Tizoc! I had to get aboard. I’m here.
No response. I looked back to the canoes. So far away. Had I really managed to swim that far?
Tizoc, please…
Again, his mind was silent.
My legs slowed their kicking as my body sunk into the water with fatigue. If I couldn’t get onto the Charlotte, I would drown before the canoes reached me. Tizoc and I both would die.
I kicked back to the surface, and as I sucked in a breath, a splash of water smacked my face. When I cleared my eyes, a rope drifted on the water’s surface in front of me. Yaretzi and Matlal leaned over the starboard rail, their hands on the line, waiting to pull me up. I reached out and wound the rope securely around my forearms, giving it a taut yank to signal I was ready. A few more heads appeared at the rail, and with a painful jerk at my arms, I was hauled out of the water.
As I neared the rail, Acalon reached over and grabbed onto my arms. With one final pull, I was hoisted onto the Charlotte at last. Acalon gently placed me on the deck where I lay for a moment, inhaling the musky scent of the wooden boards beneath me.
Daniel pushed past Acalon to kneel beside me. “Charlie…”
I crawled into his lap, and Daniel brushed my wet hair aside. He pulled me closer to his chest. His body was so warm and safe. I wanted to stay in his embrace forever, but Tizoc filled my mind.
As if sensing my thoughts, Daniel cupped my face in his hand and kissed the tip of my wet nose. Wordlessly—for the kiss said most of what needed to be said—he helped me to my feet and led me to the ladder.
“He’s down below.” Daniel traced my cheek with his index finger. “Citlali and Yaoti are with him, doing what they can, but he needs you. I have to get back to the helm before Itzli loses the wind.” We both looked to the wheel where Eréndira’s mate was wrestling with nature, trying to keep the sails full.
“We should sail out a bit farther,” I began, “and then slow down so the canoes can catch up. There are several canoes full of Sunal, which I know we don’t have the room for, but maybe we can rig something so we can pull them behind us? I don’t know. All I do know is Zolin risked his life for me, and we have to do what we can for them.”
“Agreed.” Daniel’s eyes were so blue, his face still full of concern.
I stepped closer to him and rested my hands on his hips. “I’m all right. I know what I did was stu—”
“Incredibly brave.” He gave me a tight squeeze as he pressed a kiss to my lips. “Tizoc didn’t let me die. We can’t let him. Go.”
I descended the ladder to the small accommodations below deck, dripping water as I went. Tizoc was curled up on the bunk Daniel had built into the portside wall of the cabin. Sweat coated his forehead. He trembled in fever, in pain. Yaoti took my hand and tugged me over to Tizoc. He pressed his son’s hand into mine and looked at me with the desperation of a father whose heart was in a million pieces. Citlali stepped back from her post at Tizoc’s side, her woeful dark eyes searching for hope in my face.
Swallowing with great difficulty, I sat on the edge of the bunk and rested my free hand on Tizoc’s cheek. His eyes fluttered open, but the beautiful golden glint was gone. Instead, his eyes were a sickly yellow, haunting and afraid. Somehow, though, a weak smile drifted over his lips.
Cihuapilli, his mind whispered to mine.
“Shh…” I caressed his cheek. “Let’s see how bad this is.” I let go of his hand and turned my attention to Matlal’s blood-soaked vest still serving as bandage to his wound. I slowly, carefully, peeled the cloth away, and Tizoc sucked in a breath at the pain. He pulled his legs up closer to his chest and grabbed onto my arm.
“Easy.” I placed my palm on his arm. “Don’t move so suddenly.” Turning to Yaoti I said, “I’ll need some water, clean cloths, some fishing line, a needle, and a knife. I think Daniel’s got one.”
Yaoti dashed out to acquire the requested items. Citlali moved closer to her son again and spoke to me in a voice so soft I wasn’t certain she had spoken aloud.
“Cihuapilli, I don’t know what to do for this kind of wound. Can you save him?”
“I’ve tended my brothers’ injuries, but this one is serious. We need to get that bullet out and close up the hole.”
“How is he?” Xochitl had come down the ladder.
“We’ll know soon enough.” Looking to Citlali’s weary eyes and shaking hands, I glanced at Xochitl. “Care to be my assistant?”
“Of course.” Xochitl stepped into the cabin. “Tell me what to do.”
Citlali made room for her daughter to stand beside me. Yaoti appeared back in the cabin, his hands full of what I had asked him to get. Laying all the supplies out before me, I instructed Xochitl to mop Tizoc’s brow and try to cool him down with a wet cloth. She did as asked while I lit a candle next to the bunk. Taking the knife, I held it in the flame for several minutes, turning it around so all angles got exposed to the heat. I let it cool for a moment, hoping the blade was sanitary enough for what I was about to do with it.
I swabbed at Tizoc’s lower back with a damp cloth, exposing the injury. More blood pooled up from the hole in his torso, and I caught it with a dry piece of cloth. Taking the knife, I sent Tizoc all the energy I could muster before inserting the knife tip into the wound.
He let out a howl, his whole body tensing up as I probed his side with the knife blade, searching for the bullet.
“Hold him steady,” I told Xochitl.
She clamped her hands down on his shoulders, trying to immobilize and comfort at the same time.
A mumbled moan filled the cabin as I mined for the bullet. By this time, I had crawled up onto the bunk using the weight of my own body to hold Tizoc’s legs down so he wouldn’t crunch them up to his chest.
Finally, after multiple tries and several blood-drenched cloths, the knife hit something metal. Burrowing a bit deeper, I eased the knife tip under the bullet and extracted it.
“Got it.” I dropped the ball of lead into a tin cup on the small table beside the bunk. “Here, hold this while I thread the needle.” I put Xochitl’s palm over a new piece of cloth I had applied to Tizoc’s back.
Somehow my own hands were steady enough to guide the fishing line through the needle. “Bear with me a bit more, Tizoc.”
When I looked at him, his face had gone slack. He had passed out. Probably for the best.
Gently guiding Xochitl’s hand away, I set to work on sewing the wound closed. The actual hole was quite small and was quickly sealed with a tight zigzag stitch. The blood flowing from the wound lessened, and I tore off another piece of cloth to use as a bandage. Wrapping it around Tizoc’s torso several times, I tied it in place and slid off the bunk to stand next to Xochitl.
Looking down at Tizoc’s blood staining my hands, my body quaked, the cast iron nerves of the moment lost. The room swirled before my vision, and Citlali and Xochitl guided me back to the bunk.
“Let’s get her hands cleaned off,” Xochitl said in a voice that sounded far away and tinny.
I was vaguely aware of water being poured, and my hands being dunked into it. Felt someone scrubbing at them. Drying them off.
“Charlie,” Citlali said. “Are you all right, Cihuapilli?”
I managed a nod as I gazed at my washed hands. Looking over my shoulder at Tizoc, I said quietly, “The question is, is he?”
****
Citlali and I spent most of the night by Tizoc’s bedside. He developed a brutal fever that had him sweating and shivering into the late morning hours. Several times I thought we had lost him, but something kept him with us.
I awoke with an annoying ache in my neck from falling asleep on a stool with my upper body leaning forward onto the bunk. I was alone with Tizoc. Thankfully, he was neither soaked with perspiration nor shaking with cold. His skin was more like its usual brown silk.
Getting up from the stool and rubbing my eyes, I winced a little at the stiffness of my body. My muscles had been pushed beyond their limits yesterday as I s
wam from the canoe to the Charlotte. Shaking my head at my own actions—what was I thinking?—I padded over to the washbasin and splashed some water on my face. As I finished drying off, something soft brushed up against my ankle. I set the towel aside, and Ghost came to sit at my feet, his tail wrapped neatly around his front paws. Angling his head at me, his big blue eyes waited patiently for something.
“Come to see how he’s doing, have you?” I picked Ghost up and placed him on the end of the bunk. The cat sniffed at Tizoc’s toes, rubbing his cheeks on the biggest before slinking up to his head. Tizoc’s back rose and fell with an easy rhythm. A good sign.
I kneeled on the bed and checked the cloth bandage. There didn’t appear to be any new stains of his blood. Another good sign.
As I eased off the bunk, Ghost discovered Tizoc’s ear and licked it clean with his sandpapery tongue. I was about to shoo him away when a groan slipped past Tizoc’s lips.
He straightened his legs out and brought one of his hands up to his head. I froze where I was, waiting for the eyes. Waiting for the eyes to open and tell me his true condition.
“Cihuapilli?” Tizoc rasped, lifting his head up.
“Right here.” I sat on the small stool beside the bed. “How are you?”
He slipped his hand over mine. The moment his skin touched me, I knew. His eyes opened and the sun-fire gaze flared at me, heavy lids blinking over the gold.
He was back.
“You…” he said, his voice still scratchy, “you saved me.”
I turned my hand around so our fingers intertwined. Tizoc smiled, but his brows creased as he shifted to his back to see me better.
“Sorry. There’s nothing I can do about the pain,” I said.
Squeezing my hand, he shook his head. “You have done enough. The pain is not that bad considering someone put a hole in me.” He drew in a deep breath then focused his eyes on me again. “How did you know what to do?”
“After my mother died, I was the one to take care of my father and brothers when they were home. If they got sick or hurt, I went to the library in Southampton and figured out how to help. I wasn’t going to lose them as I had lost my mother. Among other topics, I read about gun wounds, hoping I’d never have a need for that knowledge, but here we are. I’m glad it worked.”
“Me too.” Tizoc moved, his entire face wrinkling in pain. “What happened on the beach? You didn’t come with me to the Charlotte.”
“No.” I fiddled with the thin blanket covering the bunk. I told him the rest.
“You swam to this boat?” Tizoc said.
“Yes.” I swiped at one of the tears that had escaped onto my cheek. Tizoc propped himself up on one elbow and freed his hand from mine to brush at a few more tears chasing the first one.
“Don’t cry, Charlie,” he said. “You are a warrior. You’ve proven it more than once in the last few days.”
“It’s one thing to dress as a male and sail across the ocean. It’s entirely another to dress as a warrior and…”
“Kill,” Tizoc finished.
I buried my face in my hands. Tizoc stroked my hair as I leaned my forehead against the edge of the bunk.
“You must remember, Cihuapilli, you only killed to save other lives. That makes a difference.” Tizoc lifted my chin so our eyes locked. “It makes such a difference.”
He was right, but the images of driving spears into Spaniards were not going to fade quickly.
“Anybody hungry down there?” Daniel descended the ladder. He set a small basket of fruit down on the bunk. “How are you?”
“Better,” Tizoc replied. “Much better, thanks to Charlie.”
Daniel threw his arm around my shoulders, squeezing me against him. “We should keep her then?” He dropped a kiss on my forehead before releasing me. As soon as he stepped away, I wanted him back close again.
“Most definitely.” Tizoc eased back down onto the bunk. “My family? The other canoes?”
“Your family is above deck, keeping an eye out, trimming sails, steering, and so on. Giving them jobs to do helps them rein in the worry. The other canoes have been tied together and tethered to the Charlotte so we can tow them behind us.”
“Excellent idea.” Tizoc exhaled a strained breath as he repositioned again.
“Eat some of this.” Daniel held out pieces of an apple that had been sliced. “You lost a great deal of blood and will need to rebuild your strength.”
Tizoc took an apple slice and nibbled on it.
“We should go and send the others down. They’ll want to see that Tizoc is well,” I said.
“Then he should rest,” Daniel added. “It won’t take long to get to Florida in this wind.”
“I’ll come back later,” I said over my shoulder as I hopped onto the ladder after Daniel.
Tizoc winked an amber eye at me. Thank God, or the gods, or whoever, he was here for me to come back to. If he had died during the night, a piece of me would have died along with him. Our connection went far beyond our minds.
Our very souls were linked.
****
Tizoc’s family went down to visit him in small groups as Daniel and I manned the Charlotte. It felt good to be aboard a ship again, the warm breeze caressing my face, the sea air filling my lungs. We had looked back in the direction of Ezenoch only once. Although we had been relieved to find that no Spaniards pursued us, the orange-red glow of fire and the thick, smoky clouds rising up from the land were heartbreaking. There would be nothing left of the great Sunal city when the morning sun had reached its pinnacle in the sky. The Spaniards and their heartless leader, Salazar, would claim victory with their stolen riches while the Sunal suffered. Such a beautiful paradise lost over gold and gems.
Daniel’s arm slipped around my waist as I leaned against the portside rail. His touch always made the gloomy thoughts scatter.
“Mmm.” His throat rumbled next to my ear. “Now this feels right, doesn’t it?”
“This feels exactly right.” I leaned my head back so it rested on his shoulder. “She’s a fine vessel, Daniel. Well built and reliable. Like you.”
His chuckle was soft, his breath tickling my neck. He turned me around so I faced him, our eyes locking onto one another’s. I studied his face for a moment, taking in the triangle of freckles on his right cheek, the light brown stubble along his jaw and around his mouth, and the deep blue of his eyes.
Reaching my hands up, I clasped them behind his neck, some of my fingers exploring farther up into his hair. His hand followed the same path on me and soon was good and tangled in my loose tresses. When Daniel leaned closer and found my lips with his, I dined on him, filling myself with his taste and relishing his touch. The kiss grew heated, and my heart drummed in my chest as I pushed aside all the horrors we had witnessed. I focused on that moment, letting him explore my lips, my cheeks, my neck, until I forgot where we were. I lost myself in him and didn’t care to be found any time soon. A satisfied sigh told me he felt the same.
We kissed for a bit longer before a sudden gust of wind caused the Charlotte to heel. The tipping of the boat sent Daniel’s body forward so he pressed against me. All of our edges touched. I squeezed him closer still, and he nibbled on my ear before straightening himself, allowing some space between us. He ran his finger along my cheek, and I instantly wanted him to touch me everywhere.
I wasn’t sure how much longer I could wait to become Daniel’s wife.
Chapter Thirty-four
December/January
Agreeable winds and favorable weather carried us northeast with little incident. The other Sunal had moved onto a smaller sloop, the Swell, we managed to pick up at a brief stop on shore along the way. We traded some gold the Sunal had brought for it. Matlal and Yaretzi moved to that boat because it needed captaining, and Matlal had proven to be the quickest learner as well as the one most interested in sailing.
While I was first mate to Daniel and taking turns at the helm, Xochitl, so round with child by now, tended to Ti
zoc when I could not be with him. He’d tried healing himself as he had healed Daniel, but his injured and weakened physique wouldn’t allow it. Unfortunately, he had to get better the old-fashioned way.
In the evenings, before I went to sleep under the stars with Daniel by my side, I visited Tizoc.
“Cihuapilli, I feel awful taking up this cabin while you have to sleep outside on wooden floor boards,” Tizoc said one night when I went to see him.
“Don’t.” I waved my hand in dismissal. “There’s something about sleeping under the blanket of the night sky that agrees with me. Besides, I slept on the floor of the Rose when I sailed from England.”
Tizoc flashed a bright white smile at me. “My family calls you Cihuapilli, yet you are more daring than any princess I’ve ever known.”
“And how many princesses have you known?” I helped Tizoc get to his feet. He had been trying to walk around more. Each night he walked with more stability. He leaned on me less and looked more like the warrior I knew.
When he didn’t answer my question right away, I paused at the top of the ladder, waiting for him to steady himself on the top deck.
“Well?” I said. “How many?”
He drew in a deep breath and stretched in a cat-like fashion. Holding onto my arm for support, Tizoc navigated us over to the starboard bow. When we got to the railing, he transferred his hand to the rail and set his honey-colored eyes on the moon.
“I’m waiting.” I poked him in the upper arm.
“All right,” he said around a grin. “My father was an official to the emperor, Charlie, so I’ve met several princesses. When looking for a mate, a Sunal princess sets her sights on only two things—a prince or a warrior. I am both.”
“I see.” A burning sensation soaked into my belly at the thought of a Sunal princess setting her sights on Tizoc. My Tizoc.
“There was one. Her name was Ixchell which means rainbow.” Tizoc lowered his eyes from the moon to look out over the silver shimmers on the water. “We got along well and spent a great deal of time together.”
Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book) Page 28