Free The Visionary Mayan Queen: Yohl Ik'Nal of Palenque by Leonide Martin Page A

nobles with little to do. He puts ideas into their minds, that they could be victorious warriors and gain greater things than are possible in flower wars. That they might even become rulers, displacing the traditional lineages of their cities. When such foment occurs the social order becomes unstable. Then shifts in power can occur, rulers made vassals, lineages unseated and overlords set in place to control the city’s resources. Uitah Chan is putting this strategy into motion.”
    Silence followed as Ahkal Mo’ Nab closed his eyes. Without these bright beacons of intelligence, his face appeared wan and drawn, skin tinged faintly yellow. Yohl Ik’nal absorbed the implications of the ruler’s appearance, for she knew some things about illness and healing. Her heart felt heavy.
    “It was done, this undermining of rightful order, in the time of Tuun K’ab Hix of Kan and our father Kan Joy Chitam,” the ruler said in measured tones, as if forming words was an effort. “The Kan ahauob seated 12 year-old Aj Wosal of Maxam after his father’s untimely death and left a Kan overlord for many tuns, gaining much tribute. Often have I wondered about that death, although it was claimed to be natural.”
    “And shortly before that, Kan interfered in the affairs of Pa’chan,” Kan Bahlam added, “though to the credit of Pa’chan the encounter left a Kan captive in their city. That which happened more recently between Kan and Mutul is of greater concern.”
    “With that I fully agree. The snakes of Kan have reached far southward, insinuating into the domain of the great and ancient Mutul, our friend and trade partner. Is it only six tuns since this shameful event? When Uitah Chan installed a puppet ruler at B’uuk, I became suspicious of his intentions. Next was a wily move, to stir the fires of discontent in Uxwitza that smoldered for years in resentment of Mutul’s dominance – a position fairly won through flower wars and the decision of the May Council.”
    “Much have those events troubled me,” mused Kan Bahlam. “Still we are lacking definite information. It is puzzling that we had no contact with Mutul since its ‘chopping down’ ten tuns ago. We do know that Kan became the patron of Uxwitza and encouraged their dishonorable behavior in this event.”
    “It is said by the Calendar Priests, that the ‘chopping down’ of Mutul was as expected, part of the ritual termination of monuments and structures that must occur when the may cycle is completed,” Ahkal Mo’ Nab reminded his brother. “And Mutul was completing its second may cycle at that time.”
    “That is true, but Uxwitza seized upon the time of Mutul’s ritual termination to enter the city and wreck havoc,” countered Kan Bahlam. “Now follows what I have concluded about this event. The warriors of Uxwitza, accompanied by a contingent from Kan, took advantage of the turmoil in Mutul as its grand structures were being sealed and its monuments chipped. Remember that many fires blazed, symbolically ‘burning’ the stone monuments while mourners cried and did ceremonies and scattered ash everywhere. There must have been intense chaos; Mutul had been supreme for 520 tuns and her people could not imagine life in the declining may cycle. Perhaps even the ahauob and priests resisted. Into this disarray came the foreigners, who undertook destruction in earnest, fought in the plazas and desecrated some of Mutul’s sacred shrines. It is also possible that ahauob of Mutul who opposed the ritual termination, who refused to accept Mutul’s retirement from power, joined the foreigners. Possibly these ahauob were cultivated by Kan in the days before the may cycle end.”
    After a pause, Ahkal Mo’ Nab asked:
    “Is it your thinking that the death of Wak Kan K’awill, ruler of Mutul, was accomplished by Uxwitza and Kan?”
    “Of this I cannot speak with certainty. The Holy Mutul Lord died very soon after the ritual termination, and he received full royal