“Wait!” Dreamy screamed as she lurched from her seat toward the door. “My child! I need to get my child.” The bus driver opened the door as she rushed out and collected a swaddle of white linen nesting in a seat beside the bus. Dreamy reboarded, holding the bundle tenderly. Murmurs of concern rippled through the bus as Dreamy dropped back in her seat cooing gently to the bundle as the bus released its breaks and maneuvered onto the highway. 

The pools of the Red Queen were located four hours away in the now ruined Mayan city of Palenque, deep in the jungles of Chiapas, Mexico. The Red Queen, her skeletal remains dusted scarlet red with cinnabar, was discovered by archaeologists in 1994. Her burial included rich grave goods: a mask made of malachite, jade, obsidian, a diadem, beads of jade and shell, elaborate jewelry, seashells, possibly as offerings. Outside her sarcophagus, two other skeletons were discovered — an adolescent male and an adult female — who show signs of injury. They are thought to have been sacrificed to accompany the queen into the afterlife.

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