Free Obsidian & Blood by Aliette de Bodard Page B

proper worship offered before Her; not the distant sacrifices of Her priestesses, their smoke rising into the Heavens She'd been cast out of, but the blood of living animals, and perhaps of humans. I didn't have any hold over Her: certainly not here, on Her own ground, and perhaps not even in my own temple, with Lord Death's protection over me. 
      "I'll…" I struggled to find words. We both knew I had no choice. 
      She smiled again. "I'm sure you'll be back. Until next time, Acatl."
    • • • •
    I left Xochiquetzal's house in a bad state. My hands would not stop shaking, and every time I thought back to Her, to the light enfolding Her as She rose from Her throne, my manhood would stiffen uncontrollably: something that hadn't happened to me since my calmecac schooling.
      I walked through the first streets in a daze, barely seeing the boats in the canals; and it wasn't until I reached the temple of the Moyotlan district that I was able to collect my thoughts. 
      I hadn't expected Xochiquetzal to have such an effect over me. But then, every time I saw any of the minor gods of the underworld, coldness would creep up my spine, and I would remember that everything in the Fifth World would crumble; and that beneath my face lay a yellowed skull, beneath my skin the first hints of a skeleton, crinkling within the funeral fire.
      With difficulty, I tore my mind from gods, and thought on what the Quetzal Flower had told me. I needed to focus on the investigation. Though, Tlaloc's lightning strike me, I had learnt precious little from the goddess. That Eleuia had a child now seemed to be a reality. But Xochiquetzal, like all gods, was capricious, and I didn't believe She had told me the truth when She'd said the child had been stillborn. No, he had to be alive. And if he was, then Eleuia had indeed had a serious affair with a warrior who could very possibly be Neutemoc.
      Then another thought occurred to me: Eleuia's sudden interest in my brother. Had she thought he was worth courting, that his status as a Jaguar Knight made him powerful enough to be attractive? 
      I closed my eyes. Neutemoc might be a fool in thrall to his instincts, but I didn't think he'd abandon his responsibilities. The child, though… The Imperial priests would have means of determining his paternity, if he could be found. If Neutemoc was indeed the father, then the child was the proof of his illicit liaison: one that would get him expelled from the Jaguar Knights. The child, then, was a blackmail tool. Had Neutemoc seen through her, and summoned the nahual to put an end to the problem, never thinking of the consequences?
      It sounded too much like something Neutemoc would think of. Far too much.
      I walked back to my temple, to dress in my full regalia before going again to the Jaguar House – cursing Neutemoc all the while for putting our family in this situation.
     
    I arrived at my temple, and found a man deep in talk with Ichtaca: a grizzled warrior wearing a blue feather headdress, and an armour of hardened cotton on which was drawn the fused-lovers insignia of the Duality.
      Ichtaca gestured towards me when I came near. "That's the man you want," he said. Without another word, he walked away, towards the rooms to the eastern side of the courtyard.
      The warrior bowed to me. "My name is Ixtli," he said. "I head the search parties."
      "Oh, I see. Any results?" I asked, though he looked glum enough; wet and bedraggled, his eyes sunk deep into his face.
      He shook his head. "No. I won't waste your time. I have twenty men out, combing the city. So far, not much."
      Not encouraging; but then I had not expected a miracle.
      Ixtli watched for a while, gauging me. "I'll go back to helping them, then." He sighed. "I'll have them spread out, to keep searching for as long as possible. But we're going to need some sleep, too." 
      I almost said no, told him to keep searching, no matter the cost. There had been