The Prince and the Coyote: Chapters 15–25

by David Bowles
Based on the life and poems of Nezahualcoyotl, this historical fiction is told from the perspective of the 15th-century king of Tetzcoco, as he goes from being a teenage crown prince, to hunted refugee, to triumphant warrior and family man.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 5, Chapters 6–14, Chapters 15–25, Chapters 26–32, Chapters 33–40
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. venerable
    profoundly honored
    “Thank you, Venerable Godkeeper,” I say with a bow, letting my sword hang free from the strap around my wrist.
  2. coalesce
    fuse or cause to come together
    Soupy and cold, the air around me is growing denser. I can feel it coalescing, as if a water sprite were about to step from the fog and seize me.
  3. vertiginous
    having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling
    I feel the swirling black of unconsciousness pull at my mind the way the current does my body, which itself is swept down the mountainside at vertiginous speeds.
  4. mottle
    mark with spots or blotches of different color
    No bones are broken, though bruises have begun to mottle my skin like cuitlacochin fungus on maize.
  5. copse
    a dense growth of trees, shrubs, or bushes
    My muscles are groaning and my head is a throbbing mess, so I find a copse of cedars standing like sentinels atop a low rise.
  6. excise
    remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
    Or will the Lord of Chaos excise her from my thoughts, a weakness I cannot afford, a stumbling block on the road to my destiny?
  7. inscrutable
    difficult or impossible to understand
    I have been abandoned by all but the cruelest of the gods, and his eerie presence thrums around me with inscrutable schemes.
  8. poignant
    arousing powerful emotions, especially pity or sadness
    Beside me, the coyote starts to howl in poignant harmony with my grief.
  9. reprove
    reprimand, scold, or express dissatisfaction with
    During long weeks, I become her acolyte, learning to track like a coyote, to weather storms and mudslides and smoldering forest fires under her watchful and often reproving eye.
  10. revel
    take delight in
    The peace I find at her side is indescribable, formless. Heaven-sent. I know it will not last, but I revel in it while I can.
  11. verdant
    characterized by abundance of vegetation and green foliage
    “His passing through our land is grim and fearful,” my father once told me, as we looked out upon withered fields one especially harsh winter, “but it ensures that spring will draw bright and verdant crops from the earth.”
  12. revenant
    someone who has returned from the dead
    Sekalli herds in two younger children, both squealing with fear of the legendary revenants who accompany the setting sun after having died during childbirth.
  13. svelte
    being of delicate or slender build
    He is tall and svelte, with muscular shoulders, contrasting with his shorter, stouter wife.
  14. penchant
    a strong liking or preference
    “Shush, husband. Your penchant for exaggeration will make him uncomfortable.”
  15. partisan
    a fervent and even militant proponent of something
    A refugee from the civil war? Partisan of the dead overlord, perhaps?
  16. fallow
    left unplowed and unseeded during a growing season
    We rotate our fields, letting some lie fallow each year. It is now time to break up the untended soil and get it ready for planting.
  17. affinity
    a close connection marked by community of interests
    “You have a natural affinity with Mother Earth, Nezahualcoyotzin,” he says.
  18. retinue
    the group following and attending to some important person
    For the next four years, he will look down on me from above, part of the morning retinue of the sun. I shall not make him avert his eyes in shame.
  19. brazen
    not held back by conventional ideas of behavior
    Brazen wench. How dare she talk to me in such a way?
  20. arduous
    characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion
    For the third week, we switch to using a coahuacatl—a sort of hoe with a curved stone tip—to turn the earth, readying it for planting. It is arduous work, but the days pass with startling speed, and there is always a delicious meal and comforting talk at the end of each.
  21. blight
    any plant disease resulting in withering without rotting
    Grown together, these crops are hardier—more resistant to insects and blight. Strength in diversity, one of Tetzcoco’s greatest civic principles, reflected in the real world.
  22. imbue
    give qualities or abilities to; endow
    O priestly planting sticks
    imbued with holy force—
    the green time is almost here,
    the thunderheads at last appear:
    it’s time to do your work!
  23. scry
    divine the future, especially by gazing into a crystal ball
    You fields that lie rich and black
    like a smoke-dark mirror
    in which the future’s scried—
    receive these seeds, hold them close,
    feed their roots, help them grow.
  24. sumptuous
    rich and superior in quality
    My mind is filled of a sudden with foolish images: Sekalli dressed richly in sumptuous clothes of bright colors, as befits a concubine of the Chichimeca Chieftain.
  25. redolent
    having a strong pleasant odor
    Sekalli’s body, warm and small, redolent of grass and mountain flowers.
  26. ethereal
    characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy
    My heart unmoored from the world, adrift in this impossible moment, I turn to look upon her face, silvered by the moon until her ethereal beauty is almost unbearable.
  27. ephemeral
    lasting a very short time
    Building a home, bearing strong children,
    laughing together, lights in the darkness.
    Ephemeral joys, indelibly human.
  28. eddy
    a miniature whirlpool or whirlwind
    I too was once a young girl in love. I know there’s no commanding the heart, no changing the course of that raging flood. Let yourselves spin in its eddies for the moment.
  29. piquant
    having an agreeably pungent taste
    Sekalli uses more spices than her mother, and my tongue tingles, delighted, at the piquant pleasure of the chilpoctli she has added to the venison.
  30. nascent
    being born or beginning
    Eyes going red with nascent tears, she touches my hand.
  31. purport
    have the often misleading appearance of being or intending
    From the doctor’s aides, I learn that entire support squads from my purported city of origin were wiped out in the battle, so I claim to be the only survivor of a group led by one Captain Amimitzin, who has just died during surgery.
  32. maelstrom
    a violent commotion or disturbance
    Then, one after another, successive surges of increasingly less talented, less experienced, and less equipped soldiers join the fray, till the battlefield is a writhing mass of chaos.
    As my squad, one of the last, moves into the center of that maelstrom, my eyes and heart scan the movement, seeking out patterns.
  33. askance
    directed to one side with doubt or suspicion or envy
    “Utterly predictable,” I mutter.
    Captain Oton catches my words and looks askance at me as we come to a halt, some rods away from the prince and his retinue.
  34. deprecation
    the act of expressing disapproval (especially of yourself)
    “It was my honor, Your Highness, to transform many Mexica dogs into butterflies on their way to the House of the Sun. I doubt any were worthy enough to become hummingbirds, much less eagles.”
    He chuckles at my deprecation.
  35. insinuate
    introduce or insert in a subtle manner
    Ah, but I have my suspicions, yes I do. You’ve insinuated yourself entirely too quickly into the noble circles of this ward.
  36. stolid
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
    Stolid, stubborn, and mean, my Uncle Moteuczoma prefers to face everything head-on, with unnuanced force.
  37. ostensibly
    from appearances alone
    Two watches later, hunkered down among boulders at the base of Iztapayocan Hill, we hear the ostensibly quiet movement of the Mexica army as they attempt to slip behind the enemy they believe trapped between hill and lake.
  38. fealty
    the loyalty that one owes to a country, sovereign, or lord
    Of course, my pledge is a lie. Though the deception pains me a bit, my only fealty is to the Acolhua people and the gods we worship.
  39. underscore
    give extra weight to
    “Nezahualcoyotl,” he says simply,
    lowering his speech as if to underscore
    the difference in our social rank.
  40. dirge
    a song or hymn of mourning as a memorial to a dead person
    You may be a singer, a drummer,
    an architect, an anointed leader,
    but you must now compose a dirge,
    must intone a ululating battle cry!
Created on Mon May 27 08:59:01 EDT 2024 (updated Tue May 28 10:51:47 EDT 2024)

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