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Together, all the villages were composed of some hundreds of people—all present today to see Sergio do his yearly sacrifice.
Yet by this point, they must have already been served the stew, the psychedelic slowly seeping into their systems and getting them ready for what Noelle had in mind.
“Sergio won’t even know what hit him,” she joked as they hid in a corner, waiting for Sergio to make his debut onto the makeshift stage that had been built in the middle of the courtyard.
“I can’t wait to see his face when he realizes what’s happening,” Lucero chuckled.
“Is everything else ready, too?”
Lucero nodded.
“I released all the horses from the stables. When they hear the sound, they will panic and run around.”
“Good. What about the other thing I asked you?”
“It wasn’t easy,” Lucero pursed her lips. “But I managed to attach it to his belt. Luckily he’d had two bowls of stew so his aim wasn’t very good.”
“Tell me he didn’t grope you.”
“He wanted to. Didn’t succeed.”
“Good.”
“You still haven’t told me what you mean to do with that,” Lucero frowned.
“It’s better you don’t know until the moment is right,” Noelle smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Lucero pursed her lips but she didn’t say anything more. Instead, she just handed Noelle the basket with the goods.
“They aren’t poisonous, so don’t worry too much.”
“They can still strangle me to death,” Noelle joked.
“I don’t think it’s the time to think of such scenarios.”
“You’re right,” Noelle sighed. “Just look at him,” she nodded towards the stage.
There were two bands playing. One on the right side of the stage and the other on the left side.
Sergio was garbed in a colorful tunic held together by a gold band. He had an ostentatious headdress on—a symbol of his status. And as he walked among the villagers, they all knelt before him, blessing him and thanking him for all he’d done for the region.
Some women wept. Others fainted from being so close to thegod. The men, too, sported a perpetual expression of awe as their knees trembled.
Noelle’s lips curled in disdain as she watched the way Sergio preened at the adoration coming his way. And that’s how she knew that it wasn’t all about the money, or the authority to conduct his business as he pleased. No, it all came down to his ego being constantly fed with this obscene veneration.
“It’s starting,” Lucero whispered as the music suddenly changed to a quieter melody.
“Bienvenido a todos,” Sergio’s voice boomed as he spoke into the microphone.
“I’m surprised he didn’t require you on the stage, too,” her friend commented.
“I’m not. He knows how much the people dislike me and he wants to keep it this way. If he had invited me there, it would have meant he was acknowledging me publicly, and that’s the last thing he wanted.”
“You know,” Lucero licked her lips, her head tilted to the side. “There’s something that I just don’t understand.”
“What is it?” Noelle turned towards her.
“If you ignore what you did to him on the wedding night, why was he so adamant to marry you—an outsider? He would have known the people wouldn’t take well to you, as they are doing right now.”
