Choosing Fire: Book Two (The Bone Gatherers 2) Read online

  “Fuck,” Atzi said as he pressed harder.

  Xi had never heard a woman speak like that before. She threw her head back, and the moonlight highlighted the beauty of her. Xi was entranced.

  “Ueltiu? Is that you?” a voice came right after Atzi did on his hand.

  Quickly, Xi blocked Atzi with his body.

  “Yes, sister,” Atzi breathed behind him. “It’s me. It’s okay.”

  The dangerously thin woman looked confused, saying, “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

  Collected, Atzi pushed past Xi. “Yes,” she said, straightening her hair. “I’m on break.”

  The woman shrugged and walked back into a meager shelter.

  Atzi shook her head. “I should be more careful.”

  “I like reckless Atzi,” Xi said, licking his fingers.

  Xel felt herself dampen watching the memory, her cheek flushing with embarrassment.

  Atzi smiled at him, and Xi’s knees weakened. “Noted. But I have to be good here,” she said and motioned to the shack.

  She nodded at him to follow, and soon they were inside. Shock. Utter shock. There were eleven children and two adults living inside. Many seemed sick, but all were thin. Most were sleeping, but a young boy, not over the age of five, limped to her.

  “Atzi!” he said, clutching her hand.

  Atzi cleared her throat, tears brimming. “You should be sleeping, Aca,” she whispered, picking him up and laying him on a disintegrated mat.

  Suddenly, several children stirred at their presence. Atzi wrung her hands. “We should go.”

  Stunned, Xi watched Atzi tuck the boy back into bed and followed her out.

  Out in the open air, Xi released the breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

  “Who are they?” he finally asked.

  “Sick children,” she said simply, sitting on an upturned pot. She put her head in her hands.

  “Where are their families?” he asked, sitting beside her.

  “Some are dead. Some didn’t have enough money to feed another mouth.” She shrugged. “The why is unimportant. It’s the how that keeps me awake at night. Well, that was before you kept me awake at night.”

  Xi put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her head.

  “So, the money you give me goes to caring for them. Us. I was a them. Am them.” She shuddered.

  Xi was rocked. They lived in the richest city in the world, yet they had citizens, children no less, that were starving and sick.

  “What do you need?” he breathed.

  She laughed. “Your donations to chat all night long have been more than enough.”

  Xi patted her leg, wracking his brain. “Let’s head back,” Atzi said, wiping her eyes.

  The two walked back to the brothel, hand in hand in silence. So caught up in their thoughts, neither noticed a man watching them disappear into the night.

  ~

  After bidding Atzi farewell, Xi snuck into the palace and back to his room as the sunlight crept through the open windows.

  “You’re going to get caught,” Tupack said, sitting in Xi’s large chair.

  “Gods!” Xi said, clutching his chest. “You about scared me to death.”

  “Do you know what your father is going to do when he finds out where you spend all your nights?”

  Xi shrugged and took off his simple fiber smock. His father was getting suspicious over him sleeping all day and not courting his new fiancée. She was all right, he supposed, but Atzi was too interesting and too good a listener for him to bother with the nobleman’s daughter.

  “Well,” said Tupack, running a hand over his face. Xi could tell he had been waiting all night for him by the bags under his eyes. “I came to tell you. Your father is going to order you to attend the planning gala for the New Fire Festival today. I’d show up if I were you.”

  Tupack stood and stretched. “I have to go stand guard. And,” Tupack wrinkled his nose as he passed his friend, “do everyone a favor and bathe. You stink.”

  ~

  Xi’s head rested in his hand, and his eyes rolled as vendor after vendor presented their goods for the festival. Zipactonal and his father busied themselves with the major decisions, while Xi yawned and shifted in his seat, his fatigue evident. The shouting of soldiers echoed through the room, and Xi watched lazily as prisoners from an enemy tribe shuffled in. A dozen men and women stood, bound by their hands and feet before them.

  “We will purify them before the New Fire sacrifice, my king,” the matron priestess said, touching her forehead.

  For the first time, Xi truly looked at the people chosen for sacrifice. Most seemed irate, throwing looks of pure malice at the priestess and king, while others looked completely terrified. Xi’s heart flipped in his chest.

  “Xipilli?” a voice called. “Xipilli!”

  “Huh? Yes?” he said, sitting up. He watched the doomed led from the room.

  His father crossed his arms angrily. Before him was Nobleman Ilhicamina and his daughter Chalchihuitlcue. She had worn her finest to greet him. Chalchihuitlcue wagged her shoulders in feigned shyness, making the beads in her braid clink.

  “Nobleman Ilhicamina needs to handle some business with your brother and me. Please escort Chalchihuitlcue around the grounds and show her the palace,” the king ordered his heir.

  Xi shifted his eyes to his fiancée. She gave him a wide, red-toothed smile. Xi rolled his eyes and pulled himself from the throne. “Fine,” he snapped and pushed past her.

  Chalchihuitlcue’s eyes went wide then angry, and she looked at her father. The nobleman nodded to the exiting Jeweled Prince, mouthing the word “go.”

  “You know what to do,” he whispered to his daughter.

  Xel watched the scheming pair, dread filling her heart. “Xi,” Xel whispered to the portal, trying to warn him of the inevitable.

  ~

  Chalchihuitlcue caught up to Xi in the courtyard. He was hurrying, and since she was half his height, she struggled to keep up.

  “Can you please slow your pace, Prince?” the girl asked sweetly, a bit out of breath. “Your strength knows no bounds.”

  She took his arm and pressed her breasts against it. He looked down at them and back to her eyes. She smiled seductively.

  Watching the interaction made Xel want to gag. Something about this girl didn’t sit well with her.

  “Chalchihuitlcue,” the prince began.

  “Call me Chal,” she purred, pressing her chest harder into him. “My closest friends do.”

  The prince released a sigh and loosened her grip from his arm.

  “Chalchihuitlcue,” he started again. “This is the palace grounds. There are one hundred bathing rooms, about three courtyards, and seventy bedrooms.”

  His fiancée took his arm again, to his annoyance. She beamed and nodded eagerly at everything he said. Xi exhaled, lack of sleep impeding his ability to be tactful.

  Taking a deep breath, Xi took her past the aviary surrounded by beautiful ponds and gardens. Chal gasped at its beauty.

  At least this time, Xel knew it wasn’t acting. Xel leaned into the portal to take it all in. The palace grounds were something to behold. Colorful birds of every shape and size, from near and far, tweeted and squawked as they walked by. Glassy-eyed, the noble lady reached up and petted a parrot on the head. “Hello,” the bird greeted her.

  She squealed. “It’s magnificent.”

  Ever the showoff, Xi grabbed an orange from a nearby tree. He peeled it open, and the juices spilled onto his hand. “Watch this,” he said with a smile.

  Raising his hand, a flock of green-bodied, red-headed parrots squawked and screeched, emerging from a palm tree. They jumped on Xi’s arm and began drinking the nectar from the opened orange.

  Chal smiled ear to ear. “You impress me at every turn, Prince.”

  Xi looked down at the woman.

  Chewing her lip, Xel was certain she was beautiful to most men, but something was missing. Something was off, an
d Xel could see it in Xi’s eyes. Perhaps looking at her reminded him of what his future held. Misery in leading the state. It was so obvious he never wanted it. Yet, Xel realized sadly, in those times, traditions were traditions.

  “It has nothing to do with my skill set. The zookeepers train them,” he explained, tossing the orange away.

  “Zoo?” Chal squealed again.

  ~

  As they walked, they talked about the weather. “Can you believe this weather?” Chal tittered on.

  She hadn’t stopped talking since they began their little walk. “Very little rain,” Xi acknowledged.

  The portal relflected in Xel’s eyes. Xel knew that he had not given the rainfall an ounce of thought from the look on his face. Xi only looked hot and annoyed.

  “The people are getting restless,” Chal said in a whisper, as if she was scared that she might be overheard.

  “It will be fine. The New Fire Festival will soon be here, and after the sacrifices, all will be well. It always is,” Xi said, sounding confident and almost kingly.

  Chal took an excessive amount of time with each animal, petting and patting their heads.

  “Okay,” Xi said finally. “You’ve seen it all. Let’s head back.”

  He had guided her into a back hallway when she pushed him against the wall. Chal pressed her body on him and leaned her mouth into his. She kissed him roughly, sliding in her tongue.

  Xel gagged a little watching the interaction but couldn’t look away.

  Xi pushed her back a bit, face twisted in shock.

  “I haven’t seen your quarters yet, Prince,” she purred, reaching under his waist wrap.

  She was so quick that it took Xel off guard. Lady indeed, Xel thought bitterly.

  Xi moved to stop her, but she already had his member in her hand. Instant guilt washed over his face, and his forehead beaded with sweat. It had only been a few hours earlier that he had been with Atzi.

  The noble lady dropped to her knees and opened his waist wrap. “Stop,” Xi breathed as she pushed him into the wall with her other hand.

  Oh gods, what was he doing? Xel mentally screamed at the vision.

  Chal smiled at the size of him. “So you do like me,” she cooed and took the full length of him into her mouth.

  Xel’s eyes went wide as the tiny mouth pushed the full length of him into her throat. “Oh, fuck,” he cursed, throwing his head back.

  Xel gasped and covered her face with her hands. Where was the fast-forward on this damned portal? Peeking through her fingers, Xel saw Chal take one hand at his base and slide it in time with her mouth, tonguing the spot beneath his head on the shaft.

  “Please,” he begged, his hips moving in time with her. “This isn’t right.”

  He moaned as she took his sack in her hand, gently massaging. He arched his back like he was close to climax. Grabbing her shoulders, he thrust into her mouth. A growl of completion left his lips. He tried to disengage from her mouth, but she held him there, swallowing it all.

  Xi collapsed on the wall as she dabbed her mouth politely.

  What the fuck just happened? echoed in Xel’s mind, and the very thought seemed pasted on Xi’s face.

  With a sigh, Chal turned to the garden. “I can’t believe this will all be mine one day,” she mused.

  “Yeah, about that,” Xi said, tucking his wrap back into place. “I wasn’t aware of this arrangement.”

  “Listen,” she purred, leaning into him again.

  Xel tried not to cringe, crossing her arms with a huff.

  “I’m not a child. Though I have remained chaste, I know my way around a man. I will make you very happy.”

  She ran a slick hand down his face. Xi grabbed it roughly.

  “Chalchihuitlcue,” he said with more anger than he intended. “We will not be wed. I have no interest in you or your family.”

  The woman’s face turned three shades of red. “Is that so?”

  He shoved her from his chest, saying, “It is. Now come. I have grown tired of this charade.”

  ~

  A vase smashed on the far wall. The servants all jumped and immediately ran to clean up his father’s fury. Xi’s brother winced, his face solemn.

  “I have a lot riding on this engagement!” the king boomed. “You will marry that girl, or so help me!”

  His father was drunk. It didn’t seem like the first time, Xel realized, by the looks of the dozen people at his service.

  “You cannot force me into marriage, Father,” Xi said calmly.

  The king began wheezing. Bending over, he braced himself on a chair. A few servants rushed to his aid. “Get the hell away from me, vermin!”

  The king threw an arm out, connecting with a slave woman’s face, dropping her to the floor. Blood poured from her nose as her fellow servants dragged her from the throne room, another group cleaning up the gore as they went.

  “Do you see what just a few days of your nonsense has done to me?” the king roared, glaring at his eldest son.

  A page entered the room, touching his forehead. When he looked up and saw the scene, he was speechless.

  “Out with it, boy!” the king said, running a hand over his sweaty face.

  “High Lord Ilhicamina is here, requesting a visitation,” the page blurted.

  The king sighed and stood tall. Wiping his face with a cloth, he plodded to the throne. Tupack, never far from Xi’s side, leaned in, whispering, “Are you all right, Prince?”

  Xi cracked his neck, turning to Tupack so as not to be heard. “I want to hate him, Tupack. But since my mother passed, he’s been...different.”

  Tupack nodded just enough to agree.

  “She was one of seven wives, but everyone knows he loved her most,” whispered Xi, turning back to his father.

  Sinking into the throne, the king said. “Send him in!”

  The high lord and his daughter walked into the throne room, heads held high. “Lord Ilhicamina,” the king said, spreading his hands out wide. “What an unexpected surprise!”

  The high lord bowed deeply, touching his forehead. “My king,” the nobleman said, his voice thick and oily. “In honor of our families’ unions, we would like to bestow a gift on you and the empire.”

  The man’s eyes slid to Xi. A creeping feeling of trepidation washed over Xel, watching the pair enter the throne room. Xel turned her attention to Chal. She hadn’t given Xi the faintest whisper of acknowledgement since they walked in. Xel rubbed her face, her eyes straining from staring at the portal for so long. Wrapping her arms around herself, she listened.

  “What a lovely gesture from our soon-to-be relations,” the king said, eyeing Xi.

  Muffled voices and crying thick with fear came from the hall. The high lord’s guards ushered in a group of children. Xi’s throat bobbed as he saw Aca slammed to the floor.

  “Additional sacrifices for the festival.” The high lord grinned and looked at Xi.

  The guests in the throne room all turned at the sound of a scuffle from where the children had just entered.

  “Let me go!” a familiar voice screamed.

  Two soldiers had Atzi hog-tied and were carrying her on a stick. Xi’s knees buckled, and he fell on the bench beside him. The king beamed at the gifts the high lord had brought them.

  “How lovely of you to offer such a donation.” The king smiled.

  They dropped Atzi on the floor, and she gurgled as her breath left her. With watering eyes, she looked at the people around her and found Xi.

  Confusion led to fury as she realized who her nighttime visitor had been. “You,” she gasped through strangled breath.

  The high lord nodded to his soldiers, and a guard kicked her in the stomach. She yelped out in pain, and Xi stood up.

  The high lord glared at him.

  “But we seem to have a change of familial direction,” the king said, giving Xi a look. “We may have to discuss—”

  “Our wedding plans,” Xi breathed, fighting the tears in his eyes.


  Ilhicamina’s daughter, head bowed, smiled.

  The realization of his folly was plain on his face. Xi had pieced it together, Xel knew. They had followed him. How foolish Xi had been to think he could sneak away nightly without being noticed, Xel screamed in her mind.

  “May I have a word with High Lord Ilhicamina, Father?” Xi asked, the vein in his neck pulsing.

  The king looked between the two men with a raised brow. “Of course,” he said finally.

  The prince charged from the throne room, and Lord Ilhicamina followed. Alone in the hallway, Xi grabbed the old fat man by the neck and slammed him against the wall. “What the fuck do you think you are doing? Children? Sacrificing fucking children?”

  The high lord looked down at the prince’s hands tangled in his robes. With delicate fingers, he picked the digits from his collar. Straightening his clothes, he said, “You will marry my daughter and make her a queen. Because if you don’t, I’ll have the whole lot of children sacrificed on the day of the festival.”

  Xi’s breath was ragged. Xel feared he would kill this man with his bare hands. But that act would do nothing to protect Atzi, she realized.

  Knowing he hadn’t a choice, he growled, “Fine.”

  High Lord Ilhicamina grinned, his teeth old and some of them missing. “Good,” he purred, pushing past Xi. “I do hope your offspring are of better stock than you, boy.”

  With that, he turned and left.

  In the present day, Xel sat back, heart pounding. This was awful. What horrific times those were. Xel looked around to see if anyone was watching her watching Xi’s past. Alone, she leaned back into the vision.

  ~

  The front of Tupack’s smock was soaked. Xi cried while his dearest friend held him for an hour. “Marry the beast,” Tupack reasoned. “You can always have another.”

  Xi shook his head. “No,” Xi said. “I know that evil man has something else planned. I can feel it in my bones.”

  Tupack sighed. “I have an idea,” he began. “But it’s stupid and dangerous. And it could get me executed.”

  Xi looked at him hopefully, as if he were the first light in the sea of darkness.

  “Is she worth it?”

  Xi stared at his best friend. “They all are.”