Still caught up in the laughter, he soon realised that they really should be heading back into the beach, and he held up his hands in surrender and turned away, wading back out and up the beach to where their possessions still lay. As he wandered up, feeling the sand squeak beneath his feet, he wondered about how these villagers could have such an apparently peaceful existence, to not be wary of strangers. Were there no raiding parties here? Was there no taking of captives for sacrifice? They had to be vulnerable here, but he had seen no sign of defences or of warriors.
The thoughts were driven away as a group of villagers appeared carrying large packs and bales down to the beach. It looked like his presumption had been right and this would be the place where the canoe would come in. The others had joined him by now, and they sat down to wait and watch as the trade goods were stacked, one by one, in readiness.
It turned out to be not much longer before there was a shout from up on the headland, where a young boy stood waving his arms.
“They’re coming!” came the cry.
Tohil and the others got to their feet. A few moments spent scanning the water and then sweeping around the headland came a long, long boat, the likes of which he’d never seen. It was easily the length of ten men and broad with it. Four men paddled on either side, and at one end stood another man done up in finery with cape and headdress, feathers, and jewels. He stood with a gilded staff, bright feathers adorning its end, planted in front of him. He was clearly someone of standing, some sort of functionary. They watched the large boat glide into the shore and the four men who had been paddling leapt out and dragged its prow onto the beach.
All then was a flurry of activity. The functionary stepped delicately from the front of the canoe and onto the sand and made his way up to the piled of goods. There ensued a conversation, the functionary poked at each of the packages with his staff and then made some marks in some sort of book he was carrying. There was some more conversation and then men started carrying the goods down to the boat and stacking them evenly along its length. The functionary was turning back to the boat and Tohil saw that this was his only opportunity. He walked quickly across the sand to intercept.
“Excuse me,” he said.
The man, decked out in all his finery turned, looked Tohil up and down. “Yes, what is it you want?”
“We were told you were headed to the Great City,” he said.
“That is correct.”
“We were wondering if we could journey with you.”
The functionary frowned, looked at Tohil, over at his companions, down at their goods.
“And what do you offer for that?” he said.
Tohil felt suddenly lost. They had nothing to offer.
“We can help on the boat. Carry goods.”
The man looked at him blankly, then waved his hand dismissively.
“That is a fine joke,” he said. “And a girl too.”
“But…,” Tohil started.
Just then the man narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer. He reached forward, peering at the pendant around Tohil’s neck. He stroked it with his fingers and turned it on its string, leaning in even closer.
“That will do,” he said, after a moment. “Where did you get such a fine piece?”
“It was given to me by some priests in a city, back over the mountain.”
“It is unusual. Very unusual. Yes, that will do very nicely.”
Tohil barely had a moment of doubt. The priests had given him this gift for a reason, and who could tell the way it was meant to aid their journey. The jaguar had found a way to aid them after all.
He reached up to untie the string that bound it around his neck.
…they brought precious stones and metals, they brought honey of the bees, bracelets, bracelets of emeralds and other stones, and brought garlands made of blue feathers
— Popol Vuh, Part IV, Chapter 11
NINETEEN
Tohil trailed his fingers through the water, leaning over the side of the canoe. They seemed to glide across the smooth surface, as the vast body of water stretched like a mirror all around them. Below, he could see nothing, merely blue becoming deeper blue, though once or twice he had seen the silvery flash of fish passing beneath them. Off to the left lay shoreline, beaches, trees, and the occasional signs of habitation. He glanced across at Tepeu who looked distinctly uncomfortable, his arms wrapped around his knees, staring fixedly in the direction of their travel. Xquic sat beside him now, face turned up to the sky, her eyes closed. He watched her for a while, and then returned his attention back to the water.
They had learned quite a bit since joining this party. The Assessor, for that’s what he was had joined them in the middle of the boat and finally deigned to conversation. They would have three more stops to make before reaching the Great City, and at each one, they would pick up more goods and produce. Each time, the Assessor carefully recorded the quantities and the products, marking them down, determining their worth. That record made sure that on the return journeys, each village would receive fair recompense, minus, of course, the tribute made to the Dwarf King and the Great City. In part, that tribute contributed to the feeling of security they’d noticed in that first village and apparently, all along the coast. The Dwarf King’s apparatus ensured that the trade was handled fairly, that there were no, or few raiding parties to disrupt the production and the distribution of various good throughout the regions he controlled. According to the Assessor, these long canoes also plied the interior waterways, reaching villages and other smaller cities far inland. For now, though, the other men in the boat paddled, and the stacks of dried fish sat there, waiting for their next destinations.
About an hour later, they pulled into a small cove. Again, the villagers were waiting on the beach. This time there were large sacks of salt which were duly recorded and then loaded on board, the Assessor diligently recording the amounts in his book. There was no exchange of goods at this point. That would wait for the return journey, when the canoe would be loaded with goods from the city, artefacts, feathers, jewellery, even furniture. Whatever the villages acquired would be deducted from the credit they’d accumulated from the provision of their own goods. While the sacks were being loaded and the tally agreed, Tohil, Xquic and Tepeu left the canoe and stretched their legs along the beach. Then, all the loading complete, the villagers drifted away and they climbed aboard once more. This time, Tohil and Tepeu helping to push the long wooden craft back into the gently lapping water. Once back on board, and they had travelled further from shore again, Tohil made his way up to the front, stepping carefully around the piled goods, and squatting down beside the Assessor.
“Everybody seems to just accept this,” he said.
The Assessor shrugged. “This has been going for as long as we remember.”
“And the villagers all accept your calculations?”
“Why would they not? It works. They get a fair deal and they get access to things that would be hard for them to come by otherwise. It lets them get on with their lives and do the things that they are good at, like fishing, collecting salt.” He waved his hands at the piled goods lying stacked in the boat’s middle.
Tohil looked out at the passing coastline, thinking.
“You do not seem to have corn, or other things, though the villages grow them.”
“Everyone grows corn,” said the Assessor. “The greatest need for food is in the city, but here, along the coast, it is fish, salt, as you see. We transport the goods to where there is the most need.”
“And how do you know where that is?”
He shrugged then. “The system has existed for over two hundred years. Mostly, it is obvious.”
“But if it has existed for that long, this is not something that the Dwarf King put in place.”
The Assessor gave a short laugh. “Before the Dwarf King, there was another king and another before him. Only some of them had the good fortune to be born dwarves.”
Somehow, Tohil had an idea
that the Dwarf King was something special. Everyone knew that such people had access to power and magic. Was he in fact not so unique?
“You seem to know what each of the things is worth. Are there rules about their value?” Tohil asked then, still thinking.
The Assessor turned to him then and studied Tohil’s face. “You have many questions, don’t you?” he said. “But no, the values change. They depend on many things. Some places desire certain goods more than others. Sometimes there are other factors that influence the value.”
“Like what sort of things?”
“Well, sometimes there might be a drought. The crops die. There is less corn, and so the value of the corn becomes more because there is less to go around. Perhaps a mine runs out of metal and we have to seek other sources, and for a while it is harder to obtain. All these things can change the value of all the goods that we deal with.”
Tohil considered this. It would make sense. He wondered how they could keep track of all of that, but he supposed somewhere there were records of quantities, demands. All that was administered from the Great City. There must be many people to manage all of that. And all of them working for the Dwarf King in the heart of the city. He shook his head at the enormity of it all.
“But why are there not raiding parties? Why don’t they send warriors just to take what they want?”
Now the Assessor smiled. "Where would they come from? Where would they go? All of this belongs to the Dwarf King and the city. The Dwarf King has many warriors and all of them are his.”
Again, Tohil took a moment to absorb this. He thought for a bit longer, but for now, he had run out of questions.
“Thank you,” he said, and made his way back to the centre of the boat.
Over the next hour or so, he caught the Assessor looking back in his direction, speculatively, and he wondered why. Wasn’t it natural to ask questions if you had them?
At their next two stops, they took on more dried fish and this time some bundles of stone. The large canoe had no trouble bearing the extra weight. Again, both times, they went through the same ritual. The Assessor dutifully counted and recorded everything, seemed to reach an agreement, the goods were loaded on board, and then they departed. They had been travelling for most of the day now. Tohil briefly wondered if this took place every day and he tried to imagine the number of these long boats travelling up and down the coast, stopping here and there along the way. Some of them must journey further than the length of a single day. How far up the coast did their activities extend? There must be places along the way where they stopped and rested. After all, this canoe had come from somewhere else and there had already been small piles of goods stacked neatly within it by the time it had reached them.
They passed by a couple of small islands and on one of them, he saw smoke drifting above the trees. He leaned across to one of the rowers and pointed it out.
“Do people live there?” he asked.
The man looked over to where he was pointing. “Yes, there are villages there.”
“But how?” Tohil asked.
The rower looked at him blankly. “With boats, of course,” he said.
Tohil made his way across to Xquic and Tepeu, picking his way through the stacked goods. “See over there,” he said. “People live on those islands.”
Tepeu was still looking miserable and didn’t seem very interested. Xquic looked across where he was pointing.
“Ah yes,” she said. “There must be water over there. Perhaps there’s a small river.”
“But the island doesn’t seem big enough for that,” said Tohil.
“There would have to be,” she said.
“I wonder if these canoes go over there,” he said. He couldn’t imagine how they might survive otherwise.
His speculation was cut short as Tepeu finally spoke, pointing further down the coastline in the direction they were moving.
“Look there. It must be the Great City.” His words carried a sense of relief. He stood then, one hand raised to shield his eyes.
“It might be better if you sat.” said Xquic.
Tepeu lowered his hand, glanced around at the water flowing past them and quickly retook his seat, swallowing. It only took him a moment before his hand was back up shielding his eyes as he stared off into the distance at what had to be there destination. Now, they all turned their attention to the rapidly approaching cluster of buildings, clear even from this distance.
As they grew ever nearer, the scale of the place started to become apparent. They’d been approaching for nearly an hour, and still it appeared no closer, though the details were becoming steadily clearer. There were many, many buildings, more than Tohil could have imagined. Cultivated fields stretched out around it, clear from the even boundaries that marked their edges. The Assessor had taken up his standing position now at the front of the canoe, bracing himself with the staff held firmly in front of him. He fussed about, preening, organising his cloak and headdress and then stood immobile, staring out at the approaching city. There were other canoes in the water now, some of them paddling in from other directions, some apparently heading out. Even at this distance, Tohil could see that each of them had a figure standing at the front, several others propelling them forward with paddles.
The water slipped quickly beneath them, the sound of the paddles slapping the water, and steadily the buildings and structures in front of them grew. There was no doubt in his mind now why this was known as the Great City. There were building of wood and stone stretching all along the shoreline, and wooden platforms and structure built close to the water with many, many boats floating next to them. Piles of goods lay stacked along the length, some of them being unloaded or loaded into the craft that clustered all around. There were people everywhere, either attending to the loading or standing there directing. Already Tohil had marked several of them as Assessors, dressed similarly to their own, standing at the front of their canoe. They could hear the noise now, drifting over the water towards them, shouts, instructions, other voices. Tohil watched in fascination. He had never seen so many people before. Even the city they had visited on their travels paled in comparison. Both Tepeu and Xquic seemed completely absorbed by the spectacle as well.
As they drew closer in to the dock area, their oarsmen engaged in a series of manoeuvres, some of them paddling forward on one side, and back on the other, that resulted in the craft turning and then gliding in to rest up against a wooden pier behind another canoe already in place. One of the oarsmen leapt out of the boat, and grabbed a rope tossed to him from the rear and tying them off.
The Assessor turned from his position at the front and stepped carefully out, and then, gesturing with his arms wide, spoke to the travellers. “Well, here we are,” he said. “The Great City.” He immediately turned back to his crew, shifting his attention to the unloading that was already underway.
Tohil grabbed his things and tossed them onto the wooden platform and then clambered from the canoe himself. He reached out a hand to assist the other two as they joined him. They were left standing there, looking about in every direction, trying to make sense of the confusion and the noise, the multiple people, the buildings. Tohil walked over to the Assessor.
“Where do we go to find the Dwarf King?”
The Assessor gave a short, amused laugh. “Where everybody finds the Dwarf King. In the Grand Palace, of course.”
“Can you tell us how to get there.”
The Assessor turned briefly. “I do not have time,” he said. “And now, our business together is concluded.”
“But…,” said Tohil, but the Assessor was now ignoring him.
He walked slowly back up the jetty to join the others.
“Well, he was not much help,” he said.
“But he got us here. And here we are,” said Xquic. She held out her arms, her palms stretched flat and turned around and around. “Do you see all this?”
Tepeu nodded, looking about himself. He appeared distinctly happier
now that he was out of the canoe.
Tohil turned his attention to the dockside. There were people everywhere. Some were dressed simply, just as the oarsmen on the canoe, others were clearly identifiable as Assessors or perhaps similar functionaries, all around involved in the dockside activity. Here and there, strolled others in more elaborate clothing, multi-coloured feathers, shining gold, both men and women. Some of them were accompanied by men, clearly warriors, carrying weapons, painted, also sporting jewellery of their own. They must be nobles, and those that walked with them, personal guards. Within different groups, there were variations of clothing, but that was not the only thing that differed. He could hear words being spoken in other tongues. The people were taller or shorter, their skin light or dark. Everything was different.
“I suppose we should find our way somehow,” said Tohil.
“But where?” asked Tepeu.
“The Assessor said something about the Grand Palace.”
“It will probably be obvious,” said Xquic, “if it is a Grand Palace. It has to be called that for a reason, right?”
“All right. Let’s see what we can see. I don’t know what we will do though once we find it. It is starting to get late. We need to work out where we might spend the night. We have nothing more to trade,” he said looking down at the meagre possessions that now lay spread about their feet.
“We will be fine,” said Xquic. “We have been fine up till now.”
Tohil nodded and stooped to gather his things. “Let’s just head into the city,” he said. “We should find some answers there.”
The Serpent Road: A Science Fiction Novel Page 18