Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth Book 2

The second book in the Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth series sees Dr Elizabeth Pimms drawn into a new mystery involving ancient female Mayan rulers, more family secrets and brilliant new recipes.

 Worldwide - eBook

Mayan Mendacity is available for purchase as an eBook from Booktopia, or your regular eBookseller.

Australia and New Zealand - Paperback

Mayan Mendacity  is available for delivery as a Paperback from Booktopia. It’s also available in all good bookstores across Australia and New Zealand.

Purchasing Dr Pimms as eBooks or Paperbacks via the links to Booktopia on this page will help L.J. as an author. As a Booktopia affiliate, she will receive a small additional percentage of the sale price of her books.

International - Paperback

Mayan Mendacity is available with free worldwide delivery as a Paperback from Book Depository.

Signed Copies from the Author

L.J. has introduced a service from early April 2020 for her readers to purchase copies of her books directly, have them dedicated and signed, then posted.

Please note this may involve some delays in receiving your copies.

If you would like to purchase a signed copy directly from L.J. please email ljmowen@gmail.com with the subject: ‘Purchase a signed copy’.

Prologue

Mayan Calendar Date 9.12.2.14.12 8 Eb’ 5 Sip (4 April 675 CE)
Mutul City, Mayan Empire (now Dos Pilas, modern Guatemala)

Lady Six Sky, Princess of Mutul, concentrated on the small black bead hanging between her eyebrows. Her daily practice of ensuring her eyes were perfectly crossed was almost over. She smiled as her hand slid over the warm, wriggling belly of her beloved dog, Red Jaguar.

Nurse was brushing her hair into a style appropriate for this evening’s pre-celebration dinner. Soon the laborious but vital task of choosing costumes and jewellery for tomorrow’s festivities would begin.

Tired of staring at the bead, Six tugged it gently from its fastening and scrunched up her face, bringing her eyesight back into focus so that she could continue reading. Her current book was one of her favourites, a history of one of Six’s antecedents, the Lady of Tik’al. Six read it several times a month. She was determined to enter the historical plays one day as the next great Tik’al queen, following the path laid down by her famous ancestor.

‘Why can’t your own mother do these things for you?’

It was Nurse’s son, In’laak, who sat in the corner mouthing his way through a beginner’s text. He was often jealous of the time and attention Nurse paid to Six.

‘My apologies, Lady Six,’ Nurse said. ‘In’laak, you mustn’t speak to Lady Six in this manner.’

‘I’m not offended,’ Six reassured her attendant. ‘Your mother helps me because my own cannot. I explained to you before, remember? My mother returned to her home city after my birth, as do the mothers of many Rulers’ children.’

‘Return to your reading,’ Nurse told her son firmly.

‘This text is difficult.’ This was another of In’laak’s regular complaints. ‘Can I not have an easier one?’

‘No. If you’re going to be a scribe one day you have to practise,’ Nurse said.

‘But I’ll never be a Great Scribe.’

‘Be thankful for that,’ Six said. ‘You don’t want to be.’

‘Yes I do,’ he whined.

‘No, you don’t,’ Nurse said. ‘You will become a scribe for a merchant, be safe and comfortable, and look after me in my dotage. Now, say thank you to Lady Six for teaching you to read.’

‘Thank you, Lady Six,’ In’laak huffed under his breath, then returned to dragging a finger over the glyphs and slowly piecing the words together.

Nurse finished shaping Six’s hair and pushed the last bone pin into place. Carefully patting the elaborate sweeps and swirls Nurse had created, Six was pleased. With her elegantly elongated head and well-crossed eyes, Six was sure to attain the level of beauty required to rise through the ranks of the Empire. Just one element remained.

Six ran an inquisitive finger over her mouth. She had already secured the best, most attractive rounds of jade for display in her front teeth.

‘I believe my teeth are fully formed; the maize is set. Can you transform them now?’

‘Soon, Lady Six,’ Nurse promised. ‘It’s best to wait a little longer.’

Once her teeth were filed to sharp points and adorned with fine jewels, Six would be exquisitely beautiful. She would capture the hearts of nobles and courtiers alike, allowing her to secure her rightful place as Lady Ruler, alongside the Ruler of a powerful dynasty.

She tickled the back of Red Jaguar’s head, causing him to squirm in delight. Although Six could not afford the luxury of trusting another human, her dear little dog would be by her side through all her triumphs to come.

‘Now, Lady Six, which robes would you like to wear to the banquet tomorrow?’

The following day, Six swept as majestically as she could through painted corridors and splendid courtyards to the Ruler’s Throne Room. Nurse padded along beside her holding a cloth shield before her face.

Six had been distracted all day by the absence of Red Jaguar. It was unlike him to stray very far from her side.

‘He’ll have found another pup to play with, Lady Six,’ Nurse reassured her. ‘He always finds his way back to you.’

They paused at the entrance to the stately hall to adjust Six’s clothing and ensure her headdress and jewellery were perfectly placed. The noise spilling from the banquet was overwhelming. Six scanned the room for her family’s table, then stepped into the melee of relatives, visiting nobles, courtiers, retainers, and warriors from her father’s recent battles.

One end of the hall was dominated by the Ruler’s dais. There her father, Flint Sky, sat, visible only as an enormous shadow cast onto the magnificent screens that shielded him from unworthy eyes. Six spied the knee of his new Great Scribe peeking out from behind the curtains beside him. Sitting cross-legged behind the Ruler, swathed in a uniform of simple cloth, the Great Scribe’s apparent modesty belied the authority she now wielded with her pens and brushes.

Before ascending to her exalted position, the Great Scribe had been one of Six’s sisters. Six was glad the privilege had fallen to an older sibling. Appointment to the politically dangerous and often fatal position of Keeper of the Royal Library was not part of her plan. Six wondered which story the new Great Scribe’s first official play would present. A fanciful tale of the Ruler’s latest victory on the battlefield? Or, more likely, a safer rendition of exploits from the spirit world.

Passing vast tables laden with vats of turkey and dog stew, whole armadillos, monkeys, turtles and iguanas, Lady Six and Nurse paused to inspect the mountains of green avocado, yellow pineapple, orange papaya, and bowl after bowl of blood-red tomatoes. Finally, Six spotted her favourite sauce, a mix of cacao, tomato and chillies.

‘The illustrious Lady Six Sky,’ a taunting voice called. ‘Join my humble table.’

Six looked around and spotted the source. It was Black Deer, the warrior who had teased her at last year’s banquets that he would marry her. How could he think she would consider sullying her lineage with the likes of him?

‘Thank you, but no,’ Six responded with open disdain. ‘I am seated with my brothers and sisters.’

‘I’ve captured sacrifices again, Lady Six,’ Black Deer boasted. ‘More than twenty enemies for your father.’

‘And?’

‘One day, I will be in such favour you will have no choice but to marry me.’

Six locked eyes with the unruly lout. ‘While it is true that even you, low-born as you are, might one day reap enough maize to dine with the Hero Twins, you shall never conquer sufficient enemies or capture enough slaves to gain my consent.’

The warrior’s face darkened, his lip curling into a sneer. ‘It’s not your consent I need.’

Lady Six turned her head, looked meaningfully at Nurse, and continued on her way to the Ruler’s family tables.

Picking her way through small portions of venison, beans and avocado, Six watched the Great Scribe’s play. As Six had suspected she might, the Great Scribe had chosen to recount the story of the creation of the first humans by the spirits: first from wet clay, then from wood, and finally from life-giving maize.

She had added scenes of their father’s ascent to the throne, forcing the actors to mime the Ruler cutting down his terrible Tik’al enemies and standing victorious over their slain bodies. All a lie, of course. Six’s father, Flint Sky, Ruler of Mutul, had betrayed his hereditary house of Tik’al to form an alliance with the snakes of the north, Calakmul. Ever the opportunist, Flint Sky had been lured from allegiance to his family dynasty, Tik’al, with the promise of a new city-state of his own if he absconded and joined forces with Calakmul.

Six was deeply embarrassed by her father’s defection, as well as resentful of how much more difficult it would make her ascent into history as the new Lady of Tik’al. It had forced her to study that much harder, meticulously scouring the laws and rituals of Tik’al and Calakmul to plot her course.

Once the play had concluded, Six rose to return to her chambers. She did not wish to mingle with the rowdy crowd any longer than necessary.

‘Lady Six, please grace us with your noble presence.’ It was the presumptuous Black Deer again, gesturing with a greasy bone in his hand for her to join his table.

Six decided not to acknowledge him. She twitched the side of her gown to indicate to Nurse that they would continue.

‘Here, I’ve saved the best part for you,’ the oaf called.

Six paused. ‘I beg your pardon?’

Black Deer turned to the table to pick something up with his other hand. ‘Just for you.’

Six stared at it in horror, unable to accept what she saw.

It was the head of her treasured Red Jaguar, severed from his tiny furry body, and . . .

Six screamed as she collapsed to the floor, her heart crushed with grief.

Weeping uncontrollably, Lady Six Sky, Princess of Mutul, vowed vengeance on the monster who had killed, cooked and eaten her only friend.

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