Malinali failed to sleep, and morning arrived all too soon. Nor could she find the willpower to smile or even make conversation as Xochitli dressed her for her meeting with Lady Izel and Lord Ohtli.
"I don't think you should go through with this betrothal," Xochitli said as she fixed her dress.
"It's for the best. It's not as if a woman my age has many choices."
Xochitli frowned, helpless. "I hope he's kind."
"I won't marry him if he isn't," Malinali assured her. "I want my own family, but I'm not so desperate as to put up with being treated worse than I was as a slave." She picked up her headdress and faced the polished obsidian mirror hanging on her wall. "Help me get it placed?"
As Xochitli arranged her hair to hold the headdress in place, Malinali's head steward came to the door and bowed. "Lord Ohtli and Lady Izel are here."
"Escort them to the table in the garden and tell them I will join them shortly." Once Xochitli finished, Malinali stared at herself in the obsidian mirror her friend held up for her. Eventually she sighed. "Best get this over with."
"You're certain about this?"
"No, but then I'm used to having no good options, so I'll make do. And maybe I will even learn to love Lord Ohtli."
When she arrived in the garden, her guests promptly bowed, touching knees to the ground in reverential greeting befitting her new status, but she quickly asked them to sit with her at the stone table. She then turned her attention squarely on Ohtli. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last, My Lord. Your sister has told me good things about you."
He nodded gravely. "And I've heard good things about your role in securing peace between our peoples. I am honored to be here representing that commitment."
He's so formal, Malinali thought as the servants brought food out on wooden trays. I wonder if he even knows how to smile. Cuauhtemoc has a wonderful smile. The thought warmed her, but she scolded herself for making such comparisons.
Ohtli kept a very formal distance throughout the meal, letting his sister do most of the talking. He spoke only when spoken to, and he answered any questions in short, concise statements; any attempts to elicit a smile from him produced no response, not even an involuntary tugging of his cheek muscles. By the time they finished the meal, she felt as if she'd endured an exhausting meeting with the rulers of a hostile city, not a casual breakfast.
And to think I still have to sit through a Council meeting. Best get this done. "If you don't mind, My Lady, I would like to discuss some matters with your brother in private."
Lady Izel rose quickly. "Of course. I've wanted to look at all the flowers you have here. The Mexica have such beautiful gardens."
Once Izel was out of earshot, Malinali addressed Ohtli. "Your sister believes we might make a good marital match, and while you strike me as an honorable, upstanding man, before making an official commitment to such an arrangement, I wish to know more about you, personally."
"Of course," he agreed, his demeanor unchanged.
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you decide to leave the priesthood?"
Ohtli shrugged. "I didn't find it a fulfilling vocation, and when the high priest suggested I train to go higher in the ranks, I decided it was time to see if I could find something more suitable."
"You must be pleased that Xicotencatl chose you as Tlaxcala's representative here in Tenochtitlan."
"It is an honor. And it gets me away from my mother." Somehow he said this without breaking his stony expression.
Malinali paused before asking, "Do you have anything to ask me?"
"Not really."
"You're aware that I've been married before?"
"Izel told me as much. It doesn't matter."
"And you're not worried about my age?"
"Women do have children late into life. My own mother had me when she was well past her prime childbearing years."
"I may only be able to give you one, maybe two children."
"That's sufficient."
"And if none of them are sons?"
He shrugged again. "I can always name a child from a concubine my heir."
Malinali shifted in place, preparing for battle. "I have certain expectations that you should know about. While most noblemen may keep and bear children by multiple women, I won't allow that. If we're to marry, I require that you give yourself to no one else but me. And I shall do the same for you."
A shadow of amusement finally crossed his face. "With all due respect, that isn't something you can legally require of me. I come from a well-respected Tlaxcalan noble family and that affords me certain rights."
"And I'm the Cihuacoatl of Tenochtitlan, which affords me the right to refuse your demands if I find they undermine my status. It's as simple as saying I will not marry you unless you meet my minimum standards."
He stiffened his jaw and looked away, to a couple of sparrows picking grubs out of the grass. "I must admit that this arrangement doesn't seem fair to me."
Malinali laughed. "You would gain status by marrying me, and yet it's unfair that I would require the same faithfulness from you that you would require of me?"
"But what if we don't care for each other?"
"Would that still matter to you if I didn't make this specific demand? Granted, I will make every effort to 'care for you', so our marriage isn't completely unbearable, but then such trivialities are hardly important in these kinds of political alliances. We aren't peasants, after all."
Now Ohtli laughed too. "I don't suppose so. I admit hesitation; we can't even settle on betrothal terms without casting spears at each other. I can only imagine how...interesting our intimate life would be."
This time, Malinali glared at him. "It will be quite dull, I assure you. Particularly since you can't convince me that I should tolerate you for one day, let alone the rest of my life."
"You keep talking as if you're doing me favors when in reality your best years are behind you and you're running low on options," Ohtli pointed out. "I might not have your political status, but I'm not some lowly farmer. I represent Tlaxcala on the Triple Alliance Council and I could easily make a match with one of Lord Zolin's many daughters or even one of the former huey tlatoanis' daughters. At least they would be young enough to fill my house with many children and not make ridiculous demands of me that they have no business—nor legal right—to make in the first place." He shook his head, pity on his face. "I'm the one doing you a favor, My Lady. If you want to tie your dress to my cape, it will be under traditional terms, because, as you said, we're not peasants. I have plenty of choices. I cannot, however, say the same of you."
Malinali stared at him, a mixture of fury and sadness filling her. "I'm afraid I must reject this proposal." She rose slowly to her feet. There was a time not so long ago she might have accepted such nastiness—when she had no choice but to do so—but she wasn't that woman anymore. "The guards will see you out." She motioned to Tenoch, who hurried over from the doorway into the palace.
Shocked, Ohtli rose and followed Tenoch out. Malinali didn't watch him leave, but once she was alone, she sank into the grass, the tears coming of their own accord. She kept silent though, not wanting anyone to hear her anger and disappointment as it drained down her cheeks in winding rivulets.
¤
Cuauhtemoc was out of breath by the time he reached the Cihuacoatl's palace. Gods please don't let me be too late! He hurried into the courtyard with his guards jogging to keep up with him. He paused only to ask the main door guards where Malinali was.
"She was in the main gardens, meeting with Lord Ohtli and Lady Izel, but they left not too long ago, My Lord," they informed him.
His heart lurchedI'm too late. As he approached the gardens, he considered leaving—perhaps it was better she never knew why he'd come today—but when he reached the doorway and saw her slumped in the grass, her back to him, he had to make certain she was all right. Her guards nodded to him as he passed between them, and his own guards lingered back with them as he walked to her.
She must have heard him coming, for when he reached her, she turned to look at him with glossy, anguished eyes. Without a word she lumbered to her feet then hugged him, burying her face in his chest. He hugged her back tightly. "I'm sorry, my love, I...I...." He squeezed his eyes to hold back the sting of oncoming tears. "You did what was best for yourself."
"I turned him down."
He pulled her tighter, thinking her tears had garbled her words. "You're not betrothed to Lord Ohtli?" His heart pounded painfully in his chest.
She shook her head then looked up at him. "I'd rather be alone forever than be without you, Cuauhtemoc."
He lifted her off the ground and into a desperate kiss. She balled her fists in his xicolli, holding on too as he stumbled a few steps, trying to regain his balance as a dizzy joy fell over him. But he lost the battle and finally let them fall into the grass, landing on his back so he didn't crush her. She kissed him just as passionately, taking his cheeks between her hands, the smell of her perfume setting his senses on fire.
"I want you," she panted once they broke free for air. "I don't care what anyone thinks; being Cihuacoatl means nothing if I must put aside my love for you because of it." She smiled through tears as he stroked her cheek with a trembling hand. "I want to see you when I look into my children's faces."
He kissed her softly, to regain control of the joy swelling fast inside him. "Marry me, Malinali. Tie your dress to my cape."
"But Lady Xocotzin—"
"Ixtlil freed me of that obligation."
A shadow of concern darkened her delicate face. "You can't break a promise, not even for me."
"It was a gift, so his best friend can be with the woman he loves."
"Then we owe him an unpayable debt?"
"I believe we can pay it back by not squandering it. Will you be my wife?"
Tears welled in her eyes again. "Forever."
While they kissed, slow and sultry this time, he tied the corner of his cloak to the hem of her dress in a clumsy knot. It took several minutes to accomplish, but once he gave it a final tug, they both looked down at it. "We'll have to do it again, in front of the gods and the Council, to make it official, but as far as I'm concerned, from this day forward, I'm your husband. My heart is yours and no one else's."
A smile quirked at Malinali's mouth. "No one else's?"
He nodded. "I need no one else."
She kissed him deeply then whispered, "Do you think the gods will curse us if we don't wait the requisite four days to consummate our new marriage?" She dragged her fingers down his chest, over his abdomen, down to his loincloth, sending chills through him.
"Let them curse us," he whispered in a hoarse voice. He grew hard as she played her fingernails over the folds of his loincloth then pulled the knot apart with devastating slowness. He watched—his breath quickening and his body trembling—as she exposed him to the sun's heat, turning her gaze lovingly down on him. He drew in a sharp breath when she touched him, her soft fingertips sending his blood pulsing in his ears.
But when she leaned down over him, he thought his heart might stop. Such things were the favorite trick of the army courtesans, but the one time he'd suggested it to his wife, she'd been horrified. "One doesn't beg such...things from a proper noblewoman," Cuicatl had spat at him, so he'd resolved to never ask it of Malinali either. Obviously she feels differently.
And yet the tentative manner in which she touched him now made him doubt. Their intimate pasts were very different—and much of hers painful—and he strove to be mindful of that, so even as his body rebelled, he said, "You don't have to do that." When she glanced back up at him, he hitched himself up on his elbows. "I mean...if you'd rather not...I don't expect it of you."
"You don't want me to?"
"Of course I do, but...I...you needn't do anything you're not comfortable with, just for my sake."
"But I do want to."
He caressed her cheek. "You're certain?"
She smiled. "I trust you."
The way she said it with such assuredness brought the joy swelling up inside him. Despite all they'd been through together, there had still always been something standing between them, something he couldn't quite name, but now, that feeling vanished. He kissed her again, then watched her work her way back down his body.
Her soft lips and warm tongue on him—around him—brought a gasp to his throat, and her firm strokes knotted up the pleasure tight inside him. Her new-found eagerness made him flush with pride, but when watching threatened to overwhelm him, he closed his eyes and laid back. Her every movement, every kiss pushed him further until he feared he couldn't take it anymore. He sat up to take her into his arms. "Your turn, my love."
But she pushed him back down into the grass. "I'm not done with you yet." She pressed her still-dressed body against his as she stretched out atop him, pinning his arms at his sides.
"But I desperately want to pleasure you."
She silenced him with a kiss, dancing her tongue with his. She moved to a kneeling position over him, watching him with intense eyes as she slowly stripped her dress off. She set it aside, taking care to ensure the knot between it and his cape remained intact. "But you are giving me pleasure, my love," she whispered as she unbound her undergarment then tossed it aside. She took his hands in hers then guided them to her, laying his palms flat against her stomach, covering them with her long fingers. Her skin was so hot under his touch. "Let the gods bless us."
Her words brought forth an ache deep inside him. He slid his hands slowly up her body, her own hands over his, flexing her fingers like a jaguar's claws when he gripped her ample breasts. When she tipped her head back to let out a ragged, pleading breath of delight, he squeezed her harder, his desire swelling with renewed fervor. He raised his hips, thrusting against her warm center, eager to become one with her again.
She didn't give in to his silent pleas right away. She took her time, slowly tracing out the contours of her body with her hands, her face flush with pride at displaying herself for him. He marveled at how different she was from that woman who sat deflecting his questions in his study so long ago now, but once she guided him into her and by turns brought him to the precipice of pleasure's abyss but then denied him that leap over the edge, the more he realized she was every bit that same woman, skillfully controlling situations without one even realizing it. It's her special skill, and this time, being led is so deliciously wonderful.
Malinali moved atop him with increasing urgency, the games of control and withholding having run their course at last. She gazed down at him, begging him to take her to those heights only he'd ever shown her. He obliged her, spreading his fingers across her abdomen and teasing her with his thumb.
But as she peaked, her body tightening around him, he couldn't take it any longer. He rolled her over into the grass, shielding her sweat-laden body from the sun with his own as he ground hard atop her, that tight knot of longing and desperation finally snapping apart like a dam under the onslaught of a flooded river.
When it was over, he rolled away, to avoid crushing her when his fatigued muscles gave out, but pulled her to him when she snuggled into the crook of his arm.
They lay in the grass, listening to the drowse of the bees among the flowers. Cuauhtemoc dozed off until the distant ringing of bells brought him back.
Malinali raised her head. "Weren't we supposed to be at the Council meeting by the day's third bell?"
He nodded. "We're going to be late, but it's all right. They can't start without us."
She sat up and picked up her headdress. Several of the white heron feathers were broken. She tried to straighten them but they were beyond repair. "No, they can't, but then we'll have to explain our tardiness."
He sat up and stroked her cheek with one finger, spurring her to look at him. "It's as good a time as any to announce our betrothal."