Hammer of Witches (30 page)

The cacique’s guards moved in and aimed their spears and arrows at me.

“Don’t you dare,” Jinniyah warned, and she whooshed back into her black flame form. I jumped in front of her and waved my hands in front me like a madman.

“No, Jinni!” I cried. “Everyone, stop! We’re not here to fight!” Not when Catalina was close to weeping on the ground. Not when we were surrounded. Not when we were so close to finding Amir al-Katib.

Amir al-Katib. Suddenly I had an idea, a way to get Catalina out of this place and finally track down my father.

I stepped closer to the Sleeping Princess and announced to the Tamo around me. “We’re not here to fight, but we are very powerful shamans. And we will kill your cacique and the priestess unless they do as we say.”

Caonabó shook out his hand, which had been twisted when
the Sleeping Princess yanked the spear out of his grip. “More shamans,” the cacique muttered to his wife. “No wonder they speak our language.”

“I don’t give a damn who or what they are!” Anacaona jumped up from her seat. “They threatened us! They must be executed at once!”

But Caonabó raised a hand, stopping the soldiers from attacking. “Wait. I would like to hear what these shamans have to say.”

“But they are Spanish snakes!” Anacaona sputtered. “He just summoned a spirit to murder us!”

Caonabó walked behind his wife’s stool and massaged her arms. “Many of the best friendships begin with attempts at murder. I remember a young priestess, for instance, trying to kill me on our wedding night. Yet that turned out well in the end.”

Easing into the massage, Anacaona pursed her lips, still angry. But underneath her scowl, I could see the beginnings of a smile. “Very well. Let us hear your terms, Shaman.”

I paused, looking to Jinniyah for support. “There are rumors in the north that you wish to ally with Amir al-Katib, the bearded shaman from the east.”

“Merely a rumor,” Caonabó said, returning to his throne. But the way he spoke told me the rumor was true.

Anacaona added, “We had no desire to ally with the bearded one until that pitiful Guacanagarí allied himself with Colón! This Colón is part of a prophecy — a man from the east who will destroy the world as we know it.”

So they had heard the prophecy that Baba Yaga shared with me. Good. I could use this as part of my plan. I lied, “You’re right. That is exactly why Colón has come here. He has come to destroy your kingdoms and take your lands for himself. And he has the power to do it. He has well-trained men, swords — sharper swords than you can imagine. And guns — hollow sticks that can shoot rocks made out of fire.” Worried murmurs swept through the crowd at this statement. “He’ll bring armies from Europe. Horses!” I reached one hand high over my head. “Giant beasts, ten feet tall, that can run twice as fast as your fastest man. Colón and his armies will ride atop them, shooting your people down with his guns.” I cocked an invisible arquebus and aimed it at the ducking crowds. “Bam! He’ll kill you before you get close.”

Around me, Taíno mothers held their children closer to their breasts. Caonabó asked, “What is the point of this legend, Shaman?”

“You need the bearded man to even the sides. Amir al-Katib is the best shaman the world has ever known, and he hates the Spanish even more than you do. If you free us, I will bring you to him, and you will have your alliance.”

The Taíno crowds chattered at my offer, and the wet-faced Higuamota crept closer to her mother.

“Impossible,” Anacaona said. “The bearded man hides in
the Cave of the Jagua. No one may dare enter it, lest the gods frown upon us and bring us to despair.”

“But
I
can enter it, with your permission, may I not? And Jinni and Catalina. We can go inside the cave and bring out the shaman. The man is my father, and I can convince him to join you — if you let us leave this village unharmed.”

Caonabó leaned forward and tapped his thumb against his mouth as he looked at an emaciated older man on the courtyard’s perimeter. “What do you say, High Shaman Cocubo? Can these foreigners enter the cave?”

The old shaman squinted at the ground in thought. “The stories say the cave birthed the Taíno in the days of yore. But they didn’t say anything about foreigners.”

“So we can go inside?” I said expectantly.

“Yes. Yes, I believe so.”

Anacaona combed back her daughter’s hair with her fingers. “The boy is lying. He does not know the bearded man. He only wishes to escape our punishment.”

“Then we will make it so he cannot escape,” Caonabó replied. “I will take him to the cave myself, with an army. He will bring us the bearded man or we will kill him. Remember, dear wife, a shaman is not invincible. Regardless of what powers he has, his skin can be pricked by an arrow.”

Anacaona considered the offer and a smile spread across her face. “I
would
like an alliance with the bearded one. You heard what he did in Marién.”

“Then it seems we have a deal, young shaman,” Caonabó said. “Our women will prepare some food for your journey. And water.”

“Wait.” Catalina stood and raised a tightly-flexed hand. “The deal is not done. I have another term.”

Anacaona’s smile spread toward me. “Is this your way, Spanish? We give you one thing and you demand another?”

Catalina said, “Yes. If we are to have a deal, you must not attack La Navidad.”

Anacaona’s hair swished about her as she looked back at her husband. “She demands a truce with the Spanish? After what her crew did?”

Caonabó agreed, “They must pay for their atrocities.”

“Then at least wait until we’ve found the bearded man,” I said quickly. “With Amir on your side, Colón will be more willing to bargain. You can ask for the men who kidnapped your women, take them as prisoners. Then no one will have to go to war.”

Anacaona threw her head upward, flipping out her hair. “He acts as if we fear war with the Spanish.” She stood and addressed the Taíno around us. “It matters not what weapons they have. We will fight them and take their weapons by force! We have our own armies, our own shamans, and soon will have the bearded one, the mightiest of them all. We know these lands and how to protect them. These intruders who plant foreign banners on our soil will rue the day they first set eyes on Ayití!”

The Tamo crowds cheered around us, but Catalina ignored them. Her eyes blazed as she marched up to Anacaona. “That is
not
what will happen,” Catalina said. “You will start a war, and my people will win. I know how the Spanish work. If you start a war, they will not stop until they have destroyed all of you. Not just the soldiers of Maguana, but everyone in Ayití. Men, women, and children. All will fall under Spanish swords. Those who survive will be worse than dead, forced into servitude. My people will not stop until Ayití is a wasteland.”

Jinniyah’s black flames receded, leaving her in her normal half-genie form. She hovered in the air before Anacaona. “Please. Listen to Catalina. She’s right.”

Anacaona looked to her husband, who offered no help. “You think this talk frightens us?” she said, but her eyes flicked apprehensively to the side.

Catalina stepped up to Anacaona so she was about an inch from the priestess’s face. “Yes. And you are right to be afraid. Our queen is not as merciful as you are. Even we shamans fear her and her Inquisition. So make the right choice. You do not want to be enemies with Spain.”

Higuamota ran up to Anacaona and wrapped herself around her mother’s leg. “All talk,” the queen muttered to herself, but she held her daughter close. “Very well. We will not attack the fortress. But go now and bring me the bearded man, or I will stop being so merciful.”

Caonabó and his army
led us east through the jungle until the muddy forest trail hardened into a rocky path that cut through Ayití’s mountains. After a half-day’s march we spilled out into a rock-strewn valley covered with a gray blanket of clouds. I asked the cacique, “How much longer?”

“We’re not far. And do not think about escaping. My men are ready to take you down at first order.”

Escape was the last thing on my mind. I was on my way to Amir al-Katib.

Caonabó hiked past me, and Jinniyah came up by my side. “I missed you,” she said quietly. “David said I was supposed to protect you. I shouldn’t have left.”

“No, Jinni. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. What I said in the forest — I didn’t mean it.”

“Did you mean what you said in Maguana? About bringing Amir out of the cave alive?”

Squinting up at the clouds, I said truthfully, “I’ll try. If Amir lets me talk to him, I’ll talk. But if he attacks us again, if he leaves me no choice . . .”

“I know,” Jinniyah said darkly. Her body angled forward, she forged past me, to warn Amir I was coming for him.

We marched through a series of brush-covered hills with Taíno soldiers ahead of us and behind us. Soon Jinniyah was so far ahead of me I could barely see her. I slowed my pace so I could speak with Catalina.

“Are you all right?” I asked her.

“Yes. But I wish you hadn’t done that before. Summon the princess with my face.”

“I’m sorry. It was an accident.”

“I know. But don’t do it again. I’m not a fairy tale for you to interpret. I’m a person.”

“I know,” I said.

“Good. Don’t forget.”

A shriek rang out in the hills above us. Jinni.

We galloped up the closest hill, followed by Taíno soldiers, kicking over piles of stones as we went. The dirt path we were on led us up a steeper incline until we could see a wide maw fringed with rocky fangs. It was the Cave of the Jagua, where Amir al-Katib was hiding.

Jinniyah burst out of its entrance and smashed into me. “Jinni, what happened?” The girl shook her head into my chest.

A group of Taíno soldiers climbed up behind us, and Caonabó handed Catalina and me lit torches. “The Cave of
the Jagua. We will wait until you return with the bearded man.”

A damp breeze pushed up against me, exhaled by the cave mouth. Inside I could see nothing. Jinniyah clamped onto my arm. Together, we walked inside the cave.

We found ourselves inside a narrow tunnel. Our torches and Jinni’s hair cast gold and black light over the rocky walls, revealing unreadable Taíno glyphs that seemed to glow out of the stone.

“Why did you scream before?” I asked Jinni, and the girl peeked out from behind my arm.

“I saw eyes in the dark. This place is full of magic.”

When we reached the end of the passageway, Catalina lowered her torch to assay a squat hole that led into the next room. Then she raised her torch so it shone on a stone face carved into the wall above the hole. The face was about the size of a human’s, with two thick horizontal gashes for eyes and a gaping O for a mouth.

So this was what scared Jinniyah. I rubbed my fingers along the top of the stone mask. It was surprisingly smooth. “Looks like a warning,” I said. “Don’t come in here or else.” Jinni shuddered as we crawled through the hole in the wall and into the next room of the cave.

Once inside the next room I instinctively fell backward. My feet touched the edge of a cliff. One more step and I surely would have fallen into the bottomless pit below. Our torches showed us almost nothing, only the slender stone walkway that
we were currently standing on. There were no Taíno glyphs here, as far as I could see. I gathered we’d gone farther than their shamans dared to tread.

Catalina lifted her torch to get a better look at the stalactites that pricked out of the ceiling above us. “Do you hear that?” She swung the torch out in front of us. A muffled sound like rushing water thundered beyond the far wall.

“Sounds like a river,” I said.

While we were investigating the top level of the complex, Jinniyah was checking out the bottom. She had crawled on all fours to the edge of the cliff and pointed down into it. “Bal, Catalina, look!”

I joined her at the edge of our walkway. Far below us, deep in the chasm, a skinny scar of white light shot out of a sheer rock wall.

“Amir could be down there!” Jinni said.

Catalina knelt next to her and reached her torch out above the chasm. “Rather conspicuous, isn’t it?”

“You think it’s a trap?” I asked her.

“Even if it is, we have no choice but to go into it. Caonabó and his men will kill us if we leave this place without al-Katib.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Jinniyah said. She dragged Catalina down the stone walkway, leaving me to look down at the distant, blazing scar. I kicked a pebble off the cliff and into the chasm. It was several seconds before I could hear the telltale
plink
as it hit bottom.

It really was a long drop. I took a breath and followed Catalina and Jinni into the deep.

We hiked down the cave’s natural path and soon reached the bottom. From down here the entrance the Taíno mask guarded had shrunk to a distant speck of light. Stalagmites stuck out in front of us, spiny teeth in the earth. It was hot, and the room smelled of animals — bats, maybe, but I couldn’t see them. I didn’t see further signs of Taíno shamans’ work down here. All the better — I didn’t want to interfere with a sacred spot.

“Some place to have a hidden lair,” I said, swinging my torch in front of me.