The thing is, it’s so close to what he always said about Suyai that I can’t stop it from hurting. He called her an enabler every chance he got, and she told him he had a savior complex in return.
There’s something different about this time, though.
She doesn’t try to pretend that you’re someone you’re not.
Does he? Does Suyai? I know the answers, but I don’t let myself think about it.
We present our offering to the soldiers at the exit of Ollanta. They look at the horn with wonder. We wrap it up again, weary of wandering eyes. It’s an Intiraymi offering, but we’ve heard enough about the crime in the area since the Aya Runa took over to take chances with something so precious.
The first half of the trek to Cusco ends up passing by in silence, with the rare noise from others on the same path. There’s much less celebration than I know is customary. The people making the trek are more somber than festive. It’s odd. The lead-up to Intiraymi is usually all chicha beer, coca, and music. The most I hear here is a flute whose origin I can’t pinpoint, no matter how much I search.
We stop later than most people for lunch, choosing to chew some coca and avoid the higher traffic areas. By the time we find atambo, the sun is high in the sky, and I’m carrying Mare on my back. It’s easy to hide the pain his weight causes my shoulder when Mare is distracted by the sparse festivities.
Tambos are resting places spaced out evenly along the chaski roads. Chaski families tend to be the ones to run them, always looking over any travelers stopping by. We won’t be able to take advantage of their hospitality. We’re still paranoid of anyone looking too closely at the princess and finding a resemblance to the projection, no matter how much she damaged her face and cut her hair.
We find a secluded area next to a tambo with sacred springs. It’s my lucky day, since my shoulder is burning hot even after Muna stitched me up. I didn’t even get a chicha beer for my troubles. I’ve gotten spoiled by the quick healing of the army. The pain was worse, but this is more inconvenient.
“I’m telling Susu we saw Muna when we see her!” Mare says, like he’s been holding it in this whole time. From the upset look on his face, it seems like he has.
I sigh and rub at my eyes. I’ve been sleeping just fine, and yet I can’t shake this exhaustion.
“I mean it,” he continues. “He’s bad news.”
Mare sounds exactly like Suyai as he repeats her words from years ago, and it sends a pang through my heart. Suyai is waiting for us in Lima. She doesn’t know when we’ll be back, but I know she believes we will be. Suyai worries, but she has faith. We’ll be there soon. There are only a few small things to do.
I just have to save the Inka, restore the princess’s power, and pass trials set up by our Sun god first.
I whisper a curse, and Mare’s frown breaks for a second as he giggles at the word. “Listen buddy, give me a chance to tell her first when we see her, okay?”
He squints at me in suspicion but eventually nods and runs off to play in the trees. Of course, he needs me to carry him when we’re walking down the path, but the moment there’s nature to explore, he’s bouncing off the walls again.
He’s so like me, it wipes the frown off my face.
“Suyai is that girl,” the princess says, and I wait for her to elaborate, but she doesn’t. It’s not like I don’t know what she means, but something in me wants her to say it.
“That girl?”
She hums. “Yes.” She raises one thin black eyebrow, intersected by a healing cut, and stares me down. She’s gorgeous like this. I almost tell her that, but then I remember her tone and Suyai, and I’m angry like I was at Muna all over again.
“That girlis my best friend. She’s everything to me–”
“That’s not true,” she interrupts with one definitive shake of her head. I roll my eyes and am about to answer when she continues. “BecauseI’myour princess.”
My cheeks flare at the way she says those words, slow and certain like it’s a fact of nature. Which, by the Guardians’ law, it is.
“Whatever you say,princess,” I hiss out, but I’m scared it comes out more breathless than angry. “I’m going to the fountains.”
I sit there waiting for a response, but all she does is blush and look away. Fine. I’m already stripping off my chumpi as I walk away.
I take off my clothes at the base of a tree until I’m just in my undergarments. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see my stitches are still closed. The blouses Muna lent us are white, and it’d be impossible to wash off any blood that gets on the material.
Plus, the pain of bursting them open would significantly hinder this trip. The throbbing I feel now is already annoying enough.
There are a few people at the tambo, but I manage to find one fountain at the base of the ceremonial platform that’s empty. The tambo’s ceremonial structure is built on top of a high dais, and it’s inside this that an ancient Inka installed canals to direct the water from the snowcapped mountains to here. It’s most likely from Apu Veronika.
I look up and catch a glance at the respective mountain in the distance. It leaves me breathless. The Guardians are the ones who protect our empire, but the Gods are the ones who created the world it’s in.
Water spurts out of a hole in the platform with enough force to come out in a graceful arc. There’s a small niche on either side meant to put your hands in, forcing you into a humble position to receive water from the sacred springs. I do just that. I face the platform and place one hand in each niche. Then, I lower my head, and ice-cold water pours down my back.
