Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Three

No one spoke. Old Cora Topak stroked his gray hair with wrinkled hands and rubbed his square chin, with a majestic air. In the past, he only needed to make such a gesture to control the whole situation.But now he was angry at his own incompetence, and had to admit that he was filled with fear. Why, since they had left the Emperor's granary, had Huascar's soldiers not spoken a word to them along the way?Why did they turn away as soon as their awkward but indifferent eyes met his? Because he felt that the road was getting higher and higher, he asked someone to invite the captain who had sunken eyes and satirized him with words.It was a pity that the effort was in vain, because the latter ignored him at all.He felt that the other old crown princes who were traveling with him were also uneasy.

The mountain road narrowed along a rumbling turbulence, and the overhanging branches on both sides bent into an arching shade, dark even in broad daylight.The rain fell in fits and starts, chilling Cora Topak's bones. As night fell, and on the way to a steep and slippery slope, they decided to spend the night in a few dilapidated wood-and-mud huts by the roadside.The captain finally got out of the car and walked towards him.This time, he didn't avoid Cora Topak's gaze. Cora Topak knew they would all be killed. right here. Just tonight. "Can't you think of a better way?"

"I just thought it would be good not to make you scream!" Anna Maya stood in the rainy night and looked at Manco carefully.Even though his back was facing the light, she could still see the cold outline of his face clearly.Although they had only been separated for a few weeks, she felt that the aquiline nose on his face seemed more obvious, like a boulder hanging on the edge of a high mountain. "I saw those soldiers, and I have to hide until you come over—" "You can wait a little longer!" "I thought my father should have told you." "What happened, Manco?"

"Vascal is crazy." "crazy?" "I don't know if it's God's will or just rumors that Atahualpa is preparing to riot, anyway, in Cusco everyone knows that he's drinking more and more often, getting drunk and even insulting his own Mother, say she is Atahualpa's whore... He was seen standing among the towers of the temple of Seksau Oman, howling like a wolf, convincing the gods that they should attack, and yelling at the holy stones, Ask them to transform into fighters." "Then what about you and Paul?" "He hasn't taken much interest in us until now. But as soon as he sees us, he suspects that we too have betrayed him in some way."

"Did he order those old crown princes to be taken away?" Manco looked surprised. "Old Crown Prince? I don't understand what you're talking about." "Just now, a captain came to them and said that Huascal wanted to summon them in order to prepare for the mummy-related matters." Manco jumped to his feet.Anna Maya immediately followed. "Go, let's go." "We have to go to Vera Omar first." "The wise man with the green mouth? Are you sure?" In front of him, the entire temple was brightly lit.The Temple Square, soaked in rainwater, became a pool of sludge.Anna Maya ran, her straw sandals were covered with mud.

"A wise man should know," she said earnestly. But as she ran, she thought maybe a wise man shouldn't know. "What is your purpose?" "We have no purpose, we have only one mission: to escort the mummy of the late Inca king Vanya Capac to the Coricancha Temple in Cusco, where the enthronement ceremony of the next Son of the Sun will be held." "What orders did you receive from Atahualpa?" "Nothing. But his corps of ambassadors was also in the funeral procession, with gifts and sincerity from Atahualpa to his brother Huascar." "What is Atahualpa's real purpose?"

"If you suspect us of treason, if you think we are guilty, why don't you just take us to Cusco to face the law? Why are we locked up in these woodsheds in the mountains, as if such crimes should be kept hidden , can’t the gods know?” Cora Topak spoke in a steady voice despite being tired.He was tied to a post in a thatched mud hut with a strong agave rope.The other crown princes were killed one by one—shot in the head or stabbed in the chest—and the blood flowed into the river that wailed and wailed in his ear. Now he is the only one left. The stern-eyed captain ordered all the accompanying soldiers to leave, leaving the two of them alone in the house.

"You're their leader," he said slowly. "No! I'm just the chief crown prince." "It was the traitor Atahualpa who sent you here to find out the secrets of Prince Huascal's Shapa Inca army, and then send back these useful information so that he can successfully trigger the riot." "Nonsense! Tell dozens of poor old people to hide behind the mummy's sedan chair to steal secrets?" The captain approached Cora Topak with a questioning look in his eyes, and crouched in front of him, staring the old man hard. "That's what those people in Cusco told us."

"Look at me, and look at the corpses of my comrades who were killed by you. All you get is the fearful eyes of their dying eyes. Don't you think you haven't got any information? You've got nothing , except for the blood on his hands." "I'll let you die too. Say, if you don't want to die badly and give your soul to a puma..." "You don't get any news from me, boy, I can't even bark." Without further ado, the captain stood up quietly, untied the rope in his hand, and pushed him out of the house. The night is beautiful, and the river flows quietly and eternally with the reflections of the stars.Cora Topak sucked in the air of freedom.Indeed, the captain with the fierce eyes might be his child.It is true that during his military career he had made many enemies for himself, but why did he not see that these orders, which he obeyed, were the vengeance of a mad mind?Why didn't he realize that he was going to tear the Four Square Empire apart?Now he doesn't listen to anyone at all.

He is mortal. Several soldiers flocked to him, each hand and foot held tightly by two men. He tried to keep his eyes open so that the world could swallow him up and he could regain his peace.At this moment, on the high mountain, from behind some dark clouds that were about to disperse, there was a ray of light from the comet. Several hands, dozens of hands pulled him, and he heard wailing and moaning in agony.A terrifying sob pierced the sky, and he suddenly realized that it was coming from his chest. His last feeling was that his old bones were thrown into the air and disintegrated, hitting a big rock and breaking into a thousand pieces of rubble.

The dwarf ran ahead. Born in the forest, he knows how to judge the traces left by humans and beasts: stones are moved, branches are broken, bushes are crushed, etc. Vera Omar, Manco, and Anna Maya followed quietly, almost out of breath. In this dark and humid night, the stars shone slowly one by one. Suddenly, they heard a scream. They found all the bodies, one next to the other. Some even died by the side of the road, their bodies lying flat like sleeping babies. Others looked very strange, like the ugly ghosts of ghosts and ghosts. One of the corpses was stoned to death, so heavy that the stone crushed his back, and the bone in one shoulder pierced the sky. On another corpse with an open mouth, they found some horribly red peppercorns in his mouth, apparently suffering from this torture of tearing the abdomen and burning the whole body before dying. There were bloodstains and murky pieces of flesh everywhere, and they heard the moaning and wailing of the dead who had nowhere to turn. They finally found Cora Topak, his twisted body, mouth gaping and deformed. There was still a little sign of life in his eyes, the last bit of pride beyond the limits of endurance. Anamaya knelt at his feet and took his hand, as she had done this afternoon, when the sunken-eyed officer with the querulous eyes, had given orders in a strong tone, when the sky had started to rain. "Live, little girl," said the dying old Crown Prince, "keep the light in your blue eyes..." "why why?" The old man opened his eyes with the last bit of strength, and his eyes seemed to point to a small point in the distance, pointing to the dazzling comet in the sky. She stood up again, with tears in her eyes, and looked at Manco. "Why are you here so late?" Manco didn't speak.Nothing to say, she thought.It should dance like a dwarf in a red robe sweeping dust and mud from the road until he falls over. "I have to go," Manco said finally. Anna Maya turned to face Vera Omar. "What about us, what should we do? Go back to the emperor's granary and wait for another group of people to come and kill us?" "You have to go too," Manco said. "This is what I want to tell you." "What do you think, wise man?" Vera Omar seemed to have aged a lot all of a sudden.His face looked longer, with some sadness in his eyes. "I think young Manco was right, you gotta hide, now." "Paolo and I," Manco went on, earnestly, "we have to stay in Cusco, but you must leave as soon as possible and inform Atahualpa." "But what about the mummy of the king? And the statue of the twin brothers?" "No matter how crazy Vascal is, he dare not destroy them. You must survive, because only you know his last words." By this time the sky had cleared so completely that one could almost believe that it had never rained and there were no dark clouds.The comet was brighter than ever, and Anamaya's blue eyes widened, searching for its light. Manco and the wise man were silent.Anna Maya took a deep breath, remembering that when the power of fate entered her body, she felt that deep down in her heart she had already agreed to accept anything that happened to her in the future. The dwarf sat on a stone as tall as he was. "Do you want me to do the same to you, princess?" She tossed her hair and smiled at him. "You know I always respect what you say, Prince." "Then," said Vera Omar, "let's go!" "where are we going?" "follow me." Manco disappeared into the night and headed towards the peaks and plateaus, heading back to Cusco. The dwarf, the wise man, and the little girl quickened their steps.