FEATHERED SERPENT, page 18
Thousands of Cholulan warriors and porters shuffled into the broad court for the farewell, led by their most senior chiefs and senators. When they were all inside, Feathered Serpent’s moles closed and barred the gates behind them.
The Cholulans looked around in astonishment at the black maws of the iron serpents, at the thunder lords with their firesticks on the ramparts and the pyramid steps.
Feathered Serpent rode out on his warhorse, and Malinali followed behind him on foot. He stopped a few paces from the Lord of the Here and Now and the Lord of Below the Earth. They seemed to wilt in his presence.
‘Greet these gracious lords of Cholula,’ he said to her, ‘tell them they are most generous to bid me farewell on this fine morning. It is one of the few kindnesses I have received from them. I came here as their friend and I did not expect to receive such scant hospitality.’
She repeated these sentiments.
‘Lord Malinche is not happy with the lodgings we provided for him and his men?’ Lord of the Here and Now said. ‘We did all we could.’
The great beast that carried Feathered Serpent snorted and stamped its foot, as if it understood the nobleman’s lies, and they made him as angry as they made her.
‘Tell him you know all about his true plans for us,’ Feathered Serpent said.
Malinali turned and faced the assembly of Cholulan lords. They gaped at her in terrified silence. ‘I warned you before we arrived in this city that Lord Malinche can read your minds as well as he can hear your words. That is how he knows that you have set a trap for us as we leave this city. He knows about the stones piled on the rooftops and the pitfalls in the streets...’
Lord of the Here and Now and Lord of Below the Earth looked startled.
‘We were afraid,’ Lord of Below the Earth shouted, ‘our lifelong enemies are camped right outside our gates. Could you blame us for making preparations to defend ourselves? ‘
Malinali wondered if that was the real reason the women and children were sent out of the city. What if she was wrong about this, what if the treacherous Cholulan plot was just the ravings of an old woman?
‘Yes, Montezuma asked us to attack you,’ Lord of Below the Earth said, ‘but we refused. How could we harm Feathered Serpent in his own city?’
‘What are they saying?’ Feathered Serpent asked her. Malinali could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
‘They deny everything.’
Feathered Serpent was breathing fast, struggling with the decision.
‘It is Montezuma who is at fault!’ Lord of the Here and Now shrieked. ‘Not us!’
If only he had only stayed still. But now that he understood how close he was to death, he panicked. He turned and fled, even though there was nowhere to run.
Her lord drew his sword and brought it down in a sweeping arc, the pre-arranged signal for what was to follow.
Some of the Cholulans escaped the bloody slaughter of the iron serpents and firesticks and arrows by running into the plaza. All that waited for them there were the lancers on their warhorses. Most of them were already dead before the rest of the city was awake.
Afterwards, the soldiers made a bloody sweep through the town. They found no army waiting for them on the rooftops, no ambush lying in wait.
The people of Cholula fled through the city gates, onto the waiting obsidian spears of the Texcálans who were only too eager to settle old scores.
Meanwhile, in the court of the temple of Feathered Serpent, Malinali watched the thunder lords finish the morning’s work, seeking out any still moaning and twitching and filleting them with the dexterity of a temple priest.
She looked around for Feathered Serpent but he was gone.
41.
Smoke rose from the blistered beams of a roof, flies hummed, plenty to keep them busy there. A coyote looked up at Benítez’ approach, then returned to its feast. A bloody handprint smudged an adobe wall.
Benítez had been a soldier for just a few months and he had thought the worst he would ever see was the carnage on the plains of Texcála. He had never imagined anything like this.
What if we were wrong, he thought? All we had to justify this slaughter was the sum of our own fears, twisted by the words of an old woman and the slander of the Totonacs. We were swayed by the Texcálans who only wanted an excuse to grab the women and the plunder and take their revenge.
Norte appeared out of the ruins. There was blood on his sword. ‘For the glory of God, eh Benítez!’
‘They planned this same slaughter for us!’
‘Did they? Are you sure?’
Benítez had no answer for him.
Norte shook his head. ‘I have lived with the savages for eight years and I had quite forgotten that it is the sacred duty of every Christian gentleman to butcher the ignorant and the unprepared.’
‘There is blood on your sword also.’
‘It belongs to one of our allies. A Texcálan. He was trying to rape a child. So I killed him. Would you have me hanged for it?’
Benítez turned away.
‘The Cholulans were right, weren't they?’ Norte called after him. ‘They said they were afraid of the Texcálans. They had reason to be. Our new friends are like wild beasts.’
Benítez stumbled on through the rank and loathsome streets. Coyotes screamed and vultures circled in the sky.
‘It was Malinali!’ Norte shouted after him. ‘Malinali persuaded him to do it!’
The glow of the burial fires climbed up the night sky. Feathered Serpent was again on his knees before a portrait of the goddess Virgin. As Malinali entered, he carefully unfolded his hands from prayer as if he were putting aside a pair of delicate silk gloves. ‘Gods are sometimes beneficent,’ he said, ‘but there are other times when they have no choice but to punish. Is that not the way?’
Impossible to describe to him the turmoil she felt inside. It was as if she had woken from a vivid dream to find herself in a world inhabited by shadows. Everything was grey, nothing had shape, and nothing was as it had once seemed.
He got to his feet. There was a strange light in his eyes. He grabbed her by the arm. ‘I did not want this. They brought this on themselves.’
‘I don't know what to think anymore.’
‘It was you who told me of this plot! I trusted you! You said you were sure!’
‘I thought I was sure.’ She tried to pull free but he was too strong.
‘It had to be done! Now there will be no further rebellions against us. Already, other chiefs have sent messages suing for peace.’
‘The Texcálans even killed the children.’
‘It had to be done,’ he said, as if trying to convince himself. He put his arms around her. She did not resist. He lifted her easily and laid her on the scrap of bed. ‘It had to be done,’ he said, a third time.
He mounted her roughly. She clung to him, looking for solace in his kisses and rough embrace. Afterwards, as she lay on her back, his body sprawled across her, she strained her ears to the silence.
It was no good. Even in the deepest, soundless night she could still hear the screams.
Tenochtitlàn
Flamingos picked their way fussily through the shallows, their rose pinks reflected in the still ponds; parrots of carmine and royal blue flashed through the greenery to hang squabbling in the vines. A tiny hummingbird hovered at the mouth of a trumpet flower, while an eagle picked over a raw carcass brought fresh from the temple earlier that day.
Woman Snake hurried through the royal aviary and up the steps to a gallery that commanded a panoramic view over the entire zoo. He was surprised to find Montezuma in a light mood. After the news from Cholula he anticipated another of his tearful rages. Instead he seemed relaxed, even confident.
‘Lord, my Lord, my Great Lord,’ he said, approaching on hands and knees. ‘You required my presence.’
‘I want you to send a message for me to Cholula.’
‘As you command.’
‘Send our envoys with presents for Lord Malinche and tell them to congratulate him on punishing the Cholulans. He is to be assured that I had no part in any plot made against him. Ask him also to convey himself with all speed to Tenochtitlàn, for I long to meet with him.’
Woman Snake wondered at this change of heart. ‘But, great Lord, until now we have done our utmost to discourage him.’
‘We have nothing more to fear from this Malinche. Any anger he may have harbored against us has been spent on Cholula. Let him hasten here if that is what he wishes.’
‘As you command.’
Woman Snake departed on hands and knees.
Montezuma smiled. News of the massacre had allayed his fears. Although Feathered Serpent was the lord of enlightenment, like any beneficent god he also had a dark side. This slaughter at Cholula was retribution for all the human sacrifices that had been made there in his name. It was proof of his divinity.
Now Montezuma was certain he was dealing with a god and not a man, he felt strangely calm. He spent the rest of the day, alone, listening to the birds, and did not return to the palace until long after nightfall.
42.
Malinali lay awake for a long time, his body sprawled over hers. She felt bruised. Why should she expect him to be gentle? She was sucking the honey not from a man, but from a god.
Soon he would rise and put on his armor and go out to patrol the sentry posts, as he had done every night since the massacre. She wondered if he was haunted by the same terrible dreams as she was.
What if he were not her Lord of Gentle Wisdom? She thought about the young Texcálan he had tormented and maimed, his retribution against the Cholulans. It was just to punish the chiefs and the nobles. But why had he allowed the Texcálans to slaughter the women and children as well?
But what could she do? There was no turning back, she had come too far. Without his protection, she was a heart roasting in a brazier. Without the means to realize her father's vision she had nothing left to live for.
She felt as if she had woken in the forest at night. She could not trust the darkness, and she did not know which way to run. She could only wait and wonder from which direction the monsters might come.
Cortés stared at the new bounty Montezuma had seen fit to send him. The gold and jewelry at his feet must be worth two thousand crowns, and that did not include the pile of richly embroidered cloaks beside it, tall as a man.
It seemed to him the more natives he slaughtered, the more generous Montezuma became.
He caught Malinali's eye and wondered what she was thinking. It was hard to read her these last few weeks. Since Cholula she had become withdrawn and sullen. And yet it was her word that had led him to give the order for the town's destruction. What was he to make of her?
The delegation of Mexica were waiting for his response.
‘Give them my usual greetings,’ he said to her, ‘and ask them what message they have from their king.’
She conferred with them. ‘Montezuma sends you his greetings and regrets that the Cholulans have annoyed you. The Revered Speaker has always found them a tiresome people and thinks you have been too gentle in dealing with them. He now wonders why you still endure the miserable company of the Texcálans and asks instead that you make haste to his capital where he will do his best to entertain you. These men offer their services as guides and will ensure that provisions for the journey are provided along the way.’
‘Well, this is a different song.’
‘It may be a trick.’
‘I do not doubt it. Everything in this land appears to be no more than an illusion.’
He massaged his temples with his fingers. There was a nagging pain behind his eyes. He had not slept well since the slaughter. Fray Olmedo had assured him he had acted in the best interests of the Church and the State, and that much good had come of his actions for those few Cholulans who had survived had immediately converted to Christianity. Cortés himself had made his confession and been granted absolution.
Yet sleep had been difficult these past weeks.
‘Thank them for their presents and tell them I look forward to the great pleasure of gazing on their emperor's visage soon,’ he said.
After the envoys had gone, he was left alone with Malinali. Her black eyes were liquid, impenetrable.
He needed her now as he had needed no woman in his life. If she should fail him, he would be abandoned to the darkness of this Montezuma and no power on earth could save him.
She held sway over his life's destiny, and it terrified him.
He ran his fingers through her hair. ‘Well, cara, on to Tenochtitlàn.’
‘Yes, my lord,’ she answered, ‘Tenochtitlàn.’ She returned his embrace, but it seemed to him that there was neither warmth nor affection in it.
The wax candles burned in ruby cups, and were reflected in the breastplate of Benítez’ armor hanging on the wall. Rain Flower sat on a reed mat, Benítez beside her, picking from a platter of roasted rabbit and maize cakes. Norte sat apart from them by the curtained door.
Rain beat on the roof, and the storm wind brought with it the moldering breath of the jungle, of things dead and rotting.
Rain Flower had painted flowers on her feet, and there was cinnabar on her lips and eyelids. Her eyes flashed in the candlelight, predatory, primitive.
‘What are we going to do?’ Norte said to her, in Chontal Maya.
She did not answer.
Benítez looked up sharply. ‘What did you say to her?’
‘I asked her what she was thinking, my lord.’
Norte looked up at the ceiling where men were being devoured by a great snake, their endless torment forever etched into the dark volcanic stone. There was something strangely beautiful in it. The other Castilians had expressed their revulsion at this savage art. Norte himself wondered how a Mexica gentleman would react if he walked into a Christian home, where the centerpiece of every wall was a naked man being tortured with wood and nails.
‘Will you ask my lord when we are to leave this place?’ Rain Flower said.
Norte turned to Benítez. ‘She wants to know when we are leaving Cholula.’
Benítez finished eating, licking the juice from his fingers. ‘When Cortés is ready. I don't know when that will be.’
‘Tell him I hate this place,’ Rain Flower said. ‘It has the stink of death.’
Benítez nodded his agreement when he heard this. ‘I feel the same way. But it is not my decision.’
‘We could run away,’ Rain Flower said.
‘Even if the Spaniards did not catch us, we are surrounded by hostile tribes. It’s hopeless.’
‘What did she ask you?’ Benítez said.
‘She asks where you think we will go from here.’
‘I believe my lord Cortés intends us to march on Montezuma's capital.’
‘Then he is a madman,’ Norte said. ‘Can none of you convince him to turn back?’
‘One does not tell the wind which way to blow.’
‘Do you know anything at all about the Mexica, Benítez?’
‘Do you?’
‘What I have learned from Rain Flower.’
‘Then tell me. I would like to hear it.’
‘A century past these people were living in the desert eating vermin. By nature they are savages. Everyone knows it, even the Mexica themselves.’
‘How did they come to be so powerful then?’
‘Because they have always been great warriors. It is the one thing they have to recommend them. They now have a formidable army.’
‘Of how many men? Twenty thousand? Fifty thousand?’
Norte consulted with Rain Flower. Even he seemed surprised at her answer. ‘She believes a hundred thousand, at least. So, do you still want to follow Cortés to Tenochtitlàn?’
Benítez looked shaken. ‘She obviously has no understanding of numbers,’ he said.
‘On the contrary, she says she counts only the Mexica. She does not count the other armies of the Triple Alliance, the Texcocans and the Tacubans.’
Norte doubted very much if this forbidding summation of their enemy would deter Cortés. He wondered if he already knew about the size of Montezuma’s army and was keeping it from the rest of his officers.
‘I am tired,’ Norte said. ‘May I have leave to go to bed?’
Benítez nodded and Norte got to his feet.
‘There is one more service you can perform for me,’ Benítez said, almost as an afterthought. ‘I want you to tell Rain Flower here, tell her that if we survive this expedition, and we are able to return to Cuba, tell her I would like her to come with me. I will make her my wife, properly, in a Catholic church. If that is what she wants.’
Rain Flower waited for him to translate.
‘He says that he likes you very much and wants you to go back to his home across the water when this is all over.’
‘But what about you?’
‘I can’t offer you anything. Even if we survive this, there is no future for me anywhere. Think about it. I believe he is a good man at heart, a Person.’
‘You’re all I want,’ Rain Flower said.
Benítez waited patiently for Norte to tell him what had been said. ‘She will go with you,’ Norte said. He pushed the curtain aside and went out, into the night.
43.
‘I have just received ambassadors from Montezuma,’ Cortés announced. ‘He has invited us to visit him at Tenochtitlàn.’
There was a shuffling silence. Cortés looked at his second in command. ‘Alvarado?’
His captain thrust out his jaw. ‘We have been talking among ourselves,’ he said, and looked at Benítez for support. ‘It seems these Mexica are far stronger even than we anticipated. It is said they can raise an army of one hundred thousand men.’
