know how the Nahuatl write? They draw pictures! Do you know how the Quechua keep accounts? They tie knots in string! When I am God-King of the world, I will teach them knowledge! How can you argue against this?”
I chose not to answer. “How do you plan to summon Focalor without the Circle of Shalomon?” I asked instead.
He tapped his chest. “There is a part of his essence inside me. It will call to him. All I need is for you to open the door.”
“Focalor nearly consumed you whole last time, Raphael,” I said softly. “What makes you think this time will be different?”
His eyes flashed. “I’ve had years of learning to contain him! And it is me the Quechua worship, not the fallen spirit. It feeds me and gives me greater power.” He laughed. “I know you are trying to tell them I’m not a god. It doesn’t matter. Nothing you say matters.” He gestured at the ants. “They can see that I have a great gift worthy of worship; and afterward, I will be a living god.”
“If you are wrong, you unleash great devastation on the world,” I murmured. “I saw storm-tossed waves and a thousand sinking ships in Focalor’s eyes.”
“I’m not wrong!” Raphael shouted. “Gods! Why must you always argue against my destiny, Moirin?” With an effort, he calmed himself. “Did you see the temples of human sacrifice in Tenochtitlan? The tens of thousands of human skulls?”
“Aye,” I said. “But—”
“But nothing!” Lightning flickered in his eyes. “Once Focalor’s power is mine, I can put a stop to it with a word. After I am made the Sapa Inca, I can lay claim to the Nahuatl Empire, too. I will not even need an army. I can threaten to sink the entire city beneath the lake; or withhold the rains until they starve.”
“The Master of the Straits never used his power thusly,” I noted.
Raphael sighed. “Yes, and think how much good he might have done had he dared. How is it that you will not see this, Moirin?” He made his voice gentle. “I will make the world a better place.”
I gazed across the table at him and saw a vision of the future unfurling between us. I saw the great temples and palaces of Terra Nova fallen into ruin, neglected and abandoned, some reclaimed by the jungle, others razed to the ground. I saw the hollow-eyed skulls of the tzompantli crushed to splinters by booted feet. I saw complex hanks of knotted thread and scrolls of pictographic writing consumed by flames. I saw a sea of copper-brown faces set in expressions of stoic despair.
I saw Desirée seated on a throne beside Raphael, blank-faced as a doll.
“No,” I whispered. “It does not work that way, my lord. Ah, gods! Raphael, I fear that if you seek to order the world to your liking, you will set in motion forces you do not understand. You cannot know the consequences.”
His face went stony. “And you do?”
“I see them,” I said helplessly.
In an abrupt motion, Raphael pushed his chair back from the table. The ants stirred attentively, hurrying down the rope. “Do you think I do not know the history of your folk?” he asked. “The Maghuin Dhonn failed to use the gift of sight wisely, and your bear-goddess herself took it from you long ago, Moirin. Didn’t she?”
“Aye, but—”
He loomed over me. “You claim to see. Have you ever glimpsed a vision of the future that proved true?”
I hadn’t.
I hadn’t, because every dire vision I’d been afforded, I’d found a way to avert. But I could not say so to Raphael, and so I held my tongue.
“I didn’t think so,” he said with satisfaction. Picking up a small earthenware bell, he rang it, summoning his handmaidens, my inept young spy Cusi among them. “Take your mistress back to her quarters, little one,” he ordered her. “I’ve no further taste for her company tonight.”
Eyes downcast, Cusi bobbed in her approximation of a curtsy. “Yes, Lord Pachacuti.”
A stream of ants followed us back to my quarters. Elua help me, I was beginning to take their presence for granted.
My thoughts chased one another in a futile endeavor, like a dog seeking to catch its own tail. Somewhat that Raphael had said tonight teased at my thoughts, but I could not catch it, only circle around it. Remembering Master Lo’s teaching, I did my best to let go, breathing the Five Styles, willing my mind to be still and letting one thought give rise