The liquid was earthy and strong enough that it sent a jolt of numb awareness through him. He realized he wasn’t dead. There was no god with him in the cell, and he was being freed.
“What was this?” Kasik peered into the empty cup as if the answer was at the bottom.
Chaska laughed. “Master Wara’s tea. You aren’t healed, but it should help strengthen you long enough to get out of here.” She smiled a lopsided smile as she undid his shackles. “If we leave now and ride hard, you might be able to catch them before they reach the mountaintop.”
Kasik’s mind raced. “The mountaintop,” he repeated slowly. “Mount Rimac. That’s where they are taking Nina?” Hands suddenly free, he pushed himself to his knees with a grunt. “How are you here?” he asked roughly, a hand pressed to his ribs where they screamed in protest. “Did you know what they had planned?”
“I didn’t,” Chaska answered, and Kasik believed her. There were circles under her eyes, and her hand shook lightly as she pushed a clump of hair behind an ear. “And neither did they know about my attay, ormyplans. My tayta and his men surround Amaru Kancha. Maicu and Atik will have no royal seat to return to. But you have to help Nina.” Chaska stood and pulled Kasik to his feet. “The only thing Shayim is sure of is that Nina must survive.”
“Why wouldn’t I help her?” he asked sharply. “Everything I have done has been for her.”
“Because she was powerless here, but she will not be powerless any longer. She will be angry and dangerous.”
“She’s not dangerous,” Kasik said softly. “She only wants to protect her family.”
“And when she is full of wrath and no purpose? When she is unrecognizable? Will you stand by her even then?” Chaska stepped closer, her dark eyes flashing in the dim light. “There will come a time when you must choose a side. Will you choose wisely?”
Kasik opened his mouth to answer, and then closed it. His whole body ached and blood leaked between the fingers he held at his side. A stab wound, he vaguely remembered.
“Come. We’ll have time for answers later, as long as you live.”
Kasik moved more quickly with her help, and though each step was a struggle, the fact that he was upright at all was a feat.
Chaska led them through the maze of the dungeon and the kancha hallways. There was no one left within the walls, and outside was even quieter. Kasik wondered if they would continue with the processions and offerings, or if they thought Nina’s blood was enough to suffice.
They had all stood there without raising a finger to help or a word of dissent. The way they hadcheeredas the emperor proclaimed Nina’s fate. He would have cut them all down, if he could. But he was only one man.
Kasik assumed Maicu had taken his most trusted walla with him. It would be almost impossible to get to him, but Atik only guarded himself.He was too proud to have a contingent surrounding him. If Kasik had the element of surprise on his side, then he might see a victory.
Capac was already roused and waiting when they arrived at the achipuma enclosure. Illari was beside him, tiny flakes of snow collecting on both of their heads. Once seated, Kasik leaned over Capac and wrapped his arounds around the achipuma’s neck. His fur was warm and comforting. “We must be swift, my friend,” Kasik whispered into his ear. “We must save Nina.”
Illari took off on a bounding leap, Chaska seated proudly on her back. They rode down the path and through Qorikancha where a line of men in green guarded the outer doors. Kasik spotted Lord Anri, who lifted an arm in greeting to Chaska before placing it over his heart, and then the city was a blur as the achipumas tore off to the side and up the mountainous path that led to Mount Rimac.
Kasik lowered his body and held on with what little life he had left.
45
The absence of Nina’s attay felt like swimming through the ocean at night. It was endless darkness. It was fear and hopelessness. It was being back in the cell deep below the acllahuasi where she had convinced herself that she was nobody. That her life meant nothing.
There was no end to it. Nothing to grab on to. As she waded through the brackish waters, she heard snippets of conversation and saw flashes of images.
Atik’s face above hers, soothing words, and evil eyes.
Sacha, limp and pliant in her arms, words spoken but left unsaid.
Nina tumbled through the darkness, and she wondered and waited. She felt hopelessly afraid and relentlessly vengeful. A fire burned in her belly and threatened to destroy everything she was, everything she hoped to be.
Her mamay’s voice spoke to her.Be cunning. Be fast. Be strong.Her tayta’s eyes pleaded with her. Lali’s cries could be heard in the distance. Sacha’s hand was in her own. Samaq’s blood soaked the ground at her feet.
Spare no one, Nina. Kill them all.
Their lifeless eyes stared at the sky and Nina’s hands were slick with their blood.You’ve failed, the gods said, and then they took her attay.
Nina was the Girl from Master Wara’s story. She was Pachamama. She was herself and nobody and everybody who had ever dreamed and wanted for more. Was she supposed to love or kill? Hope or hate? They filled her equally, warred for space within her, thrashed against each other until she felt full to the brim, ready to implode.
Nina didn’t know what was said and what was remembered andwhat was fabricated by the terrors in her mind. There was no way to tell how much time had passed, but she knew the ground beneath her rocked, that they moved ever forward toward a bloody end. She saw herself in the reflection, dipped in red. Voices mocked her for believing she was powerful enough to stop this, to stopthem.
The gods laughed at the emperor’s efforts to please them. They spoke to Nina of her purpose.You will change the world,she heard them say, but it was Shayim’s voice, and then it was Chaska’s, and then it was her own.
