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.” He looked at Daniel.“Both of you.Unless you wish to leave for your own safety.”I immediately shook my head.“We said we were with you, Tizoc.”“We meant it,” Daniel said.Tizoc gave us each a quick squeeze on the forearm.“You two wait here then.” Before we could reply, he slinked away in the nighttime shadows that stretched across the empty street.Within a few moments, Tizoc, his cousins—Zolin, Tochtli, and Coatl—were beside us, looking huge and fierce.I had not been afraid of any of the warriors since arriving at Ezenoch, but the way they were poised, like ready hunters, made me step closer to Daniel.“Here comes Aochmin.” Tizoc motioned his head to the front door of his house.A distinguished looking Sunal in a parrot-feathered cloak emerged.He stumbled back a bit when he saw all of us waiting in the darkness.“Aochmin,” Tizoc said in his calm, deep voice.“Tizoc?” the man asked, then added something in his native tongue.They spoke quickly in hushed tones.Tizoc conveyed the conversation to me.“What are you doing out here like this?” Aochmin said, casting a wary eye over the rest of us skulking in the shadows.“Has the emperor sent you to greet newcomers?” Tizoc asked, though he knew that to be true already.“He has.I am to go at first light with a small party to feed and supply the guests.They may be gods!” Aochmin’s voice held a note of excitement.“You mustn’t go,” Tizoc said.Aochmin’s eyes grew wide, the whites surrounding his black irises practically glowing.“I have to follow orders, Tizoc.I am a steward to the emperor.I do what he commands.”“If you go, you bring about our downfall.”“What are you talking about? I am merely extending the hospitality our people have shown to all our guests.” Aochmin shot a look at me.“You yourself have taken in outsiders.Befriended them.Made them part of your family in fact.”“Daniel and Charlie are different.They would never do us harm.These outsiders from the east are lustful men willing to wipe us out to get what they want.Captain Finley and his crew from England were merely curious about our culture.They were here to learn and enjoy as Daniel and Charlie still are.These new guests wish to take from us.Our gold, our city, our lives.They are not gods, Aochmin.”Tizoc rested his hands on Aochmin’s shoulders.I was surprised at how much smaller the steward was than Tizoc.“You have to trust me.”Aochmin shook his head.“I will carry out my orders.I will not anger the emperor or the gods that have come to see us.”He shrugged free of Tizoc’s grasp and stepped around him.Zolin and Coatl moved like shadows to block his path out of the front yard, but Tizoc shook his head, indicating they should let Aochmin pass.The two warriors hesitated for a second before stepping out of the way.The steward left Tizoc’s house and headed in the direction of the palace.The blackness of night swallowed him as the sound of his retreating footsteps grew fainter.“What did he say?” Daniel asked, not having the advantage I had of being linked to Tizoc.“He’s going anyway,” I whispered, my throat tight.“We could have held him,” Zolin said to Tizoc.“No,” Tizoc said.“He is doing what he thinks is right.Besides, Dimazuno would only send someone else if we stopped Aochmin.” Tizoc brought a hand up to his face, brushed it along his forehead, but the worry creases remained.“We will have to accompany him.”“We are ready,” Coatl said.The other warriors voiced their agreement.I didn’t like the idea of Tizoc and some of the best warriors leaving Ezenoch, but it made sense.If they could stop the outsiders from coming into the heart of the city perhaps Tizoc’s people could be saved.“Go to the armory.Get what we’ll need.We’ll leave at first light, same as Aochmin,” Tizoc ordered.The warriors left the yard to do what had been asked of them.Tizoc turned to Daniel.“I know this doesn’t have to be said, but I’m going to say it anyway.Don’t let Charlie out of your sight while I’m gone.The gods have bound me to protect her, and I think stopping these outsiders before they get here is a way to do that.I don’t like leaving, but if I know you’ll guard her I can focus on the outsiders.”“I wouldn’t let anything happen to Charlie,” Daniel said, more sincerity in his voice than offense.Tizoc nodded, obviously satisfied with Daniel’s pledge.The exchange, done as if I wasn’t standing right among them, made me feel like a child, incapable of managing my own safety.“Well,” I finally said, “if you two are done passing the burden of protecting me between one another.”Tizoc let out a sigh as he turned his amber eyes toward me.“I’ve protected myself on several occasions,” I began.“Quite successfully, I might add.Before my brothers ran off to be sailors, they taught me a few things to defend myself.I’m not helpless, you know.”Daniel rested his hand on my upper arm.“We didn’t mean to say you couldn’t take care of yourself.Of course you can, but we need to be extra cautious.Think about it.You’re a beautiful, young English woman.” He paused to trace my jaw with his index finger.“A crew, the size of which we don’t even know, are on their way to take, to kill, to do whatever they want with what they find in this city.I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.”“Nor I,” Tizoc added.I narrowed my eyes at them both.“Fine,” I said.“But don’t think your flattery or your poetic words have made me any less irritated at either of you.”“Perhaps it’s our handsome faces that have lessened your annoyance.” Tizoc shot a charming but quick smile in my direction before he turned to go into the house.“I have to speak to my father.”After he left, I looked at Daniel whose gaze was intense.“What?” I said.“You do realize I would give my last breath to make sure you were safe, don’t you?” he said.“And it doesn’t have anything to do with trying to be a man or anything.It has to do with the fact that I love you, Charlotte.More than anything in this world.”Stepping closer to him, I took his face in my hands.“I love you,” I whispered.“We’ll protect each other then
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