'It
means both good and ill for you, my friend Teule. Another time I will
tell you.' Then he added aloud, 'Does it please you, O Tezcat, god of
gods, that we should sit at meat with you, or will you eat alone?'
'The gods like good company, prince,' I said.
Now during this talk I had discovered that among those gathered in the
hall was the princess Otomie. So when we passed to the low table around
which we were to sit on cushions, I hung back watching where she would
place herself, and then at once seated myself beside her. This caused
some little confusion among the company, for the place of honour had
been prepared for me at the head of the table, the seat of Guatemoc
being to my right and that of his wife, the royal Tecuichpo, to my left.
'Your seat is yonder, O Tezcat,' she said, blushing beneath her olive
skin as she spoke.
'Surely a god may sit where he chooses, royal Otomie,' I answered;
'besides,' I added in a low voice, 'what better place can he find than
by the side of the most lovely goddess on the earth.'
Again she blushed and answered, 'Alas! I no goddess, but only a mortal
maid. Listen, if you desire that I should be your companion at our
feasts, you must issue it as a command; none will dare to disobey you,
not even Montezuma my father.'
So I rose and said in very halting Aztec to the nobles who waited on
me, 'It is my will that my place shall always be set by the side of the
princess Otomie.
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