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“Coatlicue,” I whispered, closing my eyes. “Skirt of Snakes, I offer you Isador blood to honor you. Please forgive me—”
A snake hissed in my ear. Not angry like the small red snake She’d given me to wear around my throat until I could use it to kill Ra. Though it was a warning. To be still. Admonishment. From a Mother—to a beloved child.
Itztli drew my blood with expert precision. It took me a moment to recognize the symbol. A sun, like the black tattoo on his cheek. Then a spiral, like his brother’s. “Black sun, red spiral. The symbols Citla gave us from Teotihuacan. She escaped House Tocatl so we might be here today. We honor you, Mother.”
My throat ached. “We honor you, Esetta and Selena, the mothers who died so I too might be here today.”
Tlacel’s eyes flared. “Esetta and Selena, we honor you.”
Itztli repeated the words, but Mayte couldn’t. Her head tipped to the side, her brow furrowed. “Whatever you’re saying at the beginning, I can’t quite understand. Selena, we honor you.”
In the bonds, I felt a surge of jubilation from Gerard, Khalid, and Nox.
:We can remember her name,: Nox said. :Thank you for giving us back Esetta’s name, my queen.:
“My true mother’s name,” I told her, shaking my head. “Be glad you can’t yet hear it, or you would have died with me today.”
She leaned closer, tipping her forehead to mine. “I will gladly die when you die, my queen. As long as Xochitl lives.”
“She needs you,” I protested. “Stay alive as long as possible. I meant to ask you about the alliance you requested with House Vitória but I’ve been running from one emergency to the next since Gina presented the offer to me. Are you happy with Jacinta’s offer?”
“Quite pleased. In fact, we’ve had so many offers I’ve not dared reach out until we had a chance to discuss this first one. I didn’t want to step on your toes if you wished to take them as direct siblings to House Isador.”
“I’ve got more than I can keep up with now.” I blew out a rueful sigh. “Besides, you’re free to make arrangements for your own house and Xochitl’s future as you see fit.”
Mayte’s lips quirked and she laughed softly. “You are quite unlike other queens, Shara Isador.”
“How’s that?”
“Allowing me to form alliances beneath you does strengthen your house, but it greatly influences Zaniyah’s standings first.”
I nodded, waiting for her to go on.
“Which allows Zaniyah to prosper doubly, triply, perhaps more. Not just in properties and finances but in power as well.”
“But that’s the whole point of forming alliances. What am I missing?”
“You could require them to come to you and completely eliminate any association with my house at all. You could exclude Xochitl from any of the arrangements in favor of your own future heirs.”
“But I want you to prosper. Look how many Blood you have now. When we came to Mexico, you only had four, and now I see seven. Besides, I’ve already named her my heir, regardless of any future children I may have.” Though I couldn’t help but remember the name Medusa had given to me, if I chose to have a Gorgon queen.
How close little Seren had been today to never existing at all.
“Again, most queens only care about their own house. They don’t want to lose one drop of power that could be theirs.”
I squeezed her hand. “The stronger you are, the stronger I am. I welcome you to take as many siblings and Blood as you wish.”
“Besides, most of these houses who have reached out to me probably wouldn’t have dared make an offer to Isador anyway.”
My head tipped, my brow furrowed. “Why not?”
“They don’t know you like we do.” Her face softened and she gentled her voice. “They would be too afraid to even ask.”
33
TLACEL
Ineeded no prodding from my alpha to offer myself to our queen. While talking with my sister, she might have forgotten, but Shara hungered. We all felt it.
