…I headed home to escape the heat, and there he was… My heart jumped when I recognized the broad shoulders and creased neck. It was my father, returned suddenly from his mission. Across from him, my mother, usually so quiet, was chattering the way she does when she is happiest…

That's when they came in. A war commander I'd never seen before, with two high-ranking warriors, intimidating in all their feathers and gold. My father stood up at once and faced them. They were haughty looking.

My mother offered them bowls of food, but the commander refused… None of them sat down to join us. They spoke to my father about his recent mission—how he and other trusted warriors had been sent to teach obedience to the people of Cuetlaxtlan, who had stopped paying tribute to our emperor. I knew that already. But now the commander said flatly that the warriors had not returned with the tribute and the people's promise of loyalty, as expected. I waited for my father to say that wasn't true, but he was silent. read more