“Teul.”
“Yes Chiac,” he answered, looking up at me, and I saw in his eyes that he knew what I was going to ask him.
“You talk as if you’re not going back.”
“I do, don’t I,” he answered, looking away, then all was quiet except for the chirp-chirp of the xirs. “Just being proactive.”
“Well,” said Robertson, “All that is very confusing. Me, I just want us to kill Mahanamtz, rescue Molly, and get my bollocks out of here. I must get back to my family.” He paused. “We will, won’t we, Chiac?”
“Yes! We will.”
“I don’t even know how I will explain this,” continued Robertson.
“You don’t,” I responded. He looked at me strangely then nodded.
“I don’t have any wife and children to get back to,” said Rhys, “but I think I will have a wife when I go back. There’s a gyal who likes me and I’ve been putting her off. I’ve been thinking of her a lot lately since I’ve disappeared into this jungle.” He smiled. “Her name is Sarah May. She will have heard what happened and must be worried fokin sick.”
“Well, I need to get back too,” said Choc. I have a babe waiting for me in Santa Cruz.”
“And who is that foolish woman?” asked Choco.
“You wouldn’t know her. She’s too intelligent for you,” answered Choc, looking at Bas with concern.
“Well madafoka.” Choco laughed. “We know it’s the school teacher. What’s her name,” he said, snapping his fingers. He beamed. “Rosalia Cucul.” I know her.” He chuckled. “Nice thing!” He frowned momentarily then looked at Bas. “Sorry, Bas. I know you and the young lady had a thing going. I didn’t mean to …”
I glanced at Bas. He was smiling at Choco, his face a little askew, showing no malice. “I have told Chiac that I just want her to find a good man, one who will look after her. But does Choc qualify, Choco?”
“Choc? Not a madafoka. Now if you talking about me …”
“Shut the fokmi up, Choco,” warned Choc, a little peeved and embarrassed. “I’ll foklik433 you even if Chiac’s your cousin. And who do you have waiting for you?” We all started laughing again, and irrespective of my thoughts for Rosalia and Bas, I was momentarily happy. We were brothers. We were comrades fokin around.
“No one special,” answered Choco. “I just keep them lining up. I take care of them one at a time, sometimes two … sometimes three.” Once again, we were laughing.
“As I said, I had two issues to discuss,” said Teul, grinning, amusement strong on his face, “and as this could affect you personally, Chiac, I feel I have to tell you.” Suddenly, Teul was not grinning, putting on as serious a face as he could.”
I grimaced. “What is it, Teul?”
“It’s about the Slop Jockey.434 That’s where the second issue lies.”
“Slop Jockey?” queried Clarke.
“Yes,” answered Teul, seriously. “Taat.”
“Who are you calling Slop Jockey, Boy?” stormed Taat.
“I say these things for your own good. Your own, your owngood, Taat,” continued Teul, most seriously, flinging his arms about.
I glanced at Taat. He looked bewildered then simply shrugged his shoulders crossing his arms, probably saying, Let me hear what this ala435 has to say.
“Well, Teul. What is it?”
He hung his head. “I don’t know how to say this, but I’m very worried for Taat.”
“Out with it,” I insisted. I glanced at Taat who was glaring at Teul.
He put one elbow on Choco’s shoulder and nodded his head slowly. Choco put one hand over his mouth. “Well,” he said, very quietly, “All the time we were marching to Ox Witz Ha, Taat would go off into the jungle with Chalchiuitl for long periods. I fear Zyanya will cut off his balls … maybe his cock too.” There was brief silence then the men were howling with laughter, some actually throwing themselves on the jungle floor.”
“Why you little disrespectful man-bwai,” rebuked Taat, moving towards Teul. “We were looking for medicine.”
“So that’s what you call it now,” continued Teul, still serious. “Looking for medicine. That’s a new one. And when you find the medicine, that’s when you give the injection?”
“I will cut out your cock and balls, Teul,” Taat threatened, reaching for his knife, sending Teul howling with laughter along the trail.
“Okay,” I shouted. “Okay!” It was funny, but I was worried that a careless comment here or there would begin a rumor and I did indeed fear what Zyanya’s reaction would be. I scratched my head. Was Taat really doing that? Well, he was still young. How old, I didn’t know. I looked for Teul. He was standing by a bewildered Patli. “Come back, Teul,” I shouted.
“Is it safe?”
I looked towards Taat. He shrugged his shoulders and replaced his knife into the scabbard he had attached to his loincloth. “It is safe.”
I observed my men. “I am happy to see that the camaraderie that holds great soldiers together still exists, even knowing what we have gone through and what we will be going through. We have had our fun this morning. It was good, but let’s drop the issue about Taat. There could be repercussion we would not want to face. Remember, we are in a world different from ours.” The men all raised their fists, smiles and grins still on their faces. “Taat. Men. When you are not training, come. Don’t wait for me to seek you out. Let’s spend time together. And you Choc. Why haven’t you gotten us some a’kl. You know how long it’s been since we sat together, relaxed, and had a smoke?”
“You’re right. Fokmi! I’ll take care of that. But, butwhat do we roll it in?”
“Come on Demetrio Choc from Jalacte,” I said, amused. “We’re in the jungle. You must can find something to roll a’kl in.”
Choc smiled. “Will do. Will do, Chiac.”
“It’s cho-otz,” said Teul.
“Fok you, Mopan,” said Choco, hitting Teul on the back of his head. “You’re out-voted by the Ke’kchi. It’s a’kl.”
“I don’t care what the fok you call it,” I said. “I just want to smoke it.” I sighed loudly. “I fokin wish it was k’uutz. I could do with some right
now.” I frowned, thinking. “I must talk with Teyacapan. Priests use all kind of things in their ceremonies so, maybe Coatl has some in his packs.”
Choc smiled, raising his fist. “Nabe Nacon!” he shouted. All the other men raised their fists. “Yes, we certainly could do with some k’uutz right now.”
“And you Parham. Still writing love poems?” I asked. Parham and the men who knew what I was talking about, laughed. “On Expedition Bold, Parham recited a poem he had written for a woman he loved,” I explained to the others.
“No poems yet, but I will. Teyacapan will be teaching me how to write the language. Maybe, I’ll become a scribe, an artisan.”
“Well, I’m sure K’an II can do with a good one. “Anyway, Men, the poem went like this …
“Oh no,” murmured Parham, holding his head.
I continued:
“Through all the pathways we are going,
You are the desire of my loin,
When our lips touch and our hips mush,
I feel like I am dying.”
I heard only the chirp-chirp of the xirs then Robertson asked, “What did she do?”
Parham hesitated for a moment then answered, “She left mi rass.”
I had never heard my men laugh so loudly. They did until some of them cried. As we tried to return to normal, I asked Parham, “And what about a woman?”
He smiled. “I had a woman in Xibalba, but she didn’t escape with us.”
“Did you tell her?” I asked.
He lifted his eyebrows. “No! I didn’t know if I could trust her. Hun-Came and Vucub-Came have many spies in Xibalba. I could not take the chance. Sad, isn’t it? I did like her a lot.”
“I’m sorry, Parham,” I said. Somehow, there was always some unexpected gloo
m that seemed to follow us. “It’s the Way of the Warrior.”
He smiled. “Her name was Centehua.436 I’ll look around when I get back to Ox Witz Ha. We’ll all be heroes, won’t we,” he said, grinning at me. “It shouldn’t be difficult. But I chakuj-tutuchci. The female Warriors who don’t have a special Warrior are … ‘accommodating’, as Teul would say. They want to roll on the mat as much as we do.”
“Uwa-Uwa-Roarrr! Uwa-Uwa-Roarrr!”
“And you, Hulse?”
“Well, I’m like Parham. When we’re not training, I’m with a female Warrior, somewhere. Sometimes just talking. I’m not sure what I want to do, but I will look for something other than wars and battles where I return to Ox Witz Ha. I have an interest in the sacbeobs and aqueducts, and also in the way K’an II is changing the farming methods. I think I can help there. And a woman? Yes. Definitely, but not one. No potato-cloth-dog way.” He grinned. “I’ll probably have families all over the place.”
“Uwa-Uwa-Roarrr! Uwa-Uwa-Roarrr!”
“Then there’s Anderson. He’ll survive his injuries.” The men raised their fists. “We’ll have to see what he wants to do when we get back to Ox Witz Ha. The first thing we’ll do is change his name to Saq Hun, White One.” I chuckled. “Okay, men. Get back to your sections. We’ll be marching soon.” I looked to the east. “Kinich is already two hands above the horizon. We’ve spent more time than I expected. We’ll have to do that smoke later.”
“But it was a good thing,” said Taat. “It was a necessary thing, Paal.”
My men all raised their fists again and began walking away, leaving me alone among the small army. I beckoned to Patli and he came over.
“What language were you speaking,” he asked.
It was not until he asked that I realized we had spoken in English the whole time. “It’s the language of my kingdom.” He looked puzzled. “It is far away, Patli. Far away.” My mind drifted a little, but soon came back. “Do we get any food this morning?’
“We don’t. Nabe Kaloonte”s camp will only cook when Kinich Ahau goes to the Underworld. Perhaps, we will find some fruit.”
I nodded. “Get me Ukab Nacon and Oxib’ Nacon.”
“We’re here,” said Yochi, from behind me. I turned. He handed me some sak-ya’ fruit. I immediately tore off the thick skin with my teeth and started sucking the sweet pulp. “We found a couple trees, enough to feed all of us.”
“Good,” I responded, juice draining onto my chin.
“We’re ready to go,” said Zyanya, “unless there’s something else you wish to discuss. Nabe Kaloonte’ is already moving out. Our Warriors have all gotten rid of their To’bal-ribs. No one wanted to keep them.”
I nodded. “Nothing else to discuss now. We’ll march through the jungle just as we did before. Continue the Warriors’ training. I will run with Xico for a while then return to you.” I continued eating the sak-ya’ then walked towards the river. It was only then that I realized how quiet it was. All my Warriors had already gone across the river and had disappeared into the jungle. I took off my lej-xajäbs and stepped in. I was tempted to take off my loincloth and have a bath as I knew I stunk as fok, but already Xico’s Warriors were running down the sacbeob. I climbed the northern bank and listened to the jungle. Except for the sound of the swift water, my jungle was quiet. Then came the crazy laughter of the kos, Wah-co!-Wah-co!-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. I raced down the sacbeob, still holding and not bothering to put on my lej-xajäbs. No Katy-Katy-yu-baby-di cry. No Jut-Jut.
In a short while, I caught up with Xico and Ehecatl and we kept at a slow pace, running just behind Teyacapan and his band of healers and priests. The Warriors were keeping ahead of us, but they were never too far ahead. I looked beside me, into the jungle, as I ran, but I saw no signs of my Warriors. We started to fall further behind the Warriors as Teyacapan’s group began to slow down, as was expected, since we were once again leaving the river valley and moving into mountainous terrain. We reached a summit and saw that the Warriors awaited us at the base of the mountain. On the sacbeob, however, speeding towards us was a Runner.
We paused as the Runner drew closer. When he reached us, he bent over, holding onto his knees, breathing regularly but deeply. Xico waited. It did not take him long to stand and hit his chest.
“Nabe Kaloonte’! I am Icnoyotl,437 Nim-q’ij Runner of Ox Witz Ha.” Xico nodded. “Nim-q’ij Envoys have reached Maxam, Yaxha, and Topoxte. Others still travel to Nakúm, Yax Mutul, Siaan K’aan, Ox Te’ Tuun, and Pa’ Chan.”
“What information do you bring?” asked Xico.
“Maxam will not provide safe conduct. Yaxha will provide safe conduct. Topoxte will not provide safe conduct, but our envoys are working on Yaxha to pressure Topoxte to provide safe conduct. The envoys also continue their negotiations with both Maxam and Topoxte.”
“Are there any Warrior movements?”
“The Runner that came from Topoxte said that there are rumors that the militia is being called up. Our envoy could not get official confirmation on that, but he will send another Runner as soon as there is any additional news. He did confirm, however, that coinciding with his arrival, Topoxte sent Runners with Diplomatic Scrolls to Yax Mutul.”
“And Mahanamtz?”
“The air over Topoxte is filled with the incense of the Sacred Pom and the Ah-k’inob and many priests are saying incantations at the foot of all the temples. The citizens walk quickly, as if with fear, but no one will speak of what is happening.”
Xico frowned. He looked at Ollin. “Get me Choj and Bo … and Teyacapan.” Ollin hit his chest and started running downhill towards the Warriors below. “Icnoyotl!”
“Nabe Kaloonte’,” he said, hitting his chest.
“Go. You have done well. Tell the servants to provide you with food and drink.” Icnoyotl hit his chest, turned, and began running downhill. Soon, we saw Choj and Bo coming towards us, Teyacapan and Ollin following close behind.
Nabe Kaloonte’,” they said together, leaning over, catching their breath.
“Icnoyotl has informed us that Maxam and Topoxte will not provide safe conduct. Yaxha will provide safe conduct. Our envoy, however, is asking Yaxha to apply pressure on Topoxte to allow safe conduct. Also, but unconfirmed, Topoxte is calling up its militia and has sent Runners to Yax Mutul. Also, the air over Topoxte is filled with the incense of the Sacred Pom and the Ah-k’inob and many priests are saying incantations at the foot of all temples. What does that mean?” asked Xico. Choj and Bo straightened up, breathing more easily.
“It is possible,” said Bo,” that Topoxte will do nothing until Yax Mutul answers. Topoxte will not attack unless they have the support of Yax Mutul. Its army is just not strong enough.”
“Topoxte is also at a strategic disadvantage due to the fact that we will be passing northeast of Ha’ Yaxha,” explained Choj. “Topoxte is made up of three islands and will have to move their Warriors across Ha’ Yaxha to Yaxha and then onto the Yaxha-Maxam sacbeob in order to intercept us on this sacbeob. They could take the minor southern sacbeob and I will discuss that in a moment. Yaxha may not allow Topoxte to cross and may even use the opportunity to beat Topoxte back into submission and try to forestall any alliance Topoxte is making with Yax Mutul. If Topoxte …”
“But won’t Yaxha fear retaliation from Yax Mutul?” I interrupted.
“If Yaxha stops Topoxte from attacking us,” said Bo, “Yaxha will expect Ox Witz Ha to align with them should Yax Mutul send Warriors to attack them. I think Yax Mutul will be wary. Ox Te’ Tuun waits nearby.” Bo shrugged.
“If they use the southern route, Topoxte’s Warriors can avoid Yaxha by going easterly and marching up the isthmus that runs between Ha’ Yaxha and Ha’ Sacnab,” continued Choj. “That would bring the Warriors onto the sacbeob we are marching on, but we may have already been long gone. If we did come under an attack staged from Topoxte, Maxam may just decide to begin a new campaign against Ox Witz Ha and join them,” said Choj.
“What about the action of the Topoxte priests, Teyacapan,” asked Xico. “Icnoyotl said that the city is filled with incense.”
“Wouldn’t that suggest the fear or presence of Mahanamatz’ K’aas,” I asked.
Teyacapan hit his chest. “There could be two reasons. “The first would be the calling up of the militia. The priests would be offering blessings for the Warriors and giving tribute to Ek Chuah so that victory is theirs. Their presence throughout the city assures the militia of victory. Their presence also reminds the people that they must do as Topoxte demands; so, koolnáals, artisans, young boys, they will all come out to be armed for battle … and many, unfortunately, will go to Xibalba where their status will be low.”
“And the second?” asked Xico.
”The use of so much of the Sacred Pom suggests that the prayers are not only for the success of the impending battle, but fear of an itzel, Mahanamtz’ K’aas or any itzel,” replied Teyacapan. “Having incantations done at the foot of all temples and the entire city enveloped in incense is very unusual. War is war. Itzel is itzel. They are different. The greatest itzels the citizens of U Wach Ulew face are Mahanamtz, his Kechelaj Komon, and his Kechelaj. We do not know exactly where Mahanamtz is. Perhaps, Topoxte’s scouts have located Mahanamtz in the region and have sent word to Ahau Topoxte. In order not to frighten their citizens and have them flee, leaving less for the militia, Topoxte probably talks only of war, but the priests prepare for Mahanamtz as well.”
Sisimito III--Topoxte Page 45