Chapter 6 chapter Five

Day after day, the largest hall in the Temple of the Sun was transformed into a luxurious palace with a Spanish flavor using various ready-made materials.Some rough furniture, tables and high-backed chairs were also built - often rickety.There are several dark patterned curtains hanging on the wall, and some boxes are piled here and there on the ground.In the shrine, the Madonna holding the Child of God, treasured by Doge Pizarro, replaced the mask of the puma, the molten gold and silver cast of the alpaca, and the broken pottery. On a large table, decorated with dripping candelabra, four sets were set.So far, only three guests have arrived.M. Dick de Almagro sat across from Gabriel, while Pizarro stood.

Mr. Dick was not wearing a blindfold tonight on his pockmarked face.Jia Boye didn't know which eye to stare at.The eye, which was blinded by the Indian spear, was particularly conspicuous on his deformed face; in the healthy eye, occasionally there seemed to be a black lump that moved with the eye.Beneath his savage and rough exterior, Mr. Dick was said to be heroic, cunning, and able to hide his faults and highlight his strengths. "I've seen him," he said, with the same Macia accent, unchanged. "I've been to his prison and told him to calm down." "What are you talking about, Mr. Dick?" Jia Boye asked.

"Pedro Cardano! Seems like your friend—" "He revealed a scandal at the meeting just now," interjected Francisco, "that you and your friends were said to have failed in a plot to kill the Inca king! Damn it, he also boasted that he would sacrifice his life for him, didn't he?" ? Is he one of his twelve hundred sons? Although just looking at his skin color, we can't help but ask..." Don Francisco smiled.Jia Boye's face was pale, he had to grit his teeth to avoid yelling at the one-eyed guy. "The governor had him put in jail to calm down," said Mr. Dick, laughing. "What else did he do?"

"Don't lock him up," Jia Boye yelled, "just tell him to shut up!" "Calm down, gentlemen!" interrupted Don Francisco, pulling off his gloves and rubbing his hands. "I'm inviting your friend Pedro to dinner. Isn't that a good idea, Mr. Dick?" Almagro rolled his eyes while raising his hands. "I know your good intentions, Don Francisco. Good intentions—if you will allow me to say this—are dangerous." Mr. Francisco's face suddenly brightened.Whatever the reason for their antagonism, however deep it was, Almagro was one of the few who could make him smile.

"Can you please explain it to me?" Jia Boye asked with a sarcasm, while worrying about what he would hear. "During the war meeting, your friend Pedro broke in. In fact, we were discussing the fate of the Inca king. Brother Wei Shengde and I both thought he was an ordinary person, maybe he could be made a Christian, But others..." The flickering lights of the candelabra cast horror shadows on Almagro's face. "Others think it's dangerous," Almagro shrieked, fiddling with glasses of spirits. "Others thought it impossible to send him back to the capital of the empire. Menger and Baiano have informed us that they are coming back from Cuzco. They found far more gold there than we have seen so far. Much. I mean you, Mr. Francisco's entourage, my friend the Governor hoarded, melted down, or kept carefully in his pockets..."

"In short, each of us thinks," said the Governor stolidly, "that Charles V will be very pleased when these results reach his presence." "The king's order is very clear," said Jia Boye. "He asked us to try not to harm the lives of Indian princes, kings and officials." "Try not to, so you can't betray." Almagro shouted. "Betrayal of what?" Jia Boye raised his voice and asked. "No, no treachery," said the governor slowly, and walked to the table. "Perhaps it is possible, Dick! But only a possibility; in the absence of evidence of the Inca's betrayal, we must protect his life...until Suto returns."

"We have evidence!" said Almagro angrily, tapping his glass. "What kind?" Jia Boye asked. "The other party's witness!" "Stop talking nonsense, Mr. Dick! You know they're plotting against each other and taking revenge on each other." "Don't talk nonsense, boy! Do you want to know the truth? Let me tell you anything: we can't hang this feathered brute on the ass of a horse and drag it all the way to Cuzco, because Indians all over the world will fight Come on!" "How do you know? He can tell them all to stand down with a word! I've seen him do that."

"You haven't seen anything, sir! I have only one eye, but I can see very well! For forty years I have figured out what this scum can do. Mr. Francisco knows as well as I do, doesn't he?" ?” "I like everything to be done according to the law, Mr. Dick." "Joke! Then order, Governor! Quickly decide on a day to go to Cuzco, and don't take the man with the feather in his head!" "It's so obscene!" Jia Boye stood up and shouted. "You can't..." Don Francisco motioned him to calm down, then turned to face the Virgin Mary. "The king of the Incas is in my charge. If he breaks the law, he shall be condemned by the courts, as in Spain."

Almagro shook his big misshapen head, bit off a morsel of cornbread, and yelped. "Dick, what's the matter with you?" "For such a trifle," murmured Almagro angrily, "I have bitten a tooth out. Forget about your Virgin Mary, and send for the meat, Francisco, I am starving." Already!" M. Dick de Almagro spat that tooth on the dusty ground. It was dark in Atahualpa's palace.The only king decreed that the lamps should not be lit.He declined all meals, and rejected all the visits of the leaders and the concerns of the concubines and concubines. He only allowed Anna Maya to be by his side.

He remained silent as the sun shone down on the shrine dedicated to the golden puma.It wasn't until nightfall that he opened his mouth to say: "I'm a beast that can't jump anymore." His tone was neither bitter nor sad: it was the truth.He touched the iron chain around his neck and shook the small chain that was locked on the wall. "Come to me, Kamakenkya, put your arms around me..." Ana Maya put her arms around the one and only king.Under the soft clothes, what she touched was a withered body, no longer warm.A man who voluntarily died.A man who already belonged to the hell world.

"Now, I know everything," Atahualpa said calmly. "It's too late, and I don't regret it, because it would cost me my life to know the truth. I know that my father told you before he died. Speak because I'm living that night now and I'm going to see him soon. The voice that speaks to you now is not mine but his. Listen...listen: Our Father is behind us !My voice is older than mine, and it will last until we die. Kamaken Keya, the gentle little girl with blue eyes, never forget to keep the voice of Andi's descendants!" "I knew you were going away days ago, one and only King," murmured Anamaya, "but now, when the time has come, I am terribly afraid." "I'm not afraid. Stay with me, just like you stayed with my father back then." Anamaya's breathing was mixed with that of the Inca king, and the two blended together throughout the night. "There is no Cusco tribe anymore," whispered Atahualpa, "and I took revenge like a drunken, wicked, angry man. There will never be any brothers, nor enemies." …Now the children in the empire are wearing chains like me. Because of my fault, they cry and suffer.” He bent his knees, and Ana Maya tried to lift him up, the chains around the Inca's throat.A wail of pain echoed in his chest. "Because of my fault, the north and the south fell, and the blood of the sun was stained all over the earth because of me. Xia Leguzima was right: those foreigners came prepared!" He said hoarsely again, "They are like raptors and monsters, waiting for their prey to submit. I, Atahualpa, the descendant of Andi and the great Vanya Kapac, destroyed the Sifang Empire and let those foreigners take advantage of it. But they Unaware of the powers of the other world. They build buildings out of dust on a volcano that will one day wake up, burn them to ashes, blow them to the winds, and let the seas carry them." His voice no longer came from his chest, it was hoarse like the wind blowing from the earth.It was the never-ending voice of all the ancestors, fathers, and descendants who made up his family since the dawn of time. "For so long I have rejected my brother Manco. Now I see what you have seen but were afraid to tell me: he is the first knot of the future." "Where's the puma?" Anna Maya blurted out the question.In Atahualpa's answer, there was no tone of astonishment at all: "That cougar doesn't follow me anymore, but you have to have faith in him. Do what my father told you, and follow his advice." After she relaxed, Anna Maya knew that the chain of silence that had been holding her throat was finally broken.At last the One and Only King sees for herself and knows what she has seen and known for so long.He finally came into contact with his ancestors from another world again.Yes, his body has reached its end. For a long time, at night, with eyes closed and mind relaxed, the One and Only King and Kamakenkya shared each other's joy.There is no boundary between two people, waking or dreaming, day or night, physical or non-physical.Like two transparent birds, they spread their wings and soar over the happy mountains and plains, in the past and the future, in the original lake and the holy river in the sky, in the silvery moonlight and golden sunshine. Although imprisoned, they are actually free! When Pedro Cardano staggered into the dining room of the Doge's residence, they were already peeling fruit.The lines on his face were filled with anger and fear.Mr. Francisco stood up and put his arms around his shoulders. Jia Boye was very familiar with this action, and he always expressed his kindness and asked the other party to obey at the same time through this action. "Calm down, Pedro! Sit down and eat!" Cardano was pushed to sit on a chair, staring straight at Almagro across the street, and casually recited a lengthy speech that he had considered for a long time: "Gentlemen, Governor, thank you for giving King Atahualpa the fair treatment he deserves." Almagro giggled, with a piece of mango sticking between his teeth, but the Governor asked as if he didn't hear: "Would you like to play a game of poker?" "card!" Jia Boye couldn't believe what he heard. "Does our noble Mr. Jia Boye think playing cards is too easy?" Mr. Dick joked. "Great," Francesco gestured to the Indian maids. "Dick, you go with our friend Pedro, but let him finish the chicken first." Jalmagro looked disinterested and obedient when he heard about the game of cards, while Cardano buried his face in the tin bowl. At this time, there was a burst of noise in the inner courtyard, which became louder and louder, and even turned into a roar.Jia Boye walked to the threshold and saw two Spanish soldiers supporting an Indian slave from Nicaragua, trying to break through the guards.Jaberye recognized him as Bedo de Janade, a short man with a thin beard who was always sweating profusely and who knew when the wind was turning and when to serve Almagro. "Well, Yannard," Jaber Ye called him, "what's going on?" "These people won't let me in," Yannard yelled, pointing at several guards. "I must now see M. Dick de Almagro." "Now? Go! Mr. Dick is playing cards with the governor." Arnaud beamed. "The little Jesuit is my brother too, Mr. Gabriel. I want to see the Governor, too." "May I know why?" Arnaud pointed at the slave. "I think," he said, indifferently, "that if I don't bring this witness, the lords will kill me." "witness?" Yannard pressed a finger to his lips. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jia Boye. Because the matter is very important, I will not allow this man to speak unless I have seen the governor and Mr. Dick." There seemed to be a wicked fire burning in Arnad's face.Jia Boye was stunned for a while, feeling that this expression was very much like firewood burning a dead body.He gestured to the guard. "Let them in," he ordered. "Gentlemen," said Arnaud, with grandeur as soon as he entered the dining room, "there is something very important—" "Long story short!" interrupted the governor. Yannard was at a loss, glanced at the table, there were dishes and cards, as if he had found a shortcut to achieve his goal.He finally reprimanded the Indian whom he had dragged in along the way, saying: "Say, you..." The Indian didn't speak, but rolled his eyes and looked around in fear.His lips moved slightly, but he just didn't dare to speak.Yannard's forehead was bright, and he finally got mad: "The man said he saw, three kilometers from Cajamar, a great mass of Indians approaching the town." "As far as I can hear, the man didn't say anything," the governor pointed out indifferently. "Take your time, Francisco!" Almagro threw down the cards and jumped up from his chair. "In the name of St. Jacob, the threat is approaching, and you speak as if we are still in the court of Seville City!" "Does this man want to talk? I want to hear him with my own ears." "Tell me," Jia Boye said politely, "tell us what you saw, we will be very grateful." The slave lifted his spirits.Each sentence is short and broken: "I saw the warriors. Many, many... They came from the north... I was hiding in the country. They cut down a cornfield. They sang. They said they were coming to the city tomorrow night..." Jia Boye frowned and pursed his lips, while the Indian lowered his head and continued to describe.After each sentence, the Governor nodded. "How?" Yannard finally asked, looking very satisfied. Everyone was silent. Almagro suppressed his voice and said sarcastically: "Master, do you want to sacrifice everyone in order to protect Cardano?" The governor looked at him and roared loudly: "Stop talking nonsense, Dick, I know what you're going to say!" He wore gloves, clenched his fists, and finished speaking in one breath without looking at Jia Boye at all.Almagro had already stood up and followed him out, followed by Arnad and the slave.Despite the intensity of the light, the brown face of the yellow-skinned Cardano was colorless. "It's over," he murmured, "they're going to kill Atahualpa. We've lost, haven't we?" Jia Boye shook his head lightly. "Pedro," he whispered, "we were indeed together this morning." Cardano nodded painfully. "You see it as much as I do. The fields, the air, the silence. There's no sign of an army near Cajamar." "But this man..." "This man is lying!" Jia Boye said angrily.