High Tides by Dirk van den Boom

Author:Dirk van den Boom [Boom, Dirk van den]
Language: deu
Format: epub
Tags: Science-Fiction
ISBN: 9783864028427
Publisher: Atlantis Verlag Guido Latz
Published: 2022-04-30T22:00:00+00:00

23

The second time Ixchel and Janab met for the occasion of a ball game. King Bahlam had called on teams from all the allied cities to come together for a tournament to pass the waiting time in a meaningful way. Although the departure was in the air, the gathered troops were still camped around B’aakal, and preparations were not yet complete, presenting a good opportunity to express friendly rivalry in a ball game.

The city’s playground was large and magnificently decorated, the tiers filled with spectators, neatly sorted by city and all willing to cheer on their representatives. There was a festive atmosphere. No one would die or be sacrificed today as a consequence of a divine judgment. The losers would feel a little ashamed, but that was the biggest injury to be expected, besides the usual bruises that the small, hard ball would cause.

There was also no coincidence that they sat next to each other. Word had spread of the king’s plans regarding their marriage, and it was significant that for all the real or feigned joy, the looks Janab received were sometimes envious – that flattered Ixchel –, and those she met sometimes expressed pity. Ixchel didn’t particularly like pity, at least not as the recipient of it, and noticed that she was beginning to develop something like a protective instinct for Janab, who would not resist, or only weakly resist, the subtle insults and put-downs of some young men, especially those of the same age. He was used to it, she realized with some horror. Not that he didn’t notice. He sometimes winced a little when a particularly well-worded point, clothed in a shell of apparent politeness, hit him, unassailable, unblamable, and thus all the more effective. Neither did his father seem interested in defending him, sometimes regarding his son with a certain contempt, a disappointment that surely pained Janab even more than the insolence of his peers. Ixchel had never had to experience anything like that. Her parents had always been strict, but at the same time appreciative, and never had any of the children been belittled. Reprimands were given for serious misconduct and insubordinate behavior, but never arbitrarily and never as a fundamental criticism of character and nature.

Janab had, the picture was becoming increasingly clear, had other experiences.

Ixchel felt pity. That wasn’t quite as bad as being the target of that emotion, but with it she felt her efforts at cool detachment from her future forced husband begin to crumble. When a young daughter of a nobleman touched her on the arm, looked at Janab, and then whispered, “At least he’s a prince, if he’s nothing else,” hot anger rose within her. She stared at the girl of about the same age, contorted her face into an icy smile, and replied, “That nothing is more than you’ll ever be.”

That was childish. But it worked. Ixchel was no longer addressed, and the pitying looks slowly turned into mockery. This soon put her on an equal footing

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