by Lani Forbes
“No!” Mayana blanched. “We didn’t—that’s not what—we just—”
“I do not need to know any details, my lady. The gods know the truth and that is what matters.”
Ahkin prayed this did not lose Mayana favor with Atanzah. After all, they were not allowed to be married if the matchmaker did not approve the match. He had already commanded her to contact Mayana’s family in anticipation of announcing her selection. The matchmaker had been thoughtful and quiet, but she carried out his commands without voicing concern.
Ahkin suppressed a laugh at the look of horror on Mayana’s face. She was so beautiful, especially when she was embarrassed. He wove his fingers through hers and pulled her forward.
He couldn’t wait to raise the sun. Today was going to be one of the most important days of his life. He would start it with her by his side, a symbol he hoped would be significant.
Ahkin also couldn’t wait for the surprise he had planned for her that evening. No matter what else he failed at, he would succeed in making her happy. Ahkin could already imagine the joy upon her face when she noticed her father and brothers waiting for her at the banquet. They would be so proud of her and so relieved to know her life would be spared. The lord of Atl had lost his wife, so he was certain the lord would appreciate not losing a daughter as well.
Atanzah cleared her throat. “We are a tad behind schedule, my lord. Might we go a little faster?”
Mayana let out an adorable laugh as they broke into a run—down the steps leading to the royal residence halls, out through a botanical courtyard, and toward the pillars of the grand entrance. Her leg finally seemed to be healing. He assumed he had her friend, the princess from Pahtia, to thank for speeding up the process.
They sprinted across the main avenue toward the temple. He leapt onto the stairs of the pyramid, taking two at a time as Mayana stumbled to keep up. Atanzah had stopped at the foot of the steps and stood doubled over, her belly pressed against her knees as she gasped for breath and waved at them to go on without her.
The sky was inky black and tinged with pink and yellow along the distant mountain range where the sun remained hidden and waiting. The stars themselves guided their steps as twinkling light reflected off the smooth golden stairs.
Once they reached the top, Ahkin respectfully slowed his pace. The high priest waited with his arms folded. The deep frown on his face bordered on a grimace as his eyes flitted to Ahkin’s hand where it held onto Mayana’s.
He could hear her panting breath beside him, and she took a slight step behind him under the flaming gaze of the high priest. Ahkin didn’t blame her. Toani seethed with fury at the sight of them.
“I am sorry I was late. I assure you it was an accident, and—”
Toani turned on his heels and marched toward the altar. Ahkin stiffened at the cold rebuff, making a mental plan to speak to Toani in private after the ritual.
Mayana squeaked, but he snaked a reassuring arm around her waist and guided her toward the altar. Toani stood partly covered in shadow beside it, glaring at Ahkin and waiting for him to begin.
Ahkin ascended the steps to the altar and lifted the ceremonial knife. He sliced his palm, and the papers on the altar absorbed the drops like dry earth soaking up a summer rain.
He collected the papers in his hands and dispersed them into the brazier fire. The moment the strips of bone-white paper shriveled into dust, the sun blinded them all with its welcome radiance.
Mayana’s lips were parted in awe, and her skin glowed in the light of the new dawn. Ahkin silently thanked the Mother goddess for her gift to him in the form of this glorious creature. Mayana turned to look at him, her eyes shining with pride and wonder, and the sun itself paled in comparison to the brilliance of her smile.
Toani stepped between them, demanding Ahkin’s attention.
“My lord, I wish to speak with you. Immediately.” The priest lifted his chin, gazing down at Ahkin in a way that made him feel like he was in trouble for something.
Ahkin bristled, but he had no desire to anger the priest who had provided him with so much welcome guidance in the past. He dipped his chin in acquiescence.
“Alone.”
Ahkin opened his mouth to protest, but Mayana’s soft voice interrupted him. “My lord prince.” She gave a small bow. “I will return to the palace and begin my preparations for the day. Perhaps we can see each other again before the feast this afternoon.”
“That is a splendid idea, the temple is no place for a princess,” Toani said without looking at her. He waved a dismissive hand in her direction.
Mayana gave Ahkin a placating smile and a playful wink before turning to descend the temple steps.
Ahkin frowned at Toani the moment she disappeared from view. “I would like an explanation for why you treated your future empress with such disrespect.”
“That poisonous snake is not deserving of the crown of the empress and least of all my respect. She flouts our very way of life and endangers the entire empire as a result.” Toani spat the words as though the taste of them burned his tongue.
Ahkin took a step back. Such vehemence was unusual from the usually peaceful and pious priest.
“You do not know Mayana as I do.” Ahkin’s voice rose along with his temper. “I lo—”
“Do not say you love her.” Toani held up a hand. “You are barely a man, my prince. You do not even know what love is. You do not know the pain and depths of suffering that true love can bring to the heart. You are deceived. You do not know this girl as you think you do. I overheard her speaking with one of the other princesses and—”
“I am the one to make this decision. No one else.” Ahkin never dreamed he would yell at his high priest like this. The insinuation of his youthful inexperience stung like salt in an already open wound.
“You have always followed your head above your heart, my prince. I beg you to—”
“I will not stand here while you insult me and my future wife. I assure you, Toani, you do not know her as I do.”
Toani relaxed his face and his shoulders, not in defeat, but more in a manner of resignation. “So be it.” Toani inclined his head, his voice dangerously soft. “I assume you wish to announce your decision this afternoon?”
“I do.” Ahkin hated feeling like a spoiled child.
“Then, might I make a suggestion for the midday sacrifice?”
Ahkin didn’t understand the direction their discussion had turned. Why was Toani suddenly talking about sacrifices?
“Uh … alright.”
“Why don’t we have the daughter of water lead us in this afternoon’s sacrifice to bless the meal? As the future empress, her position as a spiritual leader in the kingdom is a vital one. What better way to introduce her to the kingdom as your choice than through honoring the gods?”
Ahkin considered Toani’s suggestion for several moments.
“That’s a wonderful idea, Toani. I am sure Mayana would welcome the opportunity to lead us in a sacrifice. She can show you what a capable spiritual leader she will be for our kingdom.”
Toani’s lip curled in a way that did not entirely ease the worry churning inside Ahkin’s stomach. “Might I make a further suggestion?”
Ahkin gave a noncommittal grunt.
“Why don’t we refrain from telling her until the feast? Have it be a final test of sorts. See how she can handle the stress of having to perform a religious sacrifice without time to prepare.”
Ahkin didn’t see the harm in such a request. He often had to be able to perform rituals or sacrifices as situations arose. It seemed a fitting way to end the selection ritual.
“The final task,” Ahkin mused. “What is the sign for today?”
“Today is the day of the dog, my lord.” Toani’s curling lip broke into a wide, unnerving smile.
“I think that will work well.” Ahki
n folded his arms across his chest, satisfied at their agreement. Something nagged at the back of his mind, but he ignored it. He knew that Mayana had a passion for dogs, but with her level of dedication to the rituals, it shouldn’t be an issue.
Toani bent forward in a sweeping bow. “I agree, my prince. A dog will be perfect.”
Chapter
42
Mayana had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she jogged down the steps of the Temple of the Sun. Something about the way the high priest glared at her, as though she was a hissing beetle he longed to squish beneath his sandal, made her fear to leave Ahkin alone with him.
Why would the priest have such disdain for her? She’d never spoken to the man before in her life. She was a daughter of a noble lord, a descendant of the gods the man proclaimed to serve.
A sudden thought occurred to her, and Mayana’s foot slipped on one of the smooth steps. Her feet flew out in front of her and she landed hard on her tailbone. She slid down several of the stairs, the edges biting into her back and rattling her teeth as her body jolted.
Adrenaline raced through her, and Mayana threw out her hands to stop herself from sliding down the rest of the steps on her backside. Her fingers slipped across the gold but eventually found traction and the movement stopped all at once.
She ached everywhere, and her heart thundered away beneath her ribs. Stupid stairs on these stupid gargantuan pyramids. Why couldn’t the builders have made the stairs wider? Did they have to be so narrow?
Mayana fought the urge to cry as embarrassment, anger, frustration, and fear all melded together into a burning mass inside her stomach.
The fear from her fall was still nothing compared to the fear of the thought that had caused her to lose her focus in the first place. She had considered the possibility that Toani had overheard her conversation with Yemania in the room with the codex. She hadn’t seen him anywhere, but unseeing eyes do not always equal unhearing ears.
What choice did she have now if he had? What would he do? What would happen to her? Mayana shuddered at the thought. She reminded herself not to jump to conclusions.
Her confidence as bruised as her backside, Mayana rubbed a hand across her throbbing elbow and slowly made her way back toward the palace residential rooms.
“So, he came to see you?” Yemania’s tone sounded casual, but Mayana knew better.
Mayana nodded and threw another bowl of water against the scorching-hot wall of the steam bath. The water splashed across the surface of the dark-gray stone and hissed as it vaporized. Wonderful warmth seeped into her skin when the cloud engulfed her, though it did little to ease the bone-deep chill that filled her from within.
Yemania draped a white cotton towel across her lap while Mayana lay down on the low stone bench with an arm over her face.
“You don’t look too excited about it.”
“Well, after we woke up this morning …”
“We woke up this morning? As in, you woke up together?” Yemania tittered into the silence like an angry little sparrow.
Mayana dropped her arm to roll her eyes at the daughter of healing.
“Good gods, we didn’t do anything, we just fell asleep together, that’s all.”
“You didn’t do anything at all?”
Mayana didn’t think it was possible for her cheeks to get any warmer than they already were in the steam room, but apparently it was.
“Well … we did some things, but not what you think.”
“Do you respect any of the rituals in the codex?”
Mayana bristled at the comment. She crossed her arms over her bare chest and glared at the ceiling above her.
“I do, in fact. I am the one who has stopped it from going any further, for your information.”
Yemania sucked in a breath.
“Well, I think he would have stopped before that point too,” Mayana added, “I mean, he’s far more devoted to the rituals than I am. But that rule … I don’t know. Maybe I’m afraid, or maybe I feel like it’s better to have some level of promise from someone before giving over so much of yourself … if that makes any sense.”
Yemania considered her for a moment.
“Well, maybe you aren’t a complete heathen,” she said with a smirk.
“I’m not a heathen.” Mayana frowned. “I love the gods. I want to honor them as much as you do, I just have different ideas about how that can be done.”
“Well, I’m not the one you need to convince. I’ll likely be dead tomorrow anyway.” Mayana could tell Yemania was trying to be flippant, but her quivering lip betrayed her.
“Yemania …”
“Did you tell him?” Yemania interrupted. “Did you tell him why you really saved that jaguar? What you really think about the codex?”
Mayana bit her lip, and Yemania threw her hands into the air with an exasperated sigh.
“I tried. I was going to, but I asked about sparing you from the sacrifice and his reaction was so bad, I was afraid to.”
Yemania squealed like a frightened wild piglet and her hands flew to cover her mouth.
“You didn’t.” Glimmers of silver shone in the corners of her eyes.
“I told you I was going to,” Mayana said, crossing her arms again defensively.
“That’s so disrespectful, Mayana, and I don’t want the prince to think that I am not willing to do my duty.”
“He doesn’t think that.” Mayana waved a dismissive hand.
“I am willing to do what I must to bless the reign of our emperor, and I wish you would too. If he truly is to be your husband, you owe your devotion to him, not yourself.”
Mayana pinched her face together. She was tired of being called selfish. Disrespectful. A heretic. She knew in her heart that those weren’t the reasons she questioned the brutality of her people’s traditions. Sacrifices didn’t sit well with her heart, in the same way that chili peppers never sat well in her stomach. It was something more, something she couldn’t control … she didn’t know how to explain it. She was exhausted from trying to for so long. She had tried by showing Yemania one of her reasons, and that had been a mistake. Now the priest likely labeled her in the exact same way as everyone else.
So Mayana let out a sigh and didn’t respond. She didn’t know how to show everyone that she wasn’t being selfish, at least not about this. She doubted she would ever be able to.
They sat in silence for several more minutes, until Yemania finally changed the subject.
“So, what happens this afternoon?”
Mayana turned her head on the bench to look at her. “We need to get ready for another feast.”
Yemania chuckled. They had talked at length about how many feasts they had attended since arriving in Tollan. Typically they were reserved for bloodletting festivals in both Atl and Pahtia, so it seemed a little excessive to have a feast every day. But perhaps here, with so many nobles and important members of society constantly visiting, feasts were just a normal way of life.
Mayana laughed along with her. “Ahkin did say he had a surprise for me at this feast, so perhaps that will make it a little more exciting.”
“He’s making his selection this afternoon. I bet that’s what it is,” Yemania said quietly, fiddling with the edge of the towel on her lap.
“I think it’s something else … but yes, I do think he will make the announcement at the feast.”
“Well then.” Yemania took a deep breath and slapped her hands on her thighs before rising to her feet. “This may very well be my last feast in this world, so we better not be late.”
Mayana’s heart twisted at Yemania’s words, but she had no idea what to say, so she said nothing. Instead she gave Yemania a weak smile and followed her out into the hall. The much colder air assaulted her skin. Mayana wrapped a towel around her shoulders and shivered.
If only they cou
ld stay in the steam bath forever. Babies sometimes overstayed their welcome inside their mother’s bodies, not wanting to be born into the world outside. Mayana could understand the feeling. Sometimes she wished she could be spared the realities of the world too.
Chapter
43
After an hour of servants painting designs on her arms and face, selecting the right outfit from what was left of her thoroughly demolished baskets, and draping herself in jade jewelry from Atl, Mayana was finally ready for the midday feast. Her room was still a disaster from the monkey invader, but at least she appeared put together.
The bees in her stomach were buzzing again, anticipating the end to this selection ritual. She was also excited to see what Ahkin’s surprise for her was going to be. Would it be a wedding present? What kind of presents did emperors give to their wives? She couldn’t even begin to imagine.
“Can it only have been two weeks since we arrived?”
Yemania stood in the doorframe exactly as she had the first night Mayana arrived in Tollan. Just as on that first night, she twisted her hands in front of her, shoulders slumped. “It feels like it’s been much longer, doesn’t it? I always knew it would be over before the last days of the calendar. It’s such an unlucky time,” Yemania said.
“I figured it would be over by then too.” Mayana sighed. Rising to her feet, she wove her arm through Yemania’s and the two noble daughters joined the others gathering in the hall.
“You look particularly done up for this time of day,” Yoli commented, taking in Mayana’s brilliant blue loincloth skirt and the beaded fabric tied around her chest. Jade dangled from her ears, neck, and wrists, an homage to her home in Atl. “Jade for water, right?”
Mayana nodded and adjusted her headpiece so that the turquoise feathers better framed her face. “Obsidian for Papatlaca, right?”
