Aztec

Some of the Speaking Council rolled their eyes, others squeezed their eyes shut.

'Cease your insolence! Which languages do you speak?'

'Of Nahuatl, I command both the educated and the common speech used here in Tenochtitlan. Also the more refined Nahuatl of Texcoco, and the various rough dialects spoken in such foreign lands as Texcala.' Motecuzoma impatiently drummed his fingers on his knee. 'I am fluent in the Loochi of the Tzapoteca, not quite so fluent in the many dialects of the Pore of Michihuacan. I can make myself understood in the language of the Mixtaca, in several of the Olmeca tongues, in that of the Maya and the numerous dialects derived from Maya. I have a few words of Otomite and—'

'Enough,' Motecuzoma said sharply. 'It may well be that I can give you an opportunity to practice your talents, when I make war upon some nation whose phrase for 'we surrender' I do not know. But for now, your maps will suffice. Make haste to deliver them.'

I said nothing; obedience was taken for granted. Some of the old men were mouthing silently but urgently at me, and I wondered why, until Motecuzoma almost shouted, 'That was dismissal, Knight Mixtli!'

I backed out of the throne room as required and, in the corridor as I doffed the beggar sackcloth, I said to the steward, 'The man is mad. But is he tlahuele or merely xolopitli?' Nahuatl has two words for a madman: xolopitli means one only harmlessly deranged; tlahuele means a dangerous raving maniac. Each word made the rabbit steward flinch.

'Please, my lord, modulate your voice.' Then he mumbled, 'I will grant you, he has his peculiarities. Do you know? He takes only one meal a day, in the evening, but in preparation for it he orders whole twenties of dishes prepared, even hundreds, all different, so that when his mealtime comes he may call for whatever food appeals to him at that instant. Out of all those prepared, he may devour one and daintily taste of only two or three others.'

'And the rest go to waste?' I asked.

'Oh, no. To every meal he invites all his favorite and highest-ranking lords, all those within the reach of his messengers. And the lords come, by twenties and even hundreds, even if it means leaving their own dinners and families, and they eat whatever foods the Uey-Tlatoani spurns.'

'Odd,' I murmured. 'I should not have taken Motecuzoma to be a man who liked so much company, even at mealtime.'

'Actually, he does not. The other lords eat in the same great dining hall, but conversation is forbidden, and they never get the least glimpse of the Reverend Speaker. A high screen is set around the corner where he sits to dine, so he sits unseen and unmolested. The other lords might not even know he is present, except that once in a while, when Motecuzoma is particularly pleased with some one dish, he will send it around the hall, and all must taste of it.'

'Then he is not mad,' I said. 'Remember, it has always been rumored that the Uey-Tlatoani Tixoc died of poison. What you have just described sounds eccentric and extravagant, but it could also be Motecuzoma's shrewd way of assuring that he does not go the way his uncle Tixoc did.'

Long before meeting Motecuzoma, I had conceived a considerable antipathy toward him. If I came away from the palace that day feeling any new sentiment about the man, it was only a mild stirring of pity. Yes, pity. It seemed to me that a ruler should inspire others to extol his eminence, not do it himself; that others ought to kiss the earth to him because he deserved it, not because he demanded it. To my mind, all the protocol and ritual and panoply with which Motecuzoma had surrounded himself were less majestic than pretentious, even pathetic. They were like his abundance of dress ornaments, no more than the garniture of greatness, assumed by a man uneasy, insecure, uncertain that he himself was of any greatness at all.

I got home to find that Cozcatl had come calling, and was waiting to tell me the latest news of his school. While I began to divest myself of my Eagle Knight garb for more comfortable clothes, he rubbed his hands together in great good humor and announced:

'The Revered Speaker Motecuzoma has engaged me to undertake the training of his entire palace staff of servants and slaves, from the highest stewards to the scullery help.'

That was such good news that I called for Turquoise to bring us a jug of cooled octli that we might celebrate. Star Singer also came running, to bring and light for each of us a poquietl.

'But I have just come from the palace,' I said to Cozcatl. 'And I got the impression that Motecuzoma's servants are already trained—or at least cowed to groveling—the same as his Speaking Council and every other person connected with his court.'

'Oh, his servants serve well enough,' said Cozcatl. He sucked on his tube and blew a smoke ring. 'But he wants them polished and refined, to be the equal of Nezahualpili's staff in Texcoco.'

I said, 'It appears that our Revered Speaker has feelings of envy and rivalry about more than the mannerly servants of the Texcoco court. I might even say feelings of animosity. Motecuzoma told me today that he proposes to launch a new war against Texcala, which is not surprising. What he did not say, but I have heard elsewhere, is that he tried to order Nezahualpili to lead the assault, and with Acolhua troops forming the bulk of the army. I also hear that Nezahualpili most firmly declined that honor, and I am glad—after all, he is no longer young. But it does seem that Motecuzoma would like to do what Ahuitzotl did in our own war days, Cozcatl. To decimate the Acolhua, or even force Nezahualpili himself to fall in combat.'

Cozcatl said, 'It may be, Mixtli, that Motecuzoma has the same reason that Ahuitzotl had.'

I took a bracing drink of octli and said, 'Do you mean what I fear you mean?'

Cozcatl nodded. 'That onetime child bride of Nezahualpili whose name is no longer mentioned. Being Ahuitzotl's daughter, she was Motecuzoma's cousin... and maybe something more than cousin to him. For whatever it signifies, it was immediately after her execution that Motecuzoma took the black robes of priesthood and celibacy.'

I said, 'A coincidence that indeed invites speculation,' and drained my cup of octli. It inspirited me enough to say, 'Well, he long ago gave up the priesthood, and he now has two legal wives, and he will be taking more. Let us hope that he eventually gives up his animus toward Nezahualpili. Let us also hope that he never learns of the part you and I played in his lady cousin's downfall.'

Cozcatl said cheerfully, 'Do not worry. The good Nezahualpili has forever kept silent about our involvement. Ahuitzotl never connected us with the affair. Motecuzoma does not, either, or he would hardly be patronizing my school.'

I said with relief, 'You are probably right.' Then I laughed and said, 'You seem impervious to worry or even to pain.' I pointed to his poquietl. 'Are you not likely to do yourself serious injury?'

He had apparently not noticed that the hand holding his lighted smoking tube had lowered so that the burning coal of it rested against the bare skin of his other arm. When I called it to his notice he jerked the poquietl away and looked glumly at the angry red burn mark it had left on his skin.

'Sometimes my attention gets fixed on something,' he muttered, 'and I am unaware of—trifles like that.'

'Trifles?' I said. 'It must hurt worse than a wasp sting. I will call for Turquoise to bring an ointment.'

'No, no, I do not—I hardly feel it at all,' he said, and stood up. 'I will see you soon again, Mixtli.'

He was just leaving the house when Beu Ribe came in from some errand. Cozcatl greeted her warmly, as usual, but her smile at him seemed rather strained, and, when he was gone, she said to me:

'I met his wife on the street, and we spoke a few words. Quequelmiqui must know that I am acquainted with Cozcatl's history, and his wound, and their marriage of accommodation to it. But she seemed radiantly happy, and she looked at me with a sort of challenge, as if she dared me to make any remark.'

A little drowsy from the octli, I said, 'Make a remark about what?'

'About her being pregnant. It is obvious to any woman's eyes.'

'You must be mistaken,' I said. 'You know it to be impossible.'

She gave me an impatient look. 'Impossible it may be, but mistaken I am not. Even a spinster recognizes that condition. It cannot be long before even her husband takes note of it. And what then?'

There was no answer to such a question, and Beu left the room without waiting for one, leaving me to sit and think. I should have realized, when Ticklish came to me pleading that I give her the one experience her husband could not, that she had really wanted me to give her something more lasting than just the experience. She wanted a child—a Cocoton of her own—and who better than the beloved Cocoton's father to provide it? More than likely, Ticklish had come to me already having eaten of fox meat or of the herb cihuapatli or one of the other specifics that supposedly assure a woman's impregnation. Well, I very nearly had succumbed to her blandishments. Only Beu's