Mara almost flinched. With great effort she managed an impassive reply. ‘Your son took his own life, my Lord, to satisfy the demands of honour.’
Tecuma bowed his head once, swiftly, in salute. ‘I know, Mara. But I also knew my son. Despite his ineptness as a ruler, even he would never have contrived that insult to the Warlord and his own father. Only you could have brought such a thing to pass.’ Something akin to respect coloured his manner for a brief instant. ‘I salute your brilliance in the Game of the Council, Mara of the Acoma’ – then his voice turned flint-hard – ‘but for this one bloody victory you shall pay in kind.’
Mara measured Tecuma and realized that grief and anger were making him say more than he might under normal circumstances. Inwardly she cautioned herself. ‘My Lord, I merely obeyed my husband and Lord and repeated to you the commands he gave me, before witnesses.’
Tecuma waved away the objection. ‘Enough. It does not matter. My grandson inherits the mantle of the Acoma, and he shall ensure a loyal tie between my house and his.’ At this a man stepped forward from the Anasati retinue, a thin, predatory fellow with shrewd eyes and a belt of enamelled caro hide. The Lord said, ‘This is Nalgara, who shall act on my behalf until Ayaki is of age.’
Mara was not caught off guard. ‘My Lord, no.’
Tecuma’s eyes narrowed. ‘I did not hear you say that.’
Mara resisted showing weakness by offering justification. ‘You will take this man with you when you leave.’
Armour rattled among the Anasati warriors as hands reached for weapons, and Tecuma’s arm trembled, ready to signal an attack. ‘Woman, you dare?’
Hoping that Lujan had had time to arm her own companies, Mara held her ground. ‘No, my Lord. I demand.’
Tecuma abandoned his pretence of politeness. ‘I shall decide how Ayaki’s legacy is to be managed. I am Lord of the Anasati.’
‘But these are Acoma lands,’ Mara interrupted, her voice ringing with an anger all her own. ‘My Lord of the Anasati seems to forget that his son was Lord of the Acoma. And the Acoma have never been, are not now, and shall never be vassals to the Anasati. Your grandson is now heir to the title of Lord. As his mother, I am again Ruling Lady of the Acoma until the day he comes of age.’
Tecuma’s face twisted with suppressed rage. ‘Woman, do not seek to anger me!’
‘It appears my Lord is already angry, so that what I say could have little consequence.’ Stalling for time, Mara searched for a glimpse of green between the weaponed ranks of the Anasati guard. But the retinue pressed too closely together to allow any view of Lujan’s men. She had no choice but to continue. ‘When Bunto assumed Acoma Lordship, he ceased to have any obligations to you save those he freely chose, as you must have known, Tecuma, for your son could not swear oath before the Acoma natami until you released him from fealty. Show me a document, any document, appointing you as guardian for Ayaki in the event of Bunto’s death and denying me my right to inherit. Then I will step aside. But without lawful evidence, you are not ruler of the Acoma.’
The slightest twitch of Tecuma’s lips revealed a frustration he dared not express.
Mara hastened to drive home her point, before the confrontation turned to violence. ‘We are not of the same clan, so you have no call upon the Acoma. You don’t even have a political claim on our loyalty. Bunto never sought to change our alliances, so the Acoma are still members of the Jade Eye Party, not the Imperial. You have no authority here, Tecuma.’ She motioned with her hand then, on faith, and to her immense relief Lujan and three dozen Acoma soldiers stepped forward, ready to defend their mistress. To the rear of Tecuma’s partf, another fifty soldiers had gathered in battle armour, ready for instant action should there be cause. Mara finished with a smile of irony. ‘Once again I rule the Acoma, until Ayaki is twenty-five years of age.’
The Lord of the Anasati prepared to speak, but his adviser, Chumaka, intervened. ‘My Lord, she is correct. Such is the law.’
Balked, Tecuma paused a long minute, his eyes distant with calculation. ‘Then what of the boy if you die?’
In even tones Mara said, ‘Then Ayaki is ruler of the Acoma, as I was before the age of twenty-five, ready or not.’
Tecuma made a subtle gesture, indicating that Mara was once again a woman alone against enemies. ‘The boy will surely die.’
But the threat failed to move the young Lady, who stood defiantly straight. ‘At the hands of the Lord of the Minwanabi, or some other seeking to rise over Acoma bodies, perhaps.’