A woman appeared beside him. She was beautiful, with a round face and rosy cheeks that spoke of health and youth. A spiky golden circlet sat atop her head with a single black stone in the middle of it. The dress she wore was long, trailing on the ground behind her, and dark, with tiny golden suns embroidered onto the hem.
The same suns she remembered watching Qori stitch that day at the acllahuasi before everything went wrong.
Her upper arms were covered in golden bands shaped into snakes and arrows, and the smile on her face was patient and sharp as she gave Nina the time to take her in.
The empress. Nina had heard of her only in passing, when news of her betrothal to Emperor Maicu had been on the tip of every girl’s tongue in her ayllu. They spoke of the extravagance and the romance that had been sweet enough to taste, of her beauty, elegance, and strong lineage. And of her twelve toes. All rumors, of course, as none of them had seen her with their own eyes.
Nina remembered being both curious and jealous. Not becauseshewanted to marry the emperor, but because she had wished for the kind of opportunity to be so composed and powerful.
Now there she was, standing face-to-face with the elusive woman.
Nina leaned away from her, as if that little distance could help her escape from the empress’s sights. If it weren’t for Kasik’s hands holding her in place, she would have fallen backward and made a fool of herself.
“Thank you, Kasik.” The empress smirked. She knew Nina was uncomfortable, and she was enjoying it. “You may leave us now.”
Nina turned her eyes to him, but he wasn’t looking at her. All she could see was the side of his face, the way his jaw muscles sharpened as if he was clenching his teeth, as if the mere thought of looking at her was too much to bear. Nina’s heart hardened further. She took a step back, out of the grasp of his hands, and tried to rub away the memory of his touch. There was no erasing the look he had given her when believing his tayta’s lies, or the words she had spat at them.
I will never forgive you for this.
It was a vow she felt deep in her bones, just like the vow she had given her sister by sacrificing herself.
“Empress,” Kasik said, the reverence in his voice clear, but he hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting to Nina and back before he left the room.
Empress Chaska watched him go with a placid smile on her face. After he left, Nina stood rooted to her spot, unsure if she was meant to bow or beseech, but it felt like conceding to her fear and this woman who held herself as though she was owed everything she desired.
Instead, she held her stare, even as the empress tilted her head condescendingly and pursed her lips. The prongs of her circlet glinted in the orange flames from the fire behind Nina. She imagined the kinds of marks they would leave on her skin if used as a weapon.
Neither woman said anything as they stared at the other. Nina felt like she was being measured, and she was judging in return. Sheopened her mouth to speak, but the empress stopped her with a finger in the air.
The door opened again, and this time two servants walked in carrying trays. They placed them on the small table to Nina’s right, bowed quickly, and then exited the room.
“There,” the empress said. “Now we may speak.”
Nina felt woefully ill-equipped for a conversation with this cunning woman. She was full of anger and resentment that clouded her thoughts, but when she reached for the power that typically accompanied her anger, it was nowhere to be found.
“You will find,” the empress started as she pulled out a chair and sat before the tea and food, “that everyone within the kancha grounds wears achillas to protect themselves. Emperor Maicu has prepared extensively for your arrival.”
She said all this as simply as if she were discussing the weather, while pouring tea at the same time. Nina stayed where she was, hands clenched at her sides, feeling uncertain and slightly fearful. If the emperor was so well prepared, then how would she kill him? Obviously, he wouldn’t allow her to simply remove his achillas and slip her fingers around his threads.
No, it would be much more complicated than that. Nina would have to plan and prepare as well.
“Come.” Empress Chaska gestured a hand to the cup in front of Nina’s seat. “Have tea with me.”
It wasn’t a request that Nina could choose to ignore, but she wasn’t sure her curiosity would have allowed her to.
“Drink,” she ordered, and Nina brought the cup to her lips, the steam caressing her face. The scent conjured hazy memories of her time in the acllahuasi. She tried to put the cup down, but the empress’s fingers appeared at the bottom and pressed it up.
“It will help,” she said gently, “to appear as if you are going along with the emperor’s plans. Your freedom depends upon it.”
Nina’s pulse pounded in her throat as she stared at the empress. Nina wished she could see her threads the way Shayim did, filled with the knots that could be interpreted and known. Anything to help her navigate such a formidable, unknowable person. But the threads at the center of Empress Chaska’s chest were blurred and unreachable, and Nina had to make a choice.
She gulped down the tea and waited for...something. The memory of drinking the tea at the acllahuasi was there, but it was difficult to remember exactlyhowit had made her feel. Almost like there was a thin layer of fog over it all. She looked at the bottom of the cup and saw the leaves there, a muted green, but entirely green. No blackened, sharpened edges.
“Do you like it?” Chaska asked eagerly. “Master Wara brews it himself with Mamacoca leaves foraged from the Tuta Kulla.”
They looked like the same leaves her mamay would gather and brew over the small fire in the kitchen. “I do,” she said, and she meant it. She still felt like herself, if maybe a bit more settled. Her thoughts went from calculated concern to calm curiosity as she considered Empress Chaska’s words.
It could have meant that Nina’s freedom in the kancha and the marriage depended upon her compliance. It also could have meant her freedom from this place altogether. But why would the empress help her?
