The Fair God; or, The Last of the 'Tzins: A Tale of the Conquest of Mexico by Lew Wallace
CHAPTER III.
THE BANISHMENT OF GUATAMOZIN.
The palace of Montezuma was regarded as of very great sanctity, so thathis household, its economy, and the exact relation its members bore toeach other were mysteries to the public. From the best information,however, it would seem that he had two lawful and acknowledged wives,the queens Tecalco and Acatlan,[31] who, with their families, occupiedspacious apartments secure from intrusion. They were good-looking,middle-aged women, whom the monarch honored with the highest respect andconfidence. By the first one, he had a son and daughter; by the second,two daughters.
"Help me, Acatlan! I appeal to your friendship, to the love you bearyour children,--help me in my trouble." So the queen Tecalco prayed thequeen Acatlan in the palace the morning after the audience given theTezcucan by the king.
The two were sitting in a room furnished with some taste. Through thegreat windows, shaded by purple curtains, streamed the fresh breath ofthe early day. There were female slaves around them in waiting; while aboy nearly grown, at the eastern end of the apartment, was pitching thegolden balls in _totoloque_. This was prince Io', the brother of Tula,and son of Tecalco.
"What is the trouble? What can I do?" asked Acatlan.
"Listen to me," said Tecalco. "The king has just gone. He came in bettermood than usual, and talked pleasantly. Something had happened; somepoint of policy had been gained. Nowadays, you know, he talks and thinksof nothing but policy; formerly it was all of war. We cannot deny,Acatlan, that he is much changed. Well, he played a game with Io', thensat down, saying he had news which he thought would please me. You willhardly believe it, but he said that Iztlil', the proud Tezcucan, askedTula in marriage last night. Think of it! Tula, my blossom, my soul! andto that vile cacique!"
"Well, he is brave, and the son of 'Hualpilli," said Acatlan.
"What! You!" said Tecalco, despairingly. "Do you, too, turn against me?I do not like him, and would not if he were the son of a god. Tula hateshim!"
"I will not turn against you, Tecalco. Be calmer, and tell me what morethe king said."
"I told him I was surprised, but not glad to hear the news. He frowned,and paced the floor, now here, now there. I was frightened, but couldbear his anger better than the idea of my Tula, so good, so beautiful,the wife of the base Tezcucan. He said the marriage must go on; it wasrequired by policy, and would help quiet the Empire, which was never sothreatened. You will hardly believe I ventured to tell him that itshould not be, as Tula was already contracted to Guatamozin. I supposedthat announcement would quiet the matter, but it only enraged him; hespoke bitterly of the 'tzin. I could scarcely believe my ears. He usedto love him. What has happened to change his feeling?"
Acatlan thrummed her pretty mouth with her fingers, and thought awhile.
"Yes, I have heard some stories about the 'tzin--"
"Indeed!" said Tecalco, opening her eyes.
"He too has changed, as you may have observed," continued Acatlan. "Heused to be gay and talkative, fond of company, and dance; latterly, hestays at home, and when abroad, mopes, and is silent; while we all knowthat no great private or public misfortune has happened him. The kingappears to have noticed it. And, my dear sister,"--the queen lowered hervoice to a confidential whisper,--"they say the 'tzin aspires to thethrone."
"What! Do you believe it? Does the king?" cried Tecalco, more in angerthan surprise.
"I believe nothing yet, though there are some grounds for his accusersto go upon. They say he entertains at his palace near Iztapalapan nonebut men of the army, and that while in Tenochtitlan, he studies thefavor of the people, and uses his wealth to win popularity with allclasses. Indeed, Tecalco, somehow the king learned that, on the day ofthe celebration of Quetzal', the 'tzin was engaged in a directconspiracy against him."
"It is false, Acatlan, it is false! The king has not a more faithfulsubject. I know the 'tzin. He is worth a thousand of the Tezcucan, whois himself the traitor." And the vexed queen beat the floor with hersandalled foot.
"As to that, Tecalco, I know nothing. But what more from the king?"
"He told me that Tula should never marry the 'tzin; he would use all hispower against it; he would banish him from the city first. And his rageincreased until, finally, he swore by the gods he would order a banquet,and, in presence of all the lords of the Empire, publicly betroth Tulaand the Tezcucan. He said he would do anything the safety of the throneand the gods required of him. He never was so angry. And that, OAcatlan, my sister, that is my trouble. How can I save my child fromsuch a horrid betrothal?"
Acatlan shook her head gloomily. "The king brooks defeat better thanopposition. We would not be safe to do anything openly. I acknowledgemyself afraid, and unable to advise you."
Tecalco burst into tears, and wrung her hands, overcome by fear andrage. Io' then left his game, and came to her. He was not handsome,being too large for his years, and ungraceful; this tendency tohomeliness was increased by the smallness of his face and head; thefeatures were actually childish.
"Say no more, mother," he said, tears standing in his eyes, as if toprove his sympathy and kindliness. "You know it would be better to playwith the tigers than stir the king to anger."
"Ah, Io', what shall I do? I always heard you speak well of the 'tzin.You loved him once."
"And I love him yet."
Tecalco was less pacified than ever.
"What would I not give to know who set the king so against him! Upon thetraitor be the harm there is in a mother's curse! If my child must besacrificed, let it be by a priest, and as a victim to the gods."
"Do not speak so. Be wise, Tecalco. Recollect such sorrows belong to ourrank."
"Our rank, Acatlan! I can forget it sooner than that I am a mother! O,you do not know how long I have nursed the idea of wedding Tula to the'tzin! Since their childhood I have prayed, plotted, and hoped for it.With what pride I have seen them grow up,--he so brave, generous, andprincely, she so staid and beautiful! I have never allowed her to thinkof other destiny: the gods made them for each other."
"Mother," said Io', thoughtfully, "I have heard you say that Guatamozinwas wise. Why not send him word of what has happened, and put our trustin him?"
The poor queen caught at the suggestion eagerly; for with a promise ofaid, at the same time it relieved her of responsibility, of all burthensthe most dreadful to a woman. And Acatlan, really desirous of helpingher friend, but at a loss for a plan, and terrified by the idea of themonarch's wrath incurred, wondered they had not thought of the proposalsooner, and urged the 'tzin's right to be informed of the occurrence.
"There must be secrecy, Tecalco. The king must never know us astraitors: that would be our ruin."
"There shall be no danger; I can go myself," said Io'. "It is long sinceI was at Iztapalapan, and they say the 'tzin has such beautiful gardens.I want to see the three kings who hold torches in his hall; I want totry a bow with him." After some entreaty, Tecalco assented. Sherequired him, however, to put on a costume less likely to attractattention, and take some other than a royal canoe across the lake. Halfan hour later, he passed out of a garden gate, and, by a circuitousroute, hurried to the canal in which lay the vessels of the Iztapalapanwatermen. He found one, and was bargaining with its owner, when a youngman walked briskly up, and stepped into a canoe close by. Something inthe gay dress of the stranger made Io' look at him a second time, and hewas hardly less pleased than surprised at being addressed,--
"Ho, friend! I am going to your city. Save your cocoa, and go with me."
Io' was confused.
"Come on!" the stranger persisted, with a pleasant smile. "Come on! Iwant company. You were never so welcome."
The smile decided the boy. He set one foot in the vessel, but instantlyretreated--an ocelot, crouched in the bottom, raised its round head, andstared fixedly at him. The stranger laughed, and reassured him, afterwhich he walked boldly forward. Then the canoe swung from its mooring,and in a few minutes,
"I like this. By Our Mother, I like it!" he said, earnestly. "We havelakes in Tihuanco on which I have spent days riding waves and spearingfish; but they were dull to this. See the stretch of the water! Lookyonder at the villages, and here at the city and Chapultepec! Ah, thatyou were born in Tenochtitlan be proud. There is no grander birthplacethis side of the Sun!"
"I am an Aztec," said Io', moved by the words.
The other smiled, and added, "Why not go further, and say, 'and son ofthe king?'"
Io' was startled.
"Surprised! Good prince, I am a hunter. From habit, I observeeverything; a track, a tree, a place, once seen is never forgotten; andsince I came to the city, the night before the combat of Quetzal', thehabit has not left me. That day you were seated under the red canopy,with the princesses Tula and Nenetzin. So I came to know the king'sson."
"Then you saw the combat?"
"And how brave it was! There never was its match,--never such archery asthe 'tzin's. Then the blow with which he killed the Othmi! I onlyregretted that the Tezcucan escaped. I do not like him; he is enviousand spiteful; it would have been better had he fallen instead of theOtompan. You know Iztlil'?"
"Not to love him," said Io'.
"Is he like the 'tzin?"
"Not at all."
"So I have heard," said the hunter, shrugging his shoulders. "But----Down, fellow!" he cried to the ocelot, whose approaches discomposed theprince. "I was going to say," he resumed, with a look which, as aninvitation to confidence, was irresistible, "that there is no reason whyyou and I should not be friends. We are both going to see the 'tzin----"
Io' was again much confused.
"I only heard you say so to the waterman on the landing. If your visit,good prince, was intended as a secret, you are a careless messenger. Buthave no fear. I intend entering the 'tzin's service; that is, if he willtake me."
"Is the 'tzin enlisting men?" asked Io'.
"No. I am merely weary of hunting. My father is a good merchant whosetrading life is too tame for me. I love excitement. Even hunting deerand chasing wolves are too tame. I will now try war, and there is butone whom I care to follow. Together we will see and talk to him."
"You speak as if you were used to arms."
"My skill may be counted nothing. I seek the service more from what Iimagine it to be. The march, the camp, the battle, the taking captives,the perilling life, when it is but a secondary object, as it must bewith every warrior of true ambition, all have charms for my fancy.Besides, I am discontented with my condition. I want honor, rank, andcommand,--wealth I have. Hence, for me, the army is the surest road.Beset with trials, and needing a good heart and arm, yet it travelsupward, upward, and that is all I seek to know."
The _naivete_ and enthusiasm of the hunter were new and charming to theprince, who was impelled to study him once more. He noticed how exactlythe arms were rounded; that the neck was long, muscular, and widened atthe base, like the trunk of an oak; that the features, excited by thepassing feeling, were noble and good; that the very carriage of the headwas significant of aptitude for brave things, if not command. Could thebetter gods have thrown Io' in such company for self-comparison? Wasthat the time they had chosen to wake within him the longings of mindnatural to coming manhood? He felt the inspiration of an idea new tohim. All his life had been passed in the splendid monotony of hisfather's palace; he had been permitted merely to hear of war, and thatfrom a distance; of the noble passion for arms he knew nothing.Accustomed to childish wants, with authority to gratify them, ambitionfor power had not yet disturbed him. But, as he listened, it was givenhim to see the emptiness of his past life, and understand the advantageshe already possessed; he said to himself, "Am I not master of grade andopportunities, so coveted by this unknown hunter, and so far above hisreach?" In that moment the contentment which had canopied his existence,like a calm sky, full of stars and silence and peace, was taken up, andwhirled away; his spirit strengthened with a rising ambition and acourage royally descended.
"You are going to study with the 'tzin. I would like to be yourcomrade," he said.
"I accept you, I give you my heart!" replied the hunter, with beamingface. "We will march, and sleep, and fight, and practise together. Iwill be true to you as shield to the warrior. Hereafter, O prince, whenyou would speak of me, call me Hualpa; and if you would make me happy,say of me, 'He is my comrade!'"
The sun stood high in the heavens when they reached the landing.Mounting a few steps that led from the water's edge, they foundthemselves in a garden rich with flowers, beautiful trees, runningstreams, and trellised summer-houses,--the garden of a prince,--ofGuatamozin, the true hero of his country.
FOOTNOTES:
[31] These are the proper names of the queens. MSS of Munoz. Also, note to Prescott, Conq. of Mexico, Vol. II., p. 351.