Sapa Kanan Cápac

It only takes a day for the news of the woman to reach my father and his council, a lot from a time that breeds fear of the unknown.

I'm clever enough to know they'll never approve of an outsider coming into our homelands without knowing where she comes from and what she wants from our people. I don't know what any of those answers are, but that's the difference between he and I. I couldn't be bothered with knowing why she's here. She's here now with nowhere to go. And the thought of her leaving to fend for herself churns my stomach.

My father and his council can't see the aged innocence in her sweet, sun-filled eyes, or the softness of her hands that could never be capable of anything ill. Just the sight of her smile could send thousands of men blindly into war, all eager for her hand. This goddess, for there is no other known word for someone like her, must be protected from people like my father. Anyone who wants to dispose of her will have to go through me first, and that's a promise I intend to keep.

The brief knock at my door nearly ruffles Isabella awake. I quickly make a clicking sound under my breath and right away, a woman comes walking in.

"Your father would like a word with you, young Sapa," she murmurs quietly, bowing her head in respect. I try not to groan at the thought of speaking to him so early in the day before Isabella's woken up, but I have no choice. Not with him.

"Send in my best guards," I command, trying to control the frown twisting at my lips.

She bows her head once more in acknowledgment and then leaves my room. I know it won't be long until she comes back with my most trusted men, and I can't keep my father waiting long. Until his soul joins our gods in the paquarinas forever, I have to obey his orders.

I gaze down once more at Isabella's sleeping form, a small smile finding my lips at the gentle sight. Her plump mouth parts softly, releasing quiet breaths of air as her long lashes lie soundlessly against her burnt-sienna cheeks. Her body curls perfectly around mine with one palm to my chest and she nudges even closer, as if she knows I'm going to leave her. I won't be gone for long. I won't allow myself to be. Even though I trust the men who swear to watch over her, I still can't bring myself to stray far from this beautiful woman out of curious passion.

I carefully unattach myself and move from her side. Resisting the urge to stroke my thumb along her flushing face, I quickly turn away and make my way over to the fresh bundle of clean garments to clothe my body. Not wanting to change in the same room, I decide to change in another, and then hand the discarded clothes to a nearby servant woman with her hands out.

The men walk swiftly up to my chamber with blank expressions and stiff bodies, a spear gripped tightly in each of their hands. I give them a stern look, trying to convey how serious my words are when it comes to the woman they're going to guard.

"Protect her with your life," I hiss sharply. "If one strand of hair on her head is out of place, I won't hesitate to use either of you as our next sacrifices to the gods."

"Yes, Sapa Kanan," they both say, bowing their heads with a fist pressing tightly over their hearts.

Sparing one more glance in Isabella's direction, I reluctantly move away from my room and go to visit my father. We no longer live in the same hut, seeing as I outgrew living with him ages ago after turning ten and eight and now am on my own at the age of twenty and one. The death of my mother when I was born had aged him significantly though, so it worried me he lived alone aside from his servants, but I selfishly still had no intentions of wanting to live with him after I grew of age. Especially not now.

I can feel the curious gazes of my people on my flesh as I walk by them outside and over to my father's temple. I know they are wondering where the woman came from, and what I want with her, but I can't help feeling defensive and protective over her. Selfishly, I only want her for myself and not to be shared under the quizzical scrutiny of the villagers. I want her to enchant me and no one else, even though that is impossible with my status.

For once, my status has brought me the opposite of arrogance. If I were just a normal villager without a kingdom to run, I could get away with getting to know her privately. I could marry anyone without people knowing, help them tend to any duties they felt like carrying out that day, and maybe give birth to sons and daughters that would share dark eyes and coarse curly hair. I could love someone wholeheartedly without another snooping in on our lives. I've never been envious over a commoner's life until this very moment. For I know my father, and I know he won't see it that way. The council as well.

My feet grow unbelievably heavy as I briskly run up the long steps of his temple without breaking a sweat. His guards that stand out front bow at me, and one of the servant girls holding my father's dirty linen in her hands offers me a small smile as I pass her on my way to his room. I roll my eyes at the glimmering look she gives me.

My father lies impatiently across his bed, his eyebrows furrowing darkly like a storm cloud. And he doesn't look happy.

"Father," I greet, kneel at his side.

"Kanan, my Son of the Sun," he begins, his voice hoarse from the continuous coughing that he has endured for the past few full moons. His wrinkled face looks tired, aged after his loss years ago.

I remain silent at the sound of my namesake, though I bristle slightly.

"What have you done? What have you brought into our world amongst your people?" he demands of me. "Did you not think of the villagers? If the gods will strike us in their wrath of a newcomer who is unworthy?"

My annoyance spikes at his word choices, and I can no longer hold my tongue. "The gods will go through me. I'm the next Sapa, and my people already recognize me as such. I am the Son of the Sun and I know what is best for my people. She will not make a difference to them."

Another voice joins my father's then, only it comes from behind rather than in front of me. My father's head councilman, Supay, waltzes in the room with gold dangling from his ears and a colorful poncho covering his chest, a true symbol of wealth. His long hair is braided away from his elderly face, and those brown eyes of his that I've only dreamed of stabbing are alight with mischief and curiosity. "How are we to trust this being if we don't even know where it came from? Surely, she's not from one of our cities. She is much darker, and not because it's tainted by the sun like the rest of us. She is different."

"She is not an it," I seethe through my teeth. "And she is no danger to any of us. I do not know where she came from. When she speaks, she talks in a soft tone and there is no wrath of anger in her eyes. A woman such as she cannot cause harm to any."

"That you know of," Supay hisses, angry now. "This is all speculation! You will doom the rest of us with your desire of this woman. Find yourself an Inca bride and get rid of this one. Our sacrificial ritual is coming up—"

I explode with a rage so powerful and strong I knew part of it wasn't my own. Being questioned is never something the Inti, the sun god, appreciates. It's hard to describe, but he takes place beside me in my body from time to time and you would know this if my eyes glow gold, and my features enhance beautifully to something inhuman. I know they see it now, as both my father and Supay bow, and they have no other choice in the matter for just this moment.

"Touch her and you'll be our next sacrifice," I shout, clenching my fists as words that are not my own flow through me and slide past my lips without control. "This conversation has nothing to do with you. Leave us! Your presence disgusts me."

Supay only bows once and leaves the room as quickly as he came. The fiery anger slows, and I'm sure it isn't long until the glow of my eyes dim. Thankfully, he's gone for now.

I turn back to my father, his eyes bunching in exhaustion. He's used to these small outbursts by now, as they've been appearing since I was a small boy, and he knows there is no arguing with this side of me who is much higher than he. The sun god chose me, and though it is a great honor, it's hard to control.

"Father, he already has a strong attachment to her. I can feel it," I try to explain to him. "She is—unbelievable. Truly."

"How can I approve of a person I know nothing about? Approve of someone that could hurt the rest of us? His lust could just be for a woman, as it always has been since you were 15," he snaps.

"This is different, she is more than what you think a woman should be," I mutter quietly now, unable to explain how badly the two of us want this woman to stay with us forever. To love her, to cherish her and shower her in any riches I already possess, for she deserves them all. "She is who I want to know, apart from him. I will teach her the ways of our people to your approval—"

"A month is all I will grant you. I will check in with you at the Festival of the Sun and if she is not up to par with our customs and language at the month's mark, you will send her back to where you found her."

"But, father, that's—"

"A month is all I will give you," he interrupts. "Now leave me. I have nothing else for us to discuss."

Knowing this conversation will not go any further, I offer my father one last bow and then turn to leave his presence. He cannot talk for very long anymore, and I would honestly rather be back with Isabella than stay here with him for another moment. I love my father dearly, but that doesn't mean I agree with him on every issue.

And this issue is something I will gladly go to war for.