"May the Main God bless the Kingdom! Your Highness, the coastal priests have already offered you hymns of praise. Next, it is time for the coastal warriors to dance a loyal war dance! ..."
"Good! Haha! Come, let me have a look at the might of the Coastal Warriors! ..."
The night wind blew warm. The generals drank to their hearts' content, and the feast gradually grew noisy. At Black Wolf Toltec's suggestion, the coastal warrior captains stripped off their sweat-soaked robes, wearing only a loincloth each, and entered with blunt war clubs in hand.
At the feasts of the Mesoamerican tribes, priests and warriors offering songs and dances was the most common sight at tribal alliances. Generally speaking, these songs and dances took two forms. One was between tribes of evenly matched strength, each displaying its own tribe's epic tales and showing off the valor of its warriors. And if the tribes had conflicts with one another, they might even arrange duels at the feast, letting warriors fight to the death with sharpened blades to decide the ownership of a lake, a hilltop, or even the outcome of a clash.
The other kind of song and dance took place between a higher-ranking leader and lower-ranking followers. The lower-ranking priests and warriors would use sacrificial hymns and war dances to show loyalty or reverence to the leader and the honored one, just as they were doing at this moment.
"Thud, thud, thud! ..."
The urgent beat of hide drums sounded from a corner of the feast. Eight Totonac warrior captains lined up in a row, all prostrating themselves and saluting the king. Xolotl's expression turned solemn. He looked at these coastal heroes who had newly submitted over the past few years, and also recalled each captain's name and origin.
"Captain