In his basket were the other things Tahye had given him—two small vials, one containing the thick black paste to rim his eyes and another with a soft cobalt powder. Cobalt, Tahye had explained with flush cheeks, because it would go so well with his eyes. He had no idea about that. He had no idea about makeup. Someone in his position never wore such things. Tahye did because she served in the main house, and they were expected to look like the lords, whose faces were matted in such decorations. Their faces were painted as brightly as the frescoes on their walls.
He took the silver medallion of a proud woman’s face from his cloak. It was the one Tersh had given him to bind his cloak together. He had left it with Ankhet before leaving, and now—besides his Ancestral Cloak—it was the only thing he had left from what his people had given him. If he had just left that night without going to Dedelion’s scroll room, he would still have his skins and his gems, and he might have been able to live just fine by himself. He took a deep breath, trying to forget all that. It was in the past.
The back of the medallion was smooth and polished, and he could make out the slightly skewed features of his face reflected in it, enough that he could use the reflection to help put on the eye makeup. It looked nowhere near as skilled as Tahye’s had been, but it would serve. He hoped most people would just be giving him a quick glance and move on. He prayed.
Then he covered his eyelids in the cobalt powder and thought he looked absolutely ridiculous, but he just needed to look like he wasn’t completely out of place in the halls of a great palace. He put on his cloak, turning it so the bones of his ancestors were hidden, and clasped it around his neck with the medallion. He left the basket, shoving it under a table and with a quick glance to make sure no one was there, he abandoned the room and continued down a different hall, the one the servants used to bring the prepared food to the rooms of the Paref.
He pushed open the heavy wooden door, stepped into the bright room, and had to stop for a moment just to look at it. He had been in the halls of Imotah’s home and had seen the extravagant gardens and walls of palaces with their exquisitely carved and painted frescoes, but he had never imagined that anything could be so grand.
There weren’t so many lamps, but there was so much gold reflecting the light that everything glinted and sparkled. Tables and chairs and frescos lined with gold…actually, not just gold but jewels and bright paints and intricate carvings on the walls and every piece of furniture. And then he realized he wasn’t really standing in a room, at least not a proper one. It was just a hall, and he could see it led into a larger space.
He moved through the entrance and wanted to gasp as he entered the hall, high ceilinged, with long narrow windows covered by silks that danced gracefully in the cool breeze. Where the servant’s halls had been stuffy with heat, here it was cool and refreshing. The walls were covered in brilliant carvings of past Parefs looking over lush farmlands, peopled by gracious workers and fat cows. And as for the gilded furniture, here there was far more. Tables along the wall, decorated with plates filled with fresh fruit, where a passing person could pluck a fresh date at their convenience.
Kareth couldn’t resist the temptation and went to the nearest table, taking a few handfuls of fruit and shoving them into his mouth. The sweetness was overwhelming. His mouth salivated so much he had to wipe away a bit of drool. After so long without a proper meal, the first swallow nearly made him throw up, and he had to stop himself from eating anymore. Then he reminded himself he didn’t come here to steal fruit. He had a mission.
There was only one other entrance to the room, and he went through it, from room to room. He had no idea where he was going, but if he heard voices or saw a guard walking through one room, he would pick a different room, or go back and try a different direction. Each room was grander than the last, and infinitely distracting in its wonder, but he closed his eyes to his surroundings. He let his feet lead him, telling himself the Goddess of Life was guiding him.
Then from one room, two young female servants rushed out with pitchers of water, chattering excitedly to themselves.
“She’s just being dramatic,” the shorter one said. They were walking away from him, having not even noticed his presence. “We didn’t need to summon a second midwife.”
“It doesn’t matter if she is, if the lady wants to be dramatic, it’s her right as the Paref’s High Wife.”
The Paref’s wife. Wasn’t Harami’s sister the Paref’s wife? He quickly reasoned to himself that wherever she was, he might be able to find Harami with her. He followed the girls, picking up speed to follow their pace. They giggled to themselves, talking about some guard they fancied, but Kareth wasn’t really listening to them.
They rounded the corner and at the end of the hall, Kareth could see a pair of golden doors, in front of which stood two guards armed with spears. Maybe one of them was the guard the girls were talking about, because they looked at each other and began to blush and tither quietly. The guards stood aside to let them pass, and Kareth held his breath as he picked up his pace and followed. He needed to look like he belonged. He belonged. He…
“What do you want?” The guards asked, the golden doors slamming shut. One of the men stepped forward. His clothing was much more regal than others’ Kareth had seen. The man even wore a golden amulet that fell onto his bare, finely toned chest. Though all Kareth could really look at was the bronze spear-tip the man held forward.
“I was summoned, by Princess Harami,” he said as confidently as he could, though he wasn’t sure his voice didn’t waver.
The guards started laughing and Kareth didn’t know if he should be embarrassed or scared. They didn’t look angry, but he’d learned a while ago that men’s moods turned sour all too easily.
“Stand aside,” Kareth pushed, and instantly knew he had gone too far. The guards stopped laughing, and both of them took a step forward. Kareth knew he only had a moment to decide. Should he stand his ground and hope that word reached Harami that he was there? Or should he run?
If you run, it’s over. If you run, you’ve failed.
“Boy, is that you?” The voice was familiar, gravelly with age, though there was a sharp edge to it. Kareth turned around and saw Yunet, the midwife, walking towards the golden doors and looking at him with a look that was somewhere between confusion and amusement.
“Do you know him, midwife?” one of the guards asked with a tint of annoyance, taking another step towards him.
She narrowed her eyes and Kareth felt fear. Yunet had no reason to protect him. He wasn’t even entirely certain she liked him. If she had ever liked him, he doubted she’d have an abundance of fondness for him after she had offered to train him, and he had suddenly stopped going to help her without even a word of goodbye.
“Of course I know him. He’s my apprentice, and he’s late. Come on boy, we have work to do,” she growled, and Kareth couldn’t hide his smile, even after she swatted him over the head and told him to carry her heavy bags.
CHIPETZUHA
THE ONLY WAY TO APPEASE THE GODS WAS TO PURGE HIS TAINTED CITY
The trees were thick here, not as thick as the jungle that lay far to the south, but thick enough that Chipetzuha was hidden from view most of the way north. It was a shock when they stepped into a clearing and suddenly saw the massive city sprawled before them.
The Red Pyramid in the middle of the city did not stand alone, but was surrounded by enormous structures. These pyramids were much different from the ones Sha’di had seen before. These pyramids, still brightly coloured, were incredibly wide and not really that tall—certainly not when compared to the mountain of a pyramid that stood in the heart of the city—with incredibly long ramps winding around, and each one topped with a massive stone home.
Whereas in the cities and villages they had visited before there had been many straw or mud huts, here all the buildings were made of stone, and they were built in a circular grid. He couldn’t count how many pyramids there were, but from what Tenok had
told him, he knew there were thirty, one for each huitl who ruled a pyramid. Tenok scanned the horizon for the other red pyramid, the one that would be for the Chultunyatl, Tenok’s father, but there were so many colours neither of them could make the correct one out.
Tenok was fidgeting next to him, adjusting his tunic, folding over his cloak, and pushing back the headdress of topaz and antean’s feathers he had put on that morning. Sha’di had never seen Tenok look so, well, like a huitl. It didn’t suit him. He looked stiff and weighed down by the jewels wrapped around his thin neck and wrists. Worse was when Sha’di realized the headdress and jewels had belonged to his dead brother, Tanuk. But now with Tanuk gone, his younger brother had literally taken up his mantle.
“Send out the prepared messages,” Yupanchi spoke to one of his young servants, an eager looking boy who still had the haircut and unpierced skin of a boy. “We must convene the huitls first thing tomorrow.”
Yupanchi was tall, maybe the tallest man Sha’di had ever met, and next to the boy, he looked like a giant. The boy ran off as fast as he could, his nervous energy pushing him forward. Then the lord turned to them and smiled, motioning down the road peopled by hundreds, maybe even a thousand, of people going about their business.
Maarku and his retinue of men had opted not to travel with them but would join them here soon enough. Sha’di wondered if he was still bitter over being humiliated, or if he’d never intended to travel with them. He didn’t care either way. The less he saw of that pompous buffoon the better.
Tahuan, the Anteana-nech’o-huitl, had followed behind, bringing several llamas to carry great trunks filled with jewels and fine clothes. Usually the trip from Anteana-nech’o to Chipetzuha only took three days, but thanks to all his finery slowing them down it had taken four.
“Come, we shall go to my home and rest,” Yupanchi smiled, but when his eyes settled on Qayset his face stiffened a little.
“My people belong in jungle,” she said, before he could.
Belam didn’t look surprised by this announcement, but Tenok started to protest. “Qayset—”
Qayset only smiled and laughed. “Don’t worry, chakatl. If you miss me, I won’t be far.”
“How can we find you?” Sha’di asked, not wanting their little group to dissipate. He felt if they separated now, they might never be rejoined.
“Among the trees? You can never find me,” she winked, “but I can find you.”
“Then we’ll be sure to come soon and go hunting together,” Belam nodded his farewell.
“Yes, well, moving on,” Yupanchi muttered, and began down the wide boulevard with his retinue.
Xupama and a few of the others started after the atl eagerly, but Tenok stayed still, shifting the silver bracelet on his wrist up and down his forearm.
“Actually, I would rather go see, go to…that is…” He trailed off, looking down at the cobbled stone street.
“Your father is expecting you, of course,” Yupanchi called back, “but you must wait to be summoned. It is the custom here.”
“Custom?” Tenok looked up, surprised. “I didn’t know.”
“This is the atls’ city. This is Chipetzuha. Things are more strict here,” he pointed to the top of the high pyramid, and Sha’di could just make out the grand hall up there. From down here, it looked like they had built another far smaller pyramid atop the mammoth. “The gods are far closer.”
Sha’di looked back towards Qayset, her spear stuck into the ground. Nnenne flapped her wings anxiously. “See you soon, Whisperer,” Qayset smiled.
“Come,” Tenok nodded, his eyes locked on the Red Pyramid before them, and they started forward. When Sha’di looked back again, Qayset was gone. He wondered if she really did intend to stay close at hand. But with something akin to discomfort, he realized she would stay—for Tenok. Sha’di still wasn’t sure if she had come this far with them because she felt guilty, like she owed them her service for the death of Tanuk. Whether it was guilt or something else though, he knew without a doubt she stayed for Tenok.
Most of the places they had visited along the journey north, they, especially Sha’di and Qayset, had gotten a lot of attention. Everyone was curious about how different they looked and wanted to ask them questions about their travels. But here, the people didn’t even notice Sha’di and his group walk past. Here the people rushed from one building to another, bumping into each other with hardly a hello or a look back.
“The city’s split into three triangles,” Tenok was talking fast, his eyes darting around, not focusing on any one thing. “We had a map of it back at Chultunyu. Three triangles, one for each part of the world. One for the Achaw-na-huitl, one for the Chakachaw-na-huitl, and then of course, one for the Nuktatl. The atls of the three lands, their pyramids are the closet to the Red Pyramid. So, of course Yupanchatl’s pyramid is at the tip of his triangle, and my…my father’s is at the tip of his… ours.”
“It’s bigger than I thought,” Belam said in a distant voice. He wasn’t looking at the buildings though, his attention was all on the people. And the people were strange, not just distracted and seemingly unfriendly, but there was no clear style. Some had dyed their skin, some wore many piercings with elongated earlobes, some had a mixture of both, while others seemed to not decorate their bodies at all, save for intricate necklaces and bright loincloths.
They were walking down a wide boulevard, obviously one that ran between two of the triangles. They were passing the first row of pyramids on either side, those pyramids of the lowest lords, since their pyramids were so far back and slightly smaller in scale than the others.
“How long do you think it took to build these?” Sha’di asked, not hiding his wonder. He had never imagined people could achieve something so grand as this city.
Belam laughed. “Too long. A waste of time.”
“No, no,” Tenok smiled, but it was a strange lopsided thing. “We Petzuhallpa were led here by the gods, by a priest named…named, uh…Anyway, he spoke for the gods and led the huitls here and he told them, or the gods told him, how to build the pyramids, and it didn’t take any time at all. Three hundred years we’ve been settled here. Or more? No, wait, less. Nearly three-hundred years.”
“Tenok,” Belam whispered, leaning towards the young lord. “Breathe.”
Tenok tried to take a breath and started laughing. “I’m sorry, it’s just…I’ve been dreaming about this place for so long. I can’t believe I’m actually here.”
“I know how you feel,” Sha’di sighed. “Well, almost.”
Tenok continued to prattle on about the design of the city. He traced a circle on the palm of his hand, pointed to the centre and explained that’s where Chipetzuha was. The three sections of the city were each separated by a grand boulevard. Currently they were walking on the street that separated the Achawna-hutils’ section to their right and the Chakachaw-na-huitl’s section to their left. The Nuktalt section was directly north of where they were, on the opposite side of the Red Pyramid, so the Chultunyu pyramid was hidden from their view.
Sha’di was only half listening to Tenok. The farther into the city they went and the larger the pyramids became, the more overwhelmed he felt. Even though Tenok had said this city had been here for nearly three hundred years, he didn’t think that could have been enough time to build everything he saw around them. He wondered if what Qayset had said was true, that Chipetzuha had been a mountain chiselled into the shape of a pyramid. Perhaps these other pyramids had just been hills the Pyramid Builders had modified. There was no way men could have built up these monuments from flat land, not unless the gods themselves had come down and done it.
But maybe they had.
The sun was nearly at its zenith by the time they reached Yupanchi’s pyramid. Although the Pyramid at Xalto had been small and quite modest, this one was monstrously large and wide. Sha’di looked up at the long winding ramp that made its way around the pyramid to the summit and imagined it would take the rest of the day to climb
it. Why did these people insist on living so high up above the ground?
The width of this pyramid was four or five times that of any of the pyramids he’d seen travelling north. Excluding the Red Pyramid, it was certainly the largest pyramid he saw in the city. Tenok remarked that since it would be impossible to match the Red Pyramid in height, the lords had instead tried to match it in width.
The ramp to the top was gentle enough, but that only made the journey that much longer. The pyramid was brightly dyed, and it looked like they were climbing a grass hill instead of a stone pyramid. He wished it felt like grass too. His bare feet slapped against the hot stone, and for the first time, he wished he wore sandals like the Pyramid Builders.
Halfway up he stopped a moment and looked at Chipetzuha next them. Craning his neck, he could make out the massive stone structure at the top. He saw people moving around, but could barely make out their features. He wished he could see out of Nnenne’s eyes, send her up there to look around. Would he see this chief who refused to marry? This woman who’d lived her entire life at the top of a mountain, separated from her country and people?
He was wrong. It did not take them the rest of the day to climb the pyramid. It didn’t take nearly as much time as he’d assumed it would have. The sun was still high in the sky, but being in the sun so long had made him sweaty and exhausted, and he wished he could just curl up and take a quick nap.
Instead they were taken into Yupanchi’s stone palace. It was a large square structure, though noticeably there was no bloody altar at its entrance. In fact, there was no sign anywhere that a human sacrifice had ever been committed on this pyramid. Had he finally come to a place where human sacrifice wasn’t done? He doubted that.
Inside the entrance was a great hall, fairly similar to halls he’d visited before, with openings in the ceiling to let in light, small water pools underneath. The main difference was the size. This hall was so large the sounds of their conversation bounced around them. The pools were also far larger and deeper. He could have dove into any of them and swum around, though he doubted anyone did that since they were filled with fish and water flowers.
Pekari -The Azure Fish Page 31