacrifice,¡± I replied. ¡°You must give before you can obtain anything.¡±
My answer drew a dry chuckle from Mother. ¡°Why do most sacrifices go unrewarded then?¡±
Her words were cold, but perhaps not unfounded. Gratitude was a rare thing. Appreciated, yet rarely expected. The Nightlords had shown that clearly enough when they killed Sigrun in spite of her years of unwilling service.
¡°The powerful rarely need to give anything,¡± Mother said. ¡°The strong take what they can, not what they must.¡±
¡°The dead souls I¡¯ve dealt with all abided by their word, whether mortals or gods,¡± I argued. ¡°I traded my services for their spells and knowledge. They did not compel me to do their bidding by force, though they could easily have done so.¡±
Mother remained unconvinced. ¡°Unlike the living, the dead have learned the value of patience. What value is there in making an enemy that may haunt you thirty years from now? We Tlacatecolotl are too few and our services too precious. They cannot alienate us.¡±
That was quite the cynical take on life. ¡°Not all relationships are built on mutual self-interest, Mother.¡±
¡°You are correct, my son: only those with a solid foundation are.¡± Mother shrugged. ¡°In any case, I shall tell you the answer: the guiding principle of all magic is transfer. Power is like water. It flows and shifts, but never settles on a single shape for long.¡±
To illustrate her point, Mother moved a hand from her exposed Teyolia to mine. Both of us had feasted on the divine ashes of a long-dead sun. I could feel the same glow within her heart as mine.
¡°The sun produces light and warmth, which feeds flowers and beasts alike,¡± Mother explained. ¡°The sun gives them life; and in return, when they die, the living send their Teyolia back to the sun. Nothing is created. Nothing is destroyed. Power shifts and moves.¡±
¡°What do you make of vampires then?¡± I still shuddered when I recalled the sulfur flame¡¯s boundless appetite. Nothing remained of what it devoured. ¡°All they do is eat.¡±
¡°The vampires do not truly destroy those they consume. Their souls keep existing in that gaping pit that the Nightlords call a stomach. I concede their hunger does threaten the continued balance of the universe, but they do not destroy power; they simply hoard it.¡±
¡°Do not worry, Iztac,¡± Eztli once told me when referring to her father, whom she devoured. ¡°He¡¯s still inside me.¡±
I dared not imagine how many souls languished in a Nightlord¡¯s stomach, considering how long those monsters had haunted the earth. Still, if Mother was right, then extinguishing the sulfur flame might release Lady Sigrun¡¯s soul and that of all the poor women fed to its wicked hunger; if such a thing was even possible.
¡°To master sorcery, Iztac, you must understand, exploit, and control this flow,¡± Mother continued. ¡°It is true that in many cases, you must give before you can take; but it is only because you cannot transfer anything without building a connection first. The Ride spell uses a name because it is the easiest way to create such a bridge, but there are other, more intimate ways to achieve the same result. You have already encountered many cases.¡±
It didn¡¯t take me long to think of one: the thralls of the Nightlords, whose loyalty was engraved onto their very eyes.
¡°The priests,¡± I guessed. ¡°The Nightkin enslave their minds and flesh by feeding them their blood.¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± Mother confirmed. ¡°The body¡¯s fluids carry the power of one¡¯s Teyolia, especially the blood; for a sorcerer, this means they become powerful magical vectors. Feeding your blood to another creature will create a one-way bond akin to a debt. You give life, you gain ownership. Enough control will let you see through your target¡¯s eyes, listen through their ears, and even give commands that they cannot disobey.¡±
So if I feed an animal my blood, then I wouldn¡¯t need their name to Ride them? This might prove difficult in my case considering how mine burned with sunlight, but my mind immediately noticed a worrying detail about this process.
¡°The Nightlords can see through their priests¡¯ eyes?¡± I asked.
¡°The Nightlords cannot Ride a blood-bonded individual, as they lack access to the Land of the Dead Suns, but yes, they can command their thralls and observe the world through their senses from afar.¡± Mother locked eyes with me; her own were as blue as the priests¡¯ were red. ¡°Whenever you speak to a blood-bonded servant of a Nightlord, remember that their mistress might be listening.¡±
I¡¯d never been foolish enough to speak my mind in a priest¡¯s vicinity, but there were subtler spies in the palace. Yoloxochitl had fed her blood to many flowers lurking beneath the imperial gardens. If she could listen through them¡
Fear not, Iztac. These plants recoil from the sun. You are safe in the daylight. Still, I would avoid speaking in the gardens. They were not as safe of a space as I imagined them to be. Must I worry about wallflowers too now?
¡°I would be careful if you try to form a blood-bond, Iztac,¡± Mother warned me. ¡°Such a relationship requires maintenance. You need to feed your target regularly, lest their body purges your blood away like a poison. Most sorcerers can only sustain a handful of pets, human or otherwise.¡±
¡°I favor quality over quantity,¡± I replied. A single mouse would serve me better than a pack of wild dogs. ¡°Are there other risks to forming a blood-bond? A connection works both ways, no?¡±
¡°It will if you consume the beast¡¯s blood in return.¡± Mother stroked her hair, a flicker of amusement flashing in her eyes. ¡°I heard cases of ancient Nahualli couples who fed on each other¡¯s blood to create an unbreakable bond. It rarely ended well. Most became madly obsessed with one another, when the stronger party did not dominate the other.¡±
I understood how the process worked now. By using mercantile terms, feeding one''s blood to another created a bond similar to a debtor and a debtee; exchanging blood, meanwhile, meant sharing a mutual burden. If the flow went only one way, it instead created an ever-stronger form of dependency.
¡°The vampires feed on blood,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they become slaves to Nahualli if they fed on their blood?¡±
Mother shook her head. ¡°The vampire curse perverts everything. A Nightkin possesses a gaping, all-consuming curse in place of their shriveled heart. There is no give and take with a vampire, only the latter. The Nightlords have fed on a thousand sorcerers without becoming a slave to any of them. Consuming their blood, however, means inviting their evil into your veins.¡±
I found that disappointing, but not unexpected. At least feeding them my sun-powered blood should damage them. ¡°Yet that same evil allows the red-eyed priests to conquer aging.¡±
¡°At the cost of their fertility.¡± Mother scoffed in disdain. ¡°The truth, Iztac, is that the vampire curse consumes their potential to bring new life into the world to sustain itself. All priests are indebted fools who sold out their kind¡¯s future for false prosperity.¡±
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
All of the Nightlords¡¯ gifts were poisoned.
¡°Humans possess the most lifeforce out of all creatures in the world, short of great creatures like the feathered tyrants,¡± Mother added. ¡°On lesser beasts and plants, the curse¡¯s effects are far more pronounced. They grow fearful of sunlight and gain a thirst for blood. They become the shadows of shadows.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve seen that,¡± I said upon recalling Yoloxochitl¡¯s garden of monstrous flowers. At least this confirmed no possessed mouse would spy on me in the sunlight.
Beyond its use for the Ride spell, Mother¡¯s lesson on the nature of magic helped me recontextualize Lady Sigrun¡¯s magic. If all of a human¡¯s body fluids carried their Teyolia, then it would explain why Seidr required lovemaking to function. It temporarily bound the participants¡¯ heart-fires together. The process happened naturally, but only Nahualli or trained individuals would notice.
¡°Have you heard of Seidr?¡± I questioned Mother.
She squinted at me in confusion. She did not recognize the term. ¡°I have not.¡±
¡°I met a¡¡± My words died in my throat when I tried to qualify Sigrun. A victim of circumstances? A witch? Her death was too fresh yet, too raw, for me to properly describe her. ¡°A wise woman with access to a strange form of sorcery. A power created from the union of a man and a woman, whether or not they were Nahualli. She used it to preserve her youth by draining the vitality of her partners.¡±
¡°Ah yes, you must speak of the Embrace.¡± I detected a hint of disdain in Mother¡¯s voice. ¡°It is a primitive ritual emulating ¨mete¨tl, the first being. The same way male and female were once one, reuniting these two halves lets a couple tap into a greater source of power.¡±
Of course Mother would be familiar with all forms of magic. I recalled that Lady Sigrun compared ¨mete¨tl to a figure of her own mythology, Ymir. Much like my people and the Sapa each used different words to name the same things, I guessed other Nahualli practiced Seidr under another name.
¡°You do not sound impressed,¡± I noted.
¡°I am not,¡± Mother replied. ¡°I will concede that the Embrace has plenty of applications. From what I have heard, the participants can use their shared lifeforce to transfer memories, heal their wounds, or gain cosmic insight.¡±
Sharing memories? Could Sigrun read the minds of those she slept with? No wonder she became such a powerful spymistress.
¡°All those things sound beneficial enough,¡± I said.
¡°They are, but the Embrace requires the willing cooperation of two participants to unleash its full potential. If you receive a vision, you share this knowledge.¡± Mother let out a scornful snort. ¡°Why bother deepening a form of magic with such a steep cost when you can achieve the same result on your own?¡±
I squinted at her. ¡°You could have tried with Father, when he was alive.¡±
A tense silence hung between us.
¡°You couldn¡¯t trust him,¡± I guessed.
¡°I love your father, but he is not a Nahualli.¡± Mother looked away at the exit. ¡°He would not have understood. Not until he died.¡±
The impersonal way she spoke of my father¡ªthe very person she Cursed Necahual for life to be with¡ªunnerved me to my core. Mother might say that she loved him, but she still considered him a mere mortal at the end of the day. Someone she could never share her true secrets with.
What did I expect from her? Unconditional love? Mother made it clear that she wouldn¡¯t have helped me had I not proven to be a Tlacatecolotl. Had I been born without powers, she would have left me to the Nightlords. I could tell.
A terrifying, high-pitched screech echoed outside our hideout, loud enough to wake the dead; and it did. The Burned Men grew agitated and began to helplessly struggle against the nails keeping them attached to the stone wall. The ground shook beneath my feet and the stone ceiling cracked above my head.
¡°A tremor?¡± I muttered, my body tensing. There were few more dangerous places to hide in than a tunnel in the middle of an earthquake.
¡°Of a sort.¡± Seemingly unbothered by the danger ahead, Mother stepped close to our hideout¡¯s exit and discreetly peeked outside. ¡°Azcatlapalli is growing restless.¡±
I quickly followed her example and waved a Veil to hide ourselves. Indeed, Azcatlapalli was screaming his anger to the heavens. The great bird¡¯s mighty wings wiped up a dust storm in the canyon he oversaw. His talons trampled the ground with enough strength to spread tremors through the ground. His hateful eyes looked left and right, searching for prey. Searching for us.
Was he trying to force us out of hiding with a tantrum? When dust fell from the ceiling and onto my shoulder, I realized he might very well succeed. I quickly activated the Doll spell for safety¡¯s sake. Dark talons of shadows held onto the walls and kept them in place.
¡°Worry not, my son,¡± Mother reassured me, though she did nothing to help me in my task. ¡°It will be all over soon.¡±
True to her words, I did not have to wait for long. Azcatlapalli let out a final growl, a deep cry of anger and disappointment, and then took flight. The whole canyon shook as he soared away from his perch. His immense wingspan cast a dark shadow upon us for several seconds, but the blue light of Tlaloc¡¯s sun soon returned. I gazed upon Azcatlapalli as he flew away towards far off smoldering mountains.
Mad spirits were clearly short on patience.
¡°This is our chance to slip away,¡± Mother said as she shifted back into her owl form. ¡°We must not linger. His kind always returns.¡±
¡°What of them?¡± I asked, pointing a shadowy talon at the Burned Men.
¡°Leave them. The spell will run its course in time.¡± Mother traded her skin for black feathers and her arms for dark wings. ¡°They have served their purpose.¡±
A minute later, we both flew away out of the canyon as twin owls of shadow. My carrying frame and its contents weighed heavily on my back. Searing rains of cinders flowed over my plumage like water on a fish¡¯s scales. Thankfully, Azcatlapalli had flown in another direction than ours. He was so large I could still see his shadow in the distance, soaring above the dead lands.
¡°What if he ambushes us again?¡± I asked, my beak coughing ashes.
¡°That won¡¯t be an issue if we can reach the House of Fright tonight,¡± Mother replied. ¡°The Burned Men and their dead gods alike do not encroach on its borders.¡±
It said something about Tlalocan when Mother considered an ancient realm of nightmares safer than its surface; and considering what I¡¯d read from the Emperor¡¯s Codex, it begged some worrying questions.
¡°I heard the Lords of Terror fetch a high price for their power and knowledge,¡± I mused out loud. ¡°How am I expected to repay their hospitality? What payment will they expect?¡±
I expected a thousand answers from my mother. Souls, sorrow, blood, pain, the list went on. The kind of payment I thought would please nightmares older than the current mankind.
Instead, she answered with a single word. One that somehow sounded more ominous than all other possibilities.
¡°Tests.¡±
I squinted at her. ¡°Tests?¡±
¡°You are a Tlacatecolotl, an owl-fiend of the Underworld. The Lords of Terror know that you will spread fear and nightmares. This makes them well-disposed towards our kind¡ if you can live up to their standards.¡± Mother marked a short pause as we soared above a river of lava. ¡°Only three kinds of people leave Xibalba in one piece, my son. The bold¡ the lucky¡¡±
She looked over her shoulder, her eyes cold and ominous.
¡°And the demons.¡±
And to survive, I would have to become all three.
I couldn¡¯t tell how long we flew. Hours? Days? Time passed strangely when soaring above a land of death.
If I had to describe this region of Tlalocan, I would say we were flying above an old oven. Great plains stretched before us; an endless desert of cinders, molten glass, and fossilized ashes. Everything that could burn in this place already had. Nothing remained.
Nothing but grayness and the silence.
The latter became overwhelming as we progressed. A world was a living thing; and even dead, Tlalocan remained a noisy place. The thunder in the sky; the crackling of ashes on the ground; the distant growls of angry volcanos¡ all these sounds once formed a symphony in the background. Discordant, yet always present.
No more. I heard no other sound except for the flapping of our wings. Not even the whisper of a burning wind.
At some point, the rain of ash suddenly stopped falling.
It happened so quickly that I hardly noticed at first. The clouds cleared, leaving naught but Tlaloc¡¯s distant blue sun shining alone amidst a dreary sky. The everlasting tempest of flames and cinders had stopped in front of an invisible line.
The sight sent a chill course through my spine. The fiery rains were the will of Tlaloc himself. The ceaseless anger of a god far older than the living world. How could he not exercise his power over a place inside his own realm?
I would expect the Burned Men to flock to such a haven. They did not. I saw no ruined settlement, no city of the wicked dead, or even a hut in which to hide. None of Tlalocan¡¯s denizens had dared to colonize the gray desert.
This region was no sanctuary.
The air grew thicker too. Heavier. The temperature dropped in spite of the harsh sunlight, an otherworldly chill overcoming the searing heat of Tlaloc¡¯s volcanic realm. The dunes of ashes flattened beneath us, as if they were afraid to stand out. Everything had become gray. The sky, the air, the land¡ all except for one landmark.
A black blot stood in the middle of the horizon. An indistinct mountain, or a tower perhaps? I could not tell what it was.
¡°Is that¡¡± My own words sounded muffled, my voice choked by the oppressive atmosphere into mere whispers. ¡°Is that it?¡±
Mother answered with a short nod. The landscape around us slowly changed into strange and unsettling sights.
First, we flew over a canyon filled with the fossilized remains of dead scorpions. Then a great red ring of long dried blood. Finally, we soared past a disgusting river of yellow pus.
Xibalba, the House of Fright, welcomed us soon after.
I heard its call long before its great pyramid came into view. Its overwhelming malevolence hung in the air like a cloud of pestilence over a grave. That sense of dread, of bottomless malice¡ I had only ever encountered anything similar once before. The moment when I first glimpsed at the ancient terror inside the sulfur flame.
Xibalba did not look too impressive at first glance. It was far smaller than Yohuachanca¡¯s capital and utterly lacking in splendor. Long streets and crossroads of black obsidian stretched between empty houses of ancient stone. The city¡¯s only noticeable landmark was a polished obsidian pyramid in its center. Even that one appeared smaller than the Nightlords¡¯ Blood Pyramid.
But the longer I looked at Xibalba, the more unsettling it became. The houses were abandoned, yet perfectly maintained and polished. When I looked at a building and blinked, it was gone as if it had never existed; an empty road now appeared in its place. Xibalba¡¯s fountains produced no water. There were no fortified walls to protect the city, nor moats nor watchtowers. Its great stone gates lay wide open, daring visitors to step inside.
Its streets were crowded too, but not by men nor beasts. Hundreds, if not thousands of white statues sat on its roofs or stood in the shadow of its empty houses. All of them were faceless and featureless. Some struck poses. Others appeared frozen in the middle of a dance. A few stretched in ways no man should. Most simply waited in place like chalk pillars.
All of them were staring at us. Their eyeless heads were turned in our direction, as if they¡¯d been expecting our coming.
I was home.
I couldn¡¯t explain it. This place frightened me. The human part of me dreaded it on an instinctual, primal level. This was a city of evil so foul that not even the Burned Men would approach it. A monument to terror forbidden to mortals.
But the owl¡ the owl within me felt drawn to the structure, the way a bird might recall the nest from which it took its first flight. An alien sense of nostalgia overwhelmed me. I had never stepped foot in Xibalba, whether in flesh or in dreams, but it welcomed me all the same.
Mother did not enter the city, however. She landed in the gray desert before its silent gates. A dozen benches lined up along the road, alongside four strange totems rising from the ashen landscape: an owl-shaped scarecrow with tattered wings stretched wide in silent exaltation; a trihorn-sized spider wrapped in a cocoon of fossilized webbing; a faceless, crowned woman made of red marble; and the shattered statue of a beheaded bat.
I sensed power coming from all of these strange statues, except for the last. The sight of a broken bat filled my heart with joy, but somehow, it seemed strangely out of place. Like a defaced tombstone.
¡°These are totems that can travel into the Underworld,¡± I said upon landing. ¡°The spider, the owl, the bat¡ and the faceless dead.¡±
Queen Mictecacihuatl informed me that no bat totem had graced the Land of the Dead Suns in centuries, and only its statue was broken beyond repair. This seemed relevant somehow.
¡°Quite the mystery, is it not?¡± Mother noted upon regaining her human form. ¡°You will find the answer inside Xibalba.¡±
¡°Which means you have found it,¡± I replied. I let go of my carrying frame and shed my owl guise for arms and legs. ¡°Why not tell me now?¡±
¡°True knowledge is earned, not shared.¡± Mother waved a hand at the owl totem. ¡°Bury your belongings at the owl totem¡¯s feet. Do not carry anything that can be used against you inside Xibalba. Do not sit on the benches either. You would soon regret it.¡±
I would have guessed as much. Approaching the spider altar caused my flesh to itch as if insects crawled beneath my skin, whereas the human one caused an invisible weight to fall upon my chest. Only the owl totem alone did not radiate an aura of hostility.
It took me a while to bury my carrying frame and its contents, even with the Doll spell. I felt a hundred gazes watching me as I worked. Either the faceless statues were alive, or some other creatures hid among their numbers. Once I¡¯d finished, I looked up at my Mother, waiting for her to guide me.
¡°Listen well, my son.¡±
My back tensed like a bowstring. Mother¡¯s voice had deepened and turned somber. Her next words would carry great weight.
¡°Once your soul enters Xibalba, you will not be able to escape it until you have completed all of its trials,¡± she warned me. ¡°Whenever you fall asleep, you will be dragged back to the House of Fright; and if you fail its tests, you will never leave it.¡±
Most would have gulped upon hearing this. I simply offered a sharp nod. After all I¡¯d gone through since the Night of the Scarlet Moon, such dangers no longer frightened me.
¡°The city contains six houses, each of them ruled by two Lords of Terror,¡± Mother carried on. ¡°You will be brought to one of them the moment you step through the gates. Xibalba¡¯s masters will put you through cruel tests. Conquer all six of them, and you will be allowed inside the pyramid and its ballcourt. If you want to leave Xibalba, you will have to win a game there.¡±
I crossed my arms and held her gaze. ¡°Is Father suffering in one of these houses?¡±
¡°No, of course not,¡± Mother reassured me. She sounded almost insulted by the idea. ¡°Once you leave a house of trials, many paths will appear before you. One will lead to my domain inside the city, where we can meet in relative safety. Itzili and I will be waiting for you there.¡±
So far so good. I did wonder what could pass for ¡®safe¡¯ in a place so malevolent. ¡°What of the other paths?¡±
¡°They will lead you to another house of trials. You will have to find your own path to my sanctuary.¡±
¡°Would it be too much to ask for a map?¡± I quipped. Mother did not bother commenting on it. ¡°What kind of tests can I expect?¡±
¡°Even if I was allowed to tell you, it would do you no good. The Lords of Terror have had an eternity to refine their traps. The tests change with each visitor.¡± Mother shrugged her shoulders. ¡°However, know that success will not go unrewarded. The Lords of Terror know powerful spells and terrible secrets. Forbidden sorceries that can harm the Nightlords and bring ruin to their servants. Pass their tests and you shall obtain their blessings.¡±
Spells that could harm the Nightlords.
The events of last night flared in the back of my mind. I recalled the Jaguar Woman¡¯s grip on my shoulders. The words she shrieked into my ears.
We own you. We own you. We own you.
I tried to imagine a different night. I pictured myself tearing the Jaguar Woman apart with powerful magic. I imagined her burning and burning in front of her cursed flame. What a sweet thought. If only history had been so kind.
If I¡¯d been stronger, if I¡¯d wielded more powerful magic, Lady Sigrun would not have died. Guatemoc would not have perished. Eztli would not have become a vampire hungering for death¡¯s sweet release. So many things would have changed.
Power would not let me change the past, but it would let me prevent further tragedies. It would allow me to destroy all of my enemies. The Nightlords, the vampires, all their priests and accomplices. All of them. My spells would knock their pyramids down and teach them the meaning of terror. I would tear apart the Jaguar Woman with my bare hands, put Yoloxochitl through the same torments she inflicted on so many innocents, and drag the others into the sun to burn.
One day, I told myself. One day, I would piss on their ashes.
After mulling over these vengeful fantasies, I faced the gates of Xibalba. The House of Fright and its secrets awaited me. They would come at a cost. I knew I would bear new scars by the time I left it behind me. Only one question still haunted me.
¡°Will it be worth it?¡± I whispered.
Mother¡¯s eyes softened a brief instant, so quick I almost failed to notice. ¡°I promise you this, my son: you will leave Xibalba as a powerful sorcerer or not at all. Once you conquer this city, you will be ready to confront Tlaloc himself.¡±
That was all I needed to hear.
I stepped into the House of Fright, and its walls swallowed me whole.
Chapter Thirty-Three: The House of Gloom
All was dark.
All was black.
All was silence.
I awoke enshrouded in lightless shadows, a pitch-black expanse thicker than a starless night. I couldn¡¯t see anything; not even my own hand. The darkness consumed all.
My body shivered in the cold. I was lying on a stone floor, or at least it felt that way to my numb fingers and rattling bones. My hands fumbled in the all-devouring shadows to no avail. I¡¯d never seen a place so black. Even Mictlan¡¯s bowels provided a measure of ghostlight in the dark.
I remembered the walls of Xibalba closing in on me after I stepped through its gates. The street had pulled me in like the meal of a great beast down a gullet of stone. The city had swallowed me whole.
Was I in its stomach now? A silent tomb hidden underground? A place buried so deep that Tlaloc¡¯s searing light could not reach it?
I struggled to my knees and elbows. I looked at my chest. The baleful flame between my ribs shone no brighter than a small candle in a sea of darkness, to the point I could hardly see it. The shadows dimmed my fire¡¯s radiance until it turned into a mere flicker.
¡°Mother, are you there?¡± I called out without expecting an answer. I received none. Worse, my words became muffled the moment they escaped my mouth. My voice became a mere whisper. No echo returned to me either.
I activated my Gaze spell. I channeled the sunlight in my heart through my eyes to pierce through the shadows.
I failed.
The light pouring from my Gaze spell, once radiant enough to dispel any illusion, failed to clear the darkness around me. When I raised my hand to my face, my fingers fumbling to my chin and then to my cheek, I could hardly distinguish its edges when I waved it in front of my eyes. I could not distinguish anything unless it stood within inches of my face.
The wind once whispered to me that there were shadows so thick even the light recoiled from them. Had I stepped inside such a place?
I gathered my strength and rose to my feet, only for my skull to hit a low ceiling. I couldn¡¯t stand with my head high; I had to bend slightly until my shoulders rubbed against the stone. I must have been in a tunnel of some kind. I scrambled forward looking for an exit.
When my eyes started to hurt, I canceled my Gaze spell to preserve my power for later. It hardly cleared anything anyway. My own Teyolia couldn¡¯t even light the way forward.
I was alone in the shadows with no other way than forward.
¡°I am not afraid of the dark,¡± I said, both for my sake and that of the Lords of Terror. I had gazed into the Sulfur Flame¡¯s black heart itself. Nothing could shake me more than that. ¡°You don¡¯t scare me.¡±
Mother said she would await me in a safe sanctuary after I conquered my first house of fear. Was this darkness my first trial? Was I expected to find a way out in complete darkness? This might take a while.
However long this trial would take, I would beat it.
I faced the all-consuming blackness, gathered my breath and courage like a soldier readying to march to war, and then pressed onward. My footsteps echoed on the cold hard floor before being swallowed by the overwhelming silence.
My ordeal had begun.
My war teachers at school taught us that the best way to find one¡¯s way in the dark was to find the nearest wall, keep one¡¯s left hand pressed against it, and then turn left constantly. This lesson was meant to help separated warriors regroup when fighting at night. I could easily apply it to my current situation. Eventually, I was bound to hit a wall. Once I found one, I would keep moving left until I stumbled on the exit.
I had no idea how long I crawled onward, my back bending downward like that of a slave afraid to look at his master. Hours, days, weeks? I knew rationally I should have woken up if my exploration lasted that long, but it still felt that way to me. I fumbled with each step. No matter where my fingers turned to grasp, they only found either a ceiling or a floor with nothing to separate them. No pillars, no walls, no nothing.
I was no architect, but this seemed¡ improbable.
Eventually, my left hand stumbled upon a vertical structure. I briefly called upon the Gaze spell and confirmed it was indeed a wall of pitch-black stone. So far so good. Follow the left wall. Find the exit. A simple plan. I followed it religiously.
Then my right hand fumbled onto a second wall.
I activated my Gaze spell again to confirm it. A wall on each side, a ceiling, and a floor. Had I stepped into a hallway? Since when? I couldn¡¯t tell whether I should consider it a bad sign or not.
After a moment¡¯s consideration, I decided to continue through that passage. Mother compared the trials to houses; a hallway should henceforth naturally lead to another room. Even if it turned out to be a dead end, I would simply keep turning left.
I quickly regretted my decision.
I sensed the walls closing in on me with each new step. The ceiling pressed down. I had no other way forward than to move on my knees. Stone scraped against my shoulders, then my thighs. I told myself I would eventually reach a dead end, but the passage just got smaller and smaller. At one point, I realized I would have no other choice than to squeeze forward if I wished to proceed.
And if I did, I would have few ways of defending myself.
I smelled a trap.
Xibalba¡¯s masters didn¡¯t earn the title of Lords of Terror for nothing. According to the First Emperor¡¯s codex, they were ancient nightmares older than mankind. Mother herself warned me that they had refined their cruelty over the eons.
After seeing what the Nightlords could come up with, I doubted a cramped hallway would be my only obstacle. It would be only the prelude to something worse. My instincts warned me of danger ahead.
I tried to turn around, but failed due to the lack of space. With no other option, I took a step back.
I hit another wall.
My back hit a wall. My feet touched a barrier of stone.
That was impossible. I hadn¡¯t turned at any point. I looked over my shoulder and activated the Gaze spell, dispelling the darkness just long enough to find a black barrier standing behind me.
Only then did I curse my foolishness. I¡¯d entered the trap of my own volition long ago.
However, if the Lords of Terror expected me to bury myself, they were wrong. I immediately called upon the Doll spell and manifested talons of shadow strong enough to shatter stone. I had them hit the wall behind me in an attempt to shatter it.
My Doll spell tore apart a spider totem larger than a trihorn and shredded men apart in a single swing. I knew it could break through a wall if I tried hard enough. Yet whatever substance blocked my path proved too strong. My talons bounced off it like bones thrown at granite.
No way out but forward. No other way out than this cramped hallway closing in on me. I stared at the shadows ahead of me, considering what to do next.
Plop.
My spine tensed on its own and caused my head to hit the ceiling. My teeth tightened as I focused on the noise¡¯s source.
Plop.
I heard it in the distance. A faint sound, barely inaudible, but magnified by the heavy silence. The noise of a droplet hitting a solid surface. Water? Was there water ahead? Somehow I suspected the truth would be far more disturbing.
But what other choice did I have? Not even the Doll spell could shatter these walls, and unlike the living world I could not separate my soul from my body to phase through physical matter; I was my soul.
So I crawled on. I followed after the sound, unable to see where I went.
Plop. Plop.
I was getting closer, slowly but surely. The noise sounded more frequent too. Drops after drops.
I felt a slight pressure on my left shoulder.
At this point, I was crawling on my knees to avoid hitting the ceiling. I thought I¡¯d hit a rock, but the pressure did not abate when I squeezed forward. It followed me. I activated the Gaze spell, the sunlight of my soul letting me catch a glimpse of my shoulder.
A hand had grabbed it from behind.
¡°Look at me,¡± Mother whispered into my ear.
I almost did it, impulsively. That was Mother¡¯s voice and her hand. There could be no doubt about it.
But it wasn¡¯t her.
The tone was too sweet, too kind, too reassuring. Too motherly. It reminded me of Yoloxochitl¡¯s false gentleness. Mother was cold and distant.
¡°Look at me,¡± her voice repeated calmly.
I gulped before asking, ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Do you see the candles, Iztac?¡± the voice replied, ignoring my question. ¡°Look at me.¡±
A brave or foolish man would have indulged the¡ creature. I, meanwhile, had faced enough threats to recognize danger. My instincts screamed at me not to turn around, even to just catch a glimpse of whatever was talking to me. Deep down I knew that this thing meant harm to me. To obey it meant to face my own death.
I did not have to look to kill it.
Talons of shadow surged from my body as I activated the Doll spell. I sent them to hit whatever thing lurked behind me and to cut the hand holding me down. The claws failed at the former task, hitting only a wall of stone pressing on my back, but they succeeded at the latter.
No blood dripped onto the floor when Mother¡¯s severed hand hit the ground. I caught a brief glimpse of it crawling away deeper into the tunnel thanks to the Gaze spell. When she vanished into the darkness, another hand grabbed my left shoulder; paler than Mother¡¯s and colder than a corpse.
¡°Look at me,¡± the thing behind whispered with Sigrun¡¯s melodious voice.
It was only then I realized a simple truth. It is not the dark that men fear. It¡¯s what it hides.
¡°Look at me,¡± the thing repeated, cycling through Mother¡¯s voice and Sigrun the next. ¡°Why won¡¯t you look at me?¡±
¡°I refuse,¡± I said, my throat dry. ¡°Leave me alone.¡±
The thing ignored me. ¡°Look at me, Iztac,¡± it repeated, calmly, sweetly, gently. ¡°Look at me.¡±
Since I could neither harm it nor turn around, I simply pushed on. Sigrun¡¯s hand held onto my shoulder, but it hardly slowed me down. I barely crawled a few steps when I sensed another weight on my other shoulder.
¡°I am right behind you, Iztac,¡± Eztli¡¯s voice echoed in my ear. ¡°So why won¡¯t you look at me?
I felt no weight behind the new hand, nor an arm to support it; it felt as if it had appeared out of thin air. I sensed no heavier creature leaning against me from behind, but a presence loomed nonetheless. An entity that tried to mimic humanity the way a parrot might repeat words without understanding the meaning behind them.
I gritted my teeth and pushed on. I squeezed through the cramped tunnel. New hands held on to my thighs, to my legs, to my back. I counted dozens, some gentle as a lover¡¯s caress, others with fingers of bone.
¡°Look at me,¡± the thing spoke with Guatemoc¡¯s voice, its tone noticeably colder than before.
I ignored it, but the hands¡¯ grip soon began to tighten. While I could safely ignore them, now I had to struggle to push forward.
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¡°Look at me, insolent slave,¡± the Jaguar Woman¡¯s voice ordered me. ¡°Look at me.¡±
It only made me more resolute to continue.
The entity lost patience at this point. Instead of simply impairing my progress, the hands outright started to pull me backward. I snarled in rage as I called upon the Doll spell. My talons sliced through a dozen hands and hundreds of fingers, but more came to replace them.
¡°Let me go!¡± I snarled. ¡°Let me go¨C¡±
A flash of pain coursed through my torso.
I grunted in surprise and agony, then collapsed onto my elbows. A searing hot liquid dripped on my skin and immediately caught fire. A surge of light briefly illuminated the tunnel. I heard screeches behind me and a few of the hands let me go. I smelled burning blood.
My blood.
A glance at my belly. A pale bone knife stuck out of it, the blade halfway through my stomach. A pale finger¡ªone of those that held the weapon seconds ago¡ªwriggled as it turned into smoke on the floor. My burning blood consumed it like chocolate in boiled water. A meager consolation.
¡°Look at me.¡± The entity no longer bothered to mimic anyone¡¯s voice. It had become deep, angry, and inhuman. It did not request anything anymore. It simply commanded. ¡°Look at me.¡±
Another surge of pain followed, this time in my right leg. I swallowed a scream as I felt a blade twisting in my flesh.
¡°Nothing exists in the dark.¡± the voice repeated with a coarse and alien tone deeper than a bellowing beast. ¡°Look at me. Look at me.¡±
The hands grabbing my legs pulled me back with inhuman strength. I answered with kicks and snarls and the Doll spell. The phantasmal limbs dragging me into the dark vanished whenever my talons threatened to touch them. It offered me just a long enough reprieve to drag myself forward before they returned.
I attempted to cast a Veil, to wrap myself in the same shadows that obscured the monster from view. An immense weight of disbelief instantly dispelled my illusion. My flesh grew cold with dread as I sensed a thousand observers looking at me from all directions. Left, right, up, down¡ Everywhere all at once.
The darkness had eyes.
I used all my strength to crawl through an ever-tighter tunnel, struggling against the pain of bone knives lodged in my flesh. I sensed their blades shrink inside my flesh as my burning blood dissolved them.
More hurried to take their place.
The pain raced through my back and my spine, sharp and terrible. Blades sliced through my back and my legs by the dozens. They appeared out of thin air, slipping through my talons and peeling my skin.
Whatever intangible horror stalked me had given up on forcing me to turn my head around.
It had settled on trying to stab me to death instead.
I shrieked as I attempted to repel the onslaught, to no avail. A hundred hands descended from the ceiling, pressed on my wounded back, and then forced me head-first to the floor. My shadow talons struggled to stop more blades from slicing into me.
I can¡¯t move! The hands¡¯ grip was too strong. They pressed me against the floor, slowly squeezing my bones. Think! There has to be a way out!
But what else could I do? I would have crushed it with the Doll if I could, but how could I fight something I could not touch? The Veil could not hide me, the Gaze could not see it, the Augury would not help me! All I had left was the Curse and¨C
Wait.
When I activated my Veil, the weight of disbelief came from everywhere at once. Not just from behind me. The entity didn¡¯t hide in the darkness. It was one with it.
And for a Curse to work¡ I had to place one of my feathers inside a target¡¯s shadow.
My grunts turned to cruel laughter.
The pressure lessened on my back for a brief second. The entity appeared surprised by my reaction. I immediately seized that opportunity by summoning a feather in the palm of my hand; one so black it appeared indistinguishable from the shadows around me.
¡°I Curse you¡¡± I poured all my hatred, all my malice, and my bloodthirst into my feather. ¡°My blood shall set you ablaze!¡±
My cursed feather merged with the darkness the moment it came alive. My power coursed through the air. It reverberated like an echo, shaking the entire tunnel. My sorcery spread through the shadows like poison in a pond of water.
A shining purple light surged behind me; the same hateful glow as the one fueling my heart. A hundred voices screamed in the dark. Eztli¡¯s, Sigrun¡¯s, Guatemoc¡¯s, all the people I¡¯d met, along with countless strangers, all at once. The smell of burning flesh reached my nostrils and smoke filled the air. My burning blood, which my unseen attacker had shed so carelessly, now threatened to set it on fire.
A tremor shook the ground. The walls that pressed on me trembled and moved away from me. Whatever belly of stone that threatened to crush me had retreated back into the shadows. The darkness swallowed my fires and the screams of my foe. A heavy, overwhelming silence muffled all noise.
The hands were gone, alongside my unseen assailant.
I lay on my back, gasping for air even though I did not need to breathe in the Underworld.
The good thing about burning blood was that it quickly cauterized my wounds. Still, I had lost a great deal of it. A dozen knives remained embedded in my back, and I couldn¡¯t feel my legs anymore. My arms felt weak and deprived of strength. I could hardly muster the strength to cast the Doll spell anymore.
If I were ambushed again, I doubted I could fend off my attacker.
Plop.
That noise again. It was close this time. Very close. I focused on it and crawled towards its source. My arms pulled my wounded body across the floor with no walls to stop me. Had I traded a tunnel for a hall? I had just enough strength left to power the Gaze spell once more, maybe twice.
I had to get out of there.
Plop. Plop.
I heard muffled voices the closer I approached the source of the noise. I recognized the sound of men struggling against gags. It suddenly occurred to me that since Xibalba welcomed all sleeping minds undergoing nightmares, I might not be the only one trapped in this dark hell.
I heard laughter behind me, far in the distance.
What remained of my spine tensed up. I was used to that particular kind of laughter. Not a laugh of joy and happiness, no, but the cruel giggles of children happily throwing stones at the outcast among them. I heard at least seven different tones singing a strange lullaby.
¡°You¡¯re fleeing,¡± they said cheerfully, so far away I could hardly understand the words. ¡°They¡¯re crying, we¡¯re starving¡¡±
Such reassuring words. Nothing ominous. Nothing at all.
Plop. Plop.
I crawled away from the laughter and closer to the droplet noise. Eventually my hand splashed against a puddle made of a warm liquid. I immediately recognized it.
Blood.
Of course it was blood. Couldn¡¯t it be water for once?
Knowing the source would be close, I activated the Gaze spell to catch a glimpse.
I immediately regretted it.
Blood could only come from one place so I had mentally prepared myself beforehand and I still held back a wave of nausea.
Twelve human torsos were tightly lined up in a corridor leading to nowhere, six on each side. Each of them was nailed to a wood post, their eyes plucked out, their mouths stitched together to muffle their screams. Blood dripped from their severed thighs drop by drop onto the stone floor. Their arms were missing. Their heads banged against the wood in fear and agony. They sensed my presence somehow. They called me for help the only way they had left.
Few sights could disturb me anymore after weeks of dealing with the Nightlords, but this¡ It took all of my willpower to glance at the familiar owl masks on their faces.
They were Tlacatecolotl. Owl-fiends.
These were the sorcerers who had failed the trial.
This was the fate awaiting me if I couldn¡¯t escape this place. To lose pieces of myself until all that remained were a wriggling head and its torso. An eternal trophy, unable to die, unable to move, unable to scream. A nightmare I would return to each time I closed my eyes to sleep.
The children laughed in the distance, their song echoing in the darkness.
¡°We¡¯ll hang him, we¡¯ll stab him, we¡¯ll burn him¡¡±
The lullaby was growing louder.
No.
Closer.
Damn it. Should I use the Curse again? Would it work if I couldn¡¯t perceive my target¡¯s presence? Should I transform into an owl and try to fly away? I doubted I had the strength left to reach the ceiling.
Think, Iztac, think. There had to be a way out. This was a trial, not an execution. These demons had given me time to prepare. To figure it out. There had to be an exit. What did that creature say again? Nothing exists in the dark?
If that included the exit, then it meant that I would find no doorway until I managed to banish the darkness. A blackness so thick not even my Gaze spell could pierce its embrace. I had to produce light.
My burning blood could banish the shadows for a few seconds, but I doubted it would unveil an exit. But it could start a bonfire if I had the right fuel.
¡°Do you see the candles?¡±
The creature¡¯s words resonated in my mind as my eyes looked up at the trapped torsos.
¡°We¡¯ll beat him,¡± the children sang, each word louder than the last, ¡°we¡¯ll eat him, we¡¯ll slice him¡¡±
¡°Do your worst¡¡± I replied. I raised my arm close to my mouth, then bit into my veins. My wrist shone with purple flames. ¡°Let there be¡ light!¡±
I sprayed my burning blood at the nearest tortured totem post. The fire spread swiftly and soon reached its nailed victim¡¯s skin. The poor sorcerer let out muffled screams as flames consumed his skin and flesh.
I crawled toward the other pillars and repeated the process. Time and time again I set their prisoners alight, ignoring their panic and their silent screams. I did not hesitate. In their current state, these people would welcome death. It would be a mercy.
My candles soon burned with bright purple flames. A corridor of fire stretched before me and unveiled a passage hidden at its end: a pale doorframe of wood etched in the darkness itself, leading to nowhere.
I crawled towards it with all my strength. I heard the echo of footsteps behind me, alongside the sinister shriek of blades rattling against the floor.
¡°You¡¯re bleeding,¡± the children sang, so loud I assumed they were a spear¡¯s throw away from me, ¡°they¡¯re burning, we¡¯re laughing¡¡±
If I look back, I¡¯m dead, I told myself as I frantically crawled on a puddle of human blood, observed by the burning dead and hunted by demons. If I look back I¡¯m dead.
I reached for the doorway.
It pulled away from me.
My eyes widened with rage and terror. I crawled one inch forward, then two. Both times the doorway moved back just out of reach. Whether the distance between us lengthened or the door could move on its own, it made no difference.
¡°Here we are!¡± I heard voices giggling a few steps behind me. ¡°Here you are!¡±
My heart would have sunk in my chest, if I still had one. The baleful flame in its place burst with anger instead.
Using my hands to pull my body forward, I bit my tongue and spat blood at the doorway. The burning liquid hit the wood frame. A deep, terrifying noise erupted from the door as my flames set it ablaze.
It did not run away this time.
I pulled myself through its threshold while sensing a blade¡¯s edge graze my back.
I fell into a hole whose bottom I couldn¡¯t see. I ran out of power to fuel my Gaze spell and thus descended into the dark. I fell, and fell, and fell, waiting for a fatal impact that wouldn¡¯t come. I tried to transform myself into an owl and fly, to no avail. I was spent. Exhausted.
However, when I saw the light at the bottom, I knew that I was victorious.
The glow from below was no stronger than that of torches on a moonless night, but I had grown so acclimated to the darkness that I squinted. An invisible power slowed my fall until I softly landed on something moist and wet; a bed of squirmy ropes of flesh bound together in a vast floor. The putrid smell of bile and rot made me want to puke.
Intestines. I¡¯d landed on a pile of intestines.
I lay on my back, too tired to move, too weak to struggle. A ring of floating torches surrounded the floor of flesh on which I rested. I could only see darkness beyond that barrier, and the blurred features of dreadful figures watching over me.
I counted eight of them: a great and lanky humanoid twice taller than any man alive, and seven smaller horrors. The former wore ancient black robes and a hood that failed to obscure two sunken pits of malevolence burning where the eyes should have been. The latter had the shape of children when observed from afar, but that was all they were: vague shapes, outlines separate from the shadows and yet strangely blurry.
¡°Remarkable,¡± the tall one said, its ancient voice laced with amusement. His words wormed their way inside my skull without touching my ears. ¡°No one has tried to Curse the darkness before. Bold. Very bold.¡±
¡°He¡¯s crafty,¡± the seven children sang joyfully, all seven of them, all at once. ¡°He¡¯s funny, he¡¯s worthy¡¡±
I observed these ancient nightmares in silence. Their oppressive presence, so similar to the Nightlords, loomed over me like clouds. I knew I sat in the presence of the Lords of Terror, the masters of Xibalba.
The taller figure moved closer to the ring of fire, rattling with each stride. I caught a glimpse of a staff of petrified snakes in his hands, of a belt of skulls around his waist, and of a terrifying face of putrefied flesh under his hood.
¡°Are you cold, Iztac?¡± the figure asked me, his breath carrying flies and locusts.
The bed of intestines provided a meager warmth, but yes, I was cold. I had lost much blood, and the fire in my heart cried out.
¡°I am,¡± I rasped, my voice a dry rattle. My tongue still hurt in my mouth.
¡°Good.¡± The tall figure stomped the ground with his staff, a ripple traveling through the lake of intestines. ¡°I am Hun-Came, ¡®One Death,¡¯ and they are Vucub-Came, ¡®Seven Death;¡¯ oldest among the fears. When the first man looked into the night and feared the unknown, we were there waiting in the shadow of King Mictlantecuhtli, ancient and unknowing.¡±
The old man leaned closer to me, his sunken eyes shining with malice.
¡°Did you enjoy our House of Gloom?¡±
I glanced at my wounds. I hadn¡¯t faced such dangers since the first nights of my journey in the Underworld.
¡°I¡¯ve seen¡¡± I coughed. I was too tired for lies. ¡°Warmer welcomes.¡±
¡°Pain keeps the wits sharp,¡± Hun-Came replied, unsympathetic. ¡°Fear too. Men fear the leash more than they love their pleasure. The twelve fears keep the world turning. Which of them do you think we are?¡±
¡°You are¡ the fear of death,¡± I guessed, since it was the oldest of them. I squinted at the children and briefly wondered if they embodied the fear of darkness, before remembering what truly frightened men. ¡°And you¡ the unknown.¡±
The children laughed and clapped. I glimpse at hints of black, bloodied mouths full of teeth when they giggled, but only for an instant.
¡°We are the first nightmares and we shall be the last,¡± Hun-Came said with an air of finality. ¡°When you first plunged a knife inside your heart and were seized with dread, I came to you. Now you come to me. Why is that, clever bird?¡±
I thought over my answer before answering truthfully. ¡°I want to teach the Nightlords the meaning of fear¡ before I destroy them.¡±
Hun-Came laughter was like a door rattling in the wind. ¡°They already learned to fear a long time ago,¡± he said. ¡°All vampires used to dream. They try to forget the time when they feared their inevitable death, but we? We remember. You will find their fears hidden in the House of Bats. If you are bold.¡±
The opportunity of learning how to hurt the Nightlords appealed to me, but knowledge was useless without the power to exploit it.
¡°I need¡ magic,¡± I rasped, struggling against the pain. ¡°I seek¡ power.¡±
¡°Power?¡± I glimpsed a grin beneath Hun-Came¡¯s hood. ¡°Do you not gain power when you triumph from your fears? I say you are stronger than you were a night ago.¡±
I silently glared at the Lord of Terror, the flame in my chest burning brighter than the torches.
¡°What fearless hatred you possess,¡± Hun-Came commented with delight. ¡°It burned our sacrifices so cleanly¡ Such a baleful glow. Its embers shall set alight so many nightmares, Iztac. A mighty demon you will become.¡±
¡°Let him build a house of fear,¡± Vucub-Came sang with seven bloody mouths. ¡°With walls of bones and rattling doors¡¡±
¡°I suppose a successful trial warrants a reward.¡± Hun-Came rubbed his staff with a cadaverous hand. ¡°Very well, Iztac. We shall teach you the most powerful spell in the world.¡±
My eyes widened with excitement. ¡°The¡ most powerful?¡±
¡°We bestow upon you the Tomb spell, to raise your own house of trials.¡± Hun-Came chuckled darkly. ¡°Did you know that you haven¡¯t moved an inch since you arrived? You¡¯ve spent days crawling in the dark.¡±
¡°Days?¡± My eyes narrowed in disbelief. ¡°Impossible¡ I would have woken up.¡±
¡°Space and time are at our mercy in our fair city. An hour in the waking world becomes a day here, or a second.¡± Hun-Came waved a hand and a field of door frames appeared all around us. Hundreds of passages stretching as far as my eyes allowed me to see. ¡°The Tomb spell lets a sorcerer create a closed domain born of their own soul. A trap that closes its jaws on the caster and their prey. A house with walls but no door, with a ceiling but no windows; a nightmare that only ends with the caster¡¯s death or surrender.¡±
¡°A domain?¡± I glanced at the strange realm in which I was now a prisoner. ¡°I could¡ trap a Nightlord¡ inside such a place as this one?¡±
Hun-Came confirmed my question with a slow nod. ¡°A Tomb reflects its caster¡¯s fears. It is the house of the heart. A land of teeth, a realm of fire¡ to each their own frightful sight.¡±
So long as it would consume the Nightlords.
¡°To know is not to master, Iztac,¡± Hun-Came warned me. ¡°You will need practice before you can cast this spell, let alone sustain it. Once you do¡¡±
A vile, snakelike tongue slithered between his rotten teeth.
¡°You will remind the vampires,¡± he said, ¡°how to fear the night.¡±
Chapter Thirty-Four: The Favorite
The Lords of Terror did not believe in wasting time.
They started by hanging me, since I could not walk and would need my hands to cast the Tomb spell. A dozen intestines coiled around my chest and arms before they lifted me above the stomach-filled lake like ropes. White maggots wormed their way into my wounds and bound them. Even my burning, sun-powered blood could not deter them. I sensed their wriggling movements in my flesh, their bottomless hunger, their desire to cleanse me until nothing but bones remained.
The pain would have been excruciating if I could still feel it. I had escaped myself. My mind was so focused on the task at hand that I hardly focused on my flesh.
To summon a Tomb did not differ much from casting a Veil spell, at least at first. In both cases, I had to expand my Tonalli beyond the confines of my physical body. I spread my amorphous, ethereal essence through the lake of intestines.
¡°Form a sphere,¡± Hun-Came advised me. ¡°The most perfect of all forms.¡±
I had become a presence enveloping the world into my countenance. My Tonalli expanded to cover the chilly air and wriggling floor. My lungs let out a breath heavy with curses. The currents of my Ihiyotl shaped the flow of my Tonalli into a sphere of darkness as fragile as an egg.
¡°Now,¡± Hun-Came said. ¡°Speak it.¡±
¡°Nightlords,¡± I replied, my burning heart shining bright.
The dreaded word resonated through every inch of my sphere, and caused it to shatter.
The backlash was quick and brutal. My Tonalli retreated back into me in an instant. My mind returned to my captive body and its abominable pain. I let out a growl of agony and frustration.
¡°Fair enough,¡± Hun-Came said with a neutral, composed tone. I couldn¡¯t tell whether my performance impressed or disappointed him. ¡°I did not expect you to manifest it here, inside our House of Gloom. When two sorcerers cast the Tomb spell at once, the two houses fight over the same place. Ours is old, built with strong foundations.¡±
¡°He is confused,¡± his comrade sang. ¡°He is fearful, he is dreadful.¡±
Hun-Came caressed the tip of his staff, his sunken eyes burning like coals. ¡°Inside each heart is a fear,¡± he reminded me. ¡°A hungry worm that eats the fruit of life from within, until it tastes of rot and death. The shadow that obscures all others. It is like the mist, obscure, everpresent, a shroud. To summon your Tomb, you must give it shape. Call it by name.¡±
¡°I am trying,¡± I rasped in frustration. I had named them all. Vampires, discovery, death, slavery, the Nightlords themselves¡ so many nightmares haunted me. ¡°What is it that¡ that I fear most?¡±
¡°How would you expect us to answer?¡± Hun-Came taunted me. ¡°For many it is death, while for a few it is the truth or a beast of the land. Find it within yourself. Those who do not know themselves cannot build strong houses.¡±
He was right. The spell came naturally to me, since I was so full of dread. I had managed to shape the sphere on my first try, but I could not make it solid. The power to enforce my will upon the world¡ªto teach the Nightlords to fear me¡ªwas within reach, yet it kept slipping through my fingers!
Moreover, I felt the call of wakefulness. My long night was coming to an end.
¡°When you sleep, our House of Gloom shall close its doors to you,¡± Hun-Came warned me. ¡°New paths will open. We shall meet again, should you complete all your trials.¡±
¡°He¡¯ll be back,¡± Vucub-Came sang with a frightful giggle. ¡°She¡¯ll be there, we¡¯ll be here¡¡±
¡°One last piece of wisdom before we send you on your way.¡± Hue-Came¡¯s sinister smile had all the reassurance of an executioner¡¯s ax. ¡°The spell is called the Tomb for a reason. The more lives it takes, the stronger it becomes.¡±
My head perked up slightly. A part of me would have been frightened by the implications once, but now I could hardly muster the energy for unease. I could not manifest the Tomb at all, anyway. I would cross that bridge when I reached it.
¡°Now go,¡± Hun-Came said as I felt the pull of wakefulness drag my sleeping mind away from Xibalba. ¡°Become an abomination and devour life.¡±
A faint light banished the darkness of the House of Gloom.
I awoke in my bed under a warm blanket.
After spending so much time in complete darkness, it took my eyes a few seconds to adapt to the faint sunlight filtering through the window. The breath of life filled my lungs again. I had traded the numb half-life of the Underworld for simpler, more pleasurable sensations. I felt like a corpse returning to life.
It¡¯s not too far from the truth. I stretched a bit and heard my bones crack slightly. My head hurt to the point that I struggled to focus. I almost died in that cursed house.
I vaguely remembered falling asleep in my bath. Necahual and some servants must have carried me back.
¡°Good morning, Your Divine Majesty,¡± Tezozomoc greeted me while standing at my bedside. I hadn¡¯t registered his presence. ¡°Are you well?¡±
¡°Why ask?¡± I rasped while holding my head. I suddenly noticed two nubile women fanning me; the same ones who greeted me on my first day at the palace. They avoided my gaze, their hands trembling with fear.
Word of the Jaguar Woman¡¯s brutal purge had already spread.
¡°Your Majesty did not sleep soundly,¡± Tezozomoc replied with a hint of concern. ¡°I understand why you might have had a nightmare.¡±
¡°Something like that,¡± I replied before observing my own hand. It was shaking like a leaf in the wind.
I once considered the Land of the Dead Suns a refuge, a place where I could briefly escape the horrors of my captivity. Those times were over. The trials of Xibalba would deny me any reprieve. I felt more stressed after a full night¡¯s sleep than before I went to bed.
Tezozomoc noticed my weakness and leaned in with a look of concern. ¡°If I may speak my mind, Your Divine Majesty?¡±
¡°Whatever,¡± I replied dismissively. I was too tense for politeness.
¡°Of all the emperors I have served, you have been one of the most active. Your energy and dedication deserve praise.¡± Tezozomoc sounded sincere, but I cared nothing for his opinion. ¡°But men are like strings. If stretched constantly, they will break. The palace offers many distractions.¡±
I should have laughed at his audacity. What distractions could take my mind off the horrors of the living and the dead? What pleasure could let me forget the Nightlords¡¯ murders and the trials of Xibalba?
Still¡ he might have a point. If I accumulated pressure day and night, I would crack the way I did in Necahual¡¯s presence. I could only take so many blows before I crumbled. However, I had no time for simple hobbies either. I needed activities that would both prove relaxing and advance my goals.
My first instinct was to call Nenetl to play games. Mother said I could Ride animals if I fed them my blood and trained them properly, so I might as well take up falconry. Or perhaps order priests to kill each other. That would bring a smile to my face.
¡°I will consider it,¡± I said sharply. ¡°Remind me of my plans for the day.¡±
¡°As you wished, I summoned the brothers Tlaxcala and Tlazohtzin to settle the question of their inheritance,¡± Tezozomoc replied. ¡°Lady Chikal will oversee your daily training, afterward your afternoon is free until sunset.¡±
I briefly closed my eyes. The mere mention of sunset stiffened my spine. My time before the New Fire Ceremony was running short. However, there were two people who I needed to set some time aside for.
¡°How is Ingrid?¡± I asked Tezozomoc. ¡°Eztli?¡±
¡°Lady Eztli has consoled Lady Ingrid in her grief,¡± Tezozomoc replied. ¡°They have stayed together in the late Lady Sigrun¡¯s chambers until Your Majesty¡¯s awakening. I may summon them both to Your Majesty¡¯s side, if you wish for it.¡±
¡°No need. I will go to them.¡± Whatever may come. ¡°Put some time aside in my schedule for a visit.¡±
Tezozomoc bowed in dutiful obedience. ¡°As Your Majesty wishes.¡±
¡°I will begin my morning meditation before breakfast to clear my mind,¡± I said. I had much to report to my predecessors, and they could counsel me. ¡°Summon Necahual for breakfast. Bring Tlaxcala too. Leave his brother hanging.¡±
Tezozomoc frowned at my phrasing. ¡°With a rope?¡±
The worst part was, Tlazohtzin would be dead within minutes if I said yes. A man¡¯s life held little value in Yohuachanca. The Nightlords vividly reminded me of that.
¡°Figuratively,¡± I said with a hint of annoyance. ¡°Tell him he has been dismissed.¡±
Tlazohtzin would immediately realize what his brother being summoned to the emperor¡¯s side alone meant: that his father¡¯s inheritance would slip through his grasp and that he had only a few days left before an imperial decree made it official. A short span of time where he could potentially change his fate through a miracle.
But miracles demanded proper devotion.
The servants dressed me in my imperial robes, after which I moved to the roof. The wind blew upon my face and carried ominous whispers. ¡°The heart is whole, the breath is strong. They tried to bury you, but they did not know that you were a seed.¡±
For once, it sounded almost encouraging.
The Reliquary was dark when I stepped inside, but nowhere near as much as the House of Gloom was. This room¡¯s shadows were soothing rather than oppressive; they welcomed me and offered me sanctuary. This shrine of death was my last refuge now.
¡°Welcome home, our successor,¡± the skulls greeted me with gentle whispers. ¡°We weep for your loss.¡±
They sounded more morose than I¡¯d ever heard them be. ¡°You loved her.¡±
¡°Sigrun was dear to many of us, as were many of the gentle souls sacrificed last night.¡± The Parliament¡¯s thousand eyes shone with faint ghostfire. The sight reminded me of a wake for the fallen. ¡°We hope to see their cruel fate returned a hundredfold upon the Nightlords.¡±
¡°It shall be so,¡± I replied with grim determination. ¡°My mind is set now. I shall win, no matter the cost.¡±
¡°We feel your resolve, Iztac Ce Ehecatl. All hesitation was burned from your heart alongside Sigrun¡¯s corpse.¡± The thousand fires flickered. ¡°Good. The next few nights will be decisive, and the doubtful never conquer anything.¡±
I recounted last night¡¯s events to the previous emperors, from Sigrun¡¯s cruel murder to my scheming with my mother and my journey to Xibalba.
¡°I will use my sleeping time to Curse the bodies my mother sowed on Smoke Mountain,¡± I concluded. ¡°Tlazohtzin will ensure that the Nightlords blame the Sapa in case our plan succeeds.¡±
¡°We doubt we can do more to disrupt the ritual,¡± my predecessors replied. ¡°Ritual suicide might help, but more defiance on your part risks alerting the Nightlords to our true intentions. It is best for you to lay low and let them think their victory is now assured. Their overconfidence shall cost them dearly.¡±
¡°Then we must prepare for what comes after the New Fire Ceremony,¡± I said, my eyes narrowing. ¡°If any after awaits us.¡±
¡°We hope that the counter-ritual will prove sufficient.¡± The Parliament of Skulls marked a short pause, the ancient souls trapped within the structure were about as clueless as I was. ¡°Practicing sorcery of this magnitude is like opening a door into the unknown. We cannot know what awaits us on the threshold.¡±
The die was cast then.
¡°You have done well to encourage this Necahual to fill the void left by Sigrun¡¯s demise, though we doubt she will prove as effective a spymaster as her predecessor,¡± my own predecessors commented. ¡°It is imperative that you both recover her volume of the First Emperor¡¯s codices and reconcile with Ingrid. A wounded heart becomes fertile ground for resentment if not treated.¡±
I knew that all too well. Unfortunately, Ingrid believed I had chosen to send her mother to her death. I doubted she would forgive me unless I managed to convince her of the truth.
¡°I¡ I am not certain how to approach Ingrid.¡± Or Eztli for that matter. The Jaguar Woman saw fit to poison our bond too. ¡°If I may¡ Do you have any advice?¡±
The Parliament of Skulls meditated on their answer. Their gaze radiated the weight of centuries of human experience.
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¡°Grieve with her, so she does not feel alone,¡± they counseled me with an air of finality. ¡°Make her laugh, so she does not feel hopeless. Inspire her to be brave, so she does not feel weak. And tell her the truth, so she does not feel betrayed.¡±
¡°A tall order,¡± I commented with a sigh. Still, I saw the wisdom in their words. ¡°I will be there for her.¡±
¡°We know you will do well, Iztac, because you have been in her place before,¡± the skulls reassured me. ¡°Act with her how you wish others had treated you.¡±
The remark brought a small, sad smile to my lips. There was no secret solution to pain and sorrow other than kindness.
Ever the pragmatist, my predecessors quickly moved on to another subject. ¡°You have promised to teach this Necahual magic in exchange for her service,¡± they noted, having listened to my last conversation with her. ¡°We assume that you have decided to turn her into Mometzcopinque?¡±
¡°I have,¡± I confirmed with a sharp nod. ¡°I intend to subvert Nenetl¡¯s bindings as well.¡±
I had long hesitated on both cases for the same reason: because it meant enslaving others to my will. Since I could not break Nenetl¡¯s bonds without alerting the Jaguar Woman, the best I could do was to subvert her control spell for my own use. As for Necahual, transforming her into a Mometzcopinque¡ªthe closest thing to a witch she could ever become¡ªmeant binding her soul to my Teyolia. I would shackle these two women the same way I¡¯d been myself.
But after last night, I would bear that sin without remorse. The Nightlords had to perish, no matter the cost. I might also figure out a way to break these bonds once they were gone too.
¡°Good,¡± the Parliament commented in appreciation. They sounded pleased to see me fully commit to our cause. ¡°You may proceed immediately with Nenetl. The tattoo on her back is more than ink beneath the skin: it is a symbol of control. Slight alterations to its design will grant you control over her leash.¡±
¡°How do I do that?¡± I asked. I had no knowledge of how to practice tattoo drawing.
¡°You must mix ink with your blood, then paint a few specific symbols over the tattoo with the substance.¡±
Obtaining ink would be easy. Mixing it with my burning blood and then applying it to Nenetl¡¯s back would be much harder, but still manageable. The Parliament of Skulls quickly detailed which shapes I had to paint and assured me no one would notice.
¡°The substance will merge with the tattoo within seconds,¡± my predecessors whispered. ¡°The alterations will be subtle, unnoticeable. Your consort might feel itchy at first, but that sensation will soon fade.¡±
I should probably disguise the procedure as a massage then. Since Nenetl was my consort, that kind of attention wouldn¡¯t raise suspicions.
¡°I shall proceed with the operation as soon as I can,¡± I promised. ¡°What of Necahual?¡±
¡°The ritual to create a Mometzcopinque is simple enough.¡± The lights inside the skulls¡¯ eyes flickered slightly. I could already tell I wouldn¡¯t like the details. ¡°However, whether it will work remains to be seen.¡±
I scowled in displeasure. I didn¡¯t like their caution. ¡°You said my divine Teyolia would let me act as her magical patron.¡±
¡°No, our successor; we said that it might. It would be wiser for you to collect more sun embers before attempting the ritual.¡± The skulls let out a small rattle. ¡°Though we have considered an alternative method to both placate her ambition and ensure your success¡ if you can accept it.¡±
My hands curled into fists. I immediately guessed what they had in mind.
¡°Seidr,¡± I muttered.
¡°Yes, Seidr,¡± my predecessors confirmed. ¡°This magic connects two Teyolia through the union of flesh. We suspect it will improve your odds of success with the ritual. Moreover, if your mother is correct, then Seidr¡¯s most powerful applications require the other party¡¯s cooperation. With Sigrun¡¯s demise and her daughter¡¯s current state of mind, this Necahual remains your only partner to practice this sorcery with; at least for now.¡±
I understood the logic. Pragmatically, it made perfect sense. I could at least replicate the Teyolia connection Sigrun used to drain my vitality and then experiment further. The lack of her guidance would force me to advance slowly and carefully so as not to harm my partner, but I could at least practice and learn.
However, the very thought of sleeping with Necahual disgusted me. I would have an easier time strangling her.
Still¡ still, I couldn¡¯t exactly convince the world that she was my favorite concubine if I never touched her. Besides, it would cause Yoloxochitl to stop obsessing over Necahual. It would spare her life.
I have taken lives in the name of my cause. After condemning a dozen men to die at the hands of Mother¡¯s puppets and starting a war as a diversion, I could hardly complain about this sacrifice. Victory excuses everything.
¡°I will do what I must,¡± I declared before rising to my feet. ¡°I must go now.¡±
The previous emperors blessed me one last time. ¡°Stand resolute, our successor. Our hopes and wishes are with you.¡±
A meager reassurance, but I appreciated it nonetheless.
Afterward, I returned to my apartment for breakfast. I found Necahual waiting for me with the table set. She wore the same robes as last night, and from the dark blots around her eyes I could tell that she hadn¡¯t slept since.
¡°Your Majesty.¡± Necahual greeted me with a stiff bow that lacked any of the late Sigrun¡¯s grace. ¡°I hope you¡¯ve slept well.¡±
¡°More than you,¡± I replied curtly as I sat next to her. ¡°Where were you?¡±
¡°Where you asked me to go.¡± Necahual joined her hands, her gaze heavy with sorrow. ¡°With Ingrid.¡±
I studied her face, my eyes briefly lingering on her throat. She still bore the marks of my fingers closing down on her soft neck.
¡°How did it go?¡± I asked warily.
¡°She would not allow me into her presence, but my daughter¡ my daughter convinced her to.¡± Necahual clenched her jaw. ¡°Eztli spent the night with her.¡±
In these dark times, it reassured me that Eztli retained a sliver of her good heart. ¡°Eztli is a kind woman,¡± I said sincerely. ¡°You should be proud of her.¡±
Necahual sent me a glare. Her lips briefly curved in anger, and I could tell a few venomous words died on the tip of her tongue.
I squinted at her. ¡°What?¡±
¡°She was kinder once,¡± Necahual finally said before looking away.
My blood boiled in my veins. I understood how she might resent being reminded of what she had lost, however accidentally, but I couldn¡¯t believe part of her still blamed me for Eztli¡¯s transformation.
She¡¯s as tired as I am. I held back the urge to slap her. Neither of us was in the right state of mind after what we had been through. We were on edge. Fighting each other won¡¯t help us save Eztli.
¡°What did you tell Ingrid?¡± I asked after taking a breath to calm down.
¡°The truth. That I should have died in her mother¡¯s place, and the¡ goddess¡¡± The word sounded so bitter in Necahual¡¯s mouth. I am certain she would have chosen another, were it not for the guards overhearing us. ¡°Chose otherwise.¡±
¡°And she believed you?¡±
¡°I cannot say. My daughter confirmed it at least.¡± Necahual gathered her breath. ¡°Ingrid thanked me for my honesty with ice in her voice, then sent me on my way.¡±
That counted for something at least. I prayed her words reached Ingrid.
Tezozomoc returned to my bedchambers in haste. ¡°Tlaxcala is waiting for you at the door, Your Majesty.¡±
¡°Send him in,¡± I ordered him before whispering another command in Necahual¡¯s ear. ¡°Behave yourself. We are in for a morning.¡±
Necahual frowned in resignation, then nodded slightly. She hadn¡¯t forgotten our last discussion. For her to fill the void left by Sigrun, I would have to treat her as if she were first among my concubines: charming, polite, and submissive.
I still had one last task to accomplish to ensure that operation¡¯s success.
While we waited for Tezozomoc to introduce Tlaxcala into my lair, my hand subtly moved to Necahual¡¯s shadow under the cover of a Veil. I snatched away Mother¡¯s feather without anyone noticing. To my surprise, Necahual tensed up slightly.
¡°What is it?¡± I asked her.
¡°Nothing,¡± she replied with a frown. ¡°I just feel lighter all of a sudden.¡±
Interesting. Part of her was aware of a Curse¡¯s presence, at least subconsciously. I would have to be careful when applying them myself. Most would probably disregard a brief sense of unease, but some might grow wary.
The old Curse crumbled to dust soon after I separated it from its host. I heard whispers of Mother¡¯s voice echo in my head, so low I could scarcely hear them.
¡°I curse you to suffer a gruesome fate should you reveal the truth of my existence,¡± Mother said. ¡°I curse you to be unlucky in love, to never be satisfied in bed, to never win my husband¡¯s heart.¡±
I almost smiled at the sheer pettiness of it all, until I unraveled the core of the Curse.
¡°I curse you to a life full of bitter regrets,¡± Mother said with a coldness that would rival the Jaguar Woman¡¯s. ¡°I curse you to outlive your daughter and husband. I curse you to watch everyone you¡¯ve ever loved die, die, die.¡±
The final word was uttered with such malice, such seething hatred, that it sent a chill traveling down my spine. This act hadn¡¯t been motivated by practicality, but mere pointless cruelty.
I could understand casting a Curse in the service of a greater objective. I could understand pushing Necahual away from my father, or ensuring she wouldn¡¯t reveal incriminating secrets. But this¡
Mother liked to present herself as a pragmatic, reasonable woman. A sorceress who excused the pain her abandonment put me through as a means to make me grow. What was this Curse supposed to teach Necahual? How would it have made her stronger?
Nothing could excuse casting that spell. Nothing except pettiness.
The more I considered the Curse¡¯s implications, the more it disgusted me. Necahual wanted my father, and Mother¡¯s Curse condemned her to see everyone she ever loved die. How much of our two families¡¯ tragedies were influenced by its power to bend fate? Would my father have survived the drought without it? Would Yoloxochitl have overlooked Eztli and selected someone else? Would she have treated me better without that doom hanging over her shoulders?
Perhaps these events would have unfolded anyway, even without Mother¡¯s Curse pressing its thumb on the scale of fate¡ or maybe not. How much of her mistreatment could be traced back to the spell?
I should consider myself fortunate that Necahual hated me. Her love might have killed me.
¡°What is it?¡± Necahual asked upon noticing my unease.
¡°Nothing,¡± I lied through my teeth. ¡°Nothing at all.¡±
You have much to answer for, Mother. I would have a serious conversation with her about the Curse once I met her again. I can¡¯t ignore this.
Two guards introduced Tlaxcala soon after. The man walked into the imperial room wearing expensive robes of eagle feathers and shining jewels; all of which paled before the wealth of my own wardrobe, the way stars bowed to the sun. He held his head down to avoid my gaze, as was proper when in an emperor¡¯s presence. His trembling hands betrayed his uncertainty and excitement.
Moreover, he didn¡¯t come empty-handed. His servants carried precious gifts: a splendid emerald necklace, rich robes of high-quality linen, skillful artwork of the sun, and most exotic of all, a baby jaguar in a golden cage.
Or at least, I took the feline for one at first glance due to its spotted fur. A closer look made me doubt. The tail was too long and the ears too big on such a small head. It stared at me with two big black, wary eyes. Was that an ocelot? No, an ocelot would be longer. The feline was hardly over twenty inches long.
Tlaxcala knelt so deeply that his forehead hit the ground. ¡°Your Majesty, if it pleases you, I would humbly offer you these lowly gifts.¡±
I saw nothing humble about these gifts. They were little more than bribes. I welcomed them nonetheless.
¡°They are appreciated,¡± I said before waving a hand at the breakfast. ¡°You may sit at my table.¡±
¡°Humble Tlaxcala is honored to share a meal with the Most August of all Rulers and his beautiful concubine.¡± Tlaxcala bowed to Necahual next before sitting on a cushion. My mother-in-law hardly managed to hide the disdain in her eyes. She disliked buttkissers as much as I did. ¡°I pray my gifts will find favor in your heart.¡±
¡°They might,¡± I said. My eyes remained set on the creature Tlaxcala had brought with him. ¡°What is that feline? It looks like an ocelot, but smaller.¡±
¡°This cat is a margay, a noble beast from the south,¡± Tlaxcala explained. ¡°His name is Tetzon, the well-born. A loyal companion for Your Majesty, well-trained and obedient.¡±
¡°Is that so?¡± I squinted at the feline. ¡°Tetzon?¡±
The feline¡¯s head perked up in my direction and my eyes lit up with interest. Mother warned me that the Ride spell would require an animal to identify with a name to possess it. It was small too; so small it could almost crawl into a mouse¡¯s hole. I presented my hand to Tetzon and let him lick my fingers.
Tlaxcala¡¯s gift would serve me well indeed.
I examined the rest of his offering, in case I would find another welcome surprise. Unfortunately, while the robes and jewels probably cost more than my entire old village, they weren¡¯t particularly noteworthy.
¡°There are women¡¯s clothes,¡± I noted.
¡°These gifts were meant to honor your consorts, and the dear Lady Sigrun,¡± Tlaxcala replied. Of course, he had bribed the latter to vouch for him. ¡°I would have expected to see her at your table today.¡±
Necahual tensed up slightly. ¡°She¡¡± She cleared her throat, clearly struggling with easy conversation. ¡°She is no longer with us.¡±
¡°My dear Sigrun died yesterday,¡± I said bluntly.
Tlaxcala¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, but he was wise enough not to push the subject upon sensing my icy tone. He had good political instincts at least.
¡°A shame,¡± he said without any sincerity. ¡°My condolences, Your Majesty. She was a wise and great woman. She will be missed.¡±
More than you think, I thought. ¡°I already do,¡± I said. ¡°We are observing a period of mourning for her loss.¡±
¡°I shall be sure to send these gifts to her esteemed daughter, alongside my condolences,¡± Tlaxcala said politely.
In spite of his words, I didn¡¯t miss his shifting eyes moving to observe Necahual. His calculating gaze betrayed his true thoughts: now that his previous patron had died, he was already considering how to replace her. His opportunism disgusted me, however useful it would prove.
I sensed Necahual tense up upon sensing that rotten man¡¯s attention, but she quickly presented him with a smile that did not reach her eyes. It seemed Eztli had learned how to hide her true intentions from her mother.
¡°I have given thought to the matter of your inheritance and received prudent advice,¡± I declared while sipping my chocolate cup. ¡°I have reached a decision.¡±
Tlaxcala straightened up, his breath short and hanging on to my every word. He reminded me of a bear trying not to look at a beehive. He could hear bees in the distance, but the promise of honey was too sweet to ignore.
I freed him from his doubts.
¡°I believe that your higher pedigree will ensure your father¡¯s legacy prospers,¡± I declared casually. Settling the fate of a nationwide commercial legacy was a trivial matter to a true emperor. ¡°Your brother will receive a sliver of wealth, as any son should, but your departed sire¡¯s empire shall go to you alone.¡±
Tlaxcala smiled in triumph, his hands trembling in anticipation. He clearly struggled against the urge not to jump in place and barely managed to hold a measure of composure.
¡°Your Majesty is the wisest soul under the heavens,¡± he said with a deep, courteous bow. ¡°My gratitude knows no bounds.¡±
¡°I shall make the decision official after the New Fire Ceremony. Higher duties request my full attention until then, but I wished to inform you personally.¡± I mimicked the cold, calculating gaze of the Jaguar Woman. ¡°I will look forward to your success over the coming year.¡±
Tlaxcala¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. He understood the subtle message: that I could take as much as I gave, and that his future prosperity would rely on my goodwill.
¡°Your Majesty¡¯s blessing would mean much to me,¡± Tlaxcala said with avuncular submission. ¡°You will find no more loyal subjects than my family.¡±
I scoffed, unimpressed. ¡°That goes without saying.¡±
Tlaxcala nodded sharply upon realizing oaths of fealty wouldn¡¯t suffice. ¡°I shall be sure to properly manifest my gratitude to Your Majesty in all words and deeds.¡±
I smiled and then drank my chocolate. I had recruited my first asset outside the palace.
Now I had to cultivate and see it prosper. I didn¡¯t see a use for him yet, but I knew it would come in handy in due time. The mere fact I knew Tlaxcala¡¯s name would make him an excellent target for the Ride spell.
¡°Now leave us,¡± I dismissed Tlaxcala as we finished breakfast. ¡°I have other tasks to attend to.¡±
¡°Of course, Your Majesty.¡± Tlaxcala quickly rose to his feet, before bowing before Necahual and I. ¡°Humble Tlaxcala hopes to meet you again.¡±
You shall. I watched Tlaxcala and briefly wondered how long it would take him to try bribing Necahual. He had seen her at my side twice. An ape would realize that she mattered enough to sit at my table. With luck, the fool will spread the word outside the palace¡¯s walls.
¡°What of his brother?¡± I asked Tezozomoc once Tlaxcala was gone.
¡°He has already left the palace¡¯s premises,¡± the priest replied. ¡°He seemed¡ shaken.¡±
Excellent. If Tlazohtzin didn¡¯t believe the strange bird spirit who had visited him yesterday, he should now. Despair would overcome his heart enough to do as I commanded. I would use my afternoon nap to check on his progress.
The pieces were in place now.
¡°Necahual,¡± I said, my voice sharper than a blade. ¡°One last thing.¡±
Necahual met my gaze, tense yet resigned. She already knew what to expect. She had been preparing herself for it since the moment Yoloxochitl robbed her of everything.
Her pitiful expression almost caused me to relent. A look at the dress meant for Sigrun squashed my doubts. One way or another, that tragedy wouldn¡¯t repeat itself. I would not waver again.
I would use any tool at my disposal to win.
¡°Sleep well for now,¡± I said. ¡°Take a bath and relax. You have earned your rest.¡±
I leaned in to whisper into her ear.
¡°Because tonight, I will take everything,¡± I promised, too low for anyone else to hear, ¡°And in return, I shall give you what you want.¡±
Her haunted eyes lit up briefly. I had promised to teach her magic, and I would. Perhaps not in the way she would expect, but I would fulfill my end of the bargain.
¡°Understood,¡± Necahual whispered with resignation. She would bear that ordeal too for her daughter¡¯s sake.
In the dark, I can pretend she is Eztli. I¡¯d told myself that once. I¡¯ll just have to close my eyes.
I lied to everyone. Why not to myself too?
Chapter Thirty-Five: Winland Funeral
The door to Ingrid¡¯s apartment seemed taller than before. It loomed over me like the black gates of the House of Gloom, dark and silent.
I knew it was only a trick of my mind, an echo of my guilt. It still caused me to hesitate for a brief instant. A thousand conversations crossed my mind in the span of a second. I remembered the advice of my predecessors, Necahual¡¯s words, and every other piece of information that could help me survive the battle ahead.
I gathered my breath and knocked.
I heard footsteps behind the door and a hand moving to open it. I half-expected to find myself staring at Ingrid¡¯s glare, or Eztli¡¯s cold, reproachful stare. A much more pleasant sight welcomed me.
¡°Oh, Iztac?¡± Nenetl stood on the other side of the threshold, her comforting smile immediately easing my soul. ¡°I knew you would come.¡±
¡°Nenetl?¡± I replied with a surprised frown. ¡°Why are you in Ingrid¡¯s apartment?¡±
¡°I, uh¡¡± Nenetl cleared her throat. ¡°Ingrid¡¯s mother is¡¡± She winced before she could finish her sentence. ¡°Of course you know that¡ I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t¡¡±
¡°You¡¯re forgiven, Nenetl,¡± I interrupted her before she could bury herself in excuses again. I would take her clumsy kindness over false flattery anytime. ¡°You came to comfort Ingrid?¡±
¡°I¡ I tried.¡± Nenetl joined her hands, her fingers fidgeting with tension. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t keep an emperor on the threshold like this¡¡±
¡°You are one of my consorts. You¡¯ve earned that privilege.¡± I stepped inside with one last order to the guards. ¡°Stay outside. Ensure no one will interrupt us without my authorization.¡±
My masked jailers answered with utter silence.
¡°They scare me,¡± Nenetl whispered under her breath after closing the door. Did she fear that they would overhear her? ¡°They smell wrong too¡¡±
I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Smell?¡±
¡°Everyone has a smell, but your guards have so many¡¡± Nenetl shook her head. ¡°I always think of a crowd when they approach.¡±
Interesting. Had awakening her wolf-totem improved Nenetl¡¯s senses? I folded that information away in the back of my mind in case I could make use of it later. ¡°And how do I smell?¡±
¡°Sweet,¡± she replied with a sheepish, adorable smile. ¡°Like caramel.¡±
I wondered if Nenetl had started to learn spells. Her earnest gentleness always managed to soothe my soul better than any sorcery.
It became even more appreciated as we walked into grand chambers of polished marble and Lady Sigrun¡¯s family chambers. The gemstone, seashell-shaped ceiling and knotwork decorations remained a marvel to behold. However, I immediately noticed a handful of worrying changes. Most shelves, once abundant with scrolls, jewelry, and potions, had been emptied. A handful of tapestries were missing from the walls as well.
I guessed what happened to them from the smell of smoke in the air. The sad, melancholic sound of a harp invited us to step onward.
A particular decoration had caught my eye the first time I visited Ingrid¡¯s apartment: a miniature replica of the ship that brought her mother to Yohuachanca, sitting on a hand-carved table showcasing a map of the known world.
The table was still there, untouched and covered in a platter of chocolate sweets. The ship that once sailed on its sea of wood, meanwhile, ended its journey in the nearby hearth. Lady Sigrun¡¯s daughters had stuffed its hold with the missing decorations and then set it on fire. I noticed Ingrid feeding scrolls to the flames with a blank face, her slim frame wrapped in black robes smoother than spider¡¯s silk. Her younger sister Astrid played the harp beautifully, her eyes red from too many tears.
Other figures watched the pyre too. Eztli stood behind Ingrid like the shadow of death, the heart¡¯s fires reflecting on her pale skin. Chikal sat at the painted table and studied its map. Her head perked up when she sensed me and Nenetl approaching.
All my consorts were here.
It surprised me. I knew Eztli spent the night trying to comfort Ingrid, and I could guess that Nenetl¡¯s kind heart would encourage her to do the same, but Chikal? The amazon queen never struck me as the sentimental type. Why would she care for Ingrid¡¯s well-being now of all times?
Our eyes briefly met, and she swiftly decided to enlighten me.
¡°Now you know,¡± Chikal said, her fingers tracing a line along the map, ¡°how it feels to choose.¡±
I nodded in silent understanding. Chikal too had faced a cruel decision on who to save from the Nightlords¡¯ grasp. The only difference was that she had to sacrifice a city rather than a single person¡¯s life. I guessed I should consider myself lucky that the Jaguar Woman stopped at a handful of concubines.
¡°I hesitated,¡± I confessed.
¡°And you paid a great cost for it.¡± Chikal studied me for a few seconds, her gaze ever unreadable. ¡°You will never forget it.¡±
No, I wouldn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t a question, but a statement. I will never forget the cost of letting the Nightlords live.
Eztli greeted me with a blank look, and little Astrid with a glare sharper than obsidian daggers. My lack of surprise dulled its edge. I had expected that reaction. In spite of Necahual¡¯s attempts to soften the blow, I did play a role in her mother¡¯s death. As a child too young to properly understand the cruel world we lived in, I couldn¡¯t fault her for blaming me.
Ingrid worried me more.
My orphaned consort briefly turned away from the fire to look at me. She looked slightly better than last night, the way a cleaned skeleton might prove less unsettling than a freshly killed corpse. Her pallid skin and sunken eyes belonged to the dead. She held onto life by a thread.
¡°My lord,¡± Ingrid said. I waited for more and received nothing.
A thousand words and a hundred flowery sentences crossed my mind. All sounded equally empty to me, so I did not speak.
My arms moved to embrace her.
I pulled Ingrid closer into a hug which she did not resist. She burst into tears the moment her head rested on my shoulders. Floodgates opened, and neither the presence of her fellow consorts nor her sister could hold back the flood.
I couldn¡¯t tell how long I let her cry on my shoulder. Minutes? Hours? It felt like forever to me. I gently stroked her hair as her tears soaked my cotton robes. I thought she had shed them all last night. I was mistaken.
She is so thin, I suddenly realized. Eztli possessed the strength of a curse, and the late Sigrun an iron confidence little could break. Her daughter lacked it. She had managed to hide her weakness behind her training and carefully woven lies, only for the Nightlords¡¯ malignant cruelty to dispel it all. She¡¯s my age. So young and human.
Ingrid was no amazon queen, no Nahualli with hidden power, and no Nightkin cursed with immortality. She was no more than a witty young woman trapped in a gilded cage. She could only rely on her intelligence, beauty, and parentage; and none of them could give her the courage she desperately needed.
The harp song ended. I noticed Eztli leading little Astrid back to her room at the edge of my vision. Ingrid¡¯s sister appeared ready to fight back until Eztli put a cold, firm hand on her shoulder, nipping all thoughts of rebellion in the bud. I admit it unsettled me; my oldest friend had retained some of her kindness, but the vampiric instincts were never too far behind. Meanwhile, Nenetl did her best to fade into the background, her back bent and her head pointing at the floor; as for Chikal, she focused on the burning ship, the flames¡¯ light reflecting in her eyes.
All of them gave us a little space.
¡°Lady Eztli and her mother¡ they said you did not choose for mine to die,¡± Ingrid whispered softly, begging, no, pleading for the truth. ¡°Is it true?¡±
My lips twisted into a scowl as I nodded sharply. ¡°The Jaguar Woman overruled me.¡±
¡°I see¡¡± Ingrid let go of the hug and studied my face for any hint of a lie. My sorrow and cold anger must seem genuine enough to her. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t say this in Lady Eztli¡¯s presence, but¡ I¡¯m glad to hear that.¡±
Ingrid had called Eztli by a deferential title twice now. I admit it surprised me. My oldest friend¡¯s kindness must have dulled the edge of their rivalry. That, or Ingrid had realized that there was no point in continuing it now that her mother had died. The roles would have been reversed without the Nightlords¡¯ cruelty.
¡°Mother must have disappointed them,¡± Ingrid whispered, more for her sake than mine. ¡°Mother was a schemer¡ One of her plots must have displeased the goddesses.¡±
My grip on her back tightened on its own. I heard Ingrid gasp in surprise as my pulse quickened.
¡°You¡¯re wrong,¡± I corrected her, my voice dripping with bitterness. ¡°The Jaguar Woman wanted to teach us a lesson. Nothing more.¡±
¡°A¡ a lesson?¡± Ingrid¡¯s hands tightened into fists. ¡°But¡ why?¡±
¡°I asked questions.¡± In this place, that was a crime worthy of death. ¡°You and your mother deemed that good service ought to be rewarded.¡±
Ingrid looked up at me with utter confusion, no, denial. She was the brightest of us and heard the Jaguar Woman¡¯s words at her mother¡¯s execution. She understood that Lady Sigrun died for nothing. That the Nightlords needed no reason to kill on a whim. She simply struggled to accept it.
It was human nature to seek meaning for pain and misery; we could predict and avoid what we could understand. To find causes for old tragedies helped us prepare for new ones. Hence we struggled to understand true evil: because it was purposeless.
¡°You seek a reasonable explanation for last night¡¯s tragedy, Ingrid, and there is your mistake,¡± I told her as gently as I could. ¡°Did you forget the Jaguar Woman¡¯s warning? There was nothing reasonable about this ordeal. Our lives are at their mercy and there is no reward for service. They punish disloyalty, but good work buys no favor either.¡±
My words were harsh, but Ingrid listened to them nonetheless. Her lips strained in a mix of despair and anguish.
¡°She¡ she died for nothing.¡± I could see the last embers of Ingrid¡¯s hope die. It was written on her face. ¡°Is that what you are trying to tell me, my lord emperor? That she died for nothing?¡±
¡°I am sorry, Ingrid,¡± I apologized. ¡°I wish I could lie and tell you your Mother brought this cruel fate upon herself. She did not. Senseless cruelty requires no explanation. It simply is.¡±
Ingrid let go of me, her hands moving to her shoulders as if to protect them from the cold. She looked down for a moment, mulling over my words, before glancing at Eztli. My oldest friend shook her head. She wouldn¡¯t lie either.
¡°What do I do, my lord?¡± Ingrid asked me, her voice breaking in her throat. ¡°What must I do? I¡ I am lost.¡±
I gathered my breath as I thought over my answer. I wished I possessed the wisdom she sought. The best I could give her was my earnest opinion.
Someone answered before I could.
¡°You live, Ingrid.¡± Chikal turned away from the fire to meet Ingrid¡¯s gaze with eyes full of resolve. ¡°If not for yourself, then for your sister. For your kin that will outlive you.¡±
Or for revenge, I almost added. I held back, however. Ingrid didn¡¯t need to hear that. Not right now. Not until she had finished grieving her mother and recovered her composure.
¡°She¡¯s right,¡± I said. Because she has been there too. ¡°Astrid needs you.¡±
Ingrid pondered my and Chikal¡¯s words before glancing at the harp her sister had been playing. She fell into thoughtful silence.
¡°Uh¡¡± Nenetl awkwardly cleared her throat, before presenting a cake to Ingrid. ¡°You should eat, Ingrid.¡±
Ingrid frowned at the offering. Mayhaps she briefly wondered if the gift was poisoned, before realizing that Nenetl was incapable of such cunning.
¡°I am not hungry,¡± she replied, somewhat courteously.
¡°Take it for warmth,¡± Nenetl explained shyly. ¡°I eat chocolate when I¡¯m sad. It helps¡ at least a bit.¡±
Ingrid stared at the cake with clear doubts, but accepted it anyway. She took a bite out of it much to Nenetl¡¯s pleasure.
¡°Why burn this ship?¡± Chikal pointed at the fire. ¡°It must have taken years for your mother to carve it.¡±
¡°Mother¡¡± Ingrid gulped and suppressed a sob. ¡°In Winland, nobles are burnt with their ships and belongings.¡±
My eyes wandered to the painted table. Since Lady Sigrun knew she would never see the sea again, she had crafted her own. A pity that the pyre that consumed her remains would not let her soul rest.
¡°I see,¡± Chikal commented without saying more.
¡°I followed Mother¡¯s will to the letter,¡± Ingrid said, her hands joined in a silent prayer. ¡°She prized her knowledge more than gold, and wanted it to perish with her.¡±
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
I wondered how many of those documents contained incriminating information or if they were little more than decoys. My eyes wandered to Lady Sigrun¡¯s private altar. I recalled her last words and the hint they offered me. I made a note to check on the structure later.
¡°I¡ I will return to the council tomorrow, my lord,¡± Ingrid promised. ¡°I will serve.¡±
¡°Are you certain, Ingrid?¡± Nenetl asked with clear concern.
¡°You should rest more,¡± Eztli said.
Ingrid denied them both. ¡°I was born to serve,¡± she replied while staring at the fire. ¡°This¡ this is harder.¡±
Work could be a burden and a distraction.
¡°You should go train, my lord,¡± Ingrid advised. ¡°I am certain Chikal is eager to test your mettle.¡±
What a polite way to dismiss us. Chikal was the first to pick up on it and quickly moved to her feet.
¡°I shall await you in the courtyard,¡± she informed me before offering a slight bow to the burning ship and Ingrid both. Nenetl blushed slightly, before promising to come visit later. For once, Ingrid didn¡¯t shoot down the idea immediately and merely thanked her fellow consort for her concern.
¡°I can stay if you wish me to,¡± I told Ingrid.
¡°My lord is very kind, but I must decline your proposal.¡± Ingrid smiled at me, and however thin and awkward it might be, it seemed sincere for once. ¡°I have¡ affairs to settle. Mother¡¯s affairs.¡±
She has more papers to burn, I realized. Documents she doesn¡¯t want any of us to see.
Since Lady Sigrun¡¯s spy network extended as far as the Sapa Empire, I suspected a few of the scrolls among her collection might give the red-eyed priests a fit if discovered. Lady Sigrun¡¯s plans might have died with her, but Ingrid couldn¡¯t take the risk they might be discovered. Knowledge of the First Emperor¡¯s codex alone might spell a visit to the torture chambers.
¡°As you wish,¡± I replied with a slight nod. ¡°My door remains open to you, should you require my company.¡±
¡°As is mine,¡± Eztli added with what could pass for noble grace.
¡°Thank you both.¡± Ingrid offered us a short reverence. ¡°I shall be certain to return your kindness in due time.¡±
She didn¡¯t owe us anything, but I wouldn¡¯t spit on her support. The Jaguar Woman divided us to better control us. We would only survive the Scarlet Night by working together.
At least I can count on Eztli, I thought as she and I moved to the exit. I could tell she was giving me the cold shoulder for almost sacrificing Necahual, but she was mature enough to understand who was our true enemy. It warms my heart.
¡°Thank you for being there for her, Eztli,¡± I said from the bottom of my heart. ¡°And for clarifying the situation. We don¡¯t need more infighting.¡±
Eztli swiftly moved her arms around my neck, then approached closer to better whisper in my ear.
¡°I forgive you this time, Iztac, because you indulged Mother¡¯s foolish wish.¡± Eztli glared at me, the crimson in her gaze redder than a puddle of fresh blood. ¡°It won¡¯t happen again. Do you understand me? It won¡¯t happen again.¡±
I met her gaze without flinching. I couldn¡¯t promise anything¡ªthe Nightlords followed their own whims¡ªbesides my best.
¡°I will take care of Necahual,¡± I promised softly, too low for the others to hear. ¡°Yoloxochitl will lose interest in her soon.¡±
Eztli¡¯s head tilted to the side as she studied me. It didn¡¯t take her long to guess what I had in mind. She had suggested it the very night Yoloxochitl enslaved her mother. I couldn¡¯t tell whether my resolve pleased or unnerved her.
¡°I should be there,¡± she finally suggested.
¡°Absolutely not,¡± I replied. ¡°I understand you mean to comfort her, but believe me. It will only make it harder.¡±
Eztli looked away. ¡°Because of what I have become?¡±
¡°Because it will humiliate her. We should at least spare her dignity by avoiding witnesses.¡± Let alone her own daughter. ¡°The best way to keep her safe is to maintain distance and play along with Yoloxochitl¡¯s madness.¡±
Her expression darkened with a touch of despair. ¡°I won¡¯t last long, Iztac,¡± Eztli warned me. ¡°Her blood¡ the more she feeds it to me, the less I feel like myself. I sense her in my veins. In my soul.¡±
¡°Just a few more days,¡± I promised her. ¡°You can hold on that long?¡±
Eztli bit her lip, then nodded slowly. She was strong and willful. I had to hope she wouldn¡¯t fold until the fateful day.
The New Fire Ceremony would change everything, one way or another.
I spent the rest of the day going through the motions.
I trained with Chikal and other warriors, unloading the stress I¡¯d accumulated one strike at a time. Hitting shields of wood with clubs suddenly felt appealing after a night of torture and a day of grief. I supposed that explained why soldiers liked to fight. Mindless violence was freeing in a way. It helped us feel strong in a world where we were born weak.
As I looked at my adversary, an amazon trainer I had pummeled to the ground with a flurry of blows, I recalled the sensation of my hands closing on Necahual¡¯s throat. My foe¡¯s nose was a fountain of blood, her shield a broken bundle of splintered wood. She looked up at me with the same brief flash of fear that crossed my mother-in-law¡¯s eyes when she thought I wouldn¡¯t stop until she choked to death. Part of me wanted to bash my trainer¡¯s skull in whenever I recalled that night.
I sensed Chikal step behind me like a panther stalking its prey. I didn¡¯t hear her approach¡ªI never managed to detect her when she moved quietly¡ªbut I sensed her concern for her amazon sister.
¡°You have grown bolder, Lord Emperor,¡± Chikal said. I immediately took it as a backhanded reproach; she only ever called me Lord Emperor as a farce. ¡°But a true warrior commands his anger, not the other way around.¡±
¡°You¡¯ve never seen me angry yet, Chikal,¡± I replied coldly. My shadow talons stirred deep within my soul. It took much of my willpower to prevent them from lacerating the closest human within my reach. ¡°Pray that you never do.¡±
Chikal didn¡¯t fold. She knew very well that I hid my true skills from her. I wondered how much she suspected.
¡°If you wish to kill someone so ardently, pick a priest and make them pray,¡± she said. ¡°That would please us both.¡±
I scoffed. ¡°I will give it some thought.¡±
After training I decided to spend some time in the menagerie to relax a bit; the company of animals felt more preferable to that of men lately. I asked the zookeeper for advice on how to take care of my pets.
¡°Itzili is growing fast,¡± I told a zookeeper. My feathered tyrant had gained a few pounds since last we met. He was now larger than any dog. ¡°Is that normal?¡±
¡°He is entering his growth phase early, Your Majesty,¡± my servant answered. ¡°At some point in their life, feathered tyrants start growing at an astonishing rate of five pounds a day and then reach their adult size in four years'' time.¡±
Five pounds a day? At this rate, Itzili would overshadow the tallest bears before the Night of the Scarlet Moon. He might become large enough for me to ride him.
Not large enough to break these walls though. I glanced at the palace¡¯s fortifications. An adult feathered tyrant might be able to climb or break through them, if allowed to reach maturity. Not without help.
¡°His early growth is a good omen, Your Majesty,¡± the zookeeper said. ¡°Itzili was offered to you on the first day of your reign. I take it as a sign your rule shall see our empire prosper.¡±
If only Itzili could bite off a priest¡¯s hand for me. That would be a good omen.
After thanking the zookeeper for his insight, I received two turkeys to feed my pet with. Itzili greeted me with a small cry and squinting eyes. He smelled my clothes and turkeys, but instead of biting into one of them he glared at my silent guards with narrowed eyes. As an animal with senses far more developed than my own, they probably felt unnatural to him.
You resent this cage of ours too, don¡¯t you? I petted Itzili on the back of his head. A mane of white feathers slowly grew on it, and from his bellowing cries he appreciated the gesture. I might have a way to help break its walls.
I glanced at the turkeys in my hands. I¡¯d heard that feathered tyrants never turned down a meal, though they preferred to hunt live prey. A special spice might make this meal more appealing.
I quietly bit my hand until my teeth drew blood while cloaking myself in a Veil. Burning droplets fell onto the carcass, my fluids merging with those of the dead turkey. The smell aroused Itzili, who glanced at my closing wound with barely disguised hunger. It understood biting the hand that fed him would not end well, but the urge to kill coursed through his veins.
¡°Dream of devouring them all,¡± I whispered as I offered my pet his seasoned meal. This time he bit into the dead turkey with abandon. ¡°One day, you might see it come true.¡±
How much of my blood would Itzili require before we could form a bond? I would keep providing it to him with each meal until then. Once I fully understood how the link worked, I would repeat the process with Tetzon, the margay cat. His size and agility would serve me well as a Ridden host.
Moreover, I wondered what effect my blood would have on an animal. Vampire blood transferred a sliver of the curse to the priests and allowed Yoloxochitl to cultivate predatory plants. Would those feeding on my flesh inherit some of my borrowed divine power too? How would it change them? And most importantly, would their blood become poisonous for vampires too?
I was dying to find out.
After my menagerie visit, I spent my short nap alone in my bed, visiting Tlazohtzin under the guise of Inkarri. As I expected, he took his dismissal as confirmation that his brother would inherit everything. My trick had dispelled whatever doubts he still had over our enterprise.
¡°I have gathered all the Tumi and Sapa artifacts I could find, oh divine messenger,¡± he told me, kneeling in prostration. ¡°Dozens of them.¡±
¡°Have your agents bury them across Smoke Mountain,¡± I ordered. ¡°If the gods find your offerings pleasing, your fate might still be averted.¡±
I was almost sincere in my promise. If by some miracle the counter-ritual managed to kill all of the Nightlords and if I survived it, I would gladly rescind my decision. I very much doubted either of us would be so lucky.
Moreover, I intended to fix the scale of fate in my favor¡ and his misfortune.
¡°Now, I shall bless you on your task, brave soul.¡± I grabbed a feather from my plumage. ¡°A blessing, yes¡¡±
The Veil I surrounded myself with made me appear like a bird of radiant gold to Tlazohtzin, but my Gaze prevented me from lying to myself. The feather in my talon was blacker than a starless night. It promised no miracle, no secret wealth delivered from the heavens. I was an owl of darkness rising from the Underworld.
I was an omen of death.
Unfortunately, that was the only gift I could offer. I would bless the Nightlords with it in time, but for me to fulfill that goal I would need to make sacrifices.
I regretted what I was about to do. Tlazohtzin was no red-eyed priest or nightkin apologist. He was an innocent man who had the misfortune of being in the right place at the right time. I had indirectly killed many like him when I declared war on the Sapa Empire and when I first denied the Jaguar Woman; but this time I wielded the knife that would cause his doom. I regretted my choice, but I had promised myself never to hesitate again.
I would bear that burden.
My Veil delivered sweet words to Tlazohtzin even as my mouth whispered crueler truths to my feather.
¡°I bless your soul with heavenly luck, so that you may fulfill your duty with pride.¡±
I curse you to a short life of deceit, the truth of your actions forever unknown to you.
¡°I bless your breath with the power of truth, so that you may expose your brother¡¯s treachery for all to see.¡±
I curse you to whisper lies into the eyes of red-eyed fools, so that they mistake you for a foreign enemy.
¡°I bless your body with a long life, so that you may prove yourself worthy of your father¡¯s inheritance and a greater one to your children.¡±
I curse you to die a swift death in the service of a greater cause, your blood spared from the vampire kiss, for it is the one gift I may offer you.
I hoped I had another choice available to me. Alas, I couldn¡¯t risk the Nightlords discovering my treachery. I placed my well-disguised feather inside Tlazohtzin¡¯s shadow and poisoned his destiny.
¡°We shall not meet again until the New Fire Ceremony concludes,¡± I warned him. ¡°Should the gods smile on you, I shall return swiftly. May the Gods-in-Spirit take mercy on you.¡±
I left Tlazohtzin¡¯s altar room without waiting for an answer. I did not want to see his pleased face after he swallowed my lie. It would only worsen my guilt.
All the better to bury my remorse with work. The die was already cast.
All I had to do was to travel to Smoke Mountain itself and cast my Haunt spell over it. The trip being too long for a brief nap, I flew back to the palace.
I did not return to my room immediately. Instead, I shifted through the walls until I reached Ingrid¡¯s bedroom. My invisible spirit slipped inside the main hall and landed on its altar.
Let us see what you hid from the bats, Sigrun. I put my head through the wood and stone, my eyes emerging on the other side. As I suspected, the altar covered a secret compartment at its base; one roughly three feet in diameter and just as deep.
Women often asked to be buried with their jewels, but Lady Sigrun was too wise for such vanity. She buried a treasure not of gold and silver, but of paper and ink. Piles of scrolls were neatly folded in small clay containers to protect them from humidity and insects. My eyes darted on a wealth of maps, letters, and other documents.
The Emperor¡¯s codex was nowhere to be seen among them.
Disappointing, but not unexpected. It would have been madness for Sigrun to keep such an important manuscript in her room. In all likelihood, she merely recorded the place she hid it among her legacy.
I swiftly materialized a talon and examined the document at the top of the pile in the hopes it would provide a hint. Instead, I looked at a map of Yohuachanca, the Sapa Empire, and a landmass to the east beyond the Boiling Sea. This drawing included indications of the wind and water currents running from one land to another. A good sailor could easily use this information to travel from Yohuachanca to Winland and beyond.
Either a part of Sigrun never lost hope to return home one day or she entrusted this dream to her descendants. I wondered if the Nightlords possessed a copy of their own. Considering how Yohuachanca¡¯s hunger for blood demanded constant conquest, they probably intended to invade Winland in future centuries.
Part of me hoped to visit these distant lands one day, after I¡¯d killed the Nightlords of course.
I folded the map aside and quickly checked the next document, then the one after, and the one after that one. My blood would have turned to ice if I still wore my body. All of these papers showed a similar issue that truly compromised my plans.
Sigrun¡¯s trove of scrolls was exclusively written in Winland¡¯s runic alphabet.
I couldn¡¯t read any of them.
I beat myself for not considering it sooner. Of course Sigrun would record all sensitive information in a tongue only her family could understand. She informed me of the cache¡¯s location knowing full well I wouldn¡¯t be able to decode it without her daughters¡¯ cooperation. Worse, I couldn¡¯t smuggle these objects outside to decipher them at my own pace elsewhere. Unlike my unsubstantial Tonalli, these scrolls couldn¡¯t phase through walls.
No matter how I approached the problem, I couldn¡¯t think of a way to exploit these documents without bringing Ingrid into the loop. I would need to either convince her to teach me her native tongue¡ªand somehow master it in a few months on top of all my other obligations¡ªor inform her of the cache.
Sigrun binds my hand even in death. I would have bet my hand that she anticipated my reaction when she hinted at the cache¡¯s existence. Wherever you are, I hope you have the last laugh.
With little else to do, my spirit flew away from the cache and quickly checked on Ingrid and her sister. I found the latter sleeping in her bed and cradling her cushions. As for Ingrid, she was drafting letters in her mother¡¯s office with the sharp focus of a young woman desperately burying her sorrow in work. A look over her shoulder confirmed to me that she was drafting a challenge to the Sapa Emperor claimants, just as I asked her to before her mother¡¯s death.
We weren¡¯t so different, she and I. We would rather both swim headfirst into our toil rather than dwell on the past.
The sight saddened me to my core. I could not bring back Lady Sigrun from the dead, but I could ensure her daughters would survive the Scarlet Moon. I would do my best to watch over them.
With darkness falling upon the realm, I returned to my body for another night of horrors. This time I spent it in silence. I said nothing when the guards and Eztli came to escort me to the temple. Our footsteps filled the silence as we walked among the living dead. Vampires great and small greeted us with what could pass for religious deference¡ with one exception.
The Jaguar Woman welcomed me with a thin smile on her lips.
Her smug, satisfied look sickened me to my core. She thought she had cowed me, the wicked witch. She thought she had tamed me. Broken me. I hated myself for playing along with this farce.
Victory excuses everything, I kept telling myself as I climbed the mountain of ash. One day. One day.
I buried my anger and fury under a mask of resignation, then proceeded to feed the sulfur flame. I had sated it with flesh last night. I spent this one feeding it scrolls of paper marked with thousands of names. Whether those belonged to the year¡¯s dead or their living relatives, I couldn¡¯t know. The burning abyss ate away at them all the same.
The depthless hunger within this malevolent fire had consumed so many lives. It would eat me and Eztli too if we dared to touch it. The whole world wouldn¡¯t be enough to satisfy its ravenous appetite. The thought of this sulfur flame shining in the sky frightened me to my core.
Yet, that fear couldn¡¯t open my Tomb. The end of the world and the onset of an age of vampires wouldn¡¯t let me fuel that spell.
What is it that I fear? I wondered. What did I run from? If not death, what? To become a skull buried in a pile of them for all eternity? Is that my Tomb? Imprisonment? Eternal suffering? Deathlessness?
I had spoken all of these words when trying to cast the Tomb. None worked. My true fear transcended them all.
What frightened me? What was I running away from? What was I fighting with all my strength to avoid? I thought back to the moments that brought me the most dread in my life.
The Night of the Scarlet Moon, when my name came up.
Guatemoc¡¯s death and Eztli¡¯s transformation.
The sight of Yoloxochitl eating people in her true form.
And finally, Lady Sigrun¡¯s cruel death.
I had pressed a weapon against my own heart, faced King Mictlantecuhtli¡ªa god mightier than all four Nightlords combined¡ªand survived the House of Gloom. Yet none of these events crushed my spirit the way the others had. Why?
The solution came to me in a flash of insight.
I had chosen to face these trials, and prevailed.
In all other cases, I had been powerless to affect the outcome.
I sought strength so fervently because I was afraid of being powerless. Of being trapped, my will crushed, my mind manipulated, my body broken, unable to stand, unable to fight. I pursued the power I¡¯d lacked all of my life: the power to challenge a fate forced upon me at birth.
I craved what I feared most: control.
¡°Powerlessness,¡± I whispered.
I heard an echo in the very depths of my soul, the slight screech of a greased door opening.
I had uncovered the key to my Tomb.
Chapter Thirty-Six: Before the Final Night
I left the temple with a heart filled with frustration.
My greatest fear was powerlessness, and I had lived through it all night. I danced to the tune of the Nightlords as I fed their sulfur flame. I kept my mouth shut when Yoloxochitl put her hands on Eztli¡¯s shoulders and whispered in her ear. I supported the Jaguar Woman¡¯s arrogant stare in silence. I played the dutiful doll, never complaining, never speaking out of turn.
I took some solace in the discovery of my Tomb¡¯s keyword, but even the dawn provided me with little comfort.
At least this humiliation would soon come to an end. Tomorrow would be the last day of the year and mark the beginning of my ascent to Smoke Mountain. The New Fire Ceremony would start then.
But first, I needed to cast my Haunt. A task that would require many hours.
¡°I shall sleep all day this time,¡± I warned Tezozomoc as we walked back to my imperial chambers. ¡°Between the next day¡¯s rituals and the New Fire Ceremony, I won¡¯t have a moment to rest. Do not wake me up until twilight.¡±
¡°Of course, Your Majesty.¡± He offered me a polite bow. ¡°Your concubine will see that you rest well.¡±
He meant to comfort me and did the complete opposite. I wasn¡¯t looking forward to female company for once.
¡°She will,¡± I replied coldly. ¡°Her life depends on it.¡±
Tezozomoc raised an eyebrow. He probably thought I meant to execute Necahual if she proved disappointing; while in truth, I sought to buy her time from more dangerous masters.
As expected, I found my mother-in-law waiting for me in my chambers. The servants had taken care to prepare her. They had dressed her in a white cotton dress edged with golden trim that gracefully draped around her form, a crimson sash wrapped around her waist like a ribbon around a gift. Golden earrings framed her face, while a golden headdress topped with a striking feather held her cascading hair. Black paint heightened her eyelashes and oil smoothed her skin. The poor farmer¡¯s wife was unrecognizable. I could have mistaken her for a noblewoman who had stepped out of the capital¡¯s richest districts.
Eztli inherited her looks from her mother, and Necahual remained an attractive woman. Many would have found her lovely in my place, had she done so little as to smile. She instead greeted me with silence and a sullen expression. She sat at the bed¡¯s edge with her hands joined together, her eyes staring at the nearest wall rather than me.
She was about as enthusiastic about this chore as I was.
It doesn¡¯t have to take long, I told myself. I only intended to do¡ this¡ for the sake of my plans and to practice Seidr with a trustworthy confidant. If I close my eyes, I can pretend she is Eztli.
I dismissed Tezozomoc with a glance. He closed the imperial bedroom¡¯s doors behind me, leaving me alone with Necahual and a set of masked guards. They faded from sight when they lurked in corners¡¯ shadows. It almost made their presence tolerable.
I walked up to Necahual¡¯s side. She looked at me, her eyes meeting mine. Neither of us said a word. I waited for her to gather her breath and wits until she finally stood up. Her hands clumsily moved to my imperial robes. When she proved too slow in taking them off due to her hesitation, I untied her sash and our robes soon dropped to the floor.
It wasn¡¯t the first time Necahual and I were both so close and naked. I had shared baths with her after all. However, the context somehow made our current situation deeply unpleasant. The way Necahual avoided looking at my manhood, the shame in her eyes, my own reluctance to touch her skin¡
This won¡¯t go well. I could already tell. Perhaps I should stick to kisses for now. Start slow.
I glanced at the bed, and Necahual reluctantly moved beneath the sheet. She laid on her back, legs tightly shut, her arms limp, her spine tenser than a bowstring. I would have to do all the work.
¡°You can imagine Father in my place,¡± I suggested as I crawled over to her. ¡°Or your husband. Whatever works.¡±
Necahual glared at me in silence, then closed her eyes. Her jaw clenched tightly to stop foul curses from escaping her mouth. I assumed she did her best to imagine herself anywhere but here.
- NSFW Scene starts -----------------
I wish I could say I did any better. I started by kissing her neck, my lips making her shudder in revulsion. My hands moved to caress her hips, the sweat sticking between my fingers. I touched her hands and remembered all the times she had thrown stones at me. She didn¡¯t say a word, didn¡¯t help me. She simply waited for me to be over with it.
I couldn¡¯t grant her wish.
No matter how much I tried, I could not imagine Eztli in her place.
Her skin was warm for a start. Sweaty too. Her breasts were fuller, her hips wider, her hands more calloused. Even the mother¡¯s smell differed from the daughter¡¯s. Whenever I attempted to lie to myself, a simple kiss jolted me back to reality. The dissonance made me nauseous.
She felt wrong.
This is bad. I clenched my teeth in frustration. My plan relied on convincing the world that Necahual had become my favorite. It would fail if I couldn¡¯t even touch her. Servants and spies would share the word otherwise. Should I weave a Veil? Make it look like we made love?
Necahual scoffed at me.
My blood boiled in my veins. ¡°What?¡±
¡°You can¡¯t do anything right,¡± she replied scornfully. ¡°You¡¯re still a child.¡±
The condescension in her voice filled with fury. ¡°You¡¯re pathetic.¡±
Her dark eyes snapped open, both of them seething with scorn.
¡°You called me a monster, and here you are,¡± I taunted her. ¡°Offering yourself to me for a taste of power.¡±
A flash of hatred passed over her face, as baleful as a thunderstorm. It pleased me. I moved my head closer to her and planted a kiss on her. There was no tenderness in it, no gentleness. Only possessiveness. My tongue tasted her disgust and shame.
It felt good.
A revelation struck me like lightning. My lips moved to her nipple next, but whereas I would have suckled it with another lover, I bit her breast with my bare teeth. Necahual let out a whimper of pain and surprise. A drop of blood dripped on her skin. I licked it, savoring the metallic aroma and the salty taste of her sweat.
My hands did not stay idle either. One grabbed her breast and squeezed it tightly; the other moved between her legs and forced them open like an oyster. I jammed my fingers into her lady parts. The sudden intrusion drew a grunt from Necahual. She closed her eyes and looked away from me, her skull resting on a pillow.
That wouldn¡¯t do it. I changed my strategy, my fingers caressing her intimate parts, my lips kissing their way upward their neckline. Where I had inflicted pain before, I now sought only to bring pleasure. I listened to Necahual¡¯s heavy breathing, delighting at how she struggled to keep her jaw tightly shut to deny me any satisfaction.
It was so much easier when I stopped trying to picture Eztli in her place.
Eztli loved me in her own special way, and I loved her back. I couldn¡¯t say the same for Necahual. I wanted to beat her, to strangle her, to humiliate her. I only pleased her because I knew it shamed her. To admit that I, the son of the man who had forsaken her and the witch who cursed her, could pleasure her would be the height of humiliation.
Eventually, my efforts bore fruit. Necahual¡¯s lips loosened and let out the most wonderful of sounds: a short moan of pleasure.
Encouraged, I crawled back and began to kiss my way down her thighs. My tongue played with her. I licked my way past her moist hair and her lady parts. Necahual whimpered and moaned softly. I felt her resistance waver. Truth be told, her reaction surprised me. Had she and Guatemoc never experimented together?
It suddenly occurred to me that Mother had cursed Necahual to never find pleasure in coupling with a man; a restriction that applied for the entire length of her marriage.
When I was done, I rose up to my knees on instinct. Necahual was sweating heavily, her teeth biting her lips to stifle another moan, her cheeks flushed. Blood dripped from the breast I had bitten earlier and stained the bed sheet red.
It was then that I suddenly recalled who this woman was: the hag who had adopted me after my father died and made me resent that fact for years. I could have called her my mother had she shown me kindness. I had been married to her daughter and now carried her to bed. Our relationship crossed so many lines that it thrilled and sickened me all at once.
I loathed her. I desired her.
I desired her because I loathed her.
As my hands moved to grab her waist, I recalled all the times I had dreamed of taking revenge for her mistreatment. I had fantasized about beating her, stoning her, slapping her, and more. This didn¡¯t quite fit my old expectations, but¡ it would do.
I hated being powerless. Now, however, I was the one in control. Necahual had offered me everything for the witchcraft she had long resented. She had sold me her body and soul, and it thrilled me.
¡°I own you,¡± I whispered softly.
I thrust with all my might.
Necahual¡¯s eyes shot wide in surprise and stared at my intruding manhood with a mix of fear, shame, and apprehension. Her hands moved to my chest as if to push me out of her, but it was too late. I pulled back slightly and returned with greater force, pinning her against the mattress and burying her under my weight.
¡°Ngh,¡± Necahual grunted in pain and pleasure as I pulled her to me roughly and swiftly. ¡°Uh¡¡±
¡°I own you,¡± I repeated.
There was nothing smooth about our union. Being with Sigrun had felt like slipping a key inside a lock. This time it had all the gentleness of an assassin¡¯s knife cutting its way into a target¡¯s back. It was strange, visceral, and amazing.
And from the way Necahual moaned, she liked it too. Her shuddering cries only heightened my desire. I relished the sight of her face as she chewed her lip, struggling to hide her pleasure. Her hands pushed against my chest with all the resolve of a doubting soul. She wanted me out of her as much as she wanted me to stay where I was.
¡°I own you,¡± I repeated again, biting her neck like a vampire.
I closed my eyes and focused on this new sensation of power over another. I knew it was sick and no different than what the Nightlords put me through, but after all I had been through I relished it nonetheless.
My Teyolia burned within my chest. As our bodies became one, I began to sense Necahual¡¯s heart-fire as well. It was a paltry flame, a shriveled candle that had grown fat on bitterness and disappointment. Still, I sensed a strength in her. A strong resolve buried deep inside her.
¡°Focus on the flame,¡± I whispered in her ear.
¡°I¡¡± Her breath grew short. ¡°I don¡¯t¡ I don¡¯t understand¡¡±
¡°Your heart,¡± I explained. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel it?¡±
Her silence confirmed my first impression. I sensed her Teyolia. It was there, within my reach but beyond my grasp. An invisible barrier stood between our heart-fires and prevented their union.
I suddenly realized that the Seidr demanded more than the exchange of body fluid or magical awareness to function. It connected the Teyolias of two partners; the very core of their souls.
Our flames needed to resonate with each other. Sigrun had focused on desire and arousal to build that bridge, but Necahual shared little to no passion. We needed something else; an emotion we could easily bond over.
I could only think of one.
¡°Guatemoc never took you like this,¡± I taunted her.
I regretted the words the moment they left my lips, but they had the expected effect. Necahual¡¯s Teyolia flared with the same purple light as mine. When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at the darkest of glares.
¡°He could never satisfy you,¡± I pushed on with a condescending chuckle. ¡°Now I know why you threw stones at me when I approached Eztli. You wanted to be in her place.¡±
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Necahual slapped me with all her strength, as she used to back when I was younger.
The masked guards mistook the gesture for an attack and were roused from their slumber. ¡°Stay back,¡± I ordered. Thankfully, they obeyed. ¡°She likes it.¡±
Necahual answered by spitting on my cheek. I ignored it, a hand holding on to her thigh and the other squeezing her breast.
¡°Perhaps I will put another Eztli in here,¡± I taunted her as I caressed her belly. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like that?¡±
Her body and soul shuddered with rage. The flame inside her burst, the barrier between our hearts shattering. Our heart-fires connected through our hate.
Necahual¡¯s eyes widened in shock and confusion. She had sensed it too, but couldn¡¯t understand yet.
¡°Do you feel it now?¡± I asked her. When I sensed her hesitation, I gave her a little push. ¡°Focus on it, slave.¡±
That did the trick. She bit my neck with such strength I thought she would tear out my throat. I interlocked her hands into mine to pin them against the bed, then bit her back. We settled on a furious, wild rhythm, groaning and grunting hand-fighting. Rage, scorn, lust, pain, and pleasure¡ all blurred until I couldn¡¯t tell one from the other.
My Teyolia was the seed of a sun and dwarfed her own. The flames of my soul swallowed her whole. I could have devoured her in an instant, drained her of life the way Sigrun emptied her lovers of vitality. Instead of taking, I gave. Not too much or she would have burned, but enough to give her a taste of true magic.
Enough to cast a spell.
The scene changed around me in an instant. I was no longer on top, but under. A balding man was crawling atop me, the imperial crown of feathers sitting atop his head. I grunted and cried, but his hands held onto me with a vicious grip. In the background, I saw a younger Guatemoc watching with despair and disgust. I was scared and ashamed. I closed my eyes trying to escape, to bear it.
It won¡¯t be long, I told myself. I tried to picture another man, but failed. Itzili would have been gentler.
The vision lasted a mere few seconds, but it was more vivid than any Veil. A small cry returned me to my senses. I sensed a wave of heat and moisture washing over my manhood, my seed spilling with a pulsating gush.
Necahual was under me, tears of pleasure and shame forming in her eyes. She gasped for air as I did, our connection closing as our muscles relaxed.
- NSFW Scene ends -----------
¡°Get out,¡± she ordered me suddenly. Her hands freed themselves from mine and pushed against my chest. ¡°Get out.¡±
I clenched my jaw and slowly pulled out. Our eyes lingered on the spot where our bodies had joined, at the light sheen of sweat and seed dripping from her thighs. Necahual stared at the latter as if it were a terrible poison.
My throat felt sore from the place where she had bitten me, and her nails had scratched at my chest. Necahual bore a few scars of her own too. A wave of shame immediately followed my grim satisfaction.
¡°I am¡¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°I am sorry I hurt you.¡±
¡°No, you are not.¡± Necahual avoided my gaze. ¡°Neither am I.¡±
Now feeling slightly guilty, I moved to the side of the bed and pulled the bed sheet closer. Necahual turned her back on me and stared at the wall.
After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I leaned against her. I half-expected her to push me back, but she did not. I supposed it felt inconsequential after we had crossed such a big line.
¡°How do you feel?¡± I asked her. The concern in my voice surprised me.
¡°My heart burns. My thighs and stomach too.¡± Necahual¡¯s voice grew no louder than a whisper. ¡°I saw¡ I saw things.¡±
After ensuring the guards wouldn¡¯t hear anything, I leaned closer towards her ear. ¡°What did you see?¡±
¡°Skulls.¡± Necahual scowled grimly. ¡°A dead land of ashes and burned men.¡±
My heart skipped a beat for an instant. She had seen Tlalocan?
¡°What of you?¡± she asked while briefly looking over her shoulder.
¡°I saw a man,¡± I confessed. ¡°An emperor, I think. Guatemoc was there.¡±
Necahual pulled the bed sheet over her shoulder as if to protect herself. ¡°You saw my wedding night.¡±
A chill ran down my spine. I didn¡¯t need more to understand the details: an emperor was entitled to a new bride¡¯s first night, after all.
Necahual must have caught the eye of one of them during a visit near Acampa. The fact no one among the Parliament of Skulls remembered Necahual meant such things were commonplace.
Had Mother¡¯s Curse caused this?
¡°I¡ I am sorry,¡± I apologized.
¡°I didn¡¯t ask for your pity,¡± she all but spat. ¡°Keep it to yourself.¡±
I didn¡¯t fault her reaction, though I resented it slightly. My stomach lurked as a possibility crossed my mind.
¡°Eztli¡¡± I dared not utter that thought. ¡°Is she¡¡±
¡°My husband and I had been intimate before.¡± Necahual took a deep breath and stared at the wall. ¡°We¡ we couldn¡¯t tell.¡±
They couldn¡¯t tell whose daughter Eztli was, so Guatemoc eventually decided that she was his and never raised the subject again. I admit it surprised me. I had never been too close to the man¡ªcivil would have been the best term¡ªbut I would have expected doubt to torment Guatemoc. Other men would have distrusted Eztli¡¯s potential paternity.
I supposed Guatemoc had been a good man under his rough exterior. It only further motivated me to protect his family.
¡°Was that witchcraft?¡± Necahual whispered. ¡°What we saw?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I confirmed. Our souls had melded through Seidr. We had both glimpsed at the other¡¯s memories. ¡°That was your first step on a long journey.¡±
Necahual finally looked at me. Her thoughts were written all over her conflicted expression. I would need more than one night to mold her Teyolia in preparation for her transformation. This night, however rough and unpleasant, would only be the first of many.
After a moment, Necahual returned to staring at the wall. A tense silence settled between us, and we fell asleep each on one side of the bed. I wished her a good rest.
My Tonalli still had much work ahead of it.
I exited the palace and made my way to Smoke Mountain.
I had never flown outside the capital before, so I half-expected my Tonalli to weaken over time. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that distance mattered little for Spiritual Manifestation. The cost of maintaining the technique remained the same.
I wondered if I could ride the winds all the way to Winland with time. Cross the sea and finally lay eyes on the eastern lands far beyond Yohuachanca¡¯s grasp. Alas, I knew it was little more than a feeble dream for now. The Nightlords would wake up my body long before my soul could reach the ocean.
¡°Everywhere there is beauty,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°But no sea may stop the tide of human greed. It shall crash on your shores one day.¡±
One day, I told myself as I fled the capital for the farmlands and forests. One day.
Smoke Mountain arose before me, a squat, mighty throne of stone that reached all the way to the clouds. Forested hills gathered around its base like how the weak flocked to the strong, but no vegetation would dare to approach the peak. A crown of jagged obsidian stone surrounded its smoldering crater. The smoke that gave the mountain its name drifted from the summit in a beautiful trail of white and ashen gray.
I could feel the lifeblood of the world stirring beneath its skin of stone. Boiling fury slumbered in the depths of the earth, waiting to be unleashed. Waiting to burst out and burn all life to cinders. Smoke Mountain hadn¡¯t erupted in centuries, but only fools would think it dead. The magma never slumbered forever.
It couldn¡¯t wake up any sooner.
A single sacred road led to Smoke Mountain¡¯s summit, its gentle slope housing a set of small altars honoring the Gods-in-Spirit and the Gods-in-the-Flesh. Pilgrims already gathered around them in preparation for the New Fire Ceremony. They offered food, gold, and tributes to the heavens in the hope of being forgiven for this year¡¯s sins and blessed for the next. Tlazohtzin¡¯s men should be hard at work placing tumi and other Sapa items among them. I expected priests to notice these unusual oddities, but ignore them until after the New Fire Ceremony so as not to disrupt it.
I doubted Mother would have struck at people on this well-treaded road, so I scouted the mountain for smaller settlements. It didn¡¯t take me long to find a wide brow of rock overhanging a cliff-top village halfway to the summit. The settlement housed less than a dozen huts huddling away from the sacred road. I made my way to it with haste.
¡°Do you hear them?¡± The wind asked me softly. ¡°The whimpers of the dead?¡±
It didn¡¯t take me long to see the flies.
My beak lacked a sense of smell in owl form, so I didn¡¯t detect the blood until I laid eyes upon it. A puddle of dried blood littered the dusty ground, its previous owner slumped against the village¡¯s heart with his skull caved in. A vulture already feasted on the entrails, while a couple of coati raccoons cleansed the fingers of flesh.
I phased through the huts¡¯ walls and confirmed Mother¡¯s warnings: that the Burned Men loathed the living with the fury of a burning inferno. I saw a child split in two inside his bed; a woman eviscerated; a man stabbed to death with such brutality that his bloody face had become indescribable.
Death had visited each of the village¡¯s houses. Flies gathered around empty skulls. Blood tainted the stone walls red. Dismembered limbs hung from ceilings. Mother had fulfilled her promise: the Ridden hosts she provided to the Burned Men slew all souls within reach of their cursed hands before killing themselves.
To cast the Haunt and counter-ritual, we required sacrifices that represented either the Nightlords or Smoke Mountain itself. Mother settled on targeting the latter category. Who would better represent this sacred land than the families who had lived on its surface for generations?
Sad as it sounded, I had grown desensitized to such gory spectacles. It would have made me vomit once. Now? I felt a pang of sorrow for the victims, but my hateful heart remained unclouded.
¡°I am truly sorry,¡± I apologized to the cadavers. ¡°I wish I had found another way.¡±
This earned me a taunt from the wind. ¡°Are these words for the dead, or for yourself?¡±
¡°Both,¡± I replied before plucking feathers from my plumage and planting them inside the fleshly-killed corpses. Within them, I placed all of my malice and resentment. ¡°I curse this land to bring forth a disaster upon the masters of Yohuachanca.¡±
I used the Doll spell to dig open up a mass grave to fill them with fresh blood.
¡°I curse the Nightlords to suffer their ritual blowing up in their faces.¡±
I buried the cursed corpses of the dead inside the bowels of the earth.
¡°I curse my captors to suffer calamity the kind of which they haven¡¯t suffered from in centuries. I curse them with pain, loss, and despair.¡±
Finally, I closed the tomb to hide my family¡¯s crimes, leaving the spirits of the dead unavenged and full of resentment.
¡°I curse them to witness an abomination of desolation as all their hopes and prayers are rewarded with death and failure.¡±
Once I departed from the village not a single trace of the massacre remained above ground. The dead lay under its foundations, their rotten wombs bearing a vile Curse of my own creation.
I visited three more mountain settlements after this one. Three more times I found them silent and filled with corpses; three more times I Cursed these unholy grounds with the stain of my black feathers.
As I carried on with my gruesome work I sensed a subtle shift in the air. The sun was high in the sky, yet a dark cloud seemed to obscure it; one invisible to the naked eye but that nonetheless dimmed the light. My Teyolia ached with foul power even as an aura of dread weighed on my wings.
I noticed other signs by the time I cursed the fourth village. Dozens of worms infested the flesh of the corpses I buried, although they hadn¡¯t been there before. Birds flew out of the forested base of the mountain and fled north. Snakes and centipedes crawled out of their holes to slither down the harsh cliffs.
The final sign struck me when I closed the last tomb. The earth shook beneath my talons, quickly and almost imperceptibly. The empty huts¡¯ walls trembled to the point that some of their stones cracked. The ground stirred for less than a minute, but it sent a few rocks falling down the slopes.
¡°The earth boils with anger,¡± the wind warned me. ¡°The lock rattles and its prisoner stirs in the pit. Beware the silent dark. His gullet swallows all.¡±
I could hardly make sense out of the Yaotzin¡¯s prophecy, but I understood its spirit: a veil of calamity had fallen upon this land.
I had brought doom to all of Smoke Mountain.
How long until the Nightlords noticed? They had spent six hundred years preparing a ritual in this exact location. I suspected the priests would quickly notice the disappearances. Mother hedged her bets by targeting isolated communities, but it only delayed the massacres¡¯ discovery. If animals detected the danger ahead, experienced sorcerers would certainly do the same.
And yet¡ and yet I doubted the vampires would abort their plan. The ritual could only take place on a specific date at the end of a cosmic cycle. The Nightlords were mad enough to replace the sun. They would gamble it all despite the risks of sabotage.
My eyes turned to the birds fleeing away in panic. They sensed the coming of a great disaster. A storm of death that would cleanse this land bare.
Would it claim me too? Mother said I couldn¡¯t suffer from my own Curses, but if I set a forest on fire and survived the flames, a collapsing tree could still end my life. If the beasts of the land showed such fear, then my counter-ritual would bear devastating consequences for everyone near Smoke Mountain.
I nested atop a cliff overseeing the region. My location gave me an impeccable view of Yohuachanca¡¯s heartland, its capital, and its farmlands. My old village of Acampa looked no bigger than a speck of dust from my rookery. I couldn¡¯t tell how, but I knew all of them would suffer greatly from my actions today. Countless innocents would bear the brunt of my malediction.
¡°Well,¡± I told myself. ¡°It has to be done.¡±
King Mictlantecuhtli asked for an ocean of blood once. I would shed another if victory required it.
I had spent the better part of the day cursing the land and the sun would soon set. Before I returned to the palace, however, I focused on my Teyolia and called upon the so-called strongest spell of all.
¡°Powerlessness,¡± I whispered. ¡°Open, my Tomb.¡±
My spirit erupted all around me as my heart unleashed the fear at the root of my heart. The world fluctuated around me; its air, its soil, its very essence bending to my will. Ephemeral images formed around me. The bars of a birdcage built with whispering skulls. Strings of shadows held by invisible hands. Walls of gnashing beaks.
For a brief instant, these illusions born of my soul threatened to come true. For a second, my will alone determined my reality. Alas, the images swiftly faded away with a terrible pain striking my heart-fire. The world returned to normal. It had rejected me once again.
¡°The gate is unlocked, but the owner lacks the strength to open it,¡± the wind taunted me.
As the Lords of Terror warned me, I needed to reinforce my Teyolia with more sun embers before it could sustain my Tomb. A pity. I would have loved to trap the Nightlords in a prison of my own.
I put these thoughts aside and flew back to my jail. I had done all I could at this point. Now I could only pray that my Haunt and preparations would disrupt the New Fire Ceremony.
I hoped the true gods would smile on my enterprise.
I woke up alone.
I only saw Necahual again when she joined the servants in clothing me. We didn¡¯t exchange a single glance, let alone a word. It would take us both a short time to process our new relationship and its consequences.
As expected, word of our union had already spread. Yoloxochitl didn¡¯t hide her joy when she and her sisters welcomed me back at the temple for the nightly rituals. Her uncanny smile never failed to unsettle me.
¡°I am very pleased, my child,¡± she greeted me after lightly kissing me on the cheek. Her lips had all the warmth of lifeless metal. ¡°You have finally taken the steps needed to pass on your blessed lineage.¡±
¡°If it pleases you, Mother Yoloxochitl,¡± I replied, playing the part of the obedient son. I glanced at the temple, searching for Eztli to check for her reaction. My heart sank when I noticed her sitting on a bench in a daze. Yoloxochitl¡¯s black blood stained her lips.
Eztli suffered as much as her mother.
¡°However I may dislike that wench, her womb has borne a purebred daughter once,¡± Yoloxochitl said. I somehow managed to hide my nausea. ¡°It will see that it does so again. Necahual failed to be a mother to you, but she will not fail with your child, I guarantee it.¡±
A purebred daughter? I squinted at the wording. Did she mean that Eztli was indeed an emperor¡¯s bastard daughter? I assumed the Nightlords would know. Considering their breeding program, they probably kept tabs on all the women who underwent the first night. The doubts about Eztli¡¯s paternity might have been the only reason why she hadn¡¯t been abducted to a temple earlier.
Purebred¡ I had heard that expression before, but I didn¡¯t recall the context. Purebred.
A shiver traveled down my spine. I couldn¡¯t explain why yet, but I had the feeling that I had put my finger on a very important detail. That information mattered somehow. Did it relate to the mystery of what happened to the emperors¡¯ sons?
I had too much on my mind for the moment. I should explore the matter further once I¡¯d foiled the New Fire Ceremony.
¡°Enough indolence, sister,¡± the Jaguar Woman said. Her cold eyes settled on me. ¡°The time has come.¡±
Banishing my suspicions from my mind, I knelt as the Nightlords gathered around me. I avoided their gaze to better fake submission, but I could almost taste their satisfaction. Their cursed flame had grown fat on death and sacrifices.
¡°At long last, the New Fire Ceremony is upon us, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± the Jaguar Woman declared. ¡°Your efforts shall soon be rewarded.¡±
¡°You will observe many rituals tomorrow, Iztac,¡± Yoloxochitl said. ¡°You shall begin your journey to the top of Smoke Mountain once the night swallows the sun. We shall join you in your ascent.¡±
The Jaguar Woman forced my chin up with her finger until I met her gaze. ¡°There, once all flames across the empire have been snuffed out, you shall lift the holy flame to the sky, light the last and first bonfire, and beckon our dark father to grace us with a new dawn. Do you understand your duty?¡±
¡°I do, goddess,¡± I replied, my heart burning with anticipation. ¡°I do.¡±
Tomorrow, everything would change.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Fire Dawn
The sacred fires died on the last day of the year. All but one.
For the first time since the Night of the Scarlet Moon, I was allowed to exit the palace under heavy escort. I spent it walking from one city temple to another and extinguishing the flames burning in their hearths with silver bowls of blood and blessed water. By the time the sun began to set beyond the horizon, I had single-handedly deprived the capital of its lights.
All of the empire¡¯s citizens contributed to the task. Torches, hearths, candles, and all sources of light were put out under the pain of death. However, the purge did not stop at fires. On this fateful day, Yohuachanca¡¯s inhabitants destroyed their most treasured possessions. They tore their favored clothes, broke their furniture, and buried their jewels. Even idols of the Gods-in-Spirit were hurled into the capital¡¯s lake to be swallowed by the waves; only the statues dedicated to the Nightlords and the First Emperor would endure. Everything else had to go.
When a new year would rise upon Yohuachanca, the previous year¡¯s sins would not taint it.
Or so I had been taught since I learned to speak and listen. Before I learned the lie. Now I hoped that the sins would endure. The Nightlords deserved to pay for their own. The dawn should not absolve anyone.
As the emperor of the world and chosen representative of the gods, common dirt could not sully my sacred feet. Henceforth, red-eyed priests carried me around in a luxurious litter of black wood, cotton cushions, and colorful feathers. I was only allowed to walk in temples and other sanctified places, and even then servants placed tapestries of cotton onto the floor to prevent my skin from touching the soil.
Once upon a time, people sent me dark looks when I walked the streets of the capital. Now none dared to glance at my face. Hundreds, if not thousands of citizens flooded the streets to honor my presence. They knelt, bowed, and prayed. Not for me, no, but for what I represented: a prop that would ensure the sun rose tomorrow.
The empire¡¯s citizens would gladly celebrate my death next year. They cared nothing for my suffering or that of the countless people sacrificed at the altars. They would gladly close their eyes for illusory prosperity. I recalled all too well how these people acclaimed my predecessor¡¯s brutal sacrifice.
Still, I couldn¡¯t muster the strength to hate them. These people had been trained from birth to believe in lies.
The sight of a few maguey fiber masks in the crowd caught my eye. Pregnant women and children wore those to protect themselves from evil spirits that might run rampant on the final night. I had yet to see one, but I knew from experience that superstitions never required proof.
When at long last the sun set for the last time this year, darkness ruled Yohuachanca. Obscurity blanketed the empire except for the stars and the moon in the heavens above. All would hold their breath on this final night. All would pray for the new dawn.
All but me.
Eztli joined me in my litter and a silent procession took me to Smoke Mountain at nightfall. A group of masked guards and a cohort of red-eyed priests bearing the insignia of all the gods recognized by Yohuachanca escorted me. Tezozomoc walked among them with regal dignity. The rest of the procession included a hundred shirtless professional runners and messengers, each of them carrying carved pine branches. Once I lit the final bonfire, these men would bring back torches blessed by its flames to the sacred temples. A vast relay of messengers would then spread the fire across the entire empire. The citizens of the world would then dance and rejoice at the coming of a new sun.
As was customary, I traveled behind my predecessor¡¯s beheaded corpse, like how the new year followed the old. By now, naught but shriveled bones remained of Nochtli¡¯s mummified husk. The sulfur flame burned inside its open chest with a bright eldritch glow. I sensed its insatiable hunger from here. Four masked guards lifted the wood litter bearing the corpse.
How grim. The walking dead carried the sitting dead.
Only Eztli, as my consort in charge of religious affairs, was allowed to follow me to Smoke Mountain. She sat at my side with hollow eyes staring into the distance. She did not blink nor move a muscle, and her lack of breathing made her look stiff and dead.
The ritual forbade the entire cohort¡ªemperor included¡ªfrom speaking until we reached Smoke Mountain, and though I dearly desired to break this taboo I had no choice but to behave. I had noticed a few Nightkin flying above us, their jet-black wings barely visible under the starry sky. The Nightlords no doubt deployed them to ensure nothing and no one would disturb us.
So I did the best I could do for Eztli: I took her cold hand into mine and squeezed it tightly. Her fingers were stiff and more tense than bowstrings. I waited for her to squeeze back.
She never did.
Not even my warmth could offer her any comfort.
A gloomy silence hung over us from the moment we left the capital. I saw people gathering on the walls and nearby hills, their eyes pointing east to witness the new sun. We passed by my home village of Acampa. Though I had left it only a few weeks ago, its small houses and farmlands had become almost a distant memory to me. My captivity under the Nightlords had felt like a lifetime. I did not relish the thought of spending a full year under their yoke.
Only when our litter shook slightly did I ponder if my tenure would last that long.
We were halfway to Smoke Mountain when a small tremor hit the road. It lasted a mere few seconds and was hardly strong enough to cause a few men to stumble, but everyone noticed it nonetheless. My carriers stopped the litter for a brief moment, exchanged worried glances, and then carried on. Their twisted lips showed me how much they struggled not to break the religious silence and share their worries.
The air grew heavier the closer we approached Smoke Mountain¡¯s base. Even the wind had stopped blowing and would not taunt me. The ominous smell of sulfur and rotten eggs hung over the countryside. Another tremor struck us as we reached our destination; one strong enough to cause one priest to fall to his knees.
Smoke Mountain being sacred ground meant I could walk on it. Now that we had reached our destination, I immediately broke my pointless vow of silence.
¡°What is going on?¡± I asked Tezozomoc, feigning ignorance and confusion. ¡°Why is the ground trembling?¡±
¡°The earth holds its breath, Your Majesty,¡± the priest replied, rehearsing empty reassurances as he had been trained to. ¡°The gods are watching you.¡±
I hoped that they did. I helped Eztli climb down from our litter¡ªthough she did little better than go through the movements¡ªthen checked on my Haunt. The cloud of doom covering the land had only grown thicker since I left. The air choked with gloom and maledictions. So far so good.
I could only pray my curses would prove stronger than the Nightlords¡¯.
¡°Iztac?¡± Eztli whispered at my side, so low I barely heard her. ¡°Who is my mother?¡±
My spine stiffened. I studied Eztli¡¯s expression. Her skin looked so pale in the dark night, and her gaze so devoid of emotions. A sickness ate at my best friend¡¯s soul.
¡°Necahual,¡± I whispered back.
¡°Neca¡ Necahual.¡± Eztli held her forehead as if struggling to recall. ¡°Yes, I¡ I remember. That¡¯s her name.¡±
My blood froze and my heart ached. If Yoloxochitl¡¯s black blood clouded Eztli¡¯s mind to the point that she forgot her own mother¡¯s name, then further exposure might twist her beyond help. I squeezed her hand tighter than ever.
¡°It¡¯ll be all over soon,¡± I promised, though I couldn¡¯t guarantee that I could fulfill that oath. ¡°Hang on just a little longer.¡±
Neither my words nor my warmth reached out to Eztli. She stared east with hollow eyes and soon confessed what I had long suspected.
¡°I am waiting for the sun,¡± Eztli admitted.
Not a sulfur one, I realized. The true sun whose radiance would burn her to ashes.
¡°If I forget, Iztac¡¡± Eztli scowled in utter despair. ¡°If I forget¡¡±
¡°I won¡¯t let you,¡± I replied firmly. ¡°I won¡¯t let you die.¡±
Not again. I refused to entertain the mere idea.
¡°I don¡¯t want¡ I don¡¯t want to forget.¡± Eztli let go of my hand and covered her face with her palms. Was she hiding tears from me? ¡°I don¡¯t want to live¡ I don¡¯t want to live like this.¡±
¡°Eztli, everything will be fine.¡± I held her in my arms and hugged her tightly. I didn¡¯t care for the looks the priests sent us, or the shadows of the Nightkin gliding above our heads. I simply held on to Eztli and let her head rest on my shoulder. ¡°I am here for you. We will get through this. I swear to you, we will get through this.¡±
For a brief instant, I thought I had finally reached out to Eztli. Her skin remained terribly cold and her dead pulse was like a silent drum, but she allowed herself to hug me back. She decided to trust me.
Four shadows squashed my hopes.
My heart hurt at the Nightlords¡¯ approach. The leashes holding my Teyolia hostage tightly reminding me of my own slavery. Eztli hurriedly repelled me and swiftly wiped away tears of blood, far too late.
¡°What torments you, my children?¡± Yoloxochitl asked with the innocence of the mad. ¡°The promised time is at hand.¡±
¡°Nothing, Mother,¡± Eztli replied without emotion. The spark of hope I had glimpsed in her a few seconds ago died here and now, much to my sorrow. ¡°Nothing at all.¡±
My fists curled in powerless anger. The Nightlords surrounded us in an instant, their flesh hidden under the hooded robes they wore on the Night of the Scarlet Moon and the upper part of their faces hidden beneath feathered masks of bloodsoaked wood. The priests knelt ignominiously before their false goddesses, their heads so low as to touch the ground.
Yoloxochitl responded with a sweet smile then welcomed Eztli into her dark embrace. The Nightlords¡¯ arms enveloped my consort like a mantle and buried her inside a prison of possessive love and flesh. I suppressed a shiver of disgust as Yoloxochitl kissed Eztli on the neck, half like a daughter and half like a pet.
Eztli¡¯s face once again began to turn east.
Soon. I managed to hide my malice behind a facade of composure. Very soon.
¡°Report,¡± the Jaguar Woman ordered, her tall frame looming behind me.
¡°The population of at least three villages around the mountain is missing,¡± Sugey replied. Was that a hint of worry I detected in her voice? ¡°Investigations strongly point to violent massacres.¡±
It surprised me that they would speak of these matters in the presence of their mortal priests. Arrogance must have overcome their caution with victory so close at hand.
¡°Our priests recorded small quakes over the last two days too,¡± Iztacoatl added, her tone more subdued than usual. ¡°I do not know what to make of that aura surrounding the site. It smells of death and calamity.¡±
¡°Father¡¯s power overshadows this mountain,¡± the Jaguar Woman noted. ¡°As it should.¡±
I suppressed a frown of confusion. They mistook my Haunt for the First Emperor¡¯s work? Then again, the Parliament of Skulls shrouded my divine Teyolia from the Nightlords¡¯ sight. Did they somehow manage to obscure my Haunt in a similar way? I wished I had time to confer with them before our departure.
¡°My gut tells me something has gone wrong,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t see signs so early.¡±
¡°Should we abort then?¡± Sugey asked with a frown.
The Jaguar Woman would not hear of it. ¡°The power will go to waste if we do. We shall not ruin six centuries of effort on a hunch. We must go through with the ritual.¡±
Iztacoatl squinted in skepticism. ¡°And what if it fails, oh sister of mine?¡±
¡°Then we sweep it up,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied, her tone as cold as ice. ¡°And we try again.¡±
Her words chilled me to my core. Time meant nothing to the living dead. These monsters would rather wait for another cosmic cycle and threaten the cosmos again than accept failure. My counter-ritual would only bring the world an extra six-hundred years at best, or fifty-two at worst.
I would not live that long, but a year should be enough to turn my and Eztli¡¯s fate around. I hoped.
¡°The ascent must begin, Godspeaker,¡± the Jaguar Woman said. ¡°You will carry your predecessor¡¯s remains to the summit and light the final bonfire.¡±
I looked at the road upward to Smoke Mountain¡¯s peak. Obscurity blanketed the path ahead to the point the starlight hardly touched it. I had not seen darkness so thick since the House of Gloom.
¡°I can¡¯t see anything,¡± I replied.
The Jaguar Woman¡¯s smile showcased her shining teeth. ¡°We shall guide thy steps.¡±
The only path was forward.
With no other choice, I cradled Nochtli the Fourteen¡¯s remains in my arms. His mummified corpse felt hot to the touch, but its warmth offered me no comfort. The sulfur flame inside his chest reflected on my skin and bathed me in its malicious light. My heart hurt so much that I thought I would suffer a stroke and fall over. An invisible hand squeezed at it, crushing my lifeforce, smothering my hopes. I couldn¡¯t sustain a spell anymore.
The corpse felt heavy in spite of its slim frame. Death, fire, and mummification had stripped Nochtli of all flesh save for the bones, but they might as well have been made of stone. The sulfur flame¡¯s radiance hardly helped me see the path either. Its foul blue light did not illuminate the darkness, far from it. If anything, it thickened the obscurity.
The Nightlords, true to their words, guided me forward the way a wave pushed a stone onto the shore. They walked after me as I ascended the sloppy steps towards the summit. Eztli followed shortly after, ahead of the priest''s procession. No one spoke a word.
Halfway to the summit, as the obscurity worsened, I dared to look away from the path and at the heavens above. An endless sea of blackness stared back at me, unblemished by light.
The stars had fled the night sky. The crescent moon alone remained, its radiance dimmed by thick shadows.
It was then, when I faced the death of light itself, that I began to doubt. Had the Haunt failed to halt the Nightlords¡¯ ritual? Had Mother deceived me? Should I throw Nochtli¡¯s corpse down the slope in a last-ditch effort to save the world from a sulfur sun?
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I sensed a warmth against my chest the moment the thought crossed my mind.
I mustered the courage to look down at the source of my discomfort.
Nochtli¡¯s left hand moved on its own. The corpse¡¯s bony fingers reached for my heart and pressed against my ribcage.
I am dreaming. I tried to lie to myself and failed. This is a Veil. An illusion.
I briefly wondered if the Parliament of Skulls somehow influenced the corpse from afar when the hand reached up my neckline. I immediately sensed the grip of its fingers closing on my throat. My skin burned where the bone touched it. Whatever force inhabited Nochtli¡¯s remains was too weak and feeble to choke me, but what it lacked in strength it more than made up for in hostility.
Another man would have probably dropped the corpse in fear and horror. But after all I had gone through I simply looked down at the corpse and glared at the baleful flame in its chest.
After confirming the Nightlords couldn¡¯t see anything, I spat into the cursed fire.
My saliva evaporated long before it reached the hungry flame. It didn¡¯t even reach its edge. Still, I immediately sensed a reaction from the fire; a vague sensation of amusement, followed by the hand releasing its grip. Nochtli¡¯s body went limp once more. No trace of its brief awakening remained save for the red marks on my throat.
Still, I took this brief interaction as a dire warning. More followed soon after. The screeches of the Nightkin first echoed above my head. Swarms of smaller bats erupted from the countryside and swiftly converged on Smoke Mountain, their numbers darkening the half-moon. Millions of these cursed animals gathered in a circle floating above the crater like a halo.
The closer I approached the crater, the more the landscape twisted. The barren cliffs and jagged ridges surrounding the caldera seemed to twist into obsidian teeth. A tremor sent boulders rolling down the slopes; they crushed a few priests into a bloody paste while miraculously avoiding the vampires and me. Fissures spewed sulfuric fumes and acrid vapors filling my nostrils.
The road ended as a rift splitting the crater in two. At long last, our final destination appeared before me: a bridge of gravel leading to a great circular platform of carved stone overseeing the crater¡¯s depths. I couldn¡¯t see the magma below the thick blanket of smoke covering it, but I sensed its heat rising from below us.
An immense pyramid of wood stood in the platform¡¯s center, so tall that it loomed over me like a strong old tree towered over an ant. This was the final bonfire of the year. A stone altar shaped like a bed awaited in front of it. I felt Nochtli¡¯s corpse growing heavier the closer I approached it.
I gathered my breath and invited smoke into my nostrils. The moment of truth had come.
I finally lay my predecessors¡¯ remains to rest on the stone slab. The arms crossed on their own, each of the hands settling on one side of the exposed ribcage. The sulfur flame within his chest glowed brighter than any star.
The Nightlords soon gathered around me. ¡°Cradle the flame in your hands, our Godspeaker,¡± the Jaguar Woman ordered, ¡°And light the final bonfire.¡±
My chained heart skipped a beat. To touch the flame would be madness. It had consumed everything that touched it. Wood, stone, bones, flesh¡ even Sigrun. The cursed fire devoured indiscriminately.
¡°How craven,¡± Sugey mocked my hesitation. ¡°What warrior falters so close to victory?¡±
Why don¡¯t you touch the flame yourself then? I thought to myself. The Nightlords feared their creation about as much as they wanted its power.
Yoloxochitl attempted to reassure me. ¡°The fire shall not harm you, Iztac,¡± she promised me with a soft, almost maternal tone. ¡°You were chosen. You are blessed.¡±
Blessed by whom?
I gazed into the sulfur flame one final time. A dark orb of blackness pulsated in a sea of baleful blue light: a hungry gullet of darkness inside a maw of fire; the pupil of an eye gazing into my heart as much as I stared into its own. I saw a hatred that transcended my own inside the ring of flames. My own Haunt reverberated its malice, amplifying it, cajoling it.
I received a vision.
I couldn¡¯t explain it. An invisible lightning bolt struck my head and filled it with certainty. I knew that the Nightlords would bitterly regret this day forward. A sharp intuition guided the owl-fiend inside me. A voice in the very depths of my soul screamed that a terrible disaster would strike my captors should I proceed any further. Innocents and guilty alike would suffer greatly for it.
I was about to commit a heinous crime with far-reaching repercussions¡ and somehow, it felt right. I had the certainty that everything I had done since that fateful night when I refused to play the role of puppet emperor, all the mistakes I had made, all the sacrifices I had paid, had all led up to this moment. A great triumph rested within my grasp, beyond chaos; a true coronation in blood where I would shatter fate¡¯s shackles and shape my own future.
¡°Go, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± the Jaguar Woman said. ¡°Fulfill your destiny.¡±
Once in a while, a liar might utter a kernel of truth.
I would indeed fulfill my fate as a Tlacatecolotl: to bring forth calamity to the world.
I fearlessly plunged my hands into Nochtli¡¯s chest. The sulfur flame licked my fingers and its fiery fangs tasted my skin, but the evil within did not bite me in a supreme effort of will. Whether it recognized a kindred spirit or sensed the incoming disaster did not matter to me. The flames hurt to touch, yet they did not burn me. I excavated the sulfur flame from my predecessor¡¯s corpse and held it high above my head. The Nightlords themselves remained speechless before this miracle. The sulfur flame which had consumed all that touched it now accepted me.
I held the seed of a cursed sun in the palm of my hands.
A small part of me wanted to eat it whole, to devour its embers and feast on the power within it until I could make it my own. My sense of caution warned me that such action would cause the sulfur sun to eat me from the inside instead of the other way around, so I held back the tide of my ambition for the sake of my revenge. I stepped toward the bonfire with the calm and steady determination of a victor, before placing the sulfur flame on the pyramid.
The flames spread the moment they touched their throne of wood.
I stepped back to observe my work. No normal fire would spread half as fast as this one. The sulfur flame set the pyramid ablaze in an instant. The shadow orb at its center gluttonously expanded to consume the entire offering.
¡°The flame!¡± The priests cried in joy and jubilation behind me, none louder than Tezozomoc himself. ¡°The flame! The flame!¡±
I so dearly wanted to throw these snakes into the bonfire. If they worshiped the sulfur flame so ardently, then let it consume them. However, I forgave them. They did not know what awaited us.
The Nightlords gathered around me like vultures around a fresh corpse. Most of them didn¡¯t bother to hide their glee, though Iztacoatl¡¯s scowl showed at least one of them remained wary.
¡°At long last,¡± the Jaguar Woman whispered under her breath. ¡°The final pyre shines before us.¡±
¡°Whatever happens now, I am proud of you, Iztac,¡± Yoloxochitl said, her cold dead hands settling on my shoulders and squeezing them in excitement. ¡°You have opened the door to a new dawn.¡±
¡°Mother is kind,¡± I replied without meaning any of it.
I took a moment to glance at the only person in the assembly that I cared for. Eztli stood as far away from the Nightlords as protocol allowed. She alone didn¡¯t stare at the sulfur flame with greed or religious zeal. Her lifeless eyes were firmly turned on the horizon and the deliverance beyond it. Her despair sank my good mood.
¡°I know what torments my daughter,¡± Yoloxochitl said. ¡°She wishes to see the sun.¡±
My body tensed up. ¡°The sun, Mother Yoloxochitl?¡±
¡°All of us long to conquer it,¡± Yoloxochitl said, utterly missing the point. For a so-called mother, she paid little attention to Eztli¡¯s true feelings. ¡°I have missed it so often on these lonely nights. Since Father¡¡± Her expression twisted into a grim scowl. ¡°Since Father took it from me.¡±
I looked over my shoulder at the madwoman. The mask covering most of her face prevented me from seeing much besides her crimson eyes and cruel mouth, but I immediately noticed a peculiar detail: a lonely tear of blood running down the pale wood. Her sorrow, raw and genuine, reminded me of Eztli¡¯s own despair.
In spite of all she had put us through, for a brief moment I almost found Yoloxochitl pitiful.
¡°But thanks to you, we will now dance in the light once more.¡± Yoloxochitl wiped away the tear, her moment of vulnerability squashed by the tide of her ambition. ¡°You truly were the most wonderful of sons.¡±
I wasn¡¯t made to play the son. I offered Yoloxochitl a small nod then stared back at the pyre. The sulfur flame had consumed the pyramid of wood and now grown into an orb of fire the size of a small house. You will learn that soon enough.
The malevolent light of the unborn Sulfur Sun bathed the entire crater. I sensed its enslaved power, its bound magic, the might of a being as great as King Mictlantecuhtli bound by centuries'' worth of sacrifices and devotion. The Nightlords¡¯ wish for a subjugated world made manifest.
My Haunt resonated with it. Its calamitous power was a paltry shadow of the Sulfur Sun¡¯s overwhelming radiance, but a small defect could quickly ripen into a greater disaster. A small crack opening in a wall. A tiny fissure spreading under a seemingly stable house. So did my trap manifest as it closed its jaws.
Whether it was the time or location, but in that moment where the cosmos stumbled, I found myself in tune with forces greater than myself. I breathed the fumes of destruction and danced on fragile ground bound to ruin.
The gods shaped the world from primordial chaos. They weaved the threads of existence, raised the earth from the sea, sowed the seeds of life, and put the sun in the sky. All things in this universe served a purpose in the tapestry of their creation.
But I was the Tlacatecolotl, the owl-fiend, bringer of sickness and misfortune. I existed outside the graces of the gods, true and false. My purpose was to tear down the work of the powerful, to break their chains and ruin their glory.
This was my time.
The Sulfur Sun ascended upward to the heavens. The priests and runners bowed and knelt in awe of this miracle. Its light did not burn the vampires where they stood. Instead, they acclaimed its rise. The Nightkin flying in the skies screeched in triumph, and their mistresses allowed themselves to smile in jubilation.
¡°Yes, foolish father.¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s eyes burned with greed and malice. ¡°Raise your flame to the heavens so we may never go hungry again! All shall worship us under the light of a Sulfur Sun!¡±
Were I not connected to my Haunt, I would have panicked. Instead, I patiently waited for the vampires¡¯ celebrations to reach their apex, the moment when their hopes would turn to ashes.
Then I snatched the Nightlords¡¯ defeat from the jaws of their victory.
I heard it, in my heart and in my soul. The snap of a string stretched too far. The crack of a bridge collapsing under its weight. The unlocking of a sealed door that should never have been opened. The ominous warning that preceded the collapse.
Over six centuries of metaphysical weight collapsed in an instant. The fragile equilibrium inside the Sulfur Sun wavered, the black orb at its center expanding to swallow the ring of fire imprisoning it. Darkness conquered the light. Once the blackened core had devoured the last speck of flame, it suddenly shrank into nothingness.
The Sulfur Sun died with a whimper. No trace of its existence remained, save the shocked silence of its worshipers.
I allowed myself a quick glance at the Nightlords and savored their expression. Yoloxochitl¡¯s hope had turned into bitter despair. Sugey stared at the spot where the Sulfur Sun ended its ascent with a blank look. Iztacoatl remained ominously silent.
Most delicious of all was the Jaguar Woman¡¯s expression: a delightful mix of impotent rage and shocked disbelief. She was too surprised for true anger.
I almost threatened to smile when my joy swiftly turned to dread.
It began with a sharp pain in my chest. The chains holding my heart had briefly loosened their grip, only for a chilling cold to fill my chest in their place.
Yoloxochitl sensed its approach before me. Her shaking nails sank into my shoulders so deep that they reached past the skin. My divine blood should have burned bright, but it turned to ice the moment it escaped my veins. The feeble light inside me could not shine in the presence of true darkness.
Foulness crawled its way inside my heart right after the rush of victory passed. A Tonalli of immense power and malevolence overshadowed the entire mountain. The very essence of ravenous hunger and insatiable evil filled the air. My Haunt, my greatest achievement as a sorcerer, was swept aside. An invisible presence drank my curses and stole the world¡¯s warmth.
The priests and runners collapsed on the platform. From Tezozomoc to the youngest and fittest messenger, all fell at once with a quiet sound. Their skin turned into a pallid shade of blue and their flesh shriveled.
My eyes lingered on Tezozomoc, whose final expression was forever frozen in a morbid expression of shock and surprise. He hadn¡¯t seen his death coming. It simply happened. The living were alive one instant and dead the next, their existence snuffed out like candles.
I alone was spared. For now.
Everyone knew. The silent Nightkins, the shaking Nightlords, my faltering self, we all knew. The worst that could have happened, happened.
¡°He is out¡¡± Yoloxochitl¡¯s hands trembled in fear, her voice wavering in abject terror. I sensed her transform back into her true abominable form, not as a show of strength, but as a desperate attempt to frighten the predator quickly emerging from its lair. ¡°He is out, he is out, he is out¡¡±
The chains binding the emperors to their fate had briefly loosened.
All of them.
¡°The seal is breached!¡± I heard the Jaguar Woman snarl behind me. I heard a sound similar to the one Nenetl made when her skin grew fur upon transforming, so I assumed the Nightlord had adopted her true nightmarish shape; I was too shaken to look back and confirm it. ¡°Focus, my sisters! Bind the chains before¨C¡±
The crater¡¯s smoke lifted to make way for evil itself.
The true sun did not rise. Dawn should have peeked beyond the horizon by now. It did not. A mantle of impenetrable darkness blanketed the earth and sky in its black embrace.
The crescent moon had turned sideways¡ or at least, I thought it was the moon, until I saw the black spikes closing on its edges into a twisted parody of a smirk.
Teeth.
The night had teeth, and it was smiling at us.
My mind burned inside my head when I looked at it. My skull threatened to split open as I struggled to fathom what I was looking at. Blood poured from my eyes and tainted my vision red.
Though I had consumed a dead sun¡¯s embers, I remained a mere human in the end, unfit to stare at a god¡¯s countenance. King Mictlantecuhtli and his queen had made the effort not to hurt me, for death was cold but never cruel.
The First Emperor Yohuachanca showed me no such kindness.
His chained spirit manifested in a form my mind could not fully grasp. A bat-shaped wound in the cosmos¡¯ skin bled rotting miasma and darkness into the crater, centered around an eyeless maw full of teeth and rage. A colossal hand of black smoke surged from the nothingness and passed over me. I was an ant crawling among a buffet of meat, too small for consumption.
Yoloxochitl¡¯s true form towered over me like an old hill over a house, but compared to the hand that seized her, she might have well been a child¡¯s doll. A monstrous force lifted her above me and dragged her into the hungry night. A mountain of primal darkness opened its hungry maw of obsidian teeth.
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¡°Father, please¡¡± Yoloxochitl begged and cried tears of blood. Her abominable vegetal form, which had frightened me to my core, shrank in the face of a far greater evil. ¡°Please, I beg of you¡ Father¡ Father, please¡¡±
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The father devoured his daughter before my eyes.
It had taken two bites for Yoloxochitl to eat my guards the night she revealed her true form to me, but the First Emperor proved far more voracious. His maw only needed one bite to consume a Nightlord whole.
His fangs gnashed her flesh and pounded Yoloxochitl¡¯s bones into a fine paste. She cried and screamed all the way into his gullet, and her thick black blood splattered all over me. It stuck to my skin like hot tar yet it felt colder than winter¡¯s waters. I heard Iztacoatl shrieking in fear behind, Sugey roaring in anger, and the Jaguar Woman barking panicked orders, but I was too terrified to care.
I was too frightened to move.
Yoloxochitl cried. She cried and screamed like a frightened child in the face of death, until she didn¡¯t. A gulping noise mightier than any quake silenced her forever. The maw spat her cold black blood at me, the same way I had spat into the sulfur flame earlier. My skin and robes were anointed in death.
Then came the sweet kiss of freedom.
A pressure tightened on my chest before vanishing in an instant. One of the four leashes binding my soul shattered with the demise of its owner. An invisible burden was suddenly lightened.
She was dead.
Yoloxochitl was dead, dead, dead.
Tears ran down my cheeks, far too warm to be from fear. Tears of joy and happiness.
I cried even as the hands of darkness rampaged around me, snatching fleeing Nightkin out of the sky for the maw to consume in its indiscriminate hunger. I saw the glimpses of great and terrifying beasts rush from behind me to wage war on their wicked sire: the shadow of a great bird, the blur of a jaguar on the hunt, and a serpentine shape with great wings. The three came together to avenge the fourth and protect their own unlives.
I hardly paid attention nor cared for the battle¡¯s outcome. I was too frightened to move, yet too happy to care. I basked in the blissful chaos, in the dark joy of the cruelest victory.
The banquet of death ended before it could truly begin. The remaining Nightlords pulled at the leash of my soul and dragged their Dark Father¡¯s spirit back into his prison, wherever it might be. The maw devoured itself, but the harm was done. One of the four locks was gone forever, the door to destruction never closing as tightly as it once did.
The seal slammed shut with an earthquake.
The ground trembled beneath my feet. The warmth of the crater returned stronger than ever. Red light surged from the earth¡¯s depths, the boiling blood of the land roaring to its surface. Smoke Mountain, the birthplace of the world, stirred in anger at those who sought to enslave it.
Strong claws closed on my shoulders and lifted me above the ground. My feet dangled above the ground and swirling fumes. The sudden change in scenery snapped me out of my daze and caused me to look up at my savior.
Eztli.
She had grown bat wings out of her arms and talons out of her feet, but she looked happier than I had ever seen her. She was crying tears of blood too. Tears of joy and relief at her newfound freedom.
The vampires and bats fled the crater in a hurry. Though I couldn¡¯t see them, I knew the three surviving Nightlords were among them; their chains still bound me. Eztli carried me above the countryside right in time for the explosive finale.
Smoke Mountain erupted in fire and fury.
Its roar boomed like a war horn. A wave of hot air and dust spread across all of Yohuachanca, uprooting trees, splitting the earth, and sweeping some of Yoloxochitl¡¯s blood off my robes. Smoke Mountain vomited up a column of smoke that wouldn¡¯t disgrace Tlalocan¡¯s raging volcanoes. It rained ashes and stones upon the land, while magma poured out of its caldera like blood spilling out of a wound. It would descend upon the countryside, setting forests on fire, destroying villages, and boiling rivers.
The dawn, at last, threatened to rise beyond the horizon; a red dawn of fire and devastation. I stared at the cataclysm I had unleashed, at the empire I had cursed, at the land I had condemned to the flames.
I gazed upon my work and I laughed. I laughed until my throat started to hurt.
Smoke Mountain¡¯s roar echoed my own dark joy. Fire rained down from the sky in great arrows of flaming stones that set forests ablaze. A sea of pyroclastic smoke flowed down the slope, burying villages and my cursed sins with them. The land itself cried from the blaze of my revenge!
I had shattered the empire and buried its corpse under a tide of smoke!
¡°Wonderful¡ absolutely wonderful¡¡± I whispered under my breath, before screaming my triumphs to the heavens. ¡°I am the fire dawn! I am one with desolation!¡±
The Nightlords had prophesied that my reign would herald an age of blood and darkness for the empire.
They were right.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Rattling House
I had cursed the land and unleashed its fury.
Smoke Mountain¡¯s anger rippled across the empire in a roar of fire. Its breath of smoke obscured the sky for leagues upon leagues, obscuring the dawn itself. Gray ashes rained down upon the world¡¯s forests and set the grasslands ablaze. The blazing blood of the earth spilled from the mountain, burning the slaughtered villages and burying my sins under a tide of molten rock. The ground trembled until hills collapsed into piles of dust swept by the chaotic winds.
¡°Death,¡± they whispered into my ear. ¡°Death to the young and the old. Death to the faithful and the faithless. Death to the rich and the poor. Death to all.¡±
Many would die in the coming cataclysm, but though it might sound callous I was too happy with my work to care. The entire empire shall bear witness to Smoke Mountain¡¯s wrath, but its flames would not reach the capital. Already its magma was cooling inside Yohuachanca¡¯s many rivers. The few people I cared about¡ªIngrid, Chikal, Nenetl, even Necahual¡ªwould survive the disaster.
I knew I had sentenced thousands to death and destruction, but earned a prize worthy of its ghastly cost: a Nightlord¡¯s head.
Yoloxochitl was dead. I had killed her.
It wasn¡¯t my hand that did the deed, but it was my will that brought it forth. I had laid the stage for the madwoman¡¯s demise. She had loved me and I had killed her. I had shattered her hold over my soul, freed Eztli from her control, and taken the first step towards securing my own freedom. I had buried a ghost that lingered among the living for too many centuries and ruined her sisters¡¯ chance at godhood.
I couldn¡¯t put into words the sheer sense of jubilation that coursed through my veins.
The Nightlords had ruled Yohuachanca with a steady grip for centuries, conquering nations, slaughtering millions, and lording over all from their obsidian thrones. Hundreds of generations of emperors had failed to dent their power. I alone, guided by the vengeful grudges of the dead, had succeeded in this glorious task. I had wrestled a piece of our freedom from these undying abominations!
¡°You are avenged, my predecessors,¡± I whispered under my breath. ¡°I shall free you all.¡±
Although I expected great difficulties, I was full of hope for the future. The Nightlords¡¯ destruction no longer seemed like an impossibility, but an inevitability. I would destroy them all. I knew it.
Eztli carried me south of the capital into the countryside, landing near a cave that had withstood the quakes and tremors. We made love the moment we touched the ground. Eztli threw herself at me, wet and willing, her wings and talons turning into slim arms and thin legs. The ash on her skin warmed it to the touch. For a moment, Eztli felt alive in my embrace. I took her on a warm rock while Smoke Mountain raged before our eyes. We celebrated amidst the chaos and the pain, high on the fumes of freedom and victory.
¡°I love you,¡± Eztli whispered into my ear, sweetly and sincerely. Her Teyolia was gone, with naught but darkness in its place, and yet I felt warmth nonetheless. She meant every word. Not even the vampire curse could take her feelings away.
With Yoloxochitl¡¯s shadow lifted from her mind, Eztli gave all of herself to me. She had no inner flame for mine to connect with, but still our union brought me more pleasure than any spell or Seidr ritual. I felt strong, and loved, and powerful.
I felt whole.
¡°I love you,¡± I replied, holding back the fire within my loins. My body fluids carried the power of a dead sun; poison to vampires. I doubted it would destroy Eztli, but it would be unpleasant to her. ¡°This will hurt.¡±
¡°Pain is good, Iztac,¡± she replied fearlessly, her head resting on my shoulder. ¡°Pain is life.¡±
I ceased to hold back and saw stars. Eztli grunted in pain and pleasure beneath me, faint smoke rising from between her thighs. I half-expected her to burn between my arms. Instead, she smiled and kissed me with lips warmer than Smoke Mountain.
¡°Are you well?¡± I asked her once my mind cleared.
¡°My insides are on fire,¡± Eztli confessed with a chuckle. ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t trade it for the world.¡±
I carried her into the darkness of the cave, away from the smoke clouds. The sunlight would pierce through them sooner or later. We lay among the stones and found comfort in each other¡¯s arms, satisfied, and content.
¡°Thank you, Iztac,¡± Eztli said, her breasts softly resting on my chest. ¡°You¡¯ve freed me.¡±
She was freed, yes. I wasn¡¯t. The other three Nightlords still lingered in this ruined land, their curse binding my heart to their will. They would pull my leash soon. Their anger would know no bounds, and though I had taken steps to divert suspicions away from myself, I understood all too well things would only grow more difficult from now on. I had shattered the sisters¡¯ illusion of invincibility. Now that I reminded the Nightlords of their mortality, they would keep their guard up.
¡°You should flee while you still can,¡± I suggested. ¡°With Yoloxochitl gone, her sisters should have no way of tracking you. They will be too distracted by the chaos to succeed even if they try.¡±
¡°I won¡¯t run without you, nor Mother.¡± Eztli smiled in delight upon whispering that last word. She could finally speak her mind without Yoloxochitl¡¯s vile grasp obscuring her thoughts. ¡°I would like to free the other consorts too, if possible.¡±
¡°Me too.¡± I stroked her soot-tainted hair. So soft and silky¡ ¡°They will find us within days, maybe even hours. They might even suspect us of foul play.¡±
¡°We will lie,¡± Eztli replied with a smile. ¡°I will say that we hid from the eruption and I calmed you down while you were panicking.¡±
¡°You did.¡± I squeezed her closer to me. ¡°I could stay here with you forever.¡±
¡°As could I,¡± Eztli replied before caressing my cheek. ¡°But you should rest. You will need all your strength.¡±
Yes, I would. I hadn¡¯t slept in over two nights, and my body grew weary from exhaustion. I rested my head on Eztli¡¯s breasts as if they were a pillow, her hand gently moving up my skull to soothe me to sleep. It didn¡¯t take long. I was too happy and satisfied to stay awake.
I closed my eyes to the tune of Smoke Mountain¡¯s bellowing growls.
The dark walls of Xibalba encircled me from all sides.
I recalled that I last woke up from my sleep in the House of Gloom, the dark lair of the oldest Lords of Terror. Instead of a lake of intestines, I now found myself on a crossroad of chalky stones and misty doors. No ceiling stood above my head. A pale empty sky stretched far and wide above me instead. Xibalba¡¯s pyramid stood alone and silent to the north, a black landmark in a sea of gray.
I was alone with my thoughts. The streets were as empty as the Nightlords¡¯ future. Yet I still felt watched from all directions.
I glanced at my surroundings. Four stony archways encircled me, one for each cardinal direction; a dense purple miasma obscured anything beyond their thresholds. The sight of it reminded me of the cursed fog I¡¯d encountered in Mictlan a while ago, but thicker and more sinister. These mists had all the sweetness of rotten corpses.
I immediately activated the Gaze spell to peer through them. My sun-powered sight detected the vile magic in the air, but failed to clear up the fog. My sorcery pierced through illusions, not matter. This meant that the miasma was a physical phenomenon.
When I entered this cursed city, Mother warned that most pathways would take me to another House of the Lords of Terror. One door alone would lead me to her sanctuary somewhere in the city. I examined the archways for any distinctive signs and found nothing. All of them showed the same smooth, featureless exterior, though one did point north and at Xibalba¡¯s black pyramid.
Did I need to pick a door at all? When I looked up at the sky, I wondered what would prevent me from simply flying to the black pyramid or over to the next street. I expected some kind of barrier or attack if I tried, but I figured that it might also be a test of some kind; to see if I would pick a risky potential exit over the obvious options presented to me.
With my mind set on the task, I shapeshifted into my owl form and flew upward. The city¡¯s walls immediately started to rise to match my ascent. Roofs always remained a few feet above my beak. It was especially infuriating: I was close enough to peek over them with another flap of my wings, but never managed to reach that point.
When I looked down at the ground, I realized that hardly a few feet separated me from it. I had flown high enough to reach Smoke Mountain¡¯s summit and failed to advance at all. The fact my Gaze spell couldn¡¯t see anything wrong meant that this was no illusion.
The city itself bent reality to keep me trapped within its confines.
¡°Very well,¡± I said upon landing back on the crossroad and transforming back into a man. ¡°I shall play by your rules.¡±
After a moment¡¯s consideration, I decided to walk through the northern doorway. None of the doors had any other feature that might indicate whether they would bring me to a sanctuary or a trap. At least this one pointed to a landmark.
I felt no fear when I walked into the mists. Yoloxochitl¡¯s death had filled me with strength and hope. Now that I had tasted victory, now that I knew I could succeed in my quest to destroy the Nightlords, I would gladly meet all obstacles.
My victory now seemed inevitable.
The miasma enveloped me in its embrace as I waded through its thick haze. Soon even my Gaze failed to see a foot away from my face. The fog gently welcomed me like an old friend returning home. The same feeling of familiarity that struck me when I first laid eyes upon Xibalba returned. The totem within me guided my steps as if I were a chick returning to the roost.
The floor grew colder beneath my feet, and softer too. The stone changed into something freezing to the touch, yet more fragile than dust. I sensed the very fabric of the world shift around me beyond the reach of my eyes. I immediately realized I had taken a wrong turn. Something deep within me screamed at me to turn back, that I had stepped into the halls of a dangerous force and that I should flee with my tail between my legs.
It was far too late.
A strong gust of wind blew the mist away, and the bitter cold followed in its wake.
The change in temperature was so brutal that I thought I had caught fire. A wave of frost cold enough to freeze the heart struck my skin in an instant, flensing it with greater cruelty than any flame. Sharp ice¡ªthe kind I had only seen once in the cruelest winter of my youth¡ªscarred my chest worse than any obsidian splinters ever could.
I grunted in pain, but my breath turned to mist within my mouth. My lips were sealed shut by the cold and my fingers turned so brittle I feared they would break if I tried to clench my fists. I instinctively turned into an owl and wrapped myself in a cloak of black feathers, but even my plumage offered me little protection against a cold that could shatter gold. The fire of my soul alone provided a meager measure of heat. I stared at the whiteness ahead of me and finally realized what lay beneath my talons.
Snow. Snow everywhere.
An immaculate landscape stretched before me under a pitch-black sky, devoid of life and stars; a dead desert larger than anything the city of Xibalba could contain in its nightmarish streets. Mountains of razor-sharp ice rose across the horizon like a great beast¡¯s teeth. A dreadful and cruel wind swept these icy plains, its power so great I couldn¡¯t even flap my wings before being pushed backward. And as I stumbled, I took a glimpse at the ground and saw what the snow buried under me.
People screamed beneath my feet.
Dozens, if not hundreds, of naked humans stared back at me from below the ice that held them trapped, their expressions forever frozen in a final wail of utter terror. The blizzard had entombed them, and I would soon join this grave if I couldn¡¯t find shelter.
Damn it, I tried to mutter my breath, but my frozen beak wouldn¡¯t open right. I need to find a cave! Warmth!
My first action was to move, to walk, to flap my wings before the ice could bury me alive. I shed layers of snow building up on my feathers. My talons hurt when they touched the snow, the appendages so frozen I couldn¡¯t bend them.
Much had been written about fire¡¯s ravenous hunger, but now I realized that the cold was ten times more cruel. I felt like a condemned man walking through a hallway of blades, the chilling frost delicately flaying my skin. Nothing could stop its deadly kiss. The cold reached all the way to my flesh and bones, turning them so brittle I heard cracks inside my own legs and shoulders.
The cold was merciless.
But where should I go? Everywhere around me I could only see ice and snow. My Gaze spell unveiled the cloak of darkness that covered these windswept plains, but I couldn¡¯t see any cave nor house that would protect me. Already I felt the ice crawling up my talons.
I can¡¯t stop, I told myself, pushing through the numbness and frostbite, shedding pieces of ice forming on my plumage. It didn¡¯t matter where I went, so long as I moved. I haven¡¯t outlived Yoloxochitl to die here!
The sky thundered. Lightning coursed through the darkness above and danced among thick black clouds. As if the blizzard wasn¡¯t enough.
Still, the flashes of light let me see my surroundings more clearly. I crawled in a sea of snow and through forests of icy spikes. Frozen corpses were impaled on their tips, their blood blackened by the profane chill. The remains of decrepit huts and hovels littered the landscape. Were they mere props created by this domain¡¯s Lords of Terror or the remnants of forgotten households dragged into the Underworld? The ice had preserved their ruins either way.
Shelter. Shelter at last.
I frantically rushed towards the closest hut. Snowfall had almost buried it under its weight, sealing the windows and freezing the wooden door with a layer of ice. I hit it with my shoulder in an attempt to break it open. I heard the cracks, the delightful sound of hope, of the promise of a fragile sanctuary.
The ground snatched it all away.
A strong tremor threw me off my feet and into the snow. It rocked the landscape with a roar, shattering the frame of wood that held the shack in place. The building collapsed in front of my eyes with a quiet whimper, its roof falling into a pile of ice and broken wood. The other huts followed suit. Their walls crumbled to splinters until nothing remained but flattened ruins.
No, no, no. I frantically attempt to salvage the wood with my talons, vainly hoping I could somehow put the shack back together. No, no, no!
Should I set the wood on fire for warmth? With what? I searched for a stone or some flint to warm up the wood. I found only ice.
The lightning mocked my efforts with a thundering boom.
I jumped in place when the heavens¡¯ wrath struck the earth below; or rather, one of the corpses impaled on the icy spikes nearby. The flesh caught fire in a burst of light, the flensed skin burning like a candle.
I immediately rushed towards the warmth like a moth into the fire, only to collapse under my weight. A sharp yet strangely numbed pain coursed through my left foot. One of my talons no longer responded to my will.
When I dared to look at it, I found it lying in the snow a few feet behind me.
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It didn¡¯t bleed, nor leave a trace back to the talon from which it came. The cold had turned my flesh so brittle, my blood so solid, that the wrong step had cost me a toe.
With no time to waste, I stumbled my way to the corpse candle. To my horror, the spike¡¯s tip had begun to melt under the heat and drip freezing waters onto the flame. I barely had time to feel the fire¡¯s warmth before it went out.
Leaving me alone in the cold once more.
I collapsed to my knees, unable to sense blood flowing in my legs. The thunder raged above my head and the winds battered against my feathers. By then, I struggled to move my own head. I still forced myself, my neck hurt so much I worried it might break off like my finger, until I gazed defiantly at the sky above.
The dark thunderclouds had gathered in the shape of a skull looking down on me. Its eyes vomited lightning and its mouth breathed icy winds.
¡°Man does not fight the world,¡± the storm bellowed with the strength of a thousand cataclysms. ¡°Man survives it. Dams break. Houses collapse. The waves swallow cities. It takes mortals centuries to build armors of lies¡ and a second for nature to take it all away.¡±
I glared defiantly at the storm of vengeance above my head. I was frozen and half-buried in snow, a terrible chill threatening to extinguish the flame of my heart. I had survived the Nightlords¡¯ ritual, their sire¡¯s brief escape, and Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption, and here I threatened to perish from the cold¡¯s kiss?
Was that my lesson? That for all my pride and cunning in plotting a Nightlord¡¯s death, I was powerless to fight nature¡¯s wrath? I supposed I should find a measure of humility in it. I had let the thrill of victory go to my head. The cold winds reminded me starkly that while I had set the stage for Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise, it was her divine father who did the deed. I still had a long way to go to kill a Nightlord by myself.
But in the face of nature¡¯s wrath, I could only say one thing.
¡°Do¡¡± I struggled against the ice holding my beak shut, until I finally broke through it with spite¡¯s strength alone. ¡°Do¡ your¡ worst¡¡±
I hadn¡¯t bent the knee before a god, so why should I surrender to a storm?
The clouds laughed sinisterly at me. A strong gust of wind cleared the sky and unveiled a light on the horizon. With no other choice and my bravery intact, I crawled towards it. I used the Doll spell to force my own icy flesh to move, puppeteering my weakened legs and frozen wings.
A single house appeared before me.
From the outside, it appeared as a cozy little cottage with a strong, old wood fa?ade. A ceiling of beastly furs¡ªthose of jaguars, llamas, and wolves¡ªinsulated it from the terrible cold. Its obsidian windows alone showed light coming from inside its confines.
My Gaze saw the place for what it was though.
Beneath the glamor and the cloak of powerful illusions, the cottage was a gruesome house with walls of twisted bones and pillars of skulls supporting their weight; a sight not so different from my predecessors¡¯ remains. The decrepit roof was still made of tanned skin, but furless, pinkish¡ human.
Nothing about this place screamed shelter to me. But the warmth¡ I felt the smooth, inviting warmth of a cookfire from inside its confines, so strong the cold wind recoiled from it.
¡°Come in, dear, come in,¡± a female voice called out from behind a door of calcified flesh with a frame of weathered bones. It sounded old, almost kind. ¡°You¡¯re just in time for dinner.¡±
I stood before a trap¡¯s jaw. Whatever dwelt within this house used the promise of warmth as a lure to tempt the unwary. Out of the frying pan, into the fire; or in this case, the bitter cold.
Alas, I had no other recourse to protect myself from the elements. No doubt another test awaited me past the threshold. I shifted back into the form of a man and raised a frozen hand at the bone doorknob. It unlocked on its own and invited me to enter. I stepped inside, the door closing behind me.
The house appeared quite rustic from the inside, if gruesome. It reminded me of my old home in Acampa, if everything inside had been built from carved bones and cartilage rather than stone and wood. The place¡¯s warmth at least was no illusion. A sturdy hearth sat in the middle of the room, its frame overshadowed by fossilized bone pillars. A bronze cauldron stewed among the flames.
An old woman awaited me behind a cartilage table set up for dinner. She looked ancient and wizened, with frail hands, wrinkles, and tangled gray hair bound into a bun by a bone needle. A kind smile stretched under her milky white eyes. She dressed plainly, her leather robes showcasing her lithe and gaunt frame.
All in all, she looked human.
That itself was cause for alarm, for I was staring at her with the Gaze spell. My magic successfully pierced through a true goddess¡¯ illusions, yet failed to pick up anything odd about this crone. She radiated a sorceress¡¯ magic, but hid no horns nor claws beneath her robes. Her plain, ordinary form was no trickery.
¡°Welcome, dear,¡± she greeted me with a gentle grandmother¡¯s expression. She briefly gestured at a chair to her left. ¡°Please make yourself at home.¡±
I checked the table with my Gaze. A series of dishes were set under the pale light of a candle set. I noticed strange balls of flesh, a sausage, stuffed livers, and roasted ribs. No fruit nor vegetable sat among them. The chair didn¡¯t appear trapped either. I couldn¡¯t see any trap door beneath it, or needle hidden in the wood frame. A stitched leather blanket rested on the seat.
¡°Dear, what is wrong? Does the blanket bother you?¡± the woman asked with a curious look.
¡°My poor little bird, I brought it to warm you up. You¡¯re shivering, nay, shaking like an old tree.¡±
¡°Is it cursed?¡± I rasped, the house¡¯s warmth freeing frozen lips. ¡°Poisoned?¡±
¡°Why would it be? It is a blanket, nothing more.¡± She shook her head in amusement. ¡°My poor child, do I frighten you so much?¡±
¡°You are a Lord of Terror.¡± I was convinced of it now. ¡°I¡¯ve come straight from the House of Gloom, so forgive me if I expect a painful test of some sort.¡±
The old woman¡¯s smile widened, unveiling her pristine white teeth.
¡°Oh sweetie,¡± she said with a sly cackle. ¡°You passed my test a looooong time ago.¡±
Somehow, that sentence sounded more ominous than all of Smoke Mountain¡¯s roars and tremors.
¡°As for my brother, Chamiabac, you braved his ordeal by entering my house,¡± she continued. ¡°He usually puts supplicants through a harsher gauntlet of blizzards and hailstorms, but you have earned his favor the way no other human did before you. Even your mother struggled quite a bit with that one.¡±
¡°Is that¡ is that so?¡± I rasped. Favor? I did not believe her. A glance at my foot and the missing toe in its midst more than attested to the Lord of Terror¡¯s cruelty. ¡°It didn¡¯t feel that way¡¡±
¡°Oh believe me, he could have taken far more than just a toe.¡± The old crone winked at me. ¡°Chamiabac was born from the fear of nature, of crumbling earth, storms and falling hail. He is the fear of the world itself¡ of forces outside of man¡¯s control. You have fed him well today with that eruption of yours, dear. I suppose he has decided to cut you some slack.¡±
Somehow, the fact that an ancient demon would look well enough on my work to show me leniency felt almost shameful. Almost. I wouldn¡¯t spit on anything that would make my task easier.
Still, I did not lower my guard. I¡¯d be a fool to take the old hag at her word. For all I knew, she was lulling me into a false sense of security before striking. I sat on the chair and put the blanket over me. The crone had been correct about one thing: I was shivering. My own fingers had grown so numb I could hardly feel their presence anymore.
¡°Who are you?¡± I inquired. If I could learn what terror the crone represented, I would have an easier time dealing with her. From her appearance and the old bones, I assumed she embodied the fear of time or something close.
¡°Oh dear, you know me. I have been with you since the moment your mother first laid her blue eyes upon you. I¡¯m the third oldest in the family, Chamiaholom.¡± The crone let out a small chuckle. ¡°If you insist on a test, how about you find out what fear I represent? You are a clever child. You will figure it out.¡±
My host presented me with a drink and a plate. I immediately recognized the thick, viscous red liquid in the cup. As for the food, a set of roasted ribs, it appeared both appetizing and strangely disgusting. A dark part of my mind had a nagging suspicion about its origin.
¡°What kind of meat is this?¡± I dared to ask.
¡°Don¡¯t you know?¡± The old crone took a mouthful of flesh balls and sipped her own drink. ¡°You brought it yourself.¡±
A chill traveled down my spine. ¡°I¡ I don¡¯t understand.¡±
¡°Of course you do, sweetie, you just don¡¯t want to accept it yet.¡± Chamiaholom grinned kindly at me, a piece of flesh stuck between her teeth. ¡°It¡¯s fine, dear. Don¡¯t force yourself to eat if you aren¡¯t hungry. There¡¯s always more where he came from.¡±
He. Not it. I glanced at the sausage and suppressed a wave of nausea. I now understood where the fleshy balls came from. My host noticed my disgust and attempted to ¡®reassure¡¯ me.
¡°He would thank you if he could,¡± Chamiaholom said as she moved on to the sausage. She did not blink when she bit into its soft, silky flesh. ¡°Most won¡¯t admit it, but there¡¯s a submissive pleasure about being eaten by another. Death is always a solitary experience, but one struggles to devour oneself alone. The act of cannibalism is the truest expression of community. A man and a woman can make love a thousand times, but they can only devour the other once.¡±
¡°I¡¡± I cleared my throat, my hands gripping the blanket. ¡°I see.¡±
¡°Of course you do. Death is too often purposeless and devoid of sense. Death by consumption gives meaning to pointless lives.¡± After finishing her current meal, Chamiaholom moved on to what I assume used to be fileted lungs. ¡°I let nothing go to waste.¡±
My eyes lingered on the walls of bones, on the roof of skin, and on the burning candles. Now that I examined them closely, they reminded me more of soap than beeswax. Of fat.
¡°Who¡¡± My skin itched beneath my blanket. Its comforting warmth suddenly felt unbearable. ¡°Who did this blanket come from?¡±
¡°I sewed it with the skins of flayed virgins,¡± the old crone replied with a mischievous wink. ¡°They never offered their warmth to a man in life, but better late than never I always say.¡±
I shrank into my seat. My first thought was to throw the ghastly blanket away into the cookfire, but I felt so cold and it gave me such warmth¡
They are already dead, I told myself, hiding my unease behind a mask of stone. Don¡¯t show weakness. Don¡¯t let her unsettle you.
¡°Make yourself at home, dear,¡± Chamiaholom said. ¡°Your mother is the daughter I never had but always wanted. I consider you a cherished grandson.¡±
I snorted. ¡°I killed the last person who tried to adopt me.¡±
¡°I know,¡± the crone replied with a chuckle. ¡°I long for the day when you murder Ichtaca too. Any child should endeavor to kill their parents once they outlive their usefulness. How else are they supposed to escape their shadows?¡±
The most frightening part of that woman¡¯s words was the utter conviction with which she uttered them; as if the prospect of matricide wasn¡¯t possible, but inevitable. While I wouldn¡¯t deny that I felt little to no love for Mother, the thought of killing her had never crossed my mind.
However, I could read between the lines. I knew which horrible shadow she referenced: the terrible force I had unleashed on Smoke Mountain.
¡°You speak of the Nightlords,¡± I guessed. ¡°They exist in the shadow of their sire.¡±
¡°Exactly, sweetie. They betrayed their father, drove him mad, and then spent centuries alternating between leeching off his power or fearing his wrath. When they imprisoned him, they also tightened the chains around their own necks.¡± Chamiaholom sipped her bloody drink. ¡°Take Yoloxochitl for example. She wasted her existence obsessing over what her father¡¯s kiss had denied her instead of creating her own future. She let her past define her until it stunted her growth.¡±
¡°Could they kill him at all?¡± I pondered. I had only seen a brief glimpse of the First Emperor¡¯s malice last night. His presence had felt about as unfathomably powerful as King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s, who had witnessed the world¡¯s first dawn and would observe its last. ¡°Is it possible to slay a god at all?¡±
¡°Of course, sweetie. Everything can die. If the sisters had used their time researching a way to kill their father instead of raising their Sulfur Sun, he would have faded away by now.¡± Chamiaholom wiped a drop of blood off her wrinkled lips. ¡°All of this to say, you should kill your mother when the time comes. It will make her proud.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t care for my mother¡¯s approval.¡± I appreciated her support, but she had burned that bridge long ago. ¡°Nor do I intend to kill her.¡±
¡°But how else will you know that you have surpassed her?¡± Chamiaholom let out a sigh of amusement. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sweetie, I know you can do it. I believe in you.¡±
Somehow, her approval filled me with shame. ¡°You said I¡¯d passed your test a long time ago,¡± I recalled. ¡°When?¡±
¡°When you set the stage for that foreign war of yours, of course. It was then that I knew you would go far.¡±
I shifted in my seat. ¡°I passed your test by proving that I could make harsh decisions?¡±
¡°Oh no, sweetie, no, no, no.¡± She playfully waved a finger at me. ¡°You passed when you showcased your capacity for evil.¡±
My blood boiled in my veins. My fingers had warmed up enough that I could clench my fists in cold anger.
¡°It was a necessary evil,¡± I conceded. I wouldn¡¯t deny that crime, but I stood by my decision. ¡°Committed in the service of the greater good.¡±
¡°Whose greater good? The world? Or yours?¡± Chamiaholom¡¯s pale eyes studied me carefully. ¡°Dear, do you believe in right and wrong?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I replied without hesitation. I doubt anyone with a shred of sense would consider the Nightlords¡¯ actions as righteous.
¡°You are correct, my clever bird. In fact, it is because humans can tell the difference between the two that they can commit evil.¡± Chamiaholom stroked her chin. ¡°Animals do not understand the consequences of their actions. Whether they kill to feed or to play, they simply follow their instincts. The jaguar does not stop to consider whether that delicious child had parents to mourn him. Man does.¡±
I glared at her. ¡°What is your point?¡±
¡°That evil doesn¡¯t come from doing wrong, sweetie,¡± she said wisely. ¡°Evil is knowing that you¡¯re doing wrong, and doing it anyway.¡±
Her words were spoken kindly, yet felt like a slap to the face. ¡°I had my reasons.¡±
¡°Everyone does, sweetheart. But whether you kill an innocent to save the world or to save yourself, you still killed an innocent, did you not?¡± When I failed to answer, she gestured at the cauldron on the cookfire. ¡°Would you be so kind as to bring me my dessert?¡±
After a short moment¡¯s hesitation, I rose up from my seat and moved toward the hearth. Now that I looked at it more closely, the cauldron¡¯s shape reminded me of a calcified heart. Had it belonged to a giant once? Or was it woven from the remains of countless victims?
I removed the lid with grim resignation. I could already imagine which dessert would top this gruesome dinner: the one body part I had yet to see among the dishes. I was not disappointed.
A man¡¯s severed head floated in a stew of blood and bile. His empty eyes stared at me with a final look of utter terror.
But it wasn¡¯t any man, no. I recognized him immediately. After all, he could have been my brother-in-law in another life.
¡°Chimalli,¡± I whispered.
I had gone to school with him, long before the Nightlords selected me as their sacrificial emperor. He had been a strong and promising young warrior who had asked Necahual to grant him her daughter¡¯s hand; and she had leaned on accepting until Yoloxochitl arrived to seize them both. From what Eztli told me, he had meekly stood by while the Nightkin dragged her away screaming into the night.
Was that a crime that warranted death? I wondered how he¡¯d even perished, before recalling Chamiaholom¡¯s earlier words: that I had brought her dinner.
The flame in my heart wavered as my eyes saw everything in a new light. The roasted food, like it was cooked with fire. The fact I had fed the Lords of Terror well tonight. My hometown¡¯s location, so close to Smoke Mountain. Only then did the magnitude of my crime become evident to me.
¡°I¡¯ve destroyed Acampa,¡± I realized, the blood in my veins turning to ice. ¡°I¡¯ve destroyed my home.¡±
Chamiaholom laughed behind me and put salt on my wounds. ¡°Oh, sweetie,¡± she said, ¡°You¡¯ve destroyed dozens of Acampas. The flames and toxic smoke will ravage countless more for many, many days.¡±
¡°I¡¡± My words died in my throat. I didn¡¯t know? I never wanted this? Those would be lies.
I did know and I did want that outcome. I had simply become so drunk on victory that I had forgotten the consequences of my actions.
I knew countless innocents would pay the cost for my victory. Everyone warned me that my Haunt would have devastating consequences for the world, and Acampa¡¯s relative proximity to the mountain made it likely that it would suffer should the Nightlords¡¯ ritual go wrong. I simply hadn¡¯t considered the possibility because I didn¡¯t like anyone still living there.
It was so much easier to sacrifice strangers than people I knew by face and name.
My hand wadded through the gruesome stew and grabbed the head by the hair. It felt heavy between my fingers, though not as much as my guilt. Chamiaholom clapped as I reluctantly presented her with the head. She swiftly put it on her plate, then plucked out the left eye.
¡°Ah, an innocent¡¯s life. My second favorite dish after children''s hearts.¡± Chamiaholom winked at me while she chewed the eye. ¡°Those never get old.¡±
The gruesome joke did not earn a raise out of me. Whether this head was a prop conjured to taunt me or the actual corpse brought to the Underworld, I could only pray that Chimalli¡¯s soul¡ªand the thousands I had slain¡ªwould now find a peaceful rest in Mictlan.
My silence only encouraged Chamiaholom to taunt me further.
¡°You know, dear,¡± she said, ¡°if you hadn¡¯t tried to take your own life on your first day of being emperor and earned her undivided attention, Yoloxochitl wouldn¡¯t have taken so much interest in your past and thus found Eztli. That poor girl would have lived a peaceful life, married that boy, and bore him children. You ruined both of their lives when you chose to spite the sisters.¡±
My jaw tightened in anger. ¡°You don''t know that. Nobody can.¡±
¡°I do, sweetie. I eat more than flesh: I eat hope.¡± Chamiaholom took Chimalli¡¯s skull into her hands and gluttonously licked the empty eye socket. ¡°When you slew this boy, you extinguished countless lives. The children he would have had, and their children¡¯s children. When you kill a born man, you kill a thousand unborn ones.¡±
¡°Is that your test?¡± I sneered. ¡°Do you seek to kill me with guilt?¡±
Chamiaholom raised an eyebrow at me. ¡°Do you feel any, dear?¡±
I glanced at Chimalli¡¯s head. In less than a month¡¯s time, I had taken his future wife, his home, and finally, his life. If the Lords of Terror used the remains of my victims to raise more houses of bones and sinews, it would probably fill a city¡¯s worth of them. I pondered this truth, then accepted it.
¡°I do,¡± I conceded, ¡°But not enough to stop.¡±
Thousands upon thousands of innocents had perished by my actions. In return, I had killed a Nightlord, weakened her sisterhood¡¯s grip on the world, foiled their ritual, destabilized their empire of oppression, and paved the way for its potential collapse. If killing a man meant slaying a thousand of his potential descendants, then surely sparing a life from sacrifice meant saving a thousand more.
No matter how much I reconsidered, the price I¡¯d paid seemed cheap to me. I would spare future generations the horrors of vampiric oppression. In time, no other emperor would have to choose which woman would live and which one would die a gruesome death.
As horrible as it sounded¡ if I had to, I would awaken Smoke Mountain all over again.
¡°I have indeed committed an evil act, and I shall commit many more,¡± I said. ¡°I will bear that burden.¡±
¡°And this is why you will become a fearsome demon, sweetheart,¡± Chamiaholom replied with enthusiasm. ¡°Let your whims guide you. Love, rape, kill, bless, eat, spit, take, give¡ do as you wish. Pursue your freedom and happiness regardless of the cost. To live as a demon means to do as you will.¡±
I locked eyes with that horrible creature, this incarnation of remorseless evil hiding beneath a human face¡ before realizing that I was wrong. She wasn¡¯t hiding anything. Her true nature had been obvious since the moment I used the Gaze on her.
She had called cannibalism an act of community, but a demon feeding on humans couldn¡¯t commit that crime. Only kin could.
She was the third oldest of the Lords of Terror, younger than death and the unknown, but older than the fear of nature itself. She was a fear that all humans shared at birth when they saw their own reflection in their mother¡¯s eyes.
The fear of each other.
¡°You are the fear of humans,¡± I guessed.
Chamiaholom smiled warmly at me with all the kindness of the abuser and the cruelty of the depraved.
¡°I am the father who rapes his daughters,¡± she said with a thousand voices and one. Male, female, old, young¡ All the myriad visages of human evil spoke through her in a single chorus. ¡°I am the mother who drowns her child, the starved warrior who eats his comrades, the priest who tortures innocents in the name of gods true and false. I am the cheater, the swindler, the kinslayer. I am the friend, the stranger, the other.¡±
She put Chimalli¡¯s cleaned off skull on the table and caressed it like a prized trophy.
¡°I am you, sweetheart,¡± she whispered with my voice.
I held her gaze and stared at my reflection in her eyes; at my own capacity for cruelty made flesh. An evil that would exist so long as a single man drew breath.
¡°Anyway, dear, I am full. Thank you for the pleasant conversation.¡± Chamiaholom pulled at the bone needle binding her hair. ¡°Are you ready to learn sorcery?¡±
I straightened up and set aside my cloak of human skin. ¡°What do you offer?¡±
¡°The same spell I used to build my house, sweetheart.¡± The needle twisted into a ring between her sharp nails. ¡°Bonecrafting.¡±
Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Land of Darkness
A fresh human corpse lay naked on the dinner table, its pallid breasts cold as ice, its manhood turned blue by the snowstorm outside. Its shaved head stared at me with empty eyes and a ghastly smile.
I had no idea why this cadaver showcased parts belonging to both males and females. I suspected it was the result of the same kind of witchcraft that created my palace guards, or maybe the remnant of some older form of humanity preserved through the ages. Whatever its origin, I would be its end.
¡°Do not be shy, sweetheart,¡± Chamiaholom said as she guided my hand on the corpse¡¯s chest, a wry smile on her wrinkled lips. ¡°The dead cannot consent to anything.¡±
Chamiaholom decided to teach me Bonecraft through the practice of surgery. As I suspected from my adventures in Mictlan, where the dead lacked my flaming heart and breathed dust, bones fell upon the realm of the Tonalli. The Bonecraft spell didn¡¯t differ much from the Doll: I used my Tonalli to connect with a target¡¯s bones to control them.
However, their applications and limitations differed. Unlike the Doll, Bonecrafting required direct physical contact to influence the bones of another; and whereas the Doll spell involved either crushing or manipulating an object through the application of force, Bonecraft let me do more subtle things.
¡°Bones are like clay, dear,¡± Chamiaholom whispered into my ear with a grandmother¡¯s kindness. ¡°You can neither create more nor erase them, but otherwise you may shape them freely. Split, twist, break¡ amuse yourself.¡±
So I did. I applied my power to the chest and called upon the ribs to crush the heart they were meant to protect. The bones shuddered at my command, the muscles shrinking as the rib cage closed in on itself. The corpse''s pallid skin turned blue after I turned its insides into an icy mess of blood.
¡°This is too easy,¡± I said. ¡°What stops me from killing anyone I touch by crushing their skull in on itself?¡±
¡°Nothing, if the mind is weak,¡± Chamiaholom cackled. ¡°The stronger one''s Tonalli, the more they resist alteration. Dead bones obey without complaint. The living cry and scream. The Nahualli and vampires, those who know themselves, will fight back.¡±
¡°I understand,¡± I said. ¡°I may only alter a Tonalli weaker than my own.¡±
Being a Tlacatecolotl imbued with a dead sun''s ashes meant I could probably twist any animal or normal human''s bones with ease. Red-eyed priests and Nightkin would prove more of a challenge, not to mention the Nightlords themselves. I would probably need to consume more dead sun ashes before I could wipe the Jaguar Woman''s smile off her face.
¡°You can do more than kill, dear.¡± My mentor put a kind hand on the corpse''s face. ¡°You can torture, mutilate, change¡ and disguise.¡±
I witnessed her expert craft firsthand. The corpse''s face twisted. Its jaw retreated, its nose lengthened, and its eyes grew slightly apart. Within seconds, I found myself looking at a different person altogether: a bald man with strikingly masculine features.
Chamiaholom continued to tend to the corpse, reshaping the chest until the breasts vanished. The androgynous creature had become a man, or at least gained the appearance of one.
¡°I thought Bonecraft only affected the bones,¡± I said.
¡°Flesh follows the skeleton''s shape, sweetheart,¡± Chamiaholom explained to me. ¡°If you thoughtlessly reshape the skeleton into something untenable, the bones will pierce through their meat envelope and slay the subject¡ but if you act slowly and carefully, then you can transform them. Add arms, adjust the jaw, or change a face.¡±
¡°Including my own?¡± My hand moved to my chin. I activated Bonecraft and immediately sensed a resonance beneath my skin. ¡°I can use the spell on myself.¡±
¡°Don''t be so eager to break your own bones, dear,¡± my new mentor chided me lightly. ¡°Pain is good when inflicted on others, but not on yourself.¡±
I held back the urge to test the spell on myself. I was no surgeon. I recalled what little I knew of the human body from Necahual¡¯s work as a healer. I should learn more about the human skeleton before I attempted to grow claws.
Moreover, studying the corpse showed me one of the technique¡¯s limitations. The space between the eyes had changed, but not their coloration. Flesh and organs followed the shape of bones, but my spell didn¡¯t affect them directly.
¡°Is there no way to reshape the flesh itself?¡± I asked. ¡°Change the eyes or the color of the skin?¡±
¡°Yes sweetie, there is a spell that can do that and more.¡± The old crone gave me a crooked smile. ¡°A vampire spell.¡±
My thoughts turned to my palace¡¯s guards and Yoloxochitl¡¯s garden of man-eating flowers. I couldn¡¯t see how Bonecraft could create either. ¡°Vampires possess magic unique to them?¡±
¡°Of course, dear. Their lack of a Teyolia bars them from casting many spells, but their curse endows them with many other talents. Those who harness its darkness and hunger can wield great power.¡±
I feared as much. I had seen the Jaguar Woman use both the Doll and Veil in tandem, so I knew for a fact we already shared a few techniques. Spells unique to me, such as the Gaze, could take them by surprise, but I should always expect the unexpected.
¡°It will take you more than one session to master this spell, my sweet,¡± Chamiaholom said with delight. Were it not for the corpse in her horrendous living room, I could have found her charming. ¡°We will spend such quality time together. First I shall teach you how to affect others, and then we will begin to practice on yourself. Strengthening your bones can make you faster, stronger, let you grow wings without Spiritual Transformation, or build armor that no arrow can pierce.¡±
¡°Is there any way to accelerate my training?¡± I asked. ¡°No offense to you, but a year is a short amount of time. I have more trials to go through, not to mention sun ashes to consume.¡±
¡°I suggest you practice Bonecrafting on your slaves and concubines, dear,¡± she suggested with a dry cackle. ¡°I once had a sorcerer student on the surface who felt the most lurid lust towards his daughters. He couldn¡¯t bear to force himself on them, so he used Bonecraft to reshape his slaves into copies of his children and then raped them.¡±
I suppressed a shiver of disgust, but her suggestion did warrant consideration. Necahual was a healer by trade, so I could consult her for knowledge to shorten my training¡¯s time. Practicing on other concubines sounded more risky than anything. Even if I stuck to subtle alterations like hastening the healing of bones or their shattering, they might notice something amiss. Perhaps animals? My menagerie held quite the number of expendable beasts for¡ª
A terrible pain suddenly erupted inside my Teyolia, deep and sharp.
I collapsed to the floor in surprise and agony, my dreaming mind brutally collapsing on itself. The leashes around my heart-fire tightened. I could sense my so-called mistresses¡¯ anger and fury through them.
¡°Oh my,¡± Chamiaholom said with a hint of disappointment. ¡°You are being called upstairs, sweetheart.¡±
The Nightlords had found me.
I woke up with invisible hands closing on my throat.
I barely had time to open my eyes before an invisible force threw me against the cave¡¯s stone wall. A surge of pain raced through my back. My legs dangled a few feet above the ground and my lungs gasped for smoke-filled air.
¡°I knew you were special.¡± The Jaguar Woman stood at the cave¡¯s exit, with her sister Iztacoatl looming behind her. Her hood and mask did nothing to hide her cold fury. ¡°I had such high hopes for you, Iztac Ce Ehecatl.¡±
My eyes immediately searched for Eztli¡¯s presence. I found her near the exit, her arms bound behind her back by two Nightkin and staring back at me with frightened eyes. Whatever lies she hoped to feed the Nightlords fell on deaf ears.
¡°The stars told me that if we selected you as emperor, then your reign would inaugurate an age of glory and darkness. A time of bloodshed where Yohuachanca would reign supreme.¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s teeth seethed in rage. ¡°You turned the holy flame into our Sulfur Sun; the first emperor to do so in over six hundred years of work and disappointments. You held the glory of our triumph within your grasp.¡±
She pulled me closer, my body floating all the way to the cavern¡¯s entrance. Hardly an arm¡¯s length separated us.
¡°So why did this happen?¡± the Jaguar Woman hissed at me, the malice in her gaze almost as deep as her Dark Father¡¯s bottomless hunger. ¡°Why did he spare you?¡±
The sense of jubilation and triumph that possessed me before my sleep left my heart. For a second I was brought back to the hill of ashes, when all my pleas and tricks failed to convince the Jaguar Woman to spare Sigrun. Though Yoloxochitl¡¯s death had rekindled the flame of hope in my heart, I was starkly reminded of the power gulf that separated me from the Nightlords. I didn¡¯t even consider standing my ground with spells.
A single wrong move separated me from a fate worse than death.
¡°If our Dark Father had consumed you on that mountain, the line of emperors would have come to an abrupt end. So why did he spare you? Why did he consume our beloved sister instead?¡± Her grip tightened on my throat. A bit more pressure and she could easily snap my neck. ¡°Answer me, slave.¡±
My mind furiously searched for a lie, but I kept enough sense to realize how futile it would be. The Nightlords would sense deception coming from a league away.
Instead, I had the presence of spirit to settle on a half-truth.
¡°I¡¡± I rasped through sheer force of will. The Jaguar Woman did not bother to loosen her hold on my throat, so I had to force each and every word. ¡°I heard him¡ speak¡ in¡ the flame¡¡±
The Jaguar Woman looked into my eyes. I saw in them something I would have thought impossible from the cold-hearted monster: a hint of unease.
She feared the First Emperor as much as she craved his power.
¡°In his anger¡ he called you¡¡± I gasped for air and then whispered the cursed word. ¡°Traitors¡¡±
The Jaguar Woman¡¯s unease turned into a brief flash of fear. Her Doll spell¡¯s hold over my body loosened instantly. I dropped on the cold, wet floor of the cavern and immediately gasped for air, my fingers instinctively scratching my throat. I expected a second round of violence and torment to follow.
I waited in vain.
The Jaguar Woman appeared to have forgotten my existence. The ancient Nightlord clenched her jaw and avoided Iztacoatl¡¯s unnerved gaze. Both knew all too well what my words meant: that Yoloxochitl was only the appetizer of a feast of which they were the main course. Their hungry father didn¡¯t want my soul, or that of the cattle they despised; he wanted them. He wanted revenge.
The Jaguar Woman was too spooked for the thought of punishing me to cross her mind anymore. Her fear had quelled the flames of her fury. For perhaps the first time in her centuries of ruthless oppression, her self-control had slipped. The ritual¡¯s failure had shaken her godlike confidence with the hammer of doubt.
The sight filled me with joy.
A new Nightkin entered the cavern, its jet-black clawed wings holding a golden trinket; which I immediately identified as a Sapa tumi. The vampire presented the treasure to its mistresses. The Jaguar Woman¡¯s eyes widened in shock as she all but swept the idol out of her thrall¡¯s claws.
¡°Where did you find this?¡± the Jaguar Woman asked. The Nightkin whispered an answer into her and Iztacoatl¡¯s ears, and though I didn¡¯t hear their words I easily guessed them from the Nightlords¡¯ frowns of fury. ¡°The Sapa¡¡±
¡°They knew,¡± Iztacoatl said, her suspicious eyes settling on me. ¡°That was why they tried to kill him. When they failed to destroy the key¨C¡±
¡°They broke the hinge.¡± The Jaguar Woman crushed the tumi within the palm of her hand, the gold folding like paper under her vicious grip. ¡°Why was I not informed?¡±
¡°I told you we should have waited, Sister,¡± Iztacoatl complained to the Jaguar Woman. ¡°Something was wrong with the mountain. We could all see it.¡±
I caught a glimpse of the Jaguar Woman¡¯s lips twisting into a snarl of rage in the darkness. However, she did not say otherwise. Mayhaps she was cunning enough to understand how overconfidence doomed her plot, or she couldn¡¯t afford to alienate her remaining sisters.
I suppressed a sigh of relief. My plan to frame the Sapa for the ritual¡¯s failure appeared to be succeeding without a hitch.
¡°The Sapa couldn¡¯t plant their cursed idols without spies in our midst,¡± the Jaguar Woman said with cold calculation. ¡°We must find them. This shall not happen again.¡±
¡°Can it happen again?¡± Iztacoatl clenched her jaw in skepticism. ¡°Can the three bind the one without our sister¡¯s help?¡±
I kept my mouth shut, as did Eztli. The mere fact that the Nightlords discussed such matters in the open, right in front of us, spoke volumes about their panic. This might be the occasion to gather valuable information.
The Jaguar Woman did not answer her sister¡¯s question. Her eyes turned from me to Eztli, and then suddenly stopped on the latter. The Nightlord squinted at my consort with what could pass for confusion.
¡°Sister?¡± Iztacoatl asked.
¡°Why is she still among us?¡± the Jaguar Woman replied.
I clenched my fists while Eztli bit her lower lip. She had suddenly earned the Nightlords¡¯ undivided attention, which could only spell doom.
¡°Yoloxochitl sired her, and her other children have returned to Father,¡± the Jaguar Woman said with a quizzical expression. ¡°Not her.¡±
A chill traveled down my spine. Returned to their father? Did killing the progenitor of a vampire¡¯s line affect their descendants?
I glanced at Eztli with a mix of worry and relief. My consort appeared healthy and unlikely to return to dust anytime soon. While the Nightlords still frightened her, Yoloxochitl¡¯s death had freed her from her control.
¡°Moreover, she was our sister¡¯s chosen consort and incarnation,¡± the Jaguar Woman noted with fascination as she studied Eztli. ¡°Why does the idol still stand when the goddess has died?¡±
¡°Yoloxochitl breastfed that one much of her blood,¡± Iztacoatl pointed out. ¡°So much that I voiced my concern.¡±
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Eztli lowered her head while avoiding the Nightlords¡¯ gazes. ¡°Mistress¡¡±
¡°Quiet, child,¡± the Jaguar Woman interrupted her with a hand on her chin. ¡°I am thinking.¡±
The owl inside me had woken up and it took me some effort to suppress it. I was ready to fight if the Nightlords intended to harm Eztli, however futile it might be. Thankfully, I did not detect a hint of hostility from the Jaguar Woman. She seemed more cautious than anything. She wanted to see Eztli¡¯s survival as a good sign that her foul ritual hadn¡¯t completely failed, but she was too fearful of her father¡¯s influence to lower her guard.
¡°She could be a trap or our salvation,¡± the Jaguar Woman muttered to herself before turning to her sister. ¡°Iztacoatl?¡±
¡°Yes, Sister?¡±
¡°You shall protect and guide our emperor for now.¡± The Jaguar Woman finally remembered my existence, and I did my best to fake submission. I could tell she had regained her cold-blooded composure and cruelty. ¡°The Sapa might still try to end the imperial line. Sugey has her hands full keeping order across our dominion, and I must consult the stars on how to proceed. We might salvage the ritual somehow.¡±
¡°As you wish.¡± Iztacoatl smiled at me, her pointed teeth pristine white in the dark. ¡°I will be gentle with him.¡±
I knew better than to rejoice.
So ended Eztli and I¡¯s half a day of freedom: carried out of the damp cave by Nightkin to be returned back to our golden cage. It had been nice while it lasted, I supposed. I followed my captors in obedient silence, feigning submission while plotting their demise.
Then I saw the rain outside.
I knew something was wrong long before the first drop fell on my shoulders, warm and viscous. Smoke Mountain thundered and vomited pitch-black smoke on the horizon, but the rain clouds covering the countryside were a different color altogether. A sea of dark crimson raged across the sky. A red fog swallowed the hills and forests of the land, the shadows of a thousand swarms of bats cast on its thick mists.
¡°The land bleeds and the heavens weep,¡± the wind whispered in my ear.
The viscous rain fell from the sky. Drops of a warm slime seeped into Yohuachanca¡¯s rivers and contaminated them with foulness. Soon, all of the empire¡¯s lands would drink red.
For the heavens were crying tears of blood.
The blood rain lasted for three hours. One for each of the remaining Nightlords. I didn¡¯t miss the implications.
Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption had unleashed more than flames on the world.
The Nightlords forced me to sign a decree of sweeping emergency measures the moment they returned me to the palace. The capital was put under a tight lockdown, the army was deployed to the ravaged regions, and villages near Smoke Mountain were evacuated. The priesthood would enforce martial law across the land through force and religious rituals. Temporary shelters would be established in the empire¡¯s schools for refugees, while runners would distribute a new fire born from Smoke Mountain¡¯s flames to the temples; it wasn¡¯t the fire the Nightlords had hoped for, but the one they received.
Food and water supplies would be tightly controlled, especially to filter out the blood that risked contaminating them, and the year¡¯s tributes would be adjusted to help deal with the eruption¡¯s consequences. Healers would be deployed to reduce the odds of disease outbreaks that so often prevailed in these situations.
I had to give it to Yohuachanca. Its fearsome bureaucracy and centuries of experience meant that it could adjust to a cataclysm in record time. To my disappointment, it quickly became clear that Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption would be nowhere near enough to cause the empire¡¯s collapse. I hoped its psychological impact would at least cause Yohuachanca to stagger.
However, this event was unprecedented. While Yohuachanca faced eruptions and drought in the past, the blood rain suggested a supernatural disaster. The Sulfur Sun ritual¡¯s failure had cursed the world in strange and horrifying ways.
The Nightlords had mobilized their undead children and priests across the empire to wrestle order back from chaos. The Nightkin departed across the roads to carry messages too important for human runners and gather information about the cataclysm¡¯s extent. At least the bloody rain seemed to have only affected the capitals¡¯ hinterlands.
However, the weather did not even scratch our problems¡¯ surface.
¡°Bats, you said?¡± I asked, slightly disturbed.
The red-eyed messenger nodded slowly. A delegation of priests knelt in my once busy throne room, which now had become quieter than a tomb. Undying guards had replaced my courtiers, and Iztacoatl stood in the shadows behind my throne in the place of my consorts. I took her silence as a dreadful sign.
The delegation is smaller than usual, I noted. I had never seen so few priests attend an audience. Even with their numbers mobilized to deal with the eruption, I would have expected more.
¡°Swarms of thirsty bats arose from the woods and fell upon your capital, oh glorious emperor,¡± the priest said with a small, fearful voice. ¡°As forewarned in our traditions, they broke into homes in search of children and pregnant women to devour. The faithful, those who wore masks, were spared from their thirst. The others¡ were swarmed and bitten and¡ and¡¡±
The messenger gulped, his head hitting the floor. I had seen these fanatics inflict the worst tortures on the Sapa ambassadors after my false assassination attempt. The scene must have been particularly gruesome to disturb them.
I myself found this news unsettling. I had indirectly unleashed this calamity upon the empire¡¯s weakest and most vulnerable citizens; worse, those bats consumed those who had been brave or foolish enough to brave the Nightlords¡¯ inane traditions instead of the zealots and the devouts.
Children and pregnant women. My hands clenched on my throne¡¯s armrests. Those bats culled new life¡ is there a method to this madness?
¡°Where did these bats go?¡± Iztacoatl whispered in my ear, her melodious voice breaking through the unsettling silence. I briefly looked in her direction and suddenly realized that the Nightlords always wore masks during their important ceremonies. I never truly considered why, but now I wondered if these events were somehow linked. ¡°Ask them.¡±
Ask them yourself, I almost replied. It annoyed me that this false goddess insisted on talking with her own priests through my intermediary. She considers even her own worshipers beneath her direct attention.
¡°What of the bats?¡± I asked the priests. ¡°Where have they gone?¡±
¡°Everywhere, oh Godspeaker,¡± the priest replied. ¡°To the north and south, to the west and east. Scouts saw swarms fly beyond the seas and mountains towards the heathen lands.¡±
That took me aback; from the small frown at the edge of Iztacoatl¡¯s lips, the Nightlord didn¡¯t expect it either.
They went beyond Yohuachanca¡¯s borders? I had expected this devastating curse to strike the empire alone. I should have expected otherwise. The First Emperor¡¯s hunger knows no bounds.
This could play in my favor somehow. If border nations interpreted those swarms as an attack, they might very well retaliate by striking the empire¡¯s borders.
¡°Store the dead in the temples,¡± Iztacoatl ordered immediately. ¡°Their deaths were punishment for their sins, but their evil might still infect their remains.¡±
Did she suspect they would carry diseases? I supposed it didn¡¯t hurt to keep the corpses in observation for a time. The First Emperor¡¯s curse corrupted everything he touched.
¡°You shall store the corpses of these sinners in the temples for future purification,¡± I ordered the priests. ¡°Their demise was ordered by the heavens, but their curse might not have died with them.¡±
With Yoloxochitl gone, none of the Nightlords held me in high esteem. I wasn¡¯t certain I could convince the remaining three that they had broken my pride back into obedience, so I decided to play it safe for now by distracting my tormentors by focusing on the Sapa who had ¡®tried¡¯ to eliminate us all.
¡°What of the Sapa investigation?¡± I asked the priests. ¡°Have you found any leads yet?¡±
The Nightlords believed in the false Sapa lead I set for them and expected more assassination attempts on my consorts and myself. Keeping us in separate locations reduced risks, so I had been forbidden to meet with Eztli, Nenetl, Chikal, and Ingrid. I didn¡¯t even know if they were still in the palace.
Of all of them, I worried for Eztli the most. I knew from experience that nothing good came from earning the Jaguar Woman¡¯s attention.
¡°We have made progress in tracking down the heathens, oh Godspeaker,¡± the messenger said. ¡°The cursed tools planted on the holy mountain were planted by one of Your Majesty¡¯s own petitioners, Tlazohtzin.¡±
¡°Tlazohtzin?¡± I feigned surprise. ¡°I denied that man¡¯s request for his father¡¯s inheritance.¡±
¡°You were wise in your choice, oh farsighted Godspeaker, for Tlazohtzin has proved deceitful. According to early questioning, the man had planted forbidden foreign artifacts across Smoke Mountain on behalf of a false deity.¡±
Iztacoatl let out a barely audible chuckle behind me. I supposed the irony of a false goddess being outplayed by another did not escape her.
¡°A false deity?¡± I asked with a frown. ¡°For what purpose would he betray us for the Sapa?¡±
¡°The man pretends to have been deceived,¡± the messenger replied with a hint of zealous scorn. ¡°A spirit pretending to be a god offered him to undo your own divine will, oh Godspeaker, if he befouled Smoke Mountain with foreign offerings.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Iztacoatl whispered to herself. ¡°Their tablet allowed the Sapa to spy on you, Emperor Iztac. They must have eavesdropped on those brothers¡¯ feud and seized the opportunity to recruit an asset.¡±
¡°They would have approached either brother; the one I could not satisfy,¡± I lied through my teeth before addressing the priests again. ¡°I expect you to thoroughly check every lead that you may find. We cannot allow foreign spies to infiltrate our capital again.¡±
The priests joined their hands in abject devotion. ¡°Our guilt knows no bounds, Your Divine Majesty,¡± their leader said. ¡°We shall bring you your foes¡¯ heads in penance. We have already arrested the traitor Tlazohtzin¡¯s kin.¡±
¡°His brother?¡± I scowled at the news. Tlaxcala remained a valuable asset.
¡°His brother and his wife,¡± the priest replied. I did my best to hide my surprise. ¡°We have no cause to suspect the former of complicity yet, considering their known animosity, but the latter might have collaborated with her husband.¡±
I didn¡¯t know Tlazohtzin had a wife. Curses, of course he had a wife, he was one of the adult heirs of a wealthy commercial enterprise spanning the entire empire. I should have guessed that the priests would target anyone related to him.
I should attempt to spare Tlazohtzin¡¯s family if I could. I owed him that much, after using him as a sacrificial offering in my plot.
¡°What¡¯s the woman¡¯s name?¡± I asked. ¡°Who is she?¡±
¡°She is known as Zyanya Quiabelagayo,¡± the priest replied. ¡°She is a noblewoman from Zachilaa. Far better born than her commoner husband.¡±
Zachilaa¡ yes, I recalled it as the capital of a country Yohuachanca absorbed a few hundred years ago. That region remained one of the empire¡¯s wealthiest regions to this day. I suppose Tlazohtzin¡¯s father arranged the match in hopes of expanding his operations there.
I might as well kill one bird with two stones: save an innocent and build my network of allies.
¡°Tlazohtzin¡¯s brother Tlaxcala is an honest man,¡± I said. An honest scoundrel at least. ¡°I would be surprised to learn he has anything to do with his brother¡¯s deceit, and I wish him not to be harmed. I shall also interrogate this Zyanya myself. As a well-born woman from a southern tributary state, I might have some use for her.¡±
¡°As you wish, Your Divine Majesty.¡± The messenger marked a short pause, his fingers trembling. He wished to tell me something, but he dreaded my answer.
I narrowed my eyes at the delegation. ¡°What is it? Speak your mind.¡±
¡°As Your Majesty wishes.¡± The messenger clenched his fists and gathered his courage. ¡°I know it is not our place to question the goddesses¡¯ wills, oh Godspeaker, but many among us are wondering¡¡±
Why Smoke Mountain blew up and why the clouds are raining blood? I thought, Iztacoatl scowling behind me. Go on, show your false goddess your fears and doubts. Show her the cracks in the wall, so that she might fear the collapse.
¡°Has Lady Yoloxochitl forsaken us?¡±
The priest¡¯s question almost threatened to make me laugh, but the oppressive aura coming from Iztacoatl dissuaded me. Instead, I feigned confusion. ¡°What makes you think so, faithful one?¡±
¡°Lady Yoloxochitl¡¯s priesthood suffered a set of calamities after the eruption,¡± the messenger replied with a trembling voice. He knew he should not address the subject in one of his goddesses¡¯ presence, but his doubts proved too great to overcome. I wondered if the other priests had volunteered him for the role. ¡°Faithfuls who had served her for centuries aged to dust in the blink of an eye. The young suffered from a weak heart or went mad. We had to chain them in the temples¡¯ basement so they would not harm their brethren.¡±
I listened to this news with rapturous intention. This suddenly recontextualized the Jaguar Woman¡¯s words.
Red-eyed priests received their immortality from ingesting a Nightlord¡¯s blood. This tied their life to their mistresses, stopped their aging, withered their loins, and protected them from disease. They had sold their very souls to the vampires. With Yoloxochitl¡¯s death, the people depending on her existence to survive now found themselves bereft of purpose and immortality. King Mictlantecuhtli had reaped their damned souls with interest.
I guessed I should consider Eztli¡¯s survival a small miracle.
I suppressed a smile of triumph. Priests oversaw mandatory public rituals during the New Fire Ceremony. The news would spread quickly. Soon, thousands among the empire would wonder why Yoloxochitl¡¯s favored servants suddenly all perished at once.
¡°Has the goddess¡¡± the messenger gulped. ¡°Has she forsaken us?¡±
Iztacoatl¡¯s cold hand clenched my shoulder with a gentle grip before I could open my mouth.
¡°Yes, she has,¡± she whispered in my ear. ¡°This disaster is a divine punishment for you mortals¡¯ lack of faith. The priesthood failed my sister¡¯s trust and suffered accordingly. Tell them. Tell them the consequences of failing a Nightlord.¡±
The lie was spoken with such authority and confidence that I would have been tempted to believe it, had I not witnessed Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise myself. I had to admire Iztacoatl¡¯s bold improvisation. She had managed to lay blame for a disaster at the victims¡¯ feet.
¡°Our citizens¡¯ lack of faith brought about the wrath of Smoke Mountain,¡± I lied to the congregation. ¡°The goddess Yoloxochitl was so incensed by your failure to properly foster devotion among the faithful that she has decided to punish her followers. Failure to serve is failure to live.¡±
¡°I¡ I understand, oh great Godspeaker.¡± The messenger didn¡¯t ask for more details, and neither did his terrified colleagues. I had already confirmed their worst fears. ¡°Thank you for indulging this small man¡¯s curiosity.¡±
¡°They may leave now,¡± Iztacoatl declared. ¡°We must discuss an important matter in private.¡±
I quickly dismissed the priests with a wave of my hand. They quickly crawled back into the dark, leaving me alone with my captor and a set of silent guards. One could cut the tension with a knife.
Iztacoatl removed her hood and let her mask fall onto the ground. Her long hair cascaded upon her shoulders, while her inhumanly beautiful face smiled at me. The sight would have caused many men to fall to their knees in adoration. Not me. I remained firmly seated on my throne, quiet and wary.
¡°Repeat after me,¡± Iztacoatl said with a sweet, melodious voice. ¡°This disaster is divine punishment for its people¡¯s faithlessness. The First Emperor found their devotion and sacrifices lacking. Had you not convinced him to spare the world as our Godspeaker, the world would have ended. The people of the world owe their sunrise to you. To us.¡±
I couldn¡¯t believe the gall of this woman. She and her sisters tried to rob the world of its sun, and now had the nerve to pretend they saved it? As they said, the shameless dared it all.
Iztacoatl kept piling more lies on my plate. ¡°Meanwhile, my sister Yoloxochitl was so disappointed by her priesthood¡¯s failure to inspire true devotion among the cattle that she denied them her favor. If they prove their faith again, she might return it.¡±
An unlikely prospect. ¡°I see¡¡±
She wagged her finger at me. ¡°I want to hear you say it, pet.¡±
It took all my strength not to show distaste at the nickname. The world quaked, and yet it changed so little.
¡°This disaster is divine punishment from the First Emperor for his chosen people¡¯s faithlessness,¡± I lied. ¡°On behalf of the goddesses-in-flesh, I convinced him to give us mortals another sunrise. However, Lady Yoloxochitl punished her priesthood for failing to inspire faith among the good people of the empire. She might return her favor once the people prove worthy of it.¡±
¡°Good.¡± Iztacoatl kissed me on the forehead. Her lips were colder than the Rattling House¡¯s snowstorm. ¡°If you are wise, my beloved emperor, you will repeat this lie to everyone until you start believing in it too. Your survival, and my happiness, depend on it.¡±
I forced myself to smile back. ¡°I live to serve.¡±
¡°No, you do not.¡± Iztacoatl put a hand on my chin and lightly forced me to look up at her. ¡°Show me your true face,¡±
My heart skipped a beat in my chest. ¡°I do not understand.¡±
¡°You do.¡± Her smile turned predatory. ¡°Are you deaf? I ordered you to show me your true face.¡±
My fingers clenched on my throne¡¯s armrests. ¡°Goddess, I am not certain I¨C¡±
She slapped me on the cheek with a hand as hard as stone.
I had taken hits from warriors, Underworld demons, and Nahualli, but rarely one so powerful. Iztacoatl¡¯s slim frame belied the inhuman strength and the weight behind her blow. My entire head hurt. I saw stars, and for a second I thought that the blow would tear my skull off my shoulders.
¡°Do you truly believe me as na?ve as my sisters?¡± Iztacoatl snorted in contempt as I massaged my cheek. ¡°Yoloxochitl lied to herself because she wanted your love, Sugey does not care, and Ocelocihuatl thinks that she has crushed your spirit. I know better. I can recognize a snake biding its time when I see one, one serpent to another.¡±
¡°You are mistaken,¡± I lied, seething through my teeth. ¡°I¡¯ve learned my lesson. Painfully.¡±
She slapped me on the other cheek. This time, the blow nearly threw me off my throne. My teeth clenched in rage, my heart and blood boiling with the fury of my soul. Behead her, tear out her throat, impale her heart¡ªif she had any¡ªor twist her bones until she choked on her own blood! I had so many ways to kill, each of them so tempting.
¡°Finally, you bare your fangs at me.¡± Iztacoatl grabbed me by my hair with one hand and forced me to look up at her. ¡°It excited you to see my sister die, am I wrong? You felt vindicated for your foolhardy beliefs.¡±
She stuck out her tongue and licked my cheek. I would rather have been shat on by a slug.
¡°Do you know what excites me, human? Collecting pets.¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s inhuman shadow loomed over me, with great wings and coils that were nowhere to be seen in her human disguise. ¡°For the crime of rejoicing over my sister¡¯s demise, Iztac, I will make you my personal project. You have earned my full and undivided attention.¡±
The Nightlord pinched my cheeks with her cold, icy hands, as if I were a delightful child who had embarrassed himself in an entertaining way.
¡°Unlike my sister, I don¡¯t want your fear, Iztac. I want your adoration.¡± A forking tongue briefly slithered between her sharp fangs. ¡°If you displease me, you will come to look fondly on that night where we executed dear Sigrun. If you entertain me, I will reward you with pleasures greater than anything you can imagine. I will reshape you, piece by piece, until you can no longer recognize yourself. By the time I am through with you, you shall do more than love me.¡±
She laughed to her heart¡¯s content.
¡°You will worship me. You will venerate me. You will beg for my favor and attention¡ and I shall return none of it.¡±
She was close enough for my hand to punch her. I so desired to do it, to cave her skull in on itself with my Bonecraft spell and spill her brain out all over the floor.
But I held back. Unfortunately, such attacks would result in little more than pain and humiliation for now.
For now.
¡°Remember those words,¡± I dared to tell her, knowing she would not believe my lies. ¡°When you fail miserably.¡±
¡°See?¡± Iztacoatl chuckled in delight. ¡°You need a good whipping. I am currently in a very, very dark mood, so I need entertainment. I will gladly make you my toy.¡±
I did not bother answering with words. Instead, I glared at her with all of my endless hatred. It only served to amuse her further.
¡°So play on, puppet emperor,¡± Iztacoatl said with playful arrogance. ¡°You will amuse me for what little time you have left.¡±
It will still be longer than yours, I thought. I promise you that.
Chapter Forty: The Spiders Web
My cheeks still hurt by the time I was forcefully returned to my private quarters.
¡°For now, my dear songbird, I must ensure that your cage is secure,¡± Iztacoatl said when she had me escorted out of the throne room. ¡°Go breed in your pen. We need more blood to replace our lost livestock.¡± A smile had stretched on her wicked lips and unveiled the fangs underneath. ¡°A woman a day keeps my whip away. Remember that.¡±
That hateful creature¡
I had underestimated her. With Yoloxochitl constantly threatening Eztli and her mother in her jealous madness and the Jaguar Woman¡¯s overwhelming cruelty, Iztacoatl had hardly factored into my schemes and plans. To my sorrow, I now fully understood the danger she posed.
Namely, she was cautious.
Whereas the Jaguar Woman thought that she had crushed my spirit and Sugey hardly seemed to be the subtle type, Iztacoatl had seen right through me. She didn¡¯t know I could wield sorcery, but she understood that I wished the Nightlords harm and that I could cause them a great deal of trouble under the right circumstances. I should expect more surveillance from now on, more traps and dangers.
I needed to consult the previous emperors. This situation might be unprecedented for all of us, but they should surely provide me with much-needed wisdom.
A red-eyed priest entered my quarters as I pondered what to do next. I could immediately tell he would be different from the others. He was young for a start, hardly half of Tezozomoc¡¯s age. His hair was a tousled mane of midnight blue framing a rugged face and a wry smile. Unlike his more modest colleagues, he dressed almost as well as me, with dark robes rich with embroidered gold and a ruby neckline.
This one is dangerous. I could tell from the sinister glint in his crimson eyes, full of calculated ambition. Then it struck me. He looked up.
It was customary for priests to avoid meeting the emperor¡¯s gaze unless ordered to do so. Though this man knelt and bowed with all the respect expected of our respective positions, the mere fact he had dared to ignore protocol spoke volumes about his mindset.
¡°Your Majesty, the goddesses have granted me the honor and pleasure of serving you in these difficult times,¡± the man said with a charming, pleasant voice. It reminded me of those male singers playing in the capital¡¯s streets for a handful of cocoa beans. ¡°I am Tayatzin. Your will is my command.¡±
His name sounded vaguely familiar. I recalled Ingrid once mentioning him as one of Tlacaelel¡¯s potential replacements before Tezozomoc earned the place. What did she say about him then?
Ah yes, I recalled. ¡®He¡¯s the youngest eunuch, and the most energetic.¡¯
Those same qualities caused the Nightlords to pass him over for the more passive Tezozomoc. I supposed that with the loss of one-fourth of the priesthood and the disaster striking the empire, they would rather favor initiative over doubt and caution.
¡°I wish to meditate in the Reliquary,¡± I said sternly, my eyes glancing through my obsidian window. I could see Smoke Mountain¡¯s continuing eruption from here. ¡°These have been trying times indeed and I require some peace of mind.¡±
¡°Unfortunately, I have been given explicit orders to keep you safe and sound inside your personal quarters,¡± Tayatzin replied with what seemed to be a genuine sigh. ¡°The goddesses suspect that your life is in danger and would like to reduce your movements to a strict minimum. I may, however, bring you any form of entertainment that you request.¡±
I didn¡¯t wish for entertainment. I wanted advice.
¡°I suppose you cannot transport the Reliquary to my room?¡± I replied with heavy sarcasm.
¡°That would be difficult,¡± Tayatzin replied with a chuckle. How casual for a priest. ¡°I understand that Your Majesty made the Reliquary their favorite meditation spot, but I¡¯m sure we can build a similar refuge of the mind within your quarters. We don¡¯t lack skulls around these parts.¡±
The dark joke almost brought a smile to my lips. Almost.
While I simply faked mere annoyance on the outside, I was simmering beneath the surface. I couldn¡¯t consult my predecessors, I couldn¡¯t see my consorts, I couldn¡¯t leave my quarters¡ my narrow prison had shrunk all the way down to my own bedchambers.
Should I visit the Reliquary in Tonalli form? I quickly decided against it. With the Nightlords wary of magical interference, they might set a trap to detect my movements in spirit form. I ought to play it safe and consult my predecessors in person first.
I need to calm down, to think this through. I gathered my breath and focused on the obsidian window. I cannot act too rashly.
Iztacoatl wanted me to slip up, to stumble and expose myself. She would no doubt scrutinize my actions in the coming days and investigate any unusual behavior. Showing too much interest in the Reliquary might cause her to suspect something was amiss with the place.
I needed to be patient. The eruption and its chaos had sparkled a surge of paranoia from the Nightlords, but neither would last forever. Once Smoke Mountain ran out of fire and my captors believed themselves safe from Sapa interference, they would loosen my chains. I would at least be allowed to leave my chambers, even if I suspected that Iztacoatl would keep looking over my shoulder
For now, I could do little inside these walls besides waiting.
My eyes wandered to the gardens outside. The ashes reached all the way to my menagerie. If any of Yoloxochitl¡¯s plants had survived her demise, I hoped the burning embers would finish them off.
Did that madwoman leave any legacy behind? The thought started to bother me. Yoloxochitl was supposed to tell me what weapon the Nightlords intended to use against the Sapa Empire.
I had no doubt that a devastating war would unfold. The Nightlords would be out for blood for their sister¡¯s demise, and all evidence would point to their rivals to the south. Yohuachanca¡¯s armies would descend upon the Sapa people with a fury never before seen.
It was my duty to ensure it would cost the empire dearly. If Yoloxochitl¡¯s mysterious weapon had survived its creator¡¯s demise, I needed to uncover and destroy it.
¡°We evacuated your pets to a secure place underground until the eruption ends, Your Majesty, including your new feline,¡± Tayatzin said. He must have mistaken my focus on the gardens for concern. ¡°Your feathered tyrant had to be caged, but is otherwise safe and sound.¡±
¡°Itzili?¡± To my own surprise, I found myself slightly concerned. I knew Itzili was nothing more than an animal, but I had grown fond of him. ¡°Caged, you say?¡±
¡°For its own sake,¡± the priest quickly insisted. ¡°The eruption agitated all the creatures in your menagerie, but your feathered tyrant grew unusually aggressive. It killed one handler and maimed another before we managed to safely evacuate it.¡±
Good boy. I would be sure to give Itzili a treat. I wondered how much of this sudden behavior came from fear of the eruption or the fact I had fed him some of my blood. Perhaps I should test the Riding spell on him¡
¡°I wish him to remain unharmed,¡± I ordered Tayatzin. ¡°Itzili is dear to me. I am certain he will calm down once the eruption ends. You will keep me informed of his condition until that time comes.¡±
¡°Of course, Your Majesty,¡± the priest replied with a wry smile. ¡°Do you wish for anything else?¡±
¡°Bring me my slave Necahual.¡± Since Iztacoatl had ordered me to breed like a turkey, I had the perfect cover to meet with her. ¡°If I cannot meditate in solitude, I will settle for good company.¡±
¡°Your will is my command, Your Majesty.¡± Tayatzin cleared his throat. ¡°However, might I ask if you have decided to elevate Lady Necahual''s rank?¡±
I frowned at him in confusion. ¡°Her rank?¡±
¡°Oh?¡± Tayatzin¡¯s eyebrow arched with curiosity. ¡°My apologies, Your Majesty. I thought my predecessors would have told you. Your harem follows a strict hierarchy of seven ranks with different duties and privileges.¡±
Interesting. I did not know that.
¡°I haven¡¯t had much time for female company lately, so I didn¡¯t pay it much attention,¡± I replied truthfully. ¡°How are these ranks organized?¡±
¡°As a pyramid, like your own empire,¡± Tayatzin replied with a light chuckle. Unlike Tlacaelel¡¯s insufferable laughter, his own carried a certain roguish charm. ¡°Your four consorts shine at the top like the stars above the earth. They possess their own luxurious quarters, servants, guards¡ in short, all the accommodations expected from the goddesses¡¯ chosen.¡±
All the accommodations except freedom. That already told me much. If my consorts enjoyed so little at the top of the hierarchy, the lowest ranks probably suffered in misery.
¡°At the bottom are the maids and attendants, who have not slept with the emperor and thus have been denied his divine grace,¡± Tayatzin confirmed. ¡°The former is fit only for menial tasks like cleaning, while the latter possesses valuable skills such as singing, dancing, and intelligent conversation. Both are expected to serve higher-ranked concubines and must share common quarters. We usually put ten of them in the same room to minimize the space they take up.¡±
In short, they were little more than palace slaves. I supposed the naked women who fanned me each morning belonged to those two categories.
¡°Above them are the actual concubines, women whom the current emperor has blessed with his divine seed.¡± Tayatzin smiled mischievously. ¡°A category of one for now.¡±
¡°A number that might increase soon,¡± I replied calmly, though I hardly relished the thought of bedding more desperate slaves. ¡°But proceed.¡±
¡°While they must still serve their betters as ladies-in-waiting, concubines are afforded their own rooms and a few maids. Lady Necahual was raised to this rank after satisfying you.¡±
I felt a slight hint of compassion for Necahual. Being awarded her own room and slaves after sleeping with me must have felt like salt poured on a bloody wound. An insult on top of the injury.
¡°Above concubines are the noble mothers who have given birth to an emperor''s child, whether the current one or their predecessors,¡± Tayatzin continued. ¡°Having proved their fertility, they are afforded larger quarters fit to rear children, granted a retinue, and spared menial work so that they may raise their blessed children.¡±
Daughters for the harem, and sons for a fate so atrocious that even the dead won¡¯t speak of it. The thought sickened my stomach. ¡°How many noble mothers currently dwell within these walls, Tayatzin?¡±
¡°Three hundred and thirty-six,¡± the man replied with confidence. I wondered if he had counted them himself. ¡°One woman out of ten.¡±
A sizable number, but not an overwhelming one either. I supposed not all of my predecessors had been as prolific as Nochtli the Fourteenth. The various purges, including the Jaguar Woman¡¯s, had taken their toll too.
¡°Above them are the favorites. This rank is only awarded to a concubine by the emperor''s decision. They may enjoy their own comfortable quarters, several attendants, and a life free of work so that they may dedicate their lives to the emperor''s pleasure.¡± Tayatzin marked a short pause, as if considering his next words, before finally deciding to proceed with them. ¡°The late Lady Sigrun had never been demoted below this rank since her arrival.¡±
It hardly surprised me considering that she had ruled the harem in all but name for years. I did remark that Tayatzin mentioned seven ranks and that favorites were only the third from the top.
¡°What¡¯s above the favorites?¡± I inquired. ¡°Since this echelon seems to be the highest that I can confer, I assume that the ones above follow criteria outside of my control.¡±
¡°Your Majesty possesses a sharp mind,¡± Tayatzin complimented me. ¡°Second only to your consorts are the godkin: the female relatives of emperors and consorts, past and present. The late Lady Sigrun occupied this echelon after her daughter¡¯s ascension, and now her daughter Astrid currently does. They possess their own large quarters, a large retinue, and more privileges. They are spared from work to better guide Your Majesty and his four beloveds on the path to good rulership.¡±
The fact the priests already considered Astrid, a child, as a potential future concubine sickened me to my core. I hoped none of my predecessors had yet descended into such depravity.
¡°Have any of my predecessors attempted to change this system?¡± I pressed on.
Tayatzin shook his head. ¡°These rankings were established by the goddesses themselves at the dawn of Yohuachanca. It reflects the divine hierarchy of the world and is thus inviolable.¡±
Another lie, but one that told me much about the Nightlords¡¯ priorities. The harem didn¡¯t follow a hierarchy based on birth or merit, no. It rewarded those who gave the emperor pleasure and children.
Under normal circumstances, the harem''s denizens could only aspire to the rank of favorites, where they could live in luxury and enjoy privileged access to the emperor. A concubine¡¯s path to social ascension seemed clear to me: earning the emperor''s attention to sleep with them and bear their children while hoping that their daughters would eventually become consorts in the future, and then earn the emperor¡¯s official favor. Lady Sigrun had played that game close to perfection until she clawed her way all the way up to the rank of godkin.
Still, something bothered me about these explanations.
¡°How many godkin live in my palace?¡± I asked Tayatzin.
¡°Fifty-six for now,¡± he replied. ¡°Thirty-six are the daughters of previous emperors. The others are sisters or close relatives from previous administrations. Your generation¡¯s consorts brought in few to no godkin among their extended family.¡±
A dreadful chill traveled down my spine as I did a quick calculus. The harem housed over three hundred mothers. Assuming half of them gave birth to a single daughter, this meant only a fifth of that number lived to become a godkin. Where did the rest go?
To the altar, a voice in my head told me. One way or another, they all end up on the altar.
¡°A detail bothers me,¡± I said. ¡°You said Necahual would be elevated to concubine after sleeping with me, but shouldn¡¯t she be a godkin already? She gave birth to one of my consorts.¡±
Tayatzin shrugged. ¡°The Goddess Yoloxochitl explicitly asked us to degrade Lady Necahual to the rank of maid. She considered her relationship to Lady Eztli severed upon her immortal elevation.¡±
Somehow, such levels of pettiness did not surprise me in the least when coming from Yoloxochitl. I wouldn¡¯t miss her.
Unfortunately, it meant I couldn''t raise Necahual to the rank of godkin, as it would mean going against the late Yoloxochitl''s direct decision; an act her paranoid sisters were unlikely to take well.
¡°From what I understand, only the godkin and noble mothers cannot be demoted,¡± I said. ¡°My predecessor Nochtli must have had favorites of his own though. What happened to them?¡±
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°We usually maintain the previous emperor¡¯s ranking until the New Fire Ceremony for simplicity¡¯s sake,¡± Tayatzin replied. ¡°Hence my question about Lady Necahual. Now that the previous year has come to an explosive close, we have entered the Crocodile¡¯s month. A time of culling and consumption.¡±
I suppressed a sneer of disgust. ¡°My harem has been culled enough already.¡±
¡°Forgive me, Your Majesty, I did not mean to suggest another purge.¡± The priest cleared his throat. ¡°Instead, I propose that we degrade your predecessors¡¯ favorites to the rank of concubine for fairness¡¯ sake. Those who do not catch your fancy before the end of the Crocodile¡¯s month will then be further demoted to the rank of attendant.¡±
¡°Why not simply demote them all?¡±
¡°Your predecessor raised nearly a hundred favorites and slept with eight hundred concubines by the time of his death,¡± Tayatzin explained. ¡°Since each of them possesses their own room and servants, demoting them all at once would leave entire wings of the palace unattended and cause a large disruption in the palace¡¯s organization.¡±
I thoughtfully considered the proposal. The possibility of causing chaos across the imperial bureaucracy, no matter how trivial, appealed to me. I, however, failed to see how that particular disruption would help me achieve my goals.
Tayatzin¡¯s plan offered more opportunities. If they had a speck of sense, my predecessor¡¯s favorites and concubines surely used their time to amass power and favors as Sigrun once did. The threat of losing their positions would force them to show their hands. They would no doubt sacrifice much in order to avoid a humiliating demotion.
With the void left by Sigrun¡¯s demise, Necahual could become my gatekeeper: by guaranteeing a woman''s access to my bed and thus the rank of concubine, she could leverage that power for favors and information. Naming those indebted women my favorites, a title that I could revoke at any time, would provide another incentive for loyalty.
¡°Very well, I accept your suggestion,¡± I decided. ¡°I wish to raise my pet slave Necahual to the rank of favorite. The others will be demoted to concubines, and if they do not please me by the first day of Wind, they shall fall further down.¡±
Tayatzin promptly bowed before me. He seemed happy that I had followed his proposal. ¡°I shall promptly proceed with the reform then. If I may, what are Your Majesty¡¯s tastes in women? We can select those who fit them the best and avoid wasting your precious time.¡±
I wanted women with spy networks or skills to spare, but I was wise enough not to say it out loud.
¡°I shall consider your question while resting on my favorite¡¯s bosom,¡± I replied instead. ¡°Once I am finished taking my pleasure, you shall summon the wife of that traitor Tlazohtzin to my quarters. I shall interrogate her myself.¡±
¡°As Your Majesty demands.¡± Tayatzin smirked as he saluted me. ¡°She is quite the beauty. I am certain Your Majesty will find her agreeable.¡±
I remained quiet as he slithered out of the bedroom and left me alone with my guards. Once he was gone, I briefly wove a subtle Veil around myself to gather how many people watched me. I sensed over a dozen gazes pointed at me from all directions. My quarters¡¯ secret passages overflowed with spies and secret jailers.
I considered my other options. I couldn¡¯t risk using Spiritual Manifestation now. The Riding spell would let me possess beasts from my menagerie, but their current imprisonment underground would prove an obstacle in exploring the palace. This left me with Seidr. Mother said the spell¡¯s users could gain visions of the past and future.
I could use it to gather information¡ with the right partner.
The noise of my bedroom doors opening drew me out of my thoughts. Necahual walked in, her slim frame dressed in the same rich clothes as when she last shared my bed. A golden necklace adorned her neck, the ruby at its center shining with a dark red glow.
¡°You called me?¡± she asked me with a cool, impenetrable expression; as if I had come back from a promenade in the gardens rather than surviving a cataclysmic eruption. I wondered if she had hoped I would perish in it alongside the Nightlords.
¡°That necklace looks good on you,¡± I noted. She gave me a dark look. Clearly, she would rather do without my compliments. ¡°Who gave it to you?¡±
¡°A woman,¡± she replied with a dismissive snort. ¡°It was a gift.¡±
Necahual hardly spent a night in my bed and ambitious souls already flocked to her. Good. I moved closer to her and briefly checked on the necklace with a Veiled Gaze. I did not detect any trace of magic on it. This gift was a simple, precious bribe.
My hands closed around Necahual¡¯s waist. She trembled at my touch and clearly did not relish it, but did not recoil either. She had come to accept her situation. I felt a pang of compassion, enough to try to console her.
¡°Eztli is alive,¡± I whispered in her ear. Though I doubted the word meant much for a vampire. ¡°She survived.¡±
¡°I know,¡± Necahual replied calmly.
That drew a frown from me. ¡°How?¡±
¡°Her maid told me she was confined to the palace¡¯s temple.¡± Necahual¡¯s fingers intertwined with mine, the tension in them showing how much she worried for her daughter¡¯s sake. ¡°She¡ she thought I should know.¡±
Of course. The harem¡¯s concubines served those of higher ranks, my consorts included. I folded that information into a corner of my mind. It would surely come in handy soon.
¡°Is she alright?¡± I asked, dreading the answer.
¡°Yes.¡± Necahual bit her lower lip. A flash of worry passed in her eyes. ¡°The priests are examining her. I do not know for what.¡±
A wave of relief traveled through my body. I had feared that the Jaguar Woman would put Eztli through torture in order to discover the reason for her survival. My captors had chosen caution over cruelty.
I felt much lighter. I knew Eztli remained in danger, but we could avoid the worst outcome.
¡°Your cheeks¡¡± Necahual studied my face with a trained healer¡¯s eyes. ¡°You were wounded.¡±
Being reminded of Iztacoatl¡¯s cruelty soured my heart with anger. I thought back to her promises of breaking me, of opening my heart and filling it with servile adoration. She was welcome to try. She would find nothing but spite there.
I briefly considered what to do. I planned to practice Seidr in order to learn more about Eztli¡¯s location, but now that I have learned it I should explore another lead tonight. Learning more about the late Yoloxochitl¡¯s weapon appeared like a priority.
I would need Necahual¡¯s mind to focus on the task¡ and I knew exactly how.
¡°Keep that truth for yourself,¡± I whispered in Necahual¡¯s ear, too low for anyone to hear. ¡°Yoloxochitl is dead.¡±
I was so close that I could hear her heart skipping a beat. My mother-in-law stared at me in shock and disbelief, searching for any hint of a lie. She might have caressed that hope deep inside her shriveled heart, but to hear of her tormentor¡¯s death¡ her mind struggled to accept what her ears told her.
¡°Are you certain?¡± she whispered, her eyes wide with astonishment.
I nodded with confidence and a lightened heart. ¡°I saw it myself.¡±
Necahual pondered my words for a moment. She had lived in the Nightlords¡¯ shadows for her entire life. She had learned to worship them at school, grown to fear their wrath during the nights of the Scarlet Moon, and suffered from their cruelty. She had been told of their invincibility for years, that they would haunt the world until its final twilight, until she believed in the lies. Barely avoiding her death at their hands had only reinforced that fear.
Necahual thought we might somehow escape them, but now she realized that I had done the impossible.
That I had killed a goddess. She knew that I had somehow caused Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise and the disaster outside these walls. That all of Yohuachanca was built on lies, and that I had made the first crack in its foundations.
I had upturned Necahual¡¯s entire vision of the world.
And she liked it.
I had seen Necahual smile a few times, whether at Eztli or her husband. Never at me though. Never before today. Not this way, with such glee and blissful satisfaction. Her bitter scowl turned into the purest expression of cruel delight. The news of Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise, that she had outlived her daughter¡¯s tormentor, filled her with the darkest delight.
For a brief instant, I saw what Guatemoc found charming about the vile woman. Her smile was the most beautiful in the world. I must have looked exactly like this after I blew up Smoke Mountain.
The sight reinvigorated me. I forgot all about Iztacoatl¡¯s threats and warnings. For all of her barking, I had defied her, shattered her sisterhood, and defiled her glory with defeat. I would not wallow in fear and despair. I would celebrate and seize the day.
---- NSFW Scene starts-----
Overwhelmed with desire, I grabbed Necahual and started kissing her neck. She did not resist me nor did she stay idle as I touched her. To my surprise, she assisted me. One of her hands plunged under my imperial robes to massage my manhood and the other brushed against my hair. She pressed her face into the crook of my neck, her lips tasting me, sampling me.
She was as excited as her daughter had been yesterday.
This time, I was welcomed.
My blood boiled with excitement. What greater joy was there than committing a crime against the Nightlords and being rewarded for it?
My hands swiftly unfurled her sash and opened a path to her breasts. She did the same with the clothes over my chest. She stared at me, and for that night at least I knew that she would be all mine. Her lips crashed against mine while my hands fondled her breasts.
Her skin felt different than last time: healthier, smoother, younger. I blamed this on our practice of Seidr. The same process that allowed Sigrun to keep her beauty had granted Necahual a few years of youth.
I felt my magic awaken in my blood as one of my hands roamed down her back and to her soft ass. The call of Bonecrafting, the urge to reshape her legs and body like a clay doll in a way that would please me most. I basked in that feeling of power. That she was here to service me, to reward me, to please me. I resisted the urge to use a spell on her, but I quickly disrobed her all the same. My own clothes slipped onto the ground soon after.
Necahual gasped in shock as I all but threw her on the bed, stomach first. One of my hands pressed on her back, the other grabbing her lady parts and lifting her up slightly. I leaned on against her back.
¡°Kneel,¡± I whispered into her ear before lightly nibbling it. Necahual looked over her shoulder at me, but she arched her back nonetheless. My hands grabbed her hips, seizing her, owning her. I delighted in her groan as I slid my manhood inside her. She was warm, wet, and willing.
I took her violently. I pounded and slammed and thrust. While at first taken aback, Necahual soon started pushing back. She moaned and convulsed beneath me, her necklace bouncing off her breast. We were no better than animals.
I pinned her down to the bed and then resumed, one of my hands holding her hip and the other fondling her breast. I sensed her flesh constrict and unfold around mine. What pleasure it was, to see the woman who had abused me for years now kneeling before me. At long last I felt our Teyolias connecting through our mutual triumph.
I focused on our mutual desire. I sensed the call of sorcery flooding my mind. A blurry image of Yoloxochitl crying in her dark father¡¯s hand formed in my mind, vivid and raw.
No¡ No, that wasn¡¯t it. That wasn¡¯t the vision I sought. I let go of the memory, but it wouldn¡¯t leave me. Worse, it grew sharper with each pulse of our Teyolias.
¡°Think of her,¡± I whispered in Necahual¡¯s ear. ¡°Think of the weapon.¡±
¡°What?¡± she replied in between moans. ¡°I don¡¯t¡ I don¡¯t understand¡¡±
The vision grew blurrier. Yoloxochitl¡¯s face became almost unrecognizable and the Teyolia connection weakened.
¡°Yoloxochitl,¡± I answered with a grunt of displeasure. ¡°Think of her weapon. Her weapon.¡±
New images flashed in my mind, of Yoloxochitl holding an obsidian knife over a prisoner¡¯s heart.
I quickly grasped Seidr¡¯s limits: namely, both partners needed to work in unison. If Necahual and I failed to focus on the same thing, the vision would wander like an arrow without its target. Our clashing ideas of a secret weapon did not align.
I pulled out before the vision could solidify, much to Necahual¡¯s chagrin. Our Teyolias lost their connection. I lay my mother-in-law down her back, widened her legs, and then loomed over her.
¡°Yoloxochitl, secret weapon, Sapa,¡± I grunted into her ear, almost imperiously. ¡°All¡ think of them all.¡±
Necahual sent me a brief glare, but she did obey. She closed her eyes and focused on my words. Our Teyolias connected again as she welcomed my manhood with waiting lips and muffled moans. I kissed the sweat of her brow as I entered her again. Her breasts bounced with our thrusts, her necklace¡¯s cold metal pressing on my chest.
We found a steady rhythm and touched the soul of sorcery. Her arms closed around my neck with the final pulse. My vision went white.
---- NSFW Scene Ends-----
Then I saw Yoloxochitl.
The vision struck me like a bucket of cold water drawing me out of the throws of passion. My body was no longer my own, my flesh and bones were both gone. I was the putrid air flowing through a dark garden of shining fungi and fetid corpses. I was the ancient walls paved with spores and tasting the blood of the dead. I was the darkness of the cave and the moan of the damned.
Unlike our last Seidr ritual, I immediately knew that this vision was no shared memory. I did not see a scene through Necahual¡¯s eyes, no. I had become the world itself, a disembodied spirit of stone and evanescent air, beyond the prison of the self.
I watched Yoloxochitl¡¯s mad smile from above and below, sensed her seat on a throne of rock amidst the fungi, and smelled the stench of death following her. A naked man convulsed at her feet, struggling not to inhale the red spores floating in the air. I felt the poison enter his lungs and blood.
¡°Don¡¯t fight it,¡± she said, so softly, so kindly. ¡°Let the love flow through you.¡±
The man was dead long before he entered her secret garden, but he likely wished for a quicker demise. I sensed the heat creeping up his spine, the sweat of the fever seizing his mind. Something vile had taken hold of him. It spread through his flesh in hours, or maybe days, driving him to pain and madness. Time meant nothing to a stone, and little to a Nightlord.
Yoloxochitl nursed the man through his agony. She held him in her cold arms as his skin took on an ashen pallor and his veins turned green. She helped him back up when he stumbled.
¡°Be brave, my child,¡± she said; not to her victim, but to the horror crawling inside his flesh. ¡°You are home.¡±
The poison wove its tendrils inside its host, nesting between muscle and bone. The man tried to scream. He failed. His mouth would open no longer. Green growths had stitched his lips close. His blood coalesced into sacks of thickened blood growing out of his stomach.
Strings moved his weakened body against his will. A single urge possessed the puppeteer: to climb. To rise. To find a place high above, so the wind would carry its love to the disparate fleshes of the land.
The walking corpse searched the cave with a feverish obsession for an elevated post. At last, Yoloxochitl climbed down from her throne and gently raised her child to it.
The corpse ascended to the top and coiled around the stone. His calcified skin thickened into a sick white bark stronger than bones, whereas his stomach yielded a bounty of spoiled blood fruits. His skull blossomed. Crimson petals burst out of his teeth. The man¡¯s head had become a flower of terrible beauty, a crown of red petals on a dead tree of hardened flesh. Its breath of red spores erupted like Smoke Mountain in search of a new home.
Yoloxochitl shed a tear of joy and I woke up.
I returned to reality with a sweet, euphoric feeling of emptiness. Necahual breathed softly under me, her body coiled around mine, my seed dripping down her thighs.
That brief moment of contentment lasted until we both remembered the vision. I could see the color drain from Necahual¡¯s cheeks, the horror crawling into her soul, her rising disgust. Her mind struggled to accept that such unnatural abominations could exist in this world.
I envied her. I was used to the Nightlords¡¯ horrors by now. I missed those times when such atrocities seemed like a rare exception rather than a daily norm.
Necahual lightly pushed my chest back and I pulled out of her. We moved to the baths next, both to clear our minds and discuss things more privately. The sickening vision of that man-tree haunted me even as I sank into the warm running waters.
¡°That will spoil the food.¡± So Iztacoatl said when her sister first suggested using her weapon. Now I understood. Even a vampire might recoil from tasting those sick stomach-fruits. Yoloxochitl said it would cull the weak and spare the strong.
I supposed she hadn¡¯t completely lied. The healthy and the well-fed survived plagues better than the weak and the malnourished.
Necahual let the water run to cover our words, then joined me in the bath. I beckoned her to come closer. After a short moment of hesitation, she sat on my lap, her back against my chest, a deep scowl on her face.
¡°You have seen it too,¡± I told Necahual, which she confirmed with a short nod. ¡°That¡¯s Yoloxochitl¡¯s legacy. A plague of death.¡±
¡°Not a plague,¡± she replied much to my surprise. ¡°A fungus.¡±
¡°Fungus?¡± I guessed it made sense considering where Yoloxochitl cultivated them, but I remained dubious. ¡°It looked more like a flower to me.¡±
¡°A fungus,¡± Necahual insisted, her tone laced with scorn. She disliked me doubting her experience. ¡°I have seen their kind in the forests where I gathered my herbs. They take over bugs, sicken their minds, and consume them from within. The hosts climb to elevated places, then they spread the infection to its colony.¡±
The Sapa¡¯s mountains would make for a fertile spreading ground. ¡°Is there any cure?¡±
Necahual hesitated a moment, before answering with, ¡°Fire. Heat.¡±
Somehow, I doubted the Sapa would settle on burning their sick compatriots. That disease alone would ravage their settlements. Those who survived the disease would then end their lives on Yohuachanca¡¯s altars.
¡°I need to destroy that garden,¡± I said with cold resolve. I would wipe out the last stain of Yoloxochitl¡¯s legacy from this world, and I had to do it before the war against the Sapa started. ¡°If it¡¯s the only one.¡±
¡°It will be in a single place underground,¡± Necahual said sharply. ¡°That corruption would kill thousands if it escaped. More gardens mean a greater risk of accidental contagion.¡±
True. The Nightlords were mad, but not stupid. They wouldn¡¯t risk unleashing such a devastating plague on their own population.
But where could Yoloxochitl have cultivated that garden? Under the palace? The Blood Pyramid? Another location entirely? The Seidr vision didn¡¯t give a hint and Yohuachanca was a vast empire. I might as well search for a grain of sand on a beachhead.
My predecessors could provide leads if I found a way to contact them, but even then they didn¡¯t know about Yoloxochitl¡¯s weapon until I informed them of it. I would require a wider net to catch that fish.
¡°I will need your assistance,¡± I whispered in Necahual¡¯s ear, my arms closing around her waist.
¡°Don¡¯t touch me like this,¡± she hissed, her jaw tightening. ¡°I hate it.¡±
¡°You liked it a few minutes ago,¡± I replied before kissing her on the neck. From her whimper, she still liked it now. In fact, I suspected that she hated my touch because she liked it. ¡°It earned you a pretty necklace too.¡±
Necahual spat in the bath. ¡°As if I could be bought with gold.¡±
¡°Whether with gold or information, you need to show them you can be bought, or else no one will approach you,¡± I said with a snort. I always knew that she would make for a poor merchant. ¡°And if you want us to leave this place alive with Eztli one day, you better become used to my touch. You are my favorite now. You will need to act the part.¡±
She looked over her shoulder and glared at me. ¡°What do you want?¡±
¡°Information,¡± I replied. ¡°Lessons on the human body and its bones.¡±
¡°Its bones?¡±
¡°You will understand soon enough.¡± Once I can bonecraft with fewer eyes on us. ¡°I also need information on Eztli, my other consorts, and on Yoloxochitl. Someone must have an inkling to where she cultivated her plague, or know someone who could provide its location. You must find them for me.¡±
Necahual squinted at me. ¡°Nothing comes cheap, and I have little to offer.¡±
¡°You are wrong. You can offer them access to me.¡± My hand traveled up her soft neckline. ¡°You shall tell me which of Eztli¡¯s maids informed you and who offered you the necklace. I shall invite them both to¡¡± I struggled to find the right word. ¡°Entertain me.¡±
Concubines were still expected to work for the emperor and consorts, so sleeping with Eztli¡¯s maids wouldn¡¯t lose us that connection. I might not even need to go that far. The mere possibility of sharing my bed in the future could probably suffice.
¡°This ought to convince everyone in the harem that you can raise their meager station,¡± I explained to Necahual. ¡°After which, you will start asking questions about Yoloxochitl.¡±
¡°No one will wonder why,¡± Necahual said. She had caught on quickly. ¡°They will believe that I seek to protect myself from her wrath.¡±
¡°The desperate and the ambitious will flock to you next. You shall offer them a path to salvation, for a price.¡±
We would use the Nightlords¡¯ own tools to destroy their work. Iztacoatl had been right on one front. I was a serpent biding its time.
And soon, I would bite.
Chapter Forty-One: All for a Purpose
I concluded my day by having Tlazohtzin¡¯s wife over for dinner.
Zyanya Quiabelagayo was indeed quite the beauty, with smooth skin and a warm earthlike complexion, dark and penetrating black eyes, and braided raven hair cascading down her shoulder. Glittering gold earrings and an elegant gemstone necklace framed her fair face, while her gilded black and vermilion garments probably cost their weight in rare metals. Her unflinching, queenly gaze reeked of pride and poise. This woman knew her worth.
In short, I could have mistaken her for a noble ambassador rather than a prisoner a few words away from death.
¡°I thank Your Imperial Majesty from the bottom of my heart for granting me an audience,¡± Lady Zyanya said with an elegant bow after I invited her to sit at my table. ¡°Your trust won¡¯t be misplaced.¡±
¡°That remains to be seen,¡± I replied from atop my cushion throne. ¡°You and your husband have much to answer for.¡±
I had explicitly ordered Tayatzin to wow our prisoner with an emperor¡¯s luxuries, and he followed through diligently. The smell of fresh marigolds mingled with the fragrance of pine wood burning in braziers near our table. The feast itself was a bounty of seasoned turkey, tamales anointed with steamed masa, corn salads, and succulent chocolate spiced with achiote for drinks. A cadre of female attendants played a harmonious melody for us, beating drums of jaguar fur and blowing flutes of crafted trihorn bones.
Necahual sat in silence at my side, maids serving her food as she once served mine. While she appeared more interested in the dinner than the conversation, she in truth paid close attention to it. Her new status of favorite afforded her the privilege of wearing turquoise jewelry, while I was garbed in a fine attire of rich cotton dyed with a deep shade of crimson. A kingly guest would have felt like a pauper in our presence.
All this spectacle had the desired effect. While Zyanya attempted to remain calm and serene, I could see her shoulders crumpling and her eyes fidgeting from my clothes to the singers. She understood the message: her family¡¯s opulence was little more than pocket change compared to my divine splendor. It was in her interest to please me.
How can I make the best use of her? I wondered as I studied the noblewoman. I had asked my new advisor Tayatzin to provide me with more information on her. As it turned out, she came from quite an esteemed lineage. What resources does she possess, and what kind of wood is she made of? Brittle, or strong?
I decided to probe her first.
¡°As you know, Lady Zyanya, your presence at my table this evening is not without significant cause,¡± I said, choosing my words carefully. ¡°Before we cut to the heart of the matter, you will indulge my curiosity.¡±
Zyanya straightened up at my authoritative tone. ¡°What does Your Majesty wish to know?¡±
¡°According to my advisors, the Quiabelagayo clan used to rule the city of Zachilaa until they willingly submitted to Yohuachanca.¡± With ¡®willingly¡¯ being highly relative. Yohuachanca had brought their empire to the brink of ruin until they only controlled their capital. Their unconditional surrender barely spared them the altar. ¡°Royal blood flows in your veins.¡±
¡°It does,¡± Lady Zyanya confirmed. Her voice brimmed with pride. ¡°My father wields considerable influence in our city¡¯s council as Your Majesty¡¯s tributary.¡±
¡°Then why did you marry Tlazohtzin?¡± I asked. ¡°No one can deny his family¡¯s vast wealth, but he stands as far below your station as an ant does below a hawk.¡±
¡°Your Majesty is kind,¡± she replied with the utmost politeness. While she did her best to portray an amiable smile, I sensed a hint of unease. ¡°My father and my husband¡¯s late sire decided on our match out of mutual interest. My in-laws sought trade contracts with Zachilaa, whereas my clan desired to gain allies beyond our city¡¯s nobility.¡±
¡°It must have been a strong alliance,¡± I said, going straight for the throat. ¡°I have rarely heard of a family paying another¡¯s debts.¡±
Lady Zyanya had enough pride to look offended, and enough wisdom not to lie. ¡°Your Majesty is aware that a groom¡¯s family must provide a service to the bride¡¯s. My husband fulfilled his duty to earn my hand.¡±
A polite way to say that they had fallen on hard times and only agreed to the match for money. This confirmed my intel.
Tayatzin had informed me that while still rich in lands and prestige, punishing tributes had slowly crippled the Quiabelagayo clan over the last century. The situation only worsened when a rival clan¡¯s daughter skillfully entered the imperial harem and gained an emperor¡¯s favor ten generations before mine. She¡¯d convinced my predecessor to further weaken the Quiabelagayo by offering choice appointments to her own family.
Such turns of fortune would be nothing the Quiabelagayo line couldn¡¯t recover from had they been willing to adapt. However, being an ancient clan in high standing demanded that they keep a lavish lifestyle. Lady Zyanya¡¯s father had indebted the family with feasts and contracted debts to avoid selling his properties; debts which Tlazohtzin¡¯s father covered. Everyone benefited from the match: Lady Zyanya¡¯s children would inherit her mother¡¯s noble titles without being beggared out of their inheritance and her in-laws would gain recognition among the empire¡¯s nobility.
I smelled an opportunity. A weakness to exploit.
¡°You should have married Tlaxcala then,¡± I said while sampling oblong cakes of maize stuffed with beans. ¡°Of the two brothers, he was the better-born one. Enough that I awarded him his father¡¯s inheritance.¡±
¡°Far from me to question Your Majesty¡¯s wisdom, but Tlaxcala is a fool and his mother¡¯s puppet,¡± Zyanya replied. ¡°I fear he will drive his inheritance to the ground in a decade¡¯s time.¡±
Something we both agreed on, amusingly enough. Marrying Tlazohtzin would have been the correct choice in a fairer world.
¡°Tlaxcala wasn¡¯t half the fool that his brother was,¡± I replied sternly. ¡°If you want proof of your husband¡¯s ¡®wisdom,¡¯ look out the window. The man smuggled foreign, blasphemous artifacts inside holy ground. His foolishness brought the heavens¡¯ wrath upon us all.¡±
The elegant arch of Zyanya¡¯s brows bent slightly. I had to admire how well she kept a straight face in the face of danger. ¡°I assure Your Majesty that my husband would never scheme against the empire. The accusations against him are nothing but lies.¡±
¡°My servants have secured overwhelming evidence of his treachery,¡± I replied. ¡°What I am concerned about now is whether or not he acted alone.¡±
Lady Zyanya¡¯s lips tensed up ever so slightly. She could read between the lines. Her life was on the line.
¡°Now, the Quiabelagayo have always been loyal servants of the empire and I would be loath to learn otherwise,¡± I said, my voice laced with a veiled threat. ¡°If you could provide proof that your husband acted on his own, or at least tell us how he might have secured those foreign artifacts, it would greatly reassure me.¡±
Lady Zyanya grabbed her chocolate drink and sipped it, though mostly to give herself an excuse to consider my words instead of answering immediately.
¡°If the accusations against my husband are confirmed, I must assure Your Majesty that neither I nor my family assisted him in his scheme,¡± she said after emptying her cup. ¡°We were also victims of deceit.¡±
¡°I would like to believe that,¡± I replied mirthfully. She doesn¡¯t love her husband enough to share his fate. Good. If she can give me an excuse to latch on to, I could justify sparing her. ¡°But then, how do you explain your husband¡¯s collection of Sapa relics?¡±
¡°Misplaced trust in the wrong people,¡± Zyanya replied diplomatically. ¡°My husband has been in contact with a Sapa importer called Qollqa in Zachilaa. I warned Tlazohtzin against approaching this man, but he ignored me.¡±
¡°Qollqa?¡± I repeated. It was the first time I¡¯d heard that name. ¡°Why would your husband establish contact with a foreigner?¡±
¡°For money,¡± Zyanya replied. ¡°Zachilaa rules over a set of southern ports on Your Majesty¡¯s behalf. Most of our trade takes place with the Sapa Empire, with whom we exchange food and spices for gold and salt. Qollqa represents his masters in the empire, so my husband intended to expand his father¡¯s activities beyond the empire by befriending him.¡±
¡°I see,¡± I said. ¡°You suspect that this Qollqa provided the relics?¡±
¡°As a gift,¡± Zyanya immediately added. ¡°I¡¯m sure that my husband was tricked into accepting a poisoned offering.¡±
I stroked my chin while pretending to think this through. In truth, my mind was set the moment I had learned the man¡¯s name. This Qollqa would do.
Necahual, who had remained silent so far, turned her head in my direction. ¡°I believe that this woman means well,¡± she said. ¡°Her only sin was to marry a man unworthy of her. Unlike you, she couldn¡¯t detect Tlazohtzin¡¯s duplicity.¡±
Had Necahual guessed my intentions and sought to support me? If so, she was sharper than she looked. I could tell she tried to imitate the late Sigrun and did a fine job of it.
¡°Mayhaps you are right,¡± I replied before focusing back on Zyanya. ¡°I shall send a message to Zachilaa and have this Qollqa arrested. If he indeed schemed with your husband behind your family¡¯s back, we shall see that the goddesses know it.¡±
¡°Your Majesty¡¯s generosity is as boundless as the heavens,¡± Zyanya replied, a hint of relief in her voice. ¡°If I may ask¡ what will happen to my husband?¡±
Believe me, you don¡¯t want to know. The Nightlords would give Tlazohtzin a quick death at best, but I knew better than most to never expect mercy from them. ¡°He will be severely punished.¡±
Lady Zyanya wisely didn¡¯t ask for details. However, she had one more question. ¡°If Your Majesty will forgive my curiosity, should my husband be punished, what will become of his inheritance? His father has yet to fulfill his obligations towards my clan.¡±
¡°A good son honors his father¡¯s debts,¡± I replied. ¡°Tlaxcala will cover your dowry.¡±
From the scowl spreading on her face, this didn¡¯t please Lady Zyanya. ¡°Forgive my impertinence, Your Majesty, but if my husband indeed plotted against the very heavens, then he has shamed my clan as much as our country. If he is indeed a good son, Tlaxcala ought to provide compensation on his family¡¯s behalf.¡±
Her cold-hearted boldness took me by surprise. Her husband wasn¡¯t yet in the grave and she already sought to exploit the situation for all it was worth.
It didn¡¯t take me long to figure out her issue. Zyanya¡¯s father agreed to the match with the expectation that Tlazohtzin would inherit and continue supporting his wife¡¯s clan monetarily. His downfall clearly threw their plans into disarray, so she would scrap for any advantage possible.
Necahual suppressed a scowl at my side, and truthfully I shared some of her disgust. Zyanya¡¯s behavior made sense considering the threat her clan faced should she be found an accomplice to the greatest disaster in Yohuachanca¡¯s history, but her quickness at throwing her husband to the wolves for monetary gain disappointed me.
Tlazohtzin is about to suffer a gruesome death, and all she thinks of is how she might rebound from it. She and Tlaxcala would have made quite the pair. Perhaps I should wed them.
Still, I tried to keep hope. Zyanya reacted this way because she was within my grasp, but the empire¡¯s people might prove more resilient. The loss of Yoloxochitl¡¯s priests and Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption ought to shake their faith in the Nightlords¡¯ order.
Hopefully.
My first impulse was to deny this woman¡¯s request since it would weaken my own connection with Tlaxcala, whom I hoped to use to build a spy network. I resisted it. The Quiabelagayo clan¡¯s hold over Zachilaa could prove useful too, so the matter warranted further consideration.
I had first intended to send Lady Zyanya away from court after ¡®proving¡¯ her innocence as a favor to Tlazohtzin for unwittingly taking the blame for my crime, but since she clearly saw their marriage as an alliance of convenience, it would be a crime not to exploit the situation. I couldn¡¯t afford to be picky; not with the threat of Iztacoatl looming over me.
A plan slowly formed in my mind. One that would let me further strengthen my hold over Tlaxcala and his assets, earn Zachilaa¡¯s favor, and cultivate a new asset in my secret war against the Nightlords.
¡°It would be unjust to have Tlaxcala pay for his brother¡¯s crimes,¡± I said. ¡°However, your clan¡¯s loyalty ought to be rewarded if proven true. You shall remain my guest until I figure out how.¡±
¡°I serve at Your Majesty¡¯s pleasure,¡± Lady Zyanya replied with a slow, subtle bat of her eyelashes. ¡°I shall endeavor to prove my loyalty in all things.¡±
I expect as much, I thought before dismissing her. Topless maids ushered her out of the room while bringing in a set of fruit platters for dessert. Tayatzin followed in their wake.
¡°Has Your Majesty enjoyed his feast?¡± he asked me.
¡°We have,¡± I replied, with Necahual offering a sharp nod to confirm it. ¡°Is Tlaxcala married?¡±
¡°He isn¡¯t,¡± Tayatzin confirmed with a wry smile. ¡°Your Majesty wishes to have him wed his brother¡¯s soon-to-be widow, so as to both please Zachilaa and keep the two clans¡¯ alliance intact. A wise strategy.¡±
He¡¯s shrewder than his predecessors. The man had figured out my plan in an instant. Far too much. ¡°Tlaxcala is grateful to me, so he will keep an eye on his in-laws should they prove treacherous,¡± I said, though it was mostly a justification that I had invented on the spot. ¡°You will order our servants in Zachilaa to arrest the merchant Qollqa. He appears to be involved in Tlazohtzin¡¯s wicked plot.¡±
¡°I shall do it with haste,¡± Tayatzin promised. ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s performers wait to please you. Should I usher them in now?¡±
¡°Yes, do so,¡± I said while laying on my cushion throne and inviting Necahual to share it. She sat at my side with all the grace and poise she could muster. ¡°Bring pulque too.¡±
Tayatzin offered me a short bow as he left the room. ¡°As Your Majesty wishes.¡±
Less than a minute later, my musicians began to play a festive tune. I never had the money to pay for private dances back in Acampa, and because of my nature as a cursed child I was summarily chased away from public ones.
The spectacle that unfolded in my quarters would blow both out of the water.
Five female dancers picked from my harem entered the room, each of them a model of grace and beauty. None of them could be older than twenty years of age. They walked into my prison barefoot and clad in vibrant skirts of fibers light enough to billow with each step. Their slim arms and legs lay exposed alongside their bellies, golden rings jingling at their wrists. Each of them had their hair dyed a different color, from vibrant pink to midnight blue and crimson red. The shades of their skin differed from pale to dark brown, alongside different arrays of body paints; a detail which made me realize that they came from different ethnicities.
The five performers started by bowing before me and then dancing in near-perfect synchronicity. They moved their waist from left to right, and raised their hands to the ceiling, fluidly twirling and leaping across my private hall. Their headdresses of gold and feathers cast changing shadows under the torches. Some of them betrayed a small degree of hesitation in their steps, but they¡¯d clearly repeated this dance long before the Nightlords stole my life away from me.
I watched with mesmerized eyes, one hand around Necahual¡¯s shoulder and the other grabbing a pulque cup. I sipped the alcoholic drink as my quarters pulsed with life to the sound of beating drums. Servants put incense in the fires, filling the air with sweet perfume and colorful smoke.
I¡¯d never understood the appeal of dancing before, but the longer I observed these five the closer I came to enlightenment. The way their braids moved with each turn of their head, the steady rhythm of their steps matching that of the drums, the sensual yet frantic precision of their movements¡ The very air of my quarters seemed to flow at their command, the smoke of the perfumed incense swirling around their legs and arms. It coiled around their fingers like snakes of dust.
Something about this performance effortlessly captured my full and undivided attention. Even Necahual appeared to be admiring it in my arms. She had never seen anything like this.
For a brief moment, I found myself forgetting my troubles. The pulque, the perfumes, and the dance pushed my schemes far deep inside the recesses of my mind. For perhaps the first time since the Night of the Scarlet Moon, I allowed myself to relax.
Is this the spell that enchanted so many of my predecessors? I wondered, my eyes lingering on a dancer¡¯s lithe, sensual curves. The call of luxury?
I had ignored the palace¡¯s pleasures in the pursuit of intrigue since I could always find a measure of peace in Mictlan. Now that I spent my nights struggling against Xibalba¡¯s trials, I welcomed the distraction.
Still, I did not order Necahual and Tayatzin to organize this spectacle for pleasure alone.
¡°Which ones do you prefer?¡± I whispered in Necahual¡¯s ear.
My concubine pointed at the dancers, slowly and deliberately. She singled out two dancers from among the group. The former had blue hair with the hue of the night sky that was woven into long braids under a crown of quetzal feathers. They moved like serpents as she danced. Her eyes, clear as water, shyly avoided my gaze. Her movements were slower than the others, more hesitant.
Her companion was of a more gaudy sort, her body decorated with beads and baubles clinking with each sway of her hips. Unlike the other dancers, she answered my stare with a mischievous smile and sensual winks. She appeared one or two years older than most, with a heavier bust and her pink hair bound in a bun by flowers.
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The dance slowly relinquished its hold over me as the music slowed down. The final note left me with a lingering feeling of peaceful emptiness when the dancers at last stopped with a final bow. I let the silence rule the room for a few seconds, my eyes sharp, the air tense. The dancers obediently waited for my command.
¡°You two,¡± I said, pointing at those whom Necahual singled out. ¡°You¡¯ll stay.¡±
The pink-haired one smiled ear to ear and the blue-haired girl held her breath. The others hardly managed to hide their frustration and disappointment behind forced smiles or blank frowns. They swiftly left my quarters alongside the musicians.
¡°What are your names?¡± I asked the two ¡®winners.¡¯
The blue-haired one let out a breath full of fear and tension. ¡°At¨C¡± She cleared her throat, her hands shaking so much I wondered if she was suffering from a stroke. She reminded me of Nenetl. ¡°Atziri¡¡±
The other dancer came to her rescue. ¡°Forgive Atziri, Master, she finds you too handsome to look upon,¡± she said with a charming smile. ¡°My name is Tenoch.¡±
I raised an eyebrow in amusement. Clearly, these two appeared friendly to one another, or at least well-acquainted. ¡°Master?¡±
¡°Master Nochtli liked it when I called him that,¡± Tenoch replied with a giggle. She was clearly the more confident of the two. ¡°I will call you by other names, if you prefer.¡±
¡°Master has a nice ring to it,¡± I said. I noted the fact she seemed acquainted with my predecessor, which meant she was almost certainly a fifth-ranked concubine. ¡°My Necahual told me you gave her a beautiful necklace.¡±
¡°Did you like it too?¡± Tenoch asked, her eyes lingering on the jewel around Necahual¡¯s neck. ¡°I crafted it myself. My brother was a jeweler and he taught me well.¡±
¡°He did,¡± Necahual said sharply.
¡°Did you make those as well?¡± I asked, my eyes lingering on the baubles on her skirt.
¡°I did.¡± Tenoch put her hands behind her back and adopted a rather suggestive pose. ¡°I keep plenty more of them in my room. I could wear nothing but them if the master wants me to.¡±
Her sheer confidence caused her fellow dancer to blush. A smirk spread over my face. ¡°I would like that, yes,¡± I said before turning to Atziri. ¡°As for you, I heard you took good care of my consort.¡±
¡°I¡¡± Atziri gathered her breath and exhaled deeply. Her fellow dancer took her hand into her own to reassure her. ¡°I have done my best to serve Lady Eztli¡¡±
¡°And I appreciate it. You will continue to serve her as well as you serve me.¡± I stroked Necahual¡¯s hair. ¡°Will you stay with us?¡±
¡°No,¡± Necahual replied a little too sharply. She quickly corrected her mistake. ¡°I am tired, Your Majesty. I would appreciate it if you would let me rest tonight.¡±
¡°I shall allow it,¡± I replied. Necahual was a quick learner, but she still struggled to play the role of the obedient favorite in public. ¡°You may go.¡±
Necahual excused herself with a quick nod and a tense bow alongside the servants, leaving me alone with the two dancers. I emptied my pulque drink, its liquor warming my stomach.
¡°Undress,¡± I said. ¡°Both of you.¡±
They both obeyed, Tenoch a little more promptly than Atziri. I found myself staring at them and drinking in the sight. Tenoch was more shapely than her comrade, with fuller breasts and better curves around the hips, but Atziri¡¯s lithe silhouette quickened my blood nonetheless. The way she blushed shyly reminded me of Nenetl once more.
The alcohol in my veins only heightened my desire. I beckoned them both to join me on the imperial bed.
¡°If the Master would be gentle with Atziri,¡± Tenoch said as she started to undress me. ¡°It¡¯s her first time with a man.¡±
¡°Tenoch, please¡¡± Atziri blushed brighter than a tomato. ¡°I will do my best for Your Majesty¡¡±
¡°Are you two friends?¡± I asked curiously.
¡°We arrived at the same time,¡± Tenoch confirmed with a warm smile. ¡°We shared a room for years. I hoped to convince Master Nochtli to notice Atziri too, but he never did.¡±
I supposed friendships could form even in the darkest places. That connection was a surprise to me, but a welcome one. I might find a way to use it.
I wouldn¡¯t give either of them the rank of favorite though. Concubines were still expected to serve my consorts, so giving Atziri a higher rank meant that she would stop tending to Eztli. As for Tenoch, the promise of awarding her the title should incentivize her to provide services beyond pretty jewelry.
Is that all I can think of? I scolded myself as Atziri lay on the bed, her body tenser than a bowstring. How can I make use of them?
It saddened Atziri that she would spend her first night with me. Under better circumstances, she might have been able to give herself to a man she loved rather than a stranger who owned her like a slave. Worse, while I did find the girl attractive, I mostly cared about how she would help me keep tabs on Eztli.
It felt shameful to use her this way. To take something she could only give once and not appreciate it.
Victory excuses everything, I told myself. Once I kill the Nightlords, I will let her go. Give her a better life.
It helped soothe my guilty conscience.
The night proved pleasant enough. I was gentle with Atziri and did my best to pleasure her¡ªthough she still bled when I first entered her. Tenoch was a lot more experienced and eagerly rode me to contentment. I might call her again.
I gently drifted to sleep in their arms afterward. I hardly gave it an hour before the news and rumors spread through the imperial harem. This should secure Necahual¡¯s importance among them and fill the hole left by the late Lady Sigrun. Those who pleased her received my favor; and those who didn¡¯t left empty-handed.
My spirit slipped into the Underworld and I found myself awakening in a bone-chair under Chamiaholom¡¯s roof. The ancient hag sliced red meat on her table with an obsidian cleaver. I dared not ask what kind.
¡°Welcome back, dear,¡± Chamiaholom greeted me. ¡°Are you ready to continue with your lesson?¡±
¡°If you will forgive me, I must delay it,¡± I said diplomatically. I knew better than to offend a Lord of Terror. ¡°I must cast a Ride spell.¡±
¡°My child, I am every dark thought you ever had.¡± She smiled at me with her pristine teeth. ¡°That cruel scheme of yours brings a tear to my old eye. Of course I forgive you.¡±
Her praise sent a chill of shame crawling down my spine. To earn the admiration of an embodiment of human cruelty should alarm me. I suppose I deserved it. I had crossed many lines lately.
Chamiaholom took a moment off her butchering task to stare at me with what could pass for concern. ¡°What bothers you, my sweet?¡±
Couldn¡¯t she tell if she knew my dark thoughts?
¡°I have sent an innocent man to his gruesome death, and now I plot to exploit his future widow for my own benefit,¡± I confessed. ¡°I¡¯ve used women for my pleasure, information, and intrigue.¡±
I kept trying to tell myself that I did it all for a righteous cause, that the end would excuse the means. However, King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s warning echoed in my mind whenever I tried. Do not become what you fight against.
If I used the tactics of my oppressors for my own benefit, was I truly better than them?
¡°Sweetheart, don¡¯t you see?¡± Chamiaholom chuckled to herself, the sound coming out of her throat as ominous as a dead woman¡¯s rattle. ¡°You don¡¯t feel guilty about what you did to these people. You feel guilty about not feeling guilty.¡±
My jaw clenched in frustration. ¡°With all due respect, I do not believe an embodiment of human cruelty can understand how I feel.¡±
¡°Oh dear, you wound me. I understand your issue perfectly.¡± Chamiaholom waved a hand at two slices of meat. ¡°Look at them. One of these two is monkey flesh. The other is human.¡±
She smiled at me with all the kindness of a murderer about to finish off their victim.
¡°Can you tell which one is which?¡± she asked.
Suppressing my disgust, I looked at the table and swiftly realized that I couldn¡¯t answer her question. I might be able to tell these two apart if I tasted them, but even then I doubted it. I had never consumed either of these meats.
¡°Because I sure can¡¯t tell,¡± Chamiaholom said with a gentle laugh, before taking a slice of meat into her mouth and chewing it whole. ¡°Do you understand your problem, dear? You have been taught all your life that human life is valuable. That it is worth more than those of beasts and ought to be treated with more respect. A beautiful lie.¡±
¡°Human life is special,¡± I replied sternly. ¡°The gods made us in their image,¡±
¡°Oh dear, how wrong you are. Did you think the people of the first world were humans?¡± Chamiaholom shook her head with a hint of pity. ¡°You have seen Queen Mictecacihuatl. She is the first woman to ever die and yet she towers over you. Shouldn¡¯t a dead human be more petite?¡±
My first thought was to reply that a true goddess wouldn¡¯t look as weak as a normal human, but I quickly realized it would defeat my own point. Worse, while his queen used to be alive, there was nothing human about King Mictlantecuhtli. The god of death was more of a place and a concept than a creature.
¡°The first humanity wasn¡¯t human?¡± I asked cautiously.
¡°They were giants as big as you are small, my child, and who lived in houses larger than your palace,¡± she explained. ¡°The people of the second world were closer to apes and monkeys. It is only in the days of the third sun that the gods created what you could call humanity¡ but do you think the Burned Men looked like you before Tlaloc torched them?¡±
Chamiaholom wagged a finger at me. ¡°They were far more handsome.¡±
¡°Even so, a society cannot stand if everyone treats everyone else as beasts to kill,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Values are necessary for civilization¡¯s survival. You represent the very fear of men violating those customs.¡±
Incest, cannibalism, kinslaying, treachery¡ Chamiaholom embodied all of these monstrous taboos. She knew nothing of respect, love, or friendship.
¡°The Nightlords do not treat their servants as humans, even though they used to be, and they have ruled for centuries,¡± she countered. ¡°Strength builds a society, sweetie, not values. Laws are only as strong as those who enforce them. The Nightlords wield great power, so they make laws for the weak and laws for themselves.¡±
¡°I do not want to be like the Nightlords,¡± I replied angrily. The prospect frightened me about as much as spending eternity trapped inside the Parliament of Skulls. ¡°I want to be better than them.¡±
¡°Of course you shouldn¡¯t imitate them,¡± Chamiaholom said with a shrug. ¡°They are so obsessed with control that they forget the meaning of joy. But remorse is the enemy of happiness, my sweet. You don¡¯t feel guilty when you kill a turkey to eat its flesh, or when you turn a trihorn¡¯s bones into a spear. So why should you concern yourself about using your fellow humans for your own pleasure and benefit?¡±
My hands clenched into fists. ¡°Because I am human.¡±
¡°Indeed, you are human,¡± she replied with a kind smile. ¡°But did your fellows treat you like one?¡±
Her words hit me like a slap to the face. ¡°Some did,¡± I replied, thinking of Eztli. ¡°Some did¡¡±
¡°But when your own people threw stones at you, starved you, humiliated you, did they treat you like a human? Did the gods cast lightning to punish their crimes?¡± Chamiaholom did not wait for an answer. We both knew it. ¡°Remember Mictlan, my child. The tormentor and the tormented both end up in the same place. Which one would you rather be?¡±
¡°Neither.¡± I glared back at her. ¡°Do I have to make a choice at all?¡±
¡°Of course not¡ but if you do not take a stand, then someone else will force their choice upon you.¡± Chamiaholom stroked my cheek kindly, her bloodstained fingers as warm as a grandmother¡¯s touch. ¡°All I want for you is to live a happy life, dear. If something brings you pleasure, then pursue it without remorse. Only then will you learn the true meaning of freedom.¡±
The freedom to abuse others? I wondered as I put a hand on my ribs and used bonecraft to carve a name into them. Of letting my greed, lust, and hatred run wild without regret? Can anyone truly call that happiness?
I knew better than to listen to advice from the physical incarnation of human evil¡ but I couldn¡¯t stop Chamiaholom¡¯s words from worming their way into my ears. They carried a kernel of truth, no matter how much I wanted to deny them.
To feel guilty was my choice. A punishment I inflicted on myself for what I considered to be crimes. This world was devoid of values, and it was my judgment alone that determined what was right or wrong.
I banished these thoughts from my mind for now. I sensed the Ride spell activating the moment I carved Qollqa¡¯s name onto my bones. My spirit ascended to the world above; not as a soul returning to its body, but as a demon rising from the Underworld to possess the living. My mind followed an invisible trail, a door opened by my knowledge of my target¡¯s name, until I found myself at a large crossroads. More than one passage had opened to me.
It was then that I realized a weakness of the Ride spell: namely, that multiple individuals could bear the same name and thus become potential hosts. I had little way of telling them apart.
I focused on what I knew of my would-be host: Sapa, merchant, Zachilaa, associated with Tlazohtzin. The paths swiftly closed except for one. It seemed that the more information I gathered on a target, the easier it became for my spell to target it.
I found a Teyolia on the other side of the spiritual pathway, as weak as mine was strong; a spark of spirit in a shell of flesh. I slipped inside like a foot inside a sandal. I felt almost no resistance as my spirit overwhelmed that of my host. Qollqa was just a man, neither blessed by the Nightlords nor a Nahualli. His mind was no match for a Tlacatecolotl¡¯s might.
My Teyolia and Tonalli overwhelmed those of my host, suppressing them, burying them, and crushing them into silence. My will filled a body that wasn¡¯t my own, like water meant for a chalice struggling to settle into a smaller cup. Older eyes than mine opened and let me see through them.
I awoke in a plain, if comfortable bedroom, sharing a mattress of cotton with a woman I did not recognize. Qollqa¡¯s wife I assumed. She slept soundly under a linen blanket, unaware of the spell under which her husband had fallen. I rose from atop a cushion and slowly into a body that wasn¡¯t my own.
The distances felt wrong. I glanced at calloused hands, then at the loincloth between a set of brown legs. Qollqa was slightly taller than me, older, and more muscled. It took me a few seconds to stand without stumbling and a good minute to walk towards the nearest window.
The sight of a city bordering a vast expanse of water awaited me outside the bedroom, the stars¡¯ glittering light reflecting on the surface. A hundred ships gently floated near docks of wood as the waves caused them to gently sway from left to right. The only ocean I¡¯d seen was the lake of tears surrounding Mictlan, a place as ominous as it was beautiful. That one filled my heart with wonder. I had dreamed so many times of taking one such ship and traveling to distant lands.
It felt like a lifetime ago since I allowed myself to think of a brighter future.
I looked at the horizon, where a distant torch appeared to shine in the darkness beyond. It said volumes about Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption that I could see it from countless leagues away. It should take days for any messenger to reach the port and arrest Qollqa. I had time.
I walked outside the bedroom in naught but a loincloth and found myself facing a man in a stone corridor. He appeared in his fifties or so, with plain clothes and a wooden collar tightly bound around his neck.
¡°Master?¡± he asked in Yohuachancan. ¡°Are you having trouble sleeping?¡±
My eyes lingered on the collar around his neck. I had already seen their kind before in the capital¡¯s marketplace.
This man was a slave.
In a way, it reassured me. I would feel less guilty about what I was about to do to Qollqa now that I understood his true nature.
I tried to think of a name for the man, but nothing came up. I immediately understood another flaw of the Ride spell: I gained none of my host¡¯s knowledge. Qollqa¡¯s suppressed mind wouldn¡¯t remember what I did in his body, but it wouldn¡¯t provide me with information either.
I would need to combine the spell with the Augury in the future. Glean information from the winds of chaos, then possess the right vessel to act upon it.
¡°I am sleepy,¡± I told the slave. ¡°Remind me where my study is.¡±
The slave looked at me with a puzzled expression, but did not question his master¡¯s demand. I followed him to a room a few doors away from Qollqa¡¯s bedroom. As I suspected, my host was a man of plenty and wealthy enough to afford his own house. How befitting of a merchant.
Qollqa¡¯s study was even larger than his bedroom, with a wooden desk and shelves filled to the brim with scrolls, ink, quills, and other documents. Perfect.
¡°Is one of the ships ready to sail back to the Sapa Empire?¡± I asked the slave as I sat behind the desk. I quickly searched until I found a seal of wax.
¡°Yes, Master, of course,¡± the slave replied. ¡°Captain Apocatequil is set to leave on the morrow with your shipment.¡±
¡°Tell him to leave now,¡± I said, grabbing an empty scroll and a quill. ¡°Wake him up if you have to.¡±
¡°Now?¡± The slave looked positively aghast. ¡°Master, with the eruption, it might be wiser¨C¡±
¡°Now,¡± I insisted. I started writing as I spoke. ¡°You will give the captain a letter from me. He is to deliver it to the proper authorities the moment he reaches shore.¡±
¡°The proper authorities?¡± The slave now looked at me in utter incomprehension. ¡°Master, I do not understand.¡±
¡°Anyone who can deliver it to the local Apu, or whoever will listen. The letter is not to be opened nor read until then. Pay the captain whatever price he requires for his swiftness and silence.¡± I looked into the slave¡¯s eyes with all of my will and authority. ¡°This is a tremendously important matter. Do not fail me.¡±
The slave clenched his jaw, then slowly nodded. I spent the next few minutes writing down Yohuachanca¡¯s invasion plans while he waited in silence.
In the document, I pretended to have intercepted important documents through my contacts and to act out of patriotism. I explained that I learned of the Nightlords developing a vile weapon¡ªa plague that could twist and corrupt the living¡ªand how the current emperor would propose a Flower War as a distraction for a naval invasion from the west. I urged the authorities to act upon this information to the best of their abilities and prepare for war.
¡°Go on,¡± I said upon sealing the scroll with wax and giving it to Qollqa¡¯s slave. ¡°Do it promptly.¡±
¡°I shall, Master,¡± he replied before leaving with the document.
Once the slave was gone, I started working on another letter. I then wove a tale of lies and deceit.
In this letter addressed to the Apu Inkarri, I, Qollqa, reported my success in smuggling my lord¡¯s artifacts through the border and how I had gifted them to the ¡®asset¡¯¨CI briefly considered naming Tlazohtzin, but that would have made the string too obvious. I asked Inkarri why he had ordered me to do so and why he had urged for secrecy, since the nature of the assignment escaped me.
In short, I all but admitted to being a foreign spy reporting to his hidden Sapa master.
I sealed the letter with wax right as the slave returned. ¡°The captain is ready to sail, Master,¡± he said while gasping for air. He must have run back and forth. ¡°Though he asked for twice the usual payment.¡±
¡°No matter,¡± I replied calmly. So far so good. ¡°I will work tirelessly tonight. Do not disturb me until you have seen the captain¡¯s ship vanish beyond the horizon.¡±
¡°As you wish, Master.¡± The slave bowed in deep reverence. ¡°You may call me whenever you need me.¡±
I watched him close the door behind him and then pondered my options. With luck, the invasion plans would reach the Sapa¡¯s leadership. I had no guarantee that they would act on it, or even believe the report, but I prayed that they would. Anything that made the future invasion more difficult would support my cause.
Now, I had to decide what to do about Qollqa. I first proceeded to hide the fake message in the desk¡¯s drawer under a hoard of documents. It would fool most cursory searches, but dedicated investigators¡ªsuch as red-eyed priests looking for evidence¡ªwould find it.
Mother informed me that victims of the Ride spell couldn¡¯t remember what their possessor did in their bodies, so Qollqa himself shouldn¡¯t recall penning the message. Any protest of his would fall on deaf ears once the priests thoroughly raided his home and found the fake evidence. The scroll would somewhat corroborate Lady Zyanya¡¯s claims, secure her safety, spare her family from the Nightlords¡¯ wrath, and let me cultivate her as an asset in the future.
It shamed me to sacrifice my host this way though. Slavery aside, Qollqa had done nothing to deserve the cruel fate the Nightlords would subject him to. I supposed I could delay the message¡¯s discovery, indirectly inform Qollqa, and then give him a head-start. With luck, he would manage to flee Yohuachanca before the red-eyed priests learned of his treachery.
However¡
However, I could not afford to leave a loose end.
If Qollqa somehow managed to find the message or convince the Nightlords that he hadn¡¯t penned it, then they might suspect foul play. I needed him to take the fall for his ¡®crime¡¯ in a way that wouldn¡¯t be contested.
I could only think of one way.
¡°I apologize for what I am about to do,¡± I told Qollqa through his own mouth. I raised the sharp tip of the quill up to the man¡¯s neck. ¡°But if you get caught, the vampires will drink your soul. At least you will earn an afterlife this way.¡±
I stabbed Qollqa¡¯s carotid with all of his strength.
The quill¡¯s pointed end was no obsidian knife, but it was sharp enough to pierce the skin and reach the artery underneath. A sharp phantom pain raced through my throat, though I ignored it. After all I had endured¡ªstabbing myself in the heart, fighting monsters, and Xibalba¡¯s trials¡ªI could handle it easily enough.
I sensed Qollqa¡¯s buried spirit jolting awake in the depths of his borrowed body. I easily suppressed him. I sat in the chair in silence as blood flowed down my borrowed neck. I felt neither remorse nor fear as my vessel grew cold and stiff; only grim calculation born of acceptance.
I knew that the Nightlords would never believe it to be a suicide. In fact, I counted on it. Once the slave reported his master¡¯s strange behavior and found the hidden message, they would instead suspect that Qollqa had been silenced by his hidden master. All evidence would point to Inkarri.
There is nothing special about human life. I stared at the study¡¯s door with cold dead eyes, my vision blurring as Qollqa¡¯s body swiftly emptied itself of its lifeblood. No one opened it. Nobody heard the gargled agony of my paralyzed host; no god intervened to save his life with a miracle. There is nothing special about death either.
It was over in a minute¡¯s time.
I waited until Qollqa¡¯s Teyolia extinguished itself to leave his body. I sensed my host¡¯s Tonalli descend into the Underworld to its restful home in Mictlan while mine fell further down into the depths of Xibalba.
I awoke again in my body, unharmed and whole. Chamiaholom had finished consuming her feast of meat by the time I returned. She didn¡¯t say a word, nor ask about how the trip upstairs went. She didn¡¯t need to.
She simply smiled.
In response, I carved new names on my ribs right next to Qollqa¡¯s: Tlazohtzin¡¯s, Chimalli¡¯s, Sigrun¡¯s, Guatemoc¡¯s¡ all the innocent people who had paid the ultimate price for my ambition or suffered under the Nightlords. Those whose name I could remember at least.
¡°They have died for me,¡± I explained to Chamiaholom. ¡°I will not forget them.¡±
¡°I am so sorry, my sweet child¡¡± The hag shook her head in what could pass for compassion. ¡°But you will quickly run out of space.¡±
The Bonecrafting training went well. Necahual had given me a few pointers about human anatomy while we spent time in the bath, so altering another¡¯s skeleton came easier to me. Chamiaholom said I was ready to alter my own bones by the time the night came to a close.
¡°How sad,¡± she said as I slowly drifted back to the living world. ¡°Our next session might be our last.¡±
I hoped so. The hag was a terrible influence on me.
I awoke in my bed with Tenoch and Atziri on each side of me. Both remained asleep, the former snorting slightly louder than the latter. I found myself thinking of Qollqa¡¯s wife. I wondered what she would do once she awoke to find her husband drenched in his own blood.
Stop thinking like that, Iztac, I tried to tell myself. What is done is done. If you keep looking back, you cannot advance. The only path is the one ahead.
No matter how many corpses I piled up behind me, I had to keep walking towards a brighter tomorrow.
Yesterday only had death and regrets to offer.
My quarters¡¯ doors opened and Tayatzin entered. ¡°I see Your Majesty is awake,¡± he noted with a short bow. ¡°Good. The goddess Iztacoatl sent me to fetch you.¡±
My blood turned to ice in my veins. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°The goddess¡¯ thoughts are a mystery to me, but it appears Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption is calming down,¡± my advisor replied. ¡°I expect that Your Majesty will address their loyal subjects tonight and tell them of the heavens¡¯ wills.¡±
My vacation had been short-lived.
Chapter Forty-Two: The Big Lie
Iztacoatl¡¯s crypt reeked of blood and songs.
The former was expected from all places associated with the Nightlords, but the latter took me by surprise. A haunting melody of windpipes and exotic instruments resonated from my palace''s depths. I quickly identified a few tunes from my visits to Ingrid''s quarters.
Someone was playing a Winland harp.
When Tayatzin came to fetch me this morning on Iztacoatl¡¯s behalf, I expected to travel to the temple or the Nightlords¡¯ abode. My new vampiric overseer had instead decided to invite me to her private quarters under my palace. I suspected all of the Nightlords maintained special areas in my prison¡¯s basement. If I was allowed to leave my room, then it meant they believed the place safe from Sapa spies and assassins.
I tried to memorize the path towards it, but my guards guided me through too many stairs and turns. I walked between sinister sculptures of stone feathered serpents under the soft glow of brasiers. The stench of death permeating the corridors would have made me vomit once upon a time.
When did I grow so used to it?
¡°I must leave you here, Your Majesty,¡± Tayatzin said as he abandoned me in a corridor alongside my guards. ¡°I bid you good luck.¡±
He wasted his breath. Luck held no sway in this place.
I already knew what to expect as I walked into the darkness. With the eruption calming down, I would be expected to make a speech tonight and reassure the population. My jailers no doubt wanted me to rehearse a performance to ensure I would not disgrace them.
My journey ended in a lofty chamber deep below the earth, dimly lit up by statues of coiling snakes holding green and blue flames in their mouths. I detected incense in the air, sweet and enticing. Mosaics of skeletons with ruby eyes adorned the walls, staring at the most sinister part of the room¡¯s architecture: a rectangular marble bath in its center, around nine feet wide and filled with steaming blood.
¡°Welcome, my songbird.¡± Iztacoatl languished inside her gruesome bath, her shoulders against the stone, her breasts half-sunk inside the blood, her naked legs peeking above the rippling surface. ¡°You are right on time to enjoy the show.¡±
To my surprise, the Nightlord shared her chamber with a set of attendants. A group of young men played instruments for her, all of them unnaturally pale, forever young, and unnaturally beautiful. Their crimson eyes stared at me with a predatory look and the few who acknowledged my presence sported smiles full of sharp teeth.
Nightkin faking humanity.
Their presence came as a surprise to me. I knew for a fact that the Nightlords could turn women into vampires¡ªI would never forget that night I saw Eztli¡¯s transformation¡ªbut it was my first time seeing their males in human shape rather than under the guise of batlike beasts. Moreover, a few of them shared my white hair and pale skin.
Somehow my gut told me that this detail mattered.
I cautiously examined them and made a point of memorizing their faces. These vile creatures all dressed in light clothing and gold jewelry styled after Sigrun''s culture, though none shared her physical features. They played horns and handheld harps with surprising skills.
¡°I see you recognize the instruments,¡± Iztacoatl noted, her words playful and her eyes sharp. I felt like prey being observed by a predator searching for any sign of weakness.
¡°I do, goddess.¡± It hurt my throat to say the last word. ¡°I thought Sigrun alone survived the raid on her ship.¡±
¡°Not quite true. The sailors¡¯ wives and daughters were given to one of your predecessors, while I kept the singers for myself. I could not let them die until they had passed on their valuable skills to my progeny.¡±
I supposed even Nightlords enjoyed leisurely moments now and then. They couldn''t torture poor mortals all the time.
Something is wrong, I suddenly realized. Iztacoatl is in too good of a mood.
Her sister perished in the most devastating cataclysm the empire had ever known, yet she found time to entertain herself? It couldn¡¯t just be the eruption calming down. Something had happened during my confinement.
¡°Why has the goddess called me?¡± I asked cautiously, fishing for information.
¡°Why the rush, pet?¡± Iztacoatl knew the nickname annoyed me, so she delighted in using it again and again. She beckoned at me with her hand. ¡°Join me.¡±
I stared at the pool with apprehension. I didn¡¯t need the Gaze spell to tell that this churning blood was unnatural: brief glimpses of screaming faces constantly formed and dissolved on its turbulent surface.
¡°Don¡¯t be shy. Do you know how many prisoners it takes to fill this bath? I can only afford to take a few each year, lest I run out of food.¡± Iztacoatl lightly spilled some of the blood outside the bath, once again showing her disdain for the lives of others. ¡°You will feel better after a soak.¡±
Swimming in a bath of cursed blood did not appeal to me in the slightest, but the Nightlord¡¯s vampiric servants had already begun to undress me with their cold dead hands. To my utter disgust, Iztacoatl appraised my nakedness with a lurid smirk, like a brothel owner appraising their merchandise. Did I look like that when I selected my concubines for the night?
¡°Young enough for my taste, thin enough too,¡± Iztacoatl commented. ¡°I like young boys who sing. Can you sing?¡±
I hid my disdain behind a blank expression. ¡°No, goddess.¡±
¡°You will learn to sing for me,¡± she said as if I were a slave. ¡°Now come clean yourself.¡±
There was nothing clean about this bath, but I walked into it anyway. The tub was hardly deep enough for me to stand up in by the waist, its warm liquid sticking to my skin like hot mud and its steaming fumes filling my nostrils with strange smells. I immediately recognized the presence of herbs and reagents in the blood. Their aromas seemed familiar to me, but I couldn¡¯t put a finger on why. Perhaps Necahual used them in her potions.
To my unease, immersion felt oddly pleasant. I had already rested into a pile of human intestines. I supposed a bath of blood felt hardly nauseous in comparison.
¡°How strange,¡± Iztacoatl noted immediately. ¡°You aren¡¯t frightened. It is like you have already done this before.¡±
Damn it, she was uncannily perceptive. ¡°Nothing you do can surprise me anymore, oh goddess.¡±
¡°No, I do not think this is a question of surprise.¡± She rested her head on her hand, studying me. ¡°You have killed another human being in the past.¡±
I answered her with unnerved silence. Something brushed between my legs. I looked down to see serpentine shapes swimming under the bath¡¯s surface and peeking just long enough to stare at me.
Snakes. As white as snow, with ruby eyes of dark crimson.
¡°You are not afraid at all,¡± Iztacoatl mused. ¡°I have seen warriors twice your age quiver in your place, but you? You remain eerily calm.¡±
Curses, I had grown so used to hiding my emotions that I struggled to properly express fear. Everything about this scenario was a test. Iztacoatl was trying to throw me off my game and draw conclusions from my reactions.
My best bet was to provide as little information as possible. Give evasive answers.
¡°I do not wish to disappoint the goddess with cowardice,¡± I lied.
¡°You truly take me for a fool,¡± she replied. ¡°Do you take me for a fool, songbird?¡±
No, I take you for a monster. ¡°No, goddess, I do not.¡±
¡°Then do you think we do not see all the whispers spoken under the cover of songs and music? The way you try to position mortals in a way that will earn their favor?¡± One of Iztacoatl¡¯s white snakes peeked its head out of the blood bath and crawled along its edge. ¡°Do you think we would let you get away with your schemes if they mattered?¡±
¡°No, goddess, of course not.¡± Not without magic at least. ¡°You allow them because they amuse you.¡±
Iztacoatl smiled at me and then caressed the head of her snake. The serpent let out a hiss as it crawled away toward the Nightkin singers.
¡°Have you ever seen a snake pit?¡± Iztacoatl raised a hand above the surface of the bath and watched as blood droplets rained upon it. ¡°Put a hundred snakes in a hole, and they¡¯ll spend too much time biting and fucking each other to escape. Sometimes we throw in a piece of meat or a venomous newcomer to keep the frenzy going, but the pit? The pit never changes.¡±
I listened to her words with a blank expression. As a matter of fact, I had heard of a noble who once kept one such contraption in his home. The rumors said that the owner slipped one day and fell inside it. He had died from over fifty bites by the time his servants could pull him out.
One day, I would drag Iztacoatl into a hole and crawl over her corpse to freedom.
My true feelings must have shown on my face, for Iztacoatl tilted her head to the side in amusement. ¡°How do you imagine you will kill me, pet?¡± she asked me. ¡°By strangling me? Beheading me?¡±
Personally, I would settle for whatever worked. I wisely kept that thought to myself as I sat in the bath in utter silence, letting the warm blood cover me all the way up to the shoulders. I eyed her without giving an answer. As I suspected, she quickly lost patience with my silence.
¡°Come to me,¡± Iztacoatl ordered me. ¡°Don¡¯t be so shy. Have I not promised you pleasure if you behave?¡±
She just wants to humiliate you, Iztac. I retreated inside myself as I swam to the Nightlord¡¯s side. She had me sit between her legs, my back against her breasts. Her arms were colder than the Rattling House¡¯s snow in spite of the bath¡¯s warmth. I felt them coil around my waist and hold me tightly. Do not give her the satisfaction. Be like the mountain that laughs at the wind.
I wouldn¡¯t let her unnerve me.
¡°I do not sense any appreciation from you,¡± Iztacoatl whispered in disappointment. ¡°Many would kill to share a goddess¡¯ bath.¡±
I would rather kill her in the bath and then share it with her corpse, but the option was unfortunately beyond me. For now. ¡°I am unworthy of the honor, goddess.¡±
¡°Modest too.¡± I sensed her icy lips brush against my ear. ¡°Perhaps I will have you share my bed too, once you learn to sing properly.¡±
This time I failed to hide a sneer of revulsion, which delighted Iztacoatl. As I suspected, she sought only to torment me. I ought to turn the tables back on her. Test her.
¡°Bold of you to think,¡± I replied with a snort, ¡°that you would satisfy me.¡±
The Jaguar Woman would have strangled me in Iztacoatl¡¯s place. Her sister simply laughed.
This told me two things: one, that Iztacoatl had a sense of humor, and two, that she would rather play with her food than beat it into submission.
¡°I hear that you have followed my orders to breed, pet,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°However, your new favorite has been asking questions about my sister Yoloxochitl¡¯s whereabouts. I do not like it.¡±
Could she read my mind, or was she merely probing my defenses one after another? Necahual hadn¡¯t wasted time in following through with my orders, but she still lacked subtlety.
I had to redirect Iztacoatl¡¯s attention away from her.
¡°Perhaps I should tell her that Lady Yoloxochitl has died then,¡± I whispered back to her. ¡°That should put an end to such speculation for good.¡±
Iztacoatl¡¯s chuckle sounded even more sinister than Chamiaholom¡¯s. ¡°That is so cute,¡± she said, her tongue licking her lips. ¡°You are trying to draw my wrath so I will forget about that woman. You actually care.¡±
I gritted my teeth in frustration, though deep down I felt slightly relieved. My true misdirection worked: namely, that Necahual wouldn¡¯t be inquiring about Yoloxochitl¡¯s whereabouts if she knew of her demise. That secret was safe for now.
¡°Moreover, you are wrong.¡± Iztacoatl traced a line along my arm with her finger. ¡°My sister is back from the dead.¡±
This time, I couldn¡¯t hide my surprise. My head snapped in the Nightlord¡¯s direction in disbelief. I immediately realized that it was a mistake. Iztacoatl stared back at me with a sick, vicious grin; my reaction had proved my disloyalty.
That was a lie. I sensed only three chains binding my Teyolia. If Yoloxochitl had returned from the dead, I would know.
¡°True power does not come from killing, my pet,¡± Iztacoatl said, her fingers pinching my left cheek. ¡°Power comes from lying. Once you get people to believe that what their eyes and ears tell them is false, then you own their soul.¡±
As I suspected, the Nightlords expected me to lie to the entire empire tonight. I quickly feigned ignorance. ¡°I do not understand, oh goddess.¡±
¡°You will soon.¡± Iztacoatl kissed me on the neck, the brief icy contact sending shivers down my spine. ¡°My sister Ocelocihuatl would have torn off your tongue for your insolence, but I prefer much more artistic solutions. Simple violence grows dull after a while.¡±
Whatever she could do to me paled before what I had endured in the Underworld. At least, that was what I tried telling myself. My naivety lasted for less than a minute.
¡°Look up,¡± Iztacoatl whispered into my ear.
New flames lit up the ceiling the moment I raised my head. A warm droplet fell upon my cheek, and I quickly learned who gave their lives so that I might bathe in their blood.
Tlazohtzin and a dozen other men dangled above our heads.
They were mercifully dead, but I could tell that they had suffered gruesomely. The corpses were flayed from the throat to the toes. Their faces alone remained covered in masks of skin, their mouths forever trapped in a haunting expression of fear and terror. I recognized the Sapa ambassadors among their number. Their eyes looked down on me in silent judgment.
Did they know that I¡¯d killed them?
¡°I could fashion a cloak out of that Necahual.¡± Iztacoatl scratched my hair as if I were her dog. ¡°Peel her smooth skin inch by inch, starting from the toes and all the way to her lips. The victim lives all the while through the flaying if the procedure is done by an expert, and I¡¯ve had centuries to practice.¡±
To my horror, I was quickly reminded that the Nightlords¡¯ cruelty more than matched those of the Lords of Terror.
¡°Or perhaps you would prefer statues over clothes?¡± Iztacoatl stroked her chin. ¡°What is that little sister of Ingrid called again? Remind me, pet?¡±
My fists clenched in disgust and anger under the steaming blood. ¡°Astrid,¡± I rasped between my teeth. ¡°Her name is Astrid.¡±
¡°Astrid. What a lovely name for an art piece.¡± Iztacoatl glanced at the skeletal mosaics on the walls with a fiendish grin. ¡°I could seal her in a shell of gold. What a delightful gift it would make for her grieving sister, don¡¯t you think?¡±
That coward¡ Iztacoatl knew that nothing she could do to me personally would break my spirit, so she sought to hurt me through others. She turned my own compassion against me.
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She wants me to beg. Though I wished no more than to strangle her with my bare hands, I couldn¡¯t afford to risk Astrid¡¯s life, nor Necahual¡¯s. One day, Iztac. One day.
¡°Please¡¡± I gulped, the word straining my throat. ¡°Forgive me for my insolence, goddess.¡±
¡°Finally, genuine fear.¡± Iztacoatl laughed slyly. ¡°I could break your legs and you would still find a way to stand up with your pride intact. If I cut another¡¯s legs though, you will weep in regret. How delightful.¡±
¡°I apologize for my insolence,¡± I rasped again through my teeth while glaring at the churning blood. ¡°I shall not do it again.¡±
¡°I do not believe you, but I am a forgiving soul.¡± Thankfully, I didn¡¯t have to look at Iztacoatl¡¯s face. The smugness in her voice alone made me want to puke. ¡°I know you only say these harsh words because you haven¡¯t learned to love me yet, so I will let it slide this time.¡±
How merciful. I let her scratch my hair while letting her stew on her petty victory. The Nightkin singers began to dance before us to the tune of a hypnotic melody, as slow and mesmerizing as the one my concubines played earlier had been quick and rhythmic. I focused on them to better forget the Nightlord holding me in her arms, only for a surge of disgust to course through my spine when I looked at white-haired ones among them.
A few of them resembled me a bit too much.
She was mocking me, the wench. Mocking my life, mocking my work, mocking my ploys. She rehearsed my imprisonment like a bad play, except that she had put me in the place of the helpless toy and herself in the place of the almighty empress. Iztacoatl denied me whatever scrap of pride I could take in my servitude.
My thoughts wandered back to Necahual. I was going through the same humiliation I had forced upon her in our baths. I ought to apologize for it.
The white serpents crawled over the dancers¡¯ legs and chests before coiling around their necks like a hangman¡¯s ropes. The blood covering their scales dripped down their immaculate throats the same way that Qollqa¡¯s did. I couldn¡¯t avert my eyes from the macabre spectacle no matter how much I tried.
¡°I am sure of it now,¡± Iztacoatl whispered in my ear. ¡°You crave the thrill of death.¡±
¡°If the goddess says so,¡± I replied coldly. Her words washed over me like water on a rock. I wouldn¡¯t let her get under my skin more than she did.
¡°You think yourself better than us, but your soul is stained black.¡± She played with the churning surface with her hand. ¡°You can feel it, can you? That sweet power that flows in human veins?¡±
To my shame, I did. The herbs in the blood filled my nostrils and mind with fumes, while slow tides of blood eased my fatigue away. The fluid carried a dread power seeping into my body and sharpening my senses. My body was smooth within and without.
¡°Wicked sorcerers once used blood baths as part of a ritual to keep themselves eternally young,¡± Iztacoatl enlightened me. ¡°I do not need it, of course, but it smoothes the skin.¡±
¡°Why has the goddess called me?¡± I asked once more with impatience. I wanted nothing more than to escape her grip, the quicker the better.
¡°Patience, songbird. Patience.¡± It delighted her to deny my request. ¡°Enjoy the bath first. You better get used to them.¡±
¡°Get used to them?¡± My brows furrowed in annoyance. ¡°Will this happen again?¡±
¡°You will take blood baths on each new moon for the rest of the year,¡± Iztacoatl confirmed. ¡°Due to special circumstances, you will need to be prepared with extra care. These baths will keep you¡¡±
The Nightlord offered me the most ominous of smiles.
¡°Edible.¡±
The smell of herbs mixed in the bath immediately enlightened me. I finally remembered it. These weren¡¯t the scents of medicinal plants, but of cooking ingredients.
The Nightlords were seasoning me.
Yoloxochitl¡¯s death hadn¡¯t changed their ultimate goal. They still very much planned to sacrifice me on the Night of the Scarlet Moon. The loss of one of their numbers and the weakened seal of the First Emperor simply meant that they would need to prepare me with more care than my predecessors.
Iztacoatl let me stew for a moment, in both senses of the word. I sank into the warm blood and attuned my mind to the sorcery suffusing it. I half-believed what the Nightlord told me about its rejuvenating properties; the sparks of dead Teyolias still coursed through the liquid. They flowed inside my heart and the black, hungry pit of Iztacoatl¡¯s vampiric curse.
What effect would prolonged exposure have on me? Would it reinforce my sorcery or smother it?
¡°We have a sweet song for you, my pet,¡± Iztacoatl declared. ¡°You will rehearse its words until you believe in them.¡±
I snorted. ¡°The same song that the goddess asked me to sing in the throne room?¡±
¡°Of course, though we shall expand your repertoire a bit.¡± Iztacoatl gently scratched my cheek. ¡°We will need to parade you around for a while to reassure the livestock. You will look pretty and sing our praise to all who will listen.¡±
Parade me? I did my best to hide my excitement. Outside the palace?
With the eruption shaking the entire empire, the disasters that followed in its wake, and the coming war with the Sapa, the Nightlords sought to reassure their followers and intimidate their tributaries. I doubted they would let me out of the capital¡¯s hinterlands, but being outside these walls alone would widen my opportunities.
¡°I can see that you are already plotting to escape our sight,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°Please try. You will fail, and we will laugh.¡±
¡°I have no such intent,¡± I replied truthfully. Only the Nightlords¡¯ destruction alone would free me, and nothing else.
Iztacoatl let out a sly chuckle. She didn¡¯t believe me. ¡°Of course,¡± she said as the dancing spectacle came to an end. ¡°Oh, and one final thing.¡±
Iztacoatl marked a short pause and studied my expression with rapturous attention. I denied her any pleasure by remaining stone-faced.
¡°That girl, Eztli,¡± she said, ¡°shall no longer be your consort.¡±
My heart froze in my chest. All my fears for Eztli¡¯s safety returned stronger than ever. Had the Jaguar Woman¡¯s paranoia gotten the better of her? Had she found something about the ritual that demanded Eztli¡¯s death?
I should have convinced her to run, I told myself before forcing myself to calm down. Iztacoatl said she won¡¯t be my consort anymore. That could mean anything.
Which was what frightened me. Death wasn¡¯t the worst fate the Nightlords could provide to those who defied them.
¡°Why are you so tense, pet? Do you think we¡¯d kill our own?¡± Iztacoatl laughed at me, as if they hadn¡¯t been planning on sacrificing Eztli on the Night of the Scarlet Moon. ¡°You should feel happy for her. She has been promoted.¡±
Promoted? Could it be¡
My eyes widened in shock as I put two and two together. I stared at Iztacoatl in utter disbelief. She answered my expression with a slight nod.
¡°You catch on quickly, songbird. I would rather have chosen another path, but alas, fate has a morbid sense of humor.¡± From the brief flash of amusement in her crimson gaze, the irony of the situation wasn¡¯t lost on Iztacoatl. ¡°She will officially act as your fourth consort until we find a proper replacement, but the decision cannot be changed.¡±
The lie had become the truth.
I had witnessed Nochtli the Fourteenth and his consorts being led to the slaughter atop a longneck on the Night of the Scarlet Moon. I would have enjoyed my first ride atop one, had we not been in the exact same place and traveling to the same destination.
The golden palanquin gently swayed with each step of our ride, the cold nightly wind blowing on my face. I always imagined longnecks to be slow and the one carrying me to the Blood Pyramid was no exception. The green-scaled beast gently trotted among the streets of the capital, its immense weight shaking the ground. Walls weakened by the quakes crumbled at its approach.
The rest of the imperial procession was just as fearsome. Soldiers with brooms went first to remove the layers of ashes covering the earth. Wagons driven by trihorns and holding the quartered corpses of Tlazohtzin and his accomplices followed after them, so that the crowds of Yohuachanca could throw stones at the traitors to the state. The ones after carried broken statues of Sapa gods and painted fresco pictures representing the upcoming conquest of the mountain people by the ¡®true¡¯ deities of the night. I supposed it was a good way to whip the citizens into a frenzy. I suspected that most of them hadn¡¯t even heard of the Sapa before today.
My own longneck walked in the middle of the procession alongside an entourage of armed priests and masked guards. The military orders closed the march to the tune of war flutes and thundering drums. Nightkin flew above us and howled under the moonless dark as if to celebrate a victory.
I was the dark jewel of their parade. A puppet clothed in the remains of his enemies and stinking of blood. I felt soiled simply sitting atop the palanquin.
What a farce. I looked at Smoke Mountain in the distance with a heart filled with disgust. The volcano was slowly calming down and the clouds of dust raised by its fury had begun to clear, but rivers of magma continued to drip down its slope. It would be months before it ran out of flaming drool. Do they truly expect to save face like this?
¡°The stars do not lie,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. I had almost missed it. ¡°The night hungers for light.¡±
I looked up at the moonless night sky. The Scarlet Moon ceremony had taken place on the winter solstice and heralded the return of the day. Yet the night set one hour earlier than normal. The very heavens called out the Nightlords¡¯ lie.
Something had gone wrong with the cosmos.
I forced myself to smile as I waved at the crowds who had gathered to greet the cortege. Thousands upon thousands of imperial citizens acclaimed me with a mix of religious frenzy and fright. The sight of my hideous clothes terrified the children among them, but most simply bowed at my approach.
The lucky few among them caught the pieces of food that the priests threw in my name. The blood rain on the first day had polluted many wells and befouled a few gardens, so we had to open the imperial storehouses. I watched on as families fought over a piece of meat like dogs with a surge of disgust.
I understood their suffering, having gone through a famine myself, but somehow their reaction still disappointed me.
At least I am not suffering through this comedy alone. I turned my head briefly to look at my fellow prisoners. The Nightlords had allowed my consorts to accompany me. They looked wonderful in fine-colored clothes matching the Nightlords¡¯ favored ones; their headdresses of flowers, feathers, jaguar fur, and snakeskin made them look almost divine. While all of them took care to wave their hands at the capital¡¯s citizens, only Nenetl appeared to enjoy the longneck ride. None of them dare to look at me, however.
I could hardly blame them. I feared to look at my own reflection.
All four of my consorts sat on cushions behind me, each as silent as a tomb. Our captors forbade us to speak to one another; officially, to honor the dead; and in truth, to better hide the impostor among us.
I glanced at ¡®Eztli.¡¯ Chikal had noticed as well, and Ingrid sent her strange looks now and then when the sight of my costume didn¡¯t make her nauseous. Her instincts told her that something was wrong, but she couldn¡¯t put her finger on why. Only Nenetl seemed utterly oblivious to the truth.
We were sitting next to a fake.
The body double looked very much like Eztli, to the point it became disturbing the more I looked at her, but I had lived with the real one for years. I noticed the subtle shifts in posture, the small changes in expression¡
Unable to suppress my curiosity, I abruptly took the copy¡¯s hand into my own before she could pull away.
Warm. Her skin was warm and I sensed a pulse. She had to be a red-eyed priest.
The double smiled back at me as she removed her hand. She didn¡¯t say a word. I suspected her voice would have given her away.
¡°A prop for the people,¡± the wind whispered as we finally reached the Blood Pyramid. ¡°A prop for the heavens.¡±
Our longneck ride sat at the pyramid¡¯s base. Tayatzin and a set of priests helped our group climb down on wooden ladders and then ascend upward to the summit. It was difficult for me not to trip with each step.
A mantle of flayed human skin was no practical clothing.
To honor the First Emperor¡¯s mercy¡ªwhatever lie the Nightlords came up with¡ªI had been dressed in the skin of the sacrificed Sapa ambassadors. I assumed parts of Tlazohtzin were in there somewhere too. I had to suppress a morbid chuckle at the sinister irony. My guilt was physically latching onto me.
It was the mask on my face that felt the heaviest, however: a sinister artifact of jade in the shape of a bat¡¯s face. It covered my entire head save for the holes in the eyes, with etched ruby symbols glowing on its surface. I could hardly breathe through the obsidian teeth.
The priests said that I now bore the face of the First Emperor, but they were wrong. I had seen him. He was no bat, but darkness itself.
¡°Are you well, Your Majesty?¡± Tayatzin asked me after I nearly tripped on a slippery staircase.
These steps are soaked in blood. Centuries of sacrifices had tainted every inch of this structure. Moreover, I sensed a sinister force beneath my feet. Something vile lurks in the pyramid¡¯s depths.
¡°Have there been revolts since the eruption?¡± I asked Tayatzin. The consorts and I were forbidden to speak during the ride to the pyramid, but we had reached our destination. ¡°Riots?¡±
¡°Not a single one,¡± Tayatzin replied proudly. ¡°Your people are a quiet and devout lot, Your Majesty.¡±
He probably meant to reassure me this way. Instead, his words left me crestfallen. Not even a cataclysmic eruption or a set of disasters could shake the Nightlords¡¯ divine image.
The priests stopped climbing before me. My consorts followed all the way to the penultimate step, to represent their lesser role in the divine order. I alone ascended all the way to the summit.
The First Emperor¡¯s altar waited for me. Its spikes reminded me of gnashing fangs hungry for blood.
¡°Not today,¡± I muttered under my breath. Not any day.
A shrieking swarm of Nightkin heralded the Nightlords¡¯ coming. The four appeared around me in hooded cloaks. Their masks hid their cruel faces from the world with one exception. While three carried themselves with the arrogance of false goddesses, the fourth meekly remained silent, her back tenser than a bowstring.
Eztli struggled to fit Yoloxochitl¡¯s robes, but no one would tell from afar.
¡°The show must go on,¡± the wind whispered in my ear, ¡°Until the stage burns to ash.¡±
I finally understood why Eztli survived Yoloxochitl¡¯s death.
The four consorts stood in for the Nightlords and I for the First Emperor. Eztli was meant to represent Yoloxochitl and bore her curse. Yohuachanca believed Yoloxochitl was alive, and so she was. The false goddess had died, but her image survived through her followers¡¯ faith.
The Nightlords had practiced the ritual for so long that like a tradition carried on by inertia, the death of an actor on-stage would not end the performance so long as someone could replace them on the fly. People continued to believe that the four sisters ruled absolute and that Yoloxochitl still haunted the world; if none of them could tell the real from the illusion, then the mirage would become the truth.
The Nightlords intended for Eztli to adopt her tormentor¡¯s name and identity, tricking both their subjects and the cruel fate that guided their ritual.
The fact that no fourth chain replaced Yoloxochitl¡¯s meant that the ritual remained fallible, but if I failed¡ if I failed to destroy the remaining Nightlords before the Scarlet Moon, then they would force Eztli to chain my successor. They would torture her into repeating their sick cycle of torment.
I needed to free her from this awful fate.
¡°If the stage sustains her,¡± the wind said, ¡°What shall happen once you destroy it?¡±
I ignored the taunt and briefly glanced around the stone platform. Most of my consorts were too frightened by the Nightlords to look at them and thus notice the switch.
Most except Chikal.
The amazon queen was the most observant of my consorts and showed it again. Her eyes wandered from the fake Eztli to the real one, before settling on me. Our gazes met for the briefest of instants.
Then she knew for certain.
Chikal had seen me command the wind. She learned that I planned the war with the Sapa in secret and that I worked to destroy the Nightlords from the shadows. The truth wasn¡¯t hard to glimpse for her. Unlike the Nightlords, she wasn¡¯t too arrogant to believe that nothing existed beyond her knowledge; she didn¡¯t need to understand how I¡¯d killed Yoloxochitl to realize that I¡¯d done it.
I had promised her that I would destroy a Nightlord one day, and I fulfilled it.
Chikal quickly looked away before anyone could notice our discreet exchange. However, I didn¡¯t fail to catch the shadow of a smile at the edge of her lips. I found that promising.
My joy lasted until I sensed the Jaguar Woman¡¯s shadow looming behind me.
¡°It is time, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± she said imperiously. ¡°Tell your people the truth.¡±
The truth. The very word sickened me.
I stood at the top of the Blood Pyramid, surrounded by the undying and looking down on their living slaves. I had a perfect view of the city from so high. A thin mantle of ash and dust covered the roofs as far as my eyes could see. Hundreds of thousands of eyes stared at me in silent awe, begging for me to lie to them, to assure them that all was right, that their false gods were true and that victory was assured.
I had never fathomed the sheer size of my empire until now. As I gazed upon the multitude waiting for my false wisdom, I wondered how many people suffered under Yohuachanca¡¯s yoke. Millions? If it wanted, this mass of flesh could swallow the priests and Nightkin like the rising tide.
So why didn¡¯t it? I had shattered the Nightlords¡¯ illusion of invincibility for the first time in centuries. Why couldn¡¯t these people see through the veil? Why did they not revolt?
¡°Because they would rather believe,¡± the wind whispered in my ear.
¡°Do you understand now, pet?¡± Iztacoatl whispered into my ear. ¡°How misplaced your hopes are?¡±
In the depths of my heart, I had held on to the hope that the citizens of Yohuachanca would rebel. That the eruption and the destruction of Yoloxochitl¡¯s priesthood would awaken the fighting spirit of my people. I had dreamed of them rebelling and shaking off their chains now that they had loosened.
Instead, nothing had changed.
The Nightlords would keep lying, their servants would keep believing, and their thralls would keep taking the lash one indignity at a time. They were livestock sleepwalking to the slaughter.
My people would never drag the Nightlords off their thrones. I could only count on myself.
¡°Now sing,¡± Iztacoatl ordered calmly. ¡°Sing for us.¡±
I pondered her words. I thought back to the hours I spent rehearsing her neat little speech. I recalled all the lies I was supposed to sing to a million fools; how the Nightlords and I had saved the dawn from the foreign traitors who sought to usurp it. I remembered the truth I was supposed to hide; that the disasters striking Yohuachanca were their rulers¡¯ own fault and the result of their mad ambitions. I gathered my breath.
Then I refused to comply.
¡°My gullet swallows all,¡± I said with a deep, guttural voice. ¡°Even screams.¡±
The joke is on you.
I denied Iztacoatl. I denied the Nightlords¡¯ lies and their ill-gotten power. I sensed them tense up behind me and my consorts freezing below me. To their lies, I answered with a prank bolder than any other.
Huehuecoyotl would be proud.
¡°Your dawn will never come,¡± I said, the jade mask hiding my smirk. ¡°Traitors.¡±
I lied all the time and stood in the presence of true gods, so faking possession came easily to me. I remembered the First Emperor¡¯s words by heart. I hoped the truth in them would spare me the lash.
I couldn¡¯t be blamed if their Dark Father spoke through me in front of his own altar, could I?
The Jaguar Woman reacted first, as I expected her to. I sensed her fury reverberating through the chain holding my Teyolia. She tightened her grip on me with such rage and anger that I thought my heart would burst out of my chest.
A stronger force pushed her back.
I sensed it swelling upward from the black depths of the pyramid. I felt its touch in the encroaching darkness, in the blood tainting my skin. The flayed cloak of skin covering my shoulders fluttered in a baleful wind and stretched into the shape of great bat wings.
The mask on my face pressed against my skull. The pain was sharp and raw. The jade became my skin, the obsidian teeth my fangs. My breath carried the burning stench of sulfur.
¡°The traitors will perish,¡± I said, my voice reverberating with the echo of a million fresh graves. ¡°Death to those who have defied me. Eternal suffering to those who have betrayed me.¡±
Those were from my lips, but not my words.
¡°The door is unlocked,¡± the wind whispered. ¡°The hinges rattle in the cold.¡±
A swarm of small red-eyed bats descended from the clouds above. They flew in a circle above my head, forming a halo of fur and flapping wings. The Nightlords stepped back in fear and shock. I did not look at them. My bloodshot eyes fixated on the dark horizon and the countless ears listening to my prophecy.
The voice speaking through me did not talk to its food, but at it.
Gods or ants, they would all satiate his hunger.
¡°I am the dead black sun and the starless night,¡± I said with a voice that was no longer my own. It hurt my throat and filled my ears with blood. ¡°I am the teeth that herald the scream. I am the last word and the silence that remains.¡±
The lie had turned into the truth.
I had become a Godspeaker and a deity spoke through me.
¡°The heavens will weep tears of blood,¡± he said through my lips and obsidian teeth. A promise made to the earth and the sky. ¡°My true children will feast under the glow of the scarlet moon. The restless dead shall rise in silence as my teeth crush their wailing souls. You will wake up to a dawn bereft of light.¡±
We raised our hands to the night, seizing the stars.
¡°This is my year. This is my age. This is my time.¡±
The First Emperor departed me on this final word. The mask on my face loosened its grip and the mantle fell. The bats fled to all corners of the earth, and my body became my own again. I sensed countless gazes on me, from below and behind. I expected the Nightlords to tighten their chains on my heart and lash me half to death.
They did no such thing.
I was surrounded only by fear and silence.
I could get used to it.
Chapter Forty-Three: The Warrior Queen
¡°It could mean anything,¡± the Jaguar Woman said.
¡°It could mean anything?¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s mocking laugh echoed in the Abode of Darkness. ¡°Do you hear yourself, sister? He said death to those who defied him and worse to those who betrayed him. As far as prophecies go, this one sounds pretty clear-cut to me.¡±
¡°It could mean anything,¡± the Jaguar Woman hissed between her teeth. ¡°We will spin this prophecy however we need.¡±
¡°Not all prophecies come to pass either,¡± Sugey replied. ¡°We have dealt with this once before, we can do so again.¡±
Iztacoatl remained skeptical. ¡°What if he never goes back to his cage?¡±
I listened to their argument, my smile hidden under my bat mask. The First Emperor¡¯s words had shaken the Nightlords to their core. I wondered if Eztli shared in my relish. I could hardly see her expression under her hood and mask, and she wisely kept herself from interrupting the sisters¡¯ argument.
Another rain of blood had struck the plaza after my prophecy; an ominous sign if there was ever one, though it gave the Nightlords an excuse to end the ceremony early. They had all but dragged me down into their underground Abode the moment we returned to the palace to check on me with their magic. They had discovered nothing unusual, which frightened them all the more.
I knew the truth they so desperately wanted to avoid accepting. The Nightlords had spent centuries pretending that Yohuachanca¡¯s emperors were their Dark Father¡¯s spokesperson and representative on Earth. They had repeated that lie again and again until it became true. The same faith that allowed Eztli to fill in for their dead sister had allowed their imprisoned maker to speak through me.
I was under no delusion that it made us allies. The First Emperor was hunger incarnate and the source of the vampire curse. As far as I was concerned, he was an enemy of my enemy. Nothing more.
But I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t enjoy helping him strike fear in his arrogant daughters¡¯ hearts.
¡°He said that the heavens will weep tears of blood,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°He no doubt meant the rain that spoiled our ceremony. The dawn bereft of light fits with the increased length of nights.¡±
¡°Which leaves the true children¡¯s feast and the restless dead rising,¡± Sugey noted. ¡°I suspect the first refers to the bats plaguing the livestock.¡±
So you do not consider yourself his ¡®true¡¯ children? I wisely kept that question to myself. Everything pointed to the Nightlords being their father¡¯s blood daughters, but I might be missing a piece of the puzzle.
¡°Are the corpses of their victims well-guarded?¡± Sugey asked.
¡°They are, though none have risen,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied. ¡°Post guards around graves too. We shall take no chances.¡±
¡°What of him?¡± Iztacoatl turned her attention towards me. ¡°Should we keep him close?¡±
I tensed up as the Nightlords suddenly remembered my existence. Eztli found the courage to open her mouth. ¡°If I may¨C¡±
¡°Quiet, child,¡± the Jaguar Woman sharply interrupted her. ¡°You are allowed to stand with us by the will of fate, not our own. Learn, and then one night you may lead.¡±
I sensed Eztli¡¯s frustration from here. As an actor filling in for a dead ruler, she earned from the Nightlords the same respect I held for her body double: none at all. She was a figurehead as powerless as I was.
¡°Should we cancel the religious festivals?¡± Sugey asked. ¡°I can subjugate the mountain people on my lonesome too, if we must keep him away from the battlefield.¡±
¡°We cannot afford to look weak.¡± The Jaguar Woman spat the last word like an insult. ¡°Not now, not ever. An emperor who cowers and hides in times of crisis will invite attacks from our enemies.¡±
Trapped between a rock and a hard place? With the Sapa war on the horizon and the disasters plaguing Yohuachanca, the Nightlords had no choice but to parade me around to show everyone that everything was going according to plan.
However, the calculating looks that Iztacoatl sent me did not inspire confidence in me.
¡°Have faith, sisters,¡± she said with a dark chuckle. ¡°I suspect that our foes will come to fear our emperor of darkness.¡±
I clenched my teeth. I suddenly realized that foreign spies would no doubt send word of tonight¡¯s grim miracle to their masters. How would the Sapa Empire and the Three-Rivers Federation react once they learned that a dark god spoke through me?
The Jaguar Woman pondered her sister¡¯s words, then nodded at me. ¡°Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± she said sharply. Her mere voice caused my spine to stiffen. ¡°With the foreign intruders having been purged from our ranks, the palace should be safe for you once again. You shall be allowed to partake in the luxuries previously denied to you.¡±
I bowed to better hide the disgust in my eyes. ¡°The goddesses are merciful.¡±
¡°However, you are to report any divine message the moment you receive them,¡± the Jaguar Woman insisted. I sensed the subtle, invisible touch of her Doll spell closing on my throat, ready to strangle me at the first sign of defiance. ¡°Any vision, any dream, any prophecy. Do not, and you shall be severely punished. Do you understand me?¡±
¡°I do,¡± I replied, lying through my teeth. ¡°I have not forgotten your last lesson, goddess.¡±
Thankfully, I knew how the Jaguar Woman thought by now. Being reminded of the last time she cruelly disciplined me mollified her overbearing pride. I sensed the hold on my throat loosen up, and I was allowed to exit the chambers unmolested.
Eztli and I managed to exchange one last look as the Nightlords dismissed me. I so dearly wished I could speak to her in private and promise her that we would find a solution together, but now was not the time.
Moreover, I could tell that Iztacoatl wasn¡¯t fooled by my submissive behavior in the slightest. She would keep watching me.
Tayatzin and my guards brought me back to my room in dreadful silence. My new advisor showed none of his previous confidence in my presence. The red-eyed priests had only paid lip service to the idea of my godhood beforehand. They pretended that I was a sacred figure while knowing very well who truly ruled the empire.
Now? Now that they had heard a true god speak through me, they had come to truly believe; and faith was power. Being a godly messenger meant that my words and actions would receive greater scrutiny than before, but it could also prove an opportunity. The right prophecy at the right moment might sow discord among my foes.
I would need to discuss this with my predecessors as soon as I could. I would visit them tomorrow morning now that I could move about freely in the palace once more.
My maids removed the awful cloak of skin off my person upon returning to my chambers. I felt the mask latch onto my skin for a brief instant as my servants touched it, but it let go of my skull nonetheless. The First Emperor seemed reluctant to relinquish his mouthpiece. I better avoid tempting him again in the future.
¡°Will¡¡± Tayatzin cleared his throat as the maids changed my clothings. ¡°Will Your Majesty request company tonight?¡±
I pondered his question. I wasn¡¯t particularly looking forward to female companionship after sharing a blood bath with Iztacoatl, but she did warn me that a woman a day would spare me the lash. Keeping up the charade would both pacify her and give me an excuse to meet with an ally without arousing suspicion.
And I knew exactly who to call on.
¡°Summon my consort Chikal,¡± I said. ¡°Now that the palace has been purged of Sapa spies, we can resume our campaign planning.¡±
My answer broke through Tayatzin¡¯s caution and earned a chuckle out of him. ¡°Does Your Majesty never rest?¡±
¡°Not when our foes nearly killed me and tried to destroy my empire,¡± I replied tersely. ¡°The First Emperor promised his enemies death, and his will shall be done.¡±
Tayatzin paled at my words, his easygoing smile swiftly turning into a scowl. Amusing. I should speak in a god¡¯s name more often.
¡°Can any of my consort¡¯s amazon attendants sing and dance?¡± I asked. ¡°If so, then bring them too. I wish to hear Chilam¡¯s songs at least once before I die.¡±
¡°As Your Majesty wishes,¡± Tayatzin replied before hurriedly leaving to fetch Chikal for me. Hopefully her amazon servants should prove a better spectacle than Nightkin dancing under a ceiling of flayed corpses.
Chikal arrived a few minutes later alongside half a dozen amazonian bodyguards. None of them were allowed to carry weapons inside my quarters, though they looked no less fearsome with their bone flutes, skin drums, and clay ocarinas. I could have easily mistaken them for a military parade.
Chikal very much looked like a queen too. She still wore the exotic feather dress themed after the Nightlord Sugey, alongside a golden choker, a diadem, and moon-shaped earrings. Emerald rings bound her red hair into a high ponytail cascading down her back. Her calculating eyes set on me with a hint of unease. Chikal was adept at hiding her true thoughts¡ªfar better than me¡ªbut even she seemed shaken by tonight¡¯s events.
¡°Our Lord Emperor stinks of blood,¡± Chikal said with stark bluntness.
¡°Those of my enemies.¡± I wished I could say it was a figure of speech instead of the gruesome truth. ¡°I hope that this period of confinement did not dull your skills, Chikal.¡±
¡°With all due respect, I should ask you the same.¡± She studied me carefully. ¡°Would you care for a brief spar to check?¡±
Her blunt and unexpected proposal took me aback. ¡°A spar?¡± I repeated. ¡°Here and now?¡±
¡°Hand-to-hand,¡± she said with a wary and impenetrable stare. ¡°Nothing serious. I simply wish to ascertain your progress.¡±
Ah, so that¡¯s how it is. I could read between the lines. Chikal had guessed that I had indeed slain Yoloxochitl somehow, but she only respected strength. She needed me to showcase my power. I had an idea of how to do that without raising suspicion.
¡°Very well,¡± I decided before glancing at the amazons. ¡°Make space.¡±
I half-expected the amazons to complain about taking orders from a male, even one with the power to execute them with a word, but they wordlessly moved my dining table to a corner after receiving a short nod from Chikal. They then took off my belongings until only my loincloth remained.
Chikal hastily removed her feather dress herself and kept little more on than a cotton shirt. I guessed she wished to rid herself of that awful costume as much as I did my skin cloak. Her mighty muscles strained as she adopted a fighting stance. Though I had quickly gained in mass thanks to her training, better nutrition, and consuming godly embers, I was still months away from matching her.
Chikal immediately attacked me without warning. Her left fist moved faster than a jaguar¡¯s claw and aimed straight for my head. She wasn¡¯t giving me any mercy; and neither did I. I quickly dodged the blow and retaliated with one of my own. If Chikal¡¯s smile was any indication, she appreciated my improvements.
We traded a few punches back and forth, neither of us truly giving our all; Chikal because she probably worried about hurting me in a way that would cause her to be punished, and I because I didn¡¯t want to reveal too much of my abilities.
I eventually grew weary of this dance. I saw my chance to end it when Chikal asked to review my defensive stance. I raised my arms to protect myself from her punch the same way I had been taught to.
My Bonecraft spell activated the moment Chikal¡¯s fist hit me.
To the outside world, it seemed as if I had simply parried Chikal as she ordered me to. The true battle took place hidden from spying eyes under our skin. I didn¡¯t even need to summon a Veil. Chikal¡¯s eyes widened in shock as she sensed my sorcery spread to her body the moment we made contact. My will invaded her flesh through my hands like weeds taking root in fertile ground.
I had so many ways to kill her: crush her ribcage in on itself; turn her skull into a spiky cage impaling her own brain; shatter her spine into a thousand pieces. I could have ended her life in an instant.
I did nothing of the sort.
Instead, I showed restraint and immediately canceled my magic. So subtle was its activation that no one noticed it; no one but Chikal herself. She knew I could have snuffed out her life like candlelight.
Chikal quickly broke past my guard, grabbed my left arm, and then forced me to my knees with a hand on my shoulder. I caught a glimpse of a mix of rage and interest in her eyes. She resented the fact that I¡¯d held back against her and thus sullied her victory as much as my subtle display of supernatural power impressed her.
¡°You win,¡± I said.
¡°Your Majesty still has much to learn,¡± Chikal replied with calculating eyes. I could tell she was considering a hundred ways to respond before settling on the plain and diplomatic. ¡°But you are quickly making progress. I am impressed.¡±
She knew that I had grown in power since we last met. ¡°I have the goddesses to thank for it,¡± I replied insincerely. ¡°I did not slack off either.¡±
¡°No doubt.¡± She released her hold on me, her hands covered in my sweat. ¡°Your enemies will learn to fear your might, Iztac.¡±
¡°They will, in time.¡± I held her gaze, knowing very well that she wasn¡¯t speaking of my physical strength. ¡°Now that the Sapa¡¯s spies among us have been rooted out, we must proceed with the campaign¡¯s preparations.¡±
Chikal narrowed her eyes at me. ¡°Would Your Majesty mind if we discussed it in the baths? Tonight¡¯s ceremony and our spar have left me sweaty. I would like to clean myself and relax.¡±
¡°I see no objection.¡± She catches on quickly. ¡°I do look forward to a dip myself.¡±
So long as it didn¡¯t involve blood.
A few minutes later, I slipped inside a warm hot bath. The perfumed steam and salt-rich waters immediately dulled the exhaustion in my muscles. I immediately felt purer. The clean waves washed away the sticky sensation of dried blood on my skin. I let the liquid splash on my face and hair to better forget the way Iztacoatl touched both of them.
Chikal¡¯s handmaids began to play a song that resonated across my bathroom. One of them brought a bone flute polished to a sheen to her lips and whistled an aggressive melody. Another joining in with a conch shell trumpet and a third with an ocarina while the rest beat river turtle shells like drums.
All in all, I found the Chilam tribe¡¯s music more aggressive than that of Yohuachanca¡¯s. The amazons favored deeper percussion and faster rhythms than their conquerors. None of them danced either. These people weren¡¯t concubines desperate to please me and catch my eyes. Their pride remained unbroken in spite of their captivity.
It was fine by me. The noise they produced drowned out my and Chikal¡¯s voices. Sigrun managed to cover our discussions by having her daughters play the harp, so this should provide us with a degree of privacy.
Chikal herself joined me in the bath a minute later and sat at my side. Her amber eyes appraised me carefully, then darted around the room. Only when she became certain that no one would hear our discussion over the music and sound of running water did her curiosity finally overwhelm her.
¡°You killed her,¡± she muttered in my ear. ¡°The Flower of the Heart. You killed her.¡±
I did not deny it. ¡°I told you that I would.¡±
Chikal studied my expression, searching for any hint of deceit. I guessed she still wondered whether I had done the deed or simply taken credit for it. When she found no crack in my stony confidence, she finally accepted the truth.
¡°How did you accomplish this?¡± she asked me cautiously.
¡°That, I cannot tell you,¡± I replied. The less people knew about my abilities, the better. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to use my method anyway.¡±
¡°Because I cannot do magic?¡± Chikal took my silence as confirmation. ¡°When we fought in the courtyard, you whispered words under your breath and the wind started blowing to cover our conversation. I sensed you quelling your bloodlust tonight too. You could kill me in an instant if you wished, though I am stronger and quicker.¡±
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¡°A fact that leaves you distressed,¡± I noted.
Chikal snorted in disdain. ¡°There is no greater shame among my kind than to be spared by a male.¡±
¡°If it can reassure you, neither of us were allowed to truly fight,¡± I replied, wording my sentence carefully so it wouldn¡¯t sound like pity. Chikal might take it for condescension otherwise. ¡°I have yet to see you come at me with the intent to kill.¡±
¡°Would your magic slay me before I cut off your head?¡± Chikal crossed her legs under the water. ¡°If the Nightlords haven¡¯t quartered you yet, then you must have murdered their sister in a way that would hide your involvement.¡±
She was sharp, as always. ¡°What does that make me, in your mind?¡±
¡°A sorcerer of great power,¡± she replied cautiously. ¡°A dangerous foe to have.¡±
¡°I would have preferred that you call me an ally.¡± I could hardly blame her for maintaining a professional distance considering the risks involved, but I had no time for fence-sitters. ¡°I did not call you here to boast.¡±
Chikal nodded sharply at me. ¡°I told you that I would not help you in your plot against the Nightlords¡ but that I would likely change my mind if you somehow managed to kill one.¡±
I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Have you?¡±
¡°Truthfully, I did not believe that you would succeed,¡± she admitted. ¡°I made you that promise because anything that weakened Yohuachanca would help my sisters in Chilam. Now that a sister is dead and the pyramid wavers¡¡± She crossed her arms. ¡°What do you want from me, Iztac?¡±
I looked into her eyes. ¡°Everything.¡±
¡°That, you will not have,¡± she replied without blinking. ¡°I serve Chilam first and its people second. You shall not have either.¡±
This woman was no Necahual, that¡¯s for sure. She knew what she was worth and wasn¡¯t afraid to try and leverage her help for a better deal. The more I showed weakness, the less she would concede.
¡°Your bargaining position is highly dubious,¡± I replied sternly. ¡°I am your only hope of saving either.¡±
¡°I won''t trade one master for another,¡± Chikal countered with queenly pride.
¡°I do not want a slave.¡± I already had plenty of those. ¡°I want an ally. I want your assistance, I want your resources, I want your mind, your strength, and your soldiers. I want you to kill who I want you to kill, be where I want you to be, and lead your army in my name if need be.¡±
¡°You are quite greedy for a caged bird.¡± Strangely, I didn¡¯t pick up any disrespect in her voice. Quite the contrary, she appeared cautiously impressed by my confidence. ¡°Your edge has sharpened. Was it that woman¡¯s execution?¡±
¡°Her death and so many others.¡± The war, the eruption, and Qollqa¡¯s murder had all hardened my resolve. ¡°I¡¯m done with half-measures, Chikal. Either you board this ship now or I will sail forward without you. You may pray that I succeed and weep if I do not.¡±
I desperately needed allies, but if she was going to nitpick over everything then I might as well look for more secure partners.
I was confident she would try to negotiate. Chikal was smart enough to realize that she would die by the year¡¯s end if I couldn¡¯t defeat the Nightlords, so it was in her personal interest to help me. The opportunity to free her city from Yohuachanca¡¯s yoke might never present itself again.
¡°Before I answer you, I want you to answer a question,¡± Chikal said, her tone wary. ¡°What happened atop that pyramid? The voice that spoke through you¡ it sounded like you had become a demon.¡±
If only she knew I was well on my way to becoming one. ¡°Would you believe me if I said it started out as a prank?¡±
Chikal stared at me in disbelief, then laughed heartily.
I hardly recalled hearing my consort laugh at anything. Witticisms hardly ever earned more than a bemused smile. Even the musicians stopped playing, so surprised were they by her sincere and unexpected reaction.
¡°My apologies,¡± she told the singers before covering her mouth and stifling her laughter. ¡°Keep going.¡±
The amazons exchanged stunned glances, but returned to their song quickly enough. Chikal gathered her breath after regaining her composure. I took her reaction as a good sign.
¡°A prank?¡± Chikal repeated with a bemused smirk. ¡°The rain of blood that followed would attest otherwise.¡±
I scoffed. ¡°Do you believe that the Nightlords are gods?¡±
Chikal shrugged. ¡°No true god can die.¡±
A wise take on the matter, albeit a wrong one. ¡°The First Emperor exists, but he does not support this empire,¡± I explained. ¡°The Nightlords usurped his name and leech off his power. Now that they have lost prestige with Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise, he made his anger known.¡±
¡°Interesting,¡± Chikal replied. She seemed slightly disturbed by my tale, but not truly afraid either. Either she underestimated the First Emperor or she was still assessing the threat he presented. ¡°Is he your ally then?¡±
¡°He is an enemy of an enemy. I would not count on him to destroy the Nightlords for us.¡± The sisters would not be so foolish as to loosen their hold over his prison again. ¡°He lent me his voice and little more.¡±
Chikal snorted in disbelief. ¡°You say that as if it was no miracle in itself, Iztac. I do not recall a shaman among our people who has caught a god¡¯s eye, even one as sinister as Yohuachanca¡¯s patron deity.¡±
I shrugged my shoulders. I would rather have one less vampire to worry about, and the First Emperor was a long-term problem anyway.
¡°I have answered your question, now you will answer mine,¡± I declared boldly. ¡°Will you be my ally, or stay a fence-sitter?¡±
Chikal stroked her chin and observed me with a blank stare. I needed no spell to read her mind. She carefully weighed my odds of success, assessed the risks involved, and considered whether or not she could trust me. I had gambled much by giving hints of my true power to her, but our interests were aligned for now. She had seen firsthand that the Nightlords did not reward loyalty. She had little to gain from not sponsoring me, and too much to lose.
After a moment, Chikal finally gave her verdict.
¡°You will do,¡± she said.
I suppressed a victorious smirk. Our negotiation wasn¡¯t over yet and I expected a counteroffer.
¡°I want three concessions,¡± Chikal said with three fingers raised. ¡°Give them to me, and I shall work for you in any way that does not conflict with those conditions.¡±
I could already guess a few of them. ¡°State your terms, and I shall consider them.¡±
¡°First, I want Chilam to become free and independent from Yohuachanca. I want you to safeguard my people¡¯s interests when you truly come to rule the empire.¡±
Her wording confused me. ¡°When I will truly rule the empire?¡± I repeated. ¡°I do not understand.¡±
Chikal looked at me. ¡°You have not considered what you will do after destroying the Nightlords?¡±
I shook my head. Defeating the Nightlords was my only goal for now. Whatever would follow their downfall would be better than their rule.
¡°You should give it some thought,¡± Chikal scolded me. ¡°A good warrior thinks of the peace that will follow the war, for what is he fighting for otherwise?¡±
¡°Survival,¡± I replied frankly. ¡°And freedom.¡±
¡°You can aspire to more than either, Iztac,¡± Chikal replied, her expression unreadable. Did she believe I was lying, or was she trying to assess if I shared my slavers¡¯ ambitions? ¡°The Nightlords rule through strength. If you destroy them, then you will become the strongest in turn. You may find yourself becoming the emperor others pretend you to be.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t care about thrones, or Yohuachanca.¡± I cared about my freedom and the handful of people I loved. ¡°But fine. If I am ever in a position to secure your city¡¯s emancipation, then I shall return its freedom.¡±
¡°Good.¡± Chikal allowed herself to smile. She trusted my word. ¡°Next, if you are ever caught, you will not mention my name. You will take the fall for any help that I have provided you.¡±
I thought as much. ¡°I expect the same from you.¡±
¡°Only if you promise to return my city¡¯s freedom and prosperity to my successor, whoever she will be.¡± Chikal clenched her fists. ¡°Do you?¡±
¡°I do,¡± I replied without hesitation. If I failed, I could at least ensure that she would continue to sabotage Yohuachanca for what little time she had left to live.
¡°Then I shall carry your secrets to my grave.¡± Chikal¡¯s smile turned almost feral. ¡°As for my third concession¡¡±
Her hand lunged for my chest faster than a jaguar on the hunt.
Her fingers pushed me back against the marble edge before I realized what was happening. Chikal leaned over in a way that could pass for erotic, but she applied enough pressure with her palm to keep me down.
¡°In Chilam, males like you are slaves fit only for work or to father daughters,¡± Chikal told me with no small hint of disdain. ¡°As Queen, it was my duty to perpetuate my line with the most fit of specimens. I had my pick of captive warriors to choose from. Men of strength and character.¡±
Her expression twisted into a dark scowl that would have terrified many warriors.
¡°So imagine my humiliation,¡± Chikal rasped with seething hatred, ¡°When these so-called gods decided to make me a slave to a diseased puppet emperor, frail, weak, and unfit for war.¡±
This was the real Chikal hiding under her careful facade of regal composure; a ferocious amazon warlord with the pride and ferocity to match. The Nightlords had thought her tamed, yet she remained unbroken. She had only been biding her time to let the beast out.
¡°I have despised you the moment I lay eyes upon you, Lord Emperor,¡± Chikal confessed. ¡°Can you fathom the shame I felt at the thought of you touching me, raping me, and befouling my lineage with your diseased brood? I would have rather taken a lover among your guards if they hadn¡¯t lost their manhood.¡±
¡°Is that what you want?¡± I asked with a snort. As much as her taunts annoyed me, I remained focused on the potential alliance. ¡°That I do not touch you for the rest of the year?¡±
I could live with that. My palace housed more concubines than the year had days. I didn¡¯t need Chikal for her skills in bed, but for her resources and influence.
Chikal¡¯s widening smirk made me doubt my assessment.
¡°Oh, you misunderstand my point, Iztac. I said that a puppet¡¯s touch was unfathomable to me.¡± Her hand traveled down my chest and closer to my navel. ¡°Now, a nightslayer¡¯s seed is something else¡¡±
Chikal leaned in so close to my face that I could smell her warm breath on my lips.
¡°I want a daughter, Iztac,¡± she softly whispered in my ear, ¡°and I want her before the Scarlet Moon.¡±
I froze in place, my mind struggling to listen to what my ears told me. I stared at Chikal, half-expecting her to burst out laughing and confess it was a mere joke. She didn¡¯t.
¡°You are serious,¡± I said in utter disbelief.
¡°Do you doubt my resolve? My word is my bond. I do not give it lightly.¡± Chikal let go of my chest. ¡°That is my final demand, Iztac: a daughter of your blood who shall rule Chilam after me.¡±
A daughter. The word echoed in my head like a malediction. I had an unborn child once. The Nightlords burned it with its mother in their Sulfur Sun.
Chikal¡¯s demand made some degree of sense. As a foreign queen with only one year left to live, she had few options left to perpetuate her lineage. I had sufficiently impressed her with my strength and magic to count as a worthy candidate to sire a princess; Chikal probably hoped that my daughter would also inherit my Nahualli power. I was almost flattered.
However, she had forgotten one important detail: an emperor¡¯s daughter had no future.
¡°She will be born a slave,¡± I rasped back. A well-born one, but still a slave. ¡°A concubine meant to service my successors. Is that truly a fate you want for your daughter?¡±
Chikal scoffed dismissively. The prospect did not frighten her. ¡°If we win, she will be a queen. If we fail, she will avenge us. My subordinates will see that our hatred outlives us. My daughter will be raised to take arms against the Nightlords and complete what we could not.¡±
¡°Is that how you do things in Chilam? Pray that the daughter settles the mother¡¯s grudges?¡±
¡°Ours shall do it with her father¡¯s powers, if you are man enough to pass them on,¡± Chikal replied, her brows furrowing. ¡°This ought to secure my loyalty to you, would it not? I will be fighting for two lives instead of mine alone.¡±
When she put it that way¡ ¡°You will be expected to follow me to war,¡± I pointed out. ¡°A pregnancy would weaken you.¡±
Chikal let out a hearty laugh. ¡°My mother gave birth to me hours after winning a battle,¡± she said with amusement. ¡°Moreover, the war campaign will take place during spring and summer. We will have returned to your prison for the harvest season by the time my belly swells.¡±
I had to admit that I found Chikal¡¯s cold-blooded pragmatism almost refreshing. She reminded me of Sigrun in that way. I had promised her a child too in exchange for her support once, if she ever needed to secure her place as a concubine.
I pondered her proposal thoughtfully. Sleeping with women for power and favor meant that a few would inevitably bear my children. The Nightlords counted on it for their sick breeding program. I would no doubt end the year with a few sons and daughters, both of whom could only look forward to death and slavery.
This would happen whether or not I allied with Chikal, so what did it matter if we consummated our relationship? She was right. Either we succeeded and our children would be free, or we failed and some might pick up the fight. More pragmatically, it meant I could practice Seidr with another trustworthy partner.
I sat on the bath¡¯s edge, my legs in the water down to the knees. My head hurt a bit from the last blow, but the pain vanished when I examined Chikal more closely. My stare moved up from her chiseled abs to her strong breasts and thick shoulders. All the women I had been with were slim and delicate. Chikal was the exact opposite, fleshy and voluptuous.
It did not displease me.
¡°I take it that we have a deal, Nightslayer?¡± Chikal probed as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
¡°What if it is a son?¡± I asked, my hands fondling her breasts. Each was large enough to fit inside my open palms.
Chikal smiled in amusement as she clambered onto my lap. She did not push me back. ¡°A queen of Chilam has never given birth to a male,¡± she whispered in my hair. ¡°No magic in the world will change that.¡±
¡ª NSFW Scene Starts ¡ª
I bit her on the neckline as she impaled herself on me.
The musicians continued to play even as Chikal grabbed my manhood and steadied it with one hand. I grunted when she sank down on my length, her insides closing on me like an iron prison. I tasted the sweat on her skin and the salty bathwater alike. Chikal enveloped me in her flesh one moan at a time. Her knees sat on the marble around my lap and squeezed.
My consort reminded me of Sigrun as a mature woman with eagerness and experience on her side, but unlike Ingrid¡¯s mother, she cared little for my pleasure. Chikal crushed me under herself and quickly began to bounce off me with immense strength. My hands moved down her ass and squeezed to keep up the pace. The recoil sent shivers of ecstasy traveling through my spine, alongside sharp bouts of pain as she pulled off her entire weight on me. She gained the initiative and forced me to keep up.
¡°Quicker,¡± she ordered me as she hammered her hips up and down. Her earrings and breasts jiggled while she hastened her pace. ¡°Is that all you have, male?¡±
I responded with a grunt. When I struggled to adapt to her hastened rhythm, Chikal grabbed me by the throat with one hand and squeezed until red marks appeared on my skin. She enjoyed my pain much like I did Necahual¡¯s. Only when I bit her breast until I tasted her blood did I hear a moan of pleasure coming from her. Her body convulsed and tightened its grip on mine.
She liked it rough.
Our thrusts sent waves rippling through the bath. I sensed our Teyolias connect to the tune of the turtle shell drums and flutes. Her heart-fire blazed thrice brighter than Necahual, a bonfire to her candle. I tried to align her flame with mine¡ and swiftly failed.
Seidr¡¯s true power required two souls to align, to break down their mental defenses in order to focus on a common cause. Chikal did not lower her guard. Quite the contrary, her Teyolia instinctually pushed back mine in spite of the power difference.
¡°What was that?¡± Chikal asked, having sensed the touch of my magic. She grabbed my hair with one hand with such strength that it started to hurt and forced me off her breast with a twist of her wrist. ¡°What was that?¡±
¡°Power,¡± I grunted back, my nails sinking into her flesh until she bled.
¡°Give it to me then,¡± she said imperiously. When I failed to respond quickly she pushed me down with my back against the marble and hastened her pace. My groin ached under her weight. ¡°I am waiting.¡±
The more she tried to connect with me, the less I could focus.
Chikal wanted to dominate me. For all of my power and magic, I remained a male to her. Deep down she considered me a tool rather than an equal. She would rather take than share, the way Sigrun did. It would have worked if she had been a Nahualli or had Sigrun¡¯s expertise, but in the current situation it only weakened our bond.
I rose up out of frustration, pushing Chikal back and thrusting forward with all my strength. My consort nearly fell into the water behind us, but hung to my shoulders with a groan. I grabbed her hips and retook the initiative. My manhood twitched when she bit my neck deep enough to leave a bruise. My loins ached.
My vision went white as I let go.
Chikal moaned in pleasure as I came inside her. I struggled to hold on to her in spite of her convulsions. No vision came to reward my efforts. Her Teyolia broke from mine when my pulses slowed down to a crawl.
¡ª NSFW Scene Ends ¡ª
The Seidr ritual had failed.
¡°That was¡¡± Chikal let out a sigh upon finally relaxing. ¡°Acceptable.¡±
¡°It wasn¡¯t,¡± I grunted back. What pleasure our coupling gave me failed to compensate for my frustration at failing to use the Seidr spell. ¡°We will need training.¡±
Chikal snorted. She had taken my remark as a challenge. ¡°Let me gather my breath and we will try again.¡±
We had sex two more times before we finally drifted into unconsciousness. I gained a few bruises for my effort and came closer to achieving a Seidr vision with Chikal, but failed nonetheless.
I awakened in Chamiaholom¡¯s home with one hell of a foul mood; much to my host¡¯s delight.
¡°Sweetheart¡¡± Chamiaholom smiled at my angry scowl. ¡°Are you finding a queen a more difficult partner than a slave? You find me feeling sorry.¡±
I ground my teeth and didn¡¯t dignify her taunt with an answer. Tonight had showcased to me yet another limit of Seidr magic. Stealing power from a partner demanded little more than physical contact, but the best applications required trust. Necahual and I had hated each other for years. In a sinister way, we understood one another on an intimate level.
Chikal and I had been strangers until a month ago. It would take time before she could lower her guard enough to fuel the spell.
At least I have secured her allegiance. With Chikal agreeing to support my cause, I could ensure that the Sapa war would go disastrously wrong for Yohuachanca. She will make a worthy ally.
¡°I wonder if the Nightlords would let her daughter live,¡± Chamiaholom said with a cackle. ¡°Knowing them, they might smother the child in the crib out of boredom.¡±
A cruel fate hardly any kinder than a life of slavery. I ignored the jab and triggered my Bonecraft spell.
¡°You said that tonight might be our last lesson,¡± I told the hag. ¡°Let us make good on that promise.¡±
¡°You hurt me, dear. Are you in such a hurry to leave my side?¡± The Lord of Terror grinned. ¡°Have it your way. You will find my siblings less kind than dear old Chamiaholom.¡±
We spent the next hour or so practicing the Bonecraft spell when applied to oneself. Chamiaholom demonstrated the magic by causing a sharp skeletal spike to burst out of her wrist.
¡°Creating a bone blade means you will have to take matter from elsewhere, dear,¡± she told me. ¡°I suggest the ribs. One or two won¡¯t weaken you too much.¡±
¡°Is there any way to increase the quantity of my bones?¡± I asked my teacher. Consuming bones in one area to create more in another created dangerous vulnerabilities.
Chamiaholom let out a cackle. ¡°Why do you think I harvest human bones, my dear?¡±
¡°Must I steal the bones of the dead and add them to my own?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°The joke is on you. I have a reliquary full of skulls eager to help me slay the Nightlords.¡±
¡°My sweet child, you should look for newer and fresher bones than those old fools.¡± The hag wagged a finger at me. ¡°I would love to lie and tell you that you need human bones, but in truth, you may harvest them from any source. You should grind the skulls and parts of beasts into dust, then use Bonecrafting to thicken your bones with them. The more you consume, the stronger you will become.¡±
A verbose way to say that I should consume bone dust and add them to my mass. I would have to be careful that the process didn¡¯t affect my appearance, but I should be able to disguise weight gain as I strengthened my muscles through food and training.
I followed Chamiaholom¡¯s instructions and cannibalized two ribs to shape an arm-blade. The pain was atrocious, especially when the spike burst out of my left wrist, but I withstood it all the way through. Bonecrafting did nothing to heal my wounded flesh.
¡°You are a natural user of Bonecraft, dear,¡± Chamiaholom complimented me. ¡°It took your mother many tries to summon a bone blade and you did it on your first.¡±
¡°Interesting.¡± I examined the spike more closely. I could probably pierce a trihorn¡¯s scales with it. ¡°Am I a better sorcerer than my mother?¡±
¡°No, but you have an advantage over her.¡± Chamiaholom chuckled darkly. ¡°You fear neither pain nor death.¡±
Mother delighted in harming those who crossed her¡ªthe vile Curse she had put on Necahual proved it¡ªbut she would rather see her son die than risk herself fighting the Nightlords. I doubted she had ever attempted to drive a knife into her own heart the way I had.
Applying the Bonecraft spell to oneself meant withstanding terrible suffering. I felt every inch of my ribs hollowing from within and then erupting from my wrist in a new shape. It was nothing compared to the anguish the Nightlords and Xibalba¡¯s trials had put me through, but I could imagine how other sorcerers might avoid using the spell in my place.
¡°Now, sweetheart, you may turn your bones into projectiles by applying a great amount of pressure to them.¡± Chamiaholom demonstrated by pointing her own bone spike at the nearest wall. The blade erupted from her wrist faster than any arrow and punctured its target with enough force to shatter stone. ¡°I recommend using this technique with parsimony and very small projectiles since you lose the bone spent, but it will let you kill from afar.¡±
I immediately imitated her. I had bones push against my spike so quickly and suddenly that it flew across the room before I knew it. I had to force my mouth shut to swallow a grunt of pain, and no small amount of my burning blood dripped from my wrist afterward. I would definitely need to use this technique carefully.
However, I immediately considered a different application.
¡°If I use Bonecraft to apply pressure to my bones at the right moment, it should let me increase my strength and speed,¡± I noted.
¡°Clever dear, yes you may,¡± the hag replied, almost kindly. ¡°We shall train this way for the night, and if you are studious, I will reward you with a treat.¡±
Horns arose from under her hair, and her smile turned into a demonic maw full of fangs.
¡°The ossuary armor.¡±
Chapter Forty-Four: Penance and Pretense
Chamiaholom underwent a truly gruesome transformation.
Bones surged from under her frail flesh and covered around every inch of her skin. Ribs coiled around her chest as impenetrable armor. A pale white helmet closed over her head in a single bite, its sinister grin full of sharp teeth. A dozen spikes erupted from her shoulders, each a totem of piled-up children¡¯s skulls. Strong plates protected her arms, legs, and belly. She towered over me now, her sunken black eyes shining with malice.
The transformation lasted less than an instant. In fact, it happened so swiftly that hardly a drop of blood managed to touch the ground before the bone armor encased Chamiaholom¡¯s flesh in its deadly embrace.
¡°How do you find me, sweetheart?¡± the hag asked me. She deserved the nickname more than ever now. ¡°Am I not beautiful?¡±
The creature that stared at me was no longer a frail old woman, but a terror straight out of a children¡¯s bedtime tale: a fanged, skeletal crone with nails longer than swords and a crown of vicious horns. The evil inside her had come out in its full, hideous grandeur.
¡°I would say fearsome,¡± I replied with genuine admiration. I studied the armor while looking for any flaws or openings. I only found four: two holes for the eyes and two for the nose to breathe through. ¡°Is this the true form of the Bonecraft spell?¡±
¡°Indeed, dear. All bone paths lead to the ossuary armor. The perfect defense combined with the strongest attack.¡±
She waved her hand at the table with frightening speed. Her sharp nails cut through her furniture like an obsidian blade through flesh. One slice tore it apart into many pieces.
¡°If you craft it well, dear, then you will lose none of your speed,¡± Chamiaholom boasted. ¡°Bones can be both stronger than iron and lighter than feathers.¡±
No human could harm me in a shell of bone like this. It might even frighten the Nightkin, since their immense strength would struggle to break past it. However, I noted a few impractical aspects of this transformation.
¡°Are the spikes truly needed?¡± I asked while pointing at the totem poles on her shoulders. Parading children''s skulls might intimidate human opponents, but it wouldn¡¯t help me cut through the Nightlords¡¯ withered hearts.
¡°Everyone¡¯s armor is different, dear. It brings out your inner demon, you see?¡± She raised one of her sharp nails at my owl mask. ¡°Methinks yours will have a beak for a nose.¡±
An idea immediately crossed my mind. ¡°Is it possible to combine this spell alongside Spiritual Manifestation?¡±
¡°Yes you may, if you are an accomplished sorcerer with divine power to spare,¡± she replied with a chuckle. ¡°Do not skip the steps, my bold child. Steady preparation makes for the sweetest kill.¡±
I feared as much. I doubted I could use the armor at all in my current state above ground. I simply lacked the bone mass required to fuel the transformation, and I would need at least Tlaloc¡¯s embers to complete it with Spiritual Manifestation.
¡°Since you are still alive, dear, the form your soul takes partly depends on your youthful body¡¯s health and shape,¡± Chamiaholom said. ¡°I would wait until you have doubled your bone mass before you try to manifest it in either world. You must eat to grow tall and strong.¡±
I supposed I would have to ask the palace¡¯s kitchen to change my diet. I recalled that Necahual suggested drinking llama milk to patients who had suffered from broken bones. A few drinks a day should help me thicken my skeleton without being detected.
¡°Please teach me at least partial transformation,¡± I said. ¡°If I can individually manifest the armor¡¯s parts, then I should have an easy time summoning the full set once I am ready for it.¡±
¡°Clever bird.¡± Chamiaholom unbid her ossuary armor as swiftly as she summoned it. The bones contracted and retreated back into her body just as fast as they appeared. The hag¡¯s tattered robes showed crimson holes near the spine and her forehead was drenched in blood, but she didn¡¯t seem to mind at all. ¡°Your mother asked me the same thing once.¡±
I couldn¡¯t suppress my curiosity. ¡°Did she ask for other things too?¡±
¡°Oh, sweetheart, she asked me for many, many terrible things.¡± The hag glanced at the bones where I marked my victims¡¯ names. ¡°Did you like the Ride spell?¡±
¡°You taught it to Mother?¡± It made some sense. It too involved manipulating bones as part of its process.
¡°She had more time to spend learning with me than you, and good old Chamioholom knows a few ways to make old ribs sing.¡± The hag smiled kindly at me, though there were teeth behind her wrinkled lips. ¡°Most will bore you, I¡¯m afraid, and not all will help you on your quest. I hope you return to me once you triumph. I will show you darkness so thick light itself vomits in disgust at the sight of it¡ for a tiny little price.¡±
I dared not ask what an embodiment of human cruelty would barter for in exchange for her knowledge. The First Emperor¡¯s codex had warned me that the Lords of Terror exacted a terrible toll. The tests I had gone through so far were but an initiation course for would-be demons. Those with time to spend could probably learn much over the years.
But I had neither the desire to stay in Xibalba longer than necessary nor the time.
¡°You must start the transformation from where the frontier between your bones and skin is the thinnest, namely your spine and skull,¡± Chamiaholom advised me. ¡°Beginning elsewhere means your bones will damage your flesh on their way out. Let your Tonalli guide you. The shape of your soul will determine that of your body.¡±
I followed her words and spent the next few hours or so practicing her exercises. I consumed the ribs offered to me and slimmed my skeleton under Chamiaholom¡¯s guidance, then I had them erupt from below my skin in various places. I enclosed my chest, head, arms, and legs in a thick plate of bone one after the other, but never all at once. My lips vanished under a maw of sharp fangs and my nails became claws. Then I reworked those bones into a double layer of impenetrable ribs protecting my chest. My burning blood dripped from many holes along my spine and arms within an hour¡¯s time.
¡°Remember to keep your internal structure intact, sweetheart,¡± Chamiaholom advised. ¡°If a powerful blow sends shockwaves through your thick skin and damages your poor heart, then your armor will become a tomb rather than your protection.¡±
I closed my eyes and forced the ossuary armor¡¯s latest part to return inside my body. To my annoyance, partially manifesting it was proving to be utterly impractical. I would bleed out if I could not summon the entire armor at once and immediately plug the gaps in it.
I cannot do this halfway. How long would it take to gather the necessary bone mass to sustain the entire armor undetected? Days? Weeks? I better start improving my bone structure the moment I wake up.
¡°The rest, you must learn by yourself, sweetheart,¡± the hag said with a small sigh. ¡°It saddens me to see you go so swiftly, but every bird must leave the nest one day. Your next trial awaits.¡±
I couldn¡¯t say the same for myself. Chamiaholom¡¯s casual cruelty unnerved me almost as much as the Nightlords. Still, I was grateful for the gift she had provided me. I had the feeling that Bonecraft would swiftly become a key part of my arsenal.
¡°I thank you for your tutelage,¡± I said from the bottom of my heart. ¡°I shall make good use of your spell.¡±
¡°I know that sweetheart. Kill and torture as you see fit.¡± She gently stroked my cheek with what could pass for motherly pride. ¡°I am not worried about you. You will become a fearsome monster. In time, all will know your terrible name.¡±
¡°So long as it sends fear in the Nightlords¡¯ hearts,¡± I replied.
¡°It will.¡± Her smirk sent shivers down my spine. ¡°Oh, and one last thing¡¡±
I froze in place and braced myself for whatever new horror she had thought up. ¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t forget to rape Necahual whenever you have the opportunity,¡± the hag said with a vicious wink. ¡°She fears bearing your child as much as she fears losing her daughter.¡±
A wave of visceral disgust coursed through my body. Worst of all, the taunt got under my skin because it was almost certainly true. I thought back to how Iztacoatl treated me in her blood bath. Necahual probably felt the same way whenever she spent time in my company, except Iztacoatl hadn¡¯t compelled me to carnal relationships yet. Just the thought made my skin crawl.
I knew that an apothecary like Necahual knew how to avoid complications, but I still felt sick.
I angrily took to the door without a word while Chamiaholom cackled behind me. Her cruel laughter followed me even after I stepped beyond the threshold and into a wall of mist.
I found myself right back inside Xibalba¡¯s twisted streets before I knew it. An exact replica of the crossroads of misty doors I had taken to enter the Rattling House opened before me. Xibalba¡¯s pyramid loomed under the gray sky north of my position, only slightly closer to me than after my previous trial.
At least I¡¯m making progress. I checked the area for any sign of a landmark or sign. I found none, though I sensed invisible eyes watching me from the empty shadows. The impenetrable purple miasma covering my four potential exits let nothing through. I see no hint as to where Mother¡¯s sanctuary might be, and I¡¯m not sure that I will have time enough to reach it before I wake up.
Should I walk towards the pyramid? I decided against it. The last time I tried that sent me straight to the Rattling House. If Xibalba followed any form of logic, then traveling north would start another trial. However, nothing differentiated the other exits.
What if I went back? I peeked over my shoulder and at the misty archway I used to leave the Rattling House. Will it send me back to Chamiaholom? Would I have to pass her trial again? Or was it a trick? It would be quite ironic if I had to travel backward into known danger to find a safe haven.
With little to lose, I decided to test my theory.
I stepped through the archway I had just exited. A cloud of fog enveloped me in an instant, shrouding my sight and numbing my senses. The owl inside me awoke in alarm.
The stone softened under my feet, but unlike the Rattling House it didn¡¯t turn to ice. Instead, I recognized a very familiar sensation, one completely unexpected in the Underworld: the feeling of grass brushing against my skin. Reality shifted to welcome me into one of Xibalba¡¯s hidden domains.
A warm burst of wind blew the miasma away. I had to raise my hand to protect my eyes from a sudden influx of light; and when my gaze adjusted to the luminosity I could hardly believe what I saw. I used the Gaze spell to lift any illusion that might have clouded my sight. It failed to clear anything.
A land of flowers bloomed under a clear blue sky.
I had no words for the spectacle unfolding before my eyes. Lush grasslands bordered by rich rainforest and glittering streams sprawled in all directions. A warm wind rolled clouds above thick vines. The noise of chittering birds and animal cries filled my ears. I observed groups of deer run across green fields and hares flee at my approach into beds of orchids. A great longneck stopped drinking at a nearby water just long enough to study me with placid, innocent eyes.
A world teeming with life welcomed me. Here, in the darkest corner of the Underworld. I had entered a paradise nested in hell¡¯s heart.
So why did the owl inside me cower in fear?
I gently awoke with a head full of questions.
I was neither yanked back to the living world by a vampire nor did I awaken after a gruesome trial. It was a peaceful awakening, slow, natural, almost kind. This hadn¡¯t happened since my time in Mictlan.
What was that place? An illusion? Or maybe I had finally reached my mother¡¯s sanctuary? Somehow I doubted it. Mother didn¡¯t look like the kind of person to maintain such a beautiful place, and Xibalba was a city of a thousand terrors. Any sweetness within its walls carried a bitter poison.
I had come to distrust sights too good to be true. They usually hid ugly truths when one looked under the surface.
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But that would be a problem for the next night. I looked around myself to find Chikal already dressed and doing push-ups outside the bed.
¡°Finally awake,¡± she said in between movements. ¡°You slept soundly.¡±
¡°I had a sweet dream,¡± I replied. Or what could pass for it after training under the physical manifestation of human evil.
¡°That sounds unusual,¡± Chikal said while clenching her teeth. Her muscles strained under the strain of her training. From the drops of sweat dripping down her forehead, she must have been exercising for a while. ¡°Ingrid told me that you suffered from nightmares in your sleep.¡±
I was sleepwalking through one every second I spent in that palace. If only I could wake up from this one¡
Would that be my next trial? Facing my fear of peace and happiness?
¡°Ingrid told you?¡± I noted, slightly surprised. ¡°You talk about me?¡±
¡°We speak of many things,¡± Chikal replied. She rose to her feet after finishing her training and wiped the sweat off her brow. ¡°I have visited Ingrid each day since her mother¡¯s memorial. With her mother¡¯s demise, I thought she needed an adult woman¡¯s guidance.¡±
¡°That is surprisingly thoughtful of you.¡±
¡°That is what we do in Chilam when a mother leaves her daughters orphaned.¡± Chikal shrugged. ¡°A girl without proper guidance will never become a woman.¡±
I wondered how much of Chikal¡¯s kindness towards Ingrid was the result of common decency or a calculated attempt to influence another power player. Considering her behavior so far, I assumed it was a bit of both.
I took it as good news nonetheless. In the end, we were all prisoners sharing the same fate. We would only prevail by working together.
¡°You should exercise now, Iztac,¡± Chikal suggested. ¡°It will give you more strength for the day.¡±
¡°I prefer to meditate in the morning.¡± And plot with the ghosts against the unliving. ¡°I train my mind, you train my body.¡±
My words brought a small smile to Chikal¡¯s lips, though it quickly faded when Tayatzin entered my quarters right afterward alongside the maids. A red-eyed scribe with a scroll walked in after them much to my confusion. That was new.
¡°Your Majesty, Lady Chikal,¡± Tayatzin said before bowing to both of us. ¡°I pray that you slept well.¡±
Chikal snorted. ¡°Our Lord Emperor performed well.¡±
¡°Good to hear,¡± I replied with a chuckle as the maids clothed me in my imperial regalia. ¡°Tayatzin, I wish to hold breakfast with my other consorts too after my morning meditation, if the goddesses will it. I¡¯ve missed my routine.¡±
¡°As Your Majesty wishes.¡± The red-eyed priest joined his hands while his scribe unfolded his scroll. ¡°If I may ask, did you have any particular dream tonight?¡±
I immediately guessed that this question was far from innocent. The Nightlords believed that the First Emperor might send me omens through dreams. They would take note of anything unusual and seek to interpret these signs.
I was tempted to lie and come up with a false prophecy, but nothing useful came to mind for now and such a trick should be used sparingly. I decided it was best to give a half-truth.
¡°I dreamed of a peaceful land,¡± I said. ¡°A verdant land of forests and rivers with no man to despoil it.¡±
¡°No man, you said?¡± Tayatzin asked as his scribes hastily took notes. ¡°Did you see bats, perchance?¡±
¡°No. The sun shone on longnecks, hares, and other beasts.¡± I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°It was a sweet dream and no more. It didn¡¯t feel like anything special to me.¡±
¡°If Your Majesty will forgive my insolence, but there is nothing ordinary about you,¡± Tayatzin replied with a sincere smile. ¡°I hope our interpreters will find this pleasant dream to be a good omen.¡±
Knowing the Nightlords, they would find a way to word it in a way that favored them. I bet they would say it meant that the First Emperor promised his subjects paradise if they redeemed themselves in his eyes, or something of the sort.
¡°I must also inform Your Majesty that we have received multiple pieces of news on the Sapa investigation front,¡± Tayatzin added, which earned my full and undivided attention. ¡°First of all, we have received an answer to our Flower War declaration from Ayar Manco, the eldest son of the previous Sapa Emperor and heir presumptive to the throne. The man had the audacity to challenge you on your birthday on the first day of the Wind Month.¡±
¡°How bold,¡± I replied with a smirk. I loved it when a plan came together. ¡°Has he called himself the Sapa Emperor in his letter?¡±
Tayatzin confirmed it with a nod. ¡°Indeed he has.¡±
¡°Then it means that Ingrid¡¯s scheme has paid off,¡± Chikal noted. ¡°By not naming the actual emperor to which this Flower War was declared, we have forced the eldest son to answer the challenge to prove his legitimacy. His younger brothers will no doubt pray for his defeat on the field of battle.¡±
That was a situation that I would have to manage with care. I needed to triumph in the Flower War to gain my soldiers¡¯ respect and allegiance, but I had to ensure that the real military operations would end in disaster on the Sapa shores. I also hoped that the outside threat to their territory would force the Sapa siblings to cooperate against a common enemy.
¡°This leaves us around two weeks of training before we begin the Flower War campaign,¡± Chikal said as she turned back to me. ¡°We will intensify Your Majesty¡¯s training.¡±
¡°I trust in your guidance, Chikal.¡± I cleared my throat and then gave out orders. ¡°I shall focus on dealing with the eruption¡¯s consequences and preparing for the Flower War for the Crocodile Month. Arrange my schedule accordingly, Tayatzin. Cut down on my free time if you must.¡±
¡°Your Majesty¡¯s discipline is admirable,¡± Tayatzin said. ¡°Before I make the necessary arrangements, however, I must also inform you that we have also received news from our investigation in Zachilaa.¡±
I could hardly hide my own surprise. ¡°So soon? I am impressed.¡±
¡°Your Majesty¡¯s network of runners and messenger birds remains fully operational in spite of the damage that the earthquakes caused to our roads,¡± Tayatzin explained. ¡°A message can travel over two hundred miles in a single day¡¯s time.¡±
It wasn¡¯t an idle boast at all. Since I had killed Qollqa two nights ago, a message reporting his death would need to travel at an extraordinary pace to reach my palace so swiftly.
In spite of the empire¡¯s enormous size, its efficient bureaucracy and messengers meant that information traveled far and quickly. I would need to keep that in mind. It would do me little good to sow chaos if the Nightlords could react quickly enough to nip it in the bud.
¡°Then speak,¡± I told Tayatzin. ¡°Has this Qollqa been arrested?¡±
I feigned surprise when Tayatzin shook his head in denial. ¡°I am afraid not, Your Majesty. The man took his own life soon after the eruption.¡±
¡°Is that so?¡± I chose my words carefully. ¡°That sounds¡ convenient.¡±
¡°My thoughts exactly,¡± Tayatzin replied. ¡°Moreover, it appears the late Qollqa had sent a message to the Sapa Empire just before his demise. Our forces are currently investigating the matter and will report back shortly.¡±
Which meant that the priests hadn¡¯t yet found the notes I left for them nor intercepted the message I¡¯d sent to the Sapa Empire; or if they had, they chose to keep it from me for now. I wasn¡¯t too concerned about it. I had expected them to report the matter to their vampire masters first.
From the subtle gaze that Chikal sent me, I could tell that she had guessed I had something to do with the man¡¯s death. Good. I didn¡¯t have to speak my mind for her to anticipate my moves. It would help with our alliance.
¡°Investigate all of Qollqa¡¯s associates for any sign of treachery and keep me informed,¡± I ordered. ¡°If Lady Zyanya¡¯s information proves accurate, then I will see that she is rewarded properly.¡±
I had planted the seeds. I could wait to see how they would bloom over the next few days.
Speaking of seeds, I also asked Tayatzin to send flowers as a gift to Necahual; both to showcase how much she mattered to me as my favorite and because my last blood bath with Iztacoatl had sharply put me in her shoes. Chamiaholom¡¯s vicious taunt was still on my mind.
As much as I disliked my mother-in-law, I thought it best to alleviate her burden in any way I could. A gift ought to help a little.
Once the maids finished dressing me, I prepared to go visit the Parliament of Skulls when Chikal stopped me on my way out of my quarters.
¡°You should ponder what I told you yesterday,¡± she said. ¡°On the burden of the powerful.¡±
I could read between the lines. Chikal had asked me yesterday what I intended to do if I ever defeated the Nightlords.
Truthfully, I hardly cared about anything beyond that point. I was climbing a mountain so tall I couldn¡¯t see what lay beyond its peak. I needed to reach the summit before I could think of what awaited me there.
Whatever the case, I would not return to my old life. I had no desire to rule, and if I indeed became powerful enough to deal with the vampires and their divine progenitor somehow, then I would have no need to become a merchant or serve the empire to survive. The privilege of the mighty was to do as they wanted.
¡°I will think about it,¡± I replied before leaving my quarters. I wondered what my predecessors would have to say about Yohuachanca¡¯s fate once the Nightlords perished. Perhaps they had a vision of what would follow its collapse.
After so many days confined to my room, it felt good to return to the Reliquary. This place had become my refuge and my predecessors my mentors; the one place where I could freely speak my mind. Even the morning breeze felt refreshingly comforting when I walked across the rooftop.
¡°The sisters have lost a battle,¡± the wind ominously whispered in my ear, ¡°But now they know there is a war.¡±
As far as warnings went, that one sounded as clear as water.
Still, it failed to sour my mood as I walked inside the Reliquary. It hadn¡¯t changed at all since my last visit. Neither the eruption nor the last days¡¯ events had bothered my predecessors¡¯ skulls. I had half expected a quarter of them to drop to dust upon news of Yoloxochitl¡¯s death, but I supposed it would take more to break the chains binding them to this world.
I sat in the darkness as I had done many times before.
The skulls¡¯ eyes did not shine.
That detail immediately put me on edge. My predecessors always welcomed me with ghostfire gazes when I visited them. The bones in front of me neither burned nor moved. They seemed¡ inert.
Had Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise freed their ghosts from their prison? No, that couldn¡¯t be. The past emperors kept my Teyolia¡¯s divine nature shrouded from the Nightlords¡¯ sight. If they had gone on to their peaceful rest in Mictlan, then I would have been exposed. So why?
I finally heard a whisper coming from the darkness.
¡°Do not move, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± my predecessors said. ¡°A spy hides in our midst.¡±
My heart skipped a beat, but a month of practice had taught me to hide my emotions well. I did not move an inch. The past emperors'' skulls continued to pretend to be inert as their words echoed in my head.
¡°Look to your right in the bottom corner,¡± my predecessors ordered. ¡°One of us is missing his teeth. See what hides there.¡±
I slowly and subtly pretended to remove a speck of dust from my clothes. As I did, I took a sideway glance in the direction that my predecessors pointed at. I noticed the skull they spoke of and the reptilian eye staring at me from the shadows within.
A serpent hid there. A white serpent.
Iztacoatl.
My blood boiled in my veins. I took a deep breath and pretended to stare into the darkness in quiet concentration. For perhaps the first time since the beginning of my imprisonment, I actually meditated inside the Reliquary. It helped quell my frustration.
In spite of all my attempts to pretend otherwise, one of my captors had grown suspicious of the Reliquary. My only haven in this gods-forsaken prison was now compromised. If I had been overconfident or failed to pick up on the clues, then I would have exposed myself here and there.
¡°Listen carefully, our successor,¡± the skulls whispered so low I could barely hear them. ¡°The snake cannot hear us, but it can hear you. ¡±
Of course. The previous emperors could communicate with me because I was a Tlacatecolotl, a messenger of death. Neither normal men nor Nahualli heard their whispers. I couldn¡¯t say the same for my words.
I sat in silence and listened to my predecessors. Their six-hundred voices brimmed with an emotion I was unused to: gratitude.
¡°We are very proud of what you have achieved,¡± they said. ¡°You have done the impossible and loosened our chains. You have much left to accomplish, but know that we are forever thankful. No matter what may come, we will continue to guide you on the battles to come¡ and we know how to win this one.¡±
I closed my eyes and listened attentively.
¡°The White Snake cannot stand boredom, our successor. She craves surprise to lessen the monotony of her long years. Come each day to the Reliquary, sit, and say nothing. Make it an unwavering routine, dull and forgettable. She will eventually lose interest and this place will once again become a refuge for you.¡±
Boring. My predecessors asked me to become boring.
How long would it take to foster an immortal vampire¡¯s disinterest? Days? Weeks? Months? Whatever the answer was, it would be too much. Being unable to speak my mind would greatly limit how much I could ask my predecessors. I needed to find another way to communicate with them.
¡°Iztacoatl will grow suspicious if you stay here too long, so listen to what we have to say,¡± my predecessors whispered in the dark. ¡°The White Snake is not like her sisters. She may underestimate you, but she will never mistake you for harmless; pretending to be will only make her distrust you more. Whereas the Jaguar Woman answers vulnerability with anger and brutality, Iztacoatl responds with caution and paranoia.¡±
She was definitely more careful and insightful than her sisters for certain. None of them had even considered putting spies in the Reliquary before, let alone something as small and insidious as a snake. How could I outwit someone with limitless resources and no arrogance to blind her?
The skulls sensed my unease and comforted me. ¡°Many of us have matched wits with her, Iztac, and a few bested her too,¡± they said. ¡°Her weakness and strength are one and the same: her curiosity.¡±
I recalled my previous interactions with Iztacoatl. She had always sought to unnerve and surprise me like a feline probing for a reaction. She liked to play with her food to stave off her boredom and used her keen insight to draw her conclusions.
Moreover, I remembered the time she and the other Nightlords bet on which concubine I would sleep with first. I hadn¡¯t thought much of her casual cruelty back then, but now I realized that Iztacoatl took pleasure in mind games. She also mentioned regretting Sigrun¡¯s demise because she found her schemes interesting and wished that Ingrid would prove just as entertaining.
¡°To defeat Iztacoatl, you must be like a street performer who distracts a crowd with one hand to better hide a theft with the other,¡± the Parliament suggested. ¡°Make moves that will baffle and confuse her. She will seek meaning where there is none and see plots behind every coincidence. Make it a game where she wins meaningless battles every so often and believes herself in control, while she slowly concedes the true war.¡±
I would have nodded in assent if I could, but the best I could do was to open my eyes. I understood what I had to do.
¡°Leave now, before the serpent grows suspicious,¡± the skulls said. ¡°We shall discuss the matter of Yoloxochitl¡¯s garden and the First Emperor tomorrow. Our knowledge on both is limited, but we can offer clues.¡±
I rose to my feet in silence and wiped the dust off my robes. The snake continued to watch me from the shadows without making a sound. No normal animal would show that kind of focus, nor record information on behalf of another. I couldn¡¯t hear its breath either, if it had any.
I recalled Yoloxochitl¡¯s cruel flowers and the red-eyed priests. If the Nightlords could enslave plants and men with their blood, why not animals too?
¡°Our wishes are with you, our successor,¡± the Parliament of Skulls told me before I crossed the threshold. ¡°Be patient. Our time will come.¡±
Yes, it would.
I walked outside the Reliquary and stepped near the rooftop¡¯s edge. The breeze blowing on my face carried the smell of fire. Smoke Mountain had calmed down in the distance, though its clouds of dust continued to obscure the sky.
I would have paid dearly to cast the Augury spell and interrogate the Yaotzin on the battle to come, but I couldn¡¯t risk being overheard. I would need to proceed with extreme caution so long as Iztacoatl showed any interest in the Reliquary.
This visit had proved helpful nonetheless. The more I pondered my foe¡¯s behavior so far, the more my predecessors¡¯ wisdom rang true.
Iztacoatl couldn¡¯t resist the lure of novelty. She yearned for surprise, for the thrill of uncovering a secret and outplaying the poor mortals she tormented in a duel of wits. Her greater experience meant that I had little hope of beating her in a straightforward confrontation.
The keyword being straightforward.
Iztacoatl would never lower her guard around me, but I could distract her. All I had to do was throw her the right bone to keep her occupied while I secretly amassed more resources from the shadows. The previous emperors suggested making moves that would leave her baffled, to overwhelm her with nonsense and confusion. A few ideas came to mind.
Iztacoatl wanted a break from her monotony, so I would give it to her.
I would show her chaos.
Chapter Forty-Five: A Daughters Grudge
How could I best abuse my power?
The question was on my mind all morning after I left the Reliquary. Immense resources and control of the imperial state meant that my only limits were the Nightlords¡¯ veto and my own imagination. I could easily make my pet Iztili into a governor if I so wished, and perhaps I should. He would no doubt do a better job than most of his predecessors.
I had many ideas on how to confuse Iztacoatl, from false prophecies to other baffling moves, but I better wait a day or two before breaking my routine. My captors would no doubt grow suspicious if I underwent a radical shift in personality right after I visited the Reliquary. As odd as it sounded, true chaos demanded rigorous planning.
Once that period passed though, I would go wild.
I put those matters aside upon entering the council room. My four consorts had gathered there for breakfast. Truthfully, I had missed all of them. I hadn¡¯t shared a moment with them since the First Emperor¡¯s prophecy, let alone spoken to them all at once since before the New Fire Ceremony.
I noticed a few interesting details. First of all, Ingrid had traded her black robes for brighter colors; which signified that her mourning period over her mother¡¯s death had come to an end. Chikal was playing a game of Patolli against Eztli and winning handily. Finally, Nenetl greeted me with the saddest expression imaginable.
I didn¡¯t take that as a good sign.
Ingrid was the first to welcome me with a deep and respectful bow. ¡°Greetings, my lord,¡± she said courteously. ¡°How good to see you again.¡±
¡°You arrive just in time to see me lose,¡± Eztli complained. ¡°Our dear Chikal shows me no mercy.¡±
Her words bemused the amazon queen. ¡°I do not believe in coddling.¡±
¡°I suppose I will duel the winner then,¡± I replied with a chuckle. ¡°I have missed you all greatly.¡±
I kissed them one after another. Ingrid met my lips eagerly and Chikal accepted the gesture no longer than what courtesy demanded. Nenetl blushed slightly when I did it, while the coldness of Eztli¡¯s skin confirmed that she was the real one instead of an impostor. Good, I wouldn¡¯t have to suffer a body double in intimate meetings.
Servants entered the room to serve us the moment I took my seat between Ingrid and Eztli.
I recognize Tenoch and Atziri among them. The latter¡¯s presence didn¡¯t surprise me much since she was Eztli¡¯s handmaiden, but I didn¡¯t expect the former.
¡°I have taken Tenoch as my handmaiden,¡± Ingrid explained upon seeing my confusion. ¡°Since my lord saw it fit to favor her, I believed it wise to take her under my wing.¡±
¡°You did well,¡± I replied. She is as sharp as ever. ¡°Tenoch is a talented girl.¡±
¡°Master is too kind,¡± Tenoch replied with an audacious wink. ¡°It is an honor for me to serve a woman as poised and refined as Lady Ingrid.¡±
¡°You make me blush,¡± Ingrid said with courtesy. ¡°I believe the two of us will soon become good friends.¡±
I immediately understood Ingrid¡¯s intentions. She had taken Tenoch as her personal handmaiden for the same reason I had been interested in Atziri in the first place: to use her as an intermediary and courtier.
Come to think of it, I should probably select handmaidens for Nenetl and Chikal. It would give me a new way to keep tabs on my consorts and send secret messages in a pinch.
¡°And I lost again,¡± Eztli complained after Chikal soundly defeated her. ¡°Will you take the board, Iztac? Unless Nenetl wishes to play first?¡±
Nenetl flinched. ¡°Oh, I¡ I wouldn¡¯t mind¡¡±
¡°Is something wrong, Nenetl?¡± I asked her. Her behavior filled my heart with concern. She had the look of someone about to announce a death in the family.
¡°I am glad to see you again, Lor¨CIztac.¡± Nenetl cleared her throat after correcting herself. ¡°It¡¯s just¡ I am not certain how I should tell you and Eztli¡¡±
Eztli raised an eyebrow. ¡°Tell us what?¡±
Nenetl gathered her breath and mustered all of her courage. ¡°Your¡ Your hometown of Acampa¡ It was destroyed in the eruption. I am told¡¡± She looked down at the table to avoid facing our gazes. ¡°I am told that there were¡ no survivors.¡±
A short silence followed. I exchanged a glance with Eztli and saw the light of amusement in her crimson eyes. Much like I, she had expected far worse news.
¡°Your concern is welcomed, Nenetl, but we had already guessed as much from the reports on the eruption,¡± I replied calmly. ¡°The earth¡¯s wrath killed many that day.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve heard that Chimalli has died too,¡± Eztli replied with a cruel smile. ¡°A shame. I would have loved to kill him myself.¡±
Her words caused Nenetl to flinch and the other consorts to give her blank stares. I supposed Eztli still bore a grudge against her former fianc¨¦ for not defending her when the priests came to seize her. I personally didn¡¯t care much for the village¡ªespecially since my father was buried elsewhere¡ªthough I regretted the deaths that resulted from the cataclysm as a whole.
¡°Acampa¡¯s destruction was unfortunate,¡± I replied while sipping from my warm chocolate cup. An idea then crossed my mind. ¡°Does anything remain of it?¡±
¡°Nothing but ruins,¡± Nenetl replied shyly. ¡°The smoke¡ the smoke killed everyone.¡±
¡°Then once the dead are given the proper funerary rites, we shall rebuild a new town in its place,¡± I decided.
My suggestion caused my consorts to send me strange glances, none more surprised than Nenetl. ¡°A¡ a new town?¡±
¡°Do we not bury our dead under our houses so their spirits can grant their descendants luck?¡± I asked rhetorically. What an insipid and useful superstition. ¡°By rebuilding a new town over the old, we will ensure its prosperity.¡±
The suggestion amused Eztli. ¡°Was Acampa not destroyed by a divine punishment, Iztac?¡± She teased me with a wide smile. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we insult the gods if we rebuilt a town over the ruins?¡±
¡°Not if we make this town a model of beauty and piety,¡± I replied with the utmost insincerity. ¡°We shall call it New Iztacoatl, after the fairest of all goddesses.¡±
Eztli stifled her laughter. ¡°Careful, Iztac,¡± she said with that ever-charming sly grin of hers. ¡°One of those four goddesses might disagree with your assessment.¡±
I had to hold back a chuckle at her subtle joke. Chikal¡¯s expression told me that she had caught on to it, and Ingrid¡¯s suspicious look seemed to indicate that she was putting two and two together when it came to Yoloxochitl¡¯s secret demise.
Only Nenetl remained both oblivious and anxious. ¡°You think the goddesses will take offense to it?¡±
¡°I will ask Lady Iztacoatl¡¯s permission first,¡± I reassured her. ¡°Still, I believe she will agree to offer her patronage. Much like a snake sheds his old skin for new scales, the destruction of Acampa will lead the way to a better future.¡±
On the surface, founding a new settlement named after a Nightlord should be tremendously flattering. That it would be raised over a memorial to their greatest defeat yet could be interpreted in many ways, and how Iztacoatl chose to do so would tell me a great deal about her personality.
This ploy would test out my predecessors¡¯ advice in a very subtle way. If Iztacoatl answered my bait with curiosity and whimsical humor, then I would start slowly applying pressure and then make a sudden, bolder move. If she reacted with violence and cruelty, I would adapt accordingly.
¡°I¡¯ve heard from foreign merchants that land scorched by a volcano¡¯s ashes become extremely fertile once the flames cool down and the wind carries away the fumes,¡± Chikal noted. ¡°It might take weeks for the lands to become safe for exploitation, however.¡±
¡°If the goddess agrees to my lord¡¯s suggestion, founding a new town would be a good idea,¡± Ingrid said. ¡°We can at least prepare a plan to resettle the region. The recent disasters must have displaced many.¡±
¡°We have housed thousands of refugees over the last few days,¡± Nenetl confirmed with a sorrowful sigh. ¡°We have given them food and shelter, but¡ I worry for their health. Many have drunk befouled water on their way to the capital.¡±
¡°Send them to military training,¡± Chikal suggested. ¡°The more bodies we can throw at the Sapa Empire, the better.¡±
Nenetl bit her lip. ¡°These people have lost their homes. Sending them to war so soon¡ it is harsh.¡±
¡°If these people are not put to work, then they are a burden to the state,¡± Chikal replied. ¡°The Sapa will not fall in a day. Let the refugees earn their clean water and food with their sweat and blood.¡±
I guessed Chikal¡¯s plan was to throw as many people at the Sapa in order to bleed out Yohuachanca¡¯s strength. It made sense from her point of view, but I would rather have fewer soldiers on the front. The more the empire struggled in its conquest, the more its armies would rely on the Nightkin and expose them to danger.
¡°We need people at home to rebuild too,¡± Ingrid pointed out. ¡°My lord has earned their fear a few nights ago. If he shows them compassion in their time of need, he will earn their love as well.¡±
I didn¡¯t put any faith in the masses¡¯ love, but relocating the refugees would give me the perfect excuse to leave the palace. After all, the Nightlords could hardly blame me if I decided to check on how my subjects were doing¡
¡°I, ugh¡¡± Nenetl coughed. ¡°If Your Majesty will, uh, allow me to make a suggestion¡¡±
¡°You need not ask for permission, Nenetl,¡± I replied warmly. By now I thought she would understand that.
¡°Thank you.¡± Nenetl smiled sweetly at me. She was growing more confident with each passing day. ¡°Between the rains of blood, the smoke, and the early onset of night, I fear that this year¡¯s harvest will be poor. We need more farmers than soldiers.¡±
Eztli¡¯s smile showcased her sharp teeth. ¡°Nenetl isn¡¯t wrong, we might face a famine soon. Refugees would make for a convenient food source.¡±
Nenetl covered her mouth in horror, and Ingrid hid her unease behind a blank expression. I hardly reacted any better. As much as I loved Eztli, I found her dark joke quite tasteless; doubly so after spending so many nights in Chamiaholom¡¯s company.
Only Chikal appeared vaguely entertained. ¡°I doubt starving refugees will provide much meat, Lady Eztli.¡±
¡°I was joking,¡± Eztli replied mischievously. ¡°However, I am sure that the idea has crossed certain minds.¡±
If I didn¡¯t settle the refugees¡¯ fate soon, then the Nightlords would no doubt purge them. More bodies at the altar meant fewer mouths to deal with in a famine.
¡°We will put the refugees to work, but not on the battlefield,¡± I decided. ¡°Instead, we will have them rebuild what they have lost. We will raise new towns for them to inhabit and have them assist in toiling for the next harvest.¡±
Nenetl nodded in agreement. ¡°It would be kinder for these poor people to rebuild their lives than lose it in foreign mountains.¡±
¡°Speaking of the Sapa¡¯s mountains, we were told that the new would-be Emperor accepted our challenge,¡± Chikal said.
¡°Ayar Manco suggested a Flower War of three hundred warriors,¡± Ingrid confirmed.
¡°Three hundred?¡± Chikal snorted in disdain. ¡°Does the Sapa Empire lack champions? That number is pitiful.¡±
¡°I suspect that this choice reflects both practical and symbolic considerations,¡± Ingrid replied.
¡°The number three is of great importance to the Sapa, since it represents the sky above, the world of the living, and the land of the dead in their culture. Moreover, their emperor must preserve most of his forces at home to dissuade his brothers from rebelling. Even if his recent marriage to his sister has strengthened his position, he cannot afford to¨C¡±
¡°Sister?¡± I interrupted her in surprise. ¡°Have I misheard?¡±
¡°My lord has sharp ears,¡± Ingrid reassured me with a light chuckle. ¡°According to our spies, Ayar Manco has adopted a foreign princess from a tributary confederacy, Killa, and then married her.¡±
I wasn¡¯t the only one left puzzled by her words. Eztli showed sudden and morbid interest. ¡°He adopted a woman as a sister before he married her? Did he want to bed a sibling so much that he invented a loophole to avoid the taboo?¡±
¡°I admit I am curious too, Ingrid,¡± I said with a frown. ¡°What purpose does it serve?¡±
¡°My lord already knows that the Sapa¡¯s imperial succession differs from ours,¡± Ingrid reminded us. ¡°Whereas the heavens choose a new emperor each year in Yohuachanca, a Sapa Emperor¡¯s ascension is either determined by their predecessor¡¯s decision or that of a council. Both cases are open to contestation, as seen with Ayar Manco¡¯s brothers.¡±
¡°So I have heard,¡± I replied. I¡¯d hoped the threat to their homeland would cause them to set aside their differences by now. ¡°What does it have to do with the adoption?¡±
¡°The closer a new emperor is to their predecessor, the greater their legitimacy,¡± Ingrid explained to me. ¡°Henceforth, a Sapa Emperor usually adopts his would-be wife as his sister in order to give them greater respectability. It is a symbolic gesture and tradition, nothing more.¡±
¡°I would love to see their family tree,¡± Eztli mused. ¡°I would expect to see a few tangled roots.¡±
¡°It is a strange custom,¡± I conceded. I wondered if it had anything to do with the Sapa¡¯s Mallquis. From what Queen Mictecacihuatl told me, they required the breath of their living descendants to survive. Adoption could serve as a loophole of some kind.
Nenetl joined her hands. ¡°I wonder if the Sapa find us strange from their point of view. We do change emperors each year, while I think their own rulers last until old age.¡±
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
I shrugged and changed the subject. The Sapa Emperor¡¯s choice of partner mattered to me less than his proposed number of fighters.
A Flower War was a series of duels between warriors meant to showcase their valor. Both parties agreed on how many soldiers would take the field. The victors would usually keep the defeated fighters as hostages, to be either ransomed back or sacrificed.
Three hundred was too few a number. On one hand, I wanted a grand spectacle that could both cow Yohuachanca¡¯s generals into obedience and impress on the Sapa the danger that my empire represented. On the other hand, the Flower War was a distraction for a much larger naval invasion. Challenging too many Sapa warriors to partake in the former meant leaving them too open for the latter.
I needed to find a middle ground.
¡°Ingrid,¡± I said. My consort straightened up in her seat. ¡°You will inform Ayar Manco that while I agree to challenge him on the first day of the Wind Month, a Flower War with fewer than four thousand fighters is beneath my divine notice.¡±
¡°Four thousand, my lord?¡±
¡°One thousand for each of the Nightlords.¡± Whereas the Sapa favored the number three, Yohuachanca believed in the number four. ¡°This ought to show our enemies the strength of our resolve.¡±
¡°Will Ayar Manco accept this challenge?¡± Chikal asked.
¡°He cannot refuse,¡± Ingrid replied. ¡°To do so would be tantamount to admitting his weakness. A true Sapa Emperor should be able to field ten times the amount that my lord requests.¡±
I hoped that Manco rising up to my challenge would help him secure his authority inside his borders. The meek followed the bold.
As always, Ingrid sharply read the situation. ¡°This is pure conjecture for now, my lord, but I strongly suspect that Ayar Manco¡¯s brothers will soon contact us once we send back our answer. They are certain to plot against him.¡±
¡°I expect as much,¡± I replied. I hoped kinship would prevail over ambition, but I had come to anticipate the worst. ¡°We will wait to see their offers before adjusting our strategy.¡±
Nenetl shook her head. ¡°This talk of siblings fighting each other makes me ill at ease. Families should not tear themselves apart for power.¡±
¡°Such is the fate of any organization whose leadership is not based on merit or divine providence, Nenetl,¡± Chikal replied. ¡°The hearts of men are filled with greed, and few forces can quell it.¡±
Eztli chuckled. ¡°Are you not the queen of Chilam by virtue of your birth?¡±
¡°I became queen by blood and stayed that way through merit.¡± Chikal smiled back at her. ¡°Any amazon can challenge the queen in a duel for leadership if they believe them to be unworthy. Many have tried to seize my throne before I joined this court. None succeeded.¡±
A hierarchy that relied on strength didn¡¯t seem any better than one based on birth to me, but I kept that part to myself. That tidbit of information explained why Chikal put so much emphasis on power though. Her environment encouraged its pursuit.
We finished reviewing the upcoming Flower War preparation over breakfast. I was confident in our preparations so far. This ought to prove to be quite the spectacle.
¡°Now is time for my training,¡± I said after emptying my chocolate cup. ¡°Chikal, I would like to focus on swords and blades over the following days.¡±
Chikal frowned at me. ¡°Why is that?¡±
So I may practice for the day when I can use Bonecrafted blades against the Nightlords. ¡°With the Flower War less than a month away, I would rather master one weapon than become average in all of them.¡±
¡°Our Lord Emperor is wise,¡± Chikal replied. I still couldn¡¯t tell whether she spoke her mind or not. ¡°Very well, I shall adapt your training accordingly.¡±
Ingrid shifted in her seat. ¡°Would my lord indulge me today?¡±
¡°You wish to witness my training?¡± I asked her, recalling her previous interest in it. ¡°You are welcome to observe us anytime.¡±
¡°I would like to do more than observe,¡± Ingrid replied much to my surprise. ¡°If my lord will allow it, I would like to participate.¡±
¡°Participate?¡± Chikal repeated, her eyes suddenly alight with interest. ¡°You wish to learn the arts of war?¡±
¡°I would like that, yes.¡± Ingrid nodded sharply and turned to me. ¡°If my lord believes it will not interfere with my other duties.¡±
¡°I see no reason to refuse,¡± I replied. What was she thinking? I thought she was only interested in my training to keep an eye on me. ¡°You are welcome to train with us.¡±
¡°You will do well, Ingrid,¡± Nenetl complimented her.
¡°I will pass training under the sunlight,¡± Eztli complained. Her gaze swiftly settled on Nenetl. ¡°Would you kindly entertain me for a while? I don¡¯t like ending a Patolli game on a losing streak.¡±
¡°Oh¡¡± Nenetl still appeared a little uneasy at spending time alone with Eztli, but she was too kind to refuse. ¡°If I¡¯m not a bother¡¡±
¡°Bold of you to believe that you can defeat Nenetl,¡± I teased Eztli. ¡°She is better than all of us combined.¡±
¡°You make me blush,¡± Nenetl replied, her pale skin turning pinkish. ¡°I do not deserve such praise.¡±
She did, but her genuine modesty honored her nonetheless.
Chikal and Ingrid left for the courtyard first. I prepared to follow them when Eztli beckoned me to approach her.
¡°Do you intend to complete the set, Iztac?¡± she asked me.
I raised an eyebrow. ¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°I heard that you and Chikal played king and queen yesterday.¡± Eztli stroked my cheek and then smiled at Nenetl. ¡°Only one flower remains unplucked.¡±
Poor Nenetl turned so red I thought she would die of heat stroke on the spot. She covered her mouth and dared not to look at me. I admit I found her reaction adorable.
Eztli had a point, Nenetl was the only consort I hadn¡¯t spent a night with yet.
I wasn¡¯t in a hurry to change that. Nenetl¡¯s innocence and kindness came as a breath of fresh air in this den of vipers and I had grown very fond of her. I wished to treat her with the same gentleness she had shown me. If anything were to happen between us, it would be because she wanted it rather than because we were forced to.
Come to think of it, I had yet to modify the spells binding Nenetl to the Jaguar Woman. I would need access to the tattoos on her back to do so, and in a way that wouldn¡¯t arouse suspicion.
Eztli might have given me the perfect excuse.
¡°True, I haven¡¯t spent as much time with Nenetl as I did with you and the others.¡± I turned towards my fourth consort. ¡°I apologize for this. I will take a moment this evening to discuss the refugee crisis and infrastructure repair projects with you, if you do not mind.¡±
¡°Oh¡¡± Nenetl struggled to gather her breath. ¡°O-of course not. You, ugh¡¡± She put her hands on her knees and forced herself to calm down. ¡°You are welcome to visit me anytime¡¡±
Her response drew smiles from both Eztli and I. Nenetl reminded me of a clumsy young pup. One couldn¡¯t help but find her adorable.
¡°One last thing, Iztac.¡± Eztli¡¯s fangs peeked through her lips. ¡°I do not think you will need to worry about Mother¡¯s life anymore. She enjoys a goddess¡¯ protection now.¡±
A goddess? It didn¡¯t take me long to realize that Eztli meant herself.
The Nightlords needed Eztli to impersonate Yoloxochitl in order to secure their power. What better way to pressure her than to keep her mother alive? I knew the Jaguar Woman wouldn¡¯t hesitate to torture Necahual if Eztli ever stepped out of line, but she would never kill her now. My mother-in-law¡¯s demise meant losing any leverage over their new sister of the dark at a critical time.
Moreover, she had dared to call Necahual Mother in the open. Something unthinkable back when Yoloxochitl was still alive.
I just hoped her confidence wasn¡¯t misplaced.
¡°I see,¡± I replied, choosing my words carefully. ¡°I pray that you are right. The gods can be fickle.¡±
¡°Not this one,¡± Eztli reassured me. ¡°Train well, Iztac. You will look better with more meat on your bones.¡±
If only she knew.
Chikal lived up to her promise of intensifying my training. By the time we finished late in the afternoon, my whole body felt sore everywhere. My skin bore the mark of many bruises and my heart struggled to keep my exhaustion at bay. Chikal was clearly determined to ensure that I wouldn¡¯t shame her in front of her fellow amazons.
At least I was making steady progress. I still struggled to push back Chikal when she fought me seriously, but she couldn¡¯t disarm me as quickly as she used to in our first bouts. I slowly stopped downplaying my strength and endurance too. Between our sessions and my improved nutrition, I doubted my captors would find my increasing physical prowesses too suspicious.
My advancement paled before Ingrid¡¯s however.
A heavy silence had fallen upon the courtyard as we watched her raise a longbow. Ingrid had traded her robes for the same cotton armor that Chikal favored, which neatly fit her graceful frame. She pointed her weapon at a wooden dummy, tightened her jaw in deep focus, and then struck the target in its ¡®head¡¯ with incredible accuracy. Two more arrows stuck out of its ¡®chest.¡¯
That girl has a gift. Ingrid had clearly never carried a weapon in her life, but she proved a quick learner nonetheless. She was passable with the spear, slightly better with the sword, but excellent with the bow. Even the amazons appeared quietly impressed by her accuracy. She learns quicker than any man I¡¯ve studied with at school.
¡°Two warriors¡¯ blood flows in her veins,¡± the wind told me. ¡°Her heart beats with the urge to prove herself.¡±
I had my suspicions about Ingrid¡¯s sudden interest in warfare. Much like how humiliation compelled Necahual to embrace magic in order to regain a sense of control, Sigrun¡¯s demise had taught Ingrid how much she relied on the goodwill of others to live. Learning the art of battle gave her a sense of self-sufficiency that she desperately needed.
¡°That is an impressive display,¡± Chikal complimented Ingrid. ¡°Are you certain that you have never wielded a bow before?¡±
¡°The only strings I have pulled belonged to my harp and other instruments,¡± Ingrid replied with a pleased expression. ¡°I assume that it helped develop my dexterity.¡±
¡°Certainly, but it does not diminish your feats in the slightest.¡± For once, the smile stretching on Chikal appeared completely genuine. ¡°I was right, you possess great potential.¡±
Ingrid blushed slightly at the queen¡¯s praise. She quickly looked for my approval next. ¡°I hope that my lord enjoyed my performance.¡±
¡°I did,¡± I confirmed. ¡°At this rate, you will surpass me.¡±
¡°I would never overshadow my lord in anything, but your confidence in me fills me with joy.¡± Ingrid lowered her bow upon noticing my bruises. ¡°I see that Chikal did not go easy on you.¡±
¡°Neither will the Sapa,¡± I replied. Nor the Nightlords.
Chikal scoffed at me. ¡°I did go easy on you,¡± she said. ¡°I need our Lord Emperor to keep enough strength to fulfill his promise.¡±
She never lost sight of her interests.
¡°I have not forgotten,¡± I replied. I had the feeling that we would end up in bed after each training session until she could confirm her pregnancy. ¡°We can settle this matter now, if you wish.¡±
¡°If my lord would allow me a moment beforehand?¡± Ingrid asked cautiously. ¡°It has been a long time since we visited the gardens together. After spending so many days confined, I would welcome a walk in the sunlight.¡±
I saw no reason to deny her, so I promised Chikal that I would join her in the imperial baths in half an hour¡¯s time. The amazon queen did not complain at all. Her fondness for Ingrid appeared almost maternal.
My servants had stripped the gardens of the mantle of ash that used to cover it. Though many flowers had died during the eruption¡¯s dark days, most had survived to see the sun shining through the receding clouds in the sky and workers had already started planting replacements.
The Nightlords were making a determined effort to sweep all hints of their previous failure under the rug. In a week¡¯s time, it would seem as if Smoke Mountain had never shaken the land with its wrath.
No matter. They could put as much paint over the cracks as they wanted, but it would not close them. Night continued to fall one hour earlier than usual and many water sources remained befouled by the blood rains. The First Emperor¡¯s wrath continued to leave its dreadful mark on the world.
¡°The dead will not let the living forget them,¡± the wind whispered. ¡°Do you hear them rattling in their tombs? Their nails scratch at the unlocked door.¡±
The dead could not wake up any sooner.
¡°I believe your presence today inspired me to do better,¡± Ingrid said as we walked along the gardens, her arm clutching mine. ¡°When you looked at me when I pinched my bow¡¯s string, I felt my spine stiffen.¡±
¡°No one likes to fail in front of an audience.¡±
¡°I suppose so. Mother always said that appearances mattered as much as the truth.¡± Ingrid glanced at wilted flowers. ¡°However, I didn¡¯t think of Chikal nor anyone else when I raised my bow. I could only think of you.¡±
Having grown used to lies and intrigue, I searched her eyes for any hint of deceit. I found none. Unlike the time when we first met, Ingrid wasn¡¯t trying to curtail favor with me. She spoke from the bottom of her heart.
Ingrid noticed my unease. ¡°You fear that I am lying to you, my lord.¡±
¡°My apologies,¡± I replied without really meaning it. ¡°My heart has been closed off.¡±
¡°I cannot blame you. You are right, I did lie to you many times.¡± Ingrid let out a heavy sigh. ¡°When I first met you, I played a role for which my mother prepared me for years. I saw you as a prize to be won. A tool to master in order to secure my family¡¯s legacy. All the pleasant words I told you back then were naught but empty flattery.¡±
¡°You did what you had to do to survive,¡± I replied. The gods knew I had committed heinous deeds for the same reason. ¡°I do not fault you for it.¡±
¡°My lord is kind, but I still feel ashamed.¡± Her grip on my arm tightened. ¡°My mother once said that friendship is a ship that can support two people in good weather and only one during a storm. I offered you so little, but you stood by me in my time of need. I will be forever grateful for your kindness.¡±
¡°I appreciate your gratitude, Ingrid, but it is unwarranted.¡± The mere memory of Sigrun¡¯s murder filled me with anger. ¡°What happened to your mother was cruel beyond words. Any man worth their salt would have supported you back then.¡±
¡°I am not so sure, my lord. Many of my mother¡¯s allies deserted me during that time, and those that remained whispered empty words and condolences.¡± Ingrid smiled like the sun. ¡°You have a kind heart, Iztac.¡±
Her grateful words filled me with both warmth and anguish.
Truthfully, my life would be so much easier if I didn¡¯t care for anybody. The Nightlords would not have so many spears to hurt me with otherwise. No blades could harm a heart of stone.
Yet another reason why I must destroy the sisters. So they can never harm me or those I care for. I would rather live in a world where the likes of Ingrid would not fear losing a parent for nothing. One day, I will have enough power to protect those who treated me well.
¡°Thank you, Ingrid,¡± I replied with the utmost sincerity. ¡°I appreciate it more than you think.¡±
Ingrid nodded slightly, and then approached her face closer. Her lips softly brushed against mine. I did not turn them away. She tasted of sweat, her perfume covered by the stench of the training ground, but that kiss felt all the more pleasurable from its sincerity.
¡°If my lord agrees, I would like to leave what happened in the past and start anew,¡± Ingrid said after letting me go. ¡°I know that only a year separates us from death, Iztac, but I wish to make the best of our remaining time.¡±
Our remaining time¡
I stopped midway through our walk and looked around us. My guards followed us, but remained far enough to give us some privacy. However, I swiftly noticed another spy slithering after us.
A pale snake hid among the flowers nearby.
Ingrid followed my gaze, noticed the reptile, and squinted at it with a cold gaze.
Then she pointed a finger at the snake and shrieked.
¡°Guards, guards!¡± Ingrid shouted with a fearful expression. Had I not seen her calculating look a few seconds prior, I would have fallen for it too. ¡°A viper has escaped its pen! Protect your emperor!¡±
My masked soldiers drew their weapons without hesitation.
The snake bolted away with a panicked hiss and attempted to flee among the flowers, but my mindless protectors did not hesitate to trample the gardens in their pursuit. I laughed in amusement at the scene. These guards were little more than automatons dedicated to my protection. They couldn¡¯t tell a normal snake apart from one of Iztacoatl¡¯s familiars.
¡°We should be able to speak now,¡± Ingrid said with a look of amusement once all would-be spies were out of earshot. ¡°What did you wish to tell me?¡±
I narrowed my eyes on her. ¡°You knew about these creatures?¡±
¡°Of course. I have lived my entire life here, and Mother was the White Snake¡¯s favorite.¡± Ingrid scowled at me. ¡°The guards will return before long. If you wish to speak your mind, you must do it now.¡±
I did not hesitate.
¡°Would you like to live more than a year?¡± I asked her under the light of the setting sun. ¡°Even if it means defying the Nightlords?¡±
Ingrid pondered my bold offer for a few seconds before nodding firmly. Her eyes burned with resolve.
¡°I would like to live, if it is possible,¡± she confessed. ¡°And I would like for my sister to escape this place too. Does my lord have a plan in mind?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I confirmed. ¡°But I won¡¯t lie to you. The risks involved¨C¡±
¡°Pale before the certainty of a cruel death.¡± Ingrid scowled in cold anger. ¡°I recall what the Jaguar Woman said. Our obedience is required, but it will never be rewarded. Astrid will suffer the same fate as my mother sooner or later. I won¡¯t allow it.¡±
Her careful mask of composure had dropped, revealing the virulent hatred behind.
What did Chikal say again? Ah yes. A good daughter carries her mother¡¯s grudges.
The Nightlords¡¯ cruelty had made them yet another enemy. Instead of terrifying Ingrid into obedience, murdering Sigrun and laughing at her attempts at earning their favor only earned them her daughter¡¯s disdain.
The guards returned before I could open my mouth and answer her. One of them had impaled Iztacoatl¡¯s snake on the tip of his spear.
¡°Good work,¡± I congratulated the guards. ¡°You have done well.¡±
¡°I am relieved,¡± Ingrid said with a fake sigh. ¡°It was so close that I feared for my lord¡¯s safety.¡±
Once again, she proved her sharp wits by providing me with the perfect excuse. Iztacoatl couldn¡¯t blame me if my consort had acted out of surprise and concern. We returned to our walk afterward and pretended that this incident was nothing worth remembering.
¡°Whatever this year holds for us, my lord, I can promise you one thing,¡± Ingrid said evasively, carefully wording her sentences to leave them open to interpretation. ¡°I will support you in all things.¡±
And like that, I had recruited another conspirator. One more driven and experienced than any other.
I briefly wondered if I should ask Ingrid about her mother¡¯s hidden documents, but quickly decided against it. The risk of Iztacoatl intercepting the First Emperor¡¯s codex was too great for the moment. I would question Ingrid after I successfully managed to distract my captor.
¡°My concubine Necahual has become my new favorite,¡± I said. ¡°However, she is new to the duties that her position requires. I would appreciate it if you could guide and assist her.¡±
Ingrid studied my expression for a moment. I had no doubt that she could read my intentions: that I wanted her to cooperate with Necahual in building up a spy network that could replace that of her late mother.
¡°My lord is wise and caring,¡± Ingrid replied calmly. ¡°Lady Necahual has shown me kindness in my sorrow. I shall endeavor to guide her on the proper path.¡±
Perfect, my spy network was nicely taking shape. The more my web of allies spread and the more interconnected it became, the greater my reach. It should only be a matter of time before it managed to gather information on Yoloxochitl¡¯s garden.
My thoughts turned to what Chikal told me about the burden of power. I paid little mind to what would happen to me after defeating the Nightlords, but if I had to choose I would like to at least keep her, Eztli, Ingrid, and Nenetl in my life, whether as friends or consorts.
Ingrid had become an ally, or something even closer. It wasn¡¯t an unkind feeling. I could get used to it.
¡°Beware of fondness,¡± the wind warned me. ¡°Your foes sharpen their knives. Death will come for you in the guise of a friend. Beneath the skin, the faceless malice.¡±
It always found a way to spoil my mood.
Chapter Forty-Six: The Land of Beasts
I entered Nenetl¡¯s quarters well and truly exhausted.
Between my intense training, the promenade with Ingrid, and fulfilling my promise to Chikal, I wanted nothing more than to sit down somewhere and fade away into a deep sleep. Even the Underworld would prove a relief from my body¡¯s tiredness. I just came straight out of a bath and I wanted nothing more than to go back into it.
At least the smell of incense and homely chocolate coming from Nenetl¡¯s chambers warmed my heart. It had been weeks since the tablet incident, but her apartment hadn¡¯t changed much since. It was still the same chaotic mess of a hall filled with board games, food shelves, and a wealth of bizarre trinkets gathered from all corners of the known world. I suppressed a brief wave of shame when I looked at the spot where the Sapa tablet used to stand. The palace staff had done a fine job repairing the damage I had caused back then and removed any trace of the artifact. It was as if it had never been there at all.
I noticed a few changes from my last visit, however. A new shelf creaked under the weight of scrolls and other official documents bearing the imperial seal. Half a dozen turquoise amulets and obsidian statuettes representing various animals were spread across the room; I counted jaguars, feathered-serpents, and winged wolves among them. The hall¡¯s brasero burned herbs and incense so powerful that their scent almost covered the smell of chocolate coming from the kitchen.
Something about them bothered me. The acrid odor made me slightly nauseous.
¡°Greetings, Iztac,¡± Nenetl welcomed me while wearing an elegant blue quechquemitl garment and a white shawl. She walked out of the kitchen with a platter of chocolate delights and a warm smile on her face. ¡°I hope your training went well.¡±
¡°It did,¡± I replied while sitting at her table. A pile of paper covered it, alongside a Patolli board. ¡°Thank you for asking.¡±
¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it. I, uh¡¡± Nenetl looked at me with worry in her eyes. ¡°I heard you were attacked by a snake this afternoon.¡±
¡°It was nothing,¡± I reassured her. News traveled so quickly in the palace. ¡°My good guards defended me before it could try to bite Ingrid.¡±
I had half-considered having Iztacoatl¡¯s snake spy turned into a sash or a bag as an additional insult, but I doubted the Nightlord would take it well. Moreover, she was likely to visit her wrath on Ingrid rather than myself.
No matter. I was slowly making progress in widening my conspiracy; my life would become much easier with Ingrid¡¯s support. Only Nenetl remained oblivious to it among my consorts.
Should I tell her? I studied Nenetl for a moment before quickly deciding otherwise. She seems incapable of keeping a secret, and the more people I welcome into my inner circle, the harder it will be to stay beneath the Nightlords¡¯ notice.
Chikal and Ingrid were both talented politicians and Eztli was naturally cunning, while Nenetl was both innocent and terribly na?ve. She had no appetite for plotting nor the skills required for long-term deceit.
And maybe that explained why I appreciated her company so much. A candid friend¡¯s company felt deeply refreshing when surrounded by spies and enemies. She let me enjoy moments of normalcy.
¡°That is great,¡± Nenetl replied with a gentle smile. She sat next to me and offered me a chocolate cake, alongside a warm honeyed cup of llama milk. ¡°I¡¯ve tried a new seasoning. I hope you¡¯ll like it.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sure I will,¡± I replied kindly. ¡°I do wonder why you serve me yourself. I understand that you might enjoy cooking your own meals, but I haven¡¯t seen you with any maids.¡±
¡°I have a few handmaidens, but¡¡± Nenetl bit her lower lip. ¡°I don¡¯t like having them around.¡±
¡°Do you want me to replace them?¡± That would prove a good opportunity to select a handmaiden intermediary.
¡°No, no, it¡¯s¡ it¡¯s not like that, they¡¯re all nice, but¡¡± Nenetl cleared her throat. ¡°I feel like they all want something from me, and it puts me ill at ease.¡±
¡°You are my consort, of course they want to earn your favor.¡± I sipped from my cup and then found myself unable to stop. What a delightful blend of spice and milk. ¡°But I can understand how it would bother you. All their smiles and flattery must feel awfully fake.¡±
¡°Yes. Yes, they do.¡± Nenetl joined her hands together and looked at the food plate. ¡°How do you deal with it, Iztac?¡±
By exploiting my would-be sycophants. ¡°I try to look for the best in people,¡± I replied with a shrug. ¡°Even if someone starts being nice to me because they want a favor, they might become a genuine friend over time.¡±
¡°Like Ingrid?¡± Nenetl asked with surprising insight.
I nodded back. How sharp of her to notice. ¡°Like Ingrid. No matter how our relationship started, I feel like we have grown closer since.¡±
¡°You have,¡± Nenetl confirmed, her cheeks turning pinkish. ¡°I think she is in love with you.¡±
Love?
Such a heavy word. I loved Eztli, or I believed so at least. I would gladly die if it meant saving her. Did Ingrid feel that way for me? Somehow I doubted it. She might consider me a friend, but if she had to choose between her sister and me, I knew which one she would choose. And I wouldn¡¯t blame her for putting her family first either.
I suddenly realized that I hadn¡¯t answered Nenetl yet. I must have pondered her words for too long.
¡°Anyway,¡± I said, suddenly uncomfortable with the line of questioning. ¡°What is the purpose of all these amulets?¡±
¡°They, uh, they ward away evil spirits,¡± Nenetl explained shyly. ¡°The incense too. It¡¯s made from sacred copal resin.¡±
Oh? Did the owl inside me dislike them? Neither the amulets nor incense bothered me enough to leave, so I might simply dislike the smell. In any case, I was less bothered by either of these measures than the reason why Nenetl chose to use them at all.
¡°You wish to avoid another Sapa attack, don¡¯t you?¡± I guessed.
Her small, anxious nod filled my heart with shame and guilt. I knew her worries were unwarranted¡ªhaving planned the attack myself¡ªbut the incident had clearly left scars; both in her mind and her flesh.
Worse, I came to worsen the latter. This conversation had given me the perfect opportunity to pursue my true objective without arousing suspicion.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Nenetl apologized. ¡°I know you came to discuss the eruption and the repair efforts, and here I distract you with¨C¡±
I interrupted her. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, Nenetl, then I would like to see your back.¡±
She froze in place. ¡°My back?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± I powered through my distaste and tried to ask gently. ¡°I wish to examine your tattoo, if you will allow me.¡±
Nenetl¡¯s skin turned even paler somehow, all colors drained from her cheeks. I was about to change my mind when her hands weakly moved to remove her shawl and the skirt underneath.
I began to regret my demand halfway through. ¡°You don¡¯t have to show me if it makes you uncomfortable.¡±
¡°It is fine,¡± Nenetl lied, poorly. ¡°I¡ I don¡¯t mind. You already saw it, after all.¡±
She turned her back on me, and the painted wolf on her skin glared back at me.
No matter how many times I looked at it, I would never get used to Nenetl¡¯s horrible tattoo. The Jaguar Woman had outdone herself in her cruelty. Her creation was so vivid, so lifelike, that the sight of it filled me with nausea. The painted beast representing Nenetl¡¯s soul struggled against black chains ripping its spirit apart.
I briefly imagined a black owl in the silver wolf¡¯s place, bound and broken. I would likely bear the same markings should the Nightlords ever discover my true nature. They had already put chains around my soul, scaring my flesh wouldn¡¯t bother them.
¡°Can I¡¡± I cleared my throat. My reluctance wasn¡¯t feigned in the slightest. ¡°Can I touch it?¡±
Nenetl¡¯s cheeks turned scarlet. ¡°If¡ if you want¡¡±
After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I put a hand on her back. Nenetl¡¯s skin was as warm as Eztli¡¯s was cold, and smoother than Chikal¡¯s or even Ingrid¡¯s. My consort gasped softly at my touch, but didn¡¯t pull away from it. I traced a line along the painted wolf¡¯s chains. If only I could snap them with a twitch of my fingers.
Instead, I intended to strengthen them.
Subtly activating my Bonecraft spell, I proceeded to have my fingerbone imperceptibly pierce my thumb¡¯s skin from below; just enough to draw a tiny drop of my burning blood. I then used the Veil to hide it from sight.
Nenetl let out a startled sound when my blood touched her tattoo. I sensed a few gazes sent our way from inside the walls thanks to my Veil, but thankfully none with a direct view of Nenetl¡¯s back.
¡°Is something wrong?¡± I asked while feigning surprise. I hated myself for lying to her.
¡°No, no, don¡¯t worry,¡± Nenetl apologized as if it was her fault. ¡°Your fingers are so warm, that¡¯s all. I¡¯m¡ I¡¯m not used to it.¡±
¡°I am sorry,¡± I replied. For so many things. ¡°It won¡¯t be long.¡±
I loathed what I was doing. My work tonight was no different than what the Jaguar Woman had put Nenetl through after the tablet incident. I was marking another human being¡ªand worst of all, a fellow Nahualli¡ªas my property.
Don¡¯t think about it, Iztac. I suppressed my shame and focused on the task. It will be over before you know it.
I followed the Parliament of Skulls¡¯ instructions by gently applying my blood at specific points in the tattoo; namely, its chains. The droplets merged with Nenetl¡¯s skin without leaving a trace, and the blood mixed with the ink in an instant. I immediately sensed the invisible connection forming between my heart and the tattoo. The chains binding us resonated like instruments attuned to the same song.
To an outsider, it would seem as if I simply caressed my consort¡¯s tattoo. In truth, I had subtly corrupted it with my Teyolia. The spell woven in its fabric allowed the Jaguar Woman to control Nenetl¡¯s totem at will. Unknown to all, she now shared that power with me.
I could trigger Nenetl¡¯s bestial transformation any time I wished with a simple thought. She was a bow whose arrow I could fire when most appropriate.
An overwhelming feeling of shame washed over me when that thought crossed my mind. I tried to tell myself that having already become a murderer, adding the crime of slavery wouldn¡¯t change much. I failed to lie to myself.
I had done worse than exploit Nenetl¡¯s pain. I betrayed her trust and turned her into an unknowing tool. I told myself that I would never have to activate this contingency if we proved lucky enough, and that I would remove it once I destroyed the Nightlords¡ but I supposed many slavers convinced themselves that they would eventually free their slaves. It helped soothe their guilty conscience.
Even if I fully intended to wipe away the tattoo in due time, it didn¡¯t change the fact that I had become ruthless enough to contribute to its design. What did that say about me?
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I whispered under my breath.
Nenetl heard me and looked over her shoulder in confusion. ¡°W-Why?¡±
¡°You carry this mark because of me.¡± In more ways than one. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t insisted on bringing in that tablet to our gaming night, you would never have been attacked. The goddesses wouldn¡¯t have put this mark on you.¡±
¡°No, no, you¡ you don¡¯t have to feel sorry. I don¡¯t see this mark as a symbol of shame. I¡¯m¡¡± Nenetl fidgeted in place. ¡°I¡¯m¡ I¡¯m proud of it.¡±
Her words took me aback. A surge of anger followed, quick and raw.
¡°Proud?¡± I repeated, gobsmacked. Proud of being branded like an animal? Proud of having her skin defiled against her will and her soul bound by chains forcing her into obedience? Proud of being enslaved?
¡°I¡¡± Once pale pink, Nenetl¡¯s cheeks now turned bright red. ¡°I received this mark because I defended you from a monster. I know that sounds silly, but for me¡¡±
Her embarrassed smile quelled the flames of my anger.
¡°It¡¯s a sign I could protect you, Iztac,¡± she said with a small, anxious giggle. ¡°Like a, um, like a war scar.¡±
She believed it from the bottom of her heart too. I could tell. Nenetl didn¡¯t have an insincere bone in her body. For her, the pain and suffering of bearing this mark paled before the pride and joy of ¡®rescuing¡¯ me.
That I had never been in danger¡ªand in fact plotted the attack¡ªwas beside the point. Nenetl had awakened her totem trying to protect me, and the cruelty the Nightlords rewarded her with didn¡¯t make her regret it. From the way Nenetl spoke, she would have done it again if given the chance.
She doesn¡¯t deserve to be here. I cursed the Jaguar Woman a thousand times for selecting such an innocent and kind-hearted girl as a consort. I have to get her out of this palace somehow.
Nenetl took my silence for distaste. ¡°I sound ridiculous, don¡¯t I?¡±
¡°No, not at all,¡± I reassured her. If anything, my respect for her had only grown. ¡°Few warriors would have dared to fight a demon without weapons, yet you did. You are a brave girl, Nenetl.¡±
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¡°You make me blush,¡± Nenetl replied with a slight sigh. ¡°But I¡¯m relieved.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry I forced you to show me this mark,¡± I apologized. ¡°Thank you for indulging my curiosity. You can put your shawl back on.¡±
Nenetl¡¯s hands moved to grab her clothes, but stopped halfway through the motion. Nenetl bit her lower lip without saying a word.
I frowned. ¡°Nenetl?¡±
¡°I¡¡± Nenetl clenched her fists and put them on her knees. She lowered her head to avoid my gaze, her breath short. ¡°I¡¡±
I had spent enough time around her to tell that she was mustering all of her courage to ask me something. I had a good idea of what was on her mind, but I waited for her to say it out loud out of respect. I didn¡¯t wish to pressure or insult her with a misunderstanding.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind if¡ if you¡¡± Nenetl gulped and then let out a deep exhalation. ¡°If you¡ if you¡ continued.¡±
She said the last word so quietly that I barely heard it, but hear it I did.
I wished she had asked me anything else. I was sorely tempted to indulge her, but I couldn¡¯t. I struggled to look at her back without feeling shame.
¡°I can¡¯t do that, Nenetl,¡± I said, pulling back my hands to my knees to avoid touching her skin. I might falter otherwise. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±
Nenetl¡¯s spine bent forward like a crumbling mountain. ¡°You don¡¯t like me,¡± she whispered, crestfallen. ¡°It¡¯s because of my hair and eyes¡ I remind you of our curse.¡±
¡°No, no, I didn¡¯t say that,¡± I protested, before cursing myself for my foolishness. She had gathered all of her courage to ask me for something so intimate, pushing through a lifetime of insults and rejection to find the strength to, and I was snuffing out her hopes. ¡°Do not put words in my mouth. You are beautiful, Nenetl.¡±
¡°Then¡ why?¡± Nenetl held back tears. ¡°Why me and not the others?¡±
Because I betrayed you. Because I harmed you. Because I tightened your chains instead of loosening them.
I couldn¡¯t bear to exploit her for my own pleasure after this.
¡°You are beautiful,¡± I repeated myself. ¡°It is I who is ugly.¡±
¡°That¡¯s wrong,¡± Nenetl protested with surprising vehemence. Of course she would defend another better than her own person. ¡°I find you quite handsome.¡±
¡°On the inside,¡± I replied gloomily. ¡°I am ugly on the inside.¡±
I looked at my fingers. The tiny hole through which my blood dripped had closed, but my hands still felt soiled. I had killed thousands, whether through the eruption and impressed an incarnation of human cruelty enough to skip her trial.
These blood-soaked hands could hold vampires and plotters easily enough, but not a flower as pure as Nenetl. I would be soiling the both of us.
Nenetl peeked over her shoulder to stare at me. Her pale eyes studied my expression, and I found it so unbearable that I started looking away. After a long, awkward silence, Nenetl wiped away her tears and put her shawl back on.
I was about to rise from my seat and leave the room when warm fingers closed on mine. When I dared to look at Nenetl again, I found her fully clothed and sitting in front of me. She stared straight into my eyes and forbade me to run away.
¡°Iztac,¡± she said, clutching my hands. ¡°What torments you so much?¡±
How could she ask such a heavy question so innocently?
¡°When I see you¡ I see pain. A deep and terrible pain.¡± Nenetl gathered her soft breath. ¡°I would like to soothe it, but I¡ I don¡¯t know how, and I hate it.¡±
She radiated a warmth more soothing than a hearth¡¯s fire. Her genuine concern melted away the barriers I had raised around my heart. I couldn¡¯t explain it. Part of me knew that whatever I said, Nenetl would accept it without judgment. She would forgive anything I said and grant me absolution.
But I couldn¡¯t be honest with her. I couldn¡¯t confess my crimes in this hateful place. There were too many spies observing, and even if I covered up the truth somehow, Nenetl would be unable to keep it to herself.
Maybe I could do both? Lighten my burden in a way that would both deflect suspicions and throw Iztacoatl off her game? It sickened me to answer Nenetl¡¯s honest concern with half-truths and manipulations, but it was the best I could give her.
¡°Smoke Mountain erupted because of me,¡± I confessed, phrasing my words carefully. ¡°The goddesses asked me to create a Sulfur Sun. I did as they asked, but when we tried to raise the flame on Smoke Mountain, it didn¡¯t ascend. I failed to light the new year.¡±
¡°Because of sabotage,¡± Nenetl said gently. If only she knew how right she was. ¡°Like the tablet¡ the fault lies on the Sapa, not on your shoulders.¡±
¡°I should have noticed,¡± I replied. Or rather, I should have found another way. I wished the gods had been so merciful. ¡°The First Emperor¡¯s wrath fell upon us all because of my negligence and thousands paid the price. I planted the seed from which this disaster grew.¡±
¡°No, no, don¡¯t say that.¡± Nenetl¡¯s kind voice turned firm. ¡°Not to others, and especially not to yourself.¡±
¡°You heard the First Emperor speak through me at the Blood Pyramid. He will speak through me again, I can tell.¡± Whether because I let him or because I would pretend to. ¡°An age of disasters awaits us.¡±
¡°You cannot order the gods to change their mind, Iztac. All you can do is speak for them.¡± Her hands squeezed me more tightly. ¡°Do not ever say that it is your fault. It is not your fault if the sun rises or the rain falls. It simply happens.¡±
Nenetl fidgeted in place as she sought her words. ¡°We didn¡¯t choose to be born the way we were,¡± she finally said. ¡°The gods decided for us. The best we can do is¡ it is to bear our misfortune and make the best use of the few gifts they gave us.¡±
The gifts that the gods gave us?
I knew she meant our ¡®curse¡¯ about being born as Nahualli. I didn¡¯t choose to be born a Tlacatecolotl, no more than Nenetl decided to transform into a wolf when necessity called for it. Our fate was decided the moment we came into this cruel world. The Nightlords had chosen me as their sacrificial emperor based on the stars, and I had gone against the destiny that they had decided for me with the spells I learned from true deities.
Could I truly blame myself for the death I had sown in my wake? I was simply making use of the gifts and tools that fate handed to me. If the true gods had been kinder, they would have given me the strength to strike down the Nightlords without harming anyone else. Instead, they perished to light the Fifth Sun and left us to fend off for ourselves in the world that they had created.
Perhaps I was being too hard on myself. I played the best game I could with the weapons granted to me. If the heavens found it abhorrent, they would have given me better ones.
¡°You are beautiful, Nenetl; inside and out,¡± I told her with utmost sincerity. I felt lighter than before and my mind cleared of clouds. ¡°I¡¯m grateful for your kindness, more than you can imagine.¡±
Nenetl didn¡¯t answer me, not with words. She didn¡¯t need to. She simply smiled at me, without judgment or condemnation.
¡°I am not ready for¡ Not yet,¡± I said, unable to finish my sentence. Maybe not ever. ¡°I can¡¯t give you that.¡±
¡°It is all right,¡± Nenetl said with immense kindness. ¡°We could¡ we could snuggle. Hold each other.¡± Her cheeks turned pink again. ¡°If you want.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I smiled at her. ¡°I would like that.¡±
We ended up in bed soon after. Nenetl¡¯s room proved as chaotic a place as the rest of her quarters, with a wealth of books by both bedsides. I completely forgot about the reconstruction projects, and I no longer cared by the time we slipped under the bed sheet.
¡°This, uh¡¡± Nenetl exhaled as she nestled herself against my chest. ¡°It¡¯s my first time sharing a bed with a boy.¡±
¡°You¡¯ll get used to it,¡± I reassured her. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I pulled my arms around her back and brought her closer to me. Nenetl put her head against my chest and leaned against me, her warm feet touching mine under the cotton blanket. ¡°Do you like it?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Nenetl giggled a bit. ¡°It feels¡ nice.¡±
My heartbeat quickened. I sensed my heart-fire burning brighter in my chest. I briefly closed my eyes to better focus on it, and I found myself sensing another flame close to me.
My blood tainted Nenetl¡¯s tattoo. Somehow, the link I had established let our Teyolias resonate; not with the depth of Seidr, but enough to give me a glimpse into her soul.
Nenetl held nothing back. She raised no defenses and needed no emotional coaxing to align her heart-fire to mine. She simply gave all of herself to me without reservations. Were we to practice Seidr tonight, I could have consumed her soul in the blink of an eye.
Nenetl trusted me unconditionally.
I sensed something warm on my cheeks.
Nenetl immediately noticed it. ¡°Iztac, are you¡ are you crying?¡±
Yes, I was. I couldn¡¯t hold back. It was stronger than me.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said while trying to wipe the tears away. Why? Why was I crying now, of all times? ¡°I don¡¯t know what has gotten into me.¡±
¡°It is all right to cry, Iztac.¡± Nenetl¡¯s hand brought my head closer to her shoulder. She held me tightly, enveloping me with her warmth. ¡°I¡¯m here. You are safe. No one will hurt you.¡±
It was a lie, but one that I wanted to believe. I closed my eyes and let the sound of her soft heartbeat lull me into a deep slumber.
I woke up in a peaceful dream.
My eyes snapped open to the sight of a group of jackrabbits. The brown-furred hares looked at me with puzzled expressions and tilted heads, before fleeing when I chose to rise up. I found myself back in the same verdant land I had left last night: a vast expanse of trees and grass under a clear blue sky.
¡°How appropriate,¡± I muttered to myself upon rising to my feet. A deer grazing on the grass turned its head at me, and then returned to its meal soon after. ¡°Such a nice and pleasant dream.¡±
One too good to be true.
Nenetl was killing me with kindness without her knowledge. Her gentleness addled my mind and poisoned my heart with weakness. She had deftly unlocked the chest where I buried all my fears and sorrow until they ran wild.
In another life, I would have been glad for it. But not tonight. I couldn¡¯t lower my guard like this again. No matter how good it felt, or how much I enjoyed her company, the Nightlords would exploit any weakness on my part.
Still, I felt gratitude for Nenetl¡¯s kindness. She was a gentle girl who deserved the best. I would repay her affection a thousand times over once I destroyed the Nightlords, and I wouldn¡¯t let anyone harm her.
What happened in the daylight does not matter now, I told myself in an attempt to focus on the trial. The owl inside me remained eerily tense. My totem sensed something vile crawling under this paradise¡¯s surface. This place is no sanctuary. It only looks like one.
My gut told me that I had entered another house of trials. Worse, Chamiaholom warned me that her fellow Lord of Terrors would show me no mercy. I couldn¡¯t lower my guard.
I shapeshifted into an owl and took flight. A gentle breeze rolled over my feathers as my wings carried me above lush grasslands, and the noise of chittering birds filled my ears.
I failed to reach the clouds.
No matter how high I tried to fly, I could never rise a stone¡¯s throw above the tallest trees. The same effect that prevented me from escaping Xibalba¡¯s narrow streets applied to this strange domain. An invisible, impenetrable barrier kept me pinned down.
Flying did provide me with a clear view of the sky. I quickly realized that no sun shone upon this realm. Light came from above through the clouds, but I couldn¡¯t identify its source. Very odd. Moreover, the landscape stretched as far as my eyes could see.
I landed on a tree¡¯s branch and pondered what to do next. I could spend months looking for an exit without a map, if this place had borders at all. The Lords of Terror could control time and space within their domain. This land might go on forever for all I knew.
I haven¡¯t been attacked yet either. That bothered me. Nothing about this place screamed terror to me. The previous two houses welcomed me with horrors lurking in the dark and a frost so chilling it cost me a toe. This one offered me peace and critters. Maybe this land truly represents my fear of happiness? It would be so appropriate after the time I spent with Nenetl.
I glanced at the land below me. A group of baby longnecks ate leaves near me without a care in the world. Their parent, a giant whose head towered above the trees the same way a mountain oversaw the hills, rested a hundred feet away. The sight took me aback. Didn¡¯t that longneck fear predators preying on its young?
Predators.
The word rang in my head like a bell. I took a good look around me to confirm my suspicions. I saw squirrels in the trees and hares on the ground, alongside deers, trihorns, longnecks, and other critters. The few birds flying among the branches ignored insects and butterflies to gorge themselves on lush fruits.
All these animals were plant-eaters. I was surrounded by prey big and small, who happily enjoyed their life with no predator to hunt them.
I had spent most of my life in a village of farmers and hunters. I understood how the cycle of life worked. The grass-eaters were slain by predators so they wouldn¡¯t grow too numerous, and when they perished, flesh-hunters became food for the earth. All creatures formed a chain of life and death.
So many herbivores would have scourged this land dry in days with no one to cull the herd. Yet this land overflowed with plants, trees, and flowers.
What kept their population in check?
The thought filled me with unease. There was something wrong with this place. A hidden danger that lurked beyond my sight and that might strike at any time.
I heard a thump sound below me, startling me. I glanced down at a bed of flowers on which a black bird had fallen. The poor animal let out a wheezing sound as it wriggled on the ground and spat out blood on nearby grass. None of the other animals appeared to pay it any mind.
What an ominous sign.
I took flight again and searched for any other landmarks. It took me a while, but I eventually noticed an anomaly in the landscape: an obsidian statue of a jaguar standing in the middle of a clearing and looking west. It was the only predator I had seen yet, and it didn¡¯t seem in any hurry to move. I half-expected the jaguar to come to life and found myself disappointed when it didn¡¯t.
Could it be an indicator of some sort? Following the jaguar¡¯s gaze, I flew westward and quickly saw my intuition confirmed. Another jaguar statue awaited me, its eyes looking north. I wondered where this trail would lead me. What can catch a stone predator¡¯s eyes?
I was flying towards my next destination when I heard a rattle in the wind.
¡°Rah¡ rah¡¡±
I briefly stop to glance at its source: a stag wheezing under the shadow of a tree. The animal coughed blood on the grass while struggling to breathe. Its mate and its two fawns watched the animal¡¯s agony, yelping and crying in fear. They knew their kindred suffered, but they didn¡¯t understand why or how.
I did. The stag suffered from the same symptoms as the bird earlier. I quickly suspected its likely source and shivered at the thought.
A disease.
A plague.
No wonder the owl inside me grew tense the moment I entered this place. The enemy was all around me, invisible and undetectable. My Gaze spell revealed nothing special about the stag, even as it began convulsing on the ground in atrocious pain. I was tempted to grant it a quick death and free it from its agony, but I dared not approach any closer lest I catch whatever was killing it.
Could a disease affect a Tlacatecolotl? I felt no pain nor urge to spit blood for now, so I might resist whatever plague had infected these animals. That, or I hadn¡¯t been exposed to its source. Maybe the beasts of this land contracted it when they consumed foul water or ate poisoned fruits?
The more I tried to reassure myself, the less I succeeded. I had seen what horrific plague Yoloxochitl could brew on the surface, and the Lords of Terror possessed dreadful magic. If they could command space and time, raise mountains of ice, or summon living animals in the depths of the Underworld, then they could easily create a disease that could infect a Tlacatecolotl.
The plague might already be taking hold of my flesh. The very thought filled me with nausea.
Worse, the Lords of Terror worked in pairs. If one represented the fear of disease and pestilence, what did its partner embody?
I decided to continue my journey before I learned that answer. Any second wasted might be one keeping the infection away.
I left the stag and its family behind me to travel north. I followed a narrow dirt path in between boughs of trees. The animal calls slowly softened as I advanced. I didn¡¯t wonder why for long.
Their corpses littered the ground.
Birds, squirrels, insects, monkeys¡ countless small creatures lay inert on the ground, their teeth and beaks reddened by their own blood. A few continued to writhe and convulse, their eyes a dark shade of crimson, their veins bloating under their skin. I heard a strident fawn¡¯s death cry resonate behind me, but it proved nearly as terrible as the sudden silence that followed. The blue sky was slowly taking a deep red shade and the clouds transformed into foul crimson blots.
The heavens were bleeding.
I flew until I finally reached a sinister clearing: a barren land devoid of grass and bordered by gnarled trees. In stark contrast with the rest of this beautiful land, an almost preternatural silence reigned over this place.
An otherworldly totem stood in the barren clearing¡¯s center, a dark sovereign of old wood and fur surrounded by a grim court of skulls. Its silhouette reminded me of a macabre scarecrow, with its extended branches covered in a motley cloak of animal skins and scales. Bone ribs formed its chest, and a crown of horns made its head. An immense congregation of skulls greater than my predecessors gathered at its feet. I recognized the heads of men among them, alongside those of trihorns, hares, salamanders, birds, and all the animals of the earth and sky.
This figure exuded evil. The stench of death surrounded it like a cloud of smoke. I hesitated to approach it until I saw the letters carved into the skulls. Gathering my courage, I flew towards the totem and landed at its feet. A sentence was written in Yohuachanca¡¯s language on the bones, clear and raw.
¡°Life is war, death is peace.¡±
I pondered those grim words when I sensed eyes watching my back. I slowly looked over my shoulder.
The stag from before had followed me, his mouth and hooves drenched in blood. It shocked me since I last saw him agonizing on the ground, but true terror struck me when I looked up at his horns.
The bisected corpse of a slaughtered fawn was impaled on them.
The father had killed the child.
I knew from hunters that deer could be dangerous, but never murderous. They killed to protect their young, or when mating season made them territorial. Otherwise, they avoided men like the plague. They were prey, not predators.
The creature in front of me was no longer a stag. A deer wouldn¡¯t have pieces of flesh stuck between its teeth, nor bloodshot eyes full of rabid madness. It wanted to beat me, to shatter my skull under its hooves, to impale me the way it slew its own family, and then tear me to pieces. The beast wanted me dead with all of its heart, not because I was threatening it nor intruding upon its territory. It wanted me dead because I existed.
The stag let out a roar full of rage and the forest answered.
A vicious chorus filled the grim silence. A thousand beasts shrieked all at once. Trihorns, birds, hares, and countless creatures I did not recognize. An army of maddened, plagued animals shrieked in shared bloodlust.
The forest was coming for me.
I finally understood what other fear this place represented. The primal terror that haunted my ancestors when they lived in the wild and those who ventured into dark forests; the overwhelming horror that we humans tried to stave off through the safety our cities and numbers provided, but that returned whenever we found ourselves alone.
The fear of being hunted.
And in this house of killers, guests were the quarry.
I flew away with all of my strength, and the legions of madness chased after me.
Chapter Forty-Seven: The House of Jaguars
It was like being chased by a storm with a thousand claws.
A chorus of bloodthirsty shrieks erupted behind me, followed by the thundering noise of a raging stampede. Trees collapsed in my wake, crushed under the feet of deers and trihorns. Monkeys threw stones at me. Voles and coati ran faster than they should with frothing mouths while poisonous saliva drooled from their teeth.
When I dared to look behind me, a sea of bloodshot eyes glared back.
I had been taught all my life that the likes of deer and sparrows were nothing to be feared. They fled at a man¡¯s approach and we consumed them for food. We were the predators and they were the prey.
Seeing a horde of herbivores hunting me with predatory hunger forced me to reassess this lesson. There was something utterly perverse about watching peaceful beasts being driven to predatory frenzy. It was a mockery of nature, of normalcy.
The very order of the world had been turned upside down.
The birds among the horde flew after me with all their strength and no concern for their lives. They were no longer animals, but living projectiles. Some pursued me with such relentless fury that they didn¡¯t bother turning to avoid obstacles. They exploded into showers of blood and feathers upon impacting trees I had successfully avoided.
More kept coming. The infection driving these beasts to madness had united thousands in a single tide of screeching fury.
Thankfully, most of my pursuers were landbound beasts, slow and impaired by the forested terrain. Only the birds were quick enough to catch up to me in owl form. I had never been afraid of sparrows until today. I could crush one between my talons easily enough, but a flock of hundreds with their fragile minds set on murder? I might as well be trying to fly through a hail of arrows.
When a few threatened to catch up to me, I activated the Doll spell to defend myself. Talons of darkness tore up the birds trying to peck at me and cut down branches impairing my progress.
My world had turned into a tunnel. There was no left nor right, and nothing but death behind me. I couldn¡¯t escape upward to the sky with the strange unknown effect keeping me close to the ground. I had no idea where I was going, no plan beyond frantically saving myself a few more seconds of life. Only the path ahead mattered.
At least, until I heard the ground tremble.
I mistook the beast¡¯s approach for an earthquake at first. It came from the left with earthshaking steps. Its bloodthirsty roar put all others to shame.
I peeked left and saw a great, serpentine head towering above the trees.
The adult longneck from before charged at me with a glare of frothing madness.
The beast crashed through all obstacles in its way like a landslide of flesh and scales. The forest bent under its weight and stone shattered in its wake.
My heartbeat quickened as its frothing head descended upon me like a hawk on a smaller bird. A surge of strength pulsed through my body. My black wings moved so fast that they began to hurt.
The longneck¡¯s teeth barely missed me by an inch. They instead hit a tree¡¯s trunk and split it in half with a loud crunch.
The monster¡¯s attack proved a blessing in disguise. Its immense size and weight meant that it couldn¡¯t pivot quickly. The longneck found itself between the stampede and me, crushing trihorns and other beasts with the same ease as it did with the rocks and vegetation hampering its way. The horde crashed against the monster¡¯s thick hide. The birds and the most agile landbound creatures quickly moved past it, but it delayed them enough to grant me a brief respite. Time enough to think.
What was I supposed to do? Where was I supposed to go?
Fighting the stampede head-on would be suicide. My offensive spells could have dealt with them in small groups, but not thousands at once. I couldn¡¯t stop moving either lest they catch up to me.
Think, Iztac. This was a hunt. If the disease infecting these animals proved to be lethal, I would simply have to survive until the plague consumed them. But I have no guarantee it will. For all I know, it simply drives its victims mad.
Would the animals turn on each other once they lost sight of me? The stag that was called to the hunt killed its own family before catching up to me. If I could trick this madhouse¡¯s inhabitants into believing me dead, then their aggression might drive them to infighting.
With little hope of fighting off my pursuers anyway, I adjusted my strategy. I canceled the Doll spell and cloaked myself in a Veil of invisibility. My feathers vanished from sight. I became a silent shadow that slithered among a forest of madness.
I heard earthshaking footfalls behind me.
I turned my head just long enough to see trees collapsing. The longneck was hot on my trail, leading the charge of the damned. The ground trembled with each of its steps and its roars boomed like thunder.
The sheer size difference suddenly dawned upon me. I was large enough to carry a llama in my talons while in owl form, but my wingspan barely rivaled the length of one of this titan¡¯s legs. Were we on the surface, I could see the beast crash through my palace¡¯s walls with ease.
I was being chased by a walking mountain.
And it was gaining ground on me.
Something so big shouldn¡¯t move so fast. Longnecks were renowned for their bulk and slowness, yet this one could outpace a deer. Unlike the other creatures, the terrain didn¡¯t slow it down either. The longneck crushed every obstacle in its way with ease.
The disease that drove these beasts to madness also filled them with unholy strength and resolve.
I saw light ahead. I finally flew out of the forests and onto an open plain of rotting flowers. The idyllic landscape of earlier had metamorphosed into a grim vision. Black jaguar statues overlooked vast clearings that stank of blood under a crimson sky.
The false paradise had dropped its mask to reveal its festering true face.
However, leaving the forest meant no more trees to impair my flight. I deviated to my right while invisible. I moved so close to the flowers below that I seemed to disappear.
The stampede emerged from the forest a scant few seconds after me, its tide of legs flattening everything on its path. Thankfully, most of my pursuers fell for my trick. Many of them mindlessly continued to run forward and spread throughout the plain in the wrong direction.
Others did not.
A band of hares and deer chased after me across the flowery plain, snarling and drooling. The longneck followed closely after them. Its sunken, bloodshot eyes glared at me with bottomless malice.
It knew where I was.
The Veil spell showed its limits. I understood human senses enough to hide myself from sight and smother the noise I made, but animals could detect scents unknown to a man¡¯s nose. I needed to cover my tracks somehow.
I furiously tried to recall anything that could give me an advantage, and happened upon one solution.
The river.
If I could reach the nearest river and slip underwater, it would hide my scent for a time. Perhaps long enough for me to figure out how to survive this trial.
My sharp eyes noticed one a mile or so ahead. The water had turned red under the glow of the crimson sky. Its surface remained eerily peaceful, in stark contrast with the raging madness of my pursuers.
The thought that it might be teeming with maddened aquatic creatures hardly crossed my mind. I would rather take the possibility of another attack over the certainty of being trampled to death.
The stampede was growing closer.
I moved in the river¡¯s direction as fast as I could, only to hear screeching close to me. Long ears peeked out of the field of flowers. With no trees nor obstacles to slow them down, the jackrabbits and hares from earlier could make full use of their immense speed. No matter how fast my wings flapped, their legs proved faster.
They caught up to me.
One hare swiftly jumped at me from under the flowers, its teeth sharp and frothing with blood. I swept it away in midair with the Doll spell. More followed its example.
Maintaining multiple spells at once was no longer too difficult for me, but splitting my attention in multiple directions proved difficult. I kept my eyes focused on the river, cloaked my wings in a Veil, and repelled the hares to the best of my ability with the Doll.
Finally, I came within a few inches of the river. I prepared to shapeshift back into a man and dive to safety when a blur of brown fur leaped at me from the flowers below. My dark talons moved to intercept it, but I was too late.
The blur bit me.
Sharp teeth sank into my chest right between the ribs on my right, going so deep that they pierced through my flesh and veins. A sharp pain coursed through my body as I lost control of my flight and hit the river¡¯s surface. My attacker and I tumbled into the red waters.
A jackrabbit had ambushed me. It chewed at my flesh even as my burning blood scarred its face. Its flesh melted off its bones, yet its teeth continued to gnaw with relentless hunger.
It was trying to eat its way to my heart.
I activated Bonecraft and caused my ribs to close in on the hare¡¯s skull. My bones crushed the creature¡¯s head, its remains stuck inside me like a corpse nailed to a hunter¡¯s wall. I had no time to get it out. The longneck rushed into the river right after me. Its immense weight sent mighty waves rippling through the current, pushing me away downstream.
I shapeshifted back into a man and swam down current, struggling against the pain in my chest, struggling against the fear. I used Bonecraft to close my heart-fire from the outside world and prevent the water from touching it.
I held my breath and swam while still under the Veil. I continued to do so until the screams and screeches grew distant enough. When I dared to surface again, I found I had swam all the way to a new forest of dying pines and fir trees. I did not linger for an instant. I rushed away from the river into the woods under the cover of invisibility. I heard the longneck¡¯s roars far in the distance. It would probably follow the stream, and with luck, continue down it without finding me.
I¡¯m thirsty. I couldn¡¯t explain why I felt this way now of all times. I had just come out of a forced bath. My throat has dried up.
My escape led me to a bosquet surrounding another of those cursed jaguar statues. Its obsidian eyes looked down on me as I finally removed the hare stuck in my chest. My blood had melted off its skull to the point that only a bloody, headless corpse remained.
I tossed the body aside and sat in the statue¡¯s shadow to gather my thoughts. I didn¡¯t sense any eyes staring at my Veil, so no beast had located me yet. I had bought myself some time. I couldn¡¯t tell how much, but I knew my respite would be terribly brief.
Escaping wouldn¡¯t solve my problem. I hadn¡¯t seen the creatures turning on each other once they lost sight of me. Maybe the disease only drove them to hunt the uninfected. To spread itself.
What was I supposed to do then? I glared up at the jaguar statue. Was it somehow connected to this trial? Would breaking it and its stone siblings end the curse? With few other options, I used the Doll spell to shatter the statue. The obsidian fell in a rain of sharp shards. I waited for punishment and salvation both.
I received neither.
Breaking that statue had no effect. Not on its own at least. The thought of tracking down the other obsidian jaguars across this hellscape in the vain hope that it might end the trial filled me with anger.
And that thirst¡ my throat was on fire¡
It¡¯s not water I crave. My eyes turned to the dead hare. I crave blood.
I rose to my feet and prepared to consume the dead hare, when my thought process came to an abrupt stop. I held my head with my hands and struggled against aches. Something¡ something was wrong.
I crave blood.
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Those¡
Those weren¡¯t my thoughts.
My gaze darted to my chest, where the marks of the hare¡¯s teeth in my flesh remained raw and visible. My blood had mixed with its saliva; and the vile plague that it carried.
The hare had infected me.
Is that so wrong?
¡°Shut up,¡± I cursed at the force infesting me. I ripped the patches of flesh around the hare¡¯s bite from myself, though part of me knew it was already too late. Evil flowed through my veins. ¡°Get out of me.¡±
I am you, thou art I.
No, you were not. The headache grew stronger, sharper. Damn it. I had to complete this trial before I joined the mad legions hunting me. Think, Iztac, think.
No more Iztac, the voice in my head said. No more man, no more owl. Become blood. Shed it, spill it, drink it.
My tongue craved the sweet taste of blood.
No, no, I had to keep myself grounded. Focus on what started this mad hunt in the first place.
That scarecrow of bones and fur. I remembered. I remembered words written on long dead skulls.
¡°Life is war, death is peace.¡±
I looked at the dead hare and the solution became clear.
I understand that sentence¡¯s meaning now. I had to bring peace to these war-torn lands. Something I couldn¡¯t do by fleeing. No more than I could escape my fate on the surface. This hunt was not a game of survival.
It was a war. A war I had to win.
I wouldn¡¯t run or hide. I would fight.
Let it flow. Let the blood flow.
The thirst grew overwhelming. I felt my veins drying up and liquid filling my eyes. My world was turning red. Burning anger swelled in my heart like a violent pulsion, demanding that I shed someone¡¯s blood, anybody¡¯s blood.
¡°You want blood?¡± I bit my own wrist and let fire pour out of it. ¡°Choke on mine!¡±
I would be crowned champion of this tournament atop a throne of corpses, but Man did not conquer nature with strength alone. No warrior could hope to slay a feathered tyrant with their teeth and claws. Humans used tools.
One came to mind above all others.
I tossed my blood at the nearest tree and set its dried leaves ablaze. The fires of my heart hungered for death.
¡°I will happily partake in these festivities,¡± I whispered to the plague inside me. ¡°But I do not hunt.¡±
I destroyed.
I summoned a cursed feather of darkness between my fingers. In it, I poured all of my malice, all of my hunger for victory, all of my lust for destruction.
¡°Let the flames consume all those who would stand in my way!¡± I shouted with bellowing fury. ¡°May the smoke smother those who would fly away! May this world become a fire in which I alone survive!¡±
Once I finished speaking, I placed the cursed feather inside the hare¡¯s corpse and swiftly buried it beneath the burning tree. The power of my Haunt spread alongside the flames. It moved from one branch to another the same way the plague had infected host after host, until the entire bosquet became a ring of candles.
I did not stop there though. I cut myself again and again, spilling my burning blood on the grass and flowers. I gave a little of myself to the world. I offered it the mercy of death and the gift of the pyre.
I heard animals shriek in the distance. A few birds, noticing the smoke, descended upon me as I worked. I welcomed them warmly as new sacrifices with my Doll talons. Each of them became a new vessel for my Haunts.
¡°Consume indiscriminately!¡± I cursed the flames. ¡°Make a desert of this land and call it peace! Burn everything! Everything that is not me! A cruel death to all of my enemies!¡±
Within minutes, I had set the land on fire. A beautiful purple wildfire born of my own wicked heart.
I had summoned the ultimate predator, whose hunger for blood knew no limits. Nothing could satiate it.
Before my fire¡¯s burning appetite, the beasts of this doomed land became prey again. The sight of rising smoke and rings of searing flames awakened in them something stronger than bloodlust: fear. I saw flocks of birds trying to escape, only for the same effect that prevented me from flying too high to keep them at the mercy of searing smoke. A melody of deer screams and cries resonated in the distance. One voice was louder than all of them.
The plague in my head could only shriek, its call for blood forgotten.
¡°Can¡¯t stand the heat, can you?¡± I grabbed embers and applied them to my wounds. The pain of my cauterizing flesh paled before the pleasure of hurting the enemy inside me. ¡°Figures. We do burn the sick.¡±
The call of bloodlust lessened in my head, but my thoughts were set on annihilation. If the animals had an ounce of intelligence left, they would seek the river¡¯s safety. I would ambush the survivors there and finish them off.
¡°No one escapes the slaughter,¡± I said. ¡°No one escapes alive.¡±
I slipped back towards the river under the cover of a Veil. A scene of utter chaos awaited me. My Haunts had set both riverbanks on fire, creating a corridor of fire cooking those trapped in it like meat in an oven. The smell of charred flesh proved almost as strong as that of burning wood.
Dozens of beasts big and small had rushed into the river to shield themselves from the flames. Some were already half burned to death by the time they reached safety; the stag that started the entire hunt was among their unfortunate numbers. The front part of its body had turned into a molten mess of exposed bones and calcined flesh. It reminded me of the Burned Men.
The animal¡¯s screams of pain would almost inspire pity in me, if it hadn¡¯t tried to kill me earlier.
I would finish it off quickly enough. The smoke provided a good cover for my scent. I remained undetected so far. I stalked the riverbanks, looking for the one enemy I feared the most. I sensed its approach with the shaking of the earth.
The longneck emerged from the sea of flames, roaring and burning. Its head reminded me of a serpent shedding its skin. Its charred scales simply fell off its flesh under the searing heat. The beast rushed at the river to seek its salvation, its charge raising a cloud of dust in its wake.
It would never reach safety.
Still under a Veil, I raised my right hand at the creature and pointed at its head. I used Bonecraft to transform two of my ribs into a blade ready to burst out of my flesh at a moment¡¯s notice. With no rabid beasts to keep me moving, I could afford to stay still and take aim. I followed Chamiaholom¡¯s instructions, steadied my arm, and held fast.
My bone arrow surged from my arm at lightning speed.
Longnecks were big and strong, but they possessed a key weakness. My projectile nailed it perfectly. My bone arrow hit the longneck at the base of its skull, where it joined with its spine. It pierced the creature¡¯s flesh so fast it didn¡¯t even notice the attack.
The mountain that once hunted me across the land collapsed in on itself.
Its fall was as sudden as it was spectacular. The longneck¡¯s legs stumbled in the middle of its mad dash. The creature¡¯s immense weight, carried by its momentum, tumbled onto the burning earth with the strength of a landslide. The longneck¡¯s own limbs cracked under the pressure; all mad beasts unlucky enough to stand in the titan¡¯s path were crushed to a bloody paste. The cataclysmic collapse shook the world, blowing immense clouds of dust and waves of fire in all directions. The noise reminded me of falling lightning and crumbling houses.
The longneck¡¯s head had fallen a few feet short of the river. Now it could only stare at its waters while the flames began to roast it alive.
How amusing. Such a large body held by such a small linchpin.
I couldn¡¯t put into words the pride I felt. I had spent most of my childhood as a weakling, and my tenure as emperor at the Nightlords¡¯ mercy. Here I had slain a creature twenty times my size with my magical power alone. These months of trials, sweat, and torment were finally starting to pay off.
I had grown strong.
I didn¡¯t need to hide my strength here.
¡°You may kill a man in a single step, but my word alone has slain thousands,¡± I taunted the dying creature. ¡°Stay in your place.¡±
The monster could only snap its teeth in agony. Chamiaholom would be proud.
Only when the flames consumed the longneck did I reveal myself to the other survivors. Since they already learned of my presence, I canceled my Veil and faced them. Their maws snapped at me with hunger and malevolence. I didn''t care. They were too few and too weak to prove a threat to me now.
¡°Come at me if you dare, beasts!¡± I challenged them. ¡°I shall slay you all! I alone will survive to see the daylight!¡±
I activated Spiritual Manifestation in an incomplete state. My hands turned into talons and wings grew out of my back, but I did not surrender my legs or arms for an owl¡¯s shape. I became half a man and half a beast, the ferocity of both and the restraint of neither.
I became hatred.
I became murder.
The beasts¡¯ screams of rage turned into shrieks of fear.
I ripped a trihorn¡¯s skull off its body and beat its rabid children to death with it. I pecked to death the hares that tried to overwhelm me one after another. I stuffed the stag who began this mad hunt with sharpened bones. I showered in the guts of all living things.
They folded one after the other. Each murder led to the next in an endless chain of slaughter. My blood mixed with those of my enemies until the flames of my soul cloaked me in a cloud of fire that no tears could extinguish.
My world became a whirlwind, a hurricane of blood and guts and bones. All my victims blurred together through the veil of slaughter. I couldn¡¯t stop. I didn¡¯t want to stop. I wanted to practice the dance of desolation until the end of time.
I was so good at it.
For the first time in my life, I felt truly free. Free from the gaze of others, free from civilization, free from judgment, free from reason and compassion. Free of my own decaying humanity.
I had no enemies. Only victims.
If war was a game, then no one could play better than me. When I let go of my fears and inhibitions, no one could defeat me. No one. No one.
I was born for this.
What my flames hadn¡¯t burned, my spells and talons killed. At no point did I lose control. I wielded my anger like the sharpened edge of an assassin¡¯s blade. I refined my hatred into a weapon.
I had become the cold brutality unique to mankind. Slaughter with a purpose.
And when at long last my talons crushed the neck of my last challenger, the screams finally ended.
Then I was alone.
Alone in a quiet world.
I let go of my latest prey and looked upon my work. My fires had consumed all the forests and flower fields. Plains of gray ashes and landmarks of seared bones stretched far and wide. The river¡¯s waters had mostly boiled. A mass of dismembered limbs and corpses choked its stream, filling it with blood and guts. Most of them were my doing. My trophies.
The hunt had come to an end. No more hunters nor hunted.
Just me.
A single sound bellowed from deep within my throat.
¡°Eh¡ eh¡ ahah, ahah.¡± My voice grew in strength alongside my joy. ¡°Ahaa! Ahaha! Aaaah!¡±
My laughter echoed across the bloody river and the graves I had filled. It was a deep and sinister sound, yet one that carried such pure satisfaction and blissful contentment. I was a young child once more, finding amusement in the world without requiring any reason.
It took me minutes to calm down, and when I did, two words escaped my lips.
¡°I win,¡± I whispered quietly.
¡°You did,¡± a great and terrible voice answered me.
The Lords of Terror came to give me my prize.
I stood along the ember-filled riverbank when the flames consuming the land split in two. A corridor appeared, lined up by the obsidian jaguar statues welcoming their master. The skeletal totem which I had seen earlier crawled towards me on a bed of a thousand rolling skulls.
Another shape emerged from the river on the other side of me: a hideous mass of dismembered animals sewn together by their festering skin and flesh. My victims became a pile with a hundred charred faces and a thousand arms filled with squirming maggots. A cloud of flies formed above it like a halo.
¡°I am Cuchumaquic,¡± the bone totem said with a deep voice booming like a war drum. Its court of skulls echoed its words with bitter regrets. ¡°I am the hunter and the hunted. I am the revenge that leaves the world blind. I am murder, I am war, I am violence. I am a cycle.¡±
¡°We are Xiquiripat,¡± the thousand decayed beasts whispered, its flies buzzing and droning. ¡°We are that which you cannot see, but kills all.¡±
The fear of being hunted and the fear of diseases. Two terrors as old as life itself, with none of Chamiaholom¡¯s twisted veneer of humanity.
However, Cuchumaquic¡¯s words made me realize that he embodied more than the hunt alone. He represented the fear of being preyed upon. The fear of being attacked, whether by man or beast.
¡°You have triumphed over the House of Jaguars, Peacebringer,¡± Cuchumaquic declared. ¡°How does it feel to win?¡±
Win. Such a beautiful word.
I was covered in wounds, from burned scars to half-healed cuts. My skin was soaked with dried blood. What a winner I made, the last man standing after a frenzied free-for-all. I was more of a survivor than a victor.
But I felt thrilled nonetheless.
And it disturbed me.
¡°I needed that rush,¡± I replied with a voice brimming with shame. ¡°Were you influencing me? Did your plague drive me into a frenzy?¡±
¡°Your flames purged us from your sickened blood,¡± Xiquiripat replied. The thousand victims making up its body revealed their wounds: slashed throats, crushed skulls, burned hearts. All of them were my doing. ¡°You wished for this.¡±
That blissful laughter had been mine alone; the same way I had laughed after causing Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption.
¡°Good.¡± The word escaped my mouth on its own, though I couldn¡¯t explain why. It came from the heart. ¡°Good. I am myself.¡±
I had always been myself.
Somehow, the thought that these atrocities had been forced upon me sickened me more than the fear of owning up to them. The knowledge that my malicious thoughts were mine alone filled me with a grim sort of pride. The one thing I hated most was to be powerless. To be controlled. To dance to another¡¯s tune.
In a sinister way, knowing I had committed this slaughter out of my own free will reassured me. I was the master of my destiny, however bloodsoaked it might be.
Cuchumaquic narrowed its neck and crown of horns at me. The Lord of Terror had no eyes to observe me with, but I felt its gaze on me. ¡°Do you understand now, at the end of all things, the meaning of life?¡±
I remained silent. I knew the answer, but I dared not say it out loud.
I enjoyed slaughtering my foes.
The same potential for destruction that fueled the Nightlords¡¯ cruelty dwelled within my heart. I couldn¡¯t pretend otherwise, not after this massacre. I had justified my crimes by saying that I committed them in the service of a greater cause.
But to know that a part of me delighted in destruction frightened me to my core. It reminded me too much of the Nightlords for my taste.
King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s words echoed in my mind. Do not become what you fight against.
¡°To come into this world is to enter a battlefield,¡± Cuchumaquic declared. ¡°Nature is war. War of tribes against tribes, of men against beast, of the sick against disease. Life is a constant fight that ends with death. The grave alone knows peace. When one victor witnesses the last sunset, my cycle will end and I shall come undone.¡±
Hunting, warring, fighting, revenge¡ all of them required at least two participants. So long as more than one being remained in this world, a new cycle of strife would inevitably arise. Only the dead knew eternal peace.
¡°The meaning of life is violence,¡± Cuchumaquic concluded grimly. ¡°To kill is to prove one¡¯s strength, one¡¯s right to life. Murder is a victory that keeps the war going.¡±
¡°You needed that thrill,¡± Xiquiripat whispered. ¡°The pleasure of proving to yourself that you are the strongest. The one fit to survive, even thrive, in this hopeless world. Seek no shame in this pleasure. It is simply the law of nature that life thrives in death.¡±
¡°I am not ashamed of victory,¡± I replied. Not against beasts at least. ¡°No more than I will regret destroying the Nightlords, once I gain the strength to do so.¡±
But I couldn¡¯t listen to that cruel voice inside my heart.
Even if part of me enjoyed the thrill of battle, I couldn¡¯t let it rule me over. My acts were an unfortunate necessity. If I started enjoying the death and destruction for its own sake¡ then I would never come back from it. I would fall into the same abyss of depravity that my captors crawled out of.
I had to remain focused on my goal. This would keep me on the straight and narrow path.
Cuchumaquic crawled closer until it towered over me. ¡°We have a gift for you, child,¡± it said as it moved one of its arms closer to my chest. ¡°Use it to slay those who would deny your right to life.¡±
The Lord of Terror pressed a hand of bones against my ribcage and filled my Teyolia with malice. Awful images and a chorus of supplications echoed in my skull, the same way the plague once tempted me to fall into a dreadful frenzy.
Unlike Chamiaholom, the Lord of the Hunt and its sibling did not bother to teach me its spell the old-fashioned way. They engraved their knowledge into my soul.
No, scratch that. These two didn¡¯t need to teach me anything.
I was mostly self-taught already. They simply completed my formation.
¡°The Blaze spell is yours.¡± Cuchumaquic removed its hand from my chest. ¡°Use it to win your war. Bring the peace of death to the world.¡±
I clenched my fist and channeled my Teyolia. A shroud of purple flames¡ªthe same color as my accursed heart-fire¡ªcloaked my fingers. They did not consume my skin nor erupt from my wounds, and neither did they require fuel to burn. This smokeless flame arose from my will alone.
I didn¡¯t need to shed my own blood to summon flames anymore.
I could do even better. Channeling my Teyolia and Ihiyotl both at once, I opened my mouth and exhaled. My empty lungs burned in my chest, and a cloud of malicious flames erupted from my mouth in response.
With enough divine embers, this paltry breath of fire would burn brighter than the sun. Bright enough to incinerate the Nightlords.
¡°Let your accursed pyre burn those that stand in your way,¡± Xiquiripat whispered. ¡°Its flames shall light your way.¡±
I glanced at the Lord of Plagues¡¯ festering, mutilated flesh. My thoughts swiftly turned to the Nightlords.
They would make good kindling too.
Chapter Forty-Eight: Cat & Mouse
I woke up from the Underworld to find Nenetl snoring lightly on my chest.
It was quite a comforting sight after my harrowing night in the House of Jaguars. I almost felt like a warrior returning home to his loving wife after a grueling, horrific campaign; which I supposed I was, in a way.
¡°Mmm¡¡± Nenetl stirred under the bed, her eyelids slowly opening. ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡±
¡°Did I disturb you?¡± I asked guiltily. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±
¡°Oh no, no, don¡¯t apologize,¡± Nenetl immediately reassured me with a small yawn. ¡°You looked so troubled in your sleep, so I¡¡± She blushed slightly. ¡°I, um, I tried to warm you up so you didn¡¯t feel alone.¡±
She did? Her concern moved me, though the only warmth I felt in the Underworld was that of my own flames.
¡°It helped,¡± I lied. It seemed to please Nenetl, which made me feel a little easier about it. ¡°I suffered from a terrible nightmare, where I was being hunted in a forest.¡±
¡°Hunted?¡± Nenetl looked at me with a horrified expression. ¡°By men?¡±
¡°Beasts.¡± I found it worrying that Nenetl immediately thought of fellow humans first rather than something more mundane. ¡°Monsters.¡±
¡°That¡¯s awful.¡± Nenetl took my hands into her own to better comfort me. ¡°Did they¡ did they hurt you?¡±
I pondered how to explain that I solved the issue by burning the hunting ground to cinders while laughing, when an idea crossed my mind. One that would throw Iztacoatl off her game.
¡°Itzili saved me,¡± I lied. ¡°My feathered tyrant fell upon my pursuers and slaughtered them all.¡±
¡°I can imagine it,¡± Nenetl said with a light giggle. She didn¡¯t even question my tale. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that he has grown very big.¡±
¡°Indeed, he has.¡± I feigned the utmost concentration, like a prophet receiving a revelation. ¡°It must be a sign...¡±
Nenetl frowned in confusion. ¡°A¡ sign?¡±
¡°Of divine favor.¡± It took all of my willpower not to laugh at my own plan. I dearly needed to enjoy myself a bit after my gruesome night. ¡°Did you dream tonight, Nenetl?¡±
¡°M-me?¡± Nenetl suddenly let go of my hands and put some space between us. ¡°Oh, uh¡ it¡¯s nothing important¡¡±
Her reaction immediately caught my attention. The longer I looked at her, the more she did her best not to face my gaze. The streak of pink on her white face only worsened.
¡°Promise me not to mock me,¡± she finally asked. ¡°Please.¡±
¡°I promise,¡± I replied, hiding my amusement behind a calm facade. Her shyness never failed to put me in a playful mood.
¡°I¡ I dreamed of you. That we¡¡± Nenetl joined her hands and giggled in embarrassment. ¡°That we¡ you know¡¡±
I struggled to suppress my laughter, which caused Nenetl to turn scarlet.
¡°You promised not to mock me!¡± Nenetl protested, though she grinned ear to ear. ¡°Iztac¡¡±
¡°I¡¯m not mocking you.¡± It might not stay a dream forever either. ¡°Not at all.¡±
Part of me desired to cross that line too. To take her into my arms, return her affection, and cherish her. One thing alone stopped me from doing so.
¡°Nenetl,¡± I said.
She met my eyes, slightly surprised. ¡°Y-yes?¡±
¡°There¡¯s a dark side to me,¡± I confessed. ¡°One you won¡¯t like.¡±
I couldn¡¯t go further than that without informing her. In time, I would tell her everything. But for now, I could only hint at the truth.
Nenetl stared at me with no small amount of hesitation. I could read her like an open scroll. She had sensed it before too; my pain, my anger, my cruelty. She didn¡¯t yet understand its depths, but she knew I was not a gentle person. Not entirely.
¡°It¡¯s just a side, Iztac, not all of you,¡± she replied with a smile; almost wisely too. ¡°I would rather keep looking at the bright one.¡±
After tonight¡¯s slaughter, being reminded that she saw a bright side in me at all filled me with relief. Being capable of great cruelty didn¡¯t mean that I had to practice it.
A limb is not the body, I told myself. A part does not represent the whole.
¡°I see,¡± I whispered with genuine gratitude. ¡°Thank you, Nenetl.¡±
¡°Do you¡¡± Nenetl smiled shyly, her hands joining together. ¡°Do you want to stay a bit longer with me?¡±
¡°Of course.¡± I chuckled to myself and lightly kissed her on the cheek, much to her delight. ¡°Breakfast will wait.¡±
I heard her quarters¡¯ doors opening, unfortunately ruining the moment.
Nenetl immediately yelped in embarrassment as she retreated under the blankets. Much to my utter annoyance, Tayatzin entered the bedroom with a set of guards. I was about to scold him for interrupting us when I noticed the grim scowl on his face.
¡°Forgive my interruption, Your Divine Majesty.¡± Most worrying of all, he sounded almost concerned. ¡°Lady Iztacoatl wishes to see you with haste.¡±
I had grown to hate that sentence with a passion.
The underground corridors echoed with my footsteps.
I had an easier time remembering my path this time. Comparing these tunnels with the map of the secret passages that Eztli provided me a few weeks earlier let me gain a better understanding of my location. I was almost certain that Iztacoatl¡¯s chambers lay buried under the palace¡¯s western wing.
It made some deal of sense. The Nightlords divided the cardinal positions between themselves, with Iztacoatl keeping nominal stewardship of the west. They must have split up the palace the same way. I wondered if it meant that the late Yoloxochitl kept her gardens somewhere to the east.
I put these thoughts aside for now. My guards had vanished a few turns ago, leaving me alone in the dark corridors.
I expected to receive a punishment of some kind. Ingrid had my guards slay one of Iztacoatl¡¯s spies, after all. While my consort offered a way to plausibly deny our harmful intentions, the Nightlords were a cruel and fickle lot and Iztacoatl didn¡¯t need an excuse to torment me.
¡°Welcome back, songbird.¡±
Her cold hands grabbed my shoulders with a bone-crushing grip. I hadn¡¯t even noticed her approach. She could have easily slit my throat before I realized it.
For all of my success in the Underworld, I still had much to learn.
¡°Why are you so tense? Do you expect punishment?¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s smirk had a dangerous edge to it. ¡°You would be right.¡±
How unsurprising of her. ¡°What have I done to displease a goddess?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t you know?¡± Iztacoalt raised an eyebrow. ¡°White snakes are divine animals created in my image, yet you had one killed yesterday.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± I feigned surprise. ¡°It was yours?¡±
¡°Yet again you treat me like a fool.¡± Iztacoatl touched my chin with her thumb and forced me to meet her eyes. The mere sensation of her cold finger on my skin filled me with revulsion. ¡°Do you take me for a fool, songbird?¡±
¡°No, goddess, I take you for a Nightlord.¡±
My response drew a cold laugh out of her. ¡°Quite the ambiguous wording. You must think yourself clever, songbird.¡±
So do you. For all of Iztacoatl¡¯s insight and cunning, I kept many secrets from her. You are not as unassailable as you believe yourself to be, White Snake.
I recalled my predecessors¡¯ words. My best bet to deal with the White Snake was to surprise and baffle her. Should I continue pushing her with sarcasm? No. I had the feeling that while it would amuse the Nightlord, it wouldn¡¯t truly confuse her. I suspected many of my predecessors already lashed out at her.
¡°Goddess, Ingrid only sought to protect me,¡± I said, probing the Nightlord¡¯s reactions. ¡°The fault rests on my shoulders alone.¡±
¡°I bear no ill will towards Ingrid. She is my favorite of the current crop.¡± Iztacoatl chuckled. ¡°Besides, how could I punish her after you so callously tried to orphan her?¡±
Her brazen words left me briefly speechless with rage. The fact that she dared to blame me for Sigrun¡¯s murder sickened¨C
Wait.
¡°Tried?¡± I asked, picking up on the weird wording.
Iztacoatl gave me the most condescending smile imaginable. ¡°I thought you would know after we brought you back on your first day. Death means nothing to us. We can return our victims to life any time we choose.¡±
Iztacoatl scratched me behind the ear as if I were her dog. ¡°In my great and immense generosity, I have decided to recall my dear Sigrun from the land of the dead.¡±
¡°Lies,¡± I replied. Vampires consumed the souls of their victims, and Sigrun had been devoured by the first and most powerful of them. ¡°I do not believe you.¡±
¡°Are you accusing a goddess of deceit? How blasphemous for a godspeaker.¡± Iztacoatl let go of me. ¡°Worry not, I shall prove my goodwill and generosity soon enough.¡±
A shiver traveled down my spine. My gut told me that whatever plot she had hatched, it would prove as horrendous as the Lords of Terrors¡¯ trials.
¡°Besides¡¡± Iztacoatl studied my gaze, looking for a weakness. ¡°I find it strange that you doubt my word after we healed your stabbed heart. What makes you think we cannot revive anyone else, I wonder?¡±
I had said too much. ¡°Sigrun burned in the sulfur flames,¡± I replied. ¡°She didn¡¯t even leave ashes.¡±
¡°True, but miracles are a goddess¡¯ purview, are they not?¡± Iztacoatl took a step into the darkness and gestured at me to follow her. ¡°Come with me, and I shall show you my divine power.¡±
Swallowing my doubts, I followed the Nightlord deeper inside her underground maze. The sight of her turned back proved a tempting target.
It would be so easy to hit her with the Blaze¡ I refrained from trying nonetheless. I required more practice with the spell, and I spent enough time training with Chikal to notice the slight tension in Iztacoatl¡¯s posture. She does not lower her guard around me.
What would it take for me to distract her? I had a plan for Itzili that could catch her interest, but would it be enough?
A voice suddenly resonated at the hallway¡¯s end and drew me out of my thoughts.
Her voice.
¡°My lord?¡±
It couldn¡¯t be¡ I felt like awakening from a cold shower or a blow to the stomach. This is an illusion.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, songbird?¡± Iztacoatl gently and firmly pushed me further ahead. ¡°Your concubine awaits you.¡±
With no other choice and a lurching stomach, I walked to the hallway¡¯s end.
Lady Sigrun awaited me inside a polygonal stone chamber.
She was sitting on a bed of stone, dressed in the exact same robes as the time of her death, backlit by three braseros held by marble statues of faceless women. She looked as smooth and lithe as the day I watched her burn to death, with none of the wounds that killed her on display. I shuddered in horror as she smiled at me with that familiar, enigmatic smile she bore so well. Her eyes glittered in the dark like two emeralds reflecting the twilight.
My fists tightened so much that I felt a drop of blood slipping between my fingers. The pain of my nails sinking in my palms paled before the rage boiling in my veins.
These bastards. They had gone so far as to recreate her expressions down to the last detail.
¡°What is wrong, my lord?¡± The fake Lady Sigrun¡¯s voice matched the original perfectly, but I knew she was a counterfeit. The First Emperor never let go of his meals. ¡°I expected a warmer welcome.¡±
I managed to unclench my teeth long enough to spit at this farce. ¡°You bear her face, but you are not her,¡± I rasped angrily. I was too furious to shout. ¡°Begone from my sight, fake.¡±
¡°Fake? You wound me, my lord.¡± The fake Sigrun¡¯s hands moved down to the sash holding her smothering robes. ¡°I bear the mark of our last coupling.¡±
She unfolded the sash with a soft rustling and let her clothes fall to the ground. She was naked underneath, and clearly pregnant.
A wave of nausea washed over me at the sight of her swollen breasts and bloated belly, of her bleeding thighs and the white maggots squirming between her legs. Her stomach was horribly enlarged, a mass of squirming flesh about to burst. Something was wriggling under her pale skin. I could see its movements.
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¡°Oh my¡¡± The fake Sigrun stared at me with a twisted smile and glowing eyes. Her sweating hands held onto her belly. ¡°They¡¯re coming¡¡±
Snakes burst out of her belly in a shower of blood.
Few things could frighten and sicken me anymore. This was one of them. I instinctively recoiled as the fake Sigrun¡¯s stomach untangled into a fountain of flesh and gore that stained the floor red. A dozen serpents fell on the ground, wriggling in their mother¡¯s blood.
They all had my face.
These snakes, they had my face. Twisted human traits morphing into coiling tails of bloodsoaked white scales, squirming and gasping for air with my mouth, looking at me with my eyes. They moaned and hissed with my voice, their stunted bodies unable to carry the weight of their deformed heads.
As for Sigrun, she swiftly collapsed into a pile of boneless, empty skin; a flesh suit out of which a swarm of red-eyed white serpents crawled out of.
I was too horrified by the sight to react at all. My eyes lingered on the deformed¡ things crawling out at me. They coiled and wriggled to the best of their ability, their blue eyes fixated on me as they suffocated. I stepped back before they could touch me. I instinctively put a hand on my mouth not to vomit.
And Iztacoatl¡
The wench held her sides from laughter.
¡°Your Majesty,¡± she said, struggling to string two words together. ¡°Is that a way to greet your newborn sons?¡±
What Iztacoatl lacked in callous brutality, she more than made up for in inventiveness.
I couldn¡¯t move an inch. I could only stare at the¡ the abominations that the fake Sigrun gave birth to. Their deformed bodies couldn¡¯t sustain life, so I watched them drown and suffocate to death in their mother¡¯s blood. They kept staring back at me until their last breath. With unblinking eyes.
With my eyes.
¡°Such a shame, they are stillborn,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°I¡¯m sure Your Majesty¡¯s seed will prove more potent with other partners. With luck, your new children will be born with legs.¡±
Her vicious, cruel taunt awoke me from my fear and horror. The owl inside me sharpened its talons. It took all of my willpower and composure not to cast the Blaze spell and incinerate her on the spot. Only the thought of failure¡ªand the idea of her laugh growing louder¡ªheld my hand.
¡°My, what a delightful face you make. Unforgettable.¡± Iztacoatl leaned on me to better savor my expression. ¡°Are you going to cry, songbird?¡±
If I did, she would feed on my tears. I could see it in her golden eyes.
I recalled that awful night when Yoloxochitl forced Eztli to consume her own father and threatened to condemn Necahual to a life of sexual slavery. The hatred that I had felt for that madwoman now matched the one I held in my heart for Iztacoatl. They were cut from the same cloth. Two awful shades of cruelty.
In spite of the anger dwelling within me, I suddenly achieved a state of utter calmness. I had flown beyond the wrath horizon and straight into the same cold, calculating malevolence I embraced in the House of Jaguars. All of my spirit, all of my mind, could only focus on one thing, on a small thing.
How to make her pay.
How to hurt her, beat her, rape her, kill her¡ anything that would make her suffer.
¡°I told you I would tame you,¡± Iztacoatl mocked me. ¡°You will find no happiness except through me, Iztac. Anything else that brings you joy, I shall twist and corrupt.¡±
She knew Chikal and I were trying to conceive a child. She must have guessed easily. So she took that pleasure and befouled it with her vicious touch.
I clenched my teeth and focused. I did not waver, nor did I let her laugh unsettle me. To baffle her, to confuse her, to throw her off her game, I had to turn her cruel game back on her. Turn her triumph into a bewildering defeat.
An idea came to mind.
¡°What, have you lost your tongue?¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s smug grin boiled my blood. ¡°No biting remarks or clever words?¡±
¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°I don¡¯t need words.¡±
Instead, I slapped her.
I sensed the difference in strength and stature between us when my hand connected with her. Iztacoatl was no frail woman. I had seen a glimpse of her monstrous, reptilian true self on Smoke Mountain. She was a primeval horror masquerading as the human she used to be.
My slap still sent her stumbling back a few feet. She held her left cheek with her hand, her eyes wide with outrage and disbelief. To my delight and unease both, she looked utterly shocked. Nobody must have dared to strike her in centuries.
A black drop drifted down her pale cheek.
I had hit her hard enough to draw blood.
The atmosphere in the stone chamber suddenly turned tense. The white serpents that had puppeteered the fake Sigrun¡¯s skin gathered around me, hissing and snapping their jaws at me. Their mistress stood firm once more. She had regained her composure, but her eyes had turned into yellow, reptilian orbs glaring at me with malice.
¡°Try that again,¡± she hissed, her voice about as ominous as the Lords of Terror¡¯s. ¡°If you dare.¡±
I slapped her on the other cheek.
My hand encountered resistance this time; instead of striking the soft flesh of the unwary, I might as well have tried to slap a stone pillar. Iztacoatl didn¡¯t flinch this time. She didn¡¯t move either. She didn¡¯t need to.
Her serpents attacked me on her behalf.
They coiled around my legs and arms in an instant, binding me with greater force than any ropes. They were faster and stronger than any serpent had any right to be. They buried me under their scales in seconds and soon dragged me to the ground. I collapsed face-first into the fake Sigrun¡¯s blood, surrounded by my dead ¡®children.¡¯
¡°Interesting.¡± Iztacoatl lovingly caressed her bloodied cheek, a wide smirk spreading on her cruel lips. ¡°How amusing. In six centuries, none of you puppet emperors had the guts to slap me. This is a first.¡±
Iztacoatl touched the blood tear dripping down her skin with her finger, then sucked it. A forked tongue slithered out of her mouth. She was such a vain soul that she relished the taste of her own person.
Her serpents forced me to lay on my back. Their mistress sat on my chest with the weight of ancient stones. I struggled to breathe, much to her cruel delight.
¡°Perhaps I should teach you docility in my bedchambers,¡± she said, licking my cheek with her reptilian tongue for good measure. Its contact felt colder than the Rattling House¡¯s ice. ¡°I would keep your pretty face intact, but the rest¡ by the time I finish taking my pleasure with you, poor Nenetl won¡¯t be able to touch you without caking her white hands with blood.¡±
I chuckled instead of backing down.
Iztacoatl¡¯s amusement turned to anger. Her hand grabbed my throat with an iron grip. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare laugh at me.¡±
How hypocritical. She could take a joke, but only so long as she wasn¡¯t the laughingstock.
A flick of her wrist would have snapped my neck. However, I had the feeling she wouldn¡¯t resort to it.
I was starting to better gauge Iztacoatl¡¯s character. I recalled how she hit me after the eruption, when her sense of power felt threatened. She wasn¡¯t so different from the Jaguar Woman in the end. When pushed far enough, she used cruelty to regain control. She simply favored threats and mind games over violence.
Crushing my windpipe would simply prove that I had rattled her. Her pride wouldn¡¯t allow it.
¡°You don¡¯t see anything,¡± I replied softly.
¡°See what?¡± Iztacoatl tightened her grip on my throat, giving me just enough air to breathe. ¡°Sing for me, songbird.¡±
I did. With a laugh.
A deep, sinister laughter that shook the stone chamber to its foundation. A pure expression of malicious glee and malevolence. I looked into Iztacoatl¡¯s eyes and watched the unsettling dread taking over her gaze. When her grip on my neck wavered, I knew I had succeeded.
She hadn¡¯t expected that, and it disturbed her.
¡°Answer me, pet,¡± she hissed before slapping me. Her hand carried the strength of ten men. She could have torn my head off my shoulders in a single blow, but her arm was trembling too much for it. I had shaken her spirit. ¡°Answer me!¡±
I only laughed louder.
It was then that Iztacoatl finally understood. This was no laugh of madness, no, but the mocking laugh of someone who knew something the other didn¡¯t. A demon delighting at the horrible fate they had foreseen for a foolish mortal unable to see their doom coming.
It was all an act, of course, but it worked.
Iztacoatl let go of my throat, her eyes wide with horror and confusion. She couldn¡¯t tell whether I was bluffing in an attempt to unsettle her, or if I had genuinely foreseen a terrible fate for her. Perhaps I had received a vision from Father Dearest where he devoured her or worse.
Yoloxochitl¡¯s vice had been love, but Iztacoatl¡¯s was fear. She was the one keeping her guard up at all times, the one who advised against running the New Fire Ceremony at the first sign of trouble, the one whose paranoia let her see through my lies.
How ironic. The idea of being left in the dark frightened a Nightlord.
Sickened by my reaction and unsure how to react, Iztacoatl erred on the side of caution. She let go of my throat and rose up. Her serpents uncoiled and released their hold on me. I gathered my breath, having been wheezing since I started laughing.
¡°Get up, songbird,¡± Iztacoatl said, dusting off her robes. ¡°I have toyed with you long enough. I will let you go for now.¡±
I had to give it to her. She almost sounded magnanimous. She was only lying to herself though.
We both knew I had won this round.
After the encounter underground, I was allowed back to the surface under Tayatzin¡¯s supervision. I immediately went to visit my late predecessors to seek their advice and noticed a telling change.
Three snakes now spied on me in the Reliquary instead of one.
So much for staying beneath her notice, but Iztacoatl had forced my hand. Now that I had thrown down the gauntlet, I had to keep the pressure up. To slowly boil her to death.
Our game had begun.
I sensed the Parliament of Skulls awakening in secret. Their eyes remained shut in the darkness, but their whispers reached my ears nonetheless, unheard by the serpents.
¡°You play a dangerous game, our successor,¡± the previous emperors warned me. ¡°To hold the snake by the tail is to invite its bite. She will strike you.¡±
I understood that well enough. Iztacoatl would try to reassert her authority over me, whether through pain or mind games. She had retreated to better assess her next move, but I knew she wouldn¡¯t take her defeat lying down.
¡°However, we cannot deny that feigning madness often demands brave stunts,¡± my predecessors said. ¡°We suggest a more subdued approach from now on. Keep Iztacoatl wondering if you are playing an act or if you have truly fallen prey to her father¡¯s visions. Uncertainty is like the wind. He who blows it directs where a ship sails. Avoid consistency.¡±
Whenever Iztacoatl believed I had fallen under a routine, I would swiftly pull the rug out from under her. Otherwise, I would remain silent and pretend to meditate inside the Reliquary until she focused her interest elsewhere. I had a few ideas on how to achieve that objective.
Although Iztacoatl remained the greatest threat to my safety inside the palace, other matters demanded my attention too. I had only a few weeks left to destroy Yoloxochitl¡¯s gardens before the Flower War began in earnest; after which the Nightlords would no doubt load their ships with their late sisters¡¯ flowers. The fate of Lady Zyanya and my conspiracy in Zachilaa remained uncertain. I also needed to secure Ingrid¡¯s help in translating her mother¡¯s notes, visit places affected by the eruption, prepare myself for war, and deal with the consequences of the First Emperor¡¯s influence.
Worst of all, I couldn¡¯t speak questions out loud in the Reliquary, lest the serpents overhear me.
Thankfully, my predecessors did not need to hear my voice to read my thoughts. We shared the same burden, and they possessed great wisdom.
¡°The decimation of Yoloxochitl¡¯s priesthood has left us with fewer leads when it comes to her garden,¡± they said. ¡°But we may have figured out an alternative solution. During our lifetimes, we gathered extensive records of properties owned by the Flower of the Heart¡¯s servants. We doubt she would entrust one of her projects to anyone outside her inner circle, and only a few of these facilities could house an underground garden. We will provide their names to you.¡±
Good. I could cross-reference this information with what intel Necahual had gathered, then inspect the chosen sites with the Riding spell. This should greatly narrow down the range of possible locations.
The Parliament of Skulls provided three major leads: a monastery in Cuauhtochco, the hospice of Cuetlaxtlan, and the orphanage of Tlatlauquitepec. I hoped Yoloxochitl would have had the decency not to hide a terribly dangerous weapon under the last location, but I was ready to expect anything.
All these locations were on the eastern side of the empire and relatively close to the capital. Once I had confirmed the garden¡¯s location, I would then need to select the appropriate host for the Ride spell and deliver it the tools required to burn these loathsome flowers to ash. By now, I had the resources to acquire both. I had invested a great deal in Tlaxcala¡¯s inheritance and would now put his allegiance to the test.
A plan quickly formed in my mind. I could use Lady Zyanya as an excuse to visit the western provinces devastated by the earthquakes and drum up support for my Flower War. Not only would leaving the palace let me act with less supervision, but it would also distract the Nightlords from Yoloxochitl¡¯s dominions. Their attention would focus on propping up their godspeaker¡¯s tour.
This left one major unknown factor to account for.
¡°There is another thing you must know, our successor,¡± the skulls whispered. ¡°We, who stand on the Gate of Skulls¡¯ threshold, see souls pass on to their peaceful afterlife. We often speak with the deceased. The First Emperor¡¯s bat children have claimed many victims, whether in Yohuachanca or in the lands beyond.¡±
I feared as much. Reports had informed me that the bat swarms spread beyond our borders, biting children and pregnant mothers. The evil unleashed on Smoke Mountain would slay many innocents over the next few months.
I hoped this could force Yohuachanca¡¯s enemies to take action. It was one thing to have soldiers threatening one¡¯s borders, and another for monsters to eat their sons and daughters in the darkest nights.
¡°Not all the lives they take see their souls pass on to the Underworld,¡± my predecessors warned me. ¡°The Nightlords attempted to secure their ritual by elevating your consort as Yoloxochitl¡¯s replacement, but the dam is cracked and the river¡¯s flow is disrupted. We sense the darkness stirring. Something shall happen tonight. We can feel it.¡±
My fists clenched in frustration. The more I considered it, the more it became clear to me that the Nightlords¡¯ rituals used their lives and mine as linchpins to keep their Dark Father contained. Slaying them might unleash another calamity upon the world.
I refused to entertain any future outcome that involved sparing the likes of Iztacoatl or the Jaguar Woman. They were monsters who needed to die for the good of everyone else, and it was only a matter of time before they tried to raise another Sulfur Sun in the sky.
My predecessors sensed my disquiet and quickly reassured me. ¡°Do not lose hope, our successor. If the First Emperor could be chained once, he can be restrained again. Moreover, we suspect that the current arrangement is meant to derive power from the First Emperor first and keep it contained second. There are other paths left to explore and time to tread them.¡±
Yes indeed. The fact that the Nightlords devised their infernal ritual with themselves as its pillar did not mean that their way was the only one. Why would they have bothered to find an alternative, since this one had worked for centuries? There could be other rituals capable of doing the same job, except without the benefits of leeching off their divine ancestor.
¡°Unfortunately, we cannot provide much assistance in this particular quest,¡± the Parliament replied with a low, sorrowful sigh. ¡°You must learn the source of the vampiric curse. The First Emperor¡¯s codices hold the key to uncovering that secret. Pursue them with haste.¡±
I gathered my breath and exhaled. I could do little more to signify agreement without tipping off the snakes.
¡°We must address one last matter, our successor.¡± The Parliament of Skulls let out a deep rattle. ¡°We know another Ihiyotl spell that can help you. Other issues demanded your full attention beforehand, and we were not certain that you would have the experience or willingness to cast it, so we kept it from you. We believe that it has now become a viable option.¡±
Their words surprised me. I would never say no to another spell. The Augury alone had proved quite useful so far in spite of its harsh cost. Why would my predecessors sit on another?
¡°The Legion is a secret spell of our own devising,¡± they said. ¡°It shall share our curse with another soul, trapping them inside our gestalt spirit.¡±
It took all of my willpower not to freeze in horror at the implications.
¡°We understand your concerns, hence why we did not mention it before,¡± my predecessors confirmed. ¡°Since we stand on the threshold between life and death, we have the ability to intercept souls crossing it with your help. Their skull will become an extension of ourselves; allowing us to speak through them and access their knowledge.¡±
The benefits appeared obvious to me, but they failed to compensate for its horrible downsides. The sickening thought of sharing my curse with others, even enemies, was the least of its consequences.
¡°We doubted you would have the resolve to cast it beforehand, and it would have angered Queen Mictecacihuatl. We dared not mention it while you lingered in her domain.¡±
I doubted she would look kindly on me on the Day of the Dead should I ever cast this spell either. Even if I successfully destroyed the Nightlords, I was bound to end up in the afterlife anyway. Making an enemy of its rulers would be deeply unwise.
The spell was something Mother would cast; an obsidian dagger without a handle.
Over six hundred mouths rattled as one. The dead emperors didn¡¯t like this weapon anymore than I did. ¡°Considering the trials ahead, we believe you should at least learn of this option.¡±
My jaw clenched on its own. They had a point. With luck, I would never have to cast this spell at all.
If not¡ if not, a dagger without a handle remained a dagger.
¡°To cast the Legion, you must inflict the same humiliation that we went through on another,¡± said my predecessors. ¡°Sever a fresh head, then whisper their true name to the skull. The target must have died within an hour¡¯s time of the ritual, lest its soul pass on beyond the Gate of Skulls and thus our reach.¡±
This spell wasn¡¯t something I could cast discreetly. The timing meant that I would not only have to kill the target, but also defile the corpse. No way this wouldn¡¯t raise suspicion. I would have either to plan the perfect assassination or find myself with my back against the wall to use this gruesome ritual.
¡°Now go, before the snakes question why you linger in this place.¡± The Parliament¡¯s hundred voices slowly faded into silence. ¡°We shall meet again.¡±
I would have bowed were I unobserved. Instead, I settled on rising to my feet and leaving in respectful silence. Dutiful Tayatzin awaited me outside the Reliquary.
¡°I hope Your Majesty¡¯s meditation granted him the gift of insight,¡± he said politely.
¡°It has.¡± In more ways than one. ¡°Have we received news of the Qollqa investigation yet?¡±
¡°We have, Your Majesty. I am afraid to report that the late merchant indeed appears to have been a loathsome traitor in the Sapa¡¯s employ, as we feared. We have found a secret correspondence meant for the Apu Inkarri.¡±
¡°The same name that Tlazohtzin brought up,¡± I said, pretending to connect the dots I had created myself. ¡°Very well. Summon Lady Zyanya for breakfast, and bring me Itzili too.¡±
¡°Your feathered tyrant?¡± Tayatzin frowned. ¡°Do you wish to keep him close during breakfast in order to intimidate Lady Zyanya, Your Majesty?¡±
¡°Partly,¡± I replied, looking at the horizon ahead. ¡°I will require his advice too.¡±
Tayatzin looked at me as if I had lost my mind. ¡°His advice?¡±
I smiled and stared at the horizon. ¡°He defended me in a dream,¡± I lied. ¡°And he shall do so again in the waking world.¡±
Chapter Forty-Nine: Plots within Plots
Tlazohtzin¡¯s widow and brother sat as far apart from each other as my current table would allow them to.
I originally planned to enjoy my breakfast with Nenetl, but Iztacoatl¡¯s cruel prank¡ªif I could call watching a corpse give birth to stillborn abominations a prank¡ªand new circumstances forced me to slightly adjust my agenda. Instead, I had summoned Zyanya and Tlaxcala to discuss their futures. I invited Necahual as my favorite, alongside Ingrid, since she was my diplomacy advisor.
Predicting the bad blood between the late Tlazohtzin¡¯s relatives, I had ordered my servants to bring a smaller table than the one I usually used, to force them to stay close. Even then, they hardly touched their food.
¡°You seem unsettled, Lady Zyanya,¡± I commented before sipping my chocolate cup. ¡°Are you ill?¡±
¡°Not at all, Your Majesty,¡± she replied with trembling hands. ¡°However¡¡±
Ingrid graciously offered her a way out to save face. ¡°You still think of your late husband.¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± Lady Zyanya replied with a sigh. ¡°My husband was a traitor, but the sight of Your Majesty wearing his skin¡ I would lie if I said that it did not frighten me.¡±
It was a fine excuse, but one that I struggled to fully believe. Lady Zyanya had traded her black widow¡¯s robes for a lighter blend of brown and green. The significance of her wardrobe change wasn¡¯t lost on me. Her husband¡¯s fate hadn¡¯t inspired enough compassion in her to stay faithful to his memory.
The true cause of Lady Zyanya¡¯s distress stealthily walked behind her, causing her spine to stiffen with tension. Itzili¡¯s presence at my side disturbed my guests, as it should.
Over a week and a half had passed since I gave Itzili my sun-blessed blood. He had been only slightly larger than a dog before then.
Now?
Now he could probably challenge a jaguar to a fight and win.
Iztili had grown so large that his head reached all the way up to my chest, and his length matched that of an adult man. He would only need a small hop to place someone¡¯s head between his mighty jaws. Were I not used to fighting monsters, I would have found him greatly intimidating too.
¡°It usually takes a feathered tyrant four years to complete their growth cycle,¡± my menagerie handler had told me when he brought Itzili to me, sweating all the way. ¡°But I¡¯ve never seen one gain two hundred pounds in ten days¡¯ time. At this rate, Itzili will reach his adult size before Your Majesty¡¯s reign ends.¡±
The symbolism wasn¡¯t lost on me. I had received Itzili on the first day of my tenure and he might reach maturity on its last. Was that the result of my blood hastening his growth? Itzili had already shown early signs of increased size beforehand, so maybe he was born slightly abnormal. That or supernatural forces were at work.
Moreover, Itzili¡¯s brown feathers were starting to gain a black hue; the same as my owl wings in the Underworld. I took it as a good sign.
¡°The gods saw fit that I would ride him to war against our enemies,¡± I had told the handler. ¡°See that he remains well-fed.¡±
¡°As Your Majesty wishes,¡± the man had replied with a deep bow. ¡°Should we start training the honored Itzili to accept a rider?¡±
¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡±
I already knew that he would obey me.
I sensed it in the connection between our Teyolias. The blood I had fed to Itzili formed a bond between us. A kinship of the flesh, almost familial.
Itzili seemed to know what I wanted without me having to say it out loud. Not only did he not touch the food on display, showing remarkable restraint for an animal, but he also circled the table for a time like a hunter on the prowl. It quietly intimidated Lady Zyanya and Tlaxcala into silence.
Eventually, Itzili sat on a bed of cushions to my left. Necahual sent him a few worried glances now and then, though my pet didn¡¯t spare her a glance. Ingrid alone appeared unbothered by his presence. She even dared to ruffle Itzili¡¯s feathers, which he graciously allowed.
Having a pet feathered tyrant at my side will do wonders for my public image.
¡°While I cannot return your husband¡¯s remains to you, know that he was buried properly,¡± I informed Zyanya. That was a complete and utter lie, but one that the widow graciously chose to believe. ¡°He has atoned for his sins with his death.¡±
¡°I wish to reassure Your Majesty of my loyalty,¡± Tlaxcala quickly said. ¡°My brother was born a traitor. In the name of my late father, I swear that I shall wipe away the stain he has left on our family¡¯s name.¡±
¡°Is that so?¡± I replied with a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯ve placed high hopes on you, Tlaxcala. I pray to the First Emperor that you will not disappoint them.¡±
The barely veiled threat caused Tlaxcala to cough in embarrassment. Lady Zyanya, never one to miss an opportunity, immediately seized her chance to put him down.
¡°If Your Majesty will forgive the interruption,¡± she said, ¡°But Tlaxcala has disappointed his own father¡¯s expectations time and time again. He is unworthy of your trust.¡±
¡°Quiet, woman,¡± Tlaxcala rasped at her, his voice brimming with anger. ¡°This inheritance is my birthright. Our wise emperor already agreed to give it to me.¡±
¡°Because he has not yet learned of your incompetence,¡± Lady Zyanya insisted. She didn¡¯t even spare her brother-in-law a glance. ¡°You have ruined every enterprise that your sire gave you.¡±
¡°Lies!¡± Tlaxcala protested before quickly turning back to me. ¡°Forgive me for my outburst, Your Divine Majesty, but listen not to this viper! All of my associates have benefited from my connections and guidance!¡±
These two make quite the pair. Necahual scowled at my side. Unlike Ingrid and I, she didn¡¯t quite manage to hide her disdain yet. They are cut from the same cloth.
Itzili suddenly growled and unveiled his sharp teeth. My guests wisely fell silent.
¡°Enough of this pointless bickering,¡± I said sharply. ¡°Such disputes are what disappointed the gods and let our foes poison our citizens with lies. We shall mend my realm¡¯s wounds, not let them fester.¡±
¡°My lord speaks wisely,¡± Ingrid complimented me. As usual, she played the role of a courtier perfectly. ¡°If a family is a body, then Tlazohtzin was rot that had to be excised. I suggest knitting the flesh back together into a stronger whole.¡±
¡°You speak wisely, Ingrid,¡± Necahual said. ¡°His Majesty indeed awarded Tlaxcala his blessing, but an innocent widow is entitled to financial support no matter her husband¡¯s crimes.¡±
¡°You both have a point,¡± I replied. Of course, we had already rehearsed this discussion before the actual meeting. ¡°I have reached a decision.¡±
Tlaxcala and Lady Zyanya straightened up.
¡°The two of you belong to noble bloodlines, and the friendship between your families is a precious bond that must be preserved.¡± Or should I say, a precious resource I intended to exploit. ¡°You shall wed one another.¡±
Lady Zyanya¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. ¡°You wish us to marry?¡±
While his sister-in-law kept her composure, Tlaxcala looked fit to gag. ¡°Your Majesty, with all due respect¨C¡±
I didn¡¯t let him finish.
¡°From now on, you shall no longer be foes. Instead, you shall support each other in all things.¡± I glared at the future couple. ¡°I have no doubt that together you will not fail and disappoint me as Tlazohtzin did.¡±
My veiled threat silenced them both. Moreover, Itzili observed them with his cold, unblinking reptilian eyes. His was the gaze of a savage hound waiting for his master¡¯s order to attack. I had the distinct impression that he didn¡¯t like either of my guests. Perhaps he sensed their fickle morals.
In either case, these two understood my message: they would either get along or die.
Ingrid wisely showed them the bright side of the arrangement. ¡°Obedience is the virtue that leads to prosperity,¡± she said. ¡°My lord speaks for the gods. Blessed are those who heed his words, for they shall enjoy bountiful lives.¡±
In short, loyalty would earn them my favor. I, who alone among all emperors in the empire¡¯s history, spoke with the First Emperor¡¯s voice and cast a great curse upon my enemies. I was the first man with real power to ever sit on Yohuachanca¡¯s throne. Only fools would refuse a direct order from me.
Lady Zyanya and Tlaxcala exchanged a quick glance, before the latter bowed his head on their behalf. ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s wishes are our own,¡± Tlaxcala said. ¡°When would this wedding take place?¡±
I suppressed a smile at this quick turnaround. As I suspected, their ambition trumped their mutual dislike of each other. This play had gone on without a hitch so far.
Now it was time for the twist ending.
I glanced at my pet. ¡°What do you think, Itzili?¡±
Everyone looked at me in confusion, even Ingrid and Necahual. Their surprise was genuine. I specifically avoided informing either of them to better sell this fraud. Itzili looked up at me as I ruffled his feathers.
Then he answered me.
In coos and hisses instead of words, true¡ but to an outsider, it would seem as if he was telling me something. His reaction was better than anything I¡¯d expected. Itzili let out a low rumbling noise, then pointed at Tlaxcala and Zyanya with his nose. His tongue slithered between his sharp teeth.
Somehow, I managed to understand his desire through our blood bond. Itzili¡¯s thoughts were simple, clear, and without ambiguity.
He wanted to eat these two. Raw, if possible.
I was almost tempted to fulfill his wish, but alas, necessity ruled.
¡°I see,¡± I muttered to myself. ¡°Interesting.¡±
I focused back on my guests, acting as if nothing unusual had just happened; and ignoring the confusion in their eyes. I had to act subtly for now. Just give the feeling that something was wrong without going overboard. A sudden personality shift would seem like an act.
¡°It seems to me that although Zachilaa¡¯s loyalty remains unquestioned, its people have grown dissolute enough to mingle with the enemy,¡± I declared with a prophet¡¯s resolve. ¡°The eruption has no doubt weakened their faith further. They need a reminder of what it is to believe.¡±
A worried frown spread on Lady Zyanya¡¯s face. ¡°Will Your Majesty order a purge?¡±
At least she seemed worried for her hometown¡¯s safety. I took note of it, in case I could exploit it later.
¡°No need,¡± I replied with a bright smile. ¡°I already intend to visit areas devastated by Smoke Mountain¡¯s wrath. I shall complete this journey by visiting Zachilaa and celebrating your wedding in person. Your union will herald the beginning of a new prosperous age for Yohuachanca.¡±
Tlaxcala, ever the perfect butt-kisser, immediately bowed. ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s generosity knows no bounds. To receive your personal blessing on such a sacred day would be nothing short of a miracle.¡±
¡°Your presence would certainly honor my people,¡± Lady Zyanya replied with calculating eyes. She was clearly the better politician of the two and already considering how to exploit the situation.
Necahual shifted in her seat, her eyes narrowing. ¡°Will His Majesty take his rights?¡±
Was that a hint of distaste I detected in her voice? I couldn¡¯t blame her after what she went through. As emperor, I was entitled to the first night of any bride. A tradition Necahual suffered from on her own wedding.
¡°The gods have not spoken yet,¡± I replied diplomatically. A polite way to say I couldn¡¯t answer in the open. I suspected that if I said no, Iztacoatl would take a malignant pleasure in forcing me to forswear myself.
Besides, although I had no intention of following through with it if I could, leaving the matter hanging would force others to take a stand.
To outwit Iztacoatl, I would need to foster a climate of uncertainty. I doubted that her pride would let her admit that she let a human slap her twice, so that would likely remain our little secret. However, there was a high chance that Iztacoatl would take revenge on my consorts and concubines in order to hurt me through them. Eztli and her mother would remain off-limits to ensure the former¡¯s collaboration, but everyone else was a potential target.
I hoped that my sudden plan to visit Zachilaa would prove surprising enough for her. At best, it would distract her; at worst, she would likely spend her efforts trying to sabotage the trip out of spite.
Sad as it sounded, that was partly why I put so much effort into Tlaxcala and Zyanya. The more interest I showed in them, the more Iztacoatl would believe that I valued them; and I would rather see these two victimized than those I actually cared about, like Ingrid.
I glanced at my consort and, much to my frustration, I immediately recalled that awful parody of her mother¡¯s corpse. The memory of her squirming belly and those horrendous children sickened me. The thought alone soured my mood.
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Tayatzin knocked at my door and entered my quarters soon after. That man had a knack for interrupting me at the worst of times.
¡°I asked not to be disturbed,¡± I chided him.
¡°Forgive me, oh Godspeaker.¡± His apology sounded sincere at least. ¡°I come on Lady Eztli¡¯s behalf. She insists on visiting you with haste.¡±
Necahual¡¯s head immediately perked up at the mention of her daughter¡¯s name. Eztli wouldn¡¯t interrupt us this way unless she had a very good reason. I hoped it wasn¡¯t related to my last encounter with Iztacoatl.
¡°Bring her in,¡± I told Tayatzin before turning to my current guests. ¡°You are dismissed for now. Tayatzin, please escort them outside.¡±
¡°As Your Majesty wishes,¡± my attendant replied.
Tlaxcala and Lady Zyanya excused themselves with deep bows and formal courtesies. Itzili watched them leave with Tayatzin with clear regret that a potential meal had escaped his jaws.
The scene caused Ingrid to crack a smile. ¡°My lord has grown confident and speaks with authority.¡±
¡°Was that not always the case?¡± I quipped back.
¡°No, it wasn¡¯t,¡± Ingrid replied with a sly chuckle. ¡°Although it is a change for the better.¡±
It only cost me a few months of torture. Still, I preferred it when others obeyed my whims instead of throwing stones at my face.
Eztli didn¡¯t enter my quarters alone. Much to my surprise, a retinue of three followed in her wake: her handmaiden Atziri and two red-eyed priests carrying a flute and drum respectively. Itzili immediately looked up at them with wariness before cooing at Eztli.
¡°My my, look how you have grown,¡± Eztli said upon ruffling Itzili¡¯s feathers. My pet responded by lovingly butting his muzzle against her legs. ¡°The last time I saw you, you barely reached my ankles.¡±
¡°He is quite affectionate,¡± Ingrid commented. She began to scratch Itzili¡¯s neck, which he greatly appreciated. ¡°He seems to like us both.¡±
Because he shared my feelings. I¡¯d heard pets reflected their owner¡¯s behavior. The blood bond we shared had only strengthened that tendency.
¡°Itzili can tell true friends apart from fake ones,¡± I said. ¡°He is a wise beast.¡±
Ingrid¡¯s eyes moved from Itzili to me. ¡°My lord, if I may ask¡ what happened between Itzili and you?¡±
I raised an eyebrow and feigned confusion. ¡°Forgive me Ingrid, but I have no idea what you are talking about.¡±
Ingrid and I exchanged a brief stare, and she pressed no further. I couldn¡¯t tell whether she had guessed my plan or simply knew to hold her tongue. Whatever the case, we all acted as if the Itzili incident never happened.
Eztli, however, couldn¡¯t suppress her curiosity. ¡°What happened?¡± she asked before sitting on my lap as if she owned it. ¡°Do tell, I wish to know.¡±
Necahual snorted in disdain. ¡°Your husband speaks to animals now.¡±
Eztli let out a sly chuckle. ¡°Don¡¯t we all, Mother?¡±
Necahual¡¯s head turned so quickly I thought she would snap her neck. For over a month she had been forced to keep her head down to avoid Yoloxochitl¡¯s wrath; she held her tongue each time her own daughter treated her as a stranger for both of their sakes. From the look on Necahual¡¯s face, my mother-in-law half-expected Yoloxochitl¡¯s ghost to escape her father¡¯s gullet and punish her daughter¡¯s insolence.
¡°Eztli, I¡¡± Necahual cleared her throat, a flash of fear seizing her. ¡°You do not know¨C¡±
¡°I meant what I said, Mother.¡± Eztli glowed with pride and joy when she said that last word. Each time she said it further dispelled the curse of Yoloxochitl¡¯s memory. ¡°We don¡¯t have to hold our tongues anymore. I¡¯m free now.¡± Eztli scoffed. ¡°Well, freer.¡±
None of us would be free so long as the other Nightlords remained to continue their sister¡¯s work, but Eztli¡¯s chains had indeed loosened. She fearlessly grabbed her mother¡¯s arm and gently pulled her closer to her. After a short moment¡¯s hesitation, Necahual let go of her worries. Her arms closed around Eztli in a tight, mutual hug. The daughter squeezed with her immense strength and the mother looked like she was holding back tears.
For all the disdain that I still held for Necahual, part of me couldn¡¯t help but feel happy for her. Her crimes against me didn¡¯t warrant the loss of her husband and daughter. The Eztli she raised remained lost to vampirism, but Necahual at least managed to recover part of her.
My attention turned to Ingrid, who watched the scene with a forlorn look in her eyes. My joy immediately turned to sorrow. To see the woman who could have died in her mother¡¯s place hug her daughter tightly probably opened old wounds.
¡°Ingrid¨C¡± I said, but she didn¡¯t let me finish.
¡°I am well, my lord.¡± Ingrid lied so well. ¡°Thank you for your concern.¡±
¡°I apologize, Ingrid,¡± Necahual told Ingrid with slight awkwardness upon letting her daughter go. I¡¯d rarely seen that woman express shame for anything, but today was an exception. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t¡ not after you¡¡±
¡°I do not blame either of you for living,¡± Ingrid replied with a forced smile. ¡°The heavens alone willed that Mother would die.¡±
Her words were flowery enough to hide the venom underneath. Necahual clearly wasn¡¯t fooled in the slightest. I supposed it took a grudge-keeper to know one. They shared a kinship forged from common hatred.
¡°You are not without family, Ingrid,¡± Eztli said, her hand slyly resting on her fellow consort¡¯s thigh. ¡°I consider you a sister-in-arms.¡±
¡°You are too kind, Eztli,¡± Ingrid replied with genuine warmth. ¡°The feeling is mutual.¡±
These two have become friends, or something close. Eztli had comforted Ingrid in her darkest hour much like myself. Funny how a small act of kindness could earn someone¡¯s lifelong loyalty. Kindness is all the more valuable for its rarity.
A shy gulp suddenly reminded me of Atziri¡¯s presence in the room. My gaze turned to her and the two musicians. I quickly noticed that the shade of red in their eyes appeared paler than most of their kind. How odd.
¡°Whose priests are those?¡± I asked Eztli.
¡°Is it not obvious?¡± My consort smiled ear to ear, her fangs shining behind her lips. ¡°They¡¯re mine.¡±
A chill traveled down my spine. ¡°You fed them your blood?¡±
¡°The old bats allowed me to share it with four blessed chosen,¡± Eztli confirmed. ¡°I picked these two eunuchs for their entertainment value, since they can perform with Atziri. I haven¡¯t settled on my other picks yet.¡±
¡°It is magnanimous of the goddesses to grant you the right to select your own priests, Eztli,¡± Ingrid noted. ¡°It must be an honor reserved for a¡ handful of Nightkin.¡±
The wording and its implications caused Eztli to giggle. Neither of them could confirm Yoloxochitl¡¯s death out loud, but they had clearly confirmed it between each other.
My eyes lingered on the priests. I could hardly blame Eztli for feeding her blood to others to recruit assets when I did the same thing myself. I was planning to remove her curse one way or another anyway; with luck, it would strip these two of their blood addictions without causing them to perish like Yoloxochitl¡¯s priesthood.
Moreover, their instruments made me suspect why Eztli handpicked them.
¡°Can they dance?¡± I mused.
¡°Not yet,¡± Eztli replied with a chuckle. ¡°But they can sing.¡±
Clever girl. ¡°Show us then. I have some time left for pleasure before my training with Chikal.¡± I beckoned Ingrid and Necahual to come closer. ¡°Let us enjoy ourselves.¡±
I pulled an arm around Ingrid and Necahual. Both leaned against me¡ªthe former more eagerly than the latter¡ªwhile Eztli rested on my lap. We must have looked like the very picture of indolence as we lay on our bed of cushions.
The two priests began to play a powerful, rhythmic melody with both their instruments and high-pitched voices, which Atziri complemented with her dancing steps. Much to my amusement, Itzili moved slightly closer to these three to better focus on the spectacle. His presence clearly unsettled Atziri, but focusing on her work let her forget it. I wondered if she thought my pet would eat her if she provided a bad performance.
These two priests sing so well, I thought as I briefly glanced around the room. The music would cover our words, and none of Iztacoatl¡¯s snakes would dare to sneak up on us in Itzili¡¯s presence. We can talk without being spied upon.
However, I wasn¡¯t foolish enough to speak too openly. I didn¡¯t know the full extent of Iztacoatl¡¯s powers. If she could create a near-perfect copy of Sigrun and her mannerisms, she might have planted a spy in Eztli¡¯s retinue.
I was certain my consort and mother-in-law were the true ones. I had known Necahual and Eztli for many years, so I would have picked up on subtle mannerisms that an outsider would have overlooked. As for Ingrid, I sensed the same invisible chains that bound us to the Nightlords¡¯ ritual.
We would need to develop additional measures in the future nonetheless. Secret passwords perhaps. I had to think about it.
¡°Did you learn more about Lady Yoloxochitl?¡± I whispered in my conspirators¡¯ ears, our words drowned by the song. ¡°Although Lady Iztacoatl dissuaded me from looking into her sister¡¯s private life, I would like to honor her properly.¡±
Ingrid and Eztli immediately caught on to my evasive words and their hidden meaning: Iztacoatl knew we were investigating the late Yoloxochitl, so I wished to learn everything they¡¯d gathered before we stopped; and in a way that would provide us plausible deniability.
¡°Lady Necahual and I have discovered interesting things about Lady Yoloxochitl,¡± Ingrid replied. ¡°According to the information that we¡¯ve gathered, she showed great favor to the town of Cuetlaxtlan and regularly visited it over the last few years.¡±
My fists clenched on their own. ¡°Including the town¡¯s hospice?¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± Ingrid confirmed. ¡°Her priesthood used to oversee it until Lady Yoloxochitl withdrew her favor. Mayhaps my lord would like to fill the void?¡±
Necahual scowled in disgust, though she quickly caught on to our game. For all of her many flaws, stupidity wasn¡¯t one of them. ¡°Hospices are precious places worthy of an emperor¡¯s attention,¡± she said. ¡°What better place to test new medicine than on the sick?
I quickly figured out her words¡¯ hidden meaning: what better way to test a plague than on those who were already ill? No one would suspect anything. When Necahual put it that way, the choice of location suddenly made a lot more sense.
Even after death, Yoloxochitl never ceased to disgust me.
¡°My thought exactly, Lady Necahual,¡± Ingrid said. ¡°Hence why I have taken the liberty of gathering the names of the location¡¯s healers, so my lord can reward them properly."
Excellent. I could Ride the staff members by using their names. Once again, Ingrid proved herself worthy of her mother¡¯s reputation as a spymistress.
¡°I would like to offer them a gift of candles,¡± I said. ¡°Something that will keep the flame of their faith alive in the darkest night.¡±
I needed flaming oil. Something that would help me burn the place to the ground.
Ingrid immediately formulated the plan. ¡°Tlaxcala¡¯s consortium can provide gifts. He has already tried to bribe Lady Necahual and me to influence you, so I can have him deliver the supplies.¡±
¡°Be subtle,¡± I warned Ingrid. ¡°Lady Iztacoatl has forbidden me from peeking too much into Lady Yoloxochitl¡¯s retreat. I do not want this gift to bear my name.¡±
¡°Worry not, my lord. I know a good many who would love to take the credit for your generosity.¡±
In short, she could secure catspaws to suffer the blame. Her efficiency drew a smile from Eztli. ¡°Remind me never to make an enemy of you, my dear Ingrid. Something tells me I would not survive.¡±
¡°I do not plot against my friends,¡± Ingrid reassured her, though she added a caveat to the plan. ¡°I will require time to fulfill my lord¡¯s will.¡±
¡°How long?¡± I questioned her.
¡°A few days at most. We might already have left the palace by then.¡±
¡°That won¡¯t be an issue.¡± I intended to Ride the hospice¡¯s staff and then silence them. So long as I could have them access the resources required to set Yoloxochitl¡¯s garden ablaze, I didn¡¯t need to be anywhere near the palace. ¡°Simply inform me when the gift has reached its destination. Fate will smile on us then.¡±
I¡¯d gathered all the pieces required for the operation. The next step would be to wait for them to fall into place.
¡°I wonder what that hospice looks like on the inside,¡± I told Ingrid. ¡°I have never visited it.¡±
As in, I needed a map of its layout.
¡°I am certain some of my lord¡¯s servants could tell us more,¡± she replied. ¡°Few, however, know such places inside and out; and they are too modest to boast.¡±
She could secure a map of the public places, but not the hidden areas. The people who could tell us wouldn¡¯t share that information nor be vulnerable to bribes.
¡°I could make them sing for you, Iztac,¡± Eztli suggested.
¡°I would rather that you did not.¡± I shook my head. ¡°As I said, Lady Iztacoatl would scold us if we show too much curiosity.¡±
Necahual¡¯s jaw clenched on its own. ¡°Mayhaps I could help with that.¡±
We had another option to learn the hospice¡¯s layout. One that Necahual didn¡¯t relish in the slightest.
The Augury only provided words and whispers, so I would require either the Ride or Seidr to obtain a visual map, and using the former prior to the operation¡¯s day carried the risk of discovery.
Chamiaholom¡¯s vicious words echoed in my mind the moment I glanced at Necahual. She fears bearing your child as much as she fears losing her daughter. Each of our couplings was a chore that she dreaded even at the best of times.
Ingrid¡¯s eyes moved from me to Necahual and immediately picked up on our mutual awkwardness. Her hand seized mine, her finger smooth and her grip strong.
¡°If my lord wills it,¡± Ingrid whispered in my ear, her soft breath on my ear. ¡°I would gladly take on that duty.¡±
My heart skipped a beat.
¡°Mother taught me well,¡± Ingrid said with obvious enthusiasm. ¡°Without demeaning your bond with Lady Necahual, I am simply better where it matters.¡±
Necahual¡¯s expression softened slightly in relief, as did mine. Ingrid had a point. I had no need to sleep with Necahual every night to practice Seidr when I already had a more experienced partner. So long as I showered Necahual with gifts worthy of my favorite, we could limit sex to a minimum.
¡°Ingrid¨C¡± I said.
¡°No, Iztac,¡± Eztli interrupted me. ¡°You mustn¡¯t.¡±
Her answer took us all by surprise; though none more than her mother, whose eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Eztli held our gazes with utmost seriousness.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t involve Ingrid in this way, or any consort for that matter,¡± she warned me. ¡°It¡¯s too risky.¡±
Now I was well and truly confused. ¡°Why would it be?¡±
¡°Because of the fate that binds you together,¡± Eztli replied. ¡°Think about it, Iztac. Iztacoatl and her sisters have blessed the five of us. If Ingrid and you acted together in concert, would she not notice?¡±
My eyes widened slightly. Was she suggesting that practicing Seidr with one of my consorts might alert the Nightlords through our bond to them?
I had to admit that I never considered the possibility. Now that Eztli pointed it out, doubt overwhelmed me.
¡°Is that possible?¡± I asked Ingrid. I prayed that her mother taught her the intricacies of her magic. ¡°Would the goddesses know if we tried?¡±
¡°I¡¡± Ingrid bit her lower lip as she pondered the possibility. ¡°I cannot say, my lord. Mother and Lady Necahual remained beneath the Nightlords¡¯ notice, but neither of them was a consort at the time.¡±
Eztli stroked her chin. ¡°Did you try to approach Chikal about this, Iztac?¡±
¡°I tried and I failed,¡± I confessed. ¡°We couldn¡¯t agree on it.¡±
¡°Maybe that¡¯s why,¡± Eztli suggested. ¡°You weren¡¯t meant to.¡±
I personally believed the issue lay in Chikal¡¯s own domineering personality, but if Eztli¡¯s hypothesis was correct, then my inability to practice Seidr with her would prove a blessing in disguise. Worst of all, I didn¡¯t see any way of confirming or infirming it without doing the deed¨Cwith all the risks that it implied.
Mother could tell me more, I thought. She was familiar with Seidr and an experienced sorceress. But finding her might take too many nights.
Necahual¡¯s lips twisted into a deep scowl. She exchanged a glance with her daughter for a time. The mother¡¯s gaze wavered slightly, while the daughter remained stone-faced. Eztli¡¯s transformation had snuffed out most of her humanity; and for all the love she still harbored for Necahual, it wasn¡¯t enough to override her cold judgment.
Necahual folded. ¡°I will do it.¡±
¡°Are you certain?¡± I asked her.
Necahual sneered at my pity. ¡°I owe Lady Yoloxochitl my survival,¡± she replied with bitter resentment. ¡°I would do anything to repay that debt.¡±
Necahual had promised to give me everything if I returned her daughter to her. I held true to my promise, and she was returning the favor. Ingrid didn¡¯t hide her disappointment at my decision, but she did not argue either.
¡°Worry not, Ingrid,¡± Eztli said, her smile returning. ¡°If our husband does not share your bed for work, he will do it for pleasure.¡±
¡°You make me blush,¡± Ingrid replied politely.
How odd. Although she kept her composure, I detected a faint trace of awkwardness in Ingrid¡¯s voice; something I never noticed before. Did she offer to practice Seidr with me as an excuse to spend time with me? Was that what she meant when she offered me to start over? Not as friends, but as lovers?
I wouldn¡¯t mind sharing Ingrid¡¯s bed again, but I had no time for such frivolities right now. Not when the hourglass¡¯ sand continued to tickle down.
¡°There is another matter we must discuss, Ingrid,¡± I informed her. ¡°Your mother left an offering to her gods.¡±
Ingrid blinked in genuine surprise. ¡°How would my lord know about this?¡±
¡°I know, that is all.¡± I trusted Ingrid, but the less she knew of my abilities, the safer she would be. ¡°Gifts to false gods offend the true ones in Yohuachanca. It would wound my heart if this slander harmed their reputation.¡±
Eztli¡¯s head perked up in interest, as did Necahual¡¯s. Ingrid joined her hands and pondered the matter, a scowl spreading on her face.
I hoped she had figured out my message: that her Mother secured texts that could threaten the Nightlords under her altar, and that we needed to discreetly secure them.
¡°The gods have been watching me closely since Mother¡¯s death, and I trust few with this matter,¡± she finally said. ¡°Sparing them such a blasphemous sight might prove difficult.¡±
¡°I can help with that,¡± Eztli suggested. ¡°I will ensure the heavens close their eyes when you require it.¡±
Ingrid¡¯s frown eased up into a warm smile. ¡°I would welcome your assistance, Eztli.¡±
The months I spent gathering allies and resources were finally starting to pay off. I was no longer waging this war alone with only the dead for supporters. I had friends to help me plan for the future and take down the Nightlords. So many heads moved by a single goal and will. It almost reminded me of the Parliament of Skulls¡ª
I felt as if I had been struck by lightning.
The Legion worked by using the curse binding the emperors¡¯ souls together to add a skull to their collective, a chain of which I was the latest link. This connection already allowed my predecessors to see through my eyes.
What if¡
What if I had more than one skull?
Eztli immediately noticed my happy reaction. ¡°Why are you smiling to yourself, Iztac?¡±
¡°A wicked idea crossed my mind,¡± I replied with a chuckle. ¡°It would make you lose your head.¡±
I might have found a use for the Legion spell after all. One that wouldn¡¯t require enslaving anyone.
Chapter Fifty: The Legion of the Dead
Riding on a trihorn¡¯s back proved to be an interesting experience.
Namely, my mount tried to throw me off its back thrice, attempted to impale me twice, and then nearly ran away from the training grounds. I had to wrestle with it for a good hour before it lost the will to fight and finally accepted me as its rider.
After my trial in the House of Jaguars, I found it almost cathartic.
I blamed Itzili¡¯s presence for my mount¡¯s behavior. As it turned out, herbivores tended to panic in the presence of their usual predator.
¡°I warned our Lord Emperor against this,¡± Chikal said as she rode by my side across the imperial gardens. Unlike my own mount, her own trihorn behaved with disciplined obedience. ¡°It would have been easier to keep Itzili away from the trihorns. Tamed or not, prey never ceases to fear its predator.¡±
The House of Jaguars begged to differ. ¡°All beasts are welcome to fear Itzili,¡± I replied as my trihorn trampled the grass under its feet. ¡°So long as they serve me.¡±
Ingrid, who graciously rode her own mount to my left, immediately came to my rescue. ¡°My lord is wise to teach his army¡¯s beasts of battle not to flee in his feathered tyrant¡¯s presence,¡± she said. ¡°It would be quite the shame if they panicked and trampled our own troops.¡±
¡°True,¡± Chikal conceded her point. ¡°Though I would suggest against our Lord Emperor letting a wild animal run around without supervision.¡±
¡°Itzili does not need any,¡± I replied, though I did take a good look at him. My feathered tyrant was finally starting to realize that being too close to the trihorns spooked them, so he followed us from a distance. If anything, that somehow made him seem more intimidating. My pet possessed the lean, frightful frame of a predator on the prowl.
I pity the servant who will cross his path at night. I had granted Itzili special permission to wander outside his pen; a situation that frightened both my other pets and staff alike. I half-expected my feathered tyrant to make a scene, such as by breaking into another animal¡¯s pen to eat them, but he proved surprisingly discreet. He¡¯s about as cautious as I am.
¡°The pet shares the master¡¯s hatred,¡± the wind whispered ominously in my ear. ¡°Many will fall to and fear his jaws. Can you hear it? The gnashing of teeth on human flesh¡¡±
I could live with that, so long as that flesh belonged to red-eyed priests.
¡°The hunter¡¯s mouth does not discriminate,¡± the wind replied. ¡°A giant¡¯s feet will trample the houses of the damned and the innocent alike.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t your people tame predators?¡± Ingrid asked Chikal. ¡°I remember that an amazon queen famously fed her lifelong rival to her pet jaguar.¡±
¡°We often tame panthers and jaguars for hunts, but we always keep them on a short leash,¡± Chikal replied. ¡°The wise do not invite into their home a guest that they cannot put down. Why would a giant take orders from an ant?¡±
¡°Because the giant is wise enough to listen,¡± I said.
My answer amused Ingrid and caused Chikal to raise an eyebrow at me. I could tell that they both understood I was up to something with Itzili, though they couldn¡¯t tell what yet. Chikal already asked me early during combat training if my pet¡¯s presence was meant to ¡®bring me luck,¡¯ so she probably expected a supernatural explanation.
I wished I could tell them my plan, but if I hoped to convince Iztacoatl of my act then I couldn¡¯t break character at any point. Feigning an irrational attachment to my feathered tyrant was an exhausting job, but one to which I had to stay true.
I temporarily banished Itzili from my thoughts to focus on my posture. While Itzili wasn¡¯t yet large enough to support my weight on his back, Chikal decided I would need training if I ever hoped to ride him without embarrassing myself. Her training proved her right. Riding on an animal¡¯s back was hard enough, let alone with weapons.
For today¡¯s lesson, I rode my trihorn with a hardwood shield in one hand and an obsidian-tipped spear in the other. I struggled a bit to manage and balance their weight. The spear¡¯s tip kept pointing down, so I had to put extra effort into keeping it wieldy. I dared not imagine the effort a full charge would require.
Ingrid smiled at my struggle. ¡°My lord shouldn¡¯t be too hard on himself. Few manage to ride a trihorn on their first try. I would say you¡¯re doing very well.¡±
¡°Less than you, Ingrid,¡± I replied. My consort rode her own trihorn with utmost grace, to the point that Chikal had her fire arrows at targets while sitting on her beast¡¯s back. ¡°Perhaps we should ride together. I would command our allies, and you would strike down our foes with your arrows.¡±
¡°I would love to ride at my lord¡¯s back, if he wishes,¡± Ingrid replied.
Chikal immediately shot down the idea. ¡°A good commander learns to fight by himself so he can lead by example. Our Lord Emperor must ride perfectly first before he can entertain a companion.¡±
¡°Fair enough,¡± I replied before glancing at my surroundings. I didn¡¯t see any snakes in my gardens¡¯ grass, and I expected Itzili to trample any who dared to sneak up on us underfoot. My guards followed us on foot and remained out of earshot.
I considered casting an Augury and having the wind cover our discussion as it did once with Chikal, but I decided against it. What if Iztacoatl had spies who could read my lips? A sorceress of her caliber might intercept our whispers too. Better be safe than sorry.
¡°I have a question for you, Chikal,¡± I said. ¡°How would you tell a foe wearing a friend¡¯s face from the real one?¡±
Chikal raised an eyebrow. ¡°How would I identify a skinwalker?¡±
¡°A skinwalker?¡± I didn¡¯t recognize the term, though it sounded vaguely familiar. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±
¡°A cursed shapeshifter and thief of faces. They are vile shamans who consume human flesh to strengthen their power, and bind themselves to half-lives of fear and evil in the process.¡± Chikal¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°They are more common in the Three-Rivers Federation to the north, but a few haunt our jungle¡¯s darkest woods.¡±
Her wary tone surprised me. ¡°Are you frightened, Chikal?¡±
¡°Only a fool does not fear the skinwalkers, my Lord Emperor,¡± Chikal replied with a dark look. Something in her tone informed me that she spoke from experience. ¡°They are demons who steal the skin of friends to commit heinous deeds. They possess the strength of savage beasts and a man¡¯s cunning.¡±
¡°Why is my lord so concerned?¡± Ingrid asked me.
¡°I¡¯ve had a nightmare where a beast came to me under the guise of a friend.¡± It wasn¡¯t a lie. Meeting Sigrun¡¯s shambling corpse had been a horror straight out of a dark dream. ¡°I fear it will happen in the waking world too.¡±
Chikal quickly caught on to my warning. ¡°Our Lord Emperor has already ridden by an enemy¡¯s side once,¡± she said, subtly referencing the false Eztli. ¡°To identify a Skinwalker is no different. They know their victim¡¯s flesh, but not their soul.¡±
¡°Some say that a person¡¯s soul is shaped by their deeds,¡± Ingrid replied evasively. ¡°A fisherman is a fisherman because they hunt fish for a living. No imposter can tie a net better than them.¡±
I could read her message between the lines: we should establish telltale signs for each of us. A subtle routine that no observer could easily pick up on and that we could use as a way to trick a body double.
¡°What makes you Ingrid, Ingrid?¡± I asked her.
¡°My lord already knows,¡± she replied sharply. Such things weren¡¯t said out loud, but shown. ¡°I will be sure to remind you and Chikal.¡±
Chikal¡¯s stare traveled from Ingrid to me. I considered her the sharpest among my consorts, so I had no doubt that she already figured out our plan. However, she wisely decided to focus the discussion back on its false subject rather than risk being overheard.
¡°My younger cousin, Lahun, would tell you more about Skinwalkers, if Your Majesty wishes it,¡± Chikal said. ¡°She is a storyteller and shaman well-versed in the lore of our people. Our Lord Emperor will appreciate her company.¡±
¡°I have heard of this Lahun,¡± Ingrid said. ¡°She is a pretty young woman. I would say my lord would find her most agreeable.¡±
Chikal snorted. ¡°Our Lord Emperor will find her lacking after satisfying my needs. She is wise though, and I regularly consult her for advice.¡±
Excellent. I would soon make a concubine of this Lahun and use her as an intermediary to communicate with Chikal when needed. This only left Nenetl as a consort in need of a handmaiden representative, but we would find someone.
By the time we reached the gardens¡¯ edge, the sun was slowly starting to vanish behind the horizon. Seeing the incoming twilight filled me with a dreadful sensation of unease. The Parliament of Skulls warned me earlier that the First Emperor¡¯s power would sow terror tonight. I could feel his dark touch in the air.
¡°Do you hear the starved dead rattling in their tombs?¡± the wind whispered to me. ¡°Bloodstarved worms wriggle in dead flesh. Soon they will rise to satiate their hunger.¡±
I had a good idea of what disaster would befall the empire tonight. I considered my options. Yohuachanca had already brought the corpses of the bats¡¯ victims to their temples, so an undead outbreak would harm their priests, bleeding my foes¡¯ resources; on the other hand, warning them ahead of time would reinforce my prophet image. It would lull the likes of the Jaguar Woman into believing that they could control me. Not warning them would have the opposite effect and perhaps reawaken her suspicions.
Considering my last interaction with Iztacoatl, I decided to play it safe and muddle the waters by sending conflicting messages.
¡°Argh¡¡± I pretended to suddenly grunt in pain, my hand dropping my spear. ¡°Argh¡¡±
¡°My lord?¡± Ingrid¡¯s eyes widened in sudden and genuine concern. Chikal alone observed me with these calculating eyes.
¡°Argh!¡± Pretending to suffer came easily to me after all I went through. I dropped my shield and reached for my head with both hands, my nails sinking into my flesh. ¡°Argh!¡±
Then I fell off my trihorn.
I would have loved to say that part was an act, but no; my scream of pain simply spooked my mount until it threw me off its back and onto a bed of flowers. Itzili let out a roar that alerted the guards. Ingrid immediately climbed off her mount while calling my name, but Chikal was quicker. She grabbed me in her strong hands and immediately helped me on my feet.
¡°Are you having a seizure?¡± she asked, snapping her fingers in front of me. I wondered if this happened often enough among amazons for them to develop a procedure. ¡°Take a deep breath. Can you stand at all?¡±
¡°It¡¯s¡ fine¡¡± I replied, my breath heavy from the sudden fall. The pain from being thrown off a trihorn was nothing compared to what I had already gone through, but it did leave me winded enough. ¡°I saw¡ when I looked at the sun¡ I saw something¡¡±
Chikal¡¯s gaze sharpened. ¡°A vision?¡±
¡°I¡ I think so,¡± I replied. Itzili immediately reached my side and nuzzled my hand, as if to check on me. I gently pat him on the head for his trouble. ¡°It was¡ awful.¡±
Ingrid scowled in worry. After seeing the First Emperor possess me earlier, she didn¡¯t dare question me. ¡°What did my lord see?¡±
¡°I witnessed the dead devour the living and silencing our towns. The bloodstarved corpses of the faithless emerged from their graves at sunset to feast.¡± I pushed Chikal back, a hand holding my forehead. ¡°I fear a great darkness will soon be upon us.¡±
I had no guarantee that my false vision would unfold. The wind could have lied to me and the Parliament¡¯s hunch could be incorrect, yet I believed otherwise. The aura of malice in the air reminded me of the ambient doom that preceded Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption.
If the dead did not rise, I would simply lie and take the credit; saying that my emergency measures and the faith we showed appeased the heavens¡¯ wrath.
A prophet could never be wrong, only misinterpreted.
It said something about the Nightlords¡¯ fear of their Dark Father that they immediately dispatched Tayatzin to interrogate me.
The red-eyed priest arrived within five minutes of my fall alongside a scribe to record my vision, without either Ingrid or Chikal informing them of it. This only confirmed that Iztacoatl had a way to overhear us at any time within the palace. Itzili found no snake spy, so she had to use a different method to monitor my actions. Could it be a spell or something more mundane?
I had no way of telling yet, though at least I¡¯d forced her to tip her hand.
¡°This is a most grievous omen, Your Majesty,¡± Tayatzin said after his scribe finished recording my lies. ¡°The corpses of the faithless fools who didn''t follow imperial traditions during the eruption have been safely stored, but we will keep a closer eye on them.¡±
¡°I pray for all of our sake that my vision was only metaphorical,¡± I replied without meaning any of it. This would give me plausible deniability. ¡°My head still hurts a bit.¡±
¡°Would Your Majesty request a physician?¡±
¡°My Necahual will do,¡± I replied. ¡°I will go visit her.¡±
¡°As befitting of her new rank, Lady Necahual was granted her own quarters,¡± Tayatzin replied. ¡°However, Lady Eztli asked that we transfer her to her own private chambers.¡±
I raised an eyebrow. It made sense that Eztli would invite Necahual to her quarters now that Yoloxochitl no longer stood between them. Sigrun did share her jail with the rest of her family.
However, I had never visited Eztli¡¯s quarters in the palace. I half-expected a crypt befitting of her vampiric nature, but somehow I doubted Necahual would feel at ease in such a place.
¡°I will visit them both then,¡± I replied. ¡°Keep me informed about the¡ other matter."
¡°We will take care of everything,¡± Tayatzin promised with a short bow. ¡°If I may, Your Majesty, would you kindly offer me a private audience tomorrow morning?¡±
A private audience? That was new. None of my red-eyed advisors ever asked me for one. ¡°On what matter?¡±
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°Your wise decision to have Tlaxcala and Lady Zyanya marry has inspired an idea for a reform,¡± Tayatzin replied, while being very careful to avoid offending me. ¡°One which I hope you shall find grace in your eyes.¡±
Interesting. Sigrun warned me that Tayatzin was more ambitious and forward-minded than other priests. I wondered what kind of plan had crossed his mind. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to listen.
¡°Very well,¡± I decided. ¡°You will share a breakfast with me before the general meeting.¡±
¡°Your Divine Majesty¡¯s generosity honors me.¡± Tayatzin knelt before me, a small smile forming at the edge of his lips. ¡°I swear that I shall not waste your time.¡±
I dismissed him with a wave of my hand and then moved to visit Eztli¡¯s quarters in the palace¡¯s eastern wing; an interesting location, considering that Iztacoatl occupied the western one. My consort already started to hold sway over Yoloxochitl¡¯s old cardinal direction.
As it turned out, Eztli enjoyed divine levels of luxury too.
I left the guards at the door and entered a breathtakingly beautiful antechamber. Jeweled statues, cotton curtains, and countless precious rugs covered most of the gleaming floorboards. Wood statues of masked soldiers stood with spears along the walls, each of them crowned with a shining brasero providing light.
¡°Come in, Iztac,¡± Eztli¡¯s voice called from deeper inside the quarters. ¡°I was just about to finish watering my new plants.¡±
Plants? I took in a deep breath and inhaled the sweet aroma of a dozen different flowers. Eztli loved to tend to her garden. She and her mother had that in common.
I walked ahead and found Eztli in a majestic circular hall of gold pillars carved with leaf-shaped inscriptions. Three layers of terraced flower gardens formed a circle around the room. Beds of orchids and poinsettias joined with bouquets of marigolds into a colorful display. Other areas housed the kind of medical plants that Necahual used to gather in Acampa¡¯s forests for her potions.
The southern corner led to another chamber housing an enormous bed draped with cotton coverlets and adorned with emeralds. To the north, another room housed what appeared to be an apothecary¡¯s laboratory filled with glass bottles, poultice bowls, and cauldrons. Necahual was busy mixing an herbal potion on a wooden counter. She didn¡¯t pay me any mind.
¡°What do you think of the floral composition, Iztac?¡± Eztli asked me as she watered the flowers with a clay vase. ¡°Should I put more orchids with the marigold?¡±
¡°I would prefer more red,¡± I replied after examining the flowers more closely. A few of them appeared to have been plucked from my gardens, but I didn¡¯t recognize a few others. ¡°When did you start building up such a collection?¡±
¡°Since I arrived. This palace has too many dead stones and not enough life in it, if you ask me.¡±
Her words caused me to look around and notice a certain detail: namely, Eztli¡¯s quarters lacked windows. I couldn¡¯t see even a single obsidian panel that would allow even a vampire to gaze at the world outside without fearing the sun. These chambers might as well have been an underground crypt.
I supposed it made sense for a vampire¡¯s home¡ but then I thought back to that moment when I caught Eztli looking at the coming sun with immense despair.
Did Yoloxochitl assign her these quarters to avoid an¡ incident?
Eztli set her clay vase aside and put her arms around my neck. ¡°You didn¡¯t bring Itzili with you?¡±
¡°My staff is feeding him as we speak.¡± I wondered if I should start giving him my own table scraps, or even let him join me during breakfast alongside my consorts. I decided against putting on such a show for now. The mummery would be too obvious. ¡°He is almost as ravenous as a hundred men put together.¡±
¡°So am I,¡± Eztli replied before briefly kissing me on the neck. ¡°I love the taste of human flesh too.¡±
Her grim wording both amused and unsettled me all at once. I knew she was merely joking, but still¡
¡°I believe His Majesty came for me, Eztli,¡± Necahual said upon joining us, a cup of herbal potion in her hand. ¡°This should ease the aches of your training.¡±
¡°Does it ease the pain of the mind too?¡± I asked upon seizing the cup. The liquid was steamingly hot and bitter to the taste.
¡°It should,¡± Necahual replied with a quizzical look. ¡°Does something trouble you?¡±
¡°He has sensed it too, Mother,¡± Eztli explained, her fair face twisting into a frown. ¡°Tonight will be dark and full of terrors.¡±
It didn¡¯t surprise me that Eztli would notice it too. She had witnessed the ritual on Smoke Mountain and was bound to the First Emperor by the vampiric curse.
¡°I¡¯ve had a dreadful vision,¡± I said. ¡°Of the dead devouring the living.¡±
¡°Well, I don¡¯t see any corpses in here,¡± Eztli replied with a dismissive shrug. Either she knew I was lying through my teeth or she simply didn¡¯t care what disaster the Nightlords¡¯ arrogance unleashed on Yohuachanca. ¡°How about we speak of lighter things? Do you have new training scars to show us?¡±
I scoffed. Chikal didn¡¯t coddle me, but she wasn¡¯t too brutal of a trainer either. ¡°Not yet. I have bruises though.¡±
¡°Good thing that you come to visit a healer then,¡± Eztli mused, while Necahual looked away. She knew very well that my headache and training fatigue were a mere excuse to come practice Seidr with her. ¡°If you would kindly lay on the bed and remove those heavy clothes of yours.¡±
A few minutes later, I found myself sitting naked on Eztli¡¯s bed with the daughter and mother on each side. It was quite a comfortable mattress; if anything, it felt slightly underused. I guessed that Eztli didn¡¯t sleep here often, if at all.
Did vampires even need to rest? They cowered from the sun during the day, but the gift of dreaming might be beyond their undead reach.
¡°My, my¡¡± Eztli muttered to herself upon applying a poultice to my bruised abs. They were small and only started to develop recently, but it astonished me to have any at all after spending so many years of life being frail and scrawny. Good nutrition and constant exercise did wonders for the human body. ¡°I like what I see¡ you are nicely coming into shape, Iztac.¡±
¡°Battle fills me with energy,¡± I replied. The House of Jaguars had taught me that. ¡°I have much left to give.¡±
¡°Do you hear that, Mother?¡± Eztli turned in Necahual¡¯s direction. ¡°He needs another private lesson.¡±
Necahual looked away. ¡°It would be best if you left us, Eztli.¡±
¡°Why would I?¡± Eztli gave her mother a puzzled look. ¡°We¡¯ve both shared his bed. I could assist you.¡±
Necahual winced at her daughter¡¯s answer. ¡°I do not feel comfortable serving the emperor in my daughter¡¯s presence,¡± she said, shifting in place. ¡°It fills me with unease.¡±
Eztli raised an eyebrow. She appeared genuinely surprised by her mother¡¯s reluctance.
¡°Strange,¡± Eztli muttered to herself. ¡°I thought it would make it easier.¡±
Her answer and unnatural reaction reminded me of how much the curse had diminished her. It had robbed Eztli of part of her humanity. She cared for her mother, but she struggled to understand her.
¡°Take your time then,¡± Eztli said upon hopping out of the bed. ¡°I will keep myself busy in the meantime.¡±
Necahual watched Eztli exit the bedroom with a heavy gaze. I pitied her a bit. Her daughter had finally returned to her, but changed in ways big and small.
¡°Are you well?¡± I asked her with some concern.
Necahual met my gaze, her expression softening. ¡°I am glad that she returned to me. That is all that matters to me.¡±
Was that gratitude I saw in her gaze? She couldn¡¯t thank me openly in case a spy overheard us, but Necahual clearly felt that she owed me for reuniting her with Eztli. Something that probably drove her mad.
Nonetheless, she showed no frustration nor regrets when she removed her robes and let them drop to the floor. My gaze lingered on her bosom and naked hips. My mother-in-law was fleshier than her daughter for certain, albeit with little of Eztli¡¯s own confidence.
¡°Is something wrong?¡± I inquired.
¡°This is my daughter¡¯s bed,¡± Necahual replied.
I scoffed. ¡°Good,¡± I said, pointing at my lap. ¡°Get over there.¡±
-------- NSFW Scene starts here ----
Necahual glared at me, but obeyed my order nonetheless. She reluctantly climbed on my lap, her knees on each of my sides.
Shameful as it sounded, I found it arousing to see her submit to me while knowing that I would likely bed Eztli next. She had spent the years I spent in her household throwing stones at me whenever I grew too close to Eztli for her comfort, and now I would take her bed. Sick as it sounded, I never grew tired of these small humiliations.
Necahual glared at my erect manhood, her gratitude replaced with annoyance. ¡°You find this funny?¡±
¡°Yes, I do.¡± I solidly grabbed her hips with my hands, which drew a startled cry from her. ¡°Get used to it.¡±
Necahual clenched her jaw, her hands settling on my shoulders as I pulled her down. She moaned when I penetrated her. I tightened my grip on her hips, laying claim to her flesh and body.
¡°Did you like the flowers I sent you?¡± I asked her after letting out a breath of pleasure.
Necahual scoffed in disdain. ¡°You think you can buy me?¡±
¡°Why would I?¡± I leaned in to kiss her. ¡°When I already own you?¡±
I forced my lips on her own and began to thrust at the same time. The bed bounced under us as we settled on a steady rhythm. Necahual began to match me, pushing my lips back to regain a measure of control and adjusting her position to better ride me. She let out cries of pain and pleasure when I bit her breast and kissed her sweating neck.
She was getting used to this.
No matter how much she pretended otherwise, her body and kisses told me that she enjoyed our Seidr unions as much as she loathed them; or perhaps she hated them because it gave her pleasure. Only through me could she caress the power she envied Mother for.
I enjoyed it too. Owning her, embracing her, filling her. I would do it even without Seidr involved.
Should I let her go one day? Chikal asked me what I would do once I destroyed the Nightlords. I had only a vague idea yet. I would likely marry Eztli properly, but I hadn¡¯t given too much thought to her mother yet. She promised me her body and soul if I returned her daughter to me and taught her magic¡ I¡¯ve already fulfilled my part¡
----- NSFW scene ends ------
Our heart-fires aligned together in a perverse thrill.
The Seidr vision came to me in a flash; the sight of winding tunnels connecting underground mushroom caves to a hospice¡¯s offices and quarantined halls. The information filling our minds was blurry enough, but I managed to gain a rough sense of the place¡¯s layout.
I gasped upon returning to reality in Necahual¡¯s arms. My mother-in-law was sweating, her breath heavy from our lovemaking. She felt heavy on my lap, a stain of seed dripping down her hole.
¡°Up for one more, Iztac?¡± Eztli called out to us from outside the bedroom. ¡°I am growing thirsty.¡±
She was indeed ravenous.
I faded to sleep in Eztli¡¯s arms. To add insult to Necahual¡¯s injury, I did so in the latter¡¯s bed.
At least our Seidr session worked well enough. I had obtained a rough mental map of Yoloxochitl¡¯s underground facility. I could begin to carry out my plans to destroy the garden once Ingrid provided me with the public area¡¯s layout and the necessary supplies.
But that would wait for another day. Another task would occupy my attention tonight.
I was used to the sight of Xibalba¡¯s crossroads by now. Four, mist-filled archways stood in each of the four cardinal directions under a gloomy gray sky. Had I not known I had just triumphed over the House of Jaguars, I would have thought I hadn¡¯t progressed an inch.
The sight of Xibalba¡¯s dark pyramid looming in the distance attested otherwise, since it appeared closer to my position than on my last visit. I was halfway through the city¡¯s trials. Three more houses awaited me.
Yet I did not move an inch towards any of the gates.
I stood in their midst for a moment, my eyes closed and my power turned inward. I had spent the last few days upstairs slowly building up my bone reserves. I harvested everything I could from my palace¡¯s precious food and stored it in my ribs. I believed I had enough for my purpose.
I cast Bonecraft and opened my palm. I drew upon my ribs and cannibalized them to grow new bones from between my fingers: a tiny skull with empty eyes and crooked teeth.
I hope that this spell does not include a size requirement. I lacked the resources to create too many adult skulls, so I settled on creating a baby-sized one as an experiment. It easily fit between my fingers. Only one way to find out.
¡°Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± I whispered my name into the skull as the spell demanded. ¡°Lost souls, I offer you this empty vessel crafted from my own bones to join your Legion of skulls. I beckon thee from the depths of the Underworld. Come to me.¡±
The chains holding my heart-fire reverberated with power. My Legion spell echoed through the curse binding the generations of emperors to the Nightlords¡¯ vile ritual. The mere fact that the spell triggered at all filled me with hope.
For the briefest of instant, I existed in many places at once. My limited mind joined a great collective of bones bound by their cursed souls.
I was myself, a Tlacatecolotl wandering the streets and halls of Xibalba, the House of Fright. I was a sleeping shell of flesh in a woman¡¯s arms trapped in a dreamless slumber. I was a being with a thousand eyes trapped in a dark prison set between two worlds, cursed to sit on the threshold, facing darkness on both sides.
My brain burned inside my own skull. A man wasn¡¯t born to see with more than two eyes, and not even spiders had no more than eight. So many angles and such a limited ability to process it all.
I received a taste of my future should I fail to defeat the Nightlords: an impotent piece in a prison of souls, struggling to maintain a shred of individuality in the raging sea of an ancient collective. Were my predecessors not bound to their reliquary and their spirits to the Underworld¡¯s doorstep, then I would have lost my mind on the spot.
I managed to wrestle my spirit back from the Parliament¡¯s prison and return to Xibalba, slightly spooked but fully myself once again. A single skull faced me with shining eyes filled with ghostly flames.
¡°Our successor?¡± it whispered with a single, small voice. There was a tone I¡¯d never heard coming from the Parliament of Skulls: that of utter surprise. ¡°What¡ what have you done?¡±
¡°Welcome to Xibalba, my predecessors.¡± My heart swelled with pride at my success. ¡°It is as you said. The curse connects the skulls of past emperors and those I choose to add to the collective.¡±
A fact that already applied to me.
¡°We see now¡ You used Bonecraft to craft a new medium for us to use through our existing connection,¡± the skull whispered to itself. ¡°To think it would let us communicate so deep into the Underworld¡¡±
¡°You were a bit too narrow-minded, my predecessors,¡± I said. ¡°The true advantage of the Legion spell is not its ability to draw a soul into your collective, but to expand it outward beyond the Reliquary.¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± the skull conceded. ¡°You truly are wise, Iztac Ce Ehecatl, to see the unseen option that escaped our notice.¡±
I accepted their praise with grace. I was extremely pleased with myself. Managing to impress over six-hundred generations of emperors with my sorcery meant that I had greatly progressed as a sorcerer.
Moreover, I no longer needed to visit the Reliquary to receive my elders¡¯ counsel. I could now speak with them safely when I slumbered. This removed a thorn from my foot.
¡°Is this the House of Fright?¡± asked the skull, the flames of its eyes wavering. ¡°What a terrible place. We can feel its evil seeping into our bones, but we appreciate the change in scenery.¡±
¡°If you do not mind, I would request your help going forward.¡±
¡°We will advise you to the best of our ability, though we unfortunately know little of this place.¡±
¡°Advice isn¡¯t what I have in mind.¡± I joined my hands together and cast Bonecraft again. ¡°I would like to put an idea to the test.¡±
I drew upon my reserves and created five skulls in total; each so small that I could hold all of them in the palm of my hand. I whispered my name into each, though this time I was careful not to let myself be drawn into the soul collective once again. The Parliament managed to possess all of these new vessels nonetheless.
¡°What is your plan, our successor?¡± the five skulls whispered all at once, each with a different voice.
¡°You will see,¡± I replied with a smile. I kept the first skull I had made by my side on the ground and grabbed the other four. ¡°In more ways than one.¡±
I whirled on my feet and threw a skull through each of the misty doors. I did so quickly, before the city¡¯s evil spirit could realize what I had in mind. Each of the projectiles vanished behind a foggy veil in an instant.
I swiftly turned at the last one in my possession. ¡°Did you see anything?¡±
¡°Yes, our successor,¡± the fifth skull replied. ¡°We rolled into a dark, crumbling ruin. We hardly caught a glimpse of it before a shadow crushed us.¡±
¡°All of you?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± The fifth skull¡¯s empty eyes glowed with ghostlight. ¡°These four doors lead to the same trap¡¯s jaws.¡±
As I suspected. Xibalba was the House of Fright, and the cruelest dishes were served seasoned with false hopes. Why would this city give me a slim chance of a way out of its torments? Either my Mother lied about her sanctuary or the path didn¡¯t involve any of the gates. And since I can¡¯t fly away, this leaves only one option left.
I looked down at the floor beneath my feet. Ancient stones lay there, built atop the graves of Xibalba¡¯s countless victims. Did this place have crypts hidden underground? Mictlan¡¯s depths did hide an entire maze.
¡°We must ask why you needed us to tell you anything,¡± the last skull said. ¡°You should be able to see through our eyes.¡±
¡°I fear I will lose myself to the whole if I try.¡± The mere thought of seeing the world through a thousand eyes caused me a headache. ¡°When I activated the spell for the first time, I felt like a man drowning in a turbulent sea.¡±
¡°Your soul is strong, but it cannot resist the spiritual weight of over six hundred ghosts.¡± The skull let out a pleased rattle. ¡°Do not despair, Iztac. We have high hopes that you will grow strong enough to resist us. Once you have consumed enough godly embers, your sense of self should survive our communion. You may come to share more than just our eyes. No more would we have to teach you anything, for you will simply know.¡±
I pondered their words. Although I was in no hurry to touch it again, the emperors¡¯ collective represented an immense wellspring of knowledge and spiritual power. I wondered about the potential applications. I had failed to master the Tomb spell yet because I lacked the power required for it, but if I could tap into my predecessors¡¯ spiritual power¡
¡°In any case, if our spell can pierce through the walls of this primeval demon den, then it should work anywhere,¡± the skull said. ¡°We could observe others on your behalf.¡±
I shook my head. ¡°I doubt I will find an opportunity to cast it on the surface anytime soon. The Nightlords would wonder where I keep finding all of these baby human skulls.¡±
¡°Now it is you who does not see the hidden path.¡± The Parliament let out a deep chuckle. ¡°A skull can be of any size, nor does it have to look human. It only has to come from you.¡±
My eyes widened. They had a point. So long as these skulls were crafted from my bones, I could decide their shape at will. I had settled on a baby-sized skull for safety¡¯s sake, but it could be no larger than a thumb.
I would need to run more tests with the Legion spell, but that was for another time. I should focus on trying to reach Mother¡¯s sanctuary first.
I examined the ground with the Gaze and found nothing. A cursory examination of the floor didn¡¯t provide me with any leads either. The stone beneath my feet was smooth and polished with no structural weakness to speak of. I didn¡¯t notice any switch that could unveil a secret passage either.
When intelligence fails, strength usually succeeds. I coated my fist in a layer of bone thicker than any armor and punched the ground with all of my might. The blow reverberated through my arm, though it was the stone alone that cracked. It doesn¡¯t feel as thick as it ought to be.
The floor crumbled with a few more blows. A good fifth of it collapsed into a hole under my feet, opening a dark pit into Xibalba¡¯s depths. I used the Gaze to see into it, but the tunnel went on and on deeper than what my eyes could reach. It was narrow too; barely large enough for me to fall into.
¡°We doubt that dropping us into this tunnel will do much good,¡± the Parliament of Skulls warned me. ¡°Considering the depth, this skull is likely to shatter on impact.¡±
¡°No need,¡± I replied. ¡°I already know where it leads.¡±
I could sense Mother gazing at me from the bottom. She was such a crafty witch.
After all, who in their right mind would look for an owl¡¯s nest underground?
Chapter Fifty-One: Mothers Nest
I slowly descended into the darkness, the last of the Parliament¡¯s skulls held between my talons as my only guide.
The Gaze spell illuminated the path below and revealed ancient words of power carved into the pit¡¯s walls. I did not recognize these symbols and languages, but I could see the magic radiating from them. My winged feathers blew dust at them each time they flapped.
I couldn¡¯t tell how long the descent lasted. The tunnel stretched so far down I wondered if it reached all the way to the Underworld¡¯s third layer. My quest ended when I reached a layer of miasmic vapors rising from the pit¡¯s bottom. I flew through it and saw light coming from the other side.
Crossing the layer led me into a vast, sunless antechamber with a floor made of white bones; a design that reminded me of Chamiaholom¡¯s ghastly home. Mother was waiting for me there in front of a shadowy archway.
¡°You are late, my son,¡± she said. ¡°Very late.¡±
I had accomplished much since I last saw Mother: I triumphed over three of Xibalba¡¯s trials, I became a god¡¯s prophet, and most important of all, I had foiled the Nightlords¡¯ plan to reshape the cosmos in their image, destroying one of them in the process.
I had hoped for a warmer greeting.
¡°You should have made the puzzle¡¯s solution more obvious then,¡± I replied harshly.
¡°It was,¡± Mother replied with a snort. ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard of burrowing owls?¡±
I narrowed my eyes upon landing on the ground and shifting back into my human form. ¡°Owls can dig?¡±
My response caused Mother to scowl. ¡°Have you never left your village, my son?¡±
¡°Hardly,¡± I replied, my voice brimming with annoyance. ¡°I was forbidden to eat meat, so I couldn¡¯t help Acampa¡¯s hunters without supervision.¡±
¡°Small owls in the great northern plains and the Boiling Islands excavate burrows to hide inside,¡± the skull in my talons said. ¡°Some say that they seek entrance into the Underworld. We doubt anyone near the capital¡¯s region has ever heard of them.¡±
Mother glanced at the skull with sudden interest. ¡°What did you accomplish, Iztac?¡± she asked, stroking her chin. ¡°This skull can speak on its own, yet it''s made of your bones.¡±
¡°This is a vessel for the Parliament of Skulls, born of my own body,¡± I explained. ¡°My predecessors, let me introduce you to the runaway woman who gave birth to me, Ichtaca.¡±
Mother had at least the decency to clench her jaw at my acerbic comment.
¡°Your tales precede you in Mictlan, Lady Ichtaca,¡± the late emperors replied. ¡°That of your ghastly crimes and dark deeds in particular.¡±
¡°What the ghosts above say does not matter to me.¡± Mother continued to study the skull, her eyes shining with blue light. I suspected that she was using a variant of the Gaze spell to study it. ¡°Impressive, Iztac. You created a unique spell by using the very curse binding your soul. You show great talent.¡±
Unlike my predecessors, her praise meant nothing to me. I did note that she didn¡¯t seem to know anything about the Legion spell. Her knowledge of sorcery was vast, but not perfect.
¡°I assume that Chamiaholom taught you Bonecraft?¡± Mother asked.
¡°She did,¡± I confirmed. ¡°I¡¯ve also learned how to cast the Tomb and Blaze spells.¡±
¡°Very powerful picks.¡± Mother scowled. ¡°The Lords of Terror favor you more than me.¡±
I wouldn¡¯t call losing a toe to the chilling cold, fighting rabid beasts for hours, and being attacked in the dark by demons a show of favor. ¡°I earned them with my blood and sweat.¡±
¡°All sorcerers pay a price to learn their craft,¡± Mother replied, almost dismissively. I could tell that she didn¡¯t consider the Xibalba trials worth discussing. ¡°However, the Lords gave me far weaker spells on my first visit. It took me years of negotiations to learn the Tomb and Blaze spells.¡°
¡°Your son¡¯s talent for sorcery is greater than yours,¡± the Parliament argued. ¡°We suspect that the Nightlords chose him as this year¡¯s emperor for this very reason. He alone could light their Sulfur Sun.¡±
¡°Mayhaps,¡± Mother conceded. I couldn¡¯t tell whether she felt proud of me or threatened by my potential. Perhaps both. ¡°A sun whose night you brought about.¡±
At least she didn¡¯t try to take the credit. ¡°I¡¯m surprised,¡± I commented. ¡°You did everything in your power to foil the Nightlords¡¯ plan without risking yourself. I expected a stronger reaction at me succeeding in this task.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Mother¡¯s eyes met mine. ¡°I knew that you would succeed.¡±
I held her gaze without a word. She wasn¡¯t lying. Her belief in my success had been unwavering, because I was her son; because the sun would have died otherwise; because failure could not be permitted.
In her mind, I had lived up to her great standards. Why should she praise an expected outcome?
¡°We must nonetheless discuss the consequences of your success,¡± Mother said before focusing her attention back on the Parliament. ¡°I would gladly welcome one of your skulls within my domain on a permanent basis. We could trade secrets.¡±
The Parliament wisely denied her. ¡°We advise your son alone. We know that you are a thief of souls, Lady Ichtaca, and we can tell that you will seek to bind us if you find the opportunity. We have no wish to escape one prison only to enter another.¡±
¡°Do not be so hasty.¡± Mother turned her back on us and walked towards the archway. ¡°You should see the nest I have created for myself first.¡±
Mother vanished into the shadows ahead, much to my surprise. My Gaze spell noticed the presence of a powerful Veil beyond the archway, alongside other sorceries I did not recognize.
¡°Do not trust her, our successor,¡± the Parliament warned me. Their first impression of my mother didn¡¯t inspire confidence. ¡°This woman cares only for herself. She will go back on her word whenever it suits her, whether to you or us.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve noticed.¡± Mother wouldn¡¯t even risk her life stopping the New Fire Ceremony, although the entire world had been at stake. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m used to dealing with untrustworthy and dangerous people nowadays.¡±
¡°She is in a class of her own. Most scoundrels have lines they will not cross, whether from shame or decency.¡± The skull let out a sinister rattle. ¡°We fear that this woman has none.¡±
Was I among those lines? I feared that I already knew the answer. ¡°We need all the help we can get.¡±
¡°True,¡± the Parliament conceded. ¡°But we ask that you do not leave us in her care. She craves our knowledge as much as the Nightlords sought our blood, since we have witnessed the rise of Yohuachanca from its inception. She will exploit us if given the opportunity.¡±
I agreed to the request with a nod and walked after Mother with the skull in my hands. I entered the darkness and stepped inside the strangest of places: a vast expanse of billowing vapors and miasma covering great alleys of paved bones and ivory shelves. They were filled with carved obsidian tablets the size of my hands and marked with words such as ¡®history¡¯ or ¡®nature.¡¯ They probably held information arranged in an organization schema of Mother¡¯s devising.
I briefly canceled my Gaze spell and allowed the illusion ruling this place to shroud my sight. The world around me shifted into a very different place: a cozy, carpeted library filled with scrolls.
Mother¡¯s dusky feathers and owl mask vanished. She appeared to me as any human of flesh and blood, with pale skin, long white hair, sapphire eyes, and fair features. She reminded me of an older Nenetl, albeit with none of the gentleness and a harsh gaze filled with bitterness.
My body transformed too. I appeared as I did on the surface, devoid of a Tlacatecolotl¡¯s features or burning heart-fire, and the skull in my hand had transformed into a crystal version of itself.
I pinched the spot where my exposed rib cage should have been. I felt pain coursing through my illusory flesh.
The Veil worked by exploiting belief. The more someone distrusted the illusion, the weaker it became. The fact that I already knew of this place¡¯s trickery meant that the Veil spell covering it should have instantly dispelled. Yet it did not. My Gaze spell alone peered through it.
¡°The Lords of Terror reshape reality at will within their houses,¡± Mother explained. ¡°They can manifest almost anything there. Obtaining that power would mean binding myself to Xibalba for all of eternity, so I had to settle for a pale imitation.¡±
I used the Gaze to pierce through the illusion once again. I immediately identified the likely source of the spell¡¯s permanency: the flow of mist coursing through the phantom library. It reminded me of the same haunted fog of memories that tempted me when I first journeyed to Mictlan.
¡°You use the fog to give your Veil texture,¡± I guessed.
¡°Very astute, Iztac,¡± Mother confirmed. ¡°This fog is fueled by the last breaths of the living. Those breaths carry the last remains of their Ihiyotl and thus immense power.¡±
The crystal skull in my hands glowed and the Parliament spoke through it. ¡°Whose lungs are those?¡±
I frowned in confusion until I paid closer attention to the mist. An invisible force caused the fog to flow across the shelves. A wheezing sound echoed further away from our position, so faint I could hardly hear it.
¡°Come and see them,¡± Mother beckoned us.
Them. I immediately understood the nature of her crime the moment I heard the word.
I followed her up a bone alley until we arrived at a large crossroads joining dozens of them together. I sensed a presence around me, but I didn¡¯t notice anything wrong when I looked around with the Gaze.
¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± the skull in my hand whispered in astonishment.
¡°I do not see anything,¡± I said.
¡°You must disable your Gaze spell first,¡± Mother warned me. ¡°Then they shall appear.¡±
I did so and found myself facing two men of flesh and blood in a library of scrolls.
They stood right in front of me, to the point I could feel their illusory breath in the air. One was taller than the other, but both were young and strong, their muscles full of vitality. They wore rich robes that would fit neatly in my imperial wardrobe.
¡°The young master can see us now,¡± the smaller one of the two mused. He and his compatriot bowed before me. ¡°We bid thee welcome to the House of the Owl.¡±
¡°Iztac, let me introduce you to my assistants, Bada and Kele,¡± Mother said. ¡°They take care of this library on my behalf.¡±
¡°We recognize these names,¡± the Parliament whispered. ¡°Lord Xolotl complained to us about them. You abducted their souls many years ago.¡±
The taller one of the two men, ¡®Bada,¡¯ smiled warmly at the skull. ¡°Mistress Ichtaca did not take us by force. She offered us a fair trade, and we accepted.¡±
¡°A second life for service,¡± Kele said. ¡°She gave us our flesh back, and we take care of her library in return.¡±
I remained silent, pondering their words, and then asked, ¡°Do you believe that you are alive?¡±
¡°We are alive, young master.¡± Bada presented his palms to me. ¡°Look at these hands. Are they not made of flesh and blood?¡±
I stared through them with the Gaze spell and found myself facing an empty void. I canceled the spell right after, knowing that they would not believe any of my words.
¡°The mistress returned us to life,¡± Bada said. ¡°True, death will claim us again if we leave her enchanted home, but it is a small price to pay. I would rather stay within these walls than return to Mictlan.¡±
His compatriot nodded with enthusiasm. ¡°I had long forgotten the simple pleasure of breathing.¡±
¡°These two scholars lived centuries past, back when Yohuachanca was still young,¡± Mother explained. ¡°They forgot more about this world¡¯s history than most will ever learn.¡±
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¡°I see¡¡± I replied. The situation made me somewhat uncomfortable, though it did raise my curiosity. ¡°I am happy to make your acquaintance. I will do my best not to disturb your work during my stay.¡±
¡°The young master is too polite,¡± Bada replied with a chuckle. ¡°We are at his disposal, not the other way around.¡±
¡°If you wish for anything, please let us know,¡± his comrade added. ¡°This library is a maze to navigate, but we know it like the back of our hands.¡±
I politely thanked them and followed Mother up a shelved alley. I took a moment to check one of the illusory scrolls. Floating diagrams and words magically appeared before my eyes, though I found myself staring at an obsidian tablet still on its shelf when I activated the Gaze spell. The Veil directly projected information into my mind.
¡°Are they ghosts?¡± I questioned Mother once they were out of earshot. ¡°Or illusions?¡±
¡°Tonalli projections might be a better term. Their physical remains lay elsewhere, while their minds have become one with the fog.¡± Mother smiled to herself. ¡°They are part of the tapestry, if you will.¡±
By joining with the Veil covering this library, these people experienced it as reality. They existed in a mirage indistinguishable from real life. They believed themselves alive because they felt that way.
¡°As I told you when we first met, I am trying to overcome death,¡± Mother said. ¡°The laws of the Underworld prevent souls from regaining a Teyolia and heart-fire, so this mirage of normalcy is all that I can offer my guests. I have yet to find a way to give them true flesh.¡±
¡°Chamiaholom could conjure the corpses of others,¡± I replied. The image of Chimalli¡¯s corpse boiling in her cauldron still haunted me. ¡°Her siblings summoned an army of beasts in the House of Jaguars.¡±
Mother shook her head. ¡°The Lords of Terror are masters of reality within their domain. They can conjure perfect imitations, but they would collapse to dust should they leave their houses.¡±
This revelation did not reassure me in the slightest. Whether or not Chimalli¡¯s corpse had been real or not, my actions did destroy Acampa. The animals I slaughtered in the House of Jaguars breathed, hungered, and suffered like any other.
Mother led me past a coiling tunnel and into a spacious lobby with wood-paneled walls, neatly organized bookshelves, and comfortable sofas. A group of young men and women drafted scrolls in a large study, while a lush garden could be seen through the only window. None of them could be older than thirty. They smiled at our approach, some of them biting into fresh fruits or tasting chocolate cups; heedless of the truth of their situation.
¡°Welcome to the House of the Owl, my son,¡± Ichtaca said as she gave me a tour. ¡°My personal sanctuary, where the dead enjoy a second life of peace and learning.¡±
¡°A life of lies,¡± I replied upon activating the Gaze spell to see the room as it truly was: a vault of fused bones and barbed alcoves, whose stone tables were devoid of food and whose window led to an empty courtyard. These specters¡¯ work only existed inside the spider¡¯s web trapping their minds.
¡°The life I offer them might be woven with illusions, but it feels real to them.¡± Mother seemed downright confused by my cold reaction. ¡°It is a kinder afterlife than the dreary emptiness of Mictlan.¡±
¡°Mictlan¡¯s citizens are free,¡± I replied, my heart swelling with dread. I had my suspicions about how Mother fueled this spell of hers, and for what purpose.
¡°Free to mourn their lost flesh and the pleasures of life. They play at being alive to stave off boredom and the oblivion that follows.¡± Mother dismissed my worries. ¡°If it bothers you so much, my son, you only have to give them a body of flesh once we achieve godhood.¡±
I looked at her in skepticism. ¡°The Lords of Terror would not allow you to create a paradise for lost souls in their city of fear, even a false one. What¡¯s the catch?¡±
¡°I won¡¯t deny that I had to make sacrifices to create this sanctuary,¡± Mother conceded. ¡°But this place is safe. It can even become your predecessors¡¯ afterlife, if they so choose. A place where they can feel alive again and debate with the best scholars mankind ever produced.¡±
The Parliament of Skulls, who had remained silent so far, let out a ghastly rattle. ¡°Whose lungs are these?¡± they asked once more, their voice heavy with cold fury. ¡°Who breathes this lie into being?¡±
Mother¡¯s squinting eyes told me everything I needed to know. Her paradise did have a cost.
¡°I want the truth,¡± I said sharply.
Mother considered my request a moment before conceding. ¡°Very well. I suppose you should learn how to use the device.¡±
The device. I strongly began to suspect the source of her sanctuary¡¯s magic, yet I prayed to be wrong. Mother, have you sunk so low?
She led us deeper inside her home and through orderly corridors. The lost souls grew rarer the further we progressed into the library. I assumed Mother¡¯s magic kept them away from restricted areas. Our journey ended in a hall separated from the rest of the facility by great archways. It seemed quaint, with a single golden statue of an owl in its center as a landmark.
The Gaze swiftly revealed the sinister truth.
A frightful contraption appeared in the statue¡¯s place; a colossal pillar of diseased black flesh bound by powerful metal chains hanging from the ceiling. Hundreds of skulls were embedded in the structure, all of them breathing. They exhaled the fog through their open jaws, their empty eyes alight with pale ghostfire.
This sight was frighteningly familiar to both the Parliament and myself.
A copy of the Reliquary.
I saw it coming, but I¡¯d still hoped Mother wouldn¡¯t commit such a heinous deed. Mictlan¡¯s gods and Huehuecoyotl warned me that Mother abducted the souls and skulls of the dead to steal their knowledge. She had intentionally crafted the same device that the Nightlords accidentally created: a prison for souls.
A single question surged through all of my horror and disgust.
¡°Is Father in there?¡± I asked.
¡°No, of course not!¡± Mother glared at me with genuine anger. ¡°How dare you ask me that, Iztac?¡±
¡°How dare you build such an abomination?!¡± I snapped back, my jaw so tight I thought my teeth might crack. The skull in my hand was eerily silent; a reaction stronger than any snarl of rage. ¡°You¡¯ve condemned hundreds of souls to the same fate that the Nightlords planned for me! That they¡¯ve put my predecessors through!¡±
¡°A much kinder fate,¡± Mother argued. ¡°These souls live anew.¡±
I glared at her. ¡°Are they aware of their true situation?¡±
¡°No,¡± Mother replied without any shame. ¡°In their case, ignorance is bliss.¡±
¡°Quite the hypocritical statement to say in a secret library,¡± I snapped, my voice brimming with anger. ¡°You trapped innocent souls in a Veil for all eternity, bound their skulls for knowledge, and turned them into fuel for your magic!¡±
¡°You would rather that I keep their skulls on a shelf, to take their knowledge as I see fit?¡± Mother retorted. ¡°I required information which only they possessed, and I paid them back for it with a dream of life. Tell me why it is unfair, Iztac?¡±
Mother didn¡¯t show any anger. In fact, she appeared mostly confused by my reaction. She simply couldn¡¯t fathom why enslaving the souls of the dead would bother me. I would not deny that I committed many crimes, but that was one I loathed enough to seek an alternative over the Legion spell¡¯s proper use.
¡°Are these people free to leave?¡± I asked sharply.
¡°Why would they?¡± Mother replied, avoiding my question. ¡°My House of the Owl offers them a better resting place than any other in the Underworld, save Tlaloc¡¯s personal domain.¡±
¡°But would you return these skulls to Mictlan if they asked you to?¡±
Mother¡¯s silence was an answer in itself.
Worse, I could wager as to what price the Lords of Terror exacted to let her build this place inside their cursed city. I saw tortured figures in the House of Gloom, their tongue ripped out and their eyes shut so that they would suffer in silence. I thought most of them were Tlacatecolotl who had failed the trials, but now I wondered how many of them simply happened to be souls Mother brought to Xibalba as a toll.
¡°These people used to be humans once,¡± I protested. ¡°Same as us.¡±
¡°The people are not Nahualli,¡± Mother replied, her voice colder than winter¡¯s winds. ¡°They are not our kin.¡±
There lay the source of the problem. Mother didn¡¯t see non-Tlacatecolotl souls as people, but as resources to exploit. A lifetime of rejection caused her to turn her back on humanity itself.
She wasn¡¯t so different from the Nightlords at the end of the day; the fact she independently came up with a Reliquary proved that they thought along the same line. She simply traded their rampant cruelty and worldshaking arrogance for cold indifference and detached curiosity.
Mother would have disappointed me, if I hadn¡¯t already been expecting the worst coming from her. I had moved beyond wrath and into simple sorrow.
The person I was truly angry at was myself. For all of the disgust her creation inspired in my heart, I needed Mother¡¯s help too much to shatter it where it stood. For all of my newfound power, I couldn¡¯t afford freeing these souls now. My salvation, nay, the world¡¯s, required Mother¡¯s assistance.
I bit my tongue to stop more barbed comments from pouring out of my mouth. I would have to swallow my resentment until the day I could succeed on my own.
¡°We must deny your previous offer, Lady Ichtaca,¡± the Parliament of Skulls suddenly said. Although I could sense their fears, my predecessors answered Ichtaca¡¯s proposal with diplomacy. They too understood that we needed her assistance. ¡°A golden cage remains a cage, and we have grown weary of ours. We might carry our regrets to Mictlan, but those thoughts shall be ours alone.¡±
Mother shrugged. ¡°You will come to regret your choice, but have it your way. I shall not insist on it further.¡±
Her response surprised me, but then I realized that the Veil spell required its victims to buy into the illusion. The Parliament¡¯s souls might resist its pull and disturb the collective dream; a risk Mother might wish to avoid. I suspected she created a pleasant prison because, unlike the Nightlords, she knew vengeful spirits could plot behind her back.
She knows neither mercy nor compassion, I thought grimly. All her decisions are guided by pragmatism and practicality. Nothing else.
¡°Would you do anything for knowledge, Mother?¡± I asked her, more out of disappointment than fury.
She held my gaze. ¡°Would you do anything to survive, my son?¡±
It was my turn to fall silent. I had chosen death over complicity once, but that was when I thought I had no other option available. Now that I have hope, however faint, I¡¯ve committed many sins in order to defeat the Nightlords and escape their grasp.
Was I capable of anything, as Chamiaholom thought?
I hoped to never find the answer.
¡°You are free to peruse my library as you wish,¡± Mother told me. ¡°I keep spell-related information to myself, but my books contain a wealth of information about the world, its legends, and its lost treasures.¡±
¡°Including the First Emperor¡¯s codices?¡± I asked, suppressing my anger to focus on more immediate matters.
¡°Maybe,¡± Mother confirmed, much to my joy. ¡°I have been trying to locate them myself to little avail, but I lack the resources of an emperor.¡±
¡°The information that you gathered should complete ours,¡± the Parliament noted.
¡°Bada and Kele can counsel you in your search.¡± Mother squinted at me. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you channeled the First Emperor.¡±
So she did keep track of events in the world above. ¡°I have. The Nightlords convinced their population of their lie so thoroughly that it became true.¡±
¡°Beware, my son,¡± she warned me. ¡°If you wear a mask for too long, then your face will change to fit it. Borrowed power is never truly yours.¡±
¡°Then teach me more spells,¡± I replied. ¡°So that I may rely on my own strength.¡±
¡°I shall,¡± Mother promised. ¡°However, you must continue to complete the Lords of Terror¡¯s trials. They will teach you sorcery that I do not know, and you will need to reach the pyramid to escape Xibalba.¡±
She didn¡¯t ask for a trade in return for her sorcery. Perhaps she did have some decency left in her.
¡°What do you know of the First Emperor, Lady Ichtaca?¡± the Parliament inquired. ¡°Understanding the source of the vampiric curse would help us find a cure.¡±
¡°He used to be an ancient bat Nahualli who descended into the Underworld¡¯s depths and completed the pilgrimage towards its bottom,¡± Mother replied, a small smirk at the edge of her lips. She seemed to find the idea of a cure for vampirism quite amusing. ¡°I cannot say what he found beyond the gates of this layer, for I have yet to descend any deeper. My son¡¯s next trial, the House of Bats, holds a clue.¡±
¡°What kind?¡± I asked.
¡°I suggest you check it for yourself first, Iztac. You might reach a different conclusion than I did.¡± Mother shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t anticipate his influence to grow since Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise. His power radiates outwards from the Blood Pyramid, polluting the land and sky.¡±
¡°Servants informed me that the blood rain devastating our hinterlands spread from that place too,¡± I said.
¡°Because the First Emperor¡¯s corpse is buried in the Blood Pyramid¡¯s depths, our successor,¡± the skull said. ¡°The occasion to confirm it to you never came up, but the Nightlords raised their temple over their father¡¯s tomb.¡±
The information only half-surprised me. I learned that the official imperial propaganda¡ªwhich pretended that the First Emperor rose to become the sun¡ªwas rubbish, so I assumed that the First Emperor was hidden away somewhere. It made quite a deal of sense for the monster to be sealed underneath the Blood Pyramid.
¡°Is that why emperors are sacrificed there?¡± I wondered out loud. It would explain why I managed to channel the First Emperor while standing in that spot.
¡°The yearly ritual kills the soul and shackles his totem,¡± Mother said, her stare settling on the Parliament¡¯s vessel. ¡°Slaying the body requires a different method, though I have yet to figure it out. Perhaps you know, ancient ghosts of an age past?¡±
The ghostly flames in the Parliament¡¯s eyes flickered with fear. ¡°We do.¡±
Mother waited for them to tell her more, but the old emperors refused to elaborate any further. I couldn¡¯t blame them. Whatever atrocities took place in the Blood Pyramid were so great and terrible that they preferred not to give me details; their sons had been brought there and never seen again.
¡°It would do us little good if destroying the Nightlords unleashed another calamity on us,¡± Mother said. ¡°Understanding the ritual¨C¡±
¡°Would not help you learn it for yourself,¡± the Parliament interrupted her with a hint of hostility. ¡°The Blood Pyramid contains horrors the likes of which even your Lords of Terror would recoil from. Moreover, understand this: all of the Nightlords¡¯ rituals feed into each other and require their presence. The sisters¡¯ demise will disrupt them beyond hope of recovery.¡±
Mother scowled. ¡°You advised my son on how to destroy the Nightlords without thinking of what would come next?¡±
¡°Until our current successor, the mere thought of slaying a Nightlord remained nothing more than a dream,¡± the Parliament replied. ¡°You have seen for yourself the horrors that they inflict on the world, Lady Ichtaca; enough that you would rather let your son fight them alone rather than risk their wrath. We will always choose the hope of a better future over the certainty of an intolerable present.¡±
So did I. Besides, the Jaguar Woman hadn¡¯t given up on raising her Sulfur Sun. The sisters would never give up on their mad dream to conquer the sunlight and reshape the world in their image.
¡°Another solution might appear to us once we collect the codices,¡± I said. ¡°The Nightlords¡¯ ritual might not be the only one available to us. We can design another.¡±
¡°True,¡± Mother conceded. She clearly wished to question the Parliament more, but she was wise enough to notice the old emperors¡¯ hostility directed towards her. ¡°One Nightlord¡¯s death has only shaken the prison. We have time before my son shatters it.¡±
Her trust in me would have warmed my heart, if she had any intention of helping me fight the Nightlords directly. Both the Parliament of Skulls and Mother would stick to lessons and advice, but only the first did so because they couldn¡¯t wage war themselves. My own flesh and blood wouldn¡¯t risk her life for me.
Mother decided to complete her tour of her house afterward. She touched one of her Reliquary¡¯s skulls with her hand. The pillar of bone and flesh let out a faint rattle, a stairway opening up at its feet. Mother walked down it first and bid me to follow her. I swiftly noticed that the fog didn¡¯t enter this area; the House¡¯s Veil and its prisoners couldn¡¯t reach it.
This passage quickly opened into a private study of leather-covered chairs, shelves filled with parchment, and tables covered in quills shaped from owl feathers. In stark contrast with the library upstairs, this place appeared truly cozy. My Gaze didn¡¯t detect any illusion.
¡°These are our private quarters,¡± Mother said. ¡°Make yourself at home.¡±
Our. My eyes wandered around the study until I noticed a small chimney in a corner. A skeleton in purple cotton robes sat there, watching a ghostly flame burning in the hearth. It turned its skull at me, its empty eyes suddenly alight with magical light the moment he caught sight of me.
He all but leaped out of the sofa and nearly stumbled into the chimney in his haste to greet me.
Unlike the ghosts above, this specter was whole and untainted by Mother¡¯s lies. Though nothing about his body separated him from all of Mictlan¡¯s shambling corpses, I immediately recognized him. The endearing way he rose from his seat, shifting his weight on his right leg¡ªa habit he developed since he broke his left a few years before the famine¡ªhis posture of absolute joy and relief, the warmth radiating from his gaze, and last but not least, the tight hug in which he held me before I could even open my mouth¡
How could I forget them?
¡°It¡¯s really you¡¡± the ghost whispered with a familiar voice, his weak arms squeezing me with all their feeble strength. ¡°After so many years¡ I can hold you again¡¡±
My father, Itzili, stood before me.
And I returned his hug in full.
Chapter Fifty-Two: Father and Son
So many years had passed since Father last hugged me that I almost forgot how warm his arms felt. The lack of flesh on his bones hardly changed that. Every part of his body radiated something that I rarely received.
Love.
¡°I am so glad to see you again, Iztac,¡± Father said upon squeezing me tightly. ¡°Though I wish it were under better circumstances.¡±
My spine stiffened. ¡°You know?¡±
¡°Your mother told me that the Nightlords chose you as this year¡¯s emperor. This news devastated me.¡± Father¡¯s hands moved to firmly grab my shoulders and he looked at me right in the eyes. ¡°I swear we¡¯ll find a way to spare you the altar. There has to be a solution.¡±
¡°There is one,¡± I reassured him. Namely, destroying the Nightlords and their wicked empire of death. ¡°Worry not, Father. The vampires shall have neither my blood nor my soul.¡±
¡°You have grown so much, Iztac,¡± Father whispered. My resolve impressed him. ¡°When we last met, you barely reached up to my chest and feared your own shadow. The person in front of me has become a man.¡±
¡°Nearly five years have passed since your death, Father,¡± I replied with a warm chuckle. The last few months felt like a decade¡¯s worth of trouble. ¡°You¡¯ve missed my growth spurt.¡±
¡°And many other things, no doubt,¡± Itzili complained with a sad sigh. ¡°Death is truly cruel to take us without appointments.¡±
Mother allowed herself to smile. ¡°Our son has grown into a handsome young man, Itzili. He¡¯s your spitting image.¡±
Did she just compliment me? That alone startled me.
¡°He inherited his best traits from his mother,¡± Father replied as he pulled away from me, much to his wife¡¯s amusement. She swiftly kissed him on his skull, and I saw her sharp and strict expression soften in a way it never did with me.
Mother showed more emotion for that brief instant than she ever did in all of our time together in the Underworld. I caught a glimpse of something other than ambition and bitterness. A purer feeling that transcended Mother¡¯s greed and selfishness.
A spark of deep affection.
Mother looked happy.
That moment was painfully brief, but it struck me with more force than any arrow. None, not even the late Sigrun, could fake something so pure and genuine. For all of her faults, my mother did love my father.
Her shriveled heart might look bigger than I thought.
¡°And who might you be?¡± Father asked the skull in my hands. ¡°Another of my wife¡¯s scholarly guests?¡±
Guests? The word immediately caused me to scowl at Mother, who ignored me. My brief moment of sympathy for her evaporated in an instant. Of course she would deceive him too.
¡°We are the Parliament of Skulls,¡± my predecessors replied. ¡°The past emperors that preceded your son on Yohuachanca¡¯s throne. This skull is the medium through which we advise our successor.¡±
¡°Oh! My apologies, Your Majesties, I meant no disrespect.¡± Father immediately offered the Parliament a formal bow. ¡°I thank you for guiding my son, great emperors of the past. I¡¯m told that he has greatly benefited from your wisdom.¡±
¡°The pleasure is ours,¡± my predecessors replied. Unlike the coldness and distrust that they had shown Mother before, the emperors answered my father¡¯s gratefulness with courtesy. ¡°Our successor is a brave and talented young man, Lord Itzili. You should feel proud of his achievements.¡±
¡°I am proud, though I wish I could do more than congratulate him.¡± Father lowered his head to better show his deference. ¡°I do not deserve the title of lord either, though my wife commands this domain. I am as baseborn as they come.¡±
¡°You fathered an emperor and a Tlacatecolotl nonetheless,¡± the Parliament replied. ¡°We shall address you with the respect that you deserve.¡±
¡®The kind that your wife will not receive,¡¯ was left unsaid.
Father had always been the humblest and kindest man I ever knew; though I might only feel that way because he was the only one to show me unconditional love until Eztli entered my life. The fact that my predecessors immediately seemed to take a liking to him reassured me greatly.
¡°Make yourself at home, Iztac,¡± Father said after inviting us to sit near the hearth. ¡°You must tell me everything I¡¯ve missed over these last few years.¡±
¡°I will let the two of you catch up for now,¡± Mother replied.
Father didn¡¯t hide his disappointment. ¡°You won¡¯t stay with us, my love?¡±
¡°I must continue my research for now. The sooner I can complete it, the better.¡± Mother kissed Father on his forehead again and then did the same for me with my cheek. Her lips felt warm on my skin. ¡°We will continue your training after I¡¯ve finished my work, my son. Enjoy yourself until then.¡±
A very small part of me wished to skip straight to spellcasting, but the rest of my heart couldn¡¯t care less. I¡¯d wanted to visit my father since the moment I stepped foot in the Underworld. I had so much to tell him.
Mother vanished deeper into her home and Father pulled two seats near the hearth: one for me and one for the Parliament. He put their skull atop a pile of cushions, which I found strangely amusing.
¡°Is this comfortable enough, Your Majesties?¡± Father asked the emperors with all the awkwardness of a peasant receiving a noble¡¯s surprise inspection.
¡°Worry not,¡± my predecessors replied, their empty eyes staring at the fire. ¡°We find the sight quite pleasing.¡±
¡°Unfortunately, we do not possess much in terms of accommodations here,¡± Father apologized. ¡°I spend my days reading, cleaning, cooking, and watching the fire.¡±
¡°Cooking?¡± I raised an eyebrow. The dead lacked the need and desire for sustenance. ¡°Can you eat food, Dad?¡±
¡°I wish!¡± Father replied with a chuckle. ¡°Alas, no crops grow in this layer and none of us here require food anyway. I¡¯ve been trying my hand at alchemy and metallurgy instead. Mixing substances together, combining some alloys¡ cooking with metal and powders, in short.¡± He scratched his skull in embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯ve set your mother¡¯s laboratory on fire more times than I can count.¡±
His new hobby didn¡¯t surprise me all that much. Father had always been very curious and hoped to travel beyond Acampa to see the world one day. He was the first to put the idea of becoming a merchant in my head all these years ago.
I proceeded to take my own seat and rested on the soft leather. I found it quite comfortable after all of the deadly trials I went through.
¡°Do you like the seat, my son?¡± Father asked me with delight in his voice. ¡°I built it myself.¡±
¡°I could sleep in it,¡± I replied. Father¡¯s work paled before the luxuries I enjoyed in the emperor¡¯s palace, but I enjoyed this seat more than any throne. I hadn¡¯t been able to relax in the Underworld since I left Mictlan and welcomed this brief change of pace.
¡°Manual work helps me fight off the monotony.¡± Father rested his head on his hand and stared at the hearth¡¯s fire. ¡°Time seems to stretch on forever when you can no longer fill it with idleness, my son. I used to wish that I could forsake sleep in life, only to miss it in death.¡±
¡°We do not appreciate the little things until they slip through our fingers,¡± the Parliament of Skulls commented. ¡°Regrets are the wages of wasted lives.¡±
¡°Indeed, but enough with the gloom!¡± Father said upon turning his head in my direction. ¡°How have you been since my death, Iztac? Did you make new friends?¡±
My jaw clenched on its own. Father looked at me with the candid hope that I¡¯d somehow managed to find happiness after his passing. Instead, I¡¯d been adopted by a woman who threw stones at me for looking at her daughter the wrong way and suffered from greater loneliness than ever before.
Telling him the truth would crush him, but unlike Mother, I didn¡¯t have the heart to lie to him.
¡°No, I did not,¡± I said with some awkwardness. Come to think of it, I could count the number of people I trusted on one hand. ¡°It¡¯s¡ it¡¯s been hard ever since you left, Father.¡±
Father listened in crestfallen silence as I told him how Guatemoc and Necahual took me in after his death. I told him of the struggles that followed; the mockeries at school, the stones my mother-in-law threw at me, the isolation I¡¯d felt¡ To put it bluntly, Eztli had been the only good thing to come out of this period.
¡°I am so sorry, Iztac,¡± Father apologized. His voice brimmed with true grief, as if he had gone through the same hardships I did. ¡°I thought Necahual and her husband would prove to be good guardians. She always appeared well-disposed towards me.¡±
¡°She was.¡± From Father¡¯s tone, he never learned of Necahual¡¯s feelings towards him. ¡°Her goodwill simply did not extend to me. No one treated me kindly except for Eztli.¡±
¡°I¡¯d hoped Acampa¡¯s people would accept you with time. That they would see past their superstitions and judge you on your merits. How naive of me.¡± Father clenched his skeletal fingers. ¡°I should have left that village when I had the chance. Dyed your hair with coal and started anew somewhere else.¡±
¡°The red-eyed priests would never have allowed it,¡± the Parliament retorted. ¡°Whether or not they already considered your son an emperor candidate, they constantly collect Nahualli for their mistresses.¡±
Father didn¡¯t look convinced. ¡°Even so, maybe I could have left Iztac with his mother. She would have taught him witchcraft and kept him away from trouble.¡±
I scoffed. ¡°I¡¯m thankful that you did not, Father. She would have thrown me in a pit to lighten her load.¡±
To my astonishment, Father¡¯s jaw dropped in shock. ¡°That isn¡¯t funny, Iztac.¡±
¡°I am not joking.¡± I turned to look at the hearth, whose ghostly flames reminded me of my own blaze. ¡°She abandoned us once, remember?¡±
¡°She did not, Iztac. The Nightlords forced her to flee.¡±
¡°Yet she never checked on me until after I died.¡±
Father flinched, yet still attempted to defend her. ¡°The Nightlords would have used us as hostages if she had shown any interest. They would have killed one of us and threatened to slay the other if she did not surrender to them.¡±
It said something about the Nightlords that Father underestimated their cruelty. I suspected that they would have done worse than simply kill us. Nonetheless, fear for her own safety didn¡¯t excuse Mother¡¯s behavior. I would have risked life and limb for her if our roles had been reversed.
Blood was blood.
¡°Every day I struggle to hide my powers from the Nightlords,¡± I said, my fists clenching on the armrests. ¡°Should I fail to destroy them, my soul will join my predecessors in torment. Yet Mother would rather watch from the sidelines rather than intervene directly.¡±
¡°She brought you here to teach you witchcraft, did she not?¡± Father touched the ghostfire in the hearth with a poker. It was a pointless gesture since magic fueled the flames. I supposed he simply carried through the motions of life, just as Mictlan¡¯s inhabitants did. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of what happened on Smoke Mountain. Your mother was here that night, biting her nails. She could hardly focus on anything on the days that preceded its eruption because she worried for your safety.¡±
¡°Mine or her own?¡± I retorted. The thought of Mother showing concern for my safety sounded laughable. ¡°The sun nearly died on that mountain, and she just watched.¡±
¡°I thought she helped you set up the counter-ritual? Or so she told me.¡±
By providing corpses to curse, I thought, though I didn¡¯t have the heart to tell Father that detail. I gave the order and Mother carried it out.
¡°Your mother was incredibly relieved to see you fly away to safety,¡± Father insisted. ¡°Call me naive, Iztac, but I¡¯m convinced that she will come to rescue you should you truly need her assistance. She cares for you more than you think.¡±
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
¡°Not enough to risk her life,¡± I replied with skepticism.
¡°Mark my word, my son. If your mother finds herself in a situation where she must decide which life to save at the expense of the other¡ she will choose yours over her own. Though I¡¯ll admit she¡¯ll probably try every other alternative first.¡± Father watched the fire. ¡°Ichtaca does not always mean what she says, even to herself. She¡¯s a¡ complicated person.¡±
¡°You are allowed to say selfish and difficult,¡± I countered.
I expected Father to scold me. Instead, he joined his hands together and leaned in closer to the fire. ¡°Did your mother tell you how she first gained her powers?¡±
I scowled at Father. ¡°Someone tried to strangle her when she was six.¡±
¡°Not just anyone,¡± he replied with a sorrowful sigh. ¡°Her own mother. Her father tried to drown her one year later, after blaming her for the death of his crops.¡±
Father¡¯s words hit me like a mace to the face. I always thought that Mother¡¯s loathing for non-Nahualli was born from rejection in her youth. To have her own parents betray her in such a cruel way explained so much.
If Father had tried to slay me¡ the idea alone was unthinkable to me. Of all the horrors that my mind could conjure, that situation alone appeared impossible.
Mother never knew love until Father came along. For all of the distrust and contempt I held for her, I couldn¡¯t help but pity her. I doubted anyone would have been able to trust other people after suffering so cruel a betrayal.
¡°Such is the fate of most Nahualli,¡± the Parliament commented with a hint of sympathy in their voice. ¡°It is a terrible thing to be born different among the intolerant.¡±
¡°It is,¡± Father replied with sorrow. ¡°Since she had only been shown hatred for most of her life, Ichtaca¡¯s heart turned to ice early. She was almost half-feral the first time I met her, living in a forest hut and shunning other humans the way we avoid wild beasts. It took me years of effort to earn her trust.¡±
I blinked in surprise. ¡°You never told me this.¡±
¡°You were too young to understand when last we¡ when last we met.¡± Father shook his head, as if to banish the thought of his own death from his mind. ¡°The way she looked when I first met her, all suspicious and angry and bitter¡ I¡¯ll never forget it.¡±
¡°Your wife¡¯s suffering does not justify her current behavior,¡± the Parliament argued. ¡°We sympathize with her pain, but she treats the living and the dead with the same coldness as our own captors.¡±
¡°Pain is senseless, Your Majesties,¡± Father argued. ¡°When faced with suffering, we humans try to assign it meaning to make it more bearable. My wife drew the wrong conclusion from her difficult life: that it toughened her spirit and gave her the strength to survive. This mindset shapes all of her decisions.¡±
¡°Are you looking for explanations, Father?¡± I asked him as I sank in my chair out of unease. ¡°Or excuses?¡±
¡°I am looking for empathy and understanding,¡± Father replied calmly. ¡°Your mother projects an image of strength, Iztac, but if you chip away at it long enough you will only find pain and loneliness underneath. She mistakes open displays of affection for weakness, and it terrifies her. I suspect that she restricts access to her knowledge because, in her mind, she is helping you grow self-sufficient. This is her way of supporting you.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not a good one,¡± I replied flatly.
¡°No,¡± Father conceded. ¡°But do not mistake her aloofness for a sign that she does not care for you. She¡¯s simply¡ unused to it. Acting selflessly towards others scares and confuses her. Even now after years of marriage, she still keeps up her guard with me.¡±
If only he knew. Father was the only person Mother allowed herself to love, and she still refused to practice Seidr with him for fear of what he would see inside her heart.
¡°She keeps things hidden from you, Father,¡± I warned him.
¡°I know.¡± Father studied my face, his empty eyes glowing with pale light. ¡°You don¡¯t tell me everything either, Iztac.¡±
My jaw clenched on its own. I could have told Father about the lives I¡¯d taken, the trust I had betrayed, the innocents I¡¯d sacrificed¡ Yet when my guilty conscience threatened to confess, shame held back my tongue.
Father knew me better than anyone, so he could tell what was on my mind. ¡°Nothing you can say will change the love I feel for you, Iztac. You were put in a terrible situation and I will not judge you for doing your best to escape it. I simply ask that you show the same tolerance for your mother. No matter her faults, she is the woman who brought you into this world and she does care for you in her own way. Pushing her away will only lead you to hurt one another.¡±
¡°So I should simply close my eyes?¡± I asked, unable to keep the disdain off my voice. ¡°Keep my mouth shut?¡±
¡°No,¡± Father replied firmly, much to my surprise. ¡°You should take a stand if you truly feel that you must. However, relationships are built on compromise. If you never give her an inch now and then, why should she?¡±
Compromise? Somehow the word sounded like a curse in my mind. I had compromised so much on my morals because I lacked the power to create a better path. The only reason I tolerated Mother¡¯s Reliquary was because I needed her help. If I didn¡¯t, I would have destroyed her pillar of skulls on the spot.
¡°If you give too much, you get eaten,¡± I argued.
¡°See? You are your mother¡¯s son,¡± Father replied with a chuckle. ¡°Iztac, no one likes to be judged. Would you like it if I constantly scolded you? Told you that I knew better about everything, although I have never been in your situation?¡±
¡°No,¡± I conceded.
¡°Constantly confronting your mother will only cause her to stand her ground and entrench herself in her opinions,¡± Father explained. ¡°I do not ask you to tolerate everything she does; the gods know I drew a line in the sand more than once. I simply ask that you give her a chance. Focus on her good points first rather than constantly searching for her faults. Only then will she start to listen to you.¡±
The Parliament of Skulls let out a deep, ominous rattle. ¡°You will not change that woman, Lord Itzili.¡±
¡°Perhaps not,¡± Father confirmed. ¡°But I can help her change herself. I know because I already did it.¡±
¡°We do wonder about your courtship,¡± the Parliament said. ¡°There must be an interesting story behind why you chose to romance a Nahualli hermit.¡±
Father shifted in his seat, his confidence turning to awkwardness. He quickly glanced at me, weighed whether or not I should learn the truth in his mind, then nodded to himself.
¡°I first met my wife when returning from school through the forest alongside a group of boys and girls,¡± Father said. ¡°I caught sight of her spying on us from afar. I¡¯d already heard rumors of a witch living in the woods, so I immediately grew curious.¡±
I almost laughed at his phrasing. ¡°Most would have grown fearful, Father."
¡°I figured that if she was truly dangerous, she would have eaten us all,¡± Father replied with a small, nervous laugh. ¡°Your mother fled before I could catch up to her, so I returned each day to the forest to ask her to show up. I suppose you could say that I tried to make contact. Eventually, she became so puzzled by my persistence that she answered my calls.¡±
¡°That sounds quite romantic,¡± I commented.
¡°Our first meeting did not end well,¡± Father confessed. ¡°She threatened to curse me with impotence, hair loss, and a gruesome death if I refused to leave her alone. I resolved to come back the next day nonetheless.¡±
¡°Why?¡± the Parliament asked with genuine curiosity.
¡°Because I saw it in her eyes. What lay beneath the bitterness, jealousy, and resentment.¡± Father marked a short pause. ¡°Sorrow, and the desire to belong.¡±
I avoided his gaze. Having spent my childhood shunned by others, I understood that feeling well.
¡°I continued to visit her each day afterward until I earned her trust,¡± Father continued his tale. ¡°We began to play board games, swim by the river, read in the sunset¡ Over time, I convinced her to visit Acampa to meet with my parents, though it took a year of convincing. She feared I was luring her into a trap until the very last second.¡±
¡°Bringing down the walls around her heart must have required an immense well of patience,¡± the Parliament commented. ¡°We are truly impressed.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Father replied nervously. ¡°Afterward, I¡ I invited her to stay with me and¡¡± He turned to me. ¡°We chose to have you and settle down.¡±
The hateful balefire of my soul wavered for an instant as a wave of pure warmth coursed through my veins.
They chose to have me. Part of me always wondered if I had been the result of an accident¡ªchildren at my old school certainly mocked me about it. I was desired.
¡°My wife¡¯s wounds run deep,¡± Father said. ¡°I can soothe them, but they will never fully heal. The best I can do is to help dull her edge. I¡¯ve had some success with it.¡±
¡°Did you convince her to trap these scholars in a dream?¡± I asked him. Somehow, I struggled to imagine someone as selfish as Mother granting non-Nahualli this small kindness. Father probably inspired it.
¡°I admit I do not fully understand this magic of yours,¡± Father replied. ¡°From what I gathered, your mother¡¯s guests exist in a plane of existence that I cannot access. A shared dream.¡±
¡°Her guests?¡± I snorted. ¡°These people are not guests. They are her prisoners.¡±
Father scratched his skull. His strange calm greatly bothered me. Didn¡¯t he see the problem? ¡°I was under the impression that these scholars joined willingly.¡±
¡°Under false pretenses.¡± Their situation hit me at my core because it was so similar to my own. ¡°They aren¡¯t free.¡±
Father marked a short pause before asking me, ¡°What makes you think that people want to be free, Iztac?¡±
I felt like I¡¯d been slapped in the face.
Father¡¯s question cut deeper than he thought. I remembered asking it myself after Smoke Mountain erupted. I thought that its destruction would wake up Yohuachanca¡¯s masses from their idleness, and that the disasters that followed would finally destroy the Nightlords¡¯ illusion of power. I had prayed for revolts, riots, and revolutions.
Instead, I received silence.
¡°You have seen Mictlan for yourself on your journey,¡± Father said. ¡°It is a peaceful existence, but a pale reflection of the glory of life. I suspect many among the dead would like to dream of it again, even though they know it to be a lie.¡±
¡°Your father has a point, our successor,¡± the Parliament whispered in their seat, their eyes turned at the hearth¡¯s fire. ¡°Huehuecoyotl warned you that a Veil works because its victims want to believe in it. We assume a few among those scholars could wake up if they truly wished to.¡±
I recalled very well how I first learned the Veil spell. Huehuecoyotl used it to scam the dead and pretend that he could contact the living. A laughable plot, considering his already terrible reputation¡ and yet he never failed to find clients. The dead wanted to buy into his lies.
Just as my empire¡¯s citizens wished to believe in the Nightlords.
Slaves chose to close their eyes on their masters¡¯ cruelty because it benefited them. Foreigners bore the brunt of the Nightkin¡¯s cruel tributes and a single emperor suffered each year. Most farmers could expect to live full lives with food and lodging, then return home to their loving wives and raise their children. And when their turn came to die on the altar, they found it easier to see it as the will of the gods rather than the result of their own inaction.
Most would sell away the freedom to starve in the wild for steady food inside a pen.
¡°Your people are a quiet and devout lot, Your Majesty,¡± Tayatzin told me once. He should have added ¡°docile.¡±
If I shattered Mother¡¯s false reliquary, would its victims feel any gratitude? Or would they condemn me for robbing them of their happiness?
¡°I am sorry, Iztac,¡± Father apologized upon seeing my crestfallen expression. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to sadden you.¡±
¡°You did not,¡± I replied. Yohuachanca¡¯s citizens did that on their own. ¡°She won¡¯t let those souls leave, Father. You know that.¡±
¡°I cannot, since this situation has yet to happen.¡± Father took my hand into his own. ¡°You have my word that I will convince your mother to return those souls to Mictlan, should they wish for it. Our marriage survived my death, so I can obtain a few concessions.¡±
He spoke these words with such conviction that I almost believed him on the spot. These words were not lies spoken to a child to assuage his doubts. Father truly wanted to see the best in his wife and hoped that she would make the right decision with his gentle support; and to his credit Mother clearly cared enough for him to abide by his wishes.
I understood my parents better now. Through immense patience and effort, Father managed to bring down the walls around Mother¡¯s heart. Enough to convince her to give humanity another chance until the Nightlords ruined it. He thought, no, believed that she could change. That we could become a good influence on her.
They do love each other. I had seen the signs before¡ªFather never remarried after Mother left us and she plotted for the three of us to become gods rather than be separated again¡ªbut it was another to feel it. For better or worse.
My parents were far from perfect. Mother had desired to marry my father so ardently that she viciously cursed Necahual to ensure her success; and for all of his kindness and goodwill, Father couldn¡¯t fathom the depths at which his wife was willing to sink for power. Yet their marriage endured beyond death nonetheless.
For a brief instant, I held the hope that we could become a family, however dysfunctional. That Father would rub off on his wife enough for her to change her attitude; that I could find in myself the strength to forgive her for her crimes and coldness; and that she would learn to love me the way Necahual loved Eztli.
Like a Veil I¡¯d cast on myself, part of me wanted to believe in this mirage.
What did I have to lose in trying to make it true? My opinion of Mother could hardly worsen. I might as well try to give her a chance as my father asked me to. It wasn¡¯t like she could disappoint me any further.
¡°I will try to keep an open mind about her,¡± I told Father. ¡°I cannot promise more.¡±
¡°I understand,¡± he replied softly. ¡°Thank you, Iztac. That means the world to me.¡±
His warmth and kindness overwhelmed me like a flood. They reminded me so much of Nenetl¡¯s gentle heart. Perhaps that was what Mother found so endearing in her husband; he helped her feel that she could tell him everything.
Unlike Nenetl though, I hadn¡¯t betrayed my father without his knowledge.
¡°Iztac?¡± Father asked me.
¡°Can I¡¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°Can I tell you something?¡±
¡°Yes, of course. What bothers you?¡±
Everything.
I began by telling him how this entire trip to the Underworld began: when I turned a blade on my heart and tried to take my own life rather than serve the Nightlords. Shameful as it sounded, I found it easy to tell my own father how I killed myself. Part of me was even proud that I chose death over complicity once.
My crimes proved harder to confess. I told him how I had slain the guilty and the innocent to sabotage the New Fire Ceremony, the graves I¡¯d filled, the lies I¡¯d spun, how I started a war and then betrayed Nenetl¡¯s trust¡
Father didn¡¯t say a word. If he had opened his mouth at any point, I would have stopped. His silence carried neither condemnation nor judgment. He gave me a listening ear and let me open the floodgates of my heart without fear of punishment.
Even then, I didn¡¯t find the strength to tell him everything; I spared him the details of the Nightlords¡¯ tortures, what happened with Necahual and how I treated her nowadays, Sigrun¡¯s fate and so much more. One night wouldn¡¯t be enough to tell him all of the horrors I¡¯d survived through over the past few months. Those I¡¯d committed myself weighed heavier on my mind.
I thought admitting my crimes to another would lessen the burden on my heart. It didn¡¯t. The more I spoke, the louder I sobbed. All the barriers I raised around my spirit and all the strength I¡¯d gathered deserted me. I felt like a child again, telling my father how others had picked on me at school.
Father reacted as he did back in those days. He took my hands into his own and clenched them tightly; sharing my pain and sorrow so I wouldn¡¯t feel alone.
¡°I am so sorry, my son¡ all the awful things you¡¯ve gone through¡¡± Father lowered his head in shame and powerlessness. ¡°I wish I could have done something to protect you¡¡±
¡°So few care, Father¡¡± I whispered. That was what wounded me the most. ¡°So few care about my and my consorts¡¯ struggle. Our people would rather take comfort in their chains than try to break them. I feel so¡¡± My voice broke. ¡°I feel so alone¡¡±
¡°You are not,¡± Father consoled me. ¡°We are here. Me, your mother, this Eztli and so many others¡¡±
The Parliament of Skulls, who had listened in silence so far, joined in to comfort me. ¡°We shall not abandon you, our successor. We shall weather any storm by your side.¡±
¡°No one asked the impossible of you, Iztac,¡± Father said. ¡°No back is strong enough to carry all of the world¡¯s weight. No one should have had to make the decisions you did. The gods were cruel to put you through this ordeal.¡±
I leaned on from my seat. Father rose from his own and took my head into his arms, letting me rest my face against his chest. I used to listen to his heartbeat in my childhood when he consoled me. His cold ribs proved rough to the touch, but his grip remained as loving as I remembered it to be.
Father slowly let go of me. ¡°I will go grab a blanket.¡±
¡°I¡ would appreciate it,¡± I replied after wiping away my tears. Father patted me on the head just as he used to, then left the room for a moment.
¡°Your father is a good man,¡± my predecessors commented. ¡°Nonetheless, we have seen it before.¡±
I squinted at them after regaining my composure. ¡°Seen what, my predecessors?¡±
¡°Your father and mother. He tries to see the best in others, even when it is not there.¡± The skull¡¯s eyes ominously glowed with ghostfire. ¡°It will end poorly.¡±
Chapter Fifty-Three: The Emperors Children
Father returned with a leather blanket and put it over my shoulders to help warm me up.
I tried not to think too much about the Parliament¡¯s words. My predecessors gathered a great treasure trove of experience and wisdom over the centuries, but part of me hoped their skepticism was unwarranted and born of cynicism.
Can people change for the better? They could certainly change for the worst¡ªI had crossed lines I considered sacred once¡ªbut even Necahual had found a measure of inner strength in her hardship. If she could improve as a person, then anyone should be able to do the same. If they want to change at least.
Was Mother willing to become a better person? I doubted it. Neither did I believe that Yohuachanca¡¯s people would rise against their oppressors.
I couldn¡¯t help but ponder Father¡¯s own words. All along I hoped that my people submitted to the Nightlords out of fear of reprisal. I believed that a well of courage dwelled in their hearts, and that it would rise to the surface once the vampires¡¯ grip weakened.
Now¡ Now I realized that Father had a point. People only took arms against their leaders when personally threatened, and obedience carried its own meager rewards. I would have been spared many torments had I simply given into despair and embraced the Nightlords¡¯ golden birdcage.
¡°How many people would surrender their freedom for a year of luxury?¡± I wondered out loud.
¡°Many of us did, our successor,¡± the Parliament confessed to their sorrow. ¡°It is easy to forget a bargain¡¯s cost until the time to pay comes. Only in death did we truly understand the price we paid for our indolence.¡±
¡°I apologize for what I said earlier, my son,¡± Father said kindly as he sat next to me once more. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to sadden you.¡±
¡°You did not,¡± I reassured Father. ¡°Truthfully, I was never fighting for Yohuachanca¡¯s people in the first place. I only hoped that they would try to break their own chains the way I did.¡±
I had sacrificed thousands of lives when I woke up Smoke Mountain for a tactical advantage. I would gladly do it again if it meant saving Eztli or Nenetl from certain death.
¡°The sad truth is that most do not care much about others beyond their friends and family,¡± Father said as he looked into the fire. ¡°It is easy to fight when one has nothing to lose but their life, and much harder when their loved ones may pay the price of defiance.¡±
¡°I know.¡± I¡¯d learned that to my sorrow when the Nightlords murdered Lady Sigrun. ¡°There¡¯s only a handful of people I wish to preserve, like my consorts.¡±
¡°Oh? Yes, it is true that you have four wives now.¡± Father observed me with a flicker of amusement in his empty eyes. ¡°I pity you, my son. It is extraordinarily difficult to make a single woman happy, let alone four.¡±
In spite of my previous emotional outburst and sorrow, his comment drew a chuckle from me. ¡°I try to do my best.¡±
¡°Tell me more about them,¡± Father insisted with parental curiosity. I found his interest in my romantic life quite endearing. ¡°What are they like?¡±
¡°I love Eztli,¡± I said proudly. ¡°The Nightlords made a vampire out of her, but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find a way to undo her curse. After we lift it, I¡¯ll marry her properly.¡±
It didn¡¯t surprise Father. ¡°Call it fatherly instinct, but I always had the intuition that something would happen between the two of you. You were always thick as thieves as children.¡±
¡°We were.¡± I missed those times when I could simply hang out with Eztli in the capital without anyone watching over us. ¡°She lost most of herself the night Yoloxochitl claimed her.¡±
¡°Honestly, I am astonished that the poor girl kept her sanity. To be forced to kill her own sire¡¡± Father shook his head in sorrow and disgust. ¡°I was never close to Guatemoc, but he didn¡¯t deserve such a gruesome fate either. This must have shattered Necahual too.¡±
The subject of Necahual made me shift uncomfortably in my seat, which my Father immediately noticed. ¡°My son?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve¡ taken Necahual as a concubine,¡± I said. I kept it to myself at first since I had no idea how Father would react, but he had already listened to me confessing almost all of my other sins. I might as well tell him about this one. ¡°She¡¯s my current favorite.¡±
Father stared at me for a moment in gobsmacked silence. He studied my face as if expecting me to unveil a prank; and when he realized that I was telling the truth, he clearly struggled to make sense of it.
¡°Did you¡¡± Father hesitated. ¡°Do the two of you¡¡±
¡°Yes, we did. More than once.¡± I avoided his gaze. ¡°Yoloxochitl would have tortured her otherwise.¡±
¡°That¡ that must have been difficult for the both of you.¡± The subject clearly disturbed Father, as I expected it to. ¡°Did you¡ force yourself on her? For revenge?¡±
I shook my head. ¡°Our relationship is consensual.¡±
¡°Because you both want to lift her daughter¡¯s curse?¡± Father guessed. The explanation appeared to alleviate some of his worries, though not by much. ¡°That¡¯s¡ good, I suppose. You are both willing to put the past behind you for her sake.¡±
I scoffed. ¡°We don¡¯t. I enjoy her body as much as I loathe her personality.¡±
¡°That¡ that is wrong.¡± Father searched for appropriate words and found none. ¡°My son, you understand how unhealthy that sounds? You are bedding your wife¡¯s mother out of spite. Nothing good will come out of this warped situation.¡±
¡°I know,¡± I replied with a sigh. ¡°I know, Father, but I do not wish to stop.¡±
I wanted Necahual to savor her humiliation whenever she sent her daughter away before giving herself to me. I wanted to see the anxiety in her eyes when I spilled my seed on her thighs. I wanted to own her, body and soul.
I knew it was a sick obsession that clouded my judgment, but I couldn¡¯t shake it off.
¡°What¡¯s more¡¡± Father joined his hands, his fingers awkwardly fidgeting. ¡°I must warn you that¡ how to put it¡¡±
I sank in my chair and awaited my Father¡¯s judgment. Had he sensed my true feelings and finally found something he couldn¡¯t condone? I expected a gentle reproach from him, one that never came.
Instead, he tried to give me the talk.
¡°When a man and a woman¡ if certain body parts interact often enough¡¡± The more Father spoke, the more awkward he became. ¡°If a seed finds fertile enough soil¡ a flower might take root and¡¡±
I stared at him in disbelief. ¡°I know how babies are made, Father.¡±
I once had an unborn child too. The Nightlords murdered them before they could enter the world when they fed Sigrun to the sulfur flame. The fact Iztacoatl dared to mock that tragedy forever earned her my undying hatred.
¡°Of course you would,¡± Father said, though he remained slightly disturbed. ¡°Then you understand what will happen if you do not take the proper precautions.¡±
¡°Necahual is an experienced apothecary,¡± I replied with a scoff. She would rather wither her womb and become barren than bear my child. ¡°She takes the right herbs.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Father replied. He studied my expression for a while before shaking his head in relief. ¡°That is for the best, for everyone involved.¡±
¡°I do plan to sire a child with Chikal, one of my consorts,¡± I informed Father, though mostly to change the subject. ¡°Our dalliance is purely political, but I¡¯m sure you will become a grandfather before the end of the year.¡±
The news filled Father with joy. ¡°My congratulations, my son,¡± he said with genuine pride. ¡°Having a child will change you in ways you cannot fathom, Iztac. You will see. Your mother and I did things for you that we would never have considered doing for anyone else.¡±
Somehow, I doubted Mother would assist me in any way that could cost her. But Father had a point. Necahual sacrificed a lot of herself for the chance of seeing Eztli returned to her safe and sound.
¡°I hope I will live long enough to see that child grow,¡± I told Father. The possibility appeared so remote for now, but I hoped to become a better parent to my descendants than Mother ever was to me. ¡°Free from the Nightlords.¡±
¡°You will, our successor,¡± my predecessors reassured me. ¡°One way or another, we shall see that this cycle of death comes to an end.¡±
¡°I hope to see that day for myself,¡± Father said. ¡°You should tell your mother about it too, Iztac. It will delight her.¡±
¡°Why would she care?¡± I replied. ¡°She hardly bothered to check on me before I became a Nahualli, why would she show interest in her grandchildren?¡±
¡°Because they are her descendants as much as you are mine,¡± Father replied with a warm laugh. ¡°I will never forget the face she made when she first gave you her breast. She looked so blissfully happy in a way I thought she could never be.¡±
I crossed my arms, trying to imagine Mother smiling at my baby self the same way she smiled at Father. My own mind couldn¡¯t picture the scene itself.
¡°My apologies, Father,¡± I said, ¡°But sometimes, I wonder if the person you are describing and the mother I¡¯ve known are truly the same person.¡±
¡°Your Mother enjoyed her time in Acampa, make no mistake about it. I had high hopes that she would come to befriend our neighbors, but when the Nightlords¡¯ men came for her¡¡± Father shook his head in sorrow. ¡°It reminded her of her own fragility and hardened her heart.¡±
Mother had dared to give happiness and humanity a chance, only for the Nightlords to squash her hopes when they tried to add her to their breeding program. I sympathized with her plea.
No one likes to feel powerless. It took years for Father to convince his wife to settle down in Acampa and a single whim for the Nightlords to ruin his hard work. Vampires corrupt everything they touch.
¡°What about your other wives?¡± Father pushed me. ¡°Have you been treating them well?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve befriended Ingrid.¡± Though it cost her her mother¡¯s life. ¡°As for Nenetl¡¡± A smile stretched on my face. ¡°She¡¯s¡ a lot like you, Father. Very kind and earnest.¡±
Father let out a chuckle. ¡°You like her?¡±
¡°I do. When I¡¯m with her, I feel¡ blissfully warm.¡± Those words sounded too weak, but I couldn¡¯t find better ones. Nenetl had more of an effect on me than anyone not named Eztli. ¡°I haven¡¯t touched her, however. Not that way. Not like the others.¡±
¡°Because of the tattoo?¡± Father guessed upon recalling my confession. ¡°You feel guilty about it.¡±
I nodded slowly. ¡°I do not deserve her, so I¡¯ve kept her at arm¡¯s length.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Father asked with sudden concern. ¡°With luck, you will never have to cast that spell.¡±
Couldn¡¯t he see the issue? ¡°The mere fact I made it possible to use it¨C¡±
¡°Does not make you a monster, Iztac.¡± Father scratched his skull. ¡°Did you tell her the truth?¡±
¡°I couldn¡¯t,¡± I replied with a heavy heart. ¡°She sensed my turmoil, but the Nightlords have eyes and ears everywhere in the palace. Even if I could tell her¡ I don¡¯t want her to hate me.¡±
¡°From the way you describe her, I do not get the feeling that this girl will hold a grudge,¡± Father argued. ¡°Maybe she would have granted you her permission to trigger the transformation if you had simply asked.¡±
The Parliament said out loud what I was thinking. ¡°Why would she?¡±
Father shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Because she trusts my son.¡±
¡°She only trusts me because I keep things hidden from her,¡± I pointed out.
¡°I am not so certain, my son. Wishing to focus on the light does not mean being blind to shadows.¡± Father joined his hands and began to look at the ceiling, as if to catch a glimpse of his lost life in the world above. ¡°From my experience, women catch hints that fly over our foolish heads. I understand that you cannot speak your mind in that cursed palace, my son, but you should try to give this Nenetl a few clues if you can. I do not think she¡¯s as naive as you believe her to be. She did sense your inner turmoil after all.¡±
The Parliament of Skulls immediately objected. ¡°Do not tell her anything, our successor. There are secrets best kept to oneself.¡±
I had to agree with them. However kind Nenetl might be, I had exploited her pain and scars for my own benefit; I marked her very flesh with my betrayal. Few would forgive such a crime. I knew that I wouldn¡¯t.
¡°I understand your concerns, Your Majesties,¡± Father replied with a respectful, measured tone. ¡°But let us assume that this Nenetl will inevitably learn the truth one day. It is better that she hears it from my son¡¯s mouth than his enemies.¡±
Inevitable? The word rang in my head like a bell. Part of me hoped that Nenetl would never find out about the tattoo, or better yet, that I would never have to exploit the power within it. Yet if the Nightlords found out about the sabotage, or if Nenetl learned of it by any other means, then she would no doubt never trust me again. Telling her myself would at least soften the blow and show her my goodwill.
It is so difficult to trust one another, I thought. Because when you open your heart, you leave it open for betrayal and disappointment.
¡°Follow your feelings and live your life to the fullest, my son, since you can never tell when it will end.¡± Father suddenly shifted in his seat. ¡°Well, uh¡ you do have a deadline, but¡ you get what I mean¡¡±
¡°I do, Father.¡± I hoped to live far longer than a year, but I understood his point. Not even the gods knew what the future held for us. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to alienate Nenetl.¡±
¡°Is fear truly a reason to deny each other a chance for happiness?¡± Father let out a sigh as he turned to face the fire. ¡°If the worst comes to pass, this poor girl will die screaming on the Nightlords¡¯ altar. If you can fill her remaining time with joy rather than fear and shame, then you should. For both of your sakes.¡±
¡°We understand that you seek your son¡¯s happiness, Lord Itzili,¡± the Parliament said. ¡°However, survival and victory both call for certain sacrifices. Keeping secrets from loved ones is a heavy burden, but one that he must bear. The risks are too great otherwise.¡±
¡°I simply want my son and that girl to enjoy their lives to the fullest,¡± Father replied. ¡°Is that so much to ask? The gods know that our time always comes sooner than we would like.¡±
I suddenly noticed how Father and the Parliament of Skulls both sat on my left and right sides. Two voices giving me radically opposed advice. My own flesh and blood, who wanted to give trust a chance and that I try to grow closer to others; and my hardened predecessors, who favored caution, distrust, and secrecy in the name of our secret war.
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I didn¡¯t think either was necessarily wrong. Trusting Necahual, Ingrid, Chikal, and Eztli got me far, and my caution let me cover my tracks time and time again. It was up to me to decide how to best apply their advice.
I sensed a jolt at the edge of my consciousness. A hand shaking my sleeping body in the world of the living. Someone was trying to wake me up before the night was done.
That could only mean one thing.
My prophecy had been fulfilled.
For the first time in many days, I awoke from a good dream.
Nonetheless, I had awoken to more pleasant sights than a group of red-eyed priests standing at my bedside. Their scowls and worried frowns did improve my mood though. I noticed that Eztli was already up, her mother and handmaiden helping her put on a hooded cloak.
¡°Apologies for waking you up so early, Your Majesty,¡± Tayatzin said. Though my advisor remained as calm as ever, I did notice the slightest glimmer of unease in his eyes. ¡°The goddesses have requested your and Lady Eztli¡¯s presence.¡±
Most would have asked ¡®what happened,¡¯ but instead of surprise I faked the deep certainty of a prophet whose vision had come to pass.
¡°It happened, hasn¡¯t it?¡± I asked with a deep voice full of solemnity. I was starting to nail that voice. ¡°The sinful dead have risen from their graves.¡±
Tayatzin¡¯s short silence confirmed my hypothesis. ¡°It is best that you do not make the goddesses wait.¡±
Of course not. I hoped the news filled my captors with as much dread as their thralls.
The priests helped me put on some clothes and then escorted Eztli and I outside her quarters. I caught a glimpse of Necahual looking at us with concern as we left. Nightlords summons only ever brought her pain, but her daughter reassured her with a single smile.
¡°Someone had a pleasant dream,¡± Eztli mused. She must have picked on my relaxed demeanor. ¡°Was it my company that let you sleep so soundly?¡±
¡°The gods granted me a respite tonight,¡± I replied with a smile. A true statement, in a way. ¡°Though you contributed.¡±
I hadn¡¯t made any progress on Xibalba¡¯s trials, but I did not regret talking with Father. Reuniting with my family after so many harrowing days filled me with a renewed sense of purpose. I had kin who would support me in this world and the other.
The Parliament insisted that I quickly reincorporate their skull into my body before I woke up though, much to Father¡¯s disappointment. He would have liked some company, but my predecessors didn¡¯t trust my mother enough to stay in her home without my supervision.
To my surprise, the priests didn¡¯t take us down the secret passages and instead led us to the palace¡¯s pleasure den on the ground floor. I never spent much time there since I had more important matters to deal with than rolling dice. I knew that this area included all kinds of facilities meant to help an emperor indulge in mankind¡¯s worst vices: gambling, drugs, drunken revelry, and even violence.
It seemed to be the latter that interested the Nightlords tonight, for the priests led me into a private arena in the depths of my prison. It was a great rectangular battleground that was bordered by enough stone stands to house hundreds of spectators that reminded me of a ballgame court. Tunnels dug into the structure allowed fighters to enter from different areas of the palace, and frescos of heroic warriors from across Yohuachanca¡¯s history covered the walls. The arena had no ceiling: the dark sky opened above my head, with the crimson glow of the moon providing clear light.
Something¡¯s wrong, I immediately realized. The wind does not blow tonight.
A special lounge with five obsidian thrones oversaw the arena. Here I could have watched people fight and die in my name alongside my consorts. Unlike the training grounds outside, this floor wasn¡¯t meant to spill sweat, but blood. Tellingly, the layout indicated that one of the barred tunnels connecting the battleground to the rest of my palace¡ªthe largest of them all¡ªled straight to my menagerie. This path allowed my staff to introduce hungry beasts into the ring at any given time.
A challenger was already there, silently standing in the middle of the arena with dead black eyes.
The very sight of it turned my blood to ice and caused Eztli to recoil in horror. I had mistaken the creature for a human at first glance, only for the truth to become clearer to me once the moonlight unveiled its pallid face.
Its flesh looked dried and desiccated, though it possessed a strange and otherworldly gray sheen. The corpse had shed all of its hair to the point that I could hardly tell that it used to be a man. Its veins ran dry with dust rather than blood and a thick rope tightly held its waist attached to a circular stone too heavy for any man to carry.
It was its face that I found most disturbing, however. Its teeth had fallen out, leaving only taunt lips twisted into an empty, sinister smile. As for the eyes, they were gone too. Darkness wept from empty sockets filled with shadows so thick that no light could pierce it. They stared at the priests behind me with the same bottomless hunger I¡¯d once glimpsed inside the Nightlords¡¯ sulfur flame. From the way the rope holding it by the waist strained, it was leaning forward with all of its strength.
That¡ that thing was no vampire. The Nightkin and their mistresses still retained a spark of their lost soul and humanity. They could speak, laugh, hate, and love. They had goals and desires, however cruel.
The creature before me lacked even that shadow of humanity. I detected no intelligence in its baleful glare, no vestige of the human it used to be. This corpse had a void for a soul; a hungry emptiness that knew neither cruelty nor sorrow. It was a bottomless pit with teeth, a primordial darkness with a face devoid of fear or love. This doll moved entirely on instinct, unable to think or feel.
A single drive determined all of its action: to devour life.
¡°Are they as frightening as in your visions?¡± a familiar voice whispered in my ear. ¡°Puppet emperor?¡±
When I found the strength to look away from the moving corpse in front of me, I saw another leaning behind my back. Iztacoatl had appeared out of nowhere, with her cold hands grabbing my shoulders with a strong grip. Her sisters watched us on the obsidian thrones, their priests kneeling in abject submission.
¡°Sit, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± the Jaguar Woman ordered, her cold eyes lingering on me and then Eztli. ¡°You too, child.¡±
I obeyed without a word, sitting on the central throne with Eztli and Iztacoatl on one side and the other Nightlords on the other. Sugey clapped her strong hands and masked guards soon entered the arena through one of the tunnels. They escorted a gaunt man bearing warpaint, a wolf pelt, and a sword of wood. I recognized the man as a member of the Sapa delegation from the day of my coronation. The Nightlords hadn¡¯t killed them all... yet.
I immediately recognized the set-up. I was about to witness a gladiatorial sacrifice.
Sugey was especially fond of this particular brand of human suffering. I witnessed one dedicated to her during city celebrations once. The victim¡ªa warrior for some pacified tribe¡ªhad been bound to a rounded stone too heavy for five men to carry by a white rope, given enough pulque to forget his fear, and then forced to fight members of the four warrior fraternities in short order. Though he had been given a mere feathered wooden sword and a meager shield to defend himself with, the prisoner managed to last a few minutes against the Eagle Warrior sent to claim his life; even though his enemy had fought with an obsidian weapon. It had seemed so unfair to me back then, and it still was today.
In the rare cases where a prisoner managed to repel their opponent, they would then fight champions of the other warrior fraternities one after the other. If none of them claimed the sacrifice¡¯s head, a red-eyed priest was sent to finish the job. Should the victim somehow survive the fifth and final fight, Sugey would ¡®honor¡¯ their fighting spirit by granting them their freedom.
Only five people earned that privilege in all of Yohuachanca¡¯s centuries-long history. Did the Nightlords intend to put that record to the test tonight?
The Sapa diplomat was no trained warrior, however. His pose was clumsy, his drug-addled eyes filled with fear. The masked guards had to threaten him with their obsidian spears to force him to take a step forward, and I caught a glimpse of scars on his legs as he did. The Nightlords must have grabbed him straight out of the torture chamber.
The undead thing didn¡¯t care though. Even the stealthiest jaguars made a tiny bit of noise even when standing still, from short breaths to the sound of their feet touching the floor. The monster remained eerily silent when it turned to face its new opponent. It moved in a blur of speed, the strained rope alone preventing it from reaching its prey. Its arms extended towards the ambassador in a vain attempt to grab his throat. That monster was no shambling corpse struggling to take a step.
It could run.
The drugs proved stronger than the Sapa sacrifice¡¯s fears. The sight of the undead caused the man to madly scream in a mix of fear and addled rage. He charged while swinging his wooden blade wildly.
It shattered upon hitting the undead¡¯s skull. The monster¡¯s cold gray hands grabbed the sacrifice by the throat in return, and his screams died out in an instant. Such was the undead¡¯s hunger that it consumed even sound. I saw the man¡¯s breath escape his lungs and flow into his killer¡¯s ghastly smile. His eyes sunk into his eye sockets, his final expression one of agonizing dread.
Vampires drank blood, but the First Emperor¡¯s true servants didn¡¯t bother with such a slow and intimate process. The corpse drank its victim¡¯s soul. It drained the life out of the sacrifice within seconds, feasting on his breath and heart-fire both. So complete was the process that the husk¡¯s flesh and skin turned to dust in an instant. When the monster finished feasting, only a pile of dusty bones remained of their grim meal.
I briefly glanced around, both to avert my eyes from this hideous spectacle and to gauge the others¡¯ reactions. Eztli was as disturbed as I was, her eyes wide open, her fingers trembling on her obsidian throne¡¯s armrests. Iztacoatl observed the scene with a hint of fear in her eyes, while Sugey appeared both spooked and slightly disappointed at the lack of a decent fight.
As for the Jaguar Woman¡
¡°Was this like in your vision, our Godspeaker?¡± The Jaguar Woman asked with calculating coldness. She alone among the sisters appeared unbothered by this gruesome show of sorcery. ¡°Did the dead show the same hunger?¡±
¡°I only caught a glimpse, oh goddess,¡± I lied through my teeth.
¡°Or you made an educated guess based on what you learned and took the credit,¡± Iztacoatl said sharply. ¡°I suspect that you faked that vision of yours in order to seem more important to us than you are.¡±
She was entirely right, of course. Her insight continued to prove an obstacle to my goal. Nevertheless, I quickly improvised.
¡°I understand your skepticism, goddess, and apologize for the trouble I have caused you,¡± I replied with false servility. ¡°If you believe my visions are unreliable, then I shall keep them to myself from now on.¡±
¡°You shall do no such things,¡± the Jaguar Woman said sharply before rebuking her sister. ¡°Your caution is appreciated in these trying times, Iztacoatl, but the threat is too great for us to doubt now.¡±
Iztacoatl scowled in annoyance, her hand briefly brushing against her cheeks. The gesture lasted less than a second and yet told me much. The Jaguar Woman would have shared her skepticism should she have learned about our last encounter, but Iztacoatl couldn¡¯t admit that she let a human slap her twice for fear of losing face.
The Nightlords¡¯ united front wasn¡¯t so unshakable. I could see cracks to exploit.
¡°Mark my word, sisters,¡± Iztacoatl warned the other Nightlords, her crimson eyes glaring at me with venom born of her wounded pride. ¡°This viper will bite us.¡±
¡°He won¡¯t,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied without sparing me a glance. ¡°He has learned his lesson and the cost of disobedience.¡±
My scowl was in no way faked. ¡°I did,¡± I replied, my head low in false submission. ¡°I shall not disappoint the heavens ever again.¡±
¡°Very wise.¡± The Jaguar Woman joined her fingers without sparing me a glance. All her attention focused on the battle stage. ¡°Summon the next sacrifice.¡±
I watched and held my tongue as the guards brought forth another victim to the undead creature: a trihorn this time. The beast, although bred for war and more than capable of impaling the monster on its horns, screeched in fear the moment it lay eyes on it. The animal understood instinctually that this thing was an abomination hungering for life.
The undead monster cared for nothing, whether its victims were men or beasts. It tried to reach for the trihorn with the same fervor that it showed to its last meal.
The guards eventually forced the trihorn to advance within reach of the undead by poking its tail with their spears. The beast roared and impaled the monster through the chest in a mad dash, but the corpse bled black smoke rather than blood. The animal perished within seconds of the undead touching its scales, though it took longer for its killer to drain it of lifeforce compared to the Sapa sacrifice.
The undead didn¡¯t remove the horn stuck in its chest. Pain did not bother it. It turned to glare at the red-eyed priests the moment it finished its meal with mindless focus. The movement caused the horn stuck in its chest to tear out part of its calcified flesh as it fell down, but the undead didn¡¯t appear to notice.
My true children will feast under the glow of the Scarlet Moon. So did the First Emperor speak through my lips. This creature is his true spawn. The kind that will not rebel against its creator.
This thing was a disease. The First Emperor¡¯s vengeful curse upon the world that imprisoned him.
¡°Father is spiteful,¡± Iztacoatl commented. ¡°These wicked dead will spoil the food.¡±
¡°At least their victims do not rise from the grave as well,¡± Sugey said. ¡°We were wise to follow through on our hunch. Only the corpses slain by the bats have risen from the grave, and we¡¯ve contained those.¡±
¡°Father has sent back this world¡¯s sinners to suffer on earth and punish his flock for their lack of faith,¡± the Jaguar Woman said. A bold lie to tell the masses. ¡°Ensure that we destroy those that we can find.¡±
¡°Conventional weapons will not keep these shambling corpses down, but we¡¯ve had success burning them,¡± Sugey replied before waving a hand at the one in the arena. ¡°We will keep this one in the courtyard until the sun rises to see if it crumbles to dust at dawn.¡±
I hoped it would. The First Emperor¡¯s bats had spread far and wide. If all of their victims turned into these abominations, then I shuddered to imagine the death toll. When Iztacoatl¡¯s scowl turned into a smile, I knew that the same thought had crossed her mind.
¡°We should send messages to the Three-Rivers Federation and the Sapa Empire,¡± she said. ¡°They must be suffering from the same infestation as we are, yet they do not possess a wise Godspeaker to warn them.¡±
Sugey scoffed. ¡°To tell them what?¡±
¡°That we have the cure,¡± Iztacoatl replied. ¡°That if they wish for the dead to stay in their tombs, the living only have to bow.¡±
I hid my fury under a veil of calmness and indifference. This bitch unleashed a magical disaster on the world because of her and her sisters¡¯ arrogance, then had the gall to promise a false cure to the problem that she started.
Eztli smiled at Iztacoatl with barely hidden disdain. ¡°And what will happen if they submit and the dead continue to rise?¡±
¡°Then their faith was lacking and their submission faked.¡± Iztacoatl let out a cruel laughter. ¡°Worry not, my young new sister. When their hearts and courage falter, humans will do anything to banish away the fear.¡±
I feared that she might be right.
I doubted that the Sapa would fold. They possessed powerful magic of their own and a centralized government that could subjugate the undead plague. But I didn¡¯t feel so confident about the Three-Rivers Federation and the lesser tribes. It was one thing to muster one¡¯s courage when faced with invading armies, but any warrior would grow faint of heart at the sight of their countrymen rising from the dead to feast on the living.
There has to be a way to sabotage that plan. I studied the undead corpse, who stood in silence in spite of the gaping hole in its chest. If only I could turn you against your cousins, life-eater.
The corpse ignored my glare, its attention fully focused on the priests in the stands.
That bothered me slightly. The corpse¡¯s lack of interest in vampires made sense since they had no lifeforce to draw upon, yet my heart continued to beat in my chest. Why didn¡¯t it spare me a single glance?
The answer soon became obvious to me. I was the First Emperor¡¯s spokesperson, his divine representative on Earth, the voice of hunger itself. His spawn had no interest in devouring me.
Perhaps I could exploit this somehow.
I rose from my throne without a word to the surprise of everyone. Eztli immediately looked at me in concern. ¡°Iztac?¡±
¡°Where are you flying, songbird?¡± Iztacoatl asked sharply, her eyes squinting at me with suspicion.
¡°To fulfill my destiny, oh goddess,¡± I replied evasively. I walked down the stairs towards the battleground, ignoring the gazes the Nightlords sent at me. I had to sweep them off their feet and throw them off their game.
I stepped onto the arena¡¯s ground and basked in the faint moonlight. The undead continued to ignore me even as I came within arm¡¯s reach. It didn¡¯t even seem to register my presence.
I heard Eztli call out my name in alarm, far too late. ¡°Iztac¨C¡±
I took the undead¡¯s head into my hands and forced it to look at me. Its skin was cold, colder than the Rattling House¡¯s snow.
No, not quite. This corpse sucked in all the heat around itself. Even the gasps I heard from priests and vampires alike grew muffled in its presence. Such was the strength of the First Emperor¡¯s hunger that voices turned to silence in its presence.
The corpse did not turn me to dust. It could have tried to feed on my Teyolia as it did with the other sacrifices, yet lacked the willingness to try. So far so good.
¡°Bow,¡± I ordered after releasing my grip on the corpse. ¡°Bow to your emperor.¡±
For a brief second, I thought the undead had failed to understand my words, or that whatever foul power animated it couldn¡¯t understand human language. The creature finally focused on me, its black empty eyes staring at me without any emotion. I stared into the darkness of its eyes as I once gazed into the Sulfur Sun¡¯s heart. I did not recoil.
The abyss no longer frightened me.
The corpse knelt in quiet obedience.
The deafening silence that followed sounded like triumph to me. I stared down at the undead, my back turned on the Nightlords. I turned around to savor the disbelief on their faces and the dread on that of their servants. I was delighted by the fear I sensed from Iztacoatl and Sugey¡¯s shock. The Jaguar Woman alone observed the scene with calculating interest.
As for Eztli, her fear for my safety swiftly turned to joy. She covered her mouth, mostly to hide her smile. I found it a bit premature.
The show wasn¡¯t over yet.
¡°Tayatzin,¡± I said, my voice sharper than an obsidian knife. ¡°Cut the rope.¡±
Tayatzin froze in surprise and then immediately turned to look at the Nightlords. I couldn¡¯t tell whether he was looking for their authorization or was silently begging them to belay my order.
¡°This slave shall not harm you,¡± I promised the priest.
The Jaguar Woman gave Tayatzin a sharp nod after a moment¡¯s consideration. To his credit, the priest obeyed my command without complaint. He grabbed an obsidian dagger from his belt and then stepped onto the arena¡¯s floor. The undead immediately glared at him with undisguised hunger.
¡°Stay put,¡± I ordered the corpse. ¡°Your place is at my feet.¡±
The undead obeyed my command without a sound. It continued to mindlessly stare at Tayatzin with hunger, but made no move to choke the life out of the priest as he cleanly cut the rope. The priest waited for the undead to attack him by surprise.
It never did.
Tayatzin and the priests all knelt in true reverence to me, as they should. I had showcased my ¡®divine¡¯ power yet again. I was no longer a puppet in their eyes, but the Godspeaker. I was the emperor of the living and the dead, the ruler of Earth who answered to none other than the highest of heavens.
I faced the Nightlords with both Tayatzin and my undead thrall kneeling at my feet. The sound of Eztli¡¯s claps shattered the solemn silence.
The Nightlords were nowhere near as enthusiastic. The Jaguar Woman observed me with a blank, unreadable expression. Her calculating eyes appraised me and the undead soldier. I could almost read her thoughts. Was her loathed father¡¯s gift poisoned? Or was I cowed enough that she could turn this unexpected development into an asset?
Sugey appeared cautiously interested as well. No doubt the thought of gathering an undead army appealed to her military mind as much as her distrust made the prospect of a puppet emperor commanding one a dangerous one.
Iztacoatl alone fully understood the danger that I now represented for their social order. A pity her opinion would likely fall on deaf ears, for I would tell her sisters what they wanted to hear.
¡°It is as you said, goddesses,¡± I declared with a hand on my heart. ¡°My reign shall be an age of darkness where Yohuachanca¡¯s black sun will rule absolute over bloodsoaked lands. These sinners shall atone for their life of faithlessness by serving you in death.¡±
I offered the Nightlords a deep bow to better hide my cruel smile.
¡°And so long as the people of this land believe in their emperor,¡± I promised, ¡°Yohuachanca¡¯s reign shall never end.¡±
Chapter Fifty-Four: The Hand of Fate
The dawn purged the undead with light and flames.
The Nightlords had long retreated inside their underground abode by then, where the Nightkin gathered scores of the First Emperor¡¯s abominations. My captors had me check whether my authority extended to all these creatures, and it did. Dozens of undying, soul-devouring abominations brought from the capital¡¯s various temples knelt to me in the silent dark.
¡°Our Godspeaker¡¯s intuition proved correct,¡± the Jaguar Woman said, her fingers intertwined in deep contemplation. ¡°The Nightchildren do bow to our emperor¡¯s will.¡±
Nightchildren, eh? The title sounded appropriate, if a little pedantic for my taste. The Nightlords wished to present this curse as a boon to them rather than an attempt to bring them to ruin.
¡°Is this an accident?¡± Iztacoatl wondered out loud, her eyes glaring at me. She knew that I would use this dark boon to harm their interests. ¡°Or intentional?¡±
I was asking myself the exact same question.
Did the First Emperor plan for this to happen? It would make sense for that monster to put his finger on the scale by providing me with tools to destroy his treacherous spawn; tools that he could take back the moment he escaped the seal binding him anyway. The First Emperor struck me as a mad force of hunger and destruction, but even feral beasts possessed a low form of cunning.
It could also have been a coincidence; an attempt to curse the world that I could harness for myself as the First Emperor¡¯s representative on Earth.
But the ¡®why¡¯ mattered little in the end. I pondered more how I could use this development to my advantage. Being too bold too soon would raise the Nightlords¡¯ suspicions, so I waited for them to debate with each other.
¡°Our emperor¡¯s words may be correct,¡± the Jaguar Woman decided. ¡°We may have misread the signs. I believed that the stars¡¯ prophesied age of darkness heralded the rise of the Sulfur Sun where we would conquer the daylight, when in truth the night¡¯s shadows have only thickened.¡±
¡°These shadows are not ours to command,¡± Sugey pointed out. Though they wisely didn¡¯t try to do so in my presence, I bet that they had tried to command the Nightchildren themselves and failed. ¡°This smells like a trap.¡±
¡°Would you spit on such a gift?¡± Eztli said with a snort. ¡°No warriors will hold the line before this army.¡±
¡°Quiet, child,¡± the Jaguar Woman said sharply, with Eztli straightening up in response. ¡°Nonetheless, you do have a point. The prophecy is formal: the coming age will see Yohuachanca¡¯s ultimate triumph.¡±
I seized my chance. ¡°If the goddesses would allow me to speak?¡±
Four pairs of eyes turned to me, none sharper than the Jaguar Woman¡¯s. ¡°Do you have something to say, our Godspeaker?¡±
¡°Lady Iztacoatl spoke most wisely earlier.¡± I immediately noticed the suspicion in Iztacoatl¡¯s gaze. Perfect. ¡°Let us summon the Three-Rivers¡¯ ambassadors and show them how I command the living and the dead. Let them know that once I wipe the Sapa off from the face of the Earth, I shall turn my gaze north to claim further tributes. Let them learn that a futile demise is all that awaits those who deny Yohuachanca; and that death will be no escape to those who challenge the empire¡¯s might.¡±
The longer I spoke, the more Iztacoatl¡¯s fair face grew laced with the slightest bit of tension. I could almost read her mind. Did he plan this from the start? Did he somehow trick me into playing into his schemes?
While I mostly said these words to destabilize Iztacoatl, I did see a few ways to subvert her plan. With luck, the Three-Rivers Federation would realize the existential threat that I represented and strike the empire from the north while my forces fought the Sapa to the south. At worst, they would surrender to me and my prestige among the people would only grow.
Prophets gained a following by performing miracles. I had spoken for the gods and now commanded the restless dead that escaped the Nightlords¡¯ own control. With enough effort, my citizens might begin to believe in me instead of them.
¡°Allow me to lead these Nightchildren in your name when I confront the Sapa Empire,¡± I declared with a hand on my chest. ¡°These soldiers, though few in number, shall strike fear among our enemies.¡±
¡°You presume too much, songbird,¡± Iztacoatl replied immediately. She wisely sensed the trap I¡¯d set and tried to disarm it. ¡°We ought to destroy these abominations, my sisters. The risk of them turning on us is too great.¡±
¡°Are you frightened?¡± Sugey let out a snort. ¡°They are no threat to us in battle. Only the food ought to cower in their presence.¡±
¡°The danger comes from what they represent,¡± Iztacoatl argued. ¡°Power that does not derive from our providence.¡±
My dear Eztli cunningly feigned confusion. ¡°Is it not why you chose Iztac, oh goddesses? Your providen¨C¡±
Her throat ruptured open in a shower of blood.
The attack happened so swiftly that my mind didn¡¯t register it until a droplet hit my cheek.
¡°I believe that I warned you, child.¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s tone hadn¡¯t wavered, yet each of her words cut sharper than any blade. ¡°Be quiet.¡±
My shock probably saved me, for the sight of a panicked Eztli hastily covering her sliced skin filled me with horror and anger. My first instinct would have been to rush to her defense and thus expose myself.
For now, all I could do was to clench my fists in silent rage.
I knew the Jaguar Woman wouldn¡¯t kill Eztli, since she had too much to lose if she kicked the bucket. My lover¡¯s skin slowly healed on its own. A lethal wound for a mortal meant little more than temporary pain to a Nightkin, but from the fear in Eztli¡¯s eyes, she would remember the warning for a very long time.
I didn¡¯t even see it coming. The Jaguar Woman hadn¡¯t even bothered to look at Eztli before striking her, and I could tell that she could have beheaded her in a single stroke if she desired it. For all the progress I made as a sorcerer, a fight with the Nightlords would end in my swift demise in a mere moment. One day though¡
¡°Twice you have dared to speak without our authorization,¡± the Jaguar Woman warned Eztli. ¡°Tempt me again, and I shall teach you obedience the same way I chastised our Godspeaker once. Do you understand?¡±
¡°Yes¡¡± Eztli rasped, her barely healed throat causing her to wheeze. Her crimson eyes burned with the same hatred that gave me life. ¡°I do¡¡±
Iztacoatl smiled at me, her teeth flashing in the dark. ¡°If you ask me, sister, our songbird needs a fresh reminder too.¡±
My blood froze in my veins the moment the Jaguar Woman turned her gaze in my direction.
¡°Do you?¡± she asked me while staring at me with those cold, soulless eyes of hers. The crypt¡¯s air grew heavy with the weight of her unlimited malice.
My hands trembled, and it was in no way faked.
Because beneath all of my underlying rage and hatred, I did fear this monster committing yet another pointless massacre in my name. Her cruelty knew no bounds. She would have Nenetl raped, Ingrid¡¯s sister slain, Chikal maimed, or worse. I dared not meet her gaze, because I knew someone else would pay the price if she smelled any hint of rebellion.
¡°No, goddess¡¡± I rasped, my teeth clenching. ¡°Please¡ not again.¡±
The Jaguar Woman¡¯s smug smirk made me want to vomit.
I had learned to know this monster one humiliation at a time. She craved control. Any sign of dissent was met with overwhelming brutality, and she sought nothing less than unchallenged power over all of creation. The New Fire Ceremony and its consequences had rattled her to her core because it reminded her of how the world refused to conform to her cruel will.
Taunting me about her previous atrocities offered her the illusion of reasserting control; I let her lie to herself, let her believe that somehow she did not miscalculate in the slightest. That I was the perfect tool to enslave mankind, that Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise was a blessing in disguise, that I could let her leech off more of her father¡¯s power, and that everything would get back on track. My pain let her believe that she was a goddess favored by fate itself.
¡°Do you see, Iztacoatl?¡± she said with satisfaction. ¡°Whenever you doubt our Godspeaker¡¯s obedience, you need simply remind him of insolence¡¯s cost. I guarantee you that he shall never forget it.¡±
Iztacoatl answered with a scornful snort. ¡°Mark my words, he will grow cocky if he is allowed to play with our Father¡¯s toys. We would be wise to deny him this pleasure, sisters.¡±
¡°I am against it too,¡± Sugey said. ¡°Victory ought to be honest and purchased with blood. Our soldiers will grow weak if they hide behind their dead.¡±
¡°True, but our Godspeaker has a point,¡± the Jaguar Woman said. ¡°We should find a use for these Nightchildren before we destroy them.¡±
Eztli and I shared a brief gaze, which Iztacoatl noticed. We wisely decided to keep our mouths shut for now.
¡°We hear your words, our Godspeaker, and we shall ponder them between us,¡± the Jaguar Woman concluded. ¡°The day is yours until we call you again.¡±
I politely bowed to the Nightlords and then departed without a word. The thought of leaving Eztli with these monsters sickened me, but I had no choice but to retreat for now. The Jaguar Woman wished them to show a unified front in my presence, and showing obedience now would further my aims.
I sensed Iztacoatl¡¯s gaze lingering on my back until I vanished from her sight.
I ascended the stairs leading out of the Nightlords¡¯ abode with my hands clenched. I subtly cast the Bonecraft spell, my attention turning to my fingers. I could easily shape a phalange into a skull smaller than a fly. If my predecessors guessed correctly, then they would be able to spy through its eyes.
I considered subtly dropping this creation in the Nightlords¡¯ underground lair before deciding that the risk was too great for now. At least, if I did it directly. I needed a catspaw in case of discovery.
Catspaw¡ A smile formed on my lips as an idea crossed my mind. I can think of someone.
As I promised Tayatzin, I agreed to host him for a private audience in my chambers; though I did invite a few witnesses.
On one side of the table sat Itzili the Younger. It felt strange to refer to him by his name alone after meeting with my father, even in my own head, but referencing his age helped.
On the other side was Tetzon, the margay cat that Tlaxcala gifted me a while ago. He had been quite fearful of my other pet at first, but his feline curiosity proved greater than his fear. He now rested on a pillow and made funny noises whenever I scratched his ears. Though I hadn¡¯t been able to spend much time with him since he joined my menagerie, he was proving to be quite the sociable and docile animal.
Such a small and amusing creature. Tetzon would easily slip through any crack and hardly raise any suspicion. Small felines always wandered into the strangest places. I will put you to work soon, my little catspaw.
My plan was simple enough: subtly mix my blood with Tetzon¡¯s food so I could cast the Ride spell on him, then have him distribute small skulls in key areas around the palace. Those I would shape in the form of small bird skulls, so the staff would mistake them for the remains of my margay¡¯s meals should they find them.
¡°I thank you again for lending me some of your precious time, Your Imperial Majesty,¡± Tayatzin said with a deep bow. He copiously avoided mentioning anything about my pets¡¯ presence at the table, nor did he let the growls Itzili the Younger sent him affect his composure. ¡°I swear not to waste it.¡±
¡°You would be wise not to,¡± I said as I caressed Itzili¡¯s back with one hand and scratched Tetzon¡¯s ears with the other. ¡°I promised you a one-on-one meeting and fulfilled that oath. What did you wish to discuss?¡±
¡°As you well know, Your Majesty, your empire is divided between tributaries,¡± Tayatzin reminded me. ¡°We leave the local elites in positions of relative power and comfort so long as they pay their tributes, submit to the goddesses¡¯ will, and accept your government¡¯s oversight.¡±
¡®Relative¡¯ being the keyword here. As Chikal¡¯s situation demonstrated, local elites only wielded as much power as the imperial state allowed them to. For all of the prestige and properties that Zyanya¡¯s family retained, they still had to bow to me for scraps.
¡°It won¡¯t surprise Your Majesty to know that some of these elites resent your enlightened guidance, especially the older generations who spent most of their life in ignorance,¡± Tayatzin said. ¡°These foolish sentiments usually fade away as younger generations are given a proper education by the priesthood.¡±
¡°You need not remind me of the state of my own dominion, Tayatzin.¡± I was well aware of how firm the Nightlords¡¯ grip became with each subsequent generation. ¡°What is on your mind?¡±
¡°Apologies if I wasted your time, Your Divine Majesty.¡± Tayatzin offered me a short bow of penance, which I accepted in silence. ¡°My point is that though the local elites were taught the true ways of Yohuachanca, they have remained mostly insular across the centuries. They each stick to their cities and local politics. The likes of Lady Zyanya¡¯s clan, who have made an alliance with outsiders, are an exception. One forced upon them by their decline.¡±
¡°You think that it should not be the exception, but the rule,¡± I guessed.
Tayatzin nodded sharply. ¡°By remaining insular, local elites mistake the forest for the trees. They do not sponsor trade routes or infrastructures between their dominions, even though that could benefit the whole empire¡¯s prosperity in the long-term.¡±
I quickly caught on to his plot. ¡°You would have me sponsor strategic marriages between my empire¡¯s nobility.¡±
¡°Your Divine Majesty is as wise as ever, though I would suggest widening the range of possibilities to the merchant class as well. I strongly believe that Lady Zyanya¡¯s marriage to young Tlaxcala will prove beneficial to both parties. Nobility owns land, but does not have the keen mercantile insight required to see them prosper.¡±
This was a bold proposal, albeit a risky one. I could see why the priesthood never gave it any thought. Namely, encouraging the empire¡¯s nobles to intermarry would inevitably result in the rise of power blocs. No mortal army could hope to defeat the Nightlords, but a few of these groups were bound to grow bold enough to try after a time. Yohuachanca ruled by keeping its tributaries too divided to challenge the central state.
Tayatzin¡¯s proposal hardly interested me. I wouldn¡¯t live long enough to see the fruits of his policy, and my discussion with Father removed what few hopes I had of seeing a grassroots rebellion. Nobles¡ªespecially those who only kept their power by bending the knee¡ªhad too much to lose by rebelling against the empire¡¯s might.
Tayatzin had to see the danger too, so why come forward with this proposal? Was this a trap of some kind? I decided to err on the side of plausible deniability for now.
¡°This is a bold plan, Tayatzin, but one that might destabilize my realm in the future,¡± I decided. ¡°Should tributaries form blood alliances, they might slowly build small kingdoms inside our borders and foment revolts.¡±
Tayatzin smiled wickedly. ¡°Not if they require Your Divine Majesty¡¯s authorization to marry outside their lands.¡±
His words gave me pause, until I figured out his plan. ¡°Ah, I see how it is.¡± His scheme drew a chuckle out of me. ¡°You want to turn Lady Zyanya and Tlaxcala¡¯s marriage into a precedent where the emperor must validate any noble union ahead of time.¡±
¡°Indeed, Your Divine Majesty,¡± Tayatzin confirmed. ¡°We currently allow our imperial elites to marry as they wish, though they must inform you early on in case you wish to claim the bride¡¯s first night. By making your authorization mandatory, we can obtain significant concessions from these people and ensure their continued obedience to the state.¡±
I had to admit that it was a clever scheme. In this system, local elites would have no other option than to either submit to my decisions when it came to their unions, or obtain my approval for the matches that they decided between themselves. It would further centralize the state¡¯s power structures around the emperor¨Cand the Nightlords looking over his shoulders¨Cwhile letting us nip any attempt at building an independent power block in the bud.
Still, I failed to see how this plan would benefit me personally. Even if I arranged marriages guaranteed to foster instability in the long-term, it would take decades for them to bear fruit. Time which I lacked.
Perhaps I was thinking along the wrong lines. My early efforts focused on trying to get the people up in arms against the empire; to foster hatred, chaos, and intolerance in a way that would shake the Blood Pyramid¡¯s bases. I tested that method by starting a religious purge in the Boiling Sea¡¯s islands and ravaging the empire by sabotaging the New Fire Ceremony. Yet no great revolt arose in response to either event. The priesthood¡¯s grip was too strong and people would rather submit than risk their lives.
On the contrary, Chikal pledged her loyalty to me once I demonstrated results and showcased that I was someone worth following. The likes of Zyanya and Tlaxcala did the same when I provided them with more of what they already had: wealth, glory, and power. And I would provide¡ for a price.
I understood my mistake now: I was trying to create rebels when I ought to gather followers.
As the saying goes, if you want something done well, you must do it yourself. No rebellion would arise without my leadership.
After a short silence, I turned to Itzili the Younger.
¡°What do you think?¡± I asked him.
I pretended to ignore the puzzled glance that Tayatzin sent me and instead listened to my pet¡¯s cooing. Itzili the Younger pointed at my red-eyed advisor with his claw. Although I didn¡¯t speak the tongue of feathered tyrants, I sensed his desire for a quick snack.
Unlike some of the fickle people around me, Itzili the Younger had never wavered in his opinion. He stayed true to his belief that all priests ought to be devoured.
¡°I see,¡± I muttered under my breath. ¡°Most wise, yes. Most wise.¡±
I turned back to face Tayatzin, who clearly struggled against the urge to question me on my strange behavior. Excellent. I gave him only a few meetings before his curiosity proved too much. Time enough to further sell this little play of mine.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°Tell me, Tayatzin,¡± I said with all the gravitas of a confident emperor. ¡°How many guests can my palace accommodate at once?¡±
¡°Thousands, Your Divine Majesty.¡± My advisor smiled ear to ear. ¡°Do you wish to gather your empire¡¯s nobles and decide the matches yourself?¡±
¡°Mayhaps.¡± I stroked Itzili¡¯s feathers, which caused him to swiftly show his teeth at Tayatzin. I couldn¡¯t wish for a better assistant to illustrate my subtler threats. ¡°The events in Zachilaa have shown me that our people have forgotten what it is to serve their emperor; enough that some of them would rather scheme with our enemies than fulfill their duties. Should the goddesses grant me their blessing, we will invite our pick of local elites to live in my palace as honored guests and let them bask in my divine presence.¡±
¡°Guests, Your Divine Majesty?¡± Tayatzin smiled as he immediately saw through my ploy. ¡°Or hostages to compel their relatives¡¯ obedience?¡±
¡°What difference does it make?¡± I replied with a chuckle. ¡°Between our upcoming war, the eruption, and the goddesses¡¯ purge of my harem, this court of mine needs new blood. Our nobles will shed their own for me, either through their service¡ or sacrifice.¡±
Inviting many nobles to live in the palace offered multiple benefits. First of all, it would let me cultivate assets and grow my power base. Second, as Tayatzin pointed out, it would provide hostages I could use to threaten their relatives at home should I require it. Thirdly, it would ensure that word of my miracles would quickly spread across the empire. Idle and well-born fools usually occupied their time with gossip, or so I heard. Finally, it would keep Iztacoatl on her toes. The more effort she spent trying to ascertain which nobles I intended to recruit, the better my chances of keeping my true assets hidden.
And if that failed, I could think of one final use for these poor souls. One I wouldn¡¯t relish, but might give me an edge in my final nights.
¡°Prepare me a list of potential candidates,¡± I ordered Tayatzin. ¡°I trust you to deliver swiftly.¡±
¡°I shall not disappoint you, Your Divine Majesty,¡± Tayatzin promised as he excused himself. ¡°I thank you once again for blessing me with this audience. I am happy to see that my ideas found grace in your eyes.¡±
That¡¯s what you¡¯ve always prayed for, isn¡¯t it? Sigrun saw Tayatzin as bolder and more ambitious than most of his fellow priests, and his suggestions proved it. Things will certainly change under my leadership, I promise you that.
I dismissed Tayatzin and then called upon my second visitor. The next person I welcomed this morning was Lahun, Chikal¡¯s younger cousin and her tribe¡¯s shamaness. Her outfit screamed ¡®witch¡¯ to all onlookers. Adorned with a headband of feathers, a jaguar pelt, and a mix of gold and cotton for a tight bodice, she also carried a necklace of fangs, a staff decorated with snakeskin, pouches full of drugs and trinkets of all kinds, and a bag filled with scrolls.
She was a striking figure too, slimmer than most amazons yet exuding a commanding presence. Her black hair was dyed blue and tied into a bun at the back of her head, and her eyes were a cold shade of gray. Her stern, focused expression reminded me of Chikal¡¯s, with that same mix of caution and calculation.
These two are tied from the same cloth. I studied her in silence for a moment, which caused her to tense up in a way Chikal never would. She¡¯s more skittish than her queen though.
The fact that Itzili the Younger did not growl at her on sight reassured me somewhat. My feathered tyrant had a sixth sense when it came to telling friends apart from foes. He felt so relaxed in Lahun¡¯s presence that he began to take a nap alongside Tetzon, which greatly soothed my guest¡¯s worries.
¡°Welcome, Lahun of Chilam,¡± I greeted her when she proved too fearful to speak up. I waved a hand at my table. ¡°Sit down.¡±
¡°Thank you, Your Majesty,¡± she replied with a deep bow and polite courtesy. She sat in front of me, with hardly a glance toward Itzili¡¯s presence. ¡°What owes me the pleasure of this invitation?¡±
¡°My consort Chikal spoke well of you,¡± I replied. ¡°She lauded your wisdom and knowledge.¡±
¡°My queen is too kind.¡± Lahun joined her hands in contemplation. ¡°Does Your Majesty seek my counsel? Certainly, you do not lack talented advisors.¡±
¡°I am mostly curious about a specific matter, but I never close my door on a new talent.¡± In truth, I mostly intended to assess whether she would make a good concubine and handmaiden for Chikal. My consort seemed to trust her as an intermediary, but I wished to put her to the test first. ¡°Tell me more about yourself.¡±
¡°There is not much to say,¡± Lahun replied with modesty. ¡°I served my queen and cousin as a storyteller, soothsayer, and shaman to the best of my ability.¡±
¡°Soothsayer?¡± The very word filled me with disgust, though I did not show it. I had one to thank for my miserable childhood. ¡°Did you predict the future on Chikal¡¯s behalf?¡±
¡°I did.¡± Lahun shifted on her seat, a flash of guilt briefly passing over her face. ¡°I convinced my queen to form an alliance with Yohuachanca. The star signs said that either Chilam or Balam would be destroyed, or both. Survival would come at the cost of submission.¡±
I suppressed a snort. I was certain that half of Chikal¡¯s court had reached the same conclusion when they saw the size of Yohuachanca¡¯s armies. This woman was no Nahualli, yet dared to pretend that she could tell the future.
¡°Can you read my fortune?¡± I asked her.
For the first time since she sat at my table, Lahun cracked a smile. ¡°The godspeaker who prophesied a year of darkness would like me to tell him his future?¡±
¡°Consider it a test of your skills.¡± And an opportunity for me to have a good laugh. I sorely needed one lately.
¡°Your Majesty will find my skills satisfactory,¡± Lahun replied calmly, though I detected a hint of suppressed frustration in her tone. This woman was proud of her craft. ¡°My question was more practical. Foresight is both an opportunity and a trap.¡±
¡°A trap?¡± That caught my interest. ¡°Why would knowing the future be a bad thing?¡±
¡°Because when a man sees the path ahead, he might bind himself to it and ignore other, better options,¡± Lahun replied. ¡°Knowing the future helps determine that future.¡±
¡°Or oppose it,¡± I replied.
¡°Many times I have seen a prophecy fulfilled by the efforts its victims took to avert it.¡± Lahun took a sharp breath. ¡°If I foresaw that a certain man will murder Your Majesty, and that Your Majesty decided to kill them to avert this fate, then that same person might survive, develop a grudge, and plot to slay Your Majesty. Had Your Majesty ignored that person, as they might have if they did not seek my counsel in the first place, then this crisis would never happen.¡±
¡°No one can kill me, Lahun.¡± None but the Nightlords who held my soul in bondage. ¡°I am not sure I understand your point. If fate is set in stone, wouldn¡¯t even learning of it be already predetermined?¡±
Lahun¡¯s answer proved somewhat evasive. ¡°The future is not set in stone, but neither is it entirely in mortal hands. Powerful and invisible influences constantly push and pull us in one direction or another. Predicting unavoidable disasters or future opportunities lets us prepare accordingly. The gods alone are free from fate¡¯s decrees, since they write them.¡±
Which was why Mother was so obsessed with becoming one. A sorceress of her caliber knew only ultimate power guaranteed true freedom.
Still, I believed I understood Lahun¡¯s point. Learning of the future, or at least an idea of a possible future, could push people to act irrationally. The soothsayer who decided that my birth was an ill-omen caused me much grief for nothing.
It doesn¡¯t matter, I decided. Beyond these existential questions, I mostly sought to gather the extent of Lahun¡¯s power and knowledge. I must ascertain how to best make use of her.
¡°What I hear is that our decisions can shape our destiny,¡± I said. ¡°You shall proceed with my test.¡±
¡°Very well. Is Your Majesty short on time?¡± I shook my head, much to her pleasure. ¡°I use multiple methods of divination and compare the results for better accuracy. May you present your arm to me?¡±
Puzzled by her request, I offered her my left hand. Lahun pulled back my sleeve, grabbed some kind of substance from her pouch, and then began to apply a brown paste to my palm and forearm. I recognized a mix of tobacco and lime from the smell.
Once she had thoroughly covered my skin, Lahun pressed her thumb against it. My palm¡¯s lines sharply reflected on the paste.
¡°Do you intend to read the future in the palm of my hand?¡± I asked with a scornful chuckle.
¡°No,¡± Lahun replied calmly as her thumb slowly worked its way from my fingers to my wrist, ¡°but reading Your Majesty¡¯s lifelines will let me see your past and guide future divinations.¡±
I snorted in skepticism, but let her try her work. At no point did I sense any magic coming from Lahun. Having tasted real sorcery, I believed this woman to be a charlatan. A well-meaning one mayhaps, but someone with no real power.
At least, until she began to share her findings.
¡°This is strange,¡± Lahun muttered to herself with a scowl. ¡°According to your lifelines, you have already perished last year.¡±
I blinked without a word.
¡°Your lifeline ended abruptly over a lunar month ago, around the Night of the Scarlet Moon or close to it, only to begin again stronger than before.¡± Lahun frowned at me. ¡°I often see this mark in individuals who have undergone a deep spiritual awakening; a death and rebirth of the spirit. Was that the case?¡±
¡°It was.¡± In a very literal way. Did she make a vague guess on my ascension to emperor or did she truly possess keen insight? ¡°What more do you see?¡±
¡°You have been bitten by a dog more than once, then befriended it.¡± Lahun squinted as she looked up at my arm. ¡°Your father is dead, but your mother still lives. You have killed your fellow man in secret and saved a woman from death twice. The owl protects you and the winds have always blown your way in times of crisis. You have no brothers, whether by blood or bonds of friendship.¡±
It took all of my composure not to show my nervousness. She could have made an educated guess about my parents or the fact that I had spared Necahual¡¯s life twice, but there was no way she could feasibly identify my totem without supernatural insight. Not to mention that the dog part clearly referred to my pact with the god Xolotl; a secret known only to Mictlan¡¯s dead denizens.
Nonetheless, Lahun didn¡¯t show the surprise I would expect of someone learning that I¡¯d danced with the gods of the Underworld. Whatever information she gleaned was vague enough that it led her to mundane conclusions.
¡°You possess an exceptional lifeforce,¡± she muttered to herself, her eyes slowly widening in astonishment. It looked like the more she read my palm lines, the less she believed what they told her. ¡°You are blessed by the gods.¡±
¡°I am the Godspeaker,¡± I said hastily. ¡°He who speaks for the Gods-in-the-Flesh and the Gods-in-Spirit.¡±
¡°I understand, but¡ it is another to know and another to feel it.¡± Lahun paused for a moment, her brow furrowing as she read my lines. Then she gave me a look heavy with meaning. ¡°Your Majesty would make a most fearsome sorcerer.¡±
She knows now. She knew that I practiced witchcraft and she was wise enough to hold her tongue. Good. I would have had her executed on the spot otherwise, even if Chikal trusted her. This Lahun might actually turn out to be a good surprise for once.
¡°Before we begin, Your Majesty, I must clear up a few misunderstandings that you may have.¡± Lahun let go of my hand and cleared her throat. ¡°The signs are never wrong, but we mortals may misinterpret their meaning. I can only do my best to foresee which way the winds of fate will blow.¡±
¡°If the signs are never wrong, then why could learning of them influence their outcome?¡±
¡°If I had to give an example¡¡± Lahun stroked her chin thoughtfully. ¡°Should the signs say that an empire will fall if a king declares war on his neighbor, then it means that either could win. Destiny only predicts that one of them will fall once war is declared. Victory or death once fate¡¯s course is put in motion, no other outcome.¡±
I crossed my arms as I tried to make sense of her reasoning. ¡°The king could decide not to launch war if he thinks a war is not worth the risk, or wager it all on his victory.¡±
¡°Your Majesty catches on quickly. Embracing or denying one¡¯s fate is a choice in itself, the same as treading on a known path or venturing into the unknown. Some twists of fate are unavoidable, but we can choose how we react to them.¡±
I would be a fool to deny the existence of destiny. I was born a Nahualli, and the Nightlords specifically selected their emperors because we fulfilled strange esoteric criteria for their ritual. The fact that I could influence fate¡¯s course reassured me more; as did her assertion that the gods could break from its shackles completely.
Lahun proceeded with more bizarre rituals. She threw corn on the table seven times, checking whether they formed rows or lines, only to scowl when they kept landing either in scattered circles or tight piles. She then filled a bowl with water, put the grains inside, and counted which of them had hit the bottom and those that floated upward. She then asked me to look at the liquid¡¯s surface.
¡°Your face shows clearly,¡± Lahun observed. ¡°Your Tonalli is exceptionally strong.¡±
¡°Tonalli?¡± I repeated while feigning surprise. The mere fact she knew of the concept greatly interested me.
¡°A Tonalli is your totem-spirit, the reflection of your soul. The owl, in Your Majesty¡¯s case. It forms a triad with your Teyolia, your heart-fire and lifeforce, and your Ihiyotl, your breath and will.¡± Lahun put the bowl aside. ¡°The corn represents the former of the two. Them being scattered usually means the severance of your lifeforce, and the pile a strong line of life. I would say you constantly dance on the thin edge between life and death.¡±
She was more correct than she knew. Nonetheless, part of her reasoning left me puzzled.
¡°Why corn?¡± I asked her. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t fire better represent my lifeforce?¡±
¡°At the dawn of the Fifth Sun, the celestial gods Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl gave the first woman the grains she had to throw to know the fate of her people,¡± Lahun explained. ¡°Since then, corn grains have been used by lorekeepers for divination.¡±
I was beginning to see how this ritual worked. ¡°And since this ¡®Tonalli¡¯ is my spirit¡¯s reflection, you look into the water to catch a glimpse of it.¡±
¡°Your Majesty shows keen insight, as befitting of a Nahualli.¡± Lahun gave me a handful of tiny conch shells small enough to fit into her hands. ¡°I will ask you to blow on these next, to measure your Ihiyotl.¡±
As usual with sorcery, it all came down to symbolism and representation. Just as I gathered power from embodying the First Emperor, corn derived a measure of magical significance because of its association with the celestial gods. Mirrors of all kinds were also said to possess mystical importance in revealing hidden truths, such as ghosts and spirits.
How could I push this relationship? I smelled an opportunity. Power to exploit.
Once I finished blowing on the shells, Lahun consulted me on my birthdate and then wrote down her observations in a codex that she kept in her bag. I saw that she had already recorded the position of last night¡¯s stars in them.
¡°Questioning the stars gives more accurate prophecies when they concern the fate of nations, the world¡¯s ages, or incoming calamities,¡± Lahun explained. ¡°Gauging a person¡¯s Tonalli, Ihiyotl, and Teyolia yields better results when I try to read the fate of individuals. I then cross-examine my findings with sacred numbers ¡±
¡°Can you tell me more about those?¡±
¡°Of course, Your Majesty.¡± My curiosity caused Lahun to relax a bit. She probably enjoyed the position of the teacher. ¡°Certain numbers possess great mystical significance. Two is water, three is fire, so two-and-three means conflict. War. Four represents balance, and five, instability and chaos.¡±
Four Nightlords in balance to keep the fifth suppressed. And Smoke Mountain erupted when the number fell to three; fire¡¯s number. Was that a coincidence or the result of an occult backlash? I was almost certain that my Haunt would have triggered the New Fire Ceremony¡¯s collapse on its own, but it might have been a case of a dam breaking from too many small cracks.
Lahun continued her explanation as she organized the stars by group and noted their number. ¡°Seven is the earthbound number, nine is associated with death and the underworld, thirteen with the thirteen heavens and the sky, twenty with the passage of time, four-hundred with multitude. The more one of them appears in a pattern, the stronger its pull on destiny.¡±
From what I could read of her notes, the numbers nine and thirteen appeared quite often. Lahun assembled them, added them, multiplied them by the times her corn grains landed in one position or another, and then associated them with words. Her calculations appeared exceedingly complex and near-nonsensical to me, but a pattern of sentences began to appear.
¡°Death,¡± Lahun read my fortune with professional focus and poise. ¡°Corruption. Destruction. Owl-man with bloodstained talons flies over mountains of corpses. Year of the skulls. Lies meet temptations in a house of nightmares. Curses, ruin, end of an age.¡±
Quite ominous. The fact she mentioned the house of nightmares¡ªXibalba¡ªat least suggested that her prophecy was vaguely accurate. I listened attentively in case I could glean anything.
¡°Son of chaos becomes father of terror. Demons dance under the earth, gods laugh in the sky.¡± Then Lahun added, almost absentmindedly. ¡°Murder in the family.¡±
My heart skipped a beat at the last one, though my expression remained colder than ancient stone.
¡°Betrayal with a friend¡¯s face, snake shedding skin,¡± Lahun continued, a scowl spreading on her face. ¡°Forbidden unions beget abominations. War of the puppeteers burns the stage. Battle of the three wings. Golden city answers the tide of sorrow. To the banquet of blood the dark one triumphs. New skull on the pile weeps in night eternal.¡±
Most people would probably have decried her report as a nonsensical string of words, but I quickly identified how a few of them applied to my situation. The snake shedding its skin obviously referred to Iztacoatl somehow; the golden city, to the Sapa; and the house of nightmares to Xibalba. The betrayal with a friend¡¯s face echoed the Yaotzin¡¯s earlier warning.
And the last sentence¡¯s meaning couldn¡¯t be any clearer.
As it currently stood, my fortune was the one that the Nightlords decided for me: to end as yet another skull in the Reliquary. Killing Yoloxochitl put a hurdle on fate¡¯s wheel, but my efforts failed to fully throw it off course.
Yet.
At least it would assuage the Nightlords¡¯ suspicions for now. Learning that another expert soothsayer confirmed that my head would end up in the Reliquary would likely reassure them. Why would they bother to prevent my inquiries into magic, since my efforts would come to naught in the end?
Murder in the family¡ Lahun didn¡¯t specify whether it was mine, nor who would commit the crime. For all I knew it could refer to Ingrid and her sister, Eztli and Necahual, or the death of a future unborn child of mine at the Nightlords¡¯ hands. Or it could refer to Mother and Father.
I banished these thoughts from my mind. Lahun had a point, prophecies were a dangerous snare. I intended to spit in destiny¡¯s face either way.
The gods alone write their own fates. I pondered that lesson for a moment. The path of salvation remained the same as it always was: to obtain the four dead suns¡¯ embers and achieve ultimate power. Only then will I escape my upcoming death¡¯s grasp.
I would deal with whatever betrayal, cruelty, or surprise fate kept in store for me, and I would overcome them all.
¡°I won¡¯t lie, these are ominous signs,¡± Lahun said, though she remained eerily calm nonetheless. ¡°Your Majesty shouldn¡¯t let gloom conquer his heart. There are betrayals and betrayals. It can be as small as a harmless lie or secret¨C¡±
¡°Or as devastating as a knife to the back,¡± I replied before I decided to test another area of her knowledge. ¡°I¡¯ve had a nightmare where a beast came to me under the guise of a friend. Chikal mentioned that it could describe a skinwalker.¡±
¡°It could be,¡± Lahun confirmed. ¡°Sleep is the little death, when the living mind wanders through the Underworld¡¯s mists. I would suggest that you pay close attention to your dreams. As a Nahualli, the gods will send you messages through them.¡±
If only she knew I had met a few as I slept. Lahun¡¯s insight into supernatural matters astonished me, but her knowledge was clearly limited by her lack of Nahualli powers. She didn¡¯t know that Tlacatecolotl could fully travel to the Underworld in their sleep for example.
¡°Skinwalkers are Nahualli who have committed the ultimate crime: slaying their closest kin,¡± Lahun explained. ¡°A father who killed his daughter, a sister who slew her sibling, the son who murdered his mother¡ This crime stains their totem forever and invites evil power into their heart. It grants them the awful power to steal another¡¯s skin by consuming their heart, alongside a grim form of immortality.¡±
Immortality? ¡°What kind?¡±
¡°A skinwalker¡¯s evil spirit will endure almost any wound,¡± Lahun replied. Was that a dash of fear I detected in her voice? ¡°They can only be slain through decapitation, since the act of beheading severs the head from the heart; the Teyolia from the Tonalli.¡±
Wait, was that why the Nightlords insisted on beheading the emperors and piling up their skulls? To symbolically split the First Emperor¡¯s maddened mind from his dark lifeforce?
¡°You sound as if you have encountered a skinwalker in the past,¡± I noted. ¡°Enough to fear them.¡±
¡°I have.¡± Lahun paled slightly and averted my gaze. ¡°This memory I do not relish. Your Majesty will be thankful to the gods should they not encounter those abominations.¡±
That sounded like an interesting tale, but I did not push Lahun any further. The encounter clearly left its marks. ¡°Can any Nahualli become a skinwalker?¡±
¡°Any totem can be corrupted.¡± Lahun¡¯s eyebrows furrowed slightly. ¡°I would not recommend that Your Majesty follow that path. Skinwalkers live a cursed existence of pain and misery. Their state is not a reward, but a punishment.¡±
The thought never crossed my mind. Whatever grievances I had towards Mother, I didn¡¯t wish her dead.
¡°I would never stain my office with such a heinous crime,¡± I replied, quite sincerely. I had no respect for the position of emperor, but I would shun the sin of kinslaying at all costs. ¡°I simply wish to understand how these creatures work. How can one identify them?¡±
My only interest was how to subvert and identify Iztacoatl¡¯s shapeshifting magic. Whatever wicked spell allowed her pet snakes to impersonate the late Lady Sigrun sounded very similar to these skinwalkers¡¯ skin-stealing sorcery. If they followed the same principles, then a method used to deal with one might be effective against the other.
¡°The only way to identify a skinwalker¡ is to look into their eyes,¡± Lahun replied with a gulp. Her expression darkened, as if she recalled a particularly cruel memory. ¡°Those are the windows of the soul. They cannot hide the evil within them. But beware, Your Majesty, for the weak-willed fall under a Skinwalker¡¯s sway when they meet their gaze.¡±
¡°Then I¡¯m overqualified to resist them,¡± I replied while failing to hide my disappointment. ¡°I expected a more efficient method.¡±
¡°If skinwalkers were so easy to identify, Your Majesty, they would not be so dangerous.¡±
True. My own Gaze spell could see through any illusion, but not a physical change. Then again, perhaps the right tool had yet to be found or invented. My predecessors developed the Legion spell on their own, which means we have yet to reach the boundaries of magic. There is always more to learn.
And Lahun had taught me a valuable lesson about sorcery today: that elements as inconsequential as numbers could gain occult power through the symbolism humans assigned to them. I already saw a few ways to exploit that phenomenon to my advantage by incorporating them into my spells.
If the number three is associated with fire, then it should help strengthen the Blaze, I thought. Nine would mesh well with the Tomb. Mayhaps I ought to inscribe numbers in the Legion¡¯s skulls too to increase their precision.
So many possibilities to explore.
¡°You have impressed me, Lahun,¡± I said with the utmost sincerity. ¡°Tell me now: what is it that you desire most?¡±
Lahun straightened up with dignity. ¡°My only wish is to serve Your Majesty and Queen Chikal.¡±
¡°A diplomatic answer, albeit a false one,¡± I replied with a smile. I had been fed enough lies these past few moons to smell one. ¡°I forgive you this time, but I must ask the truth of you. Answer me now.¡±
¡°Your Majesty is sharp.¡± Lahun studied my face. She probably weighed whether she should keep her true thoughts to herself, but the slightest flicker of ambition in her eyes prevailed over her caution. ¡°My true desire is to gaze deeper into the abyss of magic than any seer before or after me. Nothing less.¡±
She is like Necahual: grasping for a power that will never be her own. This explained Lahun¡¯s interest in my lifelines and my true nature as a sorcerer. I represented the ideal that she sought to reach. A true master of magic. And like Necahual before her, I could lend her some of mine.
¡°If you serve me dutifully in all things, Lahun, I will see that your wish comes true. For while you implore the gods for life¡¯s answers¡¡± I chuckled to myself, for I alone saw the cosmic joke at play. ¡°I speak for them.¡±
This woman was no Nahualli, but she might make an excellent Seidr partner and a good candidate to undergo the witch ritual I planned to put Necahual through. I would introduce these two at the first opportunity.
¡°Your Majesty is kind and generous. I swear to serve him with the utmost loyalty.¡± Lahun marked a short pause, a smile forming at the edge of her lips. ¡°In any way that he chooses.¡±
¡°We shall see about that,¡± I replied while returning her smile with one of my own. ¡°What other duties did you practice in Chilam?¡±
¡°I practiced the rain dance, warded away the hail, and petitioned the gods for favor.¡± Lahun let out a small chuckle. ¡°I confess that these rituals did not always work.¡±
¡°They will work with me,¡± I promised her. The Nightlords had seen to that.
I would defeat the vampires by using their own tricks against them: turning the lie into the truth. For the more miracles I performed, the more my divine image would reinforce itself.
And the gods alone decided their own destiny.
Chapter Fifty-Five: The Whispers of Ambition
I practiced a dance with feet that were not my own.
A dozen noblewomen had come to witness my performance. Chikal was there, her face younger and smoother. A crown of gold shone bright atop her woven hair. I did my best to ignore them all and focus on the task at hand. My steps rocked Chilam¡¯s great stone plaza and my staff pointed up at the cloudy sky. The rainforest around our city shuddered in the wind. The fields waited. They had waited in vain yesterday too, and the day before. Now they starved with a thirst I could not satisfy.
My fate and that of my city depended on the gods¡¯ goodwill. I prayed for the great Tlaloc to deliver his gift.
I continued to dance until my feet bled. I continued without pause, my mind confident in my craft, my heart fearing that the heavens would ignore me. I remained resolute, and I sensed something warm dripping on my skin in my final step.
A drop of water.
Tlaloc had finally listened to my pleas and blessed me with his bounty. The rain came, first faintly, then strongly. My people¡¯s hands clapped in acclaim, and my heart swelled with relief. Another failure, and I might have been replaced.
I was so tired of begging the heavens for their scraps.
The vision changed, as did the memory it showcased. I found myself back amidst the flames and blood rivers of the House of Jaguars. The Lords of Terror watched on in grim silence as I wielded the balefire of my heart and cast the Blaze spell for the first time. I¡¯d become fire, the devourer of all. I incinerated the corpses that once tried to devour me and reduced them to cinders with a maniacal smile.
The demons watched as I stood atop a mountain of ashes. For I was now their equal, beholden to no one, power made flesh. I was the Tlacatecolotl, the owl-man who brought forth chaos.
And nobody would stand in my way.
The Seidr vision collapsed in on itself, and I returned to my present day reality. Lahun moaned under me with a final sigh of pleasure. I gathered my breath, my back relaxing after the effort, my hands still gripping her soft hips, and my cock softening inside her.
My musicians played the flute in the background, officially to soothe Itzili and Tetzon while I enjoyed my newest concubine; and unofficially, to cover up our words.
¡°That¡.¡± Lahun breathed softly and wiped the sweat off her face. ¡°That was¡¡±
¡°Your first time with a man?¡± I asked before she could say something incriminating. The music should cover our words, but I wouldn¡¯t take any risk.
Lahun blushed slightly. ¡°Did it show?¡±
Yes, it did. Lahun¡¯s touch had been clumsy, hesitant, and inexperienced in spite of her older age. Thankfully, I was starting to understand how a woman¡¯s body worked; which part I had to caress to give pleasure, where and how to kiss, and when to seize the moment. I daresay I left a pretty good first impression.
Lahun continued to surprise me in a good way. This lovemaking session had started out as a formality to officially claim her as a concubine and then assign her to Chikal as a handmaiden. Unlike with her queen though, we managed to perform the Seidr ritual on our first try. I didn¡¯t even have to tell her anything. Lahun had immediately guessed my intent the moment I penetrated her and attempted to bind our Teyolias, then emotionally aligned herself with me. It was easy.
We both shared a dash of ambition and a keen lust for magic.
She will make an excellent Seidr partner and soothsaying teacher, I thought as I began to pull out of her. My eyes lingered on her belly. I couldn¡¯t tell why, but I suddenly found myself recalling Father¡¯s attempt at a ¡®talk.¡¯ Did he feel such unease too when he and Mother tried to have me?
The idea of fathering a child should be a moment of joy, but I couldn¡¯t shake the fear of my descendants growing up under the Nightlords¡¯ thumb whenever I finished coupling with a woman. The image of the Jaguar Woman seizing my infant sons and daughters in her vile hands filled me with disgust.
Worse, I knew it was inevitable. I couldn¡¯t feed every woman in my harem contraceptives, nor pull out each time. Seidr rituals required an exchange of body fluids and the Nightlords wanted their puppet emperor to procreate for their sick breeding program. They would punish any attempts to skip out on my ¡®duties.¡¯
The best I could do was to focus on the pleasure and avoid thinking about the consequences.
¡°I¡¯m honored to have been your first, though it surprises me,¡± I told Lahun. ¡°As Chikal¡¯s advisor and cousin, you should have had your pick of males.¡±
¡°Even if I could have done so, coupling with a male sounded like a waste of time to me,¡± Lahun replied with a small, embarrassed smile. I had the feeling she would change her tune after experiencing the joys of lovemaking. ¡°I always saw it as a distraction.¡±
¡°Even if?¡± Her wording puzzled me. ¡°You weren¡¯t allowed to take a male consort? I thought lineage was very important among Chilam¡¯s amazons.¡±
¡°It is.¡± Lahun looked away. ¡°Which is why a new queen often executes her siblings to avoid contestation once she rises to the throne. Lady Chikal¡¯s mother took a shine to me though, as I was her favorite niece and already showed a talent for prophecies. She agreed to let me live under the condition that I do not bear children that would challenge her own and dedicate myself to shamanism.¡±
A chill traveled down my spine. It seemed that amazon politics matched Yohuachanca''s in ruthlessness. Part of me wondered if Lahun¡¯s encounter with a skinwalker was somehow related to this loathsome practice.
¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear this,¡± I said from the bottom of my heart. Kin should matter more than petty politics.
¡°It was years ago,¡± Lahun replied calmly. Her lack of bitterness sounded genuine enough. ¡°I never sought to have children anyway, so I did not mind.¡±
¡°Not even to pass your knowledge on to?¡±
¡°It takes years before children learn to sit down without a word, let alone listen to their elders. I would rather handpick a successor of sufficient age who has already proved her brightness of mind.¡± Lahun shrugged. ¡°Moreover, my queen already requested that I educate her future daughter with Your Majesty. That will prove a great commitment in itself.¡±
Of course Chikal would take such precautions. Lahun would make a good sorcery teacher; or rather, the best that the Nightlords might let us get away with. Teaching her Seidr and a few other tricks might prove beneficial in the long term.
Yet I struggled to imagine a future where Lahun would teach my daughter magic. I found the very idea of my future child being raised inside this prison¡¯s walls unbearable.
I¡¯ll live to see the Nightlords fall, I promised myself. I won¡¯t allow any other outcome.
Father told me that parents did things for their children that they would never do for themselves. My planned daughter with Chikal was a mere abstraction for now, a spurt of seed in her womb, but I refused to see her fed to the flames like Sigrun and my other unborn child had been.
I was bound to father even more descendants with my concubines over the year¡¯s course too. Whenever I doubted my cause, I would have to think of them. Father did all he could to protect me. I had to show the same commitment.
¡°How old are you, Lahun?¡± I questioned her.
¡°I was born on the first day of the Rain Month twenty-five years ago, Your Majesty,¡± Lahun replied with a raised eyebrow. My question surprised her. ¡°Most soothsayers are born on that date.¡±
My predecessors said as much. Interesting. Lahun shared the same sign as Necahual, which made her eligible for the Mometzcopinque ritual. My interest continued to grow.
My plan for Necahual was to turn her into a Mometzcopinque, a unique magical creature beholden to a powerful spiritual patron; namely, myself. I had spent the last few weeks slowly molding her Teyolia according to my needs one Seidr session at a time, and I intended to put her through the ritual as soon as I obtained Tlaloc¡¯s embers. The spell might work with my current power, but my predecessors suggested that I gather more first for caution¡¯s sake.
Nothing about it said that I had to stop at one Mometzcopinque.
As far as I knew, I could sustain as many of them as my divine Teyolia allowed and a few sacred numbers carried mystical potency. Would recruiting four followers increase their powers? Mine too, perhaps? Forming a coven of spellcasters dedicated to me would prove a boon when I finally confronted the Nightlords in battle.
I only had two issues: first, the ritual only worked with women born on specific dates, which limited the available pool of recruits; and second, it required that I bind the target¡¯s soul, stripping them of their freedom for power. The idea used to leave me unsettled, and it still did to a degree.
Yet¡
And yet, it didn¡¯t stop me from altering Nenetl¡¯s tattoo, starting an eruption that killed thousands, or forcing people into marriages for my personal benefit. I was already deciding the life of others whether they liked it or not. I needed all the help I could get.
I had crossed so many lines in victory¡¯s name already. What was one more?
Besides, the Mometzcopinque ritual required consent. Lahun would have to agree to forswear her soul to me. I had no guarantee that she would even develop that kind of loyalty to me, no matter how much she craved the power of sorcery.
How much was she willing to sacrifice for her dream?
I had to test the waters. Unsettle her and see how she reacts.
¡°Twenty-five years,¡± I whispered in her ear. ¡°So you are still fertile.¡±
Lahun frowned in confusion. ¡°Your Majesty?¡±
¡°What if I said your body wasn¡¯t enough for me?¡± I traced a line up her belly. ¡°That I wanted you to bear my child too?¡±
Lahun shifted under me, suddenly uncomfortable. I couldn¡¯t blame her. Besides her own apprehension and distaste of the idea, to be conquered by a foreign male was the ultimate insult an amazon could receive. Not to mention that it meant violating her vow of celibacy. Her brethren would not look kindly on it, not to mention Chikal. She probably shared my distaste at her bloodline being raised in this prison too.
In short, it represented a large sacrifice.
Was that Lahun¡¯s line in the sand? The parcel of freedom that she would not surrender? How far could I push her?
¡°I¡¡± Lahun cleared her throat. ¡°My vow to Queen Chikal¡¯s mother still stands.¡±
¡°You made a vow to a queen, and I am your emperor. Chikal speaks for her people, but I speak for the gods. I can fulfill any wish that your mind may conceive.¡± Including the sorcery that she craved. ¡°But I am a greedy master who exacts a harsh price for his favor.¡±
I had forged a pact with Necahual: the return of her daughter and the power of magic in exchange for complete loyalty. She had sacrificed her pride for her daughter¡¯s sake; a commitment that I respected.
But Lahun had no kin to defend, no grander ideal to defend other than herself. Her memories showed me that her loyalty to her city and queen was more strained than expected. As she told me, her true desire was to gaze deeper into the abyss of magic rather than see her city prosper. She reminded me of Mother in a way, except that for all her faults Ichtaca would never surrender to another.
Would Lahun?
¡°If I said that I could make your dreams come true, and that in return all that you have to do¡ is to give me everything?¡± I lowered my head to better face Lahun. ¡°Would you accept?¡±
Lahun gathered her breath. She understood that it was a test of some kind. ¡°I am already Your Majesty¡¯s property.¡±
¡°By law, not by will.¡± I took her hands into mine. She had seen my past in my palms, but here was when we decided her future. ¡°Do not feel threatened. If you refuse me, I shall accept your decision. You will remain my advisor and I will never take more than what you are willing to give.¡±
I leaned in to whisper in her ear.
¡°But neither shall I fulfill your prayers,¡± I warned her, ¡°Nor make the sky rain for you.¡±
I couldn¡¯t trust someone of fickle loyalty with my greater secrets.
I looked into Lahun¡¯s eyes as she pondered the pact that I offered her. I saw my reflection in her gaze: a Godspeaker, a sorcerer, the ideal to which she aspired to be. Although she lacked the necessary context, she had witnessed me stand shoulder-to-shoulder with demons and wield great magic in my memories. Her previous respect for me had turned into a deeper admiration.
Lahun had spent years petitioning Tlaloc and other deities for rain. Never before did they answer her with words, nor show themselves in the flesh. Her dances might have been utterly useless for all she knew.
I was different. I had proved my power during our embrace. Our Seidr ritual had let her taste true magic. Unlike the gods-in-spirit, I was a god-in-the-flesh that she could hold in her arms and kiss with her lips. I could answer her questions, fulfill her prayers, quell her doubts, and return her devotion. I was the idol that could deliver¡ for a price.
¡°I¡¡± Lahun gulped, then mustered her resolve. ¡°I have sworn to serve Your Majesty in any way that you choose and with utmost loyalty. If you desire a child from my flesh, I¡ I will provide it.¡±
I searched her eyes for any hint of deceit. ¡°Even if your queen said no?¡±
A flash of genuine fear and unease passed over Lahun¡¯s gaze, but she gave me a small nod nonetheless.
¡°Would you pay my price, knowing that your sisters in Chilam will curse you for your choice?¡± I asked her. ¡°Knowing that I will ask more in the future? Knowing that this will be the smallest and easiest sacrifice that I shall ask you to make?¡±
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¡°I¡¡± Lahun sank a bit further into the bed. ¡°I would bear any indignity if it means making my dream a reality.¡±
Promises were wind, easily uttered, and difficult to fulfill. But they carried meaning nonetheless.
Lahun knew exactly who and what I was. She understood that words had power when uttered in a spellcaster¡¯s presence. I had given her a glimpse of sorcery¡¯s bottomless well, and she wouldn¡¯t turn away from it. Not now at least.
Her answer both disappointed and reassured me. I¡¯d hoped that she would retain her pride like I did in my darkest moments; but on the other hand this made her a potential candidate for the Mometzcopinque ritual.
Would she stay true to that oath once things got tough? Necahual gave me her body, her dignity, and her pride. Lahun had yet to pay such a hefty price.
I wouldn¡¯t include her in my conspiracy yet, since the likes of Iztacoatl would likely attempt to subvert her with lies or a more appealing offer. Instead, I would continue to test Lahun. I would assess how far I could trust her.
And if the shamaness passed every ordeal, I would fulfill her wish.
I rewarded her commitment and sealed our secret pact with a kiss. To outsiders, it would have seemed like another roleplay game in bed. In truth, she had just passed the first ordeal of many.
I was her emperor before, but now I am her god.
And she would have to prove her devotion to me.
¡°I will meditate on your case,¡± I said upon releasing my grip on Lahun. ¡°For now, I will have you assigned to Chikal as her handmaiden so I may enjoy both of your counsel and company.¡±
¡°I hope that Your Majesty will call on me soon,¡± Lahun replied with a short, careful nod. ¡°I remain your and Queen Chikal¡¯s faithful servant.¡±
¡°And that loyalty shall serve you well,¡± I replied upon leaving the bed. I snapped my fingers and the musicians immediately stopped playing. Servants soon entered the bedroom to clothe me in my imperial regalias.
To my slight surprise, I recognized a familiar face among.
¡°Tenoch,¡± I said with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Do you come on my dear Ingrid¡¯s behalf?¡±
¡°I do, Your Majesty,¡± she replied with a deep bow. ¡°She told me to inform you that all preparations for Your Majesty¡¯s trip to Zachilaa will be complete by tomorrow morning.¡±
¡°This is earlier than I expected,¡± I said as she folded my imperial robes. ¡°Ingrid¡¯s efficiency is almost frightening.¡±
¡°My lady is as bright as she is beautiful,¡± Tenoch replied before noticing Lahun in my bed. The shamaness pulled up the bedsheet to cover her nakedness, much to the handmaiden¡¯s amusement. ¡°If Your Majesty wished for company, he could have called us. My lady misses him greatly.¡±
¡°I will make it up with Ingrid soon,¡± I replied evasively as I left my chambers to travel to the Reliquary. I pondered Ingrid¡¯s move. Using Tenoch as an intermediary was a subtle indication that the message carried more weight than it seemed.
She had also mentioned all the preparations. This implied even those that didn¡¯t relate to Zachilaa specifically. I could only think of one other plot we had underway that warranted a warning.
It was time to strike Yoloxochitl¡¯s garden and set it ablaze.
I moved to the Reliquary next for my morning meditation. As usual, Iztacoatl¡¯s snakes were slithering among my predecessors¡¯ skulls and watching me in the darkness. I pretended to miss them and sat in quiet silence.
¡°We welcome thee again, our successor,¡± the skulls whispered in the shadows. ¡°You bring great and troubling developments.¡±
That was one way to put it. Between the First Emperor¡¯s undead curse, Lahun, the garden, and the Zachilaa trip, the stars appeared to align for the month¡¯s end. Although I could not answer the past emperors¡¯ inquiries without alerting Iztacoatl, I still sought their advice before proceeding.
¡°We have conferred with Xolotl on the matter of these Nightchildren,¡± the Parliament said. ¡°The souls that those abominations consume do not reach the Gate of Skulls, and the First Emperor¡¯s spirit stirs with each new victim. We suspect that these horrors feed their stolen Teyolia directly to their chained master.¡±
As I feared, the First Emperor was indeed putting his thumb on the scales of fate. Would these stolen souls eventually give him enough power to break his chains? I couldn¡¯t allow such an outcome to pass, no matter how much destabilizing the Nightlords¡¯ empire would benefit me. I was somewhat confident that I could eventually defeat the sisters in battle once I accumulated enough spells and embers, but their divine father was too tall a mountain for me to climb.
¡°Our captors¡¯ ritual holds strong for now, but we shall continue to carefully monitor the situation,¡± my predecessors warned me. ¡°The Nightlords will never be so foolish as to grant you command of these abominations in battle, but their greed always has a habit of overcoming their caution. They cannot ignore the situation, nor allow rumors of their weakness to spread. They will make a show of your pilgrimage to Zachilaa to awe the herd and to frighten their enemies.¡±
True. Rebellions failed to spring up in the eruption¡¯s wake, but the First Emperor¡¯s announcement had probably spread to all corners of Yohuachanca by now. The people had seen the signs and required reassurance. Making a show of my control over the Nightchildren would serve the Nightlords¡¯ purpose and strengthen my divine image. I could live with this outcome.
Just one obstacle remained in my way.
¡°You have done well in throwing the White Snake off-balance, but this means that she will now take retaliative measures,¡± the Parliament warned me. ¡°We know how she thinks. First, she will try to frustrate you by sabotaging your initiatives, and then infiltrate your inner circle. She might replace one of your handmaidens with a double through her sorcery, approach one of your consorts with an offer, or more likely, she will send someone to earn your trust.¡±
Iztacoatl would send me a false cure to a problem that she caused herself. A liar through and through.
I doubted she would approach my consorts directly. Eztli was loyal, Chikal and Ingrid knew that the Nightlords¡¯ promises weren¡¯t worth the scrolls on which they were written, and Nenetl was incapable of deceit. Iztacoatl would likely target their handmaidens instead.
¡°It might be a concubine that appeals to all of your personal tastes, with sharp wits and a rebellious streak; or a brotherly warrior that appears sympathetic to you. Iztacoatl will try to find the hole in your heart and fill it with deceit.¡± I detected hints of anger in the Parliament¡¯s many voices. She must have pulled that trick on many of the previous emperors. ¡°Then, once she feels that your trust has reached its apex, she will reveal the treachery and drink your tears. She finds it so sweet, the taste of betrayal.¡±
I understood the risk at hand¡ªespecially after the prophecies warning me of betrayal with a friend¡¯s face¡ªbut this could prove to be an opportunity in disguise. Identifying Iztacoatl¡¯s spies and pretending to fall under their charm would let me feed them false information. I might even lure the snake into a trap.
¡°When dealing with the White Snake¡¯s sabotage, fake indifference,¡± the Parliament advised. ¡°Stay the course that you have set, like the ship sailing to its destination. Make her wonder if her opposition was planned for. As for her spies, we will do our best to help you identify them. Trust no one and test everyone.¡±
I already knew how to proceed. I would use Tetzon to plant skulls around the palace, and most specifically in my inner circle¡¯s bedchambers. This would let my predecessors monitor them. Any spy was bound to slip up at one point or another.
¡°As for this Lahun¡¡± The Parliament marked a short pause, as if undergoing an internal debate. ¡°Her knowledge is both a boon and a curse. Her mere awareness of your sorcerous gifts makes her a liability, especially since Iztacoatl will likely try to subvert her. Killing her would be our safest course of action.¡±
I suppressed a scowl. I understood my predecessors¡¯ concern. Unlike Necahual, I couldn¡¯t entirely trust Lahun not to go to the Nightlords in the coming days and tell them about my sorcery. She already advised her queen to collaborate with Yohuachanca to avoid utter destruction.
However, Lahun remained Chikal¡¯s cousin, and I didn¡¯t think that she would recommend the seer to me if she didn¡¯t trust her. Her talent was genuine, and she struck me as studious, professional, and keenly intelligent. She would make a powerful asset in my secret war.
All in all, I believed that the potential benefits of including Lahun in my conspiracy outweighed the risks.
¡°We understand what is on your mind,¡± the Parliament said. ¡°We previously advised that you wait until you gathered Tlaloc¡¯s embers to try the Mometzcopinque ritual, as we are not certain whether it will work or not, but the journey to Zachilaa will provide a unique opportunity to slip through the Nightlords¡¯ notice and test it out. Young Lahun is no consort¡¯s mother nor irreplaceable. She will do fine.¡±
Yes, better to test the spell on her than on Necahual. Binding Lahun¡¯s soul would also solve the trust issue.
¡°If the ritual fails for one reason or another, then we strongly suggest that you add her skull to our collective.¡± The Parliament let out a sad rattle. ¡°Disappointed hopes are the wellspring of bitterness, and prophets that cannot deliver on their promises earn their followers¡¯ undying hatred.¡±
That I could not allow, at least not without Chikal¡¯s permission. Assassinating her cousin might ruin our alliance and result in disastrous consequences that would come back to haunt me.
My worries grew when the Parliament spent the rest of my meditation giving me details on the Mometzcopinque ritual. My fists tightened slightly in response. The spell was both simple and gruesome, but I quickly realized why so few would-be sorceresses ever attempted it.
Namely, failure would cost Lahun her life.
I had to consider this very carefully.
The rest of the day passed by rather peacefully, though events brewed under the peaceful waters¡¯ surface.
Ingrid did not attend training today, to better prepare for our departure to Zachilaa tomorrow. I thus spent most of the afternoon training with Chikal. I could ride a trihorn with relative ease by now, though I continued to struggle a bit with wielding weapons on its back. Otherwise, I had grown proficient with both the spear and the obsidian club.
¡°Our Lord Emperor should acquit himself well on the battlefield,¡± Chikal said as she walked by my side. I had invited her to visit the gardens after our training to relax and she had actually accepted for once. ¡°You are no match for me or your nation¡¯s elites yet, but you are far above most males I¡¯ve fought in battle.¡±
¡°It is all thanks to your training,¡± I replied. ¡°Though being above most men is not enough.¡±
It astonished me how far I could get on intense exercise and a healthy diet. I couldn¡¯t recognize the scrawny boy I used to be when I looked in the mirror nowadays. I was taller, mightier, healthier.
I accrued more than just meat too. I had been subtly reinforcing my bones over the last few days by following Necahual¡¯s dietary advice and storing all the matter I could with Bonecraft. It was a long and painstaking process, but one whose progress I could measure with each passing day.
¡°I will not stop training until I stand at the world¡¯s apex, as an emperor should be,¡± I said as I stopped to smell my garden¡¯s flowers. I subtly glanced at my surroundings. Itzili the Younger ran around us and chased away any snake that would have dared to sneak up on us. My guards were too far away to notice anything. Perfect.
I subtly activated my Bonecraft spell. A tiny skull no larger than a phalange grew on the tip of my finger, pierced through my skin, and slipped under the flowers. I quickly whispered my name to it to activate the Legion spell, then memorized this location before moving on to the next patch.
I would return tonight in Tetzon¡¯s skin to disseminate them across the palace. Sadly, I only accrued enough extra bone matter to generate around four or five of them so far. Any more and I would have to shorten my ribs for material, which might become noticeable.
Four would do. Four was a sacred number, and this exercise was merely a test to see if my predecessors could reliably see through small skulls.
¡°My Lord Emperor is wise not to rest on his successes,¡± Chikal observed me with that same blank look she always wore. Did she find my interest in flowers suspicious? In any case, she quickly changed the subject. ¡°Lahun visited me earlier.¡±
¡°Is that so?¡± I replied while discreetly placing another skull among the orchids. ¡°I¡¯ve taken a liking to her.¡±
¡°So I¡¯ve heard. She informed me of your intention to sire a child with her.¡± Chikal put a hand on her waist. ¡°Did you think that she would keep it from me?¡±
¡°I wasn¡¯t sure.¡± Hence the test. I had to ensure that Lahun was at least somewhat loyal to her cousin instead of a common opportunist. ¡°I¡¯m glad she did though. Kin should stick together.¡±
¡°What bothers me is that she didn¡¯t ask for permission. She merely informed me that you intended to sire a daughter with her, and that she would deliver it if you insisted.¡± Chikal squinted at me. ¡°What have you done to her to earn her devotion so quickly?¡±
¡°I showed her my palm and let her read my future,¡± I replied as I smelled the flowers. Interesting. Lahun informed Chikal of my desire for children but not of my sorcery. It could be either because she assumed her queen already suspected it or because she intended to keep that secret to herself. ¡°No doubt she knows that my rule will be good for Chilam.¡±
¡°Of course she does,¡± Chikal replied with a skeptical tone. She knew as well as I did that Lahun put her craft above the city¡¯s benefit.
¡°Does it bother you?¡± I asked her. ¡°My proposal was merely hypothetical. I won¡¯t go through with it if you object.¡±
The offer I gave Lahun had merely been a test of her dedication. My alliance with Chikal trumped all other concerns.
The only people I¡¯d bedded for pleasure¡¯s sake alone were Eztli and Ingrid. I otherwise saw sex as a tool to earn political concessions and as a way to gain power through Seidr. Nothing more.
How far I¡¯ve fallen. Even in my mind, I could only think of the likes of Lahun or Tenoch in terms of assets rather than people; just as the Nightlords wanted. I should be more considerate. We¡¯re all slaves among these walls, and they deserve better than my coldness.
Yet I couldn¡¯t muster the energy to care anymore. All these trials and the Nightlords¡¯ atrocities slowly distanced me from others, because I knew that they would turn my compassion against me.
Chikal snorted. ¡°Why would I?¡±
I frowned in surprise. ¡°I thought you forbade Lahun from continuing her bloodline.¡±
¡°That was my mother¡¯s order back when our city was independent. Chilam has bent the knee since, and petty feuds like that no longer concern me.¡± Chikal scowled as she looked at the Blood Pyramid in the distance. ¡°The goddesses alone will decide who inherits my throne. If our daughter cannot continue the royal bloodline, Lahun¡¯s will have to replace her. I would rather see Your Majesty father her daughter than anyone else.¡±
I studied Chikal for a moment. I could see the hidden message. She knew that my children were likely to become Nahualli and inherit my power. Unlike me, she fully anticipated the possibility of failure and intended to hedge her bets by preparing successors.
I admired her patriotism. Chikal was truly devoted to her city and tribe above everything else; enough that she would take the risk of her daughter losing the throne for a chance that Chilam¡¯s leadership would endure to topple the Nightlords in the future.
¡°Corpses will sit in Chilam¡¯s palace and feast in its halls,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°No matter how fast the sun flies to escape it, darkness always wins the race.¡±
Ignoring those taunts had become second nature by now.
¡°You are a true queen,¡± I complimented Chikal from the bottom of my heart. The Nightlords would have had a much harder time spreading their rot if only half of Yohuachanca¡¯s tributaries shared her resolve.
¡°I know that.¡± Chikal assessed me for a moment. ¡°This journey outside these walls will make you a true emperor too.¡±
I turned my back on her to focus on the dahlias and marigolds. Her words carried more weight than it seemed.
Chikal was the canniest of my consorts when it came to politics, alongside Ingrid, and she had already asked me what I intended to do should we succeed in destroying the Nightlords. She knew very well that almost nobody outside the capital had seen Yohuachanca¡¯s emperor. My actions during our trip would let me garner political favor; power that I could retain should we prevail.
She asked me if I intended to seize the throne or let the empire collapse into chaos.
¡°Would you like that?¡± I asked her.
She smiled at me. ¡°If we stay friends.¡±
¡°She fears the chaos that follows in your wake,¡± the wind whispered. ¡°Even an empire¡¯s shadow will cast a dark cloud on her lands.¡±
I finally grasped her intent, and why she kept asking me what I planned to do after we destroyed the Nightlords. Even should Yohuachanca fall into chaos after the vampires¡¯ defeat, a mortal warlord might try to fill the void left in their wake. Most of the imperial army and bureaucracy could survive a coup. Someone could credibly manage to keep at least a large portion of the state together and dream of recovering its lost glory.
Chilam had made many enemies in the past, and though I had promised to grant her city independence, whoever seized control of the country in the aftermath might try to regain control of the tributaries. She preferred the certainty that I represented to the possibility of another war brewing at her borders.
Why wouldn¡¯t I continue to be her ally? After all, my own daughter would sit on Chilam¡¯s throne one day. I would have every incentive to continue supporting Chikal¡¯s reign, doubly so if I fathered a child with Lahun too. No wonder she didn¡¯t protest my decision. Much like Sigrun, she hoped to seal a long-term alliance with blood.
¡°Your mother and I did things for you that we would never have considered doing for anyone else,¡± Father had told me last night. Chikal understood that very well. She was subtly trying to push me to see the office of emperor not as a means to rebel, but as an end goal to seize for myself. She¡¯s more insidious than I gave her credit for.
¡°I believe that my Lord Emperor has a unique opportunity to change the lives of thousands for the better,¡± Chikal declared, ¡°Should he rule wisely.¡±
I did not care about the thousands. I was only concerned with the few whom I sought to save from the Nightlords¡¯ grasp.
Still, what would befall the likes of Eztli, Ingrid, Nenetl, or Necahual once I destroyed the Nightlords? Someone had to take care of them. Not to mention the issue of the First Emperor. I had to destroy the Nightlords in a way that wouldn¡¯t release him from his bindings. Having the limitless resources and power of Yohuachanca¡¯s state standing beside me might prove decisive.
Chikal wasn¡¯t wrong. I ought to plan for the future beyond victory.
¡°I could,¡± I replied evasively.
Chikal nodded sharply. I expected her to scold me for my indecisiveness, but she was too wise for it. She understood that influencing my position was a victory in itself.
We completed our tour of the garden by the evening. The night continued to rise earlier than it should. I feared to imagine how many Nightchildren would rise from their graves once darkness swallowed the sun.
Tayatzin came to greet us at the end of our promenade. No doubt he bore news from his mistresses.
¡°The goddesses have finished their deliberations, Your Divine Majesty,¡± he said with a deep bow. ¡°I bear great news from Lady Iztacoatl.¡±
I immediately expected the worst.
¡°Do tell,¡± I asked while Chikal crossed her arms at my side with a scowl on her face.
Tayatzin smiled ear to ear. ¡°Lady Iztacoatl has decided to personally guide you during your pilgrimage across our fair empire.¡±
I knew it. She was too cautious to let me leave the palace without her direct supervision, especially if I was expected to make a show for the populace.
¡°Moreover, she has made some changes to Lady Ingrid¡¯s planned itinerary,¡± Tayatzin said. ¡°You are returning home, Your Majesty. Your tour of the country shall begin with your home village of Acampa.¡±
I would visit the town where I¡¯d spent most of my life and which my own eruption destroyed. The message couldn¡¯t be any clearer.
Iztacoatl¡¯s campaign of sabotage had already begun.
Chapter Fifty-Six: The Demon Princes
Riding an animal was a strange experience.
Having spilled some of my blood in Tetzon¡¯s food and having the docile beast, my spirit easily slipped inside his fur. His own soul was young, his Teyolia weak, so I felt no resistance and would have overcome any. That part had been easy.
The trouble began immediately afterwards, before I even opened my eyes.
The entire body felt wrong and mismatched. The legs were twisted in too many parts, the arms too long, the fingers so frighteningly short. I found the sensation of claws sticking out from inside my paws highly uncomfortable, and what should I say of the tail growing out of my backside? My own head¡ªwith its oversized eyes and ears¡ªfilled me with unease.
Unlike the owl-shape of my soul, a margay¡¯s form did not suit me naturally.
Tetzon¡¯s senses were unlike those of any man too. A light snore became louder than thunder. The slight vibration of a moving bed sheet seemed like a warning of a future landslide. Opening my margay eyes let me see my bedroom in the dark more accurately than my human ones, but a few colors became blurs.
It took me a few minutes to figure out how to stand on these four skinny legs, and even longer to figure out how I was supposed to use the tail to balance myself. Even the simple act of raising a paw became a chore. Every part of my immortal soul told me that I did not belong in this skin.
I persevered nonetheless for the sake of my mission. I looked around myself to conclude that I had awoken at the end of my imperial bed.
I was shocked by the immense size of everything. Tetzon was hardly the length of my arm, so my bedside table now looked taller than a tree and my bed became bigger than a house. My own human body had become a sleeping giant holding a taller red-headed colossus in his arms. Chikal¡¯s snores rocked the bed like light tremors. As for Itzili the Younger, who rested at the bed¡¯s feet, he looked every inch like the titanic feathered tyrant that he would eventually grow into. I suddenly found him far less cute now that he was big enough to swallow me in a single bite.
The small lived in fear of the great. No wonder Tetzon acted so shy around others.
I peeked over the bed¡¯s edge and at the distant ground, which now seemed like it was many floors below me. I was used to flying so I had no issues leaping off it. Tetzon¡¯s strong legs propelled me forward farther than I expected and his paws soundlessly softened my landing on the carpet. Itzili the Younger opened a single eye to stare at me, then returned to his slumber.
This body¡¯s agility would serve me well once I grew used to it.
With little time to waste, I scratched at the bedroom door. Staff members swiftly opened the door to let me wander out of the bedroom¡ªa privilege that extended to Itzili, though he would rather rest. My servants had explicit orders not to bother my pets and wouldn¡¯t interfere.
Wandering the palace¡¯s halls at night in Tetzon¡¯s shape was an interesting experience. Its dark corridors became as large and foreboding as Xibalba¡¯s streets, and the ceiling turned into a sky of stone. I had to avoid my guards and suppress the faint, disgusting odor of rot and sick blood that emanated from them.
On the bright side, I was slowly getting used to Tetzon¡¯s body. An animal¡¯s memory was ingrained in its flesh rather than its mind like humans. The longer I spent time inside an animal¡¯s skin, the more my soul grew used to its shape.
My whiskers trembled slightly as they detected movements near me. I froze in the shadow of an empty hallway and looked around. Though my eyes saw nothing, my fur bristled at once. My new body instinctively recognized the smell in the air.
Snakes.
I carefully searched for its source. I approached the nearby wall and studied it closely. My feline eyes soon noticed small holes in it, no thinner than a needle. I peeked into it and briefly caught a glimpse of white scales slithering on the other side.
Iztacoatl¡¯s familiars.
I didn¡¯t remember Eztli notifying me of a secret passage in this area and the hole was too small for a human to look through anyway. This suggested that Iztacoatl had small tunnels built into the walls to let her snakes spy on the palace¡¯s occupants.
No wonder she knew so much. I looked back to those early times when I thought whispering alone would prevent outsiders from listening in on my conversations. Iztacoatl¡¯s servants must have reported a few suspicious discussions to their mistress.
This made me wonder where these passages led. Did the snakes report back to their mistress in a central chamber? Finding it and wiping out these reptiles would cripple Iztacoatl¡¯s spy network.
I ignored the discovery for now and raced to the gardens. The Ride spell wouldn''t last forever, and neither would my human self¡¯s sleep. I only had a few hours to recover the skulls and distribute them.
Reaching the gardens took surprisingly little time. Although small, Tetzon was incredibly agile and his flexible ankles could bend in ways a man could never dream of. His sharp claws and the unusual shape of his paws also let me quickly climb up walls. I took great care to memorize the shape of his bones so that I might copy it with Bonecraft later.
I ventured into the gardens under the pale glow of the half-moon and the shadows of trees taller than any tower. The palace now loomed over the gardens like a sinister mountain. Funny how its fa?ade of splendor vanished to reveal its ominous true nature when shrouded in darkness.
Nonetheless, I was happy to find the tiny skulls where I¡¯d left them. All those layers of security paid off.
How to transport them, though? The skulls were hardly bigger than a phalange bone, but Tetzon couldn¡¯t exactly carry them in his paws. Not to mention that I couldn¡¯t use any other spell when borrowing his skin. I tried to figure out a plan when I recalled how I¡¯d seen the margay spit out a furball after too much grooming.
I stared at my own bones for a moment, then mustered my courage and added self-cannibalism to my list of crimes.
Swallowing the tiny skulls took longer than I expected. My bones tasted awful and keeping them cramped inside my mouth sickened me. I must have looked ridiculous with my stuffed cheeks.
The things I do to live. I pitied my predecessors too, whose first sight through these skulls would be a wonderful view of a margay¡¯s gullet. At least I won¡¯t have to expel them through the other hole...
My first stop was one of the palace¡¯s walls overseeing the main gates. I quickly climbed as high as I could and then searched for a crack in the centuries-old stones. I found a tiny spot where I could safely hide one of the skulls and placed one there.
This strategic location should offer my predecessors a good view of the entrance gates. This would let us keep track of people who entered and who exited my palace this way.
I returned back inside afterward. My intention was to visit either the throne or council room, so the Parliament could help glean details that I might miss during official audiences. Unfortunately, I soon encountered the bane of all wandering pets.
Locked doors.
My frustration mounted as I tried to find alternative entrances, only to realize that all windows were closed shut. Worse, few staff wandered this wing of the palace so late at night. The masked, silent guards keeping watch over these rooms did not respond when I scratched at the doors or meowed at them. These soulless automatons must have received direct orders not to let anyone through, and that included Tetzon.
After half an hour of fruitless attempts to find a way in or a maid kind enough to open up the path, I abandoned the plan and moved on. Tetzon¡¯s soul was already beginning to stir inside me by now, his weak spirit slowly regaining its strength.
Where else should I plant the skulls? Besides strategic locations like the palace¡¯s entrance and throne room, I wanted to put one inside each of my consorts¡¯ quarters. Other places such as Tayatzin¡¯s bedroom or the secret passages would let me gather better intel on the Nightlords¡¯ movements, though it carried greater risks.
I would have to be selective with only three skulls left.
After a short moment¡¯s hesitation, I settled on a middle ground. Eztli was currently the consort most at risk and the Nightlords used Necahual as a hostage to ensure her daughter¡¯s compliance, so I should take extra measures to ensure their safety. I would try to infiltrate the secret passages afterward.
I ran back to the consorts¡¯ quarters. Tetzon¡¯s keen sense of smell let me easily find my way to the door of Eztli¡¯s quarters. I immediately began to scratch it. The guards ignored me for a while, but I soon heard faint, near-audible footsteps coming my way.
Eztli opened the door without a noise, and her glittering ruby eyes quickly settled on me.
¡°What have we here?¡± Eztli kneeled to take a better look at me. Her lips curved into a mischievous smile, revealing a small red stain at the edges. ¡°You are Iztac¡¯s new pet, aren¡¯t you?¡±
A potent smell of fresh blood assaulted my keen nostrils and immediately startled my feline instincts. A stronger odor came directly from the room.
Eztli had just fed.
¡°Did you come for cuddles?¡± Eztli¡¯s hand passed over my head like a cloud over the sun and lightly scratched me behind my ear. I meowed in surprise. Her skin was strangely warm, and she touched the sweetest spot. ¡°I will gladly indulge you. A shame Atziri is exhausted, she would have loved to play with you.¡±
Her hands seized me before I knew what to do. Her grip on the back of my neck was gentle but firm, and she soon hugged me against her bosom. I felt like I¡¯d been caught by a giant and let out a small screech of surprise.
¡°Please be quiet,¡± Eztli kindly whispered into my ear. ¡°Mother sleeps soundly. I would loathe to wake her up.¡±
Her words rang true as she carried me into her quarters and closed the door behind her. I heard Necahual¡¯s light snores in the distance, but it was my nose that bothered me the most. The stench of blood came straight from Eztli¡¯s own room. I caught a glimpse of its current occupant.
A naked woman lay on Eztli¡¯s bed with bloody bite marks on her neck.
Atziri.
She was barely breathing, her eyes were lost in a daze of pleasure. She reminded me of a drugged Nochtli the Fourteenth and his consorts when the priests dragged them all to the Blood Pyramid. From the smell of the cotton coverlets, Atziri¡¯s nakedness, and the thin red marks on her pale skin, she and Eztli did more than share a drink too.
This was a side of my consort that I never wished to see.
Eztli chuckled at me. She must have taken the look I sent her bed to one of fear.
¡°She¡¯s alive, kitten, worry not,¡± she said while caressing the back of my head. ¡°I won¡¯t eat you. My nights are long without Iztac to keep me warm, and my maid was kind enough to fill in.¡±
My heart sank with guilt. Eztli was under as much pressure as I was from the Nightlords, and though we loved one another my schemes and imperial duties demanded that I cavort with other women. I couldn¡¯t exactly blame Eztli for finding comfort where she could.
Nonetheless, the situation made me uncomfortable. Atziri didn¡¯t exactly have a choice in this¡ though she couldn¡¯t exactly deny me either. I prayed in my heart that this encounter had been consensual; that Eztli at least retained enough humanity not to force herself on a servant.
I hoped.
Eztli carried me to her mother¡¯s herbal laboratory and put me on a wooden desk covered in potions. A bowl on the desk was filled with a healing poultice which I recognized from my days in Acampa. Necahual used it to treat small wounds, like Atziri¡¯s. Eztli grabbed another container from a shelf, and then searched among the reserves for more.
The sheer number of smells present in the area overwhelmed my margay nose. However, one cut through them all: a putrid stench of tar and miasma which I had grown to despise. My eyes searched the darkness for its source, until I noticed a hole in a stone wall.
A secret passage lay half-open.
Eztli mustn¡¯t have bothered fully closing it when she returned from her reunion with the other Nightlords. What a perfect opportunity. If I could access their dark abode underground and place a skull there, then I would be able to spy on their meetings undetected.
I quickly feigned disinterest when Eztli returned to me. She settled on serving me a few unhatched eggs inside a bowl.
Obviously, I didn¡¯t touch them. My mouth was already full.
¡°Aren¡¯t you hungry?¡± Eztli asked me with a chuckle. ¡°Unless you visited me for the mere pleasure of my company?¡±
I tried to wag my tail. Dogs did that when they were happy, so I assume the same was true for a margay.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
I wasn¡¯t an animal person.
¡°Cute. Very cute.¡± Eztli smiled in genuine happiness and then lightly kissed my forehead. ¡°You are welcome to stay as long as you want, so long as you don¡¯t break anything.¡±
She feels alone, I realized. Eztli had always been a social girl back when we lived in Acampa, with plenty of friends to talk to besides me. The Nightlords robbed her of this pleasure. Her social circle didn¡¯t extend beyond her fellow consorts, mother, and handmaiden. I should offer her a pet of her own when I wake up.
Eztli continued to pet me for a few minutes and then focused back on the laboratory¡¯s herbs and potions. I used the opportunity to climb to the top of the shelves without knocking over any of the contents. I subtly spat out a skull while Eztli wasn¡¯t watching and placed it at a good angle. No one would notice it there.
So far so good.
I sat atop the shelf and watched Eztli do her work. I would just have to wait until she left the room to treat Atziri¡¯s wounds and then slip inside the secret passage to plant another miniature skull there. Five minutes in, five minutes out.
Eztli completed her poultice quickly enough. I expected her to leave the laboratory anytime now.
She didn¡¯t.
Much to my confusion, Eztli quickly glanced in the direction of her mother¡¯s room. She listened to Necahual¡¯s snores for a while, then began to browse the shelves again until she found a closed pot.
What is she doing? I¡¯d seen Necahual work on that healing remedy often enough to tell that she could apply it in its current state. I watched Eztli open the pot, which was filled with herbs I didn¡¯t recognize. I briefly wondered if she intended to add them to the mixture.
Instead, Eztli grabbed another container, poured the first one¡¯s content into it, and then put it back in its place. She replaced the first pot¡¯s herbs with a pinch she grabbed elsewhere then put the cover back on.
Was she rearranging her mother¡¯s potions?
It surprised me. Necahual was a talented healer. I¡¯d never seen her misclassify the herbs that she collected. And why would she need to confirm that her mother slept soundly before proceeding? Something wasn¡¯t right.
Eztli sensed my gaze on her back and put a finger on her lips. ¡°Shush,¡± she said with that mischievous smile of hers. ¡°This¡¯ll remain our little secret.¡±
Was Eztli tampering with her mother¡¯s potions? Why? Why would it take precedence over treating her own handmaiden?
Whatever her reason, I couldn¡¯t exactly ask her in my current state. Eztli sent me a wink, grabbed the poultice, and then left the laboratory to treat Atziri¡¯s wound. I waited for her to leave before stealthily inspecting the herbs and potions she switched around. I attempted to identify their purpose by smell and came up with nothing. All they did was to make my nostrils itchy.
What are you hiding from us, Eztli? I banished these thoughts from my mind. I will ask her myself tomorrow.
I soundlessly landed on the floor and approached the secret passage. Darkness so thick that my feline eyes couldn¡¯t pierce them faced me. I took a step down the steps of a narrow staircase.
I immediately felt as if I had crossed an invisible veil between life and death. The sinister stench of tar grew overwhelming. A terrible chill seized my flesh and caused my claws to emerge from my frozen flesh. Every animal instinct in my body screamed at me to turn back, back to the safety of the world above ground which sunlight could still reach.
Only the shadow of death awaited below.
Do your worst. I forced myself to climb down the stairs and immediately encountered resistance. My legs grew wearier, heavier. An invisible pressure swelled inside my bones and tried to push me back. This flesh rejects me.
Tetzon¡¯s suppressed soul was waking up inside me. His survival instincts took hold. He knew that the danger below threatened his short life.
I couldn¡¯t let a tiny feline¡¯s spirit beat mine.
Let me reach the bottom first. I used all of my willpower to keep Tetzon under my soul¡¯s thumb. Each new step forward became more of a chore. I¡¯ll spit the skull out and run back, I swear.
I pushed. I pushed, and pushed, and pushed, until I finally reached the bottom of the stars. A den of shadows sprawled out ahead of me, colder and darker than the blackest of nights. My whiskers strained as they detected tension in the air.
Two malicious red eyes snapped open.
A giant hand closed on me before I could even blink. Thick sharp claws gripped Tetzon¡¯s body the way a man would squeeze a fine fruit. I was so startled by the sudden pressure that I swallowed the skulls I kept in my mouth. They got stuck in my throat and caused me to cough in pain.
Tetzon¡¯s soul screeched in fear inside my skin as our shared flesh was lifted upward. To my horror, a second pair of crimson eyes opened in the shadows right next to the first. I barely distinguished the outline of vague shapes in the thick darkness: giant folded wings, sharp-clawed feet clinching to the stone ceiling, and inhuman faces with batlike snouts.
Nightkin. At least two of them.
Damn it. Had they always been there, observing me whenever I walked through those tunnels? Unseen assassins ready to fall on me if I showed the slightest hint of treachery whenever I visited their mistresses? If so, I¡¯d never detected them.
¡°Is something wrong, Fjor?¡± one of the Nightkin asked.
Fjor?
The name sounded vaguely familiar, though I was too surprised to recall it.
¡°I¡¯ve caught an intruder, Kame,¡± my captor said with a sweet male voice worthy of a trained singer. His ruby eye glowed like the Scarlet Moon before the yearly sacrifice, and Tetzon¡¯s soul went silent with fear. ¡°You¡¯ve wandered farther than you should have, fur ball.¡±
¡°It came from the upstart¡¯s quarters,¡± the other replied with heavy disdain. News of Yoloxochitl¡¯s replacement had spread among the vampiric aristocracy. ¡°Must be her pet.¡±
¡°Such a pity.¡± A flicker of venomous hatred glittered in my captor¡¯s gaze. ¡°We were ordered to slay anyone venturing down there without authorization, weren¡¯t we?¡±
The other Nightkin let out a dark, gleeful giggle. ¡°We were indeed.¡±
My body tensed up as my captor squeezed it. Although I knew my soul wouldn¡¯t perish with this vessel, I prayed to the gods to show Tetzon mercy.
The heavens remained silent, as they always did.
¡°I smell your fear, furball,¡± my captor said, so sweetly, so softly. ¡°Such a delightfully complex flavor of dread and terror.¡±
Sets of fangs sharper than swords flashed in the dark.
¡°I must deepen it.¡±
My last memory was the painful feeling of teeth closing on my neck.
I woke up alive in the house of the dead.
Tetzon¡¯s murder jolted my soul back into my body with such strength that my head ended up hitting a wall. Pain surged in the back of my skull, and a scroll fell from its shelf and onto my lap.
¡°Is everything all right, my son?¡± Father called out to me on the other side of a door, his words heavy with concern. ¡°I heard a noise.¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine, Father,¡± I lied while massaging my throat. I still retained the phantom pain of Tetzon¡¯s head being severed from his shoulders. His demise had been as swift as it was brutal. ¡°My spell didn¡¯t go as I¡¯d hoped.¡±
Father and Mother had granted me a small room for my use inside their sanctuary: a tidy chamber that combined a basic living space with its own workshop, library, workbench, and fireplace. The phantom flames radiating from the latter hardly lit up my dark mood.
I glanced at my ribs and the names I¡¯d marked on them. I could now add Tetzon¡¯s to the list of souls sacrificed on my secret war¡¯s altar. At least the Nightkin who slew him swallowed my skulls alongside his head.
I will never forget that sick gulping sound.
¡°I¡¯m, uh, sorry to hear that,¡± Father replied. His lack of understanding when it came to spellcasting embarrassed him. ¡°Is it fine if I come in?¡±
¡°Yes, yes.¡± I quickly put the scroll back on its shelf. ¡°I¡¯m done for now.¡±
Father entered my ¡®bedroom¡¯ with a thick scroll under his arm. ¡°I think I¡¯ve found what you were looking for, or close to it,¡± he said before reading the document¡¯s title. ¡°Forty ways to sorcery and sacred numbers, by Tlamatini Cuauhtli Aztin.¡±
I¡¯d never heard of this scholar, but Mother wouldn¡¯t keep this book in her library if it didn¡¯t contain interesting information. I seized the scroll and quickly browsed its table of contents. It appeared to list different forms of witchcraft associated with different cultures, including Mometzcopinques and numerology. Reading it would improve my knowledge of the field and let me incorporate it into my spellcasting.
¡°Thank you, Father,¡± I thanked him with a smile. This gift helped soothe my wounded pride. ¡°Is Mother out of her workshop yet?¡±
¡°Unfortunately, no.¡± Father scratched his skull. ¡°She does that sometimes when she hits a breakthrough. I¡¯ll try to drag her out of her den.¡±
¡°No need.¡± The night was well underway, so I doubted I would have time to train with her anyway before I woke up. ¡°I need to consult the previous emperors on our next move.¡±
¡°Well, if I can do anything my son, I¡¯ll be happy to assist.¡± Father crossed his arms. ¡°Have you told Nenetl the truth?¡±
¡°Not yet.¡± Between my meeting with Lahun, my training, and the preparations for my imperial tour, I simply couldn¡¯t spare the time. Not to mention that I still wondered how¡ªand if¡ªI should broach the subject with Nenetl at all. ¡°I swear that I¡¯ll try.¡±
¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to push you. I just want the two of you to be happy.¡± Father quickly excused himself. ¡°I¡¯ll go check on your mother.¡±
I thanked Father with a small smile. These small exchanges meant little in the great scheme of things, but they helped clear my mind nonetheless. They let me experience the illusion of normalcy for a brief instant.
I set the scroll aside for a moment and reviewed the details of tonight¡¯s excursion. I doubted that Tetzon¡¯s death, while regrettable, would bring much attention; pets allowed to wander around unsupervised often put themselves in harm¡¯s way. I¡¯d also learned that Nightkin actively patrolled the secret passages and slew any intruder they found there, even animals. Their mistresses must have enforced that rule after the false Sapa debacle. The possibility of hiding a skull in the tunnels undetected seemed beyond my reach for now.
That Nightkin¡¯s name bothered me too. I could swear I¡¯d heard it somewhere¡
Fjor, Fjor, Fjor¡ I searched my memory for its source, until the souvenir returned to me like a bolt of lightning. Ingrid¡¯s brother.
The flame of my heart wavered inside my chest. A Nightkin bore the name of Lady Sigrun¡¯s missing son. It could be a coincidence, but who was I kidding? Nothing was a coincidence with the Nightlords.
The story of Ingrid¡¯s brother had remained a mystery for me, one intimately linked to whatever fate befell the emperors¡¯ sons. Had he been transformed into a Nightkin instead of joining the army, as his mother pretended?
It was certainly a terrible fate that I didn¡¯t wish on anyone else, but hardly one that warranted such secrecy.
Unless¡ unless Fjor was chosen because he was an emperor¡¯s son. The thought gnawed at me the more I considered it. One of my predecessors likely fathered Eztli with Necahual by taking his first night too¡ and Yoloxochitl said she came from a purebred stock¡
The other Nightlords were surprised that Eztli could become a Nightkin at all when their sister claimed her too. Could it mean that they couldn¡¯t turn just anyone into a vampire? Did the sisters require a specific criteria to¨C
I felt as if I had been struck by lightning.
The pieces suddenly fell into place and the sinister truth dawned upon me. It took hold of my mind with its claws and refused to let go. My eyes widened in horror. My blood turned to ice as I struggled to process it all.
I tried to tell myself as I was imagining things, that there had to be a better explanation, but it made too much sense. The imperial breeding program, the secrecy, the Nightlords¡¯ comments, their sick ritual...
¡°So that¡¯s how it is¡¡± A terrible headache seized me, my hands gripping my skull as sweat dripped off it. ¡°They cannot choose¡¡±
The Nightlords didn¡¯t choose to transform the emperors¡¯ children into Nightkin servants by happenstance or out of personal preferences.
They simply couldn¡¯t transform anyone else.
The truth had been right in front of me from the very start. The Nightlords were the First Emperor¡¯s children. The dark god spread the vampiric curse to them alone, consecrating their place as mistresses of the night. As far as I knew, he had blessed none other with his malevolent gift.
Only the emperor¡¯s children could become vampires. That was their divine privilege; their birthright, which no mortal could usurp.
By embodying the First Emperor in the eyes of gods and men, my predecessors and I carried that duty on our shoulders. Our seed would bloom into poisonous flowers that the Nightlords could pluck and corrupt as they saw fit.
I recalled the sight of the hundreds of Nightkin that gathered to witness the Sulfur Sun¡¯s aborted birth. They were Yohuachanca¡¯s lost princes; the undying imperial aristocracy which had ruled the empire since its first nights, while their mortal sisters served the harem as breeding stock.
I was the latest link in a chain of harm; the victim meant to father his successors¡¯ future tormentors.
And I likely had one or two on the way already.
My heart-fire shone bright with the flame of anger. A well of fury swelled from within me, its flames burning the horror and the disgust until only hatred and resentment remained; not only for the Nightlords who had created this hideous system, but the people who had kept this truth away from me.
My mind cleared of all fear, I raised a hand and manifested a skull in the palm of my hand. I called upon the Legion to summon my predecessors¡¯ gestalt spirit and glared into their shining eyes.
¡°Why?¡± I rasped, both out of anger and disappointment. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡±
The skull¡¯s eyes glowed with ghostfire, and countless voices answered me in unified sorrow. ¡°You weren¡¯t ready.¡±
¡°Not ready?¡± My jaw clenched so hard that my teeth started to hurt. ¡°I am meant to father vampires, and I promised Chikal that I would help her raise a future broodmother!¡±
¡°And had you known, that alliance would have never happened,¡± the skull replied calmly. How long had these old souls rehearsed this discussion? ¡°You would have disdained your consorts and concubines, refused to play the Nightlords¡¯ game, and in doing so, forfeited your chance to win it.¡±
Do not trust the skulls, the wind had warned me once. They keep secrets from you.
I knew deep within my heart that something like this would happen one day, but it still hurt with the sharp sting of betrayal. My grip on the skull grew so strong that it began to crack under the pressure.
¡°We apologize for keeping this secret from you, but we had no choice,¡± the Parliament said. Their excuses sounded halfway sincere, but they did little to quell my wrath. ¡°You are the latest link in a twisted chain of incest, familicide, and murder that stretches on for over six centuries. Yohuachanca must be destroyed, whatever the cost. You needed to understand this first.¡±
¡°Is that all that I am to you?¡± I sneered in bitterness. ¡°A tool to be deceived and shaped as you see fit?¡±
¡°Do you think you are the first to have learned the truth, Iztac Ce Ehecatl?¡± The light in the skull¡¯s eyes flickered. ¡°Some of us refused to participate too. The Nightlords beat us, drugged us, twisted us¡ Compliance is never an option without power.¡±
¡°On that, we agree, my predecessors,¡± I replied with cold determination. ¡°And you only wield as much power as I allow you to.¡±
Part of me knew that they had a point. The old me wouldn¡¯t have had the mental fortitude nor maturity to deal with this revelation, and I would have likely blown away useful resources and chances.
But I refused to be manipulated by anyone. Gods, Nightlords, ghosts, fate, I couldn¡¯t care less. Their reasons, well-intentioned or not, did not matter to me in the slightest. I bowed to no one.
¡°Let me make myself clear.¡± I gathered my breath and regained my composure. ¡°I am your first hope in over half a millennium to escape this prison of bone you¡¯ve been trapped inside. I am not your puppet. I am the Tlacatecolotl, the owl-fiend, and sower of death. I will continue to collaborate with you because of the invaluable help you¡¯ve provided me in the past and because our goals align, but you will not keep anything from me ever again.¡±
I brought the skull closer to my face and glared at the ancient emperors.
¡°Do you understand?¡± I asked them.
¡°We do.¡± The Parliament let out a small sigh. ¡°We apologize, our successor. We truly do respect you, and we are grateful for all that you have done on our behalf.¡±
I scoffed. ¡°If so, then you should have told me the truth.¡±
¡°Do you think it was easy for us to keep this secret?¡± The skull rattled in sorrow. ¡°These are our children that we are asking you to kill. Our descendants, many of whom we have raised and loved until the Nightlords twisted them.¡±
A brief surge of compassion broke through the sea of my cold fury. I could see how it shamed them to tell me the truth. Yohuachanca¡¯s history had been nothing more than a long battle between kinslayers since the Nightlords betrayed their own father. Sons and daughters murdering their parents again and again in an endless cycle of slaughter.
I couldn¡¯t have been the only emperor to fear for his children¡¯s safety. And unlike myself, many of my predecessors failed to protect their progeniture.
¡°You are right, our successor,¡± the Parliament admitted. ¡°You have exceeded all of our expectations, and we treated you as a child in need of guidance rather than as an equal. We shall not hide anything again.¡±
That remained to be seen. ¡°Then answer my questions, ghosts. Are all your male children Nightkin?¡±
¡°Only the lucky ones are embraced,¡± the skull whispered in response, confirming my hypothesis. ¡°Or the unlucky ones, depending on your point of view. The Nightlords mostly select promising males and keep the females as imperial breeding stock.¡±
¡°How does this relate to the Blood Pyramid?¡± I inquired. ¡°You said that I would learn the secrets of your sons¡¯ fate there. What are the Nightlords doing there besides tending to their father¡¯s corpse?¡±
For a brief moment, the skull remained silent as a tomb. I sensed that the emperors¡¯ spirits pondered whether they should answer me or not, but to their credit they did stay true to their word.
¡°The failures.¡± I could taste the fear in the Parliament¡¯s many voices. ¡°That is where they keep the failures.¡±
Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Cloak of Luck
A tense silence briefly fell upon my room as I processed my predecessors¡¯ words.
¡°The failures?¡± I repeated in disbelief. ¡°Of what?¡±
¡°Of the embrace,¡± my predecessors replied with a small, weak voice. ¡°The Nightlords do not always succeed in siring a new vampire. Sometimes, the curse¡ does not behave as it should. The princes become¡ things.
A picture of the First Emperor¡¯s silent, undead spawns flashed in my mind.
A chill traveled down my spine as I began to put the various pieces of information together. Why would the Nightlords require a breeding program if any child of an emperor could become a Nightkin? Why bother selecting the harem¡¯s women among past princesses and interesting candidates when they should all work?
They¡¯re trying to create a perfect bloodline. A breed of beautiful, healthy livestock whose embrace will always result in a vampire. The idea sickened me. Will my descendants improve the crop further?
¡°What kind of¡¡± My jaw tightened on its own. ¡°Things?¡±
¡°Horrors similar to the Nightchildren, those that know only how to feed,¡± the Parliament replied grimly. ¡°The Nightlords imprison them deep within the Blood Pyramid¡¯s stone bowels.¡±
¡°Imprison?¡± I frowned in surprise. ¡°They don¡¯t destroy them?¡±
¡°We do not know what they use them for, for none of us could ever infiltrate the lower levels.¡± The skull let out a sorrowful rattle. ¡°We can wager a guess, however. The Nightlords sealed their dark sire¡¯s corpse in this tomb, and if they gather his descendants there¨C¡±
¡°Then the Nightlords must use them to strengthen the seal somehow,¡± I guessed, a scowl of disgust spreading on my face. ¡°They sacrifice these failed vampires to the First Emperor, or worse.¡±
How many of these horrors did the Nightlords¡¯ sick breeding program produce? Thousands? Tens of thousands? I shuddered to imagine how many of them I would find in the Blood Pyramid¡¯s depths.
As horrifying and disgusting as these revelations might have been, they only strengthened my resolve to find a cure for the vampiric curse. Not only for Eztli¡¯s sake, but also for Fjor and the other lost princes of Yohuachanca. Ingrid, Necahual, and the previous emperors didn¡¯t deserve to see their kin turned into monsters.
No one deserved a vampire in their family.
¡°Does Ingrid know?¡± I asked, my voice wavering. ¡°About her brother?¡±
¡°No,¡± the Parliament replied. ¡°We suspect that Lady Sigrun learned the truth though.¡±
¡°And she still chose to partake in the program to save her own life.¡± The Nightlords took her son, turned her daughter into a bed slave destined to die, and then murdered her on a whim. Those monsters corrupted all that they touched. ¡°Does anything remain of Fjor inside that monster¡¯s skin?¡±
¡°He retains as much humanity as your own consort.¡±
A picture of Atziri bleeding in Eztli¡¯s bed flashed vividly in my head. I couldn¡¯t tell whether my predecessors meant these words to reassure or frighten me. Eztli was a mere shadow of what she used to be; a ghost mimicking her time among the living.
Was Fjor in a similar state? Did he haunt his sisters¡¯ steps, vainly attempting to recall a time when his heart used to beat for them? Did he still harbor a flicker of affection I could use to get through him?
An idea crossed my mind.
¡°The skulls I¡¯ve set,¡± I said. ¡°Can you see through them?¡±
¡°We can, our successor,¡± the Parliament confirmed, the ghostfire in their eyes shining brighter than ever. ¡°One observes the palace¡¯s gates on your behalf. Another stands on your consort¡¯s shelf. The rest are stuck inside the Nightkin¡¯s stomach, or so we would assume¡¡±
¡°So you can roughly tell me where Fjor is for the moment.¡± How long would it take for a Nightkin to digest a pair of bird-sized skulls? ¡°Can you hear anything interesting?¡±
¡°We are afraid not.¡± The skull let out a sound that could pass for a sigh. ¡°We will spare you the details of a Nightkin¡¯s bowel movements.¡±
A shame, but I expected as much. I doubted that Iztacoatl would suspect anything unless she gutted Fjor open from chin to groin, so my secret should remain safe for now.
My room¡¯s door opened. I immediately knew who was visiting me before I even looked at them. My father always knocked, but Mother never bothered with rudimentary politeness.
¡°I see that you didn¡¯t waste time, my son,¡± Mother said upon catching a glimpse of my new book. ¡°Excellent pick. I hold Lord Atzin¡¯s works in high esteem.¡±
¡°Father found it for me,¡± I replied. Mother bore a wide smile on her lips, which greatly worried me. Her joy reeked of sinister schemes. ¡°Is he another one of your bound scholars?¡±
I expected Mother to frown at my remark, but her good mood proved unshakable. ¡°I wish he was. Alas, his soul has long fallen into eternal sleep and merged with Mictlan. I could never find it.¡±
¡°A scholar lives on through their works, and the lessons that they teach the living,¡± the Parliament noted.
¡°A poor substitute for true immortality, but one that few ever achieved.¡± Mother waved her hand and invited me to follow her. ¡°Enough wasting time, Iztac. Your father will entertain our guests while I oversee your training.¡±
Entertain? I had come to associate the word with dancers, singers, and concubines over my imperial tenure, but I doubted my parents indulged in these pleasures. I soon left my room to discover that Father had set up a strange board game on the main hall¡¯s table. Lines of tiny stone soldiers stood on opposing sides of a checkered field. I counted sixty-four squares, while the pieces were a motley crew of watchtowers, footsmen, and trihorn riders.
¡°We do not recognize this game,¡± the Parliament commented. And neither did I.
¡°The Burned Men played it at the height of their civilization,¡± Mother explained. ¡°I believe they called it the ¡®Game of Kings.¡¯¡±
¡°It¡¯s pretty fun,¡± Father said with a chuckle. ¡°Though it didn¡¯t catch on with my wife.¡±
¡°It is not that I dislike it, Itzili,¡± Mother replied with bemusement. ¡°I simply don¡¯t have the time to play yet.¡±
¡°I await that moment with impatience,¡± Father replied with a laugh before waving his hand at the other side of the board. ¡°I would assume Your Majesties would welcome some distraction. I can move pieces on your behalf.¡±
¡°We would appreciate the gesture,¡± the Parliament replied. I moved their skull to the other side of the table, then left with Mother. I last heard Father explaining that the game¡¯s goal involved capturing the enemy¡¯s king, or something similar. Perhaps I would introduce it to Nenetl after learning how to play it.
Part of me still resented the Parliament of Skulls for keeping the truth hidden from me for so long, but my anger had cooled down enough for me to assess the matter rationally. My predecessors made a bad call out of misplaced caution. I¡¯d committed too many mistakes myself to judge them too harshly.
Moreover, the Parliament offered me more support than any of my other allies so far. I wouldn¡¯t have gotten half as far as I did without their help. So long as they stayed true to their promise of treating me as an equal with their complete trust, I would let bygones be bygones.
I had too much on my plate already to hold on to pointless grudges.
¡°I often wonder where your father¡¯s obsession with board games came from,¡± Mother mused as she led me deeper into her sanctuary. ¡°He already insisted on teaching me Patolli when he courted me.¡±
¡°Strategy games sharpen the mind,¡± I replied. ¡°And games of chance teach us to make the best of what we have.¡±
¡°I suppose there is some truth to it,¡± Mother replied with a thin smile as she guided me through dark corridors. ¡°But a true sorcerer creates their own luck, and I shall teach you how today.¡±
My eyes widened with excitement. Her wording couldn¡¯t be a coincidence. ¡°Will you teach me the Cloak spell at last?¡±
¡°After reviewing your fundamentals,¡± Mother confirmed. ¡°A sorcerer who has mastered ten spells will always prevail over the one who has merely learned a hundred.¡±
Our journey ended in a vaulted hall overcome by a low sheet of violet mist. The gas spewed from four rounded pools of purple liquid at each corner, where whorls of light glowed on their peaceful surface. A complex, spiraling mosaic of obsidian mirrors covered both the floor and ceiling. This place radiated power and focused it like a greenhouse.
¡°Are those Chalchiuhtlicue¡¯s tears?¡± I asked Mother upon checking the pond¡¯s waters.
She nodded in confirmation. ¡°I brought them back with me from the Underworld¡¯s first layer to study their properties. I hoped to harness sorcerous power from them.¡±
¡°Did you succeed?¡±
¡°Somewhat. These pools improved my divinations¡¯ efficiency when combined with obsidian mirrors, but the results fell short of my expectations.¡± Mother approached the water¡¯s surface and gently touched it with her hand. The sight of the spreading ripples seemed to amuse her. ¡°They allow me to observe the world of the living nonetheless, so they do have their uses.¡±
¡°You seem quite chirpy today, Mother,¡± I commented. I¡¯d only caught her smiling in happiness when she reunited with Father, yet she acted eerily delighted so far. ¡°What has happened?¡±
¡°You happened, my son. Your work on the Legion spell helped me solve a certain conundrum.¡± Mother looked at the purple water dripping down her fingers. ¡°I believe that I already mentioned trying to refine the Ride spell into a permanent soul transfer.¡±
My jaw tightened. I knew that this discussion would lead to dark places. ¡°You did.¡±
¡°Your Legion spell might hold the key to its completion,¡± Mother explained. ¡°Exploiting the curse that binds the emperors¡¯ souls together to let them possess an extension of your own bones was a clever move, and one that I might be able to replicate.¡±
I didn¡¯t like the implications. At all. ¡°You wish to put a curse on yourself?¡±
¡°Nothing so self-defeating. My point, Iztac, is that my spell needs a strong spiritual connection between the host and the vessel that will let sorcery treat them as one and the same.¡± Mother stroked her chin, her gaze lost in the purple waters. ¡°A common totem, a shared destiny, maybe a bloodline or close kinship.¡±
I recoiled in revulsion at her last word. That one hit too close to home.
Mother noticed my expression and swiftly tried to downplay the horror of her statement. ¡°Do not put words in my mouth, my son. I would never use this spell on our family. This is purely hypothetical.¡±
¡°Is it?¡± I retorted, my voice dripping with disdain. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t mind testing it out on a stranger then, would you?¡±
Mother held my gaze. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you, if it could extend your life beyond a year?¡±
Her comment hit me like a slap, doubtlessly since she was probably right. I wouldn¡¯t use this spell against my kin¡ªI couldn¡¯t justify that to myself¡ªbut I¡¯d already possessed someone and compelled him to commit suicide. I was very much capable of stealing a stranger¡¯s life for victory.
The more I contemplated Mother¡¯s idea, the more difficult it became to deny the potential tactical benefits. Transferring my soul to another body for a longer duration than the Ride spell without sacrificing my spellcasting would let me plan in safety and security, use magic without the risk of discovery, plot against the Nightlords¡
Still, I couldn¡¯t run away while leaving Eztli, Necahual, Ingrid, Nenetl, and the others at the vampires¡¯ mercy. Nor could I continue to let their atrocities unfold. At this point, nothing short of the Nightlords¡¯ destruction would satisfy my lust for revenge and justice.
¡°Do not speak of bloodlines, Mother,¡± I said after calming down. There lay the true source of my anger. ¡°I am not in the mood right now.¡±
Mother looked at me with what could pass for genuine sympathy. ¡°Now you understand why I ran away from the Nightlords. I couldn¡¯t stand to participate in Yohuachanca¡¯s dance of kinslaying.¡±
Instead, she let me fill in for her. ¡°Were you listening in on our conversation?¡±
¡°Nothing in these halls escapes my notice, my son.¡± Mother turned away and avoided my gaze. ¡°Train with all your heart, and then one day you will grow strong enough to protect those you care for.¡±
Like you did? The question died on the tip of my tongue. Mother¡¯s words carried no hint of disdain and patronizing contempt, only grim factuality. Father insisted that I should treat her more with an open mind. I guess it doesn¡¯t hurt to try.
¡°Is that why you fled?¡± I asked her. ¡°Because you didn¡¯t feel you were strong enough to protect us?¡±
¡°I do not feel, I know.¡± Mother angrily crossed her arms, her nails sinking into her flesh. ¡°If I could break the curse on your heart-fire and destroy the Nightlords with a snap of my fingers without fearing retaliation, my son, then I would.¡±
Her fury sounded genuine enough. It still made me bitter that she wouldn¡¯t put her own safety at risk, but I appreciated her concern.
¡°Enough prattling,¡± Mother said before changing the subject. She didn¡¯t like anything that reminded her of her weakness. ¡°Even if I manage to complete my soul transfer spell, it would be a temporary measure to gain time until we reach godhood; and we would need to remove the Nightlords¡¯ hold on your soul first anyway. If you truly wish to lift the vampiric curse, then collect the First Emperor¡¯s codices and gather the dead suns¡¯ embers.¡±
¡°That, I shall,¡± I promised. ¡°Before we begin our lesson, however, I would like your opinion on a few subjects. I have been trying to recruit allies and bolster their powers.¡±
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Mother didn¡¯t hide her contempt. ¡°Your magical training should take precedence over those petty surface intrigues.¡±
¡°I intend to join both.¡± Now was the time to question Mother on her esoteric knowledge. ¡°I will put recruits through the Mometzcopinque ritual.¡±
¡°You wish to create a witch coven dedicated to you, my son?¡± Mother shrugged. ¡°I know of that spell, though I have never bothered to cast it. Sharing power dilutes it.¡±
I expected as much. ¡°So far, I¡¯ve learned that only women born on the first day of the Rain month can partake in it."
¡°You assume wrong,¡± Mother replied with a snort. ¡°The Mometzcopinque ritual is associated with the five western trecenas: the first days of the Eagle, Deer, Monkey, House, and Rain months. Any woman born then can be subjected to the transformation.¡±
Interesting. I folded that bit of information away for later use. ¡°Can I have more than one sworn to me?¡±
¡°You can have as many as you can support, in theory at least,¡± Mother conceded. ¡°However, you would be wise not to dilute your power too much. You cannot use magic that you loaned in a pinch. Four servants should be your maximum, if you insist on this foolish path. Four is a magical number strong in the occult. It will help mitigate your loss of power.¡±
I already had half that number''s worth of candidates in mind, though one issue remained. ¡°I have learned of the ritual¡¯s¡¡± I struggled to find the right euphemism. ¡°Specific steps. Is there no way to skip them?¡±
¡°Not that I know of.¡± Mother squinted at me in judgment. ¡°You of all people should know more than anyone that magic should be earned through blood and sweat, my son. If these would-be witches are unwilling to risk their lives for our power, then they never deserved it in the first place.¡±
I supposed there was some truth to her statement. However, that meant that I would need to consider the logistics involved. Testing the ritual on Lahun required that I isolate her for a while with no interruption, and a way to dispose of the corpse should it fail.
¡°You should be able to bind one Mometzcopinque to yourself, but you would need more embers if you seek to increase your coven¡¯s numbers,¡± Mother advised. ¡°Even then, I suggest you reconsider. Allies aren¡¯t worth weakening yourself.¡±
¡°Quantity is a quality of its own, Mother,¡± I replied. My mind was set. I would put Lahun through the ritual at the first opportunity. ¡°But let¡¯s move on. My other question concerned the Nightkin.¡±
Mother tensed up and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Go on.¡±
At least she seemed concerned. ¡°What would happen if a Nightkin consumed part of my body?¡±
¡°Like your blood?¡±
¡°Like my enchanted bones,¡± I corrected her before providing more details. ¡°A Nightkin unknowingly ingested two skulls marked by my Legion spell. The chances that they track the incident back to me are slim, but I wondered if I could somehow exploit it. Do you think this incident would let me cast the Ride spell on him without alerting the Nightlords?¡±
¡°An interesting query.¡± Mother stroked her chin and thoughtfully pondered my question. ¡°The Ride spell won¡¯t work on a creature that lacks a Teyolia to subsume, but the Legion allows specters to see through your eyes¡¡±
¡°We think along the same lines.¡± With luck, I hoped to turn Fjor¡¯s intervention into a blessing in disguise. ¡°You mentioned that feeding my blood to an animal familiar would eventually allow me to see through their eyes, and that the Nightlords use a more potent version of this process to bind their priests.¡±
¡°And by ingesting bones marked with your Legion spell, your Nightkin has made them part of his body.¡±
A smile spread on my lips. ¡°So do you think that I could see through his eyes with the Legion?"
¡°You would need to modify the spell slightly, and that version will likely require your direct intervention rather than offloading it onto the skulls, but yes, I believe it is possible.¡± Mother pointed at her pools. ¡°You may use this room to practice at your leisure.¡±
I graciously accepted her offer with a sharp nod. Being able to see through a Nightkin¡¯s eyes¡ªeven if I couldn¡¯t control their movements¡ªwould certainly be a boon to my efforts.
Afterward, Mother had me showcase my spells. I summoned Bonecrafted arm-blades, breathed fire with the Blaze, wove Veils on the purple mist, shaped Curses with my vile words, and lifted stones with the Doll to showcase my strength. Mother studied me attentively and provided advice on minor things, such as focusing on density over length when creating bones or small tips to improve my Veils by targeting underused senses such as smell and taste. Overall though, she had little to say on my technique.
¡°You possess a strong magical intuition, my son,¡± she complimented me. ¡°Your grasp on spellcasting borders on the instinctual.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°Are you proud of me, Mother?¡±
¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± she replied with a shrug. ¡°You are now ready to learn stronger spells.¡±
¡°You could have taught me a few earlier,¡± I pointed out. I would have gladly learned Bonecraft without sacrificing a toe to the Rattling House¡¯s biting cold.
¡°I couldn¡¯t.¡± Mother glanced at her reflection in one of the pools¡¯ waters. ¡°The Lords of Terror fetched a high price for their knowledge and sanctuary. I have sworn oaths preventing me from passing on certain spells without their express permission.¡±
Ah, of course. The Lords of Terror wanted to train demons and dangerous sorcerers who would use their gifts to sow the fear that fueled their existence onto others. Why allow their knowledge to spread to good-natured individuals who would offer less harmful alternatives? Restricting access to their spells forced ambitious visitors to pay them homage. I¡¯ll likely need to swear a similar oath to escape Xibalba.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t have taught you everything anyway,¡± Mother said. ¡°Sorcery is more than pretty spells; it is a mindset. I will not spoil you with free gifts. You must earn and take everything that you have. Only then will you grow strong and clever.¡±
I scoffed. ¡°Have I earned the Cloak spell then?¡±
¡°You have.¡± Mother joined her hands and gathered her breath. ¡°Whereas the Yaotzin is fueled by curses and associated with the cruel Tezcatlipoca, the Ehecatl is fueled by kind words and beholden to wise Quetzalcoatl. Casting the Cloak requires an exchange of blessings.¡±
¡°Can it blow in this den of nightmares?¡± I asked in skepticism. Besides Xibalba being a realm of immortal terrors, Mother¡¯s sanctuary was located deep underground.
¡°The winds reach everywhere, but some places require more effort. If you succeed in casting the Cloak in my home, then you will be able to do so anywhere.¡±
¡°Very well then. I¡¯ll bite.¡± I imitated Mother¡¯s hand gestures. ¡°Must I spill my blood like with the Augury spell?¡±
Mother shook her head. ¡°Unlike the Yaotzin, the Ehecatl does not crave violence. Swear an oath to the wind to protect and make another person happier. Deliver on it, and the wind shall reward you with its protection.¡±
¡°That¡¯s all?¡± That sounded quite lenient compared to the Yaotzin¡¯s toll in blood and information.
¡°Trust is what happens when words meet action,¡± Mother replied. ¡°Stay true to your oaths and the Ehecatl shall give you the benefit of the doubt.¡±
I narrowed my eyes at her. ¡°What did you promise the wind back when you first showed me the Cloak spell?¡±
¡°Can¡¯t you tell, my son?¡± My question amused Mother. ¡°I swore that I would teach you magic.¡±
Of course she would extract payment for something that she would have done for free. Her sheer moxie drew a smirk out of me. I took a deep breath, considered a few oaths that wouldn¡¯t bind my hand too much, and then quickly came up with a good option. The one I already intended to proceed with.
Like mother, like son.
¡°I swear I shall one day tell Nenetl my true feelings, oh divine Ehecatl,¡± I swore under my breath. ¡°So that our friendship may rest on secure foundations.¡±
That was something I wished to do anyway, and ¡®one day¡¯ should give me a lot of leeway. True feelings didn¡¯t mean the full truth either; simply reminding her of my guilt would suffice in satisfying the promise¡¯s wording.
A tension arose in the air for a brief instant; a subtle current like a faint jolt of lightning coursing through the chamber. An invisible pressure built up underground, and a sharp silence fell upon us.
Then a storm blew inside the vault.
A mighty gust blew into the chamber, snapping open its doors and dissipating the purple haze in the blink of an eye. So great was its strength that it pushed Mother back and nearly caused her to stumble into one of the pools.
I recalled the last time I¡¯d seen her cast the Cloak. The faint breeze Mother summoned back there couldn¡¯t compare to the tornado coiling around me. A heavy storm with the strength to shatter a house formed around me, repelling Xibalba¡¯s curse-ridden air and blowing away the dust over my clothes. An impenetrable wall of wind shielded me from harm.
I was the heart of a hurricane.
I expected to be thrown away like a ragdoll too, but the eye of the storm proved kind to me. The wind gently flowed over me with a parent¡¯s loving embrace. It whispered kind words in my ear with a thousand voices.
¡°Praise be the Dawnbringer¡¡± They sang. ¡°Bless the Godspeaker, master of the universe¡¡± ¡°Thank you, Emperor Iztac¡¡±
A storm of sincere prayers overwhelmed my ears. A million words of gratitude became a wind that could shake the world. I breathed the very essence of zeal and worship made air.
The tornado gently carried Mother¡¯s words to my ears.
¡°I don¡¯t understand¡¡± For the first time since I¡¯d reconnected with her, her voice shook with utter disbelief. ¡°How is it so powerful?¡±
¡°Can¡¯t you guess, Mother?¡± I laughed as the wind gently coiled around me. ¡°They think that I will save the world.¡±
The Nightlords had fed their people a steady diet of imperial propaganda after the New Fire Ceremony debacle. What had been a failed attempt to raise a sulfur sun had become a heroic tale of a Godspeaker pleading with the heavens to spare mankind from punishment for their sins; and succeeding.
Millions of voices besieged by darkness now thanked me for sparing them an even worse fate. However fake the debt they owed, their gratitude was pure and true. This wind was their praise given form.
It was intoxicating, to be so praised after a lifetime of scorn. My joy at this flow of positivity was only matched by my amusement at the deceit from which it sprang. My heart swelled with confidence. Listening to prayers and worship made me feel invincible. They believed that I could do anything, and so I did.
I could get used to this.
¡°Go on, Mother,¡± I said, my quiet words strengthened into a thunderous boom by the storm. ¡°Strike this faithful shield of mine, if you dare.¡±
Mother hesitated for a brief moment, then answered my challenge. She summoned the Doll¡¯s talons of darkness and attempted to pierce through my hurricane. The wind formed an impenetrable wall into which her claws tried to sink. She pressed with all of her strength and barely progressed an inch. Her growing frustration amused me. I didn¡¯t doubt that she possessed other spells that could pierce through my Cloak, but brute force alone wouldn¡¯t suffice.
¡°You wondered why I spent time on petty intrigues instead of focusing on magical knowledge alone,¡± I reminded her. ¡°But as you can see, both feed into one another.¡±
¡°An impressive display,¡± Mother conceded after recalling her talons in defeat. ¡°Neither arrows nor swords will get past this wall. Stronger projectiles might, but it will weaken them nonetheless.¡±
That detail alone could make the difference between life and death.
¡°Can this spell be used for offense too?¡± I pondered out loud. I raised a hand at a wall and tried to blow it with a strong gust, yet the Cloak refused to bend my way.
Mother quickly crushed my hopes. ¡°The Ehecatl is the wind of fortune. It does not harm, unlike the Yaotzin. It only protects.¡±
¡°All I hear is that you can use the Yaotzin to attack someone.¡±
¡°In theory,¡± Mother confirmed. ¡°Though I have never succeeded in earning more than cruel knowledge from the Augury. The winds of chaos would exact far too great a toll for the potential reward.¡±
¡°For you, mayhaps,¡± I replied. The Yaotzin was born of hurtful words and curses. Many praised Yohuachanca¡¯s emperor, and quite a few loathed him.
If Yohuachanca¡¯s prayers of gratitude fueled my Cloak, would the Sapa Empire¡¯s curses give birth to a new spell? The thought gnawed at me. My intuition told me that there was a possibility to exploit, an untapped well of power waiting to be uncovered.
As for the Ehecatl, I pondered if its inability to harm only applied to direct attacks. Summoning it did push Mother back, so I suspected the existence of a loophole of some kind.
I wonder how this spell would synergize with the rest of my repertoire. An idea crossed my mind, and my heart-fire burned with delight. How about the Blaze?
The wind had a terrible habit of strengthening infernos, after all.
I breathed fire from my mouth and watched on as the Cloak¡¯s air currents carried the flames away. A bright purple blaze coiled around my body and forced Mother¡¯s shadow talons to take a few steps back. A flaming tornado soon formed around me, creating a barrier of smokeless balefire.
When at long last both the flames and wind died out, a scorching circle of ashes and molten obsidian surrounded me. Mother studied the mark with a look of both fascination and concern.
¡°Have you ever tried to do the same?¡± I asked her. I couldn¡¯t believe that the thought of combining these spells never crossed her mind.
Mother¡¯s lips twisted into a scowl. Was that a glimmer of jealousy that I detected in her gaze?
¡°My flames didn¡¯t take,¡± she whispered under her breath.
She never managed to summon a Cloak strong enough to sustain her Blaze, and part of her resented the fact that I could succeed where she had failed. It didn¡¯t take me long to understand why.
Mother had made a crippling mistake on her sorcerer¡¯s journey.
Much like my captors, I now understood the power of symbols and belief. The Nightlords cleverly used their divine image to reinforce their sorcery because the act of worship itself carried its own weight. The image of strength was almost as important as its reality.
Mother spent her life running and hiding from the world. The dead in Mictlan spoke her name in fear and mistrust, but they carried no breath nor fueled the fires of life. Most of them faded into the long sleep and carried their faith to the grave.
The living world knew nothing of Mother¡¯s deeds and importance. Only the Nightlords had any interest in her, and they neither feared nor appreciated her. No cult paid homage to her. Her name didn¡¯t inspire terror in millions. She downplayed her power instead of showcasing it.
A true Tlacatecolotl thrived in infamy and Mother¡¯s caution had condemned her to oblivion.
She possessed an edge in knowledge and experience, but my power dwarfed her own. I could achieve worldshaking feats simply because thousands believed that I could. It seemed inevitable that I would surpass her given time.
How far could I take this relationship between symbolism and sorcery? Could I create new spells from nothing? Or could I harvest the trappings of superstitions to turn false rites into rituals with genuine power?
The more I delved into the abyss of magic, the more bottomless it seemed.
Mother recovered her composure while I was trapped in my thoughts. ¡°Exploring the synergies between your current spells will serve you well,¡± she said. I could tell that relying on her authority as a teacher soothed her wounded pride. ¡°You are ready for your next trial. When slumber shall claim you again, you will find yourself outside my sanctuary.¡±
¡°So soon?¡± I asked, bristling at her suggestion. ¡°I barely spent time with Father.¡±
¡°Then it should provide you ample motivation to succeed,¡± Mother replied sternly. ¡°You may return to my nest after you complete the fourth house¡¯s ordeals.¡±
Mother clearly didn¡¯t want me to become a freeloader. I was about to argue when I sensed the pull of the waking world. I didn¡¯t have time to argue.
¡°I must go now,¡± I warned Mother. ¡°But I shall return."
¡°I know.¡± Mother¡¯s expression softened slightly in concern, which raised all kinds of alarms. ¡°Use the Cloak spell well. It may yet save you from a gruesome fate.¡±
Why did I have the feeling that my next trial would be my most difficult yet?
I knew something was wrong before I even opened my eyes.
I barely had time to reincorporate my predecessors¡¯ skull before I woke up. I couldn¡¯t even say a word of goodbye to Father, though I wasn¡¯t too worried. I expected to return to the House of Owls soon enough.
My hopeful mood lasted until I sensed a moist object on my face. Something thin and featherlight, yet strangely warm. A smooth weight that perfectly espoused the form of my face, leaving holes for my mouth, eyes, and nose. I heard Itzili the Younger making muffled noises near my bed, and my hands under the coverlet encountered a void where Chikal should have been.
¡°Did you sleep well, songbird?¡± Iztacoatl whispered in my ear.
My eyes snapped open, sending blood dripping down my visage. My hand instinctively moved to my forehead to wipe it away and quickly brushed against the thin layer covering my face. I immediately recognized that soft texture under my fingers.
Fur.
Tetzon¡¯s fur.
I swept the bloody thing off my face to the tune of Iztacoatl¡¯s cruel laughter. A spotted mask of fur fell onto the bed and stained it with blood. They had flayed Tetzon¡¯s headless corpse and turned his bloody skin into a night mask, then placed it on my face while I slept soundly.
Iztacoatl sat along the bed, laughing with cruel glee. Her masked guards held back Iztili with leashes and muzzles. My pet raged fruitlessly against his bindings, but his inhuman strength folded under the weight of our captors¡¯ numbers.
¡°What a shameful display, Your Majesty!¡± Iztacoatl mocked me in between fits of dark laughter. ¡°Can you fathom how difficult it was to skin that cat before you woke up? The tense hours your beloved staff spent peeling the fur off his flesh, all while ensuring that the blood would remain warm enough to smooth your beautiful skin?¡±
I was sorely tempted to burn her own with the Blaze. How sweet it would feel when I finally turned her laughter into screams of distress.
¡°You¡¯ve¡¡± My outrage was genuine, but my surprise wasn¡¯t. ¡°You¡¯ve killed my pet?¡±
¡°So quick with the accusations.¡± Iztacoatl pinched my cheek, which caused me to recoil in disgust. ¡°Poor Tetzon wandered where he shouldn¡¯t have and I had to teach him the cost of trespassing. As a lawmaker and judge of men, I¡¯m sure you understand.¡±
My hands clenched into fists. I didn¡¯t even have to fake anger. The very sight of this snake inspired me nothing but disgust.
When I failed to answer her cruel joke with words, Iztacoatl took my head in both of her chilling hands. Her forehead pressed against mine in an iron grip.
¡°I¡¯ve heard that you speak to your animals. I thought it was a joke of some kind, but now I am starting to wonder...¡± Iztacoatl studied my expression, searching for any hint of deceit. ¡°Did you send that poor margay out to gather information on your behalf?¡±
She was so close to the truth, and yet so far. The fact she partly believed in my Itzili deception helped make my following snort sound all the more genuine.
¡°Are you so craven that a cat frightens you?¡± I replied, playing the fool.
Iztacoatl let out a dark chuckle, her fangs flashing under her lips. ¡°You know nothing of fear yet, Iztac,¡± she said with all of her kind¡¯s boundless malice. ¡°But you will soon, if you don¡¯t answer me.¡±
I knew she would smell a lie, so I quickly defaulted to another strategy: blind her mind with rage and anger so she wouldn¡¯t think straight. Twist the knife in an open wound and keep her guessing.
¡°Was this punishment for our last encounter?¡± I smirked ear to ear, savoring the quick look of humiliation that passed over her face. ¡°If you wanted my attention, you only had to ask for it.¡±
¡°Punishment? Of course not.¡± Iztacoatl moved her lips close to mine, her eyes shining with burning hatred. ¡°I have a far, far worse fate in mind for you, songbird.¡±
She began to lick Tetzon¡¯s blood off my skin. I shivered in disgust as her tongue slithered on my cheeks with the coldness of ice. A reaction that only amused Iztacoatl.
¡°You will have to wait until Acampa for the surprise,¡± she said. ¡°The lash loses its sting if you know when it will strike¡ but I suppose I can give you a taste of what is to come.¡±
She leaned in until her lips brushed against my ears, where she whispered five words. Five words, so simple and yet so ominous.
¡°We have found your mother.¡±
Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Price
My mind was exploding behind a face of stone.
My body froze like a deer sensing a hunter, each of my muscles tensing up tighter than ropes around a hanged man¡¯s neck. My thoughts swirled inside my skull. A thousand worrying possibilities came up, though I had grown experienced enough to hide my concern under a mask of feigned confusion.
My first thought was: How could she have found Mother?
My second was: She¡¯s lying.
But then I wondered if Iztacoatl was telling the truth, and if so, for what purpose; or if it was merely a lie, a tactical move meant to unbalance me, to throw me off my game, to paralyze me with confusion like I was right now, right this instant¡
No, Iztac, stay calm. The White Snake was staring at me with her cold, reptilian eyes; scanning my gaze, studying my face, smelling my breath, waiting for a critical misstep. My shocked silence alone told too much. On the off-chance that she¡¯s telling the truth, I have to feign surprise.
¡°My mother?¡± I repeated, both to fish for information and buy myself time to anchor myself in the present.
¡°Your mortal one,¡± Iztacoatl replied with a condescending look. ¡°I know how close you were to Yoloxochitl, but most men require a mortal woman to give birth to them. You are no exception.¡±
¡°My mother abandoned me years ago,¡± I replied while doing my best to feign indifference. I couldn¡¯t let her see any sign of distress.
¡°And as I¡¯ve said, we¡¯ve found her.¡± Iztacoatl laughed at me. ¡°Your feelings are so painfully transparent, my beautiful songbird. ¡®Is she lying to me? Is it all a trick to destabilize me?¡¯ Why do you care so much, my dear?¡±
Damn it, I¡¯d made a mistake. Merely showing surprise and tension already told her too much.
I closed my eyes, gathered my breath long enough to organize my thoughts, and then quickly settled on my strategy.
¡°Do what you want,¡± I said, my face shifting into an expression of regal disdain. ¡°If you¡¯re trying to use her against me, you¡¯re wasting your time. I don¡¯t care for a woman who would rather run away than raise me.¡±
Iztacoatl didn¡¯t buy my lie. I could read it in her mocking eyes.
¡°Oh, Iztac, what a self-centered boy you make. Not everything is about you.¡± Iztacoatl tickled my cheek with her cold hand. ¡°We intended to add her to the imperial harem years before we selected you as our puppet emperor. Your feelings towards her are irrelevant.¡±
I pushed her fingers away, much to her amusement. ¡°Then why tell me?¡±
¡°Because I wanted to see your face when I did.¡± Her smug smirk made me want to punch her teeth out. ¡°You are cute when you care.¡±
I snorted in disgust. ¡°And what if I wanted to hang her?¡±
¡°Now, now, don¡¯t be greedy.¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s smile grew ever so threatening. ¡°We have other uses in mind for her.¡±
The Nightlord leaned on the bed, her hands crawling on each side of me. No doubt she expected me to sink into the bed in fear. Instead, I remained resolute and imperturbable.
¡°You have shown extraordinary gifts beyond that of any emperor before you. You wield the spark of greatness. My sisters wondered if we should¡¡± Her hand grazed my navel. ¡°Focus it.¡±
I shivered in genuine nausea.
¡°Maybe we¡¯ll have you breed with your mother to concentrate that unique bloodline of yours into a pure vessel, untainted by your father¡¯s mediocrity,¡± Iztacoatl suggested. My blood boiled at the insult aimed at my family. ¡°Or perhaps we¡¯ll keep her for your successor¡¯s pleasure. That woman offers so many possibilities.¡±
I wanted to vomit. ¡°That is disgusting.¡±
¡°Come on, I¡¯m sure it would excite you¡ the thrill of crossing a taboo forbidden to lesser men. Weren¡¯t you practicing for it with your mother-in-law?¡± Then she went for the throat. ¡°That¡¯s why you are so fond of Nenetl too, isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s like kissing your mirror.¡±
I knew Iztacoatl was playing me. She was pressing her fingers in an open wound, trying to get a rise out of me. She pushed my boundaries the same way I did when I slapped her; she likely hoped that I would do it again, confirming that I harbored rebellion in my heart. Violence or threats would serve her well.
I had to confuse Iztacoatl. Counterattack in a way that she would never expect and yet still trouble her.
But how? The more time I wasted asking myself that, the less effective my response would be. I stared blankly at her smug face, thinking of any ideas I had to disturb her back.
One crossed my mind in a flash of lightning. Something that would take the wind out of her sails.
I remained silent an instant longer, then glanced around at the guards as if to check if others were listening in. My reaction surprised Iztacoatl, who didn¡¯t react when I leaned in to whisper in her ear.
¡°I saw it in a dream,¡± I said, my voice soft like the morning breeze. ¡°How your father will kill you.¡±
It was her turn to freeze in shock and surprise. She stared at me without a word, and I caught the briefest flash of fear in her gaze. Part of her knew that I was lying through my teeth, but she had seen me command her sire¡¯s slaves, deliver prophecies, and perform miracles. I might be telling the truth, and it frightened her.
She knew that reacting with threats and violence would only showcase her weakness. The confident ruler didn¡¯t let threats get to them; they instead let them slide off like waves on the eternal shore. So instead Iztacoatl quickly regained her composure and answered my warning with fake amusement.
¡°You forget,¡± she replied, ¡°Whose property you are, songbird.¡±
Her lips pressed against mine before I could react.
Her flesh was softer than milk, yet colder than the coldest winter. A terrible chill overtook my body. My own burning Teyolia wavered in my chest, its flame suddenly weakened. Iztacoatl¡¯s mouth was a gaping maw, a pit that sucked the air and warmth out of my lungs. I sensed her power, her hunger, her desire to drain me dry of my life and youth.
I couldn¡¯t move an inch. Iztacoatl could have sucked the soul out of my body as easily as the Nightchildren consumed their victims. I gazed at the darkness inside Eztli whenever we made love, but it couldn¡¯t compare to the pitch-black void festering inside a true Nightlord. A bottomless abyss hungered where her Teyolia should have been and it paralyzed me.
And to my horror, I didn¡¯t want to move. A shiver of unearthly pleasure followed the revulsion. Her lips tasted better than any food and gave greater bliss than the act of sex. My soul fought back against my body, trying to force it to move away from Iztacoatl, but she refused to let me escape her icy grip.
It wasn¡¯t a kiss of pleasure, warped affection, or anything so quaint. It was a serpent¡¯s venomous kiss, which promised only death; the bite of a predator marking its meal. A contemptuous display of power.
Iztacoatl had found a weakness, and it delighted her.
Little warmth remained when her lips broke away. I shivered in the bed, my breath short and my body weaker than before. Iztacoatl licked her lips as if she had just finished a fine meal.
¡°Interesting,¡± she said. ¡°Your sweat tastes like the sun.¡±
Thankfully, I was too disgusted and nauseous to show fear. ¡°Try that again, and you may taste sulfur.¡±
¡°You make it sound like I should be afraid of him.¡± Iztacoatl smiled with all of her overbearing arrogance, though I still sensed the worry beneath it. ¡°Neither of you will escape your respective cages. I shall see to it.¡±
Iztacoatl lost interest at this point and stepped away from the bed. I wiped away the taste of her lips on mine with my hand, much to her amusement.
¡°Put on your feather dress, songbird. Your home¡¯s ruins await you.¡± Iztacoatl contemptuously scratched Itzili¡¯s head on her way out of the room. My pet growled at her with hatred, though the guards kept him from biting the Nightlord as he wanted. ¡°I will be sure to visit you tonight. I cannot wait to see your little family reunion.¡±
My fists clenched under my coverlet as I considered my options. I needed to visit the Reliquary. Ask my predecessors for advice, assess the situation, formulate a plan¨C
¡°Oh, I almost forgot,¡± Iztacoatl said, her words halting my thoughts. ¡°The Reliquary will be closed to you from now on.¡±
My head snapped at her in surprise, which proved a terrible mistake. Iztacoatl chuckled in sinister glee.
¡°You were thinking of going there to lick your wounds, weren¡¯t you?¡± She asked mockingly. ¡°I¡¯ll deny you that pleasure.¡±
¡°Why?¡± I could only rasp. Did she notice something suspicious back there in spite of all of my efforts?
¡°Because I¡¯ve noticed something interesting about you humans. Whenever you are threatened by stress or danger, you must retreat to a sanctuary. A hideout where you feel safe from the world. No refuge is perfect, of course, but you need that delusion to feel a measure of peace.¡±
She sent me one last smile filled with fangs.
¡°Deep inside your heart, you never forget that you are our prey.¡±
The guards closed the door behind her, but I heard her laughter long after she left.
The imperial carriage prepared to depart for Acampa within the hour.
As befitting of an emperor¡¯s historical tour of his dominion, I would travel with all of Yohuachanca¡¯s might and splendor behind me. Hundreds of trihorn cavaliers, servants, musicians, priests, and warriors would escort me across my realm, carrying dozens of banners emblazoned with the Nightlords¡¯ four symbols.
Since an emperor shouldn¡¯t rest under a tent on the road, a trio of longnecks would form the core of a moving miniature palace. One of them would bring the imperial palanquin which once brought me to the Blood Pyramid, so that I may wave at my people whenever I visited their cities; the other two carried large, multi-tiers houses of wood that would house my consorts, harem, and guests.
Ingrid and Tayatzin, who had organized most of the expedition, proceeded to give me a brief rundown of these moving facilities; though I barely listened to either of them.
¡°As you can see, Your Majesty, each of these longneck houses carries two floors, one split on the animal¡¯s sides and one on its back,¡± Ingrid explained. ¡°These longnecks were specifically bred to carry heavy weights.¡±
These towering and serene beasts made for quite the impressive sight, and their loads had been intricately designed. The wooden buildings that they carried reminded me of a cross between small rustic mansions and treehouses, with balconies, windows, and staircases. Each of them sported amenities worthy of an emperor according to Ingrid, with bedchambers, drug rooms, and even baths created by clever architecture and plumbery.
Did Iztacoatl hide within one of these buildings? Would she travel deep inside one of these devices, her torpid corpse sealed in a coffin somewhere? My hopes were slim, but the idea of somehow dragging her into the sunlight gave me life.
¡°Each longneck can house around a dozen guests each,¡± Ingrid said. ¡°I have taken the liberty of inviting our handmaidens and Lady Necahual to travel with my lord on the first longneck, and set a room apart on the second for Lady Zyanya and her future husband Tlaxcala. The other rooms can welcome any guest which strikes my lord¡¯s fancy on the road.¡±
¡°I must remind Your Divine Majesty that the harem¡¯s women are forbidden from associating with any males except your loyal eunuchs,¡± Tayatzin added. ¡°As such, to avoid any risk of a daring male befitting your properties, your consorts and concubines will travel in a different longneck than the one carrying dignitaries.¡±
I hardly paid attention to their explanations. Ingrid and Tayatzin did their best to retain my attention, but all of my thoughts focused on my Mother and the danger threatening her.
¡°Time is the world-killer,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°Night heralds the end of yours.¡±
And that damn breeze¡¯s taunts didn¡¯t help either.
Was Iztacoatl lying? Did she simply invent that story out of thin cloth after investigating my past and reaching the conclusion that my mother¡¯s departure left a gaping hole in my heart? Did she assume that the unresolved nature of her disappearance would provide a method to pressure me?
It could be a trick for all I knew. Maybe Iztacoatl would introduce an impostor to me tonight; a woman with Mother¡¯s face meant to exploit my compassion and then infiltrate my inner circle. I couldn¡¯t put it beyond the White Snake to use such an elaborate trick.
I could be overthinking everything. But if Iztacoatl had indeed told me the truth, then how and why did she find a lead on Mother after failing to find her for years? The answer struck me like a bolt of lightning.
They¡¯d found Mother because of me.
Father mentioned that Mother witnessed Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption. She saw Eztli and I escaping its flames, which meant that she had to be in the region a few weeks ago. A Nightkin could have seen her, investigated, and then reported her presumed location to Iztacoatl.
The Nightlord¡¯s tale was credible.
But even if they truly knew Mother¡¯s current location, could they capture her? I would have immediately known if they already had, and I descended from a mighty sorceress. No red-eyed priest nor warrior could hope to defeat Mother in battle. She would dismember them with the Doll, trick them with the Veil, and deflect attacks with the Cloak. Only the Nightlords and Nightkin could clip her wings.
Hence Iztacoatl¡¯s mention of tonight. She intended to capture Mother herself come sunset, and she would likely succeed. Mother wouldn¡¯t be so desperate to avoid the Nightlords¡¯ notice if she could take them on.
But why warn me? To feed on my despair? I immediately concluded against it, for it would have been crueler and more effective to show me Mother in chains. The White Snake was too clever to give me the slightest chance of affecting an already decided outcome.
Unless¡
Unless she wanted me to try?
She wants me to investigate, I realized. Or to contact Mother.
Mother was ultimately irrelevant to the Nightlords¡¯ plan. Adding her to the harem would strengthen their horrific breeding system, but it would neither secure their ritual¡¯s success nor strengthen their hold on Yohuachanca. They could easily ignore or kill her. It wouldn¡¯t change anything about Iztacoatl¡¯s plans.
I, meanwhile, represented an existential threat to the sisters¡¯ regime. I, who had begun to build a power base and wielded power that they didn¡¯t truly understand. Iztacoatl was too careful to act against me without gathering more information, so she designed this plot to tip my hand.
Did the First Emperor truly whisper prophecies in my ear? How deep did my spy network run? Who worked with me, who could be turned against me? Could I truly speak to animals and use them against my foes?
No matter how I responded to the crisis at hand, Iztacoatl would learn something about me. Even informing Mother in my sleep would tip her off that I had a way of communicating with others that didn¡¯t leave any obvious trace. Depending on what information Iztacoatl had already gathered, this might lead her to uncover the existence of the Underworld.
What should I do?
¡°My lord?¡±
Ingrid¡¯s voice drew me out of my thoughts. My head perked up at her, and I realized that both she and Tayatzin stared at me in embarrassment. They must have noticed me dozing off for a while and been too polite to interrupt me.
¡°I haven¡¯t slept all too well,¡± I replied without apologizing, as it would show weakness. The lie came easily to me. ¡°You have done well organizing this, Ingrid.¡±
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
¡°My lord flatters me, and I am pained to hear of your sleeping troubles,¡± Ingrid replied with a smile that wasn¡¯t entirely genuine. ¡°I was asking if you wished us to bring any other concubines or pets from your menagerie with us?¡±
Her question sounded innocent enough, but the glance she sent me made me realize that she wasn¡¯t only talking about our planned tour.
¡°Are all other preparations completed?¡± I asked.
Ingrid gave me a sharp, knowing nod. ¡°We are only waiting for you, my lord.¡±
I immediately understood her hidden message: the stars had aligned when it came to destroying Yoloxochitl¡¯s lab tonight. I only needed to do my part and do it fast.
How long would this window of opportunity remain open? I couldn¡¯t deal with it both and the threat to Mother¡¯s life at once.
I crossed my arms and pretended to think over Ingrid¡¯s question. Iztacoatl would no doubt keep me under close observation today. Any action, no matter how subtle or inane, would be scrutinized. Casting a spell while awake was too risky, and calling upon my allies risked exposing them to danger.
I needed a smokescreen. A catspaw.
I was deep in thought when a priest approached Tayatzin and whispered in his ear. My attendant¡¯s frown immediately worried me.
¡°What is the matter?¡± I asked with a scowl.
Tayatzin cleared his throat before answering. ¡°Your Majesty, Lady Ingrid, I bear a message from the goddess herself. She insists that Lady Astrid join us on our journey to Zachilaa.¡±
Ingrid¡¯s face drained of all colors in an instant. A pallid veil fell upon her, while my heart skipped a beat. My consort stared at me and immediately confirmed our common surprise.
¡°Why?¡± Ingrid inquired immediately, her poise and composure briefly shaken by the unspoken threat to her family. She immediately corrected her expression, though her voice lost some of her confidence. ¡°Why would the goddess honor us so?¡±
¡°The goddess didn¡¯t see fit to inform us of her reasons,¡± Tayatzin apologized. ¡°Though she will no doubt find a use for Lady Astrid.¡±
A vision of Lady Sigrun¡¯s blood staining the temple floor flared in my mind, closely followed by Fjor¡¯s crimson gaze.
A similar thought must have crossed Ingrid¡¯s mind too. She stared at me with a blank expression, searching my gaze for support and reassurance. I immediately grabbed her trembling hands and gripped them tightly.
I could hardly offer her more than warmth. My words would have sounded hollow. How could they not, when I was equally afraid myself?
First Mother and now Astrid. Was that a coincidence? A veiled threat to Ingrid that assisting me would cost her her sister¡¯s life? Another attempt to put pressure on me?
Focus, Iztac. She¡¯s making you overthink everything, and she isn¡¯t even in your presence. My predecessors forewarned me that Iztacoatl would seek to destabilize me until I tripped up and made a fatal mistake. I can¡¯t let her succeed.
A simple plan formed in my mind. Mother spent most of her time in the Underworld nowadays, so she was likely still asleep somewhere. I would pretend to be tired to nap during our trip to Acampa, conquer the fourth house of Xibalba if I had to, and then inform her of the threat.
All the while, I would cover my tracks with a misleading clue. A false hint that would distract Iztacoatl.
¡°Astrid will travel with us under my personal care,¡± I declared. Keeping her close might let me protect her from whatever fate Iztacoatl had in store for her. ¡°Ensure that she will want for nothing.¡±
¡°Thank you, my lord,¡± Ingrid replied. My words and support, meager as it was, reassured her a bit.
¡°Meanwhile, my Necahual and the handmaidens shall satisfy my body¡¯s needs,¡± I informed Tayatzin. ¡°I will need songbirds to soothe my ears and a set of swift prey. It would be a shame to travel across the fair lands of Yohuachanca and not stain them with blood.¡±
Tayatzin raised an eyebrow. ¡°Prey, Your Majesty?¡±
¡°My Itzili needs to gain a taste for battle, and I must practice trihorn riding,¡± I explained. ¡°Hunts will both provide practice and entertainment, so you shall bring quarries that we can chase to our heart¡¯s content.¡±
Iztacoatl already suspected that I could talk to animals and had somehow ordered Tetzon to spy on her on my behalf. Perhaps I could lean on this misinterpretation. That would help sell my Itzili distraction and provide an alternative. I would give Iztacoatl a bone to choke upon.
Once preparations were complete, I ascended to the second longneck¡¯s back house. Its insides were as opulent as an emperor¡¯s carriage would suggest, with thick layers of animal hides insulating its wood walls. A large and well-lit living room with jaguar fur rugs for a floor, a central table, and a separate bath for cleaning formed the upper floor¡¯s core. Four bedrooms belonging to my consorts and their handmaidens surrounded it, and a fifth¡ªthe largest¡ªbelonged to me and was the one closest to the longneck¡¯s head.
Ingrid and Tenoch arrived first, followed by Chikal and Lahun. The priests transported Eztli inside a closed coffin to protect her from the sun until nightfall, with Atziri taking care of her. The latter was frighteningly pale, though her neck wounds had vanished. Seeing her like this made me uneasy, but I kept my mouth shut. Necahual and Astrid followed closely after them. Nenetl arrived last with her own maid, whom I did not recognize. I truly needed to find her a companion I could make use of.
Thankfully, young Astrid proved quite enthusiastic about enjoying a longneck ride.
¡°Look, sister!¡± Astrid rejoiced upon finding a door to a balcony near the longneck¡¯s tail. ¡°We can see the walls from there!¡±
¡°Beware, young woman,¡± Necahual lightly chided her. As the only mother onboard the longneck, she understood how to handle children the best. ¡°Do not move too close to the edge, lest you fall to your death.¡±
¡°Listen to Lady Necahual, Astrid,¡± Ingrid said, though her sister¡¯s enthusiasm lit up her gloomy mood somehow. ¡°You must behave once we leave the palace, so that you do not shame His Majesty.¡±
Her words were gentle enough, but they immediately turned Astrid¡¯s smile into a gloomy face.
¡°I¡ I won¡¯t.¡± Astrid looked at her feet. ¡°I won¡¯t disappoint him like¡ like our mother did.¡±
Ingrid flinched as if she¡¯d been slapped, as did Necahual and I. Being reminded of Lady Sigrun remained a sore spot for all of us.
Of course she was happy to leave the palace, I thought. It stinks of her mother¡¯s blood.
I did my best to lighten the mood.
¡°If you behave, Astrid, then I shall let you feed the longneck,¡± I said before patting Astrid¡¯s head with my hand. ¡°I may even allow you to ride my brave Itzili. A mount worthy of an emperor.¡±
¡°The feathered tyrant?¡± My suggestion lit up the flame of joy in Astrid¡¯s heart. ¡°He¡¯s so fluffy.¡±
The suggestion amused Chikal enough for her to comment on it. ¡°This child will look fearsome atop a feathered tyrant¡¯s back.¡±
¡°She will,¡± Nenetl replied with a giggle as a maid began to serve breakfast in the living room. ¡°Would you like to play tumi with us, Astrid? I could teach you the rules while we eat.¡±
¡°Enjoy yourselves,¡± I declared with a yawn. ¡°I will recover my lost sleep this morning and join you in the afternoon.¡±
Ingrid joined her hands together. ¡°We should reach Acampa by then, my lord. Will you need a song to help you sleep?¡±
She wanted to speak with me in private, and I quickly indulged her. ¡°I would appreciate your company, Ingrid.¡±
I took Ingrid¡¯s hand in mine and gently led her inside my sumptuously appointed bedroom. Though very small compared to my palace¡¯s quarters, it was better polished and adorned than the rest of the longneck house. A bear fur rug lay before a large bed with a cotton coverlet, next to a desk for work and a small space for Itzili the Younger to sleep on. A birdcage holding a great-tailed grackle hung from the ceiling next to an open window. The songbird¡¯s sweet, tinkling notes echoed through the room.
I didn¡¯t see any snake hidden under the rug, but I bet Iztacoatl had means of spying on anything happening within these walls.
¡°My lord looks very troubled today,¡± Ingrid said. ¡°What concerns you so much?¡±
She probably thought that I was worried about tonight¡¯s operation. And I was, in a way. I hoped that I could inform Mother without wasting a precious opportunity to destroy Yoloxochitl¡¯s garden and wipe her twisted legacy off from the face of the earth.
¡°It has been so long since I left my home village,¡± I replied upon examining the birdcage. The grackle briefly stopped singing when I approached, but quickly returned to its chatter. It had grown used to the presence of man. ¡°I do not relish the thought of visiting its ruins.¡±
¡°I see, though I will not pretend to understand.¡± Ingrid stared at the palace through the window. ¡°I have never seen the world beyond these walls.¡±
¡°Are you afraid of what lies outside?¡±
¡°Not at all.¡± Ingrid crossed her arms and gazed at the sun. ¡°I wanted to see Winland once, a long time ago. Mother said it is covered in ice and snow at this time of the year.¡±
¡°We could visit the mountains on our way to Zachilaa, if you¡¯d like,¡± I suggested. ¡°Some of them are blanketed in snow during the Crocodile Month.¡±
Ingrid briefly turned to smile at me without a word. Her lips didn¡¯t reach the eyes.
I cursed my lack of wits. Ingrid desperately needed a distraction and I couldn¡¯t even provide her with good small talk.
Small tremors put an end to the awkward silence. The call of battle horns resonated outside alongside the beats of war drums and other instruments. Our longneck began to walk at a steady pace as our convoy finally began its journey west.
I didn¡¯t join Ingrid at the window immediately. I first opened the grackle¡¯s cage and then seized the bird with my hands. The poor animal stopped singing in fear and surprise, though it was too small to escape my grip.
Its feathers were so smooth and clean. All the animals in my menagerie had been pampered since the day of their birth. They never wanted food or care. Yet I wondered¡ if granted a chance to leave, would this bird take it or would it meekly return to its servitude?
Time to find out.
I whispered nonsense into the bird¡¯s ear, so low none could hear it. If anyone did anyway, they would only listen to strange strings of words without context. The paranoid might mistake it for a code.
Afterward, I joined Ingrid at the window. Our longneck walked past the open gates of my palace. We left behind my own birdcage and entered the streets of the capital, where foolish crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of my imperial person. Their cheers and claps filled the air, generating the winds fueling my Cloak spell. The city¡¯s buildings looked so small from so high above.
Ignoring my citizens, I instead stared at the cloudless sky and gently placed the grackle on the window sill. The bird stood there for an instant in confusion, its eyes darting from my person to the world outside. I wondered if, like Ingrid, it never saw anything outside its cage¡¯s bars. Its simple mind quickly assessed its situation and the unique opportunity I¡¯d offered it.
It turned to face the sun, then flew away without turning back. The grackle¡¯s jet black wings dropped a few feathers as it escaped to the distant skies, carried away by the cheers of thousands.
In spite of all the danger ahead, the simple sight of this bird flying towards the sun filled my heart with hope.
¡°Why did my lord do that?¡± Ingrid asked with a look of surprise.
¡°Because every bird deserves to be free,¡± I replied. As we will be one day.
¡°True freedom is never granted,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°It must be won by guile or strength for each day of life.¡±
Ingrid¡¯s gaze trailed the grackle¡¯s flight until it vanished beyond the capital¡¯s walls. I leaned behind my consort and pulled my arms around her waist. She didn¡¯t resist. ¡°Ingrid¨C¡±
¡°Will Astrid survive this trip?¡± she whispered under her breath. Such was her concern that she didn¡¯t bother with double meanings and hidden messages.
My grip tightened. ¡°I will make sure she does,¡± I promised her. ¡°One way or another.¡±
¡°Swear it.¡± Ingrid looked over my shoulders, her eyes wet. She was struggling to hold back tears of fear. ¡°Swear it to me.¡±
My jaw clenched. If I fulfilled her demand, then Iztacoatl would cruelly do everything in her power to see that I broke my oath. She couldn¡¯t resist the temptation. ¡°Ingrid¡¡±
¡°Swear it.¡± Her trembling hands gripped my arms, her nails sinking into my skin. ¡°I need it.¡±
Ingrid had already seen one family member slain by the Nightlords and unknowingly lost another to them in another way. Astrid was the last of her kin, and the mere prospect of losing her sister terrified my consort.
Ingrid knew that my promise wouldn¡¯t be worth much beyond the strength of my commitment; but it was better than nothing.
I didn¡¯t have the strength to deny her wish.
¡°I swear,¡± I whispered in her ear, though I knew I would regret it.
I¡¯d already promised I would do my best to defeat the Nightlords and protect her sister. I couldn¡¯t guarantee Astrid¡¯s safety, no matter how much I wanted to; but I would do my best to make that lie true.
¡°Thank you, Iztac.¡± Ingrid accepted my promise with a suppressed sob, then wiped the tears forming in her eyes with her finger. ¡°Can I stay with you? For a time?¡±
¡°You can stay as long as you wish, Ingrid.¡± I lightly kissed her on the cheek. Her skin tasted of salt and stillborn tears. ¡°I¡¯m here for you.¡±
Ingrid¡¯s hand held onto my arms, while her head turned to face mine. Unlike Iztacoatl, her lips were as wet as the kiss was clumsy. It tasted of anxiety, weakness, and of a desperate hunger for human warmth. The same kind that animated me.
We both needed an escape from our fears.
I began to kiss her neckline, her skin shuddering lightly at the contact of my lips. One of her hands seized my hair while the other traveled down my imperial robes in search of my manhood.
¡°Everything will be fine,¡± I promised Ingrid as I lured her to the bed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±
We both knew it was a lie, but we wished to believe it nonetheless.
I woke up at the crossroads.
Four doors surrounded me, each of them breathing a pale miasma onto Xibalba¡¯s streets. I ignored them and instead called upon the Doll. Talons of darkness tore out the stones under my feet and dug up at lightning speed.
I only found dirt.
The hole that I used to access Mother¡¯s home a few nights ago had disappeared. The path was closed. I expected as much, but it still frustrated me.
I moved on to my next plan: casting the Ride spell on Mother herself. Although my magic would likely fail to affect her, she would likely detect my attempt to possess her and hopefully investigate. If it somehow worked against the odds, then I would write her a message.
I carved Mother¡¯s name on my bones and expanded my consciousness upward into the waking world, searching for her mind and soul in a sea of darkness. My spirit searched a trail to its destination. A few paths opened to me, each pointing to a different Ichtaca. I focused on the unbreakable bonds that bound us together; our kinship in blood and sorcery.
All paths vanished in thick shadows.
The Ride spell had failed.
I returned to the Underworld dejected. Mother was either still sleeping or she had somehow protected herself against possession. This plan wouldn¡¯t work.
With few other options left, I used my dark talons to carve out a brief message on the stone warning Mother of the plot against her.
This is a message from your son: Iztacoatl knows where you are and intends to hunt you down. Run and hide before sunset. I will do my best to delay her.
On the off chance that Mother visited this spot in her sleep, then she should hopefully panic and realize the danger threatening her.
So far so good. I faced the nearest fog gate next. I hope I can complete the trial in time.
I mustered my courage and resolve, then stepped through the mist on my way to the fourth house of Xibalba. Purple vapors coiled and enveloped me, shrouding my sight and overwhelming my mouth with the sick taste of rot. Whatever awaited me, I would beat it. I would win.
I stepped on ancient dirt under a gray sky. The mist slowly cleared, revealing a small plaza of overturned stones and crumbling archways. A simple message was crudely carved on the floor in modern Yohuachancan.
Mine.
No.
No, no, no, that was a trick. I had stepped into a house of lies and been deceived. The Lords of Terror overseeing this trial had to embody the fear of jokes and trickery.
I activated the Gaze spell to pierce through any illusion and found none. I then hastily stepped under the archway to my right, wading through thick fog and fighting the gnawing unease rising inside my heart. My footsteps echoed through the mist and into the crossroads beyond.
My own message now felt like a cruel taunt.
At my wits¡¯ end, I immediately shaped four skulls with the Legion spell and imbued them with my power. I then threw them through a different door each.
All of them rolled back into the crossroads, much to my horror.
¡°Are my eyes deceiving me, my predecessors?¡± I asked in disbelief.
¡°We fear that they do not,¡± they replied with grim consternation. ¡°The doors are barred.¡±
The Fourth House was closed to me.
Half expecting the path to have changed, I quickly shapeshifted into an owl and attempted to fly out of this four-faced open prison. I flapped my wings with enough strength to whip up a storm and hardly moved an inch. Xibalba¡¯s magic refused to let me escape this trap.
¡°Why?¡± I pondered in disbelief upon landing back on the ground amidst my predecessors¡¯ skulls. ¡°Why can¡¯t I progress?¡±
The city deigned to answer me. A sinister sound reverberated across its dead gray streets and walls of wicked fog.
A cruel cackle.
I finally figured it out.
Xibalba fed on the fear and nightmares of humanity, including mine. The city denied me entrance to the next house so it could dine on my dread and tension. The path to Mother¡¯s sanctuary would remain closed to me.
¡°No¡¡± I struck the nearest archway with enough strength to crack its stones. ¡°Stop mocking me!¡±
The cackle only grew louder.
¡°Calm down, our successor,¡± the skulls spoke as one. ¡°We still have time and options.¡±
¡°Which ones?¡± I snapped back. ¡°Which ones?!¡±
I couldn¡¯t focus. Doubt and paranoia overwhelmed me as I examined various possibilities and rejected each of them.
If I asked the priests where Mother was, not only would Iztacoatl force them into silence, but it would be tantamount to confirming that her capture would indeed help the Nightlords pressure me further.
Should I ask Ingrid and Necahual to investigate on my behalf? I immediately decided against it. Not only did I doubt that they would discover much now that we¡¯d left the palace and most of our spy network behind, but it would also alert Iztacoatl. She would mark anyone caught helping us for death and Astrid¡¯s head would roll first.
What other options did I have? Seidr would let me assess Mother¡¯s location, but not contact her. She might hole up in a coffin in the middle of nowhere for all I knew. Should I cast the Augury instead? No, no, what if Iztacoatl used magic to observe me? What if she picked the slightest hint of sorcery?
If only Mother¡¯s disastrous first impression had convinced my predecessors to leave a skull in her house, then they could have warned her. But no, she couldn¡¯t make things easy for us!
If only I¡¯d had time¡ time to plan and figure things out¡
¡°Will you let the White Snake¡¯s whispers torment you so easily?¡± the Parliament of Skulls asked sternly. ¡°This is unlike you, Iztac Ce Ehecatl.¡±
Yes, it was. I hadn¡¯t reacted this way since the Jaguar Woman forced me to choose whom between Sigrun and Necahual would perish. I tried to tell myself that I only felt that way because Mother was my main supporter in the Underworld, but the concern overwhelming me ran deeper. It was instinctual.
Could part of me possibly care for her safety?
Now I understand how Eztli and Ingrid felt when they brought their mothers to the altar. It was a disquieting thing to see one¡¯s family threatened with death and worse. Father will never forgive me if I let the Nightlords capture her either.
What would happen to him and Mother¡¯s other captured souls if anything happened to her? Would Xibalba let them go? Somehow I found it more likely that they would suffer at the Lords of Terror¡¯s cruel whims without protection.
¡°What about the Cloak?¡± my predecessors suggested. ¡°If the Ehecatl is the wind that protects, then you may call upon it to shield Lady Ichtaca from incoming danger.¡±
I had little to lose, so I decided to try it out. The Ehecatl answered the call of my Cloak spell in an instant. The praises of my citizens swirled around me in a mighty current stronger than Xibalba¡¯s malicious air.
¡°Oh great Ehecatl, can you warn my mother of Iztacoatl¡¯s threat?¡± I pleaded with the wind. ¡°Do so, and I shall bless a hundred souls in need.¡±
A chorus of voices answered my plea.
¡°Glory to our emperor!¡± They sang. ¡°Please protect us, oh Godspeaker!¡± ¡°May thou be blessed for bringing the dawn!¡±
My plea fell on deaf ears, and I quickly understood why.
The Cloak summoned words of gratitude into a mighty shield of air. Mother harnessed general prayers without a specific target in mind, while I gathered the praise of millions. And there lay its weakness.
The spell only worked one way. It brought the wind to the spellcaster, but wouldn¡¯t allow them to send a message outward. Unless Mother cast the Cloak spell on her own, any word I sent her way would never find its way to her.
But there was another wind I could call upon. One with malicious intelligence and that would easily blow in this den of nightmares. A force born of curses that kept intruding upon my thoughts without my authorization.
What did it cost to question it?
I canceled the Cloak and bit my hand until my burning blood dropped onto Xibalba¡¯s floor. I cast the Augury, dedicating my blood to the darkest of winds.
¡°Yaotzin,¡± I whispered. ¡°Should you warn my Mother of the danger that threatens her before sundown and help her avoid it, then I shall reveal to you Yohuachanca¡¯s most sinister secret: the fate of the emperors¡¯ sons.¡±
A grim gust answered my declaration: one that did not banish the miasma-ridden air of Xibalba, but instead fed on it. It swirled around me like a black whirlpool and answered my offer in my own voice.
¡°Secrets alone cannot purchase a life,¡± the wind replied. ¡°A greater price you must pay for this service.¡±
I shuddered in anticipation. A cruel merchant always extracted a heavy toll from desperate souls. ¡°State your terms.¡±
¡°The last breaths of a hundred human beings, delivered before the Wind Month¡¯s first dawn.¡±
The Yaotzin had heard my proposal to the Ehecatl wind and twisted it to its needs.
I pondered the offer before glancing at my predecessors¡¯ skulls. The previous emperors stayed true to their promise of treating me as an equal by remaining silent as ancient stones. The decision would be mine alone.
Once upon a time, my first instinct was to refuse the proposal outright, for I had shed enough innocent blood as it was.
Months of trials and cruelty had beaten that naivety out of me.
I instead assessed the proposal with the cold rationality of my current situation. I put in the balance the odds of a hundred souls perishing now against the tragedies that would befall millions if I failed to destroy the Nightlords; an objective that Mother¡¯s support would make easier to achieve.
I recalled the Jaguar Woman¡¯s ¡®lesson¡¯ back in my palace¡¯s temple: human life had value, but it was up to the emperor to determine it.
¡°I refuse.¡±
My words echoed at the crossroads, followed by a deep inspiration as I carefully chose my next words.
¡°That¡¯s not enough,¡± I declared. ¡°I want more for this price.¡±
Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Old Dead Past
I sealed a pact with the winds of chaos to the triumphant tune of demonic applause.
Xibalba¡¯s streets rejoiced over my counteroffer with the soft sound of clapping hands echoing in the distance. Whether this place of nightmares meant to congratulate or mock me didn¡¯t matter. I let the sound wash over me like waves on the eternal shore, all of my attention focused on the negotiation at hand.
¡°A life never exists alone in the void,¡± I argued with the Yaotzin. ¡°If I take a soul, I prevent the potential birth of hundreds that they could have sired. My mother¡¯s life is precious to me, but I demand more for a price which only an emperor may satisfy. I want another benefit.¡±
The Yaotzin blew among the dead city¡¯s towers, blanketing my feathers with its malice. ¡°What do you seek?¡±
¡°Power,¡± I replied immediately. ¡°I give you the death of hundreds and ask only for the death of the few in return. I want a spell to slay my foes with.¡±
¡°Your bargaining position is highly dubious,¡± the wind replied coldly. It knew I wouldn¡¯t have called upon it had I any other alternative. ¡°You sought our assistance beyond the bounds of the Augury spell, and we agreed to provide it for a price.¡±
¡°A price which only I may pay,¡± I retorted. I had dreamed of becoming a merchant, and I had haggled many times with gods and demons since I ascended to the obsidian throne. Resistance no longer frightened me. ¡°Now that I know that you can provide the service I asked for, we can negotiate.¡±
¡°A fair price we asked. A price you will pay.¡±
¡°My mother¡¯s life is not enough to satisfy my greed.¡± I was done begging for table scraps. ¡°I demand more.¡±
I detected a hint of amusement in the wind¡¯s answer. ¡°It is in the nature of man to desire what they cannot have and be found wanting.¡±
¡°And it is in your nature to spread chaos and suffering, as is mine,¡± I replied. ¡°You have goaded me on the dark path of the Tlacatecolotl, and now I walk it with purpose. I have cursed millions with fire, disease, and devastation. I have reminded the Nightlords what it is to fear death. Have I not fed you well?¡±
¡°We owe you nothing.¡±
¡°I call not upon your gratitude, for I know you feel none,¡± I replied. ¡°I speak to you not as a supplicant, but as a business partner. You asked for much and I could yet offer you more in the future. Support me in my quest, and I might call upon you with more than scraps of secrets to offer.¡±
The Yaotzin coiled around me like a hurricane around its eye. I sensed its power, its hunger, and below both, its calculating and ancient intelligence. The wind of chaos possessed greater foresight than any man; it had tried to goad me down the path of destruction long before I became emperor. Though it was the enemy of all sides, it was in the Yaotzin¡¯s nature to prosper in times of war; and for my conflict with the Nightlords to escalate, I had to grow stronger.
I sensed a shift in the pressure around me as the Yaotzin considered my proposal. When it spoke up again, it did not address me with cryptic words or taunts meant for children, but a tone full of solemnity.
¡°Then a bargain is struck,¡± the wind said grimly. ¡°We grant you command over the last breaths of those whose lives you have taken, heavy with despair; and with them, you shall craft the sword of the Slice. Use it however you wish.¡±
The Yaotzin blew between my fingertips. I heard voices and whispers coiling inside my palms; a chorus of final curses and death wails. The souls whose hopes I¡¯d silenced with Smoke Mountain¡¯s flames and the sting of my murders spat at me, their condemnation fueling a wind beholden to their killer. I let this current guide me and waved my hand at the nearest wall. The cold wind formed a blade that sliced through the stone with the depth of an obsidian sword.
It was true what they said. Words could cut deeper than any blade.
¡°We shall forewarn your witch-mother of the enemy that threatens her, child of the wind, but we offer a warning,¡± the Yaotzin said. ¡°Those who mistreat their slaves are bound to one day suffer their wrath. Chaos stings both ways.¡±
¡°I know,¡± I replied, though I didn¡¯t care at all. I would bear any reproach sent my way. If others complained about the prices I¡¯d paid, then they should have rebelled against the Nightlords in the first place and not made these bargains of mine unavoidable.
Though I remained worried for Mother and Astrid, my heart briefly swelled with pride. I¡¯d bargained with otherworldly forces and for once earned more than what it had asked for. I was gaining true power inch by inch.
The winds of chaos swiftly reminded me of my tenuous position.
¡°Remember the price we asked, for we shall suffer no delay and answer betrayal with blood.¡± The Yaotzin¡¯s final warning silenced Xibalba¡¯s applause, the wind¡¯s whispers now cold and threatening. ¡°We shall meet again in the depths of faithlessness.¡±
I answered the threat with silence and waited until the winds of chaos no longer blew. I next turned to my predecessors¡¯ skull medium. The past emperors offered neither reassurance nor condemnation.
I would have to live with the consequences of my own decision.
With little else to do in Xibalba and the city keeping its doors closed to me¡ªa state of affairs that would likely last until my uncertainty over Mother¡¯s fate ended¡ªI forced myself awake and returned to the world above.
Ingrid rested in my arms, her eyes wide open. She didn¡¯t find sleep.
I couldn¡¯t blame her. Beneath her wits and confident exterior, Ingrid remained a young woman who had seen far too much for her young age. She didn¡¯t wield magic that could offer her a measure of comfort, nor spirit her sister Astrid away from Iztacoatl¡¯s grasp. She was a plaything dancing in the palm of greater forces.
¡°Everything will be fine, Ingrid,¡± I whispered in her ear. The wisest part of myself didn¡¯t truly believe it¡ªthe Nightlords¡¯ cruelties had cured me of this naivety¡ªbut part of me wanted to make it true nonetheless. ¡°Your sister will enjoy a nice trip across the empire and return home safely.¡±
I¡¯d promised a hundred souls for the mere hope of shielding my mother from incoming danger. At this point, I would likely slay ten times that number if it meant keeping Astrid safe.
When Ingrid turned to look at me, I could tell that my words had failed to reach her. ¡°My lord is kind, but our true home lies far beyond the sea.¡±
Of course she didn¡¯t consider that prison of a palace any more of a home than I did.
¡°Do you wish to see Winland one day?¡± I asked while stroking her hair. ¡°See the snow?¡±
She stared back at her pillow, though I¡¯d caught a flicker of hope in her eyes. ¡°It is a foolish dream.¡±
¡°Not for an emperor,¡± I insisted. I couldn¡¯t promise her to send her there¡ªthe Nightlords would never allow it¡ªbut I might be able to bring Winland to her. ¡°I could build a new one for you.¡±
My bold proclamation caused Ingrid to stare at me in genuine confusion. ¡°A new Winland, my lord?¡±
¡°Say the word, Ingrid, and I will have servants fetch enough snow from the mountaintops to cover the garden,¡± I declared. ¡°I will have workers dig a lake in the courtyard, raise an island in its midst, and cover it in snow. I will create a second Winland for your eyes alone.¡±
Ingrid scoffed, then covered her mouth to suppress her laughter at my eccentric proposal. I took it as a good sign. ¡°It would be quite the expensive and logistical ordeal,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Snow melts, my lord.¡±
¡°Haven¡¯t you heard?¡± I teased her. ¡°There is no problem that enough manpower cannot solve. If my runners can send a message across the empire in a day¡¯s time, then they can bring you snow before it melts.¡±
It would be a foolish and extravagant waste of resources, the kind of whim worthy of a mad emperor. To create a snow island that would melt at the first rays of dawn wouldn¡¯t help me defeat the Nightlords.
But for a moment, such an island would allow Ingrid to dream of a better future: a tomorrow where she could see snow elsewhere than on palace tapestries, where she could visit lands beyond the reach of our jailers, and where her sister could grow without an executioner¡¯s axe hanging above her head.
Ingrid shifted places in the bed and leaned against my chest, her hand caressing me in a way that sent jolts down my navel. ¡°My lord is promising me much.¡±
¡°There is nothing beyond my power,¡± I replied. Not even your sister¡¯s safety. ¡°Especially not your happiness, Ingrid.¡±
¡°My lord is very kind, as always.¡± Ingrid hesitated an instant, then lightly kissed me on the lips. Her touch was clumsier than usual and rife with tension, but sincere nonetheless. ¡°I count myself lucky to have been blessed with such a good man for a husband.¡±
My heart pounded in my chest as I held her. The same gentle warmth that I felt in Nenetl¡¯s presence and that of Eztli coursed through my body. A deep and profound affection that let me forget my troubles for a brief instant.
Brief being the keyword here.
Tenoch soon entered the bedroom and bowed before my bed. ¡°We have reached your hometown, Master,¡± she informed me. ¡°I was told that the goddess Iztacoatl herself left a gift for you at the site.¡±
As usual, the Nightlords¡¯ schemes never failed to find a way to spoil my mood. Funny how the mere promise of a gift from them made me fear the worst.
Tenoch dressed me and Ingrid just in time for our convoy to reach Acampa. I stood by the balcony alongside my consorts and concubines¡ªsave for Eztli, who still had to hide from the daylight¡ªto witness a wasteland of ashes and debris under the midday sun.
Little more than blasted ruins remained of my hometown and its surrounding region. The eruption had ravaged the forests and fields near my home, snapping pines like twigs and burning everything until only ashes covered the land. A desert of dust blanketed the world, as it did in its beginning. I saw black soot everywhere I looked where grass used to be. The few houses that remained had their roofs blasted off, their crooked walls standing amidst the eerie silence. No one spoke; no one had survived. Even the river where Eztli and I used to play had dried up, its bed devoid of water.
How many souls used to live in Acampa¡¯s region at its height? Three-hundred? How many of them had managed to escape the region before the flames and quakes consumed them?
¡°Behold the wasteland that you have created,¡± the wind taunted me. ¡°A grave fit for burned men.¡±
¡°What a dreadful sight,¡± Nenetl commented with a horrified expression. She glanced at me in concern. ¡°I am so sorry, Iztac.¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine, Nenetl,¡± I replied with a shrug. Harsh as it sounded, the sight of this blasted village gave me a measure of peace amidst the melancholia. ¡°I expected such desolation.¡±
My composure cracked when I finally caught sight of Iztacoatl¡¯s ¡®gift.¡¯
In spite of this disaster¡¯s magnitude, a single building appeared untouched by the chaos: the very house in which Necahual and Guatemoc once welcomed me. This was a mere illusion: familiar cracks in the dry mud walls were missing and the fence looked better than before Smoke Mountain¡¯s rage came crashing down.
The very sight of this cursed place unsettled my mother-in-law and caused my lips to twist in annoyance. There was no way the house miraculously survived the eruption. Iztacoatl must have ordered it rebuilt to better taunt me.
¡°Was this your home, my lord?¡± Ingrid guessed, her arm coiled around mine to support me.
¡°It was my house, once,¡± I replied with a scowl. I¡¯d lost my true home alongside my father.
¡°Our Lord Emperor lived in a shack,¡± Chikal commented. ¡°Good. There is greater nobility in rising from nothing than being born into wealth.¡±
There was no nobility in being Yohuachanca¡¯s emperor at all, but I knew Chikal was only playing along. Unwilling to let Iztacoatl rattle me so easily without retaliating, I ordered the longneck to stop near the village.
¡°Necahual, come with me,¡± I ordered. ¡°The goddess wishes us to say goodbye to our old lives, and we shall indulge her.¡±
¡°As Your Majesty wishes,¡± Necahual replied with an utter lack of enthusiasm.
¡°She does not mourn the old days,¡± the wind whispered in my ears. ¡°Though the cold nights ahead are no better.¡±
I snorted. She only regretted these times because she had Eztli for herself and power over me. I didn¡¯t miss them in the slightest.
I climbed down from my longneck alongside Necahual and Itzili the Younger, who growled at the house. I patted him on his feathered head and gave him free rein to hunt down any of Iztacoatl¡¯s snakes, should he find any.
¡°Welcome to the ruins of your former life, Your Divine Majesty,¡± Tayatzin welcomed me on the ground below with a deep bow. He had seen my agitation and sought to reassure me. ¡°Pay no mind to these embers of mortality. You are a god incarnate now, and the earth shudders in your presence.¡±
¡°Who ordered this place rebuilt?¡± I asked Tayatzin with a cold dead voice as we inspected the area.
¡°Lady Iztacoatl,¡± he replied, confirming my suspicions. I¡¯d expected another one of her cruel jokes. ¡°An emperor¡¯s old house should stand on stronger foundations than those of peasants.¡±
¡°She is right, of course,¡± I said without meaning any of it. She will pay for this. ¡°Were there any survivors?¡±
¡°I¡¯m afraid your hometown of Acampa was entirely wiped out,¡± Tayatzin confirmed. ¡°However, a few of your classmates at the region¡¯s school managed to evacuate in time, alongside their families.¡±
Classmates?
The word only brought back troubled memories: the smell of trash down the sanitary pit, the sensation of my fingers clawing at walls of dung, the mocking, the shunning, and the beatings. A well of buried scorn swelled to the surface of my soul and overwhelmed it with filth. I thought I had left these memories in the dust, but the past always found a way to cling to me.
Nonetheless, this turn of events provided a grim opportunity for me to seize. Wicked souls shouldn¡¯t survive cataclysms that slaughtered the innocent.
I briefly glanced at the longneck holding my roaming palace and consorts. Nenetl, Ingrid, and the others were luckily too far away to hear what I was about to say. I would at least spare them an awful truth today, at least until Iztacoatl inevitably revealed it to them.
¡°How is the school?¡± I questioned Tayatzin.
¡°Damaged, but the facilities can be repurposed.¡±
¡°Gather my former classmates at the school¡¯s ruins.¡± I marked a short pause as a small part of me still hesitated, only to be swept away by the unrelenting tide of pragmatism. ¡°And bring ropes.¡±
Necahual flinched at my side, her eyes wide open with horror. Tayatzin didn¡¯t show half of her moral qualms, but he clearly guessed what I had in mind.
¡°All of them, Your Majesty?¡± he asked me.
¡°At least a hundred,¡± I replied off-handedly. ¡°If you can¡¯t make the count, grab refugees that would be a burden to the state. The old, the criminals, the useless ones who have no place in our empire of faith.¡±
¡°We shall gather them within the hour, Your Majesty.¡±
I deigned to dignify his answer with a nod, then stepped towards Guatemoc¡¯s house and pushed open the small wooden door. Necahual meekly followed me closely without a word while Itzili began to patrol the area around the house to ensure no one would listen in on us.
The insides of her home hadn¡¯t changed in the slightest; the maize-woven mattresses used by the family lay in a dark room right next to a small central room and its hearth. A near-perfect recreation of Necahual¡¯s herb reserve stood along a wall. Either the red-eyed priests recorded the position of every object in the house when they came to capture the family on Yoloxochitl¡¯s orders, or Iztacoatl used magic to obtain this information.
This place and its associated memories filled me with quiet fury. I should have been beyond this by now, but it was stronger than me. This house reminded me of my greatest fear.
Powerlessness.
Frustrating memories assaulted me the moment I glanced at Necahual. I recalled the kiss of the stones she threw at my face, the sensation of her hand on my cheek, the noise of Guatemoc drinking pulque as he had me work his fields. I wanted to burn this house like I did the beasts of Xibalba.
My eyes lingered on the herbs first. I immediately recognized some of the pots that Eztli switched around. Did Iztacoatl put them there as a joke of some kind?
¡°What are those for?¡± I asked Necahual. ¡°I remember seeing them on your shelves.¡±
My concubine scowled and looked away. ¡°Contraceptives.¡±
I thought I¡¯d misheard for a second. The word hit me like a wave and left me shaken in disbelief. I blinked at Necahual as my mind struggled to accept what my ears had just heard.
Contraceptives?
Necahual¡¯s contraceptives?
There has to be a mistake. She wouldn¡¯t have dared, my heart insisted, though my head knew otherwise. The old Eztli wouldn¡¯t have sunk so low, but the new one¡¯s vampiric nature stripped her of shame and much of her human empathy. She can¡¯t do this to me. To her own mother.
But then doubt began to gnaw at me. I recalled how Eztli once tried to dissuade me from practicing Seidr with Ingrid, and subtly encouraged me to get intimate with Necahual. I saw all the tiny hints that I¡¯d blinded myself to behind a veil of nostalgia.
I knew Eztli was on our side. She supported me in our secret war and did her best to protect us both, but her deception filled me with a deep nausea and lurched my stomach. My oldest friend¡ªor rather, her shadow¡ªhad betrayed me and her own mother in the most deplorable way possible.
Why would she even think this was a good idea? Bearing my children was Necahual¡¯s worst fear, and the thought of my child becoming either a vampire or breeding stock sickened me to my core. Did she think in her undead madness that a child would bring us closer together?
My fists clenched at the betrayal. Eztli was sick. Evil had infected her since the night I saw her kill her own father, but it was only now that I fully fathomed how deep the vampiric curse corrupted her. Yoloxochitl sucked out her soul alongside her blood.
I sensed the weight of Necahual¡¯s gaze on me. I opened my mouth to gasp for air, suppressing the sickness overtaking me. Though I couldn¡¯t hold my tongue, I retained the presence of mind to stay vague in case Iztacoatl could somehow listen in on us. I opened the bottles and pretended to check their contents.
¡°Someone sabotaged yours,¡± I said without explaining how I reached this conclusion. I hoped that Necahual could fill in the blanks on her own, and I didn¡¯t have the heart to mention Eztli.
As it turned out, I didn¡¯t need to.
¡°My daughter,¡± Necahual replied with a grim look. ¡°She switches them while I sleep.¡±
My eyes widened in shock and horror. ¡°You knew?¡±
Necahual sneered at me. ¡°You thought it would change anything if I didn¡¯t?¡± she asked me. ¡°After all they¡¯ve done to us, you think they would let me have control of my own body? That they would let me keep those herbs if they did anything?¡±
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I froze in place. ¡°What are you saying?¡±
¡°The cooks put enough fertility herbs in our food to quicken any barren womb,¡± Necahual replied in disgust at my ignorance. ¡°Eztli hasn¡¯t noticed because she doesn¡¯t eat with us, but I recognized the taste instantly.¡±
¡°Then your contraceptives¨C¡±
¡°Gave me hope.¡± Necahual crossed her arms and stared down at the ground in defeat. ¡°Little else.¡±
Her words sank in my mind, and for a brief instant I felt compassion for her. Neither of us had any choice in the matter. Necahual¡¯s guess was likely correct, as much as it disgusted me. The Nightlords would never allow concubines access to effective contraceptives when their only purpose was to give birth to new generations of vampires.
They never gave us a choice.
But though it might not have changed anything, I still couldn¡¯t come to terms with Eztli¡¯s actions. They clashed so much with the memory of the sweet girl she used to be that I simply couldn¡¯t reconcile the two.
Necahual looked away in shame and regret. ¡°All my daughter wanted was a simple life,¡± she whispered. ¡°Find a husband, run her own household, and raise a family of her own. First with Chimalli, then you. I denied her that gift.¡±
¡°You did not,¡± I replied, though Necahual silenced me with a glare. We both knew that Yoloxochitl wouldn¡¯t have given her a thought had she not spent my childhood throwing stones at me.
¡°My daughter can¡¯t have any of that anymore, so she hopes to experience it through me,¡± Necahual muttered under her breath. ¡°Use me as a surrogate for the child she wanted to have herself.¡±
I struggled against nausea. ¡°That is sick.¡±
¡°My daughter is sick.¡± Necahual squinted at me. ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed.¡±
¡°Noticed what?¡±
¡°My daughter¡¯s flowers.¡± Necahual clenched her jaw. ¡°I¡¯ve seen her water them with her blood.¡±
My heart skipped a beat as I recalled Yoloxochitl¡¯s garden. Pieces fell into place and recontextualized past events to form a horrifying picture.
The signs became clear to me. Eztli¡¯s sudden obsession with forcing a child on Necahual; the way she treated her handmaiden Atziri; and her decreasing humanity.
Taking on the role of the First Emperor allowed him to speak through my mouth. So great was the occult weight of the Nightlords¡¯ rituals that it allowed Eztli to stand in her vampiric sire¡¯s place. To embody her.
To become her.
Eztli, my oldest friend and the love of my life, was slowly transforming into the very thing that robbed her of her life. Taking on traits from the late Yoloxochitl and growing to fit her role.
And for now, I was powerless to stop her change.
My hands began to shake on their own. I stared at my trembling fingers in disbelief and tried to clench my fists to stop them, to no avail. My breath grew short and weak.
How long has this been going on? Since the moment Yoloxochitl perished? After the First Emperor¡¯s proclamation? Before? I tried to recall every little hint that could inform me when Eztli began to change, every comment that could enlighten me, but I failed to pinpoint an exact start. How long until she becomes Yoloxochitl reborn?
Eztli was slipping into darkness before my eyes. I hadn¡¯t even noticed, and even after doing so I still couldn¡¯t protect her from herself.
My pact with the Yaotzin didn¡¯t fully reassure me either. Warning Mother of incoming danger wasn¡¯t a promise of ensuring her safety. I couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that Iztacoatl prepared countermeasures to capture her; and even if she failed to catch Mother, she would likely interrogate me tonight.
Not to mention whatever she had planned for Astrid. My gut told me it would end in tears.
This is too much. I hit the nearest wall so hard it scratched my knuckles. I can¡¯t deal with this right now.
¡°She knew,¡± I whispered under my breath, my heart seized with horror. ¡°She knew.¡±
¡°Whom?¡± Necahual asked with a frown.
¡°Iztacoatl, who else?¡± I snapped at her, my teeth grinding against each other. ¡°She knew about Eztli. She had to.¡±
Was she truly blind to my spy network, or did she expect Ezti to spill the beans when she was gone far enough? Was that part of her plan? Did Eztli know something about what the Nightlord had planned for Astrid? Did she already betray us? Would she betray us?
The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. I held my head with my hand as I furiously tried to figure out how to handle Eztli. She already knew too much, and if she said the wrong thing to Iztacoatl...
¡°Can¡¯t trust her anymore,¡± I mumbled under my breath, my mind a storm through which I couldn¡¯t see any ray of light. ¡°Can¡¯t. Too risky, too dangerous¡¡±
¡°Iztac,¡± Necahual whispered in concern. ¡°Iztac?¡±
I was too far gone to listen. ¡°Is this all part of her plan?¡± I muttered to myself as I attempted to figure out how far the snake¡¯s reach extended. ¡°Mother might have been a smokescreen, a trick¡¡±
Necahual studied my clenched fists for a moment, pondered how to proceed, and then said the one thing I never wanted to hear.
¡°Brings back memories, cursed child?¡±
My blood ran cold. She might as well have slapped me out of my confused state.
¡°What did you say?¡± I asked with a venomous glare, my panic replaced with rising anger.
¡°I asked if this place refreshed your memories, cursed child,¡± she replied while stressing the last two words. ¡°You are still the same weakling as you were back then, cowering at the first sign of trouble.¡± Then she spat on the ground. ¡°My daughter deserves better than you.¡±
I slapped her before I realized it. She didn¡¯t flinch, though my hand left a scarlet mark on her cheek.
¡°Do you like this caress of mine?¡± I replied with anger, my hand grabbing her hair and pulling her closer. ¡°Do you want to feel it again?¡±
Necahual sneered at me. ¡°As if you could make me feel anything.¡±
I briefly thought that the sight of this cursed house awakened Necahual¡¯s worst instincts, until I saw the steely resolve in her eyes. The truth suddenly dawned on me.
My mother-in-law was smart. She had seen my agitation today and she knew that Astrid¡¯s presence meant nothing good for this expedition. She was trying to break me out of my dark mood the same way she managed to after Lady Sigrun¡¯s death: through anger and control.
She offered herself to me so I could regain a measure of power. She gave me a visceral way to exorcize my troubled memories in the very place that birthed them, to give me back my confidence by offering herself as a sacrifice.
And as sick as it sounded, I needed it. She soothed my wounded pride and reminded me that I held the power of life and death over others. That I could hurt her as much as I wished.
¡°Something has been bothering me for a while,¡± I retorted with a malicious smirk. ¡°Guatemoc needed a son to help him take care of the farm, but you never gave him one.¡±
Necahual¡¯s eyes widened in genuine, unbridled anger.
¡°Yet you fear bearing my child, so it can¡¯t have been infertility.¡± My hand brushed against the shelves of medicinal plants. ¡°Though he raised a daughter that he knew might not have been his own, you used these herbs whenever he took you to bed, didn¡¯t you?¡±
I guessed correctly. Her guilt was written all over her face.
¡°You say you loved Guatemoc, but your actions say otherwise,¡± I taunted her. ¡°He was just a placeholder. A consolation prize meant to take care of you until my father finally set my mother aside and took you for a bride.¡± I studied Necahual head to toe, my gaze lingering on her slim waist. ¡°You couldn¡¯t bear the thought of raising a drunk¡¯s son.¡±
Necahual slapped me on my left cheek with all of her strength, the noise of her hand hitting my skin echoed through the house like the sound of a whip. I didn¡¯t flinch.
¡°The funny part is, my father didn¡¯t dislike you,¡± I chuckled in dark satisfaction. ¡°He never held a secret grudge that caused him to deny your affections. He simply never noticed them. You never registered as a partner in the book of his mind.¡±
She tried to slap me on the other cheek. I caught her arm in midair, the same way I did when she tried that in the gardens weeks ago. I pulled her close to me, my other arm wrapping around her waist.
¡°But don¡¯t worry,¡± I said as my lips closed on her own. ¡°You¡¯ll forget both men by the time you¡¯re done screaming my name.¡±
I planted a ferocious kiss on her, my tongue forcing its way past her teeth. Necahual hit me on the chest to push me back, but I held her by the waist and slammed her against the nearest wall with such force that the medicinal herbs nearby fell to the ground. She moaned in pleasure as I began to kiss my way down her neck. My hands fondled her thighs and worked their way under her dress¡
¡°No,¡± she suddenly whispered in my ear.
I abruptly stopped. Had I gone too far? ¡°No?¡±
Necahual met my gaze, then glanced at the cotton bed in the other room.
The one she used to share with Guatemoc.
A thrill of pleasure and arousal coursed through me, barely held back by my sheer disbelief at her boldness. ¡°Are you sure?¡±
¡°Are you so craven?¡± Necahual pushed me back and then began to undo her sash. ¡°You were right about one thing. I deserved better.¡±
¡ª NSFW Scene starts ¡ª
Her robes dropped to the floor with a soft thump, her lustrous body wearing only a necklace and a sheet of sweat. My clothes soon followed. Necahual soon lay on the marital bed with her back pressed against the cotton, her legs spread apart and inviting me to claim her.
¡°You dreamed of this, didn¡¯t you?¡± she taunted me as her hand went to knead at her breast.
I blushed. The truth was, she was right. Dark dreams often visited me in the nights after she abused me during my adolescence where I would rape and beat her as revenge for past humiliations. I never expected that they would come true one day.
Satisfied with my awkward response, Necahual dared me to go further. She turned to crawl on her knees and hands, her back turned on me.
¡°Come, coward,¡± she said as she beckoned me. ¡°Make me forget my husband, if you can.¡±
A rush of arousal took me over and I soon crawled over her. My cock was so hard I didn¡¯t even need preliminaries.
A memory of Guatemoc briefly crossed my mind when my hands gripped Necahual¡¯s hips. Making love to his widow in his own bed felt like the ultimate insult, but I felt no guilt. Quite the contrary. The transgressive nature of this play filled me with overwhelming desire. The thought of pulling back never even crossed my mind.
Necahual moaned my name as I filled her and pried her open. Each inch of progress sent jolts through me, and a pulse thrummed between my legs. An overwhelming feeling of conquest erased my lingering doubts. One stroke caused our hips to finally meet. She was wetter than a swamp and softer than cotton.
I had never taken Necahual from behind. Not like this, with my hands gripping her quivering hips so firmly that they would leave marks. Her own fingers grabbed the cotton bed while I began to pound into her with animalistic fury. She convulsed with each movement, her inner walls sucking me deeper after each thrust.
¡°This is better, isn¡¯t it?¡± I grunted, pinning her down. ¡°Better than with Guatemoc.¡±
¡°Whom?¡± Necahual groaned in my ear in between moans of pleasure. Somehow, that sounded even better than yes.
Coupling with Necahual never failed to provide me pleasure, but something was different this time. I could tell in the way my hands roamed over her body and how our conjoined bodies quickly settled into a perfect rhythm. Her knees shuddered when she came for the first time, but it hardly stopped anything. I continued to plunge into her.
She moaned about how good I made her feel, how Guatemoc never compared to me, how I was a real man worthy to take her. I couldn¡¯t tell how much of it was lies or words she truly believed in, but it only heightened my passion. My fingers ran through her hair and my lips nipped at her ears.
¡°You are home, Iztac,¡± she whispered. ¡°Everything here is yours.¡±
My heart swelled with confidence with each of my concubine¡¯s whispers. But it wasn¡¯t enough to take her like this.
I wanted to see her.
She gasped when I pulled out just long enough to turn her over and pin her on her back. The mere look of the sweat dripping between her strands of hair. She smiled at me, and for a brief instant, she became the most beautiful woman in the world.
I finally understood Necahual¡¯s deviousness. This house of sorrow had now turned into a victory site. I felt like a warrior returning home after earning glory and wealth. This place no longer inspired memories of shame and defeat; the present triumph washed away the past.
It is one way to bury bad memories, I pondered as I spread her legs apart with my hands, under new ones.
Sinking inside her came easy to me by now, but it was her kiss that drove me wild. Necahual was giving me back the confidence Iztacoatl tried to rob me of and I rewarded her with pleasure. I kissed her, squeezed her breasts, sucked her neck, and kneaded her navel until her eyes and teeth clenched. Her moans grew louder the longer our tryst went on. Her chest bounced against mine.
My heart threatened to burst in my chest. I was close, and so was she. The last vestige of my reasons brought me back from the brink. We didn¡¯t need to practice Seidr today¡ªand doing it now might alert Iztacoatl¡ªso an exchange of body fluids was unnecessary.
¡°I¡¯m¡¡± I groaned as I sensed the pressure building up. ¡°I¡¯m gonna pull back.¡±
Her eyes met mine. Countless emotions crossed them in an instant. Fear, most of all. Desire as deep as the sea. Doubt laced with excitement. And finally, that strange determination she had shown in her darkest moments.
¡°No,¡± Necahual decided.
I thought my ears had deceived me for a moment, but her legs soon tightened around my waist. They held me weakly at first, her knees shaking, and then tightened further. My pulse pounded in my head as my lust-addled mind struggled to make sense out of her demand.
Was she asking me¡ I slowed down in surprise
¡°Do it,¡± she confirmed.
Had she lost her mind? Was that a trick meant to further bolster my confidence? She didn¡¯t need to go that far, and the risk of impregnating her was real. My mind told me it was mere roleplay, but I found no deceit when I studied her face.
My gods, she is serious.
¡°Why?¡± I could only whisper in disbelief.
¡°Because if it is to happen either way¡ I wish to be my choice.¡± Necahual snorted with pride. ¡°Not hers¡ not yours.¡±
I couldn¡¯t tell whether she referred to Eztli or Iztacoatl. It didn¡¯t matter. I could easily break out of her embrace if I pushed hard enough. Spill my seed on her belly and be done with it.
But I didn¡¯t.
It was stupid. I knew it all too well. But the rush of euphoria proved too strong. This woman, who had loathed me with all of her heart for years and whose greatest fear quivered between her legs, dared me to cross the final line of our twisted relationship; to knowingly violate our final taboo.
I came.
My vision went white as I unloaded my seed inside Necahual. Gasps and convulsions coursed through our bodies while they joined in a deep union of flesh and soul. I avoided using Seidr, but I had visions of our Teyolias nonetheless. Our heart-fires had joined together so often that our connection had grown intimately close.
I saw my flame dance with her own in the inferno of our lust and hatred; mine a sun and her a growing fire whose meager strength I had fed one Seidr ritual at a time. They joined together in a bond as old as the Fifth Sun, melding together and separating.
¡ª NSFW Scene Ends ¡ª
I couldn¡¯t tell when I returned to reality. When I did, I found myself panting and sweating over Necahual. Her eyes widened in shock and surprise. The enormity of what we had just done slowly dawned on us once the waves of pleasures receded.
Necahual had asked me to impregnate her in her late husband¡¯s bed.
And I¡¯d obliged. For all I knew, I¡¯d even succeeded.
My mind was still addled with surprise when I pulled out of her. I gathered my breath as I tried to regain my composure,
¡°It¡¯s not inevitable,¡± I finally said.
¡°It is,¡± Necahual replied softly.
¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be.¡±
She looked at me as if I were a na?ve child, which I probably was. I¡¯d made this inevitable the moment I chose her as my favorite and Seidr partner. Necahual needed to play both roles in order to secure her daughter¡¯s freedom and obtain the magical power she craved.
She was indeed willing to bear any price for both. I admired her resolve.
¡°Did you do it for Eztli?¡± I asked her. ¡°To stabilize her?¡±
¡°For me,¡± Necahual insisted. ¡°I did it for me. At least this will be on my terms.¡±
¡°But¨C¡±
Necahual silenced me with a glare. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of you,¡± she snapped at me. ¡°I know what I signed up for the first time.¡±
Her mind was set.
My hands suddenly found themselves roaming Necahual¡¯s belly. My touch startled her, but her fingers didn¡¯t push mine back. An idea wouldn¡¯t leave my mind.
My own mother-in-law. My favorite. Pregnant with my child.
The thought sounded as absurd as it was terrifying. Any scion of mine was bound to grow into a horrible fate, and siring one on this woman of all people¡ I waited for a surge of nausea that never came.
I¡¯m not against it, I realized much to my own surprise. I should have been afraid, but somehow I wasn¡¯t. What¡¯s happening to me?
¡°You were right.¡±
Necahual¡¯s words woke me up from my trance. Her eyes were filled with tears.
¡°You were right,¡± she repeated, her eyes darting at the room around us. ¡°I wanted more than this. This¡¡± She bit her lower lip. ¡°I loathed this life.¡±
And like me, she tried to forget it today.
¡°I didn¡¯t love my husband,¡± Necahual confessed. ¡°I had¡ affection for him after years of marriage, and he didn¡¯t deserve to die, but¡¡±
¡°But you would have cast him aside for another in a heartbeat,¡± I guessed.
Necahual nodded slowly. ¡°He didn¡¯t love me either, or else he wouldn¡¯t have forced you on me, or would have stopped drinking when I asked him to.¡± She avoided my gaze. ¡°By the end of our marriage, it sickened me to feel the pulque on his lips. I put draught in his drink so he wouldn¡¯t have the strength to crawl into my bed, and I cleansed myself the one time his seed took hold.¡±
The confession of her treachery should have sickened me as yet another proof of her rotten heart. Somehow though, I didn¡¯t care all that much. I had come to accept her for what she was.
¡°Why?¡± I asked.
¡°Because I thought I deserved better than him.¡± Necahual let out a deep, sorrowful sigh. ¡°I wanted to be your mother. I wanted her man and those powers she had. The things I would have done with them¡¡±
¡°Of my mother and you, you were the better person.¡± Not by much, but still enough to be commended.
Necahual snorted in disdain. ¡°What good did it do?¡±
¡°More than you think.¡± I stroked her hair. ¡°More than you think.¡±
Necahual was an awful person. A bitter hag who had betrayed her own husband, abused a child who had the misfortune to look like a woman she envied, and brought much of her own misfortune on herself.
But though it wounded me to admit it, she had shown a few admirable qualities since. She was brave, far more than my own mother, though she had none of her supernatural powers. She possessed a deep sense of loyalty for the handful of people she loved, and a willful ambition great enough to defy the Nightlords themselves. She was willing to bear the child of a man she hated for the sake of saving a daughter who had betrayed her.
I loathed her as much as I loved her.
¡°My daughter is all I want to keep from those times,¡± Necahual said, her hands brushing against my chest. ¡°I want to start anew with everything else. Forget these years.¡±
¡°So do I,¡± I replied. ¡°You gave me everything as I¡¯d asked once, so I will grant your wish. I will give you a new and better life.¡±
Our relationship had changed so much, from enemies to difficult lovers; our union was built on loving and hurting one another, but it had grown like an old oak and had become something far more intense than an alliance of convenience. She had become my mistress, confidant and most trusted accomplice, for better or worse.
I kissed her on the lips and sensed her resolve. We¡¯d both decided to move on from our past and begin anew. Our relationship was far from healthy, but it gave us both strength.
¡°I hate you,¡± Necahual whispered once I broke the kiss. ¡°I want you. I hate that I want you.¡±
¡°Me too.¡±
¡°I will never be your slave,¡± she warned me. ¡°Never.¡±
¡°I know,¡± I replied softly. ¡°But you will be my favorite.¡±
Somewhere along the way, the lie had become the truth.
Necahual studied my expression for a moment, then nodded slowly. We both rose up afterward and put on our clothes in a somewhat awkward silence. When I looked at the house around us, I felt none of the rage and frustration from earlier, nor even a hint of nostalgia; just a distant feeling of closure.
Necahual had freed me from those days in her own way. I¡¯d fully avenged my past humiliations and I was now ready to move on towards the future.
¡°Will you truly do it?¡± she asked with some concern in her voice. ¡°The school?¡±
¡°I must,¡± I replied firmly. ¡°For my own sake."
These feelings carried on from my old life¡ªhatred, nostalgia, powerlessness¡ªwere weaknesses. Open wounds that allowed the likes of Iztacoatl to gain an advantage over me and that blinded me to the future. They made me close my eyes on Eztli¡¯s behavior and enslaved me to my anger.
I had to expel this frailty from my heart like gangrene. Burn the shackles of my childhood so I could truly fly free, the way Necahual and I exorcized our past demons today.
Iztacoatl meant for this place to weaken me with past burdens, but she had given me an opportunity to claim my freedom instead.
¡°I see,¡± Necahual whispered. She pondered what to do next before holding onto my shoulders. ¡°I wish to witness it, if you will let me.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have to.¡±
¡°No,¡± she conceded, ¡°but I want to.¡±
I agreed to her demand with a slow nod. Of all the women inhabiting my harem, Necahual was the only one who saw the true me. I didn¡¯t have to hide anything from her.
We were both equally ugly on the inside.
We exited the house to find Tayatzin and Itzili waiting for us alongside a trihorn. If my priestly advisor hadn¡¯t guessed what happened between us with a glance, the way Necahual adjusted her messy hair likely confirmed his suspicions.
¡°We are ready to proceed, Your Majesty,¡± he informed me while glancing at my concubine. ¡°Shall I have Lady Necahual return to her quarters?¡±
¡°She will come too,¡± I replied before climbing onto the trihorn and inviting Necahual to join me. She moved to sit behind my back without sparing Tayatzin a glance. ¡°She knows the way.¡±
So did I.
By law, all Yohuachancan schools were located less than an hour¡¯s walk from any population center. Outside large cities like the capital, these facilities were built to house the children of multiple nearby villages.
The House of Youth which I attended was no exception and welcomed hundreds of students at its height. The blasted ruins that remained were a ghostly silhouette facing an ashen wasteland. The place once echoed with the shouts of young men training to become scholars, merchants, and warriors; but now only an eerie silence ruled its crumbling walls. The great stone buildings bore deep cracks and sections of the roof had caved in after the quakes, leaving gaping and ash-filled holes where classrooms used to be. The air was choked with dust and the lingering smell of sulfur.
Necahual and I triumphantly rode into the central courtyard with Itzili rushing on foot after us. Red-eyed priests and masked guards had gathered a hundred souls on the broken pavement near the sanitary pits amidst volcanic debris. All of them were men; young students my own age or older warriors who gave us lessons, alongside strangers grabbed from nearby villages. Their hands and feet were bound with ropes, forcing them to kneel in ordered lines.
They reminded me of a flock of turkeys bound for the slaughter.
I climbed down from my trihorn alongside Necahual and then surveyed the sacrifices. I remembered a few faces well. Students who had thrown me into a sanitary pit in my first weeks in this very school until I clawed my way out, beaten me during training, or scorned me. Now they trembled with fear at my feet. A few opened their mouths to plead for my mercy, only for my guards to silence them with punches to the face. Others cowered at the sight of Itzili stalking them with hunger in his eyes.
I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t feel a slight sense of malicious glee at their despair, but I mostly struggled to care at all. Their old schoolyard bullying was a pale shadow of the Nightlords¡¯ cruelty and the trials I underwent in Xibalba. I¡¯d gone through far grander ordeals.
Their lives weighed frighteningly little in my mind.
¡°They shall spend their last moments cursing your name,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°Your cruelty shall be renowned among the living and the dead.¡±
I could live with that. In this harsh world, I would rather be seen as cruel than weak.
¡°Kiss the ground before His Imperial Majesty Iztac Ce Ehecatl!¡± one of the red-eyed priests shouted to the crowd. ¡°Emperor of Yohuachanca, Godspeaker, and master of all he sees!¡±
My men forced the doomed thralls to hit the ground with their foreheads in supplication. I heard cowers, whispers, and quiet prayers. For each man who faced his incoming demise with stoicism, ten more shivered and trembled.
Priests could teach us men the arts of war, but not bravery in the face of death.
I let the tense silence hang in the air for a moment, with Necahual standing beside me without a word. The sun shone behind me and cast my dark shadow on those closest to me.
¡°Thou have once shown me scorn because the gods marked me as special,¡± I said. ¡°You thought me cursed and weak, but here I stand as the savior of the Fifth Sun.¡±
I extended my hands, hoping that word of my declaration would reach Iztacoatl¡¯s ears and inspire fear in her heart.
¡°Your faithlessness invited the First Emperor¡¯s wrath upon us,¡± I lied through my teeth. ¡°Though my words spared this world from utter destruction, the heavens will not give us a third chance. My rule shall be one where weakness won¡¯t be tolerated. It is by my hand that your sorry lot, who has dared to disappoint the gods, shall find redemption.¡±
I snapped my fingers, and a masked guard bound a rope into a hangman¡¯s noose. He moved behind the closest of my former classmates. I didn¡¯t remember his name, though I recalled his mocking laughter when he pushed me into the dung pit well enough. He whimpered at my feet like a coward.
Did his childish prank warrant execution? Clearly not, but I did not waver. I¡¯d killed better people for far less than my mother¡¯s life.
That was what it meant to live in my world: growing numb to death, one tragedy at a time.
¡°The Gods-in-the-Flesh demand blood, but the Gods-in-Spirit crave a higher commodity.¡± I raised my chin, my eyes looking down on the first condemned. ¡°Silence.¡±
The masked guard coiled the noose around the student¡¯s neck and pulled. His inhuman strength let him lift the victim with one hand until his feet dangled above the ground.
I watched the scene without a word, listening to the man¡¯s final struggle with cold composure. Necahual seemed quite disturbed, but to her credit she didn¡¯t try to look away. Itzili squealed with animalistic hunger and anticipation.
The gods made us resilient. It took seconds for the man to pass out from the lack of air, but minutes for his body to grow stiff and cold. The masked guard let the corpse hit the ground with a thump, the victim¡¯s final breath escaping his lungs soon after. Though I let Itzili eat his fill of human flesh, the man¡¯s life belonged to the wind.
The scene repeated time and time again. My soldiers were strong and experienced; they had done this before on behalf of Nightlords and past emperors. They carried out the mass sacrifice in hardly half an hour with ruthless efficiency.
It wasn¡¯t this quiet massacre that disturbed me the most, or the fact that I ordered it, but the fact that it left me devoid of guilt. My mind was clearer than a cloudless sky. Even the sight of Itzili dining on a corpse failed to affect it.
If anything, murdering my past brought me a measure of peace. Of detachment.
¡°The debt is settled for us both,¡± the wind whispered in my ear once I delivered the last sacrifice¡¯s breath. ¡°The man is dead and the demon remains.¡±
The wind was wrong for once. The man I used to be died when I plunged that knife into my heart. Everything afterward had been an overdrawn death rattle.
¡°Burn them all,¡± I ordered the priests. ¡°Then throw the ashes to the wind.¡±
I would carve many names on my bones tonight.
Chapter Sixty: Burned Bridges
After slaughtering my former classmates and having their ashes join those left by Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption, I went to visit the rest of the refugees.
I found it eerie how easily I went from one to the other. I¡¯d committed a brutal massacre and switched to charity work in a heartbeat without guilt or remorse. My mind was clear and devoid of doubt.
I¡¯d grown numb to killing my fellow man.
¡°By the will of the heavens, Emperor Iztac shall now listen to your grievances!¡± Tayatzin announced to the line of visitors waiting for me to bless them. I counted hundreds of them, from families in tattered clothes to wealthier individuals. ¡°Prostrate yourself in submission, and know his divine wisdom!¡±
Smoke Mountain had ravaged the region, but my imperial bureaucracy took care of the waves of refugees that resulted from it. They did a pretty good job at it, setting up camps of animal hide tents and wooden shacks to house them. The eruption¡¯s victims carried all their belongings in bags of cloth or wagons filled with salvaged food, housewares, and what little wealth they had left. Turkeys and dogs lingered among my people, all of them desperate for food and shelter.
My men set up a makeshift audience chamber for me to welcome visitors. I sat on a palanquin throne backed up by smaller chairs. Only Nenetl would advise me today, alongside Necahual; Eztli still hid from the sun, while Ingrid and Chikal attended to other duties. We had received messages related to our upcoming war with the Sapa, and I would rather have them review those documents on my behalf.
Itzili rested at my feet, his hunger satiated on the flesh of my former classmates, and a bonfire set behind me cast a bright light upon my improvised court. A large escort of guards and priests ensured that no one could get close enough to me with a weapon. With the upcoming war with the Sapa and the Nightchildren¡¯s depredations, it didn¡¯t hurt to be on the lookout for disgruntled assassins.
It felt so strange to see rolling hills rather than walls around us. Birds soared in the clouded sky above my head, while the sun approached the horizon with each passing minute. I only had hours until twilight and the upcoming operation.
Yoloxochitl¡¯s garden wouldn¡¯t survive the night, and I hoped that my mother would.
¡°Your Majesty won¡¯t have time to hear them all,¡± Necahual noted upon seeing the line. ¡°I suggest distributing tortilla bread to those who will have waited in vain.¡±
¡°You should distribute food to everyone, Iztac,¡± Nenetl replied with surprising firmness. ¡°These people need all the help they can get.¡±
Nenetl had little confidence when it came to herself, and plenty when defending the interests of others. Her unrelenting kindness soothed my heart after this noon¡¯s mass sacrifice.
¡°You speak true, Nenetl: an emperor¡¯s magnanimity should be renowned,¡± I said before waving a hand at Tayatzin. ¡°See that these people receive a portion of our supplies on my consort¡¯s behalf.¡±
¡°As Your Majesty demands,¡± Tayatzin replied with a bow, before addressing the crowd. ¡°By the will of Godspeaker Iztac, ruler of the earth, and his beloved consort Lady Nenetl, all of you shall receive a gift of food and drink as a reward for your faith!¡±
A chorus of prayers, thanks, and supplications erupted in response. Its power paled when compared to that of Nenetl¡¯s smile, however, which filled my heart with warmth.
¡°If only she knew the fiend beneath the guise of humanity,¡± the wind taunted me. I ignored it.
We began the audience afterward. Imperial protocol demanded that priests and nobles come first, to my distaste. Giving preference to the Nightlords¡¯ servants kept reminding me of my own servitude.
First came the local high priest, Mahuizoh, who served the Jaguar Woman. That alone did not endear him to me in the slightest, and his demands proved quite the annoyance.
¡°Our community¡¯s temple was destroyed in the eruption, and the loss of Lady Yoloxochitl¡¯s priesthood diminished our manpower,¡± he explained while bowing at my feet. ¡°The people have lost their spiritual haven and are now left adrift in a sea of uncertainty. I humbly petition Your Imperial Majesty for a new temple, where our citizens can properly worship the gods.¡±
The idea of investing resources in a temple dedicated to the Nightlords sounded like an utter waste of time, but Necahual swiftly offered me an amusing alternative.
¡°Your Majesty should dedicate it to Lady Yoloxochitl,¡± she said with solemn gravity that hardly hid the thin smile at her lips¡¯ edge. ¡°So the people can pray for her safe return among us.¡±
I suppressed a chuckle of my own. While the suggestion appeared innocent at first glance, rebuilding a temple dedicated to Yoloxochitl near the site of her death would fiercely annoy Iztacoatl. The fact that Necahual was officially unaware of the truth offered me plausible deniability too.
I was just keeping up appearances about our lost Nightlord¡¯s supposed survival, after all.
¡°My favorite speaks true,¡± I declared. ¡°I shall allocate materials and labor for the temple¡¯s facilities, under two conditions: I will dedicate it to the goddess Yoloxochitl first and foremost, so that she may one day bless us again with her presence; and its facilities will offer free lodging to our homeless citizens.¡±
¡°Your Majesty¡¯s faith is only matched by their magnanimity,¡± Mahuizoh replied as he prostrated himself. Tayatzin sent me a strange glance, but didn¡¯t comment on my decision.
Next came a council of elders representing local communities overseen by a local noble, whose entire family had been decimated by the eruption. The ownership of his lands and remaining possessions remained in question.
¡°If these lands have no owners left, then they belong to everyone, Iztac,¡± Nenetl suggested before quickly catching herself for her overt familiarity. ¡°I mean, Your Majesty¡ Your Majesty is free to distribute them as he wishes, but I suggest having them divided among the people.¡±
¡°Agreed,¡± I replied, much to Nenetl¡¯s relief. ¡°Our country will benefit more from thirty of our displaced citizens gaining a plot of land than a single man monopolizing them all. In the absence of a living next of kin, I order this man¡¯s inheritance to be fractioned and distributed evenly to the poorest members of the local communities.¡±
This did not seem to entirely please the farmer collective. ¡°Your Imperial Majesty is kind,¡± their representative said with the utmost respect, his eyes set on the ground so he wouldn¡¯t meet my gaze. ¡°But most lands are covered in ashes and debris. It¡¯ll be years before crops can grow.¡±
¡°It will be a blessing in disguise over time,¡± Nenetl said without thinking, her cheeks turning scarlet when she realized how insensitive it must have sounded to the refugees. ¡°I, uh, I¡¯m not saying that the eruption wasn¡¯t a tragedy, but in the long-term¡ in the long-term, it will make the land more fertile.¡±
¡°The imperial administration will oversee unusable areas until they become cultivable again,¡± I declared. ¡°Those that are still fertile will be distributed immediately, and our late lord¡¯s belongings sold off so that his peasants may each earn a monetary compensation.¡±
The farmers thanked me for the gifts and wisdom, then left. Next came a group of wealthier locals who had caught a man stealing two maize bushels this morning. Though he admitted to the crime, the thief argued that he did it to feed his two children, having lost his livestock in the eruption.
¡°I sympathize with the reasons behind your crime, but it cannot remain unpunished,¡± I said. Allowing refugees to steal from one another without consequences would encourage rampant robbery. ¡°I shall show you mercy and give you an opportunity to redeem yourself. You shall be conscripted into my army as a porter until your debt is repaid.¡±
I would have likely spared that man early on in my reign to foster chaos among the people, but I¡¯d since switched my strategy to portraying an image of divine foresight and infallibility; a facade that would strengthen my sorcerous power in due time.
¡°This man will die all the same,¡± the wind taunted me. ¡°His blood will stain the battlefield rather than the gallows.¡±
A kinder death than the one I¡¯d given to so many already.
Next came a mother of two called Xochitl. I could immediately tell that this case would prove difficult. She held a sickly-looking babe in her arm and guided a child of three by the hand; a boy who clearly hadn¡¯t eaten his fair share of food lately. She stared at me with abject fear and intimidation.
¡°Prostrate yourself before the emperor!¡± one of my priestly escorts ordered, much to me and my advisors¡¯ annoyance. How could this woman be expected to kneel while holding a babe against her bosom?
¡°Then you shall help her,¡± I said sharply. The priest recoiled at my reproach, and a glare from Tayatzin encouraged him to behave. Xochitl was clearly reluctant to let go of the babe, but she eventually surrendered it to my men and knelt alongside her older son.
Necahual, whose gaze had been lingering on the baby for a while, ordered it brought to her. Her expression darkened the moment she took a closer look at it.
¡°This boy is sick,¡± Necahual whispered with a grim expression. ¡°He needs food and immediate medical attention, or else he will die within days.¡±
¡°Your Majesty, I¡¡± Xochitl rubbed her forehead against the dirt, tears falling from her eyes onto the earth below. ¡°I came begging for the lives of my children. I do not produce enough milk to feed my Teiuc, nor do I have food to give to his elder brother.¡±
¡°That¡¯s awful,¡± Nenetl replied, her cheeks pale as chalk. ¡°Can you save the baby, Lady Necahual?¡±
¡°Maybe,¡± my favorite replied. I could tell that it would be a long shot from her uncertain tone.
¡°I have faith in your abilities,¡± I encouraged her before setting my gaze on Xochitl herself. ¡°Children are the seeds of the future. I shall have my dear Necahual, my favorite and personal physician, tend to your youngest son and have his brother taken care of.¡±
I expected more tears of joy and kind words from that woman, and received shivers and whimpers in response. My nails sank into my throne¡¯s armrests. This reaction didn¡¯t bode well.
¡°Your Majesty¡¡± She gulped in fear of speaking up and then mustered her courage. ¡°When¡ When will my husband return? My brother Zolin was slain by the bats for his faithlessness, but my husband¡¡± Her voice died in her throat. ¡°Tlachinolli¡ he always prayed on time¡¡±
I frowned at her in confusion, before the truth hit me. I exchanged a glance with Tayatzin, who confirmed my guess with a small movement of his chin.
My guards had strangled that woman¡¯s husband to death a few hours ago.
Though Necahual guessed the truth on her own, Nenetl¡¯s gaze wandered from that woman to me in confusion. I knew the news would inevitably spread sooner or later, but I couldn¡¯t suppress a pang of guilt.
No, not guilt, I realized. Fear.
It wasn¡¯t my crime¡¯s discovery that I dreaded, but Nenetl¡¯s judgment and reaction. She had been my kindest friend and confidant, choosing to see the good in me rather than the growing darkness I carried in my heart. I¡¯d done my best to preserve her innocence and avoid staining her hands with my dirty deeds. The idea of losing her respect and adoration bothered me more than committing the crimes themselves.
I can¡¯t lie to her forever. Nenetl said she wished to see the true me. I might as well show it to her now. Better she learn the truth from me than Iztacoatl, who will twist it.
I gestured at Tayatzin to come closer, then whispered in his ear. ¡°Why was this Tlachinolli on the list?¡±
¡°Your Imperial Majesty asked me to gather burdens to the state,¡± Tayatzin reminded me. ¡°That woman¡¯s husband suffered grievous wounds in the eruption and could no longer work. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to feed his family, nor provide useful labor.¡±
But he could still offer his shoulder to his crying wife and guidance to his sons. My heart sank in my chest when I stared at the two boys, whose father would never see them grow up. I took one of their parents away to save one of mine.
The weight of Nenetl¡¯s horrified gaze soon became unbearable. She had overheard Tayatzin¡¯s words, and she was smart enough to guess that something terrible happened to Tlachinolli.
¡°Your sins are yours to bear,¡± the wind warned me. ¡°You will choose how to carry that weight.¡±
I¡¯d promised I would own up to my crimes, and I shall honor that promise.
¡°I cannot return your husband nor brother,¡± I declared as solemnly as I could. ¡°Both belong to the gods now.¡±
Xochitl remained quiet for a brief second, then began to sob. A floodgate of tears opened all of a sudden and stained the earth with its salty waters.
While my heart had been unclouded before, the skies of my soul now darkened. The consequences of my choice cried at my feet. It had been so easy for me to take so many lives, and it would be so hard to make up for it.
Nenetl didn¡¯t speak a word. She stared at me in disbelief, her voice dead in her throat. Her heart struggled to reconcile her good image of me with reality. I sensed I had lost something irreplaceable today.
That ship had sailed.
¡°Know that Tlachinolli perished to save your brother¡¯s soul from the damnation his sins condemned him to, alongside many others,¡± I lied through my teeth. I had opened this woman¡¯s wounds, and while I couldn¡¯t close them, I might at least soften the pain. ¡°Both shall now rest in Mictlan with the Gods-in-Spirit, where they shall feast until the Fifth Sun comes to an end.¡±
I expected my words to fall on deaf ears, but they did lessen the flow of Xochitl¡¯s tears. I was the Godspeaker, who had carried the First Emperor¡¯s words to the untold masses of our capital. She saw the prophet in me, and mistook my lies for divine truth.
¡°The gods forgave Zolin?¡± she asked, no, pleaded.
¡°They did. His ashes will be returned to you in time.¡± Once we found the Nightchild he had no doubt become. ¡°Carry this pride with you and see that your sons inherit it. I shall honor your husband¡¯s sacrifice by ensuring that you never want for anything.¡±
My lie and promises soothed Xochitl¡¯s heart a little, enough that she wiped away most of her tears. I had Necahual and a handful of priests take her and her sons to receive both food and medical attention. Nenetl remained with me, her hands bound in silence, her expression forlorn.
I sighed and decided to cut this farce short. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough of these audiences, and the sun shall set soon,¡± I told Tayatzin. ¡°I shall now return to my quarters to rest.¡±
Tayatzin offered me a deep reverence. ¡°Would Your Majesty allow me to present one final petitioner first?¡±
I raised an eyebrow. Tayatzin rarely insisted on such things. ¡°Whom?¡±
¡°As you may expect, many of our citizens know that they owe our world¡¯s survival to Your Divine Majesty¡¯s bravery and wisdom.¡± To his credit, Tayatzin appeared to at least believe part of this propaganda. My many miracles had made a believer out of him. ¡°Enough that they would offer their wives and daughters to join your harem.¡±
I scowled in disgust, but Tayatzin hurriedly finished saying his piece before I could shoot the idea down. ¡°Knowing your tastes, I denied most of their requests, but I believe that one candidate warrants your personal appreciation. She claims to have known you in your mortal life.¡±
This caught my attention; enough that I allowed the audience to proceed.
My guards soon introduced a brown-haired girl of sixteen to me. She was pretty in a common sort of way, but nothing compared to the beauties that populated my harem. Her face seemed familiar to me, though it took me a while to remember her.
¡°Ciceptl?¡± I blinked in genuine surprise. ¡°You are alive?¡±
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¡°I am, Your Majesty Iztac, though only by the skin of my teeth,¡± the young woman replied with an awkward bow and a shy smile. ¡°I am pleased that you remember me and to hear that Lady Necahual is safe and sound. I owe her very much for saving my life all those years ago.¡±
¡°You whispered her fianc¨¦¡¯s name to us once,¡± the wind whispered in my ear, ¡°and you gave us his breath.¡±
Cipetl was the fianc¨¦ of Chimalpopoca, a classmate whose sexual indiscretions I¡¯d shared with the Yaotzin when I first used the Augury. He had been one of the hundred souls sacrificed to the wind today. Although she lived in a village away from Acampa, Necahual once cured her of a strong fever in her childhood.
Did Cipetl come to inquire about Chimalpopoca¡¯s fate? She did look quite anxious, biting her lips and keeping her hands joined to hide her unease.
¡°It has been many moons since we last met, Cipetl,¡± I said with the full solemnity of an emperor. ¡°Last time we met, Chimalpopoca and you planned to wed.¡±
¡°Chimalpopoca?¡± To my utter surprise, Cipetl responded to the name with a face of genuine anger. ¡°That boy cheated on me with another boy! When my father heard of it, he had our marriage pact immediately canceled!¡±
A light breeze flew on my face. The Yaotzin used its payment to harm others, and it made good use of mine. This farce would have been halfway amusing if I hadn¡¯t put Chimalpopoca to death hours earlier.
¡°He has never touched me, Your Majesty,¡± Cipetl insisted as if that would have made a difference. ¡°My maidenhead is for you alone to take.¡±
You know not what you ask for. ¡°Why offer yourself to me?¡± I asked her. ¡°This world owes me its life, but your submission is gratitude enough.¡±
¡°I¡ it¡¯s a bit shameful¡¡± Cipetl shyly avoided my gaze. ¡°My father lost everything in the eruption, Your Majesty. Everything. His house, his lands, and with Chimalpopoca¡¯s affront, his hopes of seeing me wed to a good party. He is too old to rebuild his life, so I want him to retire comfortably.¡±
¡°You hope to secure your father¡¯s prosperity by becoming my concubine?¡± I asked Cipetl, who nodded in confirmation. ¡°Blessed are those who sacrifice everything for their kin.¡±
Truth be told, I was halfway tempted to take her up on her offer. Cipetl was pretty, educated, and somewhat kind based on the few interactions we had in the past. I didn¡¯t remember her mocking me about my cursed birth. Nenetl needed a handmaiden of her age who could help her fight her loneliness, and I owed Cipetl for destroying her family farm in the eruption.
Nonetheless, becoming an imperial concubine wasn¡¯t a fate I wished on anyone with a good heart.
I glanced at my advisors, whether real or imagined. Nenetl was too concerned about what she had learned earlier to focus on the audience; as for Itzili, my feather tyrant had grown forebodingly quiet. His reptilian eyes glared at Cipetl and sized her up in tense silence. I took it as a dire warning.
Am I truly letting Itzili¡¯s reactions affect my judgment? I suppressed a scoff of amusement at the sheer irony of it. The joke had gone on long enough to become true. Well, he has proven twice wiser than Tayatzin time and time again.
I decided to test the girl first.
¡°A pity my dear Eztli is currently asleep,¡± I said before setting up a subtle trap. ¡°She would have loved to meet you again. The two of you played patolli more times than I can count, though she¡¯s still sore over your last victory.¡±
She shyly smiled at me, a brief flicker of uncertainty in her gaze. ¡°That takes me back, Your Majesty. I fear my skills have dulled since those days.¡±
A chill traveled down my spine, though I hid my true feelings behind a veil of affability. She had misplayed there. The real Cipetl and Eztli were never close, nor did they ever play patolli together.
The fact that Necahual saved Cipetl¡¯s life in her infancy and her issues with Chimalpopoca would be a matter of public school records. The priests had selected the perfect disguise: a girl I was familiar with, but not close enough with for me to notice any discrepancies.
My predecessors¡¯ warning rang true. This Cipetl was a fake. One of Iztacoatl¡¯s spies meant to infiltrate my bed and inner circle through an elaborate scheme.
This was too perfect of a setup, I soon realized to my utter annoyance. The nice, pretty childhood classmate, wronged by my ¡®failure¡¯ to light the Sulfur Sun and who now required a protector to save her loving family from financial ruin. She pulled all of my heartstrings. Moreover, Tayatzin skillfully moved her audience right after Xochitl¡¯s, which was sure to leave me emotionally devastated. The real Cipetl must have died in the eruption. What a vicious trick the snake whore played on me.
Then again, this offered me a golden opportunity to turn Iztacoatl¡¯s trap in on itself. I could let her believe that she had successfully infiltrated my spy network and feed her false information.
¡°It would be a shame for a flower such as yourself to wilt this way,¡± I said as I pretended to examine her closely, mostly as a way to buy time to think. ¡°Truly a shame¡¡±
Cipetl smiled at me as she awaited my decision. I quickly chose against making her Nenetl¡¯s handmaiden. Iztacoatl would grow suspicious if I fell for the first trap she set on my path. I needed to play hard to get; to become the wily fish who avoided all the hooks, so she would feel a sense of triumph once she finally caught me in her net. Victory would blind her to my own deceit.
Should I take the fake Cipetl as a concubine anyway? I had no regrets about condemning a Nightlord¡¯s servant to slavery, and I could easily play with her for a bit before losing interest. Denying her outright would raise suspicions¡
A snarling growl drew me out of my thoughts.
Itzili had risen, his claws out, his lips unveiling his fangs. He threateningly snapped his jaw at Cipetl, growling all the while. His plumage extended to make him look bigger. I recognized this as a posture of intimidation.
And it worked too. Cipetl took a step back in fear and the guards kept a hand on their weapons. Itzili paid them no mind. His snarls grew louder and more threatening. His reaction caused Nenetl to snap out of her gloomy thoughts too.
¡°Itzili?¡± I called out in surprise. I¡¯ve never seen him so agitated. ¡°Itzili, what¡¯s wrong?¡±
Itzili answered with more growls, his muzzle pointing at Cipetl, who could only shiver.
¡°Your Majesty¡¡± she whispered. Itzili took a step forward with murderous aggression, much to her horror. ¡°Your Majesty!¡±
¡°He¡¯s going to attack her¡¡± Nenetl muttered under her breath, her hands covering her mouth. ¡°Iztac!¡±
¡°Guards, take that woman out of my sight!¡± I ordered before things could degenerate any further. ¡°She is unworthy to stand in my presence!¡±
My soldiers grabbed Cipetl without ceremony and dragged her away from my audience plaza in spite of her protests. Itzili didn¡¯t calm down in the slightest. He continued to glare at Cipetl, his body tense, his feathers on full display, his tail straighter than an arrow. I immediately recognized the tension coursing through him for what it was.
Fear.
That girl disturbed Itzili enough to register as a threat.
What¡¯s going on here? Itzili wouldn¡¯t have reacted so dramatically for a mere human infiltrator. Something doesn¡¯t feel right.
I took a good look at Cipetl before she vanished. I caught a brief glimpse of her brown eyes, and then I saw it: a glare of pure, undiluted hatred; a well of malice and seething malevolence whose depth rivaled the Nightlords¡¯ blackened souls. I recalled Chamiaholom¡¯s immense cruelty and briefly gazed at its earthly reflection.
The impression lasted less than an instant, but it left me shaken until Cipetl vanished among the crowd of refugees. Itzili stopped growling soon after. He remained on his guards, however, and my own hand was shaking on its own.
¡°Do you not see it?¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°The faceless knife that stalks your steps?¡±
My first thought was to have the fake Cipetl hanged from a tree. I took all of my composure to decide against it. Whatever game Iztacoatl played, I couldn¡¯t afford to show any weakness.
Tayatzin quickly begged for forgiveness. ¡°I apologize for my foolishness, Your Majesty. The thought that your feathered tyrant would dislike her so much never crossed my¨C¡±
¡°This shall not happen again, Tayatzin,¡± I interrupted him as I rose from my throne. ¡°Do you understand me?¡±
Tayatzin paled at the barely veiled threat and quickly prostrated himself in penance. ¡°I swear to Your Majesty¡ I shall not disappoint you again.¡±
I returned to the longneck with Itzili and Nenetl in short order, my mood fouler than ever. We were preparing to climb back into our quarters when my consort finally mustered the courage to ask me a burning question.
¡°What¡¡± Nenetl gathered her breath and dared to face me. ¡°What happened to that woman¡¯s husband?¡±
¡°He died.¡± I didn¡¯t deny it. ¡°I had him sacrificed, alongside many other souls.¡±
Nenetl flinched. She had guessed the truth already, but to hear it from my own mouth came as the final nail in the coffin. ¡°How many?¡±
¡°Enough.¡± A tense silence fell between us, which I quickly broke. ¡°Don¡¯t be naive, Nenetl. This is the heavens¡¯ will, whispered to me by the skies above.¡± Which wasn¡¯t even a complete lie. ¡°I was granted the freedom to choose who would die, but not how many.¡±
¡°Did you choose these people at random?¡± she asked me, her voice lower than before. ¡°Or because they hurt you in the past?¡±
¡°Both.¡± As usual, she was more insightful than I gave her credit for. ¡°The truth is that the goddesses taught me a harsh lesson: not all lives are equal in an emperor¡¯s eye.¡±
Nenetl¡¯s expression twisted into one of utter sadness and disappointment. I didn¡¯t think it was the fact I had to order that sacrifice that broke her heart¡ªthe Nightlords had already forced me to do it in the past¡ªbut the fact that I showed no guilt over it.
¡°Were there any alternatives?¡± she inquired. Even after what I told her, she hoped to hear one last excuse.
¡°Yes,¡± I confessed. ¡°But none were satisfactory.¡±
I could have let my mother die and Iztacoatl triumph, or surrendered on the first day of my tenure instead of rebelling. I always had the choice to lie down and die. I simply couldn¡¯t stomach it.
¡°Do you want another eruption to wipe out thousands, Nenetl?¡± I asked her. ¡°For plagues to take sons and daughters away from their parents? For death to triumph? For these refugees to become the norm among our subjects rather than an unfortunate exception?¡±
Did she want the Nightlords to kill her by the year¡¯s end? For their cruelties and oppressive rule to continue uncontested for six more centuries? For Eztli to slowly turn into the very monster who had corrupted her?
Nenetl lowered her head. ¡°No.¡±
¡°Then you must understand my position. I¡¯ll dirty my hands in the name of a greater cause.¡± Father had suggested that I lay hints of the truth to Nenetl in the name of honesty. Perhaps now was the best of times. ¡°This war with the Sapa was my choice to wage too, Nenetl. The first stepping stone on the path of a better future.¡±
Nenetl blankly stared at me. She was smart; smart enough to figure it out. I could see the slow realization creeping on her. Now that she knew what I was capable of, the truth wasn¡¯t hard to glimpse. She reassessed every tiny detail and recontextualized them into a darker picture.
I must have looked exactly the same when Necahual revealed the truth about Eztli¡¯s descent into madness. A veil had been lifted off our eyes and we both began to see a loved one for what they truly were.
But much like Eztli still loved me in spite of her curse, I bore great affection for Nenetl and wished her only the best.
¡°You are precious to me, Nenetl,¡± I swore to her after taking her trembling hands into my own. ¡°If I had to choose between your life and that of another, I would gladly sacrifice the latter. Remember this.¡±
¡°You¡ I understand, Iztac, but¡¡± Nenetl removed her hands and stepped away from me. ¡°That is not a choice I would like you to make.¡±
And I hoped I would never have to face it myself.
¡°You will,¡± the wind warned me. ¡°True tests never end."
We climbed aboard the longneck in a tense and awkward silence. There was nothing more to say. Nenetl needed time to digest the truth, and I had to accept that our relationship would now suffer from it. Father argued that mutual honesty would strengthen the bond between us, but I couldn¡¯t muster the strength to believe in his advice at the moment. I felt I had instead opened up a fresh wound.
The truth was a sword without a hilt. It cut both ways.
Chikal, Ingrid, and their respective handmaidens welcomed us back. Eztli was still asleep in her coffin. Good. I wasn¡¯t in the right state of mind for that particular discussion. Not to mention that I only had a few hours until Iztacoatl inevitably came to wake me up. Either she would parade my captive mother in chains in spite of all my efforts to avoid that scenario, or she would confront me about her escape.
I expected trouble in either case.
¡°Welcome back, my lord.¡± Ingrid intertwined her fingers, her green eyes alight with cunning. Burying herself in her work helped her avoid thinking of her sister. ¡°We have received two messages from the Sapa Empire. An official one, and a secret counteroffer.¡±
¡°The self-proclaimed emperor Manco agreed to your offer of a wide-scale battle of four thousand warriors and he will increase the number of fighters accordingly,¡± Chikal explained. ¡°This Flower War shall be the largest in half a century and a welcome distraction for our plan.¡±
¡°And as I expected, one of Manco¡¯s brothers, Ayar Cachi, has secretly contacted us,¡± Ingrid continued. ¡°He has sent a messenger with a gift for my lord, since his words are too precious to be committed to writing.¡±
¡°An euphemism for treachery,¡± I guessed.
¡°Ayar Cachi wouldn¡¯t need this secrecy if he acted on his country¡¯s behalf,¡± Ingrid confirmed. ¡°In all likelihood, he will offer us a secret alliance to remove his brother from power.¡±
I¡¯d hoped that the Sapa imperial family would pull through and unite against the external threat that I represented, but blood mattered little nowadays. It saddened me that greed proved stronger than kinship so often.
My father¡¯s warning came to mind: some people didn¡¯t want to be free.
I quickly moved from disappointment to quiet acceptance. I wasn¡¯t losing anything from listening to Ayar Cachi¡¯s messenger and could always figure out a use for him.
¡°Arrange a meeting as soon as you can, Ingrid,¡± I ordered my consort. ¡°I will hear what this messenger has to say.¡±
¡°As my lord wishes.¡± Ingrid¡¯s head leaned slightly, a knowing look on her face. ¡°Will my lord retire to rest?¡±
¡°I will meditate alone,¡± I replied. ¡°I must ponder the future in solitude.¡±
This next task demanded all of my concentration.
My vessel¡¯s steps resonated through Cuetlaxtlan¡¯s hospice.
Riding a human woman¡¯s body proved to be an interesting experience. I would rate it somewhere between using a male body and my brief time inside Tetzon; the humanoid shape was comfortably familiar, but the breasts and other anatomical details filled me with a subtle sense of wrongness. It was like wearing a sandal with the wrong measurements.
No one paid me any mind when I walked between the rows of sick beds. The patients wheezed and moaned in beds as diseases tormented them, while the nurses and midwives counted me among their numbers. I was Xiloxoch to them, one of the head healers in charge of the facility. My presence, even so late in the evening, was nothing to fuss about.
The small barrel which I carried on my back hardly warranted a glance from them.
I walked all the way into my vessel¡¯s office. Its collection of herbs, potions, and medical scrolls put Necahual¡¯s to shame. I lacked the expertise to identify a tenth of them, nor did I care to do so. I moved behind a desk of carved ashwood and assessed the wall behind it with my pristine hands. I pushed and scrambled about until I sensed a small contraption answer to my touch. I heard a faint clicking noise, and the stones fell back slightly to reveal a hidden passage.
So far so good.
Ingrid provided me with my current vessel¡¯s name and Necahual¡¯s Seidr ritual with the layout of the place. My spy network, carefully groomed and pruned like a garden, yielded the tools I would use to set this place ablaze and placed them in a hidden spot where my current body could easily recover them. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to launch this operation without my many allies.
All my efforts were finally paying off. My heart overflowed with satisfaction.
It was too early to rejoice though. I put on a pre-prepared mask of cloth around my mouth and nose before venturing into the secret passage. Unlit torches lined the dark corridors. I grabbed one, set it alight, and progressed by following my carefully rehearsed mental map of the tunnels. Combining my Seidr visions with the official map of the complex gave me a rough but reliable idea of the place¡¯s layout.
I didn¡¯t encounter any guards. Most of them protected the hospice above, and the treasure they protected was so toxic that nobody could visit it for long. Only Nightkin could survive its touch, and they wouldn¡¯t transport their weapon until the war to avoid the risk of mass contamination.
The deeper I went, the more decorated the tunnels became. Lurid murals of crimson flowers, cavorting skeletons, and vampires soon plastered the stone walls. The sight of Yoloxochitl pictured among them like a goddess of pestilence overseeing her grim work filled me with disdain.
Just you watch. I hoped Yoloxochitl could see me from whatever hell lay in her father¡¯s stomach. Observe how I spit on your grave.
Fewer torches lit up the deepest levels of the tunnels to avoid threats to the Nightlords¡¯ secret weapon. Mine provided all the light I required. A fetid smell hung in the air; the stench of fungi and corpses. I followed the black staircase down and reached a promontory.
Yoloxochitl¡¯s red garden sprawled below me in all of its horrifying glory.
Nestled in a vast cavern large enough to house a full village within its earthly bosom, the monstrous forest of fungi was a terror to behold. A sea of green and red growths covered every inch of the primeval stone. They were mushrooms in the loosest sense of the word; their tumorous bulbs had no place in the gods¡¯ natural order and wouldn¡¯t stand the sun¡¯s kiss. Pale white trees hung from the walls, their roots legs, their arms branches, their heads crimson flowers of unnatural beauty. I counted over two dozen of them. Their petals blossomed in spores seeking to spread to all life on earth, while their stomachs bore fruits filled with nutritious blood.
A throne of obsidian stood alone amidst these flowers, its owner long dead. Yoloxochitl must have witnessed countless murders from it with a mad smile on her lips. This garden was her masterpiece and inheritance: an orchard of murder whose seeds would soon be unleashed upon the Sapa and the people of the world.
By my will, this poison would never see the light of day.
I descended down the stairs, my pale mask turning redder with each breath. This paltry protection wouldn¡¯t preserve my vessel for long. I only had minutes before the spores worked their way into her lungs and her body joined the ranks of Yoloxochitl¡¯s forest. That would be more than enough.
I opened the barrel once I¡¯d reached the bottom and drenched the fungi in pitch-black oil. I doused the human-trees while promising that I would soon free them of their misery. Death would be their deliverance. By the time I completed a trail crossing the entire garden, my host had begun to wheeze out loud. I felt the poison taking hold of her lungs.
I had no regrets. This woman deserved as much for helping hide this abominable place under a hospital.
¡°I always liked my mushrooms well cooked,¡± I mused out loud before throwing the torch into the oil.
A great fire erupted like Smoke Mountain and spread in an instant. A golden trailblaze spread through the cavern along the line I¡¯d traced. The mushrooms shrieked as the flames began to devour them. They wailed with the voice of men, only for the fire to silence them forever. The blood fruits boiled in the womb of tree-candles and the cavern¡¯s darkness receded under a tide of cleansing light.
No one would douse these flames. By the time the rising smoke alerted the hospice staff, it would already be too late.
I ascended to Yoloxochitl¡¯s throne and sat to better observe the devastation. The sea of fire looked so beautiful to me. Red, orange, crimson, blue, and white in some places¡ I found it wonderful to see so many colors reflected in the flames.
They warmed my heart.
This spectacle reminded me of the time I burned the House of Jaguars to the ground. I felt at home among the flames, even as they began to consume my host¡¯s flesh. The pain of burning alive paled before the joy of watching the last of Yoloxochitl¡¯s legacy go up in smoke. I was the light that banished the darkness, like the Fifth Sun in the sky, and none would deny my dawn.
I laughed to death.
I woke up with a smile on my lips, and a cold hand pressed against my chest.
¡°Eztli?¡± I blurted out on pure instinct.
Iztacoatl¡¯s laugh resonated through my bedroom. ¡°You wish, songbird.¡±
My eyes snapped open without any surprise. Night had long fallen and blanketed my room in shadows, but Iztacoatl¡¯s eyes remained fully visible even in the thickest darkness.
¡°Why are you smiling, my pet?¡± Iztacoatl asked with a tone that could pass for amusement. ¡°Is it the thought of frustrating my efforts that delights you so?¡±
I played coy. ¡°What efforts, oh goddess?¡±
¡°I woke up to capture your beloved mother, only to find her hideout empty and the spies I¡¯d posted around the area dead.¡± Iztacoatl gently pinched my cheek, as if I were a misbehaving child. ¡°It seems someone warned her of my coming.¡±
¡°I am truly sorry to hear this,¡± I replied with complete and utter insincerity. Thank the gods, Mother received my message. ¡°Your pain wounds me, oh goddess of my heart.¡±
¡°I know,¡± she retorted with the exact same tone. I didn¡¯t sense any anger from her. She had planned for this outcome and gleaned information from it, so she probably considered it a minor victory. ¡°But worry not. Tales of your brave slaughter of innocents soothed my wounded heart.¡±
She leaned on me to better stare down at me. ¡°I¡¯m impressed, Iztac. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be so ruthless as to sacrifice your entire class to us. Did you get a kick out of it?¡±
¡°The death of those who have wronged me never fails to bring me joy,¡± I replied with a smirk.
¡°No doubt,¡± Iztacoatl whispered with a snort. She could see my veiled threat. ¡°I think you¡¯ll like the spare entertainment I prepared for you tonight then. A hunt.¡±
¡°A hunt?¡± A chill traveled down my spine as a frightful possibility formed in my mind. ¡°Who¡¯s the quarry?¡±
¡°A human, of course. The smartest, hardiest beast of them all. Your mother would have been my pick of quarry, but I prepared a spare in case she slipped through our fingers.¡±
Iztacoatl leaned over me, her lips twisting into the most despicable of smiles.
¡°Why do you think,¡± she asked, so softly, ¡°I brought dear Astrid along?¡±
Chapter Sixty-One: The Child Hunt
I came to the hunt dressed for war.
Iztacoatl had me clothed in the emperor¡¯s fabled scarlet Tlahuiztli, as if I were about to lead my armies to glory rather than to attend an unjust execution. This lightweight armor put those worn by my warrior lodges to shame. Its laminate layers of cotton, leather, and scales formed an impressive protection coating my chest, legs, and arms. Each of them had been bathed in secret spices and sacrificial blood to give them a crimson coloration. I sensed the latter¡¯s viscous texture on my skin, though this costume did not reduce my speed in the slightest.
The higher-ranked a warrior, the more ornate his equipment; and none should look more fearsome and ostentatious than Yohuachanca¡¯s emperor. A small cloak of flayed skin belonging to ancient warriors slain by my predecessors adorned my shoulders, alongside shining rubies and pitch-black obsidian crystals. The damn jade bat mask that I had worn when the First Emperor last spoke through me served as my helmet, its back adorned with a crown of quetzal feathers.
I¡¯d heard tales that enemy warriors often fell to an emperor¡¯s feet in fear when they took the field of battle, and I understood why when I took a look at myself in a mirror. I had become the very image of a bat warrior god rising to claim a tribute of blood and fear.
Wearing the mask unsettled me too. Iztacoatl no doubt forced me to wear it because she disguised this cruel execution as a religious ritual, but it also possessed a strong connection to her dreadful sire. The thought of that monster speaking through me again did not enchant me in the slightest.
Did Iztacoatl intend to study how it would impact me? Or how much her father dearest influences me? Or was she playing a larger game that I couldn¡¯t see yet?
Whatever the case, Iztacoatl had selected a halfway intact forest spared by the eruption for her hunting grounds. Smoke Mountain loomed in the distance under the glow of crimson moonlight like a great black fang. Lightning wracked the skies in blood-curdling bouts of thunder as dreadful clouds began to blanket the stars.
A host of at least twenty Nightkin and over a hundred red-eyed priests gathered in these dark woods for the cruel ceremony, with the latter wearing sinister wooden serpent masks and scaled cloaks. They welcomed me with a maddened dance to the tune of wailing obsidian flutes, hunting horns, and war drums. Each and every one of them carried a weapon themed after their patron: scythes shaped like a snake¡¯s fangs, barbed lashes, serpentine bows¡ The dulled edge of some blades told me that this hunt wasn¡¯t a one-time occasion.
How often did these madmen gather in the dark to hunt down their own citizens?
Tayatzin and my four consorts were gently ¡®invited¡¯ to witness the hunt¡¯s grand opening. Ingrid was weeping in fear and had to be restrained from embracing her sister by a Nightkin in full bat form. Nenetl covered her mouth in horror and powerlessness. Chikal alone appeared to retain a cool head in this situation; she had come dressed for battle, like myself.
As for Eztli, she glared at the Nightkin with malice and hatred that rivaled mine.
The sight gave me a little measure of hope in this dark moment. No matter how much my love had changed under the ritual¡¯s influence, her heart remained true to itself.
However, it was poor Astrid who retained most of my attention. The poor girl had been dragged to this awful site with her hands bound, her mouth gagged, and her legs forced to kneel in submission. I would have loved to say that she stayed brave in this awful moment, but life didn¡¯t work that way. Tears of panic poured down her cheeks instead. Her emerald eyes, so much like her mother¡¯s, pleaded with her sister to come and save her.
The cultists¡¯ song grew in volume into a maddened cacophony, while the Nightkin settled on hushed meditations. A mighty thunderbolt struck a tree near the congregation¡¯s center and set it ablaze. A female figure appeared in the midst of the blinding flash in all of her terrible beauty, her magnificent feather dress fluttering before the pyre¡¯s light.
I had to give it to Iztacoatl; she had a sense of theatrics that her sisters lacked. Even the wind had grown awfully silent, offering neither taunts nor support.
¡°Welcome to this year¡¯s Hunter¡¯s Moon!¡± Iztacoatl declared to her congregation. A priest gave her a goblet of fresh blood to dine upon, and she soon beckoned me to join her. ¡°Please acclaim tonight''s champion, our very own emperor!¡±
The cultists¡¯ maddened cacophony of cheers and claps filled me with revulsion. I silently prayed for a second eruption to bury this lot under fire and smoke, or for the thunderbolts above to strike them all dead. Nonetheless, I confidently walked up to Iztacoatl with all the confidence my hatred could inspire in me. I wouldn¡¯t let her rattle me.
¡°I want you to know, songbird,¡± Iztacoatl said as she sipped from her bloody cup. ¡°That everything happening tonight shall be on your head.¡±
Was she too much of a coward to take responsibility for her own cruelty? She would have run this hunt whether or not Mother escaped her clutches. Only the quarry¡¯s identity would have changed.
¡°Are you that frustrated about my mother¡¯s escape?¡± I taunted her back, the cultists¡¯ song muffling my words. ¡°Or is this about Cipetl? Your scheme was painfully obvious.¡±
¡°Cipetl?¡± Iztacoatl raised an eyebrow at me. ¡°What are you talking about, songbird?¡±
Did she think playing coy would throw me off my game?
Ingrid¡¯s voice cut through the cacophony. ¡°Take me! Take me instead!¡±
Her panicked words, fueled by desperation, drew both of my and Iztacoatl¡¯s attention. Ingrid had collapsed to her knees, her forehead hitting the grass so intensely that I thought she might start bleeding.
¡°Please¡¡± she begged Iztacoatl with trembling hands. ¡°Not again¡¡±
She had already seen a parent die before her eyes. Her heart wouldn¡¯t survive the loss of her last sibling.
¡°Take me instead¡¡± Ingrid looked up at Iztacoatl, her tearful eyes full of despair. ¡°I will give you my life.¡±
¡°Ingrid, Ingrid¡ I already own your life¡¡± Iztacoatl wagged her finger at her chosen consort. ¡°Could you be under the misconception that I will execute your sister? Do you mistake me for Ocelocihuatl?¡±
I clenched my jaw. Those two sisters were equally matched when it came to awfulness.
¡°Unlike my dear elder, I do not believe in taking lives without giving them a chance,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°Where¡¯s the sport in a foregone conclusion? The uncertainty? The challenge?¡±
The challenge in what, hunting a child not even a decade old? My eyes lingered on Astrid, who had run out of tears and was now covered in the shadow of a Nightkin clutching her. That one felt vaguely familiar to me, though I couldn¡¯t tell why. I have to take her to safety somehow.
But how? Revealing my powers now would be suicide. I wasn¡¯t yet strong enough to take Iztacoatl in battle, let alone her Nightkin hunting party. No distraction would last long enough for the girl to escape, and even if she did, there was nowhere in Yohuachanca for her to hide.
¡°I am giving your sister a way out¡¡± Iztacoatl smiled at me, her fangs flashing under the moonlight. ¡°If our emperor proves a good enough protector.¡±
Here it was, the true reason for this sick game. It was yet another way to torment me and gauge my abilities. Iztacoatl had slowly increased the pressure since last night until it led to this moment.
¡°Be honored, for the grandest of rites is now upon you!¡± Iztacoatl declared to the crowd. ¡°Our great emperor will now put his warrior skills to the test before the heavens and earth! Should he succeed, the gods above and below shall bless his campaign with eternal glory!¡±
The maddened crowd of cultists roared in religious frenzy like the beastly fanatics they truly were. The Nightkin, however, were as silent as tombs. Their eyes oozed hunger and bloodlust.
¡°And should he fail¡¡± Iztacoatl chuckled to herself. ¡°Well, he will learn the cost of not giving his all!¡±
I will not settle on half-measures the night I slay you, snake, I thought, my teeth biting my tongue so I keep my venom to myself. That, I promise you.
¡°Six hours separate us from dawn,¡± she explained, her gaze lingering on Astrid and me. ¡°I will give our quarry and her champion a two-hour head start, after which I will send my pets to chase her; first my red-eyed flock, then my spawn. Finally, I shall join the hunt myself two hours before sunrise. That should keep the chase interesting.¡±
Of course the coward would go last.
¡°If dear Astrid survives until dawn, I shall not only spare her, but reward our emperor¡¯s persistence with a gift of my own,¡± Iztacoatl said, though I didn¡¯t believe in her promises in the slightest. ¡°If one of my pets catches her though¡¡±
The Nightlord relinquished her bloody goblet to a priest and then moved to grab Astrid with her inhumanly strong hands. She examined the poor girl the way a buyer would check out a prospective turkey to eat.
¡°First, she¡¯ll be raped.¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s words were cruel on their own, but they sounded even more awful when coming out of an adult woman¡¯s mouth addressing a child. ¡°It would be a shame for the daughter of an esteemed concubine of Sigrun¡¯s standing to die a virgin. If our emperor performs well, I shall let him do the honors; otherwise, my pets shall take turns first.¡±
I didn¡¯t think the Nightlords could inspire more disgust in me after I¡¯d witnessed so many of their cruelties. I stood corrected. I struggled to suppress the wave of fury and nausea that overwhelmed me. More color drained from Ingrid¡¯s face; tears of horror formed in gentle Nenetl¡¯s gaze; Chikal clenched her jaw, her eyes radiating with disdain; and Eztli glared at Iztacoatl with undisguised loathing. Even Tayatzin of all people looked appalled by his mistress¡¯ words.
I suddenly realized that Iztacoatl had been right about one thing. She and the Jaguar Woman were indeed different. The latter¡¯s cruelty was guided by her ruthlessness and served as a tool to strengthen her control over others; Iztacoatl¡¯s malice was wild, wanton, and freely shared. Unlike her colder sister, she enjoyed hurting mortals for its own sake rather than for any productive purpose.
I swore to myself that I would give Iztacoatl a taste of her own medicine before I killed her. I imagined bending that whore of a false goddess over a stone altar as I strangled her to death. How sweet our final kiss would be¡
¡°Then whoever catches her will earn the privilege to drink her blood,¡± Iztacoatl continued. ¡°Finally, I will have her head mounted on a wall inside our emperor¡¯s bedchamber, so he never forgets the price of failure.¡±
Ingrid¡¯s fear and sorrow suddenly turned to intense anger. When she realized that begging and pleading wouldn¡¯t work, she must have remembered the Jaguar Woman¡¯s warning when she had Lady Sigrun murdered; that obedience was expected and service would go unrewarded. The Nightlords saw all life as their playthings, to toy with and dispose of as they choose.
It was said that the failure of diplomacy always resulted in war; and when reason went unheard, anger always swelled back to take the lead.
¡°Your heart is more rotten than a festering corpse!¡± Ingrid spat at the Nightlord in full defiance of her congregation. ¡°You are nothing but a soulless monster!¡±
¡°Are you doubting my generosity, Ingrid? After all the kindness I¡¯ve shown you?¡± Iztacoatl dismissively trimmed her nails. ¡°In that case, I will lower your sister¡¯s head-start to one hour instead of two.¡±
That cruel response was meant to break Ingrid¡¯s spirit, but Iztacoatl had miscalculated. My consort didn¡¯t fall back weeping in prostration, nor did she beg for forgiveness; she had realized nothing she would say could save her sister. Even if she were to reveal our secrets, Iztacoatl would still kill Astrid sooner or later.
So when a false goddess failed her, she prayed to me for salvation.
Her fists instead clenched so tightly that blood began to drip between her fingers. Her eyes turned to Astrid in concern, then to me. I raised my head ever so slightly in response to her silent demand.
Ingrid had made me promise to protect her sister; and though this would be a heavy oath to keep tonight, I would do everything in my power to carry it through.
Iztacoatl hadn¡¯t missed our short exchange though. This exercise was meant to torment me as much as it was about breaking Ingrid¡¯s spirit, so the Nightlord quickly decided to double down further.
¡°Tayatzin,¡± Iztacoatl said softly. ¡°Strip our quarry naked.¡±
It said something about Iztacoatl¡¯s cruelty that even Tayatzin appeared shaken by her suggestion. He failed to obey her order on the spot, and mustered the courage to argue with his mistress.
¡°Goddess, she is¡¡± Tayatzin gulped and carefully chose his next words. ¡°She is the child of an emperor, and a consort¡¯s sister¡ certainly her august birth and age afford her a measure of dignity...¡±
¡°Have you ever seen a hunted animal wearing clothes, Tayatzin?¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s tone harshened noticeably. ¡°Strip her naked. Now.¡±
Though I considered Tayatzin my enemy, the fact he remained silent a few seconds instead of immediately following through earned him a sliver of my respect. When he obeyed the loathsome order, it was with a scowl of shame and efficient speed. He cut through the back of Astrid¡¯s dress in a single stroke with an obsidian dagger, revealing her pale skin and underdeveloped body. The poor girl tried to cover herself with her bound arms in shame and humiliation. Ingrid tried to reach out to her sister, but a Nightkin quickly grabbed her by the shoulder before she could reach out to her.
I contained my anger, waited for Tayatzin to step back and Iztacoatl to smirk in cruel triumph¡ and then dramatically grabbed my cloak and draped it on Astrid to warm her up without a word. She immediately clutched its fabric tightly and covered herself with it.
Iztacoatl¡¯s unbearable smile quickly faded away, and the cultists¡¯ song grew quieter. I didn¡¯t care. Ingrid¡¯s look of gratitude more than made up for it.
¡°Emperor Iztac, have you not heard my order?¡± Iztacoatl asked with a dangerous edge to her tone. ¡°I asked that this girl be stripped naked.¡±
¡°You did, beloved goddess,¡± I replied with false confusion. ¡°Is the cloak not made of skin? Surely you have never seen a human without any?¡±
The Jaguar Woman would have answered my words with wanton brutality, but Iztacoatl was more clever. She understood that answering such a small act with overwhelming violence would signal insecurity rather than strength. Unlike her sister, she knew how to deal with humor.
With derision.
Iztacoatl wisely answered my clever retort with a small chuckle; the way the truly powerful would snicker at an amusing jester. Better to treat my meaningless defiance as part of the farce than a hurdle. She let my act of defiance slide, and in doing so, diminished it.
¡°Now, Emperor Iztac¡¡± Iztacoatl traced a line along my scaled and padded chest. ¡°Due to the great esteem in which I hold you, I shall allow you to pick four weapons to protect this poor animal; one for each of us Nightlords. No more, no less.¡±
I suppressed the urge to grab her hand and break her fingers.
In spite of Iztacoatl¡¯s attempts to infuriate me, I managed to assess the situation rationally; both because all of my ordeals had strengthened my mind, and because I might indeed have a chance to save Astrid.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Iztacoatl had no honor, but she hated losing face. She feared it so much that she avoided informing her sisters of the slaps I gave her in private, even though it would prove to them that my rebellious spirit remained unshaken. Having sworn to spare Astrid and give me a gift before her core congregation, she couldn¡¯t back down anymore.
Iztacoatl would cheat, of course. She would use loopholes and traps to sabotage the hunt, because she was a cowardly, spiteful bully behind her grandiose fa?ade of divinity.
But if I managed to protect Astrid until dawn, then she wouldn¡¯t be able to execute her without losing face before her own followers. She would instead make a public show of ¡®mercifully¡¯ sparing Astrid¡¯s life, forget about her, and instead turn her anger onto me. Her so-called ¡®gift¡¯ would no doubt be another form of punishment.
And this was intentional. Iztacoatl knew I wouldn¡¯t try anything if I thought I had no slim hope of victory, so she intentionally gave me a way out; one so difficult to fulfill that I would have no choice other than to reveal some of my secret weapons to win.
Hence the current question: how could I save Astrid¡¯s life without revealing too much, if at all?
Iztacoatl already suspected that I could talk to animals and that there was something wrong with my blood, so I was willing to sacrifice a few assets to give her a sense of victory. Besides the fact that I wished to protect Astrid for its own sake, it would protect Ingrid and keep our alliance intact.
Weapons¡ Iztacoatl¡¯s offer was a joke, a travesty. She knew no obsidian club nor dagger would let me save Astrid. But if I coat them with my blood though, I could take out a Nightkin¡
No, I was thinking along the wrong lines. I was Yohuachanca¡¯s one and only emperor. Everything and everyone within these lands was my property, a tool for me to use. I could answer Iztacoatl¡¯s mockery with a clever loophole.
I glanced at the crowd of hunters whom the Nightlord gathered to kill a single child. If those thralls counted as her weapons in our secret war, then I would select warriors of my own.
¡°My first pick¡¡± I said, my eyes observing my supporters until I settled on the obvious choice. ¡°Is you, Eztli.¡±
The cultists¡¯ music grew quieter for a moment as my words echoed across the woods. Eztli immediately stepped forward before Iztacoatl could recover from her surprise and protectively moved behind Astrid.
¡°A wise choice, Iztac,¡± my dearest consort said, her hands gently grabbing Astrid¡¯s shoulders to reassure her. ¡°I shall be your wings, little girl.¡±
Iztacoatl laughed heartily. ¡°Clever, songbird,¡± she commented in genuine amusement. ¡°I¡¯ll allow it, but she won¡¯t be allowed to carry any weapons of her own.¡±
I expected she would try something like that. Chikal would have been my second choice in that case. Moreover, I knew that Iztacoatl wasn¡¯t allowing me this choice because I¡¯d outwitted her; letting me pick allies would let her gauge whom I trusted and who to target.
Having Eztli by Astrid¡¯s side reassured me in many ways, though. She could fly, possessed inhuman strength, and most importantly, she was off limits for Iztacoatl¡¯s cohorts. Striking her risked undoing the ritual on which their fiendish plot relied on. She required neither swords nor axes to kill her foes either.
I could think of another creature that would fit this description.
¡°My brave Itzili will be my second champion,¡± I declared. ¡°His mind and fangs are sharp, and he has yet to dine on a priest¡¯s flesh.¡±
Iztacoatl answered my thinly veiled threat with a laugh. ¡°Bold of you to think that your lizard will survive the night,¡± she said mockingly before snapping her finger at Tayatzin. ¡°Fetch him his pet.¡±
¡°As you wish, oh goddess,¡± Tayatzin replied as he bolted away. I could tell from his hastiness that he was more than happy to seize any excuse to sit this gruesome mess out. The man was no true fanatic, unlike his predecessors.
Perhaps I could use that one day¡ But not tonight.
My third and fourth picks demanded greater consideration than the previous two. None of my options available were ideal. Chikal would have been my obvious pick had she been allowed to use weapons, considering her experience, killing instincts, and strength. Selecting her meant I would have to sacrifice the fourth spot to maximize her effectiveness.
My other picks were hardly any better. Ingrid¡¯s natural talent wouldn¡¯t make up for her lack of experience or weapons. And Nenetl¡
¡°I would choose quickly if I were you, Emperor Iztac,¡± Iztacoatl taunted me. ¡°Every minute you waste on indecision is one poor Astrid won¡¯t spend running.¡±
I ignored the Nightlord, but she had a point. None of my options would be ideal and time wasted now would diminish Astrid¡¯s chances of surviving the night. I glanced at my consorts and met Chikal¡¯s fearless gaze. Unlike everyone else, she trembled in anticipation at the prospect of this hunt.
¡°Chikal shall be my third pick,¡± I decided. Her experience, bravery, and tactical acumen would outweigh her lack of spear or obsidian clubs.
¡°Our Lord Emperor chose wisely,¡± the amazon queen replied after joining Astrid¡¯s side. The way she strode forward told me that she never doubted that I would pick her.
¡°Will our emperor give her a toy to play with?¡± Iztacoatl mused.
¡°I won¡¯t need one,¡± Chikal replied confidently.
Others would have mistaken it for bravado, but I¡¯d been on the receiving end of her blows often enough to know she was merely stating a fact. Moreover, Chikal¡¯s words carried a hidden message: that I shouldn¡¯t think of her when selecting my fourth pick. She would adapt either way.
Which left me with a final and critical choice. I had one optimal pick in mind whose strength and ferocity could match any Nightkin, but it would require me to use a one-time resource I¡¯d hoped to keep hidden up my sleeve for later. Choosing her would be a gamble.
Unfortunately, I had few other options. An obsidian weapon wouldn¡¯t help too much and I could always take one from our pursuers. I had no other obedient beast of battle of Itzili¡¯s strength among my menagerie.
¡°My fourth pick¡¡± I took a deep breath as my eyes settled on my final choice. ¡°Is you, Nenetl.¡±
A short, shocked silence followed my declaration, which Iztacoatl¡¯s roaring laughter quickly broke. Nenetl froze in place, gobsmacked, and even the likes of Ingrid and Chikal stared at me as if I had gone mad.
¡°M-me?¡± Nenetl asked, trembling like a leaf. ¡°Iztac, I¡¡±
¡°Bold choice, songbird,¡± Iztacoatl commented. She kept a hand over her mouth to contain her amusement. ¡°Do you think the dog will become a wolf when pushed into a corner?¡±
I don¡¯t think, I know. I had subtly subverted the Jaguar Woman¡¯s tattoo to allow me to trigger her transformation at will. With proper positioning and trickery, I could make it seem that she transformed by her own willpower instead of mine. But this will be a one-time use.
Nenetl herself had no idea though, nor the required confidence to believe in her own totem.
¡°Iztac, I¡ I don¡¯t know how to fight,¡± she protested. ¡°I¡ you should pick someone else¡¡±
I didn¡¯t let her finish. ¡°There is no better choice, Nenetl,¡± I declared with the confidence she lacked. She didn¡¯t believe in her own power, but I did. ¡°You have shown great strength and defended me once in the past.¡±
I waved a hand at Astrid, who gripped the gruesome mantle of skin I¡¯d given her to protect her nakedness. What a pitiful sight it was to see an innocent child forced to rely on such a thing for warmth.
¡°Will you do the same for this girl?¡± I asked Nenetl. ¡°Will you step up for her?¡±
If I had learned anything about Nenetl, it was that although she was afraid of standing up for herself, she never lacked bravery when it came to defending others. Her fear was written all over her face, but it wasn¡¯t directed at herself; rather she imagined what awful fate would befall Astrid should we lose. Her concern for the child¡ªthe sister of Ingrid, whom she had grown to consider a friend¡ªoverwhelmed her own apprehension.
Nenetl nodded meekly, then stepped up to the task. My party was complete. Ingrid¡¯s fellow consorts had gathered to protect her kin. The irony wasn¡¯t lost on me. If we prevailed tonight, we would grow more united than ever.
If.
Tayatzin soon returned with Itzili. My feathered tyrant stomped the ground with his feet and bared his fangs at the gathered Nightkin, his fighting spirit stronger than ever. His boundless fury echoed mine, though it took a mere touch from my hand on his neck to force him to focus.
Chikal, as befitting of her experience as a warlord, immediately started assigning roles to our party. She had Eztli grow wings¡ªas she did when she carried me away from Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption¡ªand then carry Nenetl. Poor Astrid would ride Itzili, if I could call feverishly hanging on to his neck from behind ¡®riding.¡¯ Chikal and I both had the endurance and speed to run quickly on our feet.
This would be the longest night of our lives.
¡°Please¡¡± Ingrid all but begged us, her hands joined in prayer. She would have hugged Astrid if she could, but the Nightkin denied her even that small comfort. ¡°Please, my lord¡¡±
¡°We will protect her, Ingrid,¡± I promised her. This would be a tough oath to keep, but I would do everything in my power to pull off a miracle. ¡°She will live to see the dawn.¡±
¡°I would tell you good luck with that, Emperor Iztac,¡± Iztacoatl said with false sweetness. ¡°But we both know you won¡¯t have any tonight.¡±
She was right, of course. I didn¡¯t believe in luck. I believed in wits, strength, and determination. And more than anything, I believed in overcoming impossible odds.
As we prepared to leave, I took a moment to face the crowd of dancing cultists and hungry Nightkin. This hunting party would have inspired fear in many a warrior¡¯s heart, but their malice and ferocity paled before the raving horde I¡¯d fought in the House of Jaguars.
¡°Anyone who dares cross my path tonight will suffer for it,¡± I warned the cultists with a deep, menacing tone. ¡°Remember that.¡±
Iztacoatl scoffed. ¡°Is that a threat, songbird?¡±
¡°No, goddess,¡± I replied as I turned my back on her. ¡°It is a prophecy.¡±
One which I would fulfill myself.
We fled into the forest without another word. Eztli flew between the zapote trees with Nenetl while the rest of us followed on foot. Astrid clung to Itzili with all of her strength. My loyal pet didn¡¯t seem to mind, and in fact slightly adjusted his posture so she wouldn¡¯t fall off his back.
The canopy grew thick with intertwining branches and thick foliage the further we advanced. The pale moonlight struggled to pierce through the dry blanket of leaves. The cultists¡¯ music faded into the background while the noise of cicadas and frogs grew slightly louder. I took the latter as good news: frogs meant water and, hopefully, a stream or a river.
More ominous signs followed though. I heard the flutter of bat wings as they darted between the trees and the glow of animal eyes observing us in the shadows of towering ceiba trees. Thick moss and red vines smothered the noise of my footsteps, and I saw that Chikal briefly paused at some point to cover our shallow tracks with leaves.
The wind rustled between the leaves, but it remained eerily silent. Itzili was tense, as was Eztli above us. We¡¯d all sensed it the further we progressed through uneven ground.
Something sinister prowled the night. I could feel it in my bones. I recognized the familiar miasma of evil alongside the rusty smell of dried blood. My thoughts were confirmed when Itzili began to bay and led us to a deer¡¯s carcass. The beast had been exsanguinated until nothing but a dried husk remained. Chikal had us briefly stop to better examine it.
¡°Nightkin?¡± I asked Chikal, though I knew better. The smell of blood remained strong around this carrion.
¡°Bats,¡± Chikal replied while pointing at the countless biting marks on the animal¡¯s back. They were too small for Nightkin, and too numerous too. That beast had been slain by a swarm¡¯s worth of killers. ¡°You know which kind, Iztac.¡±
Yes, I did. I sensed them around us, always out of sight yet forever present. My mask tightened slightly each time I sensed their gaze on my back. There was only one force in this world that could compel the wind¡¯s silence.
The First Emperor¡¯s servants haunted these woods. Bats and Nightchildren both.
It didn¡¯t reassure me in the slightest. I could compel the latter to obey my orders, but these malevolent creatures hungered for life and feared no man. I suspected that the only reason a swarm hadn¡¯t attacked Astrid and the others yet was because of my presence among them.
¡°Stay close,¡± I warned everyone. ¡°They will strike the moment you leave my protection.¡±
¡°Can you order them to strike our pursuers?¡± Chikal asked.
¡°They won¡¯t need an order to do so.¡± Not that it would offer us too much respite. ¡°They will kill the cultists, but the Nightkin won¡¯t have anything to fear from them.¡±
¡°That should at least impair them,¡± Eztli said as she landed near us with Nenetl, the latter immediately rushing to console Astrid. We had put enough space between us and our pursuers to discuss our options. ¡°How do we proceed? I helped my mother gather herbs in this forest once in a while, so I know of a shallow river to the west. The water will smother our scent.¡±
¡°After we make decoys,¡± Chikal replied. My consort quickly browsed through nearby plants, then searched for something hidden under her cotton armor. ¡°Cut that carrion to pieces and disperse them away from our trail, Eztli.¡±
¡°Why?¡± I asked curiously.
¡°The smell of blood coming from it will distract them,¡± Chikal replied. ¡°We need to split up too. One group is too easy to track, and forcing our enemies to disperse will increase our chances of success.¡±
¡°This will invite attacks from the bats,¡± I warned her.
¡°Hence why we will split into two groups once we reach the stream,¡± Chikal replied after she found what she was looking for: a hidden obsidian knife, which she used to cut leaves off a plant. ¡°One led by you, and another by Eztli, who can fly away from them.¡±
Nenetl paled at the sight of the blade. ¡°Y-you brought a weapon? But the rules¨C¡±
¡°This is no weapon,¡± Chikal replied with a snort. ¡°This is jewelry.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but scoff at her response. I supposed that from an amazon¡¯s perspective, a knife was no different from a necklace. Besides, we could always lie and say that we found it on a corpse or stole it from one of our pursuers.
Eztli completed her task first, severing the deer to pieces and dropping its severed limbs in multiple directions. Chikal collected a collection of leaves and swiftly cut parts of Nenetl¡¯s dress to use the linen as an improvised pouch.
¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Nenetl asked as she pinched her nose at the pungent smell. Itzili let out an annoyed noise. ¡°It smells awful.¡±
¡°Allspice,¡± Eztli recognized. ¡°Clever. The smell is strong enough to mask our scent from hounds.¡±
¡°They won¡¯t use hounds,¡± Chikal replied confidently. ¡°I didn¡¯t see any dogs with the cultists, and the smell of Nightkin drives most animals mad with fear. Nor do they need them. Nightkin have excellent senses and can catch a whiff of blood from leagues away.¡±
¡°Hence the carrion,¡± I guessed.
¡°We¡¯ll need more than a dead deer to trick them.¡± Chikal tossed me her knife. ¡°We¡¯ll need your blood, Iztac.¡±
I blinked in surprise, my eyes settling on the knife. Chikal didn¡¯t wait for me to respond. She immediately had Nenetl help her crush the leaves and apply the resulting paste to both Eztli and Astrid.
¡°This should cover your scents for a while,¡± Chikal replied before addressing Eztli. ¡°You¡¯ll go into that stream of yours with Astrid, swim downstream, then exit it and fly away while we flee in the other direction.¡±
¡°Just the two of them?¡± I asked in surprise. ¡°We won¡¯t come with them?¡±
¡°If you want to save that young girl, no, you won¡¯t,¡± Chikal confirmed. ¡°Our pursuers will hunt Astrid¡¯s scent first and yours second, Iztac, because they will assume that you will try to personally ensure her safety. Iztacoatl will never expect you to entrust to another, since you swore to Ingrid that you would protect her, and she¡¯ll be confident that her agents can recover Eztli once she¡¯s forced to hide from the daylight. She won¡¯t be a priority.¡±
She¡¯s right, I thought as Chikal¡¯s plan dawned upon me. Iztacoatl was clever, but she didn¡¯t think I fully trusted anyone with something so important, and the whole hunt¡¯s goal was to torment me personally. Her followers would prioritize hunting me, and by the time they realized their mistake, Eztli might have covered enough ground to win us the dawn. She knew these woods, and she was fast enough to outpace the bats should they track her down. It¡¯s risky, but doable.
However, that plan relied on us acting as decoys long enough for Astrid and Eztli to fly away. We would have to run for our lives, hope our pursuers would fall for the trick, and buy enough time.
I stared at the knife for a moment and then exchanged a knowing glance with Eztli. Following Chikal¡¯s plan meant shedding blood to create a false trail for the Nightkin to follow. Iztacoatl already suspected something was wrong with it, but this would expose its true nature without a doubt.
As much as I loathed it, I briefly weighed the worth of Astrid¡¯s life against the loss of that particular bit of information. Revealing the secret of my blood would lose me a surprise weapon once I turned against the Nightlords, but backing out now would lose me the trust of my consorts and Ingrid. Moreover, it was only a matter of time before Iztacoatl found out anyway; either by herself or when I would fight in the Flower War.
The best I could do was to play the discovery as an accident.
¡°There is something you must know about my blood,¡± I said as I raised the knife over my palm. ¡°Observe.¡±
I slashed my own hand and let my blood burn. Without any Veil to hide its true nature, my veins erupted with a burst of golden flames lit with sunlight. Nenetl let out a startled noise, while Chikal¡¯s eyes widened in genuine shock. Astrid alone stared at the fire with what could pass for genuine wonder; the reassuring glow and surprise strong enough to briefly overpower her fear.
¡°What¡¡± Nenetl coughed in astonishment. ¡°Are these¡ flames? Iztac, you¡¯re burning!¡±
¡°My blood runs with sulfur flames by the First Emperor¡¯s grace,¡± I lied. ¡°When Eztli and I survived Smoke Mountain, we realized that my bodily fluids could harm her.¡±
Chikal immediately understood the implications. ¡°How much?¡± she asked, ever the tactician ready to seize any advantage. ¡°How long will it burn?¡±
¡°Not enough to kill a Nightkin by itself,¡± I warned her. ¡°But my blood will burn their flesh so long as it doesn¡¯t dry.¡±
Chikal crossed her arms, her expression thoughtful. ¡°I¡¯ve fought Nightkin in the past,¡± Chikal informed us. ¡°Short of sunlight, the best way to kill one is to either behead them or bleed them to death. They will recover from almost anything else, no matter how severe the injury.¡±
¡°Interesting,¡± Eztli noted with a flicker of amusement. She clearly relished the thought of killing other vampires as much as I did. ¡°Good to know.¡±
¡°To think that you turned what vampires desire most into a lethal poison, Iztac¡¡± Chikal rarely smiled, and when she did, it always had a ferocious edge to it. ¡°The irony is not lost on me.¡±
¡°This will light the way to victory,¡± I replied with confidence, mostly to help motivate them. I coated the knife with my blood until it became a blade of sunlight. ¡°We shall not wait for the dawn, no. We shall bring it to our enemies instead.¡±
My bold words inspired my more forlorn allies. Nenetl¡¯s eyes sparked up with hope, and Chikal quickly proceeded to grab stones off the ground and coat them in my holy blood. We would drop them off on our trail to make it look to our pursuers that we were trying to divert their attention. This ought to make them focus on my personal trail and lose track of Eztli¡¯s.
¡°Stay downwind as much as possible,¡± Chikal advised Eztli once we reached the stream and prepared to split up. ¡°Cover the two of you with mud once you exit the water, then fly without looking back. It doesn¡¯t matter where, so long as it¡¯s away from here.¡±
¡°Those fools will never catch me,¡± Eztli replied with vampiric confidence. ¡°Kill a few of them for me, if you can.¡±
Chikal smirked in anticipation as she took back her knife. My blood had dried up and stopped smoking, but the obsidian¡¯s surface had grown terribly hot. ¡°With pleasure.¡±
Once we were ready, I took a moment to reassure Astrid. Nenetl managed to calm her down enough for her to stop crying, though her eyes were red and her skin pale. The poor child continued to tremble like a leaf, but when I knelt to better face her, her expression briefly warmed up.
I had shown her light in the darkness.
¡°Eztli will take you to safety,¡± I said. I hoped. ¡°You must do everything she tells you to do. Obey her, and you will see your sister again. Can you promise me this?¡±
Astrid gulped, but bravery ran in her blood. ¡°Y¡ yes,¡± she whispered after wiping away her tears. ¡°I¡ promise.¡±
I kissed her on the forehead, her skin smooth and warm, then entrusted her to Eztli. My consort draped Astrid in my cloak like a babe about to be delivered, then entered the stream and swam away westward.
I¡¯ve gathered capable allies and advisors, I thought once Eztli and Astrid vanished into the darkness, leaving me with Chikal, Nenetl, and Itzili. I would never have thought of this plan alone, let alone been able to pull it off. I am no longer fighting alone.
¡°Let us leave now,¡± Chikal advised. ¡°The more ground we can cover, the better.¡±
I nodded sharply and then glanced at my pet. ¡°Itzili, let¡¯s go.¡±
My feathered tyrant ignored me. His gaze remained focused on the dark woods, his tail straight as an arrow. His reptilian legs were tense and his claws ready for battle. He looked the same as when¡
When we met Cipetl.
A shiver traveled down my spine. I couldn¡¯t see anything in the canopy¡¯s darkness, but I knew what to expect.
The headstart¡¯s hour had yet to run out, and yet something was already stalking us.
Chapter Sixty-Two: Skin & Bones
The hour of grace had long passed and the hunters¡¯ horns resonated across the land.
Our gracious headstart had already come to an end by the time Chikal, Nenetl, Itzili, and I wandered deeper into the forest. While Eztli took Astrid downstream to the west, where she would hopefully fly the poor girl to safety, we walked to the east amidst the trees. The smell of my blood would inevitably lead Nightkin trackers to us, but the foliage, canopy, and Chikal¡¯s measures to obscure our tracks should shield us from detection for some time.
I hoped it would prove long enough for Astrid to flee to safety; if such a thing existed in Yohuachanca.
Our group walked at a steady pace, even Nenetl. Her endurance took me by surprise. Either awakening her wolf-totem increased her physical abilities or she possessed previously undiscovered wells of resolve.
My own armor proved surprisingly light too. I would have expected these thick layers of scales and cotton to weigh on me, but it naturally clung to me like a second skin. I felt more vigorous than ever.
Perhaps a bit too much.
¡°You said that the Nightkin track their prey by their blood¡¯s smell,¡± I said upon recalling Chikal¡¯s words. A dreadful thought had suddenly occurred to me. ¡°This armor is drenched in it.¡±
¡°The Nightlord lent it to you so she could track us down more easily,¡± Chikal replied as she bound her obsidian dagger to a thick branch with her sash and crafted a makeshift spear. ¡°All vampire gifts are poisoned.¡±
¡°M-Maybe it will help you in battle, Iztac,¡± Nenetl said in a vain attempt to cheer us up. ¡°No emperor has known defeat while wearing the scarlet Tlahuiztli.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a lie. I¡¯ve bested his predecessor in battle before.¡± Chikal snorted, her scornful eyes briefly lingering on my armor. ¡°But the vampires did boil its scales in the blood of my best warriors to gain their strength, so who knows? Their spirits might lend us their help.¡±
Chikal uttered these words as a grim quip, but she might have stumbled onto something. Generations of emperors dipped the scarlet Tlahuiztli in the blood of their enemies after each successful campaign to acquire the fallen¡¯s strength¡ and I had seen so many ceremonial charades take a life of their own lately.
I swept a small stone off the ground from under a tree¡¯s shadow and pressed it within my palm.
My fingers crushed it to dust, albeit with some effort.
Nenetl gasped in joy, and Chikal¡¯s spooked expression told me that my predecessor never showcased any such power.
Iztacoatl wouldn¡¯t have allowed me to wear this armor if she knew either, so this must be a first. Whether I had to thank the First Emperor or my citizens¡¯ growing belief in my own divine purpose for this blessing, I counted myself lucky. This strength will serve me well.
Would it be enough to crush Iztacoatl¡¯s skull if she dared to confront me? I doubted it, but the irony would be so sweet.
Itzili¡¯s hissing drew me out of my violent fantasies. My feathered tyrant snapped his jaw at the shadow behind us, his tail straighter than an arrow. He had grown more and more agitated the deeper we ventured into the rainforest¡¯s heart, where a tangled canopy blotted out the moon and parasitic plants fearful of the sun blossomed among tall grasses.
Our stalker was growing bolder.
¡°Something has been following us for a while,¡± I warned my consorts. Neither of them appeared surprised, though only Nenetl showed any anxiousness. They must have guessed the truth from Itzili¡¯s agitation. ¡°One of Iztacoatl¡¯s dogs, no doubt.¡±
I should have expected her to cheat. That coward said that she would send her thralls to hunt us down after one hour, but she said nothing about having one of them harmlessly stalking us to pinpoint our location.
Chikal scowled. ¡°I do not think Iztacoatl sent that thing.¡±
I frowned in surprise, but Nenetl reacted quicker.
¡°That thing?¡± she asked Chikal, suddenly uneasy.
¡°It moves too quietly for a human and a Nightkin would have used flight,¡± Chikal replied with no hint of fear or concern. Her composure never failed to astonish me. ¡°It has been stalking us since we split up with the others. It would have followed Eztli and Astrid if it hunted on the Nightlord¡¯s behalf.¡±
She had a point. It would have been child¡¯s play for a spy to notice Astrid¡¯s absence in our group upon taking a closer look at us retreating into the forest. Our stalker instead ignored her and failed to attack us once the headstart hour had passed.
From Itzili¡¯s reaction, I assumed that our pursuer was none other than whatever creature impersonated Cipetl. Iztacoatl did seem genuinely confused when I mentioned her. I assumed she had been trying to mess with my mind, but on the off-chance she was indeed clueless about this particular matter, then this hunt now involved a third party.
The woman I¡¯d met earlier was definitely an impostor of some kind instead of the real Cipetl. What other creature could mimic a human so perfectly?
The answer hit me like a lightning bolt.
Betrayal with the face of a friend. I assumed it could have been referring to one of Itzacoatl¡¯s tricks or Eztli¡¯s treatment of her mother, but now I began to wonder about the wording. Who sent it then? It couldn¡¯t have anticipated my visit to Acampa nor learned about Cipetl¡¯s importance without local support.
I quickly deduced the two most likely culprits; the Three-Rivers Federation, which the First Emperor¡¯s bats blighted after the New Fire Ceremony and whom Iztacoatl threatened with an undead plague if they didn¡¯t surrender to me; or Inkarri, who had already sent a magical monster after me in my sleep. Both had the means and motive to hire an assassin.
Itzili¡¯s presence kept it from attacking so far, but it would likely seize its chance to strike at the first opportunity; one which the hunters would likely provide.
We heard a hunter¡¯s horn a bit too close to our liking. Chikal knelt and applied her ear to the ground.
¡°Trihorns, coming from the west,¡± she said. ¡°Four, maybe five.¡±
Iztacoatl pressed her thumb on the scale to favor her hunters. I didn¡¯t fear human cultists and would relish killing them, but they wouldn¡¯t have been able to chase us so far without a tracker.
¡°There are Nightkin above us,¡± I said. ¡°The canopy blocks their sight.¡±
¡°Not for long,¡± Chikal warned before presenting me with her makeshift spear. ¡°Will you do me the honor, Iztac?¡±
Did she even need to ask? I offered her my palm and let her cut it thinly. The weapon¡¯s obsidian point glowed with bright flames that illuminated the dark.
A Nightkin descended upon us in an instant, screeching as it crashed through the branches and heavy foliage.
As the monster breached through the canopy with its jet-black wings and fearsome claws, it suddenly occurred to me that it was my first time fighting vampires in direct battle. These beasts could prove frighteningly stealthy when they wanted, with speed and ferocity surpassing that of any mortal creature. I¡¯d faced worse foes in the Underworld, but I couldn¡¯t lower my guard either.
Especially since I couldn¡¯t afford to use magic.
The terrain thankfully didn¡¯t favor the monster. Vines and vegetation slowed its progress, which allowed Chikal to throw her blazing spear at its throat. She trusted a Nightkin¡¯s instincts to force it to immediately attack the moment it smelled my fresh blood and thus leave itself open for a counterattack.
The blazing tip of the spear gored through the monster¡¯s neck like an obsidian knife through the softest of flesh. The Nightkin¡¯s battle cry turned into a gargle as its neck erupted in a shower of blood and flames, much to Nenetl¡¯s horror. Her scream echoed across the woods as the corpse fell at her feet, its head rolling out into the grass.
I marveled at the strength required to decapitate a creature that large with a thrown spear, even with my burning blood boiling their vampiric flesh. I knew Chikal had only shown me a fraction of her warrior skills during our training, and I had now seen a glimpse of her true might.
My gaze briefly lingered on the Nightkin¡¯s corpse. I watched the bat shrink into the form of a beautiful young man. Wrinkles began to cover his lustrous pale skin, and his black hair turned milky white soon after. Centuries caught up to that dead spawn of the night in the span of seconds, until his flesh and bones returned to the dust from which we all came.
¡°So long¡¡± Chikal muttered to herself, a cruel smile spreading on her lips. The bloodlust dwelling in her heart answered victory¡¯s call. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for this for so long!¡±
I would have shared her joy once, before I learned the Nightkin¡¯s true nature. That monster used to be the misbegotten son of an emperor and a concubine, both of them slaves to cruel masters. He too had been a Nightlord¡¯s victim.
My own son would fly in his place if I failed.
I felt no sorrow for the creature, since it tried to kill me and my loved ones¡ but I hoped that my burning blood and death¡¯s kiss freed his tormented soul from the vampiric curse.
Chikal recovered her spear while Nenetl kept her hands over her face in horror. Itzili roared loud enough to wake the dead. A second Nightkin descended upon us from above, while I heard the footsteps of hunters closing in on us. The foliage, the darkness, and the shadow of the trees obscured almost everything, but I could see strangely well through my bat mask. The night held no secrets from the First Emperor¡¯s gaze.
Arrows surged from among the trees. Most of them missed due to the rainforest reducing visibility, but a few aimed straight for Itzili. My reflexes kicked in and I leaped in the projectiles¡¯ way. They swiftly bounced off my armor¡¯s scales or shattered on impact.
Quite the precise shot, I noted grimly. Few hunters could aim so well in a thick forest in complete darkness. It couldn¡¯t be mere experience alone guiding their bows. If Iztacoatl can change someone¡¯s appearance with her magic, she could easily sharpen her servants¡¯ senses.
I should expect anything from that cheater.
The second Nightkin chose to target Chikal and proved too quick for her to intercept mid-flight. Realizing how the canopy limited its movements, the creature swiftly transformed into a muscled, naked bald man with elongated claws sharper than spears and a lipless mouth of fangs. The vampire landed on the ground with a loud thump and immediately lunged at Chikal.
My consort dodged the attack with a panther¡¯s grace and struck back, her spear skewering the Nightkin¡¯s shoulder and narrowly missing the vampire¡¯s head. He shrieked in fury as my flames melted away his flesh, but quickly retaliated by attempting to grab the shaft with one hand. Chikal swiftly pulled back before he could succeed.
Whether the Nightkin didn¡¯t care about harming my consorts¡ªthe older vampires must have seen their mistresses bring them back from the dead more than once¡ªor its kindred¡¯s death enraged it, it swiftly pursued Chikal among the trees with relentless ferocity. My consort hastily used her spear to maintain a healthy distance between the two of them, but she was soon forced to step back. She narrowly avoided a strike to the head, the vampire¡¯s claws slicing the tree behind her down to its sap.
Iztacoatl¡¯s hunting dogs have turned rabid, I thought while removing the arrows stuck between my armor¡¯s layers. She must think I won¡¯t reveal my secrets if I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m in genuine danger.
¡°Stay behind Itzili for now!¡± I told Nenetl as I heard the hunters close in on us. Our best bet was to stand our ground and kill all witnesses before any of them could notice or report Astrid¡¯s absence among us. ¡°We¡¯ll take care of them!¡±
¡°I can¡¯t¡¡± Nenetl clenched her fists in powerlessness. ¡°I can¡¯t transform¡¡±
She did her best though. I sensed it through the subtle bond I¡¯d formed with her tattoo. The wolf inside her struggled against the leash binding its power. The Jaguar Woman¡¯s cruel work held strong, with no effort able to shake its hold on Nenetl¡¯s soul.
I could have loosened the chains myself, but I decided to hold on to that asset for now. I could only afford to use it as a last resort.
Itzili stomped his feet in alarm, his jaws snapping at the shadows. Our stalker lurked around the woods while using the approaching hunters to mask its presence. My feathered tyrant soon charged into the foliage with a roar, his fangs closing on flesh and bones. I heard a scream of pain in the dark, followed by the sound of my pet tearing out a man¡¯s throat.
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More arrows flew out of the canopy, and I failed to intercept them all this time. One struck Itzili in the leg. His thick scales prevented the projectile from piercing his leg, but it dug its way into his body deeply enough to draw both blood and a screech.
Anger surged within me. I glared at the source of the arrows and soon identified the responsible party lurking in the shadows: a group of five men, three archers, one warrior with an obsidian macuahuitl club, and a fifth attacker lurking at the back. I stepped into their line of fire and walked up to them with murder on my mind. The warrior with the obsidian club swiftly stepped forward to intercept me.
¡°Your Majesty¡¡± The hunter wavered and hesitated to strike me. It must have been easier to let his friends fire arrows at an animal than to stand his ground against a prophet. ¡°Please step aside. The goddess only asked for the tyrant¡¯s¨C¡±
I punched him through the chest, my fist shattering his armor and ribs.
My victim and his allies all gasped in horror, except for the fifth hunter at the back. The strength of countless men surged through my body, and my armor¡¯s scales quivered at the touch of warm blood. A sick thrill coursed through me, followed by an all-consuming thirst. My mask¡¯s obsidian teeth creaked on their own in hunger.
How interesting, I thought as my hand closed on a warm, beating heart. I suddenly felt like I was extracting seeds from a delectable fruit. So tough on the outside, and yet so soft within.
My hand clutched the hunter¡¯s heart and swiftly tore it out of his chest. His corpse collapsed at my feet alongside his weapon, which I caught with my free hand. His macuahuitl was of the highest quality, a long wooden club whose sides were embedded with razor-sharp, prismatic obsidian blades. Their edges reminded me of rows of teeth hungry for death.
A hunger that I would gladly satisfy.
I ignored Nenetl¡¯s horrified stare on my back and instead reveled in the hunters¡¯ fear. I sensed the armor¡¯s thirst for death flow through me, but its call paled before that of my own flaming heart. The same vengeful cruelty that I¡¯d embraced in the House of Jaguars awakened within me.
After so many schemes and so many days hiding, I could finally slaughter the Nightlords¡¯ servants with my own hands.
¡°I warned you that to cross my path tonight is to choose death!¡± I declared with all of my pride and malevolence as I crushed the hunter¡¯s heart within my palm. The warm blood felt so comforting on my fingers. ¡°Now, bow to your emperor!¡±
Unlike the Nightkin, these red-eyed hunters willingly sold their souls to the Nightlords in exchange for power and immortality. I would show them no mercy.
I decapitated the closest archer with a single stroke of the macuahuitl, his headless body kneeling at my feet. His two comrades reacted very differently: one dropped his bow and immediately begged forgiveness by kneeling at my feet; the other hesitantly raised his weapon at me, his fear of death stronger than his zeal. I killed them both in an instant, disemboweling one and beheading the other. In spite of the dark joy and fury guiding my actions, my hands remained steady, my movements carefully calculated.
Chikal had trained me well.
I hoped she was faring as well as I was. I heard the noise of her clashes with her vampiric adversary in the foliage, but the two duelists soon wandered away from the battle. I didn¡¯t like this in the slightest. The more we spread out, the greater the risk of inviting an attack from both the First Emperor¡¯s bats and our other stalker.
Worst of all, Nenetl wasn¡¯t doing well. Her first experience with battle had left her shaken and paralyzed with fear. She cowered under a ceiba tree while the wounded Itzili roared at the tall grass.
A silent shadow bolted out of the vegetation in utter silence.
I hardly caught a glimpse of it before it pounced on Itzili. The creature was huge¡ªat least twice the size of a man¡ªwith paws larger than my head and fangs longer than my fingers. The four-legged behemoth of muscle and brown fur possessed a dog-like jaw and nose. I had only seen the animal as a carpet adorning my palace, but I recognized it instantly nonetheless.
A northern bear.
But something was wrong with it. I saw it in the beast¡¯s calculated movements, from the way it slightly leaned on to its hind legs like a man or the quietness with which it ran. Its eyes gleamed with malevolence and cunning.
Our stalker had shown itself in animal form.
Its first act was to lunge at Itzili¡¯s throat to tear it out with its fangs. My pet, though wounded in the leg, fought back by biting the bear¡¯s shoulder, his feet clawing at the beast. The two animals brawled among the grass in front of a paralyzed Nenetl, who had no idea how to react.
Alas, the battle¡¯s result was obvious. Itzili was smaller than his foe and wounded. He wouldn¡¯t last long.
¡°Kill yourself and spare me the trouble,¡± I told the last warrior as I moved to save my pet. ¡°I have no time for yo¨C¡±
The hunter lunged at me with superhuman speed, his fingers turning into scabrous claws and his mouth into a maw full of fangs.
He would have likely slammed me to the ground in an instant had I not survived so many battles through my journeys across the Underworld. My honed reflexes let me react quickly enough to raise my club in time to protect myself. The warrior¡¯s claws screeched upon locking with my weapon¡¯s obsidian blades; his entire body pushed against mine with strength greater than a trihorn, but I held my ground.
I realized my mistake now that I could take a closer look at my foe. He was strong and muscled, his red-eyes gleamed through his long blond hair. His skin was etched in symbols I did not recognize, and a single loincloth covered his nakedness. His inhuman features and strength quickly let me identify his true nature.
A Nightkin.
Clever bastard. By mingling with the human cultists, he ensured that I wouldn¡¯t see him as a true threat.
¡°Where is she?!¡± he snarled at me, his claws slowly pushing back my obsidian club. Not even the strength provided by my armor could match his raw power. ¡°Where is the girl?!¡±
Was that a flash of concern I caught in his crimson eyes? How strange. His face felt vaguely familiar, but Itzili¡¯s shrieks prevented me from focusing.
¡°You will never know,¡± I replied. I could have crushed this Nightkin in an instant with the Blaze, the Doll, or Bonecraft spells, but I couldn¡¯t reveal hints of my sorcerous abilities yet.
I pushed him back with a thrust instead, then sliced my palm open and let my burning blood stain my weapon¡¯s blades. ¡°You will not live to thwart me.¡±
The Nightkin¡¯s eyes widened in shock upon seeing my weapon catch fire. I had no time to waste with Itzili fighting for his life, so I went straight for the kill. I swung my club in an attempt to behead my foe, but he quickly lowered his back to dodge. His claws grazed my armor without penetrating it. He instinctively stayed out of my blazing weapon¡¯s range and tried to skirt around me from the left.
This one had a warrior¡¯s instinct, and he wasn¡¯t afraid of harming an emperor.
Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t fully focus on him. The bear had thrown Itzili against the ceiba tree Nenetl was hiding under. My feathered tyrant limped on the ground, his pristine scales covered in blood. His opponent rose on its two feet, its lumbering form overshadowing my pet.
A small rock bounced off the bear¡¯s nose.
Nenetl stood against the beast, her knees shaking, her hands holding a handful of stones.
I froze in panic upon seeing the bear turn its massive head in her direction. Nenetl threw another stone at the monster in a desperate attempt to drive it away from Itzili.
¡°Nenetl!¡± I shouted my consort¡¯s name. ¡°Back off¨C¡±
The Nightkin immediately exploited my moment of inattention. He grabbed my arm with his left hand, forcing my weapon out of the way, and then gripped my throat with his right. My back was slammed against the nearest tree before I knew what hit me.
¡°Where is she?!¡± the Nightkin snapped at me once again. ¡°Where is Astrid?!¡±
Astrid? His wording took me aback. He¡¯s calling her by name?
The Nightkin pressed me against the tree, the bark cracking under the pressure, while the bear raised a paw at Nenetl. A thousand options crossed my mind in a split second until I reached a decision.
With no other choice, I mentally activated Nenetl¡¯s tattoo.
And she sensed it. Her Tonalli howled at the contact of my own. The effect was so subtle that no one else would have noticed, but Nenetl knew. She sensed my talons loosening her leash and setting the beast inside her free for a time.
The transformation was immediate. A layer of fur grew over her pale skin, her nails turned into claws and her gentle visage twisted into a snarling wolf¡¯s face. The bear hardly had time to react before Nenetl pounded him with all her might. The two shapeshifters brawled in the grass while Itzili crawled away.
The Nightkin tightened his grip on my throat and forced me to look at him.
¡°I asked you a question!¡± the Nightkin snarled at me. The source of his fury confounded me. I¡¯d learned to recognize hatred and rage well enough, but this vampire¡¯s anger swelled from a different source; something purer and familiar.
Concern.
The Nightkin¡¯s identity finally dawned on me. His hair, the runes on his skin, his exotic accent¡ The chaos of battle and the veil of bloodlust clouded my mind to the truth before, but I finally recognized the familial resemblance with Ingrid.
A smile stretched on my lips. ¡°Do you hope to save your sister yourself, Fjor?¡±
The sound of his own name shook the Nightkin more than a blow to the face. ¡°How do you know my¡ª¡±
His hold loosened slightly. Not much, but enough.
I wrenched my arm free and punched him in the chest. The blow would have killed a normal man, yet it hardly shook Fjor off me. I raised my obsidian club for a counterattack. Fjor instinctively raised his arms to protect his neck from a killing blow, as I expected him to.
I lowered my blazing bladed club and sliced off his legs.
My blood melted his knees and muscles enough for the obsidian to cut through them. My own inhuman strength did the rest. I cleanly severed his legs and caused him to collapse at my feet.
Fjor began to transform back into his bat form, with wings springing out of his arms. He probably expected to heal from his injuries in an instant, but my blood carried the radiance of sunlight itself. His cauterized knees wouldn¡¯t let him grow new legs anytime soon.
¡°You didn¡¯t have the courage to stand up for her when she needed you the most, coward,¡± I taunted him with all of my scorn. ¡°It is only now, on the precipice of her death, that you find any resolve within yourself?¡±
The Nightkin, now more bat than man, widened his wings to take flight. I cut off his left one before he could even flap. He pathetically tried to grab my leg with his last arm, powering through the pain, but I easily kicked him in the chest as if he were a dying animal.
It would have been easy to finish him off. One swing and his head would roll on the grass at my feet. It would have freed the lost prince¡¯s soul from the vampiric curse and spared his sisters further heartbreak.
Yet I stayed my hand.
I recognized the look he¡¯d sent me when slamming me against a tree: the same worry that fueled Ingrid when she begged Iztacoatl to spare her sibling. Eztli¡¯s transformation didn¡¯t strip her of her affection. She never stopped loving her parents, no matter how much Yoloxochitl attempted to ruin their relationship. Fjor retained that bond with his sisters, enough that he wished to protect one from his own mistress.
Fjor was trying to save Astrid.
He hoped to get to her first so he could protect her. So great was his devotion that he was willing to fight Yohuachanca¡¯s own Emperor and Godspeaker; one of the few beyond his grasp as a Nightkin. I would have admired his resolve if he had dared to stand up to Iztacoatl when he had the chance, or perhaps he thought he would have a better chance of saving Astrid if he hid his goals from his mistress.
In any case, I decided to spare him; for an audacious plot had crossed my mind, daring in its strategy and cruel in its execution. A grand plot of the highest irony that could yield such incredible results.
I knew it the moment I identified Fjor and his reasons for fighting.
I knew how I would kill Iztacoatl.
It would require Astrid and her brother to survive the night and significant preparations, but all the pieces I required had fallen onto my lap. The Nightlord¡¯s cruelty inadvertently gave me the tools of her own demise.
That would wait for later however. Nenetl¡¯s howls were turning into whines.
Leaving the beaten Fjor behind, I rushed to my consort¡¯s rescue. The sight of her lupine body bleeding on the forest¡¯s floor left me shaking with rage. Itzili protectively crawled in front of her and snapped his jaws like a wounded dog trying to defend his injured packmate from a predator.
The bear stood over her on its two legs, battered and bloody, its back tense with frustration. It must have hoped to slay Itzili during the confusion by passing it off as an animal attack, then maybe abduct a consort and impersonate her. Perhaps it hoped that the Nightkin would do its job for it.
My allies¡¯ strength hadn¡¯t been enough to overcome the monster in battle, but sufficient to ruin its plan.
So it dropped the act.
¡°Cursed wolf,¡± the beast hissed angrily, its voice twisting from an animal¡¯s snarl into a woman¡¯s malediction. ¡°Curse your stinking jaws and silver fur!¡±
The Skinwalker shed its fur like a snake did with its skin.
The bear¡¯s skull split open to reveal a grotesque horror underneath. A lurching hunchback of stitched skin emerged from within, bloated and abominable. Its emaciated figure was humanoid in shape only, with antler horns surging from its skull and arms too long for a man. Its elongated, bloody fingers yearned for the touch of living flesh.
The monster only had skin over its bones, none of it its own. Its body was a grotesque amalgamation of half-faces stitched together by strings of pulsating sinews. I saw Cipetl¡¯s eyes and nose on the shoulder, stuck between sprouting fingers and lipless mouths wheezing in agony. I noticed a few animal body parts here and there¡ªbird beaks, bear fangs, serpent scales¡ªbut most body parts belonged to humans. Hundreds of victims contributed to the squirming hill that served at its back¡¯s hump.
How many screams did it take to weave this horrifying tapestry?
The Skinwalker¡¯s only unblemished face was its own; or should I say, her own. Sunken white eyes opened on a bald skull, right above a crooked nose and wrinkled cheeks. They oozed malevolence that rivaled the Nightlords¡¯.
The abomination met my gaze.
Lahun warned me that to lock eyes with a Skinwalker was to open oneself to their influence. Being on the wrong end of the process allowed me to understand it fully. A Skinwalker¡¯s Tonalli was a mangled abomination, a monstrous chimera of warped skin. I caught a brief glimpse of a butchered quail-like bird forming the broken heart of the monster. It must have been her totem once, in the days before she stained it with the act of kinslaying. It lingered to this day as the crooked foundation of a patchwork tapestry of death.
The Skinwalker¡¯s Tonalli invaded my mind and filled my eyes with visions. I saw myself hung to a hook of bone, a razor sharp knife gently peeling my skin away until my flayed flesh shed it off. I witnessed Cipetl put on a costume harvested from my own body and wear my skin with smooth ease.
The Skinwalker showed me all the horrors it would visit upon the world upon taking my place: the mountains of corpses it would raise, the wardrobe of skins it would harvest from my harem, the rivers of blood it would shed, the empire it would destroy from within. A gruesome spectacle of rapes and murders and tortures unfolded, each crueler than the last.
This mental assault likely left many warriors quivering in fear, their souls so broken that their minds would forever be beholden to the Skinwalker¡¯s will. Her malevolent Tonalli would subsume their spirit and lurk over their shoulders in their darkest nightmares. A normal human would have no choice but to submit to her gaze. The Skinwalker would crush their will, the mere threat of meeting her eyes again sufficient to enslave them.
I responded the only way I could.
¡°Ha¡¡± The sound came rolling out of my mouth, slow and deep. ¡°Ahah¡¡±
Like with Smoke Mountain, a billowing eruption followed the tremors. My laughter echoed through the vision, dark and cruel. The Skinwalker¡¯s vicious confidence crumbled at my unrelenting scorn.
¡°Hahaha!¡± I struggled to breathe through the fits of laughter. ¡°Pathetic!¡±
I had stood in the presence of King Mictlantecuhtli, the First Emperor, and the Lords of Terror. I had survived the Nightlords¡¯ tortures, the Burned Men, vampires, and hordes of maddened beasts.
How could this human abomination hope to frighten me?
My own Tonalli rose to challenge the Skinwalker¡¯s, its black wings enveloping the mangled tower of flesh in a predatory embrace. A colossal dark owl of shadow rose from the Underworld¡¯s depth with a purple blaze for a heart and the shadow of a great, hungry bat looming behind it.
My baleful Tonalli overwhelmed the Skinwalker¡¯s own. My will took the initiative in this battle of the mind, and I wrestled control of the vision. To the Skinwalker¡¯s cruelty, I answered with a memory of the House of Jaguars burning, of the Lords of Terrors dancing among the ashes of the wasteland I had created, of Smoke Mountain¡¯s breath devastating the world.
The Skinwalker¡¯s shadow recoiled at the sight of a greater darkness. She had sought to intimidate me with prophecies of what she would do; I answered with memories of what I¡¯d already accomplished.
I gave her a taste of annihilation.
¡°What a poor fool you are, to face me with such paltry strength!¡± I taunted her. ¡°You are a breeze challenging a hurricane!¡±
The vision collapsed on its own, the Skinwalker¡¯s will repelled by my own. She was strong and ancient, her sorcery refined by decades, possibly centuries of depravity.
But I alone feasted on a dead sun¡¯s embers.
The night enveloped us and its court answered my authority. Swarms of red-eyed bats descended from the leaves and branches to devour their emperor¡¯s enemy. The dead rose from their forested grave to feast.
The hunter had become the hunted.
Chapter Sixty-Three: The Theft
The First Emperor¡¯s servants rushed to defend his prophet.
A swarm of thousands of red-eyed bats descended from the canopy in a great tide of fangs and fur. The cacophony of their flight resonated across the silent forest. They fell upon the Skinwalker in an instant, covering her utterly. Her screams were delightful to my ears.
Nonetheless, the smell of Nenetl¡¯s and Itzili¡¯s blood proved to be too much for the frenzied beasts to resist. A few moved to drain my allies of their life, so I hastily tried to stop them.
¡°Do not harm them!¡± I ordered before sparing the wounded Fjor a glance. ¡°Not that one either, nor my red-haired consort! Slay the Skinwalker alone!¡±
I feared that the bats would disobey me, since I¡¯d never tried to command them like I did with the Nightchildren before, but my voice compelled them to obey nonetheless. They joined their siblings in swarming the Skinwalker until she vanished under a hill of them.
I seized the opportunity to check on my allies. Itzili whined in relief at my approach, his tongue licking my hand. He had taken heavy blows from the Skinwalker and one of his legs limped from an arrow stuck in it, but the rest of his injuries didn¡¯t run too deep. His young scales shielded him from most projectiles and the worst blows.
Nenetl though¡
My heart skipped a beat when I examined her. Unlike feathered tyrants, a wolf was clad with a pelt of fur in place of thick hard scales. The Skinwalker¡¯s claws and fangs deeply lacerated her body, some wounds reaching all the way to the bone. Red spots stained Nenetl¡¯s fur, while her blue eyes threatened to close forever.
¡°No, no!¡± Panic seized my heart as I rushed to her side. ¡°Hold on, Nenetl!¡±
Part of me knew deep down that the Nightlords would bring Nenetl back from the dead should she expire. They could bring her back from Mictlan anytime they wished as long as they held her soul into their grasp. Her pain and demise would carry no long-term consequences.
But I was too blinded by guilt and concern to think rationally.
I¡¯d known death on the first day of my tenure and given it often enough to understand the pain Nenetl was going through. Her animalistic whines of pain and agony tugged at my heartstrings. I cared deeply for her, enough that I¡¯d been ready to tell her the truth about myself in the hope that we could form a genuine bond. Yet I returned her kindness with betrayal, twisting her tattoo for my own use and turning her into a beast when I thought it most opportune. She didn¡¯t deserve to suffer like this, bleeding out on a cold forest¡¯s floor.
I had to do something.
I attempted to cover Nenetl¡¯s wounds with bandages made from her own torn dress. The cotton absorbed the blood, but too much spilled out. I hastily covered the gashes in her skin with my hands in a foolish attempt to contain it somehow.
A jolt of energy coursed through my fingers.
I immediately pulled back my hand in surprise. Droplets of my blood burned on the surface of Nenetl¡¯s skin. The slashes I opened in my palm had yet to heal.
This sensation¡ It felt pleasantly familiar, though it took me a second to recall it. I¡¯ve experienced it many times before.
When I practiced Seidr.
My eyes widened as an idea crossed my mind. I applied my slashed palm to Nenetl¡¯s wounds and let our blood connect.
And as our fluids joined, so did our Teyolias.
I practiced Seidr so often that I¡¯d grown accurately attuned to my own heart-fire. My awareness sharpened each time I lay with Sigrun, Necahual, and Lahun, and the shared curse binding me to my consorts gave me a weak grip on their own lifeforce.
The bond between our Teyolias was faint and hardly noticeable, since blood exchange was a crude and pale imitation of a true Seidr¡¯s union. The ritual of lovemaking emulated ¨mete¨tl, the first being who split into male and female at the dawn of the cosmos. It drew upon primal powers older than the Fifth Sun that a meeting of wounds could never hope to emulate. I would not receive visions nor achieve great feats of magic tonight.
Nevertheless, a bond was a bond. This was hardly the place for our first time and Nenetl¡¯s wolf form made the prospect unappealing anyway, but the ritual required a mere exchange of body fluids to connect two Teyolias.
I can save her! Mother said that Seidr could heal wounds and Sigrun used Seidr to steal vitality and maintain her youth by taking a fraction of my power for herself. I shall renew the flame of Nenetl¡¯s life with my own!
Instead of taking, I gave. I sent my lifeforce flowing into Nenetl¡¯s heart-fire. So much of it was lost because of the improper connection, like a river spilling out of its bed before it could reach the lake it was supposed to feed, but enough did reach its destination to make a difference.
Nenetl whined at the contact of my burning blood on her wounds. I half-expected it to cauterize them, but they instead began to close as I reinforced her Teyolia with my own. Lacerated skin joined back together, as did flesh and veins, while Nenetl¡¯s dying body surged with newfound vigor. I sensed her desire to survive and used it to nurture our connection.
It¡¯s working! Mother¡¯s casual disdain of Seidr blinded her to its broader applications: sharing lifeforce with another helped me understand how to manipulate it. This power can save lives¡ or end them.
I immediately noticed two issues with my performance, however. First of all, the results were nothing spectacular. Flesh stitched itself back together, but no new bits magically appeared to fill the parts taken away by the Skinwalker¡¯s fangs and claws. I¡¯d done little more than accelerate Nenetl¡¯s natural recovery.
Second, I couldn¡¯t focus on one wound over another. My power flowed through Nenetl¡¯s body without direction. Superficial scratches and bruises took as much energy as life-threatening wounds.
I needed more practice.
¡°Shush,¡± I comforted Nenetl. I¡¯d stabilized her enough to ensure her survival. ¡°The pain will end soon, I promise. I am here.¡±
Itzili let out a warning screech, and a roar answered it.
I watched as the hill of bats pierced the canopy, not because more beasts gathered in greater numbers, but because the creature buried beneath them grew in size. A new shape emerged under them, far different than the Skinwalker¡¯s humanoid countenance. A tail burst out from beneath the mass of flapping wings and I caught a glimpse of brown scales.
It seemed I¡¯d succeeded in frightening the hag a little too much. The Skinwalker had decided to trade subtlety for overwhelming strength.
¡°You should have stayed put, you thief of skin!¡± I shouted angrily. Unwilling to let the hag complete her transformation and angered on Nenetl¡¯s behalf, I grabbed my obsidian club, left my allies to recover, and rushed to behead the Skinwalker with a fearsome battle cry. ¡°Agony awaits!¡±
I cut into the swarm of bats, my sharp blade and immense strength allowing me to cut into thick brown scales. I had little idea which part I sliced. I simply hacked with wild abandon and let the screams of pain guide my hand. But no matter how hard I hit her, the Skinwalker continued to grow.
I caught a glimpse of a reptilian eye glaring at me through the blood and fur.
Jaws closed around my chest with immense force and lifted me up in the air. Rows of sharp fangs bit into my armor, biting through the scales and blood-soaked cotton. The pointed ends of some of the fangs reached my skin, drawing blood, while the sheer pressure emptied my lungs of air. An elongated crocodilian head held me firmly within its grasp, moving wildly from left to right to shake off the bats trying to pierce its scales.
The monster was huge. Its size paled before that of a longneck, but its back reached all the way to the canopy above us. Five men standing on each other¡¯s shoulders would struggle to meet its slitted eyes. Its body bore a worrying resemblance to Itzili¡¯s, except larger and without feathers. I feared that the Skinwalker had transformed into a feathered tyrant until I caught a glimpse of a red, dorsal sail of flesh rising from its back.
A spineking.
Every fisherman learned to fear these aquatic behemoths. They rivaled feathered tyrants in size and aggression, though they hunted large fish rather than land animals. This fact, combined with the scarlet Tlahuiztli¡¯s enchanted resilience, likely saved my life. The creature¡¯s fangs and jaw weren¡¯t adapted to properly bite through my armor. A feathered tyrant would have crushed me in a single bite, but the Skinwalker had to put in the effort to crack it like an egg.
It still hurt.
Xibalba¡¯s trials taught me how to remain focused through unbearable pain, yet I¡¯d rarely felt worse. An immense pressure pushed on me from two sides of my body, with fangs closing on my back and chest. My blood dripped and burned the monster¡¯s scaled lips, but the Skinwalker was no Nightkin. It proved little more than an inconvenience as she continued to tighten her grip.
¡°Let me go!¡± I snarled as I fought back with my obsidian club. My sharp blades proved too brittle to inflict much damage. Most shattered against the Skinwalker¡¯s thick scales, nor could the wooden handle keep up with my inhuman strength. The club snapped in half when I hit the creature too hard. ¡°Let me go, I said!¡±
The monster answered by crunching my chest. A surge of sharp pain coursed through my body, my fury now only matched by my fear of being swallowed alive.
She¡¯s crushing me! With no weapon left, I grabbed the spineking¡¯s jaws with my hands and pushed. My arms¡¯ muscles surged with inhuman power fueled by my scarlet Tlahuiztli. I fought back against the increasing grip, but though I held my own I couldn¡¯t force the creature¡¯s mouth open. If I use the Doll¡ But then they''ll know¡ I have to find another way!
An obsidian spear surged from the trees and struck the Skinwalker in its left eye.
The creature let out a roar of pain as a shower of blood erupted from its wound. I fell upon my back from high, though my armor¡¯s cotton considerably softened my landing. Strong hands quickly grabbed my shoulders and hastily helped me rise up to my feet. It proved quite arduous between my wounds, blood loss, and weakened breath.
Chikal stood by my side while drenched in blood, none of it her own. The Nightkin she was fighting earlier was nowhere to be seen.
¡°Can you stand by yourself?¡± she asked me.
¡°Yes, of course,¡± I grunted, only for a sharp pain in my chest to make a liar out of me. I nearly collapsed until Chikal caught me. ¡°No.¡±
¡°Any plan, then?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± I smiled cruelly beneath my bat mask. ¡°We watch.¡±
Chikal frowned at me, until she noticed what I already did: her breath was turning to mist from the sudden cold.
My soldiers crawled out of the forest with smoking black pits for eyes, their hunger so great as to suck out all warmth in the air.
I counted dozens of Nightchildren of all ages and sizes. All were humans, but not all were adults. A few looked no taller than small children, their rags hardly sticking to their pale frail frames. The First Emperor¡¯s bats consumed indiscriminately, their hunger sparing neither the old nor the young.
I would have felt sad once, but reinforcements were always welcome.
Chikal straightened up. I didn¡¯t remember her seeing these creatures before, and she was suitably on edge. I answered her caution with confidence. I pointed at the spineking before they could notice Nenetl and the others, then barked out orders. ¡°Bring me her soul!¡±
An emperor did not ask, he commanded.
The Nightchildren rushed at the spineking without a sound. Their very presence muffled the beast¡¯s roars of pain and dulled the forest¡¯s noise around us. Those closest to the beast grabbed her ankles.
Mother once told me that men possessed lifeforce second only to those of great beasts like feathered tyrants. I¡¯d seen the Nightchildren drain their victims to dust in less than a minute¡¯s time. They feasted on the soul without moderation, and a group of them should kill anything within a heartbeat.
Either the Skinwalker accumulated quite the strong Teyolia over her cursed life or her shapeshifting let her borrow an animal¡¯s lifeforce, for she didn''t die on the spot. It would have been a kinder fate if she did. The scales around her feet crumbled to dust, exposing brittle flesh and calcifying it in an instant.
The monster¡¯s sheer weight turned against her. With no strong foundation to stand on, she collapsed onto the nearest trees in a catastrophic fall. My heart nearly stopped at that, but she managed to fall on the side opposite of Nenetl, Fjor, and Itzili. Chikal and I still had to step back to avoid the dust and debris. The noise of the impact would have been deafening without the Nightchildren¡¯s flock to smother it.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
I found the silence that followed far more ominous.
The Skinwalker attempted to shed her skin the same way she had transformed from a bear into an abomination earlier. I didn¡¯t quite understand how the process worked, but the Nightchildren¡¯s touch swiftly sabotaged it somehow. The spineking¡¯s belly ruptured open in a shower of blood and gore, the Skinwalker sliding out of it in her horned, deformed true shape. The Nightchildren and the red-eyed bats fell upon her in an instant to feast on her blood and lifeforce.
¡°She has to transform back into her original form before donning a new skin,¡± Chikal observed with a thoughtful expression. Not even the Nightchildren managed to shake her composure for long. ¡°We should finish her off while we can.¡±
¡°Not yet,¡± I replied. Chikal raised an eyebrow right as I raised my hand. ¡°Release her!¡±
I didn¡¯t want the Skinwalker to die too quickly.
The bats and Nightchildren retreated like hounds recalled by their master. Good thing they did so too. The Skinwalker¡¯s body had turned pale and gaunt, her life hanging on by a thread. She wouldn¡¯t have lasted another minute.
Without new prey, the red-eyed bats circled above Nenetl and Itzili. I quickly realized the limits of my control. Without a direct order, they would swiftly return to their natural, predatory behavior.
I needed to distract them.
¡°Kill every red-eyed human in this forest and beyond,¡± I ordered my troops. I would have said every red-eyed creature if it wouldn¡¯t have endangered Eztli, but a hundred priests¡¯ deaths would satisfy me. ¡°Spread out and kill, kill, kill them all.¡±
The bat swarm screeched as it dispersed across the sky. The Nightchildren simply returned to the shadows in utter silence.
Chikal scowled at me. ¡°Iztac,¡± she said, marking a brief pause before continuing. ¡°Are you yourself?¡±
I snorted. ¡°What kind of question is that, Chikal? Of course I¡¯m myself.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t act like it,¡± Chikal replied with a hint of concern. ¡°You seem¡ wilder. And too bold by half.¡±
¡°Like you said,¡± I said with a scoff. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting a long time for this.¡±
I could finally visit the indignities I¡¯d suffered back on my tormentors. Of course I enjoyed this. I¡¯d spent so many nights hiding the power I accumulated, and I finally had the opportunity to show some of it off. Why shouldn¡¯t I revel in it?
The Skinwalker didn¡¯t even have the strength to move a finger. Her eyes, both those above her nose or embedded in her patchwork abomination of a body, stared at me in absolute terror. I was the shadow of death coming to take her soul, and she was helpless to resist my call.
¡°Finally realized that you never had a chance?¡± I taunted her, holding my chest with one hand and hiding my pain behind a mask of arrogance. This encounter took its toll on me in spite of my bravado. ¡°Now tell me who sent you, and I might spare your life.¡±
It was a lie, but the Skinwalker appeared desperate enough to believe it. She tried to move her calcified lips to the best of her ability, all in vain. Only dust and rattles came out of her mouth. The Nightchildren drained the sorry excuse of an assassin of all her strength.
A pity. I decided to put her down when Chikal¡¯s hands suddenly tightened their grip on my shoulders.
¡°Iztac.¡± Chikal stared at the sky with greater unease than anything the Nightchildren could inspire. ¡°She¡¯s coming.¡±
I froze in place. Hisses and whistles thrummed around us, first quietly, then louder and louder.
Snakes slithered around us in the grass by the dozens, the hundreds, the thousands. Small vipers and copperheads joined with adders and feathered serpents in a swarm that rivaled that of the First Emperor¡¯s red-eyed bats in size. They covered the entire forest floor in an instant and surrounded us all in a mass of squirming scales and fangs. Itzili snapped his jaws at them while doing his best to shield the now comatose Nenetl with his body, but it hardly frightened the growing mass of reptiles. Crimson serpents large enough to swallow adult crocodiles appeared among them and matched Itzili¡¯s hostility with hisses. Fjor and the Skinwalker alike stared at the scaly mass with apprehension.
Iztacoatl wouldn¡¯t let her father¡¯s court overshadow her own.
The greatest among the snakes coiled together at the center of the squamous mass. Their form melded together into steps of a scaled stairway that reached up to the canopy above us. I looked up to the night sky and saw a graceful figure cast a dark shadow in the moonlight. Iztacoatl descended upon us with wings of crimson feathers sprouting out of her shoulders and near-divine grace. She landed on the highest staircase and looked down upon us with her smug golden gaze.
Fjor inclined his head in submission, as did Chikal. I alone dared to match Iztacoatl¡¯s gaze. I recalled the wind¡¯s words from so long ago: that true gods had nothing to prove. All this hollow pageantry inspired me with nothing but disdain.
¡°Has it been four hours already, oh goddess?¡± I asked, mostly to buy more time for Eztli to flee.
¡°My apologies, dear emperor,¡± Iztacoatl said with a wry smile, her feet climbing down the stairs of snakes with a confident strut. ¡°I am hopeless when it comes to counting time.¡±
She came alone? I didn¡¯t see any Nightkin flying with her. Either she thought she wouldn¡¯t need them or she hoped that I would try to attack her. Showing up alone in the middle of nowhere would have made her an inviting target under normal circumstances. I won¡¯t take that bait.
Iztacoatl walked down to me, the snakes forming a thick carpet for her to step upon. Gods forbid that she would walk on the same ground as us commoners.
¡°My hunters inflicted quite the wounds on you and your consorts,¡± she commented upon examining me. ¡°We ought to rename your advisor Itzili the Lame.¡±
Itzili responded by showing his fangs at her. This only served to amuse the Nightlord further as she turned her sight to Fjor next. ¡°You disappoint me,¡± she said while studying his wounds. ¡°I expected better from Sigrun¡¯s son. Has concern for your human sister dulled your edge, Fjor?¡±
Fjor knew better than to talk back to a Nightlord and simply kept his head down in penance. Chikal¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. Either she recognized the name or was memorizing it for future investigations.
Iztacoatl grabbed my palm next, her cold finger tracing a line along my new scars. ¡°My poor songbird, how long did you intend to keep this from me?¡± Her smile had all the sweetness of rotten honey. ¡°I knew something was wrong with your blood for a while, but to think it could burn my children?¡±
I feigned innocence. ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡±
¡°You truly take me for an idiot,¡± Iztacoatl replied, her wry smile now stretched thin. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us that your blood burned my children? Surely your consort must have noticed.¡±
¡°I assumed it was the case for all emperors,¡± I lied outrageously. ¡°My blood is for the heavens alone to taste. Lesser Nightkin are unfit to touch it.¡±
¡°True indeed,¡± Iztacoatl replied with bemusement, her gaze lingering on my throat. She leaned in closer, a pair of serpentine fangs surging from behind her lips. ¡°You are ours alone.¡±
She bit me in the thin chink between my bat mask and armor.
I¡¯d never been on the end of the vampire kiss before, although I¡¯d seen it give death to so many. Eztli never tried to drink my blood, and even the mad Yoloxochitl refused to do so when I tempted her. I thought the Nightlords were forbidden to dine on the emperor until the Night of the Scarlet Moon.
Either I¡¯d been deceived, or Iztacoatl didn¡¯t care.
The pain of her fangs sinking into my throat lasted a mere second, raw and deep. The horror and agony were swiftly drowned in a tide of numbness and ecstasy. A wave of exquisite pleasure spread from my neck to the rest of my body, softer than a warm bath and more intimate than the greatest heights of sexual release. Sigrun, Necahual, Eztli, Ingrid¡ I¡¯d laid with so many women, and none gave me a greater bliss than a second of Iztacoatl¡¯s touch.
My entire body no longer answered me. A powerful sense of euphoria paralyzed it. My senses dulled to the point my vision blurred and the noise of suction became no more than a soft echo in the back of my mind. The cold filling my fingers as Iztacoatl drained me of my blood felt downright welcome. Both the battle¡¯s pain and the armor¡¯s inhuman strength vanished in an instant.
Vampires turned death into a delight.
But while my body betrayed me, my mind recoiled in horror. My acute awareness of my Teyolia let me sense my lifeforce leaving me. Itzacoatl stole enough of my blood to kill a Nightkin twice over, but her hunger proved greater than mere body fluids. She filled the void of her heart with souls, and now sought to devour mine.
Visions flashed before me. I saw myself strapped to a stone table under a crimson sky set alight by the scarlet moon. Obsidian spikes nailed my wings and claws to an altar, while the Nightlords feasted on my limbs, draining my holy blood until I became a shriveled husk.
¡°Struggle all you want, foolish father,¡± the Jaguar Woman taunted me, her mouth painted blue and yellow by the taste of my sulfur blood. ¡°Your power is ours, now and forever.¡±
I shrieked and screamed in anger and pain, but when I opened my mouth, burning tar filled it instead of words. My cold body boiled in a viscous liquid that melted the flesh off my bones. My heart turned black with fury at this betrayal. And when the sulfur flame of my heart was extinguished at last, only hunger and darkness remained.
I snapped back to reality the moment Iztacoatl removed her fangs from my throat. I would have collapsed without Chikal to hold onto me. My knees were weak, my legs without strength. I couldn¡¯t move anymore. The rapture from earlier turned into a deep numbness and frigid cold. I¡¯d matched a spineking¡¯s jaws in a contest of might, but I now lacked the energy to move an eyelid.
Iztacoatl had stopped before she could swallow my soul, but she had taken cups upon cups of my blood. She licked it off her lips with a rapturous expression. Dining on my flesh had been as pleasurable for her as it had been for me.
¡°My compliments, Songbird,¡± Iztacoatl thanked me with a mock chuckle. ¡°You will be our best drink in centuries.¡±
My sunfire blood, which melted the flesh of Nightkin in an instant, had no more effect on a Nightlord than a strong spice.
The vast gap in power between the spawn and their progenitors became clear to me this instant. I dined on the embers of a dead sun and achieved power greater than most of the horrors that haunted the dark corners of the world, but I remained a young fish in a vast ocean full of great sharks and other primeval beasts.
Iztacoatl gluttonously licked the blood off my neck with her snakelike tongue, much to my and Chikal¡¯s disgust. I knew this was payback for the time I¡¯d slapped her. Violating my body let her reassert her power over me, like a master yanking the dog¡¯s leash until it whined.
¡°Did you think you could poison us on the night of the Scarlet Moon? That you could die a martyr and take us down with you?¡± Iztacoatl laughed after she finished licking every drop of my blood off my skin. ¡°Such a transparent plot.¡±
My only consolation was that she didn¡¯t see anything when she drank my blood, or else she would have reacted more violently. Either she needed to fully consume my soul to see my memories, or my predecessors¡¯ shroud of illusions continued to hide my Teyolia¡¯s true nature from her.
¡°I do not see our dear Eztli among you, nor our little quarry,¡± Iztacoatl noted before finally deigning to notice the Skinwalker. ¡°Who is this?¡±
I was too weak to speak up, so Chikal answered on my behalf. ¡°An assassin who sought to kill our Lord Emperor,¡± she replied with no small amount of disdain. ¡°A Skinwalker.¡±
Iztacoatl¡¯s eyebrows curved in slight interest. She snapped her fingers and hundreds of snakes coiled around the Skinwalker. My would-be assassin was helpless to resist and swiftly lifted up in the air. I would have felt a degree of kinship for her had she not tried to kill Nenetl earlier.
I expected Iztacoatl to eat the Skinwalker for dessert, and I would have appreciated one of my enemies taking out another. But as always, the gods remained deaf to my prayers. Iztacoatl studied her captive in silent fascination, the hissing of her court lowering into a quiet whisper.
Something is wrong. A terrible feeling sank in my gut. Iztacoatl should have already murdered the Skinwalker on the spot for interrupting her hunt. She couldn¡¯t ignore the offense. She¡¯s taking too long.
A familiar sound came out of Iztacoatl¡¯s mouth, low and sinister. I¡¯d come to hate it with all my heart.
A laugh.
¡°What a stroke of luck,¡± Iztacoatl said with glee, her fingers stroking her captive¡¯s cheek. ¡°At last a perfect candidate. Kinslayer and betrayer, a broken soul wrapped in human skin!¡±
My heart skipped a beat in horror. I finally caught on to Iztacoatl¡¯s gruesome idea.
¡°Worry not, dear, you are too precious to die yet,¡± Iztacoatl whispered to the frightened Skinwalker. ¡°You have big shoes to fill.¡±
The Nightlords had been looking for a placeholder for a while. The Night of the Scarlet Moon was a play that had lost one of its lead actresses. Another had risen to occupy her place, but that person required a replacement too; a sacrifice that met the exceedingly precise requirements of a centuries-long occult ritual.
What better candidate to fill the missing role than a monster with a thousand faces?
¡°Let us find dear Eztli, songbird,¡± Iztacoatl decided with enthusiasm. ¡°I cannot wait for her to meet her replacement.¡±
I spent the next two hours in Iztacoatl¡¯s tender care.
Ever the lazy coward, she sent her Nightkin hunting for Eztli while she took me and the others to a large temple near the forest. I assumed that she used this place as a base to run her hunting rituals and sacrifice the losers. Nenetl and Itzili would receive medical care under Chikal¡¯s supervision, while the Skinwalker had been chained up in the lower chambers for a different kind of treatment. I could hear her screams through the walls now and then.
Iztacoatl decided to personally oversee my recovery in her own quarters: a decadent chamber adorned with stolen artwork and furnishings taken from dozens of destroyed nations. She had a bath prepared for us in a pool of stone surrounded by serpent statues, undressed, and then dragged me into it naked.
The warm fluids were the same blend of blood and herbs in which Iztacoatl had me bathe in a few weeks ago. As viscous and disgusting as it was, it did slowly restore my health and vigor. I would have almost appreciated it had Iztacoatl not spent the last hour holding me in her arms in a lover¡¯s embrace and caressing my neck. Capturing the Skinwalker had left her in an unbearably happy mood, and she was clearly resisting the urge to bite me again.
She liked the taste of my blood a bit too much, I thought grimly. My only consolation was the obsidian windows adorning the walls. I could see the dawn rising beyond them, its sunlight blocked by the blackened glass. Would it kill her instantly if I shattered them? If Iztacoatl survived my blood, she might endure a few minutes before turning to dust.
¡°Dawn nears, beloved goddess, and your hunters have failed,¡± I said with no small amount of satisfaction. ¡°I win.¡±
¡°So you do!¡± Iztacoatl replied with a mocking laugh. ¡°This time.¡±
My joy swiftly turned to anger. Of course the scaled whore wouldn¡¯t let me enjoy a victory, no matter how trivial. ¡°This time?¡±
¡°This was only the first test of many, my dear boy,¡± Iztacoatl taunted me. ¡°Worry not, I will find another use for dear Astrid. How about I reshape her flesh until she becomes her mother¡¯s spitting image and then put her in your bed? You inspire me so much I fear we will run out of victims before we do ideas.¡±
She lightly kissed my cheek to better savor my disgust. My blood had turned her lips warm.
¡°There is also the small matter of your reward,¡± she whispered into my ear. ¡°I will think over it after putting your menagerie to death.¡±
Her left hand descended upon my navel while the right held onto my chin. The embrace would have been halfway intimate from anyone else. Every caress, every move, was meant to remind me that I was her property.
¡°Between your command over bats and your pets¡¯ habits of wandering where they shouldn¡¯t, it is now clear to me that you can command animals,¡± she whispered into my ear. ¡°It would be unwise to let you retain access to such a vast army under our nose. I shall spare that reptile advisor of yours so I can kill him at my leisure later, and turn the rest into carpets.¡±
I met her taunts with silence.
I¡¯d managed to spare Astrid¡¯s life tonight and managed to hide most of my abilities from Iztacoatl, but I could hardly call it a victory. The Nightlord knew about my blood¡¯s properties, and worst of all, she could shrug it off. Destroying the menagerie would also deny me the ability to Ride most animals and the Skinwalker¡¯s capture would ensure the ritual¡¯s renewal.
The chambers¡¯ doors opened, and a pair of Nightkin escorted Eztli into the room.
I didn¡¯t see Astrid with her.
I blinked in surprise, waiting for guards to drag Ingrid¡¯s sister weeping and screaming into the chambers for Iztacoatl to mock her. I did so in vain. The Nightkin kept their heads low in silent shame.
Iztacoatl¡¯s expression swiftly turned from smug to confused. ¡°Where is the child?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have her,¡± Eztli replied.
My fists clenched at the same time Iztacoatl¡¯s nails sank into my skin. I first feared for Astrid¡¯s safety, but I had spent enough time with Eztli to recognize when she struggled to suppress a smile.
Why did she look so damn happy?
¡°You don¡¯t have her?¡± Iztacoatl repeated, her voice laced with disbelief.
¡°I¡¯ve lost her,¡± Eztli said. ¡°I don¡¯t know where she is anymore.¡±
I turned my head to take a better look at Iztacoatl¡¯s face. I discovered a new pleasure even greater than sex or the thrill of a vampire¡¯s kiss: the delight of watching Iztacoatl¡¯s joy turning into utter despair.
Her short-lived triumph was about to become a monumental humiliation.
¡°Explain yourself!¡± she ordered, seething in rage.
Eztli¡¯s expression turned into the smuggest smirk imaginable.
¡°An old owl took her away.¡±
Chapter Sixty-Four: Good Night
The slap failed to lift the smile from my face.
A Nightlord¡¯s palm carried more strength than twenty men behind it, and a hundred times the animosity. She struck quicker than a serpent, her blows whistling with each impact. Blood dripped down my cheeks and onto my shoulders.
¡°Where is she?¡± Iztacoatl asked me for the hundredth time.
¡°I do not know, goddess,¡± I replied truthfully. The pain helped me suppress my laughter. ¡°Have you checked the nearest owl''s nest?¡±
Her next slap threw me to the floor. Eztli was already sitting there, her flayed cheeks healing before my eyes. Our bloody grins infuriated Iztacoatl beyond anything I¡¯d ever seen. The fairest of the Nightlords had grown scales over her face, her fangs and eyes twisting into reptilian parodies of themselves. So overwhelming was her rage that she struggled not to transform into her true, monstrous form.
¡°No matter how many times the goddess asks, the answer will remain the same,¡± I replied. I was almost willing to forgive Mother for abandoning Father and I after pulling such a daring stunt. ¡°My treacherous Mother eluded me for years. I have no idea where she is.¡±
¡°Liar!¡± Iztacoatl snapped at me, white scales spreading down her neck. ¡°I know you warned her of my hunt somehow!¡±
Her panic was something to behold, and more than matched her humiliation. Iztacoatl had failed to catch Mother, twice, and let her escape with a future imperial concubine while she was there. Not only would it shatter her illusion of invincibility among her surviving priests and Nightkin, but her sisters would fall on her the moment they learned of it.
Iztacoatl¡¯s only hope of salvaging the situation was to locate Mother; an unlikely prospect when she and her flying troops had to hide from the sunlight. The Nightlord had cast a divination ritual in the blood bath in an attempt to discern Astrid''s location, sent loyal messengers looking for them in all directions, delayed the imperial procession to interrogate all of its members, and had hunters scour every village¡ all in vain. Mother eluded capture for seventeen years, and her Tonalli form could have flown halfway across the empire by now.
The temple¡¯s atmosphere suddenly grew heavier. The air choked with the smell of death and rot. Iztacoatl¡¯s hand, raised to slap me once again, stopped in midair. The Nightlord glanced at the pool with fear in her reptilian eyes.
The gathered blood rose into the shape of two vaguely humanoid figures. I recognized the two vampires long before their features sharpened into furious snarls and deep scowls, then immediately forced myself to adopt a blank expression before they could see my smile.
Iztacoatl¡¯s reptilian features returned to normal. Her apprehension quelled her anger. ¡°Sisters¨C¡±
¡°You imbecile.¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s fury somehow looked even more terrifying when manifesting through boiling blood. ¡°How can such a fool share my noble ancestry?¡±
¡°Is it true, sister?¡± What Sugey lacked in anger, she more than made up in sheer disappointment. The Nightlord quickly materialized inside of the blood pool. ¡°Did you let a godkin escape with one of our enemies?¡±
Iztacoatl winced at their reproach. The sight of my tormentor cowering this way more than made up for all of tonight¡¯s pain and struggles.
Word of the disaster had already spread to the other Nightlords in spite of Iztacoatl¡¯s best efforts. Either one of their sorcerous priests warned them somehow, or they discovered it through their own divination rituals.
I didn¡¯t know they could materialize from these pools. I watched as the Jaguar Woman and Sugey both stepped out of the boiling blood, their bodies now fully incarnated. They must use them to quickly travel across their empire.
¡°This is his fault!¡± Iztacoatl protested, pointing at me. When stripped of her grandiose facade and confronted with individuals who matched her power, she behaved like a spoiled child. ¡°He set me up!"
Her pathetic attempt at deflecting the blame would have fallen flat on anybody else, but the Jaguar Woman turned her baleful gaze on me next. She was just as desperate to find a culprit to put the blame on.
I quickly bowed, my forehead kissing the ground. The Jaguar Woman¡¯s presence never failed to turn my joy into dread.
¡°I only sought to honor the goddess by winning the hunting game she prepared for me,¡± I lied through my teeth. ¡°I thought Eztli could take poor Astrid to safety long enough for us to secure our victory. I never expected my treacherous mother to attack her, nor that Skinwalker to ambush us. I¡¯m sure they set this up together.¡±
Ever the talented actress, Eztli quickly built upon my lie. ¡°The fault is mine, Iztac,¡± she said, her hands moving to hold her arms. She played the vulnerable damsel like no other. ¡°It was me that this owl sought to kill. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not escaped her clutches in time¡¡±
Her words worked better than expected. Sugey¡¯s disappointment soon turned into disbelief as she turned back to her sister. ¡°You put Yoloxochitl¡¯s replacement in harm¡¯s way?¡±
Clever girl. I hadn¡¯t considered it, but Eztli was indeed a weak link in the Nightlords¡¯ ritual. A magician opposed to Yohuachanca could disrupt it by killing her; a likely prospect since she lacked her new sisters¡¯ strength. Between the Skinwalker¡¯s attack on my person and Mother¡¯s presence, it would seem the Nightlords¡¯ enemies coordinated this attack together. The snake whore has stepped in her own trap.
¡°We have no one to replace the girl with if she perishes,¡± Sugey scolded Iztacoatl. ¡°Putting her within reach of an assassin¡¯s blade was foolish of you.¡±
Meanwhile, the Jaguar Woman¡¯s fury smoldered into a scarier, colder kind of anger. ¡°We are at war, Iztacoatl, and you play games?¡±
Iztacoatl¡¯s flinched. ¡°It was a test!¡± she protested. ¡°He¡¯s lying¨C¡±
¡°The weapon was destroyed!¡± The Jaguar Woman cut in, her words hitting Iztacoatl harder than any slap. ¡°A spy broke into the facility and set it on fire. Our sister¡¯s legacy went up in smoke; the herd questions our power and guidance; Father stirs in his tomb; our enemies smell our blood in the water and bare their fangs. And you¡¡±
The coiled serpent statues squeaked around us, an invisible force crushing the stone until it cracked. It became more and more difficult for me to hide my satisfaction. The Jaguar Woman¡¯s anger confirmed to me that my plan to wipe out Yoloxochitl¡¯s plague from the world worked perfectly. She wouldn¡¯t be so furious if she could salvage anything from it.
Their despair brought me such boundless joy.
¡°What do you think your weakness taught our enemies tonight?¡± the Jaguar Woman asked her cowed sister. ¡°I will tell you right now: you showed them that they can strike us with impunity!¡±
¡°As for the girl¡¡± Sugey shook her head. ¡°She is an emperor¡¯s daughter and a consort¡¯s sister. Her blood is too precious to fall into our enemies¡¯ hands.¡±
¡°Speaking of blood¡¡± Iztacoatl swiftly grabbed my head, forced me to look up at her, and sliced my cheek with her nail. My sunlight-rich blood caught fire once exposed to the air, its radiance briefly illuminating the room. ¡°See what he has been hiding from us!¡±
I mustered all of my willpower not to show any unease. I¡¯d been fearing the Jaguar Woman¡¯s reaction since the beginning. I¡¯d spent a great amount of time pretending to have been cowed into an obedient emperor so she wouldn¡¯t torment my loved ones, and here Iztacoatl revealed that I¡¯d been keeping secrets from her.
The Jaguar Woman¡¯s response proved¡ strangely subdued.
¡°I see,¡± she replied while squinting at my blood with curiosity. She touched it with her finger to examine it more closely. The dose would have melted a Nightkin¡¯s flesh away, yet it failed to irritate a Nightlord¡¯s skin. ¡°Interesting¡¡±
Iztacoatl¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°You knew?¡±
¡°Yoloxochitl¡¯s spawn informed me on our Godspeaker¡¯s behalf before their departure,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied. ¡°I was too occupied looking for the child¡¯s placeholder to deal with it.¡±
I immediately glanced at Eztli. She avoided my gaze, though I could have sworn she briefly winked at me beforehand.
She told her? I immediately feared betrayal, but the Jaguar Woman¡¯s subdued response and her words let me calm down enough to assess things rationally. Eztli said she did it on my behalf.
I quickly figured it out.
Eztli had caught on to the Nightlords¡¯ personal dynamics and exploited them. The Jaguar Woman sought to be in control at all times. Giving her a small nugget of information helped convince her that she could keep us both in her thrall. The secret of my blood was bound to come to light sooner or later, come the Flower War. She must have hoped to drive a wedge between the Nightlords too by informing one and not the other.
It was a gamble, I thought. I remained unsure if I should be thankful for Eztli¡¯s foresight or furious that she failed to inform me. It paid off this time at least, but¡ I don¡¯t like it. I don¡¯t like it at all.
Between that scheme and her attempts at sabotaging her mother¡¯s contraceptives, Eztli was taking far too many risks behind my back for my liking. This one spared me a great deal of trouble, but she might eventually overreach and misstep.
That would be a discussion for later. Iztacoatl immediately jumped on the opportunity to accuse me of sacrilege.
¡°He has used this blood to slay my spawn, my sisters,¡± she said. ¡°One of them witnessed him laughing when he killed my priests and servants. He also sent Father¡¯s bats to hunt down his pursuers.¡±
The Jaguar Woman¡¯s cold gaze oozed malevolence. ¡°Is it true, our Godspeaker?¡±
My heart pounded in my chest with such strength I feared it would explode.
¡°It was the scarlet Tlahuiztli, oh goddess,¡± I half-lied. ¡°The moment it tasted blood, I¡ I was no longer myself. The hunger¡ it gave me strength, but it sapped my will¡ it¡¡± I clenched my teeth. ¡°It spoke through me.¡±
The Jaguar Woman glared at me, as did her fellow Nightlords. ¡°Why fight at all then? You should have fallen to your knees and sought our divine guidance the moment you sensed evil seeping into your heart.¡±
I avoided her gaze in fake penance. Saying I fought on to protect Astrid would fall on deaf ears. Admitting that I put a child¡¯s life over obedience would be tantamount to admitting my treachery. I quickly found an alternative motive.
¡°Lady Iztacoatl promised me a reward if I won,¡± I argued.
¡°Have I not warned you once already?¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s tone turned sharper than any blade. ¡°Your loyalty is expected. We reward at our whims, not in return for service.¡±
Damned if I do, damned if I don¡¯t. ¡°I assumed this was a test of faith which I had to complete.¡±
¡°No doubt your victory swelled your heart with pride,¡± the Jaguar Woman said, her voice growing heavier with menace. ¡°The nail that stands out gets hammered down, child. You would do well to remember it.¡±
¡°He is right though,¡± Iztacoatl added with malice. ¡°I did promise our emperor a reward. I shall give it to him after he explains why he lied about his other abilities.¡±
I suppressed a wince of dread. I could almost hear the executioner¡¯s axe in the background as the Nightlords focused their attention on me.
¡°He can also speak to animals,¡± Iztacoatl added. ¡°He commands Father¡¯s bats as easily as he does that feathered tyrant of his. I heard he even seeks the beast¡¯s advice.¡±
Here it was. I had spent weeks rehearsing a role when it came to Itzili, sowing the seeds of doubt in preparation for a day like this one. I¡¯d followed my predecessors¡¯ advice, baffling Iztacoatl with confusing moves until the climactic finale.
I hoped I could sell the lie.
¡°With all due respect, oh goddess,¡± I said, clearing my throat. ¡°Should a son not listen to his father¡¯s wisdom?¡±
A tense silence fell upon the room. Even Eztli gave me a sideway glance of pure confusion.
¡°Your father?¡± Iztacoatl repeated in disbelief.
¡°My father¡¯s spirit wandered in the void for years, robbed of his corporeal flesh,¡± I declared with a feverish kind of resolve. I thank my fear and stress for helping me keep my voice unwavering. ¡°Fate has returned his will to me in a new vessel of scales and fangs. That is why I named him Itzili. Father shares his advice through the child tyrant¡¯s voice.¡±
Huehuecoyotl taught me once that a good Veil worked because people wanted to believe in it, but he also gave another important lesson: that destabilizing people helped them doubt their own sense of reality. The Nightlords saw me either as a rebel in waiting or a cowed human plaything. I now presented a new mask to them.
The mad puppet.
My words managed to throw Iztacoatl off her game too, because no one sane would say something so ridiculous in such a tense moment. A smart traitor would have come up with a more believable lie or denial. I knew these words of mine would damage my credibility with the Nightlords in the long term and limit what concessions I could earn from them, but it sowed the seeds of doubt in their dead hearts.
What if I hadn¡¯t been rebellious, but simply unstable?
After all they put their Godspeaker through, it would make sense for him to fall apart at the seams. The idea worked in my favor. Where the intelligent underling inspired suspicion, the mad only earned pity; pity and disdain.
¡°I think you broke this one, Iztacoatl,¡± Sugey said with amusement. ¡°Like so many before him.¡±
¡°Enough,¡± the Jaguar Woman said, at her wits end. ¡°Father¡¯s influence has clearly tainted our Godspeaker¡¯s mind and body. We will need to take measures to limit this.¡±
Iztacoatl clenched her teeth, her gaze wavering. Part of her knew I was likely lying through my teeth, but another suddenly questioned everything she learned about me. Ever the coward, she would rather retreat for now than wage a battle under unknown conditions.
¡°Do I not at least deserve praise for finding us a replacement consort, sisters?¡± she said, changing the subject.
¡°Her capture is the only good thing to come out of this fiasco,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied. ¡°If the ritual accepts her."
¡°Did you get anything out of the Skinwalker?¡± Sugey asked Iztacoatl. ¡°Has she revealed who sent her?¡±
My heart skipped a beat in my chest. I had shown the Skinwalker visions of my own atrocities in our brief mental battle. If she mentioned them to the Nightlords¡
Chikal was right, I let the power go to my head! I clenched my teeth to hide my shivers. I¡¯d been so drunk on bloodshed that I foolishly revealed potentially incriminating evidence to an enemy! I should have killed the Skinwalker when I had the chance rather than toy with her!
Iztacoatl¡¯s scowl reassured me somewhat. ¡°Not yet. Father¡¯s spawn hollowed her from the inside out. She has been babbling incoherently since we caught her.¡±
I couldn¡¯t believe what I heard. I suppressed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods for throwing me a bone. I supposed not even a living abomination could survive the touch of undead ones unscathed.
No, no, this is no time to lower my guard. I had no guarantee that the Skinwalker wouldn¡¯t recover. This stroke of luck only bought me a little time. The longer she stays in the Nightlords¡¯ custody, the greater the risk that she speaks.
I would have to quickly eliminate the Skinwalker; both to plug a potential leak and deny the Nightlords a replacement consort for their foul ritual.
The Jaguar Woman wouldn¡¯t make that easy. ¡°A husk will be of no use to us,¡± she declared. ¡°I must see that your prey can fit her chosen role and tighten my chosen consort''s chains. As for you, our Godspeaker¡¡±
The sharp edge in her tone was enough to make me wince. My fear was in no way faked, which certainly reassured the Jaguar Woman.
¡°Your role is to bring about our Age of Darkness, and nothing more,¡± she stated, almost dismissively. ¡°Your mother¡¯s foolish rebellion will be met with agony, and her stolen godkin shall soon find its way back into our hands. You shall speak no word of what happened tonight to outsiders, our Godspeaker, and will reassure our subjects that the gods shall ensure their safety, as we shall preserve your own. Do you understand?¡±
¡°I do, goddess,¡± I said while keeping my head down. ¡°Your will shall be done.¡±
¡°Submitting to our Father¡¯s will was an act of human weakness unbefitting an emperor,¡± she continued. ¡°I hoped that you would learn to control this strength in service of Yohuachanca, but such a feat is clearly beyond you. We shall free you from this burden soon enough.¡±
My blood ran cold in my veins. Whatever means the Nightlords intended to use to cut my connection to the First Emperor couldn¡¯t spell good things for me.
I cursed my foolishness. I should have kept Iztacoatl guessing for longer and prevented her from taking the initiative. I¡¯d saved my neck for now, but at the cost of greater supervision and reduced freedom.
Satisfied with my servility, the Jaguar Woman then ordered Nenetl to be brought to her for examination. I was apprehensive of her return, since she suffered from terrible wounds the last time we met.
Thankfully, whatever blood magic Iztacoatl used to return my vitality worked on her too. The sight of Nenetl entering the temple¡¯s heart without a single wound on her pristine skin soothed my soul.
The fact she avoided my gaze, much less so.
¡°Show me your tattoo, child,¡± the Jaguar Woman ordered coldly. Nenetl winced in fear, her eyes staring at the ground rather than facing her tormentor. She slowly removed her robes to unveil her back.
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The Jaguar Woman looked at Nenetl¡¯s skin. Her gruesomely detailed tattoo had decayed into a shapeless mass of ink. It was a special precaution in my predecessors¡¯ suggested alteration of the spell; an insurance to ensure the Jaguar Woman wouldn¡¯t track the changes back to me after I triggered Nenetl¡¯s transformation. This had always been a one-time asset.
I considered it wisely spent, though I would have preferred keeping it in reserve.
¡°This is useless,¡± the Jaguar Woman stated. From her annoyance, I gathered that she couldn¡¯t draw any information out of the fading tattoo. ¡°It would do us no good if I reapplied the spell as it was. I must ponder what flaw the witch used to turn it against our Godspeaker.¡±
I didn¡¯t miss the obvious relief on Nenetl¡¯s face. Receiving that tattoo had been a horrendous ordeal the first time, and she wasn¡¯t looking forward to a second branding.
¡°You will stay in the area for now, our Godspeaker, until we ensure that our foes will not strike at you once more and that no¡¡± The Jaguar Woman gave me an ominous look, ¡°Outside influence rubs off on you.¡±
An euphemism to say she wanted to ensure her Father wasn¡¯t turning me against them. I would have to be very careful to present a front of utmost loyalty from now on.
The Jaguar Woman had a bottle of my burning blood collected for study, then sent us on our way to rest. I left Iztacoatl¡¯s chambers with Eztli, Nenetl, and a set of guards escorting me to our temporary quarters. The White Snake glared at me long after the doors closed behind us.
She would not forget this humiliation anytime soon.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Eztli whispered in my ear the moment we left.
¡°For losing Astrid?¡± I asked evasively. We couldn¡¯t afford to speak openly in a Nightlord¡¯s temple.
¡°For Tetzon¡¯s death,¡± Eztli replied. Her guilt sounded halfway genuine. ¡°Your margay came to visit me before a Nightkin killed it. I should have been more careful.¡±
Tetzon¡¯s death was a shame, but I was more concerned about something else. ¡°What did Lady Ocelocihuatl tell you?¡±
Eztli looked away. ¡°I asked her if a Nightkin could become pregnant.¡±
I froze in place, as did Nenetl. She blushed crimson, briefly opened her mouth to say something, then meekly fell into silence.
¡°I understand that our wombs wither in undeath, but I hoped the Jaguar Woman would have a spell to work around that problem,¡± Eztli said with a scowl. I suspected the Nightlord told her where to shove it. ¡°She noticed the burn marks your seed left on my thighs while inspecting me.¡±
So Eztli wove a lie on the spot to quell the Jaguar Woman¡¯s suspicions¡ if I believed her story. The mere fact that I doubted her account worried me. I used to take her at her word not so long ago. Going behind my back wasn¡¯t like her at all, and that talk of pregnancy even less so.
Necahual was right. Something had gone wrong with Eztli.
¡°You want a child so much?¡± I asked under my breath.
¡°Yes, I do.¡± Eztli¡¯s arms closed around my neck, and her lips planted a light kiss on my cheek. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Iztac. I always get what I want. We¡¯ll find another way.¡±
Like sabotaging your mother¡¯s contraceptives and using her as a surrogate? I hesitated to confront Eztli over it and decided not to. She was slowly growing more unstable, and I couldn¡¯t risk alienating her. I¡¯ll have to keep an eye on her from now on.
How much was her current behavior the result of her increasing boldness or the ritual¡¯s influence? I had no doubt that Eztli continued to support me wholeheartedly. She kept my truly damaging secrets and didn¡¯t hesitate to flee with Astrid to safety when I ordered her to. I could trust her to protect her mother too.
How long would that last though? Would the ritual¡¯s occult sway increase once the Nightlords turned the Skinwalker into a replacement consort? Eztli would play the role of Yoloxochitl full-time afterward. I couldn¡¯t fathom the potential consequences yet.
For now, I simply answered Eztli¡¯s attention with a kiss of my own. ¡°We will,¡± I replied before glancing at another. ¡°Nenetl.¡±
She dared to face me this time. So many emotions clouded her gaze. Doubt, relief, unease¡ I couldn¡¯t exactly blame her. That harrowing night shook her to her core. She felt lost and vulnerable.
¡°I¡¯m happy to see you safe and well,¡± I said. ¡°I would like to speak with you alone later, if you won¡¯t mind.¡±
¡°I¡ thank you¡¡± Nenetl gulped and lowered her head. ¡°I¡ yes. If you want, Iztac.¡±
¡°She is like clay, soft and weak and easy to twist,¡± the wind once warned me. ¡°She will become either your puppet or someone else¡¯s, bound by love¡¯s cruel strings.¡±
Today was a decisive moment. I could feel it in my bones. If I didn¡¯t handle her well soon, I would lose her forever.
So many moving parts outside my control. The discovery of my blood¡¯s failure to affect the Nightlords rattled me to my core too. My sun does not shine brightly enough yet.
I needed to complete Xibalba¡¯s trials as soon as possible.
True power awaited me further below.
¡ª----
It was well past noon by the time we reached our temporary quarters inside the temple. To my slight surprise, Tayatzin greeted us at the threshold. He was among the priests who survived the hunt for Astrid.
I assumed he stayed safely at the back considering his clear distaste for the event; a precaution which ended up saving his soul and earned him a sliver of my respect.
¡°Lady Iztacoatl originally wished to organize celebrations for Your Majesty¡¯s success during the hunting ritual,¡± Tayatzin told me while coughing in embarrassment. ¡°Considering the temporary¡ the very temporary disappearance of Lady Astrid, I would suggest delaying them.¡±
¡°It has been an exhausting night for everyone involved,¡± I replied. Though I am too pleased to feel tired. ¡°Let us use this day to rest and meditate on what we learned together.¡±
I had so many subjects to address with my consorts. I had to debrief with Chikal, reassure a likely mortified Ingrid that her sister was safe, manage Eztli¡¯s shift in personality, and last but not least, convince Nenetl that I held no ill will when I altered her tattoo.
I also needed to sleep, both for my personal health and to confront Mother on Astrid¡¯s whereabouts. I still had no idea why or where she took Ingrid¡¯s sister. Mother could have rescued her to pay me back for warning her of the threat on her life, or merely to pay back Iztacoatl for the capture attempt; and while I doubted she would harm Astrid, I could see her abandoning her new charge in the middle of nowhere. That wouldn¡¯t do.
I would need Astrid alive and well to destroy Iztacoatl.
I dismissed Tayatzin and then entered my new quarters. While they paled before those of Iztacoatl¡¯s in terms of luxury, my personal entourage was still afforded a boudoir fit for royalty. I entered to find Chikal and Ingrid resting in a vast, central dining room lit by blazing torches and adorned with reptilian mosaics. A vast obsidian window facing the central table gave us a perfect scenic view of the forest and hills outside.
My consorts sat on feathered sofas in the company of my other concubines. Chikal looked freshly straight out of a bath, though Necahual and Lahun checked her arms for wounds nonetheless. As for Ingrid, her green eyes had reddened with tears. She immediately rose up the moment we entered.
¡°My lord!¡± Ingrid rushed at me, forgetting all decorum out of sisterly concern. ¡°Where is Astrid?¡±
Of course the priests wouldn¡¯t inform her. Iztacoatl tried to keep that secret from spreading out. Of course, the Jaguar Woman only forbade me to tell the truth to outsiders¡
¡°I apologize, Ingrid,¡± I said, her face withering. She probably expected to hear tales of her death. ¡°A treacherous thief absconded with your sister.¡±
Shock and gasps spread across the room following my proclamation. Even the usually unflappable Chikal blinked in astonishment.
¡°Astrid¡¡± Ingrid stammered, her eyes wide with disbelief. ¡°Someone took Astrid?¡±
¡°My mother,¡± I replied. Necahual¡¯s head instantly snapped in my direction. ¡°A Nahualli witch of small renown. No doubt she plotted to steal your sister from the beginning.¡±
¡°I am so sorry,¡± Eztli said. She managed to sound sincerely contrite. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything to stop her.¡±
¡°This is terrible¡¡± Tenoch whispered, while Atziri covered her mouth in horror. Lahun alone retained her composure among my concubines. From the curious looks she sent me, she either guessed that I was lying through my teeth or wondered about my mother¡¯s Nahualli powers. ¡°My gods¡¡±
Ingrid was sharp. When she quickly picked up on my suppressed smile, her green eyes widened as the truth finally dawned upon her: that her sister had escaped the Nightlords¡¯ clutches with the help of another. The bloody marks left by Iztacoatl on my cheeks let her piece out the rest.
¡°We have no idea where she is.¡± I stared into Ingrid¡¯s eyes, unblinking and resolute. ¡°I swear that we will do everything in our power to ensure she returns home safe and sound.¡±
The utter absence of sincerity in my voice clarified my true intent to Ingrid well enough. Though she wouldn¡¯t see Astrid for a while¡ªif ever, should the worst come to pass¡ªno one would rape or murder her sister. She had escaped the palace¡¯s golden cage and the awful fate that befell her mother Sigrun before her.
¡°Will you promise me, my lord?¡± Ingrid asked me, her eyes pleading.
¡°I swear.¡± The gods be merciful, the Nightlords would never get her back. ¡°Nothing will happen to your sister.¡±
Ingrid pressed her lips against mine in a ferocious embrace. My arms closed on her waist and pulled her closer. To outsiders, it would seem that she entrusted me with her sister¡¯s safe return; in truth, she thanked me with her body for fulfilling my promise better than either of us expected.
I¡¯d saved her sister from the cruelest of fates, and in doing so, earned her eternal loyalty.
I had shown Ingrid my honor, power, and wits, while Iztacoatl had nothing to threaten her with anymore. When she broke the kiss, I could see the deep trust and resolve radiating from her green eyes. I¡¯d won her over, now and forever.
Ingrid let go of me, then bowed to her fellow consorts. ¡°Eztli, Nenetl, Chikal¡¡± She struggled to hold back tears. ¡°I wish to thank you all for your bravery. My mother did not raise an ingrate. You have proven yourself to be true friends in my time of need, and I shall endeavor to return the favor you¡¯ve shown me.¡±
¡°Ingrid, Ingrid¡¡± Eztli playfully wagged her finger. ¡°Friends do not count favors.¡±
¡°I¡¯m¡¡± Nenetl blushed slightly. ¡°I didn¡¯t do much, Ingrid.¡±
¡°I beg to differ, Nenetl,¡± Chikal said calmly. ¡°You fought where many would have fled. Your courage honors you.¡±
¡°Quite so, Nenetl,¡± Ingrid replied before taking Nenetl¡¯s hands into her own. ¡°As far as I am concerned, you are now a sister to me.¡±
Nenetl blushed at Ingrid¡¯s boldness, her face briefly beaming with a mix of gratitude and embarrassment. After growing up an orphan, her fellow consort¡¯s words likely filled her with joy.
¡°It has been an exhausting night for us all,¡± I declared. ¡°I suggest we all take a well-deserved rest.¡±
Necahual met my gaze. ¡°Will Your Majesty sleep alone?¡±
I guessed that she wished to discuss Mother or Eztli in private with me, but both would have to wait. I needed to visit the Underworld first.
¡°I haven¡¯t decided yet,¡± I replied before turning to face Nenetl. ¡°I ask that you join me for a talk first, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±
Nenetl assented to my request, albeit with little enthusiasm. ¡°As¡ as you wish, Iztac.¡±
Ingrid straightened up, her face radiating with newfound determination. ¡°When you next walk into battle, I shall be first among your choices. I shall train with Chikal until my blood boils. With the gods of Winland as my witnesses, I shall prove worthy of fighting by your side.¡±
I studied her for a moment before answering her resolve with a sharp nod. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it, Ingrid.¡±
This hunt had united and strengthened my consorts like never before.
Afterward, I retreated into my bedchambers with Nenetl. The opulent room was hardly a fraction of the size of mine back at the palace, but it was quite large nonetheless. The bed was draped in purple silk sheets and surrounded by a collection of sweet flowers. The room lacked any serpentine decorations, for which I was thankful.
I sat on the mattress and invited Nenetl to the same. She did so after a moment¡¯s hesitation, though she kept her distance. She didn¡¯t face me either. Her hands twitched with apprehension.
I¡¯d let a great rift rise between us. It wounded me more than I thought it would.
¡°Nenetl,¡± I said. ¡°Nenetl, please look at me.¡±
Her silence broke my heart.
I was so used to her kindness and warmth, to receiving her support in my greatest doubts, that her coldness hurt more than Iztacoatl¡¯s venom. Nenetl had been my closest confidant second only to Necahual.
And now she wouldn¡¯t even speak to me.
¡°Do you¡¡± I gulped, fearing the answer to my question. ¡°Do you hate me?¡±
¡°N-no!¡± Her head snapped in my direction, her expression full of concern. ¡°No, of course not!¡±
Her response took me aback and left me speechless. Nenetl bit her lower lip, her hands tightening.
¡°I just¡¡± Nenetl stared down at the floor. ¡°I don¡¯t understand you anymore, Iztac. You¡¯ve been so kind to me, and¡ and so brave. You, you didn¡¯t hesitate to fight vampires for Astrid¡¯s sake. For Ingrid.¡±
I waited for her to find her words. She was laying her heart bare to me.
¡°But¡ I heard you laughing when you killed those men. Laughing. And the things you¡¯ve done¡¡± Her hands scratched her shoulders all the way to the point where her tattoo began. ¡°They were¡ they were awful.¡±
She knew. She knew I triggered her transformation and unleashed her on the Skinwalker when it threatened Itzili. I¡¯d held power over her without her awareness, usurping the violation the Jaguar Woman inflicted on her for my own gain.
Of course she would doubt me afterwards.
¡°I wished I didn¡¯t have to do them.¡± While I confessed to feeling a certain sense of enjoyment whenever I slew a red-eyed priest or put a Nightkin to rest, I would rather live in a world where neither of them existed. I¡¯d hoped to never use her tattoo either. ¡°I did what I had to do to protect my own. You¡¯ve seen what we were up against.¡±
Nenetl¡¯s scowl turned grimmer. She was there when Iztacoatl stripped Astrid naked and threatened to have her raped, then killed. She bore witness to the Nightkin¡¯s savagery, the priests¡¯ ruthlessness, and the Skinwalker¡¯s cruelty. She¡¯d already been exposed to our world¡¯s awfulness when Ingrid lost her mother, but she never bore the brunt of the Nightlords¡¯ cruelty until our hunt.
¡°Is¡¡± Nenetl touched my bloody cheeks. The warmth of her fingers on them soothed the aches and the pain. ¡°Is it¡ always like this?"
I let out a sigh. ¡°Yes.¡±
Nenetl nodded slowly. She was bright. She must have expected that answer.
¡°When you¡ when you fed me your blood, your hands were so warm and gentle.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve seen you wear two faces, Iztac, and I¡ I don¡¯t know which one is the mask.¡±
¡°They¡¯re both sides of me,¡± I replied truthfully. ¡°Like the new moon and the full one. I have committed good deeds and terrible crimes. I¡¯ve saved lives and taken others. I¡¯m not ashamed of either.¡±
I¡¯d walked past that line long ago.
¡°Nenetl¨C¡±
¡°How do you feel about me?¡± she cut in, her eyes meeting mine. She would not allow me to lie this time. ¡°How do you truly feel?¡±
¡°I would go the same lengths if you had been in Astrid¡¯s place.¡± Probably even further. ¡°I would have cut off my own arm if it would have kept you safe."
¡°You would¡¡± Nenetl paled. ¡°Kill?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I replied without hesitation. ¡°I¡¯ve told you before that I would do whatever it takes to protect you. I would kill, burn, and lie.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t want you to, Iztac,¡± she protested, her voice heavy with sorrow. ¡°I don¡¯t want anybody else to die.¡±
¡°I cannot promise you that, Nenetl.¡± The Nightlords wouldn¡¯t let me. ¡°Not all lives are equal, and yours is too precious to me.¡±
After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I took Nenetl¡¯s hands into my own. She didn¡¯t resist me. I squeezed her fingers with all of my strength and resolve.
¡°All I want from you, Nenetl, the only thing I want, is your safety and happiness,¡± I told her. ¡°I swear it.¡±
I stared into her blue eyes. I could tell that Nenetl wanted to believe me. She had seen me at my worst and best, and she wished to focus on the latter rather than the former. She simply struggled to accept that while I¡¯d committed heinous deeds and lied, I only ever had her interests at heart.
Words wouldn¡¯t convince her of my resolve. So I didn¡¯t use any.
I leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips.
She let out a small, adorable startled noise when I touched her. The sweet taste of her skin against mine helped wash away the souvenir of Iztacoatl¡¯s loathsome company.
The kiss was short and sweet, though I eventually pulled back. Nenetl¡¯s pale cheeks turned as red as my own. Her eyes, so blue and full of goodwill, fascinated me more though. Her fear and apprehension soon turned into deep warmth and profound gentleness. I saw the confusion vanish as Nenetl reached a decision.
She kissed me back.
Her touch was clumsy and hesitant at first, but swiftly grew more confident as she suckled. My hand swiftly threaded to her soft white hair while the other grabbed her back. I pulled her closer until her gown brushed against my chest. She seemed so frail and precious in my arms; nothing like the ferocious wolf she could turn into. I felt I could break her with any wrong move, only for her strength to take me aback.
She was the one to break the kiss this time, though mostly to gather her breath. Letting her go was an agonizing experience, but I let her gather her thoughts.
¡°Iztac, I¡¡± Nenetl smiled sheepishly. ¡°I think¡¡±
She gathered her breath, exhaled, and then mustered her courage.
¡°I think that I love you,¡± she confessed shyly.
I¡¯d faced gods and demons, survived fiendish trials and tortures, and waged so many battles. How could these simple words leave me speechless?
I thought that telling Nenetl the truth about my true self would drive her away; that she would never accept the sins I shouldered or the crimes I¡¯d committed. I¡¯d been deceived. Nenetl loved me in spite of everything else.
The same way Father loved Mother.
And when I pondered her words, I realized that I felt the same. I¡¯d risked so much to save Nenetl and earn her trust. No one besides Eztli and Necahual warranted the same amount of effort I put into our relationship. She was a rare exception among my consorts and concubines: a woman whose affection I yearned not for personal gain, but for the sake of love alone.
My heart overflowed with warmth. ¡°I love you too, Nenetl.¡±
Nenetl¡¯s bright, blissful smile melted all my doubts like snow in the sunlight.
¡ª- NSFW Scene starts here ¡ª
Her hands grabbed her gown and slowly pulled it over her head. Her pale skin was so smooth and hairless. My eyes lingered on her breasts, only for my excitement to die when I saw the beginning of her tattoo tainting her shoulders.
I thought I was beyond feeling guilt anymore, but I was wrong. The sight of that twisted ink filled me with intense remorse. Nenetl immediately realized it, gently grabbed my hand, and put it on her skin.
¡°I forgive you,¡± she whispered in my ear.
The words sank into my mind and lifted a weight off my shoulders. I began to caress her curves, first with some hesitation; and when she encouraged me to continue, more boldly. My hands moved up to her breasts. They were smaller than Necahual¡¯s, but so soft and pliable.
I began to massage them and drew a startled cry out of Nenetl. Unlike the other women I¡¯d coupled with, she never had experience or training. She was a virgin, pure and unblemished.
The desire that I bottled up for so long rose to the surface. I¡¯d denied Nenetl¡¯s advances once because our relationship was based on lies and deceit, but no dam of guilt and lies rose to stop the flood this time. She¡¯d seen the true me and accepted me, so I would give her all of myself in return.
Since it was Nenetl¡¯s first time, I resolved to take it slow. I gently caressed and kneaded her breasts, letting her moans of pleasure guide me to her sweet spots. I kissed her down her neckline while my fingers fondled her.
Nenetl¡¯s body squirmed, and her hands clumsily reached for my own clothes. She had no idea where to start, so it took her a while to roll up my imperial robes. By the time she removed them, I was beginning to work my way down her hips and buttcheeks. Her breath shortened into gasps as I massaged her rear. I protectively enveloped her in my arms and claimed her all for myself.
I did most of the work, but Nenetl soon began to return my touch with boldness. I sensed her ragged breath on my neck as her lips kissed my skin while her hands hesitantly caressed my chest. I lightly lifted her up to enjoy the feeling of her warm breasts rubbing against me. When our lips connected again, Nenetl boldly invaded my mouth with her tongue.
One of my hands worked its way between her legs, startling her. Nenetl was soaked. She had been looking forward to consummating our relationship even more than I did. I caressed her warm folds, each moan of pleasure an encouragement to continue. Her knees buckled against me and her cries grew stronger.
Nenetl was a louder partner than most. It made it easy to guess how to please her.
I briefly wondered how it would feel to bite her neck the way Iztacoatl kissed me earlier, trading her blood for my seed. The thought was fleeting and disappeared in an instant, but my hunger and desire only grew stronger.
I wanted to claim her, all of her.
I pried away from our embrace and gently laid her on her back. Nenetl stared at me in confusion until I crawled over her. I took a moment to admire her from above. Nenetl looked so beautiful when she didn¡¯t keep her head down and her back shyly bent. Her sapphire eyes, her white hair messily spread over the purple sheets, the way her chest softly rose with each inspiration¡ Every detail only strengthened my desire.
I gently spread her legs, keeping one hand on the side of her head and grabbing my throbbing manhood with the other. I looked into Nenetl¡¯s eyes, waiting for her permission.
¡°Is¡¡± Nenetl gathered her breath in anticipation. ¡°Is this going to hurt?¡±
¡°No,¡± I reassured her. ¡°I¡¯ll be gentle.¡±
Nenetl smiled shyly, then gave me a short, small nod. I slowly began to push into her. Nenetl moaned as I entered her, her breasts bouncing softly with her ragged breaths. She was tight; so tight that I had to push a little hard to penetrate her. I soon felt something viscous and awfully familiar dripping down our thighs.
Blood.
The sensation only excited me further. Nenetl groaned and shivered as I stretched her out, her trembling arms squeezing my hips. My hands soon grabbed her soft stomach to help me gain a better grip.
¡°Ah!¡± If the others in the hall didn¡¯t figure out what was happening, Nenetl¡¯s cries and shouts certainly solved that. ¡°Iztac!¡±
Her head rolled back and her eyelids fluttered. Her body pulsed against me, and I soon began to throw caution to the wind. My desire overwhelmed me. I began to pound into her, first slowly, then boldly. Nenetl soon began to meet me, her breasts bouncing as she matched my thrusts with pushes of her own.
Her nails sank into my back, and her behavior changed before I knew it. She held onto me with near-religious fervor and began to kiss me fervently. Her hands grabbed my buttcheeks and pulled them closer. My name stopped coming out of her mouth, replaced with moans of pleasure and animalistic grunts. The bed rocked under our weight.
And as our flesh united, so did our Teyolias.
It took me aback. I wasn¡¯t trying to use Seidr. In fact, I resisted it. Eztli¡¯s warning about practicing it with my consorts might ring true, and doing it in the temple might put us at risk.
But whether because we were each Nahualli with a totem of our own, or because I gave her my blood earlier, our Teyolias connected on their own. Nenetl¡¯s heart-fire was the strongest I¡¯d seen yet, a bright white star shining in the night. Where my Teyolia burned with an accursed flame born of curses and hatred, hers welcomed me with kindness and grace.
Nenetl held nothing back. She didn¡¯t try to dominate me like Chikal, nor did she share Necahual and Lahun¡¯s embers of hesitation. She trusted me and welcomed me unconditionally. Every friction of our bodies, every drop of sweat, every kiss furthered our embrace.
Our spirits joined together because I could not even think of pulling back.
I¡¯d never felt something like this. It was like my very sense of self began to melt with Nenetl¡¯s. I was on her, in her, but I was also below, facing my own self through her eyes. The part where I started and she began became blurry. Our pleasure became reflected, magnified.
Soon my world faded into a vision. Nenetl¡¯s facial features shifted. She kept her sapphire eyes and white hair, but her face sharpened. She gained a few years and a ferocious edge. The room changed too, from a lavish bedroom to a sparse house.
Our house.
I suddenly realized that my arms were darker than before, and recognized the woman¡¯s voice. Where I was used to her speaking to me with coldness, she now whimpered with lust and ragged desire.
Mother.
Few men could boast of witnessing their own conception through their father¡¯s eyes.
I had no idea why the Seidr ritual sent me this vision out of all possibilities, but it didn¡¯t last long. It collapsed into a white flash as my groin erupted like Smoke Mountain.
I returned to reality in the throes of our shared orgasm, my hands gripping Nenetl¡¯s jolting body, her legs wrapped up around my waist while I groaned in pleasure. Every muscle in my body tensed as I came inside her, my seed melding with her blood.
¡ª- NSFW Scene ends here ¡ª
We were out of breath by the time I finished. Nenetl gasped, her body covered in sweat. ¡°Iztac, this¡¡± she exhaled in bliss. ¡°Ah¡ ah¡¡±
Her smile managed to quell all of my fears about the Seidr ritual being discovered. I simply couldn¡¯t muster the strength to worry about anything. I simply basked in the warmth and afterglow.
¡°Is this¡¡± Nenetl chuckled, her hands caressing my naked chest. ¡°Is sex always like this?¡±
¡°Only with me,¡± I replied.
It sounded much better in my head, but I drew a giggle from Nenetl nonetheless. Her laugh rang like crystal and reignited the fire in my blood. Our lips met again, her hunger matching mine.
This night of nightmares ended on such a good note.
Chapter Sixty-Five: Chindi
I found Mother waiting for me at the Xibalba crossroad.
She came in person, though the path to her house remained closed to me. That detail alone was unlike her. She warned me that she would not help me confront my trials, nor did she give me the path to her sanctuary when I first entered.
¡°Welcome back, my son,¡± Mother said upon greeting me. ¡°I pray that you slept well.¡±
Her question sounded innocent enough, but it left me feeling somewhat awkward. Seeing Mother so soon after receiving a Seidr vision of my own conception through my father¡¯s eyes unsettled me.
¡°I did.¡± Nenetl¡¯s bosom lulled me to sleep quicker than the softest pillow. ¡°Where is Astrid?¡±
¡°The girl is with me for now.¡± Typical of Mother not to call another human by name. ¡°Your consort, Eztli I believe, was quite bold and charming for a vampire. I can see why you are so intent on curing her.¡±
Somehow, the thought of my mother and Eztli getting along disturbed me to my core. I had the feeling those two would only bring out the worst of each other as mutual bad influences.
Mother studied me for a moment before asking me a strange question. ¡°Why did you do it?"
Her words puzzled me. ¡°You ask why I would help my own flesh and blood?¡±
¡°No, I ask why did you put yourself at risk warning me? You sacrificed much to the Yaotzin for it and nearly exposed your true nature to the Nightlords.¡± Mother¡¯s head leaned to the side like a quizzical owl. ¡°Considering our differences¡ I do not understand why you did this. Am I truly so useful to you?¡±
I snorted. ¡°You could have been useless to me and I would still have acted the same.¡±
¡°I do not understand,¡± Mother replied.
Tragically, she sounded entirely sincere. Only she could find such a simple concept beyond her. ¡°This is the difference between you and me, Mother: should it come to it, I will not hesitate to put myself in harm¡¯s way to protect my blood.¡±
¡°I¡ see.¡± Mother¡¯s chin lowered slightly. Was that a hint of shame and embarrassment I detected in her voice? ¡°Iztacoatl¡¯s hunters came close to my location. What you did was foolish and irresponsible, but I thank you for it.¡±
¡°I could say the same for what you did last night.¡± I chuckled to myself. ¡°You should have seen Iztacoatl¡¯s face. No one dared to steal away one of her victims before you.¡±
Mother shrugged. ¡°Iztacoatl used her to put pressure on you and your allies. I saw an opportunity to remove her and I took it.¡±
Her cold wording made me fear the worst. ¡°Please tell me you didn¡¯t kill her.¡±
¡°Do you take me for a monster?¡± Mother replied gruffly. ¡°Since you were so desperate to keep the girl alive, I simply spirited her away to safety.¡±
¡°Where?¡±
¡°To the south. I will take her to a place beyond Yohuachanca¡¯s borders, where the Nightlords¡¯ grasp does not reach yet. It should be easy to find a family willing to take such an exotic child in.¡±
¡°Do not,¡± I replied firmly. ¡°Keep her close for now.¡±
¡°Are you giving orders now, my son?¡± Mother rebuffed me. ¡°I cannot keep the child with me. She is too young to take care of herself, and the Nightlords might use spells to locate her.¡±
¡°You can keep her and you will,¡± I replied imperiously. As I told the Yaotzin earlier, I was done asking and begging. ¡°If you want to get rid of the White Snake who tried to ensnare you once for good, that is.¡±
My tone and bold declaration caused Mother to glare at me. ¡°What do you have in mind, my son?¡±
¡°I have a plan to destroy her.¡± I opened my palm and fashioned a skull out of my bones. ¡°First though, I must confer with my other advisors.¡±
I called upon the Legion and summoned my predecessors¡¯ spirits.
¡°Greetings, our successor, Lady Ichtaca,¡± the Parliament of Skulls said as their medium¡¯s eyes began to glow. ¡°Many things have happened since we last spoke, for good or ill.¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± I replied, though I remained optimistic. ¡°For each hardship that we encountered last night, I say we received a blessing in disguise. I thought we should share our information before moving forward.¡±
I recounted to Mother and the Parliament everything that happened that night; since the latter could see through my eyes, I assumed they caught on to details that might have escaped me. Mother scowled when she heard how I healed Nenetl¡¯s wounds.
¡°You closed her wounds with your blood?¡± she asked me, dumbfounded.
¡°You said that Seidr could achieve that feat yourself,¡± I reminded her. Her own words inspired me.
¡°During an embrace, yes. I¡¯ve never heard of a transfer of life using blood as a medium outside of vampires.¡±
¡°If you trusted Father enough to practice Seidr with him, maybe you would have learned this technique,¡± I retorted.
Mother bristled. My remark struck a nerve. ¡°I admit I may have underestimated this magic,¡± she confessed. ¡°With enough practice, you could learn to mimic the Nightkin¡¯s ability to drain the life of others. The Nightlords gained immense strength from consuming the Teyolias of countless victims across the centuries. You could do the same.¡±
¡°I have no desire to consume souls,¡± I replied. Killing was one thing, denying a soul its eternal rest was another. ¡°Besides, slaying many victims would inevitably draw suspicion.¡±
¡°Then take a portion of their lifeforce,¡± Mother suggested. She seemed disturbingly curious about my discovery and its potential applications. ¡°A sip that would strengthen you without raising suspicions. If you switch partners regularly enough, no one will notice.¡±
¡°That, I could do,¡± I conceded. Truthfully, I¡¯d already thought of it myself.
¡°Lady Sigrun maintained her vitality by draining us,¡± my predecessors said. ¡°As much as we dislike her method, we suggest you follow in her footsteps. Repeated practice will not only reinforce your Teyolia in preparation for future battles, but teach you how to manipulate those of others in increasingly precise ways. You may eventually learn how to snuff out a life with a mere touch.¡±
I wouldn¡¯t mind sharing my blood with a red-eyed priest if it meant draining them of their ill-gotten vitality. ¡°What of Nenetl, my predecessors?¡± I asked, slightly uneasy. ¡°I accidentally triggered a Seidr ritual in her company. You said you weren¡¯t sure if the Nightlords would notice one between a consort and myself.¡±
¡°We were able to shroud your union from their sight,¡± my predecessors confirmed, much to my immense relief. ¡°Between this and your blood¡¯s inability to harm the Nightlords, we suspect that your Teyolia does not shine brightly enough for them to notice it yet.¡±
A saddening truth. Still, if my predecessors could shroud Seidr rituals with my consorts from the Nightlords, then it meant I could practice it with them without fear. Ingrid was trained by her mother in its arts, and Nenetl¡¯s mighty heart-fire might yield better results than with another partner.
¡°Your victory in your hunt fills us with pride and joy,¡± the past emperors said. ¡°The Nightlords¡¯ unexpected resistance to your blood and the scarlet Tlahuiztli¡¯s influence on you, much less so.¡±
¡°I remained in control of myself through the night,¡± I argued, though my own words sounded empty to me. I had let my own bloodlust cloud my judgment. ¡°Blaming the First Emperor drew the Nightlords¡¯ suspicions away from myself.¡±
¡°You play a dangerous game nonetheless,¡± the Parliament replied sternly. ¡°The Nightlords fear their vengeful sire more than anything. The threat he represents will distract them, true, but the more you pretend to fall under his influence, the more they will tighten your chains. If they believe he controls you, they will torment you; if the threat lessens, they will suspect you.¡±
¡°Adopting a deity¡¯s trappings is never without consequences either, my son,¡± Mother warned. ¡°The Nightlords¡¯ ritual carries immense spiritual weight. The more people believe that the First Emperor speaks through you, the stronger his hold on you will grow.¡±
I crossed my arms. ¡°I must settle on a balancing act then. Make the Nightlords believe the threat of their father looms over my shoulders while I remain manageable. They¡¯ll never fully trust me now that I¡¯ve tasted their sire¡¯s power the same way they leeched it off for centuries, but I can give them cause to believe that they can still control me.¡±
¡°You must continue to play the fool now and then,¡± my predecessors suggested. ¡°Your feint with Itzili will seem more genuine when seasoned with frivolity. A plotter backed by a god is threatening, while a jester with power is entertaining. Be like water; fickle, formless, and ever-changing. We fear that the White Snake will never stop suspecting you, but her sisters may come to underestimate you.¡±
I nodded as I considered how to put this strategy into action. I would carefully blame any sign of supernatural influence on the First Emperor or on fits of madness, then hide my better moves amidst decadence and abuses of power. Fear the god, pity the messenger.
Even so, I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to sustain this charade forever. I would eventually slip up, or the Nightlords would descend into panic and paranoia once I slew another of their own. They only gave me some leeway because they needed to reassure their empire that everything went according to plan and because Eztli could fill in for Yoloxochitl. The loss of another sister would likely cause things to descend into chaos.
I would have to be ready to fight by then.
¡°The Skinwalker¡¯s survival does not play into our hands either,¡± the Parliament said. ¡°We sense ripples through our shared curse. The Nightlords have already begun to transfer Eztli¡¯s chains to her soul.¡±
I clenched my fists. Once the Nightlords bound a soul to their curse, they could bring them back from death at will. ¡°Then it is too late to kill her?¡±
¡°We are afraid so,¡± my predecessors replied with a frustrated rattle. ¡°The door to their Father¡¯s prison nonetheless remains cracked, and it would take your sacrifice during the Scarlet Moon to fix it. All they have done is exchange one key for another.¡±
¡°It would have been wiser to let those Nightchildren consume that Skinwalker¡¯s soul,¡± Mother said, her head leaning slightly to the side. ¡°Although¡¡±
I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Although?"
¡°A Skinwalker¡¯s true name is one of their key weaknesses,¡± Mother replied. ¡°They bury their broken totem under layers of skin to maintain their power and hide their identity. Their very soul is a house raised on rotting foundations; those who disturb them cause the building to collapse. Speak it aloud, and their powers are temporarily crippled.¡±
Oh? Fascinating. Even Lahun didn¡¯t know that particular bit of information. Skinwalkers probably hid it with ferocity.
¡°You imply I could blackmail that beast into obedience should I learn her true name?¡± I asked with sudden interest. I had no love for the Skinwalker after she nearly killed Itzili and Nenetl, but her powers could make her a formidable weapon. ¡°If I contacted the Yaotzin¨C¡±
Mother shook her head. ¡°The wise Skinwalker purchases the Yaotzin¡¯s silence with countless atrocities. I had hoped that you might have already won that information during your mental duel.¡±
My jaw tightened. ¡°I did not. We simply fought.¡±
Mother sighed in disappointment. ¡°A shame. Learning her true name would have guaranteed her silence.¡±
My eyes wandered to my predecessors¡¯ skull medium as I tried to figure out an alternative solution. If the Nightlords indeed bound the Skinwalker¡¯s soul to their ritual, then it created a link between us. One similar to the Legion spell¡
An idea struck me like a lightning bolt.
¡°The Ride spell,¡± I muttered out loud.
¡°Have you not paid attention to my lessons, my son?¡± Mother chided me. ¡°You need a name for the Ride spell to work.¡±
¡°We have better than a name,¡± I retorted. ¡°We have a divine curse binding an emperor to his consorts.¡±
¡°Even so, possession does not grant knowledge.¡±
¡°I do not want to possess the Skinwalker¡¯s body,¡± I corrected Mother. ¡°I want to invade her mind, to dominate her spirit the way she intended to crush mine, until I rip her true name from her memories.¡±
My predecessors quickly guessed my intent. ¡°The Legion spell already showed us that we could share our memories through the curse.¡±
¡°Exactly,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Combining the Legion and the Ride should allow for a meeting of the souls, am I correct?¡±
The Parliament of Skulls pondered my theory before voicing their support. ¡°Though the bond that unites an emperor to his consort is weaker than the one binding him to his predecessors, you crushed the Skinwalker¡¯s will earlier. This ought to have left a bleeding wound; a weakness for us to latch onto.¡±
¡°Joining minds with a Skinwalker, even a weakened one, is a dangerous proposition,¡± Mother warned me. ¡°Their souls fester in madness and corruption. It might stain you.¡±
¡°We have little choice but to try,¡± I replied. ¡°If I cannot obtain her true name, then I must excise dangerous memories before the Nightlords may extract them through torture.¡±
¡°Shattering her mind beyond repair would make for an acceptable outcome too,¡± the Parliament concluded. ¡°Should the worst come to pass, we will force her spirit to mesh with our collective. It should destroy her.¡±
I nodded in assent. I would rather add a tool to my arsenal, but should the Skinwalker prove rabid, then we better put her down before she could bite us.
¡°The girl¡¯s case remains,¡± Mother said. By now, she had gained insight into my plans. ¡°You intend to make use of her to put pressure on this Fjor, do you not?¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± I confirmed. ¡°He is a spawn of Iztacoatl herself and thus should have access to her. Moreover, he cared about Astrid enough to risk disobeying his sire to protect her. Threatening his sister¡¯s life should ensure his cooperation.¡±
¡°You wish to use him as an assassin?¡± Mother inquired.
¡°Not as an assassin.¡± May Ingrid forgive me. ¡°As a weapon.¡±
A heavy silence fell upon the crossroads. The eye sockets of the skull within my hand flickered with baleful flames. Fjor¡¯s father was among the dead emperors making up the Parliament, and another sired Astrid. I was loath to propose this plan to them.
Unfortunately, this was our best chance to strike at Iztacoatl. We couldn¡¯t exclude the option.
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¡°Fjor has consumed a skull marked with the Legion spell, thus creating a sympathetic link between us,¡± I explained. ¡°This is a bond that Astrid¡¯s presence could reinforce. I believe we can exploit it to destroy Iztacoatl.¡±
¡°I think I see what you have in mind, my son,¡± Mother said. She sounded cautiously impressed by my initiative. ¡°However, you lack the power to fuel such a ritual. You would need to claim Tlaloc¡¯s embers first at the minimum, perhaps even Quetzalcoatl¡¯s own.¡±
¡°I intend to complete the former task soon enough.¡± My blood¡¯s failure to harm the Nightlords only strengthened my resolve to complete Xibalba¡¯s trials. ¡°Do you think it would work?¡±
¡°It should, in theory,¡± Mother replied with some ambivalence. ¡°It would require serious preparations, and failure would waste it all.¡±
I assumed as much. I then turned to the skull in my hand. ¡°Do you agree with this plan, my predecessors?¡±
The Parliament did not hesitate. ¡°We would rather see our sons dead than undead.¡±
I pondered their answer, then nodded slowly. They had long made peace with destroying the Nightkin their progeny turned into should victory require it. I would honor their resolve the best I could.
I hoped I could spare Fjor¡¯s life, both for his sisters¡¯ sake and to honor his late parents¡¯ memory, but if our plan demanded his destruction¡ then I wouldn¡¯t hesitate.
Once these matters were settled, I sat in the middle of the crossroads with my predecessors¡¯ skull sitting between my hands. Mother carved words in the stone floor around me; a set of ancient prayers that should improve my odds of contacting the Skinwalker¡¯s spirit. It was the best she could do in the absence of a name.
¡°I will ask you one last time, my son,¡± Mother said with a hint of concern. ¡°Are you truly certain that you wish to proceed? You expose yourself to great risks by casting this spell.¡±
I snorted. ¡°I stand on the razor¡¯s edge each day I spend plotting against the Nightlords. I will take my chances.¡±
Mother took my answer in silence. With nothing more to say, I closed my eyes and focused. I sensed the Ride and Legion spells activate together, the techniques blending into a clumsy whole. My mind ascended to the world above as a malicious spirit hungry for a vessel of flesh, while my predecessors followed like a cohort of vengeful ghosts.
Using the Ride spell in conjunction with a name provided a trail to the target. In its absence, I followed the curse that bound my soul and those of my consorts to the Nightlords. I climbed up my leash all the way to a web of chains. I saw doorways of light leading to hearts that I already had touched: Nenetl, Ingrid, Chikal¡
I quickly realized why I could heal Nenetl with blood alone. Seidr helped me understand the shape of souls, my own included. I could tell them apart and reshape them.
It helped me gain a greater understanding of the curse that bound our destinies. The Parliament of Skulls warned me that the chains binding us to the Nightlords were tighter than those that kept me connected to my consorts. They were right. The procession of emperors that stretched all the way back to the First allowed no error; each of us actors took on the tragic role without failure or interruption. The path to my successor was already mapped out. The Nightlords already knew who would replace me should I fail to avoid my fate.
But for all their importance, consorts were secondary roles in a centuries-long play. When all eyes were on the lead, it was easier to replace the lesser actors when one left the stage. Nenetl, Ingrid, Chikal, and Eztli only derived power from their link to me. Their leashes were looser.
I followed the one that once bound me to Eztli. It was weaker than the others, more fragile. At its end was the foulest Teyolia I¡¯d ever seen; a pale, weakened flame unfit to be a torch, let alone a sun. It stank of rot and silt.
I usually used the Ride spell to suppress my target¡¯s mind in order to take control of their body. I acted far more cruelly this time: I joined my Tonalli and Teyolias to her own the same way Seidr let me become united with my partners. I attempted to subsume her very soul.
I immediately sensed resistance. Animals and normal humans crumbled in an instant when faced with my mighty Tlacatecolotl spirit, but though weakened the Skinwalker remained a powerful witch. She identified me for who I was, and her panic let her draw into reserves of strength.
She might have succeeded without the souls of my predecessors carrying me forward. When the Skinwalker tried to push back and escape into the darkness, their ghostly mass clung to her like mud. They tightened the chain binding us until I could climb it long enough to reach her. I felt like an animal cutting its way through layers of skin in an attempt to reach the soft, delicious flesh underneath.
I briefly saw through the Skinwalker¡¯s eyes in flashes. I felt the pain in her arms and legs as they were nailed to a cross of wood underground, screamed with her lungs, tasted the blood in her mouth, and suffered the kiss of the priests¡¯ lashes. I saw the Nightlords¡¯ shadows loom over her body, their claws sinking into her chest to bind her heart.
¡°Get out of my head!¡± she tried to scream, but no words came out of her throat. My dark talons strangled her mind until her body refused to obey her.
I delved deeper and clawed through her recent memories. I tasted her fear when she met my icy blue eyes in the forest and the numb cold of the Nightchildren¡¯s caress. Seidr required both partners to align with each other, to work together. There was nothing consensual about what I was doing. I was forcing my way in, breaking through the door to her rotten heart, and answering her attempts to push me back with brutality.
It was a mental violation, pure and simple.
I would have felt disgusted at myself once. I think I may have stopped with anybody else; but the further I descended through layers of memories, the more my disgust for the Skinwalker grew.
I watched her peel back the real Cipetl¡¯s skin with a smile and a curved knife. It was such an art to flay a human alive: you had to use the right tools, start from the back of the head, and be careful to separate the skin from the fat and cartilage. She knew doing it while Cipetl was still breathing would spoil the skin and leave traces, but the screams and blood made the chore so sweet¡
I observed through her eyes how the chieftains of the Three-Rivers Federation asked her to slay Yohuachanca¡¯s emperor on behalf of their people and spare them the plague of bats ravaging them. I heard her price: the firstborn child of each of her employers.
I felt her wolfish fangs close around a woman¡¯s throat in a dark forest and the taste of her heart on her tongue. I recalled a time when she caught a child in a bear¡¯s skin and asked him which part of himself he hated the most; when he answered the eyes, she cut them out and left him to bleed in the grass.
I saw her kill a bride on the eve of her marriage and impersonate her on the wedding night. Then, at the height of the consummation, she returned to her true monstrous form and castrated him. Her laugh as she fled into the night would have sent chills down my spine had I been in my body.
The rest of the Skinwalker¡¯s memories were a cavalcade of pointless horrors that would make a red-eyed priest nauseous. I shared in the thrill and rush of putting on a new skin. She was addicted to it, for she did more than steal their face: she took on a sliver of their Tonalli, growing her strength and extending her life year by year. She carved her skin masks out of people¡¯s souls.
Yet that dependency couldn¡¯t explain half of the monstrous deeds I witnessed in the archive of her century-long life. Even the Nightlords¡¯ cruelty was guided by long-term visions and ambitions, mad as they were. This thing was a beast in human skin driven by its lusts and hunger. Nay, calling her an animal would have been an insult to Itzili and Tetzon.
This Skinwalker was a monster.
Hence my utter lack of pity as I dug my way down to her childhood. I saw the glares of her fellow tribesmen, the way they threw stones at her and refused to feed her meat for her hair and eyes; she knew they would have killed her for her blue eyes and white hair had the shaman not required an apprentice.
The hate festering in her heart felt so intimately familiar to me, for I¡¯d shared it. It was like watching a warped mirror of my own life. The Skinwalker suffered for being born a Nahualli the same way I did, but she chose to wallow in her own spite rather than do anything productive with her gifts.
Would I have turned out like her had the Nightlords not chosen me? Could I still end up like her if I lost sight of my goals? I would like to answer with a resounding no to both questions, but the similarities between us unsettled me. I¡¯d reveled too much in my power last night to think myself above the temptation to abuse it.
Still, I didn¡¯t think I had it in me to commit the crime that set this Skinwalker on her path: kinslaying.
I saw it all in her memories. The Skinwalker reserved the worst of her anger for her twin sister, Anaye, who had the fortune of being born with black strands on her head rather than white ones. She was pretty, loved, charming, and healthy. When the chief¡¯s son announced he would take Anaye for a wife, her sibling¡¯s envy turned into murderous rage.
She had only intended to kill Anaye when she visited her tent in the night, but when she tasted her sweet blood, evil entered her heart and opened up her mind. Everything her sister had could belong to her: her beauty, her vitality, her life. Anaye became her first skin, but it would not be the last.
That kinslayer buried Anaye¡¯s flayed corpse in a ditch, then stole her life and husband. She had kept it up for a time until the tribe¡¯s shaman asked her what happened to her sister. Hearing her true name made her new skin feel so uncomfortable, almost unbearable; and when her ¡®husband¡¯ saw her true face, she murdered him and burned her tribes¡¯ teepees with their people still inside them. None would live to spread knowledge of her hated name, the proof of her guilt and weakness. She would bury that secret deep inside her rotten heart where no one would find it.
Until I unearthed it.
¡°Chindi.¡±
The Skinwalker¡¯s true name echoed across the landscape of memories and shattered it like a broken mirror. Her resistance collapsed like a dam failing to hold the flood of my will. The mindscape shifted into a dark void kept alight by our Teyolias; mine burned like the sun and hers like an ember.
In this landscape of the soul, the Skinwalker manifested in her true, twisted, horned shape, but so small and weakened; I meanwhile appeared as a great dark owl many times her size. I towered over her like a spineking over a human. Such was the difference of strength between us.
Poor Chindi screamed as I pinned her under my talons. She tried to fight me back and move her lips in the real world.
¡°Your true enemy is inside my head!¡± She tried to plead with the Nightlords. ¡°Spare my life, oh mistresses of the dark!¡±
She struggled in vain, and no sound came out of her mouth. Her pitiful attempts at begging the Nightlords for her life went unheard, for I had taken hold of her soul and flesh. She was a prisoner inside her own head, and I held the key to her cell.
¡°Silence, foolish Chindi,¡± I ordered. Her screams died, her Teyolia faltering. Uttering her name wounded her deeper than any dagger could. ¡°You are barking up the wrong tree.¡±
To prove so, I gave her a peek at my own memories. I showed Lady Sigrun¡¯s struggle and the Nightlords¡¯ utter lack of care for loyalty. I gave her a taste of their ungratefulness, followed by a vision of Nochtli the Fourteen¡¯s sacrifice and that of his consorts.
Chindi¡¯s soul shrunk within my talons. She knew the fate that awaited her and that the Nightlords¡¯ promises weren¡¯t worth the scroll on which they were written; after all, she behaved the same way with so many others in the past.
¡°Ah, but fear not,¡± I said as I projected my most delectable memory into her mind: the crunching noise that followed Yoloxochitl¡¯s death at her own sire¡¯s hand and my satisfied smile at my plot¡¯s success. ¡°Their turn will come.¡±
¡°Who¡¡± she whimpered with a hundred stolen voices. ¡°What are you?¡±
¡°I am the demon who shall throw Yohuachanca into chaos. I am the last emperor, he who brings the fiery dawn.¡± I expanded my wings of darkness until I enveloped her in my shadow. ¡°I am the Tlacatecolotl, the owl-fiend!¡±
The Skinwalker had only caught a glimpse of my soul during our last encounter, but now she saw my true self in all of its dreadful majesty. I appeared to her as a mighty sorcerer and Godspeaker with a baleful heart-fire burning with a dead sun¡¯s embers, followed by the vengeful ghosts of ancient emperors. She felt the weight of all the lives I had taken, the sins I had committed, and the spells that I had mastered within her very soul. The disparity in power became undeniable.
Her lips stretched into a ghastly smile that felt uncannily familiar.
¡°Wonderful,¡± she whispered. ¡°Absolutely wonderful¡¡±
Of all her possible answers, I hadn¡¯t expected this one.
The Skinwalker lowered her head in craven submission. She had finally ceased her foolish struggles. Her body had gone limp in the real world too. She was a prisoner within her own mind and at my mercy.
But I sensed no more fear coming from her. Instead, her soul radiated a twisted, delirious kind of joy. A deep, confusing sense of exhilaration.
I finally recognized why her expression felt so familiar. It was the same that Chamiaholom gave me whenever she voiced her approval.
¡°You are like me,¡± Chindi muttered in warped adoration. ¡°But so much greater¡¡±
A wave of disgust and revulsion overwhelmed me.
¡°We are nothing alike,¡± I replied coldly. ¡°You are but an insect who dared to fly too close to the sun.¡±
She didn¡¯t even deny it. ¡°Yes¡ yes, I see that now,¡± she muttered while licking her lips. ¡°I wanted to rip out your spine and suck the marrow out of your bones, but your blood was not mine to spill¡¡±
Nothing in this mindscape was real, yet her eyes managed to form tears of blood nonetheless.
¡°You are the bleeding dawn who will throw this world into chaos,¡± she cried. ¡°What delightful slaughter it will be¡ what grand rapture¡"
This creature was insane.
Had the Nightchildren and I scrambled her mind beyond recovery? Or had she always been like this?
¡°Please forgive me, oh lord of darkness,¡± Chindi begged me, not out of fear but out of submission. ¡°I did not know the true extent of your power and vision. I did not know.¡±
¡°You have sought my death and harmed my consorts,¡± I replied in utter disdain. ¡°Though you never had a chance of achieving either, that crime warrants a fate worse than death. Why should I spare you?¡±
She kissed my talons with her bloody lips. ¡°I offer myself to you, Master¡ Take my flesh to serve your purpose and point me at your enemies. I will peel back their skin and wear it like a cloak, yes¡ I will serve you, I will love you, I will scream for you¡¡±
I briefly wondered if she was lying to me in a last-ditch attempt to save her miserable life, but I held her true name over her in the depths of her soul. I sensed no deceit. Hers was a sincere kind of madness. Her terror had morphed into admiration and worship.
I struggled to contain my disgust. This Skinwalker was a bully at heart, cruel to the weak and fearful of the strong. After I showed her how the Nightlords wouldn¡¯t reward her loyalty and claimed her true name, she decided to cast her lot with me. She craved my power and wished to revel in the destruction I would no doubt continue to sow in my wake.
She was a cowardly opportunist, nothing more. A lesser horror pandering to a greater one.
What should I do with her? Reading Chindi¡¯s memories only solidified my distaste for this vicious creature. If there was any shred of goodness in her heart, she ripped it out long ago. She was just as bad as the Nightlords themselves; her cruelty only differed in its scale rather than its depth. Her many victims would praise me for ridding the world of her loathsome presence.
Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t destroy her Teyolia now that the Nightlords bound it to their foul ritual. They would drag back her black soul straight from the Underworld the moment I snuffed it out.
I could go with my predecessors¡¯ suggestion. Throwing this monster¡¯s mind into a boiling cauldron of over six-hundred dead emperors would shatter her mind beyond repair. I doubted she would be able to speak afterward, let alone plot against me or reveal my secrets. On one hand, a catatonic shell would be of no use to me, but it wouldn¡¯t become a liability either.
On the other hand¡ on the other hand, a shapeshifter in my employ would come in handy. I suspected the Nightlords would wisely cripple Chindi¡¯s power the same way the Jaguar Woman limited Nenetl¡¯s, but I had subverted the latter¡¯s tattoo once. I was confident I could figure out a way to do it again with my current resources.
However fickle her newfound ¡®loyalty¡¯ might be or how profound her mental instability, my knowledge of her true name would ensure her obedience. The Nightlords couldn¡¯t read minds in spite of their power, so the risk of another gaining dominion over her was remote.
I had to decide whether the potential benefits of taking Chindi into my employ outweighed future costs.
I pondered my options until I realized my Tonalli manifested in the mindscape. I plucked a feather off my wing and quickly confirmed my suspicions.
I had a way of ensuring her long-term obedience.
¡°Very well,¡± I decided, much to her abject joy. ¡°I claim you as my servant by right of wits and strength. Your true name and weakness compel you to do my bidding. Serve me loyally, and I shall share my power with you.¡± A lie that I had no intention of fulfilling. ¡°If you dare challenge me again though¡¡±
I called upon the Curse spell and infused the feather with my seething hatred. I bound it with Chindi¡¯s true name and placed it in the deepest depths of her soul, where not even the Nightlords would find it.
¡°I now place a curse upon your Tonalli,¡± I declared. ¡°If you speak a word of my true nature to anyone, anyone, if you reveal so much as a hint of what I showed you tonight, if you harm my consorts and servants again or dare turn against me, then you shall suffer a fate worse than death. Eternal suffering shall be your afterlife. Your screaming soul will languish in the Silent Dark, your weeping ignored, your pleas forgotten. You will regret your foolishness for all eternity.¡±
¡°I understand, Master.¡± Chindi knelt the moment my talons released her. ¡°My life is yours, with a thousand skins at your bidding.¡±
¡°Then listen well,¡± I said. ¡°Soon the so-called Nightlords will interrogate you. Their time will come, but for now you will feign weakness and tell them what they want to hear: that you came to this land on behalf of the Three-Rivers Federation to kill their chosen emperor, whom your shamans predicted would herald an age of darkness. You will say that you have been humbled and you shall act like it. Hide your strength and mine.¡±
¡°Yes, yes, clever, one step ahead¡¡± I could almost taste the malice in her maddened eyes. ¡°No use running when the time comes¡ my fangs remain forever sharp.¡±
A predator through and through. The thought of keeping her close to Nenetl and the others frustrated me, but at least I ensured she couldn¡¯t turn her bloodlust against us. Still, I better inflict a punishment of some kind; something that would remind her not to overstep again.
¡°Your first kill was your sister, Anaye,¡± I recalled. ¡°Henceforth, you shall wear her skin and use her name in the living world.¡±
Her gruesome smile faded away. ¡°Master, I possess countless prettier faces¡¡±
¡°And I may allow you to wear them once you earn my forgiveness. Until then, you will remember that I know your true self hidden beneath her skin each time you look in a mirror.¡± I expanded my wings and prepared to retreat back into the Underworld. ¡°Do not disappoint me.¡±
And if she did¡ I could think of another use for her.
A final one.
I returned to Xibalba and opened my eyes to find Mother patiently waiting for me. ¡°So?¡± she asked me as I rose back to my feet.
My gods, was she starting to care? It seemed saving her life did wonders to endear me to her.
¡°The Skinwalker has been taken care of, for now,¡± I replied. I would have killed her if the Nightlords¡¯ curse made it possible, but for now I would make good use of her. ¡°I learned her true name and taught her the value of hierarchy. She will behave as I command.¡±
¡°We pray that you did not err in your judgment, our successor,¡± my predecessors warned me. ¡°He who intends to tame a jaguar should keep it on a tight leash, and this one is rabid.¡±
¡°I will shatter her mind and feed her flesh to Itzili if she proves more trouble than she is worth,¡± I reassured them before reincorporating the Legion skull into myself. ¡°It is time I challenge my next trial.¡±
Mother watched as I took a step towards the archway of mist leading to the fourth House of Xibalba. I sensed a strange weight in her gaze. She had something on her mind that she wanted to tell me, but struggled to.
¡°What is it, Mother?¡± I asked to ease her burden.
¡°I am proud of you, Iztac.¡±
These were words I didn¡¯t expect to hear from her.
¡°You possess a keen intuition when it comes to sorcery,¡± she complimented me. ¡°You explore paths I never considered and gained strength from it. I find it¡ inspiring.¡±
If only she knew what else I inspired tonight¡ Nonetheless, her appreciation didn¡¯t fill me with disgust the way Chindi¡¯s malevolent adoration did. In fact, her approval did give me a little joy.
She is capable of gratitude and good deeds now and then, I thought. Could Father have been right? Had I misjudged her? Perhaps she can indeed become a better person one day¡
¡°Thank you,¡± I replied. An awkward silence settled between us as neither found what to say next. We still had a long way to go before we could act like a real family.
I walked into the Fourth House of Xibalba with a sigh.
Chapter Sixty-Six: The House of Bats
I breathed dust in a tomb of ancient stone.
A grand entrance hall stretched forth ahead of me. An aura of stillness hung in this room, even as my footsteps echoed across the silence. Layers of calcified sand covered walls that hadn¡¯t been touched in thousands of years. Eye symbols flickered with an otherworldly glow on tall pillars. They provided a measure of light akin to a fading sunset; just enough to see, but unable to dispel the long shadows.
I felt like a man breaking into a crypt that had been sealed away since the beginning of time.
Though I sensed no enemies around me, I remained on my guard. I had sent my predecessors to scout the Fourth House of Xibalba earlier. This place fit their description of the ruins they encountered, but the creatures that slew them were nowhere to be seen.
I activated the Gaze spell and explored the room myself. No illusion recoiled before my sunlight stare. No monster broke the silence with a challenge. I was alone, as far as I could tell, with no lies to obscure my vision. The room seemed empty too, though I also noticed sets of corridors on each side of it.
My last trial started by lulling me into a false sense of security, so I erred on the side of caution. I first used the Doll spell to swipe away the dust off the walls and reveal what was hidden underneath.
Bats.
I scowled in annoyance as I found myself facing highly realistic carvings of great black bats all over the room. Scenes showcased these snarling beasts breathing out disease from their flat noses on unsuspecting villages on behalf of their mighty king.
Mother said I would find a hint about how the First Emperor ascended to godhood in this house. Was she referring to these carvings?
I studied the rest of them. While most of the pictures showed bats preying on mortals, one particular fresco caught my eye. This one appeared to show a story in a sequence. Two men¡ªtwins, from the way they were similarly painted¡ªentered a dark house with blowguns, only to be attacked by the Bat-King. They both hid to protect themselves while waiting for the sun to rise again. One of the two dared to peek out to see the coming sunrise, only for the Bat-King to snatch his head off his shoulders and carry it away.
The fresco continued on to a frightful scene: the surviving twin was forced to play in a ballcourt against demons, with his brother¡¯s head as the ball.
Quite the gruesome tale. The last scene turned into a terrible tragedy: the survivor was defeated by the Bat-King and decapitated, with his head hung from a tree. Is this referencing the First Emperor?
It seemed quite likely to me. These carvings probably represented the early days of the empire.
I noticed a white-haired woman praying at the tree where the second twin¡¯s head was hanging from. My eyes narrowed when I observed a tiny, yet telling detail: the picture of a black bird perched on her shoulder.
An owl.
I stared at that picture for a moment, my mind furiously trying to make sense out of it. My eyes lingered at the end of the wall and the corridor beyond. Though it portrayed a grim tale, I had the gut feeling this fresco was incomplete. Perhaps the rest awaited me further inside this ruin?
I¡¯m getting thirsty. Inhaling the dust made me start coughing as I walked through the corridors. A knot formed in my stomach too. Not from fear, but¡ something else. I checked myself with the Gaze, but didn¡¯t see anything. Strange.
I doubted it was a disease, since I had already fought that fear in the house prior. Did the dust carry some form of poison? I summoned the Cloak by promising I would give money to the empire¡¯s poor and surrounded myself with a layer of peaceful, floating winds.
My throat cleared of the dust, but that strange sensation in my stomach failed to abate.
With no other lead to pursue other than finding the other frescos, I walked into the hallway. It proved terribly cramped, with its ceiling hardly high enough for me to stand upright. My Cloak spell whipped up a small dust storm with each step. Although I knew Mother faced these trials before me, it seemed like no one had visited this place since time immemorial. I took a turn at one point, and then another until I reached the next room over.
The next vault was much smaller than the entrance hall, yet quite the sight nonetheless. Its arched, cracked ceiling was painted dark blue with tiny gems representing the stars. The statue of a great bat built from fossilized wood occupied its center, a ghostlight bonfire burning within its mouth. It stared at me with crimson ruby eyes.
I destroyed it on the spot.
¡°Slice,¡± I said, calling upon the winds of chaos to behead the statue. A blade of sharpened air, born of the last breaths of the countless people I had killed, surged from my fingers and cut through its throat in an instant. The head rolled off and onto the dusty ground with a loud thump, but the body did not rise to attack me.
Disappointing. I would have expected a trick like enemies masquerading as statues. I checked on the fallen head, smiling at the clean cut that my spell left, and then scowling when I saw how it hardly grazed the wall behind it. I could behead a man with it, maybe cut a young tree, but it won¡¯t cut through armor yet.
I checked the rest of the room for any trace of a trap or ambusher. I found none. Only my growling stomach broke the silence.
I put a hand on my chest as I felt bitter pangs of pain below my ribs. My stomach growled and my throat grew dry. I finally recognized the sensation, for I had spent so many years suffering from it.
Hunger.
I was growing hungry. Thirsty too.
This shouldn¡¯t be possible. No one needed food or drinks in the Underworld. This place was doing something unnatural to me.
Was that what this house represented? Fear of starvation?
I guessed it was a primal experience common to all living beings, but I responded with a mere snort. I¡¯d suffered from droughts and famines before. I¡¯d spent my entire life until my imperial ascension being malnourished.
I¡¯d grown up with hunger and wouldn¡¯t let it distract me with panic.
Nonetheless, I took it as an ominous warning. Thirst and starvation sapped the body of strength. I didn¡¯t know whether it worked the same in the Underworld, but this could be the House¡¯s attempt to weaken me before it sent enemies to take my head. I remained alert for any threats as I searched the room for answers.
My eyes wandered to the walls, and the wind from my Cloak spell cleaned the stone in my wake. New carvings appeared, this time representing the woman from the previous room with two children of her own. Male twins; one crowned with the sun, the other with the moon, both born with white hair and blue eyes.
I recalled Queen Mictecacihuatl¡¯s story of how the Fifth Sun and its moon came to be. I wondered if this fresco referred to the myth.
How does this all fit together? I glanced at the next picture in the sequence, which showed the two twins, now adults, venturing into the world. I noticed a strange artistic choice: similarly to their mother, who was always represented with an owl on her shoulder, both twins had an animal companion of their own. A golden bird for the sun-crowned brother¡ and a white bat for the moon-blessed one. Curious.
I wondered the meaning behind the animals¡¯ presence until I reached the next picture. This one showcased the brothers in a reversed position: the sun-crowned one shot down a winged demon with his blowgun in the sky, while the moon-crowned one was shown with a scroll in hand and petitioning a great skull under the earth. I immediately recognized the latter.
King Mictlantecuhtli.
This carving had to represent Mictlan¡¯s king, and the moon brother¡¯s descent underground on a journey through the Underworld. If so, then the animals on the siblings¡¯ shoulders most likely represented their Tonalli. Their totems.
A bat Nahualli crowned with the moon carrying a scroll¡
A gnawing doubt formed in my heart, followed by the bitter pangs of growing hunger. I was too engrossed by the pictures to pay attention to the latter. The next one, which completed this room¡¯s fresco, showed the brothers hunting catfish near a river while four women watched on.
Four women.
Not one more, not one less.
I stared at the picture for a very long while, knowing this couldn¡¯t be a coincidence. I became so entranced that I searched for any tiny detail I may have missed. The four women appeared utterly unremarkable compared to the twins, like footnote characters in somebody else¡¯s story. The artist hardly bothered to give them distinctive appearances. The way they sat behind the moon-brother though, like children listening to a parent teaching them how to fish, only strengthened my suspicions.
The pangs of my hunger only grew more bitter, with no tests nor enemies yet in sight. Something wasn¡¯t right.
I rushed over to the next room to see the rest of the frescos. This hallway was even more cramped than the previous one, to the point I had to crouch to walk through it. My Cloak blew a cloud of dust ahead of me.
I soon crawled into a Nightkin¡¯s tomb.
I couldn¡¯t call it anything else. A layer of sand covered a cracked floor and withered stems of fossilized torches were held by carved sconces. A narrow staircase led to a raised dais and an obsidian altar on which rested the corpse of a giant bat.
I had fought lesser Nightkin last night, yet this long-dead creature put them all to shame. Even reduced to a withered husk with pale dry skin and moldy, yellow bones, the monster was easily thrice the size of its lesser kind. It lay on its back, its wings folded in what could pass for a funeral position. Its flayed head stared at the ceiling with empty holes for eyes, with a crown of horns sticking out of its skull. I¡¯d never seen a Nightkin with those.
Why would a vampire be buried in Xibalba? How could it even leave bones at all? The Nightkin I¡¯d killed turned to dust when slain.
Though my Gaze spell detected no sign of magic, I immediately prepared to cast an offensive spell should the corpse begin to move. I saw words carved onto the altar as I stepped up its stairs, and quickly recognized the language as the same ancient dialect used in the First Emperor¡¯s codices.
I am no mortal bat.
I am Camazotz.
I am a god.
Camazotz?
¡°Camazotz?¡± I muttered to myself and instantly regretted it. The thirst turned my throat so dry it hurt to speak.
I¡¯d never heard of a god with that name, let alone a bat one. Besides, I had met true deities in the past. I had cowered in the First Emperor¡¯s shadow, stood in the presence of King Mictlantecuhtli, and seen the true face of Queen Mictecacihuatl. I would expect one of their equals to look more impressive in its demise; or to enjoy a more prestigious resting place than a dusty chamber in Xibalba¡¯s House of Bats.
I gazed into the monster¡¯s chest and found no flame, no embers of a dead sun, not even dry blood. If there ever was any spark of divinity contained in this old shell, it was long gone. This well had dried up.
Dried up?
I didn¡¯t know why these words echoed in my mind at that moment, but they rang in my skull for a while. Something about this oversized Nightkin¡¯s corpse felt disturbingly familiar to me. The way its calcified skin shrank into a husk of itself, without a single trace of dried blood filling its shriveled veins, reminded me of far too many other people.
Could it be? My questions found their answer when I checked the monster¡¯s throat: two familiar, fang-shaped holes in its dry skin and calcified flesh. A chill traveled down my spine as I realized how this creature perished.
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This Nightkin had been preyed upon by another of its kind.
It didn¡¯t make any sense. The Nightkin had no Teyolia for their kind to feast upon. Their blood was as black and rotten as those of diseased corpses. The only reason I could see for them to cannibalize each other was for the sake of a gruesome execution.
I was missing something; a key piece of a puzzle whose solution I knew was within my grasp.
Dust fell upon my shoulder and glided off the Cloak¡¯s barrier of wind. I looked up at the ceiling and found myself staring at the remaining frescoes. I bore witness to a cracked landscape of disparate pictures forming a coherent whole.
I saw the twins facing the Bat-King in battle, only for the moon-brother to fall. His sibling cried over his corpse while their foe laughed. His prayers were answered, but not in the way he would have expected.
A red-eyed shadow arose from the dead twin¡¯s remains, dark and hungry.
My skin crawled at the sight of its all too familiar crimson gaze. The Bat-King cowered in the face of the great darkness, but it was no use. The shadow feasted on his heart while the surviving twin fled into sunlit mountains.
The final picture sent shivers down my spine.
The Bat-King lay dead and shriveled, his chest empty and his throne shattered. The four women from the previous fresco knelt before the darkness, which had now taken on a form of its own: a great winged beast crowned in the glow of a scarlet moon, whose crimson, shining eyes stared at me with the untold malice of endless hatred, and a vile hunger that no flesh nor soul could satisfy. Their malevolent glint filled my vision and mind in a sea of red and screams, the malicious glare tightening the chains binding my soul and casting dust upon my face¨C
A foreign sensation jolted me out of my trance.
Dirt hit my face, with no barrier of wind to keep it out.
My Cloak was gone.
¡°What¡¡± I coughed dust and a terrible pain seized my chest. A slight shakiness took over my body the moment I recovered from my hallucination, my hands trembling. ¡°Wha¡¡±
I looked at my shriveled fingers and saw the bones through my withered skin.
My arms had shriveled until my flesh had all but vanished. I hadn¡¯t noticed it disappearing; in fact, I hardly felt anything. My hands had grown numb and the mere act of moving them demanded extraordinary effort. Dust covered my skin in so many places, as if I had stood in place for days.
How much time did I waste watching that nightmarish picture?
¡°Cloa¡¡± My withered vocal cords couldn¡¯t even complete the word. More dust fell upon me from above. When I managed to stare up again, I saw that the frescos had grown larger¡ no. Not larger.
Closer.
The ceiling had buckled, with large dents in the stone pushing down. Its corners bent and twisted under a crushing weight. A great pressure pressed on the room from all sides.
I looked around in realization, my blurring eyes staring at the hallway I had used to enter. I remembered how I had to crouch to travel through it. I thought it had been smaller than its predecessor. I was wrong.
They had both shrunk.
The entire tomb was closing down on me like a great beast¡¯s fangs.
I tried to call upon the Doll spell, so that my talons of darkness would break through the ceiling. My sorcery, the very power that kept my hope alive in these dark times, failed me. A wave of agony surged through my throat and my chest the moment I tried to summon my spell. Even my Gaze had flickered and died.
I looked down at my ribs in panic.
My raging heart-fire had shrunk into pale embers.
Dread seized me as I finally understood my mistake. The supernatural hunger within these walls didn¡¯t feast on nutrients; it fed on my magic. On my soul.
I cursed my foolishness. I¡¯d been so focused on the threat of hidden enemies, so starved for answers, that I failed to pay attention to the real danger. No monsters would come to kill me. They didn¡¯t need to.
The closing walls would simply crush me to paste with no spell to stop them.
I looked around, my weakened neck creaking when it turned. I saw no clear exit except two hallways: the one I used to enter this room and another fast shrinking. With no other option, I ran towards the latter in search of an escape route.
My weakened knees failed to support my weight. I collapsed when I tried to climb down the dais¡¯ staircase, the sickening noise of bones breaking echoing into the crumbling chambers. My left leg had twisted into an unnatural angle. I had so few muscles remaining that I hardly felt any pain.
Pushing past my growing exhaustion and weakness. I crawled into the corridor like a worm into a closing mouth. I was getting desperate, and panic let me tap into hidden reserves of strength. I entered the darkness, breathing dirt and sand, seeing nothing but a veil of dust. My skull burned with the strongest headache I¡¯d ever felt.
The walls cracked and twisted around me. I knew they would give way any second now and bury me in a blanket of stone. I understood which other fear this place represented besides famine now.
The fear of being trapped.
Of being buried.
I crawled ahead even as the ceiling started pushing down on my back. Dust had long replaced air, and darkness swallowed light. Yet I didn¡¯t falter. My fingers hurt with every inch of dirt they sank into.
Then I hit something.
A smooth layer of stone stood ahead of me and pushed me back.
I¡¯d hit a dead end.
No, no, no! I tried to move back and escape, only for the ceiling and floor to trap me in a tight embrace. The pressure had warped the walls into a coffin of stone keeping me tightly bound. Neither my weak kicks nor pushes would make them move.
I couldn¡¯t turn anymore.
I would have raged and fought back if I had the strength and space left; as it was, I could hardly move my hands. The walls pressed on me from all sides into a crushing hug. The earth wrapped me in its fatal embrace, slowly grinding my bones together.
Was this how my tale concluded? Crushed to death while powerless, and denied any answer while I was on the verge of obtaining the truth?
I won¡¯t allow it!
But what could I do? My strength was leaving me, and I had only seconds left before the walls crushed me. The hunger sapping my heart deprived me of my strength. What else would renew it?
An idea crossed my mind.
I had something to feed the fire with.
I squeezed my arms close to my chest the best I could, my shoulders cracking as the walls pushed against them. I slipped my fingers through my ribs and put them into my heart-fire.
Then they burned.
The pain proved stronger than the numbness which had overtaken my limbs. My soul feasted on my own flesh in an act of spiritual self-cannibalism, consuming my body to fuel its sorcery.
I called upon the Doll.
I¡¯d traded away my two hands for a dozen talons. They pushed back against the walls with all of my strength and determination. The stone wept at the pressure from within and without.
The otherworldly strength forcing the tomb to close on me did not let go. A battle of wills ensued as the earth tried to push me into its crushing embrace. My talons could crush rock and tear men apart, but they had to push in all directions to keep me from getting crushed.
Clenching my rotting teeth, I shoved my arms into my Teyolia. I coughed and hissed as my flesh and bones turned to coal and ashes in the furnace of my soul. My starved heart-fire consumed indiscriminately. Yet I would rather feed myself to the flame rather than give this place the honor of killing me.
My talons pushed, and pushed, and pushed until pieces of stone collapsed on my neck. Streams of sand began to leak from the cracks and slowly filled what little space I managed to scrounge for myself. This only hardened my resolve. I growled while directing my talons to exploit any weakness in the closing walls I could use to escape. My claws dug into rifts and widened them until the earth screeched.
The floor collapsed under me.
I fell into a narrow shaft so long and sinuous that it felt like I was on my way to hit the earth¡¯s bowels. I tried to catch a grip on anything with my talons, only for the walls to turn into brittle sand at my touch.
I landed on a floor of soft mud in a dark expanse.
For the first time since I set foot in this place, I breathed air instead of dust; a foul miasma filled with a nauseating stench of rot, yes, but air nonetheless. A single, bright torch cast a bubble of light in a sea of shadows. My blurring eyes struggled to acclimate to it, and when they did, I saw that I was no longer alone.
A monster sat behind a dinner table, watching me with two jackal heads and four hungry eyes.
The monstrous beast was the size of a house even while seated on a throne of jagged stone. Its body was that of a thin, starved man with petrified bones and withered, oily black skin. Two necks stood atop its uneven shoulders; the right one was a skull filled with darkness, the left one a statue of cracked stone. Both studied me with a mix of compassion and malice.
Two Lords of Terror in one body.
¡°Are you hungry, child?¡± the right head asked, its voice akin to the raspy rattle of a starved soul. ¡°Are you thirsty, child?¡±
My dry lips failed to form words, so I nodded slowly in response.
¡°Then feast with us,¡± the monster¡¯s left head said with a voice deeper than a cave¡¯s echo. It waved a clawed hand at the table and a seat of bones appeared out of nowhere to welcome me. ¡°You must feed to grow big and strong.¡±
With a broken leg and burning stumps for arms, I had to use the Doll spell¡¯s limbs to force myself onto the seat. A gruesome feast was set for me on the dinner table: a vile assortment of rancid milk cups, plates of diseased meat, and baskets of rotten fruits sweetened with ashes. This meal was about as disgusting as Chamiaholom¡¯s diet of human flesh.
I gorged myself on it nonetheless.
I was so starved, so consumed with hunger and thirst, that I consumed indiscriminately. I fought against the nausea of drinking poisoned milk and crunched maggots infesting the flesh with ravenous exaltation. I cleaned the plates in a minute, my disgust drowned in the sweet, sweet release from the bitter pangs of starvation.
¡°We are Ahalpuh and Ahalgana, the buried and the starved,¡± the stone head introduced itself. ¡°Many hungers go unsatiated. Love, wealth¡ knowledge.¡±
¡°What will you do to satisfy your appetite?¡± the other head asked.
By now, I had recovered enough strength to answer through a mouthful of food.
¡°Everything,¡± I rasped without fear or hesitation.
¡°Is that so?¡± the skull head asked. I noticed that this one asked questions, and the other spoke with statements. ¡°Shall you show us?¡±
The monster presented me with another plate, one of my size that appeared out of thin air.
A woman lay on it.
A pale, gaunt woman no older than thirty, who had gone bald from starvation. Her mouth was sewn shut, her hands and legs bound like a stuffed turkey. Her skin was seasoned with rotten sauce and her back served on a bed of rot.
Her weak, milky-white eyes remained wide open though. They stared at me with fear; whether she begged me for salvation or the sweet release of a true death, I couldn¡¯t say.
She was still alive. I could hear her heart beating in her chest.
Was she another of the Lords¡¯ illusions? An imitation of life, or a genuine victim abducted and denied death¡¯s salvation?
¡°Mourn her not, for men are pitiful beasts condemned to starve,¡± the stone head said, its voice so sweet and soothing. ¡°They hunger for so many things. Food, wealth, knowledge, love, yet a human¡¯s appetite is never satisfied. They are born hungry and die starving. Only in death do they know satiety.¡±
¡°What else are you, other than a devourer?¡± the other head asked me. ¡°Have you not done worse?¡±
I would have hesitated once.
But neither did I fold.
Instead of feasting on the woman¡¯s flesh as these demons expected me to, I used the Doll to slice her open. The woman whined as her blood stained the plate and then cried when I shoved my bloody, burning arm stumps into her wound. Our blood mixed the same way mine and Nenetl¡¯s did last night. This time, I did not give anything.
I took.
The woman¡¯s Teyolia was starved and weak, but mine was hungrier. I drained her of her wavering lifeforce and vitality in an instant. Memories flashed through my mind as I did; brief and bloody remembrances of gnashing teeth closing on her flesh and screams haunting the darkness.
I regained my strength by consuming her own through Seidr. By the time I removed my stumps from her corpse, I had grown new hands and she breathed her last.
I gave this woman the quick release of death.
¡°Do you think it is nobler to kill a woman than to devour her?¡± the skull head asked me. ¡°Is it not cruel to kill a beast for sustenance and yet waste its meat?¡±
¡°I am cruel,¡± I replied coldly. ¡°Animals hunt to feed, but I only kill for power¡¯s sake.¡±
The stone head let out a chuckle akin to crumbling rocks. ¡°Your mother ate her meal.¡±
I suppressed a shiver of disgust and answered the taunt with silence.
¡°Your will is stronger than her own,¡± the demon said. ¡°You are right. Your hunger for power shall guide you well, for that well is truly bottomless. A mighty demon you have become, and greater still you shall rise.¡±
¡°Will you ask your question?¡± the other head asked. ¡°Do we not sense thy curiosity?¡±
A question was indeed burning on my lips.
¡°What was that creature in the tomb?¡± I asked. ¡°Was it truly a god?¡±
¡°Have you not guessed Camazotz''s identity yet?¡± The skull head let out a sinister laugh. ¡°Surely you must have seen the broken statue outside our city, have you not?¡±
¡°There was once a man who hated the shadow of his soul as much as you despise your captors,¡± the other head said. ¡°He hungered for justice and happiness, but in the end he too starved and devoured himself. The hungry became hunger.¡±
I meditated on their answer for a moment. I recalled that statues of totems stood outside Xibalba, with the bat one being the only one shattered. The shadow of the soul¡ a bat standing on a man¡¯s shoulder and guiding him through the Underworld¡ and that crown of horns¡
The shadow likely referenced to a Nahualli''s totem. The First Emperor was a Tzinacantli, a chosen of the bat. If he loathed his own reflection, then...
¡°This Camazotz was the story¡¯s Bat-King,¡± I guessed. ¡°He''s linked to the Tzinacantli¡¯s totem somehow; he must have been its incarnation on earth or close enough. The First Emperor consumed and usurped him during his godly ascent, taking on his form and duties.¡±
I understood it all now. The First Emperor had consumed his own totem, his soul¡¯s reflection, in a cannibalistic feast. He had usurped his mastery over bats the same way his daughters attempted to steal his own divinity.
The Lords of Terror smiled at me in silence. They had dangled the answer in front of me, and then rejoiced in denying it to me.
My hunger for answers would go unsatisfied tonight.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I replied. ¡°I will find the truth on my own.¡±
My resolve pleased the Lords of Terrors. The skull headed-one nodded in appreciation. ¡°Shall we bestow a blessing upon you then, son of chaos?¡±
¡°We gift you with the Pit, the earthbound fangs of Xibalba,¡± the other head declared. ¡°Mark that which you despise with your blood and utter their name. The House of Fright shall receive your offering with gnashing teeth and an endless fall.¡±
I sat still as they caressed my Teyolia with fingers of bone and stone. Knowledge flowed into the fire of my soul, opening my mind to a new secret¨C
Then someone yanked my chains.
A pain greater than anything I¡¯d ever experienced seized me with such suddenness that I fell over my chair. My soul ached and howled in agony, my chest burning and bursting at the seams. I held onto my ribs, unable to do anything other than scream.
The Lords of Terror looked upon me with what could pass for concern. ¡°It seems your time has come to an end.¡±
¡°Was it too early?¡± the other half of the duo giggled cruelly. ¡°Shall we see?¡±
I was yanked out of the House of Fright and back into the waking world.
Something was terribly wrong.
I had gone to the Underworld and back so often that I could sense any change in the shift. This time felt different, and not in a good way. My sorcerer¡¯s instincts told me that I had woken up from a nightmare into a different one.
The pain in my chest was only matched by the one in my hands and feet. Spikes of wood impaled them, and my back was strapped to a table of stone facing the night sky. I had been stripped naked and my mouth gagged.
¡°Have you slept well, songbird?¡±
Iztacoatl¡¯s face loomed above me, alongside Sugey¡¯s and the Jaguar Woman¡¯s. That alone would have been cause for alarm, but their expressions immediately filled me with dread. Iztacoatl was smiling; Sugey glared at me; and the Jaguar Woman was filled with the same cold fury that possessed her when she ordered Lady Sigrun¡¯s execution.
Something happened while I was asleep.
¡°Don¡¯t make that face,¡± Iztacoatl mocked me. ¡°You knew this would happen one day.¡±
She leaned on me to better whisper into my ear.
¡°You¡¯ve been sold out, Iztac.¡±
Chapter Sixty-Seven: Unbreakable
I was used to being scared.
I¡¯d spent every moment since the Night of the Scarlet Moon looking over my shoulder, hiding behind a mask, lying to everyone, dreading the day this pyramid of deceit would all come crashing down on me. I knew that the feeble balance between rebellion and plausible deniability would inevitably tip the wrong way one day; that the Nightlords would learn the truth and corner me.
That moment had now arrived, and it terrified me.
What happened while I slept? Who spoke? Who dared? The Skinwalker? Eztli, Necahual, Ingrid, Chikal? So many people I¡¯d trusted with sensitive information, so many potential suspects, too many who could have said too much or been caught!
Lahun warned me. ¡®Betrayal with a friend¡¯s face.¡¯ She foresaw it would happen. Chindi was no more than a false alarm, a lull that destiny¡¯s hand cruelly used to lower my guard.
No, no, no! The word rang in my head like the toll of ancient bells. The faintest flicker of hope burned within my chest. This is a transparent bluff! A trick!
Iztacoatl was clever. She set the stage and improvised a play to let me lower my guard, to trick me into confounding myself. I had to calm down, feign confusion, and make them doubt themselves! I could still turn this around, I could still¨C
¡°You think I¡¯m lying, songbird?¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s laugh reminded me of slashing daggers. ¡°Have you nothing to say, sister?¡±
Sister.
Singular.
I sensed her approaching me from the east. Her feet produced no noise, and her lungs carried no breath within them. An aura of malice hung over her like how a cloud obscured the sun. Her pale skin shone pale in the moonlight under a pitch black sky.
Eztli.
But something was wrong, so terribly wrong. Her dress of woven flowers and her crown of bloodstained marigold stank of death and poisoned petals. She moved with a kind of grace and poise that my consort never bothered with. And her eyes¡ her crimson eyes burned with a familiar glint of madness.
It¡¯s impossible. My panicking heart refused to believe the sight my eyes sent it. My blood ran cold with denial. Impossible¡
My hopes died the moment Eztli¡¯s lips stretched into that awful, maddened smile.
¡°I am truly disappointed, my child,¡± she said, so softly, so kindly.
Those were not her words.
Another spoke through Eztli¡¯s lips, using her voice, using her lips, using her flesh and body the same way the First Emperor once voiced his displeasure through me.
This was a nightmare, a Veil, a feverish dream I had to wake up from. This couldn¡¯t be real.
¡°You still doubt the miracle in front of you?¡± she asked me, her cold, frigid hands caressing my cheeks in what could pass for motherly love. ¡°Do you not recognize me, my wayward child?¡±
I did. Every fiber of my body recognized the reborn vampire standing next to me, speaking in a usurped mortal shell.
Yoloxochitl.
Yoloxochitl smiled at me while reborn in Eztli¡¯s flesh.
Betrayal with a friend¡¯s face.
My body went limp, and all strength abandoned my feeble limbs. I sensed something wet at the edge of my eyes. Tears of utter defeat born from my deepest fears.
¡°Oh my?¡± Iztacoatl, ever cruel, narrowed her head to better taste my sorrow. ¡°Are you going to cry? For that girl?¡±
Yoloxochitl shook her head in empty sorrow. ¡°Do not cry, Iztac. My daughter wanted this. I gave her a true life, and she returned it to me.¡±
Tears of blood dripped down on me, colder than ice and fouler than tar.
¡°Have you ever witnessed,¡± she asked me, ¡°a purer act of love?¡±
I had failed.
I had failed.
I had failed Eztli and her mother¡¯s hopes. Once unshackled from her role as my consort, Eztli bore the full brunt of the Nightlords¡¯ ritual. Centuries of occult power fell upon her cursed soul and forced her to fit the role she was intended to fulfill.
The lie had become true.
Yet my heart refused to surrender to despair. There had to be a way to undo the possession. I¡¯d plotted Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise once, I could do it again. If I destroyed Iztacoatl and the other Nightlords, the ritual would have to collapse.
It couldn¡¯t have been all for nothing¡
¡°My poor, deluded songbird.¡± Iztacoatl shook her head with a malevolent smirk. ¡°There is no happy ending for the likes of you.¡±
She grabbed the edge of my stone table. I heard a click under me and movement beneath my strapped back. The table that held me rose up and forced me into a vertical position, my limbs impaled in a cross position. I saw the sky and moonlight, then the stone pillars holding flames to the blackened heavens.
¡°Let me show you,¡± Iztacoatl said, ¡°The cost of rebirth.¡±
I was held at a stone pyramid¡¯s summit in the middle of a dark forest; this must have been the same temple in which I¡¯d been held after the failed hunt. I noticed my consorts old and new tied to a stone pillar around me, their mouths covered to silence their screams. While Nenetl cried tears of fear and horror and Ingrid stared at me with pain and sorrow, Chindi stared at something at my feet with evil glee. As for Chikal¡
Chikal was free.
She stood in front of the southern pillar, unbound, unbroken, and unsilenced. She faced me with the same stoic regality she adopted no matter the situation, though her gaze betrayed an emotion which I¡¯d never seen her express at any point before.
Guilt.
Guilt and shame.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I heard her whisper under her breath.
I stared back at her for a moment that seemed to stretch on forevermore. Her words cut me deeper than daggers and weighed heavier than stones. My confusion turned to shock and then boiling fury; but beneath all, the bitter dread.
I dared to follow Chikal¡¯s gaze and see the most hideous crime of all.
A host of Nightkin surrounded me from all sides, their baleful eyes gleaming with malevolence. A few of them feasted on a corpse laying at my feet. Their fangs and talons had torn her apart by the waist and spilled her guts all over the stone floor, but her head remained intact.
My blood ran cold when I saw her face, forever frozen in an expression of terror.
¡°My daughter¡¡± Yoloxochitl pressed her hands against her womb, as if she had carried Eztli to terms herself. ¡°My daughter refused to accept her destiny at first. That woman shackled her. I tried to excise that weakness with my blood so many times¡ when the answer was that it was another¡¯s which I had to shed.¡±
A Veil. It had to be a Veil. A cruel and elaborate illusion meant to deceive me into using my powers.
I continued to tell myself that, because the scene in front of me was too awful and sickening for me to stomach. My heart pounded in my chest so hard I could feel my pulse ringing in my skull.
¡°When my fangs closed on that whore¡¯s neck and sucked her blood¡¡± Yoloxochitl wiped away her tears of blood. ¡°Only then did my daughter fully give herself to me. Only then did she fully return my love.¡±
Necahual¡¯s head stared at me with two holes on her pale neck pissing blood.
The Nightkin feasted on my mother-in-law¡¯s husk.
¡°It¡¯s ironic, truly,¡± Iztacoatl laughed in my ear. ¡°You did choose her the first time, didn¡¯t you?¡±
I choked on my gag. My blood boiled within my veins, my horror suddenly replaced with overwhelming hatred and revulsion. I couldn¡¯t accept this. I refused to.
It¡¯s fake, I told myself. A replica. This had to be another of Iztacoatl¡¯s tricks, a vicious Veil that played on my senses, an elaborate spell to break my will, or a fleshcrafted impostor like the false Sigrun.
But the gods were never this kind to me.
¡°I treated you like a son, Iztac,¡± Yoloxochitl said through my oldest friend¡¯s lips, despoiling her flesh and voice with her loathsome, pathetic excuse for compassion. ¡°I did my best to mend your wounds, and you rewarded me with lies. So many lies and so much ingratitude.¡±
She kissed me on the forehead, only for her nails to sink into my cheeks. Eztli¡¯s face twisted into an inhuman expression of pain and betrayal.
¡°You were smiling when I died,¡± she cried. ¡°You laughed. I know you did. You laughed at my death. It amused you, to laugh at the fire and destruction, at all these lives lost. How could you be so cruel, Iztac?¡±
This wasn¡¯t a Veil. The Veil couldn¡¯t conjure thoughts and information from nothing. It showed what the caster wanted the victim to see and gained strength from the belief. No one saw me laughing after the New Fire Ceremony.
No one but Eztli.
Then the raw, terrible truth dawned on me.
This was real.
¡°See this?¡± Iztacoatl chuckled, her fingers pointed at my face. ¡°He finally accepted it.¡±
¡°I know not what spell you and your whore of a mother used to sabotage our ritual, Iztac Ce Ehecatl, but this shall not happen again,¡± the Jaguar Woman rasped, her cold dead eyes full of icy fury. ¡°Your paltry schemes end here, pathetic child. Alongside the lives of those who dared to follow you into treachery.¡±
¡°We will not let you run free again,¡± Sugey warned me. ¡°We have tightened the chains on your soul so much, you will never slip through our grasp.¡±
I didn¡¯t move. I didn¡¯t blink. I didn¡¯t struggle. The only place where I could retreat was the confines of my own mind. I turned inward, frantically trying to figure out a way out of this situation.
The situation had degenerated beyond words. If Yoloxochitl had access to Eztli¡¯s memories, then she knew about my spy network. And Chikal¡
I looked at her in disbelief, hoping¡ªnay, praying¡ªthat I had misunderstood it all. That she didn¡¯t do the unspeakable.
Instead, she didn¡¯t even bother to deny it.
¡°It was you or my homeland,¡± Chikal said in an attempt to justify herself. ¡°I warned you I would pick my own over you. They forced my hand.¡±
I choked on my gag in frothing rage. Had Lady Sigrun¡¯s death not been enough of a lesson? She¡¯d betrayed her only hope of saving her city for an empty promise which the Nightlords would never keep!
Chikal scowled at me and matched my glare. ¡°Do not look at me like that. You weren¡¯t yourself in that forest. The First Emperor was possessing you. His bats devastated Chilam and preyed on my subjects.¡± She shook her head, her voice more bitter than ever. ¡°I would rather see my people live in slavery than die in a god¡¯s gullet. That sorcery of yours couldn¡¯t control him.¡±
Sorcery?
No, no, she wouldn¡¯t have dared. Even if she had forged a deal with the Nightlords, this would have been her last chance to stab them in the back. She had no reason to reveal that information.
But doubt wormed its way into my heart. The Jaguar Woman mentioned my mother and I using a spell. If Chikal told them¡ if she had told them¡
I activated the Gaze.
At this point, I might as well try to use it. Should I be wrong and tip my hand, then I would go down fighting.
Terrible pain surged from my chest and an invisible spell halted my own magic.
No sunlight poured out of my eyes. The magical power, the cry of my soul and the wellspring of my hopes, remained out of my reach. A veil of agony had risen between my mind and the divine energies dwelling within me.
My eyes lingered on my smoking chest and gazed upon steaming ink. A ghastly tattoo of a chained owl burned on my skin, its painted chains of blood-tainted tar seeping into my bones and caging my heart-fire.
The Nightlords had sealed my sorcery the same way they bound Nenetl before me.
I fought back nonetheless. I tried to summon the Doll, the Veil, the Blaze, even the Tomb. I knew almost a dozen spells, and yet none worked tonight. My efforts were answered with chest burns.
The Nightlords¡¯ mocking laughter echoed around me, sharp and deadly. It battered my broken spirit far worse than betrayal¡¯s sting, Necahual¡¯s murder and Yoloxochitl¡¯s return. All my allies had been outsiders and our alliances borrowed power, but my sorcery was mine.
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¡°No more magic, songbird,¡± Iztacoatl taunted me. ¡°You were given the chance to rule in our name, and now, you will serve.¡±
My magic, my only innate gift, the one power that the gods blessed me with, was gone.
I felt a great emptiness within me. A void of numbness beyond fear, denial, and acceptance. Yet somehow, I did not despair. I had been denied my greatest asset, the one power that truly belonged to me, but my mind was filled with clarity rather than fatalism.
¡°Worry not, songbird.¡± Iztacoatl, as always, never missed an opportunity to pour salt on my wounds. ¡°Your struggles have touched my heart, and I did promise you a reward.¡±
Iztacoatl whispered in my ear with the smug satisfaction of a sore winner taking her revenge.
¡°Once Chikal¡¯s unborn child comes of age, I will personally claim the child myself,¡± she promised with cruel glee. ¡°The best part of you shall endure forevermore.¡±
I answered her joy with a glare of pure, undiluted malice.
So baleful was my murderous hatred that it briefly startled Iztacoatl. Her smug glee turned to fury. Her hand slapped me with such force I felt a tooth crack within my jaw, yet I continued to stare at her in vicious defiance.
Even while denied my sorcery, I refused to submit.
I would not give up on my revenge, and I would never stop fighting the Nightlords.
Even if I were to fail today, even if I were to die and join my predecessors in silent suffering, then I would do everything in my power to ruin whatever I touched. I would not beg for forgiveness nor meekly waste away. I would give my captors nothing but ashes and curses.
If it came to it, I would call upon the First Emperor and do his bidding. I would see the Nightlords cower in fear no matter the cost. I would gladly bear the burden of eternal suffering if I could drag these bats down along with me to our shared doom.
I would never be powerless, because I would never surrender.
I was far from defeated yet. Mother remained free. Though it was a long shot, she might find a way to assist me. She had endangered herself to save Astrid; perhaps Father was right and she would finally make the right choice. Ingrid still had the First Emperor¡¯s Codex stashed away too. This knowledge could tip the scales, whether for me or a successor.
Don¡¯t look at Ingrid and Nenetl, Iztac. Don¡¯t look, don¡¯t involve them, don¡¯t look at them! My hatred and my overwhelming desire to torment the Nightlords in any way I could gave me clarity. Keep the Nightlords¡¯ attention focused on yourself! Focus, focus!
I forced myself to stare at Necahual¡¯s corpse rather than my other powerless consorts. Here was a woman who I had hated and desired in equal measure, who had sacrificed so much for the feeble hope of saving her daughter, only to be murdered by a monster possessing her own flesh and blood. She had suffered the cruelest of deaths; enough for me to pity her and vow revenge on her behalf.
Guilt stirred within me beneath the anger and the bitterness. If I had undergone the Mometzcopinque ritual with Necahual and imbued her with sorcery, she might have been able to escape somehow. The odds would have been slim, yet I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what could have been.
I glared at the viper I¡¯d foolishly allowed into my inner circle. Chikal returned my stare with a blank expression, the same she always wore to hide her unease. Did shame and regrets overwhelm her? Or did she realize what kind of relentless enemy I would become?
Whatever the case, she had burned her bridges tonight. I swore I would rip out my unborn daughter from her womb and burn her to death for her treachery.
We conceived a child together. That promise sounded so hollow in my head. My relationship with Chikal had always been an alliance of convenience, a mere exchange of services. Our bond was only as strong as my promises to defeat the Nigthlords. My weakness cost me her faith¡
My anger burned those thoughts away. Chikal was the weak one, to accept servitude over hope and lay down her weapons in exchange for false promises. She would rue this foolish choice.
A knot formed in my stomach. A seed of a doubt.
Something¡ Something didn¡¯t add up.
Chikal wasn¡¯t weak. My own mind struggled to accept otherwise. I had seen her fearlessly fight Nightkin, keep her calm in tense situations, and bet on the hope that I, a puppet emperor and aspiring sorcerer, would one day help her overthrow a six-hundred year old vampire dynasty. She bet everything, from her own life to her pride, on the faint possibility that I would succeed.
She was like me; a person who would never give up the fight.
So why would she fold tonight of all times? Especially after our great victory during Astrid¡¯s hunt?
I glanced at Yoloxochitl and her fair face. Eztli was stronger than this. She had resisted her vampiric sire¡¯s influence in the past, though she was force-fed her blood. I couldn¡¯t imagine her turning on Necahual and then giving up in despair. Losing her mother would inflame her spirit, not weaken it. My suspicion only grew stronger.
Something about this treachery didn¡¯t add up.
I closed my eyes and looked into myself, ignoring the vampires¡¯ taunts and their victims¡¯ cries. A shroud of shadows obscured my Teyolia and blinded my spirit to magic, yet I continued to sense its baleful light shining behind it. It appeared when I woke up, I was certain of it.
When I woke up¡
The truth struck me like a bolt of lightning.
I woke up right after the Lords of Terror touched my heart.
I opened my eyes and faced a vision of nightmare: Yoloxochitl playing with Necahual¡¯s head while in her daughter¡¯s body; Ingrid praying for my salvation; Chikal observing it all with the detached composure of a heartless politician; and I, powerless to change anything.
This wasn¡¯t a Veil, I was sure of it. This was no illusion meant to deceive my senses, but a play with real props and actors.
All of this was my fears made manifest.
¡°I never left the House of Fright,¡± I muttered in realization. ¡°I¡¯m still asleep.¡±
The words flowed out of my mouth, even though a gag bound it shut.
The shroud of darkness around my heart dispelled immediately, and my baleful heart-fire erupted in a mighty Blaze.
Purple flames surged from my body in a flood of fire. The Nightkin were vaporized in an instant alongside the wooden stakes keeping me bound and my consorts. The Nightlords were thrown back to the ground, their robes burning off from the heat.
I walked free on a floor of searing stones and my wounds no longer bothered me. Black feathers grew over my skin. I was a Tlacatecolotl again, the owl-man who danced among chaos¡¯ flames.
I looked at my ¡®consorts¡¯. Their skin had gone up in smoke, revealing the props hiding beneath their false flesh.
Dolls.
Ceramic dolls with knives for fingers and faceless masks for a face. They burned like kindling against the pillars, and soon only ashes would remain.
¡°How have you freed yourself?!¡± the Jaguar Woman snarled in cold fury. ¡°You will regret this, insolent slav¨C¡±
I crushed her throat with a talon of darkness. My Doll spell grabbed the four false Nightlords and lifted them up above the ground. They struggled pointlessly, cursing and shouting. This confirmed it. The real sisters would have easily broken free, but these props only wielded as much power as my mind allowed them to.
¡°Do you believe yourselves to be real?¡± I asked these imitations. ¡°Are your masks so well-crafted that you mistake them for real faces? Do you have their memories too?¡±
From the Jaguar Woman¡¯s snarls of impotent rage to the abject fear in Iztacoatl¡¯s eyes, I assumed they were indeed unaware of their true nature. Good. So very good. A cruel smile stretched on my lips.
¡°Then it means your pain will be real,¡± I said, my heart overflowing with joy. ¡°I will have some fun then.¡±
I had a lot of anger and frustration to vent out.
I couldn¡¯t tell how long I spent torturing these props. Hours? Days? Time meant little in Xibalba¡¯s bowels, but I was sure of one thing only: it ended way too soon.
I was naked and drenched in vampire blood by the time I was finished, my feet walking on a carpet of guts and ashes.
Sugey ended up impaled atop a burning pillar. The Jaguar Woman had been torn into so many pieces I doubted anyone could reassemble them. Iztacoatl bore the brunt of my cruelty: she died strapped to the stone table after countless humiliations, her body gutted from chin to groin. Only Yoloxochitl got off lightly with a snapped neck, mostly because I couldn¡¯t bear to torture someone wearing Eztli¡¯s face.
All of them became dolls bound by unbreakable strings.
For a very long moment, I basked in the sound of cracking embers and smoldering ashes surrounding me. I only had to follow the puppets¡¯ strings to face the hidden playwrights floating above the stage.
A pair of Lords of Terror descended from their fake, painted sky.
The first of them was the most pitiful picture imaginable: a limbless, castrated torso of a humanoid with a stitched mouth and empty eyes. Its raw flesh, which merged a woman''s breast on one side of the chest and torn nipples on the other, was a canvas of scars and mutilation. This thing could hear nothing, see nothing, and say nothing. It had been denied every freedom and suffered through every torment known to mankind.
Strings bound this Lord of Terror to an amorphous, limbless mass of hands and fingers floating above its head. They wove a web of puppets connecting this entire stage in a grand procession which only my flames freed me from. A single, immense eye protruded out of this quivering flesh. It gazed at me with otherworldly light that pierced through my skull and judged my very soul.
¡°What is this place?¡± I asked them.
The hand-mass wove its strings. Subtle vibrations resonated in an omnipresent symphony that echoed within my own mind
¡°This is the Razor House, where puppets gather and sharpen their knives,¡± it said. ¡°I am Ahalmez, the sweeper of souls, the one who manipulates. I am the puppeteer¡¯s strings and the invisible hand. I am the hangman and the judge. I am the faceless state, the cruel destiny, the deceiver, the slaver. I am hierarchy and domination.¡±
Its eye looked down on me in judgment.
¡°I am that which you fear most,¡± it boasted. ¡°I am control.¡±
The torso held within its strings gargled and struggled in a pitiful display of powerlessness.
¡°This is Ahaltocob, the shamer and backstabber,¡± Ahalmez said, who denied its counterpart the right to speak for itself. ¡°He is betrayal, shame, rejection, impotence, and humiliation. The puppet and the toy, denied even the right to cry.¡±
The fear of humiliation and the fear of abuse. The ego¡¯s destruction and the loss of one¡¯s autonomy. The dominated and the dominator, the slave and its master. A codependent pair as old as human civilization. No wonder their trial worked so well and so insidiously.
They were the twin terrors who ruled my heart.
¡°We are the fears that have followed you since you first drew breath, Iztac Ce Ehecatl, and you¡¡± Ahalmez glared down on me. ¡°You have disappointed us.¡±
I bristled. ¡°I have passed your trial, demons.¡±
¡°By putting your misplaced faith in mere humans?¡± The eye contemplated the ashes of my rampage. ¡°We have shown you more than your fears. We have shown you your future.¡±
I clenched my teeth and glanced at the doll that used to be Yoloxochitl. This fear was born of my mind, but I wondered if it was grounded in reality. ¡°How much of that was true?¡±
¡°This will be your story¡¯s end, should you fail to avert destiny,¡± Ahalmez warned. ¡°The endless procession will resume on the Night of the Scarlet Moon, with that girl living to fit the role granted to her. Such is the pyramid¡¯s nature: to grind the weak into pillars on which it may forever stand.¡±
My jaw clenched tightly. I hoped this fear of mine had been misfounded and that she would be able to resist the ritual, but if the very embodiment of control said otherwise, then Eztli would likely become Yoloxochitl reborn in the next cycle of dead emperors.
Still, my instincts told me the Lords of Terror kept details from me. Something about their insistence bothered me.
¡°That vampiric consort of yours will inevitably turn on you, as well that amazon queen once she receives a better offer. Do you believe that the Winland princess¡¯ loyalty is any more secure? Once the Nightlords bring back her sister in chains, and they will, what would she do then?¡± Ahalmez¡¯s eye glowed brighter. His power delved into my mind and read my thoughts like a book. ¡°Heed the seer¡¯s prophecy. Betrayal with a friend¡¯s face. The only thing a sorcerer can trust in this world of deceit is themselves.¡±
¡°What do you have to gain from telling me all this?¡± I asked with growing skepticism.
¡°Such is the Razor House¡¯s purpose. To cut away your human weaknesses, so that a sorcerer may be reborn as a pure demon free of fear and doubt. A lesson which you have failed to learn.¡±
This smelled like a half-lie. I had rattled the Lords of Terror in a way none of my previous trials had. My insistence on trusting my consorts and drawing strength from it annoyed them to their core.
I finally guessed what bothered me so much.
¡°Yohuachanca oppresses countless people,¡± I pointed out in skepticism. Of all the Lords of Terror I¡¯d encountered, these two benefited the most from the world¡¯s current state. ¡°Why help me topple the institutions that fuel your existence?¡±
¡°Because it is the duty of the strong to rule over the world and oppress the weak,¡± the lord of control replied. ¡°It does not matter to us who sits at the top or languishes at the bottom. Only the pyramid stands eternal.¡±
Its mutilated counterpart whined in what could pass for a moan of pleasure. They would delight in humiliating Nightlords and humans alike. Much like the Yaotzin, these fiends were the enemies of all sides.
They would exist so long as human society endured. An act of abuse within a family would nourish them just as much as the Nightlords¡¯ daily oppression.
A new tyrant would sustain just as well as the old.
King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s words echoed in my mind like a dire warning. ¡°Do not become what you fight against.¡±
¡°You are not neutral at all,¡± I realized.
These two had struck me at the perfect moment and played on my deepest fears. They had dug up my subtlest insecurities, sharpened them into knives, then used them to stab my very heart. They gave me a taste of what I dreaded most: betrayal.
They were trying to poison my faith not only in humanity, but also in everyone I loved and trusted. They wanted to break my friendships and affections until I saw treachery in every shadowy corner. They wanted to turn me into the enemy of all sides.
¡°You are trying to turn me into what the Nightlords failed to become,¡± I guessed in horror. ¡°A dark god who shall oppress mankind and let you feast on the chaos.¡±
¡°A glorious destiny that will slip through your grasp, should you continue to sink into naivety.¡±
¡°My destiny is mine alone to seize, as is my freedom!¡± I glared at these arrogant fiends. ¡°I place my trust in who I want and I do as I wish!¡±
Ahalmez¡¯s single eye squinted at me in utter disdain. ¡°How disappointing. We place such high hopes in you, and in the end, you lack the strength to shed your humanity.¡±
¡°And yet, what would you be without us humans?¡± I countered. ¡°You are not gods who helped create the Fifth Sun, not even the Fourth, or the Third. Instead, the world created you. You are born from our human fears; parasites and carrion feeders sustaining yourself on our pain. King Mictlantecuhtli will endure long after mankind has disappeared, but your lot?¡±
I chuckled in disgust.
¡°You will fade away,¡± I said. ¡°Like ice in the sunlight.¡±
¡°We have witnessed many sunsets,¡± the lord of control replied with the Jaguar Woman¡¯s voice. If it thought it would rattle me, then it failed. ¡°You fathom not the power we possess.¡±
¡°Oh, I think otherwise. I have read the First Emperor¡¯s codex. ¡®The lords of Xibalba are a cruel lot, both masters of their realm¡ and its prisoners.¡¯¡± I waved a hand at this house of lies into which they had tricked me. ¡°You rule over reality within these dollhouses of yours, but you cannot escape this city¡¯s confines. You are slaves to laws stronger than you will ever be.¡±
¡°Yet I have enthralled your very soul and forced it to dance on my stage!¡± Ahalmez boasted. ¡°Men believe they can take refuge within their mind, and I have proved them wrong time and again. I show them that a master¡¯s grasp extends into the slave¡¯s mind. Humans are never safe, not even inside their own heads. To violate this final refuge, to deny a victim this final dignity, is the ultimate act of conquest.¡±
¡°Then why did you fail to break me?¡± I replied with newfound pride. ¡°You showed me my greatest fear and I burned it away. You tried to poison my mind against my consorts, but my trust in them proved stronger.¡±
I extended my arms and dared the Lords of Terror to strike me down.
¡°Go ahead,¡± I dared them. ¡°Break my will, if you are so powerful. Shatter my mind to pieces and make me your slave in the waking world. Go on, try!¡±
A tense, terrible silence followed my challenge.
¡°Just as I thought,¡± I replied as I lowered my arms. I had a feeling about this. ¡°It is not that you so-called Lords choose to give a spell to those who pass your trials; it is that you are compelled to. You are thralls to this cursed city¡¯s laws. Now that I have passed this test, you can no longer harm me.¡±
I took Ahalmez¡¯s frustration as confirmation. ¡°Your arrogance will be the death of you, feathered fool.¡±
¡°And your ignorance blinds you to who I am, carrion-feeders,¡± I boasted. ¡°I am Iztac Ce Ehecatl, the emperor who shall destroy Yohuachanca and dance among its ashes! And if you think you can control me, then let me give the same answer I once offered the Nightlords!¡±
I crossed my arms and faced the Lords of Terror with the same defiance I showed false gods once.
¡°I refuse,¡± I declared boldly. ¡°Now give me that spell I am entitled to, so that I may be on my way to my final House of Trials. I am growing tired of this farce.¡±
Ahalmez glared at me for a while in impotent rage, only for a soft sound to shatter the silence between us.
Its prisoner Ahaltocob let out a sinister rattle from its bleeding throat. The stitches binding its mouth shifted just enough to free its lips.
¡°We shall teach him the Word,¡± it moaned pitifully.
Ahalmez seemed genuinely confused. ¡°The Word?¡±
¡°A single word the weak will follow,¡± the humiliated one whispered. ¡°Sleep, burn, love, obey¡ Die.¡±
Ahalmez pondered its cohort¡¯s proposal, before acquiescing to it. It made me wonder which of these two was the true master.
¡°You alone, of all of mortalkind, shall know this spell,¡± the lord of control declared, albeit with clear reluctance in its voice. ¡°Use it to quell your fear to rest. Strip your slaves of their ill-gotten free-will so that they may never betray you. Build your own pyramid, one broken back at a time. Only then will you absolve yourself from Fate¡¯s decrees.¡±
I could recognize a poisoned gift when I saw one. The offer was as generous as it was insidiously corruptive. I had spent so much time earning the trust of others and cajoling their cooperation through services or favors. A spell that compelled obedience, even if it was limited to a single word, would let me force it without fear of betrayal. It would become so easy to rely on this spell, to grow dependent on this tool of oppression to secure my peace of mind. I wouldn¡¯t have to fear Chikal turning on me if her mind bent to my will; same with Eztli.
Since the Lords of Terror failed to crush my trust in my allies, they offered me an easy way to neglect it.
I would have to avoid falling into their trap and use the spell with parsimony. Loyalty compelled by force was more fickle than it looked, as my captors taught me, and abusing the Word would only play into the Lords of Terror¡¯s hands. Not to mention the danger that would befall the world should the Nightlords ever learn of it.
The Lords of Terror gave me a chain to strangle myself with. A leash that would bind me to its victims.
I would have to prove myself the master of my own fate.
Only a single trial stood between me and those cursed city¡¯s gates.
My time in Xibalba would soon come to an end.
Chapter Sixty-Eight: Eyes Wide Shut
I woke up from a long nightmare with Nenetl by my side.
The bed was warm, and her feet pressed against mine even more so. My eyes slowly acclimated to the faint sunlight filtered through obsidian windows. While the trials of Xibalba exhausted my spirit in the Underworld, here my body now felt well and truly rested. Since the morning sun had risen, I guessed I¡¯d been asleep for an afternoon and a whole night.
¡°Morning, Iztac.¡± Nenetl turned to face me when she sensed me move, her head resting in her hands while she stared at me. ¡°You¡¯re finally awake?¡±
I studied her face for a very long moment. Though I felt my soul return from the Underworld as usual, I¡¯d half-expected to be facing a third trial now. A mere look at Nenetl¡¯s bright smile and kind eyes reassured me. No Lord of Terror could mimic the genuine, gentle warmth radiating from my consort.
She was the real Nenetl.
¡°Iztac¡¡± Nenetl smiled sheepishly. ¡°Is, uh¡ is something the matter?¡±
¡°I was just admiring you,¡± I replied sincerely. After two trials in a row, seeing her again soothed my heart better than any poultice. ¡°You¡¯re beautiful, Nenetl. Radiant.¡±
Nenetl¡¯s cheeks reddened in a mix of joy and embarrassment. ¡°You really mean that?¡± she asked me, almost anxiously. ¡°Even with¡ the hair and eyes?¡±
¡°I have the same too,¡± I pointed out, slightly amused.
¡°I know, but¡¡± Nenetl bit her lower lip. ¡°They look better on you.¡±
They didn¡¯t, but I guessed that even simple compliments like mine hit all the harder after a lifetime of being bullied over her ¡®cursed¡¯ appearance.
¡°I love them, Nenetl.¡± I pulled my arms around her waist and pulled her naked body over my chest. Her startled cry of surprise only emboldened me to kiss her on the neck next. ¡°I could devour you right now.¡±
¡°Oh, Iztac¡¡± She shivered with pleasure as my hand caressed her back and then her buttcheeks. By the time I pressed my lips onto her own, she had already grabbed my manhood.
We were rutting like animals a minute later. I sat on the bed with my lips kissing every ounce of flesh within reach, while Nenetl rode me with her arms around my neck. My consort answered my desire with wild energy, nibbling and grunting and gasping. I had yet to bed a woman with such a bottomless appetite since Eztli. Nenetl hungered for me, for love, and for pleasure.
I had created a monster.
Our Seidr connection was simply abnormally potent too. It usually took a few thrusts for my Teyolia to connect with that of my lovers, but ours joined the moment I penetrated Nenetl. I felt like we were a single soul split into two shells of flesh jumping at any occasion to reunite. The fact we both possessed a totem of our own probably strengthened our spiritual bond.
Images flashed before my eyes as our minds and flesh melded together in a deep embrace. I watched Nenetl¡¯s face transform into Mother¡¯s through my Father¡¯s eyes, his hands closing on her waist. I vaguely heard cries in the distance, drowned in grunts and sighs of pleasure. The vision lasted an instant before Nenetl and I returned to reality, yet it left me disoriented.
Why did I keep seeing that?
¡°Iztac¡¡± Nenetl stared at me in confusion as she recovered her breath, her salty skin sweating profusely. My seed dripped down her thighs and on my waist. ¡°That was¨C¡±
¡°Wonderful.¡± I pressed a short kiss on her lips. ¡°You are wonderful.¡±
¡°I¡ thank you.¡± Nenetl shifted a bit as my manhood exited her, but her grip on my neck remained strong. ¡°That¡ that was great.¡±
I found myself forgetting all about Xibalba, the Nightlords, and everything else. All those considerations paled before the joy of embracing a woman who deeply, truly loved me. I had needed this after suffering through that treacherous play in the Underworld: the reassurance that there was something about humanity worth fighting for.
¡°Thank you for accepting me, Nenetl,¡± I said before kissing her on her fresh, inviting lips. ¡°It means more than you think.¡±
Nenetl giggled lightly. ¡°That¡¯s silly, but¡ I hope they¡¯ll have our eyes¡¡±
I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Whom?¡±
¡°Our kids.¡± My confusion caused Nenetl to hesitate. ¡°I mean, uh¡ we had sex and you¡ you know.¡± Her smile turned awkward and anxious. ¡°Is that not how it works?¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. I would have expected the harem¡¯s other women to have enlightened her on that front.
¡°Kids aren¡¯t guaranteed after sex, Nenetl,¡± I replied. ¡°It often takes a few tries.¡±
¡°Oh! Oh, that¡¯s, that¡¯s good to hear¡¡± From Nenetl¡¯s expression, I could tell that she was looking forward to carnal pleasures. How voracious. ¡°I thought that since it worked for Chikal¨C¡±
My fingers tensed on her waist. ¡°Chikal?¡±
Nenetl¡¯s eyes widened in realization. ¡°I spoiled it¡¡± she muttered in horror before covering her mouth with her hands. ¡°Oh gods, I spoiled the surprise¡¡±
¡°Worry not, Nenetl,¡± Chikal¡¯s voice said from behind our bedroom¡¯s curtain. My amazon consort swiftly pushed it aside, causing Nenetl to let out a cry of surprise, get off me, and retreat under the bed sheets. ¡°This was a long time in the making.¡±
I sat on the bed as Chikal entered the bedroom, closely followed by Ingrid and Eztli. The last time I saw them, one cried while tied to a pillar, one had betrayed me, and the last one had been possessed by a Nightlord.
The three women in front of me couldn¡¯t look any different from my nightmare. Chikal strutted forward with the regal, proud poise of a true queen. Ingrid smiled warmly at me with a gaze filled with a deep and profound affection. And Eztli was Eztli, smirking and mischievous.
She did put a single marigold in her hair, however.
It was a single flower compared to Yoloxochitl¡¯s crown of petals, but it sent a shiver down my spine nonetheless. The Lords of Terror hadn¡¯t lied; they showed me a vision of a dreadful future that would come to pass should I fail. I would need to have a word with Eztli and her mother soon.
Nonetheless, another subject preoccupied me more at the moment. Chikal sat on the side of my bed and met my gaze. She seemed especially pleased today for her joy to break through her composed facade.
¡°Are you¡¡± The word remained unsaid on the tip of my tongue, like a curse
¡°I am pregnant.¡± Chikal put a hand on her belly and beamed with pride. ¡°Your seed has taken root, Iztac. Both Necahual and Lahun confirmed it.¡±
Pregnant.
Chikal was pregnant.
With my child.
I had another once. He burned with Sigrun in the flames.
I expected overwhelming dread to follow this revelation, especially after learning the truth from the Parliament of Skulls and facing Fjor during the hunt. Instead, I felt a strange, serene kind of grim acceptance. Fathering a child with Chikal had been the price of our political alliance and an inevitability. I¡¯d likely impregnated Necahual already as well, even if I hadn¡¯t received a confirmation yet.
What was bound to happen, happened.
What did Lahun predict? The son of chaos would become the father of terror?
The fear of siring a future vampire or broodmare always hung over me like a cloud whenever I lay with my consorts and concubines. Strange as it sounded, knowing that the damage was already done lifted a weight off my shoulders; the same way I felt strangely at peace after sacrificing a hundred souls to the Yaotzin.
The bridge had been crossed. My descendants would suffer under the Nightlords¡¯ yoke if I failed, no matter their numbers.
The Lords of Terrors¡¯ vision had only reminded me of my precarious position¡ªhow a single mistake would lead to me being stripped of my magic and ultimate suffering. The nightmare also hardened my resolve. I knew from within my heart that I would never surrender to the Nightlords under any circumstances.
Chikal was right, I had to consider ways to prepare for the future should I fail to destroy the Nightlords myself. Children could inherit my hatred along with my Nahualli powers. With mothers such as Necahual or Lahun to whisper tales of duty and revenge in their ears, one of them might take up my sword and finish what I¡¯d started.
Besides, the imperial system offered privileges to concubines who bore an emperor¡¯s children. My chosen mates would never know true safety under the Nightlords¡¯ yoke, but they could accrue influence the same way Sigrun did. I could even arrange for my knowledge and secrets to pass on to them.
Eztli, who knew me so well, smiled ear to ear. ¡°Does Your Majesty want more?¡±
I considered her question and then realized that I had no idea.
Impregnating Necahual gave me such pleasure because it let me avenge myself on her for her mistreatment and Guatemoc for his inaction, and having a queen like Chikal bearing my daughter filled me with a certain kind of masculine pride. My blood stirred with desire when I looked at Nenetl, Ingrid, Eztil, and the others.
But I couldn¡¯t exclude the danger of giving the Nightlords a stable of Nahualli-bred vampires. I suspected they¡¯d selected me as this year¡¯s emperor partly to produce magical offspring they could repurpose for their own uses.
I also had to factor in the possibility that my descendants would either refuse to follow in my footsteps or worse, submit to my captors.
Is that what I am reduced to now? Treating my sons and daughters as resources to be managed and weapons for me to wield? Then again, I¡¯d already used childbearing as a test of loyalty with Lahun earlier. What does that make me?
In a better world, I would have wanted children for their own sake rather than to secure political alliances or take up my cause should I perish. I would have raised them with the same care Father showed me once.
I had to win. I couldn¡¯t abandon my descendants to fend off for themselves on their own like Mother did.
¡°I would have loved to grow up with a sibling,¡± I replied, though in truth I only ever aspired to freedom and solitude. I suddenly recalled another matter that I should at least pretend to address. ¡°Speaking of siblings, do we have any news of your sister, Ingrid?¡±
¡°The search is ongoing,¡± Ingrid replied with a tone that could pass for concern, but the impish look she sent me said otherwise. ¡°I am sure my lord¡¯s faithful servants will recover her in no time. I shall pray for their success each night.¡±
I doubted that. Nonetheless, I took joy in the fact none of us would have to worry about Astrid¡¯s safety anytime soon. I would wait a few days for Fjor to stew in his confusion before approaching him for my plan.
¡°So shall I,¡± I said before slouching on a pillow. A plan came to mind. ¡°I have spent too much time fulfilling my imperial duties and not enough of them taking care of you all, my dear companions. Henceforth, this day shall be dedicated to love and pleasure.¡±
While Nenetl reddened and Chikal raised an eyebrow, Eztli grinned in anticipation. ¡°A day of pleasure?¡± she asked with a slight chuckle. ¡°I could think of a few pastimes.¡±
¡°What of the matters of state, my lord?¡± Ingrid asked with a strange look in her eyes.
¡°They will wait,¡± I decided while waving my hand. ¡°The conception of my first child, though soured by Astrid¡¯s disappearance, warrants a grandiose celebration.¡±
My predecessors suggested that I follow up on last night¡¯s tension with frivolity to better deceive the Nightlords, and what better waste of time and money than a day of luxurious decadence? I would give them a feast of excess that would shame the gods themselves.
This strategy worked well for Nochtli the Fourteenth in the past, while offering me the perfect excuse to discuss recent events with my consorts and concubines under layers of misdirection. The fact that I confirmed that I could practice Seidr undetected only added more benefits.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind taking it easy for a day,¡± Eztli said. ¡°Especially since this may be my last day as your official consort before my¡¡± Her lips stretched to unveil her sharp fangs. ¡°Replacement arrives.¡±
Her words instantly soured many moods, none worse than Nenetl; having nearly died at the Skinwalker¡¯s hands, she didn¡¯t look forward to cohabiting with her as a fellow consort. I could only hope that Chindi would put her acting talents to use to at least fake repentance.
¡°I have no doubt the goddesses will domesticate that wild beast by the time she comes to us,¡± I said with an imperious, confident tone.
¡°If not, I will do it myself,¡± Eztli promised with a malicious, predatory gleam in her eyes. ¡°A predecessor should personally ensure that their successor lives up to their example, should they not?"
I exchanged a glance with Eztli. Having her keep an eye on Chindi would certainly soothe my mind, if only to ensure she wouldn¡¯t harm or disturb my other concubines. I did wonder what method my consort intended to use to ensure her replacement¡¯s compliance.
¡°We shall see,¡± I replied before stretching. ¡°Ingrid, I leave it up to you and Eztli to organize my schedule today. See that everyone in my harem gets their fair share of my valuable time.¡±
¡°Does my lord have a peculiar wish in mind?¡± she asked me back.
I smiled ear to ear. ¡°Quite a few.¡±
It was time for me to organize my first imperial orgy.
After some consideration, we decided that I would do a different activity with each of my consorts and their handmaiden; and that no woman may wear clothes in my presence, so that their emperor may bask in their beauty. A most frivolous request that should lull spies into a false sense of safety.
The first spectacle would be a series of gladiatorial combat held in my first child¡¯s honor. Since we remained confined to our quarters for now, my servants transformed our dining room into an arena by removing the central stone table and setting a vast bed of luxurious pillows on which we spectators could rest.
Here I slouched, naked as the day I was born, with one arm around Chikal¡¯s waist and the other around Lahun¡¯s. While the latter arrived only with her fang necklace and feather headband, the former bore a queenly ruby diadem, golden bracelets, and a tight choker which I found most alluring.
¡°I thought amazons were above such luxuries,¡± I teased her.
¡°This is a special day,¡± Chikal replied as the fighters¡ªan Eagle Knight and a Jaguar Warrior¡ªtook position in the makeshift arena. Each of them wielded obsidian clubs, for the fight would be to the death. ¡°Unless you would rather see me clothed in rags?¡±
¡°Not for all the gold in the world,¡± I replied before kissing Chikal on the cheek and earning myself a wry smile from her.
Servants soon served us drinks¡ªthough Chikal refused alcoholic beverages on account of her pregnancy¡ªas the fighters took their positions. My dear Itzili returned to me wounded, but alive. He rested at my pillow throne¡¯s feet with bandages around his leg, his reptilian eyes studying the duelists with hunger. I¡¯d promised him that he could eat the losing fighter¡¯s heart.
¡°Who do you think will win, Lahun?¡± I asked her.
¡°I have not consulted fate on this outcome,¡± the shamaness replied, her hand hesitantly resting on my chest. Being in this position right next to her queen unsettled her at first, but she was growing slowly used to it. ¡°I would wager on the Jaguar Warrior.¡±
¡°He does look more experienced,¡± Chikal noted while stroking her chin. ¡°The other looks fitter though. I will take that bet.¡±
I chuckled. ¡°You would wager against a seer, Chikal?¡±
¡°One must shape their own future,¡± my consort replied with a knowing smile. ¡°You understand this more than most.¡±
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
¡°My lady refused to let me read her child¡¯s fate once we confirmed her pregnancy,¡± Lahun informed me. ¡°In spite of my best arguments to convince her otherwise.¡±
¡°Why?¡± I asked her curiously.
Chikal shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of tomorrow. I shall face whatever destiny awaits my future daughter and me.¡±
I wondered what could frighten this woman of stone. I had to admit I found her willfulness and confidence quite arousing.
¡°Lady Necahual was a wiser listener,¡± Lahun said as the fighters began to circle one another, waiting for an opening. ¡°She and I have kept each other company and shared mutual advice. She would make a great seer.¡±
I understood the hidden message. Lahun had begun to teach Necahual her shamanic ways, as I¡¯d ordered her to. Excellent. My coven of witches was slowly taking shape in the background.
¡°Did you read her fortune?¡± I asked.
¡°I did. Her lifeline is weaker than Your Majesty¡¯s, so signs were more succinct. I can recount my predictions to Your Majesty, but I suspect Lady Necahual will tell you on her own.¡±
¡°I will ask her directly,¡± I replied. ¡°Were they good or bad signs?¡±
Lahun pondered my question for a moment before answering. ¡°Good for her, and bad for others.¡±
I took this as an excellent sign.
The Eagle Knight suddenly lunged at his adversary upon seeing an opening. Their obsidian clubs clashed in a flash of speed, their blades mutually scratching each other and leaving thin gashes across their chests. Itzili¡¯s head perked up at the sight of droplets of blood hitting the ground.
¡°Have you thought about us?¡± Chikal asked in my ear while her eyes watched the duel with rapturous attention. The allure of combat excited her like nothing else.
¡°Yes,¡± I replied. I noticed that Lahun listened attentively to our discussion. Good, it concerned her too.
¡°You have fulfilled your part of the bargain,¡± Chikal said. ¡°We no longer need to share a bed, should you desire it.¡±
¡°Have I left such a poor impression?¡± I teased her. ¡°How do amazons run things in Chilam? Are fathers involved in their children¡¯s lives?¡±
¡°No,¡± Chikal replied. ¡°As I said before, males are only for procreation. Most believe letting them influence their daughters will result in weaklings.¡±
Quite the savage take on paternity. ¡°Most?¡±
Chikal shrugged. ¡°The question does not concern us, Iztac. We will not live long enough to raise our daughter.¡±
¡°Of course not,¡± I replied. Walls had ears, so we had to tacitly pretend to accept our fate in the open. ¡°What of love then? Can a proud amazon rest her head on a man¡¯s shoulder to forget her lonely days?¡±
¡°A woman can have a favorite consort,¡± Chikal explained. ¡°They rarely last long. My own father was around for five years before my mother replaced him with a younger captive, and many considered it an exceptional tenure.¡±
¡°What man could replace an emperor, I wonder.¡± I stroked my consort¡¯s crimson hair. ¡°I trust you, Chikal.¡±
¡°I know.¡±
¡°No, you do not,¡± I replied. ¡°I trust your strength, your honor, your wits, and your bravery. Few would have dared join us in our last hunt, and fewer would have dared to fight a Nightkin head on. You possess an unwavering spirit which I admire.¡±
¡°Your compliments are appreciated, but unwarranted.¡± Chikal looked away from the duel long enough to study my face. ¡°Where does this come from, Iztac?¡±
A nightmare. ¡°The heart. A political alliance no longer satisfies me. I would like to form a deeper bond than an union of convenience.¡± I lovingly caressed her cheek. ¡°I would like to become your husband in deed and name, if you will let me.¡±
The proposal amused Chikal. ¡°I would be the first queen of Chilam to have a husband then. This would violate many of our oldest traditions.¡±
¡°And they failed to repel Yohuachanca,¡± I stated bluntly. ¡°If your old ways failed you in your hour of need, then perhaps you ought to change them.¡±
¡°True.¡± Chikal considered my proposal for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°I would not be opposed to deepening our alliance, but I am not certain that I can trust you yet, Iztac. The way you behaved in the forest makes me wonder how much in control of yourself you are.¡±
¡°I am the Godspeaker. The heavens speak and kill through me. That will never change.¡± I would have to keep up this charade for the sake of deceiving the Nightlords. ¡°But I can swear one thing to you.¡±
I brought my left hand to my mouth and bit my palm so hard I drew blood.
Flames surged from beneath my skin. Lahun stared at them with fascination, while the Jaguar Warrior froze in shock. This moment of inattention cost him dearly, as his foe proceeded to swing his obsidian club for the kill.
¡°I am a man with fire in his veins,¡± I declared.
I pressed my burning palm against her buttcheek.
My consort let out a cry of surprise at the sudden heat. At the same moment, the Eagle Knight sliced the Jaguar Warrior¡¯s throat in a shower of blood staining the ground. His head swiftly rolled across the makeshift arena.
My other hand let go of a shocked Lahun and grabbed Chikal by her choker. I pinned her under me with all of my strength before she could regain her bearing.
¡°I promise you neither cozy stability nor fleeting peace of mind, Chikal.¡± I didn¡¯t think she sought either. ¡°What I offer is a wild ride to war and eternal glory.¡±
Chikal scowled and counterattacked. Her right hand grabbed my hair and pulled, while the other tried to shove my burning palm away from her ass. She was strong, but weeks of training and the divine fire coursing through my veins let me hold my ground; I continued to caress her flesh while Itzili squealed in the background upon earning himself a free meal.
¡°Do you have what it takes to reach the finish line with me? If so, then I promise you this.¡± I leaned on to whisper in Chikal¡¯s ear while she grunted at my touch. ¡°When I¡¯m with you, we will always be our true selves.¡±
Chikal met my eyes, her scowl turning into a vicious grin. ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re getting into.¡±
Her mask of composure dropped to reveal the true Chikal lurking under the queenly mask. She flashed me a look of pure bloodlust and savagery; the face of a woman who loved to fight and kill as much as I did, who had spent her life carefully controlling it through composure and sharp political skills.
I felt like staring at my own reflection.
Chikal¡¯s grip on my burning hand tightened and forced my palm away from her skin. So strong were her fingers that I thought she would break my wrist, but she did no such thing.
Chikal instead moved my palm to my manhood and soaked it in my burning blood.
It didn¡¯t hurt me, not in the slightest. The challenge aroused me. I shoved my erect manhood inside Chikal, a grunt of pain and pleasure answering me. My hands savagely grabbed my consort¡¯s waist while her legs closed on my back, her thighs wrapped around my pelvis.
I ignored Lahun¡¯s gaze, the bout¡¯s victor waiting in silence, and Itzili¡¯s noises as he chewed on the loser¡¯s heart. Chikal and I entered a savage rhythm free of thought and concern; an ebb and flow, a constant shifting of the tides slowly increasing into a frenzied dance. The deeper I pushed, the faster our hearts pounded and the stronger her grip grew. Her legs closed on my back with such strength I thought she would snap me in two. Her teeth sank into my throat deep enough to draw blood, as did my nails in her waist. Our pain and pleasure became so closely intertwined I couldn¡¯t tell one apart from the other.
As our thrusts escalated into a crescendo of grunts and gasps, our flesh and souls began to meld harmoniously together. I had spent so many nights trying to form a Seidr ritual with Chikal, to no avail. Our souls never managed to align because she always sought to dominate me, to control and bend me to her will.
I showed her what last night already taught her: that she would never succeed.
Chikal had been raised to see males as tools to dominate. Her relationship with me, though respectful, followed these principles so far. She had hoped to exploit me to destroy her enemies and fulfill her political agenda while holding my leash. Her concerns about the First Emperor were no more than a reflection of her fears of losing her hold over me.
And that was a shadow of her truest fear: losing control over herself.
Such was the understanding that came to me once our Teyolias finally connected into a Seidr ritual. I saw nothing so grandiose as a vision of the past, nor did we share memories. Our souls simply melded in an intimate embrace that gave us insight into one another.
Chikal was a queen, and true leaders did not show vulnerability. She had never let her emotions guide her actions, instead bottling them up with reason¡¯s rule, because any mistake could spell her people¡¯s doom. Chikal behaved like a sleeping volcano, boiling magma swirling under a deceptively quiet bed of stone. Hence why the few times she allowed herself to truly let loose seemed so sudden and shocking to outsiders.
What I offered in our relationship was the same thing I always promised: freedom. Not only from the Nightlords, but the gaze and pressure of queenship. She wouldn¡¯t have to wear a mask with me.
She could be Chikal of Chilam, in all of her pent-up savagery and violent glory.
As our heart-fires split, I caught a final glimpse of a small fire between us. A newborn and flickering flame, so weak and fragile I could hardly see it.
The precious Teyolia of my unborn daughter.
I returned to reality with aches, bleeding scratch marks all over my skin, and a newfound sense of purpose. Chikal exhaled in the wake of our shared orgasm, the silence in the room hardly filled by Itzili¡¯s mastications.
¡°Is that a yes?¡± I teased her.
¡°For now,¡± Chikal replied with the same tone. ¡°I am not a prize to be shelved, Iztac. You will have to win me every day of your life.¡±
A challenge I would gladly take on. I pressed my lips against her own in a ferocious final kiss.
Our political alliance had deepened into a stronger one today.
Chikal released her hold on me after that, allowing me to turn over and look beyond herself. Lahun remained silent as a tomb, as was the victorious Eagle Warrior. As for Itzili, he had mostly finished consuming the loser¡¯s heart.
¡°You¡¯ve done well, soldier,¡± I congratulated the victor, my blood and seed dripping on the pillows. ¡°I will see that you join my personal guard once we march to slaughter the Sapa.¡±
¡°Your Divine Grace honors this humble warrior,¡± the man replied with a deep bow, though he could hardly hide the disturbed edge in his voice. Whether it was my savage behavior or burning blood that spooked him, I couldn¡¯t tell.
Either would serve me well. Every new rumor about the emperor¡¯s eccentricities would strengthen my chosen facade of instability, and tales of my miracles would increase my subjects¡¯ reverence.
I dismissed the soldier with a wave of my hand. Itzili belched after finishing his meal, which amused Chikal.
¡°It seems I won again, Lahun,¡± she said while cleaning my steaming, dried blood and seed off her thighs. If the burns bothered her, she didn¡¯t show it.
¡°Your Majesty has always had good judgment,¡± the shaman replied, though she hardly cared about the battle anymore. She only had eyes for my blazing blood. ¡°If I may¡¡±
I presented her with my bloody hand and the faint flames rising from my palm. Lahun grabbed it almost too eagerly and studied it with fascination. The visions I¡¯d given her during our Seidr union looked almost quaint compared to this obvious, blatant feat of supernatural power.
¡°The gods smile on me,¡± I told Lahun. ¡°And those who serve me well.¡±
Lahun looked up at me with eyes burning with ambition. I could read her thoughts written all over her face. She realized that I didn¡¯t simply wield magic; I was sorcery. Divine power coursed through my veins.
Power which I¡¯d subtly promised to her, should she pay the price I asked.
¡°I am always Your Majesty¡¯s faithful servant,¡± Lahun replied. She moved my hand against her chest, right above her heart. The heat of my flames caused her some irritation, but she gladly bore it for the sake of her goal. ¡°My soul and body are yours to use and dispose of as you see fit.¡±
¡°Then let me pace myself and sip from a drink,¡± I declared after snapping my fingers and calling for a servant to bring us refreshment. ¡°I will take care of you right after.¡±
Coupling with Lahun proved a much calmer experience than spending time in Chikal¡¯s embrace.
I didn¡¯t mind it. Sex was mostly an excuse to practice Seidr with her, a skill which she showed an excellent grasp on. Now that I had gotten a better hang on Teyolias, I explored its healing properties by voluntarily leaving scratches during lovemaking, which I then healed with a transfer of energy.
When I tried to save Nenetl¡¯s life back during our hunt, I couldn¡¯t isolate which wounds the transfer should focus on. I now believed that Seidr could indeed allow me to heal individual body parts without wasting my heart-fire on other spots. It was simply a matter of controlling how the flow moved through the bloodstream.
I wondered if I could turn the process on its head. I could in theory incapacitate individuals by withering their lungs and hands rather than drain them to death the long, hard way. This warranted further experimentation.
¡°Continue to serve me well,¡± I whispered in Lahun¡¯s ear after we finished, ¡°and a greater reward might be just around the corner.¡±
¡°Your Majesty only has to ask,¡± she replied. ¡°And I shall obey.¡±
I¡¯d primed her enough. I would just need an opportunity to put her through the Mometzcopinque ritual for a test run.
After the servants cleaned up the bones left from Itzili¡¯s meal, I moved on to a warm hot bath in the company of Ingrid. I decided to spend some time alone with her before following on with the rest of the agenda. Officially, I had to show her preference considering her sister¡¯s disappearance; unofficially, I simply wanted to comfort her personally after our harrowing hunt.
¡°Chikal didn¡¯t go easy on you.¡± Ingrid traced the scratches on my arm with her hands, her fingers peeking above the bubbles. She sat on my lap in a corner of the baths, the water covering up to her shoulders. ¡°Does my lord like it rough?¡±
¡°Sometimes.¡± Truthfully, I didn¡¯t have any particular preference. I adapted depending on my partner. I mostly saw sex as a tool to accumulate power, whether magical or political. ¡°Would you prefer that I change my approach with you?¡±
¡°My lord is doing well as he is.¡± Ingrid looked away at the nearest wall. ¡°Very well.¡±
Why did she look so morose all of a sudden? I put my arms around her waist and pulled her to me, her back brushing against my chest. ¡°Is something bothering you, Ingrid?¡±
Ingrid let out a sigh. ¡°I would like it better if my lord had eyes for me¡ and only me.¡±
My jaw clenched and my grip on her strengthened. I could guess her next words.
¡°I concede that this may sound petty,¡± Ingrid said with a sigh. ¡°You are the emperor. I always knew I would be one of four consorts, and a single woman among thousands. I would never have you all for myself. Even back when Mother¡¡± She shook her head. ¡°Mother wanted us to work together. She would bear your child, while I would remain available at all times. This way we could hold you by the heartstrings.¡±
¡°Ingrid¨C¡±
She didn¡¯t let me finish. ¡°I thought I could live with that, until you bedded Mother.¡± Her nails sank into her arms. ¡°I felt like a side piece. A stooge meant to prop-up another and then be replaced by her newest child.¡±
I would have loved to say that Lady Sigrun had better intentions, but we both knew better. As much as I¡¯d admired her wits, beauty, and intelligence, she was always the ruthless schemer.
¡°You will never be a prop to me, Ingrid,¡± I promised her. ¡°You are the smartest woman I know, and one of the bravest. I need you.¡±
Ingrid turned her head to better look at me. She studied my expression for a moment before gently grabbing my chin and planting a kiss on my lips. It was slow, sweet, and genuine, with none of Nenetl¡¯s shyness and all of the sincerity. Like all good things, it ended way too soon.
¡°Can you promise me one thing, Iztac?¡± she asked me.
Since she used my name instead of ¡®my lord,¡¯ I assumed it would be a big favor. ¡°What do you want?¡±
¡°Whenever you call me to your bed¡¡± Ingrid took in a deep breath and gave me a bittersweet smile. ¡°Can you be mine alone?¡±
Ingrid was a trained actress and spymistress in spite of her young age, but I didn¡¯t detect an ounce of deceit or confidence in her words. She looked so frail and vulnerable making such a small demand. She feared I would deny her, because she understood very well where we stood.
Ingrid well and truly loved me. After saving her sister from certain death, I had won more than her trust; I¡¯d won her heart. She loved me not because I was the emperor, but because of my own deeds.
I would be lying if I said her feelings didn¡¯t touch me deeply. We¡¯d gone through many hardships, and it would have been so easy for her to blame me for her mother¡¯s death. We¡¯d faced and triumphed over any tragedy that the Nightlords sent on our way. Our trust in each other had grown stronger than stone.
But unfortunately, Ingrid loved me more than I loved her.
Had I never met Eztli or Nenetl, I could have seen myself dedicating myself to Ingrid the way Father devoted himself to Mother. She was kind, smart, charming, and above all, loyal. Had the stars been kinder on her, I might have cherished her as my only wife.
But I couldn¡¯t set aside all the others for her alone, nor sacrifice the advantages strategic unions could bring me. I wouldn¡¯t let Necahual go should we prevail against the Nightlords, nor would I abandon Nenetl, Chikal, and Eztli.
Ingrid would never be my main priority, and she was painfully aware of it. She understood I would always put my own power and pleasure first.
Worse, she had no idea of what I planned to use her missing brother for¡
¡°I promise you.¡± I kissed her on the neck, her skin shivering at my contact. ¡°When we are together, you will not share me with another.¡±
It was a small request born of desperation. A cry for relief and comfort. I could afford to fulfill it.
¡°Thank you, Iztac.¡± Her fingers intertwined with mine. ¡°That means so much to me.¡±
This way, she could lie to herself the same way she deceived many others. She could pretend she was the only one, if only for a brief moment.
I pitied her¡ but not enough to change.
Ingrid cleared her throat and changed the subject. ¡°If I may, my lord, you may soon join matters of state and pleasure in Zachilaa.¡±
I raised an eyebrow. ¡°How so?¡±
¡°Do you remember that messenger from Ayar Cachi? The one who was supposed to bear a gift on his master¡¯s behalf?¡± Ingrid sighed when I nodded in confirmation. ¡°It appears the messenger and gift are one and the same.¡±
I pondered her words for a second. I could read between lines. Ayar Cachi had settled on the most typical way of gaining influence over Yohuachanca¡¯s emperor.
I spent a good minute pondering this turn of events when our first visitor arrived.
I hadn¡¯t seen Lady Zyanya since I arranged her forced marriage to Tlaxcala. As befitting an honored guest, she arrived in a splendid gilded dress, a gemstone necklace glittering around her neck, and golden earrings shining beneath her braided raven hair.
¡°I thank Your Imperial Majesty from the bottom of my heart for inviting me today,¡± she said with a deep, respectful bow. ¡°Please let me offer you my most sincere congratulations for your first child¡¯s conception. I am certain Lady Chikal¡¯s daughter will be a blessing upon Yohuachanca.¡±
¡°Your words are appreciated,¡± I replied politely before faking annoyance. ¡°However, I believe you were misinformed, Lady Zyanya. No women may appear clothed before me today.¡±
Lady Zyanya¡¯s queenly poise wavered a little, her smooth earthly skin paling slightly. I could see the flash of dread in her deep black eyes. To disobey imperial protocol usually spelled death or punishment.
¡°My deepest apologies, Your Imperial Majesty,¡± she said with a deep bow meant to hide her unease. ¡°I was not informed."
Of course she wasn¡¯t. Ingrid¡¯s message intentionally left it out. I wanted to test her reaction raw, without preparation nor anticipation.
¡°I shall have my messenger whipped for their carelessness,¡± I decided, though I purposefully avoided officially forgiving her.
¡°Perhaps Lady Zyanya ought to join us,¡± Ingrid said. ¡°She would appreciate the show I¡¯ve prepared for my lord.¡±
I pretended to ponder her words for a few seconds before nodding to myself. ¡°You speak wisely, Ingrid. Come to your emperor, Zyanya.¡±
Not too long ago, I had Lady Zyanya¡¯s husband executed and then forced her into a betrothal with the man¡¯s hated brother. Most women in her situation would have argued, hesitated, or shown some polite reluctance; or at least I would have expected them to react in such a way.
Zyanya Quiabelagayo wasn¡¯t like most women. Her robes hit the floor in an instant, unveiling her nakedness to the world. She then proceeded to adjust her braid far too quickly for her reaction to be spontaneous, giving me an enticing view of her breasts.
I knew three things about this woman: she understood her own worth; she was an opportunist; and she was no fool. She knew being invited to an emperor¡¯s private party without her future husband could mean very few things¡ and offered special opportunities.
I leered at Lady Zyanya from head to toe, being very careful to make my attention seem more lurid than it truly was. I had to admit that she looked quite the beauty beneath her robes, but after being surrounded by many splendid women since the beginning of my tenure, I had grown jaded to it.
I had a plan in mind for Lady Zyanya¡¯s wedding, but I would need to labor the field a bit in order to soothe suspicions. I would consciously give a few hints that would recontextualize a future decision in Zachilaa; one that would serve as a smokescreen for the Mometzcopinque ritual.
¡°You wear a new necklace,¡± I noted.
¡°A gift from Tlaxcala,¡± Lady Zyanya replied with a knowing look. ¡°It is yours, if Your Imperial Majesty would like it.¡±
Was the gift the necklace, or its wearer? I wondered. Tlaxcala shared his wife-to-be¡¯s ambition. He would close his eyes on many things if it meant securing political advantages.
Not that I would bed her today¡ªthe strings would have been too obvious otherwise¡ªbut I feigned interest in her and beckoned her to join us in the bath. ¡°You are quite the beauty, Lady Zyanya.¡±
¡°Your Imperial Majesty is very kind, as are you, Lady Ingrid.¡± Lady Zyanya slid into the bath with the slow, near-regal poise of a noblewoman. The waters rippled with each step. ¡°May I sit by your side?¡±
She was quite bold too. This would prove even easier than I expected. I wordlessly extended an arm to allow her to sit by my side, then put it around her shoulders the moment she leaned against me. Ingrid pointedly didn¡¯t step down from my lap and kept the jaguar¡¯s share of the space, so Lady Zyanya wouldn¡¯t grow too cocky.
¡°Do you consider yourself a good judge of character?¡± I asked her, priming her for later.
¡°I would not be so bold as to boast, but I would say I have an eye for treachery,¡± Lady Zyanya replied. ¡°With my late husband¡¯s exception, of course. My inability to see his treachery was a momentary lapse in judgment born of love and trust.¡±
¡°Of course, you are above any reproach,¡± I replied without meaning it. ¡°There is a woman we will soon meet in Zachilaa. She will likely attend your wedding on her patron¡¯s behalf. I would like you to observe her very closely, since I may call upon your judgment later.¡±
Lady Zyanya frowned. She could recognize a test when she saw one. ¡°What kind of woman?¡±
An infiltrator. ¡°An ambassador from the Sapa Empire.¡±
¡°I would expect those foreigners to seek a settlement with Your Imperial Majesty,¡± Zyanya replied. ¡°Or a faction among them to ally with you against other imperial contenders.¡±
So she did keep an eye on international politics. Sharp. ¡°You will help me ascertain where they stand,¡± I declared. ¡°But this will be for another time. This is a time for relaxation.¡±
I snapped my fingers. Tenoch, Lahun, and Atziri soon arrived naked alongside castrated musicians desperate to play for my entertainment.
I spent the next hour relaxing in my bath, chatting with two women while three more danced to the tune of foreign songs for my pleasure only.
It was good to rule now and then.
Chapter Sixty-Nine: The Price of Love
I brushed a scroll with fingers that weren¡¯t mine.
The vellum felt so soft beneath my nails, even as the words I read carried little more than empty platitudes. I focused on the hidden patterns within the text, catching the first signs of each sentence and rearranging them in a sequence that revealed the hidden truth.
It had taken me so long to set this up without my captors noticing. I¡¯d called upon favors from Mother¡¯s network of spies and allies, obscured the delivery of these messages under countless layers of misdirection, and paid the necessary intermediaries with both gold and favors. Exhuming this codex had taken a long time, and translating Mother¡¯s secret notes undetected even more so.
All so that I could be useful to him.
All so that he would notice me and free me from this lonely prison.
How could these stories possibly help though? They were mere tales; stories about a nameless magician descending into the land of the dead, seeking power and wisdom to defeat a great evil he couldn¡¯t kill nor understand. Deeper he descended, beneath a kingdom of fire and ashes into the wind-battered ruins of a world that used to be.
There he met the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl, father of mankind, who now watched over the degenerate children he failed to save. The ancient god congratulated his visitor on braving the trials required to reach him and enlightened him.
¡°The Teyolia is the essence of life, that which separates the living from the dead,¡± Quetzalcoatl said. ¡°A Tonalli may take many incarnations, but the heart-fire is unique to each vessel.¡±
¡°What of darkness?¡± the sorcerer asked. ¡°Why must the bat feast on fearful men?¡±
¡°Because it would starve otherwise,¡± the great serpent replied. ¡°Though the bat may travel between the realms of the dead and the living at will, it remains among the latter; and life is consumption. So it is that men must die to fuel the sun that gives them life. For the flame to be nurtured and the chain of existence to remain unbroken, it must feed continuously. The gods who cannot sustain their flame fade away into the depths of the earth, the same as any man.¡±
The tale made little sense to me, since I lacked true understanding of such things, but I knew it would serve him well and so I engraved these words to memory.
The vision ended there.
The softness of the scroll under my fingers was replaced by the warmth of Ingrid¡¯s sweating hips. She faced me, her arms coiling around my neck and her legs dangling in the void while I held her against her bedroom wall. Her warm breath blew on my face before her lips pressed against mine in a final kiss.
I had held true to my promise. I gave myself to her wholly and exclusively. Lady Zyanya and my other concubines didn¡¯t hide their disappointment when I said I would carry Ingrid to her chambers alone after the spectacle in the bath, but it pleased my consort.
The Seidr ritual had worked better than I expected. I didn¡¯t feel the same immediate connection I shared with Nenetl, but Ingrid had copiously studied her mother¡¯s notes and methods. She held nothing back from me either.
I¡¯d already considered using Seidr as a method of sharing information without being overheard by others, but Ingrid was the first to follow through with the idea on her own. She had begun to recover information about the First Emperor¡¯s codex her mother gathered and gave me a peek of its secrets; she guessed, correctly, that I could make good use of them.
I couldn¡¯t help but ponder about something else as we separated and caught our breath. I¡¯d felt Ingrid¡¯s love and dedication in every kiss and flash of memory. I¡¯d shared the depth of her feelings for me, and I would be lying if I said it didn¡¯t touch my heart.
I wanted to return at least a sliver of that devotion, and I could think of only one way to do so.
¡°I will show you Winland soon,¡± I said after putting my clothes on again.
Ingrid quickly caught on. She appeared deeply moved for a brief instant, until her sense of reason reasserted itself.
¡°My lord was kind to offer me my own private Winland, but surely imperial resources would be better spent elsewhere,¡± she replied, when she truly meant, ¡°Should we waste a ritual on indulging me rather than destroying the Nightlords?¡±
¡°I can find no better use of them than ensuring your own happiness.¡± And I meant those words. ¡°Ingrid.¡±
She looked into my eyes, her pale marble skin glittering like moonlight under the glow of nearby torches.
¡°I will never take you for granted,¡± I promised her. ¡°Every kindness you give me, I shall return tenfold.¡±
I wanted her to be happy, not because it would secure her loyalty to me, but because I wanted her to know how much I appreciated her. Because I valued her as a person¡ and as a wife.
Ingrid pondered my words for a moment before offering me a warm, genuine smile. ¡°Thank you, Iztac,¡± she said before draping herself in a bedsheet. ¡°I never doubted it.¡±
Somehow, those four words¡ªso simple in their sincerity¡ªfelt better than any of the many empty luxuries which I¡¯d enjoyed today.
I kissed Ingrid goodbye one last time and then moved to visit my last consort.
As usual, Eztli chose to share a room with her mother. I immediately sensed the distance between them the moment I walked in, both physically and emotionally. My vampiric consort rested in the only bed available, nude and smirking in anticipation. Necahual otherwise stood in front of the obsidian window, staring through it with a deep scowl on her face.
Most importantly, she was fully clothed.
¡°Haven¡¯t you heard?¡± I asked while embracing Necahual from behind, my arms closing on her waist. She didn¡¯t resist my pull. She knew that she was mine. ¡°No one is allowed to wear clothes in my presence. You have disobeyed me.¡±
Necahual ignored me.
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I inquired.
¡°I have been asking myself the same question,¡± Eztli replied while lying on her back. The marigold placed in her hair sent shivers down my spine. ¡°Mother has been in a foul mood all day.¡±
¡°Is that so?¡± I kissed Necahual on the neck. ¡°What bothers you so much?¡±
My favorite stopped watching the window just long enough to glare at me. ¡°Your mother.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± I should have expected as much. Of course, learning of her survival rattled Necahual to the bone after what Mother put her through; doubly so since she came into contact with her own daughter. ¡°Yes, learning about her survival came as quite the shock.¡±
Necahual didn¡¯t believe me. I could see it written all over her face. She knew that I knew and that I¡¯d kept it to myself. No wonder she gave me the cold shoulder.
¡°She was quite the sharp woman,¡± Eztli commented. ¡°I could smell the scent of danger around her.¡±
¡°She still hasn¡¯t been found?¡± Necahual asked coldly. ¡°Nor has Astrid?¡±
¡°Not yet, but they will be caught in time,¡± I replied without really meaning it. This only served to deepen Necahual¡¯s scowl until she turned back to gaze at the world beyond the window while sulking in silence.
Necahual¡¯s jealousy of Mother¡¯s gifts was half the reason she threw her lot in with me. She craved the magical power her romantic rival wielded. Hearing how Mother managed to swoop in and steal Astrid from the Nightlords while Necahual failed to protect her own daughter no doubt infuriated her.
Eztli, who had been observing us for a while, crossed her legs in the bed. ¡°Mother saved him.¡±
¡°Whom?¡± I asked.
¡°That sick refugee child. Teyok, I think his name was?¡±
¡°Teiuc,¡± Necahual said sharply, her arms crossing beneath her breasts. ¡°His name is Teiuc.¡±
¡°That is great,¡± I said with sincerity. That child was within a heartbeat of death when we found him, and I felt some responsibility for him. I did order his father murdered after all. ¡°How did you do it?¡±
Necahual gathered her breath and then showed me her palm. A small scar marred her smooth, beautiful skin. I immediately recognized the leftover trace of a slashing wound.
¡°You fed him your blood?¡± I muttered in disbelief.
¡°Since you saved Nenetl by giving her yours, I assumed I could do the same.¡± Though Necahual continued to scowl, I detected a brief flicker of pride in her eyes. ¡°You visited my bed so often I thought¡ that your vitality would rub off on me, I guess.¡±
¡°Being my mother must have helped,¡± Eztli guessed. ¡°You are blessed in many ways.¡±
¡°Mayhaps,¡± Necahual conceded with a shrug.
I knew better. Necahual and I practiced Seidr so often she could transfer her Teyolia to another through her blood. Of course she could. If Sigrun could steal the vitality of others without being a Nahualli, why couldn¡¯t someone else give it away?
I finally understood what put her in such a foul mood. Necahual achieved her first feat of witchcraft by saving a child wavering on the brink of death, only for it to be overshadowed by Mother¡¯s much more daring and spectacular return. It reawakened so many old wounds.
¡°Fulfill your promise,¡± Necahual muttered under her breath.
I tensed up. She didn¡¯t say which promise, but there was only one oath I had sworn to her: that I would share in my sorcery in exchange for her full assistance and servitude.
And after being forced back into Mother¡¯s shadow once again, her patience was running thin.
¡°I gave you everything. My soul, my body, my daughter¡¡± Necahual grit her teeth while her hands moved to her belly. ¡°Even this. Now give me what you promised me in return.¡±
¡°Not yet,¡± I whispered back into her ear. I couldn¡¯t put her through the Mometzcopinque ritual without testing it on Lahun first. The risk of losing her was too great.
Necahual wouldn¡¯t listen. ¡°I want it now.¡±
¡°The child?¡± Eztli asked with enthusiasm.
Necahual froze in my arms. As for myself, I was used to hiding my emotions enough not to show surprise.
¡°Sorry for eavesdropping,¡± Eztli replied without meaning it, her gaze lingering on her mother¡¯s belly with the thrill of hunger. ¡°I can¡¯t help but feel you¡¯ve finally decided to¡ commit.¡±
¡°You are right,¡± I said, both to deflect suspicions and finally address the trihorn in the room. My grip on Necahual¡¯s waist strengthened slightly. ¡°Your mother and I are trying to conceive.¡±
¡°We are,¡± Necahual replied, her head turning to glance at her daughter. ¡°As you no doubt wished when you sabotaged my contraceptives, my daughter.¡±
¡°Do you blame me?¡± To her credit, Eztli didn¡¯t bother denying it. ¡°Deep down, you both wanted to cross that line. The tension between you two was palpable.¡±
She might have been right, but her casual playfulness when considering such a heavy subject rattled me.
¡°It remains a serious breach of trust,¡± I warned Eztli. ¡°You knew how sensitive the matter was for the both of us.¡±
¡°And what was I supposed to do? Stand by and watch as you continued to be at each other¡¯s throats, as you had been for years?¡± Eztli sounded genuinely confused by our reaction. Had her humanity degraded so much? ¡°You craved the thrill of crossing that taboo, but feared to. I simply helped you do so.¡±
¡°It was our choice to make, my daughter, not yours,¡± Necahual replied. Her voice carried no resentment, only concern for Eztli¡¯s behavior. ¡°Did you want me to bear a child for our sake, or yours?¡±
¡°Both.¡± Eztli smiled at us in a way that I found both innocent and frighteningly intense. ¡°Don¡¯t you see how it will be the lynchpin that binds us together? The blood that ties us? We can finally be a real family, all three of us, without Father standing in the way.¡±
She said those last words almost absentmindedly, as if it were a detail we all agreed on. The statement¡¯s true significance sank into my heart, while Necahual stared blankly at her daughter in shock and disbelief.
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¡°What?¡± Eztli asked. She¡¯d picked up on our reaction.
¡°Eztli.¡± I took a deep breath and braced myself for her answer. ¡°What¡¯s your father¡¯s name?¡±
¡°Why that question, Iztac?¡± Eztli scoffed in amusement. ¡°It¡¯s Yohuach¨C¡±
Half of the First Emperor¡¯s cursed name escaped her lips before she could catch herself.
A tense silence filled the room. None of us dared to speak or move a muscle for a few seconds. The magnitude of that simple mistake didn¡¯t simply dawn on me or Necahual, but Eztli herself. She was the first to move again, sitting at the edge of the bed with her unblinking eyes staring at the wall. Her face was utterly blank, wearing an expression of utter vacuity.
¡°My father¡¡± Eztli grabbed her head with both hands, massaging her skin as if to jog her warped memory and only succeeding in falling deeper into confusion. ¡°He¡¯s inside me¡ my father was a god, so why is there a man¡¯s soul within my belly?¡±
I was too weak to stop Necahual from breaking out of my embrace, and too spooked to say a word myself. I could only stare at Eztli in silence, my mind conjuring visions of the Razor House. I saw her with a crown of flowers, her mischievous face twisted by Yoloxochitl¡¯s madness.
I¡¯d identified the marigold in her hair and prior behavior as warning signs of her mental degradation, but I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d progressed this far already.
¡°Eztli,¡± Necahual said, kneeling in front of her daughter and facing her. ¡°Eztli, look at me.¡±
Her daughter¡¯s eyes stared through her mother, rather than at her. ¡°Why can¡¯t I remember his name?¡± Eztli muttered to herself. ¡°I can¡¯t recall it anymore¡¡±
¡°Your father was a man named Guatemoc,¡± Necahual said while reaching for her daughter in concern. Though we both know Eztli had been sired by one of my predecessors, he was the father that mattered. ¡°Eztli¨C¡±
Eztli slapped her mother¡¯s hand away, her expression twisting into a snarl of rage. ¡°You made me like this!¡±
Her venomous words shook Necahual harder than any slap. My favorite recoiled from her own daughter, her skin bleaching.
¡°It¡¯s your fault¡¡± Eztli hissed angrily, anger boiling at the surface of her heart like pouring magma. ¡°It¡¯s your fault I can¡¯t stand in the sun anymore.¡±
¡°Eztli, it¡¯s not,¡± I said, trying to intervene before it got ugly. But it was far too late.
¡°It is!¡± Eztli gripped her knees with such pressure that she began to bleed where her nails sank into her flesh. Her eyes were two crimson pits of boiling blood glaring at Necahual. I¡¯d never seen her so hateful. ¡°We all asked you to stop mistreating Iztac. I did, Father, my real father, who died because of you¡ he ordered you to stop, but you never listened! You just couldn¡¯t let it go!¡±
Necahual remained as silent as a tomb. Her jaw tightened, her eyes moist with guilt and shame. She didn¡¯t provide an excuse, because she had none.
¡°It should have been my life,¡± Eztli whispered in utter defeat, her face buried in her hands. ¡°All I wanted was a good husband, a happy family, and children who would laugh with me. Was that too much to ask for? Instead, I have to crawl away from the sun for all eternity and spend all of existence as a cold, lifeless thing who murdered her own father!"
She began to sob, each sound a dagger in my heart.
What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say? That Eztli shouldn¡¯t worry about slowly transforming into another person, forgetting her entire life as a cruel role subsumed her very will? That I would kill the Nightlords and free her before it came to this? That we would get through this together?
What could I say that wouldn¡¯t sound like empty platitudes?
I had to do something, so I took a step forward and reached for my consort. ¡°Eztli¨C¡±
¡°Stop there,¡± Necahual said sharply.
Her icy tone froze me in my steps. She had given me an order without care for decorum nor caring if anybody listened. Though her expression remained tainted with sorrow and remorse, her eyes brimmed with that same unbreakable resolve she had shown me time and time again.
Necahual wanted me to trust her. Eztli was right, Yoloxochitl wouldn¡¯t have picked her had she not spent so many years tormenting me. She put her daughter in this situation, even if it had been involuntary; so she wanted to resolve this herself. If she couldn¡¯t help her own daughter, what other hope did she have?
So I stayed my hand for now.
Necahual gave me a little nod of gratitude, then forcefully grabbed her daughter and forced her to look at her.
¡°I¡ I am sorry, Eztli.¡± Necahual¡¯s apology always came out as awkward even now; she wasn¡¯t used nor built for them. ¡°More than you can imagine.¡±
¡°Sorry?¡± Eztli sneered in disgust. All the pent-up resentment she bore for her mother bobbled back to the surface and gave her a certain kind of clarity. ¡°You are sorry, now? You stole my life!¡±
¡°I did n¨C¡± Necahual stopped herself, biting her lower lip. ¡°I know that my bitterness is to blame for your suffering. If I could turn back time and spare you this fate, I would.¡±
Eztli snorted, her voice laced with disdain. ¡°I wish I could trade you for Father.¡±
I winced, words dying on the tip of my tongue. Necahual didn¡¯t say a word either. She probably agreed with her daughter deep down.
¡°I didn¡¯t mean it,¡± Eztli apologized immediately, before looking down at the floor in shame. ¡°I¡¯m¡ I can¡¯t think¡ I don¡¯t even know who I am anymore.¡±
¡°You are Eztli, my daughter,¡± Necahual replied firmly. ¡°That will never change.¡±
Eztli didn¡¯t believe her. ¡°Your words mean nothing.¡±
¡°Then I shall back them with action.¡±
Necahual grabbed her robes and partly tore them off to expose her left breast. She grabbed it with a hand, pressing the nipple, and then presented it to her vampiric daughter.
¡°Drink,¡± Necahual said.
Eztli and I stared at that madwoman in shock. Horror seized me as I immediately recalled the awful sight of Necahual¡¯s blood-drained corpse lying on the temple¡¯s grounds, her husk fed upon by a host of vampires.
The Lords of Terrors¡¯ vision unfolded before my very eyes.
¡°Do not!¡± I all but ordered. ¡°Neca¨C¡±
¡°This is my choice!¡± Necahual venomously hissed at me. ¡°I told you, I will never be your slave!¡±
My teeth grit into a snarl of frustration. ¡°You are a fool if you think I will let you kill yourself.¡±
¡°He¡¯s right, Mother,¡± Eztli pleaded. ¡°If I do drink your blood¡ If I do, I think I¡¯ll start seeing you as food.¡±
Necahual didn¡¯t waver. ¡°I¡¯ve fed you before you could even speak. I¡¯ll do so again.¡±
¡°No, you don¡¯t understand.¡± Eztli glanced at her mother¡¯s breast with a mix of hunger and fear. ¡°I¡¯m¡ I¡¯m not sure I can stop once I start.¡±
¡°You won¡¯t take my blood. I will give it to you, the same way I gave you life so many years ago.¡± Necahual shrugged. ¡°If I must spend eternity as a voice inside your head reminding you of who you are so that you may live, then I shall.¡±
I was about to slap some sense into her when I caught a glimpse of Necahual¡¯s hand-scar. Her plan suddenly appeared clear to me.
Yoloxochitl asserted her dominance over Eztli by feeding her blood in a perverse attempt to usurp Necahual¡¯s place, reshaping my consort¡¯s will and memories until she lost herself. Now that Necahual had become aware enough of her lifeforce to pass it on to a mortal, she hoped to repair the damage; to transfer her memories and feelings to her daughter until she recalled who she was.
It was a brave and dangerous plan fraught with danger. If Eztli lost control of her thirst and accidentally killed her mother, the sheer trauma would destroy her mind for good. Necahual had to know that, yet I sensed no fear in her.
Her show of devotion touched Eztli. ¡°You¡ you would truly do this for me?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Necahual gently caressed her daughter¡¯s cheek, wiping away a tear of blood. ¡°I would do anything for you, Eztli. Anything.¡±
Eztli stared at her mother¡¯s breast for a moment, her hunger struggling with her inner humanity.
Then she bit down.
I swallowed a gulp of disgust as my consort¡¯s fangs sank into her mother¡¯s breast in the blink of an eye. Necahual let out a faint cry as red droplets dripped down her skin. Eztli¡¯s eyes widened with thirst, her mind overtaken by vampiric instinct. She grabbed her mother¡¯s flesh to gain a firmer grip on it, which Necahual encouraged. She moved a hand behind her daughter¡¯s head and pushed her deeper into her bosom while stroking her hair.
I knew from experience how thrilling the vampire¡¯s kiss felt for both its victim and perpetrator. Neither Eztli nor Necahual were exceptions. The former sucked and drank with feverish excitement, while the latter let out soft moans and sighs of pleasure.
¡°I love you,¡± Necahual whispered in her daughter¡¯s ear. ¡°I love you. I love you.¡±
The scene was about as unnerving as it was arousing. I watched on with concern and focus, ready to intervene and forcefully separate them should the worst come to pass. I¡¯d seen Eztli drink her father to death in a minute¡¯s time in a frenzy. Each gulp rang like the horn of incoming death.
Yet Eztli slowed down once the first few seconds passed. She continued to suckle her mother¡¯s breast and drink her blood, but more gently, more kindly. Necahual kissed her daughter on the forehead, her mind clear like the morning sky, and then plucked the marigold in her hair and tossed it aside. Eztli paid it no mind.
As astonishing as it looked, Necahual¡¯s plan appeared to work. Eztli was calming down.
¡°I asked the seer to read my future,¡± Necahual told me, her hand stroking her maddened daughter¡¯s hair. ¡°After an hour¡¯s worth of rituals, she came up with three sentences.¡±
I braced myself for what would follow. Lahun warned me that the prophecies would benefit Necahual at the expense of everybody else.
¡°Which ones?¡± I inquired.
¡°Cruel widow becomes the mother of witches. Slave to the demon emperor flies on borrowed wings.¡± Necahual¡¯s jaw clenched as she looked at her daughter with concern. ¡°The parent buries the child.¡±
The last sentence rang inside my skull for a while before I could muster a response. ¡°Burial can mean many, many things.¡±
¡°Or one.¡± Necahual locked eyes with me. ¡°Fulfill your promise.¡±
That was more of a prayer than a demand, but one that I considered nonetheless.
I carefully considered my options. Both Necahual and Eztli were quickly reaching a breaking point. The former was sick of being powerless as the latter underwent a mental breakdown. Her patience was wearing thin.
I¡¯d planned to put Lahun through the Mometzcopinque ritual first in order to test it because of the risks involved. Switching her with Necahual presented some danger, but now that I¡¯d learned how to heal with my blood¡ It should make it safer. Empowering her would both secure her loyalty and reassure her that we were making progress.
Eztli concerned me more. If she struggled to remember her own father¡¯s name, then how long until she began to think like Yoloxochitl? The Razor House had given me a taste of that fear. I didn¡¯t want to experience it once again.
I wouldn¡¯t allow it.
¡°Very well,¡± I replied without elaborating.
Necahual appraised me for a while, then gave me a small nod of assent and gently let go of Eztli. My consort slowly emerged from her post-feeding daze, her mind recovering. Her mother had grown a little paler from the blood loss, but didn¡¯t seem in any danger.
¡°Eztli?¡± I asked.
She looked at me without a word. I took her hands into my own, knelt in front of her, and then stared straight into her crimson eyes.
¡°Everything will be alright,¡± I said without emotion.
It wasn¡¯t an attempt at reassurance nor empty words, but a statement.
I knew what I had to do now.
I thought back to the information Ingrid decoded from the First Emperor¡¯s codex about how the Tonalli and Teyolia intertwined. From my understanding, Eztli lost the latter once she became a vampire and required feeding on the heart-fire of others to linger among the living.
Meanwhile, her Tonalli, the very source of her identity, was slowly being transformed by the occult weight of the Nightlords¡¯ ritual until it matched that of Yoloxochitl.
The Ride spell already proved that a foreign Tonalli could temporarily possess the body of someone without requiring a Teyolia, since it worked for the Burned Men that Mother unleashed around Smoke Mountain. If the vampiric curse clung to the hungry pit that replaced the victim¡¯s heartfire instead of their own, then I could see a way to save Eztli¡¯s soul.
I would require Chindi¡¯s ¡®assistance¡¯ to pull it off however; something I thought I would only force if she proved too much of a liability to use any other way, but which I now believed to be an inevitability. I also needed Mother¡¯s wisdom and secrets.
In the meantime, all I could do was to lessen Necahual¡¯s burden. Feeding Eztli my burning blood directly might do her more harm than good in the long run, but I could replenish her mother¡¯s lifeforce after every feeding session with Seidr. This ought to dilute my sunlight and lessen the risk of Necahual suffering from blood loss.
I wouldn¡¯t let Eztli waste away any further, even if I had to break a few rotten eggs along the way.
My confidence seemed to reassure my consort. One of her arms grabbed me, while the other caught her mother and pulled us both into a tight embrace. Eztli hugged her only remaining family with a series of pained sobs.
I returned the hug, as did Necahual. Eztli felt so weak and fragile in our hands in spite of her inhuman strength, but I think we offered her a brief moment of respite amidst the fear and madness.
Of course, there was always a shadow to ruin the moment.
¡°Quite the touching sight, songbird,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°If I could, I would cry.¡±
I had been too focused on Eztli to notice the rotting snake slithering in.
Eztli let go of us, mother and daughter staring at the Nightlord with fear. I was the only one to gaze at her with cold, unfeeling eyes.
¡°Alas.¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s lips stretched into a carnivorous smile. ¡°The likes of you do not get happy endings.¡±
As befitting of a self-proclaimed goddess, Iztacoatl both decided to ignore and mock my proclamation. While she visited me in her splendid robes, she also dragged in a naked slave by a leather leash. It was a pretty woman around my age with deep brown skin and long black hair, with cheeks marked by fresh tattoos representing crimson chains traveling down until they reached her throat and then her heart. An unbearably tight bronze slave collar covered in complex Yohuachancan scripts bound her neck. A black blindfold obscured her eyes and her skin bore countless marks which I attributed to a strenuous whipping session.
I immediately recognized her from Chindi¡¯s memory.
¡°We have completed our preparations,¡± Iztacoatl said before tugging her captive¡¯s leash. The woman was forced to step forward, her fingers bent like claws and her jaw frozen in an expression of seething hatred. ¡°Let me introduce you to your new consort and our new sister¡¯s replacement, Anaye. Quite the splendid pet, don¡¯t you agree?¡±
Chindi obeyed me by hiding within her sister¡¯s stolen skin.
¡°Is this the Skinwalker?¡± I said while pretending to discover my new consort, grabbing her mouth and examining it. She didn¡¯t resist me. She was smart enough to feign powerlessness. ¡°Does she bite?¡±
¡°We kept her teeth and tongue to pleasure you,¡± Iztacoatl replied. ¡°But you may notice a few missing bits. If she behaves, she may even get them back.¡±
It was a lie, since the Nightlords never rewarded their service. I quickly guessed which ¡®bits¡¯ Iztacoatl referred to when I pressed my hand against Chindi¡¯s blindfold and sensed thick scars where the eyes should have been.
The Nightlords had blinded her.
I would have been horrified once, but now I could hardly muster the strength for surprise or annoyance. Of course they would blind a creature capable of manipulating others with her gaze. I suspected the slave collar would also prevent Chindi from changing her shape.
This reduced my options when it came to exploiting her gifts¡ but convinced me to go forward with my other plan for her.
¡°Does my new master enjoy what he sees?¡± Chindi asked me with a half-feral smile.
¡°You will suffice,¡± I said, though mostly to myself. ¡°If you never forget who holds your leash.¡±
¡°I can hear your lack of enthusiasm from here, Iztac,¡± Eztli said with a smile that didn¡¯t reach her eyes. She had chosen to hide her pain and unease behind a mask of impish insolence, as usual. ¡°Be reassured, though, that I will continue to visit you.¡±
¡°I am sure he will find his dear Nenetl more appealing than either of you,¡± Iztacoatl replied with stifled laughter, her hand moving to cover her lips.
Something about her behavior sent chills down my spine.
¡°Does it bother the goddess?¡± I inquired.
¡°Not at all,¡± she replied with a stifled chuckle. ¡°You have my congratulations for finally tying the knot. You have made my sister Ocelocihuatl a very happy goddess, and filled my heart with joy. I very much needed a reason to laugh in these trying times.¡±
Her expression boiled the blood within my veins. I¡¯d come to loathe that unbearable, smug conviction that she knew something which I didn¡¯t.
I apparently didn¡¯t hide my frustration well enough, since it encouraged Iztacoatl to laugh at me.
¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± She taunted me. ¡°Of course you don¡¯t. What a prophet you make, not to see the moon to your sun.¡±
I knew the wording was meant to be a cruel hint of some kind, but I drew a blank at what it referred to. A wolf totem¡¯s association with the moon and my own with the sulfur sun, mayhaps?
Whatever the case, I refused to let her scramble my mind. ¡°If the goddess is pleased, then so am I.¡±
¡°Of course,¡± Iztacoatl replied, unmoved by my utter insincerity. She surrendered Chindi¡¯s leash to me. ¡°Now, bind that animal somewhere and come with us. You too, my new sister.¡±
Eztli froze in place, as did Necahual. I alone refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing my fear.
¡°What does the goddess have in mind?¡± I inquired.
¡°Well, I did promise you a reward for winning my little hunt, didn¡¯t I? So I will share a little secret that none of your predecessors ever learned.¡±
Iztacoatl¡¯s hand grabbed my shoulder, her fingers growing scales and pressing against my naked skin.
¡°I shall show you firsthand,¡± she whispered into my ear, her fangs turning into that of a snake, ¡°How I murdered my father.¡±
Chapter Seventy: Drowned in Darkness
I couldn¡¯t breathe through the First Emperor¡¯s mask.
Cold obsidian stone pressed on my cheeks and jaw, sucking out the air out of my lungs and the warmth of my sunlight blood. Colder hands removed my clothes from my flaccid, pallid blue skin. I could hardly feel them.
¡°Do you know what godhood is, Iztac?¡± Iztacoatl asked me, her voice a pale mist slithering inside my ear. ¡°True godhood is appetite.¡±
My body was slow and sluggish from the drugs coursing through my veins. I tried to turn my head and glare at the Nightlord, but my own skull felt so heavy and my lips so weak¡ I was a stone atop an unmoving hill.
¡°Shush,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°No more singing, songbird. Keep your voice for the full performance.¡±
Her voice was so soft it could have lured me to sleep easily enough. The Nightlords didn¡¯t give me that mercy. The four chains grabbing each of my limbs slowly pulled them, the occasional jolts of pain forcing me awake under a dark sky.
¡°I remember the days back when Father was a mere man rather than a god,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°I believe he was freer back then. Happier. His power enslaved him, Iztac. It strengthened his hunger until it mastered him. Lust, bloodthirst, gluttony¡ no excess became too great for him. Every high had to be more extreme than the last.¡±
I struggled to follow her trail of thought. My mind was muddled by pulque, drugs, and spices.
¡°Father was always so possessive too. We were his precious treasures. I still remember the looks he sent me whenever I toyed with a village boy, but it was Yoloxochitl¡¯s fianc¨¦ who bore the brunt of his contempt. She was his favorite, do you know that? The youngest, the romantic. He couldn¡¯t stand the fact she would fancy a wastrel like that¡ Tloroc? Tlocan?¡± I heard a dark chuckle. ¡°Whatever, Father killed him anyway.¡±
The taste of a young man¡¯s blood formed on the tip of my tongue. I heard Yoloxochitl¡¯s screams and sobbing prayers, and the sensation of flesh down my gullet. A memory that was not my own lingered at the edge of my consciousness.
¡°I think that¡¯s why he bit us first. He couldn¡¯t stand the idea that we could leave him, or that another could steal us away. He wanted to ensure we would be his forever.¡±
Iztacoatl¡¯s eyes looked down on me, her vile smile obscuring the stars in the sky.
¡°Did you know Yoloxochitl was pregnant from her Darling when Father bit her?¡± I sensed her fingers pressing against my mask. ¡°She miscarried, of course. Our immortal bodies aren¡¯t meant to shelter life, only to devour it. I think that¡¯s when she started losing it.¡±
A wave of shame and disgust washed over me from within. I saw a small, blackened thing crawling in a pool of blood, an abomination of my own creation.
No¡ I struggled to keep these intrusive thoughts out of my skull. I fought to keep my sense of self separated from another. Not mine¡
¡°Father wanted to sleep with us,¡± Iztacoatl said, her mocking chuckle ringing into nothingness. ¡°I used to tease him about it. Touch him in some places, invite mortals to couple with me while I knew he was watching, tempting him. I knew he hated those lusts and that it took all of his willpower to resist them. He was disgusted with what he had become, but the more he resisted, the stronger his urges became.¡±
Her sharp laugh cut through my ears, until I felt blood dripping down my cheeks.
¡°I couldn¡¯t wait for him to snap,¡± she gloated with all the weight of her malevolence. ¡°And one night, he did in the most unexpected of ways! He had four of his concubines brought to him, reshaped their faces into mirrors of our own, and then he took them.¡±
Her laugh merged with that of that hag Chamiaholom, who had told me this story first. I hadn¡¯t connected the dots back then; why had I been forced to wed four consorts, when they were meant to represent the First Emperor¡¯s own flesh and blood.
¡°You could say those four were the first consorts. Wives in the shape of his beloved daughters whom he refused to despoil any further; for we were the final refuge of his own decaying humanity.¡± Iztacoatl scoffed in disdain, she who had cast away all vestiges of morality in the name of her cruel pleasure. ¡°Yoloxochitl¡¯s actress was his favorite. It hardly took him a fortnight to impregnate her.¡±
¡°Enough,¡± Eztli¡¯s voice cut through the vile words.
I heard a slap ringing through the chill air of the empty night. The stars had gone dark, and the moon began to fade away too.
¡°My sister was there when she gave birth,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°Having miscarried herself, watching a woman with her face giving birth to her Father¡¯s own son was¡ traumatizing, I suppose.¡±
¡°Shut up.¡± I heard Eztli beg out of my vision. ¡°Please¡¡±
Iztacoatl cruelly denied her plea. ¡°I wonder if you will look like her once your mother gives birth too. I¡¯m sure you will act like my dear sister did back then, greedily grabbing that child in your grief and longing.¡±
Her voice became lower, laced with smugness.
¡°You will claim it like she claimed you,¡± she whispered to Eztli beyond the range of my vision. ¡°With your fangs.¡±
Eztli¡¯s sobs tore out at my heart. If the drugs had allowed me enough strength to feel anger, I would have slapped Iztacoatl in the face in revenge. Alas, I could do little more than mumble incoherently with my back pressed against a floor of stone. Chains continued to stretch me thin until I heard my bones crack oh so slightly¡
¡°It was then that we realized we didn¡¯t need Father to make more of us.¡± Something cold grabbed my cock and caressed it. ¡°Well, not all of him.¡±
Something stirred within my heart. A pitch-black darkness awakened, his crimson eyes glaring through the bars of his ancient cage.
¡°My sister Ocelocihuatl formed a plan. Blood for blood, she said. The sons will bind the father. She conceived a trap, which I executed. I lured Father in with so much fresh blood until he grew drunk on it.¡± Her laugh echoed again in the night, louder and sharper. ¡°Can you fathom how much blood it takes to get a god of hunger drunk?¡±
I remembered. I remembered the frenzy of the thundering drums beckoning me into the shadow of a blazing mountain, lightning flashing, a plume of smoke rising into the storm-wracked sky. They came to me naked, a line of a thousand birds guided by my daughters into my waiting maw. I recalled the soft noise of their bones being crushed within my palms, blood and pulque dripping on my fangs.
I remembered the shame and guilt, the horror at what I had become, the disgust that my own clawed hands inspired in my heart, but I could not stop¡ I was thirsty, and the blood of men tasted so sweet¡
¡°Then, when he was in the throes of his blissful addiction, we gently carried him to bed,¡± my daughter said, mocking me. ¡°You should have seen him, songbird. How he kept saying he loved us, that he did it all for our sake. What a fool.¡±
I remembered the chains my daughters put around my hands and feet. Their links burned with words I was too drunk to recognize. I did not fight them as they led me to the altar, for I was too tired to think. I only wished to sleep and rest, to forget the pain of existing¡
¡°It was always about power with us, long before your godhood,¡± my third eldest said. ¡°We had it all, we obeyed you; and when we had a chance to rule in your place, we seized it.¡±
And then I recalled their twisted betrayal.
I struggled against the chains, my mask¡¯s jaws snapping with anger. My heart burned with a sulfur glow and my lungs screamed with the rage of centuries past.
¡°Finally awake, are you?¡± my treacherous daughter taunted me. How I longed to snap her neck with these borrowed hands¡ ¡°Good. We can at last put you back in your place, Father.¡±
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I smelled it in the air. That delectable scent of fear, that creeping horror at the thought of lurking death. It only grew stronger as my true children circled us above us, a cloud of blood and fur on jet black wings. They used to demand blood and worship once.
Now I only craved silence.
¡°Are you in there, songbird?¡± my beautiful snake of a daughter asked my other self, the tyrant sun to my endless night. We were one tonight, united in spite and pain. ¡°Then you will feel it too. What we put him through that night¨C¡±
¡°Enough, Iztacoatl,¡± Ocelocihuatl¡¯s voice cut through the chatter. ¡°Let us proceed.¡±
My jaguar¡¯s words were as cold as my fury boiled with sulfur flames. She was the one who I loathed most. The one who led her sisters down the path of treachery. The one who learned almost all of which I had to teach her and whose gifts she turned against me, her own father, after I had saved her from that so-called god¡¯s jaws!
How I loathed her! How I wished to skin her, to bite her, and drink her to the last drop of rotten blood!
I raged against the chains constraining our limbs, but my other self was too weak to free us from their sorcery and the drugs inhibiting our veins. My daughters¡¯ shadows gathered around us, each of them holding one of our bindings. Yoloxochitl¡¯s replacement held onto us with feebler hands than the others, her eyes weeping tears of blood, but it made no difference.
They were fools, all of them. The door would never close again. They could keep pressing against me for years, centuries, but I would not let them sleep soundly anymore. One night they would falter, and I would devour every single one of them. I would welcome my children back into my bottomless belly, where they shall never escape me again.
But that night was a long time away.
My daughters spoke words of power which I¡¯d taught them once. My true children fled, repelled by my own stolen sorcery. We heard liquid dripping on a stone floor, black and viscous. My other self recognized the smell of the vile tar which he had seen flowing so many times underground, but I?
I remembered the pain.
¡°Burn!¡± my daughters chanted as the black tide crept upon us. ¡°May your body burn like the sun, foolish father!
The tar swallowed us both, devouring our skin and flesh as I once ate so many others.
And we burned.
I died screaming.
I had already tasted the cold kiss of death once, so I knew I hadn¡¯t merely been knocked out unconscious by the pain. Sleep wouldn¡¯t have sent the message, wouldn¡¯t have hurt their Dark Father through me the way they¡¯d hoped to.
The Nightlords roasted me alive, like they cooked their sire once.
They boiled me in black tar until the flesh was stripped from my bones. They burned me to death until the sharp sting of agony overpowered the numbness of the drugs, and until the pain sank into my marrow.
My eyes blazed within their sockets. My vision became a shining light that pierced the veil between life and death, between existence and nothingness, between the past and the future. I saw a great golden condor flying under a blinding sun and above golden mountains, whose radiance was denied to me.
Brother, I thought, before recalling the last time I¡¯d seen this bird. Inkarri?
But that wasn¡¯t my brother¡¯s name. I had no brother of my own. I was¡
The thread of my life snapped, and I was alone in my head again.
Death tore the First Emperor and me apart in a violent splintering of the soul. This was no gentle separation. Our selves had blurred together for a few minutes, the actor and the role so closely intertwined I couldn¡¯t tell where I began and where the dark god Yohuachanca began.
Such had been the purpose of the Nightlords¡¯ ritual: to let their father possess me by reenacting his trauma, so they could hurt him again through me.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I was thrown back into Xibalba¡¯s crossroads with all the violence of a sudden murder, my mind a chaotic maelstrom of disordered thoughts and mangled ideas. I thought dying once already would have softened the backslash, but so thorough was my soul¡¯s violation that I shivered when I recalled the memories that I¡¯d shared with the First Emperor. So much pain and hunger¡
Monsters all of them. Father and daughters both.
I fought to crawl onto my knees, my head dizzy and my body unbearably warm. My current shape in the Underworld was partly influenced by that of my physical body above ground. When I looked at my hands, the flesh had been stripped from their bones.
I would likely look no different from the Burned Men, just without the baleful heart-fire burning inside my chest. Just another charred skeleton wandering the ruins of an undead world.
I slowly acclimated to the chilling air of Xibalba and recovered my thoughts. Hatred helped my mind achieve a certain clarity. Meditating over my grudge helped me anchor myself into the present moment.
The Nightlords would pay for this humiliation.
I should have expected them to kill me to weaken the First Emperor at one point or another. Why wouldn¡¯t they? So long as they kept my soul in bondage, the Nightlords could afford to bring me back again and again, as many times as it took to cow their betrayed god back to his slumber. An emperor was little more than an effigy to suffer in a dark god¡¯s place to them.
Would the Nightlords do something to my body before they brought me back from the dead? Would they carve spells into my bones?
I activated Bonecraft to form a skull in the palm of my skeletal hand and used the Legion to infuse it with my predecessors¡¯ spirit. The pale glow forming within the eye sockets reassured me greatly. My sorcerous powers remained undiminished. The Nightlords¡¯ cruel ritual hadn¡¯t denied me my gifts at the very least.
¡°We weep for you, our successor,¡± the past emperors said with genuine compassion. They had experienced death often enough to sympathize with my situation. ¡°The Nightlords may have burned away your flesh, but your spirit shines brighter.¡±
¡°It doesn¡¯t feel this way¡¡± I rasped. My own words sounded like crackling embers. ¡°It was¡ difficult.¡±
Not the torture itself¡ªI had suffered far worse in Xibalba¡¯s trials¡ªbut the loss of my identity. I hated the thought of becoming the puppet of a higher power. To have my own sense of self blurring with that of another disturbed and enraged me to my core.
Was this how Eztli suffered every day? Slowly losing herself until her thoughts were no longer her own? Having experienced it for myself, I could understand why she broke down the way she did.
This only solidified my resolve to spare her any further violation.
¡°We wish we could do more,¡± the Parliament of Skulls apologized to me. ¡°Alas, unless our minds join together through the Legion, we cannot shield your mind. You will require more power before our collective may serve as your shield.¡±
¡°I understand¡¡± I had every intention of claiming Tlaloc¡¯s embers soon enough. ¡°How much¡ how much did you see?¡±
¡°Everything,¡± my predecessors replied. ¡°We are certain that the totem you saw in your vision was indeed the condor, lord of the sky. The same totem that blessed the Apu Inkarri, who hounded you in the Underworld¡¯s first layer.¡±
¡°And who hasn¡¯t plotted against me since,¡± I noted. ¡°Is he truly limited to the first layer without King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s blessing?¡±
¡°He may be simply unwilling to access Xibalba in any way,¡± my predecessors said. ¡°Few would dare to do so. We suspect he must have been focusing on gathering resources for our now inevitable conflict.¡±
I nodded sharply. He would likely strike me during the Flower War, when I would approach his territory. ¡°There¡ I think there is more.¡±
I recounted to my predecessors what unfolded during my latest Xibalba trials. I told about the carvings I¡¯d seen, the tales of the two brothers which they represented, and my argument with the Lords of Terrors when they failed to corrupt me any further.
My predecessors pondered the matter for a long time before sharing their observations. ¡°These carvings that you have observed present a very interesting development, assuming that they contain the truth. We cannot exclude the possibility that the Lords of Terrors are trying to deceive you.¡±
¡°I felt the tale was a little dubious too,¡± I replied. ¡°But my vision¡ it at least confirms some parts.¡±
¡°Yes. If the First Emperor indeed had a brother with a condor totem who fled into the mountains after his sibling¡¯s ascension, signs would seem to point in the Sapa Empire¡¯s direction.¡± Ghostfire light flickered in my predecessors¡¯ eye sockets. ¡°If we recall correctly, the Sapa believes that their empire was first founded by a son of the sun that descended from the sky, who then sired the imperial line that rules them over them to this day.¡±
The similarities with my own situation were too great for me to ignore. ¡°You believe it could have been the First Emperor¡¯s brother?¡±
¡°If they were indeed brothers, and if the story happened according to those carvings,¡± the past emperors replied with heavy skepticism. ¡°We are basing our thoughts on visions, unreliable information, and assumptions. We suspect we would be better off discussing the matter with your mother. Having passed the trials herself, she may possess insight that would help clarify your findings.¡±
¡°Agreed.¡± I rose back to my feet, pulled the skull in my hands close, and summoned the Doll to carve a path open into the floor. The way to my mother¡¯s den appeared to me without issues. ¡°They could not obstruct it. I guess this is part of their deal with Mother.¡±
¡°Your recent feud with the Lords of Terror concerns us,¡± the Parliament said. ¡°However bound they might be to this city¡¯s laws, the fact remains that you are trapped in their seat of power. Proceed with caution until you escape these walls.¡±
¡°I shall not lower my guard,¡± I promised.
One trial and a ballcourt game.
One more trial and a game, then I could leave this place for good.
I found my parents arguing in their living room.
I used the term ¡®argue¡¯ loosely; while my mother didn¡¯t hide her frustration, twitching and clenching her fists, my father remained unmoved like an ancient stone. I don''t ever recall him ever truly showing fury.
¡°My answer is no, Ichtaca,¡± Father said. ¡°This¡ crosses too many lines.¡±
¡°I do not wish to do it with anyone other than you,¡± Mother said with a voice full of bitterness. She wasn¡¯t used to being denied anything.
¡°Then let us find another way. I do not know, would it not be possible to create a temporary body for me to inhabit?¡±
Mother groaned. ¡°Why create something that we already have plenty to choose from?¡±
¡°Because people do not belong to us!¡±
¡°They wouldn¡¯t remember anything!¡± Mother took my father¡¯s hands into her own. ¡°You would be the one in control, Itzili. I would be all yours¡¡±
¡°I¡¡± Father looked away. ¡°Even if I wished to go along with this plot, I¡ I don¡¯t think I could perform in those circumstances.¡±
¡°I will cast a Veil over you, so neither of us will be able to tell the difference,¡± Mother pleaded. ¡°Please, Itzili.¡±
¡°I will know,¡± Father replied with skepticism, before noticing me walking into the room. He immediately let go of Mother¡¯s hands and rushed to my side the moment he saw my charred, fleshless appearance. ¡°Iztac?! By the gods, what happened to you?!¡±
¡°I died,¡± I replied bluntly.
¡°You¡¡± Father took a step back in shock. ¡°You died, but¡ how¡¡±
¡°He did not die permanently,¡± Mother replied upon noticing my blazing heart-fire. She studied my bones and noticed the charred traces on them. ¡°The Nightlords?¡±
I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°I have experienced worse.¡±
¡°Iztac, they burned you to the bone,¡± Father replied in concern. ¡°This is not nothing. Do you need¨C¡±
¡°I am fine, Father,¡± I replied before he started worrying too much. His concern touched me, however uncalled for. ¡°I do not need anything. They will bring me back sometime soon.¡±
¡°Do you see what our son has to go through, Itzili?¡± Mother told Father. ¡°If you went along with my proposal, I could help him better.¡±
Her hypocrisy caused me to choke in outrage. Even Father shook his head in tiredness. ¡°Ichtaca, are you truly trying to drag him into this? I will not do it.¡±
¡°Your father is impossible,¡± Mother complained to me with a groan. ¡°Perhaps you will be able to beat some sense into his thick skull.¡±
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked, though I had my suspicions.
¡°Your Mother has¡¡± Father fidgeted in embarrassment. ¡°She¡¯s keen on trying a new spell that involves the two of us¡ well¡¡±
¡°Making love?¡± I guessed while struggling not to laugh. ¡°You finally agreed to try out Seidr, Mother?¡±
Mother snickered in annoyance. ¡°Your smugness is unbefitting of you, my son.¡±
¡°So you¡¯re the one who put her up to it, Iztac?¡± Father shuddered. ¡°Unfortunately, being dead limits the possibilities on my side. Your mother suggested a solution I am not comfortable with.¡±
¡°She wishes you to Ride someone above ground.¡± Of course Mother would do that. She was already working on a spell to transfer minds permanently, and she was more interested in mating with Father¡¯s soul than his current vessel. ¡°It could work.¡±
¡°See?¡± Mother said, immediately pouncing on the opportunity. ¡°He understands.¡±
Father gave me a mortified look; quite the difficult feat to achieve when you had a skull for a face. ¡°I do not wish to sleep with my wife in another¡¯s body, Iztac. Your mother may call it a meeting of the souls and that it wouldn¡¯t count so long as I was in control, but¡¡± He shook his head in disgust. ¡°It does matter to me.¡±
¡°That would be awkward,¡± I conceded. I wouldn¡¯t feel comfortable making love to Nenetl while in, say, Tlaxcala¡¯s body. ¡°How about you both possess newlyweds then? I can think of two who would fit nicely.¡±
¡°I cannot believe what I¡¯m hearing.¡± Father sounded angry for the first time in years. ¡°How is forcing two people to have sex against their will any different from a rape? Except that in this case we would have two victims instead of one?¡±
Mother refused to give up. ¡°Iztac is right though, we could possess an existing couple who has consummated their relationship. What would be the problem then? They would already make love without us Riding them.¡±
¡°They would not experience nor remember anything either,¡± I added. I intellectually understood his concern, but I¡¯d used the Ride spell to kill my vessels, so using them for lovemaking sounded middling at best; hardly anything to get worked up over.
¡°Their bodies will experience it, and¡ it is a slippery slope. I fear it will become easy to justify stealing another man''s life so that I may enjoy what I lost.¡± Father sighed and looked at his lifeless, skeletal hands. ¡°I want to hold you in my arms, Ichtaca. I want to feel your warmth, I want to kiss you, and I want to be with you.¡±
His sincerity took Mother aback. If she wore her mortal body rather than her Underworld form, she would have likely looked quite flustered. ¡°Then why are you being so difficult about this, Itzili?¡±
¡°Because I want to hold you with my arms, not borrowed ones,¡± Father replied before embracing his wife. ¡°We will find a better solution, Ichtaca, but not this one. Not at any cost.¡±
While I remained ambivalent and Mother grumbled in defeat, my predecessors immediately supported his decision. ¡°Your integrity honors you, Lord Itzili.¡±
¡°I am no lord, Your Majesties,¡± Father replied with embarrassment.
¡°You have the heart of one,¡± the Parliament insisted. ¡°We have watched this world for over six centuries. We have seen too few good men with principles during this time, and fewer with the resolve to abide by them. Though some of us have indulged in the worst pleasures this world can offer, we all respect your decision.¡±
¡°I¡¯m, uh¡ thank you.¡± Father respectfully bowed to the skull. ¡°Your praise honors me.¡±
¡°Enough,¡± Mother grumbled while moving towards the door to her divination room. ¡°Come with me, my son. We have little time to continue your training before your captors raise you again.¡±
¡°Will Your Majesty stay with me until they finish?¡± Father asked my predecessors. ¡°I can set up a Patolli game for us to play in the meantime.¡±
¡°We must advise our successor for now, but we can split our attention over six-hundred ways,¡± the Parliament of Skulls replied with what could pass for enthusiasm. They had clearly taken a liking to my father. ¡°Would you kindly create another vessel, Iztac?¡±
I agreed to the request, leaving one skull in Father¡¯s care to give the dead emperors a reprieve from their monotonous existence and taking another with Mother in her divination room.
¡°Your father is so stubborn!¡± Mother complained the moment she closed the door behind us. ¡°So unreasonable!¡±
I chuckled. ¡°Isn¡¯t that why he won you over?¡±
To my amusement, Mother¡¯s behavior softened considerably. ¡°Yes, it is,¡± she replied with a heavy sigh. ¡°I simply wish he would be more flexible. The Embrace could assist me in my research to help return him to life, and I do not wish to share my bed with anyone else.¡±
For some reason, I found myself warming up a bit to Mother on the matter. While it annoyed me that she would only push Father to try it out after I¡¯d shown her the spell¡¯s potential, I was happy that she didn¡¯t even consider doing it with anybody else nor forcing the matter on him. I was starting to believe that her feelings for him were indeed completely genuine.
¡°I would love to share thoughts on Seidr,¡± I said. ¡°I have been experimenting with it lately, and I formed a surprisingly strong bond with Nenetl.¡±
¡°Nenetl?¡± Mother asked in confusion until she recalled the name, at which point she grew curious. ¡°Ah yes, your Nahualli consort. Did the Embrace spell behave differently with her?¡±
¡°I think it did, yes,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Our connection was¡ intense. It was like we were a single soul sharing two bodies.¡±
¡°Odd,¡± Mother replied. ¡°You said her totem was the wolf? There is no special association between her totem and yours.¡±
¡°It could be love,¡± I replied with a chuckle. ¡°I am very fond of her.¡±
The past emperors remained skeptical. ¡°We suspect there is more to this, our successor. Remember the White Snake¡¯s reaction. She would not rejoice over you and your consort finding love unless she meant to destroy it.¡±
¡°True,¡± I conceded. ¡°She called Nenetl the moon to my sun. I am uncertain what this means.¡±
Mother didn¡¯t say a word.
I waited for her to comment on the matter, but she simply stared at me silently for a while. I found her blank expression quite unnerving.
¡°How old is this Nenetl?¡± she asked me suddenly.
What an odd question. ¡°Around my age?¡± I replied with a frown. ¡°Maybe slightly younger, I think. Why?¡±
¡°I am merely curious,¡± Mother replied with a shrug that looked¡ faked. ¡°What is she like?¡±
Her question surprised me. ¡°Very kind,¡± I replied. A smile would have formed on my lips if I had any left. ¡°Much like Father.¡±
¡°I see.¡± I caught a strange glint in Mother¡¯s eyes, though I couldn¡¯t identify its nature. ¡°You should stay away from her. Practicing Seidr with a fellow Nahualli might have unforeseen consequences that risk alerting the Nightlords to your true potential. Growing attached to her will only give your enemies more means to pressure you.¡±
Her concern sounded quite reasonable, but I was starting to know my mother; enough that I could smell a lie.
She was hiding something from me. Something that concerned Nenetl.
Should I push for details? It was only a hunch, and I doubted Mother would remain silent if it was anything truly serious. It did arouse my curiosity, however. I decided to play the fool and stay quiet for now.
I would have other opportunities to find out later.
¡°Let us discuss more productive things, my son,¡± Mother decided. ¡°What have you witnessed in the House of Bats?¡±
¡°Carvings,¡± I replied. ¡°Who was Camazotz, Mother?¡±
¡°The cruel bat god who once ruled Xibalba.¡± Mother tilted her head to the side. ¡°So you have reached the same conclusions I did.¡±
¡°You believe that the First Emperor is the man from the carvings?¡± My predecessors inquired. ¡°The moon brother?¡±
¡°Evidence would point that way,¡± Mother confirmed. ¡°I have researched this Camazotz and interrogated the ancient dead on the matter. According to them, he used to be a god of bats and terror that lurked in Xibalba and terrorized mankind all the way back to the Fourth Sun¡¯s dawn.¡±
¡°He was a Lord of Terror?¡± I asked before quickly excluding the possibility. ¡°No, it cannot be. He would have been bound to the city otherwise.¡±
¡°As a god associated with the bat totem, I suspect that Camazotz could move freely between the realms,¡± Mother replied. ¡°A monster that could torment both the living and the dead, and who would have no equal in a world where most of his surviving brethren perished to raise the Fifth Sun.¡±
¡°In this case, we can assume that the First Emperor likely consumed him during his ascension,¡± my predecessors said. ¡°In doing so, Dread Yohuachanca usurped control over their shared totem and corrupted it. A bat consuming another for supremacy.¡±
¡°That¡¯s the source of the vampire curse,¡± I muttered to myself upon piecing things together. ¡°A corruption of the totem choosing its Nahualli incarnations.¡±
¡°Maybe, maybe not,¡± Mother replied with uncertainty. ¡°The process of how the First Emperor usurped Camazotz¡¯s role remains uncertain. We¡¯ll need the remaining codices to confirm our assumptions, and I couldn¡¯t extract any more information from the Lords of Terror.¡±
I would have to inform her about those demons¡¯ power play, but a more urgent matter occupied my mind. Namely, Ezlti¡¯s fate.
¡°Do you think the vampire curse stains only the Teyolia?¡± I asked Mother. ¡°Or would it stain the Tonalli too?¡±
¡°I would assume the curse most focuses on the former,¡± Mother replied. ¡°While the lesser Nightkin turn into bats to a fault, the Nightlords have retained their original totems in spite of having been claimed directly by their godly sire.¡±
I nodded sharply. ¡°I had that hoped it would be the case. I would assume that your soul transfer spell project would focus on overwriting the Tonalli of another?¡±
Mother studied me carefully. ¡°Do you have something on your mind, my son? I recall that you showed distaste at the idea of using the spell.¡±
¡°For my own sake, most certainly,¡± I replied. ¡°If I remember, you said that it would require a strong spiritual connection between the participants? Would an actor and its replacement suffice?¡±
My predecessors were the first to catch on. ¡°You are thinking of your consorts.¡±
¡°My former consort, Eztli, is having her mind slowly being taken over by her predecessor, and her body tainted by the vampiric curse.¡± A smile stretched on my lips. ¡°I would like to offer her soul a fresh start¡ in a new skin.¡±
Chapter Seventy-One: The Last Trial
It said something about Mother that the prospect of transferring a girl¡¯s soul into a monster¡¯s body aroused her intellectual curiosity.
¡°Quite the brilliant plan, my son,¡± she congratulated me while casting a spell on her divinatory pool. The purple water¡¯s surface rippled, with indistinct mirages forming on it. ¡°Very bold. Tell me, how do you intend to bind those two?¡±
¡°My idea was to piggyback the ritual¡¯s web of connections, the same way my predecessors and I exploited it to fuel the Legion,¡± I explained. ¡°If Chindi is now supposed to represent Eztli during the Scarlet Moon, then this should create a sympathetic link between them.¡±
¡°Your former consort¡¯s identity crisis already provides proof enough of this bond,¡± my predecessors replied, albeit with a caveat. ¡°Nonetheless, can a Skinwalker¡¯s spirit be conquered so easily?¡±
¡°A Skinwalker¡¯s soul is a pitiful, fragmented mirror,¡± Mother countered. ¡°Its malleability is why the Nightlords selected that creature to play the role of a replacement actress in their foul play. Its face will grow to fit the mask others force it to wear.¡±
I took her answer as encouragement. ¡°So you think my plan can work?¡±
¡°Undoubtedly, albeit only with sufficient preparations.¡± Mother waved her hand over the pool, with the image of Chindi appearing on it. The Skinwalker rested in her new lavish bedroom, while poor Atziri did her best not to attract her predatory attention. The way Chindi smiled, with saliva dripping between her teeth, caused my stomach to sink. ¡°This presents so many opportunities. Would young Eztli retain her new body¡¯s powers if she overtakes its Tonalli? Or would she kick the old spirit out, magic and all? Would their spirits merge into a new personality?¡±
My enthusiasm quickly petered out. I hadn¡¯t considered those outcomes. ¡°You think Chindi¡¯s mind may influence Eztli?¡±
¡°Who can say?¡± she replied. ¡°My version of the spell is designed to take over a normal human¡¯s body by casting their Tonalli into the Underworld and taking over their flesh. A Skinwalker¡¯s Tonalli is stronger than any mundane soul, yet splintered and malleable. It might merge with young Eztli, adapt and force the invader out, or depart for its afterlife.¡±
¡°The third outcome is the most preferable,¡± I said. Eztli already struggled with sharing her mind with one monster, so I didn¡¯t have the heart to impose the presence of another. ¡°Is there no way to guarantee it?¡±
Mother shook her head, crushing my hopes. ¡°The spell is experimental, and I do not have a handful of Skinwalkers to test it out on. We cannot know if it will work on its intended vessel until we try.¡±
My teeth ground against each other. ¡°Which makes it quite the gamble.¡±
¡°I do not believe we will find a better host to house Eztli¡¯s mind,¡± Mother argued. ¡°Save her mother perhaps, which is an option I assume neither would entertain.¡±
She was half-right. Necahual would do anything for her daughter, even give her life, but Eztli would never consent to it.
¡°No,¡± I confirmed.
¡°I assumed so,¡± Mother said. ¡°Then either it will work with this Skinwalker or it never will.¡±
The Parliament of Skulls urged us to proceed anyway. ¡°We would suggest proceeding with the spell as soon as possible, our successor. Whatever risks this plot carries pale before the possibility of your former consort revealing all of our secrets under Yoloxochitl¡¯s influence. Her mind is breaking down at the seams and she knows too much.¡±
Unfortunately, my predecessors had a point. I had already received a glimpse of what fate awaited me should Yoloxochitl¡¯s image fully take over Eztli¡¯s mind in the Razor House. Necahual¡¯s blood donations would only stabilize her daughter for a while, but I doubted she could keep it up forever.
¡°Heed their wisdom, my son,¡± Mother said with what could pass for fondness. ¡°Young Eztli reminds me of myself when I was her age. I am certain that she will adapt to her new vessel easily enough.¡±
I wasn¡¯t sure how I should take that remark. Alas, I had very few other options and a lack of time to find a better one. Time was running out for us, and I had no idea when this particular deadline would come calling.
¡°How do we proceed?¡± I asked Mother. ¡°When should we proceed?¡±
Mother smiled at my enthusiasm. She delighted in showcasing her expertise. ¡°I see three hurdles that we must address before we begin. First of all, I designed my spell to transfer the caster¡¯s soul, which would provide a stronger anchor. Since young Eztli is not a Nahualli, your current plan would have you serve as the intermediary between them. You will need to mark both of your consorts in a way that will allow you to serve as a bridge between them.¡±
¡°I can think of a few ways,¡± I replied with a shrug. Seidr should take care of that issue, and I could reinforce the bond by other means such as feeding Eztli and Chindi my blood and bones. Recruiting Necahual as a Mometzcopinque assistant might help me improve the sympathetic connection as well. ¡°What¡¯s the second problem?¡±
¡°The cost of success.¡± Mother¡¯s smile faded into a scowl. ¡°Even if we do transfer young Eztli¡¯s essence into her new vessel, then this will leave her old body an empty shell filled only by the vampire curse.¡±
I knew this subject would come up. ¡°Do you think this will allow Yoloxochitl¡¯s influence to possess the empty body?¡±
Mother thankfully explained otherwise. ¡°You would need an actual spirit to settle in there. The Nightlord Yoloxochitl is well and truly dead, her Tonalli forever trapped in her Father¡¯s belly. She does not possess young Eztli from beyond the grave; your consort¡¯s mind is simply being reshaped by the ritual into a copy of her predecessor. Without a spirit to transform, that vampire body will become no more than a piece of meat fueled by darkness. It may become catatonic or transform into a mindless monster.¡±
¡°Either outcome will bring the Nightlords¡¯ attention,¡± my predecessors warned me. ¡°We must proceed in a way that will lay the blame at another¡¯s feet. We suggest the First Emperor.¡±
¡°He would make for a fine patsy,¡± I conceded. After what he went through tonight, it would be easy to make my lover¡¯s transformation seem like a direct backlash from the First Emperor; a spiteful attempt to punish his daughters for putting him through the agony of his own murder. ¡°Eztli¡¯s ability to replace Yoloxochitl for the ritual is already an unexpected fluke. We could trick the Nightlords into believing that she simply couldn¡¯t survive the occult strain it put on her, if we cover our tracks well.¡±
¡°This will nonetheless raise their suspicions, fuel their paranoia, and cause them to keep a closer eye on Eztli¡¯s replacement,¡± the Parliament pointed out. ¡°You will find your options even more limited than before.¡±
¡°Which brings me to the third issue with the spell.¡± Mother tilted her head to the side. ¡°While the Skinwalker¡¯s consent isn¡¯t required, Eztli must agree to it. Any doubt she might have in her heart will cause the transfer to collapse part way through. She must accept her new life without remorse, never looking back.¡±
¡°I do not think she will object to the transfer, not too much,¡± I replied. Eztli hated her existence as a vampire, and I couldn¡¯t see how the possibility of escaping Yoloxochitl¡¯s hold on her mind wouldn¡¯t appeal to her. The risks of our plan paled before the certainty of becoming a Nightlord¡¯s vessel. ¡°Breaching the subject with her undetected will prove more difficult, but I can manage it.¡±
I had spent a lot of effort building a network of intermediaries by handpicking my consorts¡¯ handmaidens. Between them and Necahual, I could give Eztli enough hints and information to figure out my plan on her own without arousing the Nightlords¡¯ suspicions.
¡°We would not be so confident, our successor,¡± the Parliament replied. ¡°It would be difficult for anyone to wake up and see the face of a stranger in the mirror.¡±
¡°I got used to the Ride spell quickly enough,¡± I countered. ¡°But I see what you mean. Agreement and resolve are two different things.¡±
¡°You will only have one chance to cast the spell successfully,¡± Mother warned. ¡°Do not try it unless you are absolutely certain your consort will go through with it with a clear mind.¡±
Eztli and clarity rarely went together nowadays, but for the sake of the plan I would find a way to dispel those clouds obscuring her thoughts. This would likely require Necahual¡¯s assistance.
¡°How does the spell work?¡± I asked. ¡°Must all of its participants be in close proximity?¡±
¡°No, so long as they are properly marked and their Tonalli properly resonate,¡± Mother replied. ¡°You will however need to guide Eztli¡¯s soul to its new receptacle and ensure the host¡¯s will is suppressed. Both will likely require your physical presence near the Skinwalker.¡±
¡°But I could mark Eztli and transfer her soul remotely.¡±
¡°If you time the spell correctly,¡± Mother said. ¡°The spell works only one way too, since it is based on an advanced form of the Ride.¡±
¡°So there is no risk of Eztli and Chindi switching bodies?¡± I felt no loyalty to the Skinwalker, but the possibility of her running around in a vampiric shell disturbed me. She was better off gone.
¡°Of course not,¡± Mother replied gruffly. ¡°I would never be stupid enough to let someone run around in my body. No loose ends.¡±
I could agree with that mindset. This greatly simplified a very difficult situation.
I considered how to proceed. My first order of business would be to put Necahual through the Mometzcopinque ritual in Zachilaa, then use the Flower Wars as a distraction to run the soul transfer spell.
The Nightlords would never allow Eztli to risk herself near the frontlines for fear of disturbing their wicked ritual. They would keep her at the palace while the rest of us traveled south to fight the Sapa.
Which meant I had only a very short time window to both mark Eztli and convince her to use the spell.
¡°I will work on refining the spell as much as I can,¡± Mother said. ¡°You should face the last of the Lords of Terror in the meantime. This will clear the path to the pyramid and grant you a final spell that may or may not come in handy in your endeavor.¡±
This would also give the Lords of Terror an opportunity to sabotage me too. I doubted they had taken our last encounter well, however bound they were to Xibalba¡¯s rules.
¡°Will I be able to return here afterwards should I pass the trial?¡± I asked. ¡°They have already denied me access to your Owl House when I needed to contact you the most.¡±
¡°That won¡¯t be a problem anymore after you conquer the last House of Trials,¡± Mother replied reassuringly. ¡°Conquering them will mark you as worthy of entering the Black Pyramid and of participating in the Lords¡¯ sacred ballcourt game. All the city¡¯s doors will open to you then.¡±
¡°All of them, except the exit.¡±
¡°Crossing that threshold will require another sacrifice.¡± Mother marked a short pause, as if hesitating to broach a peculiar subject before deciding against it. ¡°Go now, my son. Your final trial awaits you.¡±
I faced Xibalba¡¯s misty archway for the last time.
The thick mantle of fog swirled with the rancid stench of bitterness and nauseating fumes of disdain. I sensed no invitation to a trap or to uncover ancient knowledge like my previous visits. The threshold no longer bothered to deceive and trick me with a false allure of safety.
The farce was up. I would only find hatred beyond this doorway to darkness.
¡°Are you ready, our successor?¡± the two skulls in my hands asked. ¡°There is no telling what awaits you inside.¡±
Their concern was not unwarranted. I¡¯d refused to become the Lords¡¯ pawn. This sixth ordeal and the ballgame that followed would be their final chance to either corrupt or punish me for my defiance. I could expect almost anything.
Yet I felt no fear. My mind was clear like a cloudless sky, my will stronger than the thickest stone.
¡°Many times have the Lords of Terror tried to destroy my spirit and failed,¡± I declared, both to my predecessors and this cursed city. ¡°This trial will be no different.¡±
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Whatever foul ploy they planned for me, I would beat it.
In a way, the Lords had succeeded in their aim. They had purged me of my fears and doubts until only the twin flames of hatred and resolve remained. Neither gods nor demons would intimidate me anymore.
I absorbed the skulls back into my skeletal frame and crossed into the fog alone with my thoughts.
The mist seared my bones.
The heat sharply increased the moment I crossed the threshold, as if I had walked into Smoke Mountain¡¯s crater. It almost felt like a breeze compared to the boiling tar that melted the flesh off my skeleton, but it was noticeable enough to spook me. I felt dizzy all of a sudden.
Then I fell.
I didn¡¯t trip, I was sure of that. The ground simply vanished beneath my feet and caused me to fall down through the mist. A familiar plunging feeling sank into my stomach as the fog cleared and revealed a clear blue expanse all around me.
The sky welcomed me in its free-falling embrace.
I immediately activated Spiritual Manifestation. I flew on wings of black feathers into a pure blue expanse that stretched as far as I could see. The horizon shone so brightly it hurt to look at it.
It went on forever.
No cloud obscured my view, nor did any sun shine in this endless expanse. I couldn¡¯t see the ground below me either, nor any mountain peak challenging the heavens.
The ground was gone too.
A vast, empty abyss stretched beneath my wings. No wind pushed against my feathers, whether they carried the prayers or malice of men. I was gliding down on hot air in a void without beginning or end. I couldn¡¯t even get a sense of my direction. I was alone in a quiet world of nothingness.
I could already identify one of the two fears that this place represented.
Falling.
Was there a ground hidden below me? A set of stone jaws waiting to surprise me with a sudden snap the moment I lowered my guard? A floor on which to crash at the last second? I activated the Gaze spell to dispel all illusions around me, yet detected none.
This didn¡¯t mean anything. The Lords of Terror running this house didn¡¯t need lies to deceive me. They could materialize the ground from thin air at any time.
How long would I have to wait? Or would I continue to fall until I found a way out?
I flapped my wings and rode across currents of hot air. The air felt heavy and lifeless. It lacked the dust and ashes that suffocated Tlalocan, the smell of flowers or snow, nor the moisture of rain and clouds. This sky never floated above earth of any kind, nor did any bird ever explore its vastness before me.
And the silence¡ The silence weighed on me.
I¡¯d never heard of skies quieter than these. The heavens above were usually a noisy place, a maelstrom of winds and air blowing onto my face. The world constantly moved because it was alive.
Yet no matter how long I focused, I could only hear the soft flap of my wings and the resistance of my feathers against the air.
Was I flying east or west, north or south? I could hardly tell without any frame of reference. I searched the horizon for any floating island, cloud, star, whatever could help me find where I was, or if there was a place where to go in this void.
I flew.
I flew.
I flew.
I flew for so long and all I could see was the endless blue. I floated aimlessly in a void without a beginning nor end, without ground nor up, without people nor obstacles.
At this point, I began to realize what the word alone truly meant.
Nobody was ever alone in this world. Even a hermit living in the wilderness or a cave could often hear the sound of the rain, the sensation of a bug crawling on their skin, or rejoice at the smell of a warm meal cooked on the fire. There was always some kind of movement to remind the human mind that it did not exist in a void separate from everything else.
Only in this place did I truly feel the crushing weight of true isolation.
Loneliness. The thought crossed my vertigo-addled mind in a flash of insight. This place¡¯s other fear is loneliness.
I was alone in a world without ups and downs.
¡°Show yourself!¡± I called out to the void. ¡°Come out! I know you are there!¡±
I receive no answer besides the echo of my own voice.
I reviewed my options. There was no wind for me to call upon in this lifeless void, nothing solid to which I could attach myself to with the Doll spell, and no shadow to use the Curse or the Haunt on.
I used the Blaze to unleash fireballs in multiple directions, trying to measure whether this void was indeed infinite or merely a trick of my mind. My baleful flames flew across the horizon until they became flickering stars in the distance, and then vanished.
The Pit wouldn¡¯t be too useful in my situation and required ground to stand on anyway. Which left the Word.
¡°Stop.¡±
My voice echoed across the nothingness and rippled with power.
Nobody answered, whether to obey or to laugh. No one was listening.
What was I supposed to do then? Was this a lesson about letting go? Of the joys of surrendering oneself to the vast meaninglessness of an empty universe?
I closed my eyes and let myself fall. I folded my wings and embraced the call of gravity.
The sky yanked me back.
Down became up, and up became down. I suddenly fell backwards, or at least what felt like backwards. The force observing this void denied me the comfort of a clear direction and the calm acceptance of a freefall.
A warden observed me in this wall-less prison. A will who didn¡¯t want me to find rest, even in feigned surrender.
But what else was I supposed to do? What lesson was I supposed to learn to escape this trial? I could do nothing.
Nothing¡
My heart grew cold as I finally understood.
There was no trial for me to pass. I had no lesson to learn and would receive no apprenticeship in cruelty. The Lords of Terror had either given up on corrupting me or decided to use me as an example to uppity sorcerers.
This house was a trap. It had no exit nor hidden ground for me to land on.
There was only the fall. A down without an end where time and space had no meaning.
The sky would be my coffin.
How long had I been falling?
Hours? Days? It felt like days, but I couldn¡¯t tell without directions or any frame of reference. I could hardly focus enough to count seconds in my head. The Lords of Terror ruled over time within their dominion. I might have spent years within this place for all I knew.
The dizziness and vertigo only increased over time. I felt sick. My world flickered into fractal lights and azure spirals whenever I opened my eyes. The void twisted and bent to mock me, to cruelly refuse me whatever peace I could find in the mundane, the usual.
My very senses betrayed me. The sky didn¡¯t let me rest either. Whenever I grew too comfortable, it would adjust my direction and velocity. It denied me any form of comforting certainty, keeping me on my toes, and ripping away any form of reassurance.
I forgot how often I snarled in rage or called out to the Lords of this cursed house to fight me rather than hide. Often, I struggled to recall how many trials I¡¯d conquered. It became harder and harder to conceptualize the world before the emptiness.
It was awful, how weak the human spirit proved to be when denied an anchor on which to focus on; and how much we relied on others to understand reality. What was there left for me to compare myself to?
Who was left to see me?
I thought of Nenetl, Ingrid, Eztli, Chikal, Father, and Mother¡ I tried to use their memory as an anchor, but it became harder and harder to remember the sound of their voices, the shape of their faces, and even what they meant to me. What I would have given to see them even for a moment.
The numbness and silence were maddening. They drained me.
I needed someone to talk to. Someone to anchor my drifting sense of reality.
I crafted a skull from my hands and attempted to summon my predecessors through the Legion, only for an invisible force to yank it off my hand before I could speak the correct incantation. The piece of bone flew into the distance and then vanished without a sound.
The sky ate my skull.
The blue would ensure I remained alone.
I didn¡¯t think I ever realized how oppressive loneliness was before today. I had suffered for years at the hands of my fellow human beings, who had mocked and resented me because of their own prejudices, who had thrown stones at me and spat on my face¡ but at least they had been there, seeing me, acknowledging that I existed.
Even a glare remained a human interaction at the end of the day; a reminder that one existed as part of a greater world. I almost came to miss them. I would have given so much to have even the likes of Tezozomoc, Tlacaelel, and all those bootlickers and abusers speaking to me right now. I would take any reminder that someone, something existed outside the prison of my mind.
To become truly weightless, unburdened by anything and anyone, meant stopping to exist.
And it felt awful.
The silence numbed my soul. The sky would devour my mind piece by piece, slowly corroding my sense of self until I forgot that there used to be a ground beneath it. Only empty blue, forever and ever.
Absolute isolation could drive any man to insanity.
¡°Anyone?¡± I whispered to the void, then shouted. ¡°Answer me!¡±
Not even the echo of my own words answered me. The sky denied me that small mercy.
Perhaps the Lords would let me out if I begged for their forgiveness, or if I agreed to a pact that would bind me to their service. Maybe a single word of apology separated me from hitting the ground and the comfort of an ending, of collision with another.
¡°No.¡± Something within me flowed out of my mouth, a raw, stubborn desire born of my pride and tattered conviction. ¡°No, no, never surrender, never compromise.¡±
I refused to give in.
I said¡ I said once that I would beat this trial. I remembered it. I promised it to¡ to someone I couldn¡¯t recall¡
I fought back the tiredness and exhaustion in an attempt to focus. I closed my mind to the velocity and the maddening silence of this maddened atmosphere. I retreated into myself in search of an answer deep within.
I sensed it. A chain binding my heart to ghosts of an ancient past. The one anchor that the blue couldn¡¯t take from me; a leash that I loathed from the very bottom of my soul.
Yet gazing upon it filled me with gratitude, for I sensed so many presences through it. Links in a chain praying for my success.
There had to be a way out of this cell. A spell I hadn¡¯t considered. A secret trick that would let me escape.
I couldn¡¯t be powerless¡
Powerless.
My eyes snapped open. A mad idea had crossed my mind.
I canceled Spiritual Manifestation and became a man again. I faced the new fall calling me and stared into the endless abyss with a wicked grin.
¡°Behold, demons!¡± I taunted the void. ¡°How a man brings down the sky!¡±
I slammed my hands together and called upon the secret terror engraved within my heart.
¡°Powerlessness,¡± I whispered with a smile.
I called upon the Tomb to swallow me whole.
My power rippled out of my body like a storm of dirt filling the empty air. Baleful purple flame spread through the void. The whispering shadows of a bird cage made of vengeful skulls swirled around me, unformed and half-born.
The strain affected my Teyolia and Tonalli both. The Tomb required more power than I had to fully manifest it. In the absence of more embers, it was condemned to remain an incomplete and stillborn manifestation of my own fear. Its true potential remained beyond my grasp for now.
But it didn¡¯t matter now. I could already sense the pressure buckling against my Tomb.
Although this place seemed endless, it remained a closed domain within Xibalba; a House of Trials.
And no two houses could stand in the same spot.
My metaphysical weight pushed against my prison, imposing structure into the formless void. It recoiled and raged at this violation. The blue cracked like glass, thin lines spreading across the horizon. They were thin at first and hardly more visible than the shadow of dancing clouds in the distance, but the mere sight of this change in the unmoving nothingness filled my heart with glee.
The blaze of my soul burned brighter and strengthened the unborn Tomb it called forth from the depths of my being. I sensed it as the chain around my heart-fire strained and answered my call. A horde of ghosts sang within my half-born birdcage, their fears and spite resonating with mine. A chorus of past emperors lent me their aid, my plea an echo of their own.
The curse that bound us together pulled the weight of over six hundred ghostly spirits down onto this empty house.
I was not alone anymore, nor had I ever been.
We were legion, and we were many.
A greater darkness stirred at the beginning of the chain as I pulled it to me. I sensed the First Emperor look upon me from high above. My resolve and pride pierced through the veil of pain and horrible memories the Nightlords put him through, and the weight of its distant, eldritch gaze proved too much for this paltry excuse of a sky to hold.
The void shuddered in pain, like a gullet struggling to hold back a piece of food too spicy for it. Vibrations coursed through the nothingness around me, slowly building up towards its apex.
Then the sky screamed.
The void let out an inhuman noise; a high-pitch wail of pure pain and suffering, whose strength was only matched by that of my roaring laughter.
What boundless joy to hear the heavens weep!
Only when the scream finally reached its apex did the ground appear below me. A floor of stone sprawled and rushed towards me with gnashing teeth of sharp obsidian. A mouth the size of a city opened to swallow me whole, and within it, I saw only smoke and a tongue of steaming magma.
I looked into the dark abyss of its gullet and uttered a single Word.
¡°Close.¡±
The maw snapped shut.
I summoned my jet black wings and gracefully landed on a tooth longer than my entire body. I sensed the fanged ground shudder beneath me, its animalistic hunger fruitlessly pushing against the power of my will. A vain effort. This thing was little more than a wall with hunger, a beast meant to obey the orders of higher beings.
Its master swiftly whispered in my ear. ¡°How?¡±
I almost mistook its voice for the Yaotzin¡¯s at first, but no wind blew in my ear. I only sensed the pressure of air.
I looked up to the sky and found myself facing a spiral. The shining blue sky had transformed from an endless expanse into a maelstrom of air. I almost suffered from vertigo simply by looking at it.
As I focused and my eyes adjusted to the blinding light, I noticed a shape in the spiral¡¯s center: the floating body of a hairless, gray humanoid in a fetal position, so far above me it would take me hours of flight to reach it. I must have looked exactly the same when the sky had caught me in its grip.
The last two Lords of Terror looked down upon me in defeat. Their jail of air had failed to hold me.
¡°How?¡± the spiral whispered in my ear with a feminine voice. ¡°How did a mere mortal destabilize our den of fear?¡±
¡°You answered your own question, demon,¡± I replied with my head held high. ¡°There is nothing mere about me.¡±
I was the heir to a six-hundred year old legacy of death and murder. Its occult weight allowed my unborn Tomb to overwhelm even the Lords¡¯ domain.
¡°Yes¡ yes, I see that now.¡± The spiral coiled into a fractal, a mind-numbing vision of light and blue colors. ¡°You gaze upon Xic, the vast and wingless, she who brings men down and down into the deepest void. Behold Patan, the forsaken, the weightless loner.¡±
The lonely humanoid did not turn to address me. I figured that the demon of isolation would not deign to greet its visitor. How impolite.
¡°You are wasting your immense talents on the happiness of lesser beings, sorcerer,¡± the sky said. I sensed no anger in her voice; only disappointment. ¡°Why will you not embrace true freedom?¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡± I scoffed. ¡°It is freedom that I seek above all things. The freedom to do as I choose.¡±
¡°Such a state can only be achieved by true weightlessness,¡± Xic argued. ¡°When chained to others, a soul can only fall further down towards its doom. Only by severing themselves from their mortal attachments can a sorcerer live free of suffering.¡±
I snorted and glared at Patan. ¡°You would have me end up like him then? A crawling shadow left adrift in the void?¡±
¡°The fall never kills, demon emperor,¡± the empty sky replied. ¡°The impact does. Only a soul that travels unburdened can remain beyond the reach of pain and sorrow. You believe your bonds strengthen you, when they are no more than a noose tightening around your neck.¡±
¡°Then give me the spell which you owe me, so that I can sever my obligations to you Lords of Terror and fly far away free,¡± I replied coldly. I was done taking lessons. Now I would seize power. ¡°You can be alone again in this endless prison you call your house.¡±
¡°Beware the pride before the fall, demon emperor. No one escapes Xibalba without paying their due.¡± The sky coiled and unfurled like a great beast shifting its form. ¡°We bestow upon you the Fall spell. Up, down, left, right, forward, and downward. You alone will decide which way gravity falls.¡±
Another spell added to my repertoire.
I had concluded my last trial.
Only the final ballcourt game stood between me and this cursed city¡¯s threshold.
Chapter Seventy-Two: Forbidden Unions
I woke up alive.
My body felt both fresh and sluggish at the same time. My skin was smooth like a fresh fruit and my flesh was brand new. The Nightlords had stripped my old, burned remains from my skeleton and draped me in a new shell of life.
My senses were sharper than knives. The smell of incense filled my nostrils and raised me from my slumber. I rested on a bed of white flowers with stone borders, all while dressed in my imperial regalia. My eyes looked up at the ceiling of an underground vault lit up by ghostly flames. The corpses of a hundred red-eyed bats were nailed to the surrounding walls with their hearts pierced by obsidian stakes. The dead servants of the First Emperor looked at their prophet in utter silence.
I realized that I hadn¡¯t woken up in a bed, but inside a coffin.
¡°How is it to die, songbird?¡±
The snake whore who helped put me in said coffin looked over me with the coldest of faces.
Iztacoatl loomed on my left with the palpable disappointment of someone who would have preferred to see me dead and stiff rather than alive again. Eztli stood on my right, her eyes alight with a mix of relief and sorrow. From the red rings around them, she must have cried tears of blood over my corpse. I couldn¡¯t see the other Nightlords.
How long had I stayed dead?
¡°I asked you a question, songbird,¡± Iztacoatl reminded me sharply. ¡°How does it look on the other side?¡±
I wondered how much I should lie, but the Nightlords likely knew of the Underworld. I decided to stay evasive, like a man waking up from a confusing dream.
¡°Nothing,¡± I replied. ¡°There¡¯s nothing worthwhile on the other side, goddess. Nothing but darkness, bones, and tears.¡±
¡°How thankful I am to linger in this world then¡ and how I rejoice at the thought of your soul weeping in the dark for all eternity.¡± Her frozen hand caressed my forehead. ¡°I should put you back into the ground, help you prepare yourself for it.¡±
She was angry, which I took as a good sign. ¡°Have I disappointed you, goddess?¡±
¡°Partly,¡± Iztacoatl replied with a sinister glare. ¡°Father has grown quiet, but your blood continues to burn at his command. A shame we have to parade you around for the Flower War. I would have preferred another rehearsal of the Scarlet Moon to put the both of you in your place.¡±
¡°I am truly sorry, goddess,¡± I lied through my teeth. ¡°I truly wish I could serve you better.¡±
She didn¡¯t believe me, and I didn¡¯t expect her to. Thankfully, losing face in front of her sisters had forced her to play along. ¡°You will have the opportunity to serve,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°We are in Zachilaa¡¯s grand temple, and we will need you to strut about to reassure the herd. Do not fail us again.¡±
¡°I shall not.¡± In fact, my plan required that I play along. ¡°I have learned my lesson, oh goddess.¡±
¡°Yes, of course.¡± Iztacoatl shook her head in disappointment. ¡°This will be the last night we share for a very long time.¡±
My heart nearly skipped a beat in surprise. ¡°What does the goddess mean?¡±
¡°My sisters believe that I have grown too invested in you. That my¡¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s smile boasted a set of serpent fangs. ¡°That my boundless affection for you clouds my judgment.¡±
If she had shown me affection so far, then her hatred was likely safer. Nonetheless, assuming that she was indeed telling me the truth, then I would struggle to hide my joy.
¡°Besides, you will move straight to the Flower War after that pointless marriage concludes,¡± Iztacoatl said. ¡°Sugey will thus take over your safety and ensure you do not humiliate us in the field of battle.¡±
¡°Saddening,¡± I lied. I didn¡¯t look forward to serving under Sugey, but that one at least didn¡¯t seem as likely to put me through mind games. The Bird of War always struck me as the direct sort of monster. ¡°I shall miss your advice, oh goddess.¡±
¡°We both know you won¡¯t.¡± Iztacoatl glared at me with all of the weight of her disdain. ¡°Deep inside your heart, you believe us to be monsters who deserve your scorn. Abominations.¡±
She leaned in to better look into my eyes; an act which caused me no end of concern, for her scowl swiftly turned into a ghastly smile of pure delight. I could sense her brimming impatience.
Whatever she was about to tell me, she had been dying to do so for a very long time.
¡°But if you ask me,¡± Iztacoatl whispered, her voice struggling to stifle her laughter. ¡°The real abomination is the one you planted in your sister¡¯s womb.¡±
A dreadful silence fell upon the vault, fueled by my doubts and confusion.
My sister¡¯s womb? Does she mean Eztli? I briefly looked at her, but my previous consort looked just as lost as I was. No, that¡¯s¡ not possible.
¡°Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t know?¡± Iztacoatl asked with a dark chuckle. ¡°Nenetl and you?¡±
Nenetl?
Nenetl? What absurdity was this? Was this Iztacoatl¡¯s newest mind game? A plot to destabilize and sicken my mind with doubt? If so, then she could have found a better lie. It was so transparent, so obvious, that I should have answered it with mocking laughter.
Yet a sick feeling stank in my stomach, though I couldn¡¯t tell why.
¡°Goddess, I fail to understand,¡± I said.
¡°You¡¯ve never noticed the family resemblance? Beyond the hair and eyes? Looking at her must have felt like fucking your mirror.¡± Iztacoatl shook her head with a mocking sigh. ¡°What a poor elder brother you make.¡±
She was lying through her teeth.
That was ridiculous. Nenetl resembled me because we were both Nahualli, born with totems marking us for a great destiny. Moreover, I would have known. Mother kept secrets to herself, but Father didn¡¯t have an insincere bone in his body. He wouldn¡¯t keep something so big from me.
Nonetheless, I smiled and played along with Iztacoatl¡¯s plot. ¡°Apologies for my forwardness, but the goddess must be mistaken,¡± I argued. ¡°My father never told me of any sister.¡±
¡°Because he never knew himself, songbird. He sired her on your witch mother a mere few days before our priests came to arrest her.¡± Iztacoatl snorted in disdain. ¡°My servants said you were still crying in your crib back then.¡±
I should have disregarded her words as mere lunacy. A diseased phantasm born of a maddened, cruel mind.
Yet¡ yet a memory wormed its way at the forefront of my mind. That fragment of the past which obscured my vision the two times I laid with Nenetl, where I made love to my mother in my father¡¯s skin.
I¡¯d heard a child¡¯s cry in the background back then¡ if¡ if it had been mine¡
¡°We had access to her husband¡¯s blood, so it was easy to track her unborn child,¡± Iztacoatl whispered, her lips oozing venom metaphorically and very literally. ¡°We kept hounding her for months, each day getting a little closer. I could almost taste the sweetness of her neck bending under my fangs¡ until that day when we found her crying child weeping and screaming alone in a cave.¡±
It wasn¡¯t my conception that I saw.
¡°You should thank us, songbird. Your sister would have died without our rescue.¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s scratched my hair, savoring every ounce of my dread and disgust. ¡°Your mother bravely abandoned her to save her own hide. She knew how to hide herself easily enough, now that she had freed herself from the burden of a family. Did she truly deserve your help?¡±
Lahun¡¯s words rang in my skull. Forbidden unions beget abominations.
No. No, no, it was a lie. It couldn¡¯t be true, couldn¡¯t be real. It was just a lie playing on my fears and half-cryptic prophecies. It was just a ploy to destabilize me psychologically before the Flower War, a bully¡¯s last attempt to spit on me.
But Mother¡ Mother had behaved so strangely when I told her about Nenetl. I¡¯d sensed she was hiding something; something that bothered her and compelled her to remain silent. Had it been shame?
Could Mother even feel that?
¡°Ocelocihuatl kept that girl in reserve like a treasure and called her Nenetl. Puppet. A doll always meant to serve a purpose.¡± Iztacoatl delighted in savoring my expression. She knew that I was starting to believe her. ¡°When the stars deigned you as our new emperor, we knew that the time had come for her to fulfill her role.¡±
I felt sick. A wave of nausea washed over me, which Eztli¡¯s horrified expression and guilty silence didn¡¯t help in the slightest.
¡°Can you fathom how rare it is to have two Nahualli born of one?¡± Iztacoatl taunted me. ¡°That gift is neither common nor hereditary, songbird. So for all of that woman¡¯s children to show it¡ your bloodline is special. It had to be¡¡±
Her cold dead hand moved under my robes and caressed my cock.
¡°Concentrated.¡±
I wanted to vomit. My heart refused to believe it, but my mind couldn¡¯t help but see all the tiny hints, all the guilty avoidances, and the visions and the prophecies and the Nightlords¡¯ cruelties forming a monstrous picture. I tried to tell myself that Nenetl¡¯s other totem meant we couldn¡¯t possibly be related, that it was a mistake.
Yet¡ yet I recalled how it felt to sleep with her, how our souls melded so easily and harmoniously, like halves of a greater whole eager to merge together¡
¡°You enjoyed it, didn¡¯t you? Rutting like an animal with your own flesh and blood?¡± Iztacoatl¡¯s laughter echoed inside the vault, vile and cruel. ¡°You must have both loved it quite a bit. It¡¯s rare for a man to be so virile as to impregnate a woman on the same night he deflowered her. Imagine my joy when I smelled that sinful seed of blood planted in her fertile womb.¡±
She removed her hands from my crotch and then kissed me on the cheek, like a twisted parent approving of their child¡¯s naughty behavior.
¡°I wonder how this affront against nature will look when it crawls out of your sister¡¯s thighs,¡± she whispered, so soft and sweet. ¡°You were an aspiring merchant once. Surely having a daughter and a niece in one transaction sounds like an excellent deal.¡±
My body tensed with such boiling fury that I all but bolted out of the coffin. Iztacoatl¡¯s vicious smile made me want to choke her myself with my bare hands, to smash her head against the stone and tear her apart with¡ª
Eztli¡¯s hand grabbed my shoulder, kindly but firmly. My head briefly snapped in her direction to see her expression of anger and concern. It brought me back to reality. I had almost made a terrible mistake.
¡°Enough,¡± Eztli rasped. ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡±
¡°It is not enough until I say it is, my dear new sister,¡± Iztacoatl replied with a hiss. She was nowhere near finished with me. ¡°You have outplayed me, songbird. I don¡¯t know how, but you¡¯ve managed to make a fool of me in front of my sisters. We give emperors a measure of power so that they may embody our foolish father in the eyes of gods and men, but you already do that so well on your own. So why should I let you keep even a scrap of authority?¡±
She grabbed me by the throat with inhuman strength, yanking me out of Eztli¡¯s grasp, and forcing me to look at her.
¡°I know how Tayatzin suggested that you organize marriages between nobilities,¡± she said, her snakelike eyes glaring into mine. ¡°I¡¯ve already denied his request. Your plans to form a power bloc around yourself? You can forget them. Your spies? I¡¯ll root them out and kill them. I will tighten your leash until you choke. I will make a lake of your concubines¡¯ blood and drown you in it, do you understand? Do you understand?¡±
Yes. Yes, I understood. When I looked into her eyes so desperate to hurt me, I fully comprehended the depths of hatred that I felt for this hag; and what I had to say to hurt her back.
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¡°I remember what he told you,¡± I whispered. ¡°Your father.¡±
These two simple words caused Iztacoatl to recoil as if slapped in the face.
¡°What?¡± she asked, her fair face twisted in a scowl of anger and unexpected surprise.
¡°I remember what he told you, goddess,¡± I repeated myself, being very careful to state a neutral fact rather than a threat. ¡°The truth he spoke through me.¡±
Iztacoatl slapped me with such strength I thought she would break a bone. I did not flinch. She raised her hand to hit me on the other cheek, but a mere look at my cold dead eyes was enough to shake her confidence.
We both knew how she would die.
And I swore to the gods that I would ensure it myself.
¡°There is so much I can do to you and your whores,¡± she hissed at me in an attempt to recover the initiative. ¡°So many torments you can hardly imagine them.¡±
I couldn¡¯t bring myself to respond. Not after what I¡¯d learned today, not after what I went through. I was simply so shocked and horrified I¡¯d grown numb, at least for a brief moment. I had died again, except I was still breathing.
I saw Iztacoatl hesitate to strike me, to threaten my consorts and to promise a hundred more tortures, but the wall of my silence proved too high for her to climb. Poisoning my relationship with Nenetl was the best victory she would earn today.
¡°Get out of my sight,¡± Iztacoatl hissed at us in disgust and impotent anger. ¡°Both of you.¡±
I sensed her angry gaze on my back long after Eztli guided me out of the vault and into dark underground corridors.
While I held nothing but disdain for Iztacoatl¡ªNenetl might be my sister¡ªI would be a fool to disregard her warnings. If she intended to proceed with a palace purge¡ªNenetl was my sister¡ªthen I might lose access to many resources. It would be a blow to my operations¡ªI¡¯d impregnated my sister¡ªbut no emperor defeated the Nightlords with mundane means, so long as I accumulated spells and forbidden knowledge¡ªforbidden unions beget abominations¡ªthen I would remain on track to destroy¡ªincestuous horror¡ªdestroy them¡ªMother lied to me.
I held my head with a hand as those awful thoughts continued to intrude upon my mind, even as I tried so hard to focus¡ªa daughter and a niece¡ªtried to focus on what mattered right now!
It took all of my mental strength to deny these vile allegations to myself, to bury all these tiny hints¡ªmy own flesh and blood¡ªwhich I¡¯d ignored and now couldn¡¯t banish from my memory. They kept returning, again and again, waves of disgust that left me feeling soiled and violated.
¡°Eztli,¡± I said once we were alone, unable to bear it any longer. ¡°Is it true? Nenetl?¡±
¡°I¡¡± Eztli bit her lip. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Iztac.¡±
¡°I need to know.¡± I refused to accept it, not without proof, not without confirmation. I couldn¡¯t. ¡°I need to know, Eztli.¡±
Whether these accusations were true or a false ploy born of my own fears and Iztacoatl¡¯s cruel lies, I couldn¡¯t let them distract me. Not when Eztli¡¯s own existence hung on a precarious balance, not with war coming to me, not with the trials of Xibalba soon reaching their long-overdue conclusion. I had to face the future with a clear mind.
My former consort, who had acted uncharacteristically meek towards me so far, dared to speak up again on her own. ¡°Iztac¨C¡±
¡°I forgive you for last night, Eztli,¡± I said before she could apologize. ¡°You were forced into it. I do not fault you for participating.¡±
¡°Iztac, I helped boil you alive,¡± she snapped at me, her hands reaching for her arms and rubbing them. ¡°They¡ they had me drink your blood too. I can¡¯t¡ I can¡¯t brush it off.¡±
I looked at her for a brief second, then pulled my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me. She didn¡¯t resist me, but didn¡¯t return my embrace either. I forced her to look into my eyes.
¡°My blood is yours to drink whenever you wish to sip it,¡± I stated. ¡°Freely given.¡±
¡°Iztac, you don¡¯t know what¨C¡±
I forced a kiss on her lips, dispelling her doubts with my hunger and desire. My passion surprised her at first, having no doubt expected resentment and coldness from me after participating in the Nightlords¡¯ rituals, but her hands eventually grabbed my hair and returned my embrace.
¡°All of me is yours, Eztli, without exception,¡± I said upon breaking the kiss. ¡°What happened last night changes nothing between us. I love you.¡±
None of Iztacoatl¡¯s vicious little games would split us apart.
Eztli¡¯s expression twisted into one of deep doubt and sorrow. ¡°You truly mean that, Iztac?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I replied without hesitation. Much like her mother, I would do anything to ensure her safety and happiness. Even use forbidden magic. ¡°You are mine, and I am yours.¡±
Eztli nodded to herself, my words reassuring her a bit. She planted a light kiss on me, short and sweet. ¡°I love you too,¡± she said with a small, painful sigh. ¡°I hope that I will remember it.¡±
¡°You will,¡± I reassured her. ¡°I promise you.¡±
If anything, drinking my blood during the ritual would make that task easier.
Eztli looked at me for a long while. She¡¯d detected the confidence in my voice, and she knew me well. She¡¯d guessed I had a plan, albeit one I couldn¡¯t discuss in the open.
¡°I am sorry,¡± she whispered.
¡°I told you¨C¡±
¡°I know, Iztac.¡± She put a finger on her lips to silence me before I could interrupt her. ¡°I¡ I haven¡¯t been myself for a very long time. Not with Mother, not with you. This curse of mine obscures my thoughts, but I should have¡ I should have seen it earlier.¡±
¡°None of this is your fault.¡±
¡°Is it?¡± Eztli shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure, Iztac. I am guilty of weakness. The way I treated you, the way they treated you and Nenetl, it¡¯s sick.¡±
Eztli was sick, true, but not in a way that made her guilty. ¡°Your mother is a healer,¡± I said. ¡°She would be the first to tell you that you¨C¡±
¡°That the sick cannot be blamed for succumbing to their disease?¡± She finished for me. ¡°Maybe not, but I¡¯ve closed my eyes on your own suffering. I¡¯ll try to¡¡± Eztli gulped. ¡°To be more mindful.¡±
I opened my mouth to answer, but no wise words came to me. I simply nodded in acceptance and tightened our hug. It was the only comfort we could offer each other for now.
¡°We should go,¡± Eztli said after breaking our embrace. ¡°The others are waiting.¡±
Such words would usually reassure me, but not this time. Not this time.
The Nightlords had set up quarters for us almost identical to those I enjoyed in Iztacoatl¡¯s little forest retreat; I began to think their architects followed a similar design for all of them in order to build these dens of evil more quickly. I found my consorts old and new waiting in the living room while nearly separated by a table. Chikal, Ingrid, and Nenetl faced Chindi in her ¡®Anaye¡¯ disguise with various degrees of wariness; the latter had put on a dress, though she retained her blindfold and collared leash.
I could cut the tension with a knife.
Chindi¡¯s smile seemed demure enough, almost charming, but I could sense the undercurrent of predatory wrongness I¡¯d noticed in her previous disguises. She could mimic normal humans well enough to pass for one among those unfamiliar with Skinwalkers, because we humans had grown to expect the familiar. Those in the know noticed the tiny hints of wrongness about her posture and character, like an actor¡¯s true self leaking through their character.
My consorts had picked up on them. Chikal stared at Chindi with the cold, calculating focus of a warrior expecting a jaguar to jump at them at the first sign of weakness; Ingrid disguised her uneasiness behind a mask of queenly composure; and Nenetl didn''t hide anything. Having nearly died at the Skinwalker¡¯s hand, she shivered and stared at the ground rather than face her gaze.
That was good, because Nenetl likely missed the stare I sent her myself. The sight of her used to fill me with delight, like a man returning home to find sanctuary from the world¡¯s horrors; now she only inspired doubt and shame.
¡°Master, goddess,¡± ¡®Anaye¡¯ said with a musical voice. She had sensed our approach before the others, likely thanks to her enhanced senses. ¡°You have returned to us.¡±
All gazes turned to me, all of them filled with relief; but Nenetl¡¯s own filled me with a terrible kind of dread. My eyes lingered on her stomach before I knew what to do. Iztacoatl¡¯s mocking words rang in my head and sapped me of my strength.
¡°Is something the matter, Iztac?¡± Nenetl asked me with concern.
I suddenly realized what kind of face I was making; the same one that Mother showcased when I told her how I loved Nenetl.
¡°No.¡± I used to lie so easily, but this one tore me apart to my very core. ¡°Everything is well and fine, Nenetl.¡±
Her reassuring smile made me feel soiled. Stained.
I needed to wash it all away somehow, and a look at ¡®Anaye¡¯ told me how. I grabbed her leash with a firm hand and pulled her so quickly she fell off her chair. This ought to showcase to everyone the hierarchy between us.
¡°I see that you have been acquainted with my new consort,¡± I said before patting Chindi on the head as if she were an animal. ¡°You have behaved well, pet? You know what happens to those who defy me.¡±
¡°Yes, master,¡± she replied with servility. ¡°I did not forget.¡±
Chikal¡¯s eyes moved from me and back to Chindi, as did Ingrid. They both guessed I had a plan in mind. My confidence also reassured Nenetl a bit, although my behavior unsettled her just as much.
¡°What happened, my lord?¡± Ingrid asked. ¡°The goddesses would not tell us anything.¡±
¡°The goddesses put me through a purification ritual, to cleanse me of my sins before the Flower War,¡± I replied. Eztli couldn¡¯t help but look away when I said that, which likely informed the others what kind of ¡®purification¡¯ I went through. ¡°I am told Lady Zyanya¡¯s wedding will soon take place?¡±
¡°We have a few hours before the ceremony,¡± Chikal confirmed. ¡°We will depart to the frontlines tomorrow morning.¡±
Ingrid nodded sharply. ¡°Ayar Cachi¡¯s gift has also arrived, my lord. I hoped to introduce her to you early.¡±
¡°Send her to me a bit later. Eztli and I will take a moment to¡¡± My grip tightened on Chindi¡¯s leash. ¡°Rest.¡±
I would soon see if my new consort would live up to her predecessor.
She did not.
Making love to a Skinwalker was a miserable experience, even with Eztli there to keep us company. Part of it was my fault. My mind kept wandering back to my sist¡ªNenetl and Mother whenever I tried to focus on strangling her to calm myself. I couldn¡¯t use Seidr with her either for fear of her learning my true plans for her.
Chindi wasn¡¯t a good partner either. She shared none of the affection I had with my other consorts, not even lust. She wasn¡¯t a woman in search of a steady partner nor a good time, but a monster who craved the power I possessed. Nothing more.
Only when I cut my hand with a knife did she show arousal.
I recalled the visions I saw of her past back when I first invaded her mind. The Skinwalker enjoyed replacing women and then murdering their husbands after a night of passion. She craved death and suffering the same as any Nightlord would.
I think knowing I intended to dispose of her made it easier on my mind.
¡°What do you think of her?¡± I asked Eztli as I force-fed Chindi my burning blood, thus forming a link between us. ¡°Do you find her pretty?¡±
¡°She has a certain wild edge,¡± Eztli whispered in my ear from behind, her arms wrapped around my chest and her chin resting on my shoulder.
¡°But is she fit to replace you?¡± I asked her. ¡°Would she live up to your example?¡±
Ezli¡¯s grip tightened slightly. She had sensed a hidden message in my words, but lacked the context to interpret it correctly. I didn¡¯t need her to yet. I was only¡ planting seeds.
¡°I do not think so,¡± she replied honestly. ¡°I fear you will find everyone lacking compared to me.¡±
¡°When can I change my skin, master?¡± Chindi rasped after I freed her mouth. She scratched her cheeks as if to remove them. ¡°I suffocate within this one. I have so many better faces to show you.¡±
¡°When permitted,¡± I replied before slouching on the bed. My two consorts crawled up to me; Eztli, with affection; and Chindi, with craven servility. ¡°Can you detect lies as easily as you can switch skins?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Chindi boasted. ¡°I weave them, smell them, live them.¡±
¡°Good.¡± I stroked her hair. ¡°A liar is coming to visit us soon. I want you to observe her closely.¡±
Chindi sensed a test. ¡°The master wishes for me to keep an eye on her?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I replied, though it was mostly to distract Chindi from my true plans. ¡°Treat her kindly and report anything suspicious to me.¡±
¡°Shouldn¡¯t we do this with everyone, Iztac?¡± Eztli asked mirthfully. ¡°So many people wish you dead.¡±
¡°And they are welcome to try to take my life, if they dare,¡± I replied with false arrogance. ¡°Those who defy the goddesses¡¯ prophet will learn the meaning of suffering.¡±
I snapped my fingers, and Ingrid soon brought the Sapa spy to us.
As expected, Ayar Cachi¡¯s messenger was a vision of charm and elegance. The lady standing before me couldn¡¯t be older than twenty, with long chestnut hair woven into a braid falling onto the left side of her fair, aquiline face. Her pale green eyes were much paler than even Ingrid¡¯s, and she dressed in a fantastic dress of woven fibers.
However, it was the color of her skin that struck me the most.
Golden.
I¡¯d heard rumors that the Sapa people held rituals where their rulers would be caked in gold dust and then swim in holy lakes to purify them. This woman may have undergone those rituals once, except the water failed to cleanse her. Her skin had gained the very color and texture of glittering gold to the point I could have mistaken her for a moving statue without her eyes and hair.
This woman was a treasure, figuratively and literally.
Ingrid proceeded to introduce her. ¡°My lord, this is Aclla Kuraka Coricancha, a virgin slave-wife and half-sister to Ayar Cachi, heir presumptive to the heavenly throne of the Sapa Empire.¡±
The man sent us his half-sister? My mind briefly conjured an image of Nenetl in Aclla¡¯s place, which sickened me to my core. Families shouldn¡¯t be treated like animals to be traded and¡ bred. What kind of man enslaved his blood and then sold her to a foreigner?
¡°Words of Your Divine Majesty¡¯s bravery and cunning extend beyond the mountains,¡± Aclla declared in near-perfect Yohuachancan. She managed to mimic the Yohuachancan salute to the point I could have mistaken her for a native noble. ¡°My master, the great and wise Ayar Cachi, sent me to strengthen the alliance between our honored nations.¡±
¡°I have no allies,¡± I declared with a fake scoff. Losing myself in the emperor act let me forget my true feelings for a moment. ¡°Only thralls and enemies. Does your master wish to bend the knee, or to fight?¡±
The woman gave me a smile that reminded me of Lady Sigrun¡¯s. ¡°Your Divine Majesty is my master now.¡±
I smiled ear to ear. I recognized a trained diplomat.
¡°My honored brother does not wish to become Your Divine Majesty¡¯s enemy, and he hopes that my presence shall be proof of his goodwill,¡± Aclla said. ¡°I have been tasked with advising you towards the highest of paths: that of peace.¡±
¡°You people have tried to murder me and my consorts, among many other crimes,¡± I replied. ¡°Would your emperor choose peace if he were in my place?¡±
¡°The fiends who threatened Your Divine Majesty should indeed be punished,¡± Aclla remained calm. ¡°Wise Ayar Cachi will gladly assist you in bringing justice to the guilty and shielding the innocent from wrongdoings.¡±
In short, he asked that I kill his brother and deal with him as an ally so he might inherit the throne. Or so it seemed at first glance.
I could see two possibilities: either Ayar Cachi was indeed a self-serving snake, in which case Aclla would serve as his personal ambassador tasked with championing his cause and sabotaging Manco¡¯s war effort; or he was secretly loyal to his brother and she would be a spy for the Sapa Empire as a whole.
Either scenario worked for me. I could make use of both allies and enemies.
¡°I shall inform Ayar Cachi that his gift is well-received and appreciated,¡± I replied with the dignity of an emperor. ¡°You shall henceforth be assigned as my dear consort Nen¡¡± I suppressed a wave of nausea and powered through. ¡°My consort Nenetl¡¯s handmaiden. Serve her faithfully and showcase your loyalty to your new home. Should you prove worthy, I may grace you with my favor.¡±
I¡¯d been looking for a candidate to serve as my sist¡ªNenetl¡¯s handmaiden for a while now. Aclla would do. She would do. Let me focus on something else whenever I¡ whenever I visited Nenetl.
I would have preferred a loyal servant to serve in this capacity, but a Sapa spy would prove even better. How unfortunate it would be if a critical message ¡®accidentally¡¯ fell into the enemy¡¯s hands because Aclla overheard something she shouldn¡¯t have¡
¡°Your Divine Majesty¡¯s wisdom more than lives up to the tales,¡± Aclla flattered me. ¡°I shall endeavor to prove my usefulness to you and your esteemed consorts. Besides the arts of diplomacy and the history of my people, I can weave, cook, brew chicha, dance, sing¡¡±
¡°A woman of many talents,¡± Eztli mused.
¡°Those are interesting skills, but many share them in my harem,¡± I replied. ¡°I am interested in¡ practical applications.¡±
Aclla¡¯s smile failed to hide her calculating gaze. ¡°If Your Divine Majesty would allow me to fetch a map, I would gladly enlighten them in the secrets of my homeland.¡±
She knew how the game was played. Good.
So many soldiers never managed to return from foreign conflicts.
I would ensure Sugey joined their numbers.
Chapter Seventy-Three: Mother of Witches
I entered Zachilaa as a god among men.
Itzili had grown and recovered enough for me to ride him as we passed through the city gates. How mighty I must have looked to the commoners of my forlorn empire, clad in the scarlet armor of past emperors atop a feathered tyrant. An army of trihorn riders and footsmen followed in my wake, singing my praises with their mouths and war horns. My consorts, old and new, waved at the cheering crowds from atop the imperial longneck. If anybody noticed that Chindi had slipped into Eztli¡¯s place, no one showed a hint of it.
I supposed it made sense. My subjects only ever saw my consorts from afar and at night. Few made the trip from Zachilaa to my capital, and fewer still would be able to tell the two apart. As far as the world was concerned, ¡®Anaye¡¯ had always been my fourth consort. A scarf hid the collar and leash marking her as a glorified slave.
What a joke.
After my triumphant entrance, I proceeded with the usual ceremonies. I met with Lady Zyanya¡¯s father, a portly noble thrice my age with more titles than actual power, whose obsequiousness matched that of my most zealous priests. I could almost taste the family¡¯s desperation to remain relevant.
Iztacoatl had ordered me to behave on behalf of the other Nightlords, and considering the depths of her recent humiliation, I knew better than to tempt their wrath. I blessed the city in the goddesses¡¯ name, completed public rituals at their grand temple, visited the sick and dying, and then promised the recruits who would march with me into the Flower War glory in this world and the next. In short, I acted like the perfect puppet emperor.
At least, until the wedding.
I had witnessed a few of them back in Acampa, so I knew the procedure well enough. First of all, Tlaxcala housed his guests in a stone mansion in the heart of the city; one which his father once purchased on his late brother¡¯s behalf. Though my entourage received the largest share of attention and courtesy, he had also invited his family¡¯s business partners and all of Zachilaa¡¯s nobility to witness the ceremony. I suspected many came to see me over him. They even had to reject some visitors considered too baseborn to feast in my presence.
Most marriages in Yohuachanca were arranged by matchmakers, who decided the date of the ceremony under a favorable day sign and then carried the bride to her future husband¡¯s house for the wedding feast. That role technically fell to me, but it was beneath an emperor¡¯s dignity to carry anyone on his back, even a noble. I thus assigned this duty to Lahun in order to reinforce her political position as my personal soothsayer.
Watching the bridal procession from the manor¡¯s threshold was quite the sight. Lady Zyanya¡¯s relatives arrived at nightfall, walking with bright torches in utter silence. I had my consorts join them in order to honor the bride, who was carried on Lahun¡¯s back across the street in all of her finest finery and then delivered into Tlaxcala¡¯s waiting hands.
The ¡®happy¡¯ couple invited us to the feast in the manor¡¯s grand hall afterward. While I knew it was large enough to please any noble, I found it laughably small compared to my palace¡¯s rooms. Gifts to the newlyweds piled up near a central hearth meant to honor the First Emperor, who burned in the sky for the sake of all life on this Earth. I personally provided a wealth of gold and jewels which would shame the wealthiest of nobles. The other guests carefully ensured that their own offerings would pale before mine.
The wise man does not overshadow his emperor, I mused as my harem and I were granted a dais above the cramped floor on which the other guests were forced to gather. The lesser men among them had so little space for themselves that raising one¡¯s cup meant hitting their neighbor. In contrast, I enjoyed more than enough space and the presence of Necahual at my side. I have a better place than the newlyweds.
As per tradition, Tlaxcala and his new wife sat together on a mat below the hearth and a bowl of incense filling the air with warmth and a thick odor. I had imagined myself and Eztli in their places once, drinking together and laughing as we celebrated our union. Tonight¡¯s newlyweds hadn''t exchanged a word, let alone a glance. No love nor complicity had blossomed between them, and from the way Tlaxcala eyed the nubile female slave serving him food, I doubt it ever would.
At least the food was nice enough. We were served a basket full of tamales, bowls of roasted turkey, and plenty of maize. The servants provided the guests with their fill of pulque while the pounding drums and wailing flutes of musicians resonated across the room. My consorts and concubines enjoyed themselves well enough at least. I could hardly hear their discussion over the noise, though Aclla earned laughter from Tenoch and Atziri. A few guests sent her distrustful glances due to her obvious Sapa origins, but none dared to complain in my presence.
I doubt any spy can hear us any better. I glanced down at Itzili, who remained alert at my feet. The guests wisely gave him a wide berth, even the roaring drunks among them. No sign of snakes either. Excellent.
I had set up this entire situation to create a unique opportunity, which I decided to seize now.
The music turned silent the moment I rose from my seat. All chatter ceased in an instant out of fear and respect. I would see to it that both soon turned to awe.
¡°At last,¡± I said with my pulque cup raised and my voice thundering through the hall. ¡°The knotting!¡±
Acclaim and applause followed my declaration. Tlaxcala¡¯s mother¡ªa shrewish woman whose eyes were filled with the same all-consuming greed that fueled her son¡ªand Lady Zyanya¡¯s father rose to each bless their in-laws with a gift. Lady Zyanya received a white blouse wrapped over her shoulders, while a red cape was wrapped around Tlaxcala¡¯s shoulders.
It was customary for the matchmaker to tie their clothes together and officialize the union between the newlyweds. Lahun made a move to proceed with the ritual, but I stopped her with a wave of my hand.
¡°No need,¡± I decreed with the grave authority of an emperor. ¡°I shall bless these two myself as the Godspeaker.¡±
Murmurs spread across the room at my declaration, followed by quick and servile bows from the newlyweds.
¡°My house would ever be so grateful, Your Divine Majesty,¡± Lady Zyanya said, recognizing the supreme honor this would represent.
I also caught a glint of interest in her gaze. Unlike her new and less experienced husband, she likely suspected what I had in mind for tonight¡¯s entertainment.
¡°Your Divine Majesty would please us beyond words,¡± Tlaxcala added with the obsequiousness I¡¯d come to expect of him. ¡°We shall be bound forever as your humble servants.¡±
You might swallow those words soon enough, Tlaxcala. I walked up to these two in silence, hundreds of eyes focusing on me. I grabbed the cloak of the groom and the blouse of the bride, then tied them into a tight knot. For Yohuachanca¡¯s emperor to bind these two lines would already be a great honor, but I would ensure nobody would forget this night. Time for a miracle.
I grabbed an obsidian knife from my belt and slashed my left hand.
My burning blood surged from my palm in a streak of smokeless fire. Shouts and murmurs of awe answered my display of supernatural power. Some guests stared at me in shock, their minds unable to process the miracle unfolding before their eyes; others joined their hands in prayer and knelt in adoration.
I basked in Tlaxcala¡¯s shocked expression and the fiery ambition in Lady Zyanya¡¯s eyes. Both witnessed the First Emperor speaking through me in the capital, but it was another thing entirely to witness magic so closely. I had shown them a taste of true divine power, the likes of which mortal fools could only revere.
¡°I thus bind you by the grace of the gods, by the shining radiance of the Fifth Sun and his daughters in shadow,¡± I boldly declared as droplets of my fiery blood fell upon the knot. ¡°Your union shall be Yohuachanca¡¯s light in the nights to come.¡±
My blood had cooled off enough not to set the clothes on fire once it touched them, but it would leave an eternal mark on them nonetheless. I wondered if they would become a sacred heirloom in the future; a relic blessed by the one true Godspeaker.
While the thought amused me, this entire display only served to lay the groundwork for my next demand.
¡°Now, Tlaxcala, as per tradition, you and your wife shall spend four nights together to conceive our empire¡¯s future champions.¡± I turned to look at Zyanya, a false smile stretching on my face. ¡°But her first¡¡±
I softly grabbed Lady Zyanya¡¯s chin with my bloody hand, letting her feel the warmth of my divine power and forcing her to meet my gaze.
¡°Her first night belongs to your emperor alone,¡± I declared.
The hall grew quiet as I invoked the right of the First Night.
The first hands soon clapped to congratulate Lady Zyanya. Her family was the first to do so, quickly followed by Zachilaa¡¯s nobility and a very amused Chindi. Tlaxcala¡¯s relatives and my consorts were the last to imitate them, mostly to avoid the shame of remaining silent when others rejoiced. Nenetl¡¯s applause was the weakest and most half-hearted, while Ingrid and Chikal exchanged a quick glance. They knew me well enough to guess that I had a plan in mind.
Tlaxcala hardly hesitated. He removed his wedding cape without undoing the bindings and then relinquished them to me without a word of resentment. In fact, he seemed almost pleased. His wife didn¡¯t bother to hide her pride at being chosen.
I suppressed a wave of contempt washing over me. Claiming a wife¡¯s First Night in his own house would have been a humiliation for any husband under normal circumstances, but the Nightlords¡¯ propaganda thoroughly turned it into an honor. My miracle at the wedding only reinforced their perception of me.
The divine could dispose of the mundane as they wanted in Yohuachanca.
Everyone present profited from this state of affairs too. An emperor whose blood glowed with the sun blessing a daughter of Zachilaa in such a public way would reinforce her and the city¡¯s prestige, doubly so should she bear a child from my loins. Tlaxcala had already shown his willingness to give away his wife for political favors; he knew that planting her in my bed would no doubt earn my gratitude.
Opportunistic vermin, all of them.
¡°Necahual,¡± I said, my favorite straightening up. ¡°A single woman is not enough to satisfy my needs, however gracious. Your time has come to assist the blessed bride.¡±
Necahual¡¯s eyes widened ever so slightly at my subtle wording. She rose from her seat and followed me as I seized Lady Zyanya in my hands. I carried her into the bridal room upstairs to the cheering acclaim of the cuckolded husband and guests alike. Itzili crawled in our footsteps, his increasingly large frame struggling to squeeze through the doors.
The wedding boudoir reflected the newlyweds¡¯ wealth and prestige, with mosaic patterns of the rising sun decorating the walls alongside a set of statuettes and stone masks honoring the gods-in-spirit. Urns stored plenty of food and water for the newlyweds to enjoy during their four-day honeymoon next to a luxurious, double-sized bed of jaguar furs and cotton blankets. A wood panel covered the only window while Iztili stood watch over the single door.
I laid Lady Zyanya on the bed, then quickly whipped up a Veil around myself. No gaze other than the two women present in the room interfered with my illusion. None of Iztacoatl¡¯s spies hid in a corner, and why would they? I had only ever shown unease at the idea of claiming a woman¡¯s first night in the past.
On the other hand, I had been careful to show some interest in Lady Zyanya so as not to arouse suspicions about my sudden change of behavior. Iztacoatl might suspect something was up, though I sincerely doubted that she would figure out the truth. Zyanya would serve as a fantastic smokescreen to obscure my true activities.
¡°You have served me well, Zyanya,¡± I said with a degree of sincerity. ¡°Your obedience and loyalty please me greatly.¡±
¡°Your Divine Majesty honors me,¡± Zyanya replied with hardly disguised desire and ambition. She removed her blouse and clothes, letting them slide off the bed to unveil her nakedness. The sight slightly aroused me, I would not deny it. ¡°All that I am is yours to seize.¡±
I sensed Necahual stare at this woman with deep contempt, which I shared in my heart and hid behind a smile.
¡°I have executed your first husband and forced the second to surrender you to me,¡± I said. ¡°Are you so eager for these bloodstained hands of mine to fondle you?¡±
Lady Zyanya sneered, her true self shining through. ¡°Neither of my husbands were worthy of me, unlike Your Divine Majesty.¡±
She had quite a high opinion of herself. I answered her by bending the knee and seizing her in my hands. She all but threw herself at me as my mouth approached her cheek.
Then I whispered a single Word in her ear.
¡°Sleep.¡±
Her body went stiff, her eyes snapping shut and her breath growing weak. She collapsed onto the cotton in the throes of deep slumber. I let her go with amusement.
Necahual stared at her with unease. ¡°Is she¡¡±
¡°Asleep.¡± I didn¡¯t exclude killing her to hide the blood should the ritual go wrong, but I hoped to wake her up soon in the best-case scenario. ¡°This night is ours alone.¡±
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Necahual quickly caught on to my intention. ¡°This farce served to offer us a moment of privacy.¡±
¡°One that will last until sunrise.¡± I turned to face her, my eyes studying her for a while. ¡°It is time.¡±
Necahual tensed up with both apprehension and excitement. ¡°You will complete your part of our bargain?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I replied bluntly. ¡°I won¡¯t lie, there is a chance that you won¡¯t survive the ritual. I will do my best to ensure your survival, but I cannot guarantee it. Power requires sacrifice.¡±
¡°Do you mean to dissuade me? After everything I went through for the sake of my promise?¡± Necahual sneered, her eyes alight with pride and resolve. ¡°I am ready.¡±
I hoped so. I could not arrange another window of opportunity for a while.
¡°Strip and lay down on the mattress,¡± I ordered Necahual, who swiftly obeyed me. The bed was large enough to house her and Zyanya together, their clothes soon forming a pile on the side. ¡°Bite your tongue or fill it with cotton.¡±
Necahual glared at me. ¡°I will not scream.¡±
¡°This will hurt,¡± I warned her.
¡°I will not scream,¡± she simply repeated, her voice carrying the strength of stone. ¡°Do it.¡±
¡°Very well.¡± I took in a deep breath, then knelt at Necahual¡¯s side. I seized her left arm at the junction with her shoulder, my hands squeezing her soft flesh. I called upon the Doll and manifested talons of darkness from the depths of my soul. The Nightlords¡¯ ritual to cripple their father failed to affect me and my sorcery remained undiminished.
¡°Ready?¡± I asked Necahual.
My favorite observed the talons of darkness rising from my body with a mix of apprehension, fear¡ and envy. Envy most of all. She knew that the power I offered would carry a price, but she had sacrificed too much and brushed too close to sorcery to refuse its call.
Necahual gave me a sharp nod.
I tore off her left arm with the Doll.
My talons sliced through her flesh and bone like a knife through a scroll. Necahual remained true to her word: she didn¡¯t scream. Her face instead strained into an expression of absolute agony. She was forced to bite her tongue, as I¡¯d warned her to, and her eyes closed when I used a burst of my smokeless Blaze to cauterize her stump before any of her blood could fall onto the bed.
She didn¡¯t scream when I severed the other arm either.
I should have felt nausea and unease at mutilating Necahual so thoroughly. I had shared this woman¡¯s bed on many occasions and tasted the flesh which I now despoiled. Yet I felt nothing. I had killed and dismembered so many that the sight of blood and suffering hardly aroused any emotional response from me anymore. My mind remained focused on the goal ahead.
I had grown numb to inflicting pain on others in the name of the greater good, even to a woman with whom I shared a complicated relationship. I wasn¡¯t sure what to think of it. I used to enjoy demeaning and tormenting Necahual, but she had suffered so much in the name of our victory. I tried to tell myself that the end would make the pain worth it and only ended up feeling guilty.
The best I could do for her was to proceed quickly.
I went through the motions as I cut and cauterized each of Necahual¡¯s limbs. By the time I cut off her last leg, her body had gone into the early stage of shock. Her skin had paled, her steaming stumps shivered, and she produced so much sweat I worried she would dry up.
But she didn¡¯t scream.
Even as blood dripped down her bitten tongue and her lips, Necahual retained her dignity.
I saw it once again: that unbreakable resolve that no pain could break; that strange brand of bravery so similar to mind and which allowed this vile woman to endure the Nightlords¡¯ tortures for so long.
Inspired, I soon proceeded to switch the severed limbs. I bit my palm to let my blood bind the stumps together in an unholy union. By the time I finished, wing-like legs stuck to Necahual¡¯s shoulders, and hands replaced her feet like a bird¡¯s talons. It was quite the disturbing sight, though far from the worst that I¡¯d encountered.
I placed a hand on her chest, my bleeding palm pressing against her heart. I sensed it pounding wildly within her ribs. Though I hoped to alleviate the worst of it with a Seidr transfusion, the stress of this traumatizing experience would likely kill her should the ritual fail.
I would not allow it.
¡°Necahual Ce Quiahuitl,¡± I said, uttering her true name. ¡°I am Tlacatecolotl, the owl-fiend of disaster. I hold your life within my very hands. Now I demand your soul.¡±
I immediately sensed a shift in my Teyolia and Tonalli. My owl-spirit stirred within the depths of my soul as I called upon it to form a binding rite of alliance. My shadow lengthened until it grew wings and talons.
¡°I shall take your name and heart for my own, and bind them to my will until the day death drags us both into the Silent Dark,¡± I told Necahual. ¡°In exchange, I shall grant you wings to fly into the night, talons to torment the meek, and flames to burn your enemies with. I shall make you the mother of witches which all mortals shall dread. I shall make you a Mometzcopinque, hated and feared by men and women alike.¡±
I leaned over Necahual, my lips growing so close to her own that I could feel her panicked breath on mine. The ritual would soon reach its climax.
¡°Will you be mine?¡± I asked. ¡°Now and forever?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± she replied without hesitation, fighting through the pain and the throes of incoming death. ¡°Yes¡ I will.¡±
Her Teyolia blazed within her chest, and a pressure closed on mine.
I felt my strength fading for an instant as an unbreakable bond formed between Necahual and me. My power flowed into her heart, forming a chain that bound it as solidly as the ones the Nightlords used to enslave my soul. My malevolent heart-fire and the feathers of my Tonalli joined with Necahual¡¯s essence, changing it, reshaping it, befouling it.
Her dying body metamorphosed before my eyes.
Her shoulder-legs grew a coat of dark, owlish feathers blacker than the darkest night. Her thigh-arms transformed into talons with claws longer than blades. All of Necahual sharpened. Her teeth, her features, her frame¡ She became beautiful the same way an eagle was, wild and savage with slitted yellow eyes brimming with ferocity. Her Mometzcopinque transformation reminded me of a Nightkin¡¯s monstrous self, albeit bearing the marks of the owl rather than the bat.
The stronger she became, the weaker I grew. For all of the power I had accumulated from the embers of a dead sun, empowering Necahual spiritually diminished me. I remained strong enough to shake the world with my spells, but their edges would dull.
I traded strength for control.
I owned Necahual.
This truth was engraved within my very soul. By answering my words and swearing fealty to me, she had surrendered her very essence. She would not outlive me. She would not leave me. She would lord over others with sorcery, yet forever stay by my side. She was mine, physically and spiritually.
By the time my hand stopped trembling on her chest, I felt the soft movements of her chest rising up and down.
¡°It is done,¡± I whispered, gathering my breath to recover from my exhaustion. ¡°It is done.¡±
Necahual let out a heavy sigh as her eyes darted around to look at herself. She raised jet-black wings marked with my own feathers. Her hand-feet had transformed into twisted talons. She moved one of them closer to her face to take a better look.
Then it caught fire.
Baleful purple flames born of my power surged from Necahual¡¯s talons at her mental command. They came out on their own, almost instinctively. Their glow lit up her face and cast dark shades in the background.
Tears of bliss formed at the edge of Necahual¡¯s gaze.
She had resented my mother¡¯s gifts for so many years, languishing in envy of her magic and the freedom it afforded her. The powers I lent Necahual were a mere shadow of a true sorcerer¡¯s might, but she didn¡¯t care. She wielded sorcery of her own at long last.
She gently pushed me back without a word and grabbed one of the decorative stone masks. Her talons closed on it with such strength that it shattered into dust. The flash of pleasure on her face dwarfed any that I had seen thus far. She reveled in her newfound power after so many moments of weakness and surrender.
¡°You should be able to turn back into a human at will,¡± I explained to her. ¡°The opportunity to train with your new powers will come, but for now, you will have to hid¨C¡±
Her talons closed on my throat before I could finish my sentence.
Necahual slammed me against a wall with such strength that a few of the decorations fell off their perches. She pressed herself against me and pushed her lips onto mine with desire and bottomless hunger.
Her boldness surprised me. We mostly coupled at my initiative; Necahual made herself available, but I usually had to make the first move. She fully took the lead this time, folding her wings around my neck and devouring my face with lust. She soon whispered words I¡¯d hardly ever heard say in my ear.
¡°Thank you,¡± she whispered with sincere gratitude. ¡°Thank you.¡±
My blood stirred with desire, and my arms coiled around her waist. I used the Doll to remove my clothes without breaking our embrace, then grabbed her ass and lifted her up. She grinded against me as I penetrated her, her talons closing on my back.
Our lovemaking was wild, primal, and savage. I pounded her against a wall, any thoughts of asking her to return to her human form forgotten. The danger of discovery and Zyanya¡¯s sleeping snorts near us only heightened the experience. Necahual welcomed me into herself with an unmatched passion that surpassed everything the likes of Chindi could come up with.
It hardly took a thrust for our Teyolias to connect and for me to sense that presence between us: a tiny unborn fire gestating in the shadow of our own flames, brighter than the one I¡¯d sensed inside Chikal.
I froze mid-thrust in realization, my lips breaking a kiss just long enough to whisper three small words.
¡°You are pregnant,¡± I said, gasping and panting.
Necahual caught her breath, then nodded sharply. ¡°Since the house.¡±
I detected no self-hatred or resentment in her expression, as I would have expected from her; only a twisted and inexplicable kind of pride that it happened on her terms rather than anybody else¡¯s.
I knew we had planned for this outcome for a while, but it took a bit for its reality to hit me with all of its weight.
Necahual was pregnant with my child.
I¡¯d sired a child on my mother-in-law at long last, something which she wouldn¡¯t allow Guatemoc to do. We had violated the last taboo that stood between us.
The realization filled me with such peerless bliss. She was mine now, in body and soul. I had claimed her both within and without, marking her flesh in its innermost refuge and claiming her life for myself. She would give birth to my sorcerous brood and follow me into death¡¯s cold embrace when King Mictlantecuhtli finally claimed me for the final time.
I had avenged myself of years of torment. She had given in to me, putting a slave collar on her own neck and letting me hold the leash. The thrill of victory washed away my earlier distaste and the humiliation of Iztacoatl¡¯s previous taunts. I felt my confidence restored and renewed.
For a brief instant, I was the happiest man in the world.
¡°If you give me a daughter, I will call her Ichtaca,¡± I taunted her, twisting the knife. ¡°Itzili, if it¡¯s a son.¡±
Her smile had teeth. ¡°How about I name our daughter Iztacoatl instead?¡±
I should have known better than to challenge Necahual to a contest of cruelty. She always bit harder than she took. It excited me, that thin frontier between mutual loathing, violent lust, and twisted affection.
¡°You are mine,¡± I whispered as my arms coiled around her back, claiming her, owning her. ¡°Your soul and body are mine. You are all mine. I own you.¡±
¡°Do you?¡± She kissed me, biting my lip to draw my burning blood. ¡°Who comes crawling to me whenever a vampire wounds his poor heart? Who needs me to soothe their pride? Who requires the comfort of my bosom to feel strong?¡±
Necahual licked my blood while her talons marked their territory on my back.
¡°Who owns whom, Iztac?¡±
I remembered the twin terrors that tormented me in the Razor House; how the Lord of Control relinquished power the moment its abused slave spoke for itself. When a master required tormenting their servant to feel powerful, were they truly in control of themselves? Or simply a slave to their own desires and others¡¯ perceptions?
Necahual had a point. I was addicted to her. I needed her as much as she needed me, like poison required water in which to hide. I didn¡¯t think I would have been able to keep calm should she have denied me her embrace. She held power over me with strings subtler than any spell.
I would never let her leave me. I would kill any man who dared to touch her. I would sire witches and demons on her until we started a whole dynasty. She would love me, and hate me, and counsel me, and comfort me. That was the price I exacted from her.
In return, Necahual would bask in my power and rule at my side as my favorite. She would fly over the mundane humanity she used to be part of and enjoy youth eternal fueled by sorcery. She would no longer linger in my mother¡¯s shadow. At long last, I would allow her to stand proud at my side as my most trusted advisor.
My seed built up in my loins. Necahual was already full, but she accepted my gift all the same. The union of our souls came quicker now that they were bound by the chains of our contract.
As our minds melded together, demon and witch cavorting over a sleeping fool, I showed her my plan for Eztli. I gave her the information she required, not with words and whispers, but pictures and thoughts.
When the white flash passed and empty serenity followed it, I still held Necahual pressed against the wall. Her hands had changed back into fingers and her eyes had returned to normal. Her feathers were unseen, but not gone; she had retracted them into herself, hiding her newfound inhumanity the same way I kept my own powers beneath notice. Her posture had strengthened though, and she held her head higher than before. Her heart swelled with the secret pride of a witch. She would masquerade as the bitter woman she used to be until the moment to strike came.
A time that would come soon enough.
¡°We have little time,¡± I said as I relinquished my hold on her legs and allowed her to stand on her own two feet once more. ¡°Can you convince Eztli to go along with it?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Necahual replied with confidence. ¡°I already have an idea how.¡±
¡°Good. She will know when the moment comes.¡± I had my ways of informing Eztli of the coming ritual, even if I didn¡¯t stand in her presence. ¡°All I need from her is a cloudless mind free of doubts.¡±
Necahual responded with a small nod. That was reassurance enough for her. She would do as I asked, end of the story.
We lay in the bed afterward, right next to the sleeping Zyanya. Necahual hardly spared her a glance. ¡°Will you wake her up?¡±
¡°Soon,¡± I replied. ¡°I will say she fainted at my touch, then claim her for appearance¡¯s sake.¡±
Necahual scoffed. ¡°What a waste.¡±
My hands caressed her belly. Once she would have recoiled in disgust at my touch, yet she did no such thing. Her hands joined mine and encouraged them to press against her skin; to celebrate the fruit of our twisted union.
Our child was desired by both sides.
¡°Are you happy now?¡± I asked her softly.
¡°Almost,¡± Necahual replied. ¡°I will not raise her in a prison.¡±
¡°Her?¡±
¡°Your soothsayer believes it will be a daughter.¡± She caressed my hair almost lovingly, the way Zyanya would have with Tlaxcala had they shared any affection for one another. ¡°Mother of witches, remember?¡±
I smiled. ¡°That implies I will sire more than one.¡±
Necahual answered me with a smile full of condescension. ¡°If you are man enough to keep up, maybe.¡±
She knew how to challenge me. I kissed her again, basking in the taste of her blood on her lips. A demon and a witch made for a fine pairing, stronger than a gnarled tree.
¡°What happened with Nenetl?¡± Necahual asked me, her eyebrows furrowing upon sensing the tension racing down my spine. ¡°I am not blind. You keep avoiding her gaze while you could hardly look away from her a few nights ago.¡±
I had no wish to speak of the matter, for the wound remained sore. However, Necahual had been my truest confidant for a while now and was wiser than expected. Perhaps I ought to seek her counsel.
¡°She¡ she may be my sister,¡± I confessed. Merely saying the word disgusted me. ¡°Nenetl.¡±
Necahual pondered my words for a very long while. ¡°I see.¡±
¡°I see?¡± Her subdued reaction disturbed me. ¡°I might have committed incest.¡±
Necahual snorted in disdain. ¡°That taboo hardly stopped you when you first crawled into my bed and that of my daughter.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not¡ that¡¯s not the same.¡± My jaw clenched. ¡°You think it is possible?¡±
¡°Your mother wouldn¡¯t think twice about cheating on your father,¡± Necahual replied with bitter hatred. Her assumption was incorrect, but her opinion of Ichtaca might not be too off the mark. ¡°The Nightlords have done worse too. Still, can you confirm it?¡±
¡°Not yet, but the thought won¡¯t leave my mind.¡± I hoped this would be one of Iztacoatl¡¯s ploys meant to disturb me and nothing more. If not¡ ¡°Nenetl was the one relationship the Nightlords hadn¡¯t tainted yet. I thought I had something pure going on with her. Now I feel sick whenever I look at her. The love we shared has been turned into a twisted experiment.¡±
¡°It might have been,¡± Necahual replied. She studied me for a while, her sympathy for my situation tampered with cold calculation. ¡°You ought to confirm the information first, then discuss it with Nenetl. You should at least inform her of your reasons for ending your relationship. Otherwise, your silence will wound her.¡±
¡°What am I supposed to tell her if this proves true?¡± I replied in annoyance. ¡°¡®I am your brother and we slept together?¡¯¡±
¡°It will be better than guilty avoidances and lies,¡± Necahual replied bluntly. ¡°Have you such little faith in her?¡±
I frowned. ¡°This is not about faith. The truth will devastate her.¡±
¡°She is stronger than you think, and wiser than you give her credit for. She may react badly, or she may not. If you truly love her, then you will tell her the truth and help her move on.¡± Necahual scoffed. ¡°Or are you so craven that you would rather stay silent and let her suffer?¡±
My hand moved up her neckline and closer to her throat. ¡°You tempt me, witch.¡±
Necahual remained utterly unimpressed. ¡°If you want a shoulder on which to cry on, Iztac, then go find someone else. I sold you my soul, not my tongue.¡±
And I loved her for it.
Chapter Seventy-Four: Murder in the Family
I took as much from Lady Zyanya as I gave her.
Draining lifeforce through Seidr came to me much more easily than healing wounds. The latter required direction and a sacrifice on my part, while the former was like drinking from a pond of honey. I simply had to pace myself to avoid draining my partner dry without letting her notice.
I was unwilling to train this skill on my consorts considering the risks involved. Zyanya was expendable, and I wouldn¡¯t sleep with her often enough for her to notice the long-term effects of Teyolia draining anyway. I would leave her more exhausted than usual; hardly anything suspicious in itself for her, but a good exercise for me.
Draining her without notice proved a bit more difficult than I expected. I had grown experienced enough at seeing the shape of my and my partner¡¯s soul that I could snuff out their life like candlelight. There was something faintly addictive about stealing another¡¯s health and vigor, especially after giving Necahual some of mine. It was so easy to steal rather than to earn.
The Nightlords probably felt that way when they betrayed their monstrous father. The thought kept me grounded enough not to overstep, though it demanded a mental effort to restrain myself.
Zyanya was thankfully a skilled lover, so I found the experience quite pleasant. I hardly spared a thought for the late Tlazohtzin and poor Tlaxcala while I spent my seed into their moaning wife; the way I saw it, it was merely a necessity to hide the Mometzcopinque ritual.
¡°Your Majesty¡¡± Lady Zyanya let out a sigh of pleasure and exhaustion once we finished. ¡°That was¡ divine¡¡±
¡°Savor that memory, Zyanya,¡± I replied after pulling out and letting myself fall on the mattress¡¯ side between her and Necahual, who had been watching everything. ¡°That pleasure will taste all the sweeter for its rarity.¡±
Zyanya¡¯s satisfaction turned into a grimace. ¡°Your Majesty is welcome to enter my bed at any time.¡±
¡°While it is an enticing thought, I have a war to wage,¡± I replied while Necahual lovingly stroked my hair. ¡°You and your husband will serve the empire better by staying here in Zachilaa and keeping our internal enemies in check.¡±
Truthfully, I was content to end this charade and move on from this opportunist. I¡¯d spent weeks pruning her and Tlaxcala to set up this exact situation. With Iztacoatl going on the warpath against my imperial privileges and the loss of surprise that taking her First Night provided, Zyanya¡¯s usefulness to me had sharply dropped.
Nonetheless, it never hurt to be polite.
Zyanya studied me with a scowl. I could see her assess her different options. On paper, she had already gained much from our association. Tlaxcala might not be the ideal partner, but he granted her access to his family¡¯s wealth and connections. Publicly ¡®gracing¡¯ her the way I did would also bring her great prestige. What more could she want from me? And what did she have to offer in return?
¡°Would you mind indulging a simple request, Your Majesty?¡± she asked me suddenly. ¡°Would you kindly show me your holy blood again?¡±
¡°Have you developed a taste for sunlight, Zyanya?¡± I mused. Though her wish surprised me, it was easy enough to grant. I bit my palm and let fire pour out of my wound. ¡°Behold its shine and warmth.¡±
Zyanya eyed the burning flame of my blood with desire. It reminded me of Lahun¡¯s own intense interest, albeit with a subtle difference. Lahun¡¯s fascination was born of comprehension, of watching the sorcery she sought for years performed before her eyes in true; Zyanya¡¯s own interest was born of ignorance, of the awe of seeing something she couldn¡¯t fully understand. She was a mortal entranced by the sight of a true miracle.
Zyanya dared to move her hand close to mine, although she pulled back the moment the flames licked her skin. I saw her hesitate to try again. She reminded me of an animal enticed by honey: the prize looked so sweet, but the buzzing bees lurking nearby never ceased to threaten her.
¡°I have seen many emperors,¡± she whispered to herself, ¡°But none who could perform Your Majesty¡¯s miracles.¡±
¡°My predecessors paved the way for my coming.¡± In a way, I was entirely truthful there. ¡°I am the herald of a new age for Yohuachanca.¡±
¡°Yes¡ Yes, I see that now.¡± Zyanya nodded to herself, as if reaching a decision. ¡°I must inform Your Majesty of a plot against his person and that of his consorts.¡±
My palm clenched into a fist. Necahual tensed up at my side, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
¡°A plot?¡± Necahual asked on my behalf, knowing an emperor couldn¡¯t show concern in front of a lowly mistress.
¡°My husband and I were approached three nights ago by a priest in Lady Iztacoatl''s service,¡± Zyanya declared. The mere mention of the Nightlord¡¯s name caused my heart to skip a beat. ¡°We were ordered to spy on Your Divine Majesty and report any suspicious behavior. In return, we would receive financial favors and protection beyond Your Divine Majesty¡¯s term.¡±
I would have loved to say it took me by surprise, but I¡¯d sadly expected as much. It also helped contextualize some of their recent behavior.
My predecessors had warned me that Iztacoatl would seek to subvert my spy network and plant someone in my bed in order to gather information. Approaching Tlaxcala and Zyanya made sense; after all, I¡¯d selected them as my catspaws because they were greedy and ambitious opportunists willing to do anything for imperial favor.
It was why I¡¯d been careful to use those two without revealing too much about my true activities. They had been useful, but untrustworthy.
Why would Zyanya tip her hand like this?
¡°Interesting,¡± Necahual said while faking amusement. ¡°And have you found anything suspicious?¡±
¡°I do recall that Lady Ingrid had us obtain an odd set of supplies and send them to what I assume was an intermediary,¡± Zyanya replied sharply, her eyes meeting mine. ¡°Nothing incriminating by itself, but definitely suspicious. Of course, I saw no reason to waste the goddess¡¯ time with mere supposition, and my new husband is too foolish to notice anyway.¡±
I waited a moment before finally speaking up with a low, dangerous voice. ¡°Are you threatening me, Lady Zyanya?¡±
¡°No,¡± Necahual said shrewdly. ¡°She would not say it now of all times, when we could easily snap her pretty neck with no one the wiser.¡±
¡°Your favorite is cunning, as expected of her,¡± Zyanya replied with what could pass for halfway sincere flattery. ¡°I am Your Majesty¡¯s faithful servant.¡±
¡°For a price, of course,¡± Necahual guessed. I let her do the talking for now in order to keep my options open without committing to anything. ¡°What do you want?¡±
¡°First of all, I would like to deepen my relationship with Your Majesty.¡± Zyanya traced a line along my chest with her finger. I must have left a good impression on her. ¡°I have no wish to end up trapped inside your harem, but I would enjoy the benefits of your public affection.¡±
¡°You wish to become my official mistress,¡± I guessed. ¡°Did Iztacoatl put you up to this?¡±
¡°My husband and I thought it would be the best way to worm our way into both of your good graces,¡± Lady Zyanya replied. ¡°I expect to be showered with the wealth and honors of my station. Meanwhile, I will ensure that Lady Iztacoatl hears everything she needs to hear.¡±
Necahual looked at her with some measure of interest. ¡°Everything we want her to hear.¡±
¡°I see no difference,¡± Zyanya replied with a cunning smile.
¡°You intend to play both sides for as long as you can,¡± Necahual said with a hint of contempt. ¡°To ensure you win no matter what.¡±
¡°Why make this offer at all?¡± I asked Zyanya. That part puzzled me. ¡°You are not blind. Surely you must know that a Godspeaker cannot offer more than the goddesses he speaks for.¡±
¡°Simple.¡± Lady Zyanya glanced at my wounded palm. ¡°A goddess would not ask me to spy on Your Majesty if you weren¡¯t a threat to her. If she wants me to investigate Your Majesty and keep an eye on those close to you, then it means that she fears you.¡±
I knew Zyanya was shrewd, but her sharp insight took me aback. Of course, it could be a lie; a long con meant to gain my trust on Iztacoatl¡¯s behalf in order to sell me out later for a higher price. Nonetheless, the miracles I¡¯d performed would indeed present me as something utterly new in Yohuachanca¡¯s history: a viable alternate source of power to the Nightlords. The potential rewards of such an uncertain situation exceeded the risks.
¡°It is quite the unique opportunity, I¡¯m sure Your Majesty would agree,¡± Lady Zyanya said.
¡°You said ¡®first of all¡¯ earlier,¡± Necahual noted. She had grown halfway experienced at intrigue by now. ¡°Becoming his mistress is only part of your price. What else do you want?¡±
¡°Widowhood.¡± Zyanya¡¯s face twisted into a scowl. ¡°I would like Your Majesty to secretly arrange for my new husband¡¯s demise, hopefully as soon as I can confirm my pregnancy. A heroic death in battle would suit me best, so that he departs this world with glory and honors our house on his way out.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but scoff. ¡°Has Tlaxcala truly been so tiresome that you would seek his death so soon?¡±
¡°Tlaxcala is a wastrel and a fool,¡± Zyanya replied with a scoff of absolute disdain. ¡°Which I assume is why Your Majesty chose him as their tool.¡±
¡°True,¡± I conceded. ¡°Nonetheless, a good tool is always useful.¡±
¡°He hardly listens to me, and I swear that he will waste away his father¡¯s fortune within a mere few years with his incompetence.¡± Zyanya¡¯s sneer reminded me so much of Necahual¡¯s. ¡°I do not appreciate Tlaxcala, but I desire his family¡¯s wealth and contacts; both of which I would inherit once he perishes. He has outlived his usefulness to both Your Majesty and I since the moment we held our wedding. I would see his wealth prosper and serve Your Majesty better than he ever did.¡±
She was probably right, though I saw a wrinkle in her plan.
¡°It is true that he has no heir that could threaten him now,¡± I said, having removed his only major competitor myself. ¡°Nonetheless, your claim on his assets will remain shaky as his widow. You would need to bear him a child to secure your position.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Zyanya smiled ear to ear. ¡°¡®His¡¯ child.¡±
A dark shiver coursed through my body. I knew Lady Zyanya to be ruthless and willing to throw her husbands to the wolves for an advantage, but I never expected her to go this far to secure our alliance. She was well and truly ruthless.
¡°Quite bold, are you?¡± I asked while stroking her cheek. ¡°This could lead to¡ complications.¡±
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¡°Who will be able to confirm the truth?¡± Zyanya replied, her wicked ambition now laid bare before me. ¡°Certainly there will be rumors and ambiguity, but those were unavoidable the moment Your Majesty took my First Night. Were my husband to die in a glorious battle, any protest would be seen as slander and be met with outrage. Your Majesty¡¯s bloodline would rule Zachilaa forevermore, and I would not have to suffer my husband¡¯s existence.¡±
Necahual studied Zyanya with a cold, blank expression. She had already been forced to bear an emperor¡¯s child while passing her off as her husband¡¯s own, so I assumed the proposal deeply gnawed at her.
¡°You would use your own flesh and blood as a tool to secure your wealth?¡± she finally asked Zyanya, her tone more disappointed than anything.
¡°We women have precious little power in this land, Lady Necahual,¡± Zyanya replied with a shrug. ¡°Our gods value us for our work and ability to give birth, and our men for the pleasures we provide. We do what we must to scrap what freedom we can find. I will do what I must to secure my house¡¯s place in the sun.¡±
I finally realized why Zyanya had often felt so familiar: she reminded me of Lady Sigrun. Perhaps Ingrid¡¯s mother behaved the exact same way once, scraping any bit of power she could secure through her bloodline and political connections to an emperor. The Nightlords had seen to it that the empire¡¯s women would fall into that trap again and again; they were condemned to play pointless games of intrigue for a scrap of glory and a vampire¡¯s ingratitude.
Nonetheless, Lady Zyanya¡¯s offer presented an opportunity I couldn¡¯t pass on. Assuming that she spoke the truth, at least partially, then I had a unique way to filter information to the White Snake in a way that would provide me with a key advantage.
I knew Iztacoatl. She wouldn¡¯t let me go even if Sugey sidelined her for the duration of the Flower War. If informed of a plot, she wouldn¡¯t resist the opportunity to catch me in the act herself. This would neatly reinforce the operation that I had in mind for her, Astrid, and Fjor; perhaps even ensure its success. I could spin a web so strong it would catch the snake in its net.
I reached a decision.
¡°I could have you and Tlaxcala join us for the Flower War,¡± I said, stroking her hair. ¡°There he could find the glory he deserves¡¡±
¡°We would of course accept Your Majesty¡¯s invitation,¡± Zyanya replied, her eyes alight with ambition. ¡°I shall also keep an eye on that Aclla woman, as you asked me to.¡±
Necahual observed us for a moment, then spoke up. ¡°On which day were you born?¡±
¡°The first day of the Monkey Month,¡± Zyanya replied with a frown. ¡°Might I ask why?¡±
My favorite lied about learning divination, though I knew better and suppressed a smirk of amusement.
My witch was already scouting her future coven.
I awoke in front of the black pyramid.
I had only ever seen the edifice from afar in the past, though it could be observed from any point in the city. Now it towered over me like the fang of a hungry and starless night. Its obsidian walls were smooth and untouched by the decay that struck the rest of the city; its peak seemed to rise on forever, obscuring the gray sky and the faint glow of Tlaloc¡¯s sun in its dark majesty.
A single entrance was carved into its base, served by a set of stairs and surrounded by decorations that reminded me of teeth. Shadowy vapors and vile mists billowed out of this maw of nightmares to fuel the fog overtaking this cursed city. A thick and impenetrable wall of miasma surrounded the edifice and kept me separated from the rest of Xibalba.
Mother awaited me atop the stairs.
¡°You knew,¡± I said immediately upon seeing her, my heart overtaken with resentment. ¡°You knew about Nenetl.¡±
Mother looked down on me with haunted eyes. She always carried herself with authority, even in her human form; yet tonight her posture seemed frail and fragile, like a stick of wood ready to fly away with a burst of wind.
¡°Yes,¡± she whispered, far too softly. ¡°Yes, I¡ I knew.¡±
Something was wrong. Utterly wrong.
I could feel it in my bones. Mother¡¯s eyes were sunken into her owl-mask, her posture too crumpled for her, her voice too weak.
Mother was shaken.
¡°I was afraid that¡¡± Mother cleared her throat. ¡°That your father would think less of me if he knew that I¡¡± She looked down with an emotion I¡¯d never seen from her: shame. ¡°What I¡¯ve done to survive.¡±
¡°He would. He will.¡± I clenched my fists. ¡°We have to tell Father. You don¡¯t get to keep his daughter away from him.¡±
Mother remained silent for a terribly long moment, then slowly shook her head. ¡°It¡ it won¡¯t change anything now, my son.¡±
The sorrow in her voice chilled me to my core. The seed of the darkest of doubts wormed its way into my heart. ¡°Mother?¡±
¡°Come in,¡± she said, so quietly I hardly heard her. ¡°The Lords of Terror await you.¡±
¡°Let them wait,¡± I replied angrily. ¡°You said that this city¡¯s doors were open to me.¡±
¡°Things have¡ things have changed.¡± Mother joined her hands together and looked down at the stone floor. ¡°The invitation comes from above. From the First Fear itself.¡±
I frowned in confusion. ¡°The First Fear?¡±
¡°The heart of Xibalba.¡± My mother¡¯s hands were shaking. ¡°The primal terror from which all the others arose.¡±
By the gods, she is terrified. Mother was a powerful sorceress with the knowledge and spells to cheat death itself. For her to be shaken enough to tremble like a leaf¡
The most horrible of fears suddenly seized me. I could only think of one thing that would scare her.
¡°Mother?¡± The dreadful words formed on the tip of my tongue, my blood turning to ice in my veins. ¡°Where is Father?¡±
Her long, ominous silence was enough of an answer.
The Lords of Terrors had spent many nights trying to find a way to scare me, and finally found one.
¡°What have they done?¡± My fists clenched in panic and cold rage, as did my jaw. ¡°What have they done?¡±
¡°There is¡ no other way but forward now, my son.¡± My mother turned her back on me, her gaze facing the maw of Xibalba¡¯s pyramid. ¡°No other way but forward.¡±
I hardly hesitated before ascending up the stairs, my steps echoing across the silent mists of Xibalba.
My concern for Father¡¯s soul was only matched by my blazing fury. My baleful heart-fire shone as bright as the all-burning sun of Tlalocan.
Were they holding Father hostage inside the pyramid? Was that their ploy to force me to behave as the demon they wished me to become? If those so-called Lords of Terror dared to hurt my father, then I swore to the gods I would gather all the past suns¡¯ embers and return here to smite their cruel city to smoking rubble!
The suffering they inflicted on their victims would look like a childish prank compared to what I would put them through!
I followed Mother into the pyramid, through the vast miasma pouring out of it as though moved by pulsing lungs. I could hardly see through it, even with the Gaze spell on. The ground had turned chalky white, its ancient stone replaced with a carpet of powdered bones. Walls of obsidian carved with ancient diagrams, words, and forgotten tongues glowed around us.
I began to hear a sound the further we progressed; a subtle, pounding tremor that coursed through the air and stones, too weak to be an earthquake yet too strong to be caused by the drums of war. Part of me found it strangely familiar, though I couldn¡¯t put my finger on why.
The path behind us had long vanished into the mists by the time we reached the ballcourt. It was immense, larger than the capital¡¯s greatest arenas. Its stadium stretched on a plain of bones surrounded by dark stands of carved obsidian and crystal skulls. The upper goal, a ring of bones overseeing the ballcourt from a wall, loomed high above us.
The twelve Lords of Terror watched us from the spectators¡¯ stands.
They were all gathered on six platforms of bound bones and sinew. Each of them hosted a pair; ghoulish Hun-Came stood in the light and the illusive Vucub-Came remained in the dark, an unknown phantom hidden in the shadows; sweet smiling Chamiaholom sat next to Chamiabac, the very essence of a hateful world materialized in the shape of a skeletal cloud of ice; Xiquiripat and Cuchumaquic, the plague and the hunter, remained side by side as a totem of bone and a hill of diseased flesh; Ahalpuh and Ahalgana, two faces sharing the same loathsome body, ate a rotten meal in a bowl between their thighs; Ahalmez and Ahaltocob, the master and the slave, had the former floating above and dangling the latter on his bench like a puppet; as for Xic and Patan, the swirling spiral of the void holding the lonely one trapped in her bosom. All of them had materialized in the form of human-sized avatars looking down on us mortals from above.
¡°We welcome thee into our hall, sorcerer,¡± Hun-Came said, the fear of death and first among equals. He stomped the ground with his ancient staff like a judge opening a court case. ¡°Your graduation to true demonhood is at hand.¡±
¡°Where is he?¡± I seethed through my mouth, looking up to better glare at these overmighty parasites. ¡°Where is my fath¨C¡±
I stopped upon catching a glimpse of the thing hanging from the ceiling.
It dangled from high above, far higher than the Lords of Terrors themselves, like how the sun shone upon kings and commoners alike; though there was nothing shiny about this horrible, monstrously huge diseased organ pounding above my head.
I¡¯d seen enough human sacrifices to identify a heart.
It was blacker than the darkest night and of titanic proportions. Whatever giant once bore it in its chest probably rivaled King Mictlantecuhtli in size. Its diseased flesh pulsed with the strength of unlife, its surface a tapestry of silent faces frozen in eternal terror; for no one would hear them scream in the House of Fright. Hooks of iron and bronze hung the heart above the ballcourt by black feathered wings replacing its arteries. I immediately recognized them for what they were.
I¡¯d found the heart of Xibalba, and it had owl wings.
¡°Behold the First Fear, the Heart of Nightmares; the very soul of Xibalba made manifest,¡± Hun-Came declared with reverence. ¡°Gaze upon the flesh of terror and despair. Every fear, every evil, every cruelty known to mortalkind flows into it; as we feed it, so does it feed us. Gaze upon your progenitor, Tlacatecolotl.¡±
My progenitor? The longer I looked up at this heart, the more the owl in my soul rejoiced. This dark heart called to me with each pulse of its rotten countenance. I sensed its vile and putrid alien affection for me, like a proud parent welcoming its child back to the roost. Its whispers soothed the fear seizing my heart, albeit only barely.
¡°This is¡¡± I inhaled the mists in the room. They tasted of home, of a nest of nightmares from which the beast within me once took its first flight. ¡°My totem?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Hun-Came said. ¡°The first fear and the last, born not of men, but of the very gods themselves. The fear of the end.¡±
The heart fueled Xibalba¡¯s fog. Its faces breathed out the cursed mist with each pounding, letting the essence of fear flow into the city to give life to a thousand nightmares. This place had taken its first pulse on the dawn of the first humanity and would continue to haunt it well into our final nights.
¡°When the four creators gazed upon the skull of King Mictlantecuhtli for the first time, they too learned that they were mortal,¡± Hun-Came explained. ¡°That all of life, all that which they have created, all their glories and triumph, would one day come to a close. As their terror wormed its way out of their hearts, it grew wings and flew away to the land of the living to torment them. At the site of its birth arose our eternal city; the nest to all of the children of fear, and which has followed in death¡¯s wake as new suns replaced the old.¡±
The word ¡®children¡¯ broke me out of my trance. The anger surging within my heart lifted the cloud of fascination obscuring my mind and reminding me of my purpose for coming to this cursed place.
¡°It¡¯s quite the touching family reunion, but the only one I seek to see is my father,¡± I rasped, a finger pointed at Hun-Came in challenge. ¡°What have you done with him, demon?¡±
¡°Nothing,¡± said the Fear of Death.
¡°Lies!¡± I snarled, my hands swirling with the fires of the Blaze. I would burn down this entire temple and its very heart if I had to. ¡°I have conquered your trials and overcome your schemes! You have no right to take my father¡¯s soul away!¡±
The Lords laughed at me, Chamiaholom first among them.
Their dark glee echoed across the halls. Not all of them mocked me, since the likes of Hun-Came were beyond laughter and joy of any kind, but enough did so to shake the walls.
My heart sank into my chest. I had suffered enough mockery in my life to recognize what kind of joy I inspired; the smug, condescending irony born of watching a fool unaware of a hurtful truth.
Hun-Came stomped the stand with his staff and silenced his colleagues.
¡°Your presence and freedom within these halls are at the whims of the First Fear and the will of Xibalba,¡± Hun-Came declared to me. ¡°Your father¡¯s soul was your mother¡¯s property, as per the covenant she formed with us. We had no power over it until now.¡±
¡°I¡¯m afraid you misunderstand, sweetheart,¡± Chamiaholom said with a rancid smirk. ¡°We are here to congratulate you and your mother on your graduation. You have already passed with flying colors.¡±
¡°The ballcourt game is a pure formality in your case, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± Hun-Came said calmly. ¡°Your mother already supplied the required sacrifice.¡±
He uttered the last words so absentmindedly, like a bureaucrat discussing a technical administrative issue, that I almost missed their awful and deep cruelty.
The pieces fell into place into a ghastly picture.
My mind refused to entertain the possibility at first, in spite of all the hints presented to me. My eyes turned to Mother, whose guilt and sorrow were written all over her face. She cradled her arms and suppressed a sob.
She wouldn¡¯t have¡ In spite of her cowardice, in spite of abandoning me and Nenetl, in spite of everything¡ That was the one line she would never cross. She couldn¡¯t have¡
Lies. Those were lies. Another illusion meant to deceive me like in the Razor House, a vile trick to poison my mind against my mother and crush my spirit. I could tell it was all a lie.
A lie told to myself.
¡°What have you done?¡± I dared to ask, though I already knew the truth within my heart. ¡°What have you done, Mother?¡±
Mother wouldn¡¯t answer. The coward wouldn¡¯t even face my gaze. Even in the face of the ultimate crime she could have committed, she still wouldn¡¯t own up to it.
¡°What have you done?!¡± I shouted at her, the flames of my rage and disbelief illuminating the ballcourt.
¡°Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t know, sweetheart?¡± Chamiaholom wiped out a tear from her eye; an act which I found infinitely more ominous than the Lords of Terrors¡¯ trials and laughter. ¡°Every sorcerer must provide their ball to play their graduation game and leave our fair city. Such is the toll that Xibalba asks of you¡ a duty which your loving mother so kindly agreed to pay out of parental affection.¡±
Hun-Came stomped the ground with his staff, and all of Xibalba trembled.
¡°Fetch him the ball,¡± he ordered.
The ball court shifted beneath my feet, its powdered field of bones reassembling itself into a small tower of skeletal hands. It arose in front of me, fingers clicking and chittering as they brought forth a treasure buried beneath the arena¡¯s floor and presented it to me.
Hope died within me the moment I lay eyes on it.
My father¡¯s soulless skull silently stared back at me.
Chapter Seventy-Five: Father of Terror
There were moments in the life of a man that seemed to go on forever.
How much time did I spend looking into my father¡¯s empty eye sockets, desperately searching for a hint that the skull within my hands was a clever forgery? My heart wished to believe in a lie, when my reason knew the truth well enough. I sensed no soul in this empty skull, no shadow hiding in the dark in an attempt to deceive the Lords of Terror; only the remnants of paternal warmth and the lingering scent of betrayal.
The silence would have lasted forever, had Mother not broken it.
¡°I did it for you,¡± she said quietly.
My hands gripped my father¡¯s skull so hard I heard it crack within my palm.
¡°If you had killed him yourself, you would have become a Skinwalker,¡± Mother said. It might even be true, but her words reeked of a shamed soul¡¯s pitiful attempt to justify her hideous crime. ¡°They wanted to stain your soul forever, beyond repair.¡±
Chamiaholom¡¯s laughter resonated across the stands, her cruelty echoed by the mocking chuckles of half her siblings.
My sorrowful heart burned with the kind of blinding fury no word could ever describe. I raised a hand at the stands in my rage and unleashed the power of the Blaze upon its spectators. A torrent of all-consuming flames devoured the Lords of Terrors as I turned the very power they taught me against them.
It failed to silence Chamiaholom and her colleagues. The fire devoured their flesh and bones, only for new ones to grow and replace the old in an instant. My flames didn¡¯t burn so hot that they could kill the fears of men.
¡°It¡¯s useless, sweetheart,¡± Chamiaholom said after calming down, almost kindly. ¡°We are you. We are humanity. We are life.¡±
¡°So long as fear endures in the heart of men and gods, so shall Xibalba stand eternal,¡± Hun-Came added. ¡°No spell nor prayer will end us, child.¡±
¡°Besides, why attack us, my dear?¡± Chamiaholom asked. ¡°We only accepted your mother¡¯s sacrifice. She brought him to us out of her own free will, although she was under no obligation to do so.¡±
¡°Nor the only option available,¡± Ahalmez added, the Lord of Control.
I was about to throw another Blaze at these monsters, if only to calm myself, when their words struck me like a slap to the face. My head snapped in Mother¡¯s direction, whose guilty expression immediately confirmed my suspicions.
¡°The ball sacrifice can be anyone sufficiently close to the sorcerer,¡± Chamiaholom explained cheerfully. ¡°Your consorts¡¯ souls belong to Lord Yohuachanca by right and are out of our jurisdiction, but your father and mother were both eligible sacrifices.¡±
I glared at Mother, who held my gaze back. The fact she would cowardly choose to save her own life over Father disgusted me to my core, but hardly surprised me. This woman abandoned her own children to save her own skin, and then never risked her life to save us from the Nightlords. She was a craven coward; the kind only my selfless Father could love.
My predecessors were right from the start. Their marriage was always bound to end badly.
I knew Mother was capable of sacrificing Father for the sake of saving her own miserable life, but I also understood the depths of affection he felt for his family. I wasn¡¯t enraged enough not to see through the Lords¡¯ attempts to sow discord between us either.
¡°Iztac¨C¡± Mother said, though I didn¡¯t let her finish.
¡°Was he willing?¡± I cut in, although I already suspected the answer. If she dared to callously throw him away¡ ¡°Did you tell Father what fate awaited him? Did you ask for his permission before you sacrificed him?¡±
Mother stared at the ground. She covered her eyes, as if to hold back tears of dust.
¡°Yes,¡± Mother whispered quietly, her voice breaking. ¡°Yes, when I told him one of us would¡ would need to disappear for you, he¡¡± She sobbed. ¡°He volunteered.¡±
My blood turned to ice as Mother collapsed on her knees, her nails scratching her face in bitter regret. Her wail of agony echoed across the halls with such strength it silenced my anger with compassion and shared sorrow.
Mother was no actress and saw open displays of affection as weakness. I didn¡¯t think she was capable of faking such deep depths of grief; and neither did the Lords of Terror accuse her of lying, though it would have certainly widened the wedge between us. For all of their cruelty, they were an honest and lawful sort of evil.
Father gave away his afterlife for his family¡¯s sake.
A wave of deep and profound grief overtook me, as cold as my anger had been warm. It sapped me of my strength until my heart-fire¡¯s light grew quieter than embers. I couldn¡¯t muster the might to stay angry at Mother.
I didn¡¯t even have the strength to cry.
¡°You should have told me,¡± I muttered under my breath, my hands cradling Father¡¯s skull. ¡°You should have told me.¡±
If she had, we¡ we could have found another way. There had to be another option we hadn¡¯t considered, had those two fools not acted so hastily!
¡°You would have become a Skinwalker either way,¡± Mother said, her voice so terribly weak in her throat. ¡°I¡ your father and I made the best call we could¨C¡±
¡°The best call?¡± My jaw clenched. ¡°You knew this would happen! You¡¡± My eyes widened in horror as a dreadful thought crossed my mind. ¡°You knew this would happen.¡±
Mother had passed the trials before me. She must have sacrificed someone close to her to escape it the first time too; maybe one of her surviving parents who had abandoned her, or a friend I knew nothing of¨Cif she was even capable of forming such a bond.
She knew the Lords of Terror would force me to select either of my parents as my sacrifice to pay Xibalba¡¯s twisted toll the moment she invited me inside this cursed city. Yet she hadn¡¯t done anything to smuggle Father out of Xibalba, nor warn me of the danger ahead. I didn¡¯t think that she was incompetent enough to simply forget, especially after I cleared one trial after another.
Which meant¡
The fire within me glowed like the sun, my eyes alight with hatred.
¡°You thought I might sacrifice you, didn''t you?¡± I asked, the words choking on my throat. ¡°Even though you knew Father would have taken that burden out of love¡ part of you feared I would choose you anyway.¡±
Mother signed deals with the Lords of Terror to set up her small owl nest in their basement. One of the clauses likely compelled her to answer their summons or forbade her from running away. Creating a home inside the House of Fright meant binding oneself to its inviolable laws.
Since Mother couldn¡¯t skip town to avoid risking her soul, she secured insurance.
¡°Yes indeed, sweetheart,¡± Chamiaholom confirmed my suspicions, her lips stretched into a ghastly smile of absolute joy. ¡°Your dear mother always planned to sacrifice her beloved husband should no other soul fit Xibalba¡¯s demands.¡±
¡°Even in this, she disappointed us,¡± Ahalmez complained. ¡°The truth is that your mother found herself unable to go through with the bargain. When we asked her to sever her husband¡¯s head from his corpse, her resolve faltered. She tried to offer us a substitute.¡±
A substitute?
A shiver ran down my spine. I could only think of one hypothesis.
¡°Astrid,¡± I said, the name echoing through the hall like a curse. ¡°You tried to sell them Astrid¡¯s soul.¡±
Ahalmez let out a droning sound which I took for a snort. ¡°Why do you think she saved her life in the first place, child?¡±
A wave of nausea seized me over. Of course Mother wouldn¡¯t think I would risk so much just to save Astrid on her sister¡¯s behalf, or for the sake of protecting an innocent. If I put so much on the line to protect that child, it must have been because I cared deeply for her; perhaps enough for Xibalba to take in my parents¡¯ place.
¡°We refused, of course,¡± Chamiaholom said. ¡°The girl doesn¡¯t mean that much to you, and Xibalba demands heartbreak. Even if the House of Fright had accepted her request, our brave Itzili wouldn¡¯t let her argue her case.¡±
¡°That man sacrificed himself out of his own free will,¡± Hun-Came said. His cold, emotionless voice betrayed a hint of respect. ¡°He did not fear me. He did not fear death.¡±
Mother didn¡¯t even dare to look at me, nor contest their claims. She simply clenched her fists and brought them down on her thighs, struggling to suppress sobs. I had no doubt that her reaction was genuine.
It must have been a pretty new and disturbing experience for her, to feel shame.
Oh, I was sure she tried to cheat her way out of this obligation. Her obsession with a soul-transfer spell made a lot more sense as an escape plan to safeguard her and Father¡¯s souls from Xibalba¡¯s grasp. My mother loved her husband enough to work on saving him.
But whenever she had to choose between a loved one and saving her own skin, Mother always put herself first. She would rather weep over Father¡¯s demise than die for him.
I had no pity for her. I was no stranger to anger and bitterness; they had fueled me long before the Nightlords had enslaved my soul. What I felt for the wretch who brought me into the world went far beyond mere wrath. My entire body shook with absolute disgust. My heart had become a depthless abyss of contempt and baleful hatred.
Mother¡¯s obvious regret only made it worse.
¡°That¡¯s what broke you, isn¡¯t it, honey?¡± Chamiaholom taunted Mother, her tongue licking her lips as if she could savor our pain. ¡°The knowledge that your husband loved you and your son so much that he was willing to bear eternal suffering on your behalf. That his affection for you was as deep as the sea, and pure like the dawn. That¡¯s the kind of love that only comes once in a century.¡±
¡°And now, it is gone forever,¡± Ahalmez said, cruelly salting our wounds with his venom. ¡°You will never find anyone willing to love you like he did, Ichtaca.¡±
And Mother knew it all too well. The truth cut through all of her lies and deceit, even the ones she told herself. She must have expected Father to require some convincing before agreeing to the deal, or even thought she might have to force him to go along with it. She never expected him to give his soul away for her sake without question, because the thought of doing so herself never crossed her mind. Only when he went along with it did Mother realize she had sacrificed something priceless.
She only understood Father¡¯s true value when she lost him.
¡°I was wrong¡¡± she muttered, both to me and to herself. ¡°I was¡ wrong¡¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
It was so easy to feel remorse or guilt after the deed was done. Feeling sorry cost us nothing. I was guilty of that sin too, of wallowing in self-pity for the crimes I¡¯d committed to survive. Part of me supposed I ought to owe Mother some sympathy and understanding over it.
But the wound went too deep this time.
I could have forgiven Mother for sacrificing Necahual, Ingrid, even so many others whom I loved if it meant saving Father; I would have even wavered for Eztli or Chikal, even though the latter carried my child. I held great affection for all of them, but as much as I loved them, they weren¡¯t the man who had raised me from birth. Father was blood. He had been with me since my birth, and even in death sought to alleviate my burden in any way he could. That kind of kinship ran deeper than the bond between men and women, or between friends sharing a common purpose. I would have traded any other soul for his own.
I would have forgiven Mother for sacrificing anyone else.
I knew it was hypocritical to condemn Mother for something I was guilty of. I had killed so many people in the name of my own safety and mission to take down the Nightlords. It was her refusal to seek any other alternative first, to cravenly fold under the tiniest bit of pressure rather than fight back with all her strength, that nauseated me to my core.
I was sure the Lords of Terror counted on this reaction. I had been acquainted with plots often enough to see the strings guiding us toward a fateful conclusion. The doors out of Xibalba should have already opened if there was nothing more to say.
I still had a choice to make tonight.
¡°What did you do with my father¡¯s soul?¡± I asked the Lords of Terror, my voice quieter and sharper than an assassin¡¯s blade.
¡°It now belongs to the First Fear and Xibalba,¡± Hun-Came replied calmly, his staff stomping stones. ¡°Eternal terror shall be his afterlife.¡±
My spine straightened with purpose. ¡°Unless I offer a substitute?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Hun-Came confirmed.
Mother ceased her weeping. Her eyes stared at me with confusion, then the fear of prey who suddenly realized she was now facing the direst of dangers. My face might have been made of stone and my eyes of ice for all she knew; and when she turned to look up at the Lords of Terror, she only saw a pack of scavengers hungry for more death and despair.
¡°You said we would be safe,¡± Mother protested.
¡°You are both safe from us,¡± Cuchumaquic the Hunter replied. ¡°One may still slay the other.¡±
This was the Lords of Terror¡¯s final gamble. Either let my father¡¯s demise go unavenged for my personal gain, since Mother had more to offer me; or sacrifice her and stain my soul with kinslaying.
Mother met my gaze. How quickly she forgot her grief when in the throes of fear. I supposed it made sense why she would find herself at home in the House of Fright¡¯s basement; terror had always been the roots supporting the tree of her life.
¡°Iztac,¡± she said. ¡°Iztac, this is what they want¨C¡±
I only said a Word.
¡°Bow.¡±
My power seized her heart and body. I saw her surprise when she sensed a spell unknown to her overtake her will and compel her to follow my command.
She resisted of course. Her limbs struggled against my absolute order, and she already summoned the Doll¡¯s dark talons to defend herself. Whether she intended to fight or free herself from my compulsion I didn¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t care either way.
¡°I said¡¡± My eyes burned with hatred as I spoke with the voice of the Godspeaker feared by millions of slaves and foes. ¡°Bow!¡±
My Word shook the walls of Xibalba. Its weight forced Mother¡¯s forehead to hit the ground with a smacking sound, her hands gripping the chalky bone dust covering the floor and her talons of darkness vanishing. All of her willpower and magic hardly amounted to token resistance before the inevitable submission.
Even the Lords of Terror shifted in their seats. Though they only had to make a small effort to resist my compulsion, the mere fact that they had to at all filled my heart with grim satisfaction.
¡°Bow to your emperor, Ichtaca,¡± I ordered. The fact that this wench gave birth to me once would not afford her any pity. ¡°Your life is in my hands now.¡±
Her hands shook with the awful dread of the condemned. So absolute was my power over her that no word nor breath escaped her mouth; she could only bow, and fear.
¡°Do you see her now, Iztac?¡± Ahaltocob the Abused asked through his stitched lips. ¡°Do you see her for what she is?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I replied, my voice brimming with contempt. ¡°Yes, I do.¡±
I didn¡¯t need the Gaze to see past the veil Mother surrounded herself with.
From the very moment I met her, she had tried to portray herself as a powerful witch with access to forbidden knowledge and talents I did not possess. She reveled in secrecy and the image of a vile thief of souls, daring and dangerous, when she was neither of these things.
She had some power, yes, but what use was power when its owner feared to wield it? Mother hadn¡¯t used her gifts to wage war on the Nightlords who oppressed her, or carve out a kingdom of her own. She chose to hide instead. She abducted the souls of the dead who couldn¡¯t defend themselves, terrorized civilians like Necahual, and searched for ways to steal another¡¯s flesh to escape the icy grip of death. She had spent her entire life running.
Mother was weak.
She had always been weak. A craven soul too afraid to take the risks required to achieve true greatness. She was the kind of pitiful, fearful creature that only my father could love.
¡°You never dared to face Tlaloc yourself,¡± I guessed. ¡°You knew the angry god would see through your lies and flatteries the moment he saw you. You were afraid he would smite you, so you put your hopes on me; the very son whom you had abandoned.¡±
Mother had so many ways to contact me, whether in the world of the living or the land of the dead. She could have used the Ride on a servant, called upon the Yaotzin to carry out a message, or any other method. Instead, she only met me once I entered Tlalocan and crossed into the Underworld¡¯s second layer, when I would be of use to her.
¡°Speak,¡± I said, one Word freeing her from the other.
The tension overtaking Mother¡¯s body didn¡¯t abate. It simply came from within rather than without this time. She didn¡¯t dare to meet my gaze again. She knew I would tear out her eyes if she tried.
¡°Iztac¡¡± Mother gulped, struggling to find her words. Although she had given birth to me, she didn¡¯t know me well enough to know how to talk me out of killing her. ¡°Once we become gods, we can save your father, get him back¨C¡±
¡°Once we become gods?¡± Such foolishness would have made me laugh bitterly, if I still had enough patience left to feel joy. ¡°You do not have what it takes to become a god, Mother. You never did.¡±
¡°You sought godhood to free your heart from fear, you foolish shadow of a witch,¡± Ahalmez declared with mocking condescension. ¡°But you had it all wrong from the start.¡±
¡°Wrong,¡± Vucub-Came whispered in the dark. ¡°Wrong way, the other way¡¡±
¡°Only the bold may reach the heavens, either as gods or demons,¡± Hun-Came declared calmly. ¡°No coward has ever become a sun.¡±
¡°To be truly evil or truly good demands unwavering determination,¡± Ahaltocob said. ¡°The fearful can only aspire to mediocrity.¡±
¡°The pain of others may buy favors from the strong,¡± Ahalpuh and Ahalgana spoke at the same time. ¡°But true power requires personal sacrifices.¡±
¡°Again and again you have tripped on your ascent to power,¡± Xic taunted Mother. ¡°Putting your faith in your wayward son, who you had cast away in the name of your own safety.¡±
A voice arose from Patan the Lonely, so low I could hardly hear it. ¡°You sought solitude not out of inner strength, but weakness,¡± he whispered. ¡°You are unworthy of greatness, Ichtaca.¡±
¡°This is your true fear, sweetheart, the one you will never escape no matter how deeply you hide it,¡± Chamiaholom concluded. ¡°Insignificance.¡±
Mother had misunderstood the heart of sorcery and the nature of power; the truth which I learned from Queen Mictecacihualt¡¯s story of how the Fifth Sun came to be. Only those willing to sacrifice themselves could aspire to shine in the heavens. Those too scared to offer themselves to the pyre were condemned to linger in the shadows of brighter souls.
Mother bit her tongue. ¡°My son¨C¡±
¡°Blood won¡¯t save you,¡± I cut in pitilessly.
¡°I can still be of use,¡± Mother pleaded, her nails scratching the floor. ¡°I know so many spells which you do not, and Astrid¡¡±
¡°If you had any secret spell worth teaching me, you would have already used it to free yourself from my grip. I have the means to recover Astrid too, should you perish.¡± My eyes narrowed on her. ¡°You have nothing to offer me, except prayers.¡±
Mother quickly found her faith.
¡°My son¡¡± She sobbed in fear and powerlessness. ¡°Please, Iztac¡ I¡¡± Her voice broke in abject dread. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die¡¡±
¡°Die?¡± I snorted in disdain. ¡°You won¡¯t die.¡±
An ominous silence followed my declaration. I had spooked demons and witch alike.
¡°If I kill you now, I will become a Skinwalker. You can still be of use to me, Ichtaca¡¡± I marked a short pause. ¡°And Father wouldn¡¯t want you to die.¡±
I respected his memory too much to go through with this. Not after he sacrificed himself for her. For us.
Neither would I let the Lords of Terror win, no more than I would either suffer living in a world where the Nightlords could get away with their crimes.
I looked up at this charade¡¯s true playwright, at the beating heart of Xibalba to which the so-called Lords of Terror were no more than thralls and prisoners. My trials and this parody of a game were all meant to feed this grotesque abomination.
It was the only audience that mattered.
¡°Xibalba! Heed my words!¡± I raised my father¡¯s skull at the First Fear, not as a prayer, but a demand. ¡°Return my father¡¯s soul back to me, healthy and whole, and I swear to you that I shall shepherd this world to its ultimate terror! The thirteenth fear that surpasses all others!¡±
I clenched my free fist to the heavens.
¡°I am the fear of the gods!¡±
Some Lords of Terror emerged from their silence to laugh at me, but they were few in number. The likes of Hun-Came among them had sensed it too, same as me; that subtle imbalance in the pounding that coursed through Xibalba.
The First Fear¡¯s heart had skipped a beat.
I had its undivided attention.
¡°I am the blood on the altar!¡± I boasted. ¡°I am the priest who burns the heathens! I am the heavens¡¯ judgment and the tribute of flesh! I am the prophet that foretells the doom of kings and commoners, the Godspeaker whose every miracle is a curse! I am the calamity that punishes the faithless and the faithful alike!¡±
I was the dread that the Nightlords made of me, the mask through which the First Emperor foretold the end of the world, the sorcerer who brought forth a Fire Dawn.
¡°I am the fear of the gods true and false!¡± I declared to the heart of terror itself. ¡°I teach men that the gods exist, but do not care for them! I show them that the heavens relish their suffering and drink their tears! I am the fear that the world is not cruel by chance and indifference, but by design and purpose! I am the fear that we were created to be laughed at and toyed with! I am the fear that this Fifth Sun shall end like all the others before it, to be replaced at the whims of its makers and destroyers!¡±
I staked my claim on the House of Fright which my soul called home. In a world where the image of power carried a strength of its own, I was careful to put on a great show.
¡°Your slaves each embody a single fear, but I wield them all, weave them, bring them!¡± I dismissed the Lords of Terror, these thralls and parasites whom I had overcome one after another. ¡°I kill in the light and plot in the dark! I bring forth calamities and lure men to sin! I wage war and spread pestilence! I starve my lovers of their strength and crush my foes! I enslave and abuse at my command! I madden the weak and cast down the strong from their thrones! Have I not fed you all well on the fruits of my kingdom?!¡±
Had there been any emperor since the First who had sown more terror and suffering than I did? Had any of my predecessors woken up the mountains, humiliated the Nightlords, and sowed the seeds of a war that would engulf an entire continent? What mortal could boast of causing so much destruction in the mere beginning of his year-long tenure?
And I was just starting.
¡°If you wish for a banquet of fear, then do as I command!¡± I ordered the First Fear. ¡°For as I trample the Sapa underfoot and bring ruin to Yohuachanca, as I ascend to godhood to take my rightful place in the bloodstained skies, I shall teach mankind the folly of praying for mercy when the heavens have none! But if you do not relinquish my father¡¯s soul¡¡±
My free hand burned with the flames of my hatred, which had consumed so many souls and set alight so many houses.
¡°Then I swear to you, once I become a god¡ªand I will become one¡ªthen I shall rise from the depths of the Underworld to slaughter every last soul on this earth,¡± I spoke quietly, not with passion, but with the cold determination needed to carry through a war to its conclusion. ¡°The skies will rain fire in a spectacle that will make Tlaloc¡¯s wrath look like a child¡¯s tantrum. I will scorch the lands and seas so quickly its inhabitants won¡¯t even have the time to fear their demise. I will blink, and then they will all be gone.¡±
The Lords of Terror had grown silent as a set of tombs by then. What would these parasites do, once the men that gave them their life disappeared, with no gods left to raise a Sixth Mankind to replace them with?
Nothing.
They could do nothing, and would return to nothing.
¡°And once I have buried everyone who could ever possibly feed you, once the lonely Fifth Sun shines on ashes and silence, I shall descend to watch your end. And then you will know fear.¡± I marked a short pause, my eyes glaring at the first of all terrors. ¡°If you think I do not have what it takes to do that, if you think I am not the kind of player who would rather burn the board than let my opponent win¡ then you haven¡¯t been paying attention.¡±
I concluded on these words; not with a threat, but a fact.
For a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, the First Fear appeared to have a stroke. Its bloated heart stopped pounding mist through the House of Fright. Its malevolent intelligence, born of all of mankind¡¯s terrors and cruelty, assessed my claim. After all the crimes which I had committed, all the devastation I had caused, and all the defiance which I had shown in the face of danger, it could only reach one conclusion.
I would follow through with my promise.
And the fearful would always choose submission over death.
My father¡¯s empty eye sockets glowed with ghostfire.
¡°That¡¯s impossible¡¡± Chamiaholom said, her shocked expression swiftly turning into tears of joy and pride. ¡°The First Fear recognizes his claim!¡±
Mother dared to look up, her astonishment only matched by that of her tormentors. For the first and perhaps the only time in its entire history, the House of Fright had let go of its sacrifice. I could feel its blessing flow into my heart. It was a small tug, a single word whispered within the depths of my soul.
A name.
¡°You have been crowned with a new title, Iztac Ce Ehecatl, by which Xibalba shall know you forevermore,¡± Hun-Came said, his deep, wizened voice oozing pride. He stomped the stands with his staff, then sang my praises. ¡°All hail Cizin, the fear of gods! All hail the thirteenth Lord of Terror! All hail the demon emperor!¡±
The Lords of Terror acclaimed me in front of my spooked mother and father. The demons applauded, danced, and sang, for they knew the world of the living was now in bloody hands. The scavengers rejoiced at receiving the scraps of a banquet of terror.
¡°Iztac¡¡± My father whispered feebly. ¡°I had such a terrible nightmare¡¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I comforted him. ¡°You don¡¯t need to be afraid anymore.¡±
I had conquered fear itself.
Chapter Seventy-Six: Family Matters
I left Xibalba a conqueror, holding my father¡¯s skull in my hand and with Mother following in my wake.
I didn¡¯t look back.
The city opened its gates through the mist and let us walk through its dark doors. The desert surrounding the House of Fright stretched across the horizon, the statues of destroyed totems standing still under the pale gray sky. I¡¯d buried my carrying frame and its contents there.
¡°Are you well, Father?¡± I asked him out of concern. He hadn¡¯t said a word since we left the ballcourt behind us.
¡°I¡¡± The fire in his eyes slightly wavered. ¡°I think so.¡±
¡°You do not sound well,¡± I replied while glaring at Mother. She didn¡¯t even have the decency to look at the husband she sacrificed.
¡°I¡¯m¡ merely shaken,¡± Father replied. He sounded tired, like someone waking from an exhausting nightmare. ¡°It¡ it could have been worse, Iztac. I wasn¡¯t in there for long, so I¡ I just need a second to gather my thoughts.¡±
We ought to consider ourselves lucky then. Very lucky indeed. Father was a strong soul with great willpower, but being absorbed into an embodiment of primordial fear would have probably driven him mad from prolonged exposure. As it was, he was only spooked.
I let Father rest for now as I I moved closer to the statues and used the Doll to unearth the carrying frame from underneath the owl totem. Mother observed us without a word, too guilty to speak up or apologize.
That ship had sailed long ago.
I examined the frame to check on its contents. To my astonishment, the urn I was meant to deliver to Tlaloc and the First Emperor¡¯s Codex inside it remained untouched. I would have expected Mother to steal one or the other while I ventured into Xibalba, but I supposed the city enforced certain rules against thieves. That or the totem indeed protected my belongings.
With Xibalba¡¯s trials completed, I would now ascend to Tlalocan and confront its godly master for his embers; after settling another matter first, of course.
I put the carrying frame on my back and broke the silence. ¡°Where is the way to Mictlan, Ichtaca?¡±
The fact I called her by her name rather than ¡®Mother¡¯ ought to get the point across. It certainly woke her up from her guilty torpor. ¡°The¡ way?¡±
¡°The door I used to enter this layer is one-way only, and I need to return Father to his proper afterlife.¡± Far away from you, I left unsaid. ¡°Why do you think I spared you back there?¡±
Father¡¯s eyes glowed in his eye sockets. ¡°I¡ I have no wish to return to Mictlan, my son.¡±
That took me aback. ¡°Father, I will descend into the Underworld¡¯s third layer soon enough. It will be a dangerous journey and I may not be able to protect you.¡± My grip on his skull tightened, my eyes glaring at the pitiful woman who once gave birth to me. ¡°You cannot hope to stay with this¡ this traitor.¡±
¡°There was¡ no treachery,¡± Father replied, his voice a little firmer. Speaking seemed to help him put his thoughts in order. ¡°I¡ I knew my fate from the start, my son.¡±
Mother flinched as if she had been slapped. ¡°From¡¡± Her voice was weak, hardly a whisper. ¡°From the start?¡±
¡°When you took me to this city¡ you said I should not take anything that I was willing to lose with me,¡± Father reminded her with a small, ghostly sigh. How he managed to do so without a body escaped me. ¡°I¡ Well, I assumed I was one of those things, my love. You left us once already.¡±
Mother stood still for a brief instant, then collapsed to her knees, sobbing.
I looked with disgust at this weakling witch who only learned the true value of people after she had discarded them. I felt cautious respect for her once, even harboring the hope that we might mend the bridge separating us, but now only loathing remained. I glanced at Father, expecting to see a similar feeling in his ghostfire eyes, or at least disappointment.
Instead, he looked at her with compassion.
¡°Are you pitying her, Father?¡± His wasted kindness boggled my mind. This selfish wench, who had cast away everyone who ever cared for her, did not deserve his mercy. ¡°After everything she did to you, to us? Why won¡¯t you spit on her?¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ that¡¯s the thing about unconditional love, my son. It comes without reservations.¡± Father marked a short pause. ¡°However¡¡±
It was strange how a simple word could carry such weight. Mother looked up at him with genuine fear and worry, her flayed heart faltering at the mere hint of her husband condemning her.
¡°I have seen things¡ things on which I cannot close my eyes anymore, Ichtaca,¡± Father said, his voice heavier than stones. ¡°When that¡ that evil thing made me a part of it, I became one with the terrors of the living¡ yours included. I became one with fear itself and learned of so many evil deeds¡¡± Another short silence followed as Father mustered the courage to broach a most cruel matter. ¡°Including our daughter.¡±
Mother stared down at the ground in guilt and shame. She did not deny it. I would have felt a pang of familial sympathy if she wasn¡¯t the reason Nenetl had found herself caught in the Nightlords¡¯ grasp.
¡°Did you think I would think less of you if you admitted it?¡± Father asked softly. This time, I did detect a hint of disappointment in his words. ¡°Oh, Ichtaca¡ I forgave you for abandoning us. I would have done the same if only you had reached out to her the same way you did with Iztac. It is your unwillingness to right your past wrongs that I¡ that I cannot accept anymore.¡±
He said these words with a strange kind of finality, firm yet gentle. They carried no anger, but no mercy either. Father was the kindest man I had ever met, and I¡¯d rarely heard him set his foot down in the past.
Mother gulped. ¡°Itzili¡¡±
Father did not let her finish. ¡°I cannot enable you anymore, my love. I thought that with time¡ I thought that with time, your better nature would come through¡ that you would put our son ahead of your selfish desires. I still want to believe there is good buried deep within you, but¡¡± He marked a short pause as he searched for the right words. ¡°It cannot stay buried anymore. This¡ this has to change. You have to change, do you understand?¡±
¡°I¡¯m¡¡± Mother clenched her fists in her weakness. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can.¡±
I snorted in disdain. ¡°You certainly won¡¯t if you refuse to take a single step.¡±
¡°I have faith in you, Ichtaca¡ even if you do not believe in yourself,¡± Father replied kindly. ¡°Are you happy as you are¡ driving everyone who cares for you away? Hiding and losing everything again and¡ over again?¡±
¡°I only meant well,¡± Mother protested. ¡°Once we became gods, I would have made everything right. I would have saved you, saved our daughter. The end would forgive the means.¡±
¡°You are mistaken,¡± Father replied sadly. ¡°An end¡ an end is shaped by the means used to reach it¡ and what we meant matters less than what we did.¡±
My jaw tightened slightly. While Father spoke to Mother first and foremost, I sensed a hint of reproach directed at me. Knowing him, he hadn¡¯t appreciated my speech to the Lords of Terror.
¡°Moreover, I¡ I know what deal you have made with the lords of this place to create your sanctuary,¡± Father said, his wife flinching at his words. ¡°The souls within it are only safe for a time. They will experience the illusion of life, but¡ once you have obtained and recorded all of their knowledge¡ their protection will be stripped away and the Lords will feed on their fear of their paradise coming to an end.¡±
I would have loved to say Mother¡¯s deceit surprised me, but I only expected the worst from her by now.
¡°You will return those souls to their proper afterlife in Mictlan above, one way or another,¡± Father insisted. ¡°They¡ they all deserve better than a fleeting false hope and an eternity of torment.¡±
¡°But their knowledge¡¡± Mother protested. ¡°They know so much¡¡±
¡°Nothing that you hope to glean is worth the sacrifice of so many souls, my love. I will not abandon my children to eternal suffering in a vampire¡¯s belly either. You will help us get them out of the Nightlords¡¯ grasp, or¡¡± Father¡¯s bone jaw tightened. ¡°Or this is farewell, my love.¡±
Mother remained silent for a moment, but then nodded weakly. After nearly losing her husband¡ªthe only person in the entire cosmos who still loved her¡ªshe was unwilling to risk him again.
This served me well. While I detested Mother and distrusted any help she could provide, I still required Astrid to destroy Iztacoatl for good. If she had any sense, she would behave herself from now on. I would not be so merciful as Father.
Nonetheless, a detail caught my ear.
¡°Help us?¡± I asked. ¡°Father, I told you I cannot take you any further down.¡±
¡°I will not stay in Mictlan praying that you succeed¡ I refuse to stand on the sidelines while my¡ my children risk everything,¡± Father insisted. ¡°There is¡ there is another way for me to remain at your side.¡±
I stared into the skull¡¯s eyes and immediately guessed what he meant. ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°No way.¡±
¡°I have discussed this with the previous emperors,¡± Father insisted, confirming my suspicions. ¡°I will not say I have much wisdom to offer, but at least¡ At least this way I can help you shoulder the burden of your quest and provide what little comfort I can.¡±
¡°I won¡¯t use the Legion spell on you,¡± I replied sharply. ¡°Besides the fact your mind would meld with a thousand more, you cannot fathom the suffering my predecessors are going through every waking moment. It is torture.¡±
¡°Then I hope my company will alleviate some of their pain¡ and yours,¡± Father said, his voice suddenly full of wariness. ¡°Also, I¡ I think you need an advisor who will help you stay on the right path.¡±
My jaw clenched at the subtle reproach. ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡±
¡°I heard¡ I heard what you told the First Fear,¡± Father explained. ¡°I am¡ concerned, my son.¡±
¡°It was a bluff,¡± I reassured him. ¡°I have no intention to do the Lords¡¯ bidding.¡±
¡°But you would have followed through with your threat, had the First Fear denied your request,¡± Father said, the glow in his eyes flickering. ¡°Do not deny it, Iztac. I saw¡ I saw the evil in your heart, as did the First Fear. I know what you would have done. What you are¡ what you are capable of.¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
I wondered how much he had seen. I wouldn¡¯t put it past the First Fear to show him my worst sins without the context that made them necessary.
¡°Yes,¡± I confessed softly. ¡°Yes, I would have burned this whole rotten world if it meant saving or avenging you. You are my father and raised me from birth. You thought I would simply surrender you without a fight?¡±
¡°Iztac, while part of me appreciates the thought¡¡± Father searched for the right words. ¡°I will not become your excuse.¡±
His words felt like a slap on my cheek. ¡°You can¡¯t tell me you would rather have spent eternity trapped in that cursed city?!¡±
¡°That was a price I was willing to pay for your safety,¡± Father replied, much to my utter consternation. ¡°I took the burden of that sacrifice so that you¡ so that your and your mother¡¯s hands would remain clean. So that you would live happy lives away from that awful place.¡±
¡°I swear to you that I will live free of the Nightlords one day,¡± I replied. However, I couldn¡¯t make any promises for Mother after what we went through. ¡°And you will spend your afterlife in peace rather than in eternal torment. We will get the best of both worlds.¡±
¡°No, my son.¡± Father let out a heavy sigh. ¡°Words have power¡ doubly so when uttered in the House of Fright. Gaining that awful title of Cizin has stained your soul. Your choice will have consequences.¡±
¡°Whatever they are, I will bear them,¡± I replied confidently. I was not afraid of Xibalba and its craven thralls. ¡°I did what was necessary to save you, and I do not regret it.¡±
Father didn¡¯t agree. ¡°I wish I could be so sure, yet¡ yet I fear you have begun to commit crimes not out of necessity, but out of convenience.¡±
¡°Sinful acts are justified in the service of a righteous cause, Father,¡± I countered, my heart struggling with a rising feeling of frustration. Why couldn¡¯t he see the big picture? ¡°If you were truly one with the First Fear, then you have seen what Nightlords do. Their very existence makes our world a crueler place to live in!¡±
¡°That is true,¡± Father conceded. ¡°And if you continue down your current path¡ then you will become an equal scourge on the world.¡±
¡°Me?¡± I choked in outrage, my grip on my father¡¯s skull strengthening in cold rage. ¡°I haven¡¯t forced a brother and sister to procreate, nor threatened to hunt and rape a child no older than ten, or tried to reorganize the cosmos into a vampiric realm of sulfur and terror!¡±
¡°Yet¡ yet I¡¯ve seen you abuse Necahual and other women to feel more powerful,¡± Father replied. ¡°I¡¯ve seen you start a war for glory for gains that will remain elusive. I¡¯ve seen you slaughter our village¡¯s survivors and schoolmates for a spell¡ and to avenge your wounded pride.¡±
¡°I did it to save that wench, though she did not deserve it,¡± I replied, glaring at Ichtaca. ¡°Though I did negotiate with the wind to earn a spell, it had made its demands clear.¡±
Father remained convinced. ¡°But if you had the will to argue with the Yaotzin for a greater prize¡ why didn¡¯t you argue for a lesser price instead?¡±
His question took me aback for a moment, though I had a good reason. ¡°I need more spells to destroy the Nightlords.¡±
¡°Then why didn¡¯t you negotiate another, lesser price?¡± Father sounded so sad it hurt to listen. ¡°Don¡¯t you see, my son? Human lives aren¡¯t fruits to be plucked, to be sold and discarded. Don¡¯t you see how awful that mindset is?¡±
¡°We cannot win without sacrifices,¡± I replied, more and more frustrated with his judgment. ¡°If I have to choose who dies, then I would rather select those who hurt me than innocents.¡±
¡°My son, I¡ I understand your resentment, and I do not fault you for letting it guide your actions, but¡ did your schoolmates¡¯ mockeries warrant death? It¡¯s not something that should be spread so casually.¡±
I held his gaze. ¡°It is an emperor¡¯s duty to give people¡¯s life and death value.¡±
Father stared at me with deep sorrow. ¡°Do you truly wish to become what you fight against, Iztac?¡±
For a brief second, I was no longer facing my Father¡¯s skull. Instead I saw the great face of King Mictlantecuhtli, who had seen the first world¡¯s dawn and would witness the last sunset. My father¡¯s warning was an echo of the god¡¯s, whose truth I had long ago buried deep within my heart.
Become what I fought against? I waged war against evil itself! Monsters who ruled the world from high above¡ªlike I did, a faint voice whispered in my skull¡ªusing and discarding humans at their leisure¡ªsame way I brought witches into the fold and plotted to kill those whose usefulness to me had run out¡ªwhile relishing the death and destruction they sowed in their wake¡ªlaughing over the flames which I spread and the blood I shed.
I held my head with a hand as wicked thoughts intruded upon my mind and weakened my resolve. Why was Father¡¯s gaze making me doubt myself so much? I had done¡ I had done what needed to be done. I¡¯d tried other means before and they never helped me prevail.
I tried to tell myself these things, and yet Father¡¯s heavy stare wore down on my resolve anyway. I recalled Queen Mictecacihuatl, who had offered me her kindness and protection when I was still an innocent soul full of hope. A grim question gnawed at me.
Would she have offered me her help had I come to her as I was now? Or would she have looked at me with disappointment, as yet another soul lost to dark ambitions?
It wasn¡¯t the lack of answers that bothered me, but the fact I knew them all too well.
¡°You¡¯re wrong, Father,¡± I insisted, both to him and myself. I opened my carrying frame and put his skull there next to the urn I was meant to deliver to the great Tlaloc. ¡°You will see.¡±
¡°What are you doing?¡± Father asked in protest. ¡°My son¨C¡±
¡°If you truly wish to come along, then I¡¯ll show you how mistaken you are,¡± I cut in before closing the carrying frame and trapping my father in darkness. It wouldn¡¯t be the nicest way to transport him to Tlalocan, but it was still better than holding him within my talons. ¡°Just wait.¡±
The sight of her husband being put into a carrying frame awoke Mother from her self-pitying torpor. ¡°Iztac,¡± she whispered in protest, though I ignored her. ¡°Iztac, what are you doing?¡±
¡°I will go visit Tlalocan and fulfill my destiny,¡± I replied harshly while using Spiritual Manifestation to take on the shape of a great black owl. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare follow me, selfish mother of mine. If you¡¯re wise, you¡¯ll free those poor souls as Father asked of you before I return.¡±
¡°Iztac!¡±
I flew away before she could say another word, leaving only guilt and regrets behind me. My great dark wings flapped over the desert surrounding Xibalba, blowing salt and dust across the silent landscape. Hardly a noise disturbed me as I ascended upward. The city of evil had let me go and I couldn¡¯t hear Father¡¯s muffled words from within the carrying frame.
I was left alone with my doubts.
Become what I fought against? That was ridiculous. I wouldn¡¯t deny I¡¯d dirtied my hands time and time again, but I¡¯d always done so in the service of Yohuachanca¡¯s destruction. Every action that I had taken was only ever meant to free the Nightlords¡¯ grasp on my homeland and ensure they would suffer for their cruelty. Even actions committed for my personal gain were meant to increase my power and odds of taking them down.
After all the horrors they had sowed, after they put his children through, how could Father not see that their demise was worth almost any price?
But if I fail, it would have been all for nothing, I thought grimly, my heart-fire wavering. History will remember me as just another monster, a mad emperor in a long line of puppet-tyrants.
The thought gnawed at me after I escaped Xibalba¡¯s territory and returned to the rest of the Second Layer. Volcanic fumes choked the air and the heat suddenly increased. I whipped up a Cloak spell to protect myself by promising I would shower the city of Zachilaa with favor on my way out of the city. A protective wind swirled around me, shielding me from the flames and ashes raining down from the clouds above.
I looked up at Tlaloc¡¯s blue sun. Its radiance shone upon the world which he had once devastated with fire and brimstone. I knew that his promised land awaited me above the clouds; his paradise untouched by the burning and the suffering of his countless victims.
Perhaps it would make a good afterlife for Father, if Tlaloc allowed him to stay there. It would be better than Mictlan, and certainly better than Mother¡¯s false refuge.
A great shadow passed over me.
I barely had time to dodge to the side to avoid a pair of house-sized talons closing on me. A monstrous bird passed by me with a malevolent shriek of pain and fury, its feathers burned by Tlalocan¡¯s flames and revealing only a skeleton coated in flayed burning flesh. It was huge, many times bigger than myself, with pitch-black eyes glaring at me with seething hatred.
Azcatlapalli.
I had completely forgotten about the mad spirit who had hounded Mother and me all the way to Xibalba¡¯s frontier. Had he been waiting outside its borders until I finally escaped its grip, all for the grim pleasure of killing me?
Whatever the case, Azcatlapalli began to chase after me across the clouds with relentless aggression. I was smaller and quicker, but it pursued me with dogged malice and determination. The spirit had nothing to gain from killing me besides the satisfaction of sharing his pain with the living, and that was reason enough to hunt me down. Considering the agony from which he suffered since the Third Sun¡¯s final twilight, I could almost sympathize with him.
Almost.
Mother suggested that we avoid a fight with this monster when it first began to stalk us. It would have made a powerful foe once, but I had conquered too many trials to be intimidated and I was too angry for mercy.
This would be a good opportunity to test my newfound strength.
¡°Fall,¡± I said, activating the namesake''s spell.
The course of gravity changed instantly, from down to sideways. My current version of the Fall could only affect one target, but it proved capable of affecting even something as big as Azcatlapalli. The monstrous bird let out a screech as an invisible force pulled him to the left and caused him to lose control of his flight.
I ascended upward to better look down on the wayward spirit.
¡°I am the fear of the gods,¡± I boasted, knowing he had been a lesser deity himself before Tlaloc stripped him of everything. ¡°I am with you every time you look at the sun that burns your wings.¡±
I had hoped to break Azcatlapalli¡¯s spirit and convince him to let me go without a fight; but the flames and the pain had long stripped him of his reason. His agony had burned away everything until only hatred remained.
The monster let out a soul-rending screech and blew his wings at me. A mighty gust capable of upturning trees and casting down houses hit me in the face. I was flung backward into the clouds, my Cloak spell lessening the impact enough to spare my carrying frame from destruction. The thought of losing my father to this creature incensed me.
¡°Fool,¡± I snarled as Azcatlapalli flew upward towards me. ¡°Return to dust!¡±
I waved a talon and channeled the power of the Slice. A wind born of my victims¡¯ last breaths cut through the sky in the form of a sharp blade of air. If Azcatlapalli had any remaining sanity left, he would have been wise to dodge it; instead, he was so mad that he took it head-on in his desperation to grab me with his beak.
My Slice cut off his left wing at the shoulder, causing the spirit to lose control of his flight. I avoided his last-ditch attempt to eat me alive with his beak and watched him fall onto the ashen ground below. His bones cracked at the impact, his shrieks echoing across the burned landscape.
¡°Now burn,¡± I said.
I opened my mouth and unleashed a flood of fire from my mouth. The Blaze of my soul erupted from the depths of my being to incinerate the fallen god. A purple inferno rained down from the sky to punish my enemy like Tlaloc¡¯s wrath once did.
Azcatlapalli screamed.
If I had lips in my owl form, I would have smiled in cruel joy. My flames seared the last of his flayed flesh to reveal the bones underneath. I put the spirit through the same agony he suffered at Tlaloc¡¯s hands in the fading days of the Third Sun. I roasted the turkey until only a feeble skeleton remained.
I burned him until he lost the strength to scream and could only whimper. Only then did I stop with a cackle of satisfaction.
¡°You were a fool to defy me,¡± I warned him. ¡°I am your prey no longer.¡±
The monster answered with a pitiful cry of agony; one that brought me no satisfaction.
I stopped, my heart-fire wavering. The monster below me had been reduced to a one-winged, charred skeleton unable to fly. Azcatlapalli limped on the ground with moans of agony and sorrow, the noise echoing from his skeletal gullet akin to sobs.
Beneath the malice, there was only pain.
As I looked down on the miserable creature, I found myself suddenly overcome with pity. Yes, he had tried to kill me out of malice; but men once worshiped the creature as a god of beauty if my mother was to be believed. It used to be great and kind until Tlaloc¡¯s wrath reduced him to this sorry state. Centuries of torment had robbed him of his mind. Azcatlapalli should only inspire compassion.
Yet his suffering had filled me with cruel joy.
¡°This¡¡± I struggled to find my words, the seed of guilt overcoming me. ¡°This¡ this is wrong.¡±
After experiencing weakness for so many years, I¡¯d begun to revel in my hard-won power. I¡¯d laughed at killing priests and the Nightlords¡¯ soldiers, although most were mere fools led astray by lying vampires, taken women as slaves for my pleasure, and delighted in sowing chaos.
I¡¯d committed so many of these sins out of necessity, telling myself that they were mere chores in the name of a greater cause, but now I realized I was starting to take a perverse kind of joy in them.
I relished in cruelty.
Just like the Nightlords and the Lords of Terror.
My sunlit blood turned to ice in my veins. It was an awful thing to learn about oneself, to find happiness in the pain of others. I told myself that Azcatlapalli deserved this punishment for attacking me, but it sounded like empty justification even to me. Agony had stripped away all his rational thought. He wasn¡¯t even aware of right and wrong anymore, no more than a rabid dog could be blamed for biting a man¡¯s hand.
I¡¯d enjoyed tormenting this animal because it helped make me feel strong. Nothing more.
This is wrong, I realized. I was starting to see what bothered my father so much. I¡¯ve grown numb to the pain of others¡ and sometimes, I¡¯ve grown to appreciate it.
But what else could I do? Should I put Azcatlapalli out of his misery? He was already dead. What would it take to reduce his spirit to merciful nothingness? Would grinding his bones to dust free him from his horrifying existence? Or would his consciousness endure even in this form?
I gazed upon that land of death and fire that stretched across the horizon. These ashes of a lost world, filled with Burned Men and tormented souls.
I could only think of one option to alleviate their suffering.
I flew upward, leaving Azcatlapalli on the ground for now.
Tlaloc awaited me.
Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Third Sun
I ascended to the land of the gods.
I flew through the clouds of volcanic smoke upward into the searing skies. The dead world below me vanished through thick layers of ancient ash carried by mighty storms. They pressed against the Cloak of wind shielding me. So much dust blew into my face at one point that I couldn¡¯t see Tlaloc¡¯s sun.
Then I finally pierced the veil. I emerged from the ashes like a fish hopping out of water and into fresh air. The horrid heat and dust were replaced by a soothing and comfortable atmosphere, like a faint summer breeze. A pure and starless blue horizon stretched out as far as my eyes could see, its great azure sun shining over a sea of dust.
Then I saw the true Tlalocan.
I saw green.
A great mass of earth floated above the ocean of ashen clouds covering the Underworld¡¯s second layer. It was huge, a whole island¡¯s worth of space, if not more. Fields of grass and flowers covered its shores alongside pristine white houses, which I knew was impossible; no life thrived within the dead bowels of the Underworld. Yet they appeared vividly real to me as I approached. Soft melodies unlike the screams and cries of the Burned Men filled my ears soon after, growing louder with each flap of my wings.
Songs.
The call of drums and trumpets lured me closer until I flew over the island. A village appeared below me, inhabited by men, women, and children of all ages wearing fine clothes and feather crowns. They danced in a circle around a fire to the tune of musicians among their numbers.
All of these people had blue skin.
A quick glance was enough to ascertain that it wasn¡¯t simply paint. Great Tlaloc had given souls in his domain flesh of their own, but only in his own image.
These people gathered in groups to eat food growing from the very earth beneath their feet. I saw a man wave his hand with a laugh and a guava fruit appeared in it in an instant. Their cups never seemed to run dry either.
I expected to see fear in these people¡¯s gaze and forced smiles on their faces. I searched for any glimpse of dread on their faces, like the fear actors forced to play for the sake of a divine audience who would not tolerate dissatisfaction in his paradise. I didn¡¯t find it. Their laughs were too genuine, their eyes too full of sparkling joy for it to be a lie. These people were happy.
Tlalocan was a true paradise floating high above a burning hell.
Then I heard the call of thunder in the distance.
No storm clouded the clear sky, nor did I see any lightning bolt shine on the horizon. Yet I heard three thunder strikes, each carrying a booming word.
¡°Come to me!¡±
The sheer weight of the command steered my flight away from the celebration.
I was already flying above fields of blooming flowers before the mere thought of resisting even crossed my mind. The order was stronger than a Word and heavier than the mountains. I could not have disobeyed even if I had struggled with all of my strength. A terrible wave of fear and apprehension spread through every fiber of my being. A power that eclipsed mine like the sun cowed the stars had requested my presence, and would punish disobedience with death.
I hadn¡¯t felt that way since meeting King Mictlantecuhtli.
I wisely decided to go along with the voice¡¯s demands for now, my wings guided by the call to the island¡¯s center. I had to say that Tlalocan looked wonderful from above; a verdant paradise where every patch of earth was home to bright flowers and lush trees. Crystalline rivers coursed across the island and fed bountiful wildlife, though all of them¡ªfrom deer to turkeys¡ªshowcased traces of blue in their fur and feathers. It reminded me of the House of Trials where I braved the fears of being hunted and pestilence, but in this case I saw no lie hiding horrors lurking beneath the surface. Tlalocan was a true paradise.
Beautiful little villages popped up here and there, groups of houses and farms that only differed from places like Acampa in one detail: no one appeared to be working. I saw a few practicing pottery, art, or playing ballcourt games, but nothing that actually required them to toil for a living.
Tlaloc¡¯s gifts were only matched by his punishments in their grandiosity.
I moved to what seemed to be the island¡¯s center to me. I first thought I was aiming for a green mountain when I saw the branches and realized my mistake. A massive, primeval willow tree stretched under the blue sun of Tlalocan, its leaves and shrubs lush enough to fill a forest¡¯s entire canopy on their lonesome. Happy songs resonated from thick roots drawing water from pristine lakes filled with fish fat enough to feed an entire family each.
A colossal statue sat there on a throne carved into the trunk itself, attended by hundreds of musicians.
It was huge, taller than my palace¡¯s highest floor even while seated, and entirely carved from the bluest turquoise. It represented a massive and frightful humanoid with rows of sharp fangs and beastly tusks. Ringed white diamond eyes radiated sunlight under an exquisite headdress of quetzal feathers and snake eyes that probably required thousands of donors to create. A dress of spider webs and ancient scales covered its torso and intimate parts.
I knew intellectually that this statue was made of stone, but my eyes deceived me on that front. The turquoise seemed to vibrate and undulate like sweating skin in the bright sunlight of Tlalocan. Its eyes too radiated a fiery will as bright and imperious as the celestial fireball shining above us.
The thick pressure in the air¡ªquite unlike the glorious songs filling the silence¡ªreminded me of an incoming thunderstorm¡¯s first signs, when summer¡¯s heat threatened to transform into devastating lightning at any moment.
I¡¯d best proceed very, very carefully. The master of this place had none of King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s undying patience.
I landed at the statue¡¯s feet, on a platform of wood which I assumed served as a spot for petitioners bidding Tlaloc for mercy. I took back my human form and then¡
And then I bowed, my hands and forehead touching the ground.
It was hard and distasteful. I supposed I¡¯d grown so used to standing up to the gods that my skill in kneeling had begun to rust; but I knew who I was up against, and that that kneeling wouldn¡¯t be enough.
Rays of Tlalocan¡¯s sun shone through the thick canopy. The pressure in the air thickened further and the musicians suddenly stopped their performance. Drummers stopped with their hands in the air; flutists looked at me with apprehension; and harmonica players nervously clutched their instruments. One after the other they began to bow before the statue of their master. The dreadful silence seemed to stretch on forever.
Then lightning struck.
A blue blinding bolt barreled down from the sun above, incinerating a few leaves on its way down. It hit the statue in a thundering boom that set its turquoise skin alight with the sheen of electricity and the spark of life. Its mouth and fangs moved on their own with the roar of a waking storm, and its fists clenched on the armrests of its throne.
¡°You bow to Tlaloc!¡± the statue said with a booming voice stronger than the direst thunder, male and imperious. ¡°Third and brightest sun of the world, he who is made of earth and summons the rain! Praise my name! Praise my glory!¡±
The ground beneath my feet shook with each of the deity¡¯s words. I sensed electricity coursing through the air and my bones. The bowing musicians whispered prayers of gratitude to Tlaloc in an attempt to placate him, though I remained silent.
I had seen enough visitors crawl before my throne to understand the proper protocol. I would only speak when ordered to, though it pained me to do so.
I had been warned what kind of god Tlaloc was: a mercurial deity of immense power who had destroyed the world he ruled over in a fit of fury, who accepted human sacrifices and who possessed the might to back up his heavenly pride.
He was what the Nightlords aspired to become.
¡°You, stranger, who dares intrude upon my realm!¡± Tlaloc¡¯s statue pointed a finger at me, his eyes shining with accusation. ¡°You reek of Xibalba¡¯s stench, as do all the thieves who would dare to abscond with my chosen souls! Those who would dare torment my beloved worshipers with nightmares warrant only the kiss of my lightning!¡±
I did my best to hide my unease and distaste. The very thought of bowing before a tyrant, godly or otherwise, sickened me to my core¡ but I was acutely aware of my limitations and bargaining position.
I could feel the wide gulf in power between us, the same way I had when I met King Mictlantecuhtli and saw the First Emperor devour his daughter. Tlaloc was no vampire playing deity; he was one of the world¡¯s creators whose will had set the universe ablaze in a fit of rage.
He could vaporize me in the blink of an eye, and no spell would shrug off his wrath. Worst of all, I knew of his temper and proclivities. He never forgot a slight, and unlike the Nightlords, he didn¡¯t need me alive for an ancient ritual. My life meant nothing to him. He wouldn¡¯t hesitate to vaporize me on the spot should I frustrate him.
Nonetheless¡ Though I knew better than to make assumptions, Tlaloc summoned me to his hall instead of smiting me instantly. That alone gave me hope of surviving through this encounter.
¡°Yet your heart burns with life, and though you bear the crown of terror you fly free of that cursed city on a Tlacatecolotl¡¯s wings.¡± Tlaloc put his hand back on his armrest, which I took as a hint I had a chance to walk out of this meeting alive. ¡°Are you a messenger from Xibalba, coming to deliver a missive?¡±
I knew this was my cue to answer. ¡°I am indeed a messenger, oh great and mighty Tlaloc,¡± I said, while being careful to keep my head down to avoid showing my distaste. ¡°But I came from Mictlan above to bear you a gift from Lady Chalchiuhtlicue.¡±
The mention of his wife left Tlaloc speechless.
I found a god¡¯s silence a thousand times more ominous than his wrath. I felt his heavy gaze upon me, searching for any hint of deceit in me. He studied my burning heart, then my carrying frame.
¡°I see that my wife entrusted you with a fraction of her radiance,¡± Tlaloc noted, but though I detected an undercurrent of hope in his voice, the electrical tension did not abate in the slightest. ¡°Show me this gift then; but should you have lied to me, owl, then I shall rain a lake of fire and drown you in it! You shall beg for a mercy that will never come!¡±
I had seen enough of Tlaloc¡¯s wrath to take him at his word. I opened my carrying frame and stared inside. Father¡¯s skull looked at me, though he wisely remained silent. He had heard everything.
I carefully took Lady Chalchiuhtlicue¡¯s urn out of the carrying frame. It was as blue as Tlaloc himself and bore its carved visage alongside ancient words professing her love for her husband. It was fragile and hardly larger than my fist, but I¡¯d managed to carry it without damage all the way from Mictlan.
Tlaloc¡¯s fingers gripped his throne¡¯s armrests the moment he saw the urn. I immediately sensed the tension in the air lessen as I placed it down on the wood platform. The statue¡¯s eyes no longer gleamed with wrath, but with pure joy.
¡°You speak true¡ I recognize my lady wife¡¯s handiwork¡¡± Tlaloc¡¯s enthusiasm suddenly vanished with the noise of thunder. ¡°Why did you not come to me immediately?¡±
I tensed up upon sensing the wrath in his voice. ¡°Forgive me, oh great and mighty Tlaloc, but I do not understand¨C¡±
¡°Why fly to Xibalba, messenger, when you should have delivered my lady wife¡¯s gift to me the moment you entered my realm!¡± Tlaloc stomped his armrest with his fist, and all of Tlalocan trembled in response. ¡°What kind of courier dares to make a god wait?!¡±
I was treading on dangerous grounds here, so I chose my next words very carefully. I knew that Tlaloc would smell any lie, but he wouldn¡¯t accept that I made a detour for my own personal gain; he was a true sun who believed that the cosmos revolved around him. I had to find a reason that was both genuine and acceptable to him.
¡°I feared I was not strong enough to complete the journey with my former strength, Lord Tlaloc,¡± I said. ¡°I feared to disappoint you and Lady Chalchiuhtlicue if I lost her package on my way to you, unable to overcome the many dangers down below. Only by braving the trials of Xibalba did I find the bravery to fly to you.¡±
That was true enough. Mother lured me to Xibalba in the first place by promising me the strength to prevail on this perilous journey, and then sweetened the deal by mentioning Father.
¡°I see.¡± Tlaloc nodded to himself and accepted my explanation. ¡°You have erred on the side of caution, messenger, but I shall forgive you.¡±
I suppressed a sigh of relief. I¡¯d avoided the worst of the storm.
Tlaloc relaxed on his throne, his mood swiftly changing from angry and frustrated to content. His stone lips and fangs morphed into a smirk of joy while his hand stroked his chin.
¡°You braved great ordeals to bring me my beloved¡¯s gift,¡± Tlaloc said. ¡°I shall grant you an audience in return for your service.¡±
My hands tightened into fists. The moment of truth had come.
My first instinct was to ask for his embers, but I held on to that thought and kept it to myself. Tlaloc did not accept requests, as he despised flatterers. All codices and accounts I¡¯d gathered about him agreed that his temper was only matched by his fits of magnanimity. I had been advised to give him gifts and simply hope for the best.
If I directly asked him for his embers, he might see it as a ploy to exploit his generosity and take offense. To ensure I would receive his blessing, I needed to ensure that he came up with the idea on his own; to apply very subtle pressure.
I had long considered how to proceed on my flight to Tlalocan¡¯s promised land, and I thought I¡¯d found a way to kill two birds with one stone.
¡°If I may, oh great and mighty Tlaloc,¡± I said while clearing my throat in deference. ¡°As a messenger, I would like to argue the case of another rather than acquire anything for myself.¡±
¡°Another?¡± Tlaloc appeared pleasantly intrigued. ¡°Do you speak of the old soul you are transporting? Do you wish me to welcome him into my realm?¡±
I had to admit that the thought crossed my mind. Although Tlaloc was as tempestuous as the storms he ruled over, a glimpse at Tlalocan showed that it seemed to be exactly the kind of paradise so many souls wished to find after death. Unlike Mother¡¯s parody of a sanctuary, Tlaloc cared for his worshipers at least enough to cover their needs and protect them from soul thieves; his pride as a king and god would not allow him to give anything but the best to his chosen people. A peaceful existence among forests and villages would please my father, and he was too kind to ever arouse Tlaloc¡¯s wrath.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Alas, I knew Father would never agree to it.
¡°He would not forgive me if I argued in his name and abandoned others to suffer,¡± I replied. My spine tensed up, as I knew my next words might spell my doom. ¡°Lord Tlaloc, I would like to argue on behalf of the tortured souls below.¡±
A lightning bolt struck the spot next to me in a blinding flash.
It hit the wood platform with such intensity it shattered part of it and sent splinters bouncing off my face. A tense silence fell upon the hall of Tlaloc, who observed me with eyes cackling with the heavens¡¯ wrath.
¡°Speak very wisely, messenger,¡± Tlaloc warned me, his voice heavy like the incoming storm. ¡°Make your case with the utmost grace.¡±
Had I not faced the fears of Xibalba without flinching and came out reforged, I would have stopped there out of terror. But I¡¯d faced the gods time and time again; though I would remain circumspect, I stayed true to my plan.
¡°Oh great and mighty Tlaloc, I beg you to show the Burned Men the same generosity for which you are known for,¡± I implored the god. ¡°Please end that rain of fire that sears their skin and souls so that their torment might end.¡±
¡°A torment which they brought upon themselves!¡± Tlaloc replied imperiously, his voice heavy with bitterness. ¡°I gave those ungrateful traitors plentiful rain and fertile lands, so they would never grow hungry. I spared them from disease and calamities, so they would never suffer. I taught them secrets of the gods and industry, so that they could create anything they wanted. I showered them with gifts and love, always helping and guiding those who stumbled. I ruled the sky justly and generously, and in return, only ever expected gratitude. Yet when that witty jaguar stole away my first love, when I was at my lowest point, did they show me the respect I was entitled to?¡±
Lightning struck all around the platform in a crescendo of rising intensity, with dark rain clouds obscuring Tlaloc¡¯s own sun. I myself did my best to remain calm.
¡°No!¡± Tlaloc thundered, his voice sending a mighty gust blow upon my face with such strength I was thrown backward. Neither the urn nor my carrying frame were affected, however. ¡°Instead they tried to raise towers that would reach to the clouds and take through sorcery the water I used to dispense upon them for free! I gave them so many gifts, but the one time I required their love to soothe my soul, they chose to steal them from me! So tell me, messenger, why should I forgive such treachery?¡±
The air was so thick with tension that I was tempted to shut my mouth to avoid wasting my chances of earning the embers, when I noticed a startling detail: none of the lightning bolts had struck the assembled musicians, and none bothered to run or take cover.
The few among them who showed concern weren¡¯t afraid of Tlaloc; they were afraid for me. None of them believed that their deity would accidentally hurt them in his wrath, the way the Nightlords¡¯ servants always feared for their lives.
I remembered acutely the last time I tried to argue with the Jaguar Woman. She had taken the mere gesture as offense, and forced me to pay the price with Sigrun¡¯s life and that of so many others.
Tlaloc could have reduced me to dust at any time with his lightning, yet deliberately missed. He made his frustration known, but did not punish me for talking back. Therein laid the crucial difference compared to how the Jaguar Woman treated me.
Though stubborn and bitter, Tlaloc was actually listening to my case.
This realization emboldened me. I might have a chance of convincing him should I find the right, respectful arguments.
¡°Your wrath is justified, oh great and mighty Tlaloc,¡± I argued calmly as I adjusted my strategy. I had been in enough tense situations to keep a cool head. ¡°But those husks feel no guilt anymore. The pain has stripped them of their very reason. I do not think they even remember why they ought to beg for your forgiveness, or the crimes that they have committed. They simply exist to suffer.¡±
¡°As they should. As they deserve.¡±
¡°But how can they understand their faults and show you proper respect if they cannot understand what they did wrong anymore?"
¡°Enough!¡± The roar of booming thunder silenced me. ¡°Why are you asking me this, mortal? Why beg for the salvation of souls who deserve their pain? Answer me!¡±
Once again I sensed the will of Tlaloc take me over. His words wormed their way into my mind and soul to draw the truth out of them. His power demanded a statement from me, and no amount of willpower I could muster would stop him. I almost confessed my plan to endear myself to the god, a flattery for which he would smite me over.
However¡
However, another and deeper truth fought its way to my lips. I hadn¡¯t lied about one thing: I did not make that demand for myself, not only. I argued for the sake of another whose judgment I couldn¡¯t bear.
¡°I want to make my father proud of me,¡± I confessed, the words flowing out of my mouth on their own. ¡°I do not wish for him to be disappointed in me for passing on an opportunity to make this world a better place.¡±
Tlaloc immediately released his hold on my mind. I felt like a drowned man being pulled out of the water and allowed to breathe. The thunder stopped echoing in the distance, though the rain clouds didn¡¯t dissipate.
¡°You are a virtuous son, messenger,¡± Tlaloc declared with genuine praise. His wrath had turned to an almost paternal pride. I suddenly realized that this god was like the wind: suddenly blowing one way or another with all his strength, neither settling on a middle ground.
I took the compliment in good grace. Truthfully, my own words surprised me. I didn¡¯t think my father¡¯s words had rattled me so deeply, though I was thankful that they did. ¡°Your praise honors me, oh great Tlaloc.¡±
¡°I shall reward your filial piety accordingly¡ but I will not forgive my own treacherous children on a single mortal¡¯s behalf. I was their father, and they disappointed me.¡± The god¡¯s statue held his head high. ¡°Tlaloc has spoken.¡±
And like that, I knew I¡¯d missed my chance to save the Burned Men. I wished I could argue further, but the god¡¯s tone broke no disobedience. He considered the matter closed and the hearing completed.
At least I had tried¡
Tlaloc¡¯s gaze lingered on his wife¡¯s urn for a long time, then he waved his hand at the gift. The receptacle opened and its content floated out of it. I dared to take a peek and found myself speechless.
I had expected many things; a jewel, a scroll, even tears and water.
But never a maize flower.
It was small and colorful, but otherwise plainly ordinary. I detected no ancient magic woven into its strands, no divine power empowering it with vitality. It was a mere plant, preciously rare underground, but all too common in the world of the living.
The sheer absurdity of it all almost drew a laugh from me. All of this effort, all to transport a mere flower?
However, I kept my mouth shut.
Tlaloc wasn¡¯t laughing.
The god of storms called the maize flower into the palm of his immense hand, then examined it with a grace that belied his strength and size as if it were the most precious thing in the world. The crackling lightning in his eyes dimmed.
I heard a soft sound, and then sensed something fresh hit me. A moist drop of water dripped from the leaves and onto my back. More followed, softly pounding against the earth as the clouds wept.
For the first time in eons, the skies of Tlalocan rained water rather than flames.
It was a faint drizzle rather than the overwhelming downpour that engulfed the Underworld¡¯s First Layer, but the raindrops were fresh enough to likely reduce even Tlalocan¡¯s high temperature.
¡°After I rained fire upon the world in my grief and fury, I languished in bitterness over a land of flames,¡± Tlaloc said with deep and profound sorrow. ¡°All of which I had made and loved was reduced to ashes, and I knew I had failed to guide the world.¡±
He clutched the flower and then pressed it against his heart, as if it were balm for his soul.
¡°Yet through my wrath, my dear Chalchiuhtlicue offered me a maize flower which she had saved from the destruction, to remind me of what I could create and soothe my wounded heart,¡± he said with fondness. ¡°I was seized by such passion that I took her as my wife and granted her wish to mother a new humanity.¡±
I kept my mouth shut. The affection in Tlaloc¡¯s voice reminded me of the tone Nenetl used when she said she loved me, and how Father spoke of Mother; a deep and boundless affection like the sea.
¡°Very well,¡± Tlaloc declared after a moment¡¯s consideration. ¡°I have changed my mind. Where I have destroyed, I shall now create.¡±
My head perked up slightly.
¡°I shall no longer rain fire upon my treacherous children,¡± Tlaloc declared. ¡°I will grant them respite from their suffering. Should some have learned their lesson and petition me for forgiveness, I shall judge them fairly. Those who show genuine contrition shall be granted a chance to return to Tlalocan. The rest will be allowed to find rest with King Mictlantecuhtli. So spoke Tlaloc, god of the rain.¡±
Tlaloc wouldn¡¯t forgive his children for a mortal¡¯s sake, but he couldn¡¯t deny his divine wife anything. Such was the privilege of a god, to change one¡¯s mind on a whim and shake the world.
I wondered if this had been Chalchiuhtlicue¡¯s intent from the start. She always possessed a great deal of affection for humankind; enough to cry over its fourth incarnation for eons. Perhaps she hoped to inspire a fit of remorse in her husband¡¯s heart, or maybe it was all a fortuitous coincidence.
The rain soon ended, and Tlaloc finally remembered my existence. ¡°What is thy name, messenger?¡±
¡°I am Iztac Ce Ehecatl, current and last emperor of Yohuachanca,¡± I replied politely. ¡°Though I have been called Cizin, the fear of the gods.¡±
¡°A bold title for a mortal such as you.¡± Tlaloc stroked his tusks. ¡°Yohuachanca¡ I remember a bat who bore this name visiting me once, and who then went on to ascend to the highest of heights. I knew you seemed familiar to me. Are you his descendant, perchance?¡±
¡°I¡ I cannot say, oh mighty Tlaloc.¡± The mere idea of sharing a family tree with the Nightlords disgusted me, but I couldn¡¯t exclude the possibility. Their blood-refining program ran deep. ¡°I am the inheritor of his mortal throne, at least.¡±
¡°The two of you look very much alike,¡± Tlaloc mused. ¡°He was a seeker of knowledge, who sought to understand the mysteries of the world in order to free his people from an upstart calamity. The purity of his quest moved me, so I lent him my power.¡±
¡°Yohuachanca did succeed in defeating the god that oppressed his people, only to sire more disasters himself,¡± I replied, which didn¡¯t seem to surprise Tlaloc in the slightest.
¡°I expected as much. He nursed a terrible hunger for knowledge, for truth, for secrets that no answer could satisfy. A mortal¡¯s desire pales before a god¡¯s appetite.¡± Tlaloc looked up at the canopy. The rain clouds had dissipated, allowing the sunlight to shine through once more. ¡°Divinity will magnify what lurks inside of you, Iztac Ce Ehecatl. Should you not contain your flaws, there will come a time when they become the masters, and you the slave. We gods are our powers; we cannot prevail over our own nature.¡±
Tlaloc¡¯s mood turned almost melancholic and regretful. To my utter surprise, the boastful and wrathful god seemed to become humble and self-reflecting.
¡°That is why I created this sanctuary, for I must bring forth the storm and the rain among the living and the dead,¡± Tlaloc said with a sigh heavier than mountains. ¡°Sometimes, I cut short lives before their time with floods and lightning, or the pestilence that my rain brings. I am always seized with remorse for slaying those who did not slight me, and so I claim their souls and grant them sanctuary along with my truly faithful. So do I welcome those who were sacrificed in my name, for while a generous god always rewards his worshipers¡¯ acts of faith, he must also take responsibility for them.¡±
I had to admit, I never considered why Tlaloc built this promised land floating above the hell of his own making. I knew he claimed the souls of his worshipers, sacrifices, and those slain by natural disasters, but I thought he did it out of greed rather than guilt and a twisted sense of duty.
I didn¡¯t hold Tlaloc in the same esteem I shared for King Mictlantecuhtli and Queen Mictecacihualt. These two had earned my respect with their wisdom and the latter¡¯s kindness, and none of them shared an ounce of Tlaloc¡¯s violent predisposition. Neither did Tlaloc forbid human sacrifice in his vanity and desire to be loved by men, even though he did take care of the dead slain in his name.
But I found him nonetheless infinitely superior to the Nightlords in his capacity for compassion.
His words disturbed me a little however. I pondered them until a worrying possibility formed in my mind.
Tlaloc was the god of storms and rain. I would have thought that his domain reflected his mercurial temperament, but¡ what if it was the other way around? What if his extreme behavior was the result of his mastery over storms rather than the cause?
I remember Iztacoatl¡¯s story about how the First Emperor was eventually consumed by the lusts, pain, and hunger which he represented. I¡¯d felt her sire¡¯s own conflict with his divine nature; a battle with himself which he eventually lost.
How much control over their actions did the gods truly have? I suddenly wondered if they had less freedom than the mortals which they had created. What was the value of power when we couldn¡¯t choose how to use it freely?
What would befall me should I complete my ascension? The anger and hatred that pushed me to defy the Nightlords burned brightly enough. Would they spiral out of control, the same way the First Emperor¡¯s hunger for more consumed him? Would my crimes come to define me?
I was starting to understand what my father was afraid of. Even if I had no intention of destroying the world as a god, if the steps I took to reach the heavens were paved with blood¡ then I might become a blight upon the Fifth Cosmos whether I wanted it or not. Chaos and destruction would become impulses rather than tools.
¡°Tell me, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± Tlaloc said, his words drawing me out of my thoughts. ¡°You mentioned that young Yohuachanca sired new calamities. What did you mean by this?¡±
I banished my doubts from my mind. I still had time to think this through; I needed power to cast down the Nightlords. The memory of Iztacoatl shrugging off my burning blood weighed heavily on me.
The risks inherent to godhood¡ were acceptable.
¡°My homeland is under the thrall of Yohuachanca¡¯s daughters, oh mighty Tlaloc,¡± I said. ¡°They pretend to be gods while keeping us mortals in bondage.¡±
I could taste Tlaloc¡¯s disgust as I narrated my torments and tribulations at the Nightlords¡¯ hands, followed by tales about how they presented themselves as gods and actively replaced the worship of true deities. Thunder resonated above us once again. I took this rising fury as a good sign that Tlaloc would support my quest.
However, I swiftly realized that the god¡¯s righteous anger wasn¡¯t on my behalf, but his own.
¡°To usurp the title of gods without earning it is the highest of insolence!¡± Tlaloc snarled, his anger echoing across Tlalocan with the strength of earthquakes. ¡°I understand now why the House of Fright entrusted you with the title of Cizin. You seek to bring the heavens¡¯ justice upon these usurpers.¡±
¡°Yes, oh mighty Tlaloc,¡± I replied. It wasn¡¯t even truly a lie. The true gods had given their lives to light the various suns. They deserved all of the Nightlords¡¯ unearned veneration. ¡°I wish to cast down these false idols from their ill-gotten thrones, and remind them to fear the heavens which they aspire to obscure.¡±
¡°A most pious goal.¡± Tlaloc nodded to himself, his decision made. ¡°I, Tlaloc, will grace you my embers as my heart¡¯s dearest did before me. You shall use my power to cast down these false gods who would deceive grateful mortals. Thou shall be my messenger, punish their blasphemy on my behalf, and restore the world¡¯s natural order.¡±
It took all of my willpower to contain my excitement, which I hid by bowing respectfully before the god. ¡°I am most thankful for your magnanimity, oh mighty Tlaloc.¡±
¡°Then rise to your feet, emperor of man, and expose your heart-fire to my glorious light.¡±
I slowly and obediently followed the command, standing up with my chest held high. The bright sunlight of Tlalocan pierced through the rain clouds and the thick canopy above my head and shone upon the fire of my heart.
Then lightning struck me.
A bolt brighter than anything descended upon my skeletal ribcage and ignited the spark of my soul. Divine power flowed into my Teyolia, its purple flames glowing with Tlaloc¡¯s bright blue hue. The grace of the Third Sun touched me in a flash that brightened the earth and sky.
Visions flowed into my mind in the blink of an eye and burned their way into my skull. I beheld the rise of civilizations that mastered iron and shaped towers that would rival mountains. I witnessed the arrogance of men, the rain of fire that set their cities ablaze, and the quakes that cast them down back to the dust where they belonged. I roared in anger at my betrayers who roasted in the ashes of my fury, for I was one with the thunder of victory.
I welcomed the newfound strength that rained upon me. The lightning coursed through my veins and set them ablaze, while my eyes cackled with the shine of truth. My Teyolia absorbed Tlaloc¡¯s blue hue and made it into a brighter shade of purple. It had taken time for my soul to burn away Chalchiuhtlicue¡¯s sorrow, but the storm god¡¯s anger mirrored my own so well that it found a welcome abode within me. A thrill of indescribable pleasure overtook me, sharper than sex and greater than the pride I felt when I witnessed the fires of Smoke Mountain ascend into the sky.
The light of my heart cast the deep shadow of the First Emperor behind my soul. His hunger mirrored the great pride which swelled from within me, the same darkness appeared thicker in the glowing light. My mind cleared of all doubts until I reached a keen and absolute certainty.
The world was mine.
Mine to take, mine to seize, mine to rule.
Why be a slave when I could be the master, fair, magnanimous, and all-powerful? Glorious in his kindness and terrible in his wrath? Father of a dynasty that would last a thousand years, wealthier and brighter than the stars?
Divine justice was mine to dispense as I wished. I was the fear of the gods themselves; the wrath and mercy of the righteous heavens, who would restore their proper worship and cast down the usurpers into the abyss. I alone among mortals would decide whom to reward and whom to punish. For unlike the daughters of the night, I had earned every ounce of my power and privilege. I had conquered Xibalba, earned the blessing of the true gods, and set the world ablaze.
Who else but me deserved to rule?
Woe to any fool who dared to threaten my property. Those who paid me homage, returned my kindness with gratitude, and earned my affection would be well-defended and cared for; while those who defied me would burn in a rain of cosmic fire! I was one with the storm that could bring down the mountains, and none would stand in my way!
Then, after the bright flash of pride, came the remorse.
I was suddenly seized with the sorrow and melancholy of the rain clouds, and the guilt that followed the flood. I suddenly remembered the cost of my triumphs and the dead left in my wake, often by intent, and usually by accident. I was acutely reminded of my losses, great and small. Sigrun¡¯s life, Father¡¯s esteem, and the innocents whom I had murdered.
I had the power to turn everything to ashes, and sometimes, that included what I loved.
The surge of power faded, and I soon returned to reality. I remembered kneeling when I received my first embers; this time, I stood with my head held high. My heart burned like Smoke Mountain and my soul shone with the lightning of victory. My entire being shuddered with the power of a storm waiting to be unleashed.
I was stronger and more confident than ever before, but also acutely aware that my strength and appetite would carry a cost if used unwisely.
I was halfway through the path to godhood.
And I had no idea what reflection awaited me at the road¡¯s end.
Chapter Seventy-Eight: Rainmaker
My heart was a furnace.
My once paltry Teyolia now burned with the intensity of a blazing crucible. Its flames hungrily flowed out of my ribs in waves of searing heat. My veins brimmed with the sunlight of life. I had grown strong enough to crush skulls like grapes or crack stones within my palms. I knew, I had checked. I had grown more agile than a jaguar and gained the acute senses of one. My flesh healed from its wounds far quicker too. My skin knitted itself back together in seconds without leaving a scar.
As for my blood¡ The purple flames it gave birth to always appeared with flashes of lightning now, like a curse summoned by the heavens¡¯ will. They were no longer small nor weak, hardly able to leave burns on the skin of those I applied them to. They instead endured with the vigor of bright torches. A mortal would likely suffer from heavy wounds at their contact, and a lesser Nightkin would likely turn to dust in an instant. My own skin felt far too warm to the touch, as if I had just gotten out of a hot bath.
I was halfway to becoming a god, and it showed. There was no way I could hide these supernatural occurrences.
However, all of these physical changes paled before the increased power of my spells. I had only begun to test the basic ones, and the results already spoke for themselves.
Tlaloc had allowed me to stay in Tlalocan for as long as I wished under the condition that I did not disturb the souls living there, so I set up shop in an isolated area near the floating island¡¯s edge. I¡¯d set down one of my predecessors¡¯ Bonecrafted skull vessels next to Father under the shadow of a tree alongside my carrying frame, so that they might observe my progress. They both watched in awed silence as I triggered the Blaze and unleashed a mighty fireball into the sky beyond Tlalocan.
Tlaloc had been true to his words. His fiery clouds had started to clear and stopped raining fire upon the poor Burned Men below. Instead, it was now my turn to set the heavens ablaze. I¡¯d been limited to small streams of fire with the Blaze before, but now the purple fireball that erupted from my hand put all my previous displays to shame. An incandescent explosion of searing purple flames wide enough to blast a house apart detonated above the clouds, sending waves of heat at me.
¡°This is quite encouraging,¡± my predecessors¡¯ skull vessel muttered with enthusiasm. I sensed their voice rippling through their bones and teeth, the same way Bonecraft granted me a supreme awareness of all of my bones.
I focused on the skull almost on instinct, like a fish suddenly realizing that he could swim. My predecessors floated up in the air and hovered over the grass without any effort on my part, nor with the use of the Doll spell. I only had to think of it and it happened.
Bonecraft now allowed me to manipulate bones when they were outside my body. I tried to do the same with Father¡¯s skull, but sensed no link between us, no reaction of any form. The power only applied to my own skeleton, or skulls shaped from them.
¡°All of my spells have grown in strength and application,¡± I noted as I mentally caused the emperors¡¯ skull to land softly on the grass. ¡°I will need time to check them all, and the night is almost spent.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± my predecessors whispered in return. ¡°We have hidden the worst of it, but we suspect the Nightlords may have at least sensed a pulse in your heart-fire. It would be wise to weave a lie and blame the First Emperor once more.¡±
¡°Agreed,¡± I replied, my jaw clenching. ¡°I will not be able to hide these new changes from the Nightlords.¡±
¡°You can at least downplay the power you¡¯ve earned,¡± the Parliament of Skulls advised me. ¡°We have hidden most of the surge behind our spiritual veil. The Nightlords will mistake your heart¡¯s radiance for the north star¡¯s bright glow rather than a young sun.¡±
¡°My newfound power will frighten them even if I feign loyalty,¡± I countered. ¡°They have tried their best to shackle me and their vile father, and yet I wake up stronger. It will give the White Snake a blade to stab me with.¡±
The past emperors pondered the question for a moment before coming up with a solution. ¡°Then you need to both reassure the Nightlords by reminding them of their leverage, and to redirect their attention on a more pressing threat.¡±
¡°Like the Sapa?¡±
¡°That would be your wisest option,¡± my predecessors replied. ¡°You have successfully blamed many setbacks on them. If you can tie them to your burning blood, or even better, the First Emperor¡¯s actions¡ then all these moving parts and coincidences will become part of a threatening conspiracy against them. A plot whose destruction will remove any danger you might represent to their established order.¡±
I pondered the suggestion. Yes, my best bet to avoid the Nightlords¡¯ wrath was to both redirect their attention and present them with a false solution to the problem I represented. The strings would have to be subtle so they would not become too visible, but I could think of a story that would at least give me a chance to deceive them.
As for the leverage¡ I had already shown them the lengths I was willing to go through to save Astrid on Ingrid¡¯s behalf. The Nightlords knew how much I cared for my consorts and concubines. If I reminded the bats of my affection for them, then I could convince them that they still held power over me through them.
¡°Be warned that your power now far eclipses ours,¡± the previous emperors said. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to hide your next set of embers from our enemies¡¯ sight. The Nightlords will sense the light of your heart pierce through the ghostly veil of our wailing souls. They will see, and they will know.¡±
I gave them a sharp nod. I had reached the same conclusion the moment I sensed Tlaloc¡¯s power flow within me. No armor of lies could keep divinity hidden forever. I had to find a way to weaken the Nightlords¡¯ grasp on my soul and prepare for a fight before I obtained the third set of embers.
The prospect of confronting the Nightlords over my sudden surge in power would have filled me with anxiety once, but I found myself keeping a clear head. Yes, I understood that my captors learning of my sorcery and treachery would of course be devastating to my cause. I would do my best to keep the truth to myself.
But I didn¡¯t fear the Nightlords like I used to.
I¡¯d lived through the fear of discovery once in the halls of Xibalba and found an unquenchable well of resolve within myself then. Most importantly, I had faced true deities and seen what the vampire desperately wished to become; the great and terrible forces of nature that they so miserably failed to mimic. None of the Nightlords could hope to measure up to Tlaloc, whose might and confidence ran deep in my veins.
The power to drag them down from their thrones was almost within my grasp. I only had to stall for time until I was ready to fight them on even ground; and then I would teach them how to fear the true gods of the world.
However, while my predecessors did not hide their enthusiasm at my progress, Father had remained eerily silent so far. I could feel his gaze on me at all times, assessing my actions without judging them. I sensed no reproach in him, but something weighed on his mind.
¡°Father?¡± I asked softly. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±
¡°I am proud that you negotiated with Tlaloc on behalf of these poor souls below, my son,¡± Father said with sincere warmth. It filled my heart with relief. ¡°However, it does not alleviate the dread his words inspired. If the divine power which you have gained magnifies what lurks inside your heart¡¡±
¡°Then he will possess the strength to destroy the vampires,¡± the emperors replied confidently. ¡°So long as our successor does not lose sight of his righteous quest.¡±
¡°But what will define my son¡¯s godhood, Your Majesties?¡± Father asked grimly. ¡°His righteous goal, or the bloody means he used to reach it?¡±
The emperors had no answer to those questions; and neither did I.
Father had a point. I had stained my hands with blood, accepted Xibalba¡¯s crown of fear, and embraced the image of the First Emperor¡¯s prophet. Though I only acted in the pursuit of my ultimate goal of destroying the Nightlords, I had sown chaos and death among the living. As far as mortals were concerned, I might as well embody a god of tyranny and brutality.
Would it be my actions that would come to define me, or my intentions? As much as I hoped for the latter, I had learned that the beliefs and perception of mortals had a heavy impact on the divine. The appearances of power mattered just as much as strength itself. In the eyes of many, I was the mad emperor of Yohuachanca, murderous ruler of a land built on bloodshed, and Godspeaker for the hungry masters of the night.
Would the spark of my godhood be tainted from the start?
It was the Lords of Terror¡¯s plan all along. The certainty wouldn¡¯t leave me now. It didn¡¯t matter if my intentions were noble should the role I assumed force me to play the role of the tyrant and tormentor. Even the First Emperor eventually succumbed to the hunger and suffering he had come to embody in spite of his fearsome resistance. To bring forth a new god of fear into the mortal world.
My father sensed my doubts and attempted to reassure me. ¡°I know you only mean well, my son,¡± he said calmly. ¡°However, the actions of the powerful are never without consequences, and I fear that you will be crushed under their weight if you continue down your current path. We are our choices.¡±
¡°There is still time to adjust our course of action and gather information, Lord Itzili,¡± the Parliament of Skull insisted. ¡°We have yet to find the key to the next layer, and we must assess the limits of our successor¡¯s new powers. Studying the First Emperor¡¯s codices might provide insight into divinity itself.¡±
That seemed to be the most sensible course of action so far. I couldn¡¯t allow my godhood to become a prison. I hadn¡¯t sacrificed so much to escape my current cage only to fall into another.
Moreover, this would give Father some time to reconsider his decision to join with my predecessors. Though I knew he would refuse to return to Mictlan or stay in Tlalocan, the idea of binding his soul to them bothered me to my core.
I felt the call of wakefulness tugging at my mind.
¡°I am about to awaken,¡± I warned the skulls before putting them inside the carrying frame and using the Doll to dig a hole to bury it. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone will steal you here, but it is better to be safe than sorry.¡±
¡°It has been a long night,¡± Father conceded with a sigh. ¡°Think about everything, my son. Haste has never been a friend to good decisions.¡±
¡°I promise,¡± I replied softly. I knew I could expect a long discussion about our family and my choices once I fell asleep again.
¡°Please watch over your sister in my stead,¡± Father asked softly, his ghostfire eyes wavering in their eye sockets. ¡°She¡ she should know. Both the truth, and that she¡¯s not alone.¡±
I clenched my jaw and failed to answer before closing the carrying frame. I barely had time to bury my father and predecessors under a tree before the call of dawn dragged me out of the Underworld.
I awoke changed.
I could feel it the moment I opened my eyes. The energy, the strength, and the warmth flowing through me. My Underworld self was a reflection of my living self, hence why I had to slowly reinforce my skeleton to fuel my Bonecraft spell, but it remained a projection of my soul. I harbored little of my living flesh.
I¡¯d never woken up feeling so powerful.
My heart pounded louder than a war drum in my rib cage. My muscles strained with newfound might. They¡¯d grown thicker since I last fell asleep. The faint touch of the bed sheet had never seemed so sharp, nor the warmth of a woman¡¯s skin so pleasurable. My senses were knives, my skin smooth and imperishable like marble. No impurity survived within my lungs and I exhaled air purer than the wind itself.
I sensed a gaze upon me. Lady Zyanya slept on my left, but Necahual was awake on my right, her eyes studying me carefully. I immediately noticed a few changes. Her skin was lustrous and without imperfections, her breasts firmer, her face radiating health and vitality. She had lost her wrinkles; maybe even a few years of age.
¡°Did you dream of lightning?¡± she asked me immediately.
My thundering heart skipped a beat in surprise. I knew I had bound her soul to mine, but had our bond grown so strong? How much did she see? ¡°How do you know that?¡±
¡°Because I dreamed of being struck by it, and when I woke up, you were¡¡± Necahual searched for the right word for a moment. ¡°Sharper.¡±
I supposed ¡®sharper¡¯ was a good way to describe the change. I studied my arms and admired my rippling muscles. I clenched my fist and basked in my newfound power. After spending most of my years weak and malnourished, the thrill of growing stronger was almost addictive.
Necahual locked eyes with me. ¡°Something happened in your sleep. I could feel it in my heart and bones.¡±
¡°Yes, it did.¡± I smelled something on Zyanya¡¯s lips; an odor so faint I almost failed to notice it. ¡°You drugged her.¡±
¡°I¡¯m surprised you could tell,¡± Necahual replied with genuine surprise. ¡°I have strengthened sleep¡¯s hold on her with a near-odorless potion. I did not wish for her to raise the alarm should anything unusual happen.¡±
¡°Wise.¡± I wasn¡¯t even surprised that she carried that kind of poison hidden on her person. It helped in a pinch.
¡°That is how you gained your powers,¡± Necahual guessed. ¡°Your spirit wanders away in your dreams.¡±
I clenched my jaw. If she had noticed the pattern, I feared others would see it too. ¡°Do you truly wish to know?¡±
Necahual hesitated, then shook her head. ¡°I won¡¯t probe further, to avoid any slip-ups.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± I caressed her cheek, only to sense a small jolt at our contact, like a current of electricity flowing between us. It startled me a bit, much to Necahual¡¯s amusement. ¡°I¡¯m not the only one to have been struck by lightning.¡±
¡°It seems so.¡± Necahual raised her hand and focused on her fingers. I saw faint jolts of electricity coursing between her nails, their blue bright light reminding me immediately of Tlalocan¡¯s sun. ¡°Is this normal for a witch?¡±
¡°I suppose.¡± My predecessors never mentioned that Mometzcopinque could call upon lightning, but I guessed none of those on records had formed a pact with a demigod. Necahual and I were spiritually linked now. The greater my power, the more abilities she would likely obtain. ¡°Are you pleased with your gift?¡±
¡°You know I am.¡± Necahual waved her hand and the lightning vanished. ¡°I have waited my whole life for this. I will relish the day when I can wield these powers in public."
¡°Perhaps the company of a coven would improve your mood,¡± I suggested while glancing at the other woman in my bed. ¡°I have enough energy to bind another witch. Would she suffice?¡±
¡°You would be a fool to choose her.¡± Necahual sneered at the sleeping Zyanya in disdain. Clearly their earlier discussion hadn¡¯t improved her opinion of my future mistress. ¡°Go with Lahun. She will make for a better witch, and most importantly, a loyal one. She is wise enough to understand the Nightlords will never reward treachery for long, unlike this snake.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
¡°Hence why binding her soul to me would secure her obedience,¡± I countered.
Necahual scoffed. ¡°The same way the Nightlords secured yours by binding your soul?¡±
Her answer drew a laugh from me. ¡°True.¡±
The Nightlords schemed against their father though the vampire curse bound them, and I was doing the same in spite of the danger such action presented. Loyalty built on sorcery alone was more fickle than it looked.
¡°Bind Lahun and lead the opportunist on without trusting her,¡± Necahual suggested. ¡°I will keep an eye on Zyanya and research better candidates for the ritual, after informing my daughter of your other plot concerning her new¡ vessel.¡±
I studied Necahual for a moment. She looked like every bit the schemer Lady Sigrun had been.
I realized that the changes weren¡¯t just physical. Her confidence had grown too. Necahual usually stuck to advising me or following my orders, but here she was taking the lead on multiple fronts. Gaining magic had made her bolder, the same way it gave me the courage to stand on my own two feet.
It pleased me greatly.
¡°What is it?¡± Necahual asked me when I failed to answer.
¡°I find it arousing when you scheme and plot,¡± I said while caressing her cheek. My blood stirred with fierce desire. Consuming Tlaloc¡¯s embers had only magnified my passion for her. ¡°As far as I am concerned, this was our wedding night.¡±
¡°If I were your wife, you would be mine for three more nights,¡± Necahual countered, a smile at the edge of her lips. ¡°I am not certain your other bedslaves would appreciate it.¡±
¡°I will be sure to visit you again soon, my witch of disaster.¡± I resisted the urge to claim her immediately. I would have loved nothing more than to savor the taste of her flesh on my lips, but I had to cover my tracks. ¡°I will have to report to the Nightlords.¡±
¡°It would be wise.¡± Necahual stared at me for a moment, a thought crossing her mind. ¡°I think I used to be the same as her.¡±
I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Whom?¡±
¡°Your snake. Her soul is as small and petty as mine once was.¡± Necahual gave me a knowing look. ¡°Use that against her.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Necahual¡¯s insight often proved very close to the truth. ¡°I will keep it in mind.¡±
I had many lies to tell.
I visited the grand temple of Zachilaa in the morning.
First though, I thanked the wedding¡¯s guests for the fantastic event, promising them that the heavens would soon reward their hospitality and that I would personally shower its poor citizens with gifts. I only did that to fulfill the Cloak spell¡¯s demands, but Zachilaa¡¯s people would thank me nonetheless.
Tlaxcala feigned gratitude for the ¡®honor¡¯ I bestowed upon his wife, and gladly accepted my request to follow me south to witness me crushing the Sapa Empire beneath my feet. I suspected he was even sincere. Staying close to me would let him curry favor with Iztacoatl and give him the glory of participating in a war without actually endangering himself.
The things men did for wealth and fame.
Afterwards, I entered the temple¡¯s depths demanding an audience with the Nightlords, which I was granted. I knew Eztli and Iztacoatl were already in the city, and the other two simply teleported from the pool of blood hidden in their sanctuary.
I was now certain that each temple across the land had one of these devices to allow the Nightlords to manifest everywhere around their dominion in a pinch. I would need to take them into account when plotting their demise.
And blood they made me shed.
I had to slice open my palm with an obsidian knife and fill a cup under their watch. The sight of the Jaguar Woman¡¯s frustration when she saw a burst of purple fire surge out of my veins almost brought a smile to my face, though I managed to contain my joy.
¡°A disappointing outcome,¡± Sugey stated bluntly.
¡°A dangerous one,¡± Iztacoatl corrected her.
¡°Quite,¡± the Jaguar Woman hissed through her clenched teeth. She had spent so much effort trying to traumatize her father in an attempt to deny me ¡®his¡¯ supernatural gifts, only to see them grow stronger a mere night afterward. It was a humiliating turn of events for her, and unlike me, Eztli didn¡¯t bother to hide her amusement at this turn of events.
Moreover, none of the Nightlords dared to touch my burning blood; or at least not in my presence. I¡¯d seen Iztacoatl swallow it before without issue nor hesitation, so their hesitation warmed my heart.
Part of them at least thought it could harm them.
As I feared, it only gave Iztacoatl more arrows to fire at me. ¡°Do you see the danger that he represents, my sisters? Father is turning him into a dagger to bury into our hearts!¡±
¡°Is he?¡± Sugey asked sharply. ¡°Father is the night incarnate, yet our Godspeaker¡¯s blood burns with sunlight, and not the sulfurous kind.¡±
I hid my unease behind a mask of stone-cold composure. Curse it, I hadn¡¯t expected the Bird of War to be so sharp. She had pulled a thread that could unmake me.
¡°True,¡± the Jaguar Woman said with a mix of frustration and curiosity. From the look on her face, she was as equally puzzled by this outcome as it annoyed her. ¡°You said that you dreamed of lightning, our Godspeaker?¡±
I could not fail this. I had rehearsed the story in my head on my way to the temple, and now I prayed to the true gods that I could make it sound true.
¡°At the end of the dream, yes,¡± I replied while on my knees. I had considered what tale to tell them and decided to go with half-truths, while also fishing for information. ¡°The vision itself began with two brothers hunting a monstrous bat.¡±
The short silence that followed confirmed my suspicions.
It was extremely brief, but Eztli and I both caught that brief glimpse in the Nightlords¡¯ eyes; that odd look of confusion when a story sounded oddly familiar, yet vague enough to sow doubt.
¡°I cannot exactly describe them, though they felt like brothers to me for a reason I can¡¯t explain,¡± I recounted, both of which were true. I was basing myself on second-hand accounts. ¡°They slew the creature, but one of them transformed into a bat of shadow that casts the land into eternal night. The other flew to the mountains in the shape of a bird with golden feathers.¡±
The Jaguar Woman¡¯s gaze sharpened, and I didn¡¯t fail to catch the brief glance her sisters exchanged.
¡°Afterwards, I found myself in a mountainous land where fire rains from the sky. A great bird descended from above and hunted me down.¡± I was careful to avoid mentioning that this bird and the emperor¡¯s brother were unrelated. I would let the Nightlords draw their own assumptions. ¡°I flew away on owl wings into the clouds, and then I was struck with lightning when I finally reached the sun shining above them.¡±
¡°Describe the bird,¡± the Jaguar Woman ordered me, her voice sharper than a blade.
¡°It was a great vulture, with a ruff of feathers around the neck and a featherless head,¡± I replied before feigning partial ignorance. ¡°I believe it was a¡ condor. I believe they are called that?¡±
¡°A condor?¡± Iztacoatl studied me coldly. I knew she knew I wasn¡¯t telling the full truth. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t hide details from us now, would you?¡±
I feigned unease. ¡°Well, there is something that I¡¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°That I fear would sound blasphemous.¡±
¡°How could anything you say be blasphemous when you speak in our name?¡± the Jaguar Woman replied. ¡°Your duty is to keep nothing from us. We alone shall judge the truth from heresy.¡±
I nodded slowly while feigning submission. ¡°One of the brothers, the one who became the shadow¡ His presence felt similar to that of the First Emperor himself.¡±
The deafening silence, undercut neither by laughs nor denials, put my suspicions to rest. I was sure of it now. The pictures in Xibalba indeed recounted the origins of their vampiric clan.
¡°But that would be impossible,¡± I replied, my head low. ¡°Mighty Yohuachanca had no brother nor equal, that it is known.¡±
¡°It is known,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied, lying through her teeth.
I resisted the urge to laugh in scorn. The Jaguar Woman always presented a facade of regal divinity, presenting herself as standing above common mortals, but now I realized what first made me doubt her claims of godliness in the first place.
She was trying to convince herself.
The Jaguar Woman had genuine power, and more than enough cruelty to terrify mortals into going along with her decisions, but deep down a part of her would always know that she was an imposter and that she existed in the shadow of another. She would always try a little too hard, whereas the likes of Tlaloc had nothing to prove. A storm didn¡¯t try to convince people to cower in its presence. It simply blew everything in its way and let men fear its wrath on their own.
I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯d stopped fearing the Jaguar Woman¡ªI definitely was no match for her in battle yet¡ªbut she no longer intimidated me to the core of my being.
Nonetheless, I did feel an edge of danger when she asked, ¡°Is that all?¡±
I shook my head. ¡°Afterwards, I saw the bird fall onto the ground below,¡± I replied, conveniently leaving out the fact that I cast it down myself. ¡°The fiery clouds cleared afterwards to unveil a new sky. Then¡¡±
I took a deep breath, as if I hesitated to keep my mouth shut for a moment. It was all a trick, but it did win me over all of the Nightlords¡¯ undivided attention.
¡°I saw a blue sun floating over my head,¡± I said, ¡°My heart bare open.¡±
I knew I had won the moment the Jaguar Woman¡¯s eyes widened in greed and surprise. ¡°Blue?¡±
¡°A blue sun, goddess,¡± I confirmed, finishing with a killing blow I knew they couldn¡¯t resist and the very thing that kept me alive: hope. ¡°Brighter than a sulfur¡¯s flame.¡±
The Jaguar Woman studied my expression, looking for any hint of treachery. Her expression reminded me of an eagle eyeing a tasty rodent which had unwittingly crossed its path. Such a surprising, tasty prize to be taken away, if only there was no catch to it. But she found none, for I had only said the truth; or at least, the interpretation which they so desperately wanted to hear.
My vision ended with a sulfur sun.
I had dangled the most irresistible catch in front of her, greater than the possibility of ultimate victory: the possibility that she could wash away the insult that represented the New Fire Ceremony¡¯s fiasco; that she could somehow salvage the failed ritual she worked so hard to complete, if only she could figure it out.
Sugey studied the cup of burning blood I¡¯d so kindly shed for them. ¡°How do you explain this, sisters?¡±
¡°Father has grown quiet and his shadows dimmer, yet our Godspeaker¡¯s blood shines brighter still. Could it be that this light does not come from our progenitor, but our¡ª¡± The Jaguar Woman¡¯s face twisted into a frown, a question on the tip of her tongue. ¡°No, that should not¡ he lacked the spark of godhood¡¡±
¡°As far as we know,¡± Sugey replied. ¡°We have suffered a string of setbacks and incidents this year, and all of them point towards the Sapa Empire. Those llama-lovers wouldn¡¯t act so boldly against us without a secret weapon. If they have found a way to use him to disrupt the ritual¨C¡±
¡°It should not act this way,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied, her eyes glaring at Eztli. ¡°But then again, our new sister has big shoes to fill.¡±
Eztli bristled uncomfortably. ¡°I did everything as you¡¯ve asked.¡±
¡°And that clearly wasn¡¯t enough,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied angrily.
¡°How can we even believe him?¡± Iztacoatl pointed out with skepticism. ¡°Our Godspeaker could have imagined things.¡±
¡°I sensed no lie, and his dream¡¡± The Jaguar Woman studied the cup and its flames. ¡°What if¡ what if it is another sun that prevents ours from rising¡¡±
I had planted the seeds of doubt. Now was my opportunity to remind them of their leverage.
¡°If I may, oh great goddesses,¡± I said, clearing my throat. ¡°With your permission, I would also like to petition you for better guards.¡±
This took Iztacoatl by surprise, and why wouldn¡¯t it? I would be a fool to request more oversight.
¡°Why?¡± she asked immediately, her eyes squinting at me.
¡°Two of my consorts are pregnant with my children.¡± One of whom I very much regretted. ¡°As is my favorite, Necahual.¡±
Eztli¡¯s face beamed with happiness, her lips stretching into a smirk of absolute relief and pleasure. ¡°Finally?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I replied with a genuine smile, albeit one full of unease. I had no idea how this news would influence Eztli¡¯s behavior. I feared it would strengthen Yoloxochitl¡¯s hold on her mind more than anything. ¡°Our gift to you.¡±
¡°Oh, Iztac¡¡± Eztli didn¡¯t bother hiding her joy, her hand moving to her face to suppress forming tears of blood. She almost sobbed in relief, as if we had conceived the child ourselves. ¡°This is¡ I do not know what to say¡¡±
¡°You fear for their safety,¡± Sugey guessed with a snort of amusement.
¡°Yes,¡± I replied, which was entirely true. The Three-Rivers Federation had already sent an assassin that came frighteningly close to killing two of my consorts after all. ¡°One killer nearly slew Nenetl and Chikal, and I expect more will come soon.¡±
¡°I cannot blame you for requesting better help,¡± Sugey replied, her eyes turning at Iztacoatl in contempt.
The latter clenched her jaw. Her sister didn¡¯t openly blame the White Snake for that disaster in front of me out of a desire to present a unified front, but her true thoughts were more than clear.
Nonetheless, that ought to reassure the Nightlords. Asking them to protect my bedmates and unborn children meant that I cared for them, and they had never failed to see love as a weakness to exploit.
¡°I intend to sire more children, so that my bloodline may endure after me,¡± I said. ¡°I would ask for immortal soldiers to protect my progeny.¡±
¡°Your bloodline is precious to Yohuachanca and will be protected,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied. ¡°So long as you continue to fight our empire¡¯s enemies.¡±
Iztacoatl stared at her in disbelief. ¡°You will still send him to fight? Even after all of this?¡±
¡°We still need to ascertain what is happening, but an emperor that does not show up to his own war will make us look weak,¡± the Jaguar Woman stated bluntly. ¡°Especially now that the Sapa have clearly taken up arms against us. We need to mobilize the herd and stamp the vermin out.¡±
¡°I will watch over him and lead the charge,¡± Sugey replied sternly. ¡°I intended to have our Godspeaker march onwards to the Flower War today anyway. Should the Sapa plot anything, I will deal with it and bathe in their blood.¡±
The Jaguar Woman nodded, then dismissed me. ¡°We must ponder this prophecy between ourselves, our Godspeaker, alongside your request. You may leave.¡±
¡°Yes, crawl back to your sister¡¯s bed,¡± Iztacoatl taunted me. ¡°She must weep at night to see you prefer strangers to your own blood.¡±
The jab hit where it hurt.
I had expected as much, so I kept my mouth shut while my heart boiled with silent anger. The storm within my soul brewed with ominous thunder, and while I could hide my rage well enough, my silence and Eztli¡¯s cold glare informed the Nightlords that the snake¡¯s words had struck a nerve.
¡°Is that why you chose to take that bride¡¯s first night, our Godspeaker? Because you felt you had soiled my chosen consort?¡± the Jaguar Woman asked with a dismissive snort. She seemed almost disappointed about my reaction, as if having me commit incest with my long-undiscovered sister was nothing to fuss over. ¡°Put these fatuous thoughts aside. You are an emperor and above such trifle matters. The laws that bind common men do not apply to you, and the child you have sired on her may one day rule Yohuachanca after you.¡±
She said that expecting me to rejoice at the honor, the same way Tlaxcala had to pretend the theft of his wife had been an honor rather than abuse of power. I swallowed the insult with false grace.
¡°I understand the goddesses¡¯ words,¡± I replied. ¡°I have come to realize that while my life will end on the Night of the Scarlet Moon, my bloodline will run deep through our empire¡¯s veins.¡±
¡°And it will, songbird,¡± Iztacoatl said with venom. ¡°I will take good care of your descendants after you¡¯re gone, I promise you that.¡±
A mountain should not pay attention to the blowing wind, nor the spitting spite of the enemy.
My reason ordered me to let it slide, to swallow my tongue and accept the taunt with grace, but I couldn¡¯t close my eyes. The fire within my soul refused to let it slide. I had tasted Tlaloc¡¯s pride and it rubbed off on me. The thunder of my heart would not allow an uppity runt to disrespect me.
Something deep within me compelled me to stand my ground, to retaliate.
Yet Necahual¡¯s words once again proved wise enough to temper my heart. For as I looked at Iztacoatl, at the desperate wait for my reaction in her eyes, all my fury suddenly vanished. Instead, I only felt a deep sense of contempt.
She was pathetic.
Iztacoatl wielded more power than most would ever dream of. She could command armies, received the adoration of the masses, and all of her whims were immediately fulfilled. She might not be a true goddess, but she certainly lived like one.
And she would throw it all away if she could inflict a little bit of pain on another.
Deep down, she was such a bitter creature that taunting me was the closest thing that could bring her true happiness.
Necahual was right, those two were more alike than I thought. Both felt the need to torment someone within their power and couldn¡¯t appreciate what they had. My favorite had moved past that petty mindset, but Iztacoatl remained trapped in it.
I recalled Ahalmez and Ahaltocob, the lords of control and abuse. It always struck me as odd how the former abided by the wishes of the latter, but I thought I understood the core of their dynamic. When one required another¡¯s validation to exist, who was truly the most powerful? A true god never needed to prove themselves.
¡°The goddess is as kind as she is great,¡± I simply replied without emotion.
I met Iztacoatl¡¯s eyes, and I knew she knew what I was thinking: that I looked down on her more than I hated her. My silence stirred the impotent frustration that fueled her weak heart, but she held her tongue. She had lost face once and any more words would lower her sisters¡¯ opinion of her further.
I was dismissed for now and walked outside the temple while the Nightlords deliberated these new developments. I took the fact that they kept Eztli with her as a sign they would not allow her out of their sight again. I moved past the columns holding the Nightlords¡¯ sanctuary atop their pyramid and gazed upon the city of Zachilaa, the wind softly blowing on my face. The sun was high, the sky clear.
The storm brewing within me awoke again. My power stirred and demanded to be used, pushing me with an overwhelming instinct to prove my divine power not to my foes and servants, but to the very laws of reality.
¡°Rain,¡± I whispered under my breath, so low that no one could hear it.
By the time I realized what had just happened, it was already too late.
A Word had pushed its way to my lips from the depths of my Teyolia, demanding to be uttered.
I hadn¡¯t¡ I hadn¡¯t thought nor willed it. It slipped out of my tongue on its own, striking like lightning.
The storm had been brewing within me since I was forced to kowtow to false gods and thundered forth the moment I lowered my guard, and I finally realized what Tlaloc meant when he said he had to cause disasters.
I had grown so powerful that my own magic sought to manifest into the world.
I had managed to feign weakness in the Nightlords¡¯ presence, to feign powerlessness, but I was half a god now; and that part of me refused to hide. I was like a feathered tyrant pretending to be a trihorn. The instinct to conquer had always been there, waiting to express itself; and if I could not satisfy it, then it would eventually force its way to the surface, even near a Nightlord¡¯s temple.
I could only pray that the sky alone listened to this secret Word of mine, for it most certainly did.
The wind blew in the distance. Dark clouds appeared out of nowhere across the horizon like a pack of hounds answering their master¡¯s whistle. They blanketed the sky and obscured the Fifth Sun.
The first droplet fell at my feet.
A drizzle rained from the heavens, followed by a nourishing downpour that would feed Zachilaa¡¯s streets and farmlands. The masses would not learn of this blessing, though I suspected that they would attribute it to my visit and promise of a heavenly bounty nonetheless. Perhaps I would inform them of the truth once I destroyed the Nightlords and let them draw their own conclusions. I wondered if they would raise shrines in my name.
My bloodline ruling over Yohuachanca, and I over its skies¡ I looked at the weather which I had bent to my will, the truest expression of my divine will, and I came to a conclusion. I like the sound of that.
I had uttered these words as an excuse to hide my deceit, but the thought appealed to me. I had sired children from my loins, like many emperors before me. Would it not be better if they were to inherit this cursed empire as themselves, rather than as vampire thralls to unworthy masters? It could grant them an inheritance worthy of a god-to-be.
I would let the Nightlords play false deities in their underground hole.
A greater destiny awaited me.
Chapter Seventy-Nine: Dark Truths (+Volume 2s launch!)
The gods had smiled on me for once.
Though I feared discovery when they recalled me into their halls, the Nightlords did not notice my Word of power. Either my predecessors successfully managed to obscure my spell from their sight, or they were too preoccupied with the twin threats of the Sapa and their dreadful father to fully pay attention to me.
When they welcomed me back into their hall, I could immediately tell that they hadn¡¯t found a solution to my sudden growth in power, besides increasing their surveillance and destroying the Sapa.
¡°Your request for additional security for your unborn children shall be granted,¡± the Jaguar Woman decided. ¡°As for the Sapa Empire, it has now become clear that these fools have plotted against our beloved Yohuachanca long enough. Our sister Sugey, as goddess of war, shall ensure your victory in the conflict to come.¡±
I¡¯d expected as much, though I remained apprehensive about the consequences. On one hand, I expected the Bird of War to be less of a hassle than her sister Iztacoatl, since she seemed utterly disinterested in intrigue; on the other hand, having a Nightlord overseeing my military strategy limited my choices when dealing with the Sapa Empire.
Whatever the case, I feigned submission.
¡°I shall do as the goddesses ask,¡± I promised.
¡°Yes, you shall,¡± the Jaguar Woman replied with a tone that promised great punishment if I stepped out of line. ¡°At her request, young Eztli will be allowed to join your procession and enjoy her mortal pet¡¯s companionship until you reach the frontier, at which point she will need to dedicate herself to her new duties.¡±
I noticed Eztli scowling at the mention of ¡®mortal pet,¡¯ but both of us wisely kept our mouths shut. This intermission, however brief, should allow Necahual to brief her about our plan without too much oversight.
¡°Go forth now, our Godspeaker,¡± the Jaguar Woman declared as the Nightlords dismissed me. ¡°Crush Yohuachanca¡¯s enemies so that your descendants may enjoy a prosperous future under our Sulfur Sun.¡±
I lowered my head in submission, while promising myself that I would drown that foul vision in vampire blood.
I was thus allowed to leave Zachilaa in triumph. The heavy rain miraculously ceased as I ascended on Itzili to ride out of the city at the forefront of the imperial procession.
Consuming Tlaloc¡¯s embers also had a noticeable effect on my feathered-tyrant. Not only had his feathers started to take on a blue hue, but his daily growth spurts had starkly accelerated. While he could squeeze through doors with difficulty only a night ago, he was now too big for that. He intimidated smaller trihorns when he walked, and I suspected he might reach adult size by the time we invaded the Sapa. It would make for quite the surprise for our enemies, and he more than awed the crowds of commoners and nobles that arrived to celebrate the imperial procession. As I suspected, many thanked me for the rain that blessed their fields.
The prophet had promised them a gift from the heavens and delivered.
I felt their trust and faith flowing into me as they clamored for me to prevail in the war and bring fortune to the empire. My example had inspired hundreds of young men to join the army and follow on my journey south. Their belief in my divine strength hung in the air and emboldened me. My Tonalli greedily welcomed them like a bird gathering branches to build its nest.
It was quite the intoxicating sensation, and the worrying kind.
My soul was already reacting to the worship of the common men, but I remained first and foremost the First Emperor¡¯s and the Nightlords¡¯ Godspeaker for most; the intermediary between the dark gods of Yohuachanca and the herd they ruled over. As ever, I was wary of the lie becoming the truth.
How much influence did other people have over my divinity? I could tell that their beliefs had an impact, but as far as I knew the First Emperor became a god of hunger because of his own search for knowledge; a quality that came from a quality dwelling deep within his soul rather than enforced by the will of his worshipers.
How much impact did my choices have compared to the perception of thousands?
Between the danger of being forced into a role and the risk of my magic acting on its own if I didn¡¯t practice it, I was starting to wonder what kind of image I wanted to portray among the population. So far, I had only played the part of the generous emperor whenever possible in public; proceeding with rituals, blessing cities and refugees, and speaking on behalf of the gods. Most of my questionable actions, such as Acampa¡¯s massacre, remained hidden from the public at large.
But on the other hand, I was the emperor who oversaw the disastrous New Fire Ceremony, brought about Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption and prophesied doom on behalf of the First Emperor in front of the entire capital. Whatever good I did was likely overshadowed in the minds of people by all the calamities my reign brought about thus far.
Not to mention that while I inspired zeal among my people through centuries of imperial propaganda, the likes of the Sapa and the Three-Rivers only saw me as a hated enemy to destroy. Would their hatred influence me too?
More than anything, I found the idea of being a deity subordinate to the Nightlords and their sire in any way utterly unbearable. It was paramount that I use this war as a way to express my independence in some way. I needed people to associate my acts with my person, whether they brought curses or blessings.
¡°My lord looked magnificent atop his mount,¡± Ingrid told me as I ascended to my longneck¡¯s roaming quarters to rejoin my consorts and concubines. ¡°Like the rising sun.¡±
¡°Thank you, Ingrid,¡± I replied with a pleased smile. ¡°Perhaps I should ride Itzili in public more often.¡±
The image of an emperor riding atop a feathered tyrant on his way to conquer new lands ought to linger in people¡¯s minds.
I gave a cursory glance at my confidantes. Chikal and Lahun gave me pointed looks, while Chindi smiled at me with what could pass for hunger; those three had noticed the changes in me. I suspected Ingrid detected them too, though she pretended otherwise. My other concubines avoided my gaze, as if awed by my mere presence, even our new arrival, Aclla.
Necahual and Eztli had retreated into another room, both to protect the latter from the sun and to give the former an opportunity to lay the groundwork for the soul transfer ritual. I knew our quarters were carefully watched, but I trusted my favorite to provide her daughter with the necessary information in a subtle enough manner.
As for Nenetl¡
My sister was smiling at me with cheeks so scarlet they looked like tomatoes on her pale face. She fidgeted in place, her fingers joined, her breath short, and her eyes fluttering with excitation.
She looked happy. Blissfully, sincerely happy. She blushed when she looked at me, clearly dying to tell me what she thought would lift my spirits beyond words.
This broke my heart, because I knew exactly what she was about to tell me.
I had to make this private. Turning it into a public scene would destroy Nenetl once the truth came out¡ if the truth came out. I was still afraid that it might destroy her.
¡°Is there something you wish to tell me, Nenetl?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes,¡± she said with excitement. ¡°You¡¯re going to love it.¡±
I suppressed a surge of disgust boiling up inside my throat, then forced myself to smile. ¡°Very well,¡± I said before turning to my other consorts. ¡°Ingrid, Chikal.¡±
¡°Yes, my lord?¡± Ingrid replied, her back straightening up.
¡°Our war will be waged not only on the field of battle, but the people¡¯s hearts and minds. I want you to work with our new Sapa advisor¨C¡± I waved a hand at Aclla, ¡°¨Cto prepare a campaign that will both embolden our soldiers and intimidate our enemies.¡±
Aclla bowed before me. ¡°I shall endeavor to advise your divine consorts wisely, Your Majesty.¡±
¡°Yes, you shall,¡± I replied. Involving Aclla was a test on my part. I had yet to ascertain whether she was a mole intended to sabotage me or a spy tasked with furthering her master¡¯s interests by weakening his rivals to the Sapa throne. Her actions should soon dispel any doubt.
¡°An interesting approach,¡± Chikal commented. ¡°From my experience, the more spectacular or outrageous an event, the more it shall stay in people¡¯s minds in the long term.¡±
¡°Quite so,¡± Ingrid agreed with a sly smile. ¡°We can think of a few ways to bolster my lord¡¯s standing among his friends and foes.¡±
¡°I cannot wait to hear of it,¡± I replied before bracing myself for a difficult time. ¡°Nenetl, if you would follow me.¡±
I invited my lost sister into my personal quarters, then had us served soothing chocolate drinks and closed the curtain separating us from the rest of the complex. I immediately felt uneasy as we sat around a small table near my bed; the very same one in which we snuck in to make love to each other not too long ago.
Those moments had been such good memories, and now I couldn¡¯t look back on them without feeling sick.
¡°So¡¡± Nenetl put back her hair, a streak of red spreading across her face. ¡°My breasts felt a bit strange yesterday, and I was more hungry than usual, which felt very strange to me¡ since you know I don¡¯t eat much¡¡±
I clenched my jaw while trying to hide my sorrow.
¡°I thought it might be some sign of a sickness, so I asked Lahun to check on my future.¡± Nenetl giggled to herself, her lips beaming into a smile. ¡°Guess what she told me?¡±
I shifted uneasily in my seat. I had fought horrors and faced gods without flinching, yet I dreaded the truth ahead of me.
¡°You are¡¡± I took a long deep breath.¡°Pregnant?¡±
¡°Yes!¡± Nenetl beamed like the morning sun. ¡°We¡¯re going to have a baby, Iztac, all of our own! Isn¡¯t that wonderful?¡±
Such words would have inspired great joy in me before, and now they tasted foul in my mouth.
I had so dearly hoped against all odds that Iztacoatl and the Jaguar Woman would be lying about this; that it was just another fear for her to torment me with. I had known better though. I¡¯d never been that lucky.
¡°Iztac?¡± Nenetl¡¯s smile faded away upon seeing my face. ¡°Iztac, why¡ why aren¡¯t you smiling?¡±
For a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, I hesitated.
The awful truth remained stuck in my throat. Nenetl looked so happy, so glad that our love had blossomed into a fruit of our union, that I knew the truth would devastate her. She had opened her heart to me out of love, and now I would have to break it.
I cared for her as much as I cared for Eztli, and the thought of inflicting such pain on her felt almost unbearable.
Worse, my blood stirred too when I looked at Nenetl. Though my mind now knew the true nature of our relationship, my flesh had mingled with her own in a union as deep as it had been pleasurable. I craved the taste of her skin on my lips and the simple bliss of our love.
I still desired her, as much as she desired me.
The Jaguar Woman had a point. I was an emperor above men¡¯s laws. The worst had already happened, so what would it cost me to keep the truth to myself and carry on like nothing happened? The truth wouldn¡¯t make Nenetl happy, and I could always close my eyes and lie to myself that everything would be fine¡
¡°Iztac?¡± she repeated, my silence unsettling her. ¡°Iztac, what¡¯s going on?¡±
Although the look on Nenetl¡¯s face broke my heart, I forced myself to soldier on. Lying would be the coward¡¯s way out.
I was sure Mother thought along the same lines.
It was so easy to sweep our mistakes under the rug in order to avoid tears and unfortunate conversations. My entire empire ran on such lies, and its debt to the truth would one day be paid in blood. It was in the nature of things for illusions to collapse under their own fragile weight.
Part of me knew that Nenetl would inevitably learn her true heritage either by accident or because of a vampire¡¯s malice. How would she react once she realized I had known from the beginning and said nothing? Could our fragile bond of trust survive this? I didn¡¯t think so, and I valued Nenetl too much to risk it.
I loved her enough to be truthful, even if it was bound to hurt us both.
¡°There is something I must tell you, Nenetl,¡± I said with a heavy sigh. ¡°Something that you won¡¯t like in the slightest.¡±
Her eyes widened in horror. ¡°About our child?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I confirmed. Nenetl was too clever not to see the dark clouds on the horizon. ¡°And about us.¡±
¡°Us?¡± Nenetl bit her lips. ¡°Iztac, what¡¯s going on?¡±
¡°We¡¯re¡¡± I gathered my breath as I tried to find a way to break the news as gently as I could. ¡°We are related by blood.¡±
¡°We¡¯re¨C¡± Nenetl blinked in surprise and confusion. ¡°W-what?¡±
¡°The goddesses told me the secret of your birth,¡± I explained, my fingers gripping the cup with all my strength. ¡°My mother was pregnant before¡ before she left my father and I.¡±
¡°What does it have to do with¡¡± I saw her blush and happiness slowly fade away like snow in the sunlight, replaced with pallid horror as the awful reality finally hit her. ¡°With¡ us?¡±
¡°Everything.¡± I would have given up so much to ensure that this conversation never had to take place. ¡°Our mother abandoned you to the red-eyed priests, who then¡ who then raised you.¡±
Nenetl didn¡¯t say a word, but I could see the pain in her blue eyes. It hurt like a dagger to the heart. When Iztacoatl told me the truth, I must have looked exactly the same, with my mind trying to deny what my heart and gut knew were true.
¡°We are¡ we are siblings,¡± I finally said, my fingers clenching my chocolate cup. ¡°I¡¯m your older brother by less than a year.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡¡± Nenetl shivered in place, her eyes staring at her chocolate cup to avoid my gaze. ¡°Are you¡ how can you be sure?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve heard it from the goddesses themselves. They had nothing to gain from lying to me on that front.¡± And Iztacoatl had taken great pleasure in humiliating us. ¡°Lahun¡¯s prophecies attest to it in their own way, and our physical resemblance is uncanny too. Too many elements point in that direction.¡±
¡°That¡ that could just be our curse, or¡¡± Nenetl covered her mouth, her mind struggling to accept the truth the same way I did. ¡°It can¡¯t be¡ it can¡¯t¡¡±
Liquid accumulated at the edge of her eyes and her breath grew short. Nenetl was a kind girl who trusted me utterly. She knew I wouldn¡¯t lie about such things, which only worsened the pain.
¡°I¡¯m¡ I don¡¯t know what to say, Iztac¡¡± She sobbed, her eyes filled with tears. ¡°I¡¯m¡ I¡¯m so happy I have a family¡ but¡¡± She began to cry out. ¡°But the rest¡ by the gods¡¡±
¡°Nenetl.¡± I put my hands on her own. Her fingers had grown warm from prolonged contact with her steaming cup, yet they had never felt frailer. ¡°None of it was our fault. Neither of us knew.¡±
¡°It¡¯s just¡¡± Nenelt possessed a great strength of character born of her kind heart, but she couldn¡¯t contain her tears. ¡°It¡¯s so¡ so much at once¡¡±
I moved to hug her.
I did not hesitate and encountered no resistance. My arms wrapped up around her waist and pulled her against my chest in an intimate embrace. Holding her felt deeply uncomfortable after everything we had done, as I felt her warmth through her dress and her smell in my nose; the same way I did when we lay together.
I powered through my unease for my¡ for my sister''s sake. She gripped me so tightly, so desperate for comfort, that I could do nothing other than let her cry into my shoulder.
¡°I¡¯m sorry¡¡± Nenetl apologized while sobbing. I sensed moist liquid drip on my imperial robes and skin. ¡°The tears won¡¯t stop flowing¡¡±
¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I reassured her while kindly stroking her hair. ¡°I¡¯m here for you.¡±
¡°Is it wrong to say that I¡¯m¡ that I¡¯m partly relieved about this?¡± Nenetl whispered back. ¡°I thought I was alone in the world, abandoned because of my¡ because of our appearance¡¡±
¡°If our father had known you existed, then he would have loved you with all his heart,¡± I whispered in her ear. And he did. ¡°I can promise you that.¡±
It was meager comfort, but comfort nonetheless; and though Nenetl had confirmation that our mother did abandon her, my words at least helped soothe her heart. She did have a family that cared about her.
I calmly waited for Nenetl to calm down while holding her tightly. Her tears eventually stopped pouring out and she regained her breathing. Her hands gripped my shoulders next as an uncomfortable silence stretched between us.
I already knew what she was about to say.
¡°Is it so wrong?¡± Nenetl whispered, so low I barely heard it.
We were so alike, she and I.
¡°I never¡ I never had a brother, so it¡¡± Nenetl took a deep breath and tightened her grip on my shoulders. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me.¡±
A thrill coursed through my skin when she touched me. She still desired me as much as I craved her company, and I couldn¡¯t blame her for her reaction. I was the only boy her age she ever interacted with who wasn¡¯t a vampire or an eunuch, her first love and likely the only one should we fail to overthrow the Nightlords. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
She was, to put it bluntly, desperate and short on options.
Unfortunately for us, there was a wall I couldn¡¯t climb.
¡°But it matters to you, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Nenetl whispered in my ear after I failed to answer. ¡°You can¡¯t look at me without feeling betrayed and used.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I apologized. She understood me all too well.
Maybe under different circumstances, I could have closed my eyes, I suppose; but whenever Nenetl held me in her arms, all I could hear was Iztacoatl¡¯s malevolent laughter ringing in my head. Every caress summoned that awful shame of having been played for a vampire¡¯s amusement and the ominous warning of Lahun¡¯s prophecy. They had set our love up like a play on a stage and then poisoned whatever joy I could draw from it.
I would never forgive the Nightlords for this humiliation. They had let us build up a pure relationship founded not on power or alliances but trust and love, then twisted it into something foul and diseased.
¡°I¡ I understand.¡± Nenetl released her hold on me and wiped tears from her bloodshot eyes. ¡°It was just another way for them to hurt you, wasn¡¯t it? They turned us into a joke for them to laugh at.¡±
¡°I still love you, and I always will,¡± I reassured her. My protective feelings towards Nenetl remained as strong as ever, doubly so now that I knew we were family. ¡°I just¡ can¡¯t touch you that way again.¡±
Nenetl gave me the saddest glance I¡¯d ever seen, then rubbed her stomach with her hands. What should have been our most joyful moment had now become yet another horror.
¡°So our child is¡¡± Nenetl gulped and suppressed a sob. ¡°Is it going to be a monster? An abomination? They say the children born of incest are cursed, and we¡ we already are.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know how our child will turn out.¡± Lahun¡¯s prophecy was quite clear on that, and I had no idea what an incestuous union between Nahualli would produce. I suspected it would be nothing good. ¡°I don¡¯t know. The goddesses certainly have plans for them.¡±
And knowing the Nightlords, they couldn¡¯t be good.
¡°If the goddesses wanted it to happen, then maybe¡ maybe it won¡¯t be that bad?¡± Nenetl asked, eager for reassurance that some good would come out of our union. ¡°Maybe our child will have a¡ a great destiny?¡±
¡°They will,¡± I replied with a sigh. ¡°As a future emperor, consort, or sacrifice.¡±
Nenetl¡¯s expression darkened even further, much to my dismay. I wished I could have lied and told her that the seed of incest growing inside her would have no consequence, yet part of me knew otherwise. The Nightlords had arranged our coupling because they hoped to refine our bloodline for their sick breeding project and other purposes. Our child might be important to their plans, or simply serve as fuel for their twisted rituals.
I wasn¡¯t even sure if we should let it be born at all.
I kept that thought to myself. Not only would the Nightlords retaliate should I voice it out loud, but Nenetl had already gone through enough for the day. That subject could wait for another time once she had time to digest everything else first.
Nenetl nodded to herself slowly, her expression resolute. I now saw a new determination in those blue eyes we shared. She wouldn¡¯t let her own flesh become a tool in the Nightlord¡¯s plans.
¡°You¡¯re strong, Nenetl,¡± I said with the utmost sincerity. I didn¡¯t think many people would have kept their dignity after such news; in a way, she took it much better than I did myself.
¡°Thank you, Iztac.¡± Nenetl forced herself to smile. ¡°You know, I¡ I always wondered how it would be to have a brother. I just never thought that it¡¡± She chuckled nervously, though there was no joy to it. ¡°That it would happen this way.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I was about to tell her that Eztli had been like a sister to me once, before realizing that I shouldn¡¯t mention that at all; especially not in the current circumstances. ¡°We can still play board games whenever you want.¡±
¡°I¡ I would like that.¡± Nenetl nodded to herself. ¡°It would help me¡ help me think things through.¡±
The same went for me.
We ended up setting up a tumi game a few minutes later. I asked Nenetl if she already had the opportunity to try playing one with Aclla, and to my utter lack of surprise, she answered yes.
¡°She let me win,¡± Nenetl said as we put the pieces on the board. ¡°I think she thinks I¡¯ll be angry with her if I lose.¡±
¡°Or she is gauging you,¡± I replied. I suspected both Nenetl and I were correct. It would make sense for Aclla to play it safe and assess our personalities like any talented diplomat, but her mask was bound to slip eventually.
¡°Maybe,¡± Nenetl said before changing the subject. ¡°How was he?¡±
¡°Whom?¡±
¡°Yo-our father.¡± Nenetl stared at her pieces for a moment before asking for more details. ¡°How was he?¡±
¡°He was the kindest person in the world,¡± I said as I made the first move. ¡°And so very much like you.¡±
We ended up playing until late in the afternoon.
I won a few times, which was exceptional enough to be mentioned. Nenetl never lost a board game when she tried. I took it as a sign of how much distress the truth put her through. Once Nenetl grew tired of playing, she asked me if she could have the bathroom for herself for a time; a demand I graciously granted.
Warm waters would help her clear her mind. She definitely needed some alone time with her thoughts.
I still wasn¡¯t sure if I had made the right decision, though I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Whatever our relationship would become, at least it would be based on truth rather than lies and omissions. It would make for sturdier foundations.
Afterward, I remained alone in my room and summoned my next visitor. ¡°Come in.¡±
Lahun walked into my bedroom with grace and swiftly bowed before me. ¡°You¡¯ve called for me, Your Majesty?¡±
I immediately noticed that she carried her fortune-telling tools, from her bowl to her pouch full of corn. She had already foreseen what I¡¯d called her for. Her wisdom and insight surprised me once again.
¡°I have,¡± I replied before inviting her to sit down at my table. ¡°I would like you to read my future for the second time.¡±
¡°I suspected as much.¡± Lahun sat and immediately took my hand into her own to read my palm lines. ¡°I would usually tell Your Majesty that a second prophecy never differs from the first, but such bindings only apply to ordinary men.¡±
¡°And you would be right.¡±
¡°I know,¡± Lahun replied calmly. ¡°I have checked.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± This caught my interest. Could she tell that I had changed in clear and imperceptible ways since last night? ¡°How so?¡±
¡°I consult fate each morning to assess which weather the heavens will grace us with during the day,¡± Lahun explained to me. ¡°When Your Majesty declared that the heavens would bless Zachilaa for their hospitality, I decided to check my previsions in case his words had altered them.¡±
My head perked up in interest. ¡°Did they?¡±
Lahun nodded sharply. ¡°My first consultation indicated that the sun would shine all day, while the second predicted the rainfall.¡±
Her observation, on the surface, seemed utterly inconsequential. Of course her prediction would have been affected by the Word I cast. However, the timing provided key information I could not ignore.
If Lahun ran her prediction after I promised Zachilaa¡¯s nobility a bounty from the heavens, then fate had changed before I cast the Word. I¡¯d chained myself with ropes thicker than any material.
Belief.
While it came out of frustration, the reason why my magic took the form of a Word that called the rain was because I had announced publicly that Zachilaa would receive a blessing from the skies. By promising a reward to this city, I¡¯d bound myself to fulfilling my own prophecy. I had shaped my own fate, but in doing so, condemned myself to follow it by forming a covenant with Yohuachanca¡¯s citizens.
The implications sent a chill down my spine. Father was right, the words of the powerful were never inconsequential. I had to be extremely careful with what I said from now on in public.
¡°I noticed that my weather predictions had grown more accurate since Your Majesty showered me with his trust and confidence,¡± Lahun carried on. ¡°I am now convinced that I could assist Your Majesty in foreseeing the heavens¡¯ whims in a way that will serve him well during his war.¡±
True, being able to predict¡ªnay, decide¡ªthe weather would indeed provide a terrific advantage in battle. Necahual''s instincts proved right once again. Lahun''s wisdom, initiative, and keen intellect would make her a fearsome witch. I found all of these qualities rather appealing.
¡°I have the utmost faith in your abilities, Lahun, and I hope I can continue to rely on them,¡± I said with the utmost sincerity. ¡°I believe much of your prophecy has already happened.¡±
Lahun gave me a pointed look. ¡°Did knowing your fate bring Your Majesty happiness?¡±
¡°Joy and sorrow both.¡± Besides the incident with Nenetl, I was quite happy with the fact that the ¡®murder in the family¡¯ and ¡®betrayal with a friend''s face¡¯ parts ended relatively well. ¡°I would rather know and be prepared than surprised.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Lahun nodded to herself. My answer pleased her, likely because she thought along the same lines. ¡°May I ask why you have summoned me now of all times, however?¡±
¡°The gods have visited and graced me in my sleep, though the purpose of their message remains elusive to me.¡±
I caught a glint of curiosity in Lahun¡¯s eyes. The opportunity to translate a message from the gods appealed to her. ¡°I will do my best to help you interpret the signs then.¡±
She continued to read my lifelines and my blood stirred as I felt her soft fingers rub on my skin. I immediately saw the surprise in her eyes the moment she felt my unnatural warmth, followed by puzzled fascination the more time she spent examining my fate.
¡°How could it be?¡± Lahun muttered to herself. ¡°Was Your Majesty struck by lightning without my knowledge?¡±
¡°In a dream.¡± I ought to learn how to read lifelines too. If Lahun could learn that much from a cursory glimpse, then what else could I gather from others? ¡°I was struck by lightning under a blue sun sky.¡±
¡°Fascinating¡ lightning and rainfall are usually a manifestation of Tlaloc, lord of storms, but I¡¯ve never heard of him sending messages in dreams.¡± Lahun gripped my palm with undisguised amazement and curiosity. ¡°Your lifelines have become so much more vibrant since I last examined you, Your Majesty. I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before¡¡±
¡°And never will you,¡± I replied confidently. Considering I¡¯d purchased her loyalty with displays of supernatural power, I should lay on it thickly. ¡°I am power the likes of which mere mortals can only hope to prostrate themselves to.¡±
Lahun seemed a bit amused. ¡°I witnessed Your Majesty¡¯s sparks at last night¡¯s wedding.¡±
¡°Have you?¡± I smiled in amusement, then grabbed my obsidian knife and cut a finger open. Lahun¡¯s eyes widened in astonishment as a purple flame far brighter than last night¡¯s display erupted from it. She did not let go of my hand though. She basked in the flame¡¯s glow and warmth until my wound closed on its own. ¡°As you can see, the heavens have delivered more blessings upon my person.¡±
¡°Your Majesty¡¯s lifelines shine brighter than any mortal,¡± Lahun concluded. ¡°But the brightest light invites the darkest shadows. I see that you stand on the twilight¡¯s threshold between day and night; between light and darkness.¡±
Between Iztac the liberator and Cizin the destroyer, I guessed as Lahun proceeded with other rituals, throwing corn grains that ended in tight piles and a few circles, observing how they floated or sank in her bowl of water, then asked me to gaze into my own reflection.
¡°There are more corn piles than circles this time,¡± I noted upon recalling our first session. ¡°I believe you mentioned that they represented a strong lifeforce?¡±
¡°Your Majesty¡¯s memory does not fail him. While he used to dance on the edge between life and death, the latter has slightly retreated without surrendering its chase.¡± Lahun nodded to herself. ¡°Your Tonalli has been strengthened further too, although your reflection¡¯s shadows are starker as well. As your Majesty gains power, so does the darkness within him.¡±
¡°You said I stood in the twilight?¡± I asked with a frown. ¡°So I still have a choice.¡±
¡°For now,¡± Lahun replied. Which implied that past a certain point, that decision would be final.
I blew into Lahun¡¯s conch shell next to measure my Ihiyotl. The song that came out of it was stronger than last time, and loud like a war horn. Lahun nodded to herself and then proceeded to match my birthdate with the stars¡¯ position last night and sacred numbers. Lahun¡¯s calculations still escaped me, but the numbers nine and thirteen¡ªthose that represented the Underworld and the Thirteen Heavens¡ªcame up more than they did last time.
¡°Betrayal with a friend¡¯s face, snake shedding skin,¡± Lahun recounted with a scowl on her face after she finished drawing her calculations. ¡°Forbidden unions beget abominations. War of the puppeteers burns the stage. Battle of the three wings. Golden city answers the tide of sorrow. To the banquet of blood the dark one triumphs. New skull on the pile weeps in night eternal.¡±
My jaw clenched in disappointment. ¡°The prophecy hasn¡¯t changed in the slightest.¡±
¡°It has not,¡± Lahun replied with a deep scowl. She seemed as surprised as I was. ¡°Only what has already come to pass has vanished.¡±
Her words sent chills down my spine. Betrayal with a friend¡¯s face was still on the list, despite my assumptions, as was the forbidden union bit. The latter could be explained by the fact my child with Nenetl wasn¡¯t born yet, but the former¡
¡°The fact the readings changed alone is unheard of, Your Majesty, whether from me or any seer I¡¯ve encountered,¡± Lahun replied while pondering her observations. ¡°I have an explanation for the prophecy¡¯s resilience.¡±
¡°Which one?¡± I inquired.
¡°I warned Your Majesty that the signs do not change and are never wrong,¡± Lahun said. ¡°However, a sentence may mean many different things depending on its interpretation. Take ¡®to the banquet of blood the dark one triumphs,¡¯ for example. The ¡®dark one¡¯ could refer to an enemy, a vampire, or even yourself¡ and though the role remains undisturbed, a different actor may wear the mask.¡±
¡°You suggest that their identity could change depending on circumstances?¡± I asked, my eyes alight with interest. ¡°That I could become the dark one the prophecy refers to, even when it wasn¡¯t refering to me when you first wrote it down?¡±
¡°I believe so,¡± Lahun confirmed. ¡°The play¡¯s meaning and conclusion may change depending on who inherits the role. I suspect that the different changes I observed imply that the prophecy¡¯s spirit has changed, even if the letter has not.¡±
I pondered her words in silence. Come to think of it, ¡®betrayal with a friend¡¯s face¡¯ formed a sentence with the ¡®snake shedding skin¡¯ part, which implied both were related. Could it refer to my plan for Iztacoatl and Fjor instead of a plot targeted at me? Mother had suggested that I launch my plan only after obtaining Tlaloc¡¯s embers. Had this influx of power been enough to alter fate in my favor?
The last line of the prophecy bothered me most. I would love it if the new skull on the pile referred to a Nightlord suffering after my victory, but ¡®night eternal¡¯ was an unambiguous calamity. Unless it meant the skull would be buried forever somewhere¡ What if it referred to my father joining the Parliament¡
I wished prophecies could be straightforward and unambiguous. The best I could do for now was to hope that my newfound might would ensure a good surprise came to pass.
Lahun observed my hand for a while, paying particular attention to my previously cut finger. I allowed her to grab it again, a thrilling sensation coursing through my hand when she caressed it.
¡°If I may, Your Majesty, I can think of a way to clarify the prophecy further,¡± Lahun proposed. ¡°Observing your palm alone may be insufficient to truly assess your lifelines.¡±
¡°Would you rather feel my lifeforce more closely?¡± I guessed, a smile stretching on my lips when Lahun acquiesced with a smile.
Lahun wished to use Seidr to obtain helpful visions related to the prophecy, and who was I to deny her? I hadn¡¯t yet tested how my new set of embers had strengthened the spell, and it would allow me to give her some information I couldn¡¯t exactly vocalize out loud.
Moreover, I welcomed the distraction after my charged moment with Nenetl. My sister¡¯s smell still lingered on me, and I craved the taste of female flesh.
I began by pulling Lahun to me and embracing her in a ferocious kiss. Her tongue danced with mine with serpentine deftness. I could taste her raw desire for the power within me and the magic she sought to master. Witnessing my sorcery aroused her like violence awakened Chikal¡¯s hunger.
¡ª NSFW scene starts
My fingers moved to remove her robes, and hers hastily did the same with mine. She had been quite clumsy during our first lovemaking sessions, but she had grown more confident since. She knew what she wanted.
My hands swiftly began to tease her soft breasts. Her moans of pleasure quickened my pulse, as did the feeling of her naked chest and hips pressing against mine. It helped me forget the discomfort of Nenetl crying on my shoulder.
Seidr only demanded an exchange of fluids, but I decided to savor the moment and make the experience pleasurable for Lahun. I teased her by tenderly nipping her ear and caressing her back, delighting in her whimpers whenever my warm fingers touched her. She moaned as she rubbed against my abs.
I carried her to bed, laid her on the side, then began to caress her soft legs. I moved behind Lahun, one arm around her breasts, the other slipping between her thighs to pleasure her with my fingers.
¡°Your Majesty¡¡± She moaned as I kissed her on the neck. ¡°No need for¡ such elaborate¡¡±
¡°You have served me well, Lahun, and deserve a reward,¡± I purred while lining my manhood with her ass. ¡°You will find your fealty to me a most pleasant experience.¡±
Lahun let out a soft sound of surprise as I penetrated her from behind, my manhood slipping within her with my fingers continuing to play with her on the other side. I pressed my lips against her in a ferocious kiss even as I pushed. She was tight, and her breathing was so incredibly quick.
I drowned myself in her, all to better take my mind away from my sister and all this sorrow.
I broke the kiss just long enough to let her moan as I settled on a steady pace, her sweat slipping between my fingers. I sank into her and wrapped my arms around her to pull her closer. Whereas Nenetl had smelled of salt and perfume, Lahun carried the scent of corn, mushrooms, and the herbs she used for her divinations.
¡°Would you like to serve me like this each time you visit me?¡± I asked in between kisses, her body jolting with pleasure.
¡°Yes¡¡± she whispered back with a sigh of pleasure. ¡°I will serve Your Majesty as he wishes.¡±
¡°Yes, you will.¡± My hand moved from her breast to her belly. ¡°Our contract you have fulfilled, and so shall I do my part.¡±
I had grown so acutely aware of sensing another¡¯s Teyolia that I could sense the ember inside Lahun; a presence that filled me with pride.
Lahun¡¯s head snapped in my direction, her eyes alight with excitement. ¡°Will Your Majesty¨C¡±
¡°Soon,¡± I promised in her ear. ¡°If you have the stomach for it.¡±
I intended to put Lahun through the Mometzcopinque ritual as soon as the conditions would allow it; but to ensure she wouldn¡¯t walk away, I would give her a brief glimpse of what she could expect.
I softly pulled back from her ass and then put her on her back. We locked eyes as I spread her legs, her hands clutching my chest in anticipation. I pulled my fingers out of her, gently grabbed her hips, and lined myself up. I slid inside her without encountering any resistance, her flesh so fluid and welcoming that it felt like honey.
Then lightning coursed through me.
Our Teyolias aligned in an instant, but where my heartfire had been a flickering shadow of a god¡¯s radiance once, it now burned with a wild brazier¡¯s glow. Lahun gasped in pleasure and surprise as my essence gobbled her up like a torch thrown into a bonfire. Each roll of her hips sent jolts of electricity coursing through my muscles.
She was entirely within my power. The frontier between our souls might as well not exist.
I could have snuffed out her existence in an instant had I wished it, but I simply gripped her thighs and pushed. Lahun obliged me, her soft hands clenched against my back as I took her ferociously.
And as I did, memories of mine flowed through our bond. I shared visions of Necahual¡¯s ascension with Lahun. I showed her in vivid detail how I had dismembered and reshaped her into a witch of my own creation, holding back none of the pain and agony required for the process to work. Power required sacrifice, after all.
I didn¡¯t hide the rewards either. I showed her a vision of Necahual¡¯s ebon wings, of the flame bursting out of her hand and the lightning coursing between her fingers. Lahun¡¯s lips clenched immediately, her entire body shivering in excitement and anticipation.
¡°Are you willing?¡± I whispered in her ear. ¡°Would you give me your soul for my gifts?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Lahun replied without hesitation. The thought of wielding magic, of mastering the fire and lightning she had been forced to beg the sky for time and time again was too sweet of an offer. ¡°I would do¡ anything.¡±
Her passion for magic was inspiring, as was her dedication.
I banished those memories aside and focused on her prophecy. As I suspected, gaining Tlaloc¡¯s embers had strengthened the spell. The visions sharpened with each kiss and pounding.
¡ª NSFW Scene ends
When Lahun¡¯s arms and legs coiled around me to tighten our embrace, our minds expanded beyond the reaches of consciousness. We found ourselves in a temple of gold with walls and pillars gleaming like the morning sun in the light of flickering torches. A great bridge stood high above a river of molten gold flowing deep underground. Unbearable heat suffused the air, though it paled when compared to the warmth of my own Teyolia. Our spirits wandered inside a tabernacle attended by masked men with golden masks. There, in a vast chamber, rested a jeweled sarcophagus carved in the image of a sleeping condor with its wings folded. A skeletal, mummified figure watched over it; one whom I immediately recognized.
Inkarri.
My foremost enemy among the Sapa and his masked cohorts prayed around that strange tomb. I felt a great power stir within the sarcophagus; a will that seemed both distant and familiar. The shadow walking in my step darkened in recognition, but its darkness couldn¡¯t touch the glow coming from the sarcophagus.
Then there was light.
I awoke back to reality as my muscles strained and my loins ached with release. Lahun let out a cry as my manhood throbbed and erupted within her. My seed let out a smell of burnt embers and fumes in their wake, but the thought of stopping and pulling out didn¡¯t even cross my mind. My body tensed like hard metal until I finished.
¡°Are you¡¡± I let out a heavy breath. I was satisfied, but I had no idea how it felt to Lahun. ¡°Alright?¡±
¡°Alright, Your Majesty?¡± Lahun let out a chuckle of pleasure, her legs and arms falling to my side in blissful limpness. ¡°It felt amazing¡¡±
Good. I smiled in pleasure as I lay on top of Lahun and basked in the soft contentment of our union. It had been both enjoyable and productive.
Golden city answers the tide of sorrow. I¡¯d been wondering what Inkarri had been up to since our last confrontation in the Underworld, and received a glimpse of his plan. Whatever he had in mind, it involved a powerful spell; a ritual involving an ancient tomb hidden somewhere, likely in the Sapa homeland.
From the vision and various elements, I had a pretty good idea of whom rested within that sarcophagus. I pondered its implications.
¡°Did it help you?¡± I asked Lahun after I pulled out from between her thighs. They had grown slightly redder from the warmth of my seed in them, though she thankfully hadn¡¯t suffered any burns. ¡°Did it improve your prophecy?¡±
¡°I would need to ascertain,¡± Lahun replied softly as she pulled back her hair and wiped off the sweat from her brow. Her eyes thoughtfully stared at the ceiling. ¡°Wings¡¡±
I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Wings?¡±
¡°Owl wings, bat wings,¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°Three is not four.¡±
¡°Are you speaking of the war of the three wings mentioned in the prophecy?¡± I asked, my eyes squinting. I had the feeling Lahun wasn¡¯t simply speaking her thoughts out loud.
¡°I apologize, Your Majesty.¡± Lahun gave me a pointed, knowing look. ¡°I simply find the number strange now that I think of it. Three means imbalance while four implies balance, the way four women have always assisted an emperor since the rise of your empire.¡±
She was trying to tell me something important, a detail she couldn¡¯t vocalize out loud for fear of being overheard.
I pondered her words. Owl wings¡ was she talking about Necahual? If so, then I assumed bat wings referred to the Nightlords, doubly so since she mentioned the number four.
Four women have assisted each emperor since Yohuachanca¡¯s birth¡ My eyes widened slowly, an idea forming in my mind. Four consorts¡ or four witches.
Mother insisted that I bind four Mometzcopinques to me, no more and no less; one for each sun ember collected. A path which the First Emperor saw through.
Iztacoatl had said that two Nahualli being born from the same bloodline was unheard of, but the Nightlords were all siblings and daughters of the First Emperor. Each of them had exhibited a totem of their own which differed from their father¡¯s bat. The Jaguar Woman lived up to her name, Iztacoatl¡¯s soul bore scales, and Sugey wore feathers. Even the late Yoloxochitl¡¯s true form was that of a putrid flower.
Yet none of them showed the physical signs of being a Nahualli. Neither their eyes nor hair were pale in the slightest. I¡¯d assumed they¡¯d simply changed their appearance with magic, but now that I was thinking about it¡
The Nightlords could all fly on batlike wings.
My Necahual had inherited my feathers through the Mometzcopinque ritual, even though I knew for sure that she housed no owl totem within her soul. She wielded magic not through being born with it, but by my leave; the same way my captors drained their dread father of his power to strengthen their own.
Which begged an important question.
Were the Nightlords Nahualli at all?
Could they be Mometzcopinques instead?
And if they are, I thought, my gaze lingering on Lahun. What does that mean for us?
Chapter Eighty: The Long Night
I¡¯d spent the evening watching a play with Lahun at her request.
I¡¯d grown somewhat tired of simple dances, so I had asked her what she usually enjoyed back in Chilam. Lahun had answered theater, of all things.
By a stroke of luck, some of the amazons that served as my consorts¡¯ personal guards knew how to perform. I wouldn¡¯t say that their talent rivaled the capital¡¯s best entertainers¡ªquite the opposite¡ªbut it was sufficient enough to intrigue me. Chilam¡¯s traditions focused more on short comic scenes, like fools suffering from diseases or beatings than elaborate stories. I was quite surprised that a composed scholar like Lahun would be into such things.
Not that I paid much attention. I couldn¡¯t get the possibility of the Nightlords being Mometzcopinques out of my head.
The more I considered it, the more it made sense. Those four were leeches through and through. My predecessors thought that a Mometzcopinque couldn¡¯t cast spells, but Necahual already showed the aptitude to create lightning; it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if another set of embers would allow her to use the Doll or Veil.
This would also explain how the Nightlords had managed to bind a god. They had reversed the bond that united a patron spirit with its coven of witches, draining their father¡¯s lifeforce and using their numbers to form an unbreakable equilibrium. A lender always had more influence over one debtor than a multitude of them.
Which presented a key issue: could the same thing happen to me?
The rewards of recruiting more spellcasters outweighed the risks so far, but I would need to do more research on the subject after binding Lahun¡¯s soul. I trusted her and Necahual to remain loyal to me until we destroyed the Nightlords at least, if only because all of our lives depended on it.
Afterwards¡ I believed that my bond with Necahual was strong like an oak, but I would bet the First Emperor thought the same right until his daughters betrayed him. Would a lover be more loyal than one¡¯s own flesh and blood?
This feels like a cycle, I thought while watching the performance. A play repeating itself.
I wasn¡¯t blind to the similarities my life shared with that of the First Emperor. Was Fate subtly nudging me into settling into my predecessor¡¯s role? I would be lying if I said the possibility didn¡¯t bother me.
¡°Is Your Majesty bored with the performance?¡± Lahun asked me, drawing me out of my thoughts.
¡°Far from it,¡± I replied while pulling her naked body closer to mine. ¡°I was merely too focused on you, Lahun.¡±
My answer seemed to amuse her. ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s words honor me, but I didn¡¯t take him for a flatterer.¡±
¡°I do appreciate your company,¡± I insisted. ¡°But to tell you the truth, I was too preoccupied with our future. We are to visit your hometown tomorrow, and then wage war the day after.¡±
Chilam, as Yohuachanca''s latest and most southern tributary, would be our final stop before reaching the frontier of the Sapa Empire and the chosen site for the Flower War. We would spend a day there to gather soldiers and then resume our journey to arrive on time for the first of the Wind Month.
I did not particularly expect a warm welcome in Chilam, even with Chikal at my side. While I assumed she still commanded her people¡¯s respect even as an imperial consort¡ªher fellow amazons would not obey her so readily otherwise¡ªI was the very face of their conqueror; the successor to the line of emperors which had brought their city into Yohuachanca¡¯s fold.
Then again, perhaps this would be my first opportunity to work on my imperial image. Chilam¡¯s people had never seen me yet, and first impressions always stuck. How I chose to portray myself to them would no doubt influence their perception of me in the long term.
¡°I suspect that Your Majesty will find a warmer welcome than he expects in our fair city,¡± Lahun replied. ¡°A male strong enough to conquer an amazon is desired, for he is a challenge; while the amazon who lost to him will be despised for her weakness.¡±
¡°Even a queen?¡± I asked, knowing full well that Chikal would likely announce her pregnancy during our visit.
¡°Lady Chikal will no doubt have to face her fair share of challengers and opponents during your visit, but I do not fear for her safety nor reign. She is fiercer than any woman in Chilam.¡± Lahun rested her head against my chest. ¡°I, however, will only find contempt for yielding to Your Majesty¡¯s will.¡±
¡°Do you regret it?¡±
¡°Not at all,¡± Lahun replied without a doubt. ¡°I was willing to bear this burden when Your Majesty asked me to become his concubine. I do not regret my choice in the slightest.¡±
I expected as much. My discussions with Lahun gave me the impression that she wasn¡¯t especially attached to her hometown. Her loyalty was to magic first and foremost. She mostly served Chikal because they were cousins, and even then it hadn¡¯t stopped Lahun from bearing a potential rival to Chilam¡¯s throne when I asked her to.
¡°Although¡¡± Lahun looked into my eyes. ¡°If Your Majesty would allow me to do so, I would appreciate revisiting my old laboratory during our visit. I have stored many scrolls there that I would like to recover.¡±
¡°Of course,¡± I replied, immediately seeing through her game. ¡°You could show me where you worked too. I am curious.¡±
¡°It would be my pleasure.¡±
Lahun knew her city like the back of her hand and I assumed her laboratory included private areas. If she knew a secret spot where we could practice the Mometzcopinque ritual, I would leave the city with two witches in my employ instead of one.
¡°Is there anything you would like?¡± I inquired. ¡°A precious book that you would like to read and add to your library? Ask, and it is yours.¡±
¡°Nothing comes to mind yet, though I appreciate the offer,¡± Lahun replied with the utmost sincerity. ¡°Truthfully, I am quite surprised by Your Majesty¡¯s generosity towards me. A male breeder in Chilam would not enjoy my current privileges.¡±
I smiled in amusement. ¡°Would you rather that I put you in a cage and ravish you each night?¡±
¡°Far from it,¡± Lahun replied with the same playful expression as my own. ¡°The cage part at least.¡±
I appreciated the fact that she had a sense of humor.
¡°I cannot promise you each night,¡± I replied while pinching her cheek, ¡°But I could ravish you once more, if you wish.¡±
Lahun chuckled to herself. ¡°I must say that Your Majesty¡¯s lust has exhausted me for now. I would like a respite, if you would allow me.¡±
¡°Of course.¡± We had already made love three times tonight, so I couldn¡¯t blame her for wishing to stop there. ¡°Rest as much as you''d like.¡±
Lahun thanked me for my understanding, and we watched the end of the play in quiet silence. It didn¡¯t take long for my seer concubine to fall asleep at my side while the actors left us.
It was quite late and well past midnight. The candles in my bedroom were all extinguished, with the only light allowed within being the pale moonlight. By all means, I should be falling asleep sometime soon.
Yet my dreams took their sweet time.
I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind, to focus on my heartbeat until the rhythm of its pulse lulled me to slumber. When that failed, I lit up a candle and read imperial documents. Lahun was a heavy sleeper, so it did not wake her up; but neither did it help quell my mind either. In fact, I felt as fresh as a man who had just woken up.
It didn¡¯t take long for me to realize the source of the issue.
Tlaloc¡¯s unbound vitality was a curse in disguise. If I healed from wounds in an instant, then it made sense that my body would take much longer to get exhausted. I was half a god already with the endurance to match, and gods did not sleep.
This was bad.
I knew I would likely fall asleep sooner or later¡ªmy body remained mortal¡ªbut later could mean a long time. Considering I could only practice magic openly in the Underworld, every hour counted.
My first reflex was to call Necahual to brew me a potion that would lure me to sleep more easily. I immediately decided against it, since I could only do that a few times. Making it a habit would be noticed and inevitably draw suspicions.
On paper, being sleepless while remaining alert and full of vitality was a blessing. Why would anyone insist on wasting time when they didn¡¯t need to? On top of that, I had first showcased my current transformation after a dream. The Nightlords would likely draw a connection between these elements.
If they suspected me of using dreams to communicate with say, their dread father, then I would never be allowed to close my eyes again.
I decided to keep Necahual¡¯s potions for emergencies and considered other options. I could opt for grueling training each day. The Flower War would give me plenty of excuses to work myself to the bone during daytime hours, but I could hardly justify a spar in the middle of the night.
Unless¡
An idea crossed my mind. I snapped my fingers, and Tayatzin quickly arrived. ¡°Your Majesty?¡±
¡°I need you to carry a message to Lady Sugey,¡± I said. The priest¡¯s eyes widened in shock, but he listened attentively. ¡°I would like to train with her, if she would not mind.¡±
¡°To train, Your Divine Majesty?¡± He didn¡¯t hide his surprise. ¡°For war?¡±
¡°What else?¡± I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°I will soon champion our nation against foreign heathens, and she is the goddess of battle. Now that I have learned the basics with my consort Chikal, I would assume that Lady Sugey would prove an apt teacher for more difficult techniques.¡±
¡°Certainly,¡± Tayatzin replied with a bow. ¡°I shall ask her immediately.¡±
Half an hour later, I climbed down from my longneck in the middle of the night. Our procession had stopped for a time near a river to let the longnecks and trihorns drink before resuming our march, which lent itself to some activity.
I walked into a ring of masked guards and red-eyed priests wearing only a loincloth, a spear, and a shield. Sugey awaited me there, her crimson gaze seizing me up with a mix of amusement and what could pass for excitement. Unlike me, she came wielding a shield and a star-shaped mace, while clothing herself in cotton armor and wearing a helmet made of wicker. A cloak of wool fluttered from her shoulders. This outfit was foreign to me. I hadn¡¯t seen any Yohuachancan soldiers dressed like this.
¡°I must say, I find this refreshing,¡± Sugey declared.
¡°How so, goddess?¡± I asked.
¡°I do not recall any emperor demanding that I tutor them in the arts of war. A few of your predecessors did have the guts to defy me in a duel, but they were few and far between.¡± Sugey studied me for a moment. ¡°Unless you are trying to assess my skills for such a day?¡±
That was exactly my objective, but I wisely kept my intentions hidden. The Bird of War was sharper than she let on. ¡°If I were to defeat you, Lady Sugey, then you would make a poor goddess of war.¡±
¡°True.¡± She scoffed in amusement. ¡°I have heard good tales about your prowess while wearing Father¡¯s armor, but borrowed power can never be relied upon. I will test you as yourself.¡±
Big words for a leech stealing her father¡¯s magic for herself. Her hypocrisy disgusted me. ¡°I shall endeavor not to disappoint you, oh goddess.¡±
¡°I would suggest against it, Iztac Ce Ehecatl. I have no patience for weaklings.¡± Sugey lightly hit her shield with her mace. ¡°I shall train you in the Sapa style of warfare, so that you may familiarize yourself with our enemies. Unlike us, they favor clubs and slings over obsidian blades and arrows.¡±
She pointed at her cloak. ¡°This is alpaca wool. The Sapa soldiers use it to stop arrows while the armor can resist heavy blows, but our obsidian blades can cut through both. Our weapons are more brittle than theirs, so they have the edge in prolonged combat.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°So I must either land a decisive blow quickly or target exposed weak points?¡± I asked.
¡°Or hit hard enough that neither matters.¡± Sugey cracked her neck. ¡°Stand ready.¡±
Then she charged at me with blinding speed before I could respond.
I would have loved to say it was a metaphor, but it wasn¡¯t. The Nightlord moved faster than a jaguar, Chikal, or any opponent I¡¯d faced yet. She closed the gap between us in an instant with her club aiming at my heart. I barely had time to step to the side and raise my shield. It shattered as her weapon hit it with immense force, nearly taking off my arm.
The Bird of War did not play with her food.
¡°Give your all, or die,¡± she warned me. ¡°I would rather have a broken emperor than an embarrassing one.¡±
¡°You shall have neither, goddess,¡± I replied while throwing my spear at her chest. The projectile flew faster than an arrow and with enough strength to gore three men in one blow. She snapped it in two with a swing of her mace.
¡°Foolish,¡± she said, ¡°to leave yourself without¨C¡±
I closed the gap between us in an instant and punched her straight in the face.
My fingers could crush a skull easily enough, yet I felt like I was hitting a wall of ancient stones. My blow would have likely killed a mere mortal. It hardly made her flinch.
But I heard a crack. A slight fracture of a tooth right above the jaw, so subtle I hardly noticed it over the impact of my fist.
Yet it was the silence I found most deafening, as the red-eyed priests watched me punch their goddess. A tense stillness followed, with nobody present daring to move a muscle. Had I done the same to Iztacoatl or the Jaguar Woman in front of their servants, my life would have been forfeited on the spot.
But if I hadn¡¯t misjudged Sugey¡
A chuckle broke the silence, and I allowed myself a breath of relief.
The Bird of War was smiling.
¡°Yes,¡± Sugey said, her cracked tooth healing in the blink of an eye. ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡±
She tossed away her weapons and charged me bare-handed.
I tried to dodge and throw another punch, but her own speed and ferocity proved superior even with my newfound strength. She struck me in the chest so hard she cracked at least two ribs. The pain would have been unbearable once, but I¡¯d grown used to it since.
I attempted to catch her with one arm and ram my fingers into her eyes, to at least blind her. I instead earned a fist to my face that sent me to the ground in return. Blood filled my nostrils and mud my mouth.
¡°Ferocious and crafty,¡± Sugey complimented me; and unlike the likes of Iztacoatl, she sounded sincere. ¡°You hide your intent well enough, but you¡¯re overthinking it.¡±
I tried to rise up, but she simply grabbed me by my hair and lifted me up with a single hand. I might as well have been a bundle of maize to her.
¡°That mind of yours will serve you well before the battle begins, boy, but once it does?¡± She forced me to look at her, her crimson eyes blazing in the dark. ¡°There¡¯s only blood and savagery.¡±
She smashed my face into the ground.
I knew it would have killed any other man, and even then it hurt enough to leave me dizzied and briefly paralyzed. The pain was atrocious beyond words, but I was too enraged to care. I clenched my fists and forced myself to my knees.
I would not go down quietly.
¡°Thinking in a fight makes you hesitate, unfocused, distracted,¡± I heard her say as she cracked her knuckles. She relished this; the pain, the violence, the challenge. ¡°We¡¯ll have to beat that flaw out of your thick skull.¡±
Do your worst, I thought while rising up. One day, the brain spilling out of a skull will be yours.
Sugey eventually beat me to sleep.
¡°You acquainted yourself very well for a mortal, Iztac Ce Ehecatl,¡± I¡¯d heard her say once she finished brutalizing me to resume the march. ¡°I look forward to you claiming heads on the battlefield.¡±
I supposed that my plan worked, although I would have preferred a kinder method in retrospect and would focus on finding one next time. I¡¯d learned enough tonight.
Although Sugey had recruited Chikal, the similarities between them were only superficial. Both enjoyed the thrill of battle and violence, but while my consort¡¯s lessons always focused on explaining to me what went wrong and how to improve, Sugey¡¯s idea of ¡®training¡¯ mostly involved relentlessly beating me up and punishing every mistake I made with overwhelming brutality. More than that, I could tell she enjoyed it.
Sugy was a brute. A cunning brute, but a brute nonetheless.
This encounter at least taught me not to underestimate her. Sugey wasn¡¯t stupid in the slightest. She fought with an ancient warrior¡¯s experience and sharp senses, and she had familiarized herself with Sapa fighting tactics enough to mimic them. She was the most dangerous kind of warrior: the fighter that extensively researched their enemy before engaging them in battle.
She would not underestimate me if I ever challenged her openly. Unlike the White Snake, the Bird of War did not toy with her food.
Sugey also differed from Iztacoatl in a few ways. Namely, she didn¡¯t care much for mind games or humiliating me. In fact, she seemed pleased with my performance enough to compliment it. She respected strength above all else. I had a feeling I could use that against her.
Most important of all, she wasn¡¯t insecure in the slightest.
Iztacoatl was a coward at heart, and the Jaguar Woman¡¯s obsessive need to crush any form of dissent with disproportionate force bordered on madness. Even Yoloxochitl pathetically demanded the love of others. Sugey instead struck me as the kind of person who felt secure in her strength.
This could prove a problem going forward. Those who didn¡¯t fear losing face were the most willing to take bold risks.
All in all, I suspected that it would take much less effort to hide things under Sugey¡¯s nose than with Iztacoatl, but she wouldn¡¯t hesitate to get her hands dirty if I slipped up in any way.
I put those thoughts aside as I finally faded into unconsciousness and returned to Tlalocan. Nobody disturbed my Father or my predecessors¡¯ hiding spot, which I appreciated. Moreover, the fiery clouds below had all but cleared, revealing an endless wasteland of ashes. The temperature had dropped too.
I knew this dead world would never sustain life again, but it would at least become tolerable.
¡°That is a fascinating possibility,¡± my predecessors¡¯ skull said after I recounted Lahun¡¯s hypothesis. ¡°If the Nightlords are indeed Mometzcopinques rather than Nahualli as we assumed, then it would mean that studying your bond to young Necahual might grant you insight into their rituals.¡±
I hadn¡¯t thought of it, but they had a point. If the bond that united the Nightlords to their enslaved father was the same that united me to Necahual, then examining the latter would give me an edge in sabotaging the former.
I might even find a way to break their hold over my soul. The New Fire Ceremony already proved that the Nightlords¡¯ various rituals were interconnected in a web of occult power, with the alteration of one impacting the others.
However, the Parliament of Skulls also noticed a problem I hadn¡¯t considered. ¡°We do foresee another issue, our successor. A Mometzcopinque derives their power from their patron, which is split between their witches. Not only will the First Emperor regain more of his strength with each Nightlord that we destroy, but the surviving sisters may individually access a greater amount of magic each.¡±
¡°So if I were to slay Iztacoatl, both the Bird of War and the Jaguar Woman could array stronger spells against me?¡± I asked with my jaw clenching in displeasure. This didn¡¯t please me in the slightest.
¡°They would need to expend more to keep the First Emperor sealed too,¡± Father pointed out. ¡°Would the two counterbalance each other?¡±
¡°Possibly,¡± I conceded. I didn¡¯t notice a fluctuation in the Nightlords¡¯ powers after Yoloxochitl¡¯s demise, but it could have simply been the result of Eztli quickly filling in for her deceased vampire sire.
¡°Your sleeping difficulties present another problem we must address,¡± my predecessors said. ¡°An exhausting schedule will mitigate the worst of it, but we will have to assume you might no longer be able to fall into the Underworld each night from now on; and since our Reliquary is now half an empire away from you, opportunities for us to advise you will become rarer.¡±
¡°Wouldn¡¯t meditation help?¡± Father suggested. ¡°I am no expert in these things, but your Mother had her own way of venturing into the Underworld without being beholden to sleep¡¯s demands. She should know a spell that would allow your spirit to wander here.¡±
I pondered his words in silence. He had a point. Mother mentioned that she preferred the Underworld and rarely stayed among the living. It would make sense for her to have learned or developed a spell to make it easier.
Nevertheless, I had no desire to meet her again unless she fulfilled Father''s demands that she release the souls she kept in captivity; and even then, I didn¡¯t think I could do more than tolerate her. Her sacrifice of Father had been one act of cowardice too many.
But then again, that very same fear would force her to behave if I ordered her to do anything. She was already no match for me before I consumed Tlaloc¡¯s embers. I would simply have to ask and she would obey.
¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± I replied evasively while bringing out the First Emperor¡¯s codex. ¡°Until then, we should investigate the path to the Third Layer. I¡¯m wary of asking Tlaloc for directions considering his temperament, so this book remains our option for the moment.¡±
¡°His Majesties and I can read it for you, my son,¡± Father suggested. ¡°It¡¯s not like we have better things to do around these parts.¡±
¡°A wise proposal,¡± my predecessors agreed. ¡°Until then, you can use this time to practice your spellcasting.¡±
It would indeed be an optimal use of our time and resources, except for one issue: namely, my father and the previous emperors had both been reduced to skulls with no arms to flip the pages with. I considered how to solve this problem when an idea crossed my mind.
I remembered Queen Mictecacihuatl mentioning that a sorcerer could animate armies of corpses with the Doll, and I had success combining different spells in the past.
I looked at the skull channeling my predecessors, which I had crafted from my own bones. Knowing that they would eventually regrow, I grabbed some of my ribs and reshaped them into a small skeleton no larger than that of a small child. I bound the emperors¡¯ skull to it and sensed them join together through our shared curse.
¡°Can you control it, my predecessors?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes.¡± The past emperors raised their new hands to examine them. ¡°How strange. We had almost forgotten how it felt to move.¡±
The Legion¡¯s power had increased enough that the skulls could animate bones bound to them. This pleased me greatly. Six hundred emperors slumbered in anguish within their parliament of the dead. If each of them could animate a body, then I would only be limited by the quantity of vessels I could provide them.
¡°I lack enough bones to create more than one body yet,¡± I apologized to Father. ¡°If you can wait until tomorrow night, I should have enough resources to change that.¡±
¡°No need,¡± he reassured me. ¡°Simply attach me to this one. If I am to join with His Majesties through your Legion spell, I might as well get used to sharing a body.¡±
The idea of his soul suffering as part of the Parliament of Skulls shook me to my core. ¡°Father, we have talked about this. That idea is out of the question.¡±
¡°We appreciate your determination, Lord Itzili, but we humbly suggest that you reconsider,¡± my predecessors added. ¡°We would trade anything for our current state of existence.¡±
¡°I more than understand,¡± Father replied with a somber tone that made me wince. He had been assimilated into the First Fear not too long ago, a fate arguably even worse than becoming another skull on a pile. ¡°However, I cannot let my son risk his life while I wait on the sidelines.¡±
¡°The book might offer us other alternatives,¡± the previous emperors argued, though I could tell it was mostly to delay this critical discussion for another time. ¡°Let us not jump to conclusions too hastily.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I said, jumping at the opportunity to change Father¡¯s mind. ¡°Look into the codex until you find more information on the next layer first.¡±
Father agreed to drop the matter for a moment, and I swiftly bound his skull to the new body I¡¯d shaped. The result looked quite grotesque, the head of the small skeleton¡¯s two heads forcing it to hunch over, but it was functional enough for them to flip through the book¡¯s pages.
In the meantime, I continued to practice with my other spells in order to assess their increase in power. I first began to experiment with Spiritual Manifestation and quickly found that my control over it had sharpened. While I was once forced to shift back and forth between forms, I quickly managed to grow wings out of my shoulders and turn my hands into talons without surrendering my humanoid shape. I could blend the aspects of man and the beast however I wished.
With practice, I could see myself developing a shape that combined the strengths of both and the weaknesses of neither.
I didn¡¯t notice any particular change with the Doll besides an increase in range and grip strength for its shadow talons. I could use them to punch through stone and shred men, but it didn¡¯t seem to have gained any new application.
The Veil, however, showcased a noticeable change.
I wove an illusion of a sparrow within my hand, so small and weak it could be crushed within my palm. I pressed against its feathers with my fingers and felt a slight pressure against them. The fake bird let out a cry as if I were genuinely hurting it.
The illusion had substance.
I wouldn¡¯t call it solid, since the sparrow vanished into nothingness when I pressed a tiny bit harder, but it was definitely tangible. Semi-real.
This opened up many possibilities. While a tangible illusion would collapse easily, it would become more credible too. The Veil¡¯s main weakness was that the victim had to buy into a lie for it to take hold over their mind, so I remained limited to subtle and believable scenarios. Creating a false demon among a crowd would have been impossible for me to sustain beforehand.
However, if it were halfway solid enough to touch its victims, then the latter would likely start buying into the illusion; thus strengthening it enough to become real in their eyes. This greatly broadened my options for the Veil.
I wondered about the implications for a moment. What would happen once I consumed a third set of embers? Would my illusions become real? Would I become powerful enough to shape reality like clay?
I felt I had only touched the surface of absolute power.
I heard Father¡¯s voice calling out to me. ¡°We¡¯ve found it, Iztac.¡±
I put aside those thoughts and turned to my allies. My father and predecessor pointed at a page with a drawing of a strange portal with ephemeral, shadowy boundaries. It reminded me of a ring made of intertwined smoke and winds. I quickly read the description.
Located in the depths of Matzakuy, the first city raised by the Third Sun¡¯s people, the Gate of the Twin-Breaths links the tombs of Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl. Built from wind and fire, it is the last frontier between the dreams of mankind and the primeval unknown; for it was only with the rise of the Third Sun that the gods created the race of man that lingers to this day. The Layers beyond serve as tombs for things that preceded us, some of which were too dangerous to linger in the heavens¡¯ newer creations. The horrors that dwell within these realms are both primordial and unrecognizable.
The Second Sun came to an end when the gods raised a hurricane that would sweep away the sins and evils that inhabited this doomed world. To cross the Gate of the Twin-Breaths requires a ghastly sacrifice that only the bravest and most determined will be willing to pay.
A first breath and the last.
¡°A first breath and the last?¡± I repeated, pondering its meaning.
¡°Then you would need the breath of a newborn and that of a dying person?¡± Father asked. ¡°This does not sound too difficult.¡±
The previous emperors unfortunately disagreed. ¡°The book mentions a single sacrifice, not two,¡± they pointed out. ¡°This suggests a different interpretation: the first breath must be the last.¡±
It didn¡¯t take long for the implications to dawn on Father and me.
I would have flinched at the sacrifice required once, but I could have filled a lake with the blood of all my victims by now. At that point, one more wouldn¡¯t hurt.
The logistics involved would prove another matter. A human¡¯s first breath meant I would have to extract a child from a mother¡¯s womb and then kill them before they could take a second breath.
Did it even need to belong to a human? Would a turkey chick¡¯s first breath count? It would seem far too easy, but magic obeyed its own rules.
Father clearly thought along the same lines. ¡°Let us try with an animal before we do anything drastic, my son.¡±
¡°Agreed,¡± I said. ¡°Does the book say more?¡±
¡°Unfortunately not,¡± Father complained as he flipped the last page. ¡°This book ends with the gate¡¯s description.¡±
¡°Our successor has access to another volume,¡± my predecessors replied. ¡°We suspect it will pick up where this one left off.¡±
I nodded in confirmation. The First Emperor codex currently in my possession only covered the Second Layer of the Underworld. However, I recalled that the volume which Ingrid had started to translate covered the author''s meeting with Quetzalcoatl, the Second Sun of the world; an interaction that could have only taken place in the Third Layer. There was a chance that the author recorded his crossing of the Gate of the Twin-Breaths in that volume.
And if my predecessors were right about the sacrifice, and if it required a human¡¯s life¡
If they were right, I would do what I had to do.
Chapter Eighty-One: Chilam
I looked down upon my father¡¯s skull, my eyes shining with sunlight and my words carrying a ruler''s authority.
¡°Lie to me,¡± I ordered.
¡°I¡¡± It said something about Father that he had to think over the command for half a minute before coming up with the most harmless lie possible. ¡°I¡ I do not like turkey meat?¡±
My Gaze brightened with golden light. A wisp of smoke emerged from the mouth of his skull, like a cloud of corruption escaping him; as it did when I asked the Parliament of Skulls to deceive me earlier. The lie they came up with had been subtler and more insidious than Father¡¯s, but no less visible to my spell.
¡°I can see falsehoods,¡± I confirmed upon canceling the Gaze. ¡°My spell not only pierces through magical illusions, but common deceit too.¡±
¡°A useful ability,¡± my predecessors commented. ¡°Albeit one best used sporadically in conjunction with the Veil.¡±
I nodded and meditated upon our new findings. Besides the Gaze¡¯s new application, my Curse feathers had grown more potent and vibrant, which suggested that they had gained a greater pull over destiny. I couldn¡¯t thoroughly test it nor the Haunt within Tlaloc¡¯s domain, as the god would not tolerate me putting a malediction on his lands and chosen souls, but I would have plenty of targets to choose from when I returned to the waking world. Same with the Pit, which I had yet to try out and should sacrifice a chosen target to Xibalba. I could find a red-eyed priest or two to ¡®volunteer¡¯ to test these spells on my behalf.
Otherwise, much like the Doll spell, the Fall¡¯s function hadn¡¯t changed much besides increasing in strength; I¡¯d managed to uproot a tree and send it flying away in the sky, among other things. The Slice cut slightly deeper and the Cloak¡¯s winds blew harder, but nowhere near as much as I would have expected. I supposed that since those spells relied on outside forces¡ªnamely, the hatred and adoration of the masses respectively¡ªrather than my own strength to function, my own surge in power wouldn¡¯t affect their potency.
Which left only the Ride and the Tomb to check out next. I decided to try out the latter after I left Tlalocan to avoid damaging it and enticing its master¡¯s wrath, and I considered how to use the former. Mother warned me that the spell wouldn¡¯t work on red-eyed priests nor Nightspawn due to the vampiric curse providing a degree of protection, but if my magic had grown strong enough to bypass it, then¡
I felt the sting of wakefulness at the edge of my mind, far too early to my liking.
¡°I will wake up soon,¡± I warned my father and predecessors with undisguised frustration. ¡°My nights are getting shorter.¡±
Not only did my inhuman vitality delay the need for rest, but it also reduced the sleep that my body required. I¡¯d been struck with a curse disguised as a blessing.
¡°We feared as much,¡± the past emperors said. ¡°We shall begin to count the hours the next time you fall asleep. What can be measured can be improved.¡±
¡°We ought to visit your mother on your next visit,¡± Father argued. ¡°While I understand that you may feel uneasy around her, I think we should consult her. She must know a way to ease your journey.¡±
¡°Mayhaps,¡± I replied without too much enthusiasm. While I had no love left for my mother, I couldn¡¯t argue with Father¡¯s logic. I needed to find a way to address the sleeping problem without arousing suspicions.
My already precious time was only growing shorter.
I woke up as we arrived near Chilam.
We had to travel through a sinuous stone road, crossing dense marshes that reminded me of the Underworld¡¯s First Layer until the peak of the city¡¯s grand temple appeared to us looming over the trees. Rows upon rows of spears were lined up along the path; according to Chikal, they were memorials to fallen amazon sisters who died protecting the city across the ages.
I doubted anyone would have found their way through the dense jungle without the narrow road; and even then, I immediately felt watched as our procession advanced across it. I¡¯d heard stone highways connected amazon cities together while allowing their people to set ambushes for travelers who hadn¡¯t paid their due. I wondered how many armies had vanished here, their soldiers¡¯ corpses left to rot and sink in the surrounding bogs.
The spears along the road attested to the hefty tributes the amazons paid for their independence; and even then, it hadn¡¯t been enough to keep Yohuachanca¡¯s armies at bay forever.
We eventually rode past one of the four cenotes that fueled the city¡¯s water supply and great blocky masonry, basalt walls covered in mosaics of monstrous faces meant to discourage invaders. A good chunk of them had fallen under outside assault, but most of it remained standing. I could almost imagine the moment when Chikal decided to negotiate with Yohuachanca rather than continue a doomed fight upon seeing the damage.
Chilam itself was no bustling capital, but it was no small city either. The vast settlement housed several pyramids and structures several floors up, each of them precisely connected to each of the four cenotes that served as the amazons¡¯ water reservoirs. I caught a glimpse of a ballcourt and plazas filled with women-run markets. Besides the absence of men, Chilam¡¯s civilization didn¡¯t look too different from the rest of Yohuachanca.
However, I quickly noticed a few details that set it apart from my empire¡¯s other cities. Most actual houses and huts were built from wood and stood on pillars dug into the earth, perhaps to avoid flooding. Palisades protected farmland and gardens were tended to by men with slave collars, all of them working under the careful watch of women warriors with leashes and spears; the males¡¯ faces were hidden behind wooden masks covering their entire heads except for the eyes and mouths.
¡°Fathers and brothers all,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°Never allowed to love or fight, only to fear.¡±
I watched it all from my longneck¡¯s balcony as a small crowd of female warriors escorted our procession to the main pyramid. I¡¯d originally intended to enter the city riding on Itzili¡¯s back, but Chikal demanded that we instead arrive on the longneck together so I wouldn¡¯t overshadow her in front of her own people. By sharing the same vehicle and climbing down together, we would appear as equals rather than imply a hierarchy.
I noticed that many of the younger women gave me strange looks¡ªsome intrigued, some disapproving. I had the distinct impression a few of them had never seen a non-slave male¡¯s visage in their entire lives, let alone an emperor waving at them from a roving mansion¡¯s balcony.
¡°Most men aren¡¯t allowed to show their faces, to avoid tempting young amazons astray,¡± Chikal explained to me as she joined me on the balcony. ¡°Yohuachancan prisoners were freed as part of our treaty, so most of the men you now see were taken from the Sapa or lesser jungle tribes.¡±
Which explained the looks. I was probably the first maskless man that many of these women ever saw.
¡°All they see is their enemy,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°The oppressor, the conqueror, who took them through numbers and guile rather than strength of arms. Do you hear their knives sharpened behind your back?¡±
¡°I see,¡± I replied without elaborating. The sight of masked slaves never became easier to me¡ªespecially since I couldn¡¯t help but see myself in those people denied their freedom and identity¡ªbut the laws of Chilam were far older than I was and I required its people¡¯s assistance. Criticizing their way of life in the open would not win me any friends. ¡°I will do my best not to tempt your citizens then.¡±
My words amused Chikal to no end. ¡°Quite the contrary, Iztac. I would rather that you tempt them.¡±
I raised an eyebrow, with my consort leaning on me to whisper her plans in my ear. Little of it surprised me. I¡¯d already reached similar conclusions from my discussions with Lahun.
¡°Can I count on your cooperation?¡± Chikal asked me.
¡°Of course.¡± I boldly put one of my arms around her waist in front of her fellow amazons and waved to them with the other. ¡°Anything for my beloved.¡±
Recognizing my move for what it was, Chikal smiled in amusement as she imitated me. The effect was as I expected: many amazons looked up to us in shock as their queen and a male stood before them not as master and servant, not as conqueror and conquered, but as equals. It was a sight that likely spooked many of them to their core.
Our longneck¡¯s destination, Chikal¡¯s palace, could be held within a wing of my own. It only had two floors elevated on a limestone platform and nine doors separated by stone pillars, though its facade was elegantly decorated with beads, birds, and feather motifs. Layered tree trunks formed the roof. An elderly woman of advanced age awaited us in front of the main stairway, wearing old skins, golden bracelets, and a crocodile¡¯s skull over her head. She leaned on a staff to bend her back in submission once our delegation climbed down our mount.
Of my consorts and concubines, only Chikal, Ingrid, Tenoch, and Lahun emerged from the longneck after me; and the latter two did so in their position as handmaidens to the former. The others remained aboard, either because the sight of a blinded slave like Chindi would send the wrong message to the locals, or because they simply wished for solitude in Nenetl¡¯s case. My sister still required time to figure things out when it came to our situation, so I assented to her wish.
Most importantly, all of our guards were amazons from Chikal¡¯s retinue. I had successfully argued that bringing in masked males with weapons and red-eyed priests would aggravate the population we aimed to pacify and incorporate, which ought to give us a rare day of privacy.
Chikal had otherwise briefed me on how her people treated their elders. When an amazon grew too old to fight, they instead entered retirement as advisors to the royal family. This council possessed a certain pull in Chilam¡¯s affairs, though little binding power. I was expected to treat them with respect, which I would.
¡°Welcome home, Your Majesty,¡± the old woman said. Though she bowed in front of Chikal and me, I knew she only respected one of us. ¡°All of Chilam rejoices at your visit.¡±
¡°Does it, Ixmucan?¡± Chikal asked with a knowing look. ¡°I have heard of unrest among my sisters-in-battle.¡±
¡°A few fools still resent Your Majesty for surrendering to Yohuachanca.¡± The old woman turned to face me, her ancient eyes appraising me with suspicion. ¡°The coming of their emperor does not inspire joy, I must say. To be blunt, Your Majesty, you should not expect applause.¡±
This one was honest at least. I had almost forgotten what it sounded like among all the flatterers and deceivers in court.
¡°I will be sure to remind them of the honor my visit represents,¡± I replied. ¡°And I have a need for true warriors. If they have the strength to complain, let them showcase it with blades in hands and capturing men worthy of them.¡±
While I wasn¡¯t particularly approving of Chilam¡¯s traditions, I knew better than to say so out loud. Attacking a people¡¯s way of life was the surest bet to encourage rebellion, and I mostly required loyalty for now.
¡°A few hotheads will jump at Your Majesty¡¯s proposal,¡± Ixmucan replied with skepticism. ¡°Most will resent serving a male.¡±
¡°How about serving their queen?¡± Chikal replied with a scoff. ¡°I shall lead them myself.¡±
¡°Will you?¡± Ixmucan squinted in surprise. ¡°I heard Yohuachanca wished to incorporate us into their own military command.¡±
¡°The voice of Yohuachanca stands before you, elder,¡± I replied with the imperious dignity of an emperor. ¡°Chilam¡¯s forces shall serve under my dear consort as she sees fit.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Ixmucan studied us for a moment, then nodded in assent. I had the stark intuition that this old fossil hid an experienced political mind behind her crumbling flesh. She could see the signs that Chikal and I had formed an alliance of some kind.
In any case, we soon settled on an agenda for the day. Chikal would officially announce the declaration of war to the council of elders as queen of Chilam, as tradition demanded, and she would do it alone so as not to diminish her legitimacy. Her pregnancy would be announced in the evening at a feast where most of the city¡¯s warriors would be invited, and where I was expected to show up. Otherwise, I was free to explore the city as I wished.
This presented an opportunity I could not let pass.
¡°I recall that my dear Lahun wished to visit the city¡¯s archives,¡± I said before turning to Ingrid. ¡°You should accompany us.¡±
Ingrid bowed slightly. ¡°I am always pleased to follow, my lord, but I wonder what he has in mind.¡±
¡°Chilam is right next to the Sapa, and it would come as a surprise to me if such an ancient and revered people did not gather information on our enemies,¡± I replied. ¡°Perhaps you will find something interesting among these ancient documents; maybe even tales pertaining to the goddesses and our own nation¡¯s history missing from our capital.¡±
A flash of recognition passed over Ingrid¡¯s eyes. She knew I wasn¡¯t talking about Chilam¡¯s archives, but the emperor¡¯s secret codex. She could read between the lines: I wanted her to keep studying it and report any findings to me in short order.
¡°My lord is wise and farsighted, as always,¡± Ingrid replied while turning to look at her handmaiden. ¡°Will you assist me in this task, Tenoch?¡±
¡°Of course, Milady,¡± my concubine replied with a pleasant smile. ¡°I have never seen a foreign city before. I wonder if they will let me see their treasures.¡±
With the matter settled, our group split, with Chikal going with Ixmucan to meet with the elders while the rest of us visited the royal palace under Lahun¡¯s guidance. The structure¡¯s austerity contrasted with my own dominion¡¯s opulence. Where almost every inch of my floors were covered in expensive carpets and its walls adorned with mosaics, the amazons preferred smooth stone, and the trophy heads of hunted beasts for decorations. Even the rooms were more akin to barracks than bedrooms, with hammocks of snakeskin leather strung between stone posts. I daresay that my own longneck roving house had more amenities than this place.
Chilam¡¯s entire culture revolved around war, and I had the distinct impression that they saw shows of wealth as a weakness.
Lahun eventually led us to the archives wing of the palace, a large, windowless chamber lined with books, scrolls, and tablets accumulated through age and conquest. The lanterns meant to illuminate it hadn¡¯t been lit in a while, and a faint layer of dust covered some of the desks. Clearly, no one had entered the premises since Lahun last visited.
¡°These stairs lead to the observatory above, if you wish to consult the stars and clouds,¡± Lahun said as she used a torch to set the lanterns alight. ¡°My private laboratory is further up ahead.¡±
¡°Interesting,¡± I said upon checking the tablets. ¡°I recognize some words and not others.¡±
¡°Most tribes and nations around the Boiling Sea share the same linguistical roots,¡± Lahun explained. ¡°Our dialect, Yohuachanca¡¯s, the Sapa¡¯s, and many others that once lived in the region all have a common ancestor before each developing a unique identity over time.¡±
Most interesting. If the story about the First Emperor¡¯s brother leaving for Sapa Empire¡¯s mountains was correct, then he might have introduced his and Yohuachanca¡¯s language to those people that already lived there.
¡°Do you have records of your city¡¯s founding?¡± I asked Lahun. ¡°And the Sapa?¡±
¡°Most certainly.¡± Lahun pointed at a part of the library with her staff. ¡°This wing contains historical and mythological records my predecessors compiled. I must confess that my queen and I were more interested in predicting the future, so I cannot recall which codices will soothe Your Majesty¡¯s curiosity.¡±
¡°Tenoch and I can browse these archives for you, my lord,¡± Ingrid wisely suggested. ¡°This will spare some of your precious time.¡±
¡°Always dependable, Ingrid,¡± I said before lightly kissing my consort on the cheek; a gesture that drew a giggle from Tenoch. ¡°What would I do without you?¡±
¡°My lord tells me,¡± my consort replied with a knowing wink. ¡°Please do not linger too long though. I have heard that the amazons tend to beautiful gardens, and I would like to visit them next if my lord allows me.¡±
¡°Of course,¡± I reassured her. ¡°This will only take a moment.¡±
I had grown talented at dismembering people.
True to her word, Lahun guided me into a small, isolated chamber further into the archives with smooth rounded corners, walls plastered with incomprehensible star maps and diagrams, and a single small carpet of fur for meditation purposes. Lahun examined every inch of the room to check for observation holes.
¡°Your Majesty has found a bright and capable consort,¡± she said with sincere praise. ¡°Lady Ingrid¡¯s mind is sharper than my queen¡¯s blade.¡±
¡°I am fond of her,¡± I replied before whipping up a Veil around us for secrecy and swiftly confirming that no one was observing us. The Nightlords¡¯ surveillance had grown less intense under Sugey¡¯s leadership, and Chilam was too far away from their center of power for them to deploy spies in every wall.
We were alone for the time being.
¡°Are you ready?¡± I asked Lahun.
¡°Yes.¡± My concubine sat on the carpet, set aside her staff, and faced me. ¡°I have been ready since the day of my birth.¡±
Of that, I had little doubt. ¡°This will hurt,¡± I warned her still. ¡°Knowing this is one thing, understanding it is another.¡±
¡°All gods demand a toll of pain for life and favor,¡± Lahun replied calmly and fearlessly. ¡°I will pay Your Majesty¡¯s price.¡±
¡°I am not a god.¡± Yet. ¡°But very well. Undress yourself.¡±
Lahun obeyed without hesitation, her robes slipping off her smooth skin and ending up in a pile in a nearby corner of the room. She knelt and looked up to me as naked as the day she was born. She did not blink when I summoned the dark talons of the Doll spell. Unlike Necahual before her, she showed no apprehension nor fear.
She already knew she would live through this.
¡°Did you foresee this moment?¡± I asked her out of curiosity. ¡°Was this written?¡±
¡°It was fated since the moment I accepted Your Majesty¡¯s offer,¡± Lahun replied calmly. ¡°Come what may.¡±
I had been a bit hesitant to take a new witch under my wing after learning of the Nightlords¡¯ potential true nature, but Lahun¡¯s dignity swept away all of my doubts. She would serve me wonderfully.
I gave her a nod of respect, then sliced off her limbs.
Tlaloc¡¯s gift had increased my Doll spell¡¯s strength and speed to the point that their talons struck like lightning. I channeled the Blaze through their burning claws, cauterizing wounds in an instant. Lahun bit her tongue to swallow a scream of fear and surprise which my Veil would have smothered anyway. Her face went pale and her eyes filled with tears of agony.
I gently grabbed her in my arms and laid her limbless body on her back across the carpet, surrounded by her severed body parts. Having already gone through the ritual once with Necahual, I was simply going through the motions. I did not relish her pain, but I accepted it nonetheless.
I switched her severed limbs, pressing her arms against the thighs and her legs against the shoulders, then bit my palm and blessed the stumps with my shining blood. Fire rained down my hand the same way Tlaloc¡¯s fury once burned the world from the heavens above. Lahun wriggled and writhed in pain as my searing fluids bound her severed flesh back in an unholy parody of wings and talons.
I immediately noticed changes compared to Necahual¡¯s own ritual. My blood did more than bind the disparate body parts together; it crawled its way into Lahun¡¯s veins and caused them to glow as it traveled through them. It flowed and coursed like water entering a welcoming riverbed, or seeds putting down roots in fertile soil.
I would expect the experience to be painful, for few appreciated fire in their veins. A look at Lahun¡¯s face convinced me otherwise. Her scowl of intense pain had transformed into a daze of rapturous pleasure. It briefly reminded me of the expression victims of the vampire kiss boasted on their faces after a feeding. I supposed both experiences weren¡¯t too far apart.
I placed my bleeding palm against Lahun¡¯s chest, her skin burning and fuming at my touch. It drew a cry of pleasure out of my concubine. My owl-totem stirred within my soul as its talons eagerly closed in on a new slave¡¯s spirit.
¡°Lahun of Chilam,¡± I declared. ¡°I am Tlacatecolotl, the owl-fiend of disaster. I hold your life within my very hands, and now I demand your soul.¡±
I sensed her Teyolia and Tonalli answering my call. My fingers sank into her soft flesh and slipped through her ribs until I could sense her beating heart thundering beneath my palm.
¡°I shall claim your name and soul for myself, so that you may serve and worship me for all eternity,¡± I told Lahun. ¡°In exchange, I shall grant you the power you crave. I shall bestow upon you the spark of true magic and pleasures forbidden to all mortals. I shall make you a Mometzcopinque, a slave-wife, and seer to the rising god.¡±
I leaned over her, one hand grasping her heart, the other caressing her face.
¡°Will you be mine?¡± I asked, my breath on her lips. ¡°Will you gaze into the abyss of magic with me until death do us part?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Lahun whispered through the daze of pleasure and pain. ¡°I shall serve you forevermore¡ Your Majesty.¡±
The pact was sealed, and her soul belonged to me.
My Teyolia flowed into her own, filling her heart with my malice and grandeur. I bound her spirit to mine in a kinship deeper than family and stronger than love. A leash of magic joined us in a union of power.
My strength became her own and reshaped her body in the same way it had transformed Necahual. Her shoulder-legs unfolded into ebon wings and her thigh-arms into owlish talons. However, where Necahual had sharpened as inner ferocity became manifest, Lahun underwent a subtler change. Her eyes grew more focused, her curiosity shining through, while other traits became more aquiline and almost wiser.
I swiftly realized that the Mometzcopinque ritual either brought a person¡¯s self to the forefront or reflected part of my own thoughts. Necahual had been an echo of my savagery, wild and untamed; while Lahun¡¯s transformation showcased our shared inquisitiveness.
Moreover, I barely noticed my own strength diminishing; either Lahun took much less than Necahual, which I doubted, or the well of power I could draw upon had simply grown deep indeed since I absorbed a second set of embers.
I strongly leaned towards the latter. The Nightlords had siphoned away from their malevolent sire for over six centuries, and he still surpassed all of them in might. Infusing a Mometzcopinque would have tremendously diminished me when the waters of my soul were no more than a pond, but now that it was a lake it didn¡¯t make as big of a difference.
Whatever the case, I now owned Lahun¡¯s flesh and soul. I could see it in her gaze when I removed my hand from her chest and watched her wounds heal in an instant; the awareness of the unbreakable bond of servitude between us and the understanding that there would be no backing down.
However, I didn¡¯t detect doubt or remorse in Lahun. Quite the contrary. When she raised her wings and watched fire and lightning course through her new feathers, she knew that she had made the right choice.
¡°This is¡ exhilarating¡¡± I heard her mutter to herself, her breath short and yet so heavy. ¡°So this is the power that was bestowed upon Lady Necahual.¡±
¡°Yours are my fire and lightning, and I granted you wings to fly with,¡± I said. ¡°My power is yours to wield as you see fit, and your life is mine to dispose of as I wish.¡±
¡°I understand,¡± she replied with an obedient nod. ¡°Your Majesty was true to his word, and so I will serve him.¡±
I studied her face for a moment with the Gaze and saw no lie. Lahun was a creature of honor in a way, who respected the laws of fate and the gods. She had sworn an oath and would live by its tenets.
¡°My Necahual is your eldest and my favorite among your new sisterhood,¡± I warned Lahun. ¡°Should she ask anything of you, I expect you to fulfill her demands.¡±
I accepted her loyalty and prepared to rise up when her talons grabbed my shoulders.
¡°If I may make a request to Your Majesty¡¡± Lahun¡¯s legs spread open to welcome me. ¡°Now that my eyes are open, I must see.¡±
A smile stretched on my lips as my hands grabbed her waist and undid my robes. When she asked so nicely, how could I deny her a glimpse of magic?
I took Lahun on the carpet, skipping through preliminaries and moving straight towards the meat of our union. The fact that my blood coursed through both of our veins eased up the Seidr ritual, as did the bond between our souls. We were parts reunited into an almighty whole.
The visions came easily; sights of a ruined temple filled with sand and ashes where stood a ring-shaped doorway of spiraling bones and wood enclosing on swirling winds. I recognized the Gate of the Twin-Breaths.
The memory grew more vivid, and I saw a shadow standing in front of it; a familiar witch with ebon wings and eyes of ice.
Mother.
Of course she would have visited this place and kept that information from me. She hoarded secrets and whatever that could give her an advantage.
If she had studied the gate¡ did she also figure out its key?
The vision ended before I could wonder further, with my soul returning to my body as I spilled my seed on Lahun¡¯s thighs. I heard her gasp beneath me as faint smoke arose from between her legs.
¡°Your Majesty¡¡± she looked into my eyes with unbound curiosity. ¡°What was that place?¡±
I briefly wondered about keeping her in the dark and pondered my options. The less she knew, the less she might spill if interrogated¡ but on the other hand, her life and soul were now tied to mine. Lahun had no choice but to fight at my side against the Nightlords if she hoped to survive.
Moreover, she had a keen intellect, a natural talent for the occult arts, and a certain amount of honor which I respected. I figured we would be better served if I pointed her curiosity and wisdom in the right direction. I should encourage her to search for knowledge that would serve my needs in exchange for greater rewards.
¡°That is the door to Lord Quetzacoatl¡¯s realm,¡± I replied.
Lahun¡¯s eyes widened in astonishment. ¡°The feathered serpent himself?¡±
¡°I am due to visit him so that he might bestow his favor upon me, but a divinity does not allow even a Godspeaker in his presence without trials.¡± I avoided mentioning the Underworld or the context of the trial itself¡ªno one knew that the dead suns lingered underground, and most believed that the gods simply resided in the heavens above. ¡°This gate is locked, and I must find its key to secure my audience.¡±
I couldn¡¯t tell her more to avoid the Nightlords learning of dangerous information, but that morsel of information was enough. The mere fact that I spoke so casually about earning an audience with a creator god already earned me Lahun¡¯s respect and fascination.
¡°I see¡¡± Lahun pondered my words for a moment. ¡°The feathered serpent is an ancient deity, with a wealth of lore to his name; some of it contained within these very archives. If Your Majesty wishes, I can research it.¡±
¡°Yes, you shall,¡± I replied. ¡°Only a Godspeaker can be allowed in a god¡¯s presence, but the favor Quetzalcoatl will bestow upon me shall spill over to you too.¡±
Lahun met my eyes and nodded in sincere gratitude. ¡°Your Majesty already blessed me more than I could ever imagine.¡±
I had given her a glimpse of the world¡¯s true secrets, and she would never stop working to learn more. She would serve me so long as I kept her hungry.
Another thought occupied my mind as I pulled away from her though. All the signs and visions pointed in the same direction, which I could no longer ignore or delay.
I needed to meet with my wench of a mother again.
Chapter Eighty-Two: Daughters of Battle
True to her word, Lahun provided a wealth of documents related to Quetzalcoatl.
I always felt closer to Quetzalcoatl among the countless gods-in-spirit, both because he was the patron of the merchant caste which I had once hoped to join and ruled over my birthday sign. I¡¯d even thought that the wind¡¯s whispers came from him until the Yaotzin¡¯s cruelty denied my delusions. Everything I¡¯d heard about Quetzalcoatl painted him as the most benevolent of the gods, and I could hardly believe he would advocate for death and bloodshed.
The documents Lahun provided seemed to point that way too. I spent most of the afternoon studying them while Ingrid and the others researched the Sapa Empire¡¯s origins on my behalf, wading through countless contradictory tales, priestly accounts, and old stories.
Quetzalcoatl, the White God, Feathered Serpent and Morning Star, was born from the primordial couple Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl alongside his siblings Xipe Totec, Tezcatlipoca, and Huitzilopochtli. From his shadow was born his twin Xolotl, as small and foolish as Quetzalcoatl was great and bright. He is the patron of the arts and defender of merchants, craftsmen, and seekers of knowledge.
Born as the wisest among the gods, though not the most cunning, Quetzalcoatl ascended as the Second Sun after the fall of his brother Tezcatlipoca. The men of his time were made small, so that they would not devour all creatures of the earth like the giants who preceded them. Quetzalcoatl was a benevolent sun, who taught mortals how to use calendars to count time and predict their fate, how to write and read books to store their knowledge, and how to farm corn to feed themselves.
However, the Feathered Serpent proved too kind by half. Disdaining human sacrifices and answering all offenses with mercy, he inspired the second mankind to wallow in its sins. Their greed and faithlessness eventually earned the ire of Tezcatlipoca, the First Sun, who cursed their bodies to reflect their ugly nature by transforming them into warlike monkeys. Disheartened, Quetzalcoatl blew away the second sons of man away with hurricanes before surrendering the sun-throne to his successor Tlaloc so that a better race of men could be born anew. So it is that men must shed their blood on the gods¡¯ altars, so as to never forget the moral duties expected of them.
The last part felt like an addition from the priesthood to explain human sacrifices. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if the Nightlords had a hand in altering ancient tales to justify their cruelty until they became the most commonly accepted version.
The mention of Xolotl also aroused my curiosity. The dog-god had asked me to carry a message to his brother Quetzalcoatl, and I wondered if it might have something to do with the Gate of the Twin-Breaths. I searched for stories on that front until I found one.
On the eve of the Fifth Cosmos, the newborn sun remained immobile in the sky and scorched the land, so lesser gods sacrificed their strength to fuel the wind that would keep it in movement. When Xolotl¡¯s turn came to give his life, the dog god alone cowardly fled. His brother Quetzalcoatl gave chase and three times Xolotl changed his shape to avoid capture; first becoming a maize plant, then a maguey flower, and then finally an axolotl. His deceit only delayed the inevitable, for none can deceive the Morning Star.
When Quetzalcoatl caught him for the fourth time, Xolotl pleaded for his life and offered his brother a deal: in exchange for his life being spared, he would guide Quetzalcoatl to Mictlan to steal the bones of the previous humanities in order to create the new one. Merciful Quetzalcoatl accepted and the twins descended into the Underworld to confront King Mictlantecuhtli, but the Lord of the Dead had grown weary of the gods¡¯ repeated failures to raise an eternal sun and denied them.
Unabated, the twins attempted to flee back to the land of the living with the stolen bones, but while wise Quetzalcoatl escaped capture, cowardly Xolotl could not escape death twice and was caught. For his crime, King Mictlantecuhtli condemned the dog god to forever shepherd the souls of the dead to his kingdom until all the stolen bones eventually made their way back to their resting place.
I pondered this tale and thought back to Xolotl. My predecessors¡¯ skulls accused his service of being punishment for past cowardice. While I had sympathy for him¡ªhaving refused to meekly sacrifice my life to so-called gods myself¡ªhis self-serving personality and laziness did not endear him to me. I still held true to our deal though, and I would share his message with his brother.
¡°Tell him that I forgive him,¡± he had said before I departed Mictlan, ¡°for leaving me behind.¡±
The story and my encounter with him implied that Xolotl bore no resentment for Quetzalcoatl leaving him behind to King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s mercy, but I wasn¡¯t sure how far I could trust the tale in question. I couldn¡¯t expect legends going back to the world¡¯s creation to be accurate.
None of this brought me any closer to finding the key to the Gate of the Twin-Breaths. I doubted Quetzalcoatl would let me pass through it for free even if I argued I had a message to deliver; I couldn¡¯t even tell if he had any influence on the passage itself. Queen Mictecacihuatl had made it clear that traveling through the Gate of Tears separating her realm from Tlalocan was a one-way trip, something which she could not undo.
In the end, I ran out of time to read everything until the feast. Lahun, who already showed great proficiency in her powers by shapeshifting back into her human form, had all the documents which we hadn¡¯t read yet transported to the longneck for future examination. I hoped to review them tomorrow morning before our war council.
So much to do and so little time.
At sundown, we gathered at the city¡¯s grand plaza. True to their austere and communal nature, the amazons held their feasts in the open. Every adult had to attend. From what Chikal told me, not even the queen could be absent from one without a good excuse such as performing religious sacrifices. Each individual had to throw a piece of soft bread in a communal basin of water which Ixmucan carried around to signify the bounds of sisterhood that they shared. I was exempted from it as a male, though my consorts and concubines alike had to provide their own offerings. I instead supplied every person in attendance with a cup of pulque from my own reserves. I doubted it would earn me these people¡¯s loyalty, but a good emperor spent lavishly to show off his wealth and magnanimity.
As the queen¡¯s companion, I was offered a seat at her side on a central dais of wood overseeing everything. Itzili, whose increased growth now caused him to tower over our trihorns, rested behind our wood and feather thrones like a hound ready to pounce.
I came clothed in the crimson Tlahuiztli in order to present myself as a war leader rather than as a mere pretty prop. I felt the blood tainted cotton rolling on my skin. The armor¡¯s scales clung to my flesh as if they were part of me, and the First Emperor¡¯s jade mask harmoniously espoused the shape of my jaw like a second maw.
It felt¡ comfortable.
I looked at my hand and saw a faint crimson mist rise from my fingers¡ªthe fumes of my enemies'' boiling blood. Yet I felt none of the bloodlust and savagery that once clouded my mind during Iztacoatl¡¯s hunt. My mind was clear, my vision unclouded.
I had grown into the role of the demon emperor and Cizin, Fear of the Gods. By embracing this part of myself and earning Tlaloc¡¯s strength, I had gained greater control over the darkness dwelling within my heart. I had abandoned the wanton brutality of the mad warrior for the calculated cruelty of an almighty tyrant.
¡°This role fits you,¡± the wind whispered. ¡°Do you not enjoy it? The thrill of being feared rather than fearful?¡±
I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t see the appeal, which only made it more of a slippery slope. I only had to peer at the First Emperor¡¯s mask to see what awaited me at that particular road¡¯s end.
Nonetheless, I could feel the tug of my magic at the edge of my consciousness. My experience in Zachilaa taught me that I had to lord my power over the world if I wished to retain control. I had to master this charade rather than suppress it. I needed a demonstration of my power, and I would soon have a chance to do it.
Chikal sensed my restlessness. She sat at my side dressed in the armor of a warrior-queen and observed me carefully. She relaxed slightly when she saw me meditate in my seat with my hands folded together, a master of all I saw. Many amazons seated across rows and tables avoided my gaze, and the few who dared did so with baleful hatred. Singers played the drums and flutes around us, their songs a distant echo.
¡°The goddess did not grace us with her presence,¡± Chikal noted.
¡°Pageantry bores her,¡± I replied. Although I wondered if she would show up once the inevitable brawl started. ¡°But she watches us nonetheless.¡±
Chikal nodded sharply. She had sensed it too, the sharp gazes coming from the shadows. Sugey wasn¡¯t the obsessive spymaster her sister Iztacoatl was, but she would not relent in her duty to watch over me for any sign of treachery. My best bet was to impress her with my martial strength and will.
¡°The bird of war is no fool,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°She knows you will fight her one day, whether out of ambition or desperation. She looks forward to that moment. She thinks her victory will be honest, purchased with her own might. How it maddens her to wait for a challenge.¡±
If I had my way, she wouldn¡¯t have to wait too long.
I knew my chance to curry favor had come when an amazon served me the traditional feast meal of the day, a black soup of fruits, turkey, and bread. My pot and Chikal¡¯s, however, included bloody, boiled sausages whose true ghastly nature couldn''t be more obvious.
I would have been more horrified had Chamiaholom not pulled the exact same trick on me earlier, though my anger at the insult remained undiminished. I remained calm and allowed Chikal to take the lead on this one, as we had agreed to earlier today.
¡°Who dared to spoil the food?¡± Chikal asked, her sharp, calm voice cutting through the music.
The singers stopped their performance, and a tense silence followed for several seconds. After a short moment, an amazon stood from her table. She was strong and almost as muscled as Chikal herself, with a wild mane of black hair and skin boasting battle scars.
¡°I did, harlot!¡± she declared boldly. ¡°After swallowing that male¡¯s sausage, I thought you would have gotten a taste for it!¡±
I had to give it to her, it took some courage to insult Yohuachanca¡¯s almighty emperor and her queen to their face. It did do the trick. I heard whispers among the crowds of gathered amazons and a few eyes turning to look at Chikal to see how she would answer the affront to her authority.
My consort met her subject¡¯s gaze with a sharp, unblinking stare, before cutting straight to the chase. ¡°Are you challenging me for leadership, Xareni?¡±
The so-called Xareni spat on the ground. ¡°Yes, I am!¡± she shouted while raising an accusing finger at me. ¡°Not only did you bend the knee and abandon our sisters in Balam to die, but you even now carry our conqueror¡¯s bastard!¡±
Balam? Ah, of course. I guessed it would make sense that some revanchists in Chilam didn¡¯t quite agree with their leader¡¯s decision to abandon their sister city to Yohuachanca¡¯s lack of mercy. Some hardliners would always fight to the bitter end.
I could only respect their desire to fight, though they would have been wiser to bide their time and prepare to strike when opportune.
Ixmucan stomped the ground with her staff to force silence among Chilam¡¯s people. ¡°If you take issue with our queen¡¯s leadership, our laws are clear,¡± she declared. ¡°You must face her in a duel.¡±
Chikal nodded sharply. ¡°And a duel she shall have, against a champion of my choosing.¡±
Murmurs echoed from her declaration, with none more shocked than Xareni herself. All people in Chilam likely knew their queen¡¯s strength. Her decision not to duel her challenger by herself inspired confusion.
¡°You deny me a fight?¡± Xareni asked.
¡°I do not waste my time on weaklings,¡± Chikal replied before turning to look at me. ¡°Will you do us the honor of putting her back in her place?¡±
The chorus of outrage that followed was music to my ear. Xareni¡¯s shock turned to anger, while amazons among the viewers rose from their seats and shouted in protest, with the queen¡¯s guards moving to protect the dais. Ixmucan¡¯s attempt to bring back peace by stomping the ground did little to quell the audience.
¡°You would send this¡¡± Xareni glared at me with all the disgust that she could muster. ¡°Thing to fight your battles?¡±
Chikal laughed mockingly. ¡°Are you frightened of a male, Xareni? One whom I have bested in battle no less?¡±
Xareni reddened as a few of her compatriots laughed at their queen¡¯s jab. Being afraid of a male was likely the worst insult an amazon could suffer from, and being defeated by one in full view of the city would be the death of her.
¡°Best him?¡± Xareni scoffed in disdain. ¡°Then why does he sit at your side rather than beneath you?¡±
¡°Because he is worthy of being my equal,¡± Chikal replied calmly. ¡°Those are my terms. Best him in battle, and the throne is yours.¡±
¡°Fine!¡± Xareni glared at me. ¡°Get down from your throne, male, so that I may slice off that manhood of yours and stuff it down your throat!¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I didn¡¯t dignify her challenge with words. Instead, I allowed Itzili to speak for me. My feathered tyrant roared to the twilight sun with such strength that the surrounding tables trembled. His thundering voice silenced everyone.
Only then did I rise to fight.
I removed my helmet, mask and armor, then walked forward to meet my challenger with only a loincloth on. Chikal did not assist me or say a word. She simply observed from the dais with the quiet serenity of a general who knew she had already won.
The amazons formed a ring for Xareni and me. She was handed an obsidian club to fight with; while I came to her bare-handed.
¡°Grab your weapon,¡± my challenger all but ordered me.
¡°I have no need of one,¡± I replied.
Xareni¡¯s face turned scarlet while amazons around them burst into laughter at my moxie. Even Ixmucan appeared amused.
¡°Do you mean to insult me?¡± my challenger hissed in anger.
¡°Quite the contrary,¡± I replied. ¡°I am giving you a chance to win.¡±
And even that was a lie.
Ixmucan stomped the ground to herald the duel¡¯s start. Xareni charged at me within an instant in a burst of speed I had to admit was quite impressive. She pounced at me like a jaguar, swinging her obsidian club at me with the intent to kill.
I shattered it with a backhanded blow.
The weapon snapped in two like a twig, its obsidian teeth flying in all directions. Xareni barely had time to blink in shock before my fist found its way to her stomach. I knew I could have killed her in a single blow had I aimed for her chest, my punch shattering her ribs and crushing the heart within them. Instead I held back and sent her flying against the ring of spectators with such velocity that a few people stumbled back with her.
A deafening silence fell upon the ring. Two amazons helped Xareni rise to her feet, with my challenger staring at me with a dumbfounded look on her face. Her broken club flailed in her hand, shattered like her pride.
I immediately sensed a change in the atmosphere hovering over the feast. A new tension, laced with fear of the unknown, confusion¡ and excitement. Excitement most of all.
Xareni roared and charged back at me with newfound ferocity, forgoing weapons to go straight to hand-to-hand combat. Chikal¡¯s training and my own repeated brushes with death allowed me to easily predict her blow, sidestep it, and then answer by grabbing the back of her head. I brought her face down to the ground until she kissed the dirt, one hand holding her skull and the other gripping her dominant arm in a crushing embrace.
¡°It¡¯s over,¡± I said.
¡°Nev¨C¡± Xareni tried to answer, but I forced her to eat a mouthful of earth in response. She struggled against me with all her strength and will, raging, kicking, and fighting to the bitter end.
It made no difference in the end. This fight had been decided before it even started.
I held Xareni still in front of the assembled amazons until she grew too exhausted to struggle further. I simply waited like the rock on the eternal shore until the waves of her willpower broke at long last. She breathed heavily, her eyes holding back tears of shame and defeat.
Chikal already warned me that an amazon defeated by a male was dishonored. No doubt Xareni expected me to rape her next, or worse.
I wouldn¡¯t play by those rules.
¡°What do you want me to do with her?¡± I asked Chikal. ¡°Do you wish me to crush her skull?¡±
By asking their queen for her opinion, I showcased to the amazons that she held some influence over me; that I listened to her. This ought to prove that she was no service woman, but still the same ruler she had always been.
Chikal pretended to ponder Xareni¡¯s fate for a moment, though I knew it was a charade. She already knew the play¡¯s outcome long before the actors took the stage.
¡°Xareni¡¯s pride is only matched by her skill and her death would diminish Chilam,¡± Chikal declared. ¡°Let her live with her shame, so that it spurs her on to fight harder.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± I replied, my hands releasing their grip on my captive under the silent stare of the audience.
Xareni didn¡¯t rise immediately to her feet. She knelt on the ground and looked from Chikal to me. I could see the pain and shame written all over her dirt-covered face. She didn¡¯t thank her queen for sparing her life, because it was no mercy; it would have been more honorable for her to die rather than to owe a debt to the very woman she had challenged for leadership. No one wanted to become a prop to showcase a rival¡¯s mercy.
My victory inspired varied reactions among amazons. Some looked at me with anger, for I stood in defiance of all they knew; but most reacted as Lahun told me they would. A powerful male was a challenge, a prize to be won. Many guards gripped their weapons a little too tight, and others seemed to wait for a silent call.
Chikal smiled in amusement. Everything was going exactly as she planned.
¡°Is there any other among you who would fight my champion?¡± she asked, almost coyly. ¡°The only male worthy of fathering your future queen?¡±
It was quite the odd way to officially announce her pregnancy, but I saw through the ploy. While austere, Chilam¡¯s society valued wealth in its own way; except a woman¡¯s fortune was assessed by what she could take and keep rather than the gold in her vault. And while males paled in importance compared to a mother¡¯s bloodline, a strong father granted his daughters a certain degree of legitimacy.
Chikal wasn¡¯t only securing her own position as queen; she was laying the groundwork for our unborn daughter to rule unopposed through divine right.
I bit my hand and let my blazing blood erupt like Smoke Mountain.
Light illuminated the plaza, followed by the shouts and gasps of hundreds of warrior-women beholding a miracle. Ixmucan dropped her staff in shock, and Xareni¡¯s jaw dropped so low I thought it would break.
¡°I am Iztac Ce Ehecatl, Godspeaker of the Thirteen Heavens, Emperor of Yohuachanca, and no mortal may stand against me!¡± I declared boldly. ¡°My veins flow not with the mud-blood of mortals, but the sun¡¯s smokeless fire!¡±
I waved a hand at the assembly, my burning blood setting a few tables ablaze with its flames. Many recoiled back at my challenge, while others stared at my palm in fascination. It was quite the show Chikal and I put on.
¡°Only your queen has matched me in battle and earned my respect!¡± I declared boldly. ¡°Will any of you have the strength to do the same?! Then come forward and conquer me! I shall fight any comer, no matter your numbers or weapons!¡±
Chilam answered my challenge without hesitation.
Chikal¡¯s guards tossed clubs and weapons to the audience, and I soon found myself the object of a tournament where I was the only opponent. Fighters challenged me on their lonesome or in groups of two, three, or four. Bare-handed or armed, it made no difference. I faced them all without blinking.
Such a pity that they chose to challenge me of all people. These women weren¡¯t weak, quite the contrary. They moved and struck with the ferocity of wild beasts and the coordination of trained warriors. Any normal fighter would have folded in an instant against their relentless assault.
But I was half a god, and no mere mortal could defeat me.
I slipped past their blows, shattered their weapons with my bare hands, and slapped them down to the ground. Yet no matter how many of them I defeated, more kept coming in order to prove their worth. Perhaps they hoped to tire me out, and I certainly would have without Tlaloc¡¯s embers.
I lost count of how many of them I faced, though I was careful not to kill any of them. By the time the feast ended with the sun well and truly set, few of the guests could still stand on their feet. Only when Chilam¡¯s soldiers accepted defeat at last did Chikal walk down from the dais to join me. She did not congratulate me for my victory, not with words at least. She simply pulled me to her and kissed me on the lips with hunger, like a jaguar marking its territory.
A simple enough gesture, yet one that showcased her dominance to all.
Once she finally let me breathe again, she took my hand into her own and raised it to the sky in triumph.
¡°Daughters of Chilam!¡± Chikal declared while putting her free hand on her belly. ¡°A great future is ahead of us, for your future sister-in-arms bears the blood of your queen and that of a living god!¡±
It was quite the blasphemous proclamation, and I half-expected Sugey to swoop in from nowhere and take offense. I waited in vain. Either she was amused enough to let it slide, or she knew better than to show insecurity by interrupting us.
¡°This is the dawn of a new era, where Chilam rises to new heights!¡± Chikal announced, her boldness and energy so infectious it seemed to breathe new life into her people. ¡°Tomorrow, we shall bring down the Sapa¡¯s mountains stone by stone through the sweat of our brows and the thrust of our swords! We shall march inland farther than any of our mothers ever dared, and we shall show both our allies and foes that our frontiers only stop at the tip of our spears!¡±
Her speech breathed new life and energy into her people, because she promised them a greater future than that of Yohuachanca¡¯s vassals; she promised them not the safety of their meager city, but of grander conquest and restored pride.
A chorus of war shouts and roars answered her declaration. Even the likes of Xareni smirked, her shame wiped away by the tide of bloodlust. I had seen the ambition and hunger for battle that coursed through Chikal¡¯s veins, and her subjects were no different.
By the time we finished, my army had swelled with a sea of new spears.
We departed Chilam in the night with a new cohort of soldiers at our back. This war of mine was off to a great start.
¡°You performed admirably, Iztac,¡± Chikal informed me once we returned to my roving mansion in the dead of night with the others. ¡°You exceeded my expectations.¡±
¡°I simply played my part,¡± I replied calmly. I was pretty happy with how the night turned out. The taste of victory quelled my angry soul, and I¡¯d made headways into portraying myself as a warrior-king worthy of respect rather than a bloodthirsty tyrant by not killing my critics.
I might have been born to play the latter role, but if I had to choose, I would pick the former.
¡°My lord performed admirably,¡± Ingrid reassured me with a smirk on her lips. ¡°So well that it almost felt prepared.¡±
Because it was.
Chikal had predicted how the feast would turn out the moment we reached Chilam. In fact, I strongly suspected that she had an aggravated Xareni assigned to cooking duties specifically to cause an incident that would reinforce her legitimacy. In one fell swoop, she had secured her throne, dispelled doubts about the alliance with Yohuachanca, and paved the way for Chilam to earn new tributes in the war to come. As always, Chikal had proved herself a sharp politician and talented general.
Nonetheless, I knew our stunt would invite Sugey¡¯s attention. We had recruited Chilam in our name rather than the Nightlords¡¯. That alone was suspicious.
True, nothing about our speeches to Chilam implied disloyalty to Yohuachanca. If the Nightlords interrogated us, we could easily argue that we simply told the herd what it needed to hear in order to stay motivated, but I didn¡¯t think Sugey was foolish enough to buy it. The fact she hadn¡¯t shown up to punish me in person already put me ill at ease. Iztacoatl and the Jaguar Woman would have summoned me within a minute of the feast¡¯s end.
I hoped that it was mere arrogance. My predecessor too tried to usurp Sugey with conventional means and soldiers, only to fail miserably. Maybe the Bird of War wasn¡¯t too concerned with our power grab in Chilam because no amount of mortal warriors would make a difference against her, especially since she already knew of my blood. She could simply have assessed us to be no threat to her yet based on our current resources.
Or perhaps the wind was right. Maybe Sugey welcomed a challenging fight or coup attempt, if only for the pleasure of crushing it. All her sisters had been cruel in their own way, and I had yet to see the depths of that one¡¯s malice.
¡°A queen knows her people well, Ingrid,¡± Chikal replied with a sharp gaze. ¡°A lesson you have taken to heart.¡±
Ingrid answered with a demure smile, though I knew her enough to notice the flicker of ambition hidden behind modesty¡¯s veil. ¡°I am but my lord¡¯s humble servant.¡±
¡°And your mother¡¯s daughter too,¡± Chikal replied before giving me a light, bold tap on my ass. ¡°Do not make me wait too long tonight, Iztac. A victorious champion always earns himself a reward to match.¡±
¡°I shall be sure to claim it soon,¡± I replied with a light kiss on her lips. I wanted nothing more than to take my consort on her offer immediately, but a more pressing matter needed my full attention.
Eztli was about to leave us, and I wasn¡¯t sure if she would ever return. Moreover, I wanted to check on Nenetl next. My¡ my sister still reeled from the awful truth and I hoped to alleviate her worries.
Simply thinking of Nenetl only inflamed my resentment for Mother. The fault of our incest lay at her feet and her cowardly silence.
I put these thoughts aside for now as I entered the room which Eztli shared with her mother; only to find the former feeding on the latter.
They were both on the bed, with Necahual¡¯s chest laid bare and her daughter biting into her breast with her fangs. Eztli gulped hungrily at her mother¡¯s blood with a feverish greed I¡¯d never seen from her before, licking every drop while her gaze was lost in a daze of pleasure. Necahual didn¡¯t seem to mind. Instead, she lovingly caressed and stroked Eztli¡¯s hair while whispering gentle words into her ear.
I vividly recalled the time I caught Yoloxochitl feeding Eztli her blood in an attempt to secure her hold over her. I had found the scene particularly disturbing, but this one¡ this one radiated a pure kind of love that the Nightlords could only hope to mimic. It warmed my heart of ice, if only for a moment.
Necahual glanced at me once I approached them, though she didn¡¯t say a word. I sat on the side of the bed and gently stroked Eztli¡¯s cheek. I meant it as a kind gesture, but her pale skin immediately turned red where I touched it. It startled her enough to shake her out of her daze of pleasure and release her hold over her mother¡¯s breast.
¡°Iztac,¡± she whispered as she suddenly noticed my presence. ¡°How long have you been here?¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I apologized. ¡°Did I startle you?¡±
¡°A bit,¡± Eztli replied as she licked her mother¡¯s blood off her lips. ¡°You are¡ you are too warm now. Your touch feels¡¡±
I saw her hesitate to say the word, as if frightened by my reaction. It reassured me in a way. Shame and fear were human emotions which I thought her vampiric transformation had robbed her of, and which her mother¡¯s blood infusion helped maintain.
¡°Unpleasant?¡± I guessed.
¡°Yes,¡± Eztli confessed as she adjusted her hair. ¡°I¡ it¡¯ll take some time getting used to it, that¡¯s all.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t force yourself,¡± I replied while meeting her eyes. ¡°One day, my touch will no longer harm your skin.¡±
I saw a look of recognition pass over Eztli¡¯s face. Necahual had told her of our plan, as I¡¯d asked her to. Since we couldn¡¯t proceed with the ritual without her agreement, I wanted to make sure she would be prepared for it.
¡°I hope¡ I hope to see that day soon,¡± Eztli replied, albeit hesitantly. See that day. The phasing¡¯s significance didn¡¯t escape me. ¡°It¡¯s¡ becoming harder to think straight.¡±
My jaw clenched. I hated the thought of losing Eztli to a ghost¡¯s grip of all things. Her distress struck me like a dagger to the heart.
¡°Does it help?¡± I asked, my eyes lingering on Necahual¡¯s breast. The traces of Eztli¡¯s fangs remained vividly sharp on her skin.
¡°It does,¡± Eztli confirmed with a thin smile. ¡°Mother tastes of sunlight now. Of you. It clears the fog.¡±
¡°That¡¯s good,¡± I replied. I hadn¡¯t considered how my power would affect the blood of my bound Mometzcopinques, but thankfully it didn¡¯t harm Eztli. I guessed that much like how the Nightlords were mere pale reflections of their dreadful father, my witches only possessed a fraction of my power; enough for a vampire to feed on without being harmed.
I would have to be careful with that, however. If Sugey were to notice that Necahual and Lahun¡¯s blood had changed, she might grow suspicious of their true nature.
Necahual scowled. ¡°What frightens me is that we will be away for a while,¡± she said. ¡°The Flower War campaign may last months.¡±
¡°Have you tried storing your blood?¡± I asked Necahual. The soul-transfer ritual would unfortunately require her assistance to guide Eztli¡¯s soul to the intended vessel, so I couldn¡¯t leave her behind; especially since both failure and success would draw the Nightlords¡¯ attention.
¡°Do you take me for a fool?¡± Necahual snorted. ¡°Of course I set some aside for her, but bottles of blood won¡¯t last forever.¡±
¡°It¡¯s probably for the best,¡± Eztli replied before putting her head against her mother¡¯s stomach. ¡°I can¡¯t take too much without harming her anyway.¡±
Necahual and I watched on in silence as Eztli put her arms around her mother¡¯s waist, gripping her tightly, her ear pressed against her body in a loving embrace.
¡°She doesn¡¯t have a heart yet, but I can smell her in your blood, growing and waiting for the day she¡¯ll come out.¡± Eztli rubbed her head against Necahual¡¯s skin, a smile of bliss on her face. The prospect of welcoming her sister into the world seemed to give her the focus and the peace she craved. ¡°I hope to be there then.¡±
¡°We¡¯ll raise her together,¡± Necahual promised while stroking her daughter¡¯s hair. ¡°That I promise you.¡±
Eztli nodded slightly. ¡°Then we can be a true family at last.¡±
I didn¡¯t say a word. Truthfully, seeing the genuine bond which Eztli and Necahual shared only put my own relationship with Ichtaca in a darker light. Part of me still craved the close intimacy these two shared, beneath all the anger and disdain which I felt for Mother.
¡°It¡¯ll be hard without the two of you,¡± Eztli whispered under her breath. ¡°But I¡¯ll¡ I¡¯ll do my best to hold out.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked again. The ritual would fail without her full focus, and there would be no turning back once we started it.
Eztli nodded sadly. ¡°I would say I¡¯m sick of living like this, Iztac, but in truth¡ I miss being alive.¡± She looked at the obsidian window separating us from the moonlight. ¡°I miss the sun. I miss the light¡ the warmth.¡±
Many would have killed to live as an immortal vampire, but Eztli would rather risk death than continue on like this; and if things continued to deteriorate, I feared that she would die a death of the spirit, her mind twisted into a cruel and lifeless thing.
I stroked Eztli¡¯s hair too while being careful not to touch her skin so as not to wound her.
The next time we met, I would be able to hold her again.
Chapter Eighty-Three: Tam艒hu膩nch膩n
The Chilam tournament and Chikal¡¯s ministrations managed the great feat of exhausting me to sleep.
By then, Eztli had departed our convoy and returned to the capital. I was careful to slip a small surveillance skull among her belongings, and those I had planted elsewhere in the palace would let me keep an eye on her from afar until the promised time; a moment which couldn¡¯t come any sooner.
I arrived in the Underworld to find my father and predecessors patiently reading the First Emperor¡¯s codex. Both greeted me with sharp nods of their shared body.
¡°My son,¡± Father said with paternal warmth. ¡°We did not expect you to rejoin us so soon. Has something happened?¡±
¡°I had a taste of the war to come.¡± Though I wondered if the Sapa warriors I would face tomorrow would show half the fierceness of Chilam¡¯s inhabitants. ¡°Has your reading session been fruitful?¡±
¡°Alas, we could not find any additional information on the Gate of the Twin-Breaths,¡± the Parliament of Skulls replied with dejection. ¡°This book only covers the First Emperor¡¯s journey through this layer, and no further.¡±
¡°If this is truly the First Emperor¡¯s memoir, then I must wonder what happened to twist him so,¡± Father said, his skeletal hand brushing against the ancient document. ¡°When I read these letters, I see a sound mind full of curiosity and without a trace of cruelty. If he started showing signs of what he would become, I cannot see any here.¡±
That subject bothered me too. I believed myself mostly in control of my faculties, the occasional slip of magic notwithstanding. I felt no urge to drink blood or devour others the way that the First Emperor did as he eventually fell into madness. I had begun to feel the call of divinity, but I wasn¡¯t yet bound by it.
This suggested that the next set of embers would be a pivotal moment. I briefly considered delaying my meeting with Quetzalcoatl until I learned more before deciding otherwise. My time was precious, and whatever horror I risked turning into paled when compared to the Nightlords¡¯ cruelty.
¡°Has Mother given you any way to contact her in an emergency?¡± I asked Father. ¡°A signal of some kind?¡±
Father¡¯s skull perked up slightly. ¡°Have you finally reconsidered, my son?¡±
¡°I have no intention of forgiving her,¡± I replied coldly. She had a long way to go before I ever began considering trusting her again. ¡°But you¡¯re right. I do need her assistance, both with the gate and other matters.¡±
¡°I understand.¡± Father closed the codex and did not push the subject further. He knew it would be for naught. ¡°To answer your question, I do not know a way to call her, but¡ Ichtaca always said she would find me should I become lost.¡±
¡°Which implies she has a way of tracking you down,¡± my predecessors said. ¡°We can think of one.¡±
So did I. I activated my Gaze and looked at Father''s shadow. It didn¡¯t take me long to notice a black feather engraved within it.
The Curse was almost always meant to bring down calamity upon a target or as insurance against betrayal, but Mother mentioned that a skilled user could achieve many more effects with careful wording. This feather carried little to no malice within it, so I assumed its purpose was to bind Father to her in a metaphysical way.
I honestly didn¡¯t know what to make of it. It was a clever way to keep track of Father, especially during his time in Xibalba when the Lords of Terror might have absconded with his soul, but Mother¡¯s willingness to cast a spell on her own husband spoke volumes about her possessiveness. Could I truly call that love? Then again, I had done far worse to Necahual, and transferring Eztli¡¯s essence into another vessel was a contestable choice¡
I pushed these thoughts away. If Mother¡¯s curse bound Father to always find his way to her, then she would likely rejoin us once we left Tlalocan. While I had no desire to return to Xibalba, I could think of another place that would catch her attention.
I fit Father¡¯s and the Parliament''s childlike body into the carrying frame along with my belongings, then finally left Tlalocan on jet-black wings.
The flaming hail of Tlaloc had long since calmed down and cleared the sky of searing smoke, though the landscape remained a devastated expanse of smoldering ashes and wildfires. How long would it take for the last of these flames to die down? Weeks? Years? I knew the Burned Men would eventually emerge from their caves to rebuild a measure of civilization among the ruins of this devastated world, but I wouldn¡¯t have the time to see it with my own eyes.
I followed the map included in the First Emperor¡¯s codex to Matzakuy, the first city of the Third Cosmos. It took me a mere few hours¡¯ flight to see its ruins. Great broken spires of stone as tall as mountains stood along the ruined horizon, their pinnacles bound to the earth by colossal chains long enough to encircle my capital¡¯s walls. I mistook the formations around them for hills, until a closer look instead revealed the shape of colossal head-shaped statues bigger than Yohuachanca¡¯s pyramids. Most of them had their eyes closed like sages trapped in deep meditation, though eons of incendiary winds had wiped away most of their features. Many had lost their mouths, their expressions forever trapped in one of grim silence.
A sense of wonder and melancholia seized me as I flew between its immense towers. The city¡¯s buried houses of stone had to be a mere fraction of the settlement¡¯s buildings which survived Tlaloc¡¯s wrath, and yet a single district could hold my entire capital. My entire civilization existed in the shadow of an ancient empire. It made me realize just how small my people¡¯s achievements were in the light of the cosmos¡¯ ancient history.
What else would I find further below? The Second Sun¡¯s mankind wasn¡¯t particularly famous for its wonders, but the first were made up of giants, or so the stories said.
I glided down at the tallest tower¡¯s feet and quickly noticed a large, sprawling chasm that descended deep into the earth¡¯s bowels. I felt a current of wind flowing from it, strong enough to raise a cloud of ashes. I followed it into the hole and descended into the darkness.
My Gaze dispelled the shadows as I flew into a large cavern filled with spiraling brick stairs several floors long and equally large pillars. The vast empty space allowed me to progress inside easily enough among giant statues of mighty Tlaloc and massive stone slabs. I assumed this place used to be a temple once; one which hadn¡¯t been disturbed since times immemorial.
I expected to find groups of Burned Men hiding in the hole, but only found petrified corpses trapped inside coffins of fossilized ashes. The dust-choked air flowed on my feathers like mud. I followed the flow of the wind until I noticed a faint source of light deep at the chasm¡¯s bottom.
The Gate of the Twin-Breaths sang at the lowest level.
The pictures in the First Emperor¡¯s codex didn¡¯t do it justice. The gates were carved from a ring of gnarled and eternally burning trees large enough to let a longneck through and whose shape reminded me of a wandering maw, the door churned with spiraling winds. A tempest raged within its fiery confines, wild and thick, with swirling clouds and raging gusts sealed within the gate¡¯s circular shape. It whistled a booming symphony that droned its way into my mind. I could hardly take my eyes away from this glorious, awe-inspiring chaos. It felt akin to gazing at a hurricane trapped inside a jar.
Mother was waiting for us in front of the threshold, standing alone on a platform of ancient stone.
She looked up at me with a steady gaze, yet one that betrayed the slightest edge of fear. I hardly paid her attention upon landing on the floor with my talons shifting into feet. Her eyes immediately lingered on the blazing inferno that raged within my ribs. A look of fascination crossed her face when she recognized the strength of Tlaloc burning inside my soul, followed by a mix of pride and sorrow. What a bitter sting, to see her child ascend where she had failed.
¡°My son,¡± she greeted me meekly.
I walked past her to peer into the Gate of the Twin-Breaths. The doorway that linked Mictlan to Tlalocan had given me a glimpse of the latter, but this one didn¡¯t give me the same courtesy. So strong were the winds and so thick the clouds of dust that my Gaze failed to penetrate them.
I couldn¡¯t tell where it led without crossing it first.
I continued to study the gate while ignoring Mother. I knew it was petty to treat her like this, but she deserved no less. Only when I confirmed that the Gate of the Twin-Breaths showed no inscription that would give me an inkling of how to cross it safely did I turn to face her.
¡°Mother,¡± I replied with the warmth of the coldest winter.
She didn¡¯t answer for a moment, clearly rehearsing her next words carefully in her head. ¡°I see that the rain of fire has ended,¡± she noted. ¡°The wind whispered that it was your doing.¡±
¡°Great Tlaloc mercifully ended his punishment.¡± Claiming credit for it while in Tlalocan would have risked inviting the god¡¯s wrath. ¡°But I did argue on behalf of the Burned Men, yes.¡±
¡°I see¡¡± Mother marked a short pause. The very idea that I would ask that kind of request to a god probably sounded utterly incomprehensible to someone so selfish. ¡°I have done as you and your father asked. I have¡ I have released the souls within my employ back to Mictlan.¡±
¡°Your employ?¡± I scoffed at her phrasing. As if holding souls in a gilded cage in preparation for their sacrifice to the Lords of Terror counted as a simple job. ¡°Did you apologize to Queen Mictecacihuatl while at it?¡±
¡°Of course not.¡± Mother recoiled with wounded pride. ¡°Do you mean to insult me? You know very well the queen of the dead would not have let me escape her grip again.¡±
¡°I believe otherwise,¡± I replied coldly. ¡°If you had the courage to sincerely come clean about your mistakes and sins, she would have listened.¡±
Mother glared at me. ¡°Would you have the courage to face her, my son? After sending so many innocent souls her way, I doubt she would look kindly on you again.¡±
My jaw clenched. My first thought was to retort that I had ended the torment of a million more souls by convincing Tlaloc to lift his calamity, but the argument sounded hollow in my head. One good deed didn¡¯t erase all of my crimes, no more than Mother¡¯s decision to release her collected souls made up for her treachery towards Father and I.
I couldn¡¯t deny the truth of her words, no matter how much I wished to. We had both disappointed the queen of the dead in our own way through our actions.
At least Mother seemed to have regained a measure of pride and authority since I last met her. I slowly lowered my carrying frame and opened it to free my father. The sight of his childlike skeleton walking out with a second head seemed to both amuse his wife and leave her uneasy. They hadn¡¯t departed on the best of terms.
But Father wasn¡¯t one to hold a grudge, nor show animosity.
¡°Ichtaca,¡± Father said without any reproach. ¡°It is good to see you again.¡±
Mother nodded slowly, a brief flash of relief passing over her face. She must have feared her husband would show her the same disdain that I¡¯d shown her. ¡°Yes, my love,¡± she said. ¡°I¡ I¡¯ve done as you asked.¡±
¡°That is¡ good.¡± Father nodded, somewhat awkwardly. ¡°That is good.¡±
An uneasy silence settled between them. I could almost cut the tension between my parents with a knife. Mother shifted in place with what I believed was sincere guilt, while Father appeared torn between holding her in his arms and standing his ground about his principles.
I had no time for this. Mother¡¯s presence in this place meant that she had likely figured out this threshold¡¯s secrets, and I would rather avoid being indebted to her if I could avoid it.
I faced the Gate of the Twin-Breaths and uttered a single Word.
¡°Open.¡±
My booming voice resonated across the hall with almighty authority. I heard cracks widen in the walls and then heard my parents¡¯ and the Parliament''s jaws snap open under the weight of my divine command, which I found quite interesting. It appeared that everyone who heard my Word was compelled to obey it, but if my order was too vague, then their minds interpreted it in the most simple way possible. I assumed that the spell followed a law of least effort.
The Gate of the Twin-Breaths nonetheless refused to budge.
¡°Quetzalcoatl, oh great god of the wind and light of the morning star!¡± I called out to the stormy will beyond the threshold. ¡°I am the Tlacatecolotl, messenger of the dead, and I come to you on behalf of your brother Xolotl! I request an audience with thee so that I may share with you a message from the shadow of your soul!¡±
My words echoed into the swirling wind and went unanswered.
Either the god Quetzalcoatl¡¯s power stopped at the threshold, the same way King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s authority didn¡¯t extend beyond his layer¡¯s border, or he cared not to open the path to us.
Whatever the case, my failure to open the Gate of the Twin-Breaths emboldened Mother.
¡°I know how to cross this threshold, my son,¡± she said. ¡°If¡ if you fulfill a request of mine, I will surrender the k¨C¡±
My blood boiled within my veins, my fists clenching in anger.
¡°A request?¡± I repeated, my voice sharper than any sword. ¡°Have I misheard? After everything you did, after sacrificing your husband and abandoning your children, you think that you can ask anything of us?¡±Stolen story; please report.
Mother recoiled as if slapped in the face, something which she clearly deserved. Even Father looked at her with reproach, his ghostlight eyes flickering.
¡°Ichtaca,¡± he said. ¡°Now is not the time.¡±
¡°I¡¡± Mother straightened up. ¡°I have to see this through to the end, Itzili.¡±
¡°You are entitled to nothing,¡± I replied while snorting in disdain. She would be better off kneeling and begging for forgiveness rather than making demands of me. ¡°Your bargaining position is highly dubious, oh wicked mother of mine.¡±
¡°Is it, my son?¡± Ichtaca held my gaze. ¡°I understand very well that you could take everything with a single Word and leave me in the dust, but surely the advantages of having another Tlacatecolotl assisting you are too great for you to ignore; especially considering the country you intend to besiege.¡±
I glared at her. ¡°You said you had run to a land beyond the Nightlords¡¯ grasp,¡± I recalled. ¡°Did you mean the Sapa Empire?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± she confirmed. ¡°I hold young Astrid there.¡±
¡°I hope for your sake that you aren¡¯t unwise enough to threaten her,¡± I replied sharply, my tone heavy with menace. I had been ready to fight a Nightlord to defend her, and I¡¯d promised Ingrid I would keep her sister safe. ¡°This would cost you tenfold.¡±
Mother recoiled sharply, which invited my father¡¯s reproach. ¡°Enough, the both of you,¡± he said with a scolding tone. ¡°This kind of sterile discussion will lead us nowhere.¡±
¡°I am simply warning her not to treat her the way she did her daughter,¡± I countered angrily. ¡°Unless she wishes to redeem herself and take responsibility for her incoming grandchild?¡±
Father flinched, and to her credit, Mother had the grace to look down in shame upon being reminded of her crime against Nenetl; which was nowhere near enough to make up for it.
¡°I have no intention of harming the girl,¡± Mother whispered under her breath, while conveniently avoiding apologizing about abandoning my sister and lying to us about it. ¡°Astrid is¡ not as much of a bother as I expected her to be. She is quite smart and helpful for a mun¡ for one so young.¡±
Mundane. She had almost said ¡®a mundane¡¯ until she caught herself so as to not insult my father. Nearly losing him hadn¡¯t caused her to reevaluate her opinion of others in the slightest. She had only started making some effort to manage our feelings, and no more.
¡°You will need my help to save your consort too,¡± Mother insisted when I didn¡¯t answer her query. ¡°I¡ I can be useful to you still, my son.¡±
¡°What do you want?¡± I replied coldly while activating the Gaze. ¡°Spells? More power than you deserve?¡±
Mother shook her head and looked at the portal. ¡°I merely want to follow you into the next layer. I have failed to pass Tlaloc¡¯s trial, so I¡¡± She gulped and exhaled a cloud of smoke. ¡°I simply want to see you succeed where I could not.¡±
My Gaze had caught a lie. The invisible smoke rising from her mouth was almost translucent, so I assumed that she was partly sincere; but she didn¡¯t tell me the full truth either. She had an ulterior motive in asking to join me in my journey. I suspected she hadn¡¯t abandoned her hope of rising to godhood and hoped to convince the more pliable Quetzalcoatl to bless her with his embers and maybe return to Tlaloc afterward; that or she hoped to reap some benefit from following me.
I briefly considered confronting her on her true motives before deciding against it. I could always compel her to open the doorway for me, but Father wouldn¡¯t forgive me for doing so and I had seen the consequences of abusing my power. I had the magic to put her down if she tried anything again anyway, and she was right; I still needed her. I couldn¡¯t afford to risk Eztli¡¯s soul because of my personal grievances, and I required Mother to take care of Astrid in my stead. The child had been through enough pain and I hoped to one day reunite her with her sister. They deserved to live in peace and see Vinland one day.
Moreover, I needed Astrid to stay safe until the moment came to use her to remove Iztacoatl from the board. She would play a pivotal role then.
¡°Open the gateway, and then I shall consider your request,¡± I replied coldly. She opened her mouth, but I drew a line in the sand before she could speak. ¡°This is the best deal you will ever get.¡±
Mother¡¯s tongue clicked in her mouth, as if she prepared to argue with me, before deciding otherwise. She searched under her robes and brought out a small, sealed jug of earth no larger than my palm.
¡°Very well,¡± she said before presenting me with her prized possession. ¡°This is the Gate of the Twin-Breaths. Its key is the first and last breath of a human being, which I preserved and smuggled into the Underworld.¡±
Father¡¯s skull warily tilted to the side. ¡°How¡ how did you obtain it, Ichtaca?¡±
Mother looked away. ¡°Do you truly wish to know, Itzili?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Father replied firmly.
Mother waited a moment before answering. I subtly activated the Gaze to catch on about any lie she might tell.
¡°I worked as a healer and midwife for many women,¡± she said. ¡°Once I learned this gate¡¯s secret, I simply had to wait for a stillbirth.¡±
I squinted in suspicion. I didn¡¯t like the potential implications. ¡°Did you ensure your success?¡±
Mother glared at me with venomous disdain. I had struck a nerve. ¡°What are you accusing me of, my son?¡±
¡°Of the obvious, which you are plainly capable of,¡± I retorted coldly. ¡°Did you kill a child to obtain that first and last breath?¡±
¡°How dare you ask me that?¡± Her hands trembled, and I could tell that she struggled against the urge to slap me; an act that would have been as pointless as it would have been futile. ¡°No, I did not.¡±
No cloud of smoke flowed out of her mouth. She spoke the truth on that matter at least, though it didn¡¯t please me that my predecessors¡¯ assumption about the Gate of the Twin-Breaths might have been correct. I didn¡¯t think Quetzalcoatl would have been the kind of god to accept that kind of tribute. But then again, it might have been a test in itself. Only the truly determined would be allowed to pass into his realm.
I also found it strange that this one accusation outraged Mother so much. She hadn¡¯t shown so much emotion when I confronted her about leaving my sister to die.
¡°The door will not stay open for too long,¡± Mother warned us, her gaze lingering on her husband. ¡°I¡ I do not think you should come with us, Itzili. The things behind this threshold¨C¡±
¡°Do not frighten me,¡± Father replied calmly, having faced terror incarnate once before. ¡°I told you, Ichtaca. I will not stand on the sidelines while our children risk everything.¡±
My jaw clenched. ¡°I may not be able to protect you once we pass through this gate, Father.¡±
¡°Then bind my soul to your Legion,¡± he replied firmly. ¡°Another soul to the pile may not mean much, but I will be able to follow wherever you go.¡±
My fists clenched, and the eyes of my predecessors¡¯ skull vessel lit up in protest. ¡°We must advise against this course of action once again, Lord Itzili,¡± the Parliament argued with six hundred voices. ¡°It¡ it hurts to be us. It hurts in a way that the living cannot feel, to be dead and yet stranded in between.¡±
¡°There has to be another way, Father,¡± I argued. ¡°I could create you a new body¨C¡±
¡°Then it may be shattered and my soul lost,¡± Father replied calmly. ¡°I am not afraid of pain, my son. I wasn¡¯t afraid of fear.¡±
Mother lowered her head to avoid our gaze, but the coward had the grace to keep quiet. She had already done enough.
¡°If you fail to defeat your tormentors, then your soul will join His Majesties in silent suffering while I weep for you,¡± Father pointed out. ¡°At least¡ At least this way, I will be there for you should that time come, my son; and I can lend you what little wisdom and strength I can offer in the meantime.¡°
¡°I can bring you back to Mictlan,¡± Mother whispered under her breath, her voice weak. She knew doing so meant that they would never meet again, for Queen Mictecacihualt wouldn¡¯t allow her anywhere close to her husband¡¯s soul again. ¡°You¡¯ll find peace there, Itzili.¡±
¡°You will have an afterlife,¡± I added.
¡°What value is an afterlife spent alone dwelling on bitter regrets?¡± Father¡¯s eyes flickered at Mother and me. ¡°All I ever wanted was to be with you, the both of you.¡±
How could he say such earnest things with such a firm and steady voice? His sincerity made my own resolve waver, and Mother shrank under the weight of her shame and regrets. She held onto her arms and rubbed her hands against them in guilty silence.
In a way, I knew Father¡¯s offer to join the Parliament of Skulls was a way to showcase his wife his own line in the sand. If she truly loved him, if she was dedicated to saving his soul, then she would have to truly work towards the Nightlords¡¯ destruction. Hiding and cowering wouldn¡¯t be an option anymore.
Condemning Father¡¯s soul to an eternity of torment was far from ideal, but I respected his dedication. What he lacked in magical power, he more than made up with bravery and courage.
I guessed he was right too. Should I fail¡ at least we would comfort each other. And if I succeeded, he would hardly spend more than a few months with his soul imprisoned.
¡°Very well,¡± I said as I activated Bonecraft to reshape my father¡¯s skull and bind him to the Parliament of my predecessors. ¡°You may now join the Legion.¡±
The spell had originally been created to add new souls to the collective before I modified it to serve as a vessel for my predecessors¡¯ spirits. I believe this was my first time using it for its actual purpose. Binding my Father to the Parliament proved frighteningly easy. The Nightlords¡¯ curse that bound me to my predecessors hungered for more souls to latch onto and unlike the living, whose soul risked slipping through its grasp unless sacrificed, Father was both dead and willing. The shadowy chains of imperial despair happily coiled around his spirit and shackled him.
Father bore the ritual without complaint nor agony. He didn¡¯t even offer a sound of protest. Quite the contrary, I felt his warmth and will flow through our bond. His presence among the collective was a drop of idealism in a centuries-long lake of bitterness.
¡°Are you well?¡± I asked him once we completed the ritual. My mind had touched the emperors¡¯ gestalt in the past and nearly been overwhelmed in an instant.
To my relief, Father nodded sharply; with both his and my predecessors¡¯ skull. ¡°I am well, my son,¡± he said through both mouths, his spirit now one with those of hundreds of past emperors. ¡°This maelstrom of thoughts¡ is nothing compared to the abyss of the First Fear.¡±
Mother¡¯s back crumpled in her guilt. I would lie if I said I didn¡¯t take joy each time she was reminded of her failures.
¡°Each of our members retains a sliver of individuality, though the oldest among us have lost their edge,¡± the Parliament spoke through their own skull. Unlike Father, they had enough experience to speak separately of their newest member. ¡°You were one, and now you have joined many. With each new link in the chain, we slowly forget our own place within the whole.¡±
¡°A cycle which I shall see come to an end,¡± I promised them before taking their skulls into my palms. ¡°I will have to absorb you so we can travel light, Father.¡±
¡°I understand.¡± Father briefly turned to look at his wicked wife. ¡°Ichtaca.¡±
Mother ceased staring at the floor to meet his gaze.
¡°Please watch over our son in my absence,¡± Father asked. ¡°I know he does not believe he needs you, but I believe otherwise.¡±
I struggled not to scoff at this absurdity. That viper, watching over me? I would rather take a red-eyed priest. At least I knew where they stood.
Nonetheless, Mother appeared to consider her husband¡¯s words for a moment before hesitantly agreeing to his demand. ¡°I¡ I shall do what I can.¡±
¡°I know you will,¡± Father said softly. ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°Itzili¨C¡± Mother caught herself and swallowed whatever thought crossed her mind. ¡°No. Forget it.¡±
Father stared at her for a moment, then said, ¡°I still believe in you.¡±
¡°I do not,¡± I replied as I called upon the power of Bonecraft to seize my Father¡¯s body. I joined his and my predecessor¡¯s skulls and bones to mine, disassembling their joined vessel and adding the parts to my body mass. It was only a temporary measure, for now, to spare them from whatever danger awaited us beyond the threshold.
Their corpse was gone in a minute, leaving me alone with Mother. For a brief instant, neither of us spoke a word to the other. Father was the bridge that kept us connected, and his absence left a chasm of reproach and bitterness in his place.
¡°He is too good for you,¡± I finally said.
Mother looked down at the stone. ¡°I know.¡±
¡°If you try anything, you may expect no mercy from me,¡± I warned her. I didn¡¯t think she would be stupid enough to risk it all, but a warning cost nothing. ¡°What do you know of the Third Layer?¡±
¡°Less than I would like.¡± Mother crossed her arms and looked at the Gate of the Twin-Breaths in concern. ¡°No dead souls remain from that era, and the fears that linger there do not interest the Lords of Terror.¡±
¡°Why is that?¡±
¡°Because the living no longer remember them,¡± Mother replied grimly. ¡°The second mankind was unlike us, and the horrors that haunted their world differed from those that plague ours. Some never knew death, because they were never alive in the first place. All that I can tell is that Lord Quetzalcoatl crafted our ancestors there before releasing them back into the land of the living.¡±
In other words, we could expect anything beyond this threshold. The safer play would be to wait for Ingrid¡¯s investigation into the First Emperor¡¯s codex to bear fruit, but my now limited sleeping schedule made that risky. My nights had become more precious than ever, and I ought to cover as much progress as I could during these few hours.
¡°We shall enter the Third Layer now,¡± I said after filling my carrying frame with the First Emperor¡¯s codex and putting it on my back. ¡°Where are you and Astrid in the Sapa Empire?¡±
¡°I keep Astrid in a secure location away from the frontier,¡± Mother replied evasively. ¡°As for myself¡ I suspect that we will meet soon in the waking world.¡±
Her wording gave me pause. Was Mother near the frontier? Or did she have agents among the Sapa army I would wage war with tomorrow?
¡°Keep your distance for now,¡± I all but ordered her. ¡°Sugey has me under watch, and Tlaloc¡¯s embers keep me awake much longer. Our nights may no longer align, which will make coordination difficult.¡±
Mother bristled and bit her tongue. She knew full well that I was delighted to remind her of her failure to contrast my success.
¡°I can sleep anytime I wish,¡± she replied. ¡°I will know when you are ready.¡±
I squinted at her. ¡°How do you do that?¡±
As I feared, I saw a flash of ambition pass through her face. She had another means of leverage over me, however meager it was.
¡°I use a spell to lull myself to sleep,¡± she answered. ¡°Would you like to learn it?¡±
My gaze turned into a potent glare. ¡°Intent on making me beg, are you?¡±
¡°No, not at all,¡± she replied quickly. ¡°Nonetheless, it will require being cast in the waking world. It would be easier for me to teach you when we meet in the flesh upstairs.¡±
I snorted and faced the door. ¡°Then let us go.¡±
Mother threw the jug into the Gate of the Twin-Breaths. I heard a faint scream as it vanished into the swirling hurricane at its center, the last cry of an infant whose life had ended before it could truly begin. The doorways rippled and fluctuated, its thick smoky winds twisting and bending in a maddening spiral. The veil that separated us from the dead world beyond trimmed a little, enough that I began to distinguish the distant light of bright stars piercing through the barrier.
I pressed a hand against the gale and while I sensed a little resistance, the winds harmlessly folded between my fingers. They swirled around me as I stepped through the threshold without bothering to see whether or not Mother followed in my wake.
I vividly recalled the time when I left Mictlan. Much like back then, crossing the frontier between the Underworld¡¯s Layers weighed on my soul. While my body had no trouble passing through the wind, my spirit crossed a much stronger metaphysical barrier. I was leaving the demesne of one god for that of another.
A chill infested my bones as I abandoned the volcanic warmth of Tlalocan for much colder air. A maddening music echoed within my skull, its droning unlike anything I¡¯d ever heard. I recognized the beating of drums and the whistling of harmonica among the frenzied serenade, but my ears failed to recognize most instruments.
I did identify something unfathomably familiar though; a weight pressing on my soul, fueling the baleful flame of hatred resting within my heart.
Evil.
The same miasma of corruption which pervaded Xibalba flowed into me from the other side of the threshold. I choked on it, wading through an invisible darkness clinging to my bones and skin; but where Xibalba had felt like a home to my owl-totem, this aura only inspired dread and disgust. I didn¡¯t belong in whatever horror awaited beyond the threshold, and I swiftly realized why when I finally took my first step on the other side.
I¡¯d entered a singing hell.
A strange and surreal landscape emerged before me under a dark sky kept alight by the shine of the north star and dimmer constellations. Mighty winds battered a burning horizon shrouded in darkness and swarms of black, obsidian-winged butterflies.
A vast landscape of skin and stone stared back at me, for the hills had eyes. They observe me from atop mouth-shaped caverns, moaning through their gnashing teeth or joining their voices to the chorus of the demented dead. Lanky, ominous buildings shaped like laughing skulls and covered in face carvings stood next to them. I noticed that one had a house-sized, twisted human ear growing out of its stone wall, while another tower seemed to be growing out of a giant egg. The few trees were black and gnarled, a few of them joining together in twisted shapes that reminded me of severed faceless torsos standing on their arms.
Dark figures danced and sang in circles around campfires and pyres. Most were hunched and bent like monkeys with blackened bones, but other figures seemed to be shaped from the very shadows, their limbs twisted in ways that shouldn¡¯t allow any man to stand straight. Most of them bore black wooden masks covered in colorful carvings, while others bore pointed hats half their size. A few played instruments which I immediately recognized as human hearts whose aortas had been replaced with sounding horns.
I witnessed scenes of utter debauchery that would make the Nightlords look like prudes. I saw monkey men frolicking with fish with legs among gnarled obsidian flowers. I witnessed two monsters toss a third into a cooking pot piece by piece while it cried in pleasure. I paused as I saw a masked humanoid creature drawn and quartered while smaller figures beat it with sticks; all to the tune of that chaotic, frenetic song of madness.
¡°What¡¡± I muttered under my breath in shock while Mother walked by my side. ¡°What is this place?¡±
¡°Welcome to Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n, my son,¡± Mother replied, her face looking up to the black butterflies dancing under the north star. ¡°Welcome to the birthplace of humanity.¡±
Chapter Eighty-Four: Obsidian Butterfly
I couldn¡¯t find a measure of sense anywhere I looked.
I had been warned that the gods only gave humans their current shape during Tlaloc¡¯s tenure, but this place soon made me realize that this held true of most beasts of the earth, water, and sky. The thousand abominations inhabiting this land all seemed both familiar and disturbingly grotesque. I saw dog-sized eggs with legs, apes with extra sets of arms, and walking fish with wings. Each of them bore parts from creatures thriving in the world of the living, but twisted and mismatched.
And all of them were rotten to the core.
I saw a parade where deformed demons dragged giant statues of reeds with cages for chests, within which raged captive apes. The fiends danced around them for a while before setting the prisons on fire with torches, their songs drowning out the screams of the burning prisoners. Others walked around with sticks topped with the squirming body parts of a humanoid being. When I paid more attention to those, I noticed eyes on feet staring back at me and hands with gnashing teeth.
I saw a road-sized centipede walk across a street of bones, only to realize its body was made of stitched-together corpses melded into an unholy embrace. The creature grabbed people screeching off the ground to add them to its mass, growing longer and larger with each new link in its chain of flesh. Most disturbingly, passerbyers fought for the honor of being chosen, throwing others out of the way and welcoming the abomination¡¯s attempts to merge with them.
I saw a masked ape the size of a city wall carrying and drinking from a glass of water filled with smaller versions of its kindred rutting inside, along with a massive fish with arms transporting a platter on which lay a wolf-faced man. The latter scooped his own exposed entrails up with a spoon, dining upon his own organs before closing his stomach as if it were a simple bag of clothes. The procession walked in front of a line of white hares hung by their intestines from a tree, with the animals chirping as they swung from the branches.
This orgy of horrors explained neatly how this demonic assembly could sustain itself after eons of such debauchery. This hell was beyond death¡¯s grasp, and one¡¯s demise was no more than a brief respite from the unending chaos.
Mother and I observed the procession of the mad from atop a building, unseen and uncared for besides the presence of obsidian butterflies flying near us. I was certain that this Layer¡¯s inhabitants had seen us, but they paid us no mind anyway. Either their senses had dulled, or they didn¡¯t care for anything outside their own surreal pleasures.
I had walked into a nightmare without beginning nor end, inhabited by the delirious and the forsaken.
¡°This is even worse than I expected,¡± I said with contempt. The sheer scale of this debauched madness would put even the Nightlords¡¯ excesses to shame. ¡°How can Quetzalcoatl allow such madness to run rampant?¡±
¡°I would not speak for a god, but I can guess,¡± Mother said. ¡°He has given up on these fools.¡±
I guessed she was likely right. All texts said that Quetzalcoatl abandoned the second incarnation of humanity after they descended into evil and allowed Tlaloc to start creation back from scratch; and I could hardly blame him when I saw these¡ these animals.
Part of me wished to set this place on fire with the Blaze out of disgust, but we had neither the time nor the need. We¡¯d come to this land to meet with Quetzalcoatl and earn his embers, not judge his wayward followers.
¡°Let us go,¡± I told Mother. ¡°We have no time to waste on these things.¡±
¡°Agreed,¡± Mother replied. ¡°Following Quetzalcoatl¡¯s morning star appears to be our best bet.¡±
¡°What insight!¡± I responded dryly as I prepared to fly away in owl form, only for me to stop when I sensed a cold wind rising.
I wouldn¡¯t have paid it much attention were it not for the way it battered on my wings and feathers. The wind was sharp, unnaturally so. I sensed invisible blades grazing my skin and beak, which I recognized as somehow intentional. An oppressive aura of gleeful malevolence traveled through the breeze.
The parade grew wilder still. The thundering noise of skin drums, bone flutes, and obsidian whistles blasted through the dark night in a numbing cacophony. The fiends that inhabited this twisted parody of a civilization began to sing and screech in unison, when before there was only chaos.
¡°Something is wrong, my son!¡± Mother said with disquiet, her beak pointing at the sky. ¡°The stars are gone!¡±
She was right. The starlit sky had grown pitch black, lit only by Quetzalcoatl¡¯s evershining morning star. Lightning flashed closer and closer in the darkness, heralding the coming of something great, vile, and terrible. The peal of thunder grew louder and almost deafening.
Mother had called upon the Cloak to protect herself, and so did I. The winds of fortune barely offered meager comfort from the rising storm. The fire within my soul beseeched me to find shelter with haste, for the story of this cosmos¡¯ demise rang in my head.
Quetzalcoatl had wiped away his world¡¯s sins with a hurricane.
Would he do so again?
Whatever the case, the madmen of Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n did not fear whatever disaster loomed. They sang and screeched and jumped in place with wicked abandon, as if welcoming their incoming destruction. Mountains with eyes bellowed like toads chanting in the night all while the wind grew stronger still.
¡°Here!¡± Mother hastily pointed at a cave dug into a hill with skin. This ¡®shelter¡¯ was hardly enticing, but my heart-fire burned with fear¡¯s bitter glow.
I could feel a presence approaching us; an entity of divine might and greater evil than the Lords of Terror themselves. I sensed the will of a god flow with the wind, malicious and hungry.
Mother and I took refuge in the cave as the citizens of Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n descended into an insane frenzy. Bloodthirst took them over as they began to hack and bite at each other like rabid dogs, their flesh washing over the city of the deranged. They killed and raped and beat up each other under the stormwracked sky. The wind now blew with enough strength to send stones flying. Enormous bolts of lightning struck the hills and tore them asunder. Each of them echoed with a rumbling, droning sound which I quickly recognized.
A roar.
While Mother retreated into the cave¡¯s shadows, her wing raised to protect herself from the storm, I dared to peek outside. The oppressive aura was now so thick I could almost taste the familiar stench of death on the tip of my tongue. The obsidian butterflies gathered in a great black swarm, spiraling above the demonic city.
Worst of all, the dark chain that bound me to the First Emperor pulsed with newfound life. The darkness within me stirred after his daughters¡¯ ritual briefly cowed it into silence. Night called out to night, with the shadows recognizing their own. The evil within this place called out to my predecessor, and thus to me.
A searing thunderbolt fell upon the earth and the stars returned with a shriek.
The black butterflies lit up all at once with starlight, each of them undergoing a terrifying transformation. They grew as large as men, their wings expanding to reveal monstrous skeletal figures crusted with blackened rocks. These entities wore the skirts and dresses of human women, but woven with otherworldly miasma and bony shells rather than fibers; crowns of paper banners and necklaces of human hearts and hands adorned their fleshless heads, while their eyes shone with the deathly hue of pale blue stars, and their joints ended in screaming faces. Merely staring at these shrieking horrors filled me with unease.
I had seen these things on temple murals during my childhood, when the priests warned us what would happen should the sun ever fall.
¡°The Tzitzim¨©meh¡¡± I muttered under my breath while Mother watched this court of monsters in horrified silence.
These were the demons of the stars, daughters of chaos, who would descend to devour the living on the death of the Fifth Sun. Legends said that they were the spirits of women who died in childbirth, but I doubted these snarling horrors had ever been human once. They illuminated the night with their numbers, their wings flapping and their clawed hands clapping in anticipation.
But an even greater horror arose from the darkness itself.
The shadows sharpened into the shape of a gigantic figure taller than Smoke Mountain. The mere sight of it gave me a searing headache as my mind struggled to comprehend its form. I saw a blurred face filled with obsidian fangs and a skeletal maw, but the features continued to shift and change with each blink of the eye. Its butterfly wings were carved from stone and its immense hands were made from the very fabric of the night itself.
I would have likely gone mad at the sight of the creature without the embers fueling my heart-fire, the same way witnessing the First Emperor the first time wounded me in my very soul; even Mother, who had only had a taste of a single dead sun, visibly struggled not to shake in fear. I myself could only stare at that thing as it whipped up a storm around itself. The winds that battered this maddened hellscape grew into a hurricane. The mighty gusts uprooted houses and monsters alike, drawing them into the sky.
The Tzitzim¨©meh rejoiced and gracefully glided among the air currents, snatching flying people up in their claws and swiftly tearing them apart. Their monstrous deity waved its arms to scoop up its share of flesh with its immense hands. It grabbed victims by the clusters, crushing and eating them into its pitch black maw. Its ravenous hunger was a mere echo of the First Emperor¡¯s bottomless appetite, yet it filled me with dread nonetheless.
Mother and I could only watch without a sound as death and destruction rained across Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n. The hurricane tore the city apart and battered the hill within which we hid with such relentless strength that it swayed left and right. The storm flattened buildings, earthquakes collapsed their ruins, and the Tzitzim¨©meh feasted.
How long did this hideous spectacle unfold? An hour? More? It was amazing how little time mattered to a mind awed by cosmic destruction.
I couldn¡¯t tell exactly when it ended either, except that it did. By the time the wind grew quiet, not a trace remained of the demonic city. The Tzitzim¨©meh had devoured every single last of its inhabitants until they at last stopped screeching, their hunger finally satiated.
The shadowy entity which they flew around like a court of handmaidens around a queen loomed over the desert of its own creation, silent and all-powerful. Although it had no eyes with which to glare, I sensed the weight of its attention upon me. It had known of our presence from the very start, and this spectacle had been for our sake to enjoy.
And then the darkness spoke to me with the most enchanting of voices.
¡°Come out, Cizin,¡± she called out with deep, sensual femininity. ¡°You too, Ichtaca. Come out, my children.¡±
While I considered what to do, Mother had already begun walking out of the cave. I saw no bravery in her movements, only the obedience of a weaker mind bound by magic too strong for her to resist. Her lack of a second set of embers and spine spelled her doom.
While I had no love left for her, Father wouldn¡¯t forgive me if I simply watched Mother being devoured by horrors from the stars. I stepped outside the cave with more confidence than her, partly altering my Spiritual Manifestation to emerge in the shape of a winged man with talons for hands rather than an owl. I would face danger as a mighty sorcerer and not as a meek victim.
The Tzitzim¨©meh hissed at our arrival, though they made no move to attack us. The great shadow which they served shrank in an instant to greet us among the ruins. The unrecognizable titan from earlier shifted into the silhouette of a graceful, slender woman with long white hair bound by a human femur. Her skin was black like obsidian, and her butterfly wings pitch black. The image of stars twinkled within them in a dance that was both enrapturing and mesmerizing, while her eyes seemed crafted from molten silver.
I had stood in the presence of great beauties, inhuman or otherwise, but the otherworldly splendor and arousing loveliness of that creature put them all to shame. Her face seemed to have been sculpted from stainless glass. She exuded some kind of powerful animal magnetism and gorgeous sensuality that put Iztacoatl to shame. Her skirt of burning snakes hardly left anything to imagination, and it would have been so easy to remove them and kiss her feet in ador¨CUnlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
¡°I refuse¡¡± I growled as I forced myself to focus. I struggled against the veil overtaking my mind and pierced through it with the blazing fire of my hatred. I bowed to no one. ¡°It will take more than that to control me.¡±
The obsidian deity smiled with lips sharper than daggers. This creature was a goddess of some sort, but a very different kind than Queen Mictecacihuatl. The lady of Mictlan embodied the regal majesty of a gentle death, while I only felt malice coming from this entity. She had a predator¡¯s beauty, and the charm of an ancient forest waiting to devour whoever dared venture into its dark woods.
Considering how obediently the Tzitzim¨©meh behaved in her presence, I had a good idea of who she was; and the danger in which Mother and I now found ourselves.
¡°I do not seek to control you, Emperor of Yohuachanca,¡± she said with a musical voice that sounded both arousing and revolting at the same time. ¡°I arose from the blood of ¨mecihu¨¡tl, the female half of the primordial being ¨mete¨tl from which all of life sprang. When a male dreams of an ideal partner, they desire me. If you cannot resist your lust, the fault falls with you.¡± She leaned in to better study my face, the very air growing sharper around her. ¡°Although if you wish to give in, I would gladly give you the pleasure of a lifetime.¡±
I had spent enough time around the Nightlords to know how this would end. ¡°Because you will devour me afterwards, goddess?¡±
¡°Why not?¡± The goddess¡¯ laugh rang like clashing flintstones. ¡°Call me old-fashioned, but I believe death completes the act. A man grows superfluous once he has planted his seed.¡±
This philosophy would be undoubtedly popular in Chilam, but even the cruelest of Amazons would be hard-pressed to worship this deity.
¡°You are Itzpapalotl, the Obsidian Butterfly,¡± I guessed, hiding my unease behind the cold majesty of an emperor. ¡°Goddess of the stillborn, violence, and miners. Queen of the Tzitzim¨©meh, who will devour mankind once the Fifth Sun comes to an end.¡±
¡°You have sired a well-behaved and cultured boy, Ichtaca, but he is too polite by half,¡± the goddess replied, confirming my suspicions. ¡°You have forgotten the most important part of my portfolio, my child.¡±
She snapped her fingers and summoned a flying obsidian knife from nothing. The shard of sharpened glass floated right in front of my heart, begging to enter it like a key fitting through a hole.
¡°Sacrifice,¡± Itzpapalotl said softly.
My fists clenched so tightly they began to hurt and I struggled to hold my tongue. The rational part of me would think to bow and pretend politeness, but her very presence unnerved and enraged me in a way no other gods had thus far. She reminded me too much of my tormentors to inspire anything more than disgust.
Her smile boasted the Jaguar Woman¡¯s cunning, Iztacoatl¡¯s petty cruelty, Sugey¡¯s brutality, and even Yoloxochitl¡¯s warped affection. She was the ideal that the Nightlords aspired to; the goddess who introduced mankind to human sacrifice and would feast upon them during the end times. This city¡¯s destruction was but a rehearsal for the inevitable fall of man.
Thankfully, Itzpapalotl seemed utterly uninterested in servility. She didn¡¯t ask me to bow nor demanded respect like Tlaloc. In fact, my obvious loathing appeared to amuse her. I did not lower my guard in the slightest, however; a goddess¡¯ interest was far more threatening than her indifference.
¡°All souls bound to an altar enjoy my favor,¡± Itzpapalotl declared, stars shining brightly on her wings. ¡°Whether pauper or emperor.¡±
¡°I must have disappointed Your Majesty then, for taking my own life ahead of time,¡± I replied calmly. ¡°And I will disappoint her still.¡±
¡°You would be wrong,¡± Itzpapalotl replied. ¡°A sacrifice is only meaningful when freely given in the service of a sincere cause. If it is made under false pretenses, it is merely shameful. Your mistresses¡¯ attempts to steal the heavens¡¯ glory do not endear them to me in the slightest, I can assure you.¡±
The obsidian shard moved in front of my heart-fire and pressed against my bones. A familiar, sharp pain followed in its wake. The shard caressed the exact spot where I once stabbed myself on the first day of my tenure.
¡°When the Fifth Sun rose, it was I who first taught your ancestors the importance of offering their lives to keep it in the sky,¡± Itzpapalotl declared with what could pass for fondness. ¡°Your decision to offer your life as a statement against your false gods was a bold move worthy of respect. Were it up to me, you would have enjoyed the dignity of a final death.¡±
Her statement took me aback. ¡°Your Majesty taught men to give their lives to prolong the Fifth Sun?¡± I asked in disbelief. ¡°Even though it delays your coming?¡±
¡°Why would I be in a hurry to slaughter the living? I¡¯ve lived through four dead suns, and we have plenty of entertainment here until the day of reckoning.¡± Itzpapalotl¡¯s dagger turned to smoke between her fingers. ¡°Should the current sun fall, it shall be out of mortal folly and laziness rather than divine interference, and my coming your punishment.¡±
I supposed it made some twisted amount of sense. Much like Mictlantecuhtli failed to understand life because he had always been dead and how Tlaloc¡¯s temper raged like the storm of his soul, Itzpapalotl embodied her role beyond human understanding of morality. She could find nobility in delaying the inevitable while still carrying it through without remorse.
Itzpapalotl¡¯s gaze turned to Mother next, who unlike I had the sense to bow in her true form. The goddess raised an eyebrow upon noticing her visitor¡¯s shaking hands and sweat.
¡°Why tremble so, my beautiful child?¡± Itzpapalotl lowered herself and proceeded to gently grab Mother¡¯s cheeks with exquisite delicateness, much to my utter surprise. The goddess guided Mother to look up and offered her a smile without an edge. ¡°You will always be welcome here.¡±
Her words sent a dreadful shiver down my spine; not because they were spoken with irony or mockery, but because they sounded utterly sincere.
Mother¡¯s fear didn¡¯t lessen in the slightest, though she regained enough presence of mind to answer. ¡°Thank you for welcoming my son and I to this foreign land, Your Majesty.¡±
¡°Ichtaca, Ichtaca, please¡ You have no need for such servility here.¡± The goddess stroked Mother¡¯s hair with what could pass for a twisted mockery of maternal fondness. ¡°You feel it in your soul, do you not? The flame that yearns to join my stars? There is a place for you among my handmaidens.¡±
I dared to take a look at the Tzitzim¨©meh. Most of them now roosted among the twisted hills, their starlight eyes observing me with barely restrained hunger. A few still had body parts of their latest meal stuck between their fangs.
I tried to imagine one of them bearing Mother¡¯s face. I supposed she would fit right in among demons.
Of course, one of Mother¡¯s few good qualities was her inability to settle for being another¡¯s slave. We had that in common at least.
¡°My apologies, Your Majesty, but I must decline,¡± she said, carefully choosing her words. ¡°My son and I must seek an audience with Lord Quetzalcoatl. We have a message to deliver to him.¡±
¡°Alongside a request for divine favor, I would presume?¡± Itzpapalotl asked. I remained still with a spell on the tip of my tongue should the worst come to pass, but the goddess answered our fears with a light chuckle. ¡°I understand. Take your time to think this through, my dear child. I can wait until your sun comes to an end.¡±
She sounded confident Quetzalcoatl wouldn¡¯t bless Mother, and I could only agree with her assumption. While I wouldn¡¯t be foolish enough to believe a goddess destined to slaughter my kind, her wording did imply that she had no intention of interfering with our quest. That was good. We had too many foes and too few friends.
¡°Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty,¡± Mother said as the goddess released her. She was too cunning and careful to let honeyed words smother her ears, but unfortunately too ambitious to simply let it go. ¡°If you do not mind, would you kindly answer a few questions which crossed my mind?¡±
¡°With pleasure, my child.¡± Itzpapalotl¡¯s wings flapped gently, the air they sent reeking of dust and death. ¡°Whether I answer you or not remains at my discretion, of course.¡±
¡°Of course, Your Majesty.¡± Mother dared to glance at the Tzitzim¨©meh and then at the morning star shining across the horizon. ¡°I was under the impression that Lord Quetzalcoatl reigned over this layer.¡±
¡°He does,¡± Itzpapalotl replied calmly. ¡°My nephew and I share this paradise. He reigns and I rule.¡±
¡°Paradise?¡± I almost choked on the word. ¡°I must admit I do not understand Your Majesty¡¯s meaning.¡±
¡°Are you truly so blind, Cizin?¡± Itzpapalotl smiled thinly at me. ¡°My handmaidens perished in childbirth with hearts full of hatred and sorrow. They died to give life to another, and bitterly resent that loss.¡±
She waved her hand at the chaos and desolation which she and her Tzitzim¨©meh had sowed across the land.
¡°For them,¡± she declared. ¡°This place is heaven.¡±
I supposed there was some bitter truth to it. To angry demons finding happiness in tormenting the living, an inexhaustible supply of victims would be most pleasing.
¡°Mourn them not, my child,¡± Itzpapalotl said, as if reading my mind. ¡°These wicked souls will be reborn to party and suffer once more. Such is their blessing and their curse. Those who aspired to peace and enlightenment made their way up to Mictlan eons ago. Only the worst of the worst remain to revel in their filth.¡±
¡°I have no pity for these creatures,¡± I replied. The atrocities that unfolded before the goddess¡¯ arrival more than destroyed my sympathy for them. Unlike the Burned Men, these people had willingly chosen evil and madness. ¡°Would Your Majesty show us how to reach her nephew?¡±
Itzpapalotl¡¯s head slightly leaned to the side, her smile growing faint with mockery. ¡°Misguided Cizin, how could I force open a barred door?¡±
My spine stiffened and my burning blood ran cold in my veins. ¡°I do not understand.¡±
¡°If my nephew had wanted to see you, he would have opened the Gate of the Twin-Breaths and guided you to his abode the moment you crossed our threshold,¡± the goddess explained with flintstone laughter. ¡°The truth is that he has no intention to grant your request, and it was I who opened the path to you.¡±
Mother¡¯s eyes widened in understanding. ¡°The first breath and the last¡¡±
¡°Indeed, my child.¡± Itzpapalotl nodded sharply. ¡°As patroness of the stillborn, those whose lives ended before they could truly begin shall always be welcomed within my halls.¡±
My jaw clenched. I could guess why Quetzalcoatl would deny me, but I still asked for confirmation. ¡°Why won¡¯t the Feathered Serpent see me?¡±
¡°Because your heart is as impure as this domain, and your ascension would give rise to a terrible evil.¡± Itzpapalotl pointed at my heart-fire and the darkness lurking deep within it. ¡°My nephew has learned from his previous mistake. He won¡¯t allow another scourge of man to arise; not with his blessing at least.¡±
A terrible coldness overwhelmed my heart and my shadow lengthened. I smelled the stench of sulfur and sensed the otherworldly chill that always preceded the First Emperor¡¯s appearances. This faint presence barely lasted a second, but it resulted in the Tzitzim¨©meh baring their fangs at me and Mother squinting at me with unease.
Itzpapalotl alone appeared unbothered. ¡°I sense the presence of Yohuachanca within you, that most sinister of deities,¡± she told me. ¡°My nephew granted him his embers once and bitterly regretted it since. He will not bless you as you are.¡±
Calling someone sinister spokes volumes when coming from such a fierce deity. Nonetheless, I wasn¡¯t so foolish as to take her at her word. I had a good excuse to test the waters when it came to Quetzalcoatl, or at least secure an audience.
¡°I have a message to deliver to Lord Quetzalcoatl on behalf of his brother, Xolotl,¡± I insisted. ¡°Whether or not he shall deny me his power, duty compels me to fulfill this task.¡±
¡°Duty, or ambition?¡± Itzpapalotl¡¯s bemused expression told me she wasn¡¯t fooled by my words in the slightest. ¡°Suit yourself, Cizin. Disappointment is an apt teacher.¡±
The way she kept calling me Cizin annoyed me to no end. It took me a moment to realize why; it was a subtle taunt, and a reminder of the stain I welcomed into my soul. If my victory in Xibalba indeed poisoned Quetzalcoatl¡¯s mind against me, then that triumph would taste like ashes.
¡°My name is Iztac Ce Ehecatl, Your Majesty,¡± I insisted. ¡°Tlacatecolotl and last emperor of Yohuachanca.¡±
¡°As is Cizin, fear of the gods.¡± Itzpapalotl gave me an impish look, the kind that an indulgent mother would give to a stubborn and foolish child. ¡°Gods and men can bear many names and put on many faces when the need calls for it. One does not exclude another, no more than land and sky can walk alone. Remember that on your path to immortal glory.¡±
The Tzitzim¨©meh started howling together in impatience, their vile roars resonating with the lament of the dead and the agony of the slaughtered. Their queen smiled reassuringly at them with lips oozing cold, unfeeling starlight. A new breeze rose around her and carried her flapping wings upward into the dark sky.
¡°Another slaughter awaits us, my children, but make yourself at home,¡± Itzpapalotl said with a light tone. Her hands briefly brushed against my hair and that of Mother, her fingers warmer than Smoke Mountain¡¯s magma and yet chilling to the soul at the same time. ¡°I shall watch your progress with great interest.¡±
The Tzitzim¨©meh¡¯s eyes shone brightly in the night, their bodies flashing like lightning. One by one they vanished in a pale glow and ascended upward to the sky where they became distant stars. The entire court left in less than a minute¡¯s time with a symphony of screeches and screams, until only their queen remained. Itzpapalotl shimmered and transformed into a black wind that raced away across Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n¡¯s ghastly countryside. Storms and lightning wracked this cursed land in her wake until she disappeared into the darkness.
Mother and I stood in quiet contemplation for a while, each of us fearing the goddess¡¯ return or the coming of another calamity. Only when the distant storms and lightning grew quiet did I break the silence.
¡°Our plan hasn¡¯t changed,¡± I said firmly. I would confirm the truth of Itzpapalotl¡¯s words by myself. ¡°We pursue the morning star to Lord Quetzalcoatl¡¯s abode.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Mother scowled, her mind deep in thought. ¡°However, you should work on your achievements before our audience.¡±
¡°My achievements?¡± I sneered at her. I required no spell to guess what she was thinking about. ¡°Do you think sparing a few souls and some bribes in the mortal world would erase the countless corpses I stepped upon?¡±
¡°I have fooled Queen Mictecacihuatl once, and you can learn to do the same,¡± Mother pointed out. She waved her hand at the dust and ruins surrounding us. ¡°The gods are mighty, but not infallible. This place wouldn¡¯t exist otherwise.¡±
¡°And when Lord Quetzalcoatl realized his mistake, he wiped it clean with a hurricane,¡± I replied. Standing in Tlaloc¡¯s presence and my encounter with King Mictlantecuhtli had taught me the futility of trying to deceive deities. They were too old to fool and only impressed by genuine bravery. Worst of all, I had the gut feeling that lying to Quetzalcoatl would only prove his assessment of me right and thus deny me any further chance to claim his embers. ¡°Trickery won¡¯t get us anywhere.¡±
¡°I do not say you should lie to him,¡± Mother argued. ¡°Simply that you put on a show. This war of yours will provide ample opportunities for you to distinguish¨C¡±
¡°For me,¡± I cut in sharply, my voice heavy with disgust. ¡°You will let me face the risks in the hope of reaping the rewards again, won¡¯t you?¡±
¡°You are the one intent on delivering Xolotl¡¯s message, are you not?¡± My rebuke caused Mother to glare back at me. ¡°Feel free to disregard my advice and face the consequences.¡±
¡°Advice comes cheap when it costs you nothing,¡± I retorted while crossing my arms. ¡°I am about to wage a war with a nation who hates and fears me. How do you expect me to clean up my reputation under such circumstances?¡±
¡°It is because you are at war with people who hate you that your mercy towards them will seem magnified,¡± Mother retorted cunningly. ¡°Generosity means little to your own, and a great deal to those who do not expect it.¡±
I pondered Mother¡¯s words. She had a point; while the Flower War campaign would likely involve a lot of cruelty, an emperor that proved merciful to his enemies ought to be remembered for it.
¡°I will meditate on this,¡± I said. I ought to consult my advisors, and Ingrid in particular. She always had impressive ideas when it came to presenting a good front to people.
Impressing Quetzalcoatl with the righteousness of my cause would require showing him that I could wield divine power with duty and responsibility. I had already made headway into shedding my current image as a tyrant and mad emperor, and the Flower War would indeed provide a few occasions to present myself as a magnanimous leader¡ if Sugey and the Apu Inkarri didn¡¯t get in the way.
I¡¯d dirtied my hands with rivers of blood to reach this place.
What would it take to wipe them off?
Chapter Eighty-Five: Valley of the Crimson Flowers
It was said that wise warriors never went to a battle unprepared.
Following that advice proved difficult when I had more than one war to plan for. Awakening before dawn¡ªpartly because of my newfound lifeforce and partly out of frustration over my lack of progress in the Underworld¡ªhad proved to be a blessing in disguise on that front. I¡¯d spent the last hours before sunrise researching every last tidbit of Quetzalcoatl¡¯s lore I could find among Chilam¡¯s documents. Ingrid joined me early on in this task, for which I was thankful.
I nonetheless struggled with a sense of rising frustration. It wasn¡¯t that information on Quetzalcoatl was scarce. Quite the contrary; as one of the most beloved deities in the land, tales about him abounded.
The issue was that these accounts were contradictory. One text identified Quetzalcoatl as the son of the gods Mixcoatl and Chimalma, a fact which I¡¯d learned from the mouth of true deities to be a lie; yet the rest of that specific codex somewhat accurately recounted the Feathered Serpent¡¯s descent into Mictlan and the capture of Xolotl.
Another particularly haunting tale detailed how the god was tricked by Tezcatlipoca into sleeping with their own sister under the influence of pulque; an act that shamed Quetzalcoatl to the point he immolated himself into becoming the Second Sun.
That story left me sickened enough to set the text aside. It simply hit too close to home.
Come to think of it, so many tales about Quetzalcoatl echoed incidents of my own life. I too descended into the Underworld to meet with Xolotl and King Mictlantecuhtli; I laid with my own blood because a cruel trickster would find it funny; and both our hearts burned with sunlight.
Was I walking in the Feather Serpent¡¯s footsteps the same way I followed the First Emperor¡¯s path?
¡°That is the issue with popular deities, my lord,¡± Ingrid said upon noticing my frustration. ¡°Everyone projects what they want to see onto them. Truer accounts demand more digging.¡±
A subtle way to tell me she needed more time to research the information within her volume of the First Emperor¡¯s codex. Doing so without arousing Sugey¡¯s suspicions unfortunately required caution. Part of me wished we could move quicker, but I also knew it wouldn¡¯t amount to much. All the insight into Quetzalcoatl¡¯s mind wouldn¡¯t serve me much if I lacked arguments to convince him of my virtue.
¡°I suppose so,¡± I replied. ¡°But I cannot shake the feeling that our victory will depend on the wind god¡¯s protection and understanding.¡±
Flower Wars, as per their ritualistic nature, were always held on sacred grounds or specific locations. By chance or fate, the site we would use ours for it was dedicated to Kukulcan, a local serpent deity which the red-eyed priests associated with Quetzalcoatl and the Sapa people with Amaru, the winged snake after which they¡¯d named the nearby mountains. It provided me with a good excuse for researching lore associated with them.
Ingrid nodded sharply, then glanced in the direction of Chindi¡¯s room. My other consorts were still asleep for now.
¡°Would my lord forgive a request on my part?¡± Ingrid whispered in my ear.
¡°A request?¡± The fact that she saw the need to whisper rather than say it out loud aroused my curiosity. ¡°There is nothing to forgive, Ingrid. I will indulge any wish of yours.¡±
¡°My lord is kind.¡± Ingrid joined her hands, her fair expression morphing into one of concern. ¡°My handmaiden asked if she could leave my service and switch places with Atziri.¡±
¡°Tenoch?¡± That took me aback. ¡°I thought the two of you got along wonderfully.¡±
¡°We do. I consider Tenoch a friend, and she sounded clearly distressed when she asked for this transfer.¡± Ingrid met my gaze. ¡°I strongly suspect she wishes to protect Atziri from her current mistress. The glances that Anaye sends her way disturb her.¡±
I couldn¡¯t blame her for it. ¡®Anaye¡¯¡ªor rather, Chindi¡ªwas a beast in human skin whose murderous instincts were only kept in check by fear of punishment and my knowledge of her true name. She had already asked me for an opportunity to harm servants to pass the time, and while I¡¯d denied her I wondered how long it would take for her to take it out on her handmaiden. Tenoch and Atziri must have sensed her true, unsettling nature enough to fear her.
Those problems would go away once we transferred Eztli¡¯s soul into her new receptacle, but we weren¡¯t ready for the ritual yet and a handmaiden transfer would disrupt my well-oiled spy network at a critical time. I needed to placate Chindi¡¯s cruelty somehow before she did something impulsive.
The easiest option would be a sacrifice. The human kind was out of the question, not when I was doing my best to improve my image in the eyes of gods and men. An animal ought to suffice for now.
¡°I will personally handle the matter with Tenoch and Atziri tonight,¡± I promised Ingrid. ¡°As for Anaye, I will ask Tayatzin to fetch her a distraction.¡±
¡°Thank you, my lord.¡± My words appeared to reassure Ingrid, though she wisely didn¡¯t dig for details about the ¡®distraction¡¯ part. ¡°Otherwise, Chikal and I have organized your schedule for the day. Would you like to review it with me one last time?"
¡°Of course.¡± No man had two chances to make a first impression, and the starting day of a war ought to leave a memorable one. ¡°If I understand correctly, we will meet with Ayar Manco himself on neutral ground after the war council?¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± Ingrid confirmed. ¡°As the leaders of both war parties, you will meet to formally sanctify the chosen battlefield to the gods so that your soldiers can fight on pure grounds. This will also be an opportunity for Ayar Manco to bolster his standing among the Sapa people, since meeting with my lord on equal ground will provide a powerful symbol to his troops.¡±
I could see how. Ayar Manco accepted my offer of a Flower War in order to secure his bid for emperor against his brother, Ayar Cachi. Who else could declare war against the master of Yohuachanca on the realm¡¯s behalf?
¡°I¡¯m surprised Ayar Cachi would allow it,¡± I said. ¡°Besides sending Aclla to us, he has been oddly silent. Is he gambling everything on his brother¡¯s defeat and humiliation?¡±
¡°I suspect so,¡± Ingrid confirmed. ¡°Aclla informed me that Ayar Cachi intends to send a contingent of warriors to represent him, but he hasn¡¯t come himself. I assume he intends to exploit his brother¡¯s absence on the frontlines to court allies for a ploy at the rear.¡±
As if on cue, Aclla and Nenetl exited their shared bedroom at this very moment. My heart skipped a beat upon seeing my sister¡¯s sunken, red-rimmed eyes. I had given her some time to herself to process the truth of our relationship, as per her wish, and she had clearly spent a great deal of it crying in anguish.
A part of me yearned to take her into my arms and hug her, to gently wipe away her tears, but Iztacoatl¡¯s laughter immediately resonated in my head the moment that thought crossed my mind. I cursed her and Mother for poisoning the mere idea of affection with shame and unease.
¡°Nenetl,¡± I greeted her, my voice less confident than I would have wished. ¡°Are¡ are you well?¡±
I immediately cursed my words. Are you well? Was that the best I could come up with to soothe my sister¡¯s anguish?
¡°Yes, I¡ my head feels clearer.¡± Nenetl shifted in place, her hands joined together. I could almost taste the anxiety radiating from her. ¡°I¡ we overheard you. You were discussing the upcoming Flower War?¡±
Her attempt at changing the subject was so painfully clumsy and transparent that it would have made me smile under other circumstances. I could read between the lines. Nenetl wasn¡¯t yet ready to discuss our¡ our issue. Not in public at least. Ingrid could read her unease too, but didn¡¯t comment on it.
¡°We were,¡± I said, putting aside that troublesome matter for a later time. ¡°We were trying to grasp Ayar Cachi¡¯s strategy.¡±
Aclla offered me a deep bow. ¡°Allow me to provide all the insight you may need, Your Majesty.¡±
¡°Then come sit with us,¡± I all but ordered her.
Nenetl and Aclla took me up on my offer, with my sister taking a place at my side. The small distance between us felt wider than a chasm. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I moved my hand to grab her own under the table. My sister let out a startled scoff when my warm fingers coiled around her cold ones, but she returned my grip tenfold. While the unease between us was palpable, I at least showed Nenetl that I would support her and that we could talk again once she felt comfortable enough to do so.
Ingrid briefly glanced at us and then focused on Aclla. ¡°Will Ayar Cachi send warriors to face us?¡±
¡°He will, but only so his friendship with Your Majesty may remain secret,¡± Aclla replied. ¡°His champions will fight separately from Lord Manco¡¯s at a specific site whose location I have been informed of. I would beseech Your Divine Majesty to show them mercy.¡±
¡°Your brother wishes us to send weaklings to fight his warriors, so that his side may earn glory while Ayar Manco receives scorn,¡± Ingrid guessed almost immediately. ¡°What would he offer in return for this kindness?¡±
Aclla¡¯s smile had a knife¡¯s edge to it. ¡°Lord Cachi assured me that he would ensure Your Divine Majesty¡¯s foes would not perform well.¡±
¡°How so?¡± I asked with a sharp frown.
¡°Lord Cachi did not see fit to inform me,¡± Aclla replied evasively. ¡°Nonetheless, I am familiar with Katari Valley, the site where Your Divine Majesty will win his glorious victory, and the houses arrayed against you. Your divine strength, guided by wise advice, will no doubt secure you eternal glory.¡±
I wouldn¡¯t be so confident. While no man could match me in battle now, I doubted the Sapa would fight fairly. The threat of Inkarri and his fellow mummy-lords loomed over this conflict too, while I had yet to figure out the Apu¡¯s plans. That damn condor remained the great unknown of this conflict.
Moreover, I remained suspicious of Aclla and Ayar Cachi. The latter could be an ambitious upstart eager to see his rival brother fail, even if it meant bickering while enemies pounded at their empire¡¯s gates¡ or a deceitful mastermind playing a longer game. Aclla¡¯s advice could prove to be no more than the bait for the fish hook; her suggestions might turn out well for me until she could lure me into a trap.
And if Ayar Cachi and Manco were indeed foolish enough to bite at each other¡¯s throat when an existential threat besieged their empire¡ then they deserved their fate.
¡°What can you tell me about the site?¡± I asked her.
¡°Katari Valley is a sacred land dedicated to Amaru, the ancient serpent your great empire calls Quetzalcoatl, whose back forms our mountains,¡± Aclla explained. ¡°It is said that the valley was the result of his tail falling from the sky once the gods Illapa and Wayra stopped his rampage.¡±
¡°That¡¯s, uh¡¡± Nenetl scoffed nervously. ¡°An interesting story.¡±
And a false one. Nonetheless, Aclla provided us with such a vivid description of the valley that I was convinced she had visited it in person. I absorbed every piece of information, every detail that could ensure my victory.
Nonetheless, my gaze kept wandering to my sister. She mostly kept to herself while gripping my hand so tightly that I wondered if she feared I would let her go. Mother said she would contact me in the waking world soon, heavily implying that it would be under the Sapa¡¯s banner.
I doubted our family reunion would go well.
The Amaru Mountains lived up to their reputation.
They appeared over the horizon long before we reached the valley,
The smallest of them matched the size of Smoke Mountain, the tallest and mightiest of all of Yohuachanca¡¯s volcanoes; others ascended further until their icy peaks pierced through the clouds to the point I couldn¡¯t see their peaks. Their steep slopes, cliffs, and rock walls formed the impenetrable barrier that had allowed the Sapa people to resist subjugation time and time again. Seeing these sharp teeth of stone reaching for the highest skies made me wonder how anyone could live there at all, let alone build a successful civilization.
However, what caught my eyes the longest weren¡¯t those mighty mountains, but the winged shadows circling them. Great combs adorned their heads and a ruffle of white feathers surrounded their necks.
Condors.
Inkarri¡¯s gaze was now upon me, and I could only expect danger from now on.
The river my army had been following dropped into a large and winding valley of trackless plains full of vegetation which I didn¡¯t recognize. Ancient groves grew in the shadow of jagged peaks next to muddy expanses and narrow passes obscured by plumes of smoke fueled by countless campfires.
Two large encampments faced each other from each side of the valley; the Sapa had gathered their forces at their mountains¡¯ feet while my army set up its tents along the river itself. Our camp was the largest by far, and still held only a fraction of my manpower. The bulk of my troops were busy boarding ships in preparation for an attack along the Sapa Empire¡¯s coastline.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
This surprise attack, which I¡¯d carefully leaked to my enemies, would only unfold at the Flower War¡¯s conclusion. My hope was that it ended in costly bloodshed that would let me bleed out the Nightkin. With the loss of Yoloxochitl¡¯s secret weapon, the vampires would have no choice but to intervene personally in order to storm the mountains from above.
My goal for the war was threefold: garner favor with the army, show my magnanimity to my enemies, and purge the Nightlords¡¯ servants from my army. I had spent most of my time with Chikal preparing the invasion and assessing my various generals¡¯ loyalties in order to select those I could win over to my cause from the vampire loyalists. The former I would win over, and the latter I would destroy. I¡¯d been careful to put the latter in charge of the armada¡¯s landing, where fighting would be the thickest and most dangerous. That way I would ensure the demise of internal foes whether the operation succeeded or not.
Patli, general of the red-eyed Nightflowers¡ªthe military order dedicated to ¡®protecting¡¯ the emperor and generals on the vampires¡¯ behalf¡ªtopped my list of targets. While I couldn¡¯t afford sending him directly into the thick of battle without looking suspicious, I was determined to ensure his demise during the Flower War; and I already had a plan on how to achieve this.
Whatever the case, my arrival was celebrated by my troops. I triumphantly rode to them in the First Emperor¡¯s armor and atop Itzili, who now towered over trihorns like an adult over a child. I greeted my troops as the very incarnation of martial power, ready to lead them to glory and seize heads in the empire¡¯s name.
My longneck palace followed, and then the amazoness troops commanded by Chikal. Tlaxcala and Zyanya were given a choice place due to the former having been promoted to my standard bearer¡ªa post for which he was wholly unsuited for but that would shower him and his wife with honor¡ªwhile leading Zachilaa¡¯s troops in my name. Members of my empire¡¯s four fraternities¡ªthe Eagle Knights, Jaguar Warriors, Nightflowers, and Shorn Ones¡ªclosed the march. All the splendor of Yohuachanca walked by my side.
The banners of hundreds of subjugated tributaries and noble houses welcomed me. Flower Wars, due to their ritualized organization, were a rare opportunity for noble scions on quests for glory or ambitious upstarts to earn acclaim and a spot among the empire¡¯s military fraternities. Considering the scale of this one, nobody in Yohuachanca without a modicum of influence had missed out on it.
The red-eyed priests set up a grand war tent for me where I gathered the leaders of the four military fraternities and my key advisors to prepare the flow of battle. Patli of the Nightflowers, Coaxoch of the Shorn Ones, Amoxtli of the Jaguar Warriors, and Cuauhteztli of the Eagle Knights all answered my summons, and each had their own idea of how to conduct the Flower War.
¡°As Your Majesty has no doubt been informed, this Flower War has been extended to seven days due to the number of participants,¡± Tayatzin reminded me. ¡°The battles will last until sundown, will be waged with close-range weapons, and shall focus on capture rather than outright killing.¡±
¡°The side that brings back the most prisoners and loses the fewest troops will win the day¡¯s engagement,¡± Amoxtli continued. ¡°No man can fight for seven days straight, so we will need to organize our troops accordingly.¡±
¡°I am no mere man,¡± I declared boldly. ¡°I will take the field myself each day. I shall not ask anything of my soldiers that I am unwilling to do personally. Let the Sapa learn a sharp lesson in fear and humility for defying the gods.¡±
Coaxoch nodded in appreciation. ¡°Your Majesty is bold,¡± he said with enthusiasm. ¡°Let my Shorn Ones fight at your side. Each of us is a veteran with dozens of captures to his name, and who have never taken a step back in battle.¡±
¡°My Eagle Knights will perform just as well, Your Majesty,¡± Cuauhteztli said. ¡°Allow us the honor to fight at your side.¡±
I pondered their proposals. Coaxoch was right, the Shorn Ones were the best warriors the empire had to offer. While a man could join the Eagle Knights and Jaguar Warriors by capturing four captives, becoming a Shorn One required taking over a dozen prisoners and accomplishing twenty brave deeds. Otherwise, the difference between the Eagle Knights and Jaguar Warriors mostly resided in which Nightlord they dedicated their service to, with the former putting their faith in Sugey and the latter in the Jaguar Woman. Jaguar Warriors were fewer in number too because of slightly higher standards, but I¡¯d seen no report that they¡¯d performed any better than their rival fraternity.
I had another choice in mind anyway.
¡°Your eagerness is welcomed, but unnecessary,¡± Patli declared coldly. ¡°The Nightflowers have defended all emperors during these engagements and never lost a single one.¡±
I¡¯d hoped he would say that. The repeated security issues during my short reign had humiliated his fraternity and bolstered his desire to make up for it in the Nightlords¡¯ eyes. This presented an excellent opportunity to thin out his military order.
¡°You speak true, Patli,¡± I said. ¡°As the First Emperor first established our beautiful Yohuachanca with his daughters at his back, you shall follow me into battle against these heathens. Prove to me that your Nightflowers do not fear the light of day.¡±
Patli struck his chest with his palm. ¡°I shall guard Your Divine Majesty with my life.¡±
And I would see to it that he lived up to his vow.
While Coaxoch seethed in disappointment, Amoxtli unfolded a map of the valley. ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s escort is only one warband among many to take the field today,¡± he said. ¡°The first, fourth, and final day of a Flower War are always the most critical. Since accumulating victories early will bolster our morale, I suggest we open hostilities with solid veterans.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± Chikal said. ¡°Our foes will no doubt think along the same lines and send out their best.¡±
I nodded and turned to Coaxoch and Cuauhteztli. ¡°I hope your warriors shall prove up to the task.¡±
¡°They shall,¡± Coaxoch replied with a savage smirk. ¡°We shall bring in thrice our numbers in sacrifices.¡±
I thanked these months of stressful situations for teaching me self-control, or else I would have winced.
Flower Wars focused on capturing and taking prisoners because most would be sacrificed during festivals in order to secure the Nightlords¡¯ favor. The official goal of the exercise, after all, was to impress the enemy with Yohuachanca¡¯s military power while training our troops and gathering blood for our vampiric overlords.
Not all captives were equal before the altar, however. Both sides usually released nobles or traded important prisoners when pragmatic to do so. Victorious warriors could expect to secure a tidy ransom with the right catch, and Yohuachanca often preferred to drain their foes¡¯ wealth rather than their manpower.
But those were the exceptions. Most warriors could only expect a cruel death, whether at the war¡¯s conclusion or during a harvest festival later this year.
Besides the fact that sacrificing their leaders wouldn¡¯t endear me to the Sapa Empire, condoning these activities wouldn¡¯t improve my image in the eyes of the gods and men. No such bloody ritual should unfold until the Flower War¡¯s conclusion, so I still had time to find a way out of this particular bind.
¡°The mountains¡¯ scions will be of more use to us as hostages than sacrifices once our coastline offensive unfolds,¡± I said. ¡°Every prisoner ought to be treated well until we can ascertain their identity and value, so we may better bring the Sapa into the fold.¡±
Would Sugey allow me to spare the captives? That bloodthirsty beast would certainly extract her blood toll, but I had a few arguments to convince her. The loss of Yoloxochitl¡¯s plague lessened our military might, so securing hostages that could pressure the Sapa into surrendering would serve us better than another pile of corpses. Appealing to the Nightlords¡¯ desire to restore order by promising to sacrifice all the captives during a grand victory celebration¡ªone that would reassure our frightened citizens¡ªat a later date might do the trick too. By then, I might have gained enough power to challenge the Nightlords in direct combat.
I could also argue that a few men ought to be sent to Chilam as breeding chattel. Amazons followed me to battle in order to secure mates, and while I wouldn¡¯t envy their fate, it beat spending an afterlife stewing inside a vampire¡¯s stomach.
Who am I kidding? Even those weak attempts at mercy sounded empty in my own head. This Flower War is a trick for a larger invasion that will tear their homeland apart. The Sapa will see me as a deceitful conqueror no matter what I do.
No one argued with me on the matter, largely because the matter would be decided with the ¡®goddess¡¯ herself, and we spent the rest of the council planning our strategy. We would send out veterans on the first day in order to secure an early lead, then allow our younger warriors to gain experience tomorrow. The Sapa had agreed to hold battles of two hundred warriors at a maximum for a given site, though rotating reinforcements were allowed to replace dead warriors. Should two warriors have a claim to the same prisoner, a red-eyed ¡®master of sacrifices¡¯ would settle the dispute.
While I wasn¡¯t entirely confident about the value of Aclla¡¯s intel, I did agree to her request to send our weakest warriors to fight Cachi¡¯s contingent. I couldn¡¯t throw the fight¡ªthe plot would have been too obvious otherwise¡ªbut they wouldn¡¯t confront our best.
I, meanwhile, would fight in the most dangerous spot possible: near the valley¡¯s center, at the burning pyre meant to signal the start of hostilities between our armies. The Sapa would likely send their best men there to capture me, if not whatever creatures or horrors their Mallquis sorcerers could conjure.
Inkarri had already sent a spider Nahualli assassin after me, could manifest in the Underworld, and plotted the gods-knew-what in his mountain. I could expect to fight men with inhuman strength or other creatures.
Once the war council concluded, I personally oversaw the ritual cleansing of my chosen warriors in a public ceremony that involved the burning of copal incense and oaths of service. Whereas other fraternities painted their bodies or wore armors of jaguar fur, eagle feathers or cotton, all Nightflowers went shirtless, their only attire being crowns of flowers and pants of maguey fibers. They didn¡¯t need more than their weapons. The Nightlords had blessed them with their blood, as their red eyes attested, but their manhood and strength had been allowed to develop unlike my palace¡¯s eunuchs. Each of them was paler than normal, their fearsome faces betraying a kind of low, predatory hunger.
¡°Blessed are those who die a flowery death today, for they shall feast in the gods¡¯ own halls!¡± I told each of these Nightlord thralls as I embraced them in a manly hug; and as my arms coiled around their chests, I discreetly summoned a Veil and secretly placed black feathers filled with malice into their shadows.
I would have required more time to create elaborate Curses and I had too many victims to be picky, so I infused them all with the same order.
¡®Die today; die tomorrow; die for me.¡¯
I¡¯d pulled the strands of fate, and I would soon see if it gave me a gentle tug in return. This would be an excellent opportunity to test how absorbing Tlaloc¡¯s embers empowered the Curse and bleed out my most problematic ¡®supporters.¡¯
The sun was almost halfway into the sky by the time we finished the ceremony. I rode atop Itzili onto the plain with my Nightflowers escort and a set of red-eyed priests at my back to meet with the Sapa delegation. Chikal had taken command of another group of amazons who would fight in a sacred grove, as did my other commanders. My men marched in steady order, with my feathered tyrant roaring at the front in his excitement. I must have looked like the First Emperor reborn on his back, with the scarlet Tlahuiztli and my jade bat mask gleaming in the sunlight.
We walked through flattened grain fields and wild grass until we reached the very center of the valley: a tall hill on which stood a large pyre of wood, paper, and incense big enough to burn for days. Some of my red-eyed priests were already there, alongside Sapa sorcerers with caps of feathers and wool robes.
A large group of soldiers arrived from the mountains to meet with us. True to Sugey¡¯s own observations, the Sapa soldiers mostly came clothed in alpaca tunics, cotton armor, and wicker helmets. Their copper and bronze battleaxes contrasted greatly with our own obsidian weaponry, as did their spiked clubs and maces. They were older than our forces on average; none of them appeared younger than twenty-five, and some seemed to push into the fifties. It appeared their empire favored the experience of the old over the strength of the young. A handful of them wore bear pelts over their clothes, which made them stand out from the rest.
At their helm was a colossal and odd creature that rivaled Itzili in size. It was a strange beast roughly the same dimensions as an adult trihorn, but covered in a thick and impenetrable carapace of bony scutes. The head was short and blunt, shaped like an assault ram with deep jaws and grooved teeth. Its short legs were thicker than a tree¡¯s trunk, and its tail was covered in bone rings that ended with a spiked mace.
I briefly mistook the creature for a macetail¡ªthe animal whose bones formed the bulk of my carrying frame in the Underworld¡ªuntil I realized that the beast had no scales whatsoever. The head was covered in fur alongside the underbelly, and its face had more in common with rodents than snakes and lizards. The animal reminded me of those ¡®armadillo¡¯ animals housed in my menagerie, but many, many times larger and bulkier.
It was large enough to support a roving throne of gold at least. A man around my age sat on top of the creature¡¯s back on a gilded chair protected from the sun by a clothed dais. He was of an impressive height, at least a head taller than me, with a robust build and a dark complexion. Two deep and expressive black eyes stared at me above a prominent nose, while his long and lustrous raven hair was adorned with more feathers and gold than my own imperial headdress. He wore an ornate, richly embroidered tunic, a gilded sash, and a multicolored cloak covered in complex rectangular and spiral motifs; while he carried a wealth of gold jewelry, gemstones, bracelets, and rings worth more than a city¡¯s entire treasury. Although the man¡¯s attire didn¡¯t look like he would take the field today, his right hand gripped a mighty axe topped with a golden effigy of the sun. He stared at me with the pensive calculation of an experienced politician.
Ayar Manco carried himself with the dignity of an emperor. I would soon see how much of that was a show or the truth.
However, my eyes mostly lingered on a great, gold-feathered condor standing on the man¡¯s left shoulder. Besides the beast¡¯s unique coloration, its eyes stared at me with greater focus and intelligence than any creature on this forsaken earth.
¡°The emperor reigns on an empty throne, but the living dead rule from higher still,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°Waiting for the storm that will shake the mountains.¡±
As I suspected, the Sapa Mallquis had cast their lot with Ayar Manco. How much did Inkarri tell his chosen prince? I¡¯d once tried to approach Inkarri with an alliance the one time we met in the Underworld, only to be rebuffed once he decided destroying my soul would sabotage the Nightlords easily enough. It would make sense for him to inform Manco that I was a sorcerer of potent power, if only to encourage caution.
I didn¡¯t think Inkarri would inform the Nightlords of my true nature; even if they believed him, I¡¯d made clear that I was the vampires¡¯ secret enemy. The best option when facing bickering enemies was to let them keep fighting rather than unite, and I didn¡¯t think the condor sorcerer would be foolish enough to act otherwise. Nonetheless, any slip-up risked reaching Sugey¡¯s ears and arousing her suspicions. I would have to be careful to avoid exposure.
However, all these questions and thoughts faded away from my mind when I saw the priests and seers escorting Manco. Most were men walking barefoot in embroidered tunics adorned with patterns and motifs representing gods and beasts, singing hymns to their deities, stomping the ground with their staves, or clutching amulets while praying. A handful of them bore the white hair and blue eyes that marked us as Nahualli, and I noticed a few women and witches in the group.
Mother walked among them.
I had always met Mother in the Underworld as a Tlacatecolotl, with her heart-fire exposed and owl-feathers on full display. Seeing her in the waking world, stripped of her supernatural features and glory, showed a wholly different side of her. She was around Necahual¡¯s age, but fitter and slimmer than she had been. The resemblance between Nenetl and I was unmistakable, between her flowing white hair adorned with black feathers and pale eyes the color of ice. Her face was fair, and she greeted us with blue robes and a necklace of sapphires. I had to admit she looked quite elegant, even beautiful, and her sharp gaze gave her a sense of mysterious confidence most would find appealing.
I could almost see what charmed Father enough to take her for a wife. Almost.
The fact she showed herself in the open so brazenly, without a disguise or deceit, was a message in itself. Mother wouldn¡¯t dare show herself here, so close to an army under a Nightlord¡¯s protection, without heavy security guarantees. Neither would Ayar Manco. Inkarri and the Sapa sorcerers must be very confident in their ability to at least protect their leadership from Sugey¡¯s wrath should the worst come to pass.
Nay, the mere fact that Mother had been allowed to join the procession of the would-be Sapa Emperor carried a great many implications. This wasn¡¯t an honor granted to hedge witches or cave hermits, but to high-ranked priests or sorcerers of proven power. Mother did more than hide among the Sapa; she had earned favor among them, politically and spiritually.
My jaw clenched in frustration. My lie to the Nightlords that my mother worked with the Sapa Empire had been more correct than even I expected. Mother had clearly been working with Yohuachanca¡¯s enemies for some time now, and more important than that, she had been living the high life while leaving us to stew in poverty.
How many more secrets did the viper hide from me?
Chapter Eighty-Six: Deaths General
Each time I thought Mother couldn¡¯t disappoint me more, she found new ways to surprise me. I had to at least recognize her talent for deceit and surprise.
Worse, I¡¯d seen the looks of recognition on my guards¡¯ faces. The Nightflowers had likely been briefed on Iztacoatl¡¯s hunt and its consequences; I suspected that a few of them even participated in it. Mother had been near the top of my captors¡¯ list of enemies and her description was widely shared.
¡°Oh divine Godspeaker,¡± Patli whispered in my ear like a demon on my shoulder. ¡°This is¨C¡±
¡°The traitor,¡± I replied with a grunt. ¡°Many mysteries have begun to make sense now. It appears our enemies and betrayers were in bed together.¡±
Patli nodded sharply. On one hand, Mother¡¯s official association with the Sapa accredited the idea of a wide enemy conspiracy where all of our issues could be laid at the mountain people¡¯s feet. I wondered if she showed up specifically to draw suspicions away from me, although I didn¡¯t truly believe it.
On the other hand, the information was bound to reach the Nightlords. Even if I somehow managed to massacre each and every guard present without arousing suspicion, Iztacoatl had already proved that she could see through animals¡¯ eyes. A single surviving spy would be enough to pass the information up the chain of command.
I couldn¡¯t keep this hidden, which meant I would have to anticipate its consequences. I had no idea how Sugey would react upon learning of this information and would need to choose my words carefully.
My troops stopped a spear¡¯s throw away from our rivals, with the pyre and its hill looming to our right and casting a dark shadow upon our chosen battlefield. Itzili gladly introduced us with a roar that shook the very earth.
I saw brief flashes of fear in the eyes of enemy soldiers, but strangely none from Ayar Manco¡¯s mount. Any normal animal would have been at least slightly on edge in the presence of such a large predator, yet this one remained eerily calm. It didn¡¯t even blink. I strongly suspected the use of a spell.
In fact, I could feel a subtle and familiar pressure in the air. A near-undetectable omen of doom hovering over the battlefield. Having once cast all of Smoke Mountain under a similar effect, I immediately recognized the spell.
¡°Corpses sleep under the earth, hissing curses,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°A gift of reconciliation, and a bribe to chaos.¡±
A Haunt. Mother had put this area under a Haunt spell; one which would likely favor me in the battle to come.
Could Inkarri detect it? I doubted so, since not even the Nightlords themselves could see through my cursing of Smoke Mountain until it was already too late. Even if he did, Mother acted so subtly that tracking the sabotage back to her would be difficult. The Sapa were more likely to blame me or my vampiric captors should they discover the Haunt.
That tiny bit of help should have been unnecessary considering my power, which I took as a subtle warning. Mother wouldn¡¯t feel the need to discreetly curse this place if she felt confident about my victory. Did my foes lay a trap I couldn¡¯t see?
I was considering my options when Ayar Manco stood from his throne. He opened his mouth to calmly address me in the Sapa tongue, which I did not recognize. One of his priests swiftly began to translate his words into Yohuachancan.
¡°The only ruler of the world has answered your challenge, barbarian emperor of blood and darkness,¡± the translator said with all the blandness of a trained messenger. ¡°His Majesty Ayar Manco, Lord of the Sapa and Master of the World, demands to know why you would bare your savage fangs at our noble mountains of peace.¡±
It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if Ayar Manco had no idea how to speak the Yohuachancan tongue, but this could have been a ploy too; a way to demean me before his men by showing I was a barbarian requiring an interpreter for the master of the mountains to understand my brutish language. I cursed my lack of foresight on the matter. I should have questioned Aclla more thoroughly.
Nonetheless, I could think of a few ways to test the waters.
¡°Only ruler?¡± I snorted in disdain. ¡°All I see is an uppity prince who does not even rest secure on his own throne.¡±
I carefully observed Ayar Manco as I stressed the word ¡®prince¡¯. His face was a mask of stone, but I could have sworn his eyes narrowed ever so slightly before one of my red-eyed priests translated my words into Sapa. He knew enough of the Yohuachancan tongue to recognize an insult at least.
¡°As for the reason I come to bring the shame of defeat to your people, you can only blame yourselves,¡± I retorted before lying through my teeth. ¡°Your people have sent assassins after my consort and I, abused our trust with poisoned gifts, and dishonored our traditions. Be thankful for my restraint as I take a tribute of brave souls rather than paint your mountains red!¡±
The golden condor on Ayar Manco¡¯s shoulder glared at me with all-too-human malice and disdain. The would-be Sapa Emperor remained unperturbed and swiftly answered through his translator.
¡°If attacks and dishonor you have suffered, they were not of our doing,¡± Ayar Manco replied through his translator with the calmness of a peaceful lake. ¡°For many moons have the barbarian thralls of the winged whore-queens sought an excuse to bring war to the mountains. Your doomed campaign and throne are built on a hill of lies.¡±
Winged whore-queens? I actually had to suppress a chuckle at the term. Ayar Manco had a flowery way with words.
¡°Then explain to me why you shelter a renegade among your ranks, prince of lies?¡± I asked with a finger pointed at my mother. ¡°That woman has dishonored the heavens and ought to be punished for it.¡±
My words served multiple purposes. First of all, I would keep up appearances in front of the Nightlords¡¯ lackeys; second, it ought to protect Mother from her own ¡®allies¡¯ and discourage them from using her as a hostage by showing how much I despised her; and third, it would let me gauge how much the Sapa knew about her. Considering she hadn¡¯t bothered to inform me about her activities beyond the mountains, I felt no guilt of accusing her in the open.
Mother scowled at me, but did not answer. A thin smile formed at the edge of Ayar Manco¡¯s lips as he gave his answer.
¡°If a son cannot earn his own blood¡¯s loyalty, the fault lies with him,¡± his translator said. ¡°Nor should a beast complain about losing a woman¡¯s love after hunting his own wife¡¯s sister in the woods.¡±
My heart skipped a beat in genuine surprise. So he was not only aware of our blood relation, but of Astrid¡¯s capture too. Did the Sapa keep her as a hostage?
Come to think of it¡ come to think of it, Inkarri could observe and listen to events unfolding in Mictlan. Considering Mother¡¯s reputation, I found it unlikely he hadn¡¯t heard of her. He probably knew she was a Tlacatecolotl. I find it unlikely that he didn¡¯t consider Mother would make contact and form an alliance with me. Why allow her to stand so close to their emper¨C
My thought process came to a screeching halt as pieces fell into place and my fists tightened in genuine fury. Such was the tension coursing through my bones that some of my bodyguards suddenly looked uneasy, and Sapa soldiers tightened their grips on their weapons.
The lying, double-faced viper! She had been spying on me since the moment we met!
Inkarri lacked access to the Second Layer, however, so he would have had no way to check Mother¡¯s lies once I entered Tlaloc¡¯s domain. I guessed she had conned the Sapa people with false reports about my progress. She might even have convinced them that she simply observed me from afar and that we had yet to make contact.
This position would afford her a great deal of favor among the Sapa, but their leadership would have likely demanded more proof of loyalty. I thought Mother kidnapped Astrid to both help me and stick it to Iztacoatl, but I now realized that she also sought to solidify her standing by proving she worked against Yohuachanca. She could have easily taken unearned credit for Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption too.
Why keep this from me? Did she think I would kill her if I learned the truth? I admit I was sorely tempted to strangle her and risk the Skinwalker curse right now¡
I froze and briefly glanced at my troops and foes. The tension in the air was palpable, and a few looked at me with genuine dread. Itzili, my ever faithful companion, hissed and bared his fangs at Mother with barely contained hostility. His legs were slightly bent, signaling that he waited for the signal to pounce and kill, kill, kill.
Everyone thought we were about to attack too.
Ah, I see. I forced myself to calm down. My hatred had to be genuine.
Mother set me up both to ensure I would react with true indignation, solidifying her lies in the eyes of the Sapa. Of course, Mother wouldn¡¯t trust me to play the act. She didn¡¯t even trust herself.
And of course, this play sharply showcased the strength of her connections to me. I couldn¡¯t afford to cast her aside, not when she had become a dagger pointed straight at the Sapa Empire¡¯s heart. I suspected she even took no small pleasure in pulling a fast one on me after how I treated her so contemptuously.
That, or she simply played all sides and kept her options open. This explanation remained the most likely, but I was in the same position as the Sapa: my treacherous and disloyal Mother had just made herself too valuable to discard in spite of the risks. Showing up today could have been her way to remind me that I wasn¡¯t her only path to power so I wouldn¡¯t take her for granted.
The craven witch had played a trick on me, and most infuriatingly, I couldn¡¯t call her out without depriving myself of a precious resource. That wench!
I contained my anger, then pointed my obsidian club at Ayar Manco.
¡°Your deceit will not save you from my righteous might, and your punishment for disrespecting the heavens shall be severe,¡± I replied for the sake of my troops. ¡°Come down from your throne and fight me, prince, if you dare! We can settle this in a duel before the mountains and valleys!¡±
I saw Ayar Manco¡¯s expression sharpen for the first time since this contest of boasts as his priest translated my challenge, and he took slightly longer to give his answer. ¡°The mountain does not answer the hill¡¯s bark.¡±
Unlike me, he wouldn¡¯t risk himself in the field. This presented me with an opportunity to showcase my own mercy.
¡°All your flowery speeches cannot hide your cowardice!¡± I declared, both for my allies and enemies¡¯ sake. ¡°A true emperor leads his men from the front! He does not cower at the back while he watches them die, but carves the path to victory for the rest to follow!¡±
¡°How bold it is for the immortal to wager what he cannot lose,¡± Manco replied through his translator with a knowing look. ¡°We are all aware that your vampiric masters can bring you back from certain death. If what I hear is true, they already did so at least once."
He¡¯s well-informed. ¡°Would you blame me for our gods being stronger than yours?¡± I taunted him back. ¡°If yours were so strong, certainly they could accomplish such a miracle!¡±
My men roared as one at my boast, but Ayar Manco didn¡¯t take my bait. ¡°Our gods work in subtler ways than yours, but you shall feel the sting of their judgment soon enough,¡± he said through his translator. ¡°Thou shalt return home shamed and chastened.¡±
¡°Then prove it, if you have the strength!¡± I raised my club to the sky. ¡°By our hand will this Flower War bloom into a glorious victory!¡±
Itzili roared in triumph, and so did my men. Their weapons stomped the ground with feverish fervor and their mouths frothed with bloodlust. The Sapa, by contrast, might as well have been a wall of stone. I decided to change that by addressing all of my foes.
¡°Hear me, sons of the Sapa! Hear the words of Iztac Ce Ehecatl, Emperor of Yohuachanca, Godspeaker, and scourge of the highest of heavens, the dark lord and the mountain slayer!¡± The last insult earned me their full attention once the priests translated my words. ¡°Each day forward I shall come to challenge you! I shall stand here, in this very field, on the same earth on which many of you will be buried!¡±
To illustrate my words, I dismounted from Itzili. I heard a loud thump when my feet hit the ground, as if the very earth shook under the weight of my statement. I advanced to the forefront of my troops, who diligently stepped aside to let me through, and then pointed my weapon at the Sapa.
¡°Come in any number, bring any weapon, use any tactic¡ so long as you fight with your very lives, I shall honor any challenger!¡± I declared with divine boldness. ¡°Whoever captures me shall win this Flower War and eternal glory! Those valorous enough to fight me shall earn my respect, and those who die by my hand shall feast among the brave in the gods¡¯ halls!¡±
I waved my club and felt the wind follow my arm. The eyes of hundreds focused on me, from Mother to Manco and the best the Sapa had to offer. I felt the gaze of fate itself weighing on my shoulders as I affirmed the meaning of my divinity.
¡°So come at me, if you dare! I shall humble the arrogant by teaching them the true meaning of strength!¡± I hit the ground with my club with a final set of words. ¡°I declare this Flower War open! To the victors go the spoils!¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
A chorus of shouts and roars echoed my declaration of war, my words pumping up my warriors for the inevitable clash. The Sapa swiftly answered by hitting the ground with their maces and spears in response, though their bravado failed to match our own. Ayar Manco and his shoulder condor observed me with cautious expression, while a brief gleam of pride crossed Mother¡¯s gaze.
Afterwards, my priests and Manco¡¯s sorcerers moved atop the hill to set the pyre alight. ¡°Should we capture her, oh divine Godspeaker?¡± Patli asked me upon seeing Mother ascend with the other Sapa noncombatants. ¡°If we strike the witch quickly¡¡±
¡°Not now. Loath as I am to say this, I gave my word to these fools. We must conduct this Flower War in full respect to our customs.¡± I watched Ayar Manco, who would observe his soldiers from atop his throne at his army¡¯s back. I had the sharp intuition he would be assessing my abilities going forward. ¡°Capture as many soldiers as you can. The more of his men we keep in chains, the more pressure we can put on this overmighty prince to return the traitor to us.¡±
I doubted Ayar Manco would be foolish enough to trade his one Tlacatecolotl for a handful of soldiers, but Patli bought my lie nonetheless. He swiftly struck his chest with his first. ¡°We shall bring glory to Your Divine Majesty¡¯s name.¡±
May the gods smile on me and those would be his final words.
Our armies assembled into ordered lines of soldiers facing each other. Since this was the opening day of the Flower War, we would conduct today¡¯s conflict with a series of duels to indicate our warriors¡¯ prowess. The process would be simple: once a fighter incapacitated his foe, either by forcing him to surrender or by killing him, he would either move to the next line for his next fight or surrender his spot to the soldier after him if wounded. The process would continue until the coming sunset.
Obviously, the line of Sapa warriors facing me was the longest of them by far. Many fools had come to try and capture me. I noticed a strange warrior wearing a bear-pelt among my challengers, and another among Patli¡¯s line. Both shared a familiar and predatory edge.
Those two weren¡¯t warriors looking to capture trophies, but assassins out for blood.
Nonetheless, I faced my first foe without fear. It was a man over twice my age and a good head taller than me, wielding a shield and a star-spiked mace similar to the one Sugey used during our training. He fearlessly lunged at me with a roar in a brave yet doomed charge.
I sent him flying with a blow.
The man was thrown across his line, the shock causing the next two warriors behind him to stumble and collapse. The man¡¯s chest had caved in on itself, his bones shattering and leaving a gaping crimson hole where his heart should have been. I sensed the evil dwelling within my scarlet Tlahuiztli rejoicing at the contact of this warm blood, and I meditated on the consequences of my actions.
I¡¯d opened this Flower War with a murder.
I hadn¡¯t meant to do that. In fact, I¡¯d slightly toned down my blow due to my experience with Chilam¡¯s amazons. I only realized my mistake now: I had managed to fight off a spineking¡¯s jaws when wearing my scarlet Tlahuiztli while I had only one set of godly embers to draw strength from. Now that I absorbed Tlaloc¡¯s sunlight, my might had only grown tenfold. A serious blow of mine could likely shatter stone.
While regrettable, the man¡¯s death wouldn¡¯t go to waste.
A tense silence fell upon the battlefield, which I quickly broke. ¡°Patli!¡±
My elite guard, who led the line next to mine, nodded obediently. ¡°Your Majesty?¡±
¡°It seems that the Sapa¡¯s men are more fragile than brindles!¡± I shouted loud enough for my entire warband to hear. ¡°Fetch me a child¡¯s weapon, so that I do not break them so easily!¡±
My men erupted into laughter, and fury spread among the Sapa once their translators shared my insult in their native tongue. A new challenger fearlessly stepped up and Patli tossed me a wooden staff devoid of obsidian teeth to replace mine. This one was a bit slower than his predecessor, so I easily smashed his face with a casual blow that sent him to the ground. I¡¯d restrained my strength to the best of my ability, and while I did leave him bleeding and unconscious, I quickly confirmed that he was indeed breathing.
¡°This man is unconscious, and his life is mine by right of conquest,¡± I declared. ¡°Carry him aside.¡±
As I advanced onto my third challenger and let the soldiers behind me carry my first captive aside, I quickly realized that my ploy to inflame tensions had worked wonders. The Sapa¡¯s humiliation bolstered their fighting spirit, and they soon engaged my other troops with the kind of ferocity only wounded pride could inspire. Maces and obsidian clubs clashed among the field, blood stained the grass, and weapons flew to the tune of pleas for mercy.
The red-eyed Nightflowers enjoyed greater resilience and strength than most men thanks to the vampiric blood which they received from their vile masters, so they won more often than not. Nonetheless, they were far from invincible; they bled like any man and a single mistake could spell their death. I joyfully witnessed my Curses and Mother¡¯s Haunt bend fate in their disfavor in countless subtle ways. Wood shrapnel flew in just the right direction to hit throats; a tiny hole in the earth induced a fatal stumbling; a blow just happened to strike an artery. My work was so subtle I doubted anyone would notice, but it would reap its toll of death in time.
Most importantly, my men pushed on beyond what was necessary. No one wished to surrender when their emperor so boldly pressed forward. I saw wounded soldiers refuse to yield when it would have been wiser, and fools refusing to give their place to a fresher warrior in hope of adding one more captive to their name. Although the Sapa soldiers focused on capture rather than murder, accidents began to pile up. Whereas I advanced my way through my line of duelists unscathed, Patli was wounded in the knee and hip. Other Nightflower soldiers collapsed from their wounds after intense duels, and the corpses of the dead were dragged away by their respective sides.
I had to give it to my enemies, however, as it took until my fifth consecutive victory for fear to sink in. I faced nimble soldiers with quick feet and dazzling bronze daggers, a fighter with a spear and bola who tried and failed to immobilize me, and finally a warrior in a black and white tunic wielding a spear-axe taller than myself. Each of them I felled in a single blow. I pounced faster than the jaguar and struck harder than a feathered tyrant. By the time I faced my sixth competitor, the poor man¡¯s knees were shaking so loudly I could hear them; so I struck him there.
¡°I claim my fifth captive!¡± I declared loudly after stepping over my newest captive. ¡°Who else shall bend to the might of Iztac?!¡±
My next opponent, a spearman, took a step back rather than face me. I expected him to surrender on the spot, only for the next person in line to put his hand over his shoulder and take his place.
A volunteer? I squinted upon recognizing my new foe as one of the bear-pelt wearing warriors from earlier. Now that I could observe him more closely, I noticed that most of his face was covered in a black cotton mask and his skin was painted with tattoos of vivid colors. He was powerfully built and walked with a slight hunch, like a four-legged beast struggling to stand on its legs. Another of his kindred had walked up past Patli¡¯s line to duel the Nightflowers¡¯ leader.
Neither of them carried a weapon.
Is this your hidden dagger, Inkarri? I glanced at the condor on Ayar Manco¡¯s shoulder. The bird met my eyes with a potent glare, while the prince himself observed the scene attentively. Were they hoping to tire me out with small fry? To soften me up for the kill?
If so, then I would disappoint them both. My unnatural vitality could let me sustain many more engagements.
¡°You would fight me unarmed?¡± I asked the bear-man with a mocking laugh and false bravado. ¡°Very well, I shall honor thy bravery with a fair duel.¡±
I tossed my ¡®weapon¡¯ aside and walked to fight the man bare-handed.
As I hoped he would, Patli followed my lead with his own opponent so as not to look cowardly in front of his own fraternity; an act of foolish valor which I hoped would seal his fate. The two of us faced the bear-men.
They both pounced with inhuman speed.
Having fought a skinwalker, rabid beasts, and burned gods, I quickly reacted in time by catching his hands in mid-air before they could reach my throat. A much slower Patli failed to do so and was pinned to the ground by his own opponent.
I left him to die and focused on my own enemy. The Sapa man¡¯s nails had turned into black claws and his frothing fangs belonged more to the bear whose pelt he wore than a man. More than that, he was ferociously strong too. I wielded the strength of ten men, and yet I felt pressure.
His skeleton was thicker than normal too. I could feel it through my Bonecraft spell. Was this man a shapeshifter, or had he been empowered through sorcery? Whatever the case, he attempted to push me back with all of his strength in an attempt to make me lose my footing. I refused to give an inch and fought back.
This time, I did not restrain my divine strength.
My muscles strained and the scarlet Tlahuiztli clung to my skin as I pushed back against the bear-man, my hands slowly crushing his own into an unshakable grip. The man let go of his pretense of humanity by attempting to bite my throat with his fangs. I responded by headbutting him with my jade mask, breaking his nose. The blow caused him to stumble, and I followed through by throwing him to the ground. He landed on the side among the dirt and the grass with a loud thump.
I swiftly grabbed the back of his neck before he could get up again and then slammed his face against the ground. The blow would have knocked any other man unconscious, but this strange beast answered me with a muffled roar of defiance.
¡°Yield!¡± I ordered. ¡°Yield!¡±
The bear-man answered my merciful offer by attempting to get up and break my hold. I simply slammed his skull harder this time; again, and again, and again. It took a fifth blow to finally knock him unconscious, and even then I had the feeling he would recover quickly.
¡°Chain this one before he wakes up,¡± I told the soldiers further in my line after releasing my grip on his bloodied skull. ¡°Treat him well for providing me with exercise.¡±
I turned my attention to his fellow bear-man, who now towered over Patli on the ground. I could tell from the bruises that the Nightflowers¡¯ leader had fought valiantly, but his throat had been slashed open by claws and he gargled in a pool of his own blood.
¡°That one¡¯s soul is mine alone, beast,¡± I said. When the beast bared his fangs at me, I insisted more thoroughly. ¡°Begone, or perish. I shall not ask twice.¡±
The bear-man appeared ready to fight me until I gave him a most potent glare and pointed at his face with a hand still drenched in his fellow¡¯s blood. He held my gaze for a moment, and then wisely took a step back.
I knelt next to Patli in full view of our soldiers, the closest of whom had stopped fighting to observe the scene. To my disappointment, the Nightflower commander was still alive¡ but not for long. I seized an opportunity to look merciful that wouldn¡¯t cost me anything.
¡°You fought bravely,¡± I whispered in the man¡¯s ear before turning to my men with solemnity. ¡°Send him to my physician. Send him to my Necahual. She will take good care of him.¡±
No reason I should be the only one enjoying myself today.
When sunset arrived and the pyre died, I emerged victorious among the dying and the captured.
Ayar Manco retreated with Mother and his followers back to their camp before the coming of night, likely for fear of Nightkin assassination. Their side had obviously lost this engagement, so I left the battlefield crowned in glory.
All in all, our side captured a little over five hundred captives across all theaters of the Flower War thus far, taking three hundred seasoned warriors and two hundred commoner levies according to my masters of sacrifices¡¯ estimation; a record harvest by Flower War standards. Thirteen of them had been captured by my hand alone. I¡¯d caught more prisoners in a day than the elite Shorn Ones required in their entire career.
However, this victory came at a bloody cost. Forty of my Nightflowers had been killed or captured during our clash with Manco¡¯s troops, and we had lost many more across all the battlegrounds. It was a price I was willing to pay to bleed out the Nightlords¡¯ followers.
I returned to my camp at nightfall in triumph. My troops cheered me and my followers as I rode atop Itzili¡¯s back with my rope-bound captives trailing behind me. Victory always tasted sweet.
Nonetheless, I was left with the strong impression that this had only been a careful test of my abilities. Ayar Manco¡¯s cautious behavior belied a calculating mind I couldn¡¯t bait easily. The way he carefully observed all battles from his command post and strategically placed inhuman warriors to strike at me and Patli reeked of a probing maneuver.
Had he thrown the first day of fighting in the hope of lulling my troops into a false sense of security? Or had he been assessing my strength to better prepare his best soldiers for the next battle? I couldn¡¯t be sure yet, but I knew he wouldn¡¯t ignore my open challenge. Every day I took the field unscathed would be another stain on the Sapa people¡¯s pride.
¡°Your Majesty¡¯s enlightened leadership inaugurated this Flower War with a most glorious victory,¡± Tayatzin said upon greeting me with a gracious bow. ¡°Lady Chikal and her followers returned with a bounty of men too.¡±
¡°Wonderful,¡± I replied as I stepped down from Itzili the Younger. Those men at least will live, I suppose¡ ¡°What of the men we sent against Cachi¡¯s troops?¡±
¡°They aquitted themselves well, but suffered casualties,¡± Tayatzin confirmed. Perfect. Doing too badly on that front would have given the ruse away. ¡°Alas, I am also saddened to inform you that Lord Patli perished on his way to Lady Necahual.¡±
¡°He fought valiantly to earn us victory,¡± I replied. That at least was true. ¡°The Sapa will pay for this indignity, and for sheltering our enemies.¡±
This served right into my hands. The Nightflowers had been established by Yoloxochitl, so the duty of naming his successor technically fell to Eztli; who was both far away and likely uninterested in doing so. I would ensure that the order continued to suffer losses during the coming week.
¡°See that our prisoners are well-treated and their injuries treated,¡± I told Tayatzin. ¡°The more of them we keep alive for ransom, the greater our leverage over these mountain thralls.¡±
To my surprise, Tayatzin tensed up uncomfortably. ¡°I¡¯m¡ I¡¯m afraid this will not be possible, Your Divine Majesty.¡±
My spine stiffened and a coldness traveled along my veins. Tayatzin would never defy me, unless¡
A fearsome roar echoed into the dark night, followed by the screeches of countless Nightkin.
Silence fell upon the Yohuachancan camp as shadows obscured the moon. The longneck holding my roving palace on its back and who had taken a choice spot at the center of our troops lowered its head in fear and obedience, and a monster soon perched itself atop it in a wild display of dominance.
I had only gotten a glimpse of Sugey¡¯s true, monstrous form once on the night of the New Fire Ceremony, where she and her sisters were forced to seal away their monstrous father on Smoke Mountain. This time she chose to show herself in all of her fearsome and bestial glory.
The monster Sugey had always been was over thrice my size, with talon-hands that could seize a man like a tree''s branch and great filthy grey wings sending trails of feathers flying with each flap. I could have mistaken the thing for a giant vulture were it not for her humanoid frame, her clawed legs, her reddish skin, and the serpentine tail slithering behind her.
Twin heads sat atop a splintered naked throat crowned with a grey tuft of feathers, each of them equipped with a bronze-like beak ready to rip and tear flesh and bones. Her four eyes wept blood and gleamed with savage cruelty. She swung a massive mace fit for her size, whose head was a twisted amalgamation of human skulls merged together in a misshapen embrace.
I could smell the blood suffusing her frame, her feathers, her very self. My soldiers, and even Itzili, had frozen in dread at the mere notice of her predatory aura, the way hares tensed up in the presence of a rabid wolf. The crowd of Nightkin flying around her like an escort only heightened her fearsome appearance.
In the end, Sugey did share her sisters¡¯ flair for spectacle.
¡°Once again I come forward to you, warriors of Yohuachanca!¡± Sugey declared with twin voices each more inhuman than the other. She pointed her mace at me, singling me out from among thousands of soldiers. ¡°Once again, I salute our Godspeaker for delivering us a great victory¡ and satiating the gods¡¯ hunger!¡±
The cheers and acclaim of my troops felt like a cold shower of rancid waters.
Nightkin snooped in immediately afterwards to snatch prisoners from among the Sapa captives. A few of the enemy warriors I¡¯d captured myself were grabbed by the shoulders and then dragged screaming into the sky.
¡°I salute you, brave soldiers and loyal tributaries of Yohuachanca, for bringing glory to our eternal empire and anointing our altars with blood!¡± Sugey snapped her beaks as her praise turned to scorn. ¡°Many of you have fought well today, but many¡ many of you I found lacking, and in dire need of proper motivation!¡±
Two Nightkin dropped their Sapa prisoners right above their mistress. I watched with sickened disgust as Sugey¡¯s maws surged to catch these screaming men in mid-air. Unlike her sisters, she didn¡¯t bother draining them of their blood; she simply ate them both in a single gulp, both flesh and bones.
¡°As you can see, my twin mouths consume indiscriminately, and our army has no need for the weak and craven! The brave only show courage in the face of death, so heed my words!¡± Sugey snapped her beaks. ¡°Any warrior who does not bring at least one sacrifice by the end of the week shall be devoured himself!¡±
My jaw clenched along with my fists. Everywhere I looked, I could see a mix of fear and zeal spread among my soldiers as their false goddess¡¯ words slowly sank into their heads. More Nightkin descended upon the captives to drag them back to their hungry progenitor. The noise of snapping beaks and gluttonous gulps filled the night.
¡°In this world, it is kill or be killed!¡± Sugey shrieked while anointing herself in the entrails of our captives. ¡°Only those willing to shed blood ought to earn the right to live another day!¡±
That beast had shot my plan dead in the water. My men would fight with greater motivation than ever, for their very lives were now on the line. There would be no more mercy nor caution, only the pressing whip of death reaping its toll each night.
This show war had just become one of extermination.
Chapter Eighty-Seven: A Word of Advice
My hands seized her flesh with the strength of my frustration.
I sat on my imperial bed, facing a naked Tenoch after she impaled herself on my manhood with her arms and legs coiled around mine. I buried my face in her voluptuous bosom and gripped her ass with an unbreakable grip, drawing her closer.
¡°Oh yes, master,¡± she whispered in my ear in between gasps and cries of pleasure. ¡°Master Nochtli never made me feel so good¡ you are truly one of a kind¡¡±
I couldn¡¯t tell whether she was truthful or simply soothing my wounded ego. Tenoch had always been a sensitive soul and more perceptive than her innocent demeanor would suggest. From the looks Necahual and Atziri sent me from each side of the bed, they had at least noticed my anger.
I had originally planned to summon all three to discuss Tenoch¡¯s transfer demand, especially since it might alter our planned ritual with Necahual, but Mother¡¯s deceit and Sugey¡¯s latest stunt left me so furious that I¡¯d been tempted to strangle Tayatzin with my bare hands. The Nightlord hadn¡¯t even bothered to summon me for a strategy meeting yet, even after news of the frontlines likely reached her ear. The message couldn¡¯t be clearer: I was to take her public announcement like any other man and fulfill her command without complaint. My opinion was beneath her for the moment.
I was used to disappointment and abuse by now, but this insult somehow managed to infuriate me. I¡¯d felt the same call that pushed me to summon the rain in Zachilaa from the very depths of my Teyolia.
Consuming Tlaloc¡¯s embers had done more than bolster my power and confidence; it had imbued me with his strength and pride. The godly half of my soul demanded respect and wished to answer the insult with fire and brimstone. My sense of reason and foresight now conflicted with an instinct I struggled to repress.
I decided that drowning myself in female flesh would be a more productive use of my energy than avenging that insult with blood or running the risk of my magic acting wildly like it did in Zachilaa. I needed to reassert control, to feel in command again; and while I knew that sleeping with a glorified slave wasn¡¯t exactly a grandiose act of rulership, it was the best I could do to quell the divine fury for now.
My hands roamed Tenoch¡¯s voluptuous body, from her back to her shoulders to her behind. She was thicker than most other concubines, with skin soft like milk. I claimed every inch of her as my property, leaving no spot untouched. She answered my attention by pulling her arms around my neck and then pressing her lips against mine. I welcomed the kiss and let my tongue dance with her own while her breasts bounced against my chest.
There was no attempt at Seidr, no political purpose behind our lovemaking; only rage-fueled lust. Tenoch¡¯s flesh tightened its grip on my manhood. I was so close to release, and she welcomed it.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind. I had sired children back when I had only absorbed one set of embers, yet I hadn¡¯t conceived any with Tenoch yet. Would a child blessed by two suns rather than one inherit more power than his older siblings? Would the son or daughter of a demigod and a mortal become a quarter of a god?
The mere thought excited me so much that I came on the spot.
I sensed Tenoch¡¯s body tense up when my manhood erupted inside her. I pressed her against me, our bodies enveloped in a carnal embrace, tightening my grip so much I feared I would break her in two. She couldn¡¯t escape. She was mine, mine, mine. She surrendered to me without a fight, welcoming my seed and my tongue within the throes of orgasm.
I was her god and she worshiped me. I allowed her to breathe once we finished by unsealing our kiss. Her sweat mixed with my seed as both dripped down her thighs and onto the bed.
It took her a moment to recover from our shared bliss, and she giggled a bit afterwards.
¡°Master has changed,¡± Tenoch mused with a mischievous smile. I thought she meant I¡¯d improved in the arts of love, and I think I did, but her insight ran deeper. ¡°Master used to be afraid to give his seed. Now the prospect of planting it excites him.¡±
Tenoch had always proved more intuitive than she looked, and this remark was no exception. I used to be afraid of having children for fear of what the Nightlords would do to them. The thought of my progeny ending up on an altar, turned into breeding stock, or transformed into a vampire always provided a mental block.
I couldn¡¯t tell exactly when that fear went away. The floodgates had cracked when I sired my first child, the way a thief might grow more comfortable with armed robbery after committing larceny, but it only truly collapsed once I earned the title of Cizin and absorbed Tlaloc¡¯s embers. The storm god¡¯s power had imbued me with the confidence that I would pull through somehow and crush the Nightlords.
In a way, I would say that the thought of protecting my unborn children from those vampires¡¯ claws also provided me with plenty of motivation.
¡°His Majesty likes to feel like he owns us,¡± Necahual said with a hint of devious mockery. ¡°Or even better, stole us.¡±
I would have blushed if I could still feel shame. I¡¯d impregnated Necahual in her own late husband¡¯s house, in the same bed where he used to take her; and I would have lied if claiming Lady Zyanya¡¯s first night hadn¡¯t given me a great degree of satisfaction.
I observed Tenoch and was seized with violent disgust at the mere thought of another man touching her. The idea that a future emperor would claim her for himself like I did infuriated me. I used to think I would allow my concubines to go and marry others once I defeated the Nightlords, but now I wanted nothing more than to keep them for myself.
Something deep within me rejoiced over lording my power over others. Whether it involved killing foes, commanding men, casting spells, or pleasuring women, it didn¡¯t matter. It was all about power in the end. Power over others, over rules, over reality itself.
Tlaloc was right, my power magnifies my personality and flaws, I thought as I pulled out of Tenoch and released my grip on her. My craving for power and control grows stronger by the day.
I couldn¡¯t tell whether those impulses came from within me or the First Emperor¡¯s influence. Dreaded Yohuacanca¡¯s hunger and lust destroyed him from within, and I was playing his role, wearing his armor, wielding his magic. If the Nightlords¡¯ ritual was powerful enough to warp Eztli¡¯s mind, I couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that it was also affecting mine.
The thrill of battle and the luxuries afforded to an emperor satiated that gnawing darkness of mine for now, but how long would that last until I slipped up? I had to find a way to regain at least some measure of control over the course of the Flower War, both for my sake and those of its future victims.
How to overcome Sugey¡¯s ploy? I wondered. I could not overturn her announcement nor twist its meaning after she made such a show of it. Every soldier would need to bring back at least one sacrifice to survive, and the Sapa would fight all the hardest upon hearing what fate awaited them. I supposed I could try to limit the bloodshed to one captive per soldier, with the extra captives being spared¡ but would Sugey let me get away with it? No matter how I considered the problem, I couldn¡¯t see any way to promote a merciful image among my troops and enemies.
Moreover, I had other issues to deal with.
¡°Atziri,¡± I said, causing my meeker concubine to tense up. ¡°Why do you want to switch places with Tenoch?¡±
¡°I¡¡± Atziri almost instinctively pulled the bedsheet to her. ¡°I do not¡¡±
¡°I came up with the idea on my own, Master,¡± Tenoch said.
¡°Why?¡± I insisted. I wanted to hear it from their very mouth.
Tenoch and Atziri exchanged a glance, with the latter gulping as she struggled to find her words.
¡°Lady Anaye¡ frightens me,¡± she confessed. ¡°Tenoch thought I would have an easier time with Lady Ingrid.¡±
¡°Why does she frighten you?¡± Necahual asked with a frown. Considering how ¡®Anaye¡¯ would play into our ritual, she had an incentive to stay informed.
Atziri hesitated, clearly because she feared punishment. I moved closer to her and squinted. Now that I paid more attention to her, I began to notice small and nearly imperceptible bruises on her neck whose shape reminded me of fingers.
My blood boiled with anger. She didn¡¯t dare.
¡°She tried to strangle you?¡± Atziri bit her lip at my question, so I softened my words. ¡°I swear that I won¡¯t allow anything to happen to you, Atziri. Whatever you say will stay between us.¡±
An emperor¡¯s promise carried weight and untied many tongues, and I suspected seeing my powers up close only reinforced that sentiment in Atziri. She gulped, her face growing pale and her eyes haunted with a most frightful sight.
¡°This morning, Lady Anaye¡ she asked if I wanted to try out a necklace¡ I¡ I said yes and¡¡± Atziri sobbed with horror. ¡°She put her hands on my throat and¡ and she¡ she laughed. She laughed when she squeezed.¡±
My teeth clenched so hard my jaw hurt. Tenoch took Atziri¡¯s hand into her own and gently caressed it, while the poor handmaiden wiped away a tear.
¡°She said it¡ it was a joke, but¡ the way she looked at me¡¡± Atzir looked down at the bedsheet. ¡°I¡¯m¡ I¡¯m scared, Your Majesty. I¡ I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll stop next time.¡±
How long had it been since the skinwalker joined us? A little more than a week? That creature couldn¡¯t contain her cruelty for more than a few days.
I had explicitly forbidden that animal to harm my servants and she blatantly disobeyed me behind closed doors. The way she tried to scare Atziri without leaving too much of a physical mark told me that she knew I would punish her for this, but she simply couldn¡¯t help herself.
I had peered into her soul. The skinwalker suffered from a diseased mind ever since childhood, which grew only worse over time. Her nature was to kill, to hurt, and to revel in fear. I¡¯d hoped she possessed at least enough self-control to be useful for a time, but not even the leash of her true name could contain her malice.
I could offer her a captive to play with¨Cbetter to die at a mad skinwalker¡¯s hand than spend eternity in a vampire¡¯s belly I supposed¨Cbut I had the feeling this wouldn¡¯t change much. She would slip up.
How long until her impulses got the better of her? We were in the middle of a military camp, not the imperial palace. I couldn¡¯t fully control the flow of information here. If she accidentally harmed one of my spies, or worse, one of the Nightlords¡¯ assets and ended up detained¡
¡°I cannot allow for a transfer now,¡± I said with some reluctance. Besides the fact Tenoch would be no safer than Atziri, pressing issues demanded that I keep my spy network stable. ¡°My treacherous mother has joined with the Sapa, and she still holds Ingrid¡¯s sister hostage.¡±
Necahual¡¯s eyes lit up with surprise and bitter anger. Part of why I¡¯d invited her tonight was to share this information with her early so that we could adjust our strategy. I barely had to say more. She was smart enough to connect the dots.
¡°Your mother, master?¡± Tenoch asked with a hand on her face. She too had heard of what happened on the night of Iztacoatl¡¯s cruel hunt. ¡°Have you told Lady Ingrid?¡±
¡°Not yet,¡± I replied. Considering Ingrid¡¯s skills, I suspected she had already heard about it. ¡°And when she does, it will shake her. I dare not remove the comfort you provide her, Tenoch.¡±
Tenoch¡¯s expression grew torn between her loyalty to her mistress and her friendship with Atziri, with the latter clenching her fists. I gently touched her chin and invited her to look me in the eyes.
¡°Nonetheless, this is the last time Anaye will raise her hand against you,¡± I promised Atziri while biting my thumb. Light poured out of it. ¡°Nor will pain haunt you any further.¡±
I rubbed my thumb against Atziri¡¯s bruises. She let out a small gasp at my blood¡¯s warmth, but its properties swiftly healed the damage ¡®Anaye¡¯ left on her pristine skin. She was pure and unblemished once more. Atziri¡¯s eyes widened upon seeing this miracle.
¡°I will see to it that your mistress does not touch you again,¡± I said. The easiest option would be to have Chikal assign amazon guards with explicit orders to stop the skinwalker should she overreach again.
¡°Thank you, Your Majesty,¡± Atziri said profusely. ¡°You are very kind.¡±
¡°I will have a talk with Anaye too,¡± Necahual said while giving me a knowing look. ¡°She will change her tune soon enough.¡±
The suggestion sounded simple enough, but I had spent enough time with my favorite to sense deceit. I matched her gaze, and then I saw.
¡°Are you certain?¡± I asked her, very carefully.
¡°The sooner the better,¡± Necahual replied sternly. ¡°Her kind are like children. Unless disciplined quickly, their behavior becomes a habit.¡±
The mention of children sealed the deal. She was indeed talking about running the soul-transfer ritual under the Flower War¡¯s cover. My favorite saw Mother¡¯s presence on the battlefront as an opportunity to seize in spite of her distaste for the latter.
I could see why she thought that way. The blood reserve she gave Eztli to maintain her identity wouldn¡¯t last too long, and the conflict offered precious few opportunities to slip out of the notice of spies. Moreover, Mother¡¯s presence and the Sapa¡¯s closeness would offer the perfect excuse to justify why Eztli would¡ change.
It still presented many risks. Sugey watched me with a lighter touch than her sisters, but she wasn¡¯t to be underestimated either. Mother¡¯s presence would also cause her to tighten security around the camp.
Nonetheless, I knew we could pull it off with sufficient preparation. The chaos of war would make for a thick shield.
¡°I would appreciate it,¡± I replied. ¡°But be subtle. You know how she is, being too forward too quickly might have the opposite effect.¡±
¡°Of course,¡± Necahual replied. She had read between the lines: I needed time to organize things, so for now she should avoid tipping our hand.
I had someone to meet with first.
Afterwards, I had Necahual and Tenoch help me pleasure Atziri as I bedded her. My concubines played with her breasts and hair while I took her with delicateness.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
That lovemaking session was very much unlike the one with Tenoch. Instead of raging lust, I welcome Atziri with gentle caresses, encouraging words, and caring kisses. I bedded her kindly, the way a husband should comfort his wife after a traumatic encounter.
In short, I focused on her pleasure over my own. I gave her a moment of unconditional love and respite.
In a way, it provided me as much joy as taking Tenoch with violent lust. I¡¯d rarely encountered gratitude and kindness during my imperial tenure, but each of these moments had felt stronger than all of the Nightlords¡¯ tortures combined. Father¡¯s warmth alone made up for countless horrors.
When I looked at my past achievements, the three that came to mind were orchestrating Yoloxochitl¡¯s death, saving my father¡¯s soul from Xibalba, and ending the curse of the Burned Men, which felt like a greater achievement. I was proud of all three.
A part of me did enjoy helping those who deserved it, as much as another delighted in power and chaos. Neither of these two faces was stronger than the other, at least not yet. I stood on a razor-thin edge. Was this why Quetzalcoatl refused to see me? Because he could see I risked landing on the wrong side?
Whatever the case, the hard day of fighting and the bedroom exercise that followed managed to lull me to sleep. My spirit faded into the dark depths of the Underworld, back to the ruins of the second cosmos. I found Mother waiting for me among the ashes with a thin smile on her lips.
¡°Did it amuse you?¡± I asked her with a growl. ¡°To betray your own blood?¡±
¡°Is that how you thank me for my assistance?¡± she replied calmly. ¡°Those hastily woven curses of yours wouldn¡¯t have amounted to much without my Haunt.¡±
I scoffed. Of course she didn¡¯t weave that Haunt to help me slay the Sapa, but my own men. ¡°Is that why Inkarri allowed you to cast it? In the hope that it would kill me?¡±
¡°I excluded you from the spell¡¯s effect, but I had assumed you wished to bleed out the Nightlords¡¯ followers.¡± She tilted her head to the head. ¡°Or was I wrong?¡±
I admired her ability to make her deceit sound like my own fault. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have risen so high among the Sapa by virtue of our shared bloodline without treachery,¡± I retorted. ¡°What did you tell Inkarri?¡±
¡°Lies and half-truths. He knows that you earned Tlaloc¡¯s embers, since I knew he would suspect it the moment you entered the range of his divinations, but I have yet to inform him that you crossed this Layer¡¯s threshold.¡±
¡°So you have been spying on me since we met.¡± Only the knowledge of her current position making her an invaluable asset, Father¡¯s feelings, and the fear of catching the Skinwalker curse prevented me from strangling her on the spot. ¡°When did you intend to tell me you were playing a double-game?¡±
¡°When needed.¡± Mother scoffed at my accusatory tone. ¡°You underestimate the danger I put myself in for your sake. If the Mallquis weren¡¯t so afraid of you¨C¡±
¡°My sake?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at her audacity. ¡°My sake?!¡±
¡°Yes, yours,¡± she hissed with clear frustration. ¡°It would have been safer for me to flee the mountains the moment you ascended to the throne. I was put under closer scrutiny than you can imagine, and many times I feared for my life.¡±
¡°Scrutiny that which you could have avoided had you taken father and me away, instead of living the high life on your own!¡±
¡°You think I wouldn¡¯t have arranged that if I could?¡± Now her voice brimmed with genuine anger. ¡°The Nightlords never let you nor your father out of their sight since the year you were born, and by the time I was in a position to act, your father was long buried and you had already been selected as the new year¡¯s sacrifice.¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t excuse not informing me of your alliance with the Sapa,¡± I retorted harshly. ¡°You had no possible reason for keeping this information away from me except as leverage against me!¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t tell you because I wasn¡¯t sure if I would even be able to keep my position there once your war started! Had you given away any hint that we were working together or any reason for them to suspect me, the Mallquis would have slain me on the spot!¡±
I snorted with scorn at her feeble defense. ¡°Your ability to find excuses when there is none is second to none.¡±
Mother clenched her jaw. ¡°This situation is not as simple as you make it sound.¡±
¡°I am sick and tired of your lies, Ichtaca,¡± I said with annoyance. My patience had run thin. ¡°Why did you keep this from me? The real reason?¡±
¡°I told you¨C¡±
¡°Obey.¡±
My Word carried the strength of the gods themselves and untied her tongue. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I needed to,¡± she said against her will, ¡°because if I told you too much, you would have power over me.¡±
Such a simple answer, and yet one that spoke volumes about Mother¡¯s mindset. I observed her in utter disbelief. What I had mistaken for malice and intrigue simply boiled down to conceit. Mother had so little concept of trust that she only shared information when she felt she had to, because the mere concept of being open without expecting something in return didn¡¯t enter her mind.
Then again, what did I expect? She couldn¡¯t trust her own husband¡ªthe only person to ever love her unconditionally¡ªto see her thoughts through Seidr until she learned she could gain power from it.
¡°What did you tell the Sapa about me?¡± I asked, my question punctuated by another Word. ¡°Answer.¡±
¡°That you were too powerful to confront, so I followed you from afar as you claimed Tlaloc¡¯s embers. I have lied to them, both for your sake and for mine.¡± Mother clenched her jaw after regaining control. ¡°Stop using the Word on me!¡±
I ignored her and pushed further. ¡°What do you expect from me? Answer!¡±
¡°I want¡¡± Mother gulped as she struggled against her own unruly tongue. A foolish fight, for all of her willpower weighed little against my sorcery ¡°I want the power to never fear again¡ I want status and sorcery¡ I want¡ I want my family back¡ all of it¡¡±
¡°Even the daughter and son you abandoned?¡± The fact that a part of her appeared to wish for us to reconnect didn¡¯t miraculously erase all of her crimes. Moreover, I sensed that she still resisted my spell. ¡°There is more. Answer.¡±
¡°I¡¡± She gargled, her muscles tensing as the truth forced its way out of her mouth. ¡°I want you to let your father use the Ride spell on you for a moment¡ because he won¡¯t possess anyone without their consent.¡±
That last bit took me by surprise. Let Father possess me? What madness was that? ¡°Why?"
¡°Please stop,¡± she pleaded, her body shaking with unease. ¡°This¡ This hurts, having your voice worm its way inside my mind.¡±
¡°You brought this on yourself,¡± I replied as I denied her this mercy with sorcery. ¡°Answer.¡±
¡°I¡¡± Her voice broke in her twisted throat. ¡°I want him to hold me in his arms for a moment, so I¡ so I can feel loved again.¡±
Her pitiful, desperate words hit me like a slap to the face.
I watched Mother collapse to her knees under the mental strain my Word put her under, my lips closed in utter silence. I had already received a glimpse of the pitiful, lonely wretch hiding behind the powerful sorceress¡¯ mask back in Xibalba, and here her true self showed up again: a woman so insecure, so lonely, and who had burned so many bridges that she clung to the last bit of near-unconditional love she could find.
And I couldn¡¯t help but pity her. For her to be desperate to make that demand of all things, to risk her life all for a chance to feel her husband¡¯s affection again, then it meant the House of Fright had truly broken her.
¡°Cease¡ cease this.¡± Mother¡¯s anger was gone, replaced with a tired prayer. ¡°Please¡ please, my¡ my son.¡±
Even after everything, that word still carried a measure of power over me. I observed her for a moment, and while I knew that she brought much of her suffering upon herself, part of me did hold a sliver of compassion for her plight.
¡°I promised Queen Mictecacihuatl that I would run the Day of the Dead on her behalf,¡± I reminded her. ¡°Father will be returned to life there for a night. If you were to implore the queen¡¯s mercy¨C¡±
¡°She won¡¯t forgive either of us, and you know that,¡± Mother cut in with bitter spite. ¡°We¡¯ve disappointed her too many times.¡±
My jaw clenched, but I did not argue. I had proved her point. The Lords of Fear taught me the Word spell in the hope that I would start to rely on it, that I would enslave rather than convince. Queen Mictecacihualt would have looked down on the both of us equally tonight.
I looked up to the sky and Quetzalcoatl¡¯s morning star. Its radiance felt heavy; judging. I was left with the unmistakable impression of having failed some sort of invisible test.
This cannot go on like this, I realized. The two of us. We draw out the worst out of each other.
¡°I am¡¡± I considered my next sentence carefully, in case my magic bound me by my promises. ¡°I apologize for using the Word so often on you. It was not proper. I will not do so again.¡±
Mother didn¡¯t believe me. ¡°You do not regret anything.¡±
¡°Trusting is difficult, Mother, because each time I try to give you a chance, you reveal another trick or lie up your sleeve,¡± I retorted. ¡°Every interaction we have feels like a dishonest transaction. I gave you a warning when we passed the Gate of the Twin-Breaths, and yet you continued to keep secrets from me.¡±
Mother held my gaze. ¡°If I am useful to you no longer, you will cast me aside.¡±
And that was likely true. I tried to recall Father¡¯s words of encouragement. He never relented in his hope that his family would reconnect. I was sorely tempted to summon him again, but I decided against it after a moment¡¯s consideration. Relying on Father like a crutch to ensure Mother and I got along wouldn¡¯t let us resolve our issues. This had to come from us.
¡°I¡¡± If I was required to breathe in the Underworld, I would have taken a deep one right now. ¡°I am willing to¡ fulfill your wish.¡±
Mother¡¯s head rose up slightly in interest. ¡°You¡ would?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Father was the only person I could trust inside my head, as I knew he would never abuse his position. Mastering the Legion spell would require melding my mind with that of the Parliament of Skulls he had joined anyway, so I could at least allow it for a time. ¡°However, I am not even sure if he could use me as a vessel. My heart and spirit are too strong. This is a slim hope, and you know it.¡±
¡°I know,¡± Mother confessed with a sad sigh. ¡°But this is all I have.¡±
Of course it was. She had cast away everything else.
¡°I will not keep things from you, but I expect the same in return,¡± I said. ¡°Start by telling me everything about your time with the Sapa.¡±
Mother waited a moment before answering, which I didn¡¯t take as a good sign. ¡°You aren¡¯t using the Word this time.¡±
¡°No.¡± I was sorely tempted to do that, but the light of Quetzalcoatl reminded me of that spell¡¯s cost on my soul. ¡°I am making an effort to trust you on your word alone. Do not waste the opportunity.¡±
Mother pondered my words a moment, hesitated, and then took her chance.
¡°When I fled Yohuachanca for the south, I tried to remain beneath notice,¡± she said. ¡°The Sapa do not use money nor trade. Instead, all individuals must contribute to the collective through a labor system called mit''a. The bureaucracy assigns tasks to its subjects, and in exchange they receive food, housing, and support. I was assigned the role of a midwife and healer¡ but it wasn¡¯t long before their sorcerers learned of my Nahualli nature and truly recruited me.¡±
Mother crossed her arms. ¡°It was then that I met those lands¡¯ true rulers.¡±
¡®Rulers?¡¯ Plural? ¡°You are not speaking of the Sapa Emperors, are you?¡±
¡°That Ayar Manco is as much of a puppet as you are, however bright he might be,¡± Mother replied. ¡°Only the undead who pull his strings differ from yours.¡±
Aclla had failed to mention that part. ¡°Do you speak of the Mallquis?¡±
¡°Yes. The Apu Inkarri is the greatest sorcerer among them, but far from the only one. Each clan across the Sapa Empire empowers one of these mummies with their breaths and faith, ensuring that their dead leaders continue to steer their descendants. They own the most wealth and land across the mountains, to the point the emperor can achieve little without their support.¡±
I didn¡¯t like the sound of that at all. ¡°They can¡¯t possibly be worse than the Nightlords.¡±
¡°And why do you think they are called the Sapa Empire?¡± Mother replied with a scoff. ¡°The Mallquis rule with a lighter touch because they are numerous and require their clans¡¯ adoration to survive, but their human ambition and greed remain undiminished. While their scale pales before ours, the Sapa do practice human sacrifice too; and since the dead own the land eternally, the living are pushed to conquer other lands in order to keep some for themselves. Those who earn enough territory ascend to the Mallquis in turn, repeating the process.¡±
And here I had hoped that the Sapa would have been better people than Yohuachancans¡ Neither merchants¡¯ tales nor Ingrid¡¯s information painted their country as a worse place to live in than my own empire of blood and tears, but Mother painted an uglier picture than what I¡¯d hoped.
How disappointing.
¡°How does Ayar Cachi factor into this?¡± I inquired. Why would a puppet¡¯s brother struggle with his kin over who wears the strings?
¡°I do not know exactly,¡± Mother replied. ¡°Most Mallquis deemed Manco more pliable and offered him their support, but Cachi enjoys the support of other clans. They have yet to reach a consensus.¡±
I didn¡¯t bother hiding my disgust. What I thought to be a brotherly power struggle more and more looked like a conflict of interest between two sets of immortal parasites who couldn¡¯t be bothered to defend their living descendants effectively.
Maybe I¡¯m making too many assumptions here. I¡¯d assumed Manco and Cachi were spoiled brats who would rather fight over their father¡¯s inheritance rather than ally against the existential threat at their doorstep, but the Mallquis¡¯ influence put that into question. The two brothers might be playing a bigger and subtler game than I first thought. Are they plotting against their masters the same way I plan the demise of mine? How does Aclla factor into all of this?
I sensed an opportunity there, albeit one I couldn¡¯t entirely see yet.
¡°The Mallquis recruited me among their sorcerers, but while I learned many things among them, in my heart I always refused to serve,¡± Mother said. ¡°I simply sought to accumulate secrets and favors.¡±
Which she never used to free my sibling and I from the Nightlords¡¯ clutches. I could imagine the reason why, however absurd it sounded.
¡°You wrote us off as dead, didn¡¯t you?¡± I guessed. ¡°Nenetl and I.¡±
Mother¡¯s silence was enough of a confession.
¡°Since you would already need to resurrect Father, you figured you might as well make it three once the Nightlords sacrificed us all,¡± I said with a scoff of disdain. ¡°It¡¯s only when you learned of my powers that you decided to make contact.¡±
¡°I won¡¯t deny it.¡± At least she owned up to that. ¡°Once I became a goddess, I figured¡ I figured I could make everything right.¡±
And now it fell to me to inherit those foolish hopes of her.
¡°The Mallquis fear you more than anything else, my son,¡± Mother said. ¡°Their star-seers have long predicted the coming of a demon emperor of the night who would paint their mountains red with blood and lay waste to their civilization. They believe that prophesied destroyer to be you, and you know what? I think they are right.¡±
Considering the planned invasion, they had good reason to think so. ¡°I¡¯ve seen Inkarri and other sorcerers practice a ritual in the mountains, though I could not ascertain its nature,¡± I said. ¡°Can you tell me more?¡±
¡°Not yet,¡± she replied, dashing my hopes. ¡°They do not trust me that much¡ but I suspect it involves the First Emperor¡¯s brother in some way, since I strongly suspect he founded the Sapa Empire in ancient times.¡±
¡°It must have something to do with perception.¡± Our suspicions aligned on that front. ¡°The brother of a god confronting his mad sibling¡¯s physical incarnation would make for a grandiose tale.¡±
¡°Yes. The Sapa¡¯s magical traditions differ from ours, but they accumulated many secrets over the centuries. Inkarri himself has existed since the empire¡¯s founding, or so I¡¯ve heard.¡± Mother looked away. ¡°He will try to have you assassinated during the mock battles. Manco only accepted this Flower War to provide his masters with a chance to put you in the ground.¡±
¡°Those feathered corpses are welcome to try and defeat me. They will find their eternal lives much shorter.¡± Nonetheless, the situation did make me curious about Manco. If he was indeed bright and similar to myself, then surely part of him resented being the servant of ancient mummies. ¡°What of Manco himself? Would he be willing to plot against the Mallquis?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve had few encounters with him, so I cannot say. I think he would at least agree to an audience, if only to appear as a respected diplomat and warlord in the eyes of his men.¡±
In that case, I could ask for a peaceful meeting after a battle to discuss a prisoner exchange. Manco¡¯s masters would no doubt accept in order to seize a chance to assassinate me, while Sugey might be convinced to let me try sowing discord in the enemy camp.
Finally, Mother¡¯s assertion that Inkarri had existed since the Sapa Empire¡¯s founding aroused my curiosity. He might be one of the few souls left that could give me more details about Yohuachanca¡¯s earliest nights and provide insight into the Nightlords¡¯ weaknesses.
I hadn¡¯t entirely given up on finding allies among the Sapa to oppose my tormentors. Manco or Aclla could serve as potential intermediaries to develop a conspiracy, depending on which Sapa prince would serve as the better ally. I needed more information to assess their respective personalities and objectives.
¡°I will see how to arrange a meeting with Manco in the coming days,¡± I decided. ¡°This would also serve as an excellent opportunity to run the soul-transfer ritual.¡±
Mother¡¯s gaze sharpened. ¡°You wish to transfer your consort¡¯s soul now?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± With luck and preparation on our side, I could both save Eztli¡¯s soul and lay the blame squarely at the Sapa¡¯s feet. ¡°Assist us and I¡ I will grant your wish.¡±
¡°If our ritual succeeds and your consort¡¯s soul escapes their grasp, the Nightlords¡¯ fury will know no bounds,¡± Mother warned me. ¡°The Sapa Empire will bear the brunt of their cruelty. You understand that, do you?¡±
Her sharp question left me silent for a moment. She was right. I had been so focused on avoiding detection myself and blaming all ills at the Sapa¡¯s feet that I hardly considered the scale of the Nightlords¡¯ reaction.
Sugey had already shown her willingness to turn this Flower War from a ritualistic contest of strength to a sacrificial slaughter. Should Eztli, their replacement for Yoloxochitl, be lost, then the planned invasion of the Sapa¡¯s lands would turn from a war of conquest to one of extermination. The Nightlords wouldn¡¯t allow a group with the power to take out one of their own to linger in this world any longer.
They wouldn¡¯t care for their losses nor the wealth spent on that venture. The human herd could replenish itself, after all, while the lords of darkness could hardly be replaced. Years of massacre would be a trifling price to assuage the vampires¡¯ fear of ending up in their father¡¯s stomach for all eternity. The best I could do then would be to blunt the scale of their atrocities, but it would look like a paltry attempt to assuage my guilty conscience.
It was then, in the light of Quetzalcoatl¡¯s morning star, that I realized all my hopes of a good outcome for this war had been foolish from the start.
To save Eztli, to have a chance to destroy the Nightlords¡¯ order, would require that I put the burden of my actions on others. Shaking Yohuachanca¡¯s foundations to make their collapse possible would require that I unleash a great fire¡¯s spark. Countless deaths and atrocities would soon lay at my feet; and while I could deceive the Nightlords, I couldn¡¯t hide my crimes from a true god.
Lord Quetzalcoatl would never be happy with me.
He¡¯s never going to grant me his embers after this. That distant fear had now become a certainty. No words will convince him when my actions speak far louder.
Then I sensed it.
My head turned to the side to stare at the wasteland that surrounded us. My sunlight Gaze pierced the shadows to reveal dust and silence, yet thicker darkness awaited beyond my eyesight.
Mother tensed up too. She had noticed it as well. That instinctual awareness of a predatory presence lurking nearby.
Something was watching us from afar.
Something evil.
Chapter Eighty-Eight: Eyes of the Damned
Not even death could end true madness.
Itzpapalotl had warned us that the Third Layer¡¯s damned souls underwent an eternal cycle of rebirth, and I soon witnessed it unfold beneath the clouds. A rift first opened up to split the desolate lands devastated by the goddess¡¯ hurricane, and hills with maws of sharp fangs soon vomited up a river of green poison to fill it. I could smell its hideous stench of rot and corpses all the way from the sky above. Immense fish soon arose from beneath the surface, but when they opened their mouths, human faces peeked out instead of tongues.
I watched them lay eggs bigger than cribs onto the riverbanks. They cracked the moment they reached the shore and monsters crawled out of them: twisted mockery of monkeys with limbs twice the length of their whole bodies, cackling birds with human heads, or faceless masses of flesh with wings that soon took to the sky. Horrors soon filled the clouds, from flying fish to ships with legs-oars and sails of skin. Their cries, moans, and twisted songs soon filled the once-peaceful silence of a dead world.
I observed as villages rose from dust from above as my ebon wings carried me across this mockery of civilization. Ruined towers and egg-shaped houses of glass sprouted from ashes like wildgrass. A few of the apes haunting the layer set them on fire the moment they reached them without cause nor reason; others danced and rutted among the stones, or drank putrid river waters with cups filled with worms and bloated toads. I saw fiends playing the harp while riding headless turkeys into the water while laughing maniacally.
Disgust swelled within my heart. These beasts had barely returned to life for a few minutes and immediately went back to reveling in their own corruption. They were utterly beyond help.
Moreover, the sensation of a predator¡¯s gaze staring at my back continued to weigh on me. I couldn¡¯t see its source no matter how often I looked over my shoulder, but I knew it was growing closer with each flap of my wings.
¡°We are being followed, my son,¡± Mother stated the obvious. Her own flight had grown more nervous the more the night went on.
¡°Our pursuer is welcome to try and fight me,¡± I replied without fear. I¡¯d been itching to test out my new power on a foe worthy of them. ¡°They will be served with fire and death.¡±
Mother didn¡¯t answer my boast. I couldn¡¯t tell whether she deemed me overconfident or trusted in my sorcery to defeat any attacker.
In any case, I had other things on my mind. The more I considered the consequences of going through with the soul-transfer ritual, the more I grew convinced that it would cause the Sapa conflict to escalate beyond measure. A war of conquest would become one of extermination, and the Mallquis¡¯ fears would come to pass. The Nightlords¡¯ armies would drown their mountains in a sea of blood by the will of their wicked emperor.
I couldn¡¯t think of a way to lessen that impact. The Nightlords would investigate the loss of their replacement for Yoloxochitl, and if I failed to divert their attention onto another, suspicions would turn onto me. I could blame the First Emperor, but doing so would invite more chains to bind me, more restrictions. I would sacrifice future options to defeat the Nightlords for the sake of lessening a war that would unfold anyway.
Moreover, Sugey had already tipped her hand in the most dramatic way. That feathered demon wanted blood. Would blaming everything on the Sapa change anything?
I focused on the distant morning star. No matter how quick I flew, Quetzalcoatl¡¯s light seemed forever out of reach. The wind pushed against my face, carrying the maddened cries of the filth below.
¡°--sons and daughters of Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n, heed the words of Topiltzin!¡±
I almost froze in mid-flight. That sentence, uttered in archaic Yohuachancan with a strong and clear male voice, cut through the cacophony like a sharp blade through flesh. I looked around to find the speaker and quickly found him below.
A figure stood alone atop a shattered tower of dusty stone, addressing the rutting hordes of monsters below. This person¡¯s appearance took me back not because of any demonic features so common around these parts, but by his lack of them. The dead man looked like an utterly normal skeleton with dry yellow bones that wouldn¡¯t look out of place in Mictlan. He wore a priestly dress of tarnished feathers and a metal headpiece adorned with a macaw¡¯s beak, while carrying a curvy staff and shield adorned with a spiral-shaped jewel.
¡°Children of Quetzalcoatl, have you forgotten what you were?! What you could still be?!¡± the dead man called out to the crowd of apes and abominations celebrating their wickedness at the spire¡¯s foot. His eyes burned with ghostlight brighter than stars. ¡°You are the flowers of the earth, and even a withered flower can bloom again after being thrown underfoot!¡±
After spending the last few nights surrounded by the mad and the wicked, a coherent soul¡¯s mere voice became a marvel in itself. I deviated from my path to circle above the tower out of curiosity, with my cautious mother following soon after.
¡°You cannot bury your beauty in filth!¡± the dead man sermoned the demons of the Second Cosmos. He pointed his staff at a pair of monsters waiting at the tower¡¯s foot, the former a four-legged tree beast with a mirror for a face, and the other a birdlike humanoid enraptured by its own reflection. ¡°Let your light shine through so it illuminates the blind! This hell is but a cesspool whose muddy waters you may escape for clearer streams! The peace of Mictlan is not beyond your reach!¡±
Who is this? Itzpapalotl warned us that all good souls had long left this layer for King Mictlantecuhtli¡¯s realm above; yet here stood a ghost preaching repentance to the wicked. Does he truly expect those blighted fiends to listen?
But to my surprise, a few of the creatures did hear this ¡®Topiltzin,¡¯ albeit not with the kind of reaction he sought. The mirror monster briefly looked upward with its mirror-face, which infuriated its birdlike companion. Denied the pleasure of watching its own vain reflection for all eternity, it squawked in fury and unveiled a sword for a beak. Its flapping wings quickly carried it to the top of the tower with murderous intent.
I had no time to waste with the lost and the damned, but something about that dead messenger¡¯s words struck a chord with me. This soul was trying in vain to appeal to the better nature of these monsters, and only received naked violence in return. This sickened me.
I had seen too many good deeds be punished not to intervene.
I descended upon the demon and blasted it with the Blaze spell before it could skewer Topiltzin, sending the fiend plummeting back at the dirt from which it came. The creature let out an awful cry mixing pain and pleasure¡ªthe latter of which particularly unsettled me¡ªas its feathers burned to cinders, then fled into the darkness. Its mirror-faced friend watched it disappear without a sound or care.
The so-called Topiltzin looked up to Mother and I as we landed on the tower. I retook my human form and then asked, ¡°Are you well, stranger?¡±
The ancient soul responded with a grateful nod. ¡°I am most thankful for your assistance, great owl, however unnecessary.¡±
¡°Unnecessary?¡± I scoffed. ¡°That creature would have impaled you had I not intervened.¡±
¡°Quetzalcoatl¡¯s winds protect me from any danger,¡± the ghost answered without shame nor fear. ¡°These poor souls cannot harm me, no more than my words are meant to wound their hearts.¡±
His answer gave me pause enough to cast the Gaze spell upon him. My sunlit eyes easily revealed the gown of gilded starlight and the invisible scales in which he was clothed; magic so pure and powerful that a normal man would have gone blind at the sight of it. Moreover, I saw a scintillating beam shining from Quetzalcoatl¡¯s sun to him.
The man spoke true. He did have a god protecting him.
¡°I am Topiltzin, fallen priest-king and founder of Tollan,¡± he introduced himself with a bow. ¡°It has been many cycles since a Tlacatecolotl ventured so deep.¡±
The name Tollan did not ring any bells to me, but Mother gasped in surprise. ¡°The legendary first city?¡±
Her question appeared to amuse the ancient ghost. ¡°So the people of the Fifth Cosmos do remember their ancestors? I am pleased to hear so.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve never heard of Tollan,¡± I said. Yohuachanca¡¯s history says that Yohuachanca¡¯s capital, Mazatilia, was the first of its kind. I guessed the Nightlords rewrote history to claim that achievement for themselves, as they always did.
¡°According to a few rare texts, Tollan was the world¡¯s first city,¡± Mother explained. ¡°Yohuachanca¡¯s people descend from its inhabitants.¡±
¡°I hear you speak the Yohuachancan tongue,¡± Topiltzin noted. ¡°Tollan fell to Camazotz¡¯s fangs many years before the rise of the one called Yohuachanca.¡±
My heartfire burned with curiosity. ¡°Camazotz?¡± I asked, sensing the opportunity. ¡°You lived while that god roamed the earth?¡±
¡°Aye, I have seen the dawn of the Fifth Cosmos,¡± Topiltzin confirmed. ¡°I had long been exiled from my city by the time it fell for a crime for which I still atone for in death, but the departed have told me of its fall. I am happy our blood has endured across the long centuries.¡±
Mother narrowed her eyes at the specter with suspicion. ¡°Why would a king of the Fifth Sun be so deep?¡±
¡°I preach by the grace of Quetzalcoatl.¡± Topiltzin pointed at the wicked hordes delighting below us. ¡°You have seen these poor souls damned to a hell of their own making. Each night I plead with them to break the chains they bound themselves with and to ascend towards a better place.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help but scoff at his naivety. ¡°Looks to me like they don¡¯t listen often.¡±
¡°They all listen, Tlacatecolotl,¡± Topiltzin replied calmly. ¡°Else they would not be so angry with me. My words remind them of what they gave up on, and that truth is unbearable for some. After so many eons spent crawling in the mud, the mere sound of pure water is painful to their souls.¡±
I remained skeptical nonetheless. ¡°Have you words ever reached any of these animals enough to change their ways?¡±
¡°Now and then, yes,¡± Topiltzin confirmed, much to my astonishment. ¡°Those I led to Mictlan myself by the grace of Tlaloc and Mictlantecuhtli, who granted me safe passage through their realms.¡±
He could have been lying, but the godly magic shielding him attested to the divine favor bestowed upon him. This ghost did have Quetzalcoatl¡¯s direct protection and benediction, enough to be spared from Itzpapalotl¡¯s destruction. The Feathered Serpent believed in his cause, however impossible it sounded to me.
¡°I am surprised,¡± I admitted. ¡°Lady Itzpapalotl seemed to say that all salvageable souls had left Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n.¡±
¡°Itzpapalotl was born of a transgression for the purpose of punishing it. Her nature is condemnation and castigation, not forgiveness.¡± Topiltzin shook his head. ¡°All these souls can be saved, Tlacatecolotl. My penance shall not end until this hell is empty and its doors rattling in the wind.¡±
I shuddered at the immense task ahead of him. A world¡¯s worth of madmen and damned souls surrounded him. How long would it take for each individual soul to listen to reason? How many sermons and arguments could reach the lost and the insane?
This man would toil for eons; maybe until the last days of the Fifth Sun and the darkness beyond. He had already been at it for over six centuries at the very least. The kind of willpower required to even undertake such a quest beggared belief.
I had my doubts he would ever succeed in his task, but I admired his determination¡ if it was determination. His words of penance made me wonder if guilt might have been the driving force behind his arduous quest.
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What crime would warrant such a harsh and self-inflicted punishment?
Mother, of course, paid little mind to the fate of Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n¡¯s souls. ¡°Topiltzin of Tollan was known to be the high priest of Quetzalcoatl,¡± she said, drawing my undivided attention. ¡°Is this still the case?¡±
¡°My people once knew me as Quetzalcoatl¡¯s Godspeaker, and through my mouth he taught them the foundations of civilization,¡± Topiltzin confirmed. ¡°It is by his will that I wander these lands.¡±
I saw an opportunity and seized it. ¡°We seek an audience with Lord Quetzalcoatl on behalf of his brother Xolotl. Could you intercede on our behalf?¡±
¡°Intercede?¡± Topiltzin appraised me for a moment. ¡°Quetzalcoatl is the god of knowledge. Nothing escapes his notice, not even the lies one tells themselves. If he has not invited you within his hall yet, then he will do so when he thinks it appropriate.¡±
¡°We have no time to waste,¡± I insisted with growing frustration. ¡°I do not even have a year.¡±
¡°You may pursue his star¡¯s radiance for a thousand of them and be no closer to it.¡± Topiltzin studied my Teyolia with a scholar¡¯s focus. I felt his gaze peer into my soul the same way my spell unveiled illusions. ¡°Your heart burns with torment, pain¡ and fear. Fear of being judged and found wanting.¡±
Was the glow of my inner fire so baleful? I guessed an ancient spirit who had spent countless eons reaching out for lost souls had grown sensitive to such things; and that if I could not deceive him, then what hope did I have of convincing his god?
¡°Certainly you must know Quetzalcoatl better than any other mortal,¡± Mother pushed, refusing to give up. ¡°What would earn us his favor?¡±
¡°Your deeds.¡± Topiltzin shook his head with a ghostly sigh. ¡°Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others in order to be seen by them, Tlacatecolotl. Those empty actions will not benefit your soul nor earn Quetzalcoatl¡¯s favor. True righteousness is practiced in secret, with no hope for reward.¡±
Mother and I had committed so many crimes in public and in private. If Quetzalcoatl knew all things, then¡
¡°Are not sinful acts forgiven when done in the service of others?¡± I asked. ¡°To spare oneself and others a living hell, and to cast down the wicked?¡±
Topiltzin gave me a long and heavy look. ¡°I will tell you this: the chains of sin are loose,¡± he said. ¡°Redemption and forgiveness are always within anyone¡¯s reach, so long as their heart is brave and their resolve true. While the path to Quetzalcoatl will not open when you expect it to, it is not closed shut either; and it never will be.¡±
My heart lit up with a glimmer of hope. ¡°So you say an audience is not impossible for us to obtain?¡±
¡°Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n is the birthplace of good and evil. It is here that the gods passed their first judgment upon mortals. This land will put you, the both of you, to the test; the same way it has tormented its prisoners.¡± Topiltzin peered at the horizon behind us. ¡°I fear your first ordeal has come already.¡±
A soul-rending shriek silenced the madness.
I heard in my ears and my heart, high-pitched like a child¡¯s first cry and filled with a beast¡¯s primeval hunger. The songs and moans of the damned turned to cries of fear. Their debauched revelry came to an abrupt end as shadows darkened over the horizon and shrouded the riverbanks in thick darkness. Mother and I watched them flee in a mix of shock and apprehension. They hid in the burning houses or dived into the fetid river to disappear under its muddy surface.
These demons had almost embraced Itzpapalotl¡¯s apocalyptic destruction and her handmaidens¡¯ feast. What could frighten souls jaded enough to enjoy their own demise?
The predatory presence I¡¯d sensed earlier grew stronger than ever. Its source came closer and closer, its steps shaking the very ground. The shrieks cut sharply through the air, calling out to my Tonalli and Teyolia.
I sensed¡ a kinship.
My body froze in place. My soul trembled with recognition at the voice of whatever abomination was approaching us. It recognized its own, the same way my heart-fire welcomed that of Nenetl during our incestuous unions. Mother sensed it too from the way she trembled in a mix of dread and disbelief.
Whatever horror lurked in the dark was our kin.
The river¡¯s waters transformed into a thick yellow fluid reeking of childbirth, and the few demons who hadn¡¯t escaped to safety yet now attempted to find a hole to crawl away into. The tower on which I stood trembled under the pressure of earthshaking steps. A great beast the size of an adult feathered tyrant lurked in the dark near us.
I dared to use the Gaze spell, and then I saw the awful truth.
I had seen many horrors both among the living and the dead, but this one filled my stomach with an almighty sickness. I mistook it for an owl at first, with its jet-black wings and sharp talons.
But the body¡ the body was a face, a human child¡¯s face, pallid and rotting like a corpse, with large cheeks spreading apart into a ghastly grin filled with teeth half my size. Its hair was black feathers stained with blood and bile. An umbilical cord slithered out of its horrifying maw instead of a tongue, coiling around one the slowest apes to drag it screaming into its gullet.
It was its eyes that haunted me the most, however. So pale, so blue, so human¡ so familiar.
I knew what the thing was the moment our gazes crossed. I even knew it before I saw the flicker of mutual recognition while it swallowed demons one after another with a child¡¯s unending hunger. I knew, and it hurt.
¡°What¡¡± Mother¡¯s voice broke in her throat. ¡°What¡ is that?¡±
¡°This is the land of the stillborn,¡± Topiltzin replied with a voice heavy with grief and sorrow. ¡°Where souls who were denied their chance to live linger in anguish.¡±
Those were my eyes.
That monster had my eyes.
A woman¡¯s fingers had never felt so cold on my skin.
I awoke in a dark daze, my mind burning inside my skull. The arms of my concubines weighed on my chest like heavy chains. My pillows seemed hard like stone against my hair, and the ceiling was suffocatingly too close.
¡°Have you slept well, Your Majesty?¡± I heard Tenoch ask me at my side with a bashful smile on her lips.
I simply stared at the ceiling with empty eyes.
I barely remembered the end of the dream. I recalled the screams of the devoured, the steps, the encroaching darkness¡ and the terrible silence that followed. That I would not forget.
My silence grew unbearably uneasy for my bedmates. Only one likely had an idea what happened. She shared a bond with me deeper than blood.
¡°Iztac?¡± Necahual asked with a hint of concern. ¡°What did you see?¡±
I didn¡¯t want to look at her. Not because I hated Necahual¡ªat this point, she had become my wife in all but name¡ªbut because I knew a mere glimpse of her stomach would twist the knife even further.
I had seen what our child could become should I fail.
Forbidden unions beget abominations.
That single sentence had haunted me the most out of all of Lahun¡¯s prophecies. It found new ways to torment me again and again, the wound never closing. I had lived through one of my worst fears once again.
I had a child once. The Nightlords murdered their mother before my eyes and then fed her corpse to their Sulfur Sun. I thought that the unborn soul went to feed the First Emperor¡¯s hunger like its mother, but it had somehow managed to escape to haunt its father beyond the veil of death.
I had planted my seed in Sigrun¡¯s womb, and a monstrous revenant crawled out of it upon her death.
Someone entered the room, and this time I mustered the strength to look away from the ceiling. Tayatzin walked in front of the bed and bowed.
¡°Greetings, Your Divine Majesty,¡± he said before delivering words that cut deeper than any sword. ¡°I pray the goddesses granted you good dreams.¡±
My holy blood boiled within my veins, and a great fire swept away the numbness of my soul.
Tenoch let go of me and Atziri pulled the bedsheet to herself. Tayatzin himself froze in fear and terror, his skin paler than a corpse.
Because for a moment, my mask slipped.
And there was only hatred behind it.
His eyes¡ I stared at Tayatzin¡¯s eyes, as crimson as the stillborn beast¡¯s had been blue. I hated all the things that it represented from the very bottom of my soul: slavery, vampires, injustice¡
Those eyes had only caused me pain. I desired nothing less than to tear them apart with my bare hands.
A thin streak of red tainted Tayatzin¡¯s pale skin. Blood dripped from his nose and onto his squalid lips. I hadn¡¯t cast a spell nor said a word to cause this reaction; I simply hated.
My magic had grown so strong that my mere focus could cause humans discomfort.
¡°I only saw death, Tayatzin,¡± I replied with venom. ¡°Death and darkness.¡±
Tayatzin dared not answer. Anyone wise wouldn¡¯t have spoken a word in his situation. It did little to quell my rage. The very sight of this man disgusted me.
¡°Leave,¡± I ordered everyone; even Necahual. ¡°I wish to be alone for a while.¡±
¡°Y-yes, of course,¡± Tayatzin replied with a sniveling bow. He was the first to leave. My concubines exchanged glances and all looked at me with concern before beginning to dress themselves. Necahual¡¯s gaze lingered on me the longest, but she too eventually left.
I did not rise from the bed, nor did I put on clothes. I simply stared at the ceiling trying to quell my fury. A single obsession occupied my thoughts.
My mind was set and devoid of doubts. I would run the soul-transfer ritual. The Sapa would suffer, but so would the Nightlords. Eztli¡¯s soul would escape their grasp and their plan to keep their monstrous father sealed would forever be tarnished. Let the very monster they tried feeding my child to devour them in turn.
I simply wanted them gone.
Soft steps interrupted my concentration. I glared at the newcomer, an order on the tip of my tongue, only to face eyes bluer than my own.
¡°Can¡ can I come in?¡± Nenetl asked while standing on the threshold.
The sight of my sister tugged at my heartstrings. The sorrow that the concern in her eyes inspired in me was only matched by my unease. Her presence was both a balm and a wound.
¡°Did Necahual send you?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes, uh¡ somewhat.¡± Nenetl cleared her throat in embarrassment. ¡°She¡ she told me, and I felt I should come.¡±
My favorite knew me better than anyone, the clever witch.
Nenetl gathered her resolve, then stepped forward without waiting for my answer. She sat on the bed next to me and I did not push her away, though part of me wished to. I simply didn¡¯t have the heart to repel my sister, not after¡ not after what I saw.
Nenetl stayed by my side in silent support for a moment, her fingers fidgeting with unease. She eventually mustered the courage to take my hand into her own. Her fingers felt warmer than Tenoch¡¯s, but I did not clench them either.
¡°Is¡ is this about our mother?¡± Nenetl asked with a little hesitation. ¡°I¡¯ve heard she¡¯s here.¡±
News travels fast nowadays. ¡°Who told you that?¡±
¡°Aclla. She, uh¡ she overheard guards discussing it.¡± A kind way to say her handmaiden had been acting like the spy she was. I still wondered what to make of her. ¡°Is that what bothers you?¡±
¡°Among other things.¡± I wouldn¡¯t lie that Mother¡¯s behavior factored into my dark mood, but the pain ran deeper.
Every time I considered taking the high ground, every time I thought I could try to do good, I was only met with pain and difficult options. Every crime the Nightlords committed, every wound they inflicted reminded me of the cost of letting them live another day.
How could Quetzalcoatl expect me to do good when the world constantly ground me down to pieces?
¡°I¡ I can imagine what else.¡± Nenetl let out a small, sorrowful sigh. ¡°You¡¯re trying very hard not to look at me right now, aren¡¯t you?¡±
My jaw clenched and I did not answer. Nenetl nodded in acceptance. She knew the answer before she asked.
¡°I¡ I¡ I told Necahual about¡¡± Nenetl put a hand on her womb, her expression twisted with concern. ¡°She said that if¡ if we didn¡¯t wish to keep it¡ there were options.¡±
The memory of my own twisted flesh and blood haunting me in the Underworld flared into my mind, vivid and raw. I knew exactly what options Necahual had in mind; and even if the Nightlords slipped up enough to let us get away with it, I could expect another pair of eyes to welcome me in the darkness below.
And it might still have been a kinder fate for that soul than whatever the Nightlords planned for it.
¡°What do you want, Nenetl?¡± I asked her. A¡ a father always did his part, but Itzpapalotl had been right about one thing. Once a man planted his seed, the pain and labor were no longer his to bear. My sister had more of a say in the matter than I did.
¡°I¡¡± Nenetl took a long, deep breath. ¡°I want to keep it, Iztac.¡±
This time, I turned to look at her. My sister and consort had uttered those words without doubt. Her body radiated that quiet, gentle confidence that had made me fall in love with her once.
¡°I¡¯ve thought about it for a long time. I know what we did¡ what we did is frowned upon, and that it bothers you, but¡ they had nothing to do with it.¡± Nenetl gripped her belly tightly. ¡°I know what Lahun said, but I think she¡¯s wrong.¡±
She looked me straight in the eyes, and this time I did not look away.
¡°Our child was born of love,¡± she said softly. ¡°Nothing created from love can be an abomination, Iztac.¡±
She said those words with such innocence, such kindness, such confidence, that I almost believed it.
Father had loved me too. I looked at Nenetl¡¯s belly and imagined the creature growing within it. He tried to raise me right, even with all the difficulties my birth entailed.
Nenetl was right, our child had been wanted. Iztacoatl had twisted my joy with a lie to cruelly humiliate me, but if I had wallowed in ignorance¡ if I hadn¡¯t known the truth, the news would have been blissful. And even if our child was born cursed, so were we. They deserved better than an eternity spent in the Underworld.
Nenetl¡¯s words about Lahun¡¯s prophecies gave me pause too. I had spent my time since I first heard its words being haunted by the verses, counting and fearing the days until my fate came to pass. Yet had I not been fated to die in a year¡¯s time? I was fighting with all my strength against the Nightlords¡¯ prophecy, so why not Lahun¡¯s too?
What was divine power worth if it couldn¡¯t break my chains? Whether bound by vampires or fate, I had a duty to rebel. Whether I succeeded or failed, at least I would have done my best without regrets.
¡°I want to keep it too,¡± I said softly. ¡°Give them a chance to live.¡±
I hoped to at least give our child a better afterlife than a madhouse filled with pain and fiends. I owed them and Nenetl that much.
Nenetl¡¯s smile of relief felt warmer than the sun. It briefly soothed my wounded soul, and for a short instant I could lie to myself that all would end well somehow.
After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Nenetl moved closer to me and gently rested on my shoulder. I briefly froze at her contact, but the warmth of her gentle hug put me at ease. I slowly put my arm around her shoulder to draw my sister close. It was no lustful embrace between lovers nor an attempt at comfort, but something else; a gentle moment I had only felt with Father.
¡°Do you think Mother will accept it?¡± Nenetl asked shyly.
I scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re concerned about her opinion? Even after everything she did to us?¡±
¡°Well¡ yes, I am,¡± Nenetl replied innocently. ¡°I think she cares too, at least little. Or else she wouldn¡¯t have shown up today.¡±
Nenetl wore her heart on her sleeve. She had taken so much from Father¡ and the more I considered it, the more I realized the same could be said for me and Mother. I had inherited more than just her power.
I guessed there was some truth to Nenetl¡¯s words. Mother did try to help me fight the Nightlords in her own way. Even if she expected a return on her investment, the risks she had taken¡ªand continued to take¡ªcould not be guided by greed alone.
¡°I won¡¯t leave her a choice,¡± I told Nenetl. ¡°One way or another.¡±
Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Day the Heavens Wept
Every seat had its importance at an emperor¡¯s table.
I began the second day of what would soon become the bloodiest Flower War in decades with a hearty breakfast in my consorts¡¯ company. Lady Zyanya had been invited to attend, without her husband. Inviting her to eat in the company of my female companions was tantamount to recognizing her as my mistress in the empire¡¯s eyes, and thus informed the realm that she had my ear. This would remind Tlaxcala that his political standing was tied to his wife, and grant her an immense amount of influence.
Favorites and concubines couldn''t be allowed to sit as equal to my divinely ordered consorts during wartime, however, so Lady Zyanya and Necahual were instead given seats a step behind mine on each side; close enough to whisper in my ears, but forcing them to eat from their own bowls of food rather than at the table. I placed Necahual between Chindi and I so she could talk with the former as she wished to, while Zyanya was put near Ingrid so she would overhear everything we discussed.
The goal was to have Zyanya report that piece of information directly to Iztacoatl in order to prove her usefulness as a spy to that vampiric leech. Mentioning Astrid should also ensure her brother Fjor¡¯s involvement, and the Nightkin was a critical piece in my game.
¡°So the tales I heard were true,¡± Ingrid said when I finished recounting yesterday¡¯s events. ¡°My lord¡¯s mother has joined with our enemies.¡±
¡°I suspect that she has been working with them from the start,¡± I replied, noting how Zyanya paid close attention to each word. ¡°To be allowed to stand so close to their emperor in spite of the blood we share is no small privilege.¡±
¡°Indeed, she must have cultivated her contacts for a long time prior to my sister¡¯s abduction.¡± Ingrid looked at me with concern. ¡°Has there been any word of Astrid?¡±
I had the feeling her unease and worry were in no way faked. Astrid being in the Sapa¡¯s hands was infinitely better than the fate Iztacoatl planned to inflict on her, but they still remained an enemy empire with an agenda of their own. We couldn¡¯t completely guarantee her safety, even with Mother keeping her in reserve to better strike at Iztacoatl. Learning of Astrid¡¯s whereabouts would also increase the odds of the Nightlords recapturing her.
It¡¯s a terrible feeling to worry for our kin. I¡¯d experience the same agony when the Lords of Terror fed my father¡¯s soul to Xibalba¡¯s rotten heart. Uncertainty¡¯s blade could cut deep. I wish I could offer her better guarantees than my word alone.
¡°None yet,¡± I replied calmly. Ingrid was too good an actor to break character, but I sensed her relief nonetheless. The less the Nightlords knew of Astrid¡¯s location, the better. ¡°I will inform you if our spies ever find her whereabouts.¡±
¡°Our enemies would be fools to bring such a valuable hostage anywhere near the frontline,¡± Chikal said. ¡°She must be languishing in a palace hidden somewhere in the mountains.¡±
Chindi smiled with cruel joy. ¡°Maybe they will sacrifice her if the master accrues more victories.¡±
She might have meant it as a mere joke, but it invited my and Ingrid¡¯s glares nonetheless. Chikal herself remained cold-blooded. ¡°Unlikely,¡± she said. ¡°They are more likely to use her as currency for a particularly valuable prisoner exchange. Once news of the goddess¡¯ hunger for sacrifices reaches the Sapa camp, the women there will weep to their emperor¡¯s ear for their husbands'' safe returns.¡±
I frowned in confusion. ¡°The women?¡±
¡°You did not know?¡± Chikal scoffed. ¡°According to our captives, Sapa warriors are allowed to take their wives to the front. They help carry their luggage, cook, and craft ceramic pots.¡±
¡°Pots?¡± Nenetl leaned in out of curiosity. ¡°Why bring potters to a battlefield?¡±
¡°The Sapa rely on an extensive network of storehouses and waystations for military operations,¡± Chikal replied. ¡°But when forced to fight far away from them, ensuring a steady supply of food becomes more difficult. Having skilled artisans create vessels on the spot allows the Sapa to store rations without transporting large, fragile ceramics over vast distances.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a very different approach than ours,¡± I noted. ¡°Our empire relies on trihorns and human carriers to safely transport large amounts of rations over vast distances. Bringing families is also forbidden in order to maintain military discipline.¡±
¡°The Sapa are used to fighting in the mountains, where the terrain is more difficult to navigate.¡± Chikal smirked upon bringing her chocolate cup to her lips. ¡°I will agree with you about discipline. Our soldiers go to war to find a mate, not to parade them about.¡±
Ingrid scoffed in amusement. ¡°About that, I¡¯ve heard your amazons caught quite a bounty of husbands yesterday.¡±
¡°They did,¡± Chikal replied, her smirk fading. ¡°Hence their disappointment when the goddess declared her intent to devour them.¡±
¡°They will simply have to capture two husbands each, and then let the vulture queen take the uglier ones,¡± Chindi joked cruelly.
Chikal chuckled. ¡°An interesting solution.¡±
I ignored those comments and pondered Chikal¡¯s information. She was right; when word of Sugey¡¯s demand for sacrifices reached the Sapa, they would be in a hurry to trade away prisoners to spare their own from death. The captives¡¯ kin would petition their emperor, or maybe even approach us themselves with information in order to save their own.
However, it would likely have the opposite result for those who already lost someone to Sugey¡¯s hunger. Retreat and negotiation would feel akin to spitting on their relatives¡¯ graves. I needed to act fast before the number of voices clamoring for blood drowned out those begging for pity.
¡°Ingrid, I want you to arrange a meeting with Manco on neutral ground tomorrow,¡± I decided. ¡°Secure a good place and time.¡±
¡°For the purpose of organizing a prisoner exchange?¡± she guessed almost immediately.
¡°Yes. The goddess will claim one sacrifice per warrior, but we have plenty of surplus.¡± I had personally captured more prisoners than I knew what to do with. ¡°You will inform Manco that we might be willing to trade some of those spares for our own.¡±
Chikal nodded in agreement. ¡°Holding such talks on the third day of fighting would be wise, since the fourth will be the bloodiest of them all.¡±
Its brutality would certainly become legendary should our plan for Chindi and Eztli proceed as predicted. I had the sinking feeling such a meeting would be my only chance to assess Manco¡¯s character directly, and that my entire strategy for dealing with the Sapa Empire would depend on the outcome.
¡°I believe I can arrange such an encounter shortly,¡± Ingrid promised. ¡°I have begun to develop a spy network in the enemy¡¯s camp with Aclla¡¯s support. Word of the goddess¡¯ edict should push more of them into our hands.¡±
¡°Are the Sapa aware of our coastal operations?¡± Chikal asked.
¡°I cannot say yet,¡± Ingrid replied. ¡°I have ears in the camp, but none close enough to listen to their high command. If they know about our incoming armada, they show no hint of it.¡±
That displeased me. Had my messenger been lost at sea or disbelieved? Short of having Mother pass on the information and ruin her cover, I saw little way to warn the Sapa without incriminating myself.
A devastating conflict looked more and more inevitable.
Zyanya leaned in slightly to whisper in my ear. ¡°May I have a minute of your time before the war council, Your Majesty?¡±
I raised an eyebrow and then nodded slightly. I was curious what she had in mind, and why she wished to speak with me alone. Did she receive new orders from Iztacoatl or learn of a secret she didn¡¯t wish to share with my consorts?
Breakfast finished soon after, with Ingrid leaving to deal with the Sapa ambassadors, Chikal moving to prepare the war council on my behalf, and Nenetl returning to her quarters to rest. I noticed Necahual and Chindi walking away from my table together, the latter smiling at one of the former¡¯s words. My witch was already baiting our sacrifice.
¡°You have my time and attention,¡± I told Zyanya once we were alone. I invited her to sit on my lap, which she did, and pulled my arms around her waist. ¡°If you earn my interest, I will give you more than a minute.¡±
¡°Your Majesty has been kind to me¡ and true to our agreement.¡± She pulled her arms around my neck in a way I¡¯d never seen her do with her husband. ¡°I have information to report on your Sapa handmaiden.¡±
¡°Aclla?¡± True, I did ask Zyanya to keep an eye on her. ¡°Did you notice anything suspicious?¡±
¡°Nothing that would implicate her in treason yet,¡± Zyanya conceded, ¡°But she behaves in a way that I find¡ eerie.¡±
¡°How so?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve observed your handmaiden from afar. She prays in front of open windows each day at sunrise, facing the wind. Hardly anything worthy of Your Majesty¡¯s attention, especially since she mutters words under her breath with no one around to listen¡ but I then noticed something else.¡± Lady Zyanya stared into my eyes. ¡°Have you noticed it? Her eyes?¡±
I scowled. ¡°What about them?¡±
¡°She does not blink unless spoken to.¡±
¡°She does not?¡± That, I did not notice. ¡°Are you sure?¡±
¡°I¡¯m certain,¡± Zyanya insisted. ¡°She ceases to blink when she thinks no one is paying close attention to her. She stares on without moving, as if her entire mind is focused on your divine visage. It is very subtle, and very unnerving.¡±
I wondered what to make of this. None of this gossip incriminated Aclla in any way, yet it was indeed quite the odd behavior if true. I had the most startling feeling of familiarity, of recognition; like touching a memory I could not entirely recall.
Murmuring secrets to the wind¡ My eyes widened slightly upon recognizing the pattern. Could she be using the Augury spell?
No, it couldn¡¯t be that. Zyanya didn¡¯t see her shed blood to summon the wind, and Aclla was no Nahualli. She lacked the telltale hair and eyes, and the Nightlords would likely have branded her like they did with Nenetl at the first hint of supernatural powers.
Then again¡ she didn¡¯t need to be a sorcerer to share information.
The Yaotzin heard every hurtful truth ever uttered by any mortals. While only Nahualli could hear it, everyone fed it day after day. The wind of chaos protected the anonymity of their ¡®customers¡¯ in order to both foster chaos and make them dependent on their assistance. This policy saved my secrets from the Nightlords¡¯ notice, but I wasn¡¯t foolish enough to believe that it favored me over others. The Yaotzin wasn¡¯t called the Enemy of Both Sides for nothing.
If Ayar Cachi or another party had a sorcerer with knowledge of the Augury spell in their employ¡ªsomething that was likely since even my predecessors had learned how to cast it¡ªthey could hear whatever Aclla whispered to the wind during her ¡®prayers¡¯. She might not even be aware of their importance. Her master might have simply asked her to recount her day to the wind as a form of prayer or benediction.
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I also knew very little about our enemies¡¯ magical traditions. My knowledge of spellcasting revolved around the secrets I obtained from my Underworld contacts or what I could glean from the Nightlords¡¯ blood sorcery. The Mallquis, the spying stone tablets, and even the tumi emissary Inkarri sent to observe me in Mictlan didn¡¯t fit into that framework.
The Sapa Empire had to possess sorcery of its own and carefully guarded its secrets to fend off Yohuachanca for so long. Aclla, or her superiors, could simply be using a spell I had no knowledge of¡ yet.
¡°I see,¡± I replied evasively. I needed to find a way to verify my theory. ¡°I will invite Aclla to the war council and confirm your story.¡±
¡°I apologize if this is not much yet, Your Majesty, but I swear to make further progress soon,¡± Lady Zyanya promised me. ¡°I am certain that your handmaiden is hiding something. It is only a matter of time until I uncover what.¡±
¡°Carry on,¡± I encouraged her by lightly kissing her on the neck. I sensed shivers of pleasure running down her skin. ¡°I am pleased by your dedication.¡±
¡°Have I earned more of Your Majesty¡¯s time then?¡± Zyanya leaned closer to my neck. ¡°I can prove my dedication another way¡ and your seed has yet to take hold.¡±
I froze immediately. The memory of my monstrous revenant of an unborn child flared into my mind like a curse, squashing my lust with ice¡¯s coldness. The mere thought of¡ of fathering another of that cursed and tormented thing¡
My heart swelled with the same bitter rage that Nenetl had barely managed to quell earlier. My blood burned with resentment at the Nightlords for turning such a pleasant and natural part of life into yet another nightmare. The darkness dwelling deep within me echoed my loathing, its teeth gnashing behind its prison¡¯s bars.
Zyanya frowned upon sensing my anger. ¡°Your Majesty?¡±
¡°Tonight.¡± The memory was too fresh in my mind for me to perform right now. ¡°First, I need blood.¡±
And it wouldn¡¯t be mine.
I ran the war council in a dark mood.
I¡¯d invited Aclla to join the war council as an observer and advisor on Sapa tactics. Quite a few of my generals looked aghast at the idea of a noncombatant attending the meeting, let alone a foreign woman from the nation they were fighting, but none had the gall to object. My performance on the battlefield and the miracles I accomplished had made me infallible in the eyes of many.
¡°First, I¡¯d like to start with a minute of silence for our honorably departed Patli, who perished on the field of battle,¡± I said with such acting talent that my sorrow almost sounded sincere. Praising the dead was cheap, after all. ¡°Slain by a beast-man wearing a bear¡¯s pelt.¡±
¡°Those were members of the Ukuku, the bear fraternity,¡± Aclla said. Being acutely aware of her precarious position, she looked eager to win over the assembly with her wisdom. ¡°By dressing themselves as mountain bears, they welcome their spirits to grant them strength.¡±
¡°They obtain a greater force¡¯s might by impersonating them?¡± I asked with a thin smile. Where did I hear that before?
¡°The one which Your Divine Majesty captured has been unruly,¡± Tayatzin said. He looked like he had recovered from my ominous morning prophecy, but he still stood a bit farther away from me than usual. ¡°We had to chain him tightly, and he answered all our words with snarls.¡±
¡°Whatever power he obtained from his gods was no match for ours,¡± I replied with a scoff. ¡°Should we expect another such surprise?¡±
Aclla pondered my question for a moment. ¡°I have heard that Ayar Manco called upon the Pishtaco clan to assist him in defending the mountains, but I would not wish to bother Your Divine Majesty with a mere rumor.¡±
¡°The Pishtaco?¡± Chikal scowled upon recognizing the name. ¡°Are you certain?¡±
¡°Who are they?¡± I asked curiously.
¡°Disgusting and cowardly fat-thieves,¡± Chikal replied with sincere disgust. ¡°They put their victims to sleep to harvest their flesh or infect them with disease.¡±
¡°Other people know them as the Kharisiri,¡± Aclla explained. ¡°The Pishtaco clan are shapeshifters who prey on unwary travelers to gorge themselves on their fat, which they sell as paste or food. They possess great strength, malevolence, and avarice.¡±
Coaxoch snorted in utter disdain. ¡°They may find easy marks among the mountains, but not a single of my warriors has a shred of fat on his body.¡±
¡°We would be fools to underestimate our enemies,¡± Amoxtli replied while stroking his chin. ¡°However, I am more worried about reports from scouts and spies sent to observe the Sapa camp. They saw the presence of armored longnecks, albeit smaller than ours.¡±
Cuauhteztli of the Eagle Knights raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why bother armoring a longneck? Their scales are already tougher than stone.¡±
¡°Their longnecks differ from ours,¡± Aclla said. I noticed that she adroitly spoke as if she belonged to Yohuachanca and not the Sapa people. ¡°They are thrice smaller than Your Majesty¡¯s roaming palace, but bear strong bone scales on their back.¡±
¡°They will send those creatures to fight us one day or another,¡± Amoxtli insisted. ¡°We ought to drill our men on how to wound or scare them off.¡±
An idea quickly crossed my mind, one that would surely win me greater glory and force Ayar Manco into a ceasefire.
¡°I will take care of those beasts myself,¡± I decided upon turning to look at Tayatzin. ¡°Send a messenger to the Sapa¡¯s camp and be sure to translate my words to the letter. Inform them that I shall take the field at the same spot and time as yesterday; and that in order to give them a chance of winning, I shall only take one fighter to assist me.¡±
¡°One fighter?¡± Amoxtli looked fit to gag. ¡°Your Majesty, with all due respect¨C¡±
I silenced him with a glare. ¡°Do you doubt my power, Amoxtli?¡±
¡°No, no, of course, I¡¡± Amoxtli quickly bowed in obedience. ¡°I am simply concerned by Your Majesty¡¯s safety. The loss of Patli already diminished the Nightflowers¡¯ strength, and the Sapa are sure to try and exploit it.¡±
¡°Your caution borders on cowardice, old man,¡± Coaxoch admonished him before pumping his chest with his fist. ¡°Allow me the honor to escort you, Your Majesty. No man nor monster will get past the club of Coaxoch.¡±
¡°Your bravery is appreciated, but I already have chosen another.¡± I smiled. ¡°My brave Itzili has been itching to sharpen his fangs on warm flesh.¡±
Chikal laughed heartily at my response. ¡°Very clever,¡± she said, a wide smirk on her lips. ¡°You want to flush out their beasts of battle in the open and bleed them out.¡±
Amoxtli stroked his chin. ¡°That could work¡ even a feathered tyrant would be hardly a match for an adult longneck, but if our enemies¡¯ own are truly thrice smaller, then young Itzili would hold a decisive advantage.¡±
While my generals discussed the pros and cons of my strategy, I seized my chance. I cast a very subtle Veil that obscured the way where my eyes pointed. When I pretended to look at a map, my gaze truly settled on my Sapa handmaiden. It hardly took me a few minutes to notice it.
Zyanya was right.
Aclla did not blink unless someone looked at or spoke to her. Whenever she faded out of everyone¡¯s attention, she simply looked at us with an unwavering stare. Unlike Chindi, whose acting was only skin-deep, Aclla quickly adjusted her behavior whenever she sensed someone observing her.
It was more than her eyes that bothered me as well. Her posture slightly tensed up during those moments, like prey fearing discovery or a beast struggling a sudden tension. The change was so subtle I hardly noticed it at first.
I excluded the Skinwalker or shapeshifter hypothesis, since the Nightlords would have easily detected that kind of trap. Maybe her behavior had something to do with the strange ritual that gave her skin the color of gold. Could it have changed her nature? Did it do more than make her look like a gilded statue?
A statue. Somehow the word rang in my head louder and stronger with each heartbeat. Could it be¡
The first time I met the Sapa¡¯s ambassadors, they sent me a stone tablet that doubled as a spying device for Inkarri. The Condor King managed to use it to observe my palace in spite of all the magical effects shielding it. He even managed to send a tumi emissary into the Underworld, although Mallquis were specifically barred from entering it to avoid their true death.
If the Mallquis could see through a pile of stone, why not a woman of gold?
It¡¯s not Aclla looking at us right now, I realized with a shiver racing down my spine. The shift in body language reminded me of the many times I struggled wearing a human host. Another soul is spying on us through her.
That would explain the prayers to the wind too. Whatever magic allowed Aclla¡¯s master to see through her eyes was cruder than my Ride spell and easier to detect. My handmaiden likely relayed whatever information her master had no time to observe with her fake prayers.
The Sapa had played a trick on us. We all suspected Aclla to be a spy, not a spying device.
Who hides behind your gilded skin? I wondered as the war council reached its conclusion. Friend or foe?
Inkarri and the other Mallquis were obvious suspects, but Ayar Cachi still remained a mystery to me. The information I disclosed to Aclla today should settle that question. If my enemies adapted their tactics accordingly, then she worked for Manco¡¯s puppeteers; if not¡ if not, then Cachi was a lot more dangerous and resourceful than I¡¯d expected.
I supposed we¡¯ll know soon enough, I thought once the rest of the council unfolded. Sugey¡¯s warning had whipped up my men into a capture frenzy and forced us to adjust our tactics accordingly. The Flower War¡¯s second day would focus on group battles rather than individual duels, so my generals reassigned veteran leaders to lead squads of recruits and fresh meat.
My generals insisted that I bring at least a token escort with me to battle, and so I allowed myself to be convinced; though I insisted that the soldiers following me would be Nightflowers riding on trihorns so as not to overshadow me. If all went like yesterday, the order would be suitably crippled.
I walked outside the war tent to find Itzili awaiting me outside. My feathered tyrant had sensed my craving for battle and eagerly welcomed me. His growth spurt continued with each passing day. A white fluffy mane now adorned his face, and he towered over trihorns the way an adult of his kind would. If this continued, he would soon become larger than any other specimen ever before seen.
However, a dark omen followed in Itzili¡¯s wake. Dark clouds cast a great shadow upon the valley until it appeared trapped in an unnatural sunset. They were too red for rainclouds, and the dread they carried was unmistakable. I sensed the scarlet Tlahuiztli clinging to me like a second skin, and my jade bat mask closing in on my face.
A drop of blood fell upon my brow, warm and viscous.
It dripped down my mask, and more followed after it. A faint red drizzle descended upon the earth to soil it. It swiftly polluted the river and ponds, painted our tents red, and cowed men and beasts alike into dreadful silence and murmurs. Countless eyes turned to the sky in order to witness this ominous omen.
I¡¯d seen this phenomenon once before, soon after Yoloxochitl perished. Today¡¯s faint drizzle hardly compared to the downpour that followed the Nightlord¡¯s demise, but it was no less significant.
¡°Your Divine Majesty?¡± Tayatzin asked behind me, his body tenser than a hangman¡¯s rope. ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡±
¡°What I foresaw,¡± I retorted. ¡°Death and darkness for all.¡±
¡°Your prayer has been answered,¡± the wind ominously whispered in my ear. ¡°Blood and tears will flow today.¡±
My hatred had awakened the First Emperor from his torpor.
The Nigthlords¡¯ ritual had cowed his vile spirit for a time, but his hunger and bloodthirst stirred to match my own. He had dined on the chaos of war, the anguish of the sacrificed, and the bitter wine of my own heart. I fed him, and it fed me in return.
I mounted Itzili without a word with my obsidian club in hand. The blood smoothly flowed on me like a cloak of crimson, welcoming me, cherishing me. Countless turned to me for leadership, waiting for me to reassure them that this godly rain was a good sign rather than an ominous curse; and I indulged them.
¡°Soldiers of Yohuachanca!¡± I shouted from atop Itzili¡¯s back, my weapon raised to the sky. ¡°The heavens weep tears of blood for our enemies out of pity, for they know we shall show none today!¡±
Itzili let out a roar as if on cue, one so strong as to shake the very ground beneath his feet.
¡°I declare this valley sanctified by the gods of war!¡± I declared to my gathered soldiers. ¡°Your hard labor secured a bounty of sacrifices, but the gods of Yohuachanca are not so easily impressed! They thirst for greater glory, and we shall fulfill their wishes! This divine rain is proof that you now have their attention, and you must now earn their respect!¡±
My voice boomed with the wind and rain. I felt the attention of countless soldiers and warriors transfixed by my divine presence. The strength of their belief flowed into me, raising me closer to the godhood which I craved.
If the perception of others influenced what divinity I might become, I might as well become an undefeated god of war.
¡°So venture forth, for your ancestors, for yourself, for our empire! Embrace the fire of valor, you shall be like the comet blazing its way through the night sky! Fear not death or defeat, for today you ride immortal!¡± I swung my club at the distant Sapa camp. ¡°Glory awaits!¡±
A tidal wave of war cries and cheers answered my challenge, followed by Itzili¡¯s mighty roar. My feathered tyrant could no longer contain his bloodthirst afterwards. He ran across the camp at a running speed that would inspire fear in anyone unfortunate enough to be chased by his waiting jaws. The bloody rain did not slow him down in the slightest. The droplets instead slid upon his scales and filled his salivating maw with a thirst for death. My small trihorn rider escort struggled to match his pace.
When I reached my chosen battle site, I found priests from both sides of the Flower War struggling to light up the bonfire meant to announce the start of hostility. I noticed Mother among them, staring at me with a stone-cold expression. The occult weight of her Haunt paled compared to the dark shadow the First Emperor cast on the entire valley.
As predicted, the Sapa sent troops to welcome me. A dozen strange longnecks walked to my location to challenge me. As the reports attested, their size and length had more in common with Itzili and trihorns than my roaming palace. Their brown scales turned to bones on their back and spine, though they lacked the spines that Manco¡¯s mount boasted. The Sapa Emperor himself was nowhere to be seen today.
My gaze lingered on the longneck¡¯s riders, whose gaunt appearance inspired a wave of nausea in my heart. Their pale chalky skin, tainted red by the crimson rain, covered so little flesh that I could see the outline of their bones. All of them lacked hair of any sort and their sunken black eyes stared at me with an almost predatory degree of hostility. Moreover, they all looked disturbingly similar, like many sets of twins. I didn¡¯t need the Gaze to realize that these people weren¡¯t humans; they were weapons pointed at me.
Mother had warned me that the Mallquis would try to assassinate me, even when I hadn¡¯t managed to kill myself on the first day of my tenure. They were welcome to try.
They would leave disappointed.
Chapter Ninety: The Face of War
Blood rained from the sky, boiling and burning on the pyre.
A crimson, ghastly fire arose atop the hill to the surprise and horror of the priests who failed to light it up earlier. Its unnatural smoke arose into the shape of skulls to the dark clouds above by divine decree. The First Emperor had made his influence known, and his will clear.
The blood must flow.
Itzili roared to the sky and then charged at the armored longnecks facing us with a salivating maw. His wild advance frightened the Sapa¡¯s beasts of war, some of which froze and bellowed in a vain attempt to intimidate my feathered tyrant. It wasn¡¯t long before we made contact with the closest one.
Itzili leaped forward and closed his jaws on the longneck¡¯s throat.
However armored its spine might have been, most of the animal¡¯s neck remained exposed. My mount¡¯s fangs sank into its warm flesh with the sharpness of knives and crushed its windpipe so tightly that the longneck couldn¡¯t even cry out in pain.
The shock of the collision nearly threw me off Itzili¡¯s back. The longneck¡¯s riders, a duo of those pale men with sunken eyes, immediately crawled along the length of their mount to reach out to me. I raised my club to welcome the first fool trying to assault me.
One of the men¡¯s mouths opened wide, and a hungry horror crawled out of it.
His true monstrous nature manifested in a blink. His jaw distended to let a monstrous white maggot thicker than my arm surge forth in place of a tongue. The insect¡¯s disc-shaped maw revealed rows after rows of small, hook-like barbs glistening with saliva, and then lunged at my face in a nightmarish burst of speed.
The sight would have frightened most men, but I¡¯d faced too many horrors to even flinch. I swung my obsidian club at the creature and carved its mouth in two with a single swing. Caustic, greasy yellow blood erupted from the wound and stained Itzili¡¯s feathers. The odious smell made me struggle against the urge to puke.
Kharisiri.
Aclla wasn¡¯t kidding about these things¡¯ disgusting nature. The monster¡¯s bleeding maggot tongue retreated back, while the other Kharisiri rider jumped over to Itzili. My feathered tyrant sent him flying with a swing of his tail, then pulled his longneck prey with such strength that he tore off half its throat. The beast collapsed to the side and crushed its remaining Kharisiri rider under its immense weight.
The other longnecks¡¯ legs stomped the ground, their riders forcing them to surround Itzili and I. My feathered tyrant roared at them, while my trihorn escort charged to reinforce me and break the Sapa encirclement.
I suddenly noticed something in the air; a sweetness mixing with the odious stench of the Kharisiri and the bloody rain¡¯s metallic tang. A thin purple haze slowly settled on the battlefield, almost imperceptible through the crimson fog. I traced its source with a glance to the mouths of some of the Sapa priests, Mother included.
What kind of spell was that?
Whatever it was, it didn¡¯t stop Itzili from going on the offensive. My feathered tyrant lunged at the nearest longneck, bit one of its hind legs, and then pulled back. The Sapa beast swung its tail like a whip in an attempt to repel Itzili, but my mount lowered its back just enough to avoid the strike. The longneck quickly lost its balance and collapsed with a bellowing cry.
Only then did I finally fathom my familiar¡¯s true strength and wits. I had fed Itzili my divine blood and seen his might wax with mine. No normal animal would have shown half his ferocity, let alone his reflexes and intelligence. He fought like a warrior instead of a mindless animal.
The purple haze grew a little bit thicker, and I heard a faint rustle in the blowing wind; a soft song covered by the sound of battle but which my sharp senses picked on anyway. It was slow, gentle, almost soothing.
A lullaby.
Immediately understanding the danger, I turned to glance at my escort. My Nightflowers¡¯ mounts had slowed down, the trihorns¡¯ legs stumbling in exhaustion. The animals struggled against the urge to fall into a deep slumber.
A sleeping spell.
Mother did say she would teach it to me in person. I supposed the Sapa using it against my troops counted as training.
I recognized it as an Ihiyotl spell, and a weak one at that. A lullaby joined with the wind, trying to lure my mind into a quagmire of heavy dreams. It worked well enough on the trihorns, who collapsed one after another, but neither the Kharisiri nor the Nightflower soldiers at my back seemed too affected. Either their unnatural vitality shielded them from the spell, or the spell worked better on animals than men.
Come to think of it, I wondered if I could use the Word on myself. I doubted it, since it could only bend the will of creatures weaker than myself, but I should at least try at some point.
Whatever the case, Itzili and the enemy longnecks shrugged the sleeping spell off easily enough. The latter managed to get close enough for three of their riders to jump on top of Itzili¡¯s back. I beheaded the closest of them with a swing and sent his head rolling onto the bloody grass. Another Kharisiri extended his odious tongue to swirl around my club, the wooden shaft snapping in two under the pressure. The third of my assailants coiled his inner maggot around my arm and squeezed with enough strength to crush bones. Mine were strong enough from Bonecrafting reinforcements to withstand the pressure, but I still felt the sting of sharp pain through my armor.
Letting go of my broken club, I grabbed the maggot-tongue and tore it in two with my bare hands. The disgusting yellow blood anointed my mount and the wounded Kharisiri¡¯s screech of pain became music to my ears. The third Kharisiri lunged at me, his maggot-tongue¡¯s own mouth opening to reveal a bony stinger sharper than a spear within its fanged maw. I caught it midair before it could puncture my chest.
Mother was right. They were aiming to kill, not capture.
¡°Foolish!¡± I said as my free hand grabbed the Kharisiri¡¯s throat. With the other firmly holding the maggot-tongue, I pulled in both directions with the inhuman strength granted by my armor.
The monster barely had time to blink before I tore off its head from its shoulders.
My scarlet Tlahuiztli drank the monster¡¯s blood like a hungry vampire. I felt its cotton and scales cling to my skin while the First Emperor¡¯s jade mask pressed tightly upon my face. A terrible and maddening thirst seized me. My lips and throat were drier than sand.
I pulled the Kharisiri¡¯s head over my mouth and watered it with blood.
Its body fluids carried more fat than liquid, and it smelled awful¡ yet I could have sworn I¡¯d never drank something so flavorful when it touched the tip of my tongue. Such liquorous thickness, such an appetizing aftertaste.
Blood was blood.
And I craved more.
The last of the Kharisiri watched me toss away the head of his comrade with the first emotion I¡¯d seen spread among these creatures: abject and utter fear. He tried to leap away from Itzili and flee, but my hands gripped his shoulders in an instant. My fingers were claws, my skin crimson, my teeth daggers of obsidian. I pulled him into the same vile embrace Iztacoatl forced upon me so many times, and then I bit into his neck.
My mask¡¯s obsidian teeth sank into his flesh and my mouth gorged itself on more than blood. I tasted his fear, his pain, his soul. I saw memories of various slaughters in jungles, of golden temples hidden in mountains, of blasphemous rituals in baths of crawling maggots. I fed on his strength and life, withering his limbs and emptying his veins, making his hunger and ferocity mine. The darkness in my heart grew thicker. More, it demanded. More, more, always more!
I felt a will tug at my chain, the whispers of ghosts from an ancient past. They were legion, but their voices failed to reach my ears; except for one, clear like water and filled with concern.
¡°Wake up, my son!¡±
Father¡¯s voice broke through the cloud of bloodthirst obscuring my mind.
I woke from a daze of madness, the desiccated husk of my victim sliding through my fingers and onto the ground below. His body snapped in two like a twig upon hitting the earth.
What¡ I shook my head in an attempt to shake the evil which had possessed me. I still had the taste of the Kharisiri¡¯s blood watering my mouth. How could this happen to me?
How could I let myself be influenced so easily after taking in two sets of embers? Had the sleeping spell somehow strengthened the hold the First Emperor could exert over me? Or was it my men¡¯s perception influencing me?
The sensation of shaking brought me back to the present, followed by an ominous sensation of incoming destruction. I could feel the power of ancient sorcery rippling through the world¡¯s skin of stone across the valley. I briefly mistook it for Mother¡¯s Haunt, but this was no subtle fate-twisting and curse-binding. The primal force taking over this land was rougher, imprecise, and overwhelming.
¡°The mountains sing, and the stone sea shall drown all,¡± the wind whispered in my ear. ¡°A trap¡¯s jaws close upon you.¡±
Itzili¡¯s roar grew higher pitched and filled with unease. The remaining longnecks entered a strange frenzy and began to disperse as their riders proved unable to force them back into the fray. Panic quickly seized my men and the priests on the hill as the very earth beneath our feet began to vibrate. Mother was already running down the hill, looking for stabler ground.
I recognized the signs of what was coming.
¡°Earthquake!¡± I shouted to my men as the ground itself heaved and shook. ¡°Evacuate now! Evacuate!¡±
Itzili ran across the battlefield, his instinct taking over. Powerful tremors rippled across the valley and caused the longnecks to stumble and collapse. My mount¡¯s course remained steady, but the bumps nearly threw me aside. The distant mountains seemed to drone and vibrate.
I sensed a pulse of distant sorcery, and then the ground roared.
Nature¡¯s wrath awoke with a terrifying slowness. Part of the pyre hill collapsed under its own weight, sending stones tumbling down below and crushing a few priests too slow to escape. Rifts opened up to swallow puddles of blood and gorge themselves on crimson rain. Fissures in the earth swallowed the sleeping trihorns and my slowest soldiers into gullets of stone and cavernous tombs.
The earthquake rocked the entire valley. Hills crumbled, ponds of water rippled and overflooded, and trees collapsed. Death walked among us.
A massive rift opened up at the spot where I dueled the Kharisiri and moved toward Itzili. The very earth seemed to open its jaw and attempt to swallow us in its hunger. My feathered tyrant ran at a steady pace that took me aback. Men fell prone one after the other, but Itzili somehow managed to retain his equilibrium in spite of his size and the quakes. He ran faster than the wind, stepping over grass and soldiers, running with the boundless energy of an animal desperate to escape danger.
I dared to peek over my shoulder to look at the stony grasp of death reaching out from behind us. The rift had grown to swallow the Flower War pyre and its hill, alongside the longnecks which hadn¡¯t managed to escape. Their roars of terror as they fell to their doom in the earth¡¯s bowels rang louder than those of the Kharisiri, or even my own men. The very ground devoured them all under a rain of blood.
Itzili¡¯s legs thankfully proved quicker than the rift¡¯s hunger. The growing fissure slowed down where my mount¡¯s course remained steady. The quake and tremors grew weaker with each passing second, though they continued to rock the valley for a time that felt like forever.
When the earth¡¯s wrath died down and the crimson rain clouds cleared at long last, I stood atop Itzili to witness the devastation. The battlefield on which I fought was gone, drowned in mud and rifts. I knew Mother had survived the cataclysm¡ªshe weaved too many spells to just die so pointlessly¡ªbut many priests and the entire group of Nightflowers that followed me into today¡¯s battle had perished.
A great scar of a canyon now crossed the valley.
And I knew that it had been meant to be my tomb.
The earthquake put an early end to the day of battle.
I spent the rest of the afternoon taking the reins of my army, evacuating the wounded, and relocating the survivors back to the camp. Having already faced a recent disaster in Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption, the Yohuachancan army managed to organize quickly once the first tremors struck and retreated in good order to safe ground. Chikal¡¯s group had been far enough away to avoid the worst of it alongside my camp, much to my relief. My loved ones had been more scared than hurt.
All in all, this could have been far worse. We¡¯d reached a bit less than three hundred casualties, dead and wounded included. The worst of the earthquake struck the pyre-hill and its immediate surroundings while our soldiers fought across the entire valley and our camp had been safely away. I supposed the Sapa army suffered similar losses.
Their masters hadn¡¯t warned them of the danger to avoid alerting us.
My suspicions only grew stronger the more reports I received. I was no student of the earth¡¯s mysteries, but I found it awfully convenient that the quake¡¯s epicenter began right where I fought. Moreover, I was attuned enough to magic to tell that this had been no natural calamity.
The power I sensed differed from the First Emperor¡¯s hateful grasp too. His influence might have worsened the disaster somehow, but I could tell from deep within my bones that he didn¡¯t initiate it. The Sapa trying to cast the sleeping spell on me a few minutes before the catastrophe only strengthened my conviction.
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This earthquake had been meant to kill me.
What god or sorcery could unleash such power? I wondered as I heard reports in my war tent. According to our scouts, the main rift reached so deep that they couldn¡¯t see the bottom. Even I cannot command such might yet.
Then again, maybe it wasn¡¯t the work of a single caster. I recalled hearing the Sapa¡¯s mountains sing before the disaster, like small streams coming together to flow into a mighty river. This had been the work of many voices.
Aclla¡ The ritual Aclla underwent involved her being dipped in gold dust until her very skin gained the metal¡¯s properties. Inkarri used a stone tablet to observe me, and his tumi had been crafted from metal too. I was starting to see a common thread.
Whereas a Tlacatecolotl commanded life and death and the Nightlords controlled blood, the Sapa¡¯s sorcery has something to do with the earth and its metal bounty.
Was that the power that allowed the Sapa to fend off foreign conquests for so long? I doubted such a display of power came without a cost; the destruction it spread among friends and foes alone made it unsuitable for conquest.
I tried to recall the earthquake¡¯s early signs in an attempt to remember key details, but I couldn¡¯t focus because of this accursed thirst. The pulque drink in my hand was both unfulfilling and utterly tasteless.
¡°This is bland, Tayatzin,¡± I told my advisor after setting the cup aside. ¡°Bring me better sustenance.¡±
The priest studied me with clear concern and unease. ¡°Your Divine Majesty, this is the thickest pulque we have.¡±
My jaw clenched on its own. I had consumed water, chocolate, pulque, and exotic drinks whose names I could not recall. All of them tasted like ashes on my tongue, and my mouth remained dry no matter how much I drank.
I knew what liquid this awful thirst truly craved, but I refused to indulge it.
¡°What of the Sapa?¡± I asked my war council.
¡°Their losses are slightly heavier than ours, but most of their soldiers survived the earthquake,¡± Amoxtli replied. ¡°Considering the damage, we have received an offer of a one-day truce.¡±
Tayatzin nodded in confirmation. ¡°I am pleased that Ayar Manco answered favorably to Lady Ingrid¡¯s offer of a meeting with Your Divine Majesty, both to discuss the ongoing Flower War and the fate of our respective sides¡¯ captives.¡±
At least this disaster had a silver lining. Having failed to kill me in the field, Inkarri and the Mallquis had probably settled on assassinating me at dinner. I wondered if the earthquake had served as a warning of some sort, or even the prelude to negotiations. ¡®Leave our lands or suffer a worse fate¡¯ would make for a formidable message.
I eyed my council. I detected the fear lurking behind their warrior confidence. A rain of blood followed by an earthquake had seemed like a startling display of divine wrath to them, and they were half right. This disaster struck too close to Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption, and Tayatzin recalled this morning¡¯s ominous prophecy very well: death and darkness for all.
They weren¡¯t looking for a warlord¡¯s guidance, but that of a prophet. And since dusk had already fallen upon us, the ¡®gods¡¯ I spoke for would soon send a visitor. I could already sense the cold creeping on us.
¡°Out,¡± I ordered them all with a tone that broke no disobedience. ¡°I shall consult the heavens on how to proceed.¡±
My generals and advisors exchanged glances, then deserted me with haste. I found myself alone in the war tent with my useless drink cup, sitting at an empty table. It didn¡¯t take long for the candles and torches illuminating the tent to extinguish themselves one after the other; all save one that provided a measure of illumination behind my back. My seat stood surrounded by darkness.
It was my cup that bothered me the most. Its mere sight heightened my thirst and filled me with immense bitterness. For all the sunlight burning in my veins, I had become akin to what I loathed the most: a vampire thirsting for blood.
I felt stained down to my very flesh and soul.
Another sinister presence entered the tent and drew me out of my bitter mood. Two red eyes stared at me from across the table, glowing brighter than two scarlet moons. The shadows seemed to sharpen around Sugey¡¯s figure until I could distinguish her outline. She rested her head on her fist and stared at my cup.
¡°You crave blood,¡± Sugey guessed.
It took all of my strength not to show my unease. If she thought that the First Emperor influenced me, then I could expect a sharp punishment or worse. ¡°I have grown fed up with more mundane drinks.¡±
¡°We both know that this is more than passing fancy. I¡¯ve heard how you fought today¡ felt it too.¡± Sugey¡¯s smile had all the sharpness of a sacrificial dagger. ¡°It¡¯s the ritual, is it not? The same way young Eztli grows to fit the role she plays, so do you become the emperor you were always meant to be.¡±
¡°I have been blessed with strength, and am thankful to the goddesses for this opportunity,¡± I replied evasively.
¡°Yet you think I will punish you for it, because it might make you a threat,¡± Sugey said sharply. ¡°Quite the contrary, Iztac. The weak are the food of the strong, and you stand above all other men.¡±
Bold words from a parasite leeching off her father¡¯s strength. I simply remained quiet as Sugey waved her hand. A new cup appeared to replace the old one; an obsidian skull filled with a viscous crimson liquid laced with spice.
¡°Drink,¡± Sugey ordered me.
I hid my hesitation, knowing that obeying would carry long-term consequences. However, the risk of arousing her suspicions was too great, so I grabbed the awful cup and sipped the blood within.
I¡¯d hoped it would taste horrible and cause me to spit it out. Its potent sweetness instead soothed my nerves and dulled the dryness within my throat. That was by far the more horrifying outcome.
¡°Doesn¡¯t the blood of a warrior true quell your thirst?¡± Sugey asked. ¡°It does satisfy mine.¡±
¡°It is juicy,¡± I replied, much to my distaste. I feared ever developing a taste for it.
¡°Then why do you regret its consumption? You still think too much like the man you were and not like the conqueror you¡¯ve become.¡± Sugey scoffed. ¡°The frail child we grabbed on the Night of the Scarlet Moon died many nights ago, but you will never fully shed your humanity should you continue to deny your appetite for death and violence.¡±
Because I do not wish to shed my humanity, oh false goddess of hypocrites. ¡°A man ought to control the beast within.¡±
¡°True, but the burning blood shining in your veins belongs to neither,¡± Sugey retorted. A cup of blood materialized in her hand. ¡°No man nor beast would warrant such destruction to kill.¡±
¡°So that was indeed an assassination attempt?¡± I asked, my head perking up. If Sugey had any information on the Sapa¡¯s magic, I had to glean it all. ¡°I had a feeling, but I could not fathom what sorcery would let our enemies open up the very earth beneath our feet.¡±
¡°This is more than a clash of civilizations, child. This is a feud between gods to decide which of us will inherit the world.¡± Sugey sipped from her cup. ¡°We children of the blood have grown strong on the wealth of our kingdom while our enemies wasted away on dust and empty supplications. They hoped to bury you deep underground where you could do no harm to them, but you were protected by better masters.¡±
Not by you. ¡°Why not strike at the goddess instead of her speaker?¡±
¡°Because they cannot, and because killing a messenger is a message in itself. They know we would inevitably win a war, so they hope to dissuade us by showing us how many lives it would cost us.¡± Sugey scoffed in disdain. ¡°Surely you must have noticed their weakness by now.¡±
Their weakness? Somehow I had the feeling she wasn¡¯t talking about their magic or military, but something deeper; an institutional flaw. I doubted she referred to the Mallquis¡ªI wasn¡¯t supposed to know anything about them¡ªso I tried to recall the first time I encountered the Sapa ambassadors. They came to me clothed in rich textiles and proudly displaying their gold; the same metal in which they baked Aclla in to better present her as a treasured gift.
¡°They are obsessed with wealth,¡± I realized. ¡°They are a greedy lot.¡±
¡°The Sapa may not use currency, but they think like merchants nonetheless,¡± Sugey confirmed. ¡°They believe that we fight for gold and resources the same way they do, and that we will back down from a fight where the cost outweighs the prize.¡±
¡°While we fight for faith,¡± I guessed. Inkarri might have been alive since the First Emperor¡¯s days, but the other Mallquis arose later from the Sapa people. They didn¡¯t understand the threat ahead of them, or perhaps saw the Nightlords as rival undead rather than the existential menace which they represented.
¡°No, Iztac. We fight for the future, and because our victory is inevitable.¡± Her crimson gaze met mine. ¡°Tell me, Iztac, when should one start raising the perfect warrior?¡±
My fists clenched, for I knew the answer deep within my bones. ¡°You must begin before he is even born.¡±
Sugey nodded sharply. ¡°Did you know that the turkey that mortals eat used to be so much smaller a few centuries ago? Farmers killed the sick and the frail, bred the big with the large, all until they purified these birds of their ingrained weakness. We Nightlords do the same with men. Our priests keep detailed genealogical records of our citizens, yourself included.¡±
I hid my disgust behind a mask of stone. I was no breeding animal meant to father children raised for slaughter, and one day, this bat would learn it to her bitter detriment.
¡°We can trace your lineage all the way back to the very first tribe we ruled over.¡± Sugey¡¯s teeth glimmered in the last candle¡¯s glow. ¡°Your bloodline is relatively unremarkable by our standards. A few emperors raped your female ancestors on their First Nights here and there, and your father was born because we sacrificed your great-uncle before he could marry your grandmother in your grandfather¡¯s place, but otherwise there is little unusual about your lineage.¡±
She uttered those words with such cold calm and rationality that they became all the more terrifying. Yoloxochitl was mad, the Jaguar Woman oppressive, and Iztacoatl cruel, but Sugey sounded indifferent. Centuries of rape, murder, and other horrors were treated with no more levity than preparations for a battle drill.
¡°Yet, your father¡¯s union with your mother yielded not one, but two Nahualli,¡± Sugey said. ¡°A miracle unheard of. Somehow, these two bloodlines combined to produce children with immense potential in a way that completely blindsided our breeding program. Moreover, you have grown stronger at a rate beyond what any other man can dream of and eclipses all other past emperors. They were all mere humans, some more exceptional than others, but you? You are the pinnacle of your kind. A rare and unexpected wonder.¡±
My blood boiled in quiet anger. She spoke of me with pride, but the kind that an animal breeder would reserve for a prized product rather than a man. I was her pet project.
¡°I believe, Iztac, that you are the promised tribe¡¯s first specimen,¡± Sugey said after finishing her cup. ¡°I have only grown more convinced upon hearing of your performance on the field. I cannot tell how much of your progress is the result of your lineage or our ritual, but it is imperative that you pass on your bloodline before the year is done.¡±
My confusion proved stronger than my disgust. ¡°The ¡®promised tribe?¡¯¡±
Sugey slouched in her chair, a flash of dreamlike whimsy passing over her bloody eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve had a vision since the moment we discovered the secrets of bloodline refinement: that one day there shall be only one race of men worthy of our rule, pure and imperishable like marble, with the might of beasts and a will stronger than stone; the promised tribe that will dominate over all others under our eternal rule.¡±
Her words caused me concern. I had always seen Sugey as the brute of the Nightlords, who cared only for violence and delegated politics to her sisters, but here I sensed hints of an intellect driven by a cruel vision of her own. She was more dangerous than I thought.
¡°I have found war to be the most effective crucible for tribes,¡± Sugey said. ¡°War tests people. It purges the weak, yet allows the strong to rise. Only the best and the most cunning are allowed to pass on their excellence by virtue of surviving the ordeals set before them.¡±
She leaned closer to me, her gaze gleaming with an unsettling and brutal glow that reminded me of Xibalba¡¯s House of Jaguars.
¡°Do you understand now, Iztac, why I said our victory over the Sapa is inevitable?¡± she asked. ¡°We are destined to win not because of our greater discipline, our numbers, or our power, but by our very nature. Our people¡¯s racial superiority, cultivated through centuries, is ingrained within our very blood.¡±
This was a gleam of madness; a very different kind of insanity than the one that once held sway over Yoloxochitl¡¯s soul, for it was cloaked in deceitful reason and a diseased logic rather than fits of whimsy.
I could feel in my bones the greater danger that Sugey¡¯s deranged ideal presented to the world in that, unlike Yoloxochitl¡¯s madness, it could be shared. It could spread to lesser minds like a malady and fester into the rot of nations.
¡°We aren¡¯t coming to conquer the Sapa, Iztac, but to purify them.¡± The calm, quiet conviction in Sugey¡¯s voice cut sharper than any sword. ¡°They do not understand that even should thousands or millions of our people die, those that remain will be infinitely more precious and valuable than the mediocre masses that preceded them. We will enrich the blood of following generations and spare them the burden of defects; and if we lose by some miracle, then we didn¡¯t deserve to survive in the first place and better souls shall inherit this world. No more, no less.¡±
She¡¯s far more dangerous than I thought. A zealot with a cause always fought harder than a hypocritical opportunist. But fine, Sugey. I will play by your rules.
By the end of the year, we would see which of us deserved to live.
¡°I know that you have come to understand your own superiority over lesser men, Iztac,¡± Sugey said. ¡°Surely the thought that a lesser creature like Tlaxcala would be allowed to pass on his bloodline over yours should disgust you to your core.¡±
¡°The goddess speaks with sense, but nonetheless, victories are not only won through strength,¡± I replied in an attempt to change the subject. ¡°I recall that you spared Chilam when you could have stormed it by force.¡±
¡°I did. Young Chikal¡¯s ruthless ambition and valor swayed me, the same way they charmed you.¡± Sugey smirked in amusement. ¡°Do not misunderstand my words, Iztac. I will not waste our men on doomed and pointless ventures. Wits are as valuable as brawn.¡±
So she had a measure of reason and pragmatism buried deep beneath her brutality. I might have a chance to obtain some benefits.
¡°Ayar Manco accepted a meeting tomorrow to discuss today¡¯s portents, tomorrow¡¯s battles, and prisoner exchanges,¡± I explained. ¡°I understand that the goddess demanded more sacrifices, but sparing a few heads would give me more leverage.¡±
¡°That meeting will be a trap at best and an ambush at worst.¡±
¡°Let them try to slay me. My enemies will leave fewer than when they came.¡± My bravado appeared to amuse Sugey. ¡°This is nonetheless a rare opportunity to assess our opponents and find flaws to exploit.¡±
¡°True.¡± Sugey shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Indulge them if you wish. I have already agreed to spare and release some of our captives.¡±
That news should have come as a relief, yet¡ yet my blood froze in my veins nonetheless. ¡°You did?¡±
¡°Do you wish to see them for yourself?¡±
I should have said no. I had grown used enough to the Nightlords¡¯ cruelty to know that only horrors awaited me; but I needed full understanding of my situation if I were to successfully negotiate anything with Manco. Thus I reluctantly nodded and followed the Nightlord outside the war tent.
She led me towards the area where we kept the captive, all under the escort of masked priests.
¡°Father¡¯s feeble attempts to assert himself again does not concern me much,¡± Sugey said, though I couldn¡¯t tell whether she meant it or simply put up a strong front. ¡°We¡¯ve put him in his place twice, we can do it again. Nonetheless, our men¡¯s spirits waver after the rain and quake. They require comfort to press on.¡±
We reached pens filled with weeping women and restrained prisoners.
The former had been forced to sit on a muddy floor with their hands restrained. I¡¯d never seen their terrified faces before, though I recognized the subtle Sapa traits I¡¯d seen in Aclla and their style of clothing. I could see dozens of them, surrounded by ten times as many soldiers.
Our male prisoners were meanwhile bound to wooden spikes, gagged, naked, disarmed, and silenced. A few vainly struggled against their bindings with the energy of the desperate while others looked on with the dread of the inevitable.
¡°These women are the wives of some of our captives, who came to our camp weeping and begging that we spare their worthless husbands from the altar,¡± Sugey said with a cold, quiet voice. ¡°I¡¯ve decided to indulge their request, for a price: a life for a life.¡±
I knew what she meant the moment I saw the gathered groups of soldiers draw straws. I felt so sick I wanted to vomit.
¡°I¡¯ve found that men crave a tribal form of primal kinship, the same way a pack of wolves strengthens its members¡¯ loyalty by sharing a kill,¡± Sugey said with a paternal commander¡¯s fondness. She delighted in her cruelty the same way her sisters did. ¡°We will thus allow our men to take turns indulging themselves in the spirit of brotherhood, so they may relieve themselves from the stress of today¡¯s cruelties. These unions will certainly result in children of pure blood who will one day become soldiers serving in our armies.¡±
A life for a life.
¡°Their husbands, of course, will be punished for their cowardice by watching the conception,¡± Sugey declared. ¡°The weakest of them will no doubt be shaken and broken, but a few will find their inner fire and come back another day to present a challenge. It will keep our warriors on edge.¡±
I¡ I couldn¡¯t stand and watch. ¡°The Sapa are weaklings,¡± I said, trying to word my ways in a way that would resonate with Sugey. ¡°This will provide us with nothing but dead weight.¡±
¡°Would you rather that I kill these happy couples?¡± Sugey replied, twisting my words to offer me an equally cruel alternative. ¡°Or perhaps that our soldiers slit the women¡¯s throat once they¡¯re done with them? It makes no difference to me.¡±
She put her hands on my shoulders before I could answer, her grip colder than ice and stronger than a jaguar¡¯s jaws.
¡°Try to hide it however you may, Iztac, but I can still see that weakness inside your heart; that shred of humanity that we ought to cut out of you like a tumor.¡± Sugey¡¯s tone had grown softer, like a trainer disappointed in a promising student. ¡°Hence you will watch it all in silence, because if you say another word, then I will have you participate. An emperor ought to be an example after all.¡±
She leaned forward to whisper in my ear.
¡°And when you return to your concubines, you will remember this: either you pass on your bloodline, or their own will end before this Flower War is done. A woman who cannot bear soldiers is only fit to feed the altar.¡± Her nails sank into my shoulders like claws. ¡°One day, you will thank me.¡±
The screams and tears flooded well into the night.
Chapter Ninety-One: Night Advice
Not even the warmest waters could wipe away the invisible stain clinging to my skin.
I¡¯d been in the hot bath for an hour, and I still felt soiled. I continued to hear the screams where only splashing waves broke the silence, and I stared into the emptiness ahead without a thought crossing my mind.
Necahual¡¯s arms coiled around my neck from behind. I sensed her bosom rubbing against my back. It should have been a comforting gesture, but I instead struggled with the urge to stare at her veins pulsating with my blood. The thirst pushed me to empty them, and resisting its vile call was exhausting.
¡°What did she do to you this time?¡± Necahual asked me. My favorite concubine knew me well. I only called her alone to my side when I required a confidant¡¯s comfort.
I took a deep breath and inhaled the burning stream. ¡°She made me watch.¡±
Necahual pondered my words. She likely had a good idea of what I¡¯d seen from the way I¡¯d avoided responding to her amorous attention so far, but she still required confirmation. ¡°Watch what?¡±
¡°What her sister planned to do to you.¡±
Necahual¡¯s arms tensed up around my neck. I remembered how she cried in horror and pleaded with me to save her when Yoloxochitl threatened to send her to the frontlines as a ¡®comfort woman¡¯ for soldiers. She would have ended up like one of these poor Sapa captives had I not spoken up on her behalf.
I¡¯d managed to save Necahual back then, if I could call ¡®saving¡¯ turning her into my personal slave, but I couldn¡¯t repeat that miracle tonight; and it shamed me. The deep sting of failure smothered my wrath with bitter powerlessness.
¡°Look at me,¡± Necahual said sharply, and she insisted a bit more sternly when I failed to respond. ¡°Look at me, Iztac.¡±
I turned in the bath. My concubine took my shoulders into her hands and pulled me to the edge of the bath, her face facing mine. She seemed wiser and more graceful each time I looked at her.
¡°I assume that Sugey told you that she would kill any woman you failed to sire a child upon, or worse,¡± Necahual guessed, with my silence confirming her suspicions. ¡°So what?¡±
My lips twisted into a scowl. ¡°So what?¡±
¡°Why whip yourself for something you were planning to do anyway?¡± Necahual scoffed. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the way you looked at Lahun, Tenoch, and all the others. You lay with us because you can, not because you¡¯re forced to.¡±
¡°But is the reverse true?¡± I put a hand on her throat and applied the slightest bit of pressure. She did not resist me. ¡°No god nor man will come to rescue a woman should I decide to take her for myself. Can you call that consent? Don¡¯t you see where this can lead?¡±
¡°You won¡¯t force yourself on a woman,¡± Necahual replied with utter confidence. ¡°You will always seek to earn her affection first.¡±
¡°And why is that?¡±
¡°Because power is only half the reason why you lay with a woman.¡± Necahual snorted in amusement. ¡°The other half is because the cursed child within you craves the feeling of being loved. Of being desired.¡±
Her words never failed to hit me harder than any slap, because they always struck a chord deep within my soul. I clenched my teeth and tried to find a counterargument, but I couldn¡¯t focus while struggling not to take a look at Necahual¡¯s neck.
Was this how Eztli suffered each day? Resisting the urge to see her loved ones as meals rather than people? If so, then she had lived in agony since Yoloxochitl turned her into a vampire. I admired her willpower as much as I pitied her.
Necahual looked at me. She had seen her daughter¡¯s looks of hunger often enough to recognize mine. A wiser woman would have pulled back for her own sake¡ yet she instead set her wet hair behind her back and bared her throat to me.
She was offering herself to me.
My tongue clicked in my mouth. ¡°I can¡¯t¡ I¡¯m not sure I can stop myself if I do it.¡±
She scoffed at my words. ¡°I¡¯ve fed my daughter.¡±
¡°Not like this."
¡°Would you rather bite my breast?¡± Necahual shrugged her shoulders. ¡°I have faith you will control yourself, because you are strong. So stop doubting yourself and take what is yours.¡±
Her stern sincerity always managed to touch me. Her hands grabbed my cheeks and gently guided my lips to her bare neck. A shiver of pleasure ran down my spine the moment I touched her skin, and a fierce hunger seized me. My teeth sank into her flesh deep enough to draw that sweet blood of her. Necahual didn¡¯t show pain, nor even whimper; in fact, the bite seemed to arouse her. Her left hand moved to the back of my head to draw me deeper while the other pressed against my back.
Her blood was thicker than what Sugey served me and far sweeter than the Kharisiris¡¯. It tasted of love and lust rather than fear and pain, and carried the gentle warmth of sunlight. Where other drinks only heightened my hunger, this one brought me a measure of satiety.
I¡¯d been afraid of losing control and harming her, but I drank my fill far quicker than I expected. I pulled back and continued to kiss her with my lips rather than my teeth, my arms coiling around her ass to pull her up. Necahual answered my lust with moans. The taste of her warm flesh only aroused me further.
Nonetheless, I ended up frowning upon sensing resistance on Necahual¡¯s waist. I glanced below to notice a thin scar that wasn¡¯t there before, my jaw tightening into a scowl.
¡°Anaye?¡± I guessed in a flash of anger.
¡°This is nothing.¡± Necahual waved my worries away. ¡°She won¡¯t bother Atziri.¡±
¡°Did she try¨C¡±
¡°She tried to frighten me, yes.¡± Necahual¡¯s smirk carried a cruel edge. ¡°I sharply disciplined her in response. She will behave.¡±
The confident way my favorite witch said those words excited me, but the fact that this skinwalker dared to raise a hand at her at all filled me with anger. My mind was made up.
¡°Tomorrow,¡± I whispered in my favorite¡¯s ear.
Her eyes widened slightly. ¡°Tomorrow?¡±
¡°Tomorrow.¡± I wanted Sugey to suffer and weep, no matter the cost. I wanted her mad dream to die with a whimper, I wanted Anaye gone, and more than that, I wanted Eztli back. ¡°Come what may.¡±
Necahual answered my words with a thin smile and then a kiss. I still had her blood on my lips, which we shared together.
Necahual adjusted her position to let my manhood slip within her, and I soon began pushing her against the bath¡¯s edge. Waves of pleasure coursed through my body as I pounded and slammed and kissed and seized and bit. She offered herself to me wholly, without doubt or reservation; and within her arms, I found the power and comfort I craved.
¡°I love you,¡± I ended up blurting out in the throes of passion.
¡°I know,¡± Necahual replied with utter confidence.
She knew she owned me.
Our heart-fires melded into seidr¡¯s burning embrace, our union shining brighter than ever. I shared with her my plan for Chindi, showed her spells in the hope that she could emulate them, and delved deeper into distant visions. I saw flashes of Mother speaking with Ayar Manco while his pet condor perched on his shoulder like a tutor, followed by a glimpse of Eztli cradling herself in a cold bed in my palace¡¯s cold bedroom. Her eyes closed in silent sorrow and loneliness from which I hoped to free her from soon.
I uncoiled from Necahual once we returned to reality, the waves of the bath slowly splashing on my back. We both exhaled and rested afterwards in silent satisfaction.
¡°Thank you,¡± I told her as I sat back into the bath, her head resting on my shoulder. ¡°I needed this.¡±
¡°I could see that.¡± Necahual gently caressed my cheek. ¡°What next? I am in the mood for music after all this shaking today.¡±
I sighed. ¡°I promised Zyanya I would spend time with her.¡±
¡°Then invite her to join us for a performance,¡± Necahual replied sharply. ¡°Remind her that she is your second choice, and not yet worthy of asking requests of you. Nothing motivates people quicker than a need to prove themselves.¡±
My beloved witch was crueler than I could ever hope to be.
¡ª----
I indulged Necahual and spent the evening listening to musicians in her and Zyanya¡¯s company.
I caught a glimpse of the latter¡¯s quiet frustration when she realized I summoned her after already spending some time with my favorite. I showed her that she had proved useful enough to warrant my company, but not my full attention.
Nonetheless, Sugey had been correct about one thing: the idea of Tlaxcala touching her was growing more and more unbearable. Hence I seized Zyanya with renewed ardor, and I had the intuition our latest coupling would be the decisive one.
My thirst was gone too, at least for the time. I couldn¡¯t tell whether it was because Necahual freely gave her own blood to me instead of it being taken by force or because it carried the strength of sunlight, but I welcomed this brief respite.
Did my self-esteem affect my thirst as well? Did the curse become stronger the more I perceived it as such? Did it lessen when Necahual turned her blood into a gift rather than a tribute? The idea wouldn¡¯t leave my head.
I hoped I had more control over myself than the eyes of others.
I closed my eyes in the darkest night with Necahual snoring on one side and Zyanya on the other, yet my mind failed to find slumber. Neither the war nor physical exercise had managed to lull me to sleep. My unnatural vitality hindered me once again.
¡°Sleep,¡± I uttered the Word under the cover of a Veil in an attempt to force myself to slumber. I failed. My power could cow the sky into obedience, but it couldn¡¯t affect me. Attempting to copy Mother¡¯s sleeping spell by channeling a lullaby through my Ihiyotl breath yielded no results either. I exhaled a dark miasma that was more potent than the Sapa priests¡¯ feeble sorcery and inhaled it back with no issue.
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My power had grown beyond myself.
No matter. There were other ways to put this night to use.
I closed my eyes and focused on the Legion¡¯s bond that connected me to my predecessors and their skulls spread across my empire. My mind brushed against their gestalt spirit and immediately sensed Father¡¯s presence within the conglomerate of souls. He watched over me like a benevolent spirit, and while he was a single soul among hundreds, he had shown enough pull to oppose the First Emperor¡¯s influence.
One man¡¯s voice could cut through a god¡¯s whispers through love alone, and that softened my heart of stone.
Father¡¯s spirit reached out to me in response to my probing. I couldn¡¯t yet directly communicate with thoughts alone for fear of being overwhelmed by a flood of foreign memories, but I sensed his warmth touching my soul like gentle waves. I sensed no condemnation nor reproach, even though I had only shown him war, blood, and death lately. Father answered my doubts with gentle comfort and unconditional support.
He knew I was trying, and he still had faith that I would pull through.
It gave me hope.
I projected my mind into the hidden skull I¡¯d left in Eztli¡¯s room and oversaw the now deserted herbal laboratory she shared with Necahual. I waited some time for my consort to visit it, which she did. I uneasily watched her feed flowers with her blood the same way Yoloxochitl used to. Eztli didn¡¯t even seem to realize the bitter irony of her action; going through her predecessor¡¯s had become routine.
We were running out of time.
I had managed to channel Bonecraft through my skulls back in Tlalocan and succeeded in doing so in the waking world. More than that, my magic called out to me, demanding that I push my limits ever further. A part of my soul wished to answer Sugey¡¯s abuse with a display of authority over reality itself, the same way it compelled me to summon the rain in Zachilaa.
I couldn¡¯t afford such a display within my palace¡¯s heart, but denying my sorcery would only lead to it boiling up like Smoke Mountain¡¯s lava and blowing up in my face. I had to do something.
I am legion, I thought as I channeled Bonecraft through the Legion skull. I¡¯d confirmed I could reshape my bones now after obtaining Tlaloc¡¯s embers. I¡¯d grown more acutely aware of my sorcery now that my spirit projected itself into such a small vessel. This is my bone. This is me.
If I could channel Bonecraft through my skulls from a distance, could it also work with more advanced spells?
I channeled magic through the Legion skull, and my magic rewarded my inquisitiveness with a rush of power. I whipped up lies into being, casting a Veil that darkened the shadows surrounding me. I sensed eyes observing Eztli from within the walls, none of them aware that my spirit lurked nearby. This Veil spell was the subtlest and weakest illusion I¡¯d ever cast, yet the mere fact that I could cast it at all was an achievement in itself.
I could channel some of my spells through the Legion¡¯s skulls, at least when I possessed one directly.
I already had the feeling that I could do that when I managed to use Bonecraft on my bones from afar, but to feel the power flowing through my soul and bones filled me with giddiness. I now had the ability to sabotage the Nightlords from afar through sorcery, to spread my consciousness and influence across the land one skull at a time.
Would this increase in potency expand to the Ride spell too? Could I cast spells through the hands and mouths of others? It felt good to have prospects again after what Sugey put me and so many innocents through.
I nevertheless had to focus on my task. My magic shifted the fabric of the Veil I¡¯d whipped into existence until it touched Eztli, creating words spoken without lungs and only audible to those enveloped within my spell¡¯s range.
¡°Tomorrow night,¡± I whispered through the Veil to her ears alone. ¡°Nightfall.¡±
Eztli¡¯s spine stiffened and she peeked over her shoulder. Her crimson gaze swiftly spotted the tiny skull tucked in a corner of her shelf. She stared at it for a moment, and I caught a brief nod before she pretended to focus back on her gardening. I could have sworn I saw her smile at the edge of her lips; a most pleasant sight whose joy I shared.
The message was passed on and the die cast. So many stars would align tomorrow, one way or another.
With the Underworld¡¯s doors closed to me tonight, I used Spiritual Manifestation to free my Tonalli from my earthly body. My spirit arose from my heart under the cover of an invisibility Veil, flying unseen through my roving palace¡¯s walls. My intent was to fly away from my camp and oversee the battlefield in preparation for tomorrow¡¯s meeting with Ayar Manco.
I only made it to the window before I had to pull back.
I sensed invisible barriers surrounding my roving palace; moats of vile magic caked with blood and murder. I heard the quiet wail of souls trapped on the threshold between this world and the next. A spirit-shield crafted with exquisite torment protected my prison, and I sensed further layers beyond.
I thought Sugey¡¯s monstrous predations only meant to motivate her men to further bloodshed, but I¡¯d forgotten that the Bird of War remained a cold-hearted and practical general; such warlords did not waste any resources. There was power to be found in sacrifice, whether consensual or not, and the malice of the dead endured beyond their final breaths.
The very Sapa warriors who fought to protect their land in life were now bound to protect their enemies in death.
No wonder Sugey felt so confident that the Sapa couldn¡¯t do anything to her. She had shielded our camp behind so many layers of magical barriers that I doubted even Mother could slip through them undetected. I wondered if Inkarri used me as his earthquake magic¡¯s epicenter because these protections prevented him from striking at my army directly.
These barriers were unfortunately akin to a spider¡¯s web; touching a strand would alert the crafter that something was wrong. Unlike the palace¡¯s wards, which allowed an emperor through, these spells wouldn¡¯t let me through easily. My magic had grown too strong and my essence too heavy with divinity for subtlety. My mood worsened as I watched the night sky from a window.
For the first time in a very long while, I¡¯d been denied the right to fly.
I couldn¡¯t even visit the Underworld to find respite there. The Third Layer¡¯s horrors matched and even trumped the Nightlords¡¯ relentless brutality in their depravity, but I could at least wield my sorcery to its fullest extent there. I could be myself, truly and wholly, without compromise; and that small pleasure was now denied to me.
The best I could do for now was to observe the world through skulls like my predecessors; something which they¡¯d likely grown bored with a long time ago. Even if I could cast spells through them, I couldn¡¯t afford the risk of letting the Nightlords notice that I could spread my influence through them yet. I required more practice first.
All this power at my fingertip, and I still couldn¡¯t exercise it as I wished to.
I spent a good hour or so trying to find out a flaw in Sugey¡¯s magical protections, and failed utterly. My soul returned to my sleeping body in a worse mood than I left it. I now understood how caged birds felt when they were denied the right to fly away.
I needed a breath of fresh air, so I pretended to wake up and exited the imperial bed. Necahual and Zyanya at least slept soundly. I envied them for that small pleasure as I left for my roving palace¡¯s balcony. I walked there under the moon¡¯s pale glow and faced the wind brushing on my skin. The night was eerily silent, the screams and weeping silenced with utter brutality.
The silence provided me no comfort.
I was trying to clear my thoughts when I sensed movement near me. I peeked over my shoulder to see a figure whose golden skin glimmered in the faint moonlight.
¡°Your Majesty,¡± Aclla greeted me with a bow. She came to me dressed in a skirt reaching out to her ankles and bound by a braided waistband. ¡°My apologies for startling you. I believed you to be asleep.¡±
¡°You did not startle me, Aclla,¡± I replied calmly. I immediately had a strange feeling about her, though I couldn¡¯t put a finger on it. Something about her posture seemed tenser than usual. Did she learn what her fellow Sapa women went through? ¡°Did you come to clear your mind too?¡±
¡°In a way.¡± Aclla calmly walked up to the balcony and joined me along the arm rail. She stared at the night sky. ¡°I came to pray.¡±
To report to your hidden masters, you mean? ¡°Not to our gods, I¡¯d assume.¡±
Aclla smiled sweetly, though I could tell she forced herself to. ¡°I have begun to offer prayers to Yohuachanca¡¯s goddesses, but Mama Killa always favored me; thus I must honor her first.¡±
¡°Mama Killa?¡± The name didn¡¯t ring a bell, though I knew the word ¡®Mama¡¯ referred to mothers in the Sapa language. ¡°Is this a moon goddess of some kind?¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± Aclla confirmed, her golden hands joining together. ¡°Mama Killa is the mother of mankind, wife to the sun, and protector of women. She watches over us all from her realm in the sky.¡±
Your teachers mislead you, Aclla. There is no goddess on the moon, and no one upstairs gazes upon us with kindness. I¡¯d heard from Queen Mictecacihuatl that the god Tecciztecatl had turned into the moon after failing to become a sun, and if he had any interest in protecting women, he would have intervened to save her countrymen from being raped and murdered.
¡°You should pray to a god who will answer your prayers,¡± I said with some bitterness.
¡°And which god would that be, Your Majesty?¡± Aclla gave me a pointed look. ¡°Yours only accept blood, and I have little to give.¡±
Her comment sounded innocent enough, but I could sense a slight undercurrent of disdain beneath each and every word. It was a diplomat¡¯s art to make dripping venom sound sweeter than honey.
I almost opened my mouth to lie and praise the Nightlords, but I couldn¡¯t find it in myself the strength to flatter Sugey after what she did. Every fiber of my being refused to play along this time.
Another idea came to mind instead; half a taunt and half a statement.
¡°Cizin,¡± I replied while suppressing a smile. ¡°You should pray to Cizin.¡±
¡°Cizin?¡± Aclla frowned at me. ¡°I do not know this god.¡±
¡°He is the Fear of the Gods, he who arises from the Underworld to bring the heavens¡¯ wrath on those who commit evil.¡± A fate that would hopefully befall the Nightlords soon enough. ¡°I pray to him now and then.¡±
¡°A god of justice and revenge.¡± Aclla chuckled lightly. ¡°A deity worth following then.¡±
I knew that she only spoke those words to indulge me, but they struck a chord in me all the same. My eyes widened slightly as an idea crossed my mind, bold and fantastical.
It was right in front of me all along, I thought, a chill traveling down my spine the more I considered this new possibility. I focused on the wrong name!
I had tried my best to shed my image as a warmongering emperor and show mercy to my enemies in order to tame the evil within me, but those efforts were doomed from the start. Iztac Ce Ehecatl would always inspire fear and loathing so long as the Nightlords forced me to partake in their atrocities. That name would never shed those chains.
But Cizin?
Cizin could become a god worth worshiping. This cursed name I¡¯d been crowned with could go on to inspire hope that the likes of the Nightlords would eventually face justice for their crime, that the gods often answered prayers for relief, and that someone upstairs cared. I could turn this mark of shame into one of pride and take my destiny into my own hands.
More than that, I could bring people the same comfort Father gave me in my darkest times: hope.
How should I proceed? My burgeoning divinity relied on the perception of others, and the name of Iztac Ce Ehecatl carried great weight across the land. For Cizin to overshadow it would require great and epic feats. I need grandiose spectacles the likes of which will awe thousands.
I needed miracles.
A Word of mine had summoned the rain, and I could cast spells in the waking world without alerting the Nightlords to my true nature through my Legion of skulls. So many options suddenly opened to me.
¡°If I may ask,¡± Aclla said, her voice drawing me out of my thoughts. ¡°Whose death is Your Majesty praying for?¡±
I realized I hadn¡¯t spoken in a while and that Aclla had been observing me since. That strange intuition that something wasn¡¯t quite right returned again. I forced myself to focus on her again and to pay close attention.
¡°Why the question?¡± I asked back.
¡°One does not pray to a god of justice and revenge for a fertile harvest or peace,¡± Aclla pointed out. ¡°I am merely curious who earned a Godspeaker¡¯s ire.¡±
A naked lie. This was no mere curiosity. Aclla¡ªor her master, whoever they truly were¡ªwished to learn which string to pull. I still hadn¡¯t entirely figured out which side she served.
Mother said that Manco was chosen ahead of his brother because the Mallquis deemed him more malleable. Aclla¡¯s behavior made a lot more sense if Cachi resented his empire¡¯s puppetmasters as much as I resented mine, or at least sought to both ruin his brother and secure his own ascendency. However, this remained mere speculation until I could set up a meeting with Cachi and meet the man directly. Aclla could put us in contact, but I suspected her master wouldn¡¯t show up unless he was convinced that we shared the same goals. Neither party trusted the other to provide accurate information, so we could only work on assumptions.
Hinting that I wished to destroy the Nightlords might help secure an alliance with their enemies¡ but I had no guarantee that Cachi was among their numbers. He could be hoping to betray his brother and the Mallquis to secure his own fief for all I knew, the same way Chikal saved her city by betraying its sister Balam. I was walking on eggshells.
I decided to err on the side of caution.
¡°Enemies which are beyond my reach for now,¡± I replied evasively. ¡°Perhaps I will tell you more once we grow closer.¡±
Aclla nodded slowly in quiet acceptance, and I immediately knew I had failed a test of some kind. She showed no outward change in expression, but her body language subtly shifted like that of a warrior preparing themselves for battle.
¡°I cannot say that I can bring a god¡¯s wrath upon Your Majesty¡¯s enemies¡¡± Aclla¡¯s hand rested against mine on the arm rail. ¡°But I would like to grow closer to you, if you will allow me.¡±
Her skin was warm, but I recognized the tension in her fingers. I¡¯d felt it in my bones so many times whenever I plotted a bold plan whose failure would carry heavy consequences. Aclla had been very subtle so far, sticking to observation for days on end. This unsubtle attempt at seduction was too quick, too bold, and too clumsy to be natural.
She had received an order of some kind, one she resented or feared going through with. I had a pretty good idea what kind.
Aclla was going to try and take my life.
Blood & Fur Volume 3 is Available on Amazon!
Hello everyone!
As announced a while back, the third volume of Blood & Fur (covering the second stretch of the Xibalba arc) has now launched on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! As always, I would appreciate any reviews or shouts!
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Link: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DPMYJQY1
And that''s all! I''d hoped to write a bonus chapter to celebrate the occasion like previous launches, but I''ve been too busy with Gunsoul''s audiobook, Board & Conquest and game news for that this time. I''ll make up for it with the fourth volume, I swear ;)
In any case, thank you for supporting this new step in Iztac''s journey to darkness and godhood, and I''ll see you Saturday for the next chap!
Best regards,
Voidy.
Chapter Ninety-Two: The Cost of a Life
Aclla led me back into the main room, and likely to my death.
I could tell from the barely disguised tension in her hands. Another man would have mistaken her hesitance for that of a virgin about to lose her purity to a foreign conqueror, but the glimpse of fear I caught in her eyes told me otherwise. She was about to make a move on my life; one she didn¡¯t expect to survive.
What could she possibly have in mind? A hidden dagger disguised beneath her clothes? Poison? I could scarcely believe it. Aclla had witnessed me fight the amazons, heal my wounds in an instant, and create miracles. She and her hidden master had to know standard methods of assassination wouldn¡¯t work.
I suspected it would involve a spell of some kind. Aclla herself was already a conduit of some kind for whoever saw through her eyes. Could she serve as a bridge for my hidden enemy to strike at me directly?
¡°Would Your Majesty mind if I pleased him here?¡± Aclla asked me. My consorts and other handmaidens were long asleep in their respective rooms, including my own bedchambers. ¡°I would not wish to interrupt his lovers¡¯ slumbers.¡±
I considered her proposal, and then nodded slightly. ¡°I do not mind, Aclla.¡±
She wanted me alone, or as alone as an emperor could be. Aclla smiled thinly and then knelt in front of me. ¡°Allow me to pleasure you then, Your Majesty.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t you a virgin?¡± I asked with a frown. Did she intend to lower my guard with sex, or to strike at me in the throes of passion?
¡°My maidenhood is yours alone to claim, but I received training.¡± Her hands moved to undo my sash and free my manhood. ¡°I hope it shall prove satisfactory.¡±
¡ª NSFW scene starts ¡ª
I didn¡¯t answer or move. I simply observed Aclla without a word as her golden fingers touched my skin with the softness of cotton and then began working on my shaft with delicateness. She wrapped her hand around my flesh, then gently slid it up and down with expert care. I allowed myself to relax a little, or at least pretended to.
I quickly wove a subtle Veil similar to the one I cast during the war meeting. To Aclla, it would seem that I had closed my eyes; while, in truth, they remained fully open. I watched her with close attention as she massaged me.
My manhood began to throb soon after. Aclla¡¯s free hand made no move to grab a hidden blade or another weapon as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She knelt at my feet and then kissed my manhood until her lips swallowed it whole. A thrill traveled through my body when I sensed her tongue caressing my most intimate parts. My veins pulsed and my breath shortened.
Aclla hadn¡¯t lied; she had been well-trained.
However, although she proved most professional, I noticed that Aclla¡¯s gaze had grown distant and unblinking. I recognized that look anywhere; that of a person retreating inside their own mind so as not to deal with unpleasantness.
She took no pleasure in this.
And who could blame her? She was pleasuring her people¡¯s tormentor whose soldiers raped her fellow Sapa women a few hours earlier. This was likely the height of shame and humiliation.
I so wished to tell her that we shared the same enemy, that she could stop debasing herself, but I worried too much about who put her up to this to do so. I groaned when her tongue licked my veins and fought to retain my focus.
Like a viper, she was bound to bite soon.
I waited in vain, however. She slowly wore me down one suction at a time, and my hand soon moved on top of her head to help with the motion. She thrummed a moan between my legs and quickened her pace until I felt pressure building up within me. The dam broke all of a sudden and I erupted inside her mouth. She swallowed with such a quiet sound it only further heightened my pleasure.
My breath slowed down as my orgasm ebbed like the sea. Aclla removed her lips once I finished, licking my seed off them with a look as impish as it was fake. I dispelled my Veil and pretended to meet her gaze.
¡ª NSFW scene ends ¡ª
Aclla didn¡¯t say a word. She simply rose to her feet and then removed her clothes to expose herself. Her golden skin glittered in the moonlight, heightening her lascivious curves. She sat on the table and exposed her legs like an unwrapped gift. I sensed no hostility from her, and she carried no weapon. She was offering herself to me, wholly and simply.
Had I been mistaken? Had Aclla simply meant to win my good graces? Had paranoia blinded me?
All these questions quickly crossed my mind, but I trusted my gut. I sensed danger even as she massaged her intimate parts. My instincts told me that I was an inch away from a trap I could not perceive.
What way could she have to strike at me? What spell would require such an elaborate distraction and somehow slip past the Nightlords¡¯ notice?
Only then did it hit me.
I had been using it for months, after all.
Seidr.
Mother had been aware of the Embrace, or Seidr. I¡¯d never asked where she learned of that information, but if she knew it then I could assume creatures as ancient as the Mallquis probably heard of it too. Aclla had been trained in the arts of love to serve as a concubine since birth; what else did they teach her during that time?
I see how it is. I assessed her with a new gaze. She was a poisoned gift from the start.
Either Aclla would try to drain away my lifeforce to death the same way Sigrun could siphon off the strength of others, or she would serve as a living conduit for whoever saw through her to strike at my soul. Quite the clever move, I had to say.
Which begged the question: what should I do about it?
The safest route would be to deny Aclla sex or at least an exchange of fluids, which Seidr required to function. On one hand, this would avoid any risk and delay the assassination attempt; but on the other hand, I suspected I had a lot more experience with the Embrace than she did. My Teyolia burned with sunlight and I could weave the inner fires of others like a spider wove its strands.
Moreover, a bridge worked both ways. If Aclla was meant to serve as a vessel for her master to strike at me, then I could use her to finally see the face of my enemy. Whether it was indeed Ayar Cachi or someone else, this would be a unique chance to learn more; and perhaps even make contact.
Finally, using Seidr would let me show my true self to Aclla. I could share my feelings with her and show her that I wasn¡¯t her people¡¯s enemy. This was a chance I could not let pass.
My mind made up, I removed my clothes and pretended to play along. My hands seized Aclla¡¯s waist while her arms coiled around my neck. Her kiss was warm, yet without passion. She played through the motions, and when I aligned my manhood with her thighs she stared at the wall behind me rather than at myself.
A pang of shame seized me. If she hadn¡¯t lied about the virgin part, then this was her first time; something special that would soon turn into a painful ordeal.
What should I do? Pleasure her first to make it at least bearable?
Who was I kidding? There was no way she would find my bloodsoaked hands any more pleasurable than the cold grip of death. Every caress of mine would feel like another humiliation.
My best bet was to finish this quickly. The quicker this ended and I contacted her master, the sooner she could forget it like a bad dream. Perhaps then we could even start again on better terms, or I would let her go to find love elsewhere once I¡¯d destroyed the Nightlords.
Hence I slid inside her in a single stroke. She groaned and tightened around my shaft, a drizzle of blood anointing my manhood. Her legs coiled around my back and drove me into a deep embrace.
I thrust and so she did, like the ebb and flow of water. At first, I sensed nothing. No attempt at a connection, no caress of the soul, no ephemeral contact that would signal a meeting of the Teyolias; only a joining of the flesh. Doubt briefly began to mount as I stared into her eyes.
Aclla did not blink.
The trap¡¯s jaws closed on me in an instant. Aclla¡¯s Teyolia connected with mine not in the clumsy way of my first attempts nor the practiced and subtle grip of Lady Sigrun, but with the aggressiveness of an assassin going straight for the throat.
A flood of memories barreled against my mind in a flood. I saw through eyes that weren¡¯t mine and experienced thoughts that belonged to another. I stood along the shores of a sacred lake nested in ancient mountains that rose like the world¡¯s fangs. I was naked under the moonlight, the cold wind blowing on my pale brown skin.
I was small, and the men around me were so big. Feathered priests surrounded me from all sides, their hands holding gold dust shining between their fingers. My half-brothers Manco and Cachi watched me without a word, both older than I was, yet so tiny compared to the dusty shadows watching over us all. They did not look at me, for I was of lesser birth and beneath their notice. I had no value. Not yet. I felt so weak, so exposed, so frail and fragile. I could not hold back the tears.
I was a child, not yet ten; half of which I¡¯d spent in a convent after they took me away to serve the gods.
I was a tool, and treated as such.
The priests blew gold dust at me, and then I screamed.
The pain clung to me like fire. The gold burned. It burned my skin so hot that my tears turned to steam. The metal wove itself deep into my flesh, into my bones, while the ancient ones watched from high above with shriveled skin and empty eyes. I was blessed; I was cursed.
I was shining like the sun.
My skin, my beautiful skin which my mother loved to kiss in the morning, was torn away from me, replaced with glittering and imperishable metal. The pain and heat were so unbearable that when their hands pushed me into the lake, its cold waters offered me no comfort. I wade through mist and boiling waves, only to be dragged out and caked in another layer of gold. I heard chants whose words were woven into my soul, and was then pushed back again into the lake once I grew too hot to touch.
I was metal in the hands of smiths, hammered and watered.
I was a treasure. I was a gift. I was a slave.
Once the last of the gold was part of me and no inch of my original skin remained, my vision faded and blurred. The mountains of my ancestors seemed to split apart to reveal a great long road leading into the shining sunset; but the light at the end was too pale to be the sun. It was a fading mirage without warmth or pity.
A golden condor glared at me beyond the horizon.
Inkarri¡¯s murderous talon struck at my soul in a flash of lightning.
I once used the Ride spell to invade Chindi¡¯s mind, and what the Condor King did was little different. I sensed an ancient and rotten presence forcing its way into my very essence through the door which Aclla¡¯s mind opened to him. A great bird of gold rushed through the corridor of her memories to strike at me, the observer, with savage precision.
The strike was so quick and sudden that I barely managed to see it coming. My shadow arose within Aclla¡¯s mindscape in the form of a great black owl with ebony wings and feathers of darkness. My Tonalli, the very essence of my soul, clashed with that of my foe through the Teyolia bridge which Aclla unwittingly provided.
Had this mindscape been real, it would have appeared as if two great birds appeared over the mountains to slash and rip at one another. Our claws rent hills asunder and the flap of our wings called forth hurricanes.
Inkarri would have likely extinguished my soul in an instant had I not practiced Seidr for months. His spirit would have lunged at mine and spiritually mutilated my Tonalli the way I threatened to do with Chindi. He would have torn my memories, sliced through my feelings, and left me a babbling madman imprisoned within my own flesh.
But I was prepared.
¡°This is useless, Inkarri,¡± I snapped as our talons clashed in ephemeral skies. ¡°I am not your foe!¡±
¡°Then why lead an army to our doorstep?!¡± the condor king replied, his head lunging at my heart. There was no hesitation, only lethal precision. I dodged and his beak snapped on empty air. ¡°You speak nothing but lies!¡±
¡°The Nightlords planned your destruction long before I was even born!¡± I had seen their plague weapon and put an end to it. ¡°I sabotaged them and did everything in my power to give you a fighting chance!¡±
¡°Yet you have allowed your men to rape our wives and daughters, while your dreadful masters feed on my descendants as we speak!¡± Inkarri retorted with boiling fury. His words spooked me, but not enough to throw me off my game. I dodged and we soon danced in the sky, two birds of fate facing one another. ¡°We have consulted the stars time and time again! We have seen the tides of blood which you bring, high enough to sink our mountains!¡±
I pushed him back with a mighty gust that blew Aclla¡¯s lake of memories to the wind. The Condor King shouldered it with determination.
¡°There is no future for the Sapa so long as you draw breath, emperor of death and darkness,¡± Inkarri declared as he returned to the fight with renewed zeal. ¡°Whether friend or foe, it matters not! Your very existence will bring ruin to us all!¡±
¡°You should be concerned about defying your fate rather than fearing it!¡± I snapped back, dodging his talons.
¡°I am changing our fate, by taking you out! I will do whatever it takes and commit any sin to protect our people, for it is the duty of the dead to protect the living!¡± Inkarri lunged at me with all of his people¡¯s fury. ¡°Even if you are innocent, even if you speak the truth, even if I am mistaken¡ then I will bear this guilt across the centuries! It simply must be done!¡±
He will never listen, I realized. He had made up his mind from the start. He would not listen to me, and he would never relent. He¡¯s a stubborn fool through and through.
This wouldn¡¯t have been the first time Inkarri tore a soul asunder either. His blows were too sharp, too calculated for a first assault. He was ready, prepared, and experienced. More than that, he was strong.
But I was something greater than strong.
I was fear.
I unveiled the full glory of my Tonalli. My spirit grew, grew, and grew until it obscured the false moon in that mental sky. I towered over the condor like an eagle overshadowed the sparrow. The ancient ghost shriveled beneath me as the vast gulf in power between us became impossible to deny.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The Mallquis had avoided death for centuries, but I had conquered it. I had perished and returned, again and again. While he dined on the breaths of living mortals, I had bathed in the ashes of the very gods who created us.
I had only been going easy on him in an attempt to parlay. I was done giving him the illusion of a chance.
Inkarri was half-dead, but I was half a sun.
¡°You are nothing to me, Condor King!¡± I said with the crackle of Tlaloc¡¯s lightning and the flood of Chalchiuhtlicue. ¡°Nothing but prey! You have no chance to prevail!¡±
¡°I know,¡± Inkarri conceded, his eyes alight with both fear and resolve. ¡°Yet, for my land, I must try.¡±
¡°You will try and you shall fail!¡± I thundered, and demons answered the call for blood.
A rift opened up in the illusory lake below us with great jaws with filled teeth and darkness. The dark pyramid of Xibalba appeared deep at the bottom, the frightful city eager to claim another soul for its collection.
¡°Fall,¡± I said.
My Word reverberated in the mindscape with the strength of gravity itself. Inkarri plummeted into the sinister jaws of the great fear which he had tried so hard to keep at bay: the hungry kiss of death.
But a Mallquis, by its very nature, could not cross past the Gate of Skulls and beyond. Strands and strings halted the Condor King¡¯s fall. I sensed the lifeforce of hundreds, if not thousands of mortals keeping their ancestor anchored to the world of the living.
No matter. I did not have to kill Inkarri to defeat him. I lunged at him with my talons to mutilate his spirit the same way he tried to wound mine. I would pluck out the feathers of his thoughts until I learned all of his secrets.
¡°You will help me bring down the Nightlords,¡± I stated bluntly. ¡°Your sorcery will serve my purposes one way or another.¡±
¡°I cannot¡ no, you mustn¡¯t¡¡± I saw a flash of fear and regret flicker in Inkarri¡¯s eyes of light. ¡°I am sorry, Aclla¡¡±
The condor uttered a word of power, and pain surged through the mindscape.
The Teyolia connection collapsed in an instant. I was jolted back to reality, my hands and manhood recoiling from a terrible heat. Aclla collapsed with her back onto the table, her face staring at the ceiling. Her skin had grown so hot my seed and her blood both turned to steam from simple contact.
¡°Aclla?¡± I asked upon regaining control of my senses. I loomed over her when she failed to answer. ¡°Aclla?!¡±
Blood was pouring from her nose and mouth. Aclla¡¯s eyes were as hollow and unblinking as those of a corpse, staring into the distance at something I could not see. She was still breathing, but began to spasm in place.
A stroke!
¡°Aclla!¡± I shouted so loud as to wake everyone, before biting my finger to draw blood beaming with sunlight. ¡°Medics! Medics!¡±
Aclla died at sunrise.
By the time Necahual and other healers reached Aclla, I had already poured blood down her throat to replace what she lost. I gave her life, I gave her fire, but what was there pouring water into a pierced bag?
I immediately sensed the void in her heart the moment I attempted to heal her the way I closed Nenetl¡¯s wounds. An invisible force had doused the flame of her heart on its way out of her mind, triggering a curse so old it had grown intertwined with Aclla¡¯s very flesh and soul; both as an insurance against betrayal and a conduit for her master to see through her eyes.
Was that why she tried to kill me despite knowing the risks? Because Inkarri threatened to snuff out her life anyway if she didn¡¯t at least try?
She would never have the chance to tell me.
We tried everything, but the battle was over before it even began. No poultice nor potion could heal the soul. By the time Necahual returned to me from the field hospital with a grim scowl and shook her head, rage and sorrow both seized me all at once.
¡°I am sorry,¡± she apologized to me and my consorts both, who had gathered to hear the verdict. ¡°Our best was not enough.¡±
Kind Nenetl, who had taken Aclla as her handmaiden over the last few days, exploded in tears of sorrow. It didn¡¯t matter that they had only met for a few days; my sister weeped for her as if she had been a lifelong friend.
¡°This is awful¡¡± Nenetl muttered in between sobs. ¡°She was so¡ so young¡¡±
I pulled my arm around her shoulder to console her the best I could, my face a mask of stone. Someone would pay for this.
¡°My most sincere condolences, Your Majesty,¡± Tayatzin apologized as well, his words as empty as his future. ¡°I will inform Ayar Cachi of his half-sister¡¯s demise as well and offer condolences.¡±
It wasn¡¯t Cachi who sent her, I thought angrily. It was Manco and Inkarri.
They had played us all for fools.
Aclla had been a multilayered trap from the start. Either the ¡®conflict¡¯ between the brothers had been entirely manufactured so Cachi would serve as an agent provocateur, or we were never truly in contact with him to begin with.
I should have seen it coming. All the advice that Aclla provided, while useful, hadn¡¯t given us any decisive advantage. She was always meant to serve as a subtle vessel for Inkarri to observe us through her eyes and then strike through the Embrace.
I could see the spider¡¯s web and all of its strands. If Aclla was ever discovered¡ªor better, succeeded in assassinating me¡ªthen the blame would fall on Cachi. The Mallquis would then likely have offered the latter as an ¡®apology¡¯ to the Nightlords in order to defuse the situation, thus both ridding themselves of an unruly puppet and hopefully avoiding a total war. In their limited minds, this would have ensured that their hands remained clean. Those greedy fools thought they could shortchange vampires with worthless trades.
And when his assassination attempt failed, Aclla paid the price.
My Sapa concubine simply knew too much, so Inkarri ensured she would take his secrets to the grave rather than risk her falling into the Nightlords¡¯ hands, or allow me to capture his spirit and its ancient secrets. That killing spell had been woven into her skin and flesh since that awful ritual. Her life was never her own to cast away.
Aclla was born a slave and died a tool.
I simmered with cold anger. I could have almost understood this turn of events if Aclla had become an assassin out of duty and patriotism; if she had chosen death rather than betrayal, the way I once took my own life rather than become complicit in the Nightlords¡¯ schemes.
That wasn¡¯t the case.
I¡¯d seen her memories. The ritual Aclla underwent to become a living conduit for Inkarri took place in her childhood, years before a war with Yohuachanca was even a question. This and the tales I¡¯d heard about these holy Sapa virgins implied that her empire specifically prepared girls like her to serve as weapons. Aclla was no unique case created to deal with exceptional circumstances.
Her condition was the rule for many. There was an entire class of Sapa women molded and shaped as spies and weapons to be sent to foreign rulers as poisoned gifts from childhood. They had as much choice in their lives as our emperors.
Inkarri and the Mallquis had no more regard for the lives of their followers and agents than the Nightlords did with their own soldiers. They all saw mortals as tools to wage war with.
And that, more than anything, sickened me to my core.
¡°Your Majesty?¡± Tayatzin asked, though I barely paid attention. ¡°I apologize for bothering you at such a time, but your meeting with Ayar Manco is scheduled soon.¡±
¡°Ingrid and I shall go,¡± I replied without emotion. I was going through the motions, my mind clouded by questions and dark thoughts. ¡°Take care of Aclla¡¯s remains until our return.¡±
I hadn¡¯t yet decided what to do with her, but I would certainly not return her to the Sapa. She had deserved better, and still did.
The meeting with Manco had been arranged at a neutral point between armies: a small hill overseeing the chasm opened up by the quake earlier. I was allowed to bring an advisor and two guards, while the rest of my army and troops¡ªincluding Itzili¡ªwould be forced to watch from afar.
These conditions would have seemed somewhat fair if the Sapa hadn¡¯t tried to assassinate me hours ago; not to mention that organizing our encounter right next to the rift created by their vile magic sent a certain message in itself.
They are no more sincere in their negotiations than I am, I realized. Peace was never an option.
¡°Has my lord decided on a negotiation strategy for this meeting?¡± Ingrid inquired as we made our way to the meeting point on Itzili¡¯s back. ¡°Should we focus on recovering our imprisoned soldiers even if we have to return more of our captives?¡±
Ingrid meant well, yet I had hardly thought over it. This whole exercise had been a charade from the start, meant to either divide the Sapa or show a generous side to them. Not only was I now convinced there never was a true schism to exploit in the first place, but the Cizin plan sounded much more appropriate.
¡°Let us see who these people are first,¡± I replied. That, I thought, would be the most important part.
Ingrid studied my expression, and then gave me a short nod. ¡°A deal doesn¡¯t matter as much as the good faith of the people making it, doesn¡¯t it?¡±
Nothing escaped the sharpest of my consorts. I wondered if she already figured out what happened to Aclla; and what I had in mind.
We arrived at the promised spot to find Ayar Manco waiting for us with a small escort of his own. True to his word, he arrived on his moving throne with a single advisor: my own mother.
Inkarri was nowhere to be seen.
Manco¡¯s shoulders were free, unbound, and the condor that had shadowed his steps had vanished. I doubted I managed to wound him heavily enough to prevent his ancient soul from haunting the world of the living. It was more likely that he simply accepted his limitations and decided not to push his luck by confronting me again.
The fact that his fellow Mallquis allowed Manco to face me on their empire¡¯s behalf, however, spoke to how little the man¡¯s life mattered in the grand scheme of things. Those ancient mummies wouldn¡¯t allow any vital pawn of theirs to confront their people¡¯s worst enemy.
Mother was right, Manco was indeed as much of a puppet as I was.
And yet he remained his masters¡¯ voice. Their spokesperson. Their godspeaker.
I climbed down from my mount and joined Manco. A wooden table had been set up for us in the middle of the two groups. It was long, very long, to prevent either of us from threatening the other with a weapon. Manco and I sat on each side while our respective advisors each stood behind us. I didn¡¯t spare Mother a glance. I suspected she had been sent as a token escort to protect Manco from any spell I might cast, which I had no intention to use.
For her part, Ingrid assessed the other side with a calculating gaze. She wanted nothing more to ask about her sister¡¯s location, but held back for fear of incriminating herself and accidentally threatening Astrid¡¯s life.
Our time would come.
¡°His Majesty Manco greets you, Emperor Iztac, at this conference,¡± Mother said as the Sapa Emperor whispered words into her ear. After spending years among the Sapa, she had more than enough experience to speak both of our languages. ¡°His Majesty Manco is grateful and hopes that we can settle the affairs of our people with words and reason.¡±
If he spoke sincerely, then he was the only one to do so.
At this point, it would be customary to exchange greetings and salutations¡ but I¡¯d lost patience for those a long time ago. I didn¡¯t have the strength to waste any more time on pointless flattery.
¡°Your half-sister, Aclla, died from a stroke this morning,¡± I said bluntly, cutting straight to the chase. ¡°You have my condolences.¡±
Manco did not react, even when Mother whispered the words in his ear. ¡°His Majesty Manco does not recall anyone with this name,¡± she translated his response back. ¡°He had many half-brothers and sisters; far too many for him to remember them all.¡±
It could have been a lie and an attempt at keeping plausible deniability, but I could see another and more worrying possibility: that Manco sincerely didn¡¯t remember Aclla because watching a child caked in gold as part of a horrendous sorcerous ceremony wasn¡¯t anything noteworthy in his mind. From the way he barely reacted in Aclla¡¯s memory of the event, part of me suspected it was the latter case.
Her name simply yielded no reaction.
My mind was abuzz with countless questions, though there was one which trumped all others. The Jaguar Woman had seared it into my mind when she condemned Sigrun to the pyre and my unborn child to a hell underground. I¡¯d heard her answer back, but I wondered what was Manco¡¯s.
¡°What is the value of a life to you, Ayar Manco?¡± I asked.
My question hung in the air like a curse. Ingrid flinched and paled, as the memory of it remained so frightfully vivid in her mind. Mother squinted and then translated my words to the false emperor whom she pretended to serve.
¡°His Majesty Manco asks if you mean this in the context of a prisoner,¡± she said.
¡°I am not asking you,¡± I replied coldly. I stared into Manco¡¯s dark eyes and didn¡¯t even pretend to acknowledge his translator¡¯s presence. ¡°You can understand what I say, am I wrong? You¡¯re just trying to look stupider than you are, or to keep face by not debasing yourself by speaking our language.¡±
Manco¡¯s gaze did not waver even for a second. Neither did he speak up again after Mother translated my words. He simply assessed me with a cold, reptilian calculation, his head resting on his fist.
He could understand the Yohuachacan tongue. I was sure of it now.
¡°What is the value of a single human life to you Sapas?¡± I inquired. ¡°If two dying souls stand before you, and you can only save one, which of them would you pick? And why?¡±
I could tell that Ayar Manco considered lying and offering me platitudes, but that I wouldn¡¯t believe them. Hence he, perhaps for the first time since we¡¯d met, chose to answer me with all his heart.
¡°In our land, we do not use currency,¡± Manco answered me in perfect, melodious Yohuachancan. ¡°We use Mit''a.¡±
I¡¯d suspected Manco to sound quite articulate in his native tongue, and as it turned out, he spoke fluently in mine.
¡°We do not use cacao seeds or cotton to trade the way you people do, because the state sees to our needs,¡± he explained. ¡°Our empire plans for the future in our stead. It trains those in the skills in which they shall excel, and that our future generations will require according to the fate laid to us by the gods in the stars. Those with talents are assigned where they are needed.¡±
¡°So I¡¯ve heard,¡± I replied.
¡°But do you understand what that means for us?¡± Ayar Manco marked a short pause, and continued when he decided that I did not. ¡°I would assume not, as this is not how your people think. You believe in glory, in growth, in power. We believe in harmony and reciprocity.¡±
Ayar Manco joined his hands and gazed at the distant mountains which he called his home.
¡°Each year, a man or woman of age must give a set number of their days to our empire,¡± he explained. ¡°They must fulfill the tasks and quotas granted to them. A farmer must produce food to feed others. A warrior must fight to protect others. A mason must pave roads so that others may walk upon them. No one ever does anything for themselves, and in return, the community cares for them.¡±
My jaw clenched. ¡°And if they don¡¯t wish to do things for others?¡±
My question seemed to bemuse Ayar Manco. ¡°Then they will be punished for their selfishness, of course.¡±
¡°And if your people want to leave the place where they were born?¡± I inquired, an ugly feeling sinking into my stomach. ¡°To pursue a greater future than the one others chose for them? What if a farmer wishes to become a weaver?¡±
¡°They do not,¡± Ayar Manco replied simply. ¡°Our people stay where they are required to be; and if they cannot fit into a role, we find another use for them. We always find a use for everyone.¡±
There was something so utterly sinister, so deeply inhuman about the way he spoke those words that it unsettled me as much as the Nightlords¡¯ cruel worldview. There was no savage glee and revelry to be found in the Sapa¡¯s worldview, no grandiose evil; only the cold and heartless calculation of a tax collector who reduced everything and everyone to numbers on a paper scroll.
I gazed at the face of a state denying the very concept of humanity.
¡°The same goes for all people and communities who join our empire,¡± Ayar Manco continued, his words as eerily calm as waters hiding a crocodile beneath. ¡°They are moved where the earth must be turned and metal extracted. Men marry women to produce healthy children so that they may provide for others in turn, and the young care for the old in return for their guidance. Every soul, every pair of hands, has a role to play. This is Mit¡¯a: our obligation.¡±
He joined his hands and then gave me his final answer, raw, clear, and sincere.
¡°The value of a human life, Emperor Iztac, is its usefulness to the state,¡± he declared with the absolute coldness of an ancient glacier. ¡°Nothing more, nothing less. If I had to choose between two lives to save, I would save the most useful one.¡±
I briefly glanced at Ingrid, who was glaring at Ayar Manco with barely disguised loathing that nearly matched mine. Much like me, she finally realized what kind of man sat in front of us; and what he represented.
Mother said that Ayar Manco had been chosen by the Mallquis because he was deemed more pliable. He had been right about one thing: I¡¯d heard, but didn¡¯t understand. I sensed no hidden rebellious streak in this man, no hidden agenda. I required no Gaze to see into his heart, because he didn¡¯t bother hiding anything.
He was a believer.
Ayar Manco was something worse than a rebellious slave: he was a willing one. He spoke and fought on behalf of a great and rotten pyramid for which lives were little more than bricks, an empire where the living surrendered their freedom to the dead in exchange for their protection; and in this way, shackled their own future to an unalterable past.
It was like gazing at myself in a mirror; a black and twisted kind.
I accepted Manco¡¯s answer with a nod, however much I loathed it; and then decided that I would destroy his Mit¡¯a down to its foundation.
I felt no doubt nor hesitation anymore, except compassion for the innocents who would pay the price for my decision. I was certain many people found peace and prosperity within the Mit¡¯a system, the same way many of Yohuachanca¡¯s citizens lived happy and peaceful lives within the chinks of the Nightlords¡¯ chains. They didn¡¯t deserve the chaos I was about to unleash, no more than most of the people who perished in the wake of my wars and disasters deserved it.
But Aclla didn¡¯t deserve death and slavery either.
I couldn¡¯t look the other way when I had the power to force a change.
I despised this Mit¡¯a system with every fiber of my being, as much as I loathed the Mallquis who sustained it and the fools who defended it. I simply could not abide a world that would strip its people of their freedom and reduce them to numbers on a scroll.
That wasn¡¯t the value a human life should have.
A society built on its people¡¯s suffering should not exist, whether inside or outside my borders. Everyone deserved to be free and to choose their own fate. No one should die by the will of another.
Closing my eyes on the Sapa Empire¡¯s heartless system would be the same as accepting Yohuachanca¡¯s imperial system. They were both different shades of the same gripping hand of fate which I longed to break.
A society enslaving its daughters like Aclla should not exist, no more than an empire capable of creating me. There should be no need for a Cizin in a perfect and just world.
Yet no one was willing, nor able to change it; so that burden fell to me.
Inkarri¡¯s predictions were right in a way. There was no future in which his empire and I coexisted.
I had sensed his resolve during our fight, and I knew his heart was true; but he was fighting for the wrong cause and willing to kill for it. The same went for Manco. They had been twisted by the system in which they lived until they became its thralls.
I would bring down their rotten Mit¡¯a, and pray that the Sapa would one day thrive under better foundations.
¡°I hope you shall sleep well tonight,¡± I said, mostly as a subtle hint to Mother that we would proceed with Eztli¡¯s ritual tonight. I suspected she was already aware of our intentions through her sorcery, but it didn¡¯t hurt to hedge my bets. ¡°I will leave my consort and priests to arrange a prisoner exchange. I have learned all that I wished to know today.¡±
¡°Did my answer displease you, Emperor Iztac?¡± Ayar Manco asked with a hint of curiosity. He didn¡¯t seem to grasp the reason for my obvious anger. Like me, he had heard but didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Would you rather have preferred that I tell you what you wished to hear?¡±
The answer was yes, on both counts.
¡°You have been honest with me, Emperor Manco, so I shall return this courtesy with my own answer.¡± Using the word ¡®emperor¡¯ carried political weight, since it meant I indeed acknowledged him as the Sapa Empire¡¯s leader; but in my mind, that title was as empty as mine, devoid of sense and respect. ¡°In Yohuachanca, a life¡¯s value is determined by the emperor¡¯s will. It is I alone who decides who lives or dies. My judgment is law.¡±
I stared at Ayar Manco straight in the eyes, so that he could see the boundless depths of my hatred and loathing for all that he fought for.
¡°And your life, Emperor Manco,¡± I said. ¡°Is now worthless to me.¡±
Chapter Ninety-Three: The War In Heaven
True to Sugey¡¯s wish, the Sapa would inherit cuckolded husbands out for blood while we recovered warriors eager to avenge their earlier loss. The situation reminded me of a forest in the dry season.
A single flame could light forth an inferno, and I would do so with a bonfire.
I convened a war council the moment we left the meeting. I gathered every general worth their salt, and quickly glimpsed smiles on the lips of Chikal and Coaxoch. They sensed the blood in the water.
They could tell I was done with playing theater.
¡°We must prepare to overrun the Sapa camp soon,¡± I declared openly with my very first remark. ¡°It is time to pluck the flowers of war and behead the enemy¡¯s leadership while we still can.¡±
¡°Finally!¡± Coaxoch struck his chest in giddiness. ¡°I thought Your Majesty would never give the order.¡±
Amoxtli, as always, advised cautiousness. ¡°While this Flower War was only meant to buy us time and lower the Sapa Empire¡¯s guard until our fleet could strike, escalating to a surprise attack would violate His Majesty¡¯s agreements. Our word¨C¡±
¡°Has been tested too often,¡± I cut in, interrupting Amoxtli. ¡°Time and time again the Sapa have sent assassins after me. I am now convinced that the quake that struck us yesterday was no mere twist of fate, but the result of foul sorcery. The death of my concubine, Aclla, was no accident either. Each day we spend playing their game gives these serpents another occasion to bite us.¡±
My sharp tone silenced all opposition. I wasn¡¯t faking anger and determination either; my mind was truly made up.
I only ever planned the war with the Sapa Empire to help me bleed out the Nightlords¡¯ forces and provide me with an opportunity to take down my captors. I had tried to minimize bloodshed, both in the hope of securing an alliance with Inkarri and to spare the mountains the slaughter to come.
No more. I now knew that the Mallquis would never be my allies, and I couldn¡¯t tolerate their own imperialistic system any more than I could stand Yohuachanca¡¯s. Sugey constantly spat on my attempts to reduce bloodshed and suffering, making me look like a hypocrite rather than a reasonable monarch.
I simply had no more incentive to pull my punches anymore.
My best bet was now escalation, to strengthen the conflict between the Nightlords and the Mallquis in the hope that they would either wipe out each other or offer me an opening to take down Sugey.
The only fear I had was that of Quetzalcoatl¡¯s judgment¡ but surely leaving the likes of Aclla in bondage would be as much of a sin as doing nothing. Or at least I told myself this.
¡°Our priority is to capture Emperor Manco alive,¡± I informed my generals. While his life was worthless to me, a puppet emperor was more valuable to me as a prisoner rather than a martyr. ¡°The pride of the mountains is arrayed against us. To break it, we must capture as many of the highborn fools arrayed against us as we can.¡±
¡°The rift separating our armies leaves us in a very difficult position,¡± Cuauhteztli warned us. ¡°This limits a land assault to two narrow corridors at the edges, and both will be easy for the Sapa to defend or survey. We would need overwhelming force to break through, and even then it would warn our enemies of the attack.¡±
¡°You forget one thing, general,¡± Chikal said with a cunning smile. ¡°We can fly.¡±
My consort had read my mind. ¡°I will petition the goddess to bless us in this fight and send her children to fight at our side,¡± I declared. ¡°We shall remind the Sapa that the night is a time of terror.¡±
I would not be so bold as to speak in Sugey¡¯s name out loud, but I had begun to understand her way of thinking over the past few days. She would relish the thought of falling upon the Sapa camp in an orgy of blood and violence; especially if she could participate. I suspected that she alone among the Nightlords wouldn¡¯t back down from a fight.
For once, I hoped she would take part in the slaughter. Not only would the Sapa likely take out a few of her Nightkin¡ªsomething Chikal was counting on when she made her suggestion¡ªbut it would let me assess the strength of a Nightlord¡¯s sorcery in battle.
My words emboldened even the likes of Amoxtli, his cautiousness turning into shrewd planning. ¡°If the goddess¡¯ children were to assist us in this fight, then I would suggest a three-pronged assault,¡± he said, tracing a dark line representing the rift on our map. ¡°The Nightkin will only have to cross the rift to fall upon the enemy scouts and slay them. This would free the way for two sets of cavalry forces to charge at both sides of the ravine and then fall upon the Sapa camp.¡±
¡°Should we march swiftly enough, then our trihorns will crash straight into the Sapa¡¯s tents before they can organize a defense,¡± Cuauhteztli said. ¡°Surprise and shock will carry the day. Our infantry will only have to clean up the rest.¡±
¡°Coaxoch and the Shorn Ones shall take command of one vanguard,¡± I decided. The warlord had been begging me for a similar task since the Flower War started. This would be a good opportunity to foster favor with him. ¡°I will lead the other atop Itzili.¡±
Coaxoch¡¯s smile boasted such sharp fangs, all too eager to taste blood. ¡°I shall not disappoint Your Majesty¡¯s faith in my skills.¡±
¡°Which leaves the question of our timing,¡± Amoxtli said. ¡°It will take us some time to complete our survey, but waiting too long might alert the Sapa to our preparations.¡±
¡°Let us strike tomorrow night,¡± Chikal suggested. ¡°I will have my amazons locate the enemy scouts during the day.¡±
¡°An attack on the fourth night of the Flower War would be most auspicious to the goddesses,¡± Tayatzin agreed. ¡°It will bring us luck.¡±
Attacking on the fourth day served my plans well. It left me with tonight to both complete the ritual and warn Mother of the incoming assault. Forcing Sugey to deal with both the Sapa attack and Eztli¡¯s ¡®loss¡¯ at the same time would also throw that vampire off her game.
I oversaw military planning and preparation until dusk, at which point I sent my generals away to remain alone in the tent. Darkness had barely descended upon the camp before Sugey visited me.
¡°I am cautiously impressed,¡± she said, her crimson eyes gleaming in the shadows. ¡°I sense that your heart is no longer wavering. Have you finally come around to sharing my vision?¡±
I suppressed a scowl. Sugey¡¯s opinion nauseated me, but we indeed both shared the same criticisms about the enemy. ¡°I asked Ayar Manco how the Sapa valued human life.¡±
¡°As a number on a paper sheet, I would assume,¡± Sugey replied with disdain. ¡°I¡¯ve told you as much. They think like merchants, all of them.¡±
I wouldn¡¯t even call them merchants. Merchants had ambition and an appetite for risk. They sought to explore unforeseen paths for growth. The Sapa¡¯s Mit¡¯a system instead glorified immobilism, stagnation, and control. They reveled in trying to control the future rather than to shape it.
¡°I cannot respect a state which denies human life its value,¡± I said without an ounce of insincerity. Whether it is my realm or that of another.
¡°On that, we agree. The state is a tool to exalt and refine human beings, not an end in itself.¡± Sugey sounded quite pleased by my decision. ¡°Each crop of men ought to perform better than the last.¡±
And my greatest performance will be killing you, Bird of War. I answered with silence and kept my true thoughts to myself. Any state which enslaved its own people ought to be annihilated.
Part of me understood that despising the Sapa for sending Aclla and others to die was hypocritical, since I had done the same for less than noble reasons¡ but her situation hit too close to mine. She had been enslaved as a child by higher powers to serve as a living sacrifice in a greater game. Manco¡¯s cold-blooded reaction only underlined that the Sapa considered this part of nature rather than an exceptional case; and that this cycle would repeat itself.
Closing my eyes on what happened to Aclla would be akin to condoning my own situation, and I would not¡ªcould not¡ªaccept that. I had to take my chance at changing things, whatever the cost.
¡°Will the goddess assist us?¡± I asked Sugey.
¡°I will. You have brought glory to our name and this theater has worn on my nerves.¡± Sugey rested her head on her fist. ¡°The timing plays into our hands. Our fleet is a day away from striking the Sapa¡¯s coast, and their sorcerers will fall into panic once the news reaches them.¡±
The issue with the considerable distance between land and sea was that we had little information about how our fleet fared. We had no direct lines of communication with our soldiers on that front of the war. I suspected Sugey used magic to see through the red-eyed priests¡¯ senses onboard to check on them.
If she spoke the truth, then it would indeed seem that the Sapa weren¡¯t expecting the coastal invasion. Striking at Manco¡¯s camp at the same time would indeed paralyze the Mallquis, since they would struggle to defend themselves on multiple fronts.
The stars were aligned in my favor so far.
How long would that last, I wondered.
The promised night had come, and my body stirred with tension.
I retired to my bedchambers and pretended to nap for a moment, instead projecting my essence through the Legion skull placed in Eztli¡¯s quarters. My former consort had taken it from its shelf and placed it in her room, where she seemed deep asleep in a bed surrounded by flowers.
A handmaiden stood at her side, tending to her. I did not recognize the woman, but her tense and haughty posture was more than familiar to me. When she glanced at the skull in the room, I could see the shade of icy blue hiding behind her brown eyes.
Mother was ready. Waiting.
Her soul was in our hands now, mine and Mother¡¯s. The last part didn¡¯t please me in the slightest, but I had no other choice. Mother¡¯s assistance in the ritual would be critical.
The die is cast, I thought as I ¡®awakened¡¯ from my false slumber to find Necahual and Chindi walking into my bedroom. Both smiled for wildly different reasons; one did so out of blissful ignorance, and the other with trepidation born of knowledge. I have done all I can to prepare.
So many things could go wrong tonight. The slightest interruption would have disastrous consequences, and even success would carry its price.
¡°Has the master called us?¡± Chindi asked with bestial trepidation. She reeked of bloodthirst and anticipation.
I was right. Her kind might take the shape of others, but their cruel nature always shone through. Chindi couldn¡¯t play nice for more than a few days before her vile and twisted instincts took over. How much of it was the influence of the Skinwalker¡¯s curse? Or had she always been like this and her power only sharpened her innate cruelty?
Whatever the case, she was a true demon that the world would be better off without.
¡°I have,¡± I replied sternly, my eyes wandering from Chindi to Necahual. ¡°It has come to my attention that the two of you do not get along.¡±
Chindi¡¯s tongue clicked in her mouth. ¡°I only disciplined the woman you gave me. Your so-called favorite should stick to her own affairs.¡±
¡°When a rabid hound bites, it must be chastised.¡± Necahual scoffed in amusement. ¡°If Your Majesty had taught your pet better, I would not have to tighten her leash.¡±
¡°Careful, Necahual,¡± I warned her with a cold, sharp tone. It was only a bit of theater for spies who no doubt listened in. I had to ensure this ritual wouldn¡¯t raise any alarm in their minds. ¡°Disciplining my concubines is within your power, but my consorts stand on higher ground.¡±
Necahual straightened up. ¡°I will bear whatever punishment Your Majesty thinks appropriate, if I have indeed overstepped.¡±
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¡°You have¡ but it doesn¡¯t fall to me to decide how you shall be chastised.¡± I invited Chindi to join me in the bed. ¡°Come to me.¡±
She did so with the eagerness of a rabbit who couldn¡¯t see the fox¡¯s jaws.
I welcomed her as she rested her head against my shoulder. My arm coiled around her back and pulled her closer until I sensed her skin against mine. I sensed her blood pulsating with warmth and life; all that which Eztli had been deprived of.
¡°What should be her punishment?¡± I whispered into Chindi¡¯s ear.
A wiser soul would have advocated for a lighter sentence, or none at all. If Chindi had done that¡ I would still have gone through with my plan, but not with a clear conscience.
¡°I want her eyes, master,¡± Chindi whispered back, her own having been removed and bandaged by the Nightlords to prevent her from using her powers. ¡°I will wear them once I finally remove these bandages from my face.¡±
Whatever doubts I might have had instantly disappeared.
I pretended to listen, offered her a nod, and then leaned on to whisper my answer in her ear too quietly for anyone to hear.
¡°Chindi,¡± I uttered her true name, shackling her will. ¡°Surrender.¡±
My Word took hold in her mind, extinguishing her will of rebellion. I barely had time to see a glimpse of her terror before her body went limp in my arms, her mind now imprisoned in a shell of flesh. She had no power left to resist what would follow.
Let that be a lesson to all willing slaves, I thought. There is no such a thing as a kind master.
¡°Join us,¡± I told Necahual. ¡°I can think of a way for the two of you to reconcile.¡±
Necahual appraised the both of us with wariness, recognizing my signal for what it was. She crawled into my bed behind Chindi, touching her shoulder, pretending to caress her in an intimate way.
I sensed the connection forming the moment she touched Chindi¡¯s skin.
The soul-transfer ritual was an extraordinarily complex piece of magic. Mother¡¯s sorcery only worked between compatible vessels sharing a powerful spiritual connection; in effect, it could only transplant a soul between close relatives or individuals bound by the same totem.
The Nightlords¡¯ ritual bound Chindi and Eztli together tighter than any chain, but both were half a country away from one another. We required a rope to connect them, and she stood before me.
Necahual had fed her blood to both her daughter and Chindi over the past weeks; the former by storing it into bottles for her own consumption, the latter by spiking her drinks and food. She had become a living bridge between them, a pathway through which Eztli¡¯s soul would travel in order to take root in its new vessel; a beacon for the mind.
The Ride spell didn¡¯t allow Mother to cast her magic while inside another¡¯s body, but she didn¡¯t need to. Her role was to guide Eztli¡¯s soul with whispers and words away from her body and through the bridge, which I would then lead to its new home.
I closed my eyes and focused on the chain which bound us all to the Nightlords¡¯ ritual. My world became darkness barely lit up by Teyolia flames. Chindi¡¯s malformed spirit lay within the palm of my hand, while Necahual¡¯s blinding soul remained connected to me by the eternal bond between a Mometzcopinque witch and her patron. So many other chains yet loomed over all of us, their links bound by centuries of sacrifice.
My spirit grabbed one holding Chindi¡¯s soul. I sensed Eztli¡¯s spirit on the other end of it and soon began to pull under the light of Necahual¡¯s Teyolia, like a fisherman bringing in their nightly haul under a lighthouse¡¯s glow.
I immediately encountered resistance.
A terrible cold spread to me through the dark chain of the Nightlords¡¯ ritual. I looked into the shadows beyond and faced an even greater darkness, a hunger blacker than a starless night. Its jaws clenched on the chain with the fury of a dog refusing to let go of its food.
The vampire curse itself resisted me.
I pulled harder with all of my will and strength. I heard Mother¡¯s voice echo in the void, trying to guide Eztli¡¯s soul out of the black tar that now drowned her in evil and corruption; but she was buried deep, and a centuries-old curse was not so easily repelled. It had entrapped Eztli for months and refused to relinquish her without a bitter fight.
I can¡¯t pull her out! Panic and fear overtook my heart. I pulled and pulled, but the more I tried, the stronger the curse tightened its grip. The vampire in her won¡¯t let her Tonalli go!
Worse, each pull of the chain let out a terrible noise that echoed across the shadows. It would not break¡ªno man could break a binding that chained down a god¡ªbut its screeching resonated in the darkness. How long until the Nightlords noticed the disturbance and acted upon it?
New hands tightened around the chain and eased my burden.
I sensed Necahual¡¯s spirit first, her grip second only to mine. A mother¡¯s love and determination gave her immense strength when fighting to protect her child, the same way Father¡¯s love for me allowed him to endure both the First Fear and the Legion. She helped me pull the chain with all of her zeal and desperation.
I detected Lahun¡¯s presence soon after, her Mometzcopinque spirit answering her patron¡¯s call for strength. Many more soon followed in her wake. Ancient spirits joined their strength with mine, pulling with feeble hands backed with determination.
¡°Do not give up, our successor,¡± I heard the previous emperors whisper encouragements; my father¡¯s voice an echo among hundreds. ¡°There is no curse that won¡¯t bend to the power of human will.¡±
They were right. The curse fought fiercely, but its hunger had finally found its match.
Gathering all of my strength and magic, I stared into the abyss and challenged it.
Begone, shadows! My will expanded into the void, my Teyolia a purple blaze shining brighter than the stars. Recoil before my sunlight! Flee from the brightness of Cizin, the Lord of Terror!
My light erupted like a bonfire in the darkest of nights. I was only half a sun, but my brilliance remained poison to the undead. The sea of darkness swiftly recoiled and spat out Eztli¡¯s Tonalli. Her fading spirit, once so bright and lively, was no little more than a colorless shade.
I didn¡¯t have much time. I pulled Eztli¡¯s Tonalli to me and then guided her into Chindi¡¯s body. The chain which once bound them in twin torment now coiled around their spirits.
A Skinwalker¡¯s Tonalli was little more than a broken mask of malleable flesh. I had seen it myself when I gazed into Chindi¡¯s soul. A hole gnawed at the center of her very sense of self and constantly demanded new faces to satisfy its hunger. It wasn¡¯t too different from the vampiric curse in that regard.
However, a Skinwalker¡¯s power to steal the skin and flesh of others only let them take a piece of their victim¡¯s Tonalli. Chindi had only ever feasted on shards of personality, yet I now pushed onto her all of Eztli¡¯s personhood; all of her memories, all of her joys and sorrows. A Skinwalker¡¯s soul was a house built on rotten foundations.
It could only collapse under such weight.
I didn¡¯t hear Chindi¡¯s last scream or pleas for mercy, if she uttered any. Eztli¡¯s spirit melded with her own like a mold imposing its shape on a lump of clay. My childhood companion walked into her new house and settled there in an instant, her Tonalli overwriting that of Chindi, seizing her Teyolia for her own and taking hold of her flesh.
What was the value of a life to me?
I realized that I had asked Manco a question I couldn¡¯t yet answer myself. I had hidden my doubts behind the Nightlords¡¯ words, but now that I was extinguishing Chindi¡¯s existence to save that of Eztli¡¯s, I realized that I had taken upon myself the right to decide who would live and die.
What gave me that privilege?
I opened my eyes again to gaze at Chindi¡¯s face. Only an instant had passed in the physical world, yet the time in which I waited for the Skinwalker to react felt like a lifetime to me. Her breath was short, her mouth wide agape. If she still had eyes beneath her bandages, I expected them to have been staring at the ceiling with a hollow will. Necahual watched the scene with concern and apprehension.
She had already lost her daughter once, and feared doing so again.
¡°Anaye?¡± I asked, when I meant to say, ¡®Eztli.¡¯
My consort inhaled and exhaled with a quiet rhythm, her hands slowly moving to her face. She touched her cheeks and stroked her hair like a child discovering themselves for the first time. I couldn¡¯t see any hint of Chindi¡¯s savage confidence in those clumsy and hesitant movements; and doubly so when her fingers moved to touch my own face.
They were so warm, and her touch so gentle, that I allowed myself to hope.
My consort then spoke with Chindi¡¯s voice, but the words that came out of her throat belonged to another.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, Iztac?¡± Eztli asked me with a bashful smile full of bliss and relief. ¡°Has my beauty left you speechless?¡±
An immense wave of relief washed over me. All the tension in my body evaporated in an instant as I took her hands into my own and squeezed with all of my strength and affection.
¡°It has,¡± I replied, and for once I allowed myself a genuine smile; not a smirk of cruelty, but a bashful expression of happiness. I had experienced so few of those over the past few months that it almost hurt my lips. ¡°As it always does.¡±
¡°Your hands are so warm¡ I had forgotten the sensation.¡± Eztli turned her head to face Necahual, somehow sensing her presence despite her lack of sight. My favorite gazed at her returned daughter without a word, clearly struggling to hold back tears and show weakness. All her efforts had finally paid off, but the Nightlords had denied her the right to show any relief.
Eztli opened her mouth. I knew she almost said ¡®Mother,¡¯ only to hold herself back at the last second for fear of warning our captors. Instead, she rested her head on Necahual¡¯s bosom. My favorite forgot herself and embraced her daughter in a squeezing hug which she would not relinquish.
For the briefest of moments, we were happy at last.
Then came the darkness to ruin it all.
The chains holding my heart tightened like never before, choking my soul and life. A vicious chill swelled into my veins and turned them to ice. My breath turned to mist in my throat and the shadows grew sharper.
Necahual immediately sensed the danger through our bond, calling out my name. ¡°Iztac?¡±
I tried to utter a warning, only for the taste of blood and death to fill my mouth.
My vision blurred, my mind seeing through a thousand eyes. I was myself one moment, and a legion the next. A thousand skulls I had, trapped in coiling darkness whose grip on us had tightened.
One of them gazed upon the nightmare I had once embraced.
Mother¡¯s possessed thrall let out a cry of surprise that echoed through my palace. I watched through empty eyes as Eztli¡¯s soulless corpse rose from its bed with pale white eyes devoid of half-life.
The Nightlords¡¯ ritual survived the loss of Yoloxochitl by latching onto Eztli¡¯s soul as a replacement, and the soulless corpse we had left at the palace couldn¡¯t serve its purpose. That rotten pillar collapsed under the weight of the corruption gnawing at it from within, putting more stress on the remaining ropes holding the First Emperor chained.
But the seal had cracked, and evil leaked out of the gap.
We were right: the vampire curse remained with the body once we severed Eztli¡¯s soul from it.
There was no mask of humanity left to keep its true nature in check.
Eztli¡¯s corpse opened its mouth, but only a pitch-black abyss remained where there used to be teeth and tongue; and from within its depths, a terrible night stared back at me with a ghastly smile full of gnashing teeth.
???????????T?????????????????h???????????e?????????????????????????? ????????????????s???????????????u????????????????????????n???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????w?????????????????????????e??????????????????e???????????????p?????????s?????????????????????? ????????????????????f?????????????o???????????????????r?????????????????? ???????????y???????????????o?????????????????????????????u?????????????????????.?????????????????????????????? ????????????????????
The darkness triumphed and the cosmos shuddered.
I sensed the First Emperor¡¯s poison seeping into the fabric of reality, the wicked foulness that tainted the earth and sky. An invisible pulse surged from the depths of the Blood Pyramid, strong like a god¡¯s heartbeat. It spread across the land and struck all living souls with the sharp kiss of fear.
The world had grown a little bit darker.
I saw a glimpse of Eztli¡¯s corpse falling upon Mother¡¯s thrall in a dash of speed and hunger. Ichtaca¡¯s soul immediately vacated its host, leaving the handmaid alone to face her doom. She did not scream for long; the abyss swallowed tears and wails alike into its hungry stomach.
???????????????????F????????????????????o???????????????????r?????????? ???????????????????t??????????h????????????????e??????????????? ??????F???????????????????i???????????????f??????????????????t???????????????????????????h???????????? ?????????????????????N????????????????????i??????????????????????????g????????????????????h??????????????????t?????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????s???????????????????????????h????????a??????????????????????????l?????????????l??????????????????? ????????????????????s???????o???????????????????o??????n?????????????????? ?????????????b?????????????????????e???????????????? ????????????????u???????????????????????p?????????????????????o???????n??????????????? ???????????????????????y?????????????????????o??????????????????????u?????????????.???????????? ????????
I had a stroke.
Or at least, it felt that way to me. My body went numb and my vision blurred. I briefly recalled falling off my bed with a searing pain pulsing in my chest, Eztli and her mother failing to catch me before I hit the floor. I could not understand their words, no more than I could focus on my own breath. A dark hand squeezed my heart with claws of ice and refused to let go.
I heard Itzili¡¯s roar, shouts, and screams; all of them distant echoes ringing in the back of my skull. I felt strong hands grab me by the shoulders, though I couldn¡¯t tell to whom they belonged. I was a prisoner in my own body, trapped between light and darkness. I faded in and out of consciousness, yet never too deep for me to fall into the Underworld.
I saw flashes of my camp. I saw glimpses of Jaguar Warriors and Eagle Knights escorting Ingrid, Nenetl, and my other consorts tending to me, followed by the brief sight of soldiers keeping something from breaking into my room.
The sky outside my window was dark and filled with red clouds raining down blood¡ yet I knew it should have been otherwise. I could tell, deep within me, that it should have been the day.
The Flower War¡¯s fourth day never came.
In dawn¡¯s place rose a dark crimson moon that obscured its radiance. It blocked the sun and reduced its light to a ring of fire in a sea of starless shadows; and for the briefest of instants, I saw the outline of a skull glaring down on me in the eclipse¡¯s heart.
A day of darkness had fallen upon us all.
My world splintered like a cracked mirror, my vision dividing into countless pictures. I was myself and another, the first and the last, the half-light and the starless night; I couldn¡¯t tell where the prophet ended and where the god began. We saw through a millions eyes and supped on warm flesh with a thousand mouths. We were a spirit. We were a wave. We were a flood of carrion infesting the flesh of the world and choking its vein rivers.
We were death.
Our will spread through our Nightchildren, crawling out of the dirt with rasping whispers and blackened nails. We were Sapan and Yohuachancan, beast and bird, man and woman. All corpses dried on the altars rose at our command on this dawnless celebration with a single purpose: to devour the life denied to us.
We were a tide of wood and obsidian crashing on a coast cast in dusk, painting the shores red with blood. We fed on a diet of war and chaos and rode the apocalypse wave all the way to the mountains to spit on our brother¡¯s grave. We shepherded the meek towards an age of fear and terror.
We saw fire on the horizon, where the Sapa camp used to be; and in the pale glow of the flames we saw a great, twin-headed vulture¡¯s shadow preying upon the living and the dead. Our treacherous daughter washed her skin with thick warm blood while clouds of bats cleansed away the rising smoke with the flaps of a thousand wings.
In our own camp, where we strangled warm throats with cold dead hands, we saw that wretch Tayatzin bash a prisoner¡¯s head against a stone with a snarl of fury. A violent madness had seized that bastard¡¯s brood. His mouth was watered with blood, as was ours, and the red in his eyes had taken on a dark shade of crimson. Other false priests raged amidst the fires with genuine zeal, their skin-deep veneer of humanity stripped away. They were half-dead ghouls rampaging among the living in an echo of our hunger.
We wore no mask, and we hated everything.
We loathed this world which only brought us pain and sorrow. We loathed that light which burned us, those living who celebrated our suffering, and those daughters who chained us deep below the earth. We craved the peace of a land without dawn, and the endless silence that would follow.
We sought an end to all things.
And as my mind recoiled from the First Emperor¡¯s waning embrace, as I managed to untangle my soul from the all-consuming evil whose grip on the world I had strengthened, I was left with a single certainty: that by saving a life, I had condemned a thousand others.
I was a Godspeaker, and my words had brought the Fifth Sun one step closer to its end.
Chapter Ninety-Four: The Nature of Evil
The Third Layer was pitch black.
I awoke in the depths of sinister Tam¨hu¨¡nch¨¡n amidst the mad and damned. The shadows of torches and pyres hardly lit up the thick shadows blanketing putrid rivers and ruins of a long dead world. The morning star of Quetzalcoatl had grown so distant I could barely see it anymore. Once a small sun, it had been reduced to a tiny white dot in a sea of black. Its faint glow struck me with the strength of a sharp rebuke, as was the absence of Quetzalcoatl¡¯s priest Topiltzin.
The message was loud and clear.
The Feathered Serpent had denied me his light, and left only a dead hell¡¯s fires to warm me.
I stood alone among a parade of demons and abominations rejoicing around the bonfires. They paid me no mind, neither attacking nor fleeing. They simply sang and danced while the living cried and screamed. The damned knew that I belonged here among them.
Mother wasn¡¯t there to greet me like she always did. She was probably still awake in the world above, fleeing the tide of undead that fell upon the Sapa camp like a swarm of hungry bats. Perhaps something worse happened to her after she assisted in the soul-transfer ritual.
The bitter irony wasn¡¯t lost on me. After abandoning me for many years out of selfish self-preservation, I might have finally given Mother a good excuse not to show up. I would have laughed if our spell¡¯s consequences hadn¡¯t been so disastrous.
I didn¡¯t think I would ever miss that woman, but her absence carried the bitter taste of failure in my mouth. I had managed to achieve one of my long-term goals and save Eztli from her curse, yet what should have been a joyous occasion left me devoid of pride.
I raised my arm and crafted a skull within the palm of my hand. Its eyes lit up with the pale and ghostly glow of a hundred specters. One of them shone brighter than all others, his light more comforting than any star.
¡°You couldn¡¯t know this would happen, Iztac,¡± Father whispered in an attempt to reassure me. ¡°None of us expected such devastation.¡±
¡°I did.¡± Father meant well, but I couldn¡¯t lie to myself. ¡°I simply refused to think about it.¡±
I had known since the disaster on Smoke Mountain that each Nightlord¡¯s death would bring their vile father a step closer to freedom. I had received a glimpse of the destruction that would follow such an outcome once Yoloxochitl perished. Even if I couldn¡¯t anticipate that fully severing that part of the Nightlords¡¯ ritual would result in such chaos, I knew that it would play into their progenitor¡¯s hands.
Part of me simply considered it part of the course on my way to achieve freedom; an acceptable risk to bring down the rotten pyramid crushing me under its foundations.
Only now did I fully understand my choice¡¯s consequences.
¡°The Fifth Sun will die with the Nightlords,¡± I whispered. That was not a question, but a fact. ¡°The First Emperor¡¯s freedom will spell this world¡¯s end.¡±
I had been one with the darkness called Yohuachanca, felt his hunger, shared his wrath and pain. I had been the first and last emperor all at once for a moment, and in that union we witnessed the incoming doomsday. Centuries of torment and captivity had driven the vampires¡¯ progenitor to all-consuming madness. Where the First Emperor once sought to save mortalkind from Camazotz¡¯s fangs, he now only craved a dawnless night.
Tlaloc warned me that gods were slaves to their nature and power. The First Emperor was hunger and pain incarnate. His appetite had shed all traces of humanity until it knew no bounds. He would devour all that was, friends and foes alike, in a doomed attempt to fill the bottomless hole he called a stomach.
I had unlocked the gate, and it would never fully close again.
¡°You couldn¡¯t lay down and do nothing either, my son,¡± Father said kindly. ¡°You tried your best to save Eztli from an unjust fate, and you¡¯ve succeeded. That at least should be celebrated.¡±
He was right. No matter how crushing my guilt, I couldn¡¯t say I regretted trying to spare Eztli¡¯s soul from transforming into the very horror that had her father murdered and enslaved her mother.
It was the path I chose to achieve this objective that I now regretted.
¡°I should have found another way,¡± I whispered, both to myself and my father. The cost¡ the cost had been too great.
¡°Yes,¡± Father conceded a little bit more sternly than before. While kind and supportive, he knew when to set his foot down. ¡°You have made a choice today, with the innocent and guilty both paying the price for it. That is a fact.¡±
¡°What other option did we have?¡± the skull suddenly whispered with the voice of a hundred emperors pushing Father back. ¡°You fought with the tools given to you by this unfair world, our successor.¡±
That was what I had told myself so many times in the past. That was how I justified Smoke Mountain¡¯s eruption, the bloody massacre I organized to bribe the Yaotzin into warning Mother of incoming danger, the war against the Sapa, and the chaos I left in my wake. I told myself that I had no choice other than to use the few weapons fate put in my path. The option of throwing down my arm never entered my mind.
Nothing I could ever do would compare to the evil which the Nightlords represented.
But now¡ now that I had tasted true evil¡ I had begun to doubt even that.
¡°If we succeed in destroying the Nightlords¡ then the world will end,¡± I told my father and predecessors. I had seen too many acts of divine power to doubt it. ¡°Tlaloc ended his own with a surge of fire; his wife with a flood; and Quetzalcoatl with a hurricane. The First Emperor will simply bring down the final night.¡±
¡°There is still time to find another way, Iztac,¡± Father tried to reassure me, yet his warmth and kindness failed to break through my despair. ¡°There are other paths to walk.¡±
¡°You are halfway a god yourself, our successor,¡± the Parliament of Skulls added. ¡°The same power Yohuachanca seized remains within your reach; and with it, the chance to oppose him.¡±
I only had to take a look at the distant starlight to know these hopes were misplaced.
Quetzalcoatl was the god of knowledge. No one could hide anything from him. He alone among the heavens cared for mankind for its own sake. The horrors of Yohuachanca were certainly no mystery to him.
I could only see one reason why he would deny me the gift of his embers and the power to defeat the Nightlords, even after the latter nearly raised their Sulfur Sun and inflicted untold suffering upon mankind: the Feathered Serpent deemed that my ascension and victory would be a worse outcome for the world than letting vampires rule it.
Queen Mictecacihuatl had warned me that all the gods were dead, that no one remained to light the Sixth Sun. Either Lord Quetzalcoatl feared that the First Emperor¡¯s freedom would shepherd mankind into its final night, or that my godhood would become an equal blight upon the universe.
While the Nightlords remained responsible for driving their father to madness, the fact remained that their existence alone stood between their dark progenitor and the world¡¯s end. My quest for freedom would only lead to worldwide annihilation; to my death and that of all those I cared for.
Yet¡ yet as I looked at the dark horizon, searching for my unborn child¡¯s blue eyes shining somewhere in this sea of shadows, I couldn¡¯t forget that a fate just as terrible awaited me and my consorts should I stand idle. Our souls would suffer inside either a pile of skulls or a vampire¡¯s stomach, while our children became breeding stock or monsters tormenting the living and the dead.
What kind of twisted world required such pain to keep its end at bay? Did it even deserve to exist?
What was I supposed to do?
Father, as always, seemed to sense my thoughts. ¡°Why are you fighting, my son?¡±
His words caused me great confusion. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°The end determines the means used to achieve it,¡± Father replied wisely. ¡°I fear that in focusing on the latter, you have forgotten the former¡ and why you are fighting for it in the first place. These doubts and lies cloud your heart.¡±
Why was I fighting? The answer felt obvious. I was fighting the Nightlords because they were monsters who deserved to die, and because letting them win meant everyone I loved would perish on an altar.
However, I began to see the wisdom in Father¡¯s question when I thought of the Sapa¡ of Aclla. I¡¯d told myself I would proceed with the Eztli ritual and blame it on the Sapa Empire because she had deserved better, and that a realm built on enthralling its population deserved to be destroyed.
Yet¡ I sent Zyanya¡¯s first husband to be murdered, possessed a man into suicide in order to frame him, and piled bodies upon bodies for my own advantage. Aclla¡¯s fate had indeed moved me, but did her death excuse and justify a thousand others? The comparison sounded hollow even in my own head; a lie made to coat my own desires in a cloak of virtue and altruism. The truth was that I hated the Sapa because of the mirror they pointed at my face. I saw in them my own faults reflected.
Manco had told me what he considered to be the value of a life, yet I had no answer to give.
I suspected that was what Father had sensed. How could I hope to overcome a god when I didn¡¯t even know myself as a man?
I felt the chains on my heart coiling on my heart-fire once again and strain it tightly. I held my chest with my free hand as I sensed the Nightlords¡¯ hands pulled against my bindings. I tasted their panic, their desperation, their struggle to keep the evil which they leeched off for centuries safely trapped in his prison of blood and pain.
Their fear would have filled me with happiness once, but not tonight.
The pain yanked my spirit back to the world of the living in an instant. I barely had time to reabsorb Father¡¯s skull back into my bones before my consciousness faded from the Underworld.
A faint ray of sunlight woke me up.
My lungs gasped for air and a deep chill entered my throat. My eyes opened to a faint light piercing through black clouds and my roaming palace bedroom¡¯s window. I shivered beneath thick blankets heavier than stone, and though I sensed breasts and flesh pressing against my skin to keep me warm, my entire body felt cold like ice. For the first time since I tasted a god¡¯s embers, I struggled against sickness.
And more than that, I was thirsty; thirstier than I¡¯d ever been.
I breathed heavily, my chest hurting from the aftermath of a stroke, but managed to look around. Two naked women pressed against me inside the bed from both sides to keep me warm: a sleeping Necahual on the left¡ and her awakened daughter on the right.
¡°Iztac?¡± she called out my name with Chindi¡¯s voice and none of the savage edge. ¡°Thank the gods, you¡¯re awake.¡±
I stared at the latter as she rose from beneath the blanket, a blinded shell of flesh wearing a brand-new skin. The flesh was Chindi¡¯s, but the body language¡ The body language was unmistakable. I saw the soul shining through this skin as surely as if it had remained in its previous home.
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¡°Eztli?¡± I blurted out, before swiftly realizing my mistake. ¡°Anaye?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± she replied with a soft, kind smile. ¡°Yes, Iztac, it is me.¡±
I wouldn¡¯t lie, hearing these words after so much fear and devastation warmed my heart of ice.
I squinted as a ray of light hit me in the eyes through the window. Dark clouds slowly cleared to shine on what I assumed to be the Sapa¡¯s mountains.
¡°How¡¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°How long was I out?¡±
¡°A full day. This is the first time the sun has shined since. It came two hours late, but I suppose it is better to be late than dead.¡± Eztli turned to stare at the radiant orb of light banishing the darkness, basking in its radiance the way she used to before her¡ her transformation. ¡°I had almost forgotten a new dawn¡¯s beauty.¡±
So did I. I had feared part of the ritual¡¯s collapse would immediately spell this world¡¯s end, yet it seemed the Fifth Sun would not so easily be obscured.
The night had won a victory, but the war continued.
¡°We are in the mountains near the valley,¡± Eztli informed me, reading my mind before I could ask for our location. ¡°Chikal took command in your absence. Since monsters and battle prevented us from evacuating back to Chilam, she had your surviving troops regroup elsewhere to the southeast. Don¡¯t ask me to put this place on a map.¡±
¡°Survivors?¡± I asked, my throat dry. Eztli handed me a jug of water sitting on the bedside table, but it didn¡¯t help in the slightest. The hunger consuming me required another kind of fluid. ¡°Monsters?¡±
Eztli¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°The dead rose from below the earth, men and beasts both, to hunt all night long. Lahun suggested burning the corpses to prevent another incident, and so far it¡¯s working. As for the old bat and her brood, they descended upon the Sapa camp and went on a killing spree. I don¡¯t know what happened to them.¡±
I did. I could still feel Sugey¡¯s hand tightening the chain of my heart. The Nightlord yet lived to torment me another day.
¡°Tayatzin and¡¡± I cleared my throat upon recalling flashes of slaughter from last night. ¡°The priests¡¡±
¡°Dead,¡± Eztli confirmed. ¡°They went all mad with bloodthirst. The Jaguar Warriors and Eagle Knights slew those who tried to attack us. I don¡¯t know what happened to the rest of them.¡±
Tayatzin might have been a little more moral than my previous red-eyed advisors, but that didn¡¯t mean much. I wouldn¡¯t mourn his loss.
Sugey¡¯s reckless attack on the Sapa might have been an echo of her father¡¯s madness. The First Emperor¡¯s fury had rippled through his curse and enticed all his ¡®descendants¡¯ into a killing frenzy. The Bird of War had recovered enough to tighten the chain on my heart though, so it had only been a temporary measure.
Or perhaps Sugey had sensed the loss of Eztli and suspected that the Sapa were behind it. Her attack would have been a last-ditch attempt to prevent whatever spell she thought they had cast to ruin her and her sisters¡¯ rituals.
Whatever the case, I knew this respite wouldn¡¯t last. The Nightlords found me scarcely a day after Smoke Mountain erupted. So long as they held my soul in bondage, they would always track me down.
¡°So we¡¯re¡¡± I regained enough strength to form complete sentences. ¡°Unsupervised?¡±
¡°Like on that mountain.¡± Eztli smiled kindly and seized the bandages over her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting to show you this.¡±
I watched on with a mix of awe and surprise as Eztli transformed before my eyes. Her curves changed in proportions from Chindi¡¯s slender frame to fuller breasts and darker skin. Her black hair grew longer until it reached her ass, and her face altered back into one that resembled Necahual¡¯s so much, albeit younger and kinder.
Eztli unveiled her bandages and stared at me with bright black eyes, without a trace of red.
It was like watching time rewind before my eyes. My childhood love and companion sat in front of me, returned from the dead and purged of Yoloxochitl¡¯s curse.
¡°You¡¯ve retained Chindi''s powers?¡± I asked in disbelief. Showing this was an extraordinary risk, so I immediately raised a Veil around us. I sensed no outsider¡¯s gaze upon us, no spy hidden in a corner.
Eztli was right, no one listened nor watched.
For a brief instant, we could be ourselves.
¡°Seems so.¡± Eztli pushed back her hair and let it fall on her shoulder. ¡°Whatever you did broke the old bats¡¯ hold on us. Her strength is mine now, unshackled and unbent.¡±
Would that include the Skinwalker curse too? ¡°Do you feel¡ different?¡±
¡°Besides the fact that I have a new face and body now? Or the fact that I can look at people without thirsting for their blood?¡± Eztli shook her head with melancholy. ¡°We have both changed, Iztac.¡±
Yes¡ yes, she was right. The children we were before the Night of the Scarlet Moon were long dead. Experience had changed me, for the better or worse, and Eztli couldn¡¯t wash away the months of vampirism, the murder of her father, and all the horrors she went through. She would have to live with those wounds for the rest of her days.
Not even the gods could turn back time.
Eztli sensed my melancholia and leaned forward. ¡°Don¡¯t look at things that way, Iztac,¡± she consoled me. ¡°My mind is mine alone at last, and to that, I can only say one thing.¡±
Her hands pressing against my cheeks to better stare into my eyes.
¡°Thank you, Iztac,¡± she said with true and utmost sincerity, her eyes overflowing with gratitude. ¡°Thank you for saving me.¡±
Those words delighted my ears, and her smile seemed brighter than the sun outside, but neither shook my melancholia. If anything, my guilt only grew heavier.
¡°Iztac?¡± Eztli frowned upon noticing my unease. ¡°Aren¡¯t you happy?¡±
¡°I am,¡± I replied, albeit only half-heartedly. ¡°I am happy, and thousands paid the price for it.¡±
I had purchased this moment with tides of blood. I¡¯d saved the woman I loved from the same terrible loss of identity I had inflicted on Chindi, and I had done so by cursing the entire world.
And somehow, that wasn¡¯t even the worst part.
Eztli studied me for a moment before speaking up again. ¡°Can I ask you a question, Iztac?¡±
My jaw clenched. I already knew what she was about to say, because I had asked myself that exact same question many times already.
¡°If you had the option to go back in time, to choose between me and those who died¡¡± Eztli¡¯s head tilted to the side like an owl. ¡°Would you have picked any different?¡±
A deep sigh escaped my mouth. That answer was what I felt the most guilty about.
¡°No,¡± I confessed. I couldn¡¯t lie to myself about this, let alone to Eztli. ¡°No, I would still have chosen you.¡±
And that, I suspected, was what made me just as evil as those I¡¯d been fighting against.
The Nightlords sacrificed thousands in the name of their own stinking glory; Manco and the Sapa had no issue doing the same in their immortal state¡¯s name; and I myself slew the many to preserve the few people I cared about. Our motives were different, but the outcome of our choices remained the same: we had all brought death to the world.
I simply found better excuses for my crimes than the others. Love and justice sounded better than glory and power to the uninitiated, but they could be just as cruel and selfish. I¡¯d condemned others for the same crimes I had committed.
The title of Cizin suited me well. I had been willing to burn down this world to save my father¡¯s soul, and I helped set off this arson to protect Eztli.
Eztli accepted my answer with a small, yet sharp nod. She leaned in until her breasts pressed on my chest, her touch warming me up.
¡°And that is why,¡± she whispered, her faint breath flowing on my face, ¡°I love you.
Her lips pressed against mine.
I had kissed Eztli so often since she became my consort that I had lost count¡ but none of our embraces came close to this. Coupling with her vampire self had been like kissing a tepid corpse, yet her lips were now as warm as the sun. Their heat traveled across my face, my jaw, and my spine.
My hands slipped to her waist and seized her hips with a tight, unbreakable grip. I pulled her closer, her legs slipping over mine until no single gap of air separated us. A craving passion and desire pushed back my guilt and remorse to the far corner of my mind, at least for the moment.
Our kiss was long, full of lust, longing, and gratitude; and like all good things, it ended way too soon.
¡°I forgot I needed to breathe during this,¡± Eztli whispered upon breaking our embrace. ¡°I have dreamed of it for so long¡¡±
¡°So did I,¡± I replied. I had dreamed of it long before I even became an emperor and she a vampire; the day I could hold her in my arms as my living, breathing wife instead of a possessed corpse. ¡°I¡¯ve killed for you.¡±
¡°I know.¡± Eztli¡¯s smile had a sad edge to it. ¡°Some will condemn you for your choice, but I will never be among their number. I promise you that.¡±
I heard movement at my left, and a familiar voice whispering to me. ¡°Many times have I prayed the gods to save my daughter, Iztac.¡±
I turned slightly to find Necahual staring at us. I had been so engrossed in kissing Eztli that I hadn¡¯t noticed her waking up. Perhaps she had been listening from the start.
¡°I begged them to return Eztli to me,¡± Necahual said, her fingers moving to stroke her daughter¡¯s hair. ¡°I offered them everything I had to give¡ my soul, my body, and my life. No price would have been too great to pay.¡±
Eztli¡¯s hand grabbed that of her mother¡¯s and held it tightly. Necahual brought it closer and kissed her fingers.
¡°The gods ignored me, Iztac, as they ignored me so many times before,¡± Necahual said, her voice brimming with bitterness and disappointment. ¡°No one listened¡ except you.¡±
She snuggled against me, caressing my face and lips. Necahual¡¯s confidence hadn¡¯t weathered in the slightest, unlike mine; if anything, being reunited with her daughter had only strengthened it.
¡°I offered you my soul, and you delivered what you promised,¡± Necahual said with calm acceptance. She was at peace with our covenant and, unlike me, did not regret its consequences. ¡°Our people do not need a self-pitying fool wallowing in his doubts and misery, Iztac. They need a god that listens to their prayers like you did with mine.¡±
¡°I am no god,¡± I replied simply. And considering Lord Quetzalcoatl¡¯s disdain, this goal would likely remain a distant dream.
¡°You will be. You must be, because someone has to ensure that they¨C¡± Necahual put her hand on her womb. ¡°Will enjoy a happier life than we did.¡±
Necahual¡¯s world stopped at her family. She had been ready to do everything for her daughter¡¯s sake, and that intense determination was about as admirable as it was frightening.
The memory of blue eyes staring at me from the darkness flashed into my mind, the pain as raw as the first time I saw them. Images of Nenetl, my sister, stroking her belly while telling me no one born of love could be cursed followed, alongside memories of my nights with Chikal and so many others.
The Nightlords would make monsters and tools of my children. They would feed on them, breed them, transform them, and sacrifice them. They would at least survive without the First Emperor running amok, but could I truly call that living? Was that the best future I could offer to my blood and the women who entrusted their hearts to me?
¡°Father is¡ Father is still trapped too, Iztac,¡± Eztli said with a grim look. ¡°The curse did not let him go. He¡¯s screaming in the dark as we speak.¡±
He would be but one among many. Sigrun, my predecessors, and so many others had been denied peace even after death. I could raise mountains higher than the Sapa¡¯s if I piled up all the Nightlords¡¯ victims, all those souls either screaming in the night or weeping as skulls on a pile.
I¡¯d promised I¡¯d fight for them too. That was why Queen Mictecacihuatl entrusted me with her secret spells; so that I would fight for the rights of the weeping dead.
¡°Will you free him?¡± Eztli pleaded with me the way a priestess prayed to her god for salvation. ¡°Him and all the others?¡±
I had a duty to the living and the departed. To the gods. Tlaloc himself imbued me with his power so that I would free my people from their false idols, and I promised Queen Mictecacihuatl that I would remind mortals of the Day of the Dead. I could not allow Ingrid, Chikal, Nenetl, and all the women who put their faith in me to die on a bloody altar.
My cause did not excuse the crimes I had committed, nor the bodies I¡¯d piled up on the way. I saw that now. I should stop wasting energy on finding excuses rather than solutions.
I would take responsibility for my actions, both before myself and Lord Quetzalcoatl, but I could not give up the fight either. There had to be a third path between allowing the Nightlords get away with their crimes and freeing their monstrous father to end the world; an outcome where the dead could finally rest and my children prosper.
I had to dream of a better future.
¡°I will try my best,¡± I first replied, before realizing my best wouldn¡¯t be enough for Eztli. I had to do, not try. ¡°Yes, I will.¡±
I would bring back the dawn.
I could feel my magic recording my promise and binding my soul to this oath. My burgeoning divine self honored my ambition and would not let me betray it.
¡°And I will be at your side the day it happens,¡± Eztli said as she held my hands. ¡°I swear to you.¡±
¡°This cannot continue,¡± I told Eztli and her mother, my gaze turning to the horizon beyond the window. ¡°This destruction I sow everywhere, whether I mean to or not. I¡¯m¡ I¡¯m sick of it. Fighting fire with fire leaves the world ablaze.¡±
¡°Then take a step back and think,¡± Eztli advised. ¡°Whatever you choose, I will be at your side.¡±
I knew she meant every word, like her mother before her; and that it meant she would also either close her eyes or support any atrocity I committed from now on. It was¡ it was nice in a way to receive such unconditional trust, but it also enabled the worst in me.
Father alone had managed to put me back on the right path through a mix of sternness and kindness. I could count on him to guide me to the best of his ability, yet he remained a mortal; so were my predecessors.
If Lord Quetzalcoatl knew everything, then perhaps he alone could show me the better path¡ should he deign to.
I¡¯ve never asked, I suddenly realized. I only tried to prove myself in his eyes, but always acted on hearsay and assumptions. I¡¯ve sought his power, but never his guidance.
A sharp pain in my chest returned me to reality, followed by a familiar pressure in the air. Eztli had changed her face and pulled her bandages over her eyes in an instant while Necahual¡¯s head snapped towards the window. I sensed magic at work outside, with clouds blotting out the sun in a mile-wide range.
That isn¡¯t the First Emperor, I realized. A god had no need for magic; their power required no effort on their part, no more than the wind had to eat to blow one way or the other. This is a spell; a powerful one, but a spell nonetheless.
Its source flew in the cover of this roaming umbrella of darkness, her wings stained red with blood and guts, her twin-heads snapping their beaks while roaring and screeching with primeval rage.
As it turned out, the Nightlords did have means to protect themselves from the sun in a pinch.
That penumbra cloud spell likely required a great deal of resources to maintain or else the sisters would cast it all the time, but it worked well enough. The cloud followed Sugey around and protected her like how a shield protected a warrior from arrows. She flew straight at us, lured by my blood and vengeance.
Sugey¡ Sugey had changed. I could tell the moment I saw her twin-faces frothing with anger. There was a sharpness to her crimson gaze she didn¡¯t have before, a predatory edge once hidden within a sheath and now unveiled for all to see. The strain of holding her father prisoner had taken a toll on her and filled her heart with animalistic fury.
And she carried a trophy in her talons.
Only when I saw the face vainly squirming against her grip did I understand why the Nightlord had attacked the Sapa camp so brazenly¡ and why I had woken up alone in the Underworld.
Mother.
The Nightlord had caught Mother.