Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book) (27 page)

Many have fallen here today and many more will fall at the outsider’s
feet when this is all over. It is how it is meant to be. The ones you do save,
however, will be the seeds that rebuild your great empire and carry on your
culture.

Your time in this land is over, but a new time begins as it must. Go
from this place, and let happen what is destined to befall those that remain
here. From the embers, the Sunal will survive, Warrior.

Adanitupachi straightened to his full height again and in a blaze of
blinding firelight, the statue was reduced to a mere pile of ash at our feet.

Dumbfounded, the three of us stood silently and motionless. Slowly, Tizoc
intertwined his fingers with my own.

“You saw that as well, yes?”

“I did.”

“So did I,” Daniel said.

“You’re not meant to protect them all, Tizoc,” I said. “Just your
family.”

“And you two.” Tizoc tore his gaze away from the dust that used to be a
statue of the Sun God.

“That’s your destiny.” Daniel rested his hand on Tizoc’s shoulder.

We stood together, linked by touch in a triangle of sorts. “It doesn’t
seem right. To abandon the rest of my people,” Tizoc said.

“If they live on in you and your family, Tizoc, you haven’t abandoned
them,” Daniel said. “When my parents were killed, I realized what was wonderful
about them was still inside me. It took meeting Charlie to see it, but I did. I
like to think I can pass that on to our children someday.”

Though blood covered most of him and his face wore the signs of fatigue,
Daniel’s love for me was right there. I could feel it, like a magnet, drawing
me to him.

“Daniel’s right,” I said. “You hold the beauty of these people and this
city in your heart. No Spaniard can take that away. You can build this empire
again.”

“But how will we get out of here? The Spaniards have surrounded the
city.”

We stared at the ash pile at our feet, listening to the crackle and hiss
of the pyres.

“Our boat,” Daniel said. “Our boat is done for the most part. She’ll sail
and there’s enough room for your family.”

“Where will we go?” Tizoc said.

The word
family
bounced around in my mind. I touched a finger to
the shell still around my neck.

“Florida,” I said. “We’ll go to Florida.”

“Florida will be as good a place as any to seek refuge,” I said as we
descended the temple stairs.

“The Spaniards may follow us there,” Daniel said.

“No. They do not want us,” Tizoc said. “They want our gold and other
valuables. Our lives don’t mean anything to them. That is why it is so easy for
them to slaughter us.”

“Still, we should move quickly,” I said as we entered Tizoc’s house. “You
have to gather your sisters.”

“I have called to them. My sisters and their mates are coming to meet
us.”

We filed into the kitchen, which was a tomb without Citlali and Tizoc’s
sisters filling it. We continued out to the courtyard toward the chamber we had
dug in the ground. Before opening the chamber, Tizoc turned to Daniel and me.

“You both fought well,” Tizoc said. “It is not an easy thing to kill, but
you did so for my people.”

I did so for you,
I thought.

Tizoc squeezed my hand, nodded to Daniel, then pulled open the chamber
door. Citlali and Yaoti blinked up at us as sunlight burst into the dark hole.

“Tizoc,” Citlali said as she climbed out of the chamber. “You live! You
all live! We were so afraid.” She embraced each of us, holding on as if she
never intended to let go.

“Where are the outsiders?” Yaoti climbed up behind Citlali.

“They have taken over the emperor’s palace,” I said.

“Dimazuno is dead,” Tizoc added. “As are many of our people.”

“Oh, my…” Citlali’s eyes grew wider when we were all standing in the
courtyard, the afternoon sun illuminating everything. “You’re… you’re all
covered in blood.” Her hands flew to her mouth as her mind put all the facts
together.

“What happened?” Yaoti took hold of Tizoc’s arm.

“The Spaniards overpowered us at the palace and killed the emperor. Then,
they launched an attack at the temple while our people honored the Sun God and
Dimazuno.” Tizoc rubbed his hands together in what appeared to be an attempt to
wipe away the memory of it, then he turned to Daniel. “Why did they not use
guns at the temple?”

Daniel shrugged. “Perhaps they are saving ammunition for future conquests
and thought swords would be enough against arrows and spears. They thought
wrong. We made them retreat, but we cannot outlast them.”

Lowering his shoulders and letting out a long breath, Tizoc caught one of
his parents’ hands in each of his own. “Our leader is gone. The Spaniards are
too strong for us to fight. We must leave this place.”

“Leave?” Yaoti was ready to disagree. Tizoc released Yaoti’s hand and
held up his palm.

“Adanitupachi has visited us.” Tizoc motioned to Daniel and me as well as
himself. “On the temple patio, while we buried the bodies of the fallen, he
came to us. Told me what to do. You must listen,
Tahtli
.”

My own throat stung as Yaoti’s eyes filled with tears. Though they never
spilled over, the tears showed how much leaving Ezenoch was going to hurt Tizoc’s
parents. Leaving it would be like leaving their hearts behind.

“
Tahtli, Nantli,
” Tizoc said, looking to his parents, “go to your
rooms and pack what you need. We will be leaving tonight on Daniel’s boat.”

Without a word, but sporting long faces, Citlali and Yaoti headed into
the house. Tizoc hopped down into the chamber and lifted supplies up to Daniel
and me. When the chamber was empty, Tizoc climbed out.

“I’ll get sacks for this.” He jogged to the house.

Alone, Daniel and I sat on the end of the patio. I placed my hand on
Daniel’s knee and fought with the images of what I had done at the temple. I
couldn’t make them stop.

His hand found its way into my hair. His fingers rubbed at my neck. “As
long as we still have each other, Charlie, we have everything we need. We will
make happier memories to replace the horrors of today.”

He pulled me closer, and I leaned my head against his chest. The light
brush of his lips on the top of my head reminded me of all we still had. Of all
the possibilities. I gave him an extra squeeze before pulling away. 

Tizoc came back outside, and the three of us filled sacks with supplies.
When we had finished, Tizoc paused on the patio.

“My sisters are here,” he said, though I heard nothing of their approach.

Xochitl appeared in the threshold between the house and the patio. She
held out her arms to Tizoc and hugged him. After kissing him on the cheeks, she
floated over to me in her graceful way as Tizoc went inside to speak with his
sisters’ mates.

“Can’t stay out of men’s clothes, can you
Cihuapilli
?” Xochitl
pulled me to my feet and embraced me. When she stepped away, the bulge at her
belly surprised me. I hadn’t seen it when we were training. Hadn’t been looking
for it, I guess. I raised my eyebrows and she chuckled. “Yes, there is a future
Sunal prince or princess on the way very soon.”

“Oh, Xochitl!” I threw my arms around her again. As I pulled away, my
gaze settled on the scrapes around her throat, all jagged and pink on her dark
skin. My smile faded. She’d risked two lives fighting the Spaniards today. I
had pulled her into the fight. Cripes. How foolish.

“Congratulations,” Daniel said as he hugged Xochitl as well. 

“Thank you,” she said. “I hear we’re leaving the city and going for a
sail at nightfall.”

“I’ve never been on a sailboat.” Yaretzi came outside with Teiuc and
Eréndira behind her. She touched Xochitl’s stomach. “Signs of better times to
come, yes?”

Times couldn’t get worse. Could they?

****

“Is everyone here?” Daniel slung his sack across his shoulder as we left
our rooms and headed back to the courtyard.

“Here and ready to sail, Captain.” I toted my own sack.

Daniel turned around on the stairs, regarding me with wide blue eyes. He
stared at me in total silence, his mouth half-open.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No…” he started. “ But
Captain?
It caught me by surprise.”

I rested my hand on his shoulder. “It is your ship. You built it. You say
where it goes and who comes aboard. That makes you her captain.”

A slow grin washed across Daniel’s face. “I could get used to being
called that. Say it again.”

“I love you,
Captain
Daniel Connor.”

“Perfect.” His smile widened as his lips found mine. The warmth of him
against me reached my deepest parts. “However, that boat is as much yours as it
is mine, Charlie. We’re partners, you and me.” He kissed me again, and I let
his love fill me. Fill me so we could make it through this night, our last on
Ezenoch soil.                                 

Tizoc paced the length of the courtyard. “I know Adanitupachi told me my
destiny was to save only my family and Daniel and Charlie, but I cannot, in
clear conscience, leave everyone else here to die at the hands of these
Europeans. A good many of them are our kin.”

“Tizoc was thinking if we put out a call others might be able to join us
in our retreat,” Yaoti told me.

“How do we put out a call?” I asked.

“I think we can use the link.” Tizoc stopped pacing.

“But you’re only linked to us.” I motioned to his sisters, parents, and
myself.

“When I try by myself, I can only reach a limited few, but if we—”

“Try all together,” I finished.

I liked the idea of saving as many people as we could. It might somehow
make up for the lives we had taken this afternoon on the temple patio.

“We have to try,” I said.

Tizoc gave my arms a little squeeze. “There isn’t much time. Gather in a
circle, everyone.”

I stood shoulder to shoulder with Xochitl on one side and Daniel on the
other. Xochitl and I joined hands, while I hooked my other arm around Daniel’s
waist. I emptied my mind of everything and took a deep breath although it
wasn’t necessary. Immediately, a vision filled my head. It had always been that
easy to connect to Tizoc.

A lovely picture came into focus. A wide beach, white sand stretching on
for miles, gentle cerulean waves licking at its shores. Tizoc had pulled the
scene from my mind. I longed to go there with Daniel. Wanted that to be the
place where we started our life together. I wanted Tizoc and his family there
as well.

“Where is that?” Citlali asked.

“I hope it’s Florida,” Daniel said, indicating he’d seen the image too,
“because nothing else will do now.” He looked at me with such intensity, as if
we were already on the beach together.

Xochitl let go of my hand and the image faded. “That test worked, Tizoc.
Let’s send out the call.”

We joined hands again and a jolt of something—ancient Sunal magic perhaps—coursed
throughout my body as Tizoc’s energy spread through the circle. I closed my
eyes and focused all I had on the message Tizoc composed. I concentrated on his
words, on sending them out to those that might be saved.

My people,
Tizoc thought,
the time to leave has come. Staying
in Ezenoch means your demise. We urge you to follow us, a small party leaving
by sea tonight. Follow us and be saved. We will start a new city, and Sunal
culture will live on in us.

The sound of cannon roaring from the palace made us all snap our eyes
open. The explosion sent a piece of burning wood into the courtyard, setting
several bushes on fire.

“We have to hope that message reached its mark.” Tizoc bent down to hoist
a sack of supplies onto his shoulder. “Time to go.”

We all hauled up a bundle and started on the path to the coast where the
boat was moored. I took a last look around as angry flames consumed the beautiful
plants and flowers in the courtyard. The house would be on fire shortly, taking
everything Citlali and Yaoti had spent a lifetime making. Citlali heaved in a
sob as Yaoti shielded her head from spraying embers.

“A new paradise awaits,” Daniel said.

He was right. In a short time, there would be nothing left of this
wonderful city except what my memory had locked away. My grand adventure in the
Americas was on to its next phase.

I scooped up Ghost who had been weaving between my feet. The cat pressed himself
up against my chest, his blue eyes wide and scared. I bolted out of the
courtyard after Daniel, jumping over the low stone wall that separated Tizoc’s
house from the neighboring one.

Behind us, the patio had caught fire. The thundering rumble of the
merciless flames was so loud I swear it could have been heard back in
Southampton. We navigated our way through the darkness, and my tears fell on
Ghost’s white fur.

****

After sprinting through the night with only one stop to rest and catch
our breaths, we arrived at the shore. A sliver of moonlight guided us as we
trailed along in silence until the water met the land. In the near distance,
the sloop beckoned to us, hidden away in a small cove.  

“The
Charlotte
,” Daniel announced in a hushed whisper. He led us
to the rowboat beached on the sand. “Supplies into the dory. We’ll ferry them
out first, then come back for people.”

Acalon and Chimalli stepped forward and gathered everyone’s bundles. “We
will go with you,” Acalon said.

Daniel lowered his pack into the dory. As Acalon and Chimalli pushed the
dory into the water, Daniel turned to me. He gave Ghost, still in my arms, a
vigorous scratching between the ears, a thoughtful look on his beautiful face.
The warm sea breeze tossed his hair around a bit, and I was reminded of all the
time we had spent working together on the
Rose
.

Daniel pulled on my braid. “God grant us swift winds tonight.” He kissed
my forehead and spun around to face the water. With a running start, he dove
into the waves and caught up to the dory.

As the rowboat cut through the water, Tizoc came up behind me. His hand
slid along my arm until he clasped it over my hand. He was quiet for a long
moment before tugging me around to face him.

“I cannot begin to repay you and Daniel for taking my family aboard a
ship meant for the two of you. You sacrifice much to help us and delay your own
plans. I am forever in your debt,
Cihuapilli
.” His voice was raspy as if
he were holding back the emotions brimming under his calm exterior.

I touched my palm to his cheek, and he shuddered under the contact.

“Tizoc, you owe me nothing. I feel more a part of your family than of my
own. Your parents and sisters have shown me a love I will carry with me always.
You saved Daniel’s life. It is our honor to take everyone to safety, to new beginnings.”

He pulled me into an embrace, my cheek pressed to his smooth, warm chest.

When I came back from England… when I escaped from that awful
nightmare… I vowed never to leave this place again. There was nowhere I’d rather
be than here,
Tizoc’s voice whispered in my head.
It is only because of
you that I am able to leave.

Me?
I pulled back from him so I could see his face.

I want you, Cihuapilli. In my life, in whatever way that is possible.
I know you and Daniel plan to marry, and I hold such happiness in my heart for
you both. Just the same, I need to be near you. Knowing that you will be in the
new place we find to start again makes all of this easier.

We will always be connected, Tizoc. Always.

I gave him an extra squeeze around the waist then stepped back. He opened
his mouth to say something more, but the sound of pistol fire cut him off. I
frantically scanned the dark tree line behind Tizoc. Black shadows slipped from
the trees onto the sand, headed straight for our group.

“We have to go, Tizoc!” I said, but he collapsed against me.

Citlali let out a scream as she charged toward us, Matlal and Itzli
hurrying behind her. I shouldered Tizoc’s weight and eased him down to the
ground. A stream of blood flowed from his midsection and stained the sand
beneath him.

“Not my
pilli…
” Citlali’s voice cracked as she gave into the sobs,
running her hands over his body, looking for the wound. Yaoti kneeled beside
his son, taking his hand as silent tears trailed down his cheeks.        

“He’s hit here.” Matlal pulled off his vest and blotted it into a crimson
hole in the left side of Tizoc’s back.

The vest soaked up the blood as my heart raced in my chest. Tizoc heaved
in a staccato breath. His eyes closed.

“We need to get out of here,” Yaretzi hissed. “Now!”

The shadows scurried closer. I looked back to the
Charlotte.
The
dory was in the water, paddling back toward us. Glancing down to Tizoc’s head
in my lap, I watched his eyes struggle to stay open.

“Get him to that dory,” I said. “Then go. All of you. Swim if you have
to. Get off this beach and get to the
Charlotte
.”

Hoisting Tizoc up from my lap, Matlal handled the bulk of him while Itzli
grabbed his legs. I grabbed onto Tizoc’s hand, hanging limply by his side as
Matlal and Itzli carried him toward the water. He let out a weak, mumbled
groan. Putting my lips to his hand, I whispered, “I need to be near you too, so
keep breathing.”

I let his hand slip from mine as Matlal and Itzli continued into the
water. Daniel jumped out of the dory to help them.

“Go,” I yelled to the rest of Tizoc’s family. “Hurry!”

“Charlie!” Daniel yelled as I turned back toward the shadows growing nearer.

Xochitl clamped her hand down on my arm and pulled. “Come,
Cihuapilli
!
We must get to the boat!”

“I’ll be right behind you. Go.” I wriggled free of her grasp. I scooped
up Ghost and dumped him, limbs flailing about, into Xochitl’s arms. She did not
question me, but accepted the cat and bolted for the water.

What I was thinking was pure insanity, but I couldn’t let it go. Someone
had put a hole in Tizoc. I had no weapon, no shield, no plan, but rational
thought left me as soon as Tizoc’s body collapsed onto my own.

“Charlotte!” Daniel called again, but I continued to walk away from the
water. Away from him. Daniel was still here because of Tizoc, and if I could do
something—anything—to make sure Tizoc was still here in the morning then
cripes, I was going to do it. Bending down, I plucked up a rock in my path.
Weighing it in my palm, I ran forward, Daniel’s shouts drowning in the wind.

It took no time at all for me to be mere paces away from the Spaniard who
had shot Tizoc. The bruised face was familiar. The guard I had slammed with the
cell door at the palace stood in front of me, his lips turned up in a nasty
snarl. His pistol was trained on me as he spoke.

“Did you think Salazar would let you leave this city after dishonoring
him by escaping his hold?”

“You dishonored him by letting us escape his hold.” My fingers squeezed
the rock in my palm.

“Sassy, aren’t you, miss?” the guard replied. “You need to be taught some
manners.”

“Take your gold and get out of here.”

His fingers closed around the trigger of his weapon, and I did nothing to
move away from it. Before he could fire into me, however, something whipped
down onto his forearm causing him to drop the pistol into the sand.

Zolin hoisted his spear around so the sharpened tip was poised over the
Spaniard as he cradled his almost certainly broken arm. Zolin drew his own arms
back, both hands on the shaft of his spear, preparing to pierce it into the
guard.

“No!” I yelled. “No. I’ll do it.” I grabbed Zolin’s spear and pushed him
away with a reserve of strength I didn’t know I had. I plunged the sharpened
stone tip into the Spaniard’s chest, and he fell to the sand with a muffled
thud.

I picked up the pistol, tucking it into the waist of my breeches. A quick
skim of the beach revealed more Spaniards emerging from the trees in front of
us as more Sunal warriors streamed in from the right and left.

“The call… you heard the call…” I said.

“Yes,” Zolin replied. “Tizoc’s voice rang in our ears. Those of us that
could come are here.”

Water splashed behind me as several Sunal warriors carried dugout canoes
into the sea. Those warriors that weren’t currently fighting off Spaniards
loaded people into the canoes and paddled toward the
Charlotte
.

“Come! They will hold the outsiders back for as long as they can.” Zolin
motioned to the other Sunal warriors.

He threw his massive arm around my waist, hauled me off my feet, and
headed toward one of the canoes. Zolin moved swiftly and with little effort, though
he toted a whole extra person. We reached the canoes in mere moments as the
sound of more gunfire resonated behind us. The Sunal people were sacrificing
themselves so some of us could get away. So some of us could carry on their
culture.

My heart ached in my chest as Zolin tossed me into the canoe. He hopped
in behind me and joined in the furious rowing. Four other canoes surrounded us,
each filled with six Sunal, oars carrying them as fast as was possible toward
the
Charlotte
. The ship had to get moving if it had any chance to be out
of the cove before the Spaniards figured out a way to pursue us. With the
Spanish boats sunk by Salazar himself, they had nothing to sail in, but it
wouldn’t take long to gather some Sunal canoes and engage in a chase.

Tizoc?
My breath caught in my lungs when I didn’t feel a link
right away.
Tizoc, I need you to hear me.

A slight tingling in my head grew in strength as I waited in fear.

Cihuapilli.
His voice and mental presence were cloudy.

You have to tell Daniel to raise the sails and go. I’m safe with Zolin
in one of the canoes following the
Charlotte
. Our call to the others
worked. They are here and more will be saved.

A flicker of increased energy from Tizoc filled my mind.
Zolin? Zolin
is with you?

Yes. We are right behind you, but Daniel needs to leave now or the
Spanish will catch up to us. Tell him to go. Now!

I will… you have to… you have to get on board. I don’t know how long I
can hold on… I’m in the space between this world and the next…

My throat strained as I fought to keep the tears from pouring.
Tizoc
was weak and fading fast. Absolutely helpless in the canoe, I sent a silent
prayer to my God, Tizoc’s gods, any deity that would listen. I had to get to
him.

The loud slap of a sail unfurling and getting caught by the wind had me
whirling my head up to look at the
Charlotte
. Though she was a small
sloop—Daniel had meant her for just the two of us—she looked like a huge, white-winged
bird picking up speed as she slid across the water, maneuvering out of the
cove. Daniel, bless him, trusted me enough to heed my message. I silently
thanked the heavens, and then a wild notion popped into my head.