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Chel glanced behind her shoulder and let out an amused chuckle at the sight of Tulio and Miguel joining Chief Tannabok in his dance. Even at this distance, it was obvious that the duo had had a little too much to drink, but it didn’t matter. The people were just happy that the gods were having a great time.
Parties like this had been scarce lately, and Chel would have very much liked to join in the fun. It was too long since she had been able to relax, and her face fell a little when she recalled her recent hardships. Still, someone needed to keep a clear head in case Tulio and Miguel got themselves into trouble, and Chel was the only one who could baby-sit them.
“You, get us some more pulque!” someone said and shoved an empty vase into her hands before she had the chance to refuse.
“Hey, I’m not a servant! I’m with the gods!” she snapped, but whoever had addressed her had already disappeared back into the celebrating crowd.
Making a frustrated and displeased sound at the back of her throat, Chel wrapped her arms better around the clay vase and started heading towards one of the small warehouses at the edges of the city. She didn’t want to see the party end too soon, and she was certain that Tulio and Miguel could play gods for a few minutes without her around.
The sounds of the celebration were barely audible in the background when she reached her destination. Chel put down the vase and stretched her tired arms. She didn’t even want to think about what a task it would be to drag it bag full.
“Now, where do they keep the drinks?” she muttered to herself as she fumbled in the dark. The moon was hidden by gloomy, thick clouds, and it was impossible to see anything. Damn, she should have brought along some light! She found something that felt like a massive vase and dipped her finger inside it, then brought it back to her mouth. Yup, this was the right place.
She filled the smaller vase and almost fell over under the weight when she lifted it up in her arms.
“Someone is going to hear about this,” she swore angrily to herself as she tried to stumble outside without spilling too much of the drink.
She shouldn’t have bothered. When she entered the night again, she spotted a shadowy figure standing in the darkness that clung to the buildings and the trees that were looming over them. Chel let out a surprised gasp and dropped the vase. It shattered into dozens of pieces, and the alcohol splashed all over the ground, but she was barely thinking about that at the moment.
The other person made a disgusted sound at the drink that had splattered on them, and it was then that Chel realised who he was. She didn’t know if she should have been relieved or even more terrified that it was only Tzekel-Kan and not some other maniac who had crept upon her in the night.
She bit back a retort about scaring others like that and instead said, “Oh! I’m so sorry! You surprised me.” She knelt down to pick up the pieces of the broken vase to hide her anger, but Tzekel-Kan yanked her back to her feet.
“I need to talk to you.”
Chel gnawed on her lip in sudden fright. In the dark where she couldn’t see his face clearly, the high priest terrified her even more than usual. He was always so unpredictable, and there would be nobody to help her now if he decided to do something funny. However, she couldn’t just say no to him, so she nodded as a reply.
“Okay, but we should keep it brief. The gods are probably wondering where I disappeared to,” she said quickly to remind Tzekel-Kan that he’d be in serious trouble if he as much as thought about harming her in some way.
“Ah, yes. The celebration,” the high priest muttered in repulsion. “Such a disgrace to even attempt honouring the gods with something as pathetic as that, don’t you think?”
Why the heck is he asking me, Chel wondered to herself. She was hardly someone important enough to discuss anything with the priest, and he had to know it, too. There was no reason he should have cared about her opinion.
“Uh, that’s right. Disgrace,” she said. She decided to just go along with everything Tzekel-Kan said so that he wouldn’t get angry and she’d have half a chance of getting out of this alive and unscarred.
Tzekel-Kan brought his fingertips together, and even in the dark, Chel was certain that the priest was grinning in satisfaction. “I’m glad you agree,” he purred. “Not many in this city realise how gods are to be served.”
“Right,” she chuckled nervously to keep the conversation going. In her mind, she hoped he would get to the point and that she could leave soon. Just standing there was making her edgier and edgier every second. She shifted her weight from one foot to another.
“However, what I really wanted to talk about was this vision of yours. The gods really came to you in your dreams?”
Chel thought she could hear a hint of doubt and maybe even jealousy in Tzekel-Kan’s voice. She figured the creep probably had wet dreams about receiving such an honour, and she realised her story about the vision had only managed to draw his attention to her even more strongly than before.
Crap. I’m an idiot, she thought.
“Yeah, they told me to bring the golden head to them as a greeting gift,” she said, going along with her earlier claims.
“And why didn’t you come to me? Why did you have to rob the temple?” Tzekel-Kan asked in suspicion. Chel could imagine how he had to be lifting a doubtful brow at her.
I’ve got to be careful now. Whatever I say next will determine how we go from here, she thought. She would only bring the priest’s fury upon herself if she accidentally insulted him by suggesting that he wasn’t good enough or that the vision had been only for her.
She lowered her head in an attempt to look modest and ashamed. She didn’t know if Tzekel-Kan could actually see much of her in the dark, but she decided to play her part well, just in case.
“There’s no reason you should have believed me, so I had no choice but to do it,” she said. She risked a glance at Tzekel-Kan. His shadowed form looked the same as before, so she guessed he was buying it.
“Yes, I haven’t seen you around the temples before,” the priest admitted. “You aren’t a priestess in training?”
Chel blinked, thinking Tzekel-Kan had sounded almost surprised. He probably found it odd that someone who got visions from gods wasn’t drawn to become part of the clergy. While it would ensure her a comfortable life and a reasonable amount of power, she would rather die than become one of Tzekel-Kan’s minions.
“I’m not of noble birth, so that was never an option for me,” she explained. She was starting to grow frustrated with the priest and the entire conversation, and all she wanted was to get back to Miguel and Tulio. It was beginning to get cold, too, or maybe it was just the company.
“Then what class does your family belong to?” the priest asked.
Chel felt an uncomfortable stab at the bottom of her stomach when she replied, “I was raised by an old couple who took me in when I was a baby. They died, and I’ve taken care of myself for most of my life.” She could have lied about it, but she had a feeling that Tzekel-Kan might have seen through her deceit, even though she was a master liar. She didn’t want to try her luck with him, so it was probably the best to be as truthful as possible.
“Hmm,” Tzekel-Kan grunted, but Chel couldn’t determine whether it was a sound of approval, disgust or simply acknowledgement.
The priest rubbed his chin in deep thoughts. “The gods do sometimes grace those of low birth with incredible powers,” he admitted. Then he suddenly pointed his hand at Chel, making her take an alarmed jump back.
“Now that the gods have chosen you, you must become a priestess!”
“Uh…” was all Chel could say to that. Damn, I had better ask the guys to convince him that they like me better this way, she thought. There was no way she was going to get caught up in this madness and go crazy like Tzekel-Kan. Nope, none at all.
“You realise that powers such as yours must be controlled,” the priest said, making Chel frown in suspicion.
By you, huh, she thought dryly. It was obvious to her that the priest didn’t really care about her at all. He only wanted to make sure there would be no competition for him in the eyes of the gods. The best way to achieve that was to get her under his influence and to be the one pulling the strings.
“Of course,” Tzekel-Kan continued, sounding almost amused in his sinister way, “there is still one minor detail to be cleared before that.”
“And what’s that?” Chel asked. She crossed her arms on her chest and almost lifted a defiant brow at the priest. It was odd, but the more time she spent with him, the braver she got. She figured it should have been the opposite, but in a way she was getting used to the man’s utter insanity. It was also reassuring that she was learning to read him like an open book. He was terrible at hiding his emotions, and if she looked for the right things, she could guess what he had to be thinking.
“Have you ever been with a man?”
Chel’s jaw dropped at the question, and the only sound she could let out was something between a gasp and an insulted shriek. Okay, this was going too far! The creep actually had the guts to ask her something like that and sound so completely innocent while doing it, like he had no idea how many lines he had just crossed. No matter what happened, she was not going to share her sexual experiences with Tzekel-Kan!
“That’s none of your business!” she snapped.
“It is if you’re going to follow the path the gods have chosen for you. Members of the clergy must remain untouched all their lives,” Tzekel-Kan replied, also raising his voice in anger at being defied.
Chel wanted to spit at his face and tell him that she had no plans of having anything to do with religion as long as he was the high priest, but she knew she couldn’t do that without ending up sacrificed for some stupid reason he made up. However, keeping her anger inside her was really difficult this time, and she was grateful for the dark night that hid her expression so well.
“The gods mentioned having some other plans for me,” she managed to say stiffly.
“And what would those be?” Tzekel-Kan asked.
“Well, how should I know? Who am I to question the gods?” Chel replied, raising her head and voice near the end.
Tzekel-Kan let out an angry breath. “Don’t take that tone with me, girl! I could --”
“You could what?” Chel challenged. She felt bold all of a sudden. After all, she had Tulio and Miguel on her side.
The clouds chose that moment to shift and let the city bask in the pale light of the moon again. Chel, who for a moment had almost forgotten who she was deliberately leading on, saw the high priest well for the first time during the conversation. The cruel anger in his eyes and the tight line of his lips filled her with sudden dread, and she realised it was stupid to play with fire. She should just back down while she still had the chance and not drive him over the edge.
Knowing that the priest could see her now as well, she lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I forgot my place.”
To her surprise, Tzekel-Kan only chuckled. “Being chosen by the gods is a great honour, but power can get to your head fast,” he said. His laughter was not happy or even forgiving. Rather, Chel got the impression that what the priest really meant was, “I’ll tolerate you for now, but try that again with me and you’ll die a horrible death.”
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she remained silent and waited if the priest wanted to continue. It looked like he still had something to say, but they were interrupted by a drunken man from the party. Chel recognised him as the one who had made her get the alcohol in the first place. She instantly forgave him for making her run errands and mentally thanked him for appearing at that moment.
“What’sh takin’ sho long?” the man asked angrily, but sobered up somewhat the minute he saw who Chel had for company.
“High priest Tzekel-Kan!” he exclaimed in fear and dropped to his knees.
Tzekel-Kan grimaced in obvious disgust and displeasure at having their conversation interrupted and shook his head.
“We should talk again some time,” he said. As he walked past Chel, he put his hand briefly on her shoulder. She cowered under his touch. His skin was hot against hers, and she felt the kind of trapped terror that she had never experienced before.
“The gods have looked favourably upon you. Don’t let that go to waste,” Tzekel-Kan said, not even glancing at her anymore. He disappeared into the shadows as quietly as he had first appeared.
Once he was gone, Chel turned to look at her shoulder, almost expecting to see a burn mark there. Her skin was still flawless, but she nevertheless felt the need to rub the spot. Or maybe wash it.
“Thanks,” she whispered to the man who was still a shivering form on the ground. She helped him up and led him back to the party. She decided to have something to drink to get rid of the sour taste in her mouth.
She knew she was in trouble now and her survival depended on that of Tulio and Miguel. If the truth about them ever came out, Tzekel-Kan would realise that she had lied about the vision – then the three of them would end up as sacrifice together. On the other hand, the longer this farce kept going on, the harder the priest would pressure her about joining the clergy and becoming one of his lackeys.
There really was no alternative for her. She had to get out of El Dorado as soon as possible, preferably with more gold than she could carry. With nothing but this thought in her mind, Chel joined Tulio and Miguel again. In their company, she felt more at ease and safe than ever before in her life.
***
The lean high priest didn’t stop his angry marching until he was back in the reassuring darkness of his temple. Even there he could hear the cheerful music and sounds of people enjoying Chief Tannabok’s celebration, and it made him clench his fists in anger. How had things gone so far that he was the only one who realised that a party was an insult to the gods, not a tribute?
The Lords are too patient with the fools, he thought to himself. However, the quality of his mood improved drastically when he laid his eyes on the stone slab that pictured the gods. He smiled. At dawn, he would show them that not everyone in El Dorado was a filthy non-believer.
Then there was also that woman, Chel. Tzekel-Kan regretted that his conversation with her had been cut short with the arrival of one of the disgusting pests. For years he had believed that he was the only one still worthy of the gods’ favour in El Dorado, and he felt reassured and almost happy that it wasn’t the case after all.
He would have delighted in discussing her vision further and guiding her towards the path of becoming a true priestess. The men and women who served in the temples now were barely better than the common people. Not any of them really understood the gods or the ancient traditions.
Of course, he would also ensure that she stayed in her place and didn’t try to reach for the skies. Tzekel-Kan couldn’t understand why the gods had sent the vision to her and not him, but he was certain they had their reasons. Still, it wouldn’t do for the woman to get cocky and start thinking she was better than him. She would make a good priestess and be of great help in giving birth to the Age of the Jaguar, but no more than that.
In a way it was almost poetic. A strong priest and a priestess leading their people to a new age of glory. Tzekel-Kan could only admire the gods for their divine plans. Soon that unworthy Tannabok and everyone who followed him would taste the wrath of the gods and regret they had ever strayed from the correct path.
Something would have to be done about Chel’s outfit and manners before any of that, though. Tzekel-Kan wasn’t worried about his own purity, but he knew she would be a temptation to everyone else in the clergy. He would have to teach her modesty and everything she was going to need in her new life.
Or maybe the gods were already doing that. She did spend almost all of her time with them, and Tzekel-Kan couldn’t help feeling jealous over all the attention the gods were showering upon her. Of course, he probably shouldn’t be worried. Unlike him, she had never been properly trained, so she needed their guidance more than he did. Everything would work out as he had predicted in the end, he was sure.
The high priest stepped outside the temple and spent a few minutes gazing down at the light from the celebration. Despite the disgust he felt at the sins that were being committed there, he had a pleased and expectant smile on his face.
Soon enough, the streets of El Dorado would be running red with the blood of these non-believers.