The Jade Steps

Chapter Twenty-Five:  Prisoner In His Palace 

As they were returning to their quarters in the Palace of Axayacatl, Cortez announced, "If we cannot yet say Mass and have a chapel upon that temple, then at least for now we must be able to do so where we are housed.  Doña Marina, please send a request to Montezuma asking that we be allowed to build this chapel in his father’s palace."

When word came quickly back that the request was granted, Cortez assigned his best carpenter, Alonso Yañez, to the task.  Early the next morning, Yañez, escorted by Juan Velasquez de Leon and Francisco de Lugo, interrupted the morning meal of Cortez and Malinali.  "Captain, we have found something you should see," he said.

Yañez brought them into a small room.  "We thought that this room would be appropriate for our chapel," he explained.  He walked over to one of the room’s walls.  "Then I noticed something strange.  You can see that there is fresh plaster and paint here, most likely covering up a door.  A door to what we think is a hidden room."

Without hesitation, Cortez responded, "Señor Yañez, you are to be congratulated for your sharp eyes.  Let us open this hidden door."

Cortez called for torches.  Bernal appeared with lit torches for all just as Yañez and his assistant broke through the plastered doorway.  Cortez was the first to step into the black entrance of the sealed room, followed by de Leon, de Lugo, Malinali, Yañez, and Bernal. 

"Madre de Dios, Mother of God," exclaimed de Leon, as they all held their torches aloft.  "The Treasure of Montezuma."

The flames of the torches flickered over a colossal amount of gold – huge goblets and plates, statues, figures, ingots, all in the hundreds and hundreds, thousands of objects in all, and all solid gold.  There were an uncountable number of quetzal feathers, carved pieces of jade, pearls and other jewels.

After de Leon’s exclamation, everyone stood in stunned silence.  Then Malinali spoke.  "This is not Montezuma’s treasure.  It is that of his father, Axayacatl, for this was his palace.  There are many legends about this treasure, the greatest treasure the Mesheeka possess."

"I never imagined that such a treasure could exist in the world," said Bernal in a tone of whispered awe.

Cortez finally broke the spell.  "Gentleman, the discovery of this treasure will one day bring us great honor in the eyes of our King Don Carlos.  Yet such a discovery may now be very dangerous for us.  Who knows what Montezuma may do to us should he learn of our discovery?  I propose that for now we leave this treasure untouched, just as it is, and that we seal up this room as before.  Then we must carefully discuss among ourselves what we shall do."

All agreed.  They left the treasure room without taking a single object.  Cortez again thanked Alonso Yañez and bade him to use all his skill to repair their break-in and render it indiscernible.

*  *  *  *  *

As word spread quickly among the Spaniards of the great treasure’s discovery, the reaction was one not of excitement but anxiety.  Late that afternoon,  a number of officers, led by Diego de Ordaz, and a dozen soldiers, among them Bernal and Aguilar, came to see Cortez.

Malinali was in the midst of giving Cortez a lesson in Nahuatl.  The men gave her a collective bow of acknowledgement, with de Ordaz saying respectfully, "Doña Marina."  Then he turned to Cortez.  

"My captain, we have come to speak for all of the men, officers and soldiers.  We fear that we have been caught in a telaraña, a spider’s web.  From the top of that accursed temple, we could see how easily the drawbridges can be raised on the causeways, preventing our escape.  We remember all the warnings we received in every town we passed through that Montezuma intended to let us into his city and kill us.  We remember his fickleness in one day saying we should not come, the next day saying we should, the next day saying we should not.  His heart is not steady, and thus we cannot trust the good will and affection he is showing us now.  If he should decide to attack us, especially if he learns of our discovery of the treasure, we would be helpless.  Food and water would be shut off from us.  We would be overwhelmed by the vast number of his warriors."

"Do not imagine that I am  unaware of these dangers, gentlemen," Cortez replied, "nor that I do not share your anxiety.  What do you propose we do?"

"Captain, we are all agreed," responded de Ordaz.  "We must get Montezuma out of his palace with smooth words and brought here, where he must be told that he is our prisoner.  That if he orders an attack on us, he will forfeit his life.  Our decision is that we seize Montezuma rather than wait for him to attack us.  For once he does so, what chance do we have?"

At these words, Malinali desperately struggled to remain calm.  Her face remained expressionless, but as Cortez gave her the briefest glace, he noticed her eyes widened in shock.  He looked at de Ordaz and into the eyes of each of the men in front of him.   

"You have made a bold decision, gentlemen," he said to them.  "I commend you for such audacity.  Such a course of action will require very careful thought and planning.  Let us confer again tomorrow morning.  And tonight, let us pray for divine guidance as to how we may succeed."

Ordaz and the men bowed in agreement and departed.   Cortez looked at Malinali.  Her eyes were fixed on him yet unseeing and unblinking.  Her breathing was fast and shallow.  "You are surprised at their decision, my Lady?" he asked her gently.

Her eyes focused on him more clearly, yet still she said nothing.  Cortez waited patiently.  Finally, she stammered in wonder, "How… how could your men conceive of such a thing?"

"Perhaps it was from a suggestion that Señor de Ordaz got from his commander," Cortez softly replied.

Her brow wrinkled.  "From you?"

Cortez had a hint of a smile.  "My Lady, you know the best way to get men to do what you want is to have them believe it was their idea."

She nodded.  "My father would certainly agree."

Cortez stroked his beard.  "Yet I have not decided if this is best.  Our situation is precarious.  Finding this huge treasure has made the men feel their grave vulnerability here.  I wanted to prepare them to take action if necessary.  But is it necessary?  That is the question I must answer."

He took her hand and pulled her into his arms.  "And what do you think, my Lady?" he asked, with his lips close to hers.  "What do you think of this proposal?"

"To try and take the Great Montezuma prisoner in his own palace, to try and do so with a handful of men against an empire of soldiers?  My father would say that only gods would try such a thing," she answered.

Their lips now were almost touching.  "Am I a god, my Lady?" he whispered.

She looked into his eyes.  "No, you are a man," she whispered back.  "A man of my dreams, a man that I love."

Their lips met, and they spoke no more of Montezuma.

*  *  *  *  *

As dawn broke the next morning,[1] Cortez and Malinali were awakened by Cortez’s personal guard, Joan de Caceres.  "Captain General, there are two Tlaxcalans here who insist they must see you," he related.  "They say it is of the utmost urgency."

"My Nahuatl lessons must be working for Señor Caceres," Malinali noted to Cortez, who told his guard to usher them in as he and Malinali dressed hurriedly.  The Tlaxcalans entered, one holding a folded letter with a red wax seal.  Malinali spoke to them briefly.  "They say it was very difficult for them to bring this letter to you," she told Cortez.  "It was brought here in great secret."

Cortez broke the red seal and read the letter.  "It is from a dead man," he said, "the officer I left in charge at Villa Rica, Juan de Escalante.  He wrote this as he lay dying.  He tells of a Mesheeka governor named Qualpopoca from a place called Nautla some 17 leagues north of Villa Rica.[2]  This Qualpopoca demanded tribute from nearby Totonac towns, which refused because, as they told him, ‘Malinche had forbidden it.’  When Qualpopoca’s army began attacking Totonac towns, de Escalante gathered a force of Totonacs to protect them.  Near Nautla, there was a battle in which the Spaniards and Totonacs were badly defeated.   Six Spaniards were killed along with many Totonacs, a Spaniard was taken prisoner, Juan de Argüello, and he, de Escalante, was mortally wounded."

Cortez sighed deeply.  "He is dying of his wounds.  He doesn’t name the others, but I know Juan de Argüello.  He is a very large man with a huge head.  He grew long curly hair and an enormous black curly beard so his head would seem even bigger.  The other soldiers would tease him, but he was very proud of his head."  He looked at Malinali.  "Does his being taken prisoner mean what I think it means, Doña Marina?"

Malinali quickly relayed the story to the Tlaxcalan messengers.  Now it was her turn to sigh.  "They say that according to the Totonacs, Qualpopoca had this prisoner sacrificed, that his heart was cut out and burnt in thanks to the gods for their victory, that his body was cooked and eaten, and the large head of which you speak was cut off and sent…" she took a deep breath, "…to Montezuma."

She talked with the Tlaxcalans further.  "All is now chaos," she informed Cortez.  "The Totonacs no longer believe your men are teules, gods, various Totonac and Mesheeka villages are fighting one another, and everyone is behaving like wild beasts."

*  *  *  *  *

"Doña Marina," Cortez said calmly, "please tell our messengers how grateful I am for what they have done.  See that they are rewarded with the finest feather-embroidered cotton cloaks.   Señor Caceres, please summon my principal officers."

Within minutes, Pedro de Alvarado, Gonzalo de Sandoval, Juan Velasquez de Leon, Francisco de Lugo, and Alonso de Avila were with Cortez.  Malinali had left with the Tlaxcalans.  When she returned after about an hour, they were leaving the room.  "We are going to morning mass," Cortez informed her, "to ask God’s blessing upon our enterprise.  What did you learn?"

"There is much talk in Montezuma’s palace of the huge head of Señor Argüello.  They say when it was presented to Montezuma, he became very frightened and ordered that it be sent away to be buried in secret."

"This confirms de Escalante’s letter," he replied grimly.  "We shall proceed."

At mass, the soldiers were informed of Cortez’s plans, and Father Olmedo invoked Heaven’s benediction.  The bulk of the soldiers were assembled in the courtyard in front of Axayacatl’s palace, with the pretense of practice drilling or weapons maintenance.  A few dozen others were to casually spread themselves along the avenue from their palace to Montezuma’s.  Two dozen more were instructed to casually stroll in groups of two or three over to Montezuma’s palace.  Everyone was to be in full armor.

Then Cortez and his five officers, Malinali, and a half-dozen soldiers including Bernal and Aguilar, went to see Montezuma.  The Spaniards’ being fully armed with breastplate, helmet, swords was not unusual for this was seen as their normal appearance.  Montezuma greeted them warmly in his throne room.  Only servants attended him.  There were no jaguar guards.

Cortez wasted no time.  "Doña Marina, please tell Lord Montezuma that I am astonished that such a valiant prince as he, who has declared himself our friend and the vassal of King Don Carlos, would have ordered his governor Qualpopoca to rob and plunder Totonac towns under our protection, seizing Totonac men and women for sacrifice, and kill my Spanish brothers who were trying to protect the Totonacs.

"Being your great friend an ally, I have placed great trust in your friendship towards me and my men.  That trust has been misplaced.  At Cholula, we knew your captains and warriors were set to capture and kill us at your command, and when that failed, you sent them to waylay us upon the road to here.  That failed as well.  Both of these attempts I have overlooked and forgiven because of my great affection for you.  But now your captains and governors have lost all shame and wish to kill us, for which the responsibility must be yours.

"Lord Montezuma, I have no desire to start a war or to destroy this city.  Everything will be forgiven, provided you will now come quietly with us to our quarters and make no protest.  You will be well served and attended to there as if you were here in your own palace.  But if you cry out, or raise any commotion, you will be immediately killed by my men whom I have brought for this purpose."

Malinali quickly saw that Cortez had made the right decision, for the look in Montezuma’s eyes was one of fear and not anger.  For a moment he could not say a word, his eyes darting between Cortez and Malinali.  Both remained expressionless.

At last, Montezuma stammered, "I would never order my subjects to attack your men.  Whoever has done so will be punished."  He took off a small figurine of Huitzilopochtli from a bracelet on his wrist and called for a servant.  "I am ordering Qualpopoca to come before me, with this symbol of my authority.  Then we may determine what has happened.  As for your request, I am not such a person to whom orders may be given or who can be made a prisoner.  Further, my people would not tolerate such an insult to their king."

Cortez bowed and said with a gentle smile, "Lord Montezuma, I have no wish to insult you or your people.  My concern is only how best to preserve the affection and respect we have between us."

"What you suggest is not the way to do so, Lord Malinche," Montezuma politely replied.  "I must remain here."

Cortez bowed again, maintained his gentle smile, and was about to reply when Juan Velasquez de Leon placed his hand on his sword hilt and bellowed in a thunderous voice, "What is the use of all these flowery words, Captain Cortez?  Either we take him or we slay him here and now.  If we do neither we are all dead men, every last one of us."

As the other officers grabbed their sword hilts and shouted their agreement with de Leon, Montezuma looked at Malinali with terror in his eyes.  "What are they saying?" he asked her.

Malinali stepped close to Montezuma, looked directly into his frightened eyes, and said, "Lord Montezuma, I advise you to accompany these men to their quarters immediately and make no protest.  I know they will treat you honorably as the great king you are.  But if you stay here your life is finished.  They will kill you where you stand."

Cortez had calmed his men down and all was silence.  Then Montezuma said, "Lord Malinche, I understand what you want.  I have a son and two daughters.  Take them as your hostages and spare me this disgrace.  I may not be able to control my chieftains if they see me carried off a prisoner."

"Doña Marina, please tell him there is no alternative.  The decision has been made," Cortez said quietly.

The look in Cortez’s eyes needed no translation.   "Lord Montezuma," said Malinali just as quietly, "you could tell your chieftains and people that you have talked with Huitzilopochtli who instructed you to live with the Spaniards and learn many things from them.  It is the gods who command this."

She said this so quietly that no attendant or servant of Montezuma’s could hear.  They had probably heard little of what had been going on, other than de Leon’s bellow, for Montezuma had brushed them off to stand some distance away.  Now he summoned them.

"Early this morning," he announced to his retinue, "I spoke with God Huitzilopochtli, who advised me to live for a while with the descendants of our ancestors, from whom, Huitzilopochtli says, I can learn much of great benefit for my people."  He gestured towards the Spaniards.  "This caused concern among our friends, who thought they might be unable to assume the burden of my presence."  He gestured towards Juan Velasquez de Leon.  "Some worried they might not adequately provide for my protection and swore they would defend me at the cost of their lives.  Perhaps they swore this a little too loudly."

Montezuma’s attempt at humor elicited nervous laughter from his attendants. 

"We leave at once," he commanded.  "Prepare my litter."

As the attendants scurried away, the instant Malinali translated Montezuma’s command, the demeanor of the Spaniards changed.  They bowed low to Montezuma and each asked Malinali to assure him of their respect.  "I shall protect Lord Montezuma as if he were my own father," said Pedro de Alvarado.  "I regret my outburst of emotion and ask Lord Montezuma’s forgiveness," said Juan Velasquez de Leon.  "Lord Montezuma shall be attended by his full household, his reign over the Mesheeka will be uninterrupted," said Gonzalo de Sandoval.  "This is but a change of residence for Lord Montezuma," said Francisco de Lugo. "It will be our highest honor to have Lord Montezuma as our guest," said Alonso de Avila.

 Then Cortez spoke.  "We hold Lord Montezuma in reverence.  His dignity and honor shall be preserved, and he shall be treated with every kindness."

A group of nobles entered the room bearing the Royal Litter of the Great Montezuma, covered in jewels and quetzal feathers, adorned with fresh flowers and cacao blossoms.  The royal feather headdress was affixed, the royal feathered robes worn, Montezuma was lifted into the litter and the procession began.

As it made its way towards the Palace of Axayacatl, people gathered in throngs and stared silently, confused by the contrast of the sullen, downcast nobles carrying the litter, and Montezuma smilingly reassuring them he was visiting the strangers who were "the descendants of our ancestors."

The contrast was highlighted by the guard of Cortez’s soldiers surrounding the procession.  Word spread quickly through the city that something was amiss.  As the procession entered the Palace of Axayacatl, a large contingent of Spanish soldiers, including crossbowmen and arquebusiers, formed to block and guard the entrance.

Once Cortez saw that Montezuma was inside and the guard formed, he turned to Malinali and said, "From here, Montezuma will continue to govern his empire.  But now I will govern Montezuma." 

[1]  November 14, 1519, six days after Cortez’s arrival at Tenochtitlan on November 8.

[2]   50 miles.  Also called Almería by the Spaniards.