Chapter 33 Chapter Thirty-Two
A light rain fell on the Huamachuke grassland.A sea of broken clouds floated among the nearby cliffs, obscuring the summit.The curling smoke does not rise, but spreads the spicy carob fragrance in all directions.
A convoy of the Inca king Atahualpa arrived the night before, bringing screams, laughter, singing, dancing and flute music to the peaceful countryside.
"I love this prairie," said Anna Maya fondly. "It would be great if we could stay in a village like this when the dry season came. No need to drive, cross bridges, and climb mountains! I started to hate it." Those sedan chairs..."
Behind her, several maids with dexterous fingers were busy washing their hair with fine gray mud, and Anti Panla roared angrily:
"Don't say that to others! You, the prophet, don't you feel that Huaskar is retreating steadily?"
"You know very well that in the past few months, I have no idea what happened outside." Anna Maya sighed, closed her eyes, and wholeheartedly enjoyed the maid's massage.
"Oh, well, I know!" exclaimed Antti Panla, "because of your silence, my husband-to-be is complaining...I've never seen Atahualpa so restless. The fight won After so many battles, in fact, he already has the chance to win! The strange thing is..."
"If I can't tell, how will I know?" Annamaya murmured in a barely audible voice.
They were silent for a while, so that the lady-in-waiting could wash their hair with clean water.In a corner of the courtyard, several girls were busy twisting large bundles of wool into thin threads, and looked at them enviously while spinning.
At the other end of the atrium, about fifteen women were weaving under the eaves.They squatted on the ground with more than a dozen colorful thread balls as big as flowers beside them.They bent over the loom, the lower end of which was tied around their waists with a belt, and their movements were in unison.The upper end of the loom is fixed on a pillar, and the colorful threads are combined and separated in their dexterous hands, bouncing up and down with the quiet rhythm of the shuttle, and weaving crosswise down.Several pieces of cloth were nearing completion, and judging by their color and weaving, Anamaya knew that it was the royal cloth of the one and only king.
Afterwards, the court ladies dried their hair with a hair cream mixed with gold powder. She really couldn't forget the peaceful working expressions of those "Weaver Girls".She will never be as calm and serene as they are...
Since her brief sojourn in that lost city, she has seen many things differently!
Today, she does not need to be the wife or concubine of the sole king, Atahualpa, to gain access to him easily.A group of respectful court ladies followed her all day long.If she wanted to be vexatious, she could do it anytime.Even those old generals who doubted her, dismissed her, and even advocated burning her to death were obedient to her!Andy Panla, who has been named a concubine, has also become her closest and trusted friend...
However, this kind of court life is lifeless, and there are so many taboos!
"That's true. During this time, you have changed a lot." Anti Panla said suddenly, as if guessing what was on her mind.
With an order, Princess Anti Panla asked all the maids kneeling behind her to retreat, and then approached Anna Maya.
"Only your eyes haven't changed," she went on.
"Really?" Annamaya joked, "My cheeks are much fuller than before, and I'm serious like an old woman, that's what you want to say!"
Andy Panla smiled, sat down beside her, and gently took her hand.
"Yes, especially your buttocks, they are much more raised than before!" She teased, "Here is also..."
Through the soft Anako, Andi Panla lightly touched Anna Maya's chest, and the latter pushed her hand away shyly.
"Almost like mature breasts!" Andy Panla pinched her thigh and said, "When I first met you, you were just a strange and domineering kid! I didn't like you at all. "
"At that time, you were especially jealous of others..."
"That's true. But then I realized that you were just like everyone else. Now, I really should envy you, you turned into a real woman! Well, and almost As pretty as I am..."
"It's just about the same?" Anna Maya said with a smile.
"It's almost the same at most," Anti Panla said seriously, "There's a little bit less..."
"Ah, is it?"
Anti Panla pursed her lips provocatively and took a step back. She straightened her chest and tightened the dokap tied around her waist so as to fully reveal her breasts under the clothes.The maids around couldn't help bursting into laughter, and everyone quickly covered their mouths with their hands.
"Mine is bigger, isn't it?"
"Perhaps!" Anna Maya admitted, her cheeks flushed.
"Not maybe, but sure. Do you know why?"
"Because Mama Kira decided to give you more milk and less wisdom." Ana Maya teased her.
The maids were laughing to and fro, but Anti Panla stared wide-eyed, and everyone was so frightened that they all fell silent.
"Mama Kira gave me another sample: to let the one and only king sleep on my lap! That's the most beautiful thing about a woman."
"idiot!"
Anna Maya only answered this sentence, and she didn't want to continue messing around.A figure appeared at the other end of the atrium, followed by four followers.Anti Panla followed Anna Maya's eyes and couldn't help cheering:
"Oh! Isn't that handsome Captain Guyappa?" she blurted out, "Hero of the Anguoya Valley! Wife of the Twin Gods, look, here comes a woman who wishes to teach you the joys of bed people!"
Guyappa approached a guard eunuch, who immediately ran to inform them.Hearing the sound of spears flying across the air, all the maids weaving and spinning on the eaves and corners of the courtyard stopped their work curiously.
"Let him in," she said with a smile.
They had only time to throw on a shawl and, incidentally, a turban over their wet hair before Guapa entered the house.The warrior bowed respectfully with open arms, palms up, but dared not look Anamaya in the eye.
"Two princesses!"
"May Antie bless you, Captain Guyappa." Antie Panla replied coquettishly, "I am glad to see you standing up again, which means that your injury has healed."
Gujapa narrowed his eyes proudly and pressed his fingertips to his left shoulder.
"Yes. Once the only king decides the time to send troops next time, I will definitely be able to return to the battlefield."
"I really admire your courage," Antti Panla joked.
But the young captain didn't seem to hear what she said, and at the moment he was searching for Anna Maya's eyes:
"Wife of the twin gods, the Inca wants you to come to him."
"Now?"
"He is waiting for you. The purpose of my coming is to take you to see him."
As soon as he finished speaking, Anti Panla immediately stood up and quickly summoned all the maids to dress up for Anna Maya.
Guyappa and his four attendants walked around her, and a row of maids extended their arms to form an arch to shield her from the rain. When Annamaya left the square courtyard and stepped into the vast expanse In the garden square, all eyes were on her.
However, after entering the palace, the guards immediately disbanded in the first atrium, and the maids also turned back to the harem.Gujapa reached out to help her, but Anna Maya turned around suddenly, instinctively refusing his touch, and rattled the gold and silver steps inserted in the turban.
"Please stay!" Gujapa shouted, completely different from the previous tone. "Anna Maya, please don't be afraid of me!"
Anna Maya wanted to refute bluntly, but she saw Guapa's eyes full of anxiety and fear.
"What the hell are you trying to do?"
"Excuse me for being rude!"
"Guyappa, I..."
"No, please let me say a few words! These words have been stuck in my heart for several years, and today I must say them! Ana Maya, I used to be young and self-righteous—"
"I forgot the only king..."
"Anamaya, please listen to me! I know you must still remember those things that happened in Dumen Bamba that night, the night when the warriors were held. Alcohol, delirious, almost like being possessed by a demon, but...but that was a long, long time ago, and it's been four solstices! The seasons have turned four times! I was a child, You too. But now I am an upright soldier, and after the battle of capturing the bridge piers of Anguo Yagu, the only king named me a captain..."
"Yes, I know that you fought the enemy bravely in that battle. It is said that you also arrested two generals of Huaskar." Anna Maya said softly.
"Yes," Guyappa said, pointing to his wound, with piercing eyes, "Yes! I am no longer the ignorant man who was willing to be raped by my half-brother Manco in front of you. Shameful coward!"
Ana Maya let him boast.Gujapa continued, his tone slightly slower, but still full of excitement.
"Do you know that you have changed a lot? You...you are the most beautiful woman in the Sifang Empire now! No woman can match half of your beauty, no woman's eyes are as bright as yours, no woman is as beautiful as you. Not with the pomp and tenderness of speech that you have--"
"Please, Guapa..."
"Anna Maya, listen to me! I've thought of you every night since that damned night. Even on the Anguoya Valley battlefield, I still miss you! I was the first to spot your pretty face, Ana Maya! The first one. I have been afraid to speak to you, dare not see you for a while. Now, I am the personal bodyguard of the only king, and I am determined to..."
"What on earth are you trying to do, Captain Guappa?"
"I want you to be my wife!"
"You are crazy! You know that I belong to twin brother gods!"
"Ah!" Gujapa shouted angrily, "That's just a title given to you by Atahualpa, besides, he had not yet become the Inca king at that time! Now, thanks to your great assistance, he has become the Inca king." , he can revise past orders."
Anamaya was excitedly trying to find the right words to reason with Gujapa.Yet she was taken aback by the deep sadness she saw in the young man's eyes.Apparently, he is no longer the young man who got drunk from drinking too much chicha in Dumen Bangba.But today his crazy behavior is the same as before, and the fuse is actually her.
"My heart is only for you at this moment, Ana Maya!" Gujapa whispered, "Your husband, that twin brother is made of gold, and he doesn't understand the pain of love. As for me, my My heart is wounded by love, and I suffer from love. As long as I think of you, my heart boils. I want to tell you: this pain is not even comparable to those tortures invented by the traitor Huascar..."
From his trembling lips and trembling voice, it is not difficult to feel the truth of these words.
Anna Maya was too excited to speak, and backed away.
No one had ever made the same confession to her.As if touching a living wound with her fingertips, she fully understood the young man's pain.However, she knew very well that she absolutely could not accept his request.
She replied as gently as possible:
"I've long since forgotten what happened that night in Dumenbangba, Captain Guyappa, and I'm going to forget everything at this moment. Because I don't want to, and I don't want to hear from you anymore. But I still want to thank... Your courage. May Antih bless you to be the most valiant and happiest general under Prince Atahualpa. Now you must lead me to him, so as not to keep him waiting."
When Anna Maya turned around and walked towards the inner courtyard, Gujapa showed a painful and helpless expression of disappointment on his face.
Too bad she didn't see it.
In recent times, after each encounter with the One and Only King, Ana Maya had been overwhelmed by the rapid change in appearance.
Atahualpa is no longer the thin young man who encouraged her, protected her and made her fall in love at first sight.
Instead of declining, his position of power has risen.Since officially becoming the Inca king when he was donned in a pompous enthronement ceremony in Quito, Borra has been a symbol of power and domination.However, due to drinking too much chicha wine during the endless rituals, and because Chihiro was angry at not being instructed by his ancestors and used alcohol to relieve his sorrow, his figure has become much plump.
Now, he has full cheeks, a thick jaw, and an even more bloated figure.The red blood in the white of the eyes is more obvious than before, as if all the blood from the heart has flowed here.As a result, his eyes became very strange, with black eyeballs and red eye whites, which not only made it impossible to see his thoughts, but also seemed to be filled with endless sadness and anger forever.
Just as Anna Maya was about to greet him, she put her knees on the ground, her palms on the ground, and bowed her head. Immediately, he got straight to the point impatiently and asked:
"My father, Vanya Kapac, still hasn't said anything to you?"
"No, the only king."
"Ah! Why? Why?"
"Maybe he doesn't think it's necessary..."
"No need? Are you crazy?"
Anna Maya could hear the sarcasm and anger in Atahualpa's tone.She continued to crawl on the ground and asked:
"Let me tell you the truth, one and only King?"
"You always do this, I don't understand why you are silent now!"
"Dear king, I don't understand why your fear and irritability arise. You have sent troops to attack your crazy brother Huascar who dominates Cusco nine times in a row, during which he only won twice. Then follow Anti Go to Quito, and let the princes, priests, sages, and ancestors of the north fasten the turban of Borra on your brow, and put the feathers of the Gurejink on your forehead. From then on you are our Inca king, The only king of the Four Kingdoms. Tomorrow you will launch the last war against Huascar’s army. You will enter the holy city of Cusco as the victor. In this way, you will end an era of war and start another peace In this century, people all over the country will thank you for giving them living space and abundant food and clothing..."
Anna Maya paused for a moment.Since Atahualpa did not answer, she went on confidently:
"The only king, you don't have to doubt or be afraid at all. Your father, Wanya Capac, has indeed not spoken to me for a long time. That's because you are invincible from now on. Andi and Mama Qila will By your side at all times, you will have the strength of a puma to defeat all rivals, and the protection of a vulture... and that is actually enough."
Atahualpa ordered in a hoarse voice:
"Get up, Kamakenkoya, look at me..."
Ana Maya vaguely saw a smile appearing on Atahualpa's mouth.She hadn't seen him smile for a long time.
"I know you think I've changed," he said, "and you, you've become as serious as a clergyman! Yes, Vera Omar has educated you well: At your age, all women They are all eager to find a husband, but you are as serious and rational as their mother!"
"I am like this only in front of you, the only king, because you have saved my life."
"I don't know who owes more to whom, blue-eyed girl! You came to me after you came back from the lost city. I was so ashamed because I lost the battle. I still remember when I was locked in the hole, it was you Do everything you can to help me escape—make me imagine myself as a snake!"
Recalling the situation at that time, Atahualpa still couldn't help smiling.
"I still think about that incident every now and then, when the guards were asleep and I saw you slithering over the bricks like a molting snake! It was one of the most memorable moments of my life !"
However, Atahualpa's face suddenly returned to the previous uneasiness.He left the throne and moved closer to Ana Maya, so close that she could feel his breath:
"Yes, you promised me that I could attack Quito and wipe out Huascar's generals in one fell swoop. But my father chose this moment to visit you. When you saw that fireball in Domenbamba and the Lost City My father's mummy disappeared when I was 11. Whenever you need help, my father Vanya Kapac will show you a way! Heaven always opens the door to welcome you. But now you are silent !why?"
"Perhaps all of this will change after I arrive in the holy city and meet my husband-in-law, twin brother God?"
"Everything will have to wait until we enter the city!"
"You will defeat Huaskar, the only king, I am sure."
"No," Atahualpa yelled, his bloodshot eyes brightening. "I am not afraid of Huascar and his army, in fact they are cornered. It is the people of Cuzco that I fear! Those Cuzco tribes are like a dark abyss that stands in front of me! They will never accept me , for I am only the son of a northern woman. Yet in my mother's blood flow the blood of my father's ancestors, who still refuse to admit that I am also one of their Inca kings' sons! There are far too many sons like us Unclear! They accused me of not being pure enough, and I was just an illegitimate child in their eyes! Anna Maya! There is only one person in the world who can soothe the pain in my heart, and that is my father. I hope he will come to find me You... wish he would tell me through your mouth that he would help me defeat the Cuzcos. But he was silent...or at least you remember what he said to you on the eve of his death Words. Hopefully at least one day you will remember."
Ana Maya knelt down and shook her head sadly. She finally understood the pain that had haunted the Inca king all this time:
"No, the only king, I don't remember any more."
Atahualpa stared at her for a moment, then stretched out his hand as if ready to touch her, but at last walked towards the threshold.The guard bowed as soon as he stepped out the door.
After being silent for a while, he pointed to the sea of clouds on the top of the mountains around Huama Chuke and said:
"There is an oracle from the Almighty Lord on the top of the mountain. Khadeji can understand the time recorded on it. Tomorrow, we will go to him."
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