CHAPTER x.x.xVIII.

An alliance between the Mexican and Tezcucan kings, for the purpose of engaging in a crusade against the Tepanec monarch, was duly effected, and the usual preliminaries--a declaration of war, etc.--were gone through with, preparatory to the opening of hostilities.

Maxtla had reconstructed his imperial army, and his faith in its ability to cope with the combined armies of his adversaries led him to meet the demands made upon him with reckless defiance. He reckoned on having all the advantages of a defensive warfare on his side in which his opponents would be compelled to meet him on ground of his own choosing--a situation which would put him in a position of vantage not to be contemned.

Hualcoyotl, meanwhile, made many kindly advances with a view to reconciling Itlza to their contemplated union. She received his attentions with due respect, and at the same time tried to be affable, but there was that in her conduct which was not natural--a lack of spontaneity of manner, so marked in her former naive, unaffected bearing. The prince saw that he was not succeeding to any appreciable degree, and decided to let matters rest as they were, for the present, hoping that time, and a proper consideration of the advantages held out to her in a marriage with him, would work a favorable change in her inexplicable att.i.tude, thus avoiding a resort to compulsory measures.

Having decided on this course, he turned his attention wholly to state affairs, and the necessary preparations for leading his army to the field against his old enemy.

Ixtlilchoatl was again placed where he could exercise his wonderful genius as a leader of armies, by being put in command of the combined forces of Mexico and Tezcuco, leaving the kings to lead their respective warriors. The great aggregation, with the hermit chief at its head, was soon on the move, and the fight began. The campaign was a vigorous one, which, after a series of hard-fought battles, ended in Maxtla being forced back behind the walls of his capital, where he was encompa.s.sed and a close siege of the royal city entered upon.

In his confidence of being able to repel the invaders of his imperial domain the Tepanec monarch had neglected to provide against such an emergency as a siege, and was, therefore, wholly unprepared for it.

Under such conditions it became, in due time, a question of surrender, or marching out and giving the beleaguerants battle. The result was a ma.s.s sally, and the ensuance of a desperate and b.l.o.o.d.y struggle, which terminated in the complete rout and dispersion of the beleaguered army, and Maxtla's undiscovered flight for personal safety.

The proud city of Azcapozalco was totally destroyed, and those of its inhabitants who were not killed, or did not get away, were doomed to a life of slavery, or death by sacrifice, while the territory of the once dominant empire was converted into a great slave mart--which, in after years, became the central market for that nefarious traffic for the whole of Anahuac.

Maxtla was hunted down, captured and turned over to the mercies of the Aztec king, who condemned him to death at the hands of the priests--a victim of sacrifice to the Mexican G.o.ds. Thus perished the most cruel and despotic of all the named princes of Anahuac, and was avenged one who proved himself to be the peer of the n.o.blest.

In the destruction of the Tepanec domination was removed the only cause of apprehension to the new king of Tezcuco. He returned to his capital in the confidence of a perfect security, and engaged in his kingly duties with a mind free from the fear of invasion or opposition, and with the determination to make his reign a successful and brilliant one, which he did, as history records; in fact, it excelled in wisdom and grandeur that of any known prince of Anahuac, not excepting the Montezumas.

The king was again brought into daily intercourse with his household, a member of which Itlza continued to be. She had kept her own counsel, so far as her affairs with the prince and Cacami were concerned, leaving her family in ignorance of what had transpired. There had come a settled purpose in the expression of her face, which was careworn and deeply thoughtful.

Feeling secure in his rights as the king of Tezcuco, Hualcoyotl now felt that his palace should have a queen, and he resolved to bring matters between himself and Itlza to a crisis. So the first opportunity which should offer itself was to be improved to inform her that the marriage must take place at an early day. He had gone too far to recede from his purpose of making her his wife. He was a man of firmness, and would not be defeated in the accomplishment of designs so closely affecting his honor. He was a king, and the wish of a king was law.

It so happened that he met Itlza at the entrance to the conservatory, and, deeming it a favorable opportunity to make known his wishes, he requested her to accompany him within. He conducted her to the same bench on which she was seated at their former meeting.

Itlza divined the object he had in asking her to go with him to that sadly memorable spot, and her soul was filled with apprehension as to what would follow. When she was seated, Hualcoyotl, who continued to occupy a standing posture before her, began by saying:

"Itlza, you no doubt understand why I have brought you here. It is to talk with you about our marriage. You asked me for time. I have granted it to you to an extent which should satisfy you that I am desirous of showing you the greatest consideration. I have chosen to exalt you by making you my queen; in doing which I feel that I am conferring honorable distinction upon a most worthy family, as well as gratifying the fondest wish of my heart. I now ask that you will prepare to wed me at an early day. Let us have done with pleadings and expostulations, and look forward to our union with that happy antic.i.p.ation which should mark the period of an approaching coronation of a lovely queen."

"You and yours, O King, have ever been friends of my people. From time immemorial my ancestors have served yours, and will doubtless continue to do so, faithfully and loyally. May I not ask, as the child of Euzelmozin, O Hualcoyotl, and, still, as the sister of your loyal servitor and friend, Euetzin, that you will deal kindly with us--me and mine, in this hour of my distress? I am sorely troubled, yes, even unto death."

Her pleading look and words were strangely at variance with the subject of marriage which the king had introduced, and he looked deeply perplexed--dazed--in consequence.

"Those are strange words, Itlza, very strange, indeed, coming from you, whom it is proposed to raise to the highest place a woman can fill in our country. What is the matter? It can not be that I am so repulsive, so repellant. Speak, Itlza, tell me; is this so?"

"O, no! no! You are the peer of the greatest and best, and worthy to wed whom you will; but, Hualcoyotl, I can not be your queen. I throw myself at your feet, and upon your compa.s.sion, imploring that you will send me away--forget me." She had dropped upon her knees in front of him, and was looking beseechingly up into his face. He gazed at her in confused amazement, and presently said:

"What have I done, O Itlza, to merit this remarkable rejection of my proposal?"

"You have done nothing, O best of friends. It is all my own doing; I have put an impa.s.sable barrier between us," she answered, dropping her head as if to hide her face from an expected blow.

"A barrier between us! What do you mean? Speak, I beseech you, and end this unparalleled and humiliating scene," spoke the patience-tried prince.

With head bowed down, the kneeling maiden answered in a shrinking voice:

"I mean, O king, that I am the wife of another."

Now, indeed, was Hualcoyotl dumbfounded. Had the earth opened at his feet he could not have been more astounded. He finally said, becoming angry and excited:

"Who has dared to come between the king and his chosen--his intended queen?"

Itlza was almost prostrated from the strain upon her feelings; and now, at hearing the prince's angry tones, began to sink, but managed, in a hoa.r.s.e whisper, to say "Cacami," and then fell to the ground insensible.

Hualcoyotl was staggered as by a blow when he heard the name of Cacami fall from Itlza's lips. That estimable young warrior, counted among his closest friends, had deceived him. He turned away for a moment to strive with his rising anger and feelings of resentment; then back to where Itlza was lying. He looked at her in a commiserating manner, and exclaimed in a hard, pained voice:

"Itlza! Itlza! this from you, whom Hualcoyotl would have delighted to honor, and been so proud!" Her appearance seemed to stir the n.o.bler impulses within the man, for he knelt down and began trying to bring about her resuscitation. While thus engaged he was suddenly made aware of the presence of Itzalmo, who, in pa.s.sing through the conservatory, had discovered him striving with the unconscious maiden, and, becoming alarmed, cried out:

"Father of Light! what is the meaning of this? Is the child dead?"

"She is not dead, but 'twere better if she was," returned the prince, without pausing in his efforts to restore her to consciousness.

"Your words, O King, are very strange. Why do you speak thus?"

"I can not explain to you now, Itzalmo. You will retire, and at the instance of the king have Cacami arrested immediately. Go at once, and seek not to know more at present," returned he, showing great but restrained excitement.

Itzalmo left the conservatory in a state of wonderment at what he had seen and heard, and went immediately to execute the command of the king.

Itlza gradually returned to consciousness, through the endeavors of the prince, and, when sufficiently recovered to walk, was conducted in silence to her mother, who was told that she had fainted.

In a semiconscious condition she was taken charge of by her attendants, while the king pa.s.sed to his private apartments to compose, if possible, his overwrought feelings.

In obedience to the king's fiat, Itzalmo had Cacami arrested and placed in confinement, to await the further action of his royal master.

Cacami was not surprised at his apprehension. He felt quite certain that a disclosure of his secret marriage would take place, should the king persist in pressing his suit with Itlza, which he did not doubt he would do, and which would be followed by his arrest and committal. He had taken the fatal step, knowing the consequences which would in all probability ensue, and now met them as became a man of courage, which he had on more than one occasion proven himself to be.

The king was distracted to the verge of madness at what he considered his humiliation, and in the heat of pa.s.sion could think of nothing but punishment for the man who had brought it upon him. He therefore permitted no delay to occur in entering his charge against Cacami. In placing his charge, he put the case beyond his authority, and at the absolute disposal of a Tezcucan court of justice.

Hualcoyotl, in reestablishing the Tezcucan government, among other things, we may presume, adopted the laws and means of enforcing them which had prevailed at the close of his esteemed father's reign.

Although the governments of Anahuac were to a certain extent despotic, there was to be found much in them that was commendable; especially was this true of Tezcuco.

The enforcement of the laws was vested in a tribunal of justice, composed of judges appointed by the king, an appeal from which might be taken to a supreme magistrate, the highest authority in the government, from whose decision there was no appeal, not even to the king himself, though he had the power to make or unmake the court. We infer that, under certain circ.u.mstances, these courts were combined, forming a court whose findings were final. In the hands of such a tribunal rested the fate of Cacami and Itlza, the latter depending on the result of the former's arraignment.

We are told that the court proceedings were conducted with the greatest decorum. The judges wore a peculiar and appropriate dress, and were attended by officers whose duty it was to preserve order, while others summoned and brought the parties into court.

The court records were portrayed in hieroglyphical paintings, from which the decision of the judges was made. If the sentence proved to be capital, it was indicated by a line traced with an arrow across the portrait of the condemned, which was always a part of the record.

When the lovers determined to stake their lives on their fidelity to each other, they proceeded to settle the matter, at once and for all, by uniting themselves in marriage, which they did just before the armies of Mexico and Tezcuco marched against Maxtla, in which campaign Cacami bore a brave and honorable part. The ceremony of marriage was performed by a priest, in the prescribed form, and no earthly power could nullify its force, except a due process of law, and then only on just grounds for divorce, so strict was the law of marriage among these semicivilized people.

When Euetzin and his mother learned the true situation of affairs, the latter was horrified at the terrible dilemma into which her child had been brought, and was entirely overcome and prostrated from the effects of it. Euetzin was greatly troubled, dividing his sympathy between his friends. Having so lately experienced the power of love in his own case, with Mitla, he was deeply moved with compa.s.sion for his much-loved sister, and also felt a deep, friendly interest for Cacami.

He was more hopeful of a favorable termination of the matter than anyone else, if, as he suspected, there was reason in the mad step they had taken. He resolved to enter the case, and, if in his power, clear the good name of his beloved sister, and that of his friend, from all opprobrium, and restore to them their freedom and their love.

CHAPTER x.x.xIX.