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of what he risked? He'd always been more concerned with the turmoil of the battlefield than with politics, but still… "I think you'll find it has become my concern tonight," I said, with some exasperation, remembering that his silence was one of the reasons we'd quarrelled four years ago. "From the moment magic was used to abduct her."
      Neutemoc shifted, looked at the frescoes. "I know I'm in a bad situation, but I didn't do anything wrong. I'll swear it on any god you name."
      If only it were that simple. "An oath, even by a Jaguar Knight, won't be enough in a court of law," I said. "Why don't you explain to me what happened?"
      Neutemoc just stared at the frescoes. Finally he said, "I came to visit my daughter Ohtli. She entered the calmecac a few months ago, and Huei thought I could see how our daughter was doing. I was halfway to Ohtli's room when I heard a noise coming from a nearby courtyard, and…" He trailed off, closed his eyes. "When I entered the room, something leapt at me and knocked me against the wall. I was thrown unconscious and, when I woke up, your people had arrested me for the Duality knows what offence." 
      His story was barely coherent. It didn't account for the blood, or the marks on him. "And you overturned the furniture because you weren't sure what had leapt at you?" I asked, fighting to keep my sarcasm in check. "Come on, Neutemoc. I'm sure you can do better than this." 
      He shook his head. "It's the truth, Acatl."
      I didn't believe a word he had said. But he was obviously not going to admit to anything, not unless I forced him into it.
  I went to the door, and motioned Yaotl in.
  "Anything you want?" he asked me.
      "Can you ask the priestesses if there's a girl named Ohtli here, of the Atempan calpulli clan? She'd be about–" I thought back to the last time I'd seen Neutemoc's daughters – "seven years old." 
      Yaotl shrugged. "Easily done," he said. "They keep records of every girl-child in the school."
      I glanced at Neutemoc, who was watching me, his eyes widening slightly. It was not a kind threat, the one I was about to make, either for him or for Ohtli, but his life was at stake. "If you find her, can you have her brought here? Tell her I have some questions for her." 
      "Acatl, no! She's only a child. At least have the decency to keep her out of this."
      The insult stung, but I didn't move. "You were the one who introduced her name into the conversation."
      Neutemoc's hands clenched. "It was a mistake. Ohtli has nothing to do with this, nothing at all. I didn't get to her room, I swear." 
      "Then please show a little more co-operation."
      "Acatl–" He was pleading now, and it made me ill at ease. I'd never enjoyed reducing people to helplessness.
      "It's a pretty story you told me," I said. "But it doesn't fit what I saw in that room, or what the Guardian saw."
      Neutemoc looked at me, and at Yaotl, who already had a hand on the entrance-curtain. "Very well," he said, finally. "I'll tell you. But in private."     "Nothing is private," I said. "Your testimony–"
      "Acatl." His voice cut as deep as an obsidian blade. "Please."
      He was my brother, the threat of death hanging over him, yet I could afford no favouritism. Everyone should be treated according to their status, noblemen and Jaguar Knights more harshly than commoners. "I'll listen to you in private," I said. "But I'll make no guarantee I won't pass it on."
      Neutemoc's face was flat, taut with fear. He glanced at Yaotl – tall, scarred, unbending – and finally nodded.
      Yaotl slipped out, drawing the entrance-curtain closed in a tinkle of bells. He barked orders, and footsteps echoed in the corridor: the warriors, moving away from the door.
      I sat by Neutemoc's side, keeping one hand on the handle of the obsidian daggers I always had in my belt, just as a protection. He hadn't looked violent, but his mood-swings could be unpredictable. "So?" I