Acatl took a deep breath and fought the urge to squeeze his eyes shut. It wouldn’t help his headache. “Now,” he said with a calmness he didn’t feel, “let’s see if we’ve got the facts straight. Your city is haunted. And you have crossed the lake to beg for my help, in person, instead of ordering your own city’s High Priest of Lord Death to deal with it, because you believe I owe you? I was not aware that I was in your debt to begin with.”
Nezahual looked irritatingly smug. “I did help save your life, you’ll recall.”
“And then you threatened to sell us right back to Tenochtitlan,” Acatl snapped. “Did you think I’d forget that?”
“Words aren’t action. And besides, there is what Teomitl’s sister did to my warriors.”
“Then take it up with her.” If you can find her, he added silently. She’d vanished from the city shortly after the plague, and even Teomitl didn’t know her whereabouts. But if Nezahual was bringing that up, then that meant he was still carrying a grudge. Acatl felt a sudden pang at the thought of Teomitl having made another enemy, one who was an even more dangerous opponent to have than his own brother.
And now the youth was raising an eyebrow at him. Acatl reminded himself that one did not smack allied Revered Speakers, even if they deserved it. And even if they said, “Since she can’t be found, I might well ask for the next best thing. Do you truly want me to declare your lover an enemy?”
Acatl’s blood ran cold. They’d been discreet. He knew they’d been discreet. So how—? No, he could worry about that later. “Tell me again about those ghosts.”
Obsidian & Blood, Nezahual & Acatl
Acatl took a deep breath and fought the urge to squeeze his eyes shut. It wouldn’t help his headache. “Now,” he said with a calmness he didn’t feel, “let’s see if we’ve got the facts straight. Your city is haunted. And you have crossed the lake to beg for my help, in person, instead of ordering your own city’s High Priest of Lord Death to deal with it, because you believe I owe you? I was not aware that I was in your debt to begin with.”
Nezahual looked irritatingly smug. “I did help save your life, you’ll recall.”
“And then you threatened to sell us right back to Tenochtitlan,” Acatl snapped. “Did you think I’d forget that?”
“Words aren’t action. And besides, there is what Teomitl’s sister did to my warriors.”
“Then take it up with her.” If you can find her, he added silently. She’d vanished from the city shortly after the plague, and even Teomitl didn’t know her whereabouts. But if Nezahual was bringing that up, then that meant he was still carrying a grudge. Acatl felt a sudden pang at the thought of Teomitl having made another enemy, one who was an even more dangerous opponent to have than his own brother.
And now the youth was raising an eyebrow at him. Acatl reminded himself that one did not smack allied Revered Speakers, even if they deserved it. And even if they said, “Since she can’t be found, I might well ask for the next best thing. Do you truly want me to declare your lover an enemy?”
Acatl’s blood ran cold. They’d been discreet. He knew they’d been discreet. So how—? No, he could worry about that later. “Tell me again about those ghosts.”