Serpent and Storm (15 page)

“It is only right,” said Sky Knife, continuing in Mayan, though he knew Whiskers-of-Rat couldn't understand. If he were going to argue with a priestess, better to do it in private. Speaking in Mayan would have to do.

“Right?” asked Dancing Bear. “How can you say that?”

“Look,” said Sky Knife. “The gods require sacrifices from everyone. Some give their hearts. Some give blood, or jade, or some fine object. Some remain celibate. Whatever the sacrifice, it is for the gods.” Sky Knife frowned. “I thought you said you didn't know much about my people.”

Dancing Bear smiled and shrugged. She extended an arm around Sky Knife's waist.

“Wait,” said Sky Knife, pulling away. “Tell me—how do you worship the Masked One here? Don't you sacrifice to her?”

Dancing Bear hesitated slightly. “Well, of course we do. Every year at planting time we send a young woman to her. And at harvest, we send a young man. And we give blood and jade and all those other things. But we're not required to remain separate from men. The Masked One is mother of us all—how could we, her servants, understand how to serve her if we were not lovers and mothers like she is?”

To that Sky Knife had no answer. Dancing Bear said nothing more.

“Ah, if you two are finished now,” said Whiskers-of-Rat, “here we are.”

Sky Knife looked around. They were still on the main street. One-story white plastered buildings lined both sides.

“Where are we?” asked Sky Knife.

“Hello? Rabbit—you there?” Whiskers-of-Rat called into a doorway.

“Rat? Don't be a stranger. Come on in.”

Whiskers-of-Rat smiled and bowed, gesturing for Dancing Bear and Sky Knife to precede him. Sky Knife followed the priestess into the dark room. A woman in a white dress whose hair had been braided and pinned to her head in a coil above each ear approached.

“You're the woman from yesterday,” stammered Sky Knife. He took a step back and bumped into Whiskers-of-Rat.

“She's my cousin,” said the guide. “We often find our … clients … in the same area of town. Rabbit—I need to find clothing for Sky Knife, and jewelry to fit his station.”

Rabbit crossed her arms across her chest. The action pulled the neckline of her dress even lower. Sky Knife looked away.

“Why aren't you two in the market, then?” Rabbit asked. “Don't tell me you're that short
again.
”

“No, not short, not exactly,” said Whiskers-of-Rat. “But why buy…”

“When you can borrow from me?” Rabbit smiled. She had evidently had this discussion with her cousin before. She walked over to Sky Knife. “So, what kind of jewelry exactly? Jade? Shell? Feathers?”

“Well, I, uh, I have some jade ear spools at home,” said Sky Knife, gesturing toward the simple wooden ones he wore.

When he didn't go on, Rabbit said, “And? Nothing else? What position do you hold in your city, anyway? If ear spools are all you're looking for, you didn't need to take up my time, Rat,” she said, turning to her cousin. “Not even if your client is as cute as he is.”

“Rabbit,” said Whiskers-of-Rat. He rolled his eyes dramatically and she punched him in the arm. “He's the High Priest of his city. And he's related to our king.
And
he's been charged by Jaguar's Daughter to find out what he can about our king's death.
And
he needs to be outfitted properly if he's to attend the ascension of the new king to his mat.”

Rabbit's smile faded and she looked at Sky Knife with an expression he recognized and loathed. It was awe.

“I'm not very closely related to the king,” he said.

Rabbit's smile slowly returned and she laughed. “A humble priest?”

“Among other things,” said Whiskers-of-Rat.

“All right,” said Rabbit. “Jewelry to befit a High Priest and a member of Teotihuacano royalty.”

“Wait…” said Sky Knife.

Rabbit waved him silent. “A not-very-closely-related member of Teotihuacano royalty, eh?” She turned to the priestess. “And what about this one?”

Dancing Bear sat on a bench. “I'm just here to watch.”

“Sick,” said Rabbit. “Very sick.”

“Come, come, ladies,” said Whiskers-of-Rat, though he was stifling a laugh. “He's not a client. Of yours, anyway.”

“
I
don't take clients,” said Dancing Bear.

“That's too bad,” said Rabbit. “It's much more profitable when they pay.”

“Hey,” said Whiskers-of-Rat, “can we all be friends here long enough to get Sky Knife taken care of?”

“I'd take care of him,” said Dancing Bear.

Rabbit giggled. “It looks to me more like my cousin wants that honor.”

Whiskers-of-Rat looked offended. His cousin shrugged.

“You can't stay in my business very long and not know when a man's pining after a woman's body.” Rabbit smiled and left the room.

Dancing Bear made a
humph
sound but glanced over at Whiskers-of-Rat, who ran his fingers through his hair. Sky Knife was reminded of a bird preening.

“Lord Priest, could you come in here a minute?” called Rabbit from the other room.

Sky Knife hesitated, but Whiskers-of-Rat pushed him gently toward the doorway opposite. Sky Knife walked reluctantly into the other room.

Rabbit stood in the center of the room and beckoned him to follow her. Then she turned and walked down a long corridor. The afternoon sun slanted into the hallway from a courtyard. Sky Knife walked down the corridor and glanced into the spacious courtyard. Several other women, some accompanied by men, sat on benches amid beautiful flowering plants.

Rabbit disappeared around a corner. Sky Knife hurried to catch up. He rounded the corner and nearly ran into Rabbit.

“In here,” she said. “I've got some things you can borrow.”

Rabbit led him into a small room filled with large baskets and wooden boxes. She pulled some cloth bundles out of a basket and handed them to Sky Knife. “Ear spools,” she said. “Necklaces, too.” She rooted around in another basket. “Ah, here we are.” She pulled out an armload of brightly colored fabric.

Sky Knife put the bundles down on a box and carefully unwrapped one. Inside the cotton cover lay a jade ear spool. Sky Knife gasped. It was more beautiful than anything he'd seen before. The jade had been delicately carved to show the by-now familiar image of the Fire God carrying his burden of the stone brazier. Shell had been inlaid to make teeth and eyes for the god.

“There's a match in one of the other bundles,” Rabbit said.

“It's beautiful,” said Sky Knife. “I can't take this.”

“Oh, of course you can,” said Rabbit. “If you don't return it, it'll be trouble for my cousin, and you don't want that, right?”

“No,” said Sky Knife. “But—how do you come to have these things?”

“My clients have to pay,” said Rabbit. “Some of them pay … very well. But that's not why I asked you to come back here.”

“Why then?” Sky Knife rewrapped the spool and tensed as Rabbit came to stand next to him. The heat coming from her skin and the smell of her perfume excited him. He could see why men desired Rabbit, even if they couldn't marry her.

“A client came to me early this morning,” she said. “And, well, men often talk to women like me when they won't to anyone else.”

“Yes?”

“Rat said you were trying to find out what happened to the king. This man said something about that.” Rabbit bit her lip, apparently frightened.

“What did he say?” Sky Knife clutched Rabbit's arm, completely forgetting his earlier discomfort.

Rabbit hesitated, then took a deep breath. “He said … he said that the king would die.”

“But the king did die.”

“I said that, too, but he laughed. I think he meant the new king—the boy.”

Fear clutched Sky Knife. “Did he say when? Or who would do this?”

“No. He said nothing more.”

Sky Knife tried to think through his fear. “Who was this man?”

“I don't deal in names,” said Rabbit. “But I recognized him. He was the ballplayer, Leather Apron.”

14

Sky Knife hurried back to the room where Whiskers-of-Rat and Dancing Bear waited. Dancing Bear still sat on the bench, but Whiskers-of-Rat sat next to her with his arm around her shoulders and his tongue in her ear.

“Let's go,” said Sky Knife. “To the palace.”

Whiskers-of-Rat hesitated, but Dancing Bear pushed him away. “Go on,” she said. “I'll see you later.”

Rabbit came in behind Sky Knife. “Looks like you two came to some sort of arrangement,” she said. Dancing Bear laughed.

Whiskers-of-Rat stood reluctantly.

Sky Knife bowed to Rabbit. “Thank you for your kindness,” he said.

Rabbit cocked her head and nodded. “Just remember it's all on loan.”

Whiskers-of-Rat walked over and kissed his cousin on the cheek. “Thanks,” he said. “I owe you one.”

“More than one, but who's counting?” asked Rabbit. “Don't worry—I'll collect on that debt.”

Whiskers-of-Rat headed for the doorway. “That's what I'm afraid of.”

Dancing Bear was already there. “I have to return to the temple,” she said. “But I'm sure I'll be seeing
you,
” she nodded to Sky Knife, “at the ascension tomorrow.” Dancing Bear walked into the darkening street.

Whiskers-of-Rat and Sky Knife walked out into the crowds, which had not thinned even though it was late afternoon. Many of the people now looked like farmers, grimy and sweaty from a day's work preparing the fields for planting.

Sky Knife clutched his bundles to his chest to ward off the evening chill.

“I should carry those for you,” said Whiskers-of-Rat. “You are my client.”

Sky Knife clutched the bundles more tightly. “No, no, this is fine.”

Whiskers-of-Rat shrugged. “My cousin is quite something, isn't she?”

“Yes, she is,” said Sky Knife. He increased his pace.

“Is there a problem?” asked the guide.

“I don't know,” said Sky Knife. “Maybe. I want to see if the king is all right.”

“Then there is a problem.”

“Maybe. I hope not.” Sky Knife threaded his way through the crowd with confidence.

“If Rabbit told you, she told you truly. Ah, but here we are.”

Sky Knife hurried into the palace without stopping. The warriors watched him impassively.

The front room was lit by oil lamps, but no one was there. He hesitated, unsure yet how to find his way around, but he heard voices down the corridor in front of him. It sounded like Jaguar's Daughter. Sky Knife headed toward the sound.

He found Jaguar's Daughter with the Corn Priest in a small outer courtyard. Both of them looked up as he approached. The long thin nose of the Corn Priest twitched.

“We are not to be disturbed,” said the Corn Priest. “There is much to be done before tomorrow's ascension.”

Sky Knife ignored him. “Where's Black Coyote?”

The Corn Priest stood, angry. “Get out of here,” he said. “It is my place to prepare the new king, not yours. You'd be wise to remember that.”

Sky Knife continued to look at Jaguar's Daughter. “Where's your son?”

“Why?” asked the Corn Priest before Jaguar's Daughter could respond. “What do you want with the king?”

“Stop this,” ordered Jaguar's Daughter.

The Corn Priest turned to her. “He barges in here carrying rags like a servant after being missing all day. Why should we treat him well when he is nothing but rude to you and your family?”

Anger exploded in Sky Knife's chest. He would have reached out to the Corn Priest and forced the older man to face him, but he didn't want to drop the precious objects he carried. “If you call obeying your mistress' order rudeness, then do so,” he said. “But not in her hearing.”

“Yes,” said Jaguar's Daughter. She rose and came to stand by Sky Knife. “I asked him to seek answers. If that task took him into the city, then that's where he belonged.”

“Only the gods grant answers,” said the Corn Priest.

Sky Knife took a deep breath. “This is wasting time. Where is Black Coyote?”

“He's inside,” said Jaguar's Daughter. “He was tired after a day of devotions, so I sent him in to take a nap before the evening meal.”

“Who's with him?”

“Deer, of course. Perhaps Talking Storm, if he can be pried away from his temple today.”

“No one else?”

Jaguar's Daughter's eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“It may be nothing,” said Sky Knife. “I'd rather be sure. Where is your son now?”

“You don't need to disturb the king,” said the Corn Priest. “I'll go and check on him.”

Jaguar's Daughter nodded. “Thank you,” she said.

Sky Knife watched the Corn Priest go, uneasy. But Jaguar's Daughter would surely do what was best for her son. If she preferred for the Corn Priest to go, Sky Knife should accept her wishes.

“What is that you have with you?” Jaguar's Daughter asked.

“What?”

“What is it you're carrying?”

Sky Knife glanced down at his bundles. “Clothes. Jewelry. My guide's cousin has lent them to me for the ceremony.”

Jaguar's Daughter clicked her tongue in a sound of annoyance. “If I were thinking straight, I'd have seen your need before. I'm sure the king has enough jewelry to share. But I'm afraid I haven't been thinking about such things today.”

“I understand,” said Sky Knife.

“So, let's see, shall we?” Jaguar's Daughter reached for the bundles. Sky Knife allowed her to take them.

Jaguar's Daughter set the bundles down gently on a bench and unwrapped a small white cotton cloth. Inside lay a string of beads as dark as night. They reflected the dim light of the oil lamps as if they were miniature stars. Jaguar's Daughter reached for the beads with a gasp.