| Read an excerpt from Delora's Necklace:
“I am Ashwan, grandson of Ahalo, the astronomer, and son of Halach Uinic, supreme ruler of all lands and cities under his power. I am an astronomer like my grandfather, who taught me patience to observe the heavenly bodies as they move across the sky. I strive to discover the secret of the changing seasons and how our crops grow with the harmony of the universe.”
“Many years ago, you were the granddaughter of Oconte, a nobleman scribe, and daughter of Oconte the second, who is my father’s scribe. The necklace you wear was given to you by Oconte’s wife, your grandmother, on the day we met.”
At that point, a roar from the stadium below turned their attention to a perfect view of a sporting match that seemed to be coming to an end.
“Ah, the pok ta pok game is ending,” Ashwan said. “It has been going on for several days, but it seems that the red team has scored the one goal needed to win. I think you may not want to watch what happens next. Though you were always fond of watching the games, you never enjoyed the final act.”
“Are you kidding?” Delora bristled. “I haven’t missed a football game in Miami for the last four years, and some of the best plays went right down to the wire.”
“And how many players from the losing team do they behead?” Ashwan asked.
“Did you say…behead?”
Delora watched, riveted, as the teams assembled in two lines facing each other, seven players on each side. She took in the sloping walls that bounded the playing field. The walls were carved with reliefs of games and spectators.
“See the ball?” Ashwan asked. “It bounces off the targets on the walls to mimic the movement of the stars in the sky. The opposing teams symbolize the struggle between the gods of the underworld and those of the sky. That is why a sacrifice must occur, to ensure the earth’s fertility.”
“Now you’re scaring me,” Delora said, as she watched one player from the green team being led to a platform at the far end of the stadium. Then, a large man with a gold breastplate and an elaborate headdress ascended the steps at the back of the platform.
“That is the priest and executioner,” said Ashwan. “Sometimes, prisoners of war are executed at the end of the game instead of ball players, but today, there are no prisoners.”
Delora couldn’t believe what she was witnessing. As the athlete kneeled on the platform, the priest raised his sword and with one swift blow, the head was severed from his body. The head rolled a few feet before settling, and the athlete’s body collapsed on the platform.
Delora let out a high-pitched scream. Ashwan grabbed her and covered her mouth with his hand.
She swatted his hand away. “Let go of me! I don’t rattle easily, but I want to know what’s going on!” Anger welled up in her as she struggled to squirm loose from his grip.
Ashwan took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You have witnessed a common ritual in our culture,” he said. “I am sure your life is very different now in your Mi-a-mi, but your life used to be here. Give it time, and you will remember.”
“What if I don’t want to remember? What if I just want to go home?” Her usual ability to remain calm under pressure was beginning to fail her.
“Come with me, and I will tell you the whole story.” Ashwan extended his hand to help Delora up.
“Not so fast,” she retorted. Looking up at this devastating stranger, who stood a head taller than she, Delora calculated her ability to outrun him.
“Then listen to me here and now. Many, many years ago, when you were fifteen years old and I was twenty, you and I loved each other…deeply. Our families were estranged because our grandfathers had quarreled over a discrepancy in astrological calculations. I do not think anyone remembers why the feud continued, but it did. Your parents and mine knew of each other but had never met, so when you and I met by accident at the cenote closest to our city, we did not know each other. It was only later that your father became my father’s scribe.”
“Back up a minute,” Delora said. “What’s a cenote?”
“You must remember the cenotes. They are immense caverns with deep, cool water. Some are completely underground and some are open to the sky. The cenote where we met is called Cenote Dzitnup, and it is sacred to our city. Without it, our people would die and the jaguar and monkey would leave our jungle. It has no bottom, so when we offer a sacrifice to the cenote, it lands in the lap of a god.”
“Would any of those sacrifices be human?” Delora asked, shuddering.
“Yes, sometimes virgins are sacrificed to the gods. I could not let that happen to you, which is why we married so quickly.”
“We’re married?” Delora had to laugh. “Please, give me a break. Don’t you think I’d remember that?”
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