Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky by David Bowles

Author:David Bowles
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781941026731
Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
Published: 2018-03-26T16:00:00+00:00

In Chichen Itza, the great Ah Mex Kuuk had died not long after Hunak Keel’s coronation, vacating the title of Chak Xib Chaak, Red Rain God of the East. But he had left behind his son, Kaan Ek—the obsidian serpent of the Water Witches, handsome and noble like his father, destined to lead his people.

Kaan Ek was a dreamer. He was also deadly cruel. When he was but seven years old, he killed a butterfly and shredded its wings between his fingers, staining them with brilliant color. That night, he dreamt he became a black caterpillar, fat and blotchy.

When he was fourteen, he found a small deer caught in a hunter’s noose. With his obsidian blade he gutted the fawn, which cried out weakly for its mother, and tore out its heart to offer it to the dark gods that grant sorcerous skills to their followers. His hands were covered in blood. That night he dreamt he was a ravenous jaguar. When he awoke, the vision stayed with him all day, dimpling his smooth cheeks with a strange smile.

When Kaan Ek turned twenty-one, he was selected for the position of Chak Xib Chaak, Red Rain God of the East, one of the four leaders of Chichen Itza. Rulers of every nation in the League of Mayapan attended the ceremony, including Hanuk Keel, whom Kaan Ek revered as an uncle because of his father’s debt to the man. But there was no love in his heart for the sovereign of Mayapan—their ties were political, expedient, tenuous.

“Lord Kaan Ek,” the king said after the ceremony had ended, “my congratulations on your well-deserved position. You do remember my wife, Queen Ix Taakin Ek? And this is our daughter Sak Nikte. You have not seen her since she was a child, I believe.”

Kaan Ek greeted the princess with the formality and deference that custom demanded. But that night he did not dream. He did not sleep at all. He wept till morning, the first tears his cruel eyes had ever shed.

That morning he knew sadness. Desire. Despair.

Determination.

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