The Talk

Candlelight blazed, flashing over the gold and silver carvings in the magnificent royal hall; bonfires roared, casting dazzling streams of color across the gorgeous murals of the gods.

The doors of the great hall were shut tight. Within were only two men and their attendants. All around, no one spoke; the silence was heavy and solemn. Avet's gaze lifted slightly as he stared at the mural on the palace ceiling.

The Sun God, the God of War, the Mexica Guardian Deity Huitzilopochtli stood at the very center of the Sky, wearing feathers spread like sunlight, holding a spear-thrower that radiated thunder and lightning, looking down upon dozens of Subordinate Gods and countless people. And below him to the left was the god of death with a black wolf's head and a long red tongue, loyally guarding the rising of the sun—Xolotl.

Farther back came the Rain God Tlaloc, the primordial sun Tezcatlipoca, the god of day and night Ometeotl, the god of the hunt Mixcoatl, and the Fire God Quetzalzin.

In this ceiling mural, the order of the Subordinate Gods had been deliberately arranged, as though laden with profound meaning. Yet among the Subordinate Gods, Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent widely worshiped by all the tribes under heaven, was nowhere to be seen. It was clearly a new painting completed not long after the religious reform.

Avet gazed at the divine mural on the ceiling, deep in silent thought. The Main God of the sun shone over the four directions! No matter how valiant and warlike the god of death was, no matter how thunderous his renown, he remained the Main God's loyal Subordinate God, forever guarding the sun's ascent, never showing the slightest disobedience. And the dwelling of the god of death lay in the western lands of sunset, desolate