“Yes,” Priest Quisac said. “Thus it is so with the soil plague.”
The King walked several steps and spun back. “Then all is lost?”
“No,” Priest Quisac said. He glanced at William, a subtle smile crossing his lips. “Had Balam died with the others, the bloodstone’s power would now reside with Honac-Fey.” The Serpent Priest gazed at Betty, and his face lit up. “However, a twist transpired in the planned events. We have Bati to thank for that. Balam did not die, and Honac-Fey fled without the bloodstone. Perhaps Honac-Fey assumed all would be lost before we could understand the impact of his actions.”
Betty perked up upon hearing her name amidst the jumble of Mayan conversation, and she gave William a gesture to explain. He translated as best he could about the curse-how they thought the bloodstone might help in some way.
Yax paced around the tree. “The solution to the soil plague,” he asked Priest Quisac, “will it take an extended time?”
“Yes,” Priest Quisac said, “and it is a difficult and uncertain proposition.”
“Then we must harvest the crops now,” Yax said.
“A wise decision, my Lord, before the sickness reaches them all,” the Serpent Priest agreed.
The heavy noble with a bone pierced through his nose approached Yax. “King Stone Frog,” the man said with a short bow. “I was at the fields yesterday. A few plantations of beans, peppers, and squash are nearly ready. But the maize fields are far from maturation. The stars… they do not advise harvest at this time.”
“Forget the stars for once!” Yax said. “We must salvage whatever we can, noble Lamat, down to the last berry.” Yax raced up the steps of the platform overlooking the courtyard, glaring at several nobles who were on their hands and knees. “Now is not the time for prayer!” he shouted. The nobles jumped up. “We must save our food supply. Each and every one of us-noble and peasant alike-are to work the fields and orchards. Scour the jungle for anything that is edible.”
Yax pointed at a group of royal guards near the entrance. “Shake the royal palace! Wake each and every family from here to Kinichna. Pass on my order of the harvest to all!” He rushed over to a little boy kneeling beside a potted plant. “Belasar.”
“Yes, my Lord,” he replied, his head bowed down. “I apologize for screaming when I saw the tree like this.”
“Look at me, Belasar,” Yax said. The little boy lifted his head, meeting eyes with the King. “Your scream was the alarm we needed. Now you must run, Belasar-faster than you have ever run in your life. Go tell your father of the great ceiba, and of my declaration. Tell him to spread the word to all the master farmers-begin the harvest at once.” Yax removed his jade necklace and shoved it into the boy’s hands. “Take this as proof of my order. Now go!”
Belasar bowed and bolted off, zigzagging through the clusters of exiting nobles like a running back juking his way up field.
While Yax ordered the start of the harvest, Priest Quisac directed Subiac, Lamat, and some servants to carry the potted plants outside the palace.
Betty pointed at the ceiba tree. “What’s this tree got to do with anything?” she asked William.
Priest Quisac kneeled beside the ceiba tree and moved his hands over the conical thorns, as though he were feeling for a pulse. “The Tree of Life,” he said, understanding Betty’s general question, and speaking with much imagery coming from his thoughts, “is a portal to the underworld. It completes the triad of our land’s power-the bloodstone, its master, and the Tree of Life. It has been so over the last baktun, and our land has prospered under the careful protection of this unity… to the envy of our rival kingdoms.”
Betty turned to William, shaking her head as if coming out of a dream. “This tree connects to another world?” she asked, rolling her eyes. “Whatever.”
Yax rejoined William and the others near the ceiba tree. “Of course, that’s it!” Yax said to Priest Quisac, studying his progress at the base of the tree. “King Aztuk of Calakmul is behind all this. He used Honac-Fey and my uncle to put this plan into motion… to weaken our land.”
“What good would our land be to our enemy if made unlivable?” Teshna asked.
The Serpent Priest sliced off the tip of a conical thorn; sap oozed out the cut. “Their intensions are not yet known,” he said.
Yax scratched his forehead with a confused look when he saw a group of servants enter the palace to retrieve the potted plants and carry them back out. “What’s going on here, Priest Quisac?” he asked.
The Serpent Priest stood and surveyed the courtyard. “We must replant all these potted plants around the temples, far apart from one another. Provide them with water from the sacred chultunes.”
“There are fifty-two plants here,” Teshna said. “What purpose does this serve?”
“We must create a diversion for the demon of the soil plague… entice him with other sacred plants to attack. The demon is heading to the fields. We must convince the demon to return here,” Priest Quisac said with haste in his voice. Teshna and Yax looked hesitant, and Priest Quisac gave them an impatient glare. “There is no time to waste. The Tree of Life has been absorbing the curse, attempting to prevent its continued spread into the lands. She can take no more. The disease now moves!”
Yax regarded William like he was about to get a painful shot at the doctor’s office. He turned to the Serpent Priest. “So you plan to…”
“The Ritual of Binding… yes,” Priest Quisac said.
The ceremonial priests, Ik-Tanil and Ch’elek, entered the courtyard. “You must summon Yum Kaax,” Priest Quisac said to them. “Only the Maize god would be willing to help us in this matter. Pray for his assistance in slowing the demon, Yum Cimil.”
The priests lit their incense burners and began chanting, moving in opposing circles around the ceiba tree.
“Go now,” Priest Quisac said, ordering the others. “Do as I said with the plants.”
William told Betty that Priest Quisac wanted them to replant the potted plants outside, although he still didn’t understand how that would help. Betty shrugged and went along with it. William also reached for a plant, but Priest Quisac snatched his wrist, holding him back.
“See that we are undisturbed,” the Serpent Priest told Yax. “Balam will soon be in a deep trance.”
William gave Priest Quisac a double-take. “Say what?” he asked. The Serpent Priest tugged his arm, jerking him down beside the tree.
Teshna reached over and caressed William’s cheek before grabbing the nearest pot. “Good luck, Balam. Be brave,” she said with a wink, and carried the plant outside.
“May Yum Kaax assist you in your mission,” Yax said, and he picked up a pot filled with long pink and white petals that appeared to wave good bye, fluttering up and down as he left.
Betty stopped and glanced back, peeking around the leaves of the shrub she carried. “Aren’t you coming?” she asked William.
“I guess not,” William said with a nervous laugh. “You go ahead. It’s okay.”
Betty shrugged and exited the courtyard.
William didn’t like how Priest Quisac still held his wrist in one hand while wielding a dagger in his other. “I don’t know what you’re planning,” William said, pulling his hand free from the Serpent Priest’s grip. “What’s all this about gods and demons? This is getting a little crazy, don’t you think?”
Priest Quisac scowled. “I do not understand.”
William watched Subiac and Lamat enter the courtyard with a couple servants behind them. They each grabbed a plant and then headed back out. “I can understand that the soil is poisoned,” William said, “but now you’re talking about a demon, and having to convince him to return here. I imagine you’re speaking symbolically, right?”
Priest Quisac shot a stern look his way. “There are many truths that you do not yet understand about our world. Yet there is no time to explain. Give me your hand.”
William held out his hand. The Serpent Priest snatched his wrist and slit a gash across the palm of his left hand with his dagger. “Ouch! What are you doing?”
William asked, wincing from the pain. He leaned against the tree for support, feeling dizzy from the deep cut.
“Remove the bloodstone and place it on your wound,” the Serpent Priest said.
