The Jade Steps

Chapter Twenty One: The  Trap of Cholula

They spent most of the siesta, the Spaniards’ period of rest after the mid-day meal, having fun turning Spanish words into Nahuatl.  Malinali was having so much fun it made her forgetful.  She shook her head.  "I must leave," she told them.  "Our Mesheeka guests have come for their daily ceremony of complaining to Captain Cortez, and I must be there, for it is through me that they address their complaints."

"Have fun," Aguilar joked.  Malinali sighed.  "Our talking – that was fun.  But ‘fun’ and ‘Mesheeka’ are two words that don’t go together – in Spanish or Nahuatl."

Today is the nineteenth day here in Tlaxcala, she thought as she walked to Cortez’s quarters, and for every one of those days, the Mesheeka emissaries who had accompanied them from Xocotlan had come to complain to Cortez about what terrible people the Tlaxcalans were, how they were all traitors and thieves and poor and wicked and not fit even to be slaves.  It was so tiresome to hear and translate, and how Cortez could pretend to always be courteous and polite, or even stay awake, during the daily moaning, she didn’t know.

When she saw the crowd of soldiers in front of Cortez’s quarters, she realized something was different.   A new delegation of four Mesheeka nobles had arrived – chiefs of very high rank judging by their robes, jewelry, and headdresses – and had covered the floor with gifts of gold, jade, and cloth embroidered with feathers.  Cortez looked up at her with raised eyebrows and a where-have-you-been? expression.  Everyone had been waiting for her.

She felt both embarrassment for being late and satisfaction for being so important.  She brushed both emotions aside and walked directly up to the Mesheeka.  She quickly determined which of the four nobles was the delegation leader.  For all his age and dignity, his eyes briefly widened in surprise to see Malinali’s eyes looking into them.  Outside of his family, she thought, no woman had ever once looked right at him.

 "You are she," he said.  "You are the woman who speaks for your Speaker, your Tlatoani.  You are the woman of whom there is much talk in Tenochtitlan."

Now he was looking back into her eyes, probing for a reaction.  She didn’t give him any.  "But you are not here to talk to me or about me," she replied smoothly.  "You are here…" she turned and opened her hand towards Cortez, "to talk to Captain Hernando Cortez of the Kingdom of Spain.  You are here to talk to…" she turned back to look at the old Mesheeka chief and let the word hang in the air, "Malinche."

He looked at her as if in a trance.  "Yes… Malinche…" he said, almost to himself. 

"Doña Marina, do these caciques have anything they wish to say to me?" Cortez asked quietly, his eyebrows raised again.   Malinali invited the Mesheeka chief to speak.  Out poured a torrent of Nahuatl.

"These men represent the highest nobility in Tenochtitlan," Malinali explained to Cortez.  "They come as the personal ambassadors of the Great Montezuma himself to request that you come to see him and be guests in his palace in Tenochtitlan as soon as possible.  The Great Montezuma is afraid for your safety among the traitors of Tlaxcala and wishes you to leave here quickly as every day you stay here longer increases your danger.  The Great Montezuma asks that you travel now to Cholula where you will be among friends who will take good care of you, and from there continue to Tenochtitlan where everything the Great Montezuma has will be provided to you."

Cortez stood and smiled.  "Please tell the ambassadors that I am honored by their invitation and will comply with the wishes of Lord Montezuma immediately.  Tell them I regret the misunderstanding between Lord Montezuma and the people of Tlaxcala, whom I have found to be dear and trustworthy friends.  I am sure that Lord Montezuma will prove to be a dear and trustworthy friend to me and my Lord, His Majesty King Don Carlos.  I thank the Lord Montezuma for sending such high nobles to convey his message.  It is my hope they will stay with us as we travel to Cholula."

Malinali saw the flash of alarm in the nobles’ eyes at these last words, for they meant the nobles were to be hostages and their lives forfeit should there be any trouble in Cholula.   They bowed while the old chief thanked Cortez and said they of course would go to Cholula with him.  So – King Xicotencatl’s warning may be right, she thought.

The king was insisting that Cortez not go to Cholula, but that the best way to Tenochtitlan was via Huexotzinco (whecks-aht-shing-ko).  "The people of Huexotzinco have been our allies and friends of many years," the king never stopped telling Cortez, "and those of Cholula are the opposite.  "We know you will be safe in Huexotzinco, and we know in Cholula you will not."

When Malinali told Cortez of her suspicion that the king was right, he brushed her warning aside as he had the Tlaxcalans’.  "I do not want an enemy behind me, if Cholula be one, as we go to Tenochtitlan," he explained.  "We will go there as Montezuma requests, and deal with whatever problems we may find."

Both she and the king were alarmed at Cortez’s overconfidence.  The king begged him to reconsider, telling it was dangerous and foolish to go to Cholula.  Cortez refused to relent.  "Then, tell Malinche," the king said to Malinali, "that I must send enough of my warriors to protect him, and that he cannot say no to this."

Cortez replied that he would be honored to have Tlaxcalan warriors by his side.  Perhaps, Malinali thought, this is what Cortez wanted all along, but she was still worried.

So also were Cortez’s men.  They were not anxious to leave the safety and hospitality of Tlaxcala, to leave behind women they had come to love and set out on the road to danger once more.  As always, Cortez gathered them together and spoke to them in such words of soothing enthusiasm he both calmed and excited them.

"While our time here has been most pleasant, you all know that we must depart.  You have all heard the descriptions of this great city Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Mesheeka.  Compared to it and its riches, Tlaxcala is the smallest and most humble of villages.  We have been welcomed to this great city by its Lord Montezuma.  It is there we will be treated like royalty.  It is there our destiny awaits us."

It was an emotional departure between the Spaniards and Tlaxcalans[1], with King Xicotencatl tearfully saying goodbye to his padrino y padrina, Cortez and Malinali, and Chief Maxixcatzin doing the same with his daughter, the Princess Teculehuatzin, now accompanying her husband, Pedro de Alvarado, as Doña Luisa.  Thousands of Tlaxcalan warriors set off with the Spaniards, not simply at King Xicotencatl’s command, but as eager protectors of their Princess.  At their lead was Chief Chichimacetecle.  The Young Xicotencatl had refused to go, preferring to stay in Tlaxcala and brood in anger.

 

Cholula lay only eight leagues[2] from Tlaxcala, yet too far to reach in a day’s march.  Everyone slept out in the open on the first night, by a stream called Atoyac.  The next morning, a large welcoming party of Cholulans arrived, led by several nobles, and bringing an abundant supply of maize and turkeys to eat.  "We are afraid," announced one of the nobles, "that you have been told bad things about us which are not true.  You should not believe what the Tlaxcalans say, for you are welcome among us."  Cholulan priests appeared with bowls of burning copal incense, and ritually fumigated Cortez.

When they arrived that night at the city of Cholula, Malinali noticed that the Mesheeka nobles were escorted to a finer palace than Cortez’s.  Yet their quarters, and those of the other Spanish captains, seemed adequate, as was the food they were given.  The Tlaxcalans and Totonacs were, however, not allowed inside the city gates.  They were told to camp outside.  Malinali had to make clear to their Cholulan hosts that Doña Luisa and the Tlaxcalan wives of the other Spanish "nobles," must be allowed to stay with their husbands, along with a contingent of the Princess’s guardians and escorts.  The Cholulans not only complied, but upon learning Doña Luisa’s royal identity, they lodged her and Pedro de Alvarado in a much nicer palace.

Cortez and Malinali discussed the situation before going to sleep.  They had spent the previous hour in the clouds of Malinali’s ilhuicatl, the Heavens,  and Cortez was caressing her face.  "I know your fears of being here," he told her.  "Yet this place is such a powerful ally of the Mesheeka I cannot have them at my back.  I would be caught in a trap between Cholula and Tenochtitlan.  It is better to see what the trap is here, and try to spring it now."

She looked up at him without replying, for she was still in her clouds.  He brought her down to earth by telling her, "So you must befriend these people, especially the wives of their leaders, and discover what trap here might await us."

She kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "Yes, my Captain.  I never would have thought to do that without you suggesting it."  Then she started tickling him.  He of course tickled her back, and soon the guards outside had to try and ignore their laughter.

*  *  *  *  *

When the Spaniards awoke the next morning and began exploring Cholula, they discovered it was far larger than any city they imagined they would find in this "New World."  Bernal and Aguilar had arranged to meet Malinali at the market plaza for their mid-day meal, but it was so huge with so many people it took them some time to find each other.

"We have lost count of the number of their temples," he told her, shaking his head.  "There must be hundreds, all built like pyramids.  There is one so big it looks like a small mountain!  I am sure this city is bigger than Valladolid in Spain.  It must have 100,000 people or more."

"This is a very old city," Malinali explained.  "My father taught me about it.  He said it was built 100 generations ago[3] by people called the Tamoanchan[4] who came from Cuatzacualco."

"Isn’t that where you are from, Doña Marina?" Aguilar asked.

"Yes, my father’s kingdom of Paynala is in the land of Cuatzacualco.  My father said we are the descendants of the Tamoanchan, who were the first, as you say, civilizados, civilized people with stone buildings and cities."

"So you are related to these people here in Cholula?" asked Bernal.

Malinali laughed.  "Oh, I don’t think so.  I am a Tamoanchan descendant, not these Cholulans who are now a mix of so many others, including the Chichimecas and Mesheeka.  Yet the Cholulans, it is true, are very proud of their history.  They let you know this right away, as many did to me this morning.  They think they are much more cultured than the Mesheeka primitivos, barbarians."

"They certainly don’t seem as friendly as the Tlaxcalans," noted Aguilar.

"No, they don’t, but…" Malinali was interrupted by a messenger.  "Doña Marina, Captain Cortez sends for you.  New ambassadors from the Mesheeka have arrived."

When she entered Cortez’s quarters, she saw the old Mesheeka nobles who had come with them from Tlaxcala conferring with these new arrivals from she assumed Tenochtitlan.  When they noticed her entrance, they all stepped forward to stand in front of Cortez, who was sitting in his chair, while Malinali assumed her position between them.  The eldest of the nobles spoke.

"Malinche, these men have arrived from Tenochtitlan with unfortunate news.  The road from Cholula to Tenochtitlan has been ruined and you will not be able to make your way.  The towns on the way have suffered bad harvests and will not be able to feed you and your men.  The Great Montezuma has a very large collection of dangerous animals, many jaguars and alligators, and he is afraid that if they got loose from their cages they would tear your men to pieces…"

Malinali stumbled over translating these last words as she was desperately trying maintain a serious composure and not to laugh.  She pretended to cough, and glanced briefly at Cortez, whose face was expressionless and his eyes fixed on the old Mesheeka.  It was clear that the old man was nervous.

"…so it is for these reasons, Malinche, that the Great Montezuma desires you not to come to Tenochtitlan, for his concern as always is with your safety."

Then she noticed Cortez was also looking beyond the old man at the new messengers just arrived from Montezuma.  They were young men with faces of contemptuous arrogance, their lips curled in sneers at the sound of the old man’s words in Nahuatl.  Cortez maintained his bland expression and calmly bade Malinali reply:

"It is a wonder to me how such a great prince as Lord Montezuma can never seem to make up his mind.  One day he begs us to come to Tenochtitlan, the next day he begs us not to.  He is a powerful king with an empire at his command, yet cannot keep a few animals in their cages.  We have come from the other side of the world, yet he thinks we cannot walk the last short distance to his city.  Upon hearing these confused messages, someone might think there are two different Lord Montezumas.  The only way to clear the confusion is for me to leave immediately for Tenochtitlan, to meet the King of the Mesheeka, and learn which of the two Montezumas he really is."

Malinali translated these words as unemotionally as Cortez had spoken them, and watched as they wiped the sneers off the young messengers’ faces, and left the lips of the old Mesheeka noble frozen and unable to speak.  Finally, Cortez said, "Doña Marina, please tell them that it is my hope they will all be accompanying and guiding us when we leave for Tenochtitlan tomorrow."  All the nobles and messengers could do was bow – the messengers quite curtly – and depart.

Cortez then called for a number of his officers, including Diego Ordaz, Cristobal de Olid, Pedro de Alvarado, as well as Bernal.  "Gentlemen, I am suspicious," he told them.  "These Mesheeka may be brewing some trouble for us.  I want you and your men to be on the alert here.  I told the Mesheeka we would leave for Tenochtitlan tomorrow, but we will wait here until we discover what the Mesheeka are conspiring with the Cholulans to do."

He turned to Malinali.  "Doña Marina.  We were warmly greeted yesterday by Cholulan nobles, but not their king, nor has this man come to greet us today.  Could you send a request for this cacique to see me?"

She spoke to a Cholulan guard, who returned with a message:  "The King of Cholula, Tlaquiach (tlah-qwee-otch, lord of the here and now), is ill  and can not come." 

Cortez turned to Bernal.  "Señor Castillo.  It is a good day for a walk.  Please accompany Doña Marina and I on a stroll to see what we might see in Cholula."  As they walked through the city, people kept their distance, staring, pointing, and laughing at them.  Returning to his quarters at the end of the day, Cortez ordered extra sentries and guards.  The evening meal they were given was meager, the Cholulans who brought it surly.

Throughout the next day, Cortez received one dark report after another.  No food had been given to anyone.  When the soldiers asked for maize, they were given only water and firewood.  Three Totonacs came to tell him that there were holes dug in the streets near his quarters covered over with wood and dirt so you could not see them.  The Totonacs had uncovered one to find sharp stakes in the hole designed to kill a horse falling in.  Further, they said, Cholulans were gathering piles of large rocks on their rooftops to hurl down on the Spaniards as they passed by.

Then a half-dozen Tlaxcalans who had managed to get into the city appeared to warn Cortez that last night the Cholulans led by their king had sacrificed seven people, five of them children, to Huitzilopochtli in a prayer that the god would give them victory over the Spaniards.  "Since early this morning, Malinche," they told him, "we have seen the Cholulans move their women and children out of the city and away from danger.  Take heed, Malinche, for the Cholulans mean you great harm."

As Cortez conferred with his officers, Malinali slipped outside and walked over to a nearby temple.  She engaged a number of the priests in conversation until she found one who seemed both intelligent and willing to talk.  She asked why King Tlaquiach was pretending to be ill and would not see Malinche.  "If I summon him, he will come," he responded, telling her of his importance as a High Priest.

Before long, Tlaquiach and his chiefs appeared at Cortez’s quarters.  Cortez served them wine, then asked the king why he and his men had been given nothing to eat and were being treated so rudely, when they had been made welcome the day before.  The king apologized, explaining that he was acting on the orders of the Great Montezuma.

"I understand," replied Cortez without emotion.  "We must leave here tomorrow.  I must request from you two thousand of your best warriors to accompany us on our way to Tenochtitlan."

The king brightened at this request and quickly – too quickly, thought Malinali – complied.  The king and his chiefs left, but Cortez bade the High Priest stay.  "Doña Marina, please give these chalchihuite stones to this gentleman and thank him for having the king visit us.  Perhaps he can explain to us why we are being treated so, and that I know he will tell us the truth, for as a priest he is an honest man who represents his gods.  Whatever he says to us will not leave this room, and tomorrow before we leave, I will be pleased to give him a large quantity of the finest cotton cloth."

At these words, the priest answered, "The truth is that you are going to die here.  The Great Montezuma seems always in two minds over you.  One day his message is to make you welcome with respect, the next day it is the opposite.  Now the gods of Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli have instructed the Great Montezuma to see that your men are to be killed here in Cholula while you, Malinche, are to be taken to Tenochtitlan for sacrifice to the gods’ honor.  To assure this, the Great Montezuma has sent many thousands of his warriors, who are here now outside the city, ready to fall upon you as you depart.  This is why King Tlaquiach was pleased to provide his warriors as you asked, for you will be between them and the Mesheeka.  You are in a trap, Malinche, from which there is no escape."

Cortez heard this without a flinch of emotion.  "Please thank the gentleman for his honesty, and please give him a supply of the best embroidered cloth," he told Malinali.  "Please also explain to him that he is not to talk about our discussion with anyone, for should he do so, after we defeat the forces against us on the way to Tenochtitlan tomorrow, I will be forced to return here and kill him."

Startled at hearing these words, the priest said to Malinali, "I thank Malinche for his gifts – and there is one thing more he should know.  The Great Montezuma promised that 20 of the Malinche’s men will be kept for sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli here at our temple in Cholula."

*  *  *  *  *

Cortez then asked that the Mesheeka ambassadors and messengers come to see him.  Not rising from his chair, he addressed them:

"We have discovered that these people of Cholula are evil-minded and intend treachery upon us.  Not only are they planning to kill us, but they will attempt to blame it upon you, saying that Lord Montezuma ordered them to attack and kill us.  But I do not believe that Lord Montezuma, as an honorable man, has given any such orders.  I believe that Lord Montezuma is a man of his word who wants friendship and peace between us.  I know you are shocked to hear of this treachery of the Cholulans and of their disobedience to the wishes of Lord Montezuma.  For your safety, I must ask that you stay in your quarters and not converse in any way with the people of this city.  We do not want to have any reason to think that you are part of this treachery, and need to assure that no harm will come to you."

As the Mesheeka stuttered and mumbled objections, Cortez’s guards led them to confinement.  

Huddled now with his officers, Cortez did not notice Malinali going outside once again.  It was night, and by torchlight she made her way towards the market square.  There must be someone, she thought, she could find who might disclose more of their situation.

That someone found her.  An elderly lady approached her, identifying herself as the wife of an important Cholulan noble.  "You are young and beautiful," she said.  "You should not die tomorrow.  You should come to my house, and marry my son who is to become a rich and powerful chief in Cholula."

"Why might I die tomorrow?" Malinali asked.

"Because the trap is complete, and all these strangers are to be killed.  You should marry my son instead of being killed with them," came the old woman’s reply.

"How do you know about this?" was Malinali’s next question.

"Because my husband is a major commander of Cholula’s army.  Three days ago, the Great Montezuma sent my husband a gift of a golden drum, and three other commanders were given rich cloaks and jewels of gold, as a reward for organizing the trap."

She grabbed Malinali’s hand.  "All the strangers will be killed or captured to be eaten with chiles.  This should not happen to you.  My son has seen you.  He says you are the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, even in his dreams.  Come with me, come to him, now."

Malinali squeezed the woman’s hand.  "Oh, thank you, mother.  Of course I will do as you say, for I do not want to die.  I am happy to know your son is a man of wealth and nobility.  I shall be happy to marry him.  I would come with you now, but I must get my clothes and my jewels – of which I have many, for I am rich too!  Please come with me and wait outside my room while I gather my property.  Then you can help me carry my wealth to your home."

The woman excitedly accompanied Malinali back to Cortez’s quarters.  She had the woman sit in nearby shadows, and once inside, swiftly interrupted Cortez’s meeting, and related what had just occurred.  Cortez immediately had guards bring the woman to her.  Malinali spoke to her:

"Mother, what you just did was very foolish.  You are to tell Malinche all that you know about this trap.  You think you were concerned for my life.  I thank you for that, and want you to know that no harm is going to come to you.  But you should be concerned for your husband’s life, not mine.  As a commander, his life will be in jeopardy in the battle tomorrow.  For it is your husband and his warriors who will be trapped tomorrow, not us.  If you wish to save him, tell Malinche everything you know."

The woman blanched and started breathing in shallow pants.  She looked into Malinali’s calm eyes and saw she spoke the truth.  She gave every detail of the trap she had.  Cortez then had her taken to a guard room to spend the night.

*  *  *  *  *

As dawn broke the next morning, several hundred Cholulan warriors, led by King Tlaquiach and his commanders, gathered in the large courtyard of Cholula’s Great Temple.  The courtyard had high walls surrounding it with two gates on either side.  They were all laughing, joking, and in a merry mood.  The king found Cortez mounted on his horse, waiting for him, with Malinali standing at his side.  He called out to Cortez:

"Malinche!  We are here to escort you to Tenochtitlan!  The warriors you see before you are my finest, with many more waiting on the road.  Let us depart!"

The king, in his gaiety, had not noticed the Spaniards, wearing their armor and carrying swords and shields, were spreading out in the courtyard and lining along the walls.  He also didn’t notice the gates being closed and locked.  Cortez, astride his horse, looked down upon King Tlaquiach and addressed him:

"I wish to know, O King, why, when we have done no harm to you, you intend to kill us.  To what purpose have you prepared long poles with collars and cords, and stored them in a house near this temple?  You intend to bind those of us you capture to these poles and drag us to Tenochtitlan for slaughter.  Why have you for the last few days built barricades to trap us, dug holes in the streets with sharp stakes in the pits to kill our horses, and placed piles of large stones on your rooftops to be cast down upon us?  Why have you removed your women and children from the city?  Why have you already prepared this morning pots of boiling water with salt and peppers and tomatoes?  It is because you intend to kill us, then cook and eat our flesh.

"This is how you repay people who have come to you in friendship and who have done nothing of harm to you.  If you wish to fight us, it would have been far better for you to meet us on a open field in honest battle, as good and brave warriors do, like your neighbors, the Tlaxcalans.

"We know all the treachery you have planned, we know what you have promised to your false gods, we know that two nights ago you sacrificed seven people – including children! – to your despicable gods, and that you have promised to butcher twenty of us to your bloodthirsty idols. 

"I told you your gods were false and evil.  I told you they had no power over us and would lead you to destruction.  Now you are about to learn the truth of my words."

Malinali took care that her words of translation came out clearly and were understood by the Cholulans.  Then she added, "King Tlaquiach, you know Malinche speaks the truth, yes?  Has he said anything that isn’t true?"

He recoiled at the question and his shoulders slumped.  "His words are true.  But all this has been done at the command of the Great Montezuma!  We are not to be blamed!"

Upon hearing this, Cortez replied coldly, "And that is why you were all so happy and laughing when you came here this morning – happy because you thought you had us in a trap, happy that you were going to kill us, happy that you were going to cut our hearts out and cook and eat our bodies.  Now it is you who are trapped and you who will pay for your murderous treachery!" 

Cortez signaled for a musket to be fired, and the Spaniards attacked.  The fighting was fierce and brief.  The Cholulan warriors were cut down like saplings, King Tlaquiach among them.  Malinali, protected by a squad of soldiers, pointed out a commander as the husband of the woman of last night from the description the woman had given.  The commander was captured and not harmed.  But almost every other Cholulan warrior lay dead or wounded.

*  *  *  *  *

No Spaniard had been killed but several were wounded.  Malinali and the padres began tending to them and the wounded Cholulans.  But not long after, Cortez requested her, for he needed to talk to the captured commander.  How many Cholulan warriors lay in wait for them in the streets and outside the city?  How many Mesheeka lay in wait, and would they enter the city now?  With their king dead, would the Cholulans continue to fight, or surrender to him?  Cortez had these and many other questions.

The commander replied that he did not know what the Mesheeka would do, but there were Cholulan warriors barricaded in the streets and on the rooftops above them who were waiting to kill them.  As for the dead king:

"You should know, Malinche, that Cholula is a large city with many factions and parties, many of whom do not like Tlaquiach.  They will rejoice over his death and those of his followers."

The questioning was interrupted by shouts and cries of fighting in the streets outside the courtyard.   There was a pounding on one of the gates and a strong voice calling out "Malinche! Malinche!"  Malinali recognized the voice.  It was that of the Tlaxcalan chief Chichimacatecle.

Cortez ordered the gate opened, and the chief with a group of warriors rushed in.  He stood proud and beaming in front of Cortez.  "Malinche!  We have come to defend you against the Cholulan traitors!"  Cortez looked around the courtyard littered with Cholulan dead, then at Malinali.  "It does not seem that we need much defending at the moment," he said to her. Then he paused.  "What of all the Mesheeka and Cholulan warriors waiting for us out side the city?"

"We entered the city from the side of the rising sun," came the chief’s reply, "while they are on the side of the setting sun, where you will be going towards Tenochtitlan.  We did not encounter them – but my scouts tell me that once they heard you killed King Tlaquiach and his men here, all is confusion among them.  The Mesheeka warriors have started walking back to Tenochtitlan, and the Cholulan warriors have no leader and know not what to do.  We have blocked them from entering the city."

Cortez smiled and bowed to the chief.  "Please convey to the cacique my deepest gratitude for his assistance."  Chichimacatecle bowed in turn and ran back with his men to exit the courtyard. 

Cortez then called for reports from his officers.  Word came in that the Tlaxcalans had stormed the Cholulan street barricades, were killing every Cholulan warrior they could find, and had begun to pillage the city.  From the courtyard, smoke could be seen rising from several places in the city.  "The temples – they are burning down the temples of the Cholulan gods," observed Malinali. 

She looked with alarm at Cortez.  "The Tlaxcalans are now free to destroy the city of their hated Cholulan enemies.  We have saved ourselves.  We must now save Cholula from our friends.  Is not this the Christian way?"

Cortez’s brow furrowed.  "Yes, Doña Marina, it is the Christian way.  How do we find the Tlaxcalan cacique?"  At that moment, an enormous tumult rose from the Great Temple towering above them.  The priests were blowing their atecocoli conch shells in alarm, a horde of Tlaxcalan warriors were swarming over the temple summit platform, priests began leaping to their death, their bodies bouncing down the steep steps in dull thuds, other priests hacked in pieces by Tlaxcalan obsidian-toothed swords, the giant wooden statue of Huitzilopochtli set afire, toppled, and rolled down the steps in a flaming roar.

The Great Temple was to burn and smolder for two days, as did the Tlaxcalans burn with blood lust.  Neither the pleas nor commands of Cortez to Chichimacatecle were sufficient to halt the Tlaxcalan rampage, as thousands of more warriors arrived from Tlaxcala to join in the pillage.

What Cortez could do was confine it.  As leaders from other districts in the city came to him and ask for his protection, proclaiming they held no loyalty to Tlaquiach, Cortez send contingents of soldiers to guard that district.  He could not have his soldiers attack rampaging Tlaxcalans, but he could prevent them from entering sections of the city.  Finally, at the end of the next day, he sent Cristobal de Olid to summon Chichimacatecle and all the Tlaxcalan commanders.

Assembled before him, he said:  "You have had your vengeance, and now it must cease.  You must leave the city with all your men and camp in the fields as before.  You have seized much Cholulan wealth, gold and mantles, feathers, cotton cloth, and salt.  I will let you keep your riches – but the captives you have seized, men for sacrifice and women for slaves, these you must set free."

The Tlaxcalans erupted in anger, shouting complaints that the Cholulans deserved their punishment for all the horrors Tlaxcala had suffered from them for many years.  Cortez gave Malinali a look of fire.

"Malinche has not finished!" she yelled.  The Tlaxcalans fell silent.

"Setting your Cholulan captives free is not all I demand of you."  Cortez brought the Chief Mamexi to his side.  "You know the great Totonac cacique Mamexi.  He has told you all of the peace made between the people of Cempoala and Tizapacingo, who before were enemies.  What I now demand is the same peace between the people of Cholula and Tlaxcala."

The Tlaxcalan commanders were too astonished to reply.

"Retire this night to the fields.  Take your riches and leave your captives.  Tomorrow at this time we will meet here again.  You will meet with the caciques and nobles of Cholula in friendship and peace, and together you will swear that war and hatred between your peoples is finished."

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[1]   October 12, 1519.

[2]   24 miles.

[3]   Around 1000 BC.

[4]   The Olmecs.