Chapter Fifty-Five: The Whispers of Ambition

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Whispers of Ambition

I practiced a dance with feet that were not my own.

A dozen noblewomen had come to witness my performance. Chikal was there, her face younger and smoother. A crown of gold shone bright atop her woven hair. I did my best to ignore them all and focus on the task at hand. My steps rocked Chilam’s great stone plaza and my staff pointed up at the cloudy sky. The rainforest around our city shuddered in the wind. The fields waited. They had waited in vain yesterday too, and the day before. Now they starved with a thirst I could not satisfy.

My fate and that of my city depended on the gods’ goodwill. I prayed for the great Tlaloc to deliver his gift.

I continued to dance until my feet bled. I continued without pause, my mind confident in my craft, my heart fearing that the heavens would ignore me. I remained resolute, and I sensed something warm dripping on my skin in my final step.

A drop of water.

Tlaloc had finally listened to my pleas and blessed me with his bounty. The rain came, first faintly, then strongly. My people’s hands clapped in acclaim, and my heart swelled with relief. Another failure, and I might have been replaced.

I was so tired of begging the heavens for their scraps.

The vision changed, as did the memory it showcased. I found myself back amidst the flames and blood rivers of the House of Jaguars. The Lords of Terror watched on in grim silence as I wielded the balefire of my heart and cast the Blaze spell for the first time. I’d become fire, the devourer of all. I incinerated the corpses that once tried to devour me and reduced them to cinders with a maniacal smile.

The demons watched as I stood atop a mountain of ashes. For I was now their equal, beholden to no one, power made flesh. I was the Tlacatecolotl, the owl-man who brought forth chaos.

And nobody would stand in my way.

The Seidr vision collapsed in on itself, and I returned to my present day reality. Lahun moaned under me with a final sigh of pleasure. I gathered my breath, my back relaxing after the effort, my hands still gripping her soft hips, and my cock softening inside her.

My musicians played the flute in the background, officially to soothe Itzili and Tetzon while I enjoyed my newest concubine; and unofficially, to cover up our words.

“That....” Lahun breathed softly and wiped the sweat off her face. “That was...”

“Your first time with a man?” I asked before she could say something incriminating. The music should cover our words, but I wouldn’t take any risk.

Lahun blushed slightly. “Did it show?”

Yes, it did. Lahun’s touch had been clumsy, hesitant, and inexperienced in spite of her older age. Thankfully, I was starting to understand how a woman’s body worked; which part I had to caress to give pleasure, where and how to kiss, and when to seize the moment. I daresay I left a pretty good first impression.

Lahun continued to surprise me in a good way. This lovemaking session had started out as a formality to officially claim her as a concubine and then assign her to Chikal as a handmaiden. Unlike with her queen though, we managed to perform the Seidr ritual on our first try. I didn’t even have to tell her anything. Lahun had immediately guessed my intent the moment I penetrated her and attempted to bind our Teyolias, then emotionally aligned herself with me. It was easy.

We both shared a dash of ambition and a keen lust for magic.

She will make an excellent Seidr partner and soothsaying teacher, I thought as I began to pull out of her. My eyes lingered on her belly. I couldn’t tell why, but I suddenly found myself recalling Father’s attempt at a ‘talk.’ Did he feel such unease too when he and Mother tried to have me?

The idea of fathering a child should be a moment of joy, but I couldn’t shake the fear of my descendants growing up under the Nightlords’ thumb whenever I finished coupling with a woman. The image of the Jaguar Woman seizing my infant sons and daughters in her vile hands filled me with disgust.

Worse, I knew it was inevitable. I couldn’t feed every woman in my harem contraceptives, nor pull out each time. Seidr rituals required an exchange of body fluids and the Nightlords wanted their puppet emperor to procreate for their sick breeding program. They would punish any attempts to skip out on my ‘duties.’

The best I could do was to focus on the pleasure and avoid thinking about the consequences.

“I’m honored to have been your first, though it surprises me,” I told Lahun. “As Chikal’s advisor and cousin, you should have had your pick of males.”

“Even if I could have done so, coupling with a male sounded like a waste of time to me,” Lahun replied with a small, embarrassed smile. I had the feeling she would change her tune after experiencing the joys of lovemaking. “I always saw it as a distraction.”

“Even if?” Her wording puzzled me. “You weren’t allowed to take a male consort? I thought lineage was very important among Chilam’s amazons.”

“It is.” Lahun looked away. “Which is why a new queen often executes her siblings to avoid contestation once she rises to the throne. Lady Chikal’s mother took a shine to me though, as I was her favorite niece and already showed a talent for prophecies. She agreed to let me live under the condition that I do not bear children that would challenge her own and dedicate myself to shamanism.”

A chill traveled down my spine. It seemed that amazon politics matched Yohuachanca's in ruthlessness. Part of me wondered if Lahun’s encounter with a skinwalker was somehow related to this loathsome practice.

“I’m sorry to hear this,” I said from the bottom of my heart. Kin should matter more than petty politics.

“It was years ago,” Lahun replied calmly. Her lack of bitterness sounded genuine enough. “I never sought to have children anyway, so I did not mind.”

“Not even to pass your knowledge on to?”

“It takes years before children learn to sit down without a word, let alone listen to their elders. I would rather handpick a successor of sufficient age who has already proved her brightness of mind.” Lahun shrugged. “Moreover, my queen already requested that I educate her future daughter with Your Majesty. That will prove a great commitment in itself.”

Of course Chikal would take such precautions. Lahun would make a good sorcery teacher; or rather, the best that the Nightlords might let us get away with. Teaching her Seidr and a few other tricks might prove beneficial in the long term.

Yet I struggled to imagine a future where Lahun would teach my daughter magic. I found the very idea of my future child being raised inside these prison’s walls unbearable.

I’ll live to see the Nightlords fall, I promised myself. I won’t allow any other outcome.

Father told me that parents did things for their children that they would never do for themselves. My planned daughter with Chikal was a mere abstraction for now, a spurt of seed in her womb, but I refused to see her fed to the flames like Sigrun and my other unborn child had been.

I was bound to father even more descendants with my concubines over the year’s course too. Whenever I doubted my cause, I would have to think of them. Father did all he could to protect me. I had to show the same commitment.

“How old are you, Lahun?” I questioned her.

“I was born on the first day of the Rain Month twenty-five years ago, Your Majesty,” Lahun replied with a raised eyebrow. My question surprised her. “Most soothsayers are born on that date.”

My predecessors said as much. Interesting. Lahun shared the same sign as Necahual, which made her eligible for the Mometzcopinque ritual. My interest continued to grow.

My plan for Necahual was to turn her into a Mometzcopinque, a unique magical creature beholden to a powerful spiritual patron; namely, myself. I had spent the last few weeks slowly molding her Teyolia according to my needs one Seidr session at a time, and I intended to put her through the ritual as soon as I obtained Tlaloc’s embers. The spell might work with my current power, but my predecessors suggested that I gather more first for caution’s sake.

Nothing about it said that I had to stop at one Mometzcopinque.

As far as I knew, I could sustain as many of them as my divine Teyolia allowed and a few sacred numbers carried mystical potency. Would recruiting four followers increase their powers? Mine too, perhaps? Forming a coven of spellcasters dedicated to me would prove a boon when I finally confronted the Nightlords in battle.

I only had two issues: first, the ritual only worked with women born on specific dates, which limited the available pool of recruits; and second, it required that I bind the target’s soul, stripping them of their freedom for power. The idea used to leave me unsettled, and it still did to a degree.

Yet...

And yet, it didn’t stop me from altering Nenetl’s tattoo, starting an eruption that killed thousands, or forcing people into marriages for my personal benefit. I was already deciding the life of others whether they liked it or not. I needed all the help I could get.

I had crossed so many lines in victory’s name already. What was one more?

Besides, the Mometzcopinque ritual required consent. Lahun would have to agree to forswear her soul to me. I had no guarantee that she would even develop that kind of loyalty to me, no matter how much she craved the power of sorcery.

How much was she willing to sacrifice for her dream?

I had to test the waters. Unsettle her and see how she reacts.

“Twenty-five years,” I whispered in her ear. “So you are still fertile.”

Lahun frowned in confusion. “Your Majesty?”

“What if I said your body wasn’t enough for me?” I traced a line up her belly. “That I wanted you to bear my child too?”

Lahun shifted under me, suddenly uncomfortable. I couldn’t blame her. Besides her own apprehension and distaste of the idea, to be conquered by a foreign male was the ultimate insult an amazon could receive. Not to mention that it meant violating her vow of celibacy. Her brethren would not look kindly on it, not to mention Chikal. She probably shared my distaste at her bloodline being raised in this prison too.

In short, it represented a large sacrifice.

Was that Lahun’s line in the sand? The parcel of freedom that she would not surrender? How far could I push her?

“I...” Lahun cleared her throat. “My vow to Queen Chikal’s mother still stands.”

“You made a vow to a queen, and I am your emperor. Chikal speaks for her people, but I speak for the gods. I can fulfill any wish that your mind may conceive.” Including the sorcery that she craved. “But I am a greedy master who exacts a harsh price for his favor.”

I had forged a pact with Necahual: the return of her daughter and the power of magic in exchange for complete loyalty. She had sacrificed her pride for her daughter’s sake; a commitment that I respected.

But Lahun had no kin to defend, no grander ideal to defend other than herself. Her memories showed me that her loyalty to her city and queen was more strained than expected. As she told me, her true desire was to gaze deeper into the abyss of magic rather than see her city prosper. She reminded me of Mother in a way, except that for all her faults Ichtaca would never surrender to another.

Would Lahun?

Namely, failure would cost Lahun her life.

I had to consider this very carefully.

The rest of the day passed by rather peacefully, though events brewed under the peaceful waters’ surface.

Ingrid did not attend training today, to better prepare for our departure to Zachilaa tomorrow. I thus spent most of the afternoon training with Chikal. I could ride a trihorn with relative ease by now, though I continued to struggle a bit with wielding weapons on its back. Otherwise, I had grown proficient with both the spear and the obsidian club.

“Our Lord Emperor should acquit himself well on the battlefield,” Chikal said as she walked by my side. I had invited her to visit the gardens after our training to relax and she had actually accepted for once. “You are no match for me or your nation’s elites yet, but you are far above most males I’ve fought in battle.”

“It is all thanks to your training,” I replied. “Though being above most men is not enough.”

It astonished me how far I could get on intense exercise and a healthy diet. I couldn’t recognize the scrawny boy I used to be when I looked in the mirror nowadays. I was taller, mightier, healthier.

I accrued more than just meat too. I had been subtly reinforcing my bones over the last few days by following Necahual’s dietary advice and storing all the matter I could with Bonecraft. It was a long and painstaking process, but one whose progress I could measure with each passing day.

“I will not stop training until I stand at the world’s apex, as an emperor should be,” I said as I stopped to smell my garden’s flowers. I subtly glanced at my surroundings. Itzili the Younger ran around us and chased away any snake that would have dared to sneak up on us. My guards were too far away to notice anything. Perfect.

I subtly activated my Bonecraft spell. A tiny skull no larger than a phalange grew on the tip of my finger, pierced through my skin, and slipped under the flowers. I quickly whispered my name to it to activate the Legion spell, then memorized this location before moving on to the next patch.

I would return tonight in Tetzon’s skin to disseminate them across the palace. Sadly, I only accrued enough extra bone matter to generate around four or five of them so far. Any more and I would have to shorten my ribs for material, which might become noticeable.

Four would do. Four was a sacred number, and this exercise was merely a test to see if my predecessors could reliably see through small skulls.

“My Lord Emperor is wise not to rest on his successes,” Chikal observed me with that same blank look she always wore. Did she find my interest in flowers suspicious? In any case, she quickly changed the subject. “Lahun visited me earlier.”

“Is that so?” I replied while discreetly placing another skull among the orchids. “I’ve taken a liking to her.”

“So I’ve heard. She informed me of your intention to sire a child with her.” Chikal put a hand on her waist. “Did you think that she would keep it from me?”

“I wasn’t sure.” Hence the test. I had to ensure that Lahun was at least somewhat loyal to her cousin instead of a common opportunist. “I’m glad she did though. Kin should stick together.”

“What bothers me is that she didn’t ask for permission. She merely informed me that you intended to sire a daughter with her, and that she would deliver it if you insisted.” Chikal squinted at me. “What have you done to her to earn her devotion so quickly?”

“I showed her my palm and let her read my future,” I replied as I smelled the flowers. Interesting. Lahun informed Chikal of my desire for children but not of my sorcery. It could be either because she assumed her queen already suspected it or because she intended to keep that secret to herself. “No doubt she knows that my rule will be good for Chilam.”

“Of course she does,” Chikal replied with a skeptical tone. She knew as well as I did that Lahun put her craft above the city’s benefit.

“Does it bother you?” I asked her. “My proposal was merely hypothetical. I won’t go through with it if you object.”

The offer I gave Lahun had merely been a test of her dedication. My alliance with Chikal trumped all other concerns.

The only people I’d bedded for pleasure’s sake alone were Eztli and Ingrid. I otherwise saw sex as a tool to earn political concessions and as a way to gain power through Seidr. Nothing more.

How far I’ve fallen. Even in my mind, I could only think of the likes of Lahun or Tenoch in terms of assets rather than people; just as the Nightlords wanted. I should be more considerate. We’re all slaves among these walls, and they deserve better than my coldness.

Yet I couldn’t muster the energy to care anymore. All these trials and the Nightlords’ atrocities slowly distanced me from others, because I knew that they would turn my compassion against me.

Chikal snorted. “Why would I?”

I frowned in surprise. “I thought you forbade Lahun from continuing her bloodline.”

“That was my mother’s order back when our city was independent. Chilam has bent the knee since, and petty feuds like that no longer concern me.” Chikal scowled as she looked at the Blood Pyramid in the distance. “The goddesses alone will decide who inherits my throne. If our daughter cannot continue the royal bloodline, Lahun’s will have to replace her. I would rather see Your Majesty father her daughter than anyone else.”

I studied Chikal for a moment. I could see the hidden message. She knew that my children were likely to become Nahualli and inherit my power. Unlike me, she fully anticipated the possibility of failure and intended to hedge her bets by preparing successors.

I admired her patriotism. Chikal was truly devoted to her city and tribe above everything else; enough that she would take the risk of her daughter losing the throne for a chance that Chilam’s leadership would endure to topple the Nightlords in the future.

“Corpses will sit in Chilam’s palace and feast in its halls,” the wind whispered in my ear. “No matter how fast the sun flies to escape it, darkness always wins the race.”

Ignoring those taunts had become second nature by now.

“You are a true queen,” I complimented Chikal from the bottom of my heart. The Nightlords would have had a much harder time spreading their rot if only half of Yohuachanca’s tributaries shared her resolve.

“I know that.” Chikal assessed me for a moment. “This journey outside these walls will make you a true emperor too.”

I turned my back on her to focus on the dahlias and marigolds. Her words carried more weight than it seemed.

Chikal was the canniest of my consorts when it came to politics, alongside Ingrid, and she had already asked me what I intended to do should we succeed in destroying the Nightlords. She knew very well that almost nobody outside the capital had seen Yohuachanca’s emperor. My actions during our trip would let me garner political favor; power that I could retain should we prevail.

She asked me if I intended to seize the throne or let the empire collapse into chaos.

“Would you like that?” I asked her.

She smiled at me. “If we stay friends.”

“She fears the chaos that follows in your wake,” the wind whispered. “Even an empire’s shadow will cast a dark cloud on her lands.”

I finally grasped her intent, and why she kept asking me what I planned to do after we destroyed the Nightlords. Even should Yohuachanca fall into chaos after the vampires’ defeat, a mortal warlord might try to fill the void left in their wake. Most of the imperial army and bureaucracy could survive a coup. Someone could credibly manage to keep at least a large portion of the state together and dream of recovering its lost glory.

Chilam had made many enemies in the past, and though I had promised to grant her city independence, whoever seized control of the country in the aftermath might try to regain control of the tributaries. She preferred the certainty that I represented to the possibility of another war brewing at her borders.

Why wouldn’t I continue to be her ally? After all, my own daughter would sit on Chilam’s throne one day. I would have every incentive to continue supporting Chikal’s reign, doubly so if I fathered a child with Lahun too. No wonder she didn’t protest my decision. Much like Sigrun, she hoped to seal a long-term alliance with blood.

“Your mother and I did things for you that we would never have considered doing for anyone else,” Father had told me last night. Chikal understood that very well. She was subtly trying to push me to see the office of emperor not as a means to rebel, but as an end goal to seize for myself. She’s more insidious than I gave her credit for.

“I believe that my Lord Emperor has a unique opportunity to change the lives of thousands for the better,” Chikal declared, “Should he rule wisely.”

I did not care about the thousands. I was only concerned with the few whom I sought to save from the Nightlords’ grasp.

Still, what would befall the likes of Eztli, Ingrid, Nenetl, or Necahual once I destroyed the Nightlords? Someone had to take care of them. Not to mention the issue of the First Emperor. I had to destroy the Nightlords in a way that wouldn’t release him from his bindings. Having the limitless resources and power of Yohuachanca’s state standing beside me might prove decisive.

Chikal wasn’t wrong. I ought to plan for the future beyond victory.

“I could,” I replied evasively.

Chikal nodded sharply. I expected her to scold me for my indecisiveness, but she was too wise for it. She understood that influencing my position was a victory in itself.

We completed our tour of the garden by the evening. The night continued to rise earlier than it should. I feared to imagine how many Nightchildren would rise from their graves once darkness swallowed the sun.

Tayatzin came to greet us at the end of our promenade. No doubt he bore news from his mistresses.

“The goddesses have finished their deliberations, Your Divine Majesty,” he said with a deep bow. “I bear great news from Lady Iztacoatl.”

I immediately expected the worst.

“Do tell,” I asked while Chikal crossed her arms at my side with a scowl on her face.

Tayatzin smiled ear to ear. “Lady Iztacoatl has decided to personally guide you during your pilgrimage across our fair empire.”

I knew it. She was too cautious to let me leave the palace without her direct supervision, especially if I was expected to make a show for the populace.

“Moreover, she has made some changes to Lady Ingrid’s planned itinerary,” Tayatzin said. “You are returning home, Your Majesty. Your tour of the country shall begin with your home village of Acampa.”

I would visit the town where I’d spent most of my life and which my own eruption destroyed. The message couldn’t be any clearer.

Iztacoatl’s campaign of sabotage had already begun.