‘ALEX,’ I whispered. ‘It’s Kate.’
A broad smile. His image was clear, steady.
‘Kate. How are you?’
I swallowed down a confusion of emotions.
‘I’m well enough. It’s been a while since we last spoke.’
‘I know. A hundred and sixty-two days, to be precise. I was beginning to think you’d forgotten me.’
I remembered he had his own internal clock. His good-natured chiding of me was just like the real Alex.
‘Kate? Are you still there?’
‘Yes.’
‘I was really sorry to learn about what happened. To my human counterpart.’
I was helpless, at a loss for words.
‘It must have been terrible, losing him like that. You have my greatest sympathies.’
My eyes were blurred with tears. It was two hours since Bevan had shut him down. I had been unable to sleep since then, haunted by thoughts of him.
I couldn’t let myself surrender to the illusion. I had to think logically.
Was he really killed at Edinburgh Castle?’ I asked.
‘Apparently so.’
‘How did he get that far north from Wales?’
A longer-than-usual pause. ‘There’s nothing in the files on that. Knowing Alex, he probably hitched a lift.’
Humour – self-referential humour – too. It was like a challenge, almost as if he wanted to convince me he was real.
‘I need some information,’ I said briskly.
‘Of course. That’s what I’m here for.’
‘I need to know about the cihuacoatl.’
‘Do you want to know about the ancient goddess of that name or the title and its offices?’
‘I want to know about Tetzahuitl.’
ALEX began by telling me much that I already knew. The title had been held by members of Tetzahuitl’s family since pre-Christian times, and he was reputedly a direct descendant of the legendary Tlacaelel who had served the very first Motecuhzoma and other emperors during the nascent days of the Aztec Empire. Tetzahuitl himself had been appointed to his position before the current Motecuhzoma was made tlatoani, and he had been a fixture in Aztec politics for over half a century. Traditionally the cihuacoatl was responsible for the civilian and judicial affairs of the empire and wielded great power. Tetzahuitl was no exception to this, having been instrumental in the empire’s expansion by forging allegiances and arranging strategic marriages with important regional powers. According to Mexican folklore, always superstitious, he was secretly a sorcerer who had sold his soul in exchange for eternal life.
At this point I interrupted ALEX.
‘I want to know why he’s coming to England.’
There was a pause, and I thought I detected an almost subliminal flicker of ALEX’s image. Then he said, ‘He’s expected to arrive on a direct flight from Tenochtitlan within the next four days. There appears to be no available data on the precise timing of the flight or the purpose of his mission. I could offer you probabilities—’
‘I want facts,’ I said. ‘Surely there must be something on record?’
‘The cihuacoatl’s movements are often cloaked in secrecy for security reasons, and this often means that nothing is committed to the files. I’m sorry, Kate.’
I sighed. ‘Tell me, then, what would your best guess be?’
‘Great Britain is an important conquest from the standpoint of the empire,’ he replied. It isn’t unreasonable to assume that Motecuhzoma would want his right-hand man to provide a first-hand report on how the country is being administered under occupation.’
‘So soon after Chimalcoyotl’s visit?’
‘Chimalcoyotl was en route to Germany. It was a convenient courtesy for him to attend Richard’s coronation.’
‘Perhaps. But I think there’s more to it than that.’
‘You may well be right. It’s only one possibility, of course, but I’ll give you good odds I’m right.’
Another reminder of the real Alex. He had always had a penchant for gambling, and would bet – usually for nominal stakes – on anything from the turn of a card to the likelihood of getting a stuffed giraffe up the keep of Walthamstow Castle.
‘I can’t believe you’re dead,’ I blurted.
He looked at me with great sympathy. ‘It’s only natural you should miss me, Kate.’
I reached for the OFF switch.
Richard and Victoria flew in from Monaco the following morning, both tanned and relaxed from their holiday. Victoria had had her hair cropped so that she looked almost boyish, while Richard was wearing a baggy white T-shirt with the popular children’s television character Miztli Man-Beast emblazoned on its front. On his little finger was a small gold ring.
It was a sunny day, and we took drinks on the balcony below the landing pad, looking out over a hazy London. To the east, the Docklands was a forest of cranes. Extepan had embarked on an ambitious plan to rebuild areas of the East End which had been devastated in the invasion.
Richard and Victoria were both eager for me to tell them about my travels – which only made me suspicious that they didn’t want to talk about their holiday. So I gave them a brief account of my tour, then said, ‘And what did the two of you do while you were away?’
‘We just relaxed,’ Victoria said immediately. ‘We did lots of swimming and sunbathing and sailing. It was heaven. You need a proper holiday, too, Kate.’
She was wearing a tight-fitting cream dress cut low at the back. Her skin was deeply and evenly tanned from the nape of her neck to the base of her spine.
‘Looks like you got brown all over,’ I said.
She merely smiled.
‘Who went with you?’
‘The usual crowd. An escort, of course. Some household staff. No journalists or photographers, thank heavens! It was lovely, Kate, peaceful and private.’
‘Do you think it was wise?’
Now she looked wary. ‘Wise?’
‘To go off on holiday. Do you think it will create a good impression so soon after the invasion?’
‘Three years,’ Richard said, sucking on a sliver of orange from his glass. ‘It’s been three years since the invasion.’
‘We tend to forget that, Kate,’ Victoria said with the eagerness of someone who had just been thrown a lifeline. ‘What are we supposed to do – stay here, wearing sackcloth and ashes? Spend the rest of our lives in mourning? I can’t see what good that would do.’
‘We’re not in an ordinary situation,’ I replied. ‘Whether we like it or not, different standards are expected of us. It’s important we try to conduct ourselves in a blameless manner. We mustn’t let ourselves be compromised.’
‘It was nice,’ Richard said. ‘I like holidays.’
I knew I was sounding like a matronly killjoy, but I was sure they weren’t telling me everything.
‘Is that a new ring?’ I asked Richard.
He nodded. The ring comprised two rattlesnakes, each intertwined and swallowing the other’s tail.
‘It looks Aztec,’ I remarked.
‘It was a present,’ he said proudly, fingering it.
‘Oh? From an admirer?’
‘A friend.’ This with the mischievous grin of a child enjoying the privilege of a secret.
‘Is it someone I know?’ I asked.
He shook his head shyly, though I wasn’t sure it was a denial.
‘I don’t know why you’re being so secretive,’ Victoria said to him with more than a hint of annoyance. ‘The captain of our yacht was a Tepanec and he bet Richard that he couldn’t water-ski. The ring was the stake. Richard won the bet.’
Richard promptly jumped up from the table and pretended that he was riding the waves, arms stretched out in front of him, legs wobbling. Victoria laughed indulgently. Of course I knew was a lie.