Meanwhile, Xilonen was preparing flowers with her friends.
"What do you think about Tlaco?"
Meya, who had begun to make a new wreath, turned to her friend.
"Xilonen, why are you so suddenly interested in that one boy?"
Xilonen had been meeting and breaking up with many boys. She wasn't attached to any of them.
"Exactly. Have you become a decent person?"
This time it was Izel who made fun of her.
"Have you ever heard such beautiful music?"
The girls smiled. It was obvious; none of them had ever heard such beautiful music.
"That's right, and Cuathli promised him a job until Xochi Huetzi, so it's up to us to make sure he stays here permanently."
The girls smiled. They wanted to listen to his music and dance to it. Smile at him. They giggled while sitting among flowers, imagining them dancing to his music. Xilonen herself began to hum and sway. No doubt she was in a good mood.
"Xilonen, what are you thinking about?"
Nenetzi cut in, and then Izel put in her two cocoa beans.
"About something obscene, I'm sure. You thought about taking your clothes off in front of him, huh?"
"Actually, I was thinking of getting him drunk and doing the deed, but your idea would be a good start."
All three girls blushed.
"Xilonen."
Izel pointed at her friend.
"What are you thinking? You think if we, like in love codices, if we open up to him, he'll suddenly fall in love with us and…"
At this point, Izel was blushing like never before.
"Ha! Ha! Izel likes that idea! I didn't think it had ever happened."
Izel flushed in embarrassment and fell silent, completely defeated by laughing Xilonen.
"Why don't we start by making Tlacotzin a saint musician?"
Meya and Nenetzi proposed their own plan.
"Meanwhile..."
Xilonen shook her large breasts, which made Izel, who wasn't as blessed by the gods in that area, come back to her senses.
"What 'meanwhile'? You should sacrifice those two pumpkins to Tlazolteotl, you pervert!"
In the end, all the girls laughed.
After work, the girls saw Tlacotzin return with two soldiers.
Xilonen smiled mischievously and hugged Tlacotzin, pressing his head into her breasts.
"Tlaco, where did you go?"
Suddenly, she felt something was wrong. Tlacotzin didn't react. There was no way someone wouldn't react to her big breasts. She looked at him and was shocked to see his sad eyes.
"Tlaco, what happened?"
Xilonen was worried. Her joyful heart was filled with almost maternal concern as she gently embraced the young man. The answer was given by one of the soldiers. Xilonen and the other girls just couldn't believe what they heard.
"How could anyone be... be…"
Xilonen couldn't find the right words to express her frustration. The thought crossed her mind: she wanted to kick that bastard in the balls. With all her might. And Izel knew perfectly well that whatever the Tezcatlipoca priests in Tlayohulla would do to these two, it would be far worse than what either of them could do.
***
Cuathli walked forward, marching like a soldier. He had not walked this way for, perhaps, twenty years—since he fully devoted himself to the service of Xochipilli.
Ten warriors marched behind him, holding two sinners. Every now and then, the warriors urged the prisoners to march faster, using blows or words. People were looking at them, but the sight of the high priest immediately cut off all speculation.
They finally arrived at Tezcatlipoca's temple. Unlike the Xochipilli's temple, which was colourful, decorated with flower sculptures and surrounded by a wonderful garden, the Tezcatlipoca's temple was a dark place. The pyramid made of black basalt that seemed to absorb all the light looked stern. The road leading to it was paved with black stones, and on both sides stood granite statues of jaguars. Each of them held a censer made of a human skull between their paws. When they crossed the wall surrounding the temple, a live jaguar approached them. It was no ordinary jaguar. He was so big that his eye level was on par with Cuathli's. Growling and glaring at them, he seemed to ask what they were looking for. The high priest stood before him and said:
"I am Cuathli, high priest of the Flower Prince. I greet you, the guardian of the Temple of the Smoking Mirror. We lead sinners to Tlayohulla."
At these words the jaguar calmed down and then turned and shook his head, giving a sign that they were to follow him.
They followed him until they reached a pit near the temple before a barred gate. In front of the gate stood black-painted guards in masks made of human skulls, decorated with black feathers. The jaguar roared at one of them, and he opened the gate, using a rotating wheel. Then the whole group followed the jaguar to Tlayohulla, the farthest place from the gods' grace. Then, the gate closed behind them with a loud crash.
They walked through the dimly lit corridors. All they saw clearly were images of Tezcatlipoca and the terrible punishments that await sinners. From time to time, from the side corridors, they could hear screams full of pain and the sounds of a whip and other unpleasant instruments of torture. The jaguar was probably leading them deep into the underground complex.
At last they reached a large chamber. Opposite them, on a huge stone platform, sat a priest in a black cloak and a skull mask decorated with black feathers and jade in the place of the eyes.
The jaguar climbed the platform and then lay down next to the priest, purring. The priest petted it and then spoke. He didn't talk like a man. He was dragging his words. He seemed to be hissing... like a snake, ready to bite with deadly venom.
"Come in."
Only then Cuathli and his group entered the chamber.
"Tlahcoatl, the high priest of Tezcatlipoca, Lord of the Smoking Mirror, who sees every sin, greets Cuathli, high priest of Xochipilli, the Flower Prince, who brings joy to the mortal realm. What does the high priest of Xochipilli need?"
"Cuathli, the high priest Xochipilli, the Flower Prince, who brings joy to the mortal realm, greets Tlahcoatl, the high priest of Tezcatlipoca, Lord of the Smoking Mirror, who sees every sin. I am leading two criminals, and I demand that they be punished."
"What crimes did they commit?"
Cuathli explained everything to him. How he found Tlacotzin on the temple steps and how he went with the guards to his home. He had to restrain his anger when he described what he saw there and how Texoc and Yohualli had behaved. The high priest of Tezcatlipoca listened to his words, betraying no signs of movement – or life. Only jaguars around him growled angrily. When Cuathli finished, the high priest of Tezcatlipoca seemed to have become even less human than he seemed at the beginning. His voice gave an impression of a snake that was preparing to attack.
"Abuse of position. Theft. Fraud. Threats. Assault on a priest. An insult to authority. An escape attempt. Perjury. Sacrilege. Blasphemy. Few inmates can boast of such a list of sins."
At this point, almost out of nowhere, the guards in the armours made of jaguar skin appeared and took the accused from Cuathli's men to an endlessly dark shadow.
"We will prepare them for trial before the king and question them thoroughly about the amulet. You can go now. The jaguar will escort you."
At these words, the jaguar jumped off the platform and stood next to Cuathli. But before they left, Tlahcoatl spoke again — not like a snake, but like a worried man. Not like a snake, but like a worried man.
"High priest Cuathli. Don't get attached to this boy, because it will bring you pain."
Cuathli turned and said:
"I've endured a lot of pain in my life."
Then, together with his warriors, he walked towards the exit, led by the jaguar.