One of my absolute favorite scenes! Teaser! I laid a soft kiss on the crown of her head, similar to the way my mother would when I was a child. She had had a gift for empathy and emotion, and always seemed to know just the way to cheer me. “I lifted the ban on sacrifices.” Her sudden admission shocked me back to reality. “Tototl told me already.” “You knew?” Her head lifted off my chest as she sat up and offered a look of complete confusion. “You know you have to change it. You can’t run a country of people who murder each other.” As angry as I was about it, there was only one reasonable course of action. She would reinstitute the ban; it was the only way that made sense. “I won’t change it.” I knew in that moment that I had lost some part of mind. I had lost touch with reality and was starting to hear things. “I’ll tell Tototl he doesn’t have to leave. You need him here anyway.” I rose off the bed to find him. “Lark, his father will die. He will be honored on the steps of Chimalma. The sacrifice will be made to Chichiton.” It took a full moment to register the meaning of her words. Allowing the priestess to kill offerings to the dog was as good as doing it herself. As far as I was concerned, Khea had declared herself a murderer. “And here I thought I was the one who had gone mad.” “I can’t eliminate their culture. They have honored Chichiton for two thousand years.” “Don’t you remember what happened in Chimalma? Don’t you remember our friends being murdered in front of us? Don’t you remember that I was next, that I knelt on the stone and waited for the blade?” “The lives of any individual are not worth more than the life of Nakbe. Some will die for the good of the rest.” “And what of those that die? What of their lives? Was Micha just another offering to you? Would I have been?” “Of course not.” A droplet ran from the corner of her eyes, and I knew that I had gone too far. No matter if she wanted me or not, the Affinity prevented her from anything but utter devotion. “The people are angry. They blame their dead crops and their sick relatives on the end of the offerings. My role is to rule them, not to change them. And you stepping in to stop them doesn’t make it any better.” Somehow, word had gotten back. Maybe someone complained or maybe she saw it herself. Either way, she was angry I tried to intervene. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I was too late.” “That’s not the point. It’s their culture, their way of life. They are proud of their children who defend their name. It’s how they settle disputes between tribes and conflicts over territory.” “But you’re letting them kill each other. For no reason.” “The sacrifices secure their allegiance to the dog. Weakness is removed from the population so food is spent only on the strong. Illness is destroyed. Don’t you remember what the plague did in Lagodon?” Khea’s entire family—her parents and her sisters—had been killed within the first few weeks. My mother had lasted longer than most, but even the coin paid for my Spark wasn’t enough to save her in time. Those few weeks of sickness had changed our lives forever. “Under no circumstances will I ever agree to this. This is wrong. You can try to justify it all you want, but that doesn’t change it.” “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m queen then.” Never had she used her status so callously, never had she used it against me. I whole-heartedly supported her rise to royalty. Hidden away in a giant palace, she had an army of guards solely devoted to her safety. She had food and living accommodations worthy of her. But, still, I felt the sting of it. The idea that she would allow Yaotl to resume sacrifices hadn’t crossed my mind in our weeks in Uxmal. It hadn’t occurred to me to question her. I loved her, but never had I had so much hatred for her as well. “Khea–” “Get out.” What? I thought maybe I had misheard her, but the cold stare confirmed her uncharacteristic demand. “I said, get out.” The small flickers that occupied the candlewicks grew in an instant to sizeable blazes. One began to crawl up the dense velvet along the window. If she was trying to scare me, it wasn’t going to work. “I already told you, I’m not leaving.” She stood calmly and lifted a hand, cocking it slightly. Faster than I could have imagined, a dozen members of the Nakben queensguard surrounded me. Several of them carried spears that grazed the skin of my back, shoulders, and torso. The others held the same style of long-bladed knife that had killed Khasla and Jhoma and Micha. It was just another reminder of why the sacrifices had to end. Rough hands pulled at me from all sides until my feet left the ground. I was quickly carried out the door and couldn’t see Khea through the commotion of bodies between us. Was she pleased? Like a criminal who had just made an attempt on the queen’s life, I was hauled down the corridor towards the lower levels. The warriors devoted to Khea carried me as easily as a spear, their strong hands tightly gripping my arms and ankles. I would have thought it quite humiliating if I had anything left to care about such things.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 22:09:13 +0000
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