“I came in with a group of guards—Llacsans. They were my escorts. One of them was nice to me. I think he’s dead. He must be. What could have attacked them? Another jaguar?”
“There are many monsters in this jungle.”
“I don’t know how anyone can survive this place,” I say, shuddering, remembering the size of the jaguar, its gleaming claws.
“You’re still alive.”
“With your help,” I say. “Luna’s ray of moonlight, too. She led me to that hole, I think.”
“One of my traps,” he says. “It’s how I found you.”
“How long have you been in the forest?”
He waves his hand impatiently. “Later. I need to know—”
“I know you do,” I say. “And I promise I’ll tell you, but I …” I swallow. “Can we just talk about what you’ve been doing first?”
He leans back against the wall, his eyes moving upward to the ceiling. “My mission was to recruit allies by assimilating into the various tribes of the Tierra Baja. I thought that if I could earn their trust, they’d rise against Atoc. But no one dared join us. Every village I lived at, they spoke, one way or another, about the Illari. The tribe driven to the jungle by the Llacsans. They said maybe they’d support us. Out of all the tribes in the Lowlands, the Illari have good reason to hate the Llacsans. I only had to survive the jungle and find the legendary city, Paititi.”
“Did you?” I ask. “Did you find it? Is it really made entirely of gold?”
His gaze drifts downward and lands on mine, oddly flat. “I’ve never seen it. I’ve only ever made it to the outside border of their perimeter. Their heavily guarded perimeter. They don’t take to outsiders, especially Illustrians. My attempts at communication only made them angry and hostile. Eight months in this place and all I have to show for it is a broken nose.”
My mind whirs. There has to be a way to convince the Illari to side with us, to take back the throne. Maybe if they met me, an Illustrian royal, the message would have more weight.
“Your turn, Catalina,” he says. “Why aren’t you at the keep? Is my family safe?”
His words are like shooting arrows, one right after the other, hitting their target.
I take a deep breath. “I don’t quite know where to start. How do I …” I trail off. Should I begin with his family? I shake my head. I don’t have the courage. “We learned that the Estrella—Atoc’s powerful weapon—might be hidden somewhere in the castle. Ximena … Ximena was sent as my decoy. She went to find information, and—” My throat thickens. Thinking about her is too painful; speaking her name makes my heart hurt.
Manuel frowns. “Why would Atoc willingly allow Ximena access to the castle?”
“She went under the guise of posing as Atoc’s fiancée.”
His mouth drops in surprise. “What?”
“Please let me finish,” I say. “It’s a lot and I’m trying to …” I take a deep breath. “Here’s what you need to know. Ximena betrayed me … all of us, and helped place Atoc’s sister, Tamaya, on the throne. Who is now queen of Inkasisa. I refused to accept her as my sovereign, so she banished me. To the jungle. To my death.”
He reacts like I expect him to. Growing silent and wooden as the seconds pass. His light brown eyes shut away behind half-mast lids, and his fingers curl into tight fists. Manuel looks out to the entrance of the cave, his expression carefully blank. He doesn’t want to ask me about his family again. He’s afraid to ask me. I don’t blame him, so I keep the knowledge of their deaths to myself for however much longer he wants to hold on to the hope that they’re alive.
I’m not going to destroy his hope like that, not when I’m the one responsible.
“And what happened to Atoc?”
“Ximena killed him,” I whisper.
His face clears, as if a long-shouldered weight has been lifted off his back. “There’s some good news, at least.”
“Some,” I agree. Until Ximena placed Atoc’s sister on the throne. But Manuel knows that already. When he returns his attention to me, I nearly flinch. His expression is decided and resolved, and I brace myself for what will come next.
“We’re leaving this place and heading back to the keep.”
I blink. Not what I want to hear. At all. He starts throwing things into his pack, the bowls and spoon, leftover food. He puts on his hat and tightens the laces of his worn boots.
Through it all I can only stare.
“Be ready to leave in fifteen minutes,” he says. “Your back has healed enough to travel, I think. But we’ll move slow.” He hesitates. “As slow as we can, anyway. I’ve been searching for a way out of this damned jungle and it’s possible your tracks leading from the outside are still visible.”
I shake my head. “I have to stay here.”
He brushes off my comment. “How long were you traveling before you arrived at the jungle?”
“A week,” I say. “But it doesn’t matter because I’m not leaving.”
“Can you scoot over? I want that bedroll.”
“Manuel.”
“Is the keep still standing?”
“Manuel,” I say. “I’m not going with you.”
His gaze narrows. He props a hand on one bent knee, the other leg tucked under him. “Haven’t you been listening? It’s pointless. The Illari can’t stand having me in their jungle, let alone having a conversation. Every day is a test to stay alive. Their perimeter isn’t just guarded with warriors capable of doom and death. They use the very jungle to fortify their borders—with Pacha magic. We can’t get to them.”
“We have to,” I say angrily. “There’re no other moves left. You want to head to the keep? Be my guest. You’ll find no one there. It’s empty. And I can’t go back with nothing, without an army. I can’t.”
“Where is everyone?” he asks. “Damn it, Catalina. What aren’t you telling me?”
“I’ve told you—”
His hand slashes the air. “No, no. Not everything. You haven’t said a word about my family,” he snaps. “You haven’t mentioned what happened to our people.”
I let out a sigh that could have been a sob. “They’ve accepted Princesa Tamaya as their queen.”
“Why?” he asks. “There has to be a reason. Not one Illustrian would give up everything we’ve worked for this past decade for nothing.”
“Their reina said she wanted peace,” I snap. “That we’d be treated equal, that we’d have rights and a new life in La Ciudad Blanca. They believed her. The fools. As if we could ever agree with the Llacsans after what they’ve done to us. That girl is dreaming if she thinks she’ll achieve peace.”
He’s quiet for a long moment. “When I lived among the various tribes in the Tierra Baja, I learned quite a bit about Llacsans. No, stop,” he says, holding up his hand. “Maybe some of them are different than Atoc? Aren’t you curious to know why our people would accept her as queen? Observe with your own eyes what others have seen?”