The Journey

The young girl looked out across the water at the city growing in the distance. Her face was wet and the taste of salt was on her lips although she did not know whether it was from the spray of the ocean or her tears. She was afraid, and had been since all of this had begun several months ago. This city, she could see, was very different from the village where she grew up. She longed for her home, for her father. Eight months. Had it really been so long since she had seen them last?

As the ship that had carried her across a wide ocean, away from the only home she had ever known, her mind drifted back to the day that had changed her destiny. The worst day of her life.

*****

The warriors had known that an attack was coming. The foreigners had ignored or dealt harshly with the messengers that had been sent to treat with them, making it clear that they had hostile intentions. Puna was a small village in the high grasslands of the great mountains, of little importance to anyone unless you knew of the great secret held by the High Priest. The people of the village had done everything possible to defend their homes and families. A tall barricade had been erected at the entrance to the village and it was here that the warriors were making their stand. Yet, for all their preparations, the defenders fell like blades of grass before the scythe of these invaders on their strange animals and clothed in gleaming skins of iron.

The women and children of Puna had huddled together in the temple of the village knowing that if the worst should come, they would be able to escape through the secret passage guarded by one of the gods. Together they cried and prayed while a sound like thunder echoed off the mountains and beat against the ears of the terrified people concealed by gray stone. Yet one little girl was alone with no one to comfort her. She did not cry, but rather sat quietly watching the entrance of the temple, as if waiting for someone to come and take her away from this chaos.

All at once, the ground shook and a great peal of thunder split the air. A terrible silence fell in the temple and the dreadful sounds from outside rang all the clearer. One of the braver women crept to the door to see what was happening, but fell back quickly. "All is lost!" she cried. "The barricade has fallen and our warriors have been swept way! We must flee now or be slaughtered by these demons!!"

The little girl drew back in horror as the people around her crowded close to the statue of the god, praying for his aide and guidance. She heard the sound of stone grinding against stone, but her view of what was happening was blocked by the other villagers. Although the throng began to thin, the little girl turned resolutely away from the salvation offered by the secret passage. One woman reached out for her hand saying, "Zia, you must come with us." But the girl was able to slip away in the mass of people, one plan overriding all feelings of her own safety. I must find my father, she thought.

The girl overcame her fear and slowly crept out of the door of the temple as the passage closed behind her. She looked down onto the village. It was quiet and she could see no one; none of her people or even the invaders. The air was filled with the acrid smell of smoke along with the coppery taint of blood.

What has happened? Where is everyone?

The little girl turned away from her sanctuary.... and a voice called out harshly behind her, "Wait, stop!"

She gasped and turned back. It was one of the invaders! She stepped back, terrrified but she had nowhere to run.

"Is this your village?" The strange warrior asked as he walked menacingly towards her. "You know everyone here. Tell me, where is the High Priest Papacamayo?"

How did he know her father's name? The little girl stepped back, her hands covering her mouth in shock and fear.

The soldier drew his blade of steel and continued his advance. "I would advise you to answer and quick! Speak if you want to live!!" He held the sword above his head ready to strike the child down. She flinched away, desperately closing her eyes. Where are you father!?! Any moment she expected to feel the blow...

The thump of hoofs interrupted the soldier before he could strike. He turned away from his victim to acknowledge the rider. "At your service, Governor Pizarro!" This new invader turned his gaze from his soldier to the child.

The girl looked down at the man riding on the strange animal, and a new fear filled her soul. His eyes were so cold and lifeless. He looked at her as if she was nothing.

How could someone be alive and yet be dead to any human feeling?

Then he spoke and saved her life. "Leave that child alone, she will come with me! She will make a fine gift for her Highness, the Princess Marguerite. A gift I'm sure she will appreciate!"

For the first time the girl spoke though it was only a single word. "No!!" She had to get away. She must escape these monsters! She tried to run but the soldier was quicker than she was, grabbing her arm and twisting it painfully behind her back.

The Governor spoke as if nothing had happened. "And the High Priest, this Papacamayo, have you arrested him?"

It was the soldier's turn to be afraid. He answered weakly, "No, we're still looking for him, Sir!"

"Well see that you do." Pizarro grasped something golden in his hand. The girl recognized it at once although she had only heard stories of them until now. "Papacamayo is the only one who can interpret the message hidden in the golden quipu!"

*****

Dragged from her home, the little girl was taken to the foreign army's camp where she again faced the man who commanded them.

"Do you have a name, girl?" She did not answer, hoping they would think she didn't understand. The one called General Pizarro repeated his question more sharply. Again she didn't reply and kept her eyes firmly on the pebbles in front of her sandaled feet.

The General turned away to her relief and called to one of the men standing nearby. "You there! I am putting this girl into your custody. Make sure no harm comes to her or you will pay with your life!"

The chosen one bowed with one hand placed over his heart and replied in a calm, even pleased voice, "As you command, Your Excellency." The fellow approached Zia and she drew back. This man, however, didn't grab her painfully by the arm as her other captors had done, but rather put his hand out with a winning smile. After a little hesitation, the little girl took the offered hand and allowed herself to be led away, although her acceptance was more to get away from Pizarro then because of trust of this new Spaniard however polished and kind he was.

The first day when he led her away from the other soldiers, he talked cheerfully of her future, no doubt trying to set her at ease and win her trust.

"My name is Mendoza, little one," he told her as they sat by a campfire late that night after a long day of riding. "I come from a country that lies far away across a the sea. It is called Spain and my village is named Seville. Does this land have a name?" he asked casually. She didn't answer. "Do you have a name?" Again, she remained silent. "My knowing your name will not harm you or anyone else," he said softly. "Our journey is going to be long and difficult, and, like it or not, I am your protector. Your guardian, but I would rather be your friend."

"If you want to be my friend, please take me back to my father," she pleaded softly. Mendoza was so startled by her words that his guard slipped for a moment and he answered emotionally, "If it were in my power, little one..."

"Zia," she said softly. He looked up at her, confused. "My name is Zia."

He smiled again, this time genuinely. But it didn't last. He stopped and seemed to mentally shake himself. The friendly and false masking smile went back into place and he carefully changed the subject.

"That is a pretty medallion you are wearing."

He reached out and picked the golden medal off her small chest. Zia felt a panic rise up in her throat, threatening to break forth in a scream as Mendoza's fingers tightened around the center piece of the medallion, as if to pull it out.

Noting her alarm, Mendoza quickly let the medallion fall back. "Don't worry, little Zia! I won't take it from you!" But she knew differently. The look in his eyes as he held her medallion told her more than all his words that night. He did want her medallion, desperately, but he could not take it from her.

She looked into Mendoza's eyes and clutched her medallion tightly. She watched as his gaze became cold and angry, but his words as he turned away were still in that warm and friendly tone, "Get some sleep, Zia. We have a hard day of travel before us tomorrow."

*****

Zia could not sleep that night. She lay awake for hours, looking at the stars and listening to the snores of the foreign soldiers that surrounded her. Mendoza was sitting nearby, by all appearances fast asleep. Yet she knew from earlier in the evening if she sat up or moved about at all, he would be awake and watching her with that false protective concern.

Zia sighed softly and turned away from her 'guardian'. A short distance from where they lay, she could see Pizarro's tent and realized she wasn't the only person awake. The Governor was pacing up and down the length of the structure, gripping something that flashed gold in the light of the campfires. He is pondering the meaning of the message string, she thought, but he will never understand it. Only my father and I know how to read them. Yet how did these foreigners come to posses one of the ancient treasures of her people?

She turned away from the tent to look at the night sky once more and thought of the first time she had heard of these strange records. It had been almost two years before the destruction of her village...

*****

Zia sat in a warm patch of sunlight and sleepily watching a smaller spot of light dance across the floor of her home.

"Zia?" a soft voice said with a touch of reproach. "Are you listening to me?" The little girl started, coming fully awake as she turned to look guiltily into her mother's face.

The medallion her mother always wore continued to gleam and cast light into the corners of the house as she shook her head. Yet she smiled kindly at her daughter, despite her frustration, and said, "I know it is sometimes difficult to listen to these tales and learn the duties of our family, but one day you will be entrusted with the Medallion of the Sun. Zia you must be able to carry the burden required by this honor and that means that you must pay attention to what I have to say."

Zia looked stricken and said desperately, "I will listen, Mama! I will not fall asleep!"

Suyana smiled and pulled her young daughter into her lap. "I know you will, Zia. It is very difficult to learn these responsibilities, especially for someone as young as you, but it is very important." She smiled again and said, "Perhaps this is enough for now. Go rest for awhile and we will start again after supper."

Zia jumped up at once and hurried to her bed, anxious to show her mother that she was listening to her now. Suyana laughed and told her to, "Sleep well, Little One."

Sometime later Zia was awakened by the sound of voices talking softly. Papa must be home, she thought sleepily. She lay in her bed listening, hoping to hear how her father's journey had been. To her surprise her parents were speaking about her.

"...attention wandered near the end of the lesson, but earlier she did very well. She can recite the tales of the gods almost flawlessly and knows many of the old legends now. She will soon be ready to learn the lore of the golden quipus from you, my husband."

Zia frowned, deep in thought. What are golden quipus? I thought message strings were made of many different colors of cord. She was drawn back into her parent's conversation when her father spoke, "She works so hard to remember everything perfectly it is sometimes easy to forget that she is so young."

"Yes, I know." Her mother sighed and continued sadly, "But she must learn these things now. My vision revealed that she must posses all the forgotten knowledge of our ancestors before the age of seven or all will be lost."

Zia watched her father take Suyana's hand before saying, "I know the visions granted to you are true, for were they not, we would never have married or been given our beautiful daughter, but my heart is filled with dread over this one's meaning. It cannot be a coincidence that this vision came to you when word reached Puna of the foreigners who appeared in the northern regions of the empire."

Her mother's face shown as she replied, "Just as it was not by chance that the vision, which told me I would leave the Acllas and marry, was given to me when the first foreigner arrived at our temple, seeking knowledge of the Cities of Gold. They are all connected just as the strands of a quipu are bound together to create a message." She looked away suddenly, her voice full of quiet dread. "I fear dark times will soon fall upon our people."

"I feel it also," Papacamayo replied gravely, "but we must walk the path laid before us and fulfill our duty to protect the Cities of Gold."

"Let's talk no more of this tonight," Suyana said pleadingly. "I will have to call Zia soon for supper, but for now all I want is to enjoy what remains of the day."

"Yes," Papacamayo agreed, taking his wife into his arms. "Let us walk in the sun together while we many and hope for more bright days for years to come."

Zia continued to pretend to sleep as her parents left their home together. The little girl's mind was wheeling and she could scarcely focus on any single detail. She felt a flood of fear at the thought of the mysterious 'foreigners', but it was the idea of a golden quipu that in the end captured her attention. What secrets did they hold? As she drifted off to sleep again she made a promise to herself never to let her attention wander during her lessons again.

*****

The journey to the sea was long and difficult. Zia desperately tried to find ways to escape and return to her home but could never get farther than a few steps before the ever watchful Mendoza would bring her back with a firm hand, a friendly word, and a cool glance. He would take her up along side of him on one of the large animals upon which the foreigners rode. As they traveled farther and farther from the place where she was born, he told her stories of the places she would see. But, while she didn't fear this man the way she feared the Governor, she trusted him even less. He was too polite, too friendly.

She never cried when he or the others could see but after the camp slept, her arms became pillows to weep into. She could almost feel her father's presence following after them, trying to save her...but the foreign army always moved on to quickly, leaving her father far behind.

*****

They finally came to the sea where the Spaniards told her they would meet the large boats they would use to carry them across the great oceans to their own country. Zia watched the soldiers preparing their animals and stores to go aboard these strange craft. Her breathing was deep and ragged both from the thickness of the sea air and the emotions that threatened to tear her apart.

Mendoza never let Zia out of his sight, knowing she would try to escape. She hated him and yet she only felt safe from the other foreigners in his presence. When the ships with the white, billowing sails arrived, he carried her up onto the main deck. As he set her down, he spoke with a trace of what might have been sadness in his voice. "I'm afraid this is where we must part, little Zia."

She looked up at him, suddenly afraid. "You are not coming with the ships?!"

He shook his head. "The General has ordered me to remain here and return with the troops to Darien, the city we set out from."

Zia felt a wave of terror rush over her. She would be alone on the ship with Pizarro all the way to their country! As her mind raced over this new fear, the one she thought of appeared on the deck of the ship.

Pizarro strode towards them and Zia found herself clinging to Mendoza. "Do you remember your orders, Señor?"

Mendoza bowed slightly and replied, "Of course, Your Excellency! I was just making sure little Zia made it aboard safely, as were your orders." Zia jerked away from him, shocked that he gave her name to the Governor. Pizarro nodded and walked away.

Seeing her rising panic, Mendoza dropped to his knees and put his hands on her small shoulders. "Be brave, Zia! You must be strong to survive what is to come. Remember your home, your people and believe that you will see all of this again. Keep that dream alive in your heart and you will never be a slave!"

The ships sailed that afternoon, leaving everything and everyone she had ever known far behind.

*****

For days after leaving her homeland, Zia lay violently ill.

In her nightmares, she saw Pizarro looking down at her and heard his voice boom out, "If she dies, your life will be forfeit! The Emperor must be impressed with my gift if I am to win the Governorship of this new land! Keep her alive!"

She didn't truly understand his words until she recovered from the seasickness.

*****

So I am to be a gift for their King, Zia thought as she looked at the strange city that now lay only a gang plank away. Perhaps he will be kind ruler and will return me to my father.

She felt a heavy hand fall on her shoulder and froze in panic at the General's words. "Come now, Zia. We must make you presentable to the greatest Emperor in the world!"

What lies ahead for Zia in this strange land? Find out in the Chapter 2: In a Strange Land.