05-27-2021, 08:21 PM
Xochuaxte Palace, May 27th
Emergency Session, Chamber of Executives of the Huenyan Federation
"You have gone too far this time!" Huacue shouted. He slammed the table with his fist, as the rest of the members of the Chamber of Executives flinched.
"The raid on the Cauhloc was necessary. It would have happened whether or not we helped. We had a good chance to rescue both Tlalzixiūhxa and Cozamalotl, by helping the Auroras. We also gained significant goodwill with the Auroras by helping them, which is beneficial to Huenya no matter what," FIS Director Cuetlancaona said, in a calm tone to try to cool off the temper of the Necatli tlatoani. It did not work.
"At what cost did we achieve these things? One Aurora is dead, and another captured. We lost two Shorn Ones, and another suffered serious injuries, and yet another plans to give up his mantle and sacrifice himself for failure. I am sure I don't need to remind you that ever since the war, the Shorn Ones are very small in numbers, and we rely on them as our ultimate defense. You sacrificed three of them for nothing!" Huacue shouted.
"It was their choice, and is always our choice, tlatoani Huacue. It is not your choice. The Shorn Ones answer only to the Cihuātlahtoāni, and to me." Etlahuatzitl, the leader of the Shorn Ones, shook her head grimly. "Sacrificing ourselves in the service of our Cihuātlahtoāni is the highest honor we can aspire to. Do not use the bravery of my men as a weapon to berate this council."
"You serve the Huenyan Federation, Etlahuatzitl," Huacue warned. "We serve who we serve, and have always served. And we decide that, not you, nor this council," the Shorn One retorted with finality.
Huacue gave up on the clearly unmovable target, shifting his anger back to its original focus. "Yauhmi, we have warned you repeatedly about acting outside our advice and consent. I will tolerate this no longer. Your decision to greenlight this raid has endangered this Federation before it has even been born. We have not even had elections yet, and now, we may have just started the war again! You violated the Jinyu Agreement with this action - do you not grasp that? Huenya is now seen by the world as just as violent and culpable as Xiomera. You have ruined our reputation and exposed us to Xiomeran retaliation, which we are in no position to stop without international help. And do you think that the rest of the world will help us if we are the aggressors? Do you think that Laeral, and Eiria, and Milintica, will not seek to punish us for this? You violated their trust as well, and betrayed them as well as us. Your penchant for unilateral acts has finally gone too far. You represent a danger to Huenya, in my belief, and I demand that you abdicate at once and hand the throne off to Texōccoatl, so that we may have some hope of salvaging this disaster. Director Cuetlancaona, I demand that you resign as well."
Into the sudden stark silence, Texōccoatl's voice echoed like a door slamming. "That will not happen, Huacue. My mother will not be forced to abdicate for this. I will not steal her throne from her on this pretext, nor to soothe your fears."
"I am not asking, Texōccoatl. Either she goes, or I do. And if I go, I take the Necatli with me. We will not be a part of Huenya if its leaders insist on jeopardizing us at every turn and if we are not listened to!" Huacue shouted.
"And if anyone threatens Yauhmi or tries to dispossess her of her throne, the Xiomerans will leave Huenya. And, I will remind you, there are Auroras in Xiomera who are not prepared to serve anyone other than Yauhmi, so you may want to rethink your demand, Huacue." General Huatli, who had insisted on attending the meeting to represent the Auroras, glared at the Necatli leader with an expression that made it clear she was not bluffing.
"I will not bow to you just because you are an Aurora, Huatli. You Auroras are the ones who got us into this mess," Huacue retorted coldly.
"Enough," Yauhmi said tiredly. Her expression was drained. "I never intended for this to happen..."
"You never intend for any of the things that result from your schemes and plans to happen, but somehow, they always do. That is exactly the problem." Huacue's expression was pitiless. Texōccoatl stood up, his expression towards the Necatli leader clearly one of I am about to beat you like a drum, but Yauhmi stopped him.
"One Aurora is dead, another captured, and so many Shorn Ones lost. We played right into Calhualyana's hands. I played right into her hands," Yauhmi said. "This was a mistake. We should have waited, planned more..."
"You should never have done it at all!" Huacue shouted.
"Enough, Huacue," Sirua, the leader of the Itotemoc, said, her expression one of wanting to slap the Necatli leader herself. "The raid may have failed, but I do not believe it was a mistake. Cozamalotl deserved a chance at freedom. So did Tlalzixiūhxa. We did the right thing, we just weren't good enough. Yet. But we will be, someday, if we don't tear ourselves apart now. This Federation is the only chance we have to survive. The unity it represents, of all the Huenyan people, should not be torn apart due to a mistake."
"We are in immense danger now, and it is because of a lack of control." Huacue was unmoved. "I will not consent for the Necatli people to remain in this Federation unless Yauhmi either steps down or agrees to cede all political power."
Before anyone else could say anything, Yauhmi stood up. "I agree to your demand."
"Mother, you cannot!" Texōccoatl shouted, alarmed.
"I am the parent, son. Why must I always remind you of that?" Yauhmi replied, faint amusement over a veneer of sadness. "I will not allow my failures to jeopardize our future, and I will not be responsible for the people of Huenya turning on each other. Huenya is more important than any one person. If this is truly what the Necatli demand, I will abdicate in favor of my son. Perhaps it is time, anyway," Yauhmi mused.
"We can negotiate a different role for you, perhaps a queen mother sort of role, while Texōccoatl adjusts to taking over....." Cusuyo, the leader of the Tepiltzin, said in shock, but Yauhmi simply shook her head and walked out of the room.
Into the sudden silence, Sirua spoke softly. "I suppose now we must discuss what the future holds for the throne of Huenya. And what we will do when the international community demands answers from us....and when Xiomera retaliates."
Emergency Session, Chamber of Executives of the Huenyan Federation
"You have gone too far this time!" Huacue shouted. He slammed the table with his fist, as the rest of the members of the Chamber of Executives flinched.
"The raid on the Cauhloc was necessary. It would have happened whether or not we helped. We had a good chance to rescue both Tlalzixiūhxa and Cozamalotl, by helping the Auroras. We also gained significant goodwill with the Auroras by helping them, which is beneficial to Huenya no matter what," FIS Director Cuetlancaona said, in a calm tone to try to cool off the temper of the Necatli tlatoani. It did not work.
"At what cost did we achieve these things? One Aurora is dead, and another captured. We lost two Shorn Ones, and another suffered serious injuries, and yet another plans to give up his mantle and sacrifice himself for failure. I am sure I don't need to remind you that ever since the war, the Shorn Ones are very small in numbers, and we rely on them as our ultimate defense. You sacrificed three of them for nothing!" Huacue shouted.
"It was their choice, and is always our choice, tlatoani Huacue. It is not your choice. The Shorn Ones answer only to the Cihuātlahtoāni, and to me." Etlahuatzitl, the leader of the Shorn Ones, shook her head grimly. "Sacrificing ourselves in the service of our Cihuātlahtoāni is the highest honor we can aspire to. Do not use the bravery of my men as a weapon to berate this council."
"You serve the Huenyan Federation, Etlahuatzitl," Huacue warned. "We serve who we serve, and have always served. And we decide that, not you, nor this council," the Shorn One retorted with finality.
Huacue gave up on the clearly unmovable target, shifting his anger back to its original focus. "Yauhmi, we have warned you repeatedly about acting outside our advice and consent. I will tolerate this no longer. Your decision to greenlight this raid has endangered this Federation before it has even been born. We have not even had elections yet, and now, we may have just started the war again! You violated the Jinyu Agreement with this action - do you not grasp that? Huenya is now seen by the world as just as violent and culpable as Xiomera. You have ruined our reputation and exposed us to Xiomeran retaliation, which we are in no position to stop without international help. And do you think that the rest of the world will help us if we are the aggressors? Do you think that Laeral, and Eiria, and Milintica, will not seek to punish us for this? You violated their trust as well, and betrayed them as well as us. Your penchant for unilateral acts has finally gone too far. You represent a danger to Huenya, in my belief, and I demand that you abdicate at once and hand the throne off to Texōccoatl, so that we may have some hope of salvaging this disaster. Director Cuetlancaona, I demand that you resign as well."
Into the sudden stark silence, Texōccoatl's voice echoed like a door slamming. "That will not happen, Huacue. My mother will not be forced to abdicate for this. I will not steal her throne from her on this pretext, nor to soothe your fears."
"I am not asking, Texōccoatl. Either she goes, or I do. And if I go, I take the Necatli with me. We will not be a part of Huenya if its leaders insist on jeopardizing us at every turn and if we are not listened to!" Huacue shouted.
"And if anyone threatens Yauhmi or tries to dispossess her of her throne, the Xiomerans will leave Huenya. And, I will remind you, there are Auroras in Xiomera who are not prepared to serve anyone other than Yauhmi, so you may want to rethink your demand, Huacue." General Huatli, who had insisted on attending the meeting to represent the Auroras, glared at the Necatli leader with an expression that made it clear she was not bluffing.
"I will not bow to you just because you are an Aurora, Huatli. You Auroras are the ones who got us into this mess," Huacue retorted coldly.
"Enough," Yauhmi said tiredly. Her expression was drained. "I never intended for this to happen..."
"You never intend for any of the things that result from your schemes and plans to happen, but somehow, they always do. That is exactly the problem." Huacue's expression was pitiless. Texōccoatl stood up, his expression towards the Necatli leader clearly one of I am about to beat you like a drum, but Yauhmi stopped him.
"One Aurora is dead, another captured, and so many Shorn Ones lost. We played right into Calhualyana's hands. I played right into her hands," Yauhmi said. "This was a mistake. We should have waited, planned more..."
"You should never have done it at all!" Huacue shouted.
"Enough, Huacue," Sirua, the leader of the Itotemoc, said, her expression one of wanting to slap the Necatli leader herself. "The raid may have failed, but I do not believe it was a mistake. Cozamalotl deserved a chance at freedom. So did Tlalzixiūhxa. We did the right thing, we just weren't good enough. Yet. But we will be, someday, if we don't tear ourselves apart now. This Federation is the only chance we have to survive. The unity it represents, of all the Huenyan people, should not be torn apart due to a mistake."
"We are in immense danger now, and it is because of a lack of control." Huacue was unmoved. "I will not consent for the Necatli people to remain in this Federation unless Yauhmi either steps down or agrees to cede all political power."
Before anyone else could say anything, Yauhmi stood up. "I agree to your demand."
"Mother, you cannot!" Texōccoatl shouted, alarmed.
"I am the parent, son. Why must I always remind you of that?" Yauhmi replied, faint amusement over a veneer of sadness. "I will not allow my failures to jeopardize our future, and I will not be responsible for the people of Huenya turning on each other. Huenya is more important than any one person. If this is truly what the Necatli demand, I will abdicate in favor of my son. Perhaps it is time, anyway," Yauhmi mused.
"We can negotiate a different role for you, perhaps a queen mother sort of role, while Texōccoatl adjusts to taking over....." Cusuyo, the leader of the Tepiltzin, said in shock, but Yauhmi simply shook her head and walked out of the room.
Into the sudden silence, Sirua spoke softly. "I suppose now we must discuss what the future holds for the throne of Huenya. And what we will do when the international community demands answers from us....and when Xiomera retaliates."
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