The Serpent Passage

by Todd Allen Pitts

  “His kind? Where is he from? How can such a man—so different—be in our land? He has hair over his face and body—and the color of his skin!”

  Priest Quisac turned the wheel on the calendar, as the interlocking outer and inner wheels moved together. He set it to the correct date and studied the calendar, lost in thought. “I see… broken images in his mind, of places and things that I have never seen before,” he said in a misty voice, and spun around with an intense look. “Clearly he is not of our world.”

  Teshna perked up with a coy smile, somehow delighted by his words. “When you learn more, will you share it with me?”

  “Perhaps,” he said with a questioning glance.

  “I can show you something of his, in exchange for your confidence,” she said in a tempting manner. “I took it before it was seen by the others.”

  The Serpent Priest thought for moment. “I suggest you return it to Balam. When he desires, he will tell us about his life, and his… possessions.”

  She stared at the Serpent Priest the way teenagers glare at their parents when they don’t like the answer they were just given. “Good day, Priest Quisac,” she said.

  He nodded.

  Teshna stormed from the Serpent Priest’s room, angry as she always felt after having been outwitted by the old man. But when she considered the idea of returning the item to Balam, a delicious smile spread across her face.

  After the festivities in the courtyard concluded, Yax insisted on giving William and Betty a tour of the city. Children gathered along the way, following William as though he were Chuck E. Cheese parading through the restaurant at a kid’s birthday party. Young women also joined the procession to get a look at him. They giggled when he glanced their way. Some of the girls even carried children of their own. It bothered William to see infants with braces attached to their heads. He assumed it was why most the adults had angled foreheads.

  The kids dispersed just before they reached the ceremonial center, leaving them alone with Yax and a contingent of the royal guard. Many nobles were there too, scattered throughout the plaza and temples; they bowed when they passed by them.

  William recalled his last visit there with his grandfather, and he recited the same tour script to Betty that he had been told before. “The pyramid we’re heading toward is the Temple of the Owl. They found the corpse of a lady in a tomb there. A ceramic plate with a painting of an owl was beside her.” He glanced to his left. “That building is the North Palace.” He pointed to a long stairway leading up to a structure at the top. “I think that’s the Temple of the Captives.” He noticed artists sculpting images along the steps, and he turned to the King, speaking in Yucatec-Maya again. “Yax, what are they doing there?”

  Yax glanced over with a stern look. “I was imprisoned there by my uncle, along with other nobles who had been supporting me. My uncle began that project to record the moment in our kingdom’s history of the important captives he had held.” He gave William a proud grin. “I now complete this task for a similar reason… so that we will never forget how the god’s sent you here to free us.”

  They reached the Temple of the Owl, and Yax motioned for them to follow him up the steps. When they reached the top, rather than going inside the ceremonial chamber—as William had assumed they would—they followed him around the platform along the edge of the pyramid to the back side. He motioned with his hand across the view of the vast jungles, extending into the horizon miles away. William recalled having stood in about the same position just a week before with his grandfather, admiring the same view. But what a difference now, he noticed, with massive sections of the jungle cut down, where plantations were being worked by hundreds of men.

  “I reckon’ those are corn fields,” Betty said with an intentional hick accent.

  It occurred to William that Yax had shared the source of his true power with them—the farming efforts that he governed.

  As they returned down the temple steps, Yax paused behind them, kneeled for a moment of prayer, and then sprinted down the rest of the way. William and Betty, on the other hand, continued down the steep stairway with a bit more caution.

  After the tour, they went back to the King’s palace—a massive stone building on a raised platform, covered by a thatched roof. William didn’t recall seeing any ruins of the grand structure during his previous visit, but he remembered reading how most of the residential buildings outside the ceremonial center of Dzibanché had been disassembled over time; the limestone bricks were hauled off by those who could make use of the building materials for their own purposes.

  As they approached the palace, Yax spoke to the servants who had been waiting for his return, giving them instructions. He told William and Betty to get some rest and went in through the arched entrance.

  Servants ushered them into the palace, taking them down a hallway that opened into a large plaza; an enormous ceiba tree grew from the very center of the courtyard. A sense of awe overcame William as he gazed up at the tree towering above him. It reminded him of the giant redwoods in California. The unusual ceiba tree rose straight up, without any branches along the body of its trunk, and then stretched out like a huge leafy umbrella at the top. William felt mesmerized by the tree. He reached over and touched its bark, running his hands across the big thorns; they looked like oversized chocolate kisses. William smiled, as a peaceful feeling swept over his mood.

  “You two need some time alone?” Betty asked with a smirk. Her eyes grew when she saw the red gem glowing on his chest. “William, what’s with your necklace?”

  “Oh, wow!” he said, snapping his hand away from the tree. The glow faded as he returned to Betty’s side.

  “Okay, that was weird,” Betty said, and then noticed the servants waving at her to follow. “I guess they’re taking us to our rooms now.”

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” William said. “Yax mentioned something about a ball game later today. That should be cool to see.”

  “Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes up. “I’m down this way if you need me,” she pointed to the hallway on her right that led deep into the palace. “Your room is straight ahead… same as the King, you big-shot.”

  William shrugged. “Try to rest, okay?”

  Betty came near with a secretive look. “Actually, I could really use a swim,” she whispered. “I thought I’d sneak off to that cenote down the road… where I bandaged your feet, remember? You want to come?”

  “Are you kidding? I don’t think that would be a good idea, Betty. We should stay here where it’s safe.”

  Betty groaned. “I haven’t gone swimming for days. It helps me to relax.”

  William grabbed her forearm. “It’s dangerous. Promise you won’t go.”

  She sighed, nodded, and left with her head down, sulking like a kid who had just been ordered to bed. When William returned to his room, an elderly lady was there waiting for him. She showed him various articles of clothing that he could wear and pointed at the jug by his bed, gesturing that he could drink from it.

  William told her that he understood, and the servant shuffled off, leaving him alone, at last. He sat on his bed and let out a heavy sigh, worrying about how to get home. Thoughts of his mother surfaced again, bringing on a wave of desperation. If only he could tell her that he was okay.

  He took a drink from the jug, trying to clear his thoughts, focusing on the pleasant lime-flavored water in his mouth.

  The sound of a spark—like a match being lit—made him jump. He snapped his head to the left and saw Teshna standing in the corner of the room. She had just ignited the end of a stick from one of the burning torches.

  William’s jaw dropped upon noticing Teshna’s figure; she had a sash around her waist that accentuated her curves. Her headdress was missing, allowing her long black hair to flow across her shoulders and back.

  “How long have you been there?” he asked in Yucatec-Maya.

  Teshna smiled. “Not long,” she said. She moved to the figurine of
a Maize god on the stone table in the corner of the room and held the burning stick behind it. The smell of incense filled the room. She raised the burning stick near her mouth and blew it out with a single breath.

  Teshna retrieved a small wooden box near the incense burner and brought it to William. She sat beside him as she handed him the box, studying his expression as he opened it.

  “Oh, it’s my watch,” he said, but paid no attention to it. He preferred to undress the Princess with his eyes.

  Teshna frowned, appearing frustrated that he wasn’t more interested in his watch. She reached into the box, pulled out the watch, and pushed it into his hands.

  William latched the watch onto his left wrist, while gazing into her intense brown eyes. She was exotic and beautiful. He felt the urge to kiss her and began to lean her way.

  Teshna stood and said, “Uts k’in, Balam.” She made her way to the door.

  “Uts k’in, Teshna.”

  She turned with a smile and winked as she left the room.

  William collapsed on his bed, wondering what that was all about. He felt a little guilty for wanting to make a move on her when he still had a girlfriend. However, it occurred to him that from his current position Jennifer had not even been born yet. So technically, William decided with a grin, he was a free agent in that time period.

  While lying there, he detected heat coming from the red gem resting on his chest. He snatched it up, studying it more carefully. The red stone was attached to the necklace by a jade setting that looked like an eagle’s claw grasping it. While gazing into its reddish glow, the morning’s events flashed through William’s head like a slide show. He heard Mayan dialogue churning over in his mind, and he repeated the new words he had learned that day until he drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Five

  Flutes, drums, and rattles echoed through the palace hallways, waking William from his afternoon nap. After pulling on his sandals and adjusting his awkward headdress, he ran into the Serpent Priest in the hallway. Priest Quisac told William that he would assist him by interpreting.

  “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting there too long,” William said, as they walked down the hallway toward the courtyard.

  “Too long?” Priest Quisac asked, not quite understanding.

  “You know… a long time,” William said. He could see that a large crowd had gathered in the courtyard ahead, and he really wasn’t in the mood to be around so many people just after waking up. He rubbed his eyes to wipe the sleepy look off his face.

  “Time is time,” the Serpent Priest said. “It is neither long nor short. It is exactly what it must be in the context of our baktun.”

  “Sounds to me like you did have to wait a long time,” William said.

  The Serpent Priest let loose a rare chuckle, studying William for a moment. “You have a humorous spirit Balam, yet you portray it in a subtle manner. I find that most amusing.”

  They entered the palace courtyard where dozens of Mayan nobles mingled about in scattered groups. The women were preoccupied with buying and selling jewelry, cocoa beans, and feathers of every imaginable color. The men bartered with the merchant traders for weapons and hunting instruments. They all stopped and stared at William when he entered, making him feel conscientious of his every step. He spotted Yax and his hot sister standing on a platform above the courtyard, and he waved to them as he approached.

  “Good evening, Balam,” Yax said. “Did you rest well?”

  William nodded with a smile.

  “We are enjoying music and conversation before leaving to the ballcourt,” Teshna said. She studied William, her eyes rolling up and down his frame. “How are your injuries?”

  William didn’t quite understand her fast dialogue, and he looked to Priest Quisac for help. The Serpent Priest repeated what she had just said, with images of William’s sore feet appearing in his mind as he spoke.

  William looked back to Teshna. “Oh, yes my feet are much better. Thank you.”

  “Do you enjoy the ball games, Balam?” Yax asked.

  “Oh, yes I like ball games,” he said, remembering how his high school soccer team had made it to the state playoffs the year before. “I used to play back home, but I have never seen…”

  An argument between several nobles arose near in the courtyard, interrupting their conversation. A merchant bickered over a particular transaction, and he would not release the spear decorated in quetzal feathers. It escalated into a tug-of-war over the item in question. Yax motioned to one of his guards to take care of it. He waited for the conflict to calm down before turning his attention back to William; he looked like a kid admiring his favorite sports hero. “I am not surprised to hear that you are also a ball player. You must tell me about all your victories.”

  “I believe the games are played differently in his land,” the Serpent Priest said, while his eyes rolled back in his head. William figured that Priest Quisac had just seen images of him playing soccer in his mind.

  “Yes, Priest Quisac,” Yax said, annoyed. “I am aware that the rules differ from land to land. Yet we play the games to honor the gods. Is this not so, Balam?”

  William felt frustrated that he couldn’t completely follow the conversation. But he figured it couldn’t be too important if they were just talking about games, and so he just nodded. He looked around the room, wondering where Betty was. “Where is Bati?” he asked.

  Yax instructed a servant to go look for her.

  “What is your relationship to Bati?” Teshna asked William, with a hint of jealousy on her face.

  Priest Quisac shot a suspicious look her way, raising his grey eyebrows. Teshna responded with a demure smile, like a girl caught stealing candy.

  “I have no relationship with Bati,” William said with the same assurance as a husband explaining his pretty secretary to his wife. He wanted Teshna to be aware of his availability. “We only met some days ago, when I… helped her out of a tough situation. We’ve been traveling together since then.”

  The Serpent Priest reiterated William’s dialogue, selecting different words than he had to better convey the message. The translation process also helped William to further learn their dialect and expressions.

  Teshna let loose a smile, displaying her jewel-embedded teeth. It occurred to William that all the Mayan nobles had similar dental work. He recalled reading how it was a fashion trend with the Maya in those days, and he grimaced, wondering how they went about drilling the little gems into their teeth without the modern dental tools they had in his time.

  William shifted his attention to the large crowd in the courtyard. “Who are all these people here?” he asked Priest Quisac.

  The Serpent Priest studied the gathered nobles. “Some are related by blood. The men over there—who stare at you with such reverence—were to be taken to the altar after the King. Others included in the royal assembly are merchants, master artisans, and the captains of the royal guard.”

  As Priest Quisac gestured to the royal guards, William spotted a young captain—close to his own age—with ripped biceps, and wearing a creative headdress that utilized part of a crocodile’s jaw. The buff warrior noticed his attention and locked eye contact with William, casting an angry stare his way. It evolved into an all out staring contest to see who would back down. William gave the guy a cocky salute. Caught off guard by the gesture, the young captain looked away, and William returned his attention to the Serpent Priest.

  “Are you finished?” Priest Quisac asked with a scowl, having observed the interaction with the Captain.

  William nodded, taken down a notch, like being reprimanded by his mother. “Who are those two?” William asked, while pointing at the men in the corner. They were painted like zebras with tall headdresses.

  “They are priests,” the Serpent Priest said.

  “Priests like you?” William asked. He recalled seeing the priests before, dragging the captives up the pyramid steps to be sacrificed. He wondered how they could still be trusted
in the new hierarchy.

  Teshna leaned forward. “They do not possess the powers of a Serpent Priest,” she said, and then gave Priest Quisac a surreptitious glance. “But at least they do as they are told.”

  “Do not fear, Balam,” Priest Quisac said. “They are trustworthy. The priests merely see to the adherence of our rituals and ceremonies. Yet they lack understanding of the cosmic plan.”

  When the Serpent Priest mentioned the cosmic plan, William visualized a brilliant light at the center of the galaxy casting a radiant energy toward Earth. In that brief moment, he witnessed a flash of Earth’s evolution—life springing up and developing in a montage of scattered images. The bloodstone tingled and glowed on his chest. He shook his head, trying to return his focus to the reality around him. With a bewildered expression left hanging on his face, William marveled at Priest Quisac’s ability to cast images like that, and he wondered what made him so unique. It occurred to William that the Serpent Priest also looked different than the others; his skin was a lighter shade, his nose seemed narrower, and his cheek bones sat lower on his face.

  The servant reentered from the hallway and explained that Bati could not be found in the palace. William rolled his eyes, concerned that she probably snuck off to the cenote for a swim, even after he had warned her to stay away. But he didn’t want to get Betty in trouble, so he kept quiet about it.

  The low-pitched bellows of seashell trumpets outside the palace caught everyone’s attention. “At long last, the games are to begin!” Yax cheered.

  The music in the courtyard abruptly ended, and the chatter of the royal assembly ceased, when Honac-Fey—the charismatic Mayan with a diamond-shaped tattoo on his forehead—entered the room and made his way to the King. On his shoulder perched a beautiful owl; it was mostly white, except for the blue highlights around its eyes and tips of its feathers. The owl flew off upon his command, taking temporary residence on a branch high up in the ceiba tree. Upon reaching the King, Honac-Fey bowed.