by Lani Forbes
“Do you know what you are going to do to display your power?”
“I have an idea. But it’s a little risky,” Mayana said.
“I wanted to know if you’d help me with mine.” Yemania shuffled her feet and didn’t meet Mayana’s eyes.
She needed to display her ability to heal …
“That depends.” Mayana involuntarily leaned away from the princess of Pahtia. She could barely handle pricking her own finger to bring forth blood. A sudden image of Yemania driving a spear through her stomach and then healing her to great applause popped into her head.
“It won’t be much. If you go before me, just let me heal your hand. I’m not trying to impress anyone. I just need to show that I am a descendant of Ixtlilton.”
Mayana’s instinct to avoid pain warred with her instinct to help. Yemania’s eyes opened wide to implore her.
“As long as you promise to heal it as fast as you possibly can.” Mayana gave a great, exaggerated sigh.
Yemania beamed.
“I mean it. Have your blood ready the second I make the cut.” Mayana smiled and the relief on Yemania’s face was tangible.
“Ladies, it is time.” Atanzah’s voice echoed down the hall, her hands clapping a quick little beat.
“Are you ready?” she asked Yemania, squeezing the other girl’s hand for a moment.
“No.” Yemania gave her head a quick little shake.
“Me either, but it’s happening whether we like it or not.” Mayana swept the curtain aside and they took their places at the end of the line of princesses waiting in the hall.
Mayana immediately scanned the faces of the other noble daughters, taking in their postures, their expressions, anything to give her a clue as to what to expect from them. Yemania took a step behind her as though she were hoping Mayana could conceal her.
The princess in green chatted animatedly with another of the girls. Mayana assumed the first was Teniza, from Xol’s home city. He had not exaggerated her beauty. Her long dark hair flowed freely down her back, set with small pink flowers at regular intervals. The blooms, paired with the bright-green color of her form-fitting dress, made her resemble a fresh jungle flower shooting right up through the earth. Her willowy height intimidated Mayana more than anything. She towered over the rest of them, a tree over sproutlings.
The princess of Ocelotl exuded a wild energy. She wore bits of a jaguar pelt that barely covered her most intimate secrets, and her long dark hair was pulled up into a severe style that accentuated the pronounced features of her face. A thick black stripe of paint covered her eyes and ran across the bridge of her nose, but the way her eyes darted back and forth reminded Mayana of a predator scanning for easy prey. She certainly didn’t seem to mind showing as much of herself as possible.
Behind her, lounging against the wall, was the daughter of Papatlaca, City of the Volcano. Her dark hair was cut to her shoulders with a short harsh fringe across her forehead. Shiny black beads of obsidian dangled from a black toucan-feather headdress and blended almost seamlessly into her hair. The effect cast a shadow over her dark, brooding eyes. She was dressed in all black and twirled a long shard of fire glass between her fingers. A ring of polished obsidian pierced her bottom lip. She fixed Mayana with a glare, and Yemania squeaked behind her. Mayana stiffened and tried to hold her gaze without blinking. The corner of the girl’s mouth ticked up in a slight smirk before she turned away.
Mayana wondered where the last princess was. Then the purple curtain next to them fluttered. A tiny wisp of a girl, a full head shorter than Mayana, took her place in line ahead of Mayana. She looked as though a single gust of wind might carry her away like a feather, which Mayana guessed was appropriate, considering she hailed from Ehecatl, the city of wind and storms. Shells from the sea dangled around her neck and encrusted the headpiece she wore, a nod to her city-state’s location on the coast. Mayana felt an urge to protect her … until she saw her face. The girl’s delicate features betrayed a fierceness Mayana had not expected from one so small. Mayana took an involuntary step back the moment their gazes collided. Lightning crackled from her eyes, and the hair on Mayana’s arms stood up. She held her head high with a sense of regality bordering on condescension, as though the other girls were beneath her notice entirely.
Mayana took a deep, steadying breath. All of the princesses exuded a sense of confidence, though whether true or staged she could not tell. She pitied poor Yemania. No wonder she had approached Mayana instead of one of the others. At the same time, did that mean Mayana seemed weaker? Softer than the others? She hoped that wasn’t true.
“Yemania, what do you know of the princesses?” Mayana whispered over her shoulder. She assumed that because Yemania’s family visited the other city-states so frequently as healers that she would know a lot more about them.
“Just what I’ve heard from my aunts and uncles.” Yemania scooted a little closer so that her lips were nearly at Mayana’s ear. “Ocelotl is horrible, from what I can tell. They value strength and power, like animals do, and they train their children in gladiatorial combat from a young age. They are required to fight to weed out the weak. I heard that Zorrah killed her own older sister in one of their competitions.”
Mayana’s heart leapt into her throat as she took in the lean muscle and feral energy of the animal princess walking in front of her. She hadn’t noticed before, but now she could see an abundance of scars marring the girl’s beautiful tanned skin. Mayana felt a stab of pity. How awful to grow up in such a world. This girl must have faced competition her entire life, and here she was in another competition.
“I don’t know much about Teniza, the princess of Millacatl, other than the fact that her family is incredibly wealthy,” Yemania continued. Mayana snorted at that. Everyone knew Millacatl practically bathed in their wealth, not to mention used it to gain as much influence as possible. Her father said they were always bribing the royal family of Tollan for favors.
“I also don’t know much about the princess from Papatlaca. I don’t even know her name, to be honest, and seeing her in person, I’m not sure I want to.”
“Why is that?” Mayana asked.
“Well, look at her.”
Mayana frowned at that. The princess from the mountain of fire did seem intimidating, but something about her drew Mayana in. She exuded a sense of protected sadness that made Mayana want to reach out and take her hand.
“My uncle Ataro said she always kept to herself. That she was very isolated and didn’t like to mingle. I think something happened to her as a child, but I don’t remember what. But they’re vicious out there in the mountains. He told me that they are a little overzealous about the sacrifices, that they keep him busy with how much he has to heal.”
Mayana’s stomach turned at the thought. She turned the topic of conversation away from sacrifices. “What about the princess from Ehecatl?”
Yemania’s face went dark at the mention of the City of Storms. Her eyes narrowed at the back of the tiny wind princess marching ahead of them. “Surely your family is familiar with the issues surrounding Ehecatl.”
“Well, I know they challenge the authority of Tollan. They’re extremely pious, aren’t they? That’s what I’ve heard my brothers discussing, anyway. They are obsessed with preparing for the return of Quetzalcoatl.” Mayana had always longed to visit Ehecatl and walk along its legendary beaches, to see the ocean, but her father would never allow it. He didn’t trust the royal family of Ehecatl at all.
“Their attitudes will get us all killed by the gods, if you ask me. Sanctimonious fanatics. I hope the marriage arrangement they announced with the prince’s sister will do something to help smooth the tensions.” Yemania shook her head slowly back and forth.
Mayana didn’t respond. She wondered if the prince’s advisors would promote this opportunity to strengthen the relationship with the City of Storms with yet another mar
riage. Hopefully the prince wouldn’t let politics influence his decision as much as his heart. She could practically hear her father’s laughter in the back of her head at the thought.
A thought suddenly occurred to her. “If the princess of Tollan does marry the storm prince, wouldn’t their child also have the power to control the sun? Doesn’t the ability of the more powerful god always dominate over the lesser when our bloods are mixed?”
“Yes,” Yemania answered. “But Ahkin is older and his children will continue to sit on the throne in Tollan, even if Metzi has children.”
Mayana lapsed into thoughtful silence. Could it really be wise to match a descendant of the sun god with Ehecatl? If the rebellious city also had someone capable of controlling the sun … She shook her head. Surely the council had already discussed such a scenario.
Heads poked out of doorways and windows to watch their procession through the palace. Atanzah stopped just before entering the room where the feast would be held and gathered them close around her with short frantic motions.
“You will wait here until called,” she whispered, her cheeks pink and eyes sparkling with excitement. “I will introduce you to the prince and his guests before you perform your demonstrations. After, you will join the prince on one of the empty cushions around him. He will lead us in a sacrifice before the feast begins.”
Mayana’s heart dropped at the mention of a sacrifice. At least she wouldn’t have to do it herself. Atanzah disappeared behind the hanging tapestry across the doorway and for the first time, the daughters of the noble families were alone together.
The tension in the air hung heavy, like the suffocating moisture of the jungles below Tollan’s volcanic perch. What did one say to the other young women determined to steal the heart of the prince and sentence you to death? Because that was the truth. Every set of eyes that met hers wished her dead. Yemania was, perhaps, the only exception. Part of Mayana wanted to curl in on herself like a scared dog, submissive and cowed in the face of superior beasts.
But a larger part of her refused to be viewed as a frightened little animal. She was the daughter of a lord, the descendant of an ancient and powerful goddess. No matter how she felt, she was not inferior. Mayana lifted her head high and squared her shoulders. She would not be intimidated by anyone.
Chapter
14
Ahkin was already supposed to be in the throne room waiting to greet the princesses, but instead he stood before the polished obsidian mirror in his chambers fidgeting with his father’s gold chestpiece. He longed to shrug it off his shoulders and throw it in a corner. It was a stupid, heavy thing. He considered going bare-chested to the welcoming feast, but he needed to make a good impression. A heavy sigh escaped through his lips. His mother would have known how to fix it.
Shame burned away his frustration. He had to stop questioning the will of the gods. His mother had done her duty and would be disappointed in him if he couldn’t do his. He was not supposed to miss her this much.
The beads dangling over the curtain to his room clattered, announcing the arrival of some unknown visitor. Ahkin finished positioning his golden adornments before turning to find his twin sister stretching herself out lazily along a wooden bench.
“Do we have to go?” she asked him, pouting out her lower lip.
“I know the feeling.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry you have to sit through this too.”
“Well, at least you get to decide who you are going to marry.”
“You’ve never even met the storm prince. Atanzah thinks you would be an excellent match.”
“Except that I had no say in a decision that determines the rest of my life.”
“Metzi …” An argument was the last thing Ahkin wanted to deal with moments before meeting his future wife.
She waved a flippant hand in his direction. “I know, I know. Spare me the lecture about how my marriage will save the kingdom.” Her sweet smile eased the tension that had started building in his chest.
Metzi was technically older than he was by about six minutes, but he was as protective of her as if she were a much younger sister. It didn’t help that her beauty was legendary throughout the kingdom. Ahkin frequently found himself glaring at warriors and servants, even council members, who let their gazes linger too long on her feminine curves. She was his sister, not an object of lust for the men of the kingdom to salivate over.
The long dark waves of her hair fell almost to the floor as she tipped her head over the edge of the bench. She looked at Ahkin upside down with a teasing smile.
“It’s alright. I’m used to doing as I’m told, even if I don’t like it. Maybe I’ll make a new friend. After all, one of them is going to be my new sister.”
Ahkin smiled warmly in return. He was happy to see her maintaining her innocent playfulness in spite of losing their parents and her own impending marriage. He had worried that the spark of mischief and joy within her might have been snuffed.
“Would you be terribly opposed to seating me by Yaotl at the feast? I love throwing corn kernels at him when he isn’t looking and watching him look around stupidly.”
“Metzi …” Ahkin arched an eyebrow at her.
“Oh, alright.” She flipped and propped herself up on her elbows, chin in her hands. “Seat me by Coatl. Then, at least, I can listen to his commentary. I’m sure he will have much to say about the noble daughters.”
“That I don’t doubt. When we were younger I swore he would get us whipped for his tongue. I haven’t spent as much time with him lately.” Ahkin yanked at the chestpiece again. “He’s been so busy since Father appointed him High Healer.”
“Leave it alone, it looks fine.”
Ahkin frowned at his sister.
“It does not look fine. All the gold makes me feel like I’m going to suffocate under it, and the weight keeps pulling it down too far.”
Metzi trilled a laugh like the song of a canopy bird. Springing to her feet, she wrapped her arms around her twin brother and nuzzled against his neck.
“I love when you are so cheerful,” she teased.
Ahkin grumbled an incoherent response.
“Do you think you’ll fall in love with one of them at first sight?” Metzi leaned back and looked at him, but her eyes were distant and dreamy.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged out of her hug and she pouted again.
“Fine, I am going to find someone else who will be nicer to me.”
“No one is nicer than I am.” He crossed his arms across his chest and deepened his frown at her.
She broke into another peal of laughter at the look on his face before kissing his cheek and skipping from the room.
“Whoever she is, I hope she likes her husband grumpy,” she called as she went.
Ahkin rolled his eyes and returned to fidgeting with his infuriating chestpiece.
“Your highness?” Toani, the priest, appeared through the curtain.
Ahkin gave up on the chestpiece and decided he didn’t care about it anymore.
Sighing, he turned to his advisor. His stomach dropped at the worry lines creasing the old man’s face.
“I have read some most interesting signs and am honestly disturbed by what I am seeing. Are you reading the signs as well, my prince?”
“I’m trying to. The stars are being rather reluctant to divulge their secrets.”
“I have found the same to be true.” The dark crescents under Toani’s eyes suggested he had been up all night studying.
“I keep seeing signs that chaos rises like the sun—that danger waits for us. But I cannot tell what kind of danger it is.” Ahkin threw himself down onto the bench Metzi had just vacated. He rubbed a hand over his chest, under the golden jewelry.
“Did—have you—noticed the sun seems to be setting earlier than usual?” Toani sounded nervous. Ahkin stopped rubbing his c
hest and looked up.
“I have.”
“You know the sun dies each night and travels through the layers of the underworld. Each morning, your blood brings it back to life and nourishes it so it may continue on its journey.”
“Yes, yes, I know.” Ahkin waved his hand impatiently. Toani had lectured him for years on the journey of the sun and the emperor’s role in that journey.
“Perhaps the sun is getting tired?” Toani suggested. “Your family is many generations descended from the sun god himself, and your blood has become mixed with the blood of other gods. Maybe it is losing its strength?”
Ahkin could do little to quell the panic that raced through him. His heart thudded so hard he was surprised the chestpiece did not twitch in response. Was Toani suggesting he wasn’t strong enough to raise the sun?
“What could we do if that were true?”
“Let us not panic just yet,” Toani said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “We do not know for sure. If darkness is, in fact, the next apocalypse, the signs will become clearer.”
Ahkin shrugged out from under the older man’s hand.
“The emperor is dead. I am about to have the daughters of our noble families sacrificed. The Nemontemi is in ten days, an eclipse is set to happen next month. Now you tell me the sun may be dying because my blood is not strong enough—and you ask me to remain calm?”
The priest gazed at Ahkin with sorrow in his eyes.
“I am afraid you will go down in history as one of our unluckiest emperors. There is nothing that can be done except follow the codex and wait for the gods to decide our fates.”
“I will not give up so easily. I will find a way to stop this and save our people. Mark my words.”
Toani sighed.
“You are so young, and your spirit speaks to the warrior within you. But some battles cannot be fought on our layer of creation.”
“You said yourself we can’t be sure what the signs indicate.”
“That is true. I hope for all of our sakes that I am wrong. In the meantime, let us continue on with what we know for sure, and we know you need a wife.”