Sky Knife Read online

  With Bone Splinter’s guidance, Sky Knife walked back to the entrance of the temple and shoved aside the drapery. Outside, the darkness of dusk colored the horizon, though the shadow of the temple was still long.

  “Come again, Sky Knife,” laughed Jade Flute. “It’s not often I find a man sleeping in the temple. Next time, who knows what I’ll do.”

  Sky Knife flushed red and walked across the patio without looking back.

  17

  Although the plaza was not as full of merchants and customers as usual, it was a lot more crowded than it had been earlier in the day. Bone Splinter gestured toward the crowd.

  “No bad luck has happened since the rain,” he said. “See how soon they forget?”

  Sky Knife looked around the plaza. “Do you see Red Spider?” he asked Bone Splinter.

  The warrior scanned the crowd. “No,” he said. “Wait—there, on the very northeastern end.”

  “Fine,” said Sky Knife. “It’s time I asked him a few questions, I think.”

  Sky Knife wound his way through the crowd. Few vendors, it seemed, were doing much business. The love-gift vendor sat in her place by the temple, but no customers stood around her. The people in the plaza seemed more interested in looking around rather than doing serious bargaining.

  Except at Red Spider’s area. Red Spider was surrounded by gawkers. Most of them stared at his assistant. Red Spider crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed the scene approvingly. He smiled when he saw Sky Knife and Bone Splinter. He waved to them.

  “Come,” he called. “My assistant is just preparing a demonstration.”

  Sky Knife pushed through the small crowd to stand next to Red Spider. “What is he doing?”

  Red Spider smiled. “We happened to bring some good luck trinkets with us, though I had thought to sell them in Palenque. Merchants coming from there say the king has suffered a rash of bad luck in the past couple of years and the people are worried it will spread. But if I can sell the charms now—why not?”

  “And the demonstration?”

  Red Spider gestured toward his assistant, who sat on the plaza stones and held a bead of jade between his teeth. “Very simple,” said the tall man. “My assistant will invoke the spirit of the charm and it will drive away any bad luck that might be affecting him today.”

  “How do I know this is true?” asked Sky Knife.

  “Just watch.”

  Sky Knife kept his eyes on the assistant. The man jerked and sweat rolled down his face. There was a slight popping sound and the bead dissolved into a puff of green smoke. The assistant sniffed the smoke and smiled.

  “You see?” said Red Spider in a loud, dramatic voice. “Good luck is assured for the day. Since I didn’t foresee that the people of Tikal would have much of a need for the beads, I didn’t bring along very many. I do have a few. Speak to my assistant and he’ll supply you with what you need until our stores are gone.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather do the negotiating?” asked Sky Knife softly.

  Red Spider shook his head. “I try not to bicker with my customers. Then if they feel they weren’t treated well by my assistant, they’ll come to me with their concerns.”

  “And trust you to set things right,” said Bone Splinter.

  “Even so.”

  Negotiations between the assistant and the crowd around him were quick. The few beads he had were purchased for exorbitant sums. Sky Knife’s mind boggled that the people were willing to exchange so much of their wealth for a single jade bead. One woman traded twelve cotton blankets and a handful of salt. Sky Knife shook his head.

  “You’re doing a good business,” said Bone Splinter, “but how will you manage to get all that home with you?”

  Red Spider laughed and flicked a braid back over his shoulder. “I only need to get it to the next city,” he said. “And if my luck holds there as well, I’ll have made a fortune on just this one trip.”

  “Based on the misfortune of others,” said Sky Knife.

  “That’s what being a merchant is all about,” said Red Spider. “You have no salt, so I’ll trade you some for corn. You have no corn, so I’ll trade you some for obsidian. People never have everything they need. Or everything they want. You just have to be able to supply their needs. Or their wants.”

  The crowd dispersed as the assistant sold the last bead. The assistant packed away Red Spider’s newly acquired wealth.

  “What is it you want?” asked Sky Knife.

  “Oh, wealth appeals to me,” said Red Spider. “What about you, Sky Knife? I see your fortunes have improved as well. In two short days you’ve turned from lowly, poor, temple assistant, to a priest with the beginnings of a jewel hoard.”

  “I want some answers,” said Sky Knife.

  “That’s right,” said Red Spider. “You came by earlier with questions. And then the stinging rain came. What is it you’d like to know?”

  “What are things like back in Teotihuacan?”

  Red Spider cocked his head. “Why? Are you thinking of going there? I thought your people didn’t leave their home cities much.”

  “I mean, how is the king?”

  “Our king is just fine, and thank you for asking,” said Red Spider. “With the Feathered Serpent’s grace, he’ll rule for many, many more years.”

  “And the king’s brothers?”

  Red Spider laughed. The sound was deep and bright, not menacing at all. Sky Knife hated Red Spider for his laugh. The man was tall, exotically beautiful, and graceful, and that should have been enough to hate him for. But that the man who was probably responsible—or was at least one of the men responsible—for Tikal’s misfortune could laugh so gaily offended Sky Knife. The sound was as beautiful as Red Spider. How could the man be evil and be so graceful and fair?

  “Oh, I see,” said Red Spider, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “You want to know which of your king’s elder brothers might want to replace Storm Cloud, seeing him perhaps as an easier target than the eldest who sits on the throne of Teotihuacan.”

  Sky Knife frowned. “Perhaps,” he said.

  “And that would make me one of the conspirators,” said Red Spider. “Because I could come into the city and move about freely without inviting suspicion.”

  “Something like that.”

  Red Spider’s assistant came up to him, bowed, and spoke a few words in his own tongue. Red Spider nodded. The man hurried off along with two other men, each loaded down with Red Spider’s gains.

  “Well, I’m afraid I don’t have much reason to tell you the truth, do I?” asked Red Spider evenly. “If I am conspiring against Storm Cloud, I’d be a fool to say so. If I’m not, you’re in no way obliged to believe me.”

  “That may be,” said Bone Splinter. “But I, for one, would like to hear your answer.”

  Red Spider sat down on the steps to the northern acropolis and bent down to adjust his sandals. “Then my answer is this: I am innocent of any wrongdoing against Storm Cloud. I have not been sent by one of his brothers to prepare the way for an invasion. I have my own reasons to be here—acquiring wealth being the main one. Another is personal.”

  “Personal business with whom?” asked Sky Knife.

  “With Storm Cloud,” said Red Spider. “You can find out from the chief of his household that I requested an audience with him several days after first entering the city. That was two weeks ago. I am still awaiting a response to my request.”

  “I’ll ask the chief of the household,” said Sky Knife.

  “Do that.”

  The sun dropped behind the tops of the trees in the west and the shadows in the plaza grew longer. A faint warm breeze stirred the air.

  “Are you sure you will not trade for that serpent at your throat?” asked Red Spider.

  “No,” said Sky Knife quickly. His hands went to the serpent. “No one in the world has enough wealth to purchase this.”

  “Of course not,” said Red Spider. He stood and bowed slightly to Sky Knife.
“If you need to speak with me again, you can find me here in the plaza or to the west in the merchant’s quarter.”

  The tall man walked away, his stride unhurried, his shadow stretched out impossibly long and thin behind him. Sky Knife watched him go and blinked against the bright orange of the setting sun.

  “I don’t trust him,” said Bone Splinter. “We should search his possessions for charms or other items that could store bad luck.”

  “Perhaps,” said Sky Knife. “But he’s smart—I don’t think he’d keep items like that with him. Not only because we might find them, but also, who’d like to be around that much bad luck all day and all night? If he’s the one responsible, then he probably has the bad luck stored in various places around Tikal.”

  “We can’t search the whole city, not even with the entire household guard to help us.”

  Sky Knife scanned the plaza. Except for a few stragglers, he and Bone Splinter were the only occupants. The plaza seemed unusually quiet and lifeless. “Maybe we don’t need to search the entire city,” said Sky Knife. “Most of the bad luck has taken place right here. Why don’t we search the plaza?”

  “Good idea, but let’s get some help.”

  Sky Knife nodded and set off toward the House of the Warriors, Bone Splinter a tall and silent presence in his wake.

  18

  An hour later, Sky Knife stood in the plaza with Bone Splinter and Kan Flower. Other warriors stood on the perimeter of the plaza and held torches to light the area. The shells in Bone Splinter’s ear spools reflected the torchlight.

  “What do we look for?” asked Kan Flower.

  “Anything in which a sorcerer could store bad luck,” said Sky Knife. “Or anything that shouldn’t be here.”

  Kan Flower laughed. “Sky Knife, this is the plaza. Everything in the city comes here at one time or another. Everything and everyone.”

  Sky Knife shrugged and grinned. “I know. But I don’t know exactly what we’re looking for. I have a feeling we’ll know it if we find it.”

  “Right,” said Kan Flower. “Well, anything to escape a poetry contest in which Bone Splinter doesn’t compete.” Kan Flower knelt on the pavement stones and held his torch in front of him.

  Sky Knife walked to the Great Pyramid. None of the warriors could touch it, so it would be his to search. Sky Knife held his torch high and tilted his head back to stare at the summit of the pyramid. Normally, only the priests, attendants, and sacrifices would have been on the temple. But a sorcerer strong enough to bring a black jaguar full of butterflies or a stinging black rain probably wouldn’t bother to obey that prohibition. If a sorcerer wanted to hide something, there would be no better place than the temple.

  Sky Knife climbed the red step and walked along the step from end to end, bent over, torch held in front of him. When he was satisfied that nothing was out of the ordinary, he moved to the second step. Sky Knife thought briefly of calling a ball of fire to light his way, but it seemed too much like showing off. He had a torch and that was sufficient. Besides, if the power to fuel the blue flame came from Sky Knife’s own soul, he shouldn’t waste it. He might need the strength later.

  By the time he had searched the first eighteen steps, Sky Knife’s back and knees ached. He sat down and scanned the plaza. The torches held by the warriors below shone like the brilliant stars above. Sky Knife looked up into the sky toward the stars he had been named after. The Knife of Stars glittered in the humid air.

  Sky Knife sighed. It was not wise to stare at the stars for too long. One might attract the attention of one of the monsters that lived in the dark shadows of the stars. It would come and devour the stargazer and digest his soul. Attracting such a monster would bring bad luck not only to the unlucky person but to an entire city.

  Not that there wasn’t already more than enough bad luck to go around Tikal just now.

  Sky Knife’s torch sputtered. “Itzamna!” he whispered through teeth gritted together. Now he’d have to go back down to the plaza and get another torch before this one left him entirely in the dark. Sky Knife stood up.

  The chic-chac squeezed his throat slightly. Sky Knife hesitated. What did the serpent want him to do?

  The torch sputtered a final time and died. Sky Knife tossed it down the steps and prepared to follow it—albeit more slowly. But the serpent squeezed his throat again.

  Sky Knife stroked the chic-chac and looked back up toward the stars. Everything was as it had been. He turned and looked back toward the summit of the pyramid.

  A small object glittered on the end of the next to last step. Sky Knife climbed several steps until the one he wanted was at eye level. He leaned forward. The glow from the serpent was enough to illuminate the small object.

  Sky Knife reached forward and grabbed it. It was a small point, like one would put on an arrow or a dart. An obsidian point. Its many glass facets gleamed brightly green in the serpent’s light.

  Sky Knife climbed the last few steps and looked around the flat top of the pyramid. Another shiny object sparkled on the altar itself. Sky Knife stepped forward and snatched the object. It was another small point.

  Sky Knife looked around. Surely there were more. Leaving two of anything made no sense. Four was a number of power. Two wasn’t anything at all.

  But no more objects glittered in the serpent’s glow. Sky Knife glanced back down to the plaza. The warriors had gathered around Kan Flower, who held something in his hands.

  Sky Knife went down the steps of the pyramid as fast as he dared. The warriors moved aside as he approached.

  “What did you find?” he asked.

  Kan Flower held his hand out, palm up. In his hand glittered a third obsidian point. In the torchlight, the dark stone had a green cast to it.

  “I found two more on the pyramid,” said Sky Knife. He held out his finds.

  “On the pyramid, even,” snorted Kan Flower. “The evildoer has no shame.”

  “There is probably a fourth somewhere,” said Sky Knife. “I found the first of these on the second to last step. The other was on the altar itself.”

  “This one was in a crack in the pavement stones at the west end of the plaza,” said Kan Flower.

  “Which end of the step?” asked Bone Splinter.

  “North,” said Sky Knife.

  “North, east, and west are accounted for, then,” said Kan Flower. “Only south is left.”

  The warriors and Sky Knife walked carefully to the south end of the plaza and spread out. Sky Knife leaned down to examine the edges of the pavement stones carefully. Originally, they had been foot-square pieces of limestone. But years of weathering and constant traffic had cracked them along many fine lines. A few weeds poked out of the larger cracks, although the attendants to the temple usually kept plant growth away from the plaza itself. Apparently, in the midst of the bad luck, no one had thought to weed the plaza.

  Sky Knife stuck his fingers into the crack, pulled out the weed, and tossed it aside. He ran his fingers along the edge of the crack, searching for anything unusual. Nothing.

  Sky Knife moved along the south edge of the plaza, pulling weeds and searching cracks with his fingers. The warriors knelt on the pavement and did the same. Some of them stepped out of the plaza itself and pried up a few loose pavement stones to see what was underneath.

  “Here,” said one. Sky Knife jogged over to the western edge of the plaza. A warrior held up a pavement stone with two hands while another pulled something out from under it. As soon as his hand was free, the first warrior set the stone down gently.

  The warrior held the object up to the light. A fourth obsidian point sparkled in the torchlight. Sky Knife’s heart raced with anxiety. Green obsidian again. There was only one place to get it.

  “Teotihuacan,” spat Kan Flower. “It is that merchant with the pretty face.”

  “But why?” asked another warrior. “If he drives away his customers, what does he get?”

  “I’ll tell you what,” said Bone Splinter. “Pr
ofit. He made a fortune this afternoon by selling jade beads as charms to protect against bad luck.”

  “Then let’s find him,” said Kan Flower. “I’d like to talk to him about these points.”

  “Wait,” said Sky Knife.

  “What is it?” asked Bone Splinter. “Now we have proof.”

  Sky Knife pulled Bone Splinter aside. “Wait,” he said again softly. When they were out of earshot of the other men, Sky Knife whispered, “What if Red Spider is working with someone else?”

  “What if he is?” asked Bone Splinter. “We’ll get the truth out of him.”

  Bone Splinter turned away, but Sky Knife grabbed his arm. “What if he’s working with the king?”

  Bone Splinter froze. Very, very slowly, he turned back to Sky Knife. “What did you say?”

  Sky Knife took a deep breath and stepped close to Bone Splinter. “What if Red Spider and Storm Cloud are working together?” he asked. “Two priests are dead, and Death Smoke has seen his own death. Stone Jaguar may be next. What if Storm Cloud wants to bring in foreign priests?”

  “Why would a Teotihuacano priest come here?” asked Bone Splinter. “Their gods are different from ours.”

  “Maybe Storm Cloud wants to worship his father’s gods,” said Sky Knife.

  “And what about us? Are we supposed to just stop worship of Itzamna?” asked Bone Splinter. “I won’t worship the Feathered Serpent. Or their storm god, either.”

  “Who knows what they might have planned? It might not even be true,” said Sky Knife. “But why should we go after Red Spider tonight? If he is behind all this, let him think we don’t know.”

  “Sky Knife! Bone Splinter!” called Kan Flower. “Come on—let’s go.”

  “No, wait,” said Bone Splinter. He held up a hand to Kan Flower. “Sky Knife has an idea. Let’s not go after Red Spider just now.”

  “What?” shouted another warrior. “No!”

  “Shut up,” said Kan Flower to the warrior. He turned to Bone Splinter. “This idea had better be good.”

  Sky Knife strode toward Kan Flower. He threw his shoulders back and held his head high, though he was still several inches shorter than Kan Flower. “Let Red Spider think we don’t know about him,” he said. “Have him watched at all times, but do not approach him. If he or any of his assistants come to claim the points, we have him.”