Chapter XVI

As the line of Pizarro’s marching men drew near, the Sun Virgins lifted the tapestry of gold that shaded their monarch from the glare of the sun, and Atahualpa watched the scene with deep gleaming eyes. The majestic Queen Mother saw the flashing armor and streaming guidons through a mist of tears. The Inca’s wives were in a flutter of suppressed excitement.

Pacha leaned close to her son’s ear and whispered:

“Son of my heart, hear the last cry of the mother who bore you--strike while there is yet time!”

The Inca straightened his fine young figure with pride.

“I am an emperor. I know no fear. I do not see these strange creatures as enemies to be crushed. They are messengers from another world to be received as guests, studied and used for our future progress.”

“Circle the city with your army, capture them, and make your studies at your leisure, I beg of you,” his mother urged.

The Inca lifted his hand in stern command: “Enough. I have spoken.”

So Pizarro entered the city--and with no resistance. He marched through its deserted streets in dead silence. He might have wondered at this, but he had been informed by the envoy that all inhabitants had withdrawn to make room for his troops. It was so. Not a man, woman, child, or animal had been left behind. The silence was uncanny. The echo of horses’ hoofs and soldiers’ heavy shoes reverberated with weird sounds. At the entrance to the city they had passed a majestic temple adjoining a convent in which dwelt the Virgins of the Sun, but there was no sign of life in either building. The capital of an empire was deserted.

The main street through which they marched led to a large triangular plaza which recalled to Pizarro the Zocodoro of Toledo. And with the memory came the new consciousness of his destiny as the Viceroy of a mighty Christian Emperor.

He halted, surveyed the scene with care, dismounted, and with his brother, Hernando, and De Soto inspected the buildings. Spacious halls with wide openings on the square filled one side. At the further end of the plaza stood a fortress with a main stairway leading from the city and a smaller one from the country beyond. On rising ground commanding the whole city stood another fortress of hewn stone surrounded by three walls of massive masonry.

The sun was now obscured by the clouds of a coming storm and Pizarro decided to send a delegation at once to inform the Inca of his arrival. He selected for this delicate and tragically important mission Hernando De Soto, not his overbearing and rash elder brother. He had been quick to appreciate the sterling qualities of the cavalier who had brought a hundred volunteers to his standard when sorely needed. His brother had gained an unwholesome influence over Francisco Pizarro, but in this moment of supreme trial his brain overruled his heart and he selected the man best fitted to the task.

De Soto gathered fifteen horsemen, among whom rode Teresa and Gaspara. He was not going forth to battle. His mission was one of diplomacy. At the last moment, struck by the small force sent on such a novel mission, the commander ordered his brother Hernando to follow as rear guard with twenty more horsemen.

Between the city and the camp of the Inca on the slopes of the hills stretched a wide meadow, across which ran a stone-built causeway. Across this paved highway the little squadron of fifteen horses galloped with banners flying and lances set. A mile brought them to the Peruvian camp. Before each tent stood the lances and battle-axes of the men within. A few Indian troopers lounged along the highway and watched the strange procession of horses and men with profound astonishment. They had not yet fully comprehended the fact that horse and man were not a single being. To their eyes, unaccustomed to the sight of a horse, they were looking at a curious kind of human centaur with the four legs and feet of a beast and the head and upper body of a man.

At the outer edge of the greensward on which the pavilion of the Inca stood, Hernando Pizarro, unable to restrain his curiosity spurred his horse forward and joined De Soto.

Atahualpa was seated Turkish fashion on a huge gold-meshed cushion in front of the pavilion of his baths, surrounded by a group of richly robed noblemen accompanied by their wives. The entire corps of five hundred Virgins of the Sun from the Convent of Caxamalca attended the sovereign under the leadership of Yma.

The monarch’s face was a mask that gave no inkling of the thoughts passing in his brain. He wore his full robes of State.

The High Priest, or _Villac Vmu_, was also in full regalia and an even more striking figure than the Inca. Above a dark sleeveless garment covering the old man’s body was wound a silk-like white toga adorned with gold and precious stones, bordered with red fringe and tassels. His bare arms were circled by bangles. From his left wrist by a chain of gold hung the concave mirror with which, at the feast of Raymi, he had kindled the sacred fire on the Sun God’s altar. On his head he wore a tiara-like crown blazing with the emblem of the Sun, and below his chin was fastened the golden sickle of the new moon. The invaders noted with surprise that the High Priest’s make-up was strikingly like that of an important dignitary of their own church.

In keeping with his jealous, overbearing character, Hernando Pizarro usurped De Soto’s place as spokesman and without dismounting from his horse, addressed the Inca.

“We have come, Your Highness, ambassadors from my brother, commander of the white men, to inform you of his arrival in Caxamalca. Subjects of a mighty prince beyond the seas, we are here, drawn by reports of your powers and your victories, to offer our services and proclaim the doctrines of the true religion which we profess. My brother, as general in command and Viceroy of our Emperor, Charles V, invites you to visit him at his present quarters.”

To this the Inca made no reply although its purport had been made clear by Felipillo the interpreter. He did not so much as lift his head.

A nobleman standing near broke the embarrassed silence by murmuring:

“It is well.”

With rare discretion Hernando Pizarro restrained his anger at the apparent affront and again urged the Inca to speak. His manner was ever courteous.

“We are distressed and puzzled at Your Highness’ silence. We beg to know what is your pleasure?”

A little smile played about the Inca’s fine mouth and he slowly replied:

“Tell your captain that I am keeping a fast that will end to-morrow morning. I will then visit him with my staff. In the meantime, he may occupy the public buildings on the square and no others, till I come, when I will order what shall be done.”

The cool peremptory tone in which the command was given was not lost on the Spaniards, particularly on De Soto, a man of far greater poise and judgment than Hernando Pizarro.

In the moments of embarrassed silence which followed, Teresa who had reined her white charger beside De Soto, saw her opportunity to win a personal contact with the camp that might lead to a clew of Molina’s fate. That he was alive, she was absolutely sure. Noting the keen interest in her horse taken by the Inca and mistaking the intense gaze of Yma she instantly determined on the plan.

She suddenly gave her horse the rein, dashed furiously over the level ground, wheeled, charged, recharged, and displayed her excellent horsemanship before the wondering throng. Swinging back to the royal pavilion she brought her charger to his haunches so close to the Inca that the foam of his mouth touched the monarch’s robe. The crowd surged in a wave of alarm and a guard standing beside Yma drew back in terror and dropped his lance.

The girl stared for a moment at Teresa. She knew, then, this Daughter of the Sun. For she loved. She loved a strange god-man from beyond the peaks, from beyond the borderless sea. She loved him with all the fervor of her race, with all the warm passion that centuries of sun worship had endowed her, and she knew. Her love tore away Teresa’s mannish garb. The Spanish girl stood before her as if naked. And Yma knew this was her adversary. She stared, and in her gaze was tender challenge. Also there was a look of fear, but she smothered it, and denounced the lancer’s cowardice to the Inca.

The Emperor was stern. Also, it might have been that he wished to make an impression. He ordered the man’s instant death.

Teresa sprang from her horse, and the act created the greatest consternation among the natives. The strange being had divided into two parts before their eyes! The Inca alone seemed unconcerned.

Teresa appealed for the man’s life.

“I beg of Your Highness to remember that your guard had never before seen a horse. Mine is so fierce and beautiful it was not to be wondered at that the man lost his head for a moment. As an act of good will toward me and my people I ask his pardon.”

The monarch stared in new amazement as he recognized the woman beneath the shining coat of mail.

The Inca smilingly replied:

“His life is spared, and he will follow you as your servant.”

The trembling guard sprang to Teresa’s side murmuring his gratitude. Yma attempted too late to warn the Inca.

“Recall him, oh, Lord of the Sun,” she begged. “He will surely reveal the secret of Molina’s prison and I shall be lost--recall him!”

The monarch sternly refused and waved the girl back to her duties as hostess of the royal household.

At her command the Sun Virgins swarmed about their visitors offering delicious wines in huge goblets of gold. The Spaniards drank with eager grip on the massive yellow vessels and sharp eyes for the beauties who served.

Yma cleared the space before the ranks of mailed Knights and led her five hundred Virgins of the Sun in a dance of enchanting beauty. From the space behind the Inca’s seat, the strains of music came with far-off plaintive call. The swaying bodies of the girls were again the incarnation of the soft sensuous strains.

The cavaliers rode back to Pizarro in silence, depressed at the vast display of power, and fired by the beauty of the magnificent reception accorded them. They could not escape the feeling of sheep fattened for the slaughter. A trap had been set, they had walked into it, and the gate had closed behind them.