The golden temple twinkled dimly in the cloudy late morning. Around them, attendants in blue saw to last minute preparations. Houses were aired out. Hearths were stirred. The baths were perfumed for the wives, some of them girls from the acllahuasi.
Kasik wondered how many of them held attay in their meek and pious hands, but it was the mamakuna and Empress Chaska who would greet them. His job was to stand still, to represent Kunay Atik and Emperor Maicu, to avoid murdering his tayta in a fit of rage and evade all suspicion.
His ceremonial uniform was an exact replica of the kunay’s, a deep red tunic with a scene stitched into the body in a slightly darker shade. There were wings and waves and suns shaped like eyes to represent the all-powerful and all-knowing sun god, Inti.
Hopefully the sun god had no interest in knowing him and his plans.
Beyond the kancha grounds, farther down into Vira, plumes of smoke curled into the sky, their people readying for their own celebrations of a successful harvest and the winter solstice. They would leave offerings at Qorikancha and drink chicha with their neighbors and dance until the sun came up.
With the first light of day, Emperor Maicu and his closest allies would march past the kancha walls and Qorikancha, down the emperor’s road and into the city, but Kasik would not be among them. If all went according to plan, he and Nina would be long gone.
“You seem to have healed well.” Atik’s voice was formal, as if it hadn’t been his fist that had harmed Kasik in the first place. As if he hadn’t admitted to murdering his mamay in cold blood.
“It wasn’t much to heal from. You seem to have gotten soft in your old age. Or is it only women you are used to hunting and killing?” Kasik could feel the heat of Atik’s gaze on him, but he ignored it. “Ah, here comes our first guest.”
It was Lord Anri approaching, regal in bright red, his dark skin vibrant despite the creeping cold and lack of sun. At first glance, it was impossible to tell that they had traveled for several weeks from the northern tip of Icosa to get there. He knew they weren’t used to the climate, as the temperatures in Tullumay tended to stay warmer. It was a beautiful place. One he had been looking forward to visiting with Samaq by his side.
Kasik swallowed the urge to ask after his men. To know if Lord Anri had laid eyes on them after all, but then he would give away the fact that he knew Samaq was not gone, as Emperor Maicu had said.
“Kunay Atik. Kamayuq Kasik. As always, it is an honor to be here.” Lord Anri placed a hand over his heart. “Emperor Maicu and Empress Chaska, are they well?”
“They are well. Your daughter is a loyal empress.” Atik gestured toward the walla beside him. “Kinto will escort you to your house so that you may rest before the festivities begin.”
Lord Anri bowed and stepped aside, the rest of his party, all men in shades of red, moving with him.
Kasik remembered the last time he saw Nina in red, the way it had made the flush of her cheeks stand out. How it had matched the bloody handprint on her cheek.
“Your thoughts run away with you.”
He glanced at his tayta, careful not to take his full attention off the commotion surrounding them. “My thoughts are exactly where they are supposed to be.”
“You may have the emperor fooled, but I am not so easily misled.” Atik faced forward as he spoke, his voice low enough so that only Kasik knew he was speaking. “Look what happened to your mamay. Rumi. The moment Emperor Maicu allows it, your life will be forfeit.”
“How it must pain you to be under the thumb of a child.” Kasik smiled and nodded at an older man who passed by. “To know that your power is so limited.”
“You knownothingof power,” Atik spat. “But you will soon understand exactly what it looks like, and what it costs.”
A group of men emerged from Qorikancha, and all Kasik’s rebuttals were swept away. They were large men, with their long hair loose around their shoulders, and the beasts they rode larger than any he had ever seen, all of them covered head to toe in the deepest, darkest black.
It was a refusal to acknowledge Maicu as their emperor. A rejection of his invitation to join Tawantinsuyu. A line drawn between their territories.
They walked down the road through the kancha grounds very carefully, as if one wrong step would end in their deaths. The way thatthe walla and attendants were staring, Kasik didn’t blame them. They were only safe as long as they didn’t present a threat, but their very existence was one, and the man leading them was a force all on his own. Juac, the lord of Karu, the farthest and wildest ayllu in Uwaco, stopped before an attendant several lengths away and shed himself of weapons. He was an imposing man, large shouldered and broad chested, his skin full of scars.
Uwaco did not keep an acllahuasi as Amaru and Icosa did, nor did they serve the gods in the same way as those from Vira. It was unclear why Juac was there at all, if Kasik thought about it long enough. But he didn’t have the time. Juac easily freed himself of all his weapons and then strode forward alone.
Kasik couldn’t help but admire his audacity, though his decision would only serve to make the emperor more eager to win them over. He would offer Juac all the wealth and benefits that he offered all the lords of the ayllus he absorbed. Wives and servants from the acllahuasi. Gold from the empire’s coffers. Achillas for protection.
Most of the ayllus gladly accepted. They were able to keep their positions of notoriety and their customs and only required to offer up their harvest and their children. Such a small price to pay for stability.
But Juac gave the impression that he would not be so easily convinced.
“My men and I will stay outside of the kancha, in the city.” Juac pointed down the mountain and toward the east, where the sky was a dark purple. “If we do not return to Karu unharmed in six weeks’ time, they will bring the force of our army against you.”
“You dare come and make threats,” Atik seethed. Kasik saw his tayta’s knuckles blanch around the hilt of his blade. “We should cut you down where you stand.”
Juac shook his head. “But you will not, because it is Emperor Maicu who has invited us, and you bow to his every command.” Juac steppedcloser and lowered his voice. “We know the kukuchi come. We have heard whispers of their might, and we are prepared to fight against them. Are you?”
At the mention of the familiar word, Kasik’s spine stiffened. Atik’s nostrils flared as he tried to temper his anger. “You are making a grave mistake.”
