“Help me, Acatlan! I appeal to your friendship, to the love you bear your children,—help me in my trouble.” So the queen Tecalco prayed the queen Acatlan in the palace the morning after the audience given the Tezcucan by the king.
The two were sitting in a room furnished with some taste. Through the great windows, shaded by purple curtains, streamed the fresh breath of the early day. There were female slaves around them in waiting; while a boy nearly grown, at the eastern end of the apartment, was pitching the golden balls in totoloque. This was prince Io’, the brother of Tula, and son of Tecalco.
“What is the trouble? What can I do?” asked Acatlan.
“Listen to me,” said Tecalco. “The king has just gone. He came in better mood than usual, and talked pleasantly. Something had happened; some point of policy had been gained. Nowadays, you know, he talks and thinks of nothing but policy; formerly it was all of war. We cannot deny, Acatlan, that he is much changed. Well, he played a game with Io’, then sat down, saying he had news which he thought would please me. You will hardly believe it, but he said that Iztlil’, the proud Tezcucan, asked Tula in marriage last night. Think of it! Tula, my blossom, my soul! and to that vile cacique!”
“Well, he is brave, and the son of ’Hualpilli,” said Acatlan.
“What! You!” said Tecalco, despairingly. “Do you, too, turn against me? I do not like him, and would not if he were the son of a god. Tula hates him!”
“I will not turn against you, Tecalco. Be calmer, and tell me what more the king said.”
“I told him I was surprised, but not glad to hear the news. He frowned, and paced the floor, now here, now there. I was frightened, but could bear his anger better than the idea of my Tula, so good, so beautiful, the wife of the base Tezcucan. He said the marriage must go on; it was required by policy, and would help quiet the Empire, which was never so threatened. You will hardly believe I ventured to tell him that it should not be, as Tula was already contracted to Guatamozin. I supposed that announcement would quiet the matter, but it only enraged him; he spoke bitterly of the ’tzin. I could scarcely believe my ears. He used to love him. What has happened to change his feeling?”
Acatlan thrummed her pretty mouth with her fingers, and thought awhile.
“Yes, I have heard some stories about the ’tzin—”