'I didn't think you would,' I said, finally. 'Why all the secrecy?'
Ceyaxochitl handed me the piece of paper without another word.
There wasn't much to see: it was just a drawing in red ink, and another in black ink, superimposed upon it. Together, both sets of lines formed a stylised figure: an animal, suggested by its claws and the shape of its maw.
'I don't understand,' I said.
Ceyaxochitl sighed. 'The red pattern is the one Yaotl took from Eleuia's cheek.'
'And the black?' I asked, a hollow deepening in my stomach. Missing lines. If you added the black lines to the red, you had a complete pattern.
Ceyaxochitl raised a hand. 'Promise me you're not going to do something foolish about it,' she said.
She was really, really worrying me. Was the overall symbol some Imperial seal? 'I can't promise that until you tell me,' I said.
She was silent, for a while. 'It was badly smudged,' she said. 'Barely recognisable. But Yaotl has a good memory.'
'And?' I hated that she was toying with me, holding her answer at arm's length.
She turned, to lay one hand on the altar, as if drawing strength from the stone. 'It's a ring,' she said. 'A ring of engraved turquoise.'
My stomach twisted. Turquoise was an Imperial colour. 'Who wears that ring?' Tizoc-tzin? Or – and my heart missed a beat – Teomitl?
'Only one man,' Ceyaxochitl said. 'Quiyahuayo, Commander of the Jaguar Brotherhood.'
Commander Quiyahuayo. I'd met him, was my first, incredulous thought. He hadn't sounded like… Like a sorcerer. Like a ruthless man, ready to sacrifice Neutemoc for the Duality knew what aim. Was I such a fool as not to recognise a sorcerer?
'That's not possible,' I said. 'Someone made a copy…'
Ceyaxochitl shook her head. 'That would be going to a lot of trouble for not much. We had so much trouble tracing that ring, I don't think it was meant to mislead us.'
'I don't understand,' I said, stupidly. But I did. The Jaguar Knights were privileged warriors, heavily connected to the Imperial Family – especially their Commander. Ceyaxochitl was telling me that Quiyahuayo might be behind the abduction of Eleuia; but that I would have to tread carefully.
I thought of the bruises on Eleuia's skin; of how no part of her had been left undamaged; of how Quiyahuayo had left Neutemoc to rot in his cage for days; of how he'd induced Huei to betray her husband and put her own life in danger; of how, because of him, she was now condemned to death. A cold anger crystallised in my chest.
I crumpled the paper between my fingers. 'Thank you,' I said, and walked out before she could stop me.
Yaotl joined me as I reached the outer courtyard of the Duality House. 'You're about to do something foolish,' he said, flatly. For once, he didn't sound amused or ironic.
'Do you have any other solutions?'
'Mistress Ceyaxochitl can appeal to the Imperial Courts–'
'That's not a solution,' I said. 'That's just delaying things.'
'Sometimes, it's the best thing,' Yaotl said. 'Quiyahuayo has more influence than you believe.'
'No,' I said. I wasn't there to dally in politics. I wasn't there to be thrown left and right by events out of my control. I wanted justice.
Yaotl started to say something, but then met my gaze. He sighed: an unusual, uncharacteristic gesture. 'It's your choice,' he said. 'Don't say we failed to warn you this time.'
I shook my head. If my destiny was to rush in, like a fool, then so be it.
I was almost all the way to the doors of the Jaguar House when I realised someone had followed me. Neutemoc.
'You're not safe here,' I snapped.
He stood, some paces away from me, stubbornly unmoving. 'I heard you. It's my Brotherhood, Acatl. My commander. I think I deserve an explanation.'
He still shone, faintly, with Mihmatini's spell: a soft light, barely visible to my priest-senses, which spilled on the beaten earth under us. The rising wind whipped at his cloak, giving him the air of an uncanny monster.
I looked at the bulk of the Jaguar House, throwing its shadow over us – at the guards at the entrance. For company, I could do worse than Neutemoc: he might hate me, but he'd guard my back, if only because I was family and because his brotherhood had betrayed him.
'Very well,' I said, finally. 'Come on.'
He walked some paces away, which suited me. I had no desire to start a long conversation. When we reached the Jaguar House, though, I saw the faces of the guards darken.
'You shouldn't be here,' the first guard said to Neutemoc.
A faint, dangerous smile stretched Neutemoc's lips. He spread his hands, palms up, as if to show he had no weapon. 'I'm still a Jaguar Knight,' he said. 'And I'm entitled to be here.'
The second guard growled. 'You haven't set a foot in here since your arrest, and now you come back.'
'It's the coming back that matters,' Neutemoc said. He was hiding his anger, his sense of betrayal, very well, but I saw it in the slight tremor of his hands. 'I want to see the commander.'
The first guard laughed, his fingers tightening around the shellgrip of his spear. 'As if he'd see you at this
