The priest seemed mad with fury as he saw the girl make no move to obey. “You dare defy me?” he screamed, half-rising from his litter, and quivering with rage. “Have a care that thou art not flayed alive and wed in blood to Xipe instead of becoming the bride of Kinich Ahau.” Then, turning to his soldiers, “seize her, beat her until she falls,” he ordered. Two of the men stepped forward, their stern faces a strange mingling of fear of approaching me, the bearer of the token, and terror of disobeying the monstrous, fiendish priest. “Stand back!” I ordered, drawing Itza to my side. “He who dares lay hand upon the maiden Itza dies by the curse of Kukulcan.” Instantly the warriors drew hastily back, and still holding Itza, trembling and terrified, I strode directly toward the raging, infuriated priest. My part was to bluff, to overawe. From the instant I had set eyes upon Kinchi Haman I had known that he and I were fated to clash, that either his power or mine must prevail and there was no better time than the present to determine once and for all who was to wield the power. My part was to overawe, to bluff to terrify by my supposedly semi-divine personality. But would the priest’s fears of offending the gods override his vicious, cruel nature and his fear of losing prestige? I would soon know. Looking him contemptuously up and down and then with a savage frown staring straight into his bloodshot, wicked eyes, I stepped to within a yard of where he sat, like the living counterpart of a hideously distorted idol. “And who art thou to defy the bearer of the Book of Kukulcan?” I demanded. “A strange welcome you give the bearer of the sacred token, O, Kinchi Haman. Know you, misshapen one, that I, the long expected one, choose to have this maiden Itza remain beside me. More, O, priest of Mictolan, I, not Kinich Ahau, shall wed the maiden. Disobey my wishes, little priest, and the lightning and thunder at my command shall destroy you and your people.” At my words, a deep half-moan, half-sigh arose from the crowd. They, through their priest, had offended the hearer of the Book of Kukulcan. Dire vengeance might fall upon them at any moment, and with groans and supplications they prostrated themselves upon the earth. But the effect of my words upon the priest were very different. He was a brave man, despite his cruel, vindictive nature, and, so I suspected at least, was not as superstitious as his people. And though I could see he was terrified at heart and recoiled before me, yet he was not one to willingly acknowledge defeat so readily. “Thou speakest boldly,” he muttered, his eyes ablaze, “but what proof have we that thou art the bearer of the token? And even if thou art, it is I, Kinchi Haman who rules here. And the maiden I say is to wed Kinich Ahau.” Then to his guard. “Seize her, I command you. The one who falters dies the seven deaths.”