Nacoya complied without drama. ‘My Lord of the Acoma said that should you come and wish to see him, we were to tell you to go piss in the river, but away from Acoma lands so that you don’t soil his fish.’
There was a moment of utter silence; astonishment, anger, and naked shock moulded Tecuma’s thin features. Then the stillness was rent by the Warlord’s explosive laughter. ‘Don’t soil the fish! Ha! I like that.’ Looking hard at the Anasati lord, Almecho said, ‘Tecuma, your son has insulted his own father. I think my need for satisfaction will be answered. There is only one possible atonement for Buntokapi.’
Tecuma nodded stiffly, grateful that the deepening shadows hid his grief. By insulting his own father in public, Buntokapi had forever denied himself honour.
Either he must expiate his shame by taking his own life, or Tecuma must renounce all blood ties and prove his loyalty was ended by destroying the disinherited son and all his family and retainers. What had begun as a political struggle between Tecuma of the Anasati and Sezu of the Acoma, resolved by Sezu’s death, might now become a generational blood feud, one to match that which already existed between the Minwanabi and the Acoma. To separate the honour of the father from the transgressions of the son, the Lord of the Anasati would be obliged to kill not only Buntokapi, but the newborn Acoma heir, the grandson he had never seen, as well. The thought set him utterly at a loss for speech.
Aware of Tecuma’s dilemma, Almecho spoke softly in the rapidly falling darkness. ‘Either way, you lose your son. Better he takes the honourable path and chooses to die at his own hand. I will forgive his insults if he does, and will seek no further vengeance upon your Acoma grandson. I would not see our alliance further strained, Tecuma.’ No words remained to be said. Turning his back on Mara, Nacoya, and the Lord of the Anasati, the Warlord signalled to his honour guard. The six white-clad soldiers snapped to attention, then wheeled and escorted their Lord out of the great dining chamber.
Stunned to immobility, Tecuma did not immediately react. He stared unseeing at his half-eaten meal. It was Chumaka who briskly took charge, sending a summons to the barracks to ready his warriors to march. Slaves fetched the Anasati litter, and lanterns within the courtyard splashed the screens with brightness. Tecuma stirred at last. His jaw was hard and his eyes bleak as he looked to the Lady of the Acoma. ‘I go to Sulan-Qu, wife of my son. And for the sake of the grandson I have not seen, may the gods favour Buntokapi with courage in proportion to his foolishness.’
He departed with a pride that hurt to watch. As he vanished into the shadows of the hall, Mara’s exhilaration evaporated before a deep chill of fear. She had set a clever trap; now the jaws would close in whatever manner the gods decreed. Thinking of Bunto, by now half-drunk and laughing on his way to his evening’s amusements in the gambling halls with Teani, Mara shivered and called for servants and light.
Nacoya’s face seemed ancient in the new light of the lamps. ‘You play the Game of the Council for high stakes, my Lady.’ This once, she did not chide her charge for taking foolish risks, for Buntokapi have been no favourite among the Acoma retainers. The nurse was Tsurani enough to relish the discomfort of an enemy, though her own plight might be dire as a result.
Mara herself felt no triumph. Shaken, worn thin with the stress of month after month of manipulation, she relied on Papewaio’s stolid presence to steady her inner turmoil. ‘Have the servants clear away this mess,’ she said, as if the ceremonial plates and dishes had been brought out for an ordinary meal. Then, as if impelled by primal instinct, she half ran to Ayaki’s chambers to see that the boy slept safely on his mat. Sitting in the gloom by her baby, she saw in the shadowed features of her son the echo of the father, and for all the causes Buntokapi had given her to hate, still she could not escape a deep, brooding melancholy.
Mara waited in Buntokapi’s quarters, passing a restless night in the chamber which once had been Lord Sezu’s, but which now reflected the tastes and preferences of one who, by marriage to his daughter, had succeeded him. Now the continuance of the Acoma relied upon this man’s honour; for if Buntokapi remained true to the oath he had sworn upon the Acoma natami, he would choose death by the sword and spare his house from retribution. Yet if the loyalty of his heart remained with the Anasati, or if cowardice drove him from honour to mean-spirited vengeance, he might choose war and carry Mara and his infant son to ruin along with him. Then would the natami fall into the hands of Almecho, and the Acoma name be obliterated in shame.