Obsidian & Blood
Page 115
“Not any more,” she hissed, lunging at me, claws extended to tear my heart out. My wards shook, but did not yield. “He's mine, priest. Do you think I'd say this lightly?”
“You are dead,” I said. “Nothing is yours any more.”
“I gave my life to bring him into the world,” the Haunting Mother said. “I bled on the reed mat, and bled, until there was no blood left, but he lived. I won. Let me have him.”
My heart missed a beat. “He's Xoco's child, and Yaotl's.”
She laughed again. “Yaotl's, yes. But Xoco's barren. How they thought they could dupe me, begetting a child on me, and thinking to take him as their own.”
I rose, came closer to her, until I could see her eyes. “What were you, when you were alive?” I whispered.
“I was a slave in this house,” she said. She made no move towards me now, but I was not fooled. The inhuman hunger still filled her eyes. “Chimalli's mine.”
“He's not yours, Nenetl,” a voice said.
I turned, and saw Xoco in the doorway. Her face was ice.
“Did you think death would stop me?” the Mother asked.
Xoco's eyes were expressionless. “I'd hoped so. But it seems sluts like you can't have the grace to die.”
“You killed me. Don't you think I knew what the potion was, that you fed me? Don't you think I wouldn't understand that?” she hissed, and lunged, not at Chimalli, but at Xoco. I had guessed this, and had started running; I took her full weight on myself. Her hands carved grooves into the skin of my arms, and a searing pain filled my body.
“You shouldn't be here,” I said, still trying to comprehend what had happened. “You were poisoned. You didn't die in childbirth.”
“Fool,” she said. I could not see anything but her gaze: blue, bloodshot eyes still filled with that intense hunger, the one she had kept her returning to Chimalli, night after night. “Her poison didn't kill me. But it was enough – enough to weaken me during the birth. And so she won.”
“You have no place here,” I repeated.
“Let me pass.”
I held on, grimly, feeling my muscles on the verge of yieldling. Pain sang within me, demanding to be acknowledged, but I did not give in. “He's your child, but that doesn't mean you can take him into death.”
“She killed me,” the Mother hissed.
“I know,” I said, still trying to come to terms with the enormity of what Xoco had done. “But do you truly think Chimalli can go where you are?”
“He's my child,” she whispered. She was folding back on herself, almost sobbing. “They told him lies, that he was the son of a great warrior and of a noble lady. That both his parents were still alive. And he believes them. He'll grow up believing them. He knows nothing of me.”
“Look,” I said, gently. “Look at him, Nenetl.”
Something in my voice could still reach her, wherever the woman Nenetl had retreated. She turned, staring at the hollow-eyed boy by my side, his arms reaching out towards her, beseeching. But there was no love on the face. There was nothing.
“Where you take him,” I said, “he won't grow. He'll dwindle away until he's skin stretched over bones, and then bones, and then nothing. He won't play with his toys. He won't run in the courtyard.”
“No,” she whispered. “I am his mother. I know what is best for him. I won't be forgotten.”
“He'll never be a warrior, never be a priest, never make you proud. He'll never kiss you or tell you how much he loves you. There's no love in the underworld.”
“No,” she said, weeping. “No. Please…”
“He won't grow up,” I whispered. “Do you love him so little, that you'd inflict this on him?”
Nenetl did not answer. “They haven't paid,” she said at last. “They paid nothing. They have their darling child and all's well. They have no remorse.”
“Then it's not about love,” I said. “It's about revenge, and hatred. Is that all you are?”
She turned her face towards me, her death's head with the skull beneath the translucent skin. “No,” she said. “I'm not that. I'm not that. Am I?” And it was the plea of a lost, bewildered girl.
I did not answer. I laid my hand on her shoulder, ignoring the wave of nausea that spread through me as my fingers gripped her flesh. “I'm sorry,” I said. “But this isn't the answer.”
Nenetl gazed back at her son, and then at Xoco, who stood watching her, her face expressionless.
“If you want her to go,” I said to Xoco, “you must make a promise. Tell the child who his mother was.”
“And that I killed her?” Not a muscle of her face moved. They were well suited, she and Yaotl.
“No,” I said. “But let Chimalli honour his true mother.”
Xoco's face moved towards her child, and back to the Haunting Mother. “Yes,” she said, tightly. “I'll tell him the truth when he is older.”
Nenelt did not speak. She moved at last, passing through my decayed wards like a knife through human skin, and knelt beside Chimalli. She took both his hands in hers, gazing into his hollow eyes. Gently, she led her back to his reed mat, and helped him lay down on it. “I'm sorry,” she said.
She was fading now, growing fainter and fainter, taking with her the darkness and the cold.
Soon there was nothing left but Chimalli on his mat, curling back to go to sleep. The aura of the underworld had not left: it still clung to his hands and feet. It would cling to him all his life. I wondered how he would fare, and decided I could not do anything about that.
About Xoco, though…
She watched me, with that same unbending attitude she had shown earlier. “And now what?” she said. “Do you think to arrest me? There's no proof. Nenetl was burnt four years ago.”
“I'm no magistrate,” I said.
“But still you judge. She was a slut, whose only dream was to become mistress of the house. As if a mere slave could rise high enough for that. I'm the only one in Yaolt's heart.” There was hunger, too, in her eyes, but a different kind from Nenetl.
“But you used her,” I said. “You'll pay the price.”
“After death?” she said. “I don't care.”
“No,” I said. “You're paying it now. Do you love Yaotl, knowing what he did to conceive Chimalli?”
“I talked him into this. We have a child, and he's alive,” she said. “Yaotl loves me.”
“Do you truly think that he does, knowing what you did?” And, seeing her recoil, I knew I had been right. There was darkness between her and Yaotl now. He feared her for what she had imagined, for what she had accomplished. Only Chimalli kept them together.
“We're happy,” she said, and her eyes told me she knew it was a lie.
I smiled. “Then enjoy your happiness,” I said, and exited the room.
It was dark when I came out of the house and started back towards my temple: clouds had covered the stars and the moon had set. But that darkness held no fears for me, for it would be dispelled in the morning.
I walked away by myself, and left Yaotl's house behind, and the darkness that coiled at its heart, hopefully never to return.
LIST OF CHARACTERS
A
Acamapichtli (Handful of Reeds): High Priest of Tlaloc.
Acatl (Reed): narrator, High Priest of Mictlantecuhtli.
Ahuizotl: see Teomitl.
Axayacatl-tzin: former Revered Speaker of Tenochtitlan (deceased).
C
Ceyaxochitl: former Guardian of the Sacred Precinct (deceased).
Chalchiutlicue (Jade Skirt): Goddess of Lakes and Streams. Tlaloc's wife, and Teomitl's patron.
Chalchiunenetl (Jade Doll): Moquihuix-tzin's Tenochca wife.
Chipahua: a warrior.
Coatl (Serpent): deputy for the Master of Raining Blood, member of the war council.
Cozolli: priestess of Chalchiutlicue, and Consort of Tlaloc.
Cuixtli (Quail): a war prisoner from Mextitlan.
E
Eptli: a warrior.<
br />
Ezamahual: novice priest in Acatl's temple.
H
Huitzilpochtli (the Southern Hummingbird): the Mexica patron god and youthful God of War.
I
Ichtaca: Acatl's second-in-command.
Itamatl: deputy for Master of the Bowl of Fatigue, member of the war council.
M
Matlaelel: offering priest in Acatl's temple.
Mazatl: Neutemoc's daughter.
Mictecacihuatl (Lady Death): Goddess of Death, wife of Mictlantecuhtli.
Mictlantecuhtli (Lord Death): God of Death, Acatl's patron. Husband of Mictecacihuatl.
Mihmatini: Acatl's sister. Guardian of the Sacred Precinct.
Moquihuix-tzin: Revered Speaker of Tlatelolco (deceased).
N
Necalli: Neutemoc's son.
Neutemoc: Jaguar Knight, Acatl's elder brother.
Nezahual-tzin (the Fasting Prince): Revered Speaker of Texcoco. Agent of Quetzalcoatl in the Fifth World. Full name Nezahualpilli-tzin.
P
Palli: offering priest in Acatl's temple.
Patecatl: God of Medicine.
Pochtic: Master of the House of Darkness, member of the war council.
Q
Quenami: High Priest of Huitzilpochtli.
Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent): God of Wisdom and Knowledge.
S
She-Snake: Viceroy of Tenochtitlan.
T
Tapalcayotl: Acamapichtli's second in command.
Teomitl (Ahuizotl): Acatl's student, Tizoc-tzin's brother. Master of the House of Darts, member of the war-council. Married to Mihmatini.
Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror): God of War and Fate, and of sorcerers.
Tizoc-tzin: Revered Speaker of the Mexica.
Tlaloc (the Storm Lord): God of Rain and Lightning, husband of Chalchiutlicue.
Toci (Grandmother Earth): Goddess of Harvest and Old Age.
Tonatiuh (the Fifth Sun): incarnation of Huitzilpochtli as the Sun-God.
Y
Yaotl: Mihmatini's personal slave.
Yayauhqui: a merchant from Tlatelolco.
X
Xiloxoch: a sacred courtesan.
Xochiquetzal (the Flower Quetzal): Goddess of Love and Childbirth.
Z
Zoquitl: Eptli's war prisoner from Mextitlan.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
French by birth, Aliette de Bodard chose to write in English – her second language – after a two-year stint in London. Though she has trained as an engineer (graduating from Ecole Polytechnique, one of France's most prestigious colleges), she has always been fascinated by history and mythology, especially those of non-Western cultures. Her love of mysteries gave her the idea to write a series of cross-genre novels which would feature Aztecs, blood magic and fiendish murders.
She is a Campbell Award finalist and a Writers of the Future winner. Her short fiction has appeared in venues such as Asimov's, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, and Fantasy magazine, and has been reprinted in The Year's Best Science Fiction. She lives in Paris, where she has a job as a computer engineer.
aliettedebodard.com
ANGRY ROBOT
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Blood rites
This omnibus edition first published by Angry Robot 2012
1
Servant of the Underworld copyright © Aliette de Bodard 2010
Harbinger of the Storm copyright © Aliette de Bodard 2011
Master of the House of Darts copyright © Aliette de Bodard 2011
Aliette de Bodard asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-85766-235-4
eBook ISBN: 978-0-85766-237-8
Set in Meridien by THL Design.
Printed in the UK by CPI Mackays, Chatham, ME5 8TD.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Obsidian & Blood
INTRODUCTION
SERVANT OF THE UNDERWORLD
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
HARBINGER OF THE STORM
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
MASTER OF THE HOUSE OF DARTS
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
THE SHORT STORIES
Obsidian Shards
Beneath the Mask
Safe, Child, Safe
LIST OF CHARACTERS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR