Tezcatlipoca now ruled them?
“People might wonder, why Tezcatlipoca? Why not one of the other divine visitors? Why not Quetzalcoatl himself? I was aware I wasn’t the most popular of the Four. So I concocted the role of Great Speaker, usurping the identity of an emperor already beloved of his people. Moctezuma himself was none too pleased when he learned that he was about to be forcibly supplanted as ruler. Ironic, really; here was a man who had presided over so many human sacrifices, who had chalked up countless deaths in the name of his own glory, yet he was profoundly reluctant to give up his own life. He struggled quite a bit. Screamed and bit like a howler monkey under my hands.”
“You… killed him?” said Mal.
“Someone had to,” Tezcatlipoca replied airily. “Seemed simplest to do the job myself. It happened in his private quarters, not far from this spot. There were no witnesses. It was just Moctezuma and myself in a room, the last true Aztec emperor and the last god left on earth. He perished, I disposed of the body so as not to leave a trace behind, and next day this entity called the Great Speaker emerged, claiming to be a Moctezuma energised by godly power, a Moctezuma who would live and rule forever by divine decree.
“I wasn’t entirely sure at first that people would fall for it. The priesthood, especially, I thought would see through the imposture and demand proof that I was the emperor in new clothes. In the event, everyone was duped. Some perhaps had their doubts, but went along with it anyway because up until then Moctezuma, with the gods’ aid, had overseen expansion of Aztec territory on an unprecedented scale, and as the Great Speaker I quickly established that the future would hold more of the same, even though the gods were now gone. I promised them the world, as a matter of fact. It was what the Aztecs wanted to hear, so they were willing to set aside any misgivings they might have had and take me at face value. I told them that the gods had raised me up, elevated me to a higher order of being. I planted the seeds of a story which grew into a legend and from there to a simple fact of truth, a cornerstone of the Empire. People will believe anything if it’s in their interest to do so.”
“A grotesque hoax,” said Quetzalcoatl.
“But it worked, and it’s what I do best — sleight of hand. Am I not the Smoking Mirror? Do I not distort and obscure? We can’t help our natures. Might as well criticise Xipe for being a feral beast or Huitz for being worthy but dull. Or yourself, Kay, for being a stuck-up prig.”
“Be very careful what you say,” Xipe Totec growled.
“Oh, I do. All the time. Am I not great at speaking?”
“I mean it.”
“Or what? You’ll kill me? You’re welcome to try, Flayed One. But you know as well as I do that we’re evenly matched. It would take a lot more than you’ve got to finish me off. I reckon, in truth, that I’m the equal of the three of you put together, and that’s barehanded, without armour or any other form of defence or weaponry. Shall we put that to the test?”
Huitzilopochtli and Xipe Totec looked at Quetzalcoatl, who offered a tiny shake of the head. Not here; not now.
“Thought so,” said Tezcatlipoca. “What do you want from me, then? Am I to relinquish my Empire to you? Is that it? Step down and let you take from me something I’ve spent five centuries building?”
“I’d like you to reconsider your position, at the very least,” said Quetzalcoatl. “We can dismantle what you’ve created and raise something better in its stead, something more in line with our original aims. We won’t throw out everything you’ve done. We’ll keep what works and discard the rest.”
“The Empire is the glue that binds this world together. Get rid of it, and I assure you, the human race will tear itself to pieces in pretty short order. There’ll be chaos like you couldn’t imagine. Nation pitted against nation. Ancient, long-buried antagonisms rising up again like reanimated corpses. I know what these people are like. I’ve been living among them for far longer than you ever did. Colonel Tlanextic? Am I not right? You tell them. Without the Empire, how long do you think this planet would last?”
“Couple of years,” said Tlanextic, “if not months. Not long. Everyone scrambling for advantage, trampling on everyone else in the stampede to get to the top. Powder keg, and billions of sparks shooting in all directions. Next stop, extinction.”
“I never said it would be easy,” said Quetzalcoatl. “Rectifying the situation will require time, great care and trouble. But it can be done, I’m sure of it. I’m prepared to put in the effort. We all are. We co-ordinate, administrate, make the transition from dictatorship by personality cult to multi-state democracy as smooth as possible. I’ve drawn up plans. A timetable. I could show you, Tez. It’ll take a decade, no more. A decade, by which time humans will have learned how to manage without the Empire and be living in relative harmony and prosperity. What we do first of all is set up a global governing body, a talking shop where individual countries can air their grievances and settle disputes without recourse to conflict. It could even be here on this very island, manned by elected representatives from all of — ”
Tezcatlipoca interrupted him with a noisy, elaborate yawn, fanning his mouth with one hand. “Sorry. Drifted off there for a moment. What were you saying? Some guff about a global government. Well, I can tell you right now, it’ll never work. Humans can’t agree on anything, unless they’re forced to. You conjure a lovely utopian idyll, Kay, but take it from me, it’s unrealisable; not here, not on this planet. A pipe dream.”
“I have faith in people.”
“And I have knowledge of them,” Tezcatlipoca shot back. “And my practical, hands-on experience trumps your ignorant optimism. Let’s face it, this whole enterprise of ours was doomed from the very start. We set out to nurture and enhance an entire species, make it as civilised and united as it could be, evolve it to a higher level of sophistication, but the only way we were ever realistically going to do that is the way I’ve done it, through fear and intimidation. Humans just don’t have it in them to behave themselves, to act responsibly. They need to be bullied. That’s how they treat each other all the time. It’s the only language they understand.”
“I refute that. You have an appallingly low opinion of this race, Tez.”
“And you, Kay, have an appallingly high one. It’s one of your bad habits. Like incest.”
“Do not mock me!” Quetzalcoatl yelled, making a lunge for his tormentor.
“Ah — ah — ah!” said Tezcatlipoca, standing his ground and wagging a finger. “Unwise.”
“Heed your own advice, Plumed Serpent,” said Huitzilopochtli. “Don’t rise to the bait.”
Quetzalcoatl glared at Tezcatlipoca, but did not make a further move.
“There they are,” said Tezcatlipoca, triumphantly. “Those true colours of yours. The real Quetzalcoatl behind the facade of compassion. The man behind the mask. Your own duality in evidence — though some might call it two-facedness. You came to ask me to surrender my Empire. Here’s my answer: No. You can’t have it. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished here. I like being the Great Speaker. It suits me. I enjoy having several billion sentient creatures under my command. I relish the thought that the inhabitants and resources of an entire planet are at my beck and call. I have power. I have status. I have respect. This is mine. You obliged me to become what I’ve become. You can’t now just turn up and expect me to un-become it. I am Tezcatlipoca, the Smoking Mirror, the Great Speaker, and to put it bluntly, you, Quetzalcoatl, brother of mine, and all the rest of you, can go fuck yourselves.”
He paused for breath, his last phrase lingering sourly in the air.
Mal looked at the two brothers, who were bent towards each other like the sides of an arch. Enmity crackled electrically between them, a long-held, deep-seated loathing that was all the more intense because of their shared blood. No one could hate quite as hard as close kin could, as she well knew.
“Fair enough,” said Quetzalcoatl at last, stiffly, straightening. “Our positions are clear. I gave you every chance, Tez, remember that. Now get ready. What you won’t give up willingly will have to be taken from you by force of arms.”
“Get ready?” replied Tezcatlipoca with a look of sheer delight. “I’ve been preparing for years! I knew this moment might come. Provision has been made. Contingency measures are in place. Come at me as hard as you like, Kay. Do your worst. I can handle it. Whatever you dish out, you’re getting back fourfold. That’s a promise.”
“War,” said Quetzalcoatl. He sounded weary, resigned, but somehow not surprised.
“If you want to glorify it with that name. Me, I’d call it a takeover bid. A coup d’etat. And like any attempted coup, it will be ruthlessly repelled and quashed.”
Quetzalcoatl thumbed a button on a controller strapped to the palm of his hand. The wings on his back extended gracefully and he took off from the terrace. Xipe Totec and Huitzilopochtli did the same.
