What in Mictlan is this woman doing here? Cuauhtemoc wondered. But the question went no further as his eyes traveled down her body, over the peaks of her supple breasts, down onto the flat of her abdomen then up again, to the smooth mound of her tepilli, so unashamedly open to him. "Tell me how best I can serve you, My Lord." Her words turned that persistent longing into a pulsing howl in his blood.
You are the huey tlatoani, he could hear Ixtlil say. You're entitled to pleasure so freely offered.
Swallowing hard, he started stepping towards her, but then stopped. She sat up on her elbows, giving him a better view of her face. It was the woman who'd served him the afternoon meal the day he'd told Malinali about his vision. Memories of this afternoon flooded over him, of holding Malinali's hand and leaning in for the kiss he'd so desperately wanted. It shook the lust from his brain. I don't want just any woman; I want Malinali.
He didn't remember dropping his drying cloth around his ankles, but now his whole face burned with embarrassment as he scrambled to cover himself again. "Get out," he choked. "I don't know why you came here but get out."
She stared at him, crestfallen. "Have I offended you, Revered Speaker?"
"Get out!"
The woman gathered up her clothing, tears welling in her eyes, but when he called for his guards, she hurried into her dress, the tears giving way to panicked sobs.
The guards started when they saw her. "Is everything all right, My Lord?"
"Get her out of here. And she's never to return to the living quarters ever again."
She wept as the guards led her out half-dressed and Cuauhtemoc slashed the curtain closed behind them. He paced, his guilt growing into suspicion. Someone sent her here for you to find, he decided. "Ixtlil," he growled under his breath.
¤
Malinali hid in the sleeping quarters, fearing she'd do something rash when Tayanna returned; her devastation had burned away, making way for the ferocious desire to throttle her. The head slave didn't abide violence among his charges and wouldn't hesitate to sell her off for harming another slave, so it was best to hide under her blanket and let the anger boil itself away on its own. At least she and Tayanna didn't share the same quarters.
She tried sleeping, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw Tayanna lying on Cuauhtemoc's bed, so perfect and young and pretty. How could you be so foolish, to think he'd pick you over her? When the tears stung her eyes, she screwed up her resolve. She wouldn't cry over some man who thought sharing one of her most closely guarded secrets wasn't anything special.
Xochitli came into the room and started changing her clothes. "Are you ready for dinner?" Malinali covered her head with her blanket and hunkered down, pretending to sleep. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Malinali choked, then cursed herself for speaking at all.
Xochitli sat on the bed roll next to her and pulled the blanket away. "Are you all right?"
Despite all her efforts, Malinali's resolve turned to dust. "He's sleeping with Tayanna!" She hid her face with her hands.
"Who?"
"Cuauhtemoc."
"How do you know—"
"I saw her...lying naked on his bed, in his quarters."
Xochitli sighed. "I'm sorry."
"I thought...he's taking me to Tlaxcala with him next week, to help him negotiate a peace treaty, and we went to Chapultepec this afternoon, so he could teach me to ride a horse on my own. And he told me about what happened to his father, and I told him about my own father dying and how my mother and her new husband sold me into slavery, and he nearly kissed me! But when I went to his quarters, to return his riding gloves—" Malinali showed her the gloves she still clutched in her hands like the last remaining memory of a lost love. "—and there she was, talking to him...and...." She covered her face again. "How could he do this?"
Stroking her hair, Xochitli said, "Maybe it's not what it seems, but even then, men don't see such things the way we do. Sometimes sex isn't about love, it's merely something to do."
Malinali sat up, wiping her tears with an angry swipe of her fist. "What does it matter, anyway? It means nothing to me. He has no interest in me aside from being his personal advisor, and I'm thankful for it."
Xochitli frowned. "No, you're not."
Malinali tried to glare at her, but her friend knew her better than anyone. The truth brought the wall of anger crumbling down. "I'm such a fool, Xochitli."
"We cannot help what our hearts feel."
"I should have known better. At least I didn't do something foolish, such as offer myself to him."
Her friend tried to smile but managed only an uncomfortable grin. "Things will work out. Give it time."
Malinali nodded and tried to banish her foolish feelings, but the memories of that afternoon remained stubbornly at the forefront of her mind all through dinner.
¤
The game had already started, with the players darting around the dirt court below after the crimson rubber ball, dressed in their knee and elbow pads and reed-woven girdles that protected their guts from hard blows. The crowd shouted and hollered, waving colorful feathered banners in the air while a band played drums and flutes.
"I need to talk to you," Cuauhtemoc growled in Ixtlil's ear when he came up behind Ixtlil in the royal box.
Ixtlil hesitated to look away from the action, but when Cuauhtemoc added, "Now," he finally left his mat and followed him into the anteroom beyond the sitting area. He started to give his friend one of his boisterous claps on the shoulder, but seeing the fury on Cuauhtemoc's face, he stopped. "Has something happened?"
"Did you send her?" Cuauhtemoc demanded.
"Send who?"
"Don't play with me, Ixtlil. The girl." When Ixtlil frowned, puzzled, Cuauhtemoc added, "The naked one that was waiting for me in my quarters?"
Now Ixtlil smiled slyly. "Now wouldn't that be a pleasant surprise?"
"I sent her away."
"The gods give generously, yet you shun such a wonderful gift?"
"What were you thinking? What if Malinali had been with me?"
Ixtlil stared at him, incredulous. "You think I sent some girl to exercise your neglected snake for you?"
"You didn't?"
"I've hardly had time for such an elaborate ruse. I arrived here at the same time you did this afternoon. Granted, it sounds like something I'd do, but if I sent anyone to your quarters to seduce you, it would be Malinali." When Cuauhtemoc started protesting, Ixtlil held up his hands. "I jest, of course. She doesn't strike me as the kind I could talk into such things. But really, why isn't she already in your bed?"
"I can't rush this. She must know that I think of her as more than a beautiful body."
"Then tell her."
"If only it were so easy."
"It is easy. You're making it difficult."
"It's not easy," Cuauhtemoc insisted.
Ixtlil scrutinized him. "You're afraid if you tell her the truth of your feelings, she'll give you an honest answer, and it might not be a confession of love." When Cuauhtemoc didn't answer, he asked, "But what if she says she loves you too? You would really risk not knowing that?"
"So long as she's my slave, I cannot be absolutely certain of the truth."
"Then free her."
"And what if she leaves? We need her help with Tlaxcala. We need this treaty and we won't get it without her help, so I must put aside my feelings and focus on what's best for the empire. And that means keeping a formal relationship with her."
"That would be foolishness, if you ask me."
"I'm not."
Ixtlil stood straighter. "You obviously have it all worked out, so I'm returning to my mat." He disappeared through the curtain, leaving it swishing angrily in his wake.
¤
The steam bath provided little relaxation, and when Malinali turned in early, she ached all over. She hadn't felt this horrible since the first time she'd fallen in love, and the object of her affection hadn’t reciprocated that time either. A year later, when the old witch woman started teaching her spells and potions, she'd taught Malinali how to brew a love potion that she claimed would make any man forget all women but her. Malinali hadn't believed it at first, but many of the village's young women swore by it and came to the old woman for her special potion. If only she'd known about it a year earlier, then it might have done her some good.
Probably wouldn't do me any good now either, she thought as she stared at the ceiling.
She already knew that all of the ingredients grew in the royal gardens and the potion wasn't that difficult to brew, and if it worked as the old woman had said, Cuauhtemoc would completely forget Tayanna or any other woman he was attracted to....
But the more she thought about it, the less crazy it sounded. After all her poor luck, she deserved a good break, and maybe all Cuauhtemoc needed was a gentle prod, to get him thinking about her as more than a political ally.
She dug her herb pouch out of the sack where she kept her few belongings, tied it to her undergarment and smoothed her dress down, then headed out of the slave quarters.
Servants bustled around the kitchens, carrying trays of food and empty dishes back and forth through the patio doorway. With so much chaos, Malinali slipped unnoticed out into the moonlit the garden. She went directly to the beds where the plants she needed grew, and she pulled off some of their leaves and tucked them into her pouch. She moved from bed to bed, gathering the ingredients a piece at a time.
Once she stuffed the last leaf into her bag, she gathered the most important ingredient: one of her own hairs. She dropped it into the bag too then crept back to the patio and blended in with the crowd of servants moving back and forth between the great hall and the kitchens.
Curiosity got the better of her, though, and she moved with the river of servants to the doors of the great hall where several hundred guests were dining. Cuauhtemoc and Ixtlil sat on the dais, the same as that first night when he'd cornered her in the courtyard. Neither man looked happy, though. Perhaps Cuauhtemoc felt remorseful for having spent his passion with Tayanna instead of her? It would serve him right. When he looked in her direction, she ducked into the wave of servants and headed back to the kitchens.
Though the slave quarters' common room was empty, Malinali exercised caution as she went into the kitchen. She grabbed a flint blade from the butcher block then chopped her ingredients and scraped them from the block into a clay bowl. She set it over the fire, then checked the doorway, listening for footfalls. When she returned, she poked her finger into the mixture, testing the dryness. She watched the doorway impatiently, expecting the mistress of slaves to come nosing around at any moment.
Finally, with the mixture turned to ash, she scooped the bowl off the fire and dumped the powder into her herb bag. As she tied it back under her dress, the head mistress came strolling in. She started when she noticed Malinali crouched next to the fire. "What are you doing in here?"
Malinali ladled water from the nearby jar into the bowl then set it in the hearth again. "I'm making a tonic. I'm not sleeping well again."
The old woman squinted into the bowl. "Don't use too much or you'll never wake again." She moved off towards the storage room, but added, "And make certain you clean up after yourself."
¤
By morning, Cuauhtemoc regretted his heated words to Ixtlil, so he went to the guest quarters to apologize. Though finding his best friend in bed with one of his slaves did little to feed his graciousness. Especially when she was the very same woman he'd found in his own bed the day before. She hid under the blankets to avoid his simmering glare.
"You haven't seen my loincloth, have you?" Ixtlil walked around his room naked. "This is what happens when I dismiss my servants so I can enjoy myself."
Cuauhtemoc kicked a wadded up band of cloth to his friend. "What did I tell you about bedding my slaves?"
Ixtlil tied on his loincloth. "Yes, yes, I know. If she ends up with child, I'll compensate you."
"I'll wait for you in the hallway," Cuauhtemoc said, disgusted, though he focused his hard gaze squarely on the woman who peeked at him from behind the blankets.
Once Ixtlil joined him, they headed towards the gardens. "I was about to apologize for yesterday, but I see you've already taken your revenge," Cuauhtemoc noted.
Ixtlil chuckled. "That had nothing to do with getting even. In fact, I went to the slave quarters last night looking for Malinali."
"Whatever for?"
"To tell her what you're too cowardly to tell her."
"You told her?"
"She was already asleep. But the girl—" He pointed a thumb back at his room— "She was there, and you know me...."
"Have you any idea who that is?"
"I didn't ask her name, only whether she was willing, and she was, so what else is there to know?"
"That's the girl who sneaked into my bed yesterday."
"You turned that beautiful creature down? The Love Goddess certainly has blown her pollen in your face. She was magnificent; not virginal, of course, but a virgin slave girl is a hard commodity to find anymore."
"Especially when you're around."
"A real man doesn't have to force anyone into his bed; they come willingly."
"And you really believe they'd dare say no?"
Ixtlil sighed. "Certainly we needn't get into this discussion. I'd rather continue liking you this morning."
"We don't need to discuss it, so long as you didn't say anything to Malinali."
"I thought it might make it easier if you didn't have to tell her yourself."
"It wouldn't, and if you had told her, I'd be declaring war on you right now."
Laughing, Ixtlil slapped Cuauhtemoc on the shoulder. "I'm glad to see you've found your sense of humor again. Maybe if you weren't so grave all the time, she'd already know you're interested. Smile and make jokes and everything will fall into place. It's always worked for me."
When they reached the doorway to the garden, Cuauhtemoc spotted his mother waiting at the stone table. He stopped Ixtlil. "You can't say anything about any of this to my mother."
"Why in the One World would I talk to your mother about your sex life, or lack thereof, as it may be?"
"Don't mention Malinali at all; not even that she's helping us write the treaty. My mother encourages me to follow my father's example in certain areas, but she finds it alarming that I might follow his lead in others. She'll lecture me about what happened with my father's concubine."
"I shall say nothing."
"And when you go back to Texcoco, take that other woman with you. I won't have ambitious slaves trying to sneak their way into my bed, especially once I start pursuing something more serious with Malinali."
"I suppose that's fair. What do I owe you for her?"
Cuauhtemoc waved him off. "Set her free or make her a concubine for all I care. Getting her out of my palace is payment enough."
¤
The tray was too heavy for Malinali alone, so another slave helped her carry it up to Cuauhtemoc's quarters that afternoon. He sent the other slave away, though, once everything was set out on the floor of the anteroom where he and Ixtlil lounged in the piles of pillows in front of the hearth. He made room for Malinali to sit next to him.
Ixtlil gave her a good-natured smile when she glanced in his direction, but she avoided eye contact. The royal food taster sampled each dish—a barrier to the possibility of clandestinely slipping her love potion into Cuauhtemoc's food—but then he stood at the back of the room, out of the way.
Noticing Malinali hadn't laid a plate for herself, Cuauhtemoc said, "This will take several hours, so please, help yourself to some food."
She glanced at Ixtlil, expecting to find him scandalized, but he was already deep into his roasted tapir and a second cup of chocolate. When she glanced back at Cuauhtemoc he nodded as if to reassure her, so she dished herself a modest portion.
"I've been working on this a little each day, incorporating what you've shared with me, and I think I've made a good start," Cuauhtemoc told her, sifting through the stack of papers in his lap. "Ixtlil and I disagree about certain things so I want your thoughts on those in particular."
"As you wish." She avoided his gaze too, uncertain how Ixtlil would react to their normally casual interactions. Best to play it proper today.
"Ixtlil believes loosening the trade restrictions is good enough, but I think we should offer something more, to prove our good will. We've discussed the issue of sharing our new weapons—"
"You can't give them any muskets, or even steel swords, Your Majesty," she insisted. "Being reckless with this will only make you look a fool, not earn their respect."
Cuauhtemoc nodded. "Agreed, which is why I thought to gift them a horse—a gelded male, with the opportunity to secure a breeding pair if they agree to a military pact."
"It's all nonsense if you ask me," Ixtlil grumbled, tossing a cleaned bone onto his plate. "The Tlaxcalans are a bunch of liars and thieves, and they'll spring at the first opportunity to cut our legs off. Nothing would delight them more than to drag every last citizen of the valley off to their temples for the sacrifice."
Malinali didn't dare look at Ixtlil, so she let her voice carry her annoyance. "The Tlaxcalans aren't any more dishonest than the Mexica, or you Texcocans. The true problem is our inability to change our opinions, about ourselves and others, and if you cannot do that, then you're right, Your Excellency, all this talk of peace is nonsense and a waste of time."
From the corner of her eye, she caught Cuauhtemoc smiling. Ixtlil grunted but said nothing.
"Do you wish my opinion on what you really should do, Revered Speaker?" Malinali continued.
"Of course."
"You can only achieve peace by ending the Flowery Wars."
Ixtlil fumbled with his cup as he coughed. "Preposterous! Without Flowery War, how will we keep the gods fed?"
"The Flowery Wars are the greatest source of animosity between Tlaxcala and the Triple Alliance," Malinali insisted. "Acxotecatl complained about it constantly, especially how Cuitlahuac thought himself so mighty that he could come in and take Tlaxcala's best warriors for the sacrifice at will. So long as the Triple Alliance continues forcing the Flowery War for its own glory, there will never be a military pact, let alone peace with Tlaxcala."
He started to protest again, but Cuauhtemoc raised his hand for silence. "She's right. We can't expect them to promise troops if they fear we'll take those same troops to the sacrifice at any time. The only way we'll get peace is to end the Flowery Wars."
"Then where will we get all the sacrifices the gods demand?" Ixtlil asked.
"We haven't needed the Flowery War for five years now. There are far more important things to consider than how many men our priests sacrifice at the temples."
"Nothing is more important than keeping the gods happy, Cuauhtemoc."
"But who's to say the gods even want so much blood? Some long dead Cihuacoatl bent on his own ambitions for the empire? We've decreased the number of captives dying in the temples for years now, and the gods have smiled on us. The glut of Spanish blood pleased them far more. Making this change now will help us more than hurt us."
Ixtlil glowered. "The priests won't be happy."
"The priests are never happy."
Over the remainder of the meal, Cuauhtemoc drew up the final draft of the proposed treaty while Malinali listened and ate, occasionally offering suggestions or changes. When he and Ixtlil bantered back and forth over terms, she turned her attention to the drawings on the paper in Cuauhtemoc's lap.
The individual pictograms of Mexica writing were tiny and fine in detail, strangely artistic. If she'd grown to majority in her father's house, she would have been taught to read such things, so she could deal with Mexica merchants and diplomats. It surprised her that he knew how to write at all, since such work was typically left for scribes who'd been trained in the art after they were found too weak for war. Cuauhtemoc definitely wasn't weak, and she delighted in his visible strength as she trailed her gaze slowly from the paper up his arms, to his face. If only I could forget what I saw yesterday. She forced her attention back to her food.
Once Cuauhtemoc and Ixtlil finished arguing, Cuauhtemoc asked his friend to have the royal scribes draw up the official document and create copies. Ixtlil bade them goodbye, and a slew of servants came in to gather the dishes.
The royal seamstress arrived as well, carrying a bundle of buckskin clothes under her arm. She bowed as she offered them to Cuauhtemoc. "Wonderful! Glad you were able to get it done so quickly." He motioned to Malinali. "Your riding clothes are ready."
The old woman had come to the slave quarters last night and measured Malinali, but she hadn't said what for. She had grumbled about how difficult "that stupid collar" made it to measure her neck, but she got what she needed and left with nary a word. The other slaves had questioned her about it, but she'd been drowning in her own self-pity and hadn't given it any thought. So he slept with Tayanna then sent the seamstress to make me riding clothes? Every time she thought she understood him, he only became more of an enigma.
"I thought we'd go to the stables as soon as we were done here, to get in some more practice." Cuauhtemoc put the bundle of buckskin in her hands. "Less than a week now before we head for Tlaxcala, and I don't want the journey to be too hard on you."
"I could definitely use the practice," she said.
"You can change in my study." He motioned the woman over. "Make certain no one disturbs Malinali while she changes clothes." To Malinali, he said, "I'll meet you out here when you're done."
It was unsettling to strip down to her undergarment in the same room where he used to grill her about her past. She hurried into her new clothes, cinching down the pants' ties with fumbling hands. The xicolli was almost dress-length, but splits up both the front and back allowed for sitting without it bunching up at her thighs. Slaves usually went barefoot—the better to move about the palace silently—but the bundle came with both soft buckskin gloves and leather sandals.
"I forgot to give these back to you yesterday," she told him when she returned to the anteroom. She held out his leather gloves, not meeting his gaze. "I probably should have brought them to you last night, but I didn't want to disturb you."
Cuauhtemoc had changed into his riding clothes too. He accepted his gloves with a murmured thank you. "You probably would have missed me anyway. I wasn't in my quarters long before going to the ball game." He cleared his throat as he tucked the gloves into his belt. "Shall we go, then?"
As they walked down the halls to the dock, he broke the uneasy silence between them. "Thank you for all your help with the treaty. You've been invaluable. And you even impressed Ixtlil."
Malinali chuckled. "I thought I irritated him."
"Trust me, he was impressed. He's no doubt scheming ways to take you home for himself, so you can be his advisor."
Finally daring to glance at him, she said, "I trust that would cost him dearly."
He smiled at her. "Very."
¤
"She is quite impressive," Ixtlil admitted as he and Cuauhtemoc dined alone in the garden that night. "And I can see why she stirs you up so badly."
Cuauhtemoc chuckled. "Make fun all you want, but you didn't believe me. She's sharper than most noblemen I know."
"If she were a man, she'd probably make an excellent Cihuacoatl. Which is really a pity, since you'll have to replace Matlatzincatzin soon. He's faded these last few months."
"I will have to start thinking of suitable candidates. I hope he holds on until after my trip to Tlaxcala. I really need to focus on this mission."
Ixtlil grinned. "Difficult with a very beautiful woman at your side."
Rolling his eyes, Cuauhtemoc said, "I'm more concerned about keeping her at my side during the negotiations. It will look suspect if I ask a slave woman to sit with me before the lords of Tlaxcala."
"You'll definitely lose face."
"If only they didn't know she was a slave..." The kernel of an idea began unfurling when he thought back to what Ixtlil had said. "Or maybe I'll tell them she's someone of great importance in the Triple Alliance."
"Who?"
"A candidate for my next Cihuacoatl."
Ixtlil laughed. "Who would ever believe that?"
"You said it yourself; she would make a good Cihuacoatl."
"If she was a man," Ixtlil corrected him.
But Cuauhtemoc shook his head. "It's perfect. It fits completely with my reputation of defying conventional practices."
Ixtlil stared at him over his cup. "You can't be serious."
"I'm very serious. The lords of Tlaxcala aren't fools who underestimate their enemies; if I have a woman at my side that I'm claiming to appoint to a high office, they will pay attention, to understand why. And once they hear Malinali speak.... Yes, it's perfect. I'll need the cooperation of the other delegates in our party, such as your own Cihuacoatl, so I trust you can take care of that for me. I have a lot to do before leaving next week."
Ixtlil shook his head but laughed. "You never fail to exasperate me, Cuauhtemoc, but all right, I'll speak to the other Cihuacoatls and make certain they cooperate with your little ruse."