Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

Jia Boye saddled the two horses, talking to the horses, and patted the horses' backs gently from time to time.All eyes were on him, and he was wary of any impatience in the horse.After he wrapped up the tallest white horse, he glanced at Manco, and then adjusted the length of the stirrups; he chose a beautiful red-brown horse for himself. he.He thought, with a smile on his face: "The third horse is you." Then he gave them the bridle and walked over to Manco. "everything's ready." Hearing this sentence, Manco looked a little surprised.In front of generals and ministers, under the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes, to show his clumsiness is no longer what a well-groomed Inca king should do.But Jia Boye spent four or two thousand dollars to relieve him of the embarrassment.He said:

"We took the bridles and led the horses to the bridge. You have to lead the horses to cross the bridge anyway. Then we went to the corner, got on the horses when they were out of sight, and then went into the city. You said it would work." ?" Manco grabbed the rein without hesitation and nodded. "Manco, don't listen to him!" Vera Omar yelled, "Don't forget where he came from, this may be a trap set by him!" "I still prefer you who are silent." Manco retorted, walked away, and said, "None of you is allowed to move until you see me coming into the city ahead of foreigners!"

After passing Shoukanna, the road is straight, and the low walls on both sides are very similar.When Jia Boye first walked this road, he was still a prisoner and was escorted in handcuffs and shackles. At that time, he seemed to be watching the scenery along the road through the fog, admiring the villages, terraced fields and temples everywhere.It was ironic when he thought of it: now he led the horse and led the only Inca king, a privilege undoubtedly reserved for Ana Maya and a small number of others. "I should thank you, Manco, the only king!" Manco tried not to look back too often to see the animals' surprise behavior, and indeed the horses apparently followed him obediently.Jia Boye noticed that the bridle he pulled was neither long nor short, and his body was straight, showing no fear at all.

"I've already told you that it's not me you should thank, but Anna Maya. She mentioned you to me a long time ago, and I know she must be heartbroken if you die..." "You also know that we have a common enemy..." Manco's face suddenly sank. "This Gonzalo Pizarro is a devil, a monster from hell, and he must be destroyed." "If you have a good memory, you may remember that I tried it, and it was my life at stake. I fear that after Juan dies, he will be more unscrupulous and do whatever he wants..." "I don't quite understand all this," Manco said, "and I don't want to. For me, all his brothers are foreigners and want to arrest us. I know that Atahualpa once trusted Gonzalo, and I know what became of him in the end."

"But you trust me." Manco didn't answer.The two walked quietly like this, and Jia Boye looked at the steep terraced fields and expressed his sincere amazement.A few steps ahead of them, he saw a drawbridge supported by rare stone pillars erected in the river. "Manco, the only king, I don't like those people, I'm not their friend. When I have to fight, I will join the ranks of the war, but Princess Annamaya should have mentioned to you that I always follow my words and do what I want. You can restore peace to your country..." "Are you the king? Or, do their troops serve you?"

"One and only King Manco, if the war is to end, someone like me will be needed..." "There is only one way to end a war, and that is for us to win!" This time it was Jia Boye who was silent. "I've heard about you," Jia Boye finally said, "I believe that you also have saints who are as intelligent as us, but everything still needs time, revelation, and gifts..." "I admire your divine power, I believe you are brave, and I bestow upon you the title 'Puma' you already have...but now you talk to me about time, gift, wisdom and revelation, isn't it you foreigners who brought you Give us madness, destruction, looting, and merciless humiliation? I should have listened to you and forgotten all about their burning temples, their raping, their treachery, and their inhuman killing of slaves What did I do? Should I forget what I've suffered? Should I?"

"Are you sure you want to cross this bridge alone with me?" "You don't understand. I want you to lead me across this bridge. I want you to teach me how to mount this horse. I want you to show me how to use a weapon, and how to make it...I want you to help me." "I'll walk ahead of you first." Jia Boye said while covering the horse's eyes. "I have walked more bridges than you have eaten salt," Manco replied. "That's sitting in the palanquin of the Inca king!" "Before I saw the sedan chair of the Inca king, I was a homeless man fleeing the world... Don't doubt, you may have never seen the bridge I walked across." Manco added.

"Wait until I pass the pillars in the middle of the bridge, and then you come over. I will wait for you, and I will assist you if needed." "It's not necessary." Jia Boye walked through the entrance of the bridge where two pillars were erected.Although he admired Manco's determination in his heart, the uneasiness hidden deep in the Inca king's heart did not diminish.It was sunrise again, and he seemed to feel a complete and solid peace in his heart. The light in Anna Maya's eyes seemed to give him the answers to all his questions.It's just that Manco's words still sting him and make him hesitate.Every word and every sentence he said moved his mind more than the swing of the suspension bridge.It is impossible for him to pretend not to know; nor is it possible for him to understand just by relying on Manco's inaccurate and conceited answer...

The red-brown horse, preternaturally tame, followed in Manco's footsteps. "You have to keep a regular pace so you don't scare the horse." "I know what to do," Manco said. Displeasure was evident in his tone, so Jia Boye wisely stopped giving any advice.Jia Boye felt that the red and brown horse followed him intently, and now he no longer appeared panicked on the swinging suspension bridge as before; moreover, he was also accustomed to the splashing water beside the suspension bridge. But when he stepped on the fixed platform at the pillar of the bridge, he almost fell, and he hurried to grab the railings made of agave rope on both sides to stop shaking.On the other side of the bridge, Anna Maya was already waiting there alone.

Sometimes, Anna Maya looked at Jia Boye who was wearing an Indian robe, and almost forgot that Jia Boye was not from her own country.Even though he spoke Keche with a foreign accent, even though his golden mustache had grown all over his face, she still felt that he was no different from herself. But looking at the figure of him leading the horse from a distance, the memory of meeting him for the first time flashed in her mind, which was near Cajamar. In her impression, it seemed that Atahualpa or their people were all killed under the horse's feet.She couldn't help trembling in panic, and she didn't come back to herself until the suspension bridge shook her awake.

Jia Boye was very close to her, and she caught a glimpse of his surprise; just fifty paces behind Jia Boye, she saw Manco leading a white horse. "How did you come?" "Me too," Annamaya replied, "I want you to teach me how to ride a horse." The road turned a corner at this point, allowing Manco to avoid the following eyes of the minister of the palace.They were already far away from the city gate, and they couldn't see the situation clearly at the other end. Seeing Anna Maya, Manco didn't show any surprise. Similarly, when Jia Boye narrowed Anna Maya's stirrups, Manco didn't ask much.Jia Boye trained them one by one, and taught them in a gentle tone how to ride without disturbing the mount, how to hold the rein properly, and how to start a small pace. The fields that had been harvested by Kinuya became their taming grounds, and he led the horses and took them around in turns.Sometimes he said, "Hurry up!" Sometimes he said, "Slow down!" Anna Maya liked hearing his voice giving orders, and the feeling of trusting him from the bottom of her heart.With her legs bare, she clamps this living, eerie, vibrant animal that she knows is awe-inspiring.She observed Manco again. He was a serious but impatient student, with his heels wrapped tightly around the belly of the white horse, as if announcing to it that he was its master. When they were able to control the horse's pace, Jia Boye started slow jump training.Anna Maya was very surprised to see Manco's posture, he seemed to have become one with the rhythm of the white horse.When it was her turn, she also had no difficulty, and quickly adapted to the rhythm of the horse's up and down, like the rhythm of sliding into a river. Jia Boye was sweating profusely. "I want to go faster," Manco said, "I want to go as fast as you let the horse gallop!" "Run?" "Yes, run." "You'll fall off," Jia Boye said, "you'll have to take a few more lessons until you get used to your horse and let the horse get used to you..." "I'm going to learn to run fast today!" Manco had a childlike obstinate look on his face, which Annamaya had seen years ago when she was competing in Valachi Valley. Jia Boye didn't say a word, let go of the rein in his hand, and glanced at Manco.With a clap of hands, accompanied by a roar, Jia Boye let the horse gallop, but the horse shook its head hesitantly, as if trying to recognize who was sitting on its back.At this time, Jia Boye gritted his teeth and whipped the horse's butt with the end of the rein.After a while, it became angry from embarrassment, jumped up and down nervously, and rushed forward, across the entire field.Manco wobbled from side to side like a doll, kicking his stirrups off.His hands tried to find a point of support.Then he caught the mane, but his hips were shaking from side to side.The red-brown horse ran about thirty paces, and Manco fell off the side of the horse and fell heavily to the ground, making a loud noise. "Why did you let the horse run out?" Anna Maya asked beside Jia Boye. "Didn't he ask for it?" On the other side, Manco stood up and gestured to the horse to express his anger. The horse stopped a few steps away from him and looked back at Manco with indifferent eyes.The Inca king walked back to them, and tried not to touch the limbs that should be sore. "So, do you believe my words now?" Jia Boye said bluntly. "I'm going to try again." Jia Boye sighed. Throughout the afternoon until sunset, Jia Boye trained Manco.Manco fell more and more bravely, and every time he got up, he was not dissatisfied, nor did he groan, let alone complain. A servant comes looking for the sorrel horse and stands aside with his back to the Inca king.Anna Maya just stared at Jia Boye, appreciating his brevity and patience in his speech, and slowly felt that Manco's intense emotions had eased, and gradually became one with the horse. When the sun went down behind the mountains, Manco finally agreed to dismount. "You teach us again," he said to Jia Boye, "including me and other palace ministers. Then you teach us how to use swords and gunpowder..." "I don't teach this." Jia Boye said. "Didn't you swear against Gonzalo?" "I decided to lay down my weapons when I was attacking Sacsayhuaman. The only king, Manco, I swear that I will never take any weapons again, no matter if the target is you or us." Ana Maya watched as the two men confronted each other.Then, Jia Boye tried his best to keep calm, and unsaddled the sweaty white horse on both sides, while Manco remained motionless, his eyes narrowed into slits, his mouth curled into a single word, and his face was full of excitement. "What's a 'cougar'?" Manco asked, turning to Ana Maya, "to eat our corn and kinua? To make you forget your duty to your twin brother? What kind of puma is this, our mountain There is no such thing as a cougar that falters in battle!" "He's telling the truth." Annamaya said calmly. "fact?" Manco looked at them in turn, first with an angry expression, and then with a sarcastic expression.He said nothing.It was getting late, and the singing sounded from the valley, passed through the terraced fields one by one, and finally fell on the square courtyard through the golden sunlight. "Foreigners, war will happen whether you like it or not, because it has to, from the moment you ate our land..." "One and only King Manco, I cannot deny that either." "So how can you not choose to be on one side and not on the other?" Strangely, Jia Boye's troubled heart suddenly calmed down, as if he hadn't noticed the fact in front of him before. "Maybe he's just a 'cougar,'" Ana Maya said. Manco pursed his lips again.He raised his hand in Jia Boye's direction, but it didn't mean any threat, just expressing something he couldn't understand.He didn't move, a small smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. "Saddle the horse, please," said Manco, "you foreigner who doesn't fight, you puma who doesn't bite, watch!" Jia Boye did as he was told, and helped Manco mount his horse. The Inca king walked away towards the city, first walking slowly, then pacing, and finally running fast, a cloud of dust was raised on the road. When they could only see a black spot in the distance, disappearing into the city wall on the other side of the horizon, they suddenly heard a loud noise, louder than the singing in the evening, and deeper than any drum or horn. Jia Boye walked slowly towards the servant who was always holding the rein with his back turned to him.The latter kept staring at the ground, as if Jaboye was an Inca king.Then Jia Boye said to the servant: "Let's go!" He ran away and disappeared. Jia Boye dexterously jumped onto the horse's back, feeling the familiar saddle and the warmth of the horse again.He bent over Annamaya and reached out to her.She grabbed him tightly and let him sit on the horse trustingly. They rode slowly, as slowly as possible.When the sun sets and the night engulfs them and protects them, they don't need words to feel the deep miss in each other's hearts. That was the miss of the cavalryman who was riding a horse, and he missed the most beloved woman in his arms. It was that day in Cajamar, when he hugged her in one hand at the time of war and battle, their fate kicked off in the rolling dust and sweat.