Three Time

2

The cacique did not have to think much. His laws, so different from the others, proclaimed: Only a male could sit on the black granite throne of the Chibchas. No one but he knew this, for he was not a direct prince, only a nephew of the previous Chibcha King. His daughters could be queens of the Timotocuicas, of the Incas, but not of the Chibchas. So the Lord of the Chibchas, was astonished that the Inca ambassador had not yet come bringing the words of the sacred Lord of the Sun, remembering that his youngest daughter Altulay had given him two granddaughters, which obliged two marriages with Inca subaltern caciques, carefully chosen by the hands of the Demigod, then with the force of Inca arms to ask to rule through these consorts.

I would not expect much from that request, for in a way it reminded Saba Tamac, that the southern frontiers would run northward. Thus every time the chieftain Saba Tamac saw how his daughters were growing, he proportionally saw the empire's demise approaching.

His brother-in-law, the great chieftain of the Timotocuicas, did not disguise his enthusiasm in marrying his own chieftains with the Chibchas princesses, auguring him greater presence in the Andean heights, to reinforce his pretensions he concentrated troops in the northern border.

Saba Tamac preferred a second marriage of his own cacique Litu Ratú with one of his daughters. That is why Saba Tamac wondered why they had not already given him an ultimatum. It was not secret the weakness of the Chibcha army, of ceremonial use and parades, not structured for the war. Their triumph against the Caribs was a stroke of luck more than anything else. The reality is that these troops were only a detachment of honor for the ceremonial daily ceremonial of the princesses, with a very reduced component.

His subordinate chieftains in the tribal council were already warning him about the situation and many openly demanded, under consensus, that a warrior chief be appointed, with prime ministerial powers, and that he become the symbol of national unity; a mere decorative figure. Then they would get annoyed with him and any day they would hit him with a curare-poisoned blowpipe and consequently the civil war. Everything would have been solved if the longed-for male had come.

Sabac Tamac, trying to reduce the pressure on the northern border, invited Litu Ratú, great lord of the Timotocuico peoples, closely related to the Caribs, to meet in the great sacred city of the high mountains. If he was to act, he would do so quickly, for things would have to begin to be resolved. He would give up one of his princesses to marry his calculating brother-in-law. It had to be one of the Inca daughters. Thus he would restrain them in their demands, having time to marry the remaining ones to the sons of the subordinate caciques. This process had to be done with great care, for he knew that the caciques who did not receive the marriage invitation would become internal enemies of the regime.

Saba Tamac raised his arms with resignation; he had plenty of daughters, all between ten and eighteen years old. He could not leave out the Timotocuicas, nor the Incas, nor his own people, and if he himself died, even all his wives were available to try a new marriage. Saba Tamac had the idea that the hindrance to the harmony of the kingdom was the same, but he would not make it so easy for them either. He decided to increase very discreetly the troops of the army and was taking out from the fields many farmers and from the city many goldsmiths, he also asked the second sons of the subaltern caciques to accompany their older brothers in the officialdom. All that was indicating him the fall of the royal coffers by the fall of the taxes, the lack of sales and by the pressure of the salaries and wages of the new troop; inevitably he was forced to do it, the times that he would live indicated him that the peace enjoyed in some way was coming to an end.

Saba Tamac rose well before dawn. He would receive the Council of the Tribes; . the chieftain placed himself right in the center of the room and set his face to the northwest of the room, closed his eyes and opened his arms with his palms up, concentrating all along his spine, totally abstracting his senses from the outside, feeling the energetic force that warmed his spine, until his inner light illuminated his brain. The Cacique lasted in that ecstasy of introspection for about ten minutes. He could never go beyond that point; according to legend, whoever managed to do so for longer periods of time could achieve even the impossible. Then he breathed deeply, once through each nostril, and came out of his trance ... . The sacred city was shrouded in the early morning mist, but in the distance he could see the first settlers going about their business.