Temple

'Warriors,' he said, turning to face the seven surviving warriors of the village. 'You will come with me, to this temple that Vilcafor speaks of. If these rapas come from within that building, then we will just have to put them back inside it. We shall lure them into the temple with the song of the wet idol and then we shall shut them back inside it. Now go, gather together whatever weapons you can muster.'

The warriors hurried off.

'Lena,' said Renco.

'Yes, brother?' His beautiful sister appeared at his side.

She smiled at me as she arrived, her eyes gleaming.

'I'll need the largest bladder you can find,“ said Renco.

'Filled with rainwater.'

'It will be done,' said Lena, hastening away.

'What about Hernando?' I inquired of Renco. 'What if he arrives while we are engaged in returning the rapas to their lair?'

Said Renco, 'If, as my sister reports, he is following us with Chanca trackers, then as soon as he arrives here, he will know in which direction we have gone. Trust me, good Alberto, I am counting on such action. For when he finds me, he shall find an idol with me… and by my word, I shall give him that idol.'

'Hernando is a cold, callous man, Renco,' said I, 'vicious and remorseless. You cannot expect honour from him. Once you give him the idol, he will kill you for sure.'

'I know.'

'But then why—'

'My friend, what is the greater good?' said Renco softly.

His face was kind, his voice calm. 'That I live and Hernando gets my people's idol? Or that I die and he gets a worthless replica of it?'

He smiled at me. 'Personally, I would rather live, but I am afraid that there is more at stake here than just my life.'

The citadel became a hive of activity as the people of Vilcafor went about preparing themselves for what was to come.

Renco himself went off to brief the town's warriors more fully. As he did so, I took the opportunity to join Bassario for a short while and watch him fashion his replica of the idol.

Truth be told—and God forgive me for this—I had an ulterior motive for speaking to him.

'Bassario,' I whispered hesitantly, 'does… does Lena have a husband?'

Bassario shot me an impish grin. 'Why, monk, you old rascal, o .' said he in a full voice.

I begged him in hushed tones not to speak so loudly. Bassario, as one would expect of such a rogue, was highly amused.

'She once had a husband,' said he eventually. 'But their marriage ended many moons ago, before the arrival of gold- eaters. Lena's husband's name was Huarca and he was a promising young warrior, and their marriage insofar as an arranged marriage can bewas viewed as one of great promise. Little did anyone know, however, that Huarca was prone to fits of rage. After the birth of their son, Huarca began to beat Lena savagely. It was said that Lena would endure these beatings in order to protect Mani from his father's fury. Apparently she succeeded in this aim. Huarca never beat the boy once.'

'Why did she not leave him?' I inquired. 'After all, she is a princess of your people '

'Huarca threatened to kill the boy if Lena told anyone about the beatings.'

Good Lord, I thought.

'So what happened then?' I inquired.

'It was all uncovered by accident, really,' said Bassario.

'One day Renco called on Lena unexpectedly—-only to find her cowering in a corner of her home, cradling her son in her arms. She had tears in her eyes and her face was bloody and bruised.

'Huarca was captured immediately and sentenced to death. I believe he was ultimately dropped into a pit with a pair of hungry jungle cats. They tore him limb from limb.'

Bassario shook his head. 'Monk, the man who beats his wife is the lowest form of coward—the lowest form. I should think Huarca met a fitting end.'

I left Bassario to his work and repaired to a corner of the citadel to ready myself for the coming mission.

After a short time, Renco joined me to do the same. He was still wearing the Spanish attire that he had stolen from the prison hulk many weeks ago—the brown leather vest, the white pantaloons, the knee-high leather boots. The extra clothing, he once told me, had been of immense value to him during our arduous trek through the rainforest.

He slipped a quiver over his shoulder, began putting his sword belt on around his waist.

'Renco?' said I.

'Yes?'

'Why was Bassario in prison?'

'Ah, Bassario…' he sighed sadly.

I waited for him to elaborate.

'Believe it or not, but Bassario was once a prince,' Renco said. 'A most esteemed young prince. Indeed, his father was no less than the Royal Stonemason, a brilliant builder and fashioner of stone, the most venerated engineer in the empire. Bassario was his son and prot6g6, and soon he too became a brilliant stonemason. Why, by the age of sixteen,

he had surpassed his father in knowledge and skill, despite the fact that his father was the Royal Stonemason, the man who built citadels for the Sapa Inca!