Kardann and the Bishou leaned against the outline of the door and felt the portal swing easily inward. "Quick – get the lamp!" urged the assessor.

As the yellow beams of light spread across the large secret chamber, all three men gasped in astonishment. Alvarro raised the lamp high and stepped into the room, closely followed by the other two.

"It's unbelievable!" whispered the Bishou, staring around in shock.

The others, awestruck, didn't answer. They advanced slowly, stumbling over objects on the floor, stunned. Staring across the expanse of the large room, fully lit by Kardann's lantern, they saw mounds of gold around them. Golden shields, plates and bowls of the metal, box after box filled with dust of purest gold, all of these things scattered across the floor, piled high, and extending from wall to wall.

Around them they saw a fortune in gold, one that put all of their previous treasures to shame.

"You are man and wife, now, in the presence of the god," said Lotil as Halloran and Erix entered the house after daybreak.

The pair stopped in surprise. The old man chuckled and urged them to continue inside.

"If that is the custom of your people, so be it," said Halloran, placing his arms around Erixitl. His reaction surprised even himself with its total conviction, but he realized that a lifetime with Erixitl was the natural extension of the love they shared. "I want you to be my wife – are you?"

"Do you make this pledge for our lifetimes?" she asked.

"Yes."

"And I do, as well," replied Erix. "But it is not the custom of our people. Why do you say that we are already married, Father?"

"This is not a matter of custom, not the custom of our people nor of any people. It is a matter of destiny. It is in the light and the dark that you see, the light and dark that you are.

"Don't you see what has come together in the two of you?" asked Lotil. "Even I, blind as a stone, can tell. This man comes across the great ocean, and then departs his comrades. You are taken from your home into slavery, and led across the True World so that you will be there when he lands!

"Then -" Lotil paused to laugh, ready to lay the clinching seal on his arguments "- then comes the couatl, harbinger of Qotal, and he gives you the gift of the strangers' tongue. Now you come here, to Nexal, where you see not only the shadows of impending disaster, but also the light of potential hope. It is right that the two of you face this light and darkness together, for that is how you can both be truly strong."

"You are right," Erix said softly, taking Hal's hand.

"Now come inside. We must talk." Lotil ushered them to the mats by the kitchen hearth. They sat, and he presented them each with cups of hot, spicy cocoa and mayzcakes wrapped around cooked eggs.

"Man and wife in the presence of the god, you said." Halloran raised one eyebrow in question as Lotil sat beside them. "You mean Qotal?"

"Yes, the Plumed One, of course," replied the old man. "The one true god who offers any hope of survival in this age of chaos and doom."

"Yes, I've heard of Qotal. But Erixitl tells me that he left Maztica centuries ago. Even his clerics are bound to silence."

"But do not forget that Qotal promised to return. There were to be several harbingers of his return, and one of them has already occurred."

Erixitl nodded. "True. We saw a couatl. I know that the feathered snake is supposed to be the first sign."

"No one knows about the others, of course," Lotil explained to both of them. "Something about a Cloak of One Plume and the Ice of Summer. Imagine! A feather large enough to make a cloak. Or water, frozen beneath the hot summer sun… or moon. But the couatl, that is indeed something.

"And as to you, my son" Lotil continued with true affection, turning to Halloran. "There is, of course, the matter of the dowry."

Hal watched curiously as Lotil got up and went to a box in the corner of his house. He reached inside and began to rummage about.

Halloran looked back at Erixitl and caught her smiling at him. His wife! It began to dawn on him that his wish was coming true. He remembered the promise he had made to himself – that he would never again allow her to be apart from him, and felt only joy at the prospect of its fulfillment.

Erixitl reached out and took his hand, and in the glow of her face, he saw all the hope he needed. The questions of their future, he resolved, would be answered as they were asked.

"Here," said Lotil, returning to the hearthside at last. In his hand he held a pair of small feathered rings. "Hold out your hands."

Halloran did as he was told, and Lotil slid the rings over his hands. They fit, snugly and comfortably, on his wrists. The feathers were tiny tufts of plumage, and the surface of the rings lay smooth against his skin.

"Use them well. They may not look like much, but I think that you will… appreciate them." Lotil patted Hal's shoulder affectionately.

"Thank you – thank you very much," he replied sincerely. "But use them how? What do they do?"

"In good time, my son, in good time. But now we must celebrate!"

They feasted on one of the ducks that had lived – to no purpose, Hal had thought until now – around the house. Lotil even produced a jug of octal he had been saving for some such occasion. As they ate and drank, Halloran and Erix felt a warm sense of well-being. It permeated the air in the room, their conversation, even their bodies themselves.

The armies of Nexal and the legion remained far away. That city, with its sacrifices, its cult of violence, its strident tensions, didn't enter their minds.

Only once, when Erixitl looked at the door, outlined in clear daylight, did she see the shadows lingering.

"It's every bit as fabulous as you claimed," admitted Cordell, clapping Kardann on the shoulder. "This, my good assessor, is a very important discovery!"

Several legionnaires sorted and stacked objects of gold or other treasures in neat piles as the assessor busily inspected the contents of the room. "Millions of pieces, equivalent," he murmured in awe. "The only question is how many millions!"

Cordell watched in amazement as tiny golden figurines were added to a steadily growing pile. Each was no more than the size of a man's hand. They depicted a variety of objects, including male and female humans and grotesque figures that seemed to represent some form of bestial deity.

"And look at this!" exclaimed Kardann. He gestured to a row of large golden bowls. Each of them held a mound of gold dust that reached nearly to the rim. There were a dozen or more of these bowls assembled already, and much of the room remained to be explored.

Cordell, the Bishou, and the assessor supervised the half-dozen legionnaires working to sort the treasures in the room. Several oil lamps illuminated the chamber thoroughly. Another pair of legionnaires stood on guard at the door to the treasure room.

A shrill scream suddenly turned them all toward the door. There they saw a flash of spotted hide and the sharp chop of a weapon – a stone-edged maca. One of the guards cried out in pain, and then the orange and black figure sprang through the door into the room.

Kardann shrieked in panic and darted away from the door. Cordell stood firm, drawing his sword and confronting the onrushing Jaguar Knight. The man's face, visible through his gaping-jawed helmet, contorted with hatred.

But then Cordell struck, at the same time as the remaining guard followed the attacker through the door. Transfixed by two thrusts, the Jaguar Knight gasped and fell. Kicking reflexively, he rolled onto his back, fixing them with a hate-filled stare for a few long moments before he died. The experience left them all shaken and not a little alarmed.