Free Shadow of the Lords by Simon Levack Page B
Authors: Simon Levack
valley.â
Fox drove his harpoon repeatedly into the ground, reciting the name of a town with every blow. âCoyoacan, Mixcoa, Atlacuihuayan, Popotla, Tlacopan, Otoncalpolco, Azcatpotzalco â¦â
âWe have to search all of them?â the captain asked in a disgusted voice.
âI would,â I said, âbut if you go into any of them mob handed youâll just attract attention and frighten your quarry off. Send a couple of men to each â¦â
He looked at me suspiciously. âAnd if you were our runaways, which town would you pick?â
âThe biggest,â I said honestly.
âRight.â He looked briefly down at Foxâs map. âYou and I are off to Tlacopan, then. They,â he added with a glance at Handy and the steward, âcan come with us. So can Fox. The rest of you split up how you like: two to each town and a couple to stay here in reserve. Letâs go!â
3
S o we set off for Tlacopan â the captain, Fox, Handy, the steward and I.
It was going to take us the best part of the afternoon to reach it, but as I kept assuring my companions, it was the largest and most important town on the western side of the valley, and so easily the best prospect as our quarryâs hiding place.
Most of the journey was undertaken in silence. We had little to say to each other in any case, and every reason to keep our voices down. Although we avoided towns and there were not many people about in the fields, no part of the valley was ever quite empty and there was always the possibility that rumours of our approach would run ahead of us. It did not help that we all so obviously came from the great city at the centre of the lake.
The people who lived in these parts, the Tepanecs, were not barbarians. They spoke our language, and we thought of them as allies. Their ancestors had sprung from the womb of the World at the Seven Caves at the same time as ours. However, that did not mean they loved us.
Once, long before, the Aztecs had been the subjects of a Tepanec city, Azcapotzalco, which in those days had been so populous that it was known as the Anthill. It had been my masterâs father, the great Lord Tlacaelel, who had persuaded
the Aztecs to rise against their masters, and when the revolt was over the city of Mexico had been freed and Azcapotzalco reduced to a small tributary town whose only claim to distinction was a big slave market.
Only one Tepanec city had sided with the Aztecs in the revolt. As a result of its help, Tlacopan was grudgingly admitted into an alliance with Mexico, but the Aztecs did not treat the Tepanecs as equals. Tlacopan got the smallest share of the spoils of war, and our Emperor treated its king as a subject in all but name. There were plenty of people living on the western side of the lake who had grown up with stories from their fathers and grandfathers of how Tepanecs had once ruled the World and made even the Emperor of Mexico do their bidding. Who could blame them if, from time to time â such as when they visited Mexico during one of the great festivals, when the tribute was distributed, and saw how meagre their shares were in comparison with the Aztecsâ â they wondered how it might be if the old order were restored?
âSo watch what you say and who you say it to,â growled the captain, reminding us all of this history. âThese people wonât try to kill you on sight, but if they see a chance to put one over on you, theyâll grab it!â
He set a brisk pace, driving us towards the town at a steady trot during the warmest part of the day. He barely broke into a sweat, despite being clad in quilted cotton from head to foot, and if Fox was finding the going any harder he was not about to show it. Handy, used to hard work in the fields in all weathers, ran on without complaint, the effort he was making showing only on his glistening brow and in the firm, determined set of his jaw.
As for me, I had
Fox drove his harpoon repeatedly into the ground, reciting the name of a town with every blow. âCoyoacan, Mixcoa, Atlacuihuayan, Popotla, Tlacopan, Otoncalpolco, Azcatpotzalco â¦â
âWe have to search all of them?â the captain asked in a disgusted voice.
âI would,â I said, âbut if you go into any of them mob handed youâll just attract attention and frighten your quarry off. Send a couple of men to each â¦â
He looked at me suspiciously. âAnd if you were our runaways, which town would you pick?â
âThe biggest,â I said honestly.
âRight.â He looked briefly down at Foxâs map. âYou and I are off to Tlacopan, then. They,â he added with a glance at Handy and the steward, âcan come with us. So can Fox. The rest of you split up how you like: two to each town and a couple to stay here in reserve. Letâs go!â
3
S o we set off for Tlacopan â the captain, Fox, Handy, the steward and I.
It was going to take us the best part of the afternoon to reach it, but as I kept assuring my companions, it was the largest and most important town on the western side of the valley, and so easily the best prospect as our quarryâs hiding place.
Most of the journey was undertaken in silence. We had little to say to each other in any case, and every reason to keep our voices down. Although we avoided towns and there were not many people about in the fields, no part of the valley was ever quite empty and there was always the possibility that rumours of our approach would run ahead of us. It did not help that we all so obviously came from the great city at the centre of the lake.
The people who lived in these parts, the Tepanecs, were not barbarians. They spoke our language, and we thought of them as allies. Their ancestors had sprung from the womb of the World at the Seven Caves at the same time as ours. However, that did not mean they loved us.
Once, long before, the Aztecs had been the subjects of a Tepanec city, Azcapotzalco, which in those days had been so populous that it was known as the Anthill. It had been my masterâs father, the great Lord Tlacaelel, who had persuaded
the Aztecs to rise against their masters, and when the revolt was over the city of Mexico had been freed and Azcapotzalco reduced to a small tributary town whose only claim to distinction was a big slave market.
Only one Tepanec city had sided with the Aztecs in the revolt. As a result of its help, Tlacopan was grudgingly admitted into an alliance with Mexico, but the Aztecs did not treat the Tepanecs as equals. Tlacopan got the smallest share of the spoils of war, and our Emperor treated its king as a subject in all but name. There were plenty of people living on the western side of the lake who had grown up with stories from their fathers and grandfathers of how Tepanecs had once ruled the World and made even the Emperor of Mexico do their bidding. Who could blame them if, from time to time â such as when they visited Mexico during one of the great festivals, when the tribute was distributed, and saw how meagre their shares were in comparison with the Aztecsâ â they wondered how it might be if the old order were restored?
âSo watch what you say and who you say it to,â growled the captain, reminding us all of this history. âThese people wonât try to kill you on sight, but if they see a chance to put one over on you, theyâll grab it!â
He set a brisk pace, driving us towards the town at a steady trot during the warmest part of the day. He barely broke into a sweat, despite being clad in quilted cotton from head to foot, and if Fox was finding the going any harder he was not about to show it. Handy, used to hard work in the fields in all weathers, ran on without complaint, the effort he was making showing only on his glistening brow and in the firm, determined set of his jaw.
As for me, I had