Wise Coyote peered out from behind the hangings of his litter, then clutched the side rails to keep from sliding as a bearer stumbled on the muddy trail. Ahead he could see the palanquin of Ilhuicamina, larger and grander than his own, but clumsier and bulkier. It lurched as the men who carried it fought to keep their footing. Wise Coyote sighed and braced himself against another jolt. He would much rather have walked, but Ilhuicamina had insisted on honoring him. Turning in his seat, he looked back down the slope to Lake Texcoco and the city of Tenochtitlan. How it had expanded, even in his own lifetime! Once a poor village on a snake-infested island, the Aztec capital now covered great tracts of reclaimed land in the lake. Seven great causeways linked it to the mainland, where the metropolis was starting to spread along the lakeshore. But the lack of potable water had slowed the city’s growth and threatened to choke it from within. Now, with the opening of the aqueduct from the springs of Chaultapec Hill to the city’s heart, fresh water would be available to all.
