Chapter 3 Chapter two

This morning, Anna Maya woke up in the hall of the dormitory. Most of the girls were already up, but one winking and grimacing looked down at her carefully.It was a young girl with the high cheekbones of a Cuzco princess, and dark, stern eyes.Her name is Anti Panla, she is older than Ana Maya, she already has a mature figure like a woman, and she likes to show off everywhere. In particular, Antti Panla was a daughter of King Vanya Kapac, the sole monarch of the Quadrilateral Empire. How many children does he have?As much as the gold and silver bars he hid in the temple: two hundred, three hundred, no one knew the exact number.

When their eyes met, Anti Panla stopped making funny faces and said mockingly: "Anamaya," she giggled, "how can you be so ugly?" Since Anna Maya lived in the Temple of the Virgin in the northern capital city of Quito, Anti Panla tried her best to get close to her, but she always made rude remarks, so scared that Anna Maya tried to ignore her as much as possible. "Anna Maya, I know what will happen to you today!" Anti Panla said with a sneer again. Ana Maya stretched, pretending not to care.Andy Panla played with the bracelet on his wrist self-consciously.

"You don't want to know?" "Yes, of course." "I'll tell you later." This is Antti Panla!Anna Maya was about to be blown up, but the princess pretended to be silent after seeing her pretending to be reserved, as if she wanted to irritate her wholeheartedly. "Hey, you nameless little girl, tell me, why are you so ugly?" This time, Ana Maya stood up unexpectedly and gave her a push. "I don't know. There are many things I don't know why! But you, you should know!" Antti Panla's laughter was like the crisp sound of a basket full of seashells being shaken.

"Poor girl! It's almost four seasons since you've been here, and you still refuse to admit that you look different from us!" Anna Maya turned away and focused on folding the knitted quilt to hide the pain in her heart.If there is one thing in the world that she understands, it is pain.Not only does she not have the princess-like aristocratic blood, but the longer her body grows, the more different she is from an Inca girl.Her calves and thighs grew longer, while those of the princesses grew fatter.The face that was supposed to develop horizontally is getting longer and longer.The forehead is not protruding, the lips are too thin, the eyebrows are too thin... not to mention her eyes!

Her eyes are almost long and big, and blue.An unbelievable blue, the same color that the sky over the mountains reflects in the lake in the afternoon. It was a blue that everyone felt disgusted with, or feared, or slightly looked down upon.A terrifying blue that puts all friendship and affection at bay.During the year of living in the Saintess Hall, no one wanted to be her friend sincerely.It is simply impossible for those mothers to treat her like ordinary people.Only Antti Panla didn't care about the antipathy she aroused like the plague.It's a pity that her purpose is at best to be able to further mock her.

With tears in her eyes, Anna Maya hugged the quilt to her chest and said: "If I'm ugly, why do you always follow me?" The young princess smiled, showing her hooked teeth, and said: "Because you look weird!" "Then you should have seen enough! Now, stop making trouble..." "It's true." Andy Panla chuckled. Just as Anna Maya was about to leave the bedroom, Antti Panla jingled her bracelet on purpose, and said in a sweet voice: "Anamaya, I want to tell you what you will encounter today." "Don't say anything, I don't care!"

"Today will be a great day for you. The one and only king, my father Vanya Kapac will receive you..." Anna Maya stopped, not daring to breathe.She had known for days that this moment would come.But today... When she turned around and met Antti Panla's eyes again, she saw the pleasure of hatred in her eyes. "He'll say, nameless little girl, you really deserve to die." On the last night, like every full moon night, she dreamed of the village in the forest.She and her mother were holding hands, and there were shouts all around her.There was a fire burning in her chest, but when her mother fell to the ground, an incomprehensible fear and a cold silence swept over her.

She felt that there were still some words on her mother's lips, some words that she wanted to express to her through death, but unfortunately she could not know.She woke up crying, shaking with loneliness, curled up beside a body that didn't exist, her arms stretched out to the side of the empty bed.At dawn, when the gray light of dawn illuminated the veil, she closed her eyes so as to be safe from death and fear.After that, she breathed again slowly so that no one could hear her, imagining that in this deep silence, her mother's gentle voice still echoed... She awoke clutching the precious square rag in her hand.The smell on the cloth has almost completely faded, leaving only a faint forest scent that is gradually drifting away.

No one can understand her pain, she can only hide it deep in her heart. Only when someone asks does it trigger her memory. Rumors continued in the Holy Maiden Hall.When they washed Anna Maya's hair and braided her hair into long, thin braids, the mothers always looked at her accusingly.Anna Maya kept thinking of the harsh words of Anti Panla, and she was full of doubts: If the only king judged that she must die and had no right to enter the underworld, would she be eaten by a puma? After the mothers combed her hair, they took out a large piece of raw silk cloth to wrap her tightly from breast to ankle, and then wrapped a plain red belt around her waist with a little force.Then they draped a chia over her shoulders, a long pale shawl trimmed in white only around the neck, and they fastened a cedarwood brooch on her breast.Finally, they handed her a brand new pair of straw sandals, making it impossible for Anna Maya to escape.

The mothers took a step back to get a good look at her. Apparently, her new attire couldn't cover up her ugliness, and the mothers did not hold back their sneering attitude.They couldn't even bear to look at her. After that, someone told her to wait for a long time in a small dark room. The fear in her heart continued to expand. It was already midday when she was taken out of the Holy Maiden Hall.Two soldiers were waiting for her outside the house.She has not stepped out of the Holy Maiden Hall for several days. Shuttle through the narrow path between the high walls, the two soldiers quietly led her directly to the palace square.They met no one along the way, and Annamaya wondered if it was because of her that the city was so deserted.

As soon as they reached the open square, they went straight to the narrow gate of the palace, erected on the stone threshold, carved with a serpent of immortality.The two soldiers stuck their javelins into the ground and stood still, while Ana Maya held her breath. She recognized immediately the officer in robes who had appeared on the threshold of the palace.She still remembered his name: Sikanshara.She would never forget his face: he had ordered his men to kill her mother. Today, he looked at her calmly, but his expression was a little hesitant.He was handsome and steady, wearing a gold breastplate, a yellow woolen turban on his head, and two green short and wide feathers on it, making the outline of his face more three-dimensional.He wears a big silver ring on his ear, and a silver chain as thick as a finger is tied to the plump earlobes on both sides.These conspicuous jewels swung and rattled every time he turned. With a slight gesture of his hand, he ordered Anna Maya to step forward.But she was unmoved, and one of the soldiers put the head of a javelin against her back, and she was forced to cross the threshold of the palace.She was trailing behind Sikanshara, but he glanced at her and asked her to walk beside him. They passed through the first inner courtyard with a long low brick wall.The paved road was flanked by long beds of pure white orchids, purple kantua and pink rhododendrons.It's a pity that Anna Maya can only catch a glimpse of these beautiful flowers. Then they passed under a flashing, and walked along a wall of great smooth stones, hewn into the wall for shrines, and inlaid with shining gold and painted wood.Finally, they came to a double narrow door made of exquisitely crafted stones.Anamaya had only a moment to sneak a casual glance into another inner courtyard, this one larger than the previous one, with a smoky pool in the center.Sikanshara ordered her in a harsh voice: "Get down, little girl! Bow down to the One and Only King." She lay on her knees, leaned her upper body forward, touched the ground with her hands, and then from the corner of her eye, she saw the captain go forward and pass through the narrow door.She kept up with him as best she could, skinning her palms and knees on the sunburnt tiles. In fact, it was better this way, because now she was in front of the Son of the Sun, and it seemed that she had begun to die gradually. She heard murmurs, some unintelligible whispers.Suddenly, she received a sap on the shoulder.She froze and dared not move.Then came the voice of Sikanshara again, saying: "The only king, this is the girl I told you about." There was no answer, only the gurgle of stirring water.Finally, at last, a lazy and distant voice said: "I'm tired of washing. Get the clothes..." Ana Maya caught a glimpse of a dozen women's skirts fluttering in front of her.The fabrics are beautiful and the colors are so vibrant.She knew what was going on, because someone had explained it to her thousands of times when she was in the Saintess Hall.These maids of honor handed over to the one and only king a brand new garment that was woven and never allowed to be touched by anyone.The Son of the Sun personally selected a group of young girls to prepare woolen gowns for him, tie a belt for him, put on a cape, and tie a Borla turban on his forehead, etc... Ana Maya closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath.Her heart beat faster, and she barely heard a low voice say: "Captain Sikanshara, tell that girl to stand up." She was hit from behind, and Sikanshara muttered: "Stand before the only king!" She wondered if she had the strength to do so.When she stood up, she seemed to be carrying a load more than three times her own weight on her shoulders.When at last she stood upright, she stared stubbornly at the palace tiles, but the One and Only King gave the order again: "Look at me, girl!" So she looked at him. He, the one and only king, Vanya Capac, revered by all the Incas, the Son of the Sun and King of the Quadrilateral Empire. She thought he was old, very, very old... In spite of his splendid attire, the gold bracelets on his wrists, the multicolored feather boa around his neck, the huge gold earrings in his earlobes, and the finely carved shell and pearl bracelet, he still looked like a frail old man. as fragile.The skin on his face was taut and greasy, like an old piece of overworn pottery, and the skin on his hands was wrinkled, as if it belonged to another body. Sitting in an overstuffed high chair, he looked directly at Anna Maya, neither surprised nor frightened. Suddenly a high-pitched and savage voice said: "One and only king, look at the eyes of this little girl. Never seen any Inca woman with blue eyes!" "Shut up, Vera Omar. Let me see for myself." Ana Maya couldn't see the man who had just spoken.He stands on the right, at a distance from the only king.He wears earrings like other Inca nobles, and a green sap of chewing coca leaves drips from his thin lips. Without taking her eyes off Anna Maya, Vanya Kapac asked: "Is she from the forest, Sikanshara?" "Yes, the only king. We destroyed a savage village of Chiriguano, and she was with some other children, and her mother." "Where is her mother?" "Dead, the only king. When we attacked the village, her mother was hit by a catapult, but we can guess what she was, because she was still wearing an Inka coat." "A Cusco woman?" "possible." "A bastard," the green-mouthed Vera Omar complained in a low voice. "Where is her father?" asked the only king. Vera Omar pouted to express ignorance and disdain.Vanya Karpac turned to Sikansharah and asked: "do you know?" Sikanshala also bowed her head in silence.The only king still looked at Anna Maya, pain hidden in his eyes.His lips trembled slightly, and then he suddenly grabbed the armrest of the throne.He was sweating profusely. Beads of sweat were seeping out of Porra's turban and glistening on his forehead. Apart from the fear of death in her heart, Anna Maya felt something else after seeing the pain that somehow entangled the old man.She was terrified for him, and with him. For a moment, the only king faltered for a moment, his eyelids twitching non-stop.However, he still straightened his back, stood up, and asked in a low voice: "Vera Omar, what does the priest think of this girl?" After complaining repeatedly, the man with the green mouth made an annoyed gesture: "Most of them said she had a bad life. She had blue eyes, and, as you can see, she was really ugly. She was flat-chested and taller than the average girl! She had her mother's blood on her. Inca blood, unfortunately not pure! She is from the hell world, so she should return to the hell world!" "Another warning signal!" The only king blinked and murmured feebly to himself. He was silent.Strangely, Anna Maya thought the lifeless old man looked at her kindly.Vera Omar added with great reluctance: "But, of course, not all priests agree..." "What did the others say?" "Say she's good for your ruling regime! Say she was sent to earth by our moon god Kira, and because she has blue eyes, she will bring good luck to your journey to heaven." The only king was short of breath.As much as he tried to hide the pain, Ana Maya knew it right away. Now that she saw that he was lying straight and not breathing, she knew that the Son of the Sun was about to die.He was about to walk the invisible road that would lead him to his father, to another world. But she had to fight back the tears welling up in her eyes. The One and Only King watched her all the time.he asks: "what is her name?" "Anamaya." As soon as Sikanshara finished speaking, the One and Only King groaned and put his arms around his belly.Anna Maya guessed that the captain must be chilling with fright.However, the only king regained his composure and asked in a voice that was just audible: "And you, Vera Omar, what do you think?" "She must disappear from the world!" murmured Vera Omar, "and the sooner the better. If you will take my advice, give her to the puma. Let it eat, Remove her from the world by the way! Let her never hinder you again, whether in this world or another world. Our heavenly father Andi will never let such a person live in this world!" "But what if Kira the Mother sent her to find me?" "Then we can sacrifice her heart to the gods, but..." Before the wise man Vera Omar had finished speaking, the only king suddenly cried out in pain.He bent forward and spat a mouthful of bile beside the seat.In excruciating pain, he slid off the chair and landed on his knees.All those around him, men and women, high officials and servants, were overwhelmed with fright and bewildered. Anna Maya moved instinctively, but stopped immediately. No one has the right to touch the only king! Sikanshara had already grabbed her by the shoulders, preventing her from approaching the emperor.But the lines of the face were twisted and deformed by pain, and the only king looked at her and said to her: "Help me! Girl, help me!" The old man stretched out his stiff and trembling arms to her, as if hoping to use her body to tide over the difficulties.He groaned in pain with his mouth open, his chest heaving under his clothes.He leaned forward, knelt down on the ground, and kept waving his aged hands: "help me!" Now that the ministers could no longer stop her, and there were no taboos, she no longer had to fear death.The tears she had endured for a long time finally blurred her vision and slid down her cheeks.

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