Mendoza was not expecting any of the children to stop by to see him this early in the afternoon. He knew Esteban was excited to set off and was spending most of his time, along with Zia and Tao's help, gathering up the supplies they would need for their search for the next city of gold. Esteban was determined to continue the High Priest's mission; considering what had happened to the city they had found, Mendoza couldn't blame the boy for not wanting to waste any time looking for the next one.

Turning away from the map he was sketching out on a piece of cloth, Mendoza raised an eyebrow when he saw it was Zia entering the room he had taken over the day before. After carefully setting down the wooden plank with some fruit, cheese, bread, and flask of water she was carrying atop the table the map was spread on, Zia neatly sat down on a stool and rested her hands in her lap. Mendoza waited a moment to see if the girl was going to say anything then said when she remained quiet, "Thank you." When Zia nodded her head, Mendoza turned back to his work.

He could tell the girl was working up her courage to speak to him; though she didn't fidget like Esteban and Tao would have, he could see her rubbing her hands together out of the corner of his sight. Though he was curious as to what Zia might wish to talk about, he stayed quiet. He didn't blame the girl for being a little distant and on edge in his company- he had kidnapped her after all- but he saw no reason to make small talk to make her feel more comfortable. If she would speak then she would do it in her own time.

When Zia finally straightened and looked right at him, Mendoza glanced her way. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully before stating, "You are not like other Spaniards."

Mendoza chuckled and dipped his quill into the shallow dish filled with ink he had scavenged, along with some gold, from the city before it had been destroyed. "Oh, I am very much like other Spaniards; otherwise none of us would be here now."

Zia frowned. "Then it really was all just for the gold? Kidnapping me-"

"I kidnapped you because I was ordered to," Mendoza corrected the girl as he carefully sketched in Cape Horn on the map. The fabric soaked up the ink, making the line wider than he wanted it, but accuracy was not what he was working towards.

"But you didn't kidnap Esteban; he told me so."

"Ah," Mendoza said, "but I did, just not in the same way as I did you."

"What?" Zia yelped as she jumped off the chair, her hands clenched into fists at her side.

Settling back on his stool, Mendoza picked up a rag and cleaned the end of the quill as he explained, "I told Esteban the story of how I rescued him and the mystery surrounding that." He pointed the feathered end at the golden sun medallion hanging from a cord around Zia's neck. "It worked just as well as tying him up would have."

"But you gave him a choice…"

"Did I?" Mendoza dipped the quill then brushed the tip against the rag so there was less ink on it before returning to the map. As he slowly drew the west side of Africa, working from his memory of the copy of the Padrón Real the Esperanza had carried, he added, "If I had told you that I knew a way to your father, you would have snuck out and boarded that ship as well."

Puzzled now, Zia perched back down on the edge of her stool and asked, "Why didn't you?"

"You had no reasons to trust a Spaniard and since you were a gift to the Royal Family, it would have been difficult for me to see you alone and convince you I spoke the truth, and even more difficult for you to sneak away."

"Hm." After a few moments of silence, she asked, "And you didn't bring Esteban so that I would have company?"

Mendoza shook his head. "No. When I saw you had a medallion just like Esteban's I took it as a sign that the time had come to put my plan to find the Cities of Gold into motion. I had spend many years learning all the legends surrounding them and those medallions of yours. When I was given the order to kidnap the one other child I knew of that had a medallion of the sun, I wasn't about to miss a chance as good as the one fate had handed me. I took you and I spun a tale that tied Esteban to me as tightly as the ropes I had bound you with had."

"What if he hadn't come?"

Leaning back slightly to look over the whole map, Mendoza shrugged a shoulder. "I saw no reason to worry about that. I knew he would come."

"How could you be so sure?"

Mendoza sighed then pressed his lips together. He drew in a deep breath then slowly let it out before leaning forward to continue. "Because I still remember what it's like to wonder whether one's father is alive or not."

"Oh." He knew the girl wanted to offer some word of sympathy just because it was her nature to do so, but the memory of her own father's death only a few days earlier distracted Zia into silence. Mendoza offered no words of comfort; he knew from experience as well that it would not make any difference in easing her grief.

As he turned his attention to the last section of the map, hesitating over the islands that had caused so much grief for those who had survived the crossing of the Pacific with Magellan, he heard a squawk then a word he didn't know. The voice speaking was Tao's little green parrot Kokapetl as he swooped into the room. As soon as he spotted Zia, Kokapetl began happily singing "Zia, Zia" as he circled over the girl's head.

Following behind the bird, Tao stepped into the room and said, "Ah; there you are; we were wondering where you disappeared off to." The boy grabbed a piece of fruit and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Tao!" Zia scolded her friend. Kokapetl picked up Tao's name and started singing that as he fluttered around the room.

"What?" the boy asked around the food in his mouth, clearly confused by the scowl she was giving him. He blinked, glanced down at the platter of food, then up at Mendoza. His eyes widened and he started to put the half eaten fruit back.

Mendoza chuckled. "It's fine; help yourself, both of you. That's more than I can eat right now."

Tao brightened and grabbed a few more things off the platter before plopping down on a bench. Zia offered a thank you before taking some of the cheese and bread for herself and sat back down on her stool.

Kokapetl, deciding he too should be sitting down, landed on top of Mendoza's head. Mendoza moved the quill away from the map and looked up. He couldn't see the little bird but he felt him wiggling himself into a comfortable position and was sure the thing had a smug look on it's face- or at least as smug a one as a parrot could have.

While Zia and Tao tried not to laugh at the sight, Mendoza said, "Kokapetl, if you do not get off my head, I will pluck your feathers and toss you into the stew pot for dinner." Kokapetl let out a nervous squawk and launched himself off Mendoza's head and into Tao's lap; hiding his head under Tao's arm.

"Don't worry, Kokopetl; Mendoza was only kidding." Tao petted the parrot's back.

"If he had done something other than sitting on top of my head I wouldn't be."

For a moment Tao looked indignant and protectively hugged his bird closer, then he thought about what Mendoza meant and suddenly snickered. He slapped a hand over his mouth as he looked at Zia but that just started her laughing and he gave up and added his laughter to hers. Mendoza smiled and dipped the quill once more.

Once they had finished eating and Kokapetl was convinced that Mendoza wasn't going to eat him and was perched in his usual spot on Tao's shoulder, Tao stood up and walked over to the table. Leaning against it he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Drawing a map to help you three in your quest."

"You're not coming with us?"

Cleaning the quill off and setting it aside, Mendoza shook his head. "I see no reason to."

"Because you've got your gold," Zia said; a little edge in her voice as she joined them at the table.

"Yes." Mendoza smiled then shrugged. "And I believe finding the other Cities is your quest; not mine."

He could tell that answer surprised the girl. "What do you mean?"

Nodding towards the sun medallion, Mendoza explained, "I believe you and Esteban were given those for a reason. They will lead all of you to where you need to go. Letting you go on your own will give you time to figure out how to do that." Picking up the quill, Mendoza slipped it into a tube then capped the ink bowl. "And believe me; if I thought this quest was too dangerous or too much for any of you to handle, I wouldn't be letting any of you out of my sight. If you need help, you know where to find me." He laughed then added, "Well, you'll know where to find me in a few months at least."

"We could fly you back to Barcelona," Zia pointed out. Mendoza shook his head.

"No. It would be out of your way." Pointing at a spot on the bottom left side of the map, he said, "This is where we are now." Moving his hand up to the top center section, he tapped another spot. "And this is where Barcelona is." He shifted his hand to a spot above their current location.

"There are many legends that say there is another city of gold somewhere up here. Now it may be that Tenochtitlan is the city the legends speak of- it too sits in the middle of a lake- but I think not."

"Why not?" Tao asked. "If it is in the middle of a lake-"

"Just because it's built in a lake doesn't mean it's the right city. Defensively that would be the best place to put a city if you have the ability. It is hard to attack a place like that when an army has to cross water to do so first, and also difficult for the attacking army to retreat and regroup when it becomes necessary." Mendoza frowned and shook his head slightly at the old memories that thought brought up.

"Yes; I suppose that does make sense," Tao said as he pushed himself up on his toes to look over more of the map. Mendoza glanced at the boy then at Zia. There was a questioning look on the girl's face and Mendoza looked away. Those were not memories he was willing to discuss.

Tao gestured to the right side of the map. "There looks to be a lot missing."

"It's a big world."

"That's true." He dropped back down and looked at Mendoza. "I still don't see why you won't let us at least take you to somewhere you can catch a boat back to Spain."

"I may accept that offer but it is up to Esteban; he is the Condor's pilot after all. I do think it would waste too much valuable time though." He pointed towards one of the windows. "And the quicker you find the other cities and prevent what happened here from happening again, the better I for one will sleep at night."

Standing, Mendoza rolled the map up around a straight stick and slipped it into a longer tube then, after tying the end shut, handed it to Tao. "I've made notes on there of places you might want to avoid- port cities held by Spain and Portugal. There are also marks for where I think other cities of gold might be."

"The sun signs?" Tao asked as he took the tube and swung the strap attached to it over his shoulder.

"Yes."

"There were only three on there."

"I've only had ten years to look, Tao."

"Ah, yes," Tao said as he rubbed the back of his neck, an embarrassed look on his face. "I suppose it would take a long time to figure out where they all are."

"Without a golden Condor? Yes, it does." Mendoza grabbed his cloak and threw it over his shoulder, clasping it in place, then picked up the platter. "Come on, let's go find Esteban and make sure he got something to eat."

Kokapetl danced on Tao's shoulder, shouted "Esteban!" then flew out of the of the room. Tao ran after the little bird. "Kokapetl, wait up!"

Chuckling, Mendoza gestured for Zia to go ahead of him. When she reached the threshold, she paused and looked up at him. "I still don't think you're like other Spaniards," she said in all seriousness.

He gave her a smile. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Zia nodded her head then ran lightly after Tao. Mendoza shook his head. He hadn't expected things to turn out the way they had when he had kidnapped Zia all those months ago, but then adventures never went the way one expects them to.

He jogged after the two children and towards the golden Condor shimmering in the sun. "Hey! Wait for me!"