'Let me tell you about Mahuizoh and his high standards of behaviour. He gets me expelled from the Knights on a trifle–'
The guard growled, but he was clearly unwilling to abandon his post. 'You stole from your comrades, Huacqui. That's an offence.'
Huacqui cackled. 'Yes, yes,' he said. 'But Mahuizoh… he enjoys his women, doesn't he?'
My heart gave a lurch in my chest. 'What do you mean, he enjoys his women?'
'The talk of our clan,' Huacqui said. 'He has his own little prostitute in the girls' calmecac–'
'He has a sister,' I said.
'A convenient excuse. He'd have found another if she hadn't been there. He's been sleeping with that priestess for ever.' Huacqui stamped on the ground with both feet. 'And he gets the honour and the glory, while I have to sell myself as a slave to earn a living.'
'You were always too lazy for your own good,' the guard snapped. 'And there is no truth – none at all, do you hear? – in those rumours.' That last was obviously addressed to me, but in the tense features of the guard's face I read the exact opposite of what he wanted me to believe.
'A priestess,' I said to Huacqui. 'Which one?'
He shrugged. 'Priestess of Xochiquetzal. I don't remember her name. But he was jealous of all the men she kept flirting with, all the young warriors she'd eye like potential lovers.' His face was sly.
Neutemoc had said that Eleuia had flirted with him, quite ostentatiously. If Mahuizoh had been her lover, and if he was indeed a jealous man, then he had motive both to kill her and to make sure my brother was indicted for her murder. 'Priestess Eleuia?' I asked.
The guard winced; Huacqui burst out laughing, with a malevolent expression. 'So it's come out, hasn't it? Yes, our dear little Jaguar Knight and his whore–'
The butt of the guard's spear caught Huacqui in the face, throwing him to the ground. 'You – will – be – silent,' the guard said, accentuating every word of the sentence. 'You will stop spreading such filth, or I might just be tempted to do more than strike you.'
Huacqui, lying on the ground with blood pouring into his eyes, just laughed and laughed. He knew the damage had already been done.
I knelt by him; I hesitated to grab him, as he was so filthy, but he pulled himself upward without my help. 'Will you swear to that in court?' I asked.
He smiled, a truly unpleasant expression. 'If it brings him down, I'll swear to anything.'
'You've seen them together?' I asked.
He shook his head. 'But I'll find you people who have.'
I was afraid he'd bribe them, but I didn't think he was wrong about Mahuizoh's relationship with Eleuia. Mahuizoh had reacted far too strongly to her disappearance.
I drew Huacqui away from the Jaguar House, gave him a few cacao beans, and got his address. He also gave me a description of Mahuizoh, distinctive enough to recognise him if I saw him. It wasn't much, but it was more than I'd previously had.
Now I needed to see Xochiquetzal, and find out who the father of Eleuia's baby was. Hopefully, it wouldn't be Neutemoc. Please, Duality, let it not be my brother, I didn't need any more damaging evidence. I shook myself. I was making progress. There was hope for Neutemoc.
I just wished I could be sure that he was innocent of Eleuia's abduction.
I walked back into my temple in the gathering darkness, and headed straight for the storehouse. Ezamahual had gone, presumably to join one of the vigils, the death-hymns of which echoed through the courtyard; Palli had taken his place.
I needed suitable offerings for the Quetzal Flower, and I didn't remember what those would be. I could have asked the ever-useful Ichtaca, but I didn't want to lower myself in his esteem yet another time.
'Good evening, Palli,' I said. 'Watching the storehouse again?'
Palli shrugged. 'I like it. It's quiet out here.'
We had offerings, but not enough to tempt a thief; not when there were larger, richer temples within a spear's throw.
'I need to look in there.'
Palli nodded. He wasn't going to question me, in any case. 'Help yourself.'
Inside, the storehouse was as dark and crowded as ever: owls screeched in protest as the light of my lamp fell on them; scuffling sounds came from the rabbit cages. The combined smells of copal, cedar oil and alum made my head spin. We'd have to sweep the place clean one of these days, before someone fainted in here.
Xochiquetzal… It had been a long time since I'd gone to calmecac, a long time since I'd learnt the hymns and proper offerings for all the gods. I remembered those for the gods I dealt with in everyday life: Mictlantecuhtli, Lord Death, and Mixcoatl, Lord of the Hunt. Xochiquetzal I'd never had many dealings with, for obvious reasons: She was hardly associated with death.
The light of my torch fell on an array of quetzal feathers, stacked near a pile of copal incense cones. Feathers? They were symbols of beauty, but they were not distinctive: I could think of a dozen gods who would accept that particular offering.
For Xochiquetzal, what I needed was some kind of flowers…
Palli's shadow fell across the doorway, casting me in darkness. 'Do you know what you're looking for, Acatl-tzin?'
I shrugged, unwilling to admit to weakness. What a poor High Priest I made. 'I'm fine,' I started, and then thought of Neutemoc. Hmm. I changed my mind. 'I need suitable offerings for Xochiquetzal,' I said. 'Would you remember what those are, by any chance?'
Limned by sunlight, Palli's face was unreadable. 'For the Goddess of Beauty? Any flowers, but poinsettias are Her favourites.'
A flower as red as the blood of sacrifices. I bit back on a snort. How unsubtle some gods could be.
'Anything else?'
