Read Online Words of Love by Hazel Hunter - Free Book Online

hadn’t paused, she’d read them quickly as they passed.
    “Do you feel it?” she asked, as he came to a stop.
    “Xibalba is the underworld, the realm of the dead,” Brett said, still holding her hand. “It doesn’t really exist. You know that.”
    Jesse looked at the dark cave entrance ahead of them.
    “The Red King wasn’t supposed to exist either. Or his realm of Tulan Zuyua.” That was something Brett could hardly argue about. She gestured around them. “He’s gathering blood, Brett. I don’t know how but he’s still gathering blood.”
    Brett took her by both arms.
    “He’s dead, Jesse. For thousands of years. He’s dead.” Then his eyes lit up. “And we’re going to find him.”
    He didn’t see it. He didn’t see the way the glyphs looked.
    He tugged her toward the last cave. A stela was set up in the corridor just in front of it. The glyphs seemed to jump out at her.
    “Brett,” she said, as he started to pass. “Brett, have you read this?”
    He slowed but didn’t stop.
    “I read the top part but nothing seemed to have anything to do with the Red King.” Then he paused. “Why? What does it say?”
    Though the glyphs were the colors that she usually visualized, there was a deep vibrancy that was new. They were darker and richer colors and yet somehow just as bright. She blinked a few times as she approached. As she reached up to touch the first row, she felt a sudden chill in her fingertips. She gasped and stood back.
    Brett immediately had his arm around her waist.
    “What is it?” he said, staring at her.
    “It’s the glyphs,” she said, unable to take her eyes off them. “They’re cold and dark. What’s beyond will be cold and dark.”
    They both glanced at the cave entrance.
    Suddenly, the words started to form as her internal dictionary of glyphs began to whirl in midair. She began to read.
    “These are the words. If they are not understood by the chiefs of the towns, ill omened is the star adorning the night. Frightful is its house. Sad is the havoc in the courtyards of the nobles. Those who die are those who do not understand.”
    “Well,” said Brett. “I didn’t get exactly that reading.” He squeezed her waist. “That’s why you’re here.”
    A feeling of anxiety started to fill her.  
    “It’s the test,” she whispered. “The test of kings.” She looked at Brett, suddenly afraid. “It’s the secret kingly language and it’s a test. If you don’t understand what it’s trying to say, you’ll die.”
    “But you just read it. You understand what it says.”
    She shook her head.
    “It’s not that easy,” she said.
    “I guess you make it look easy.”
    He tugged her hand and went to a rough electrical box on the floor, beside himself with excitement.
    “No, that’s not what I mean,” she said.
    Brett flipped the power switch and light suddenly flooded the last cavern and poured out through the entrance. As he pulled her through, Jesse couldn’t help but gasp.

    • • • • •

    For once, Brett didn’t need to stare at it himself. He’d seen it enough. Instead he watched Jesse. The utter astonishment on her face made him grin.
    “A pyramid ?” she said. “A pyramid ? In here ?”
    As Brett gave her a few moments to take it in, he remembered what it’d been like the first time he’d seen it. It’d only been with a lantern and a headlamp but it might have even been more dramatic that way.
    After discovering the entrance to the cave and the first cavern, he had raced through them all, almost as they’d done just now. It was the day he knew his career was made. Although he hadn’t known it then, though, it was also the day his obsession with the site had begun, and his marriage had ended.
    “I don’t believe this,” Jesse said.
    Now she took his hand and tugged him along.
    As though she had a homing instinct, she zeroed in on the exact stela he’d wanted her to see. Unlike the other stela and glyph panels, she didn’t run up to