Sorry this one's late, but I was commemorating Remembrance Sunday and giving thanks to my uncle who died in World War 2. Samdagger.
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Chapter 19
The next morning they set off again and it took two days to reach Polis. They were passed through the gates and escorted straight to the embassy where they had to leave their weapons. Once everyone had done so and others were taking care of the animals. Cooper and Echo and Koby set off for the Skaikru Embassy, only to be told that the leaders meeting had already started. They rushed over to the Commander's tower and up to the meeting room. The bodyguards had to stay outside so Cooper knocked on the door and asked entry herself.
"You are late!" the Commander said.
"My apologies, Commander, " Cooper said bowing, "but we were delayed first by one of my villages being attacked by Nia's hand-picked guards which we had to sort out first and then by one of your people attacking me on my way here. I had to detour to Harribur to get medical help." Clarke looked at the blue bandage and knew she'd found some old world stuff. As she was at the skybox and saw how Clarke had used the bandages, Cooper knew what to do and Clarke was impressed she could do it.
"Are you okay?" asked the Commander.
"I will be, Heda. An arrow wound and then a broken arm. Same lower arm, Commander." Several leaders winced and Luna kom Floukru outright laughed.
"Never can do anything easy, can you?" she said. Cooper grinned at her.
"Why make things easy when you can make it difficult?" she replied, which had Luna laughing again. Cooper turned around.
"Sorry, Commander, but it was one of the conversations I had with Heda Luna before I became Azgeda."
"You've talked to Luna before?"
"Sha, Heda, when Skaikru needed a wagon cover. I asked about canvas and you pointed us in the direction of Floukru?" Lexa nodded, remembering the conversation. "Well, Luna wanted to know what we wanted it for and how much, so she came to find out. We talked then, Commander." Lexa looked over at Luna who nodded as she giggled.
"Very well, take your seat," the Commander said, pointing to the only spare chair. Cooper made her way over and sat down between Podakru and Trishanakru, nodding to each of them.
"So to continue, we are here to find out what we need and what we have to offer. Azgeda, what say you?" Cooper stood again.
"Commander, I have nothing to offer and I have no idea what we need. Nia left Azgeda in a mess with farming done far to the north in the colder climes where most of the food stocks either died early on or were very poor yields. I have moved the farming to the south, a hundred miles from the Trikru border, Commander, but I had to do that at the beginning of spring and as such, they were late in planting. I do have tentative yield strengths on the crops they are growing, but it may not be enough to feed my people. Nia's farms could only produce enough to feed maybe a quarter of the population and most of the food went to her own people, not the clan people. Nia's Own were well fed and we haven't found those goods she did trade with you for. Whatever she traded, she kept. My people never saw any of it." Gasps sounded around the room.
"None of it?" asked the Commander.
"None that we've found, Commander. Most of my people have had to resort to secretly farming in places that were hard to reach. Small pockets that were maybe the size of this room - not enough to feed a village, but better then nothing - unless Nia's people found them. I have heard reports of widespread burning of food and foodstocks in that village if they found one."
"How bad is it up there?" Clarke asked.
"Pretty bad, Heda Clarke. I have my people redistributing things from the palace that we found, including food, but it's not enough. By my estimates, it will take at least five years before we are on our feet again. I hope to start trading next year, but don't count on it."
"Is there anything you can offer us?" asked the Plains Rider leader.
"I'm sorry, but anything we have, we need. I must see to my people's needs before I try to help others."
"So you could have moved your farms into Michigan if you'd known?"
"Maybe. Honestly, when I gave that land it was because it was the right thing to do, but we are planting in every place we can and some of it will have to be replanted next year to try to at least double the yield."
"You want it back?"
"No, Clarke, I don't. That land was fairly given and will stay your lands. We will be enlarging our farming areas though and maybe moving just across the river from you. We need all the land we can get to feed my people and I will utilise as much space as I need within our borders." Clarke nodded.
"I will make sure that no-one takes potshots and anyone they see across the Huron river."
"Mochof, Heda, Clarke," Cooper said, bowing.
"So Azgeda offers nothing but also seeks nothing. Maybe she can mediate on the trade deals we make? She would gain nothing from it after all," the Commander said. After a small pause the leaders nodded.
"I agree," said the Sangedakru leader. Agreement came from all the other clans, including Skaikru.
"Do you agree, Queen Cooper?" asked the Commander.
"I do," Cooper replied. This way she could work out the worth of the goods and what each clan wanted and needed. If they could start trading next year, maybe she could figure out what they could offer.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
It was several hours later.
"So Podakru wants enough fish to feed 500 people?" Cooper asked.
"Yes."
"But you have those lakes to fish in, why do you want the sea fish?" The Podakru leader looked embarrassed.
"We can't fish enough for those we need it for."
"Why?"
"We don't know how to make nets." Cooper turned to Luna.
"How big a net does he need to fish in those lakes?"
"Those lakes are deep and big, Queen Cooper, one of our small nets should be enough, but they'd need the correct boats for them. They cannot use the boats they do now or they will capsize every time they try to use the nets."
"Any suggestions?"
"They could try handnets. They are smaller, but can catch more than fishing poles can." Cooper nodded.
"What about a trade deal? If the Floukru teach Podakru members to make the nets and how to use them, what do you want in return?"
"We could use some berries and nuts. We pick all we can but with living at sea, they are few and far between."
"How about it?" she said to the Podakru leader. "Would you be willing to pick enough nuts and berries to offset the deal?"
"I believe we can," he said, grinning.
"Good. Deal done?" Cooper asked them both. They nodded and shook on it.
"Okay, who's next?"
"No-one, you've sorted them all out, Queen Cooper," the Commander said, smiling.
"Oh good, I'm getting hungry with all this talk of food." Clarke looked at her.
"When did you last eat?"
"This morning. We wanted to reach Polis as soon as we could. When we got here I headed over to your warehouse to see you about my arm, but Bellamy said the leaders were already meeting so I hot-footed it over here."
"Cooper! That was almost twelve hours ago!"
"I know," Cooper replied. "I'm hungry." Clarke turned to the Commander.
"With your permission, may I get her something to eat and check her arm?"
"By all means. There's food laid on in the conference room. Let's go over there and feast." Everyone got up but let Clarke led Queen Cooper out first and over to the room. They entered and Clarke dragged Cooper over to a table and piled a plate full of finger foods she could easily eat with one hand and took it over to a chair beside a table.
"Sit." Cooper sat. Clarke placed the food down and Cooper immediately began to dig in. After the first few mouthfuls, Clarke wanted to know what she'd done. Cooper explained the nature of the injuries and how they'd dressed them and what the healers in Harribur did. Cooper did explain that she'd used stuff from the medkit Sterling had left there, presumably for Skaikru's use. Clarke brushed it off.
"We can replace it, Cooper. We found several of them and have been placing them where we can along routes we use for just in case."
Clarke looked at the visible parts she could see and asked about the amount and kind of pain she was in. Cooper told her then took the pill bottle out of her pocket and showed it to Clarke.
"These still good?" she asked. Clarke took them and noticed the plastic seal was still there.
"Maybe. We'll try you with one to start off and then see how you are. If nothing happens, we'll revert to clan medicines." Cooper nodded and Clarke went to get her a drink of water to wash it down with. Meanwhile, Cooper scoffed the rest of the food while the other leaders and the Commander made their choices and started eating. Clarke brought the cup and handed Cooper one of the pills. Cooper took it and swallowed it, chasing it with the water and washing it all down.
"Thanks, Clarke," Cooper said.
"Next time, duck please?" Clarke asked. Cooper burst out laughing.
"I wasn't expecting someone to drop on top of me from a tree!"
"Where is he?" asked Clarke.
"At our embassy. I'll hand him over to the Commander in the morning. She can deal with him."
"Did he say why he attacked you?"
"Nope, never asked him. Too busy trying not to pass out."
"Okay. Try to keep yourself out of trouble, will you? You're still a friend of mine and I like you too much to want to find another." Cooper grinned.
"You bet." Clarke let out a sigh.
"Want some more food?" Cooper nodded and held out her plate.
"Bring yourself some and we'll have a chat!" Cooper called out after her. She gave a backwards wave of recognition as she continued to the table.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
An hour later, Luna was talking to the Commander.
"Look at them, they are laughing and joking with each other. It seems they know how to drop the mantle of responsibility and leadership for a little while and just be themselves. I envy them that, Commander."
"Why?"
"Because I don't know the last time I did that. I don't have a close friend like that."
"Yes, you do, Luna. Me." Luna looked at her and frowned.
"Look what they went through and then think about what we went through in the conclave and training beforehand. They had to rely on each other because the adults of the Ark certainly didn't. We had to rely on each other as well because we knew our lives were forfeit when we entered the conclave. Out of all that, Clarke and Cooper became closer. They've become the best of friends and will always have each other's back - no matter which clans they end up becoming." Luna was nodding. She looked back at them.
"You don't worry that Cooper will take Clarke from you?" Lexa looked at her sharply. She didn't think anyone else knew.
"No I don't. Their friendship was something they arrived here with and Cooper has never tried to claim her, but she has been pushing Clarke onto me - and me onto her at times. I was a bit embarrassed at first, but she saw it before we did apparently." Luna smirked.
"That kind of friendship is rare between leaders of the clans. I hope nothing destroys it."
"Doubt it. Those two are too stubborn to let it. Have you met Raven kom Skaikru?"
"Yes?"
"She is almost as stubborn and she is one of those Clarke trusts as well, but I think that Cooper is the one she trusts the most. Raven runs a close second though. I trust both of them because Clarke does." Luna nodded.
"It's a little scary though, to think that less than a year ago, they weren't even living on the ground. Now two of them are leaders of different clans!"
"Three. Octavia kom Skaikru became Octavia kom Trikru and is Indra's second." Luna's eyebrows rose.
"We'd better be careful that no more of them become high up in other clans otherwise you'd be out of a job!" Lexa smirked. She couldn't deny the power of those two young women who had already changed to kongeda in ways they never realised. She hoped that the two of them became her closest allies in years to come because she had a hunch she'd need them!
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Cooper made it back to the embassy exhausted. Koby took her to her quarters and Patrika helped her get ready for bed before helping her into it. Cooper was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She slept late the next morning and it was mid-morning before she realised she'd slept so long.
"Why didn't you wake me?" she asked Koby.
"Because you were exhausted. You needed sleep, ai kwin. Heda Clarke said so."
"Clarke did?" Cooper's eyebrows rose.
"Sha, she slipped out when you were negotiating with the others to tell me."
"Uh-huh," Cooper said. She'd have to have a talk with Clarke on subborning her people.
"What's on today's agenda?" she asked instead.
"The Trikru boy is still here, ai kwin." Cooper nodded.
"Right. Him." she sighed. "Okay, after breakfast we'll take him to the Commander. Make sure the boy is ready to travel and give him food too."
"We fed him last night, ai kwin. We are not Nia's thugs."
"I know, but sometimes habits are hard to break." He nodded.
"Anything else?"
"Not from our end, but I think the Ambassador wants to talk to you about some things."
"Very well, I'll meet with her this afternoon. We deal with the boy first and Clarke second." Koby nodded and left the room to inform Lori. Echo was on guard at the end of the room and moved to her shoulder.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Cooper and Koby, with Jardin and Echo bringing the boy, made their way to the Commander's tower. They were granted entry and went to the throne room to wait for the Commander.
Cooper bowed when the Commander walked in and so did the others, Echo forcing the boy to bow.
"Queen Cooper, what can I do for you today?" the Commander asked, even though she knew.
"On our way here, I was attacked by this young man jumping out of a tree on top of me. I fell off my horse and broke my already injured arm. As this happened on Trikru lands by a Trikru goufa, he is yours to deal with." Cooper bowed again. Commander Lexa walked over to the boy.
"Why did you do it?"
"They are Azgeda, Commander," he said, head down.
"They had my permission to travel through Trikru lands. Queen Cooper was on her way here for the leaders' meetings. She did so under my protection." The boy kept his head down.
"Did you know who I was or was it the banner you saw and decided to do something stupid?" Cooper asked him. He didn't reply.
"Answer her!" Lexa commanded. The boy raised his head.
"I saw the banner, but they are Azgeda and therefore cannot be trusted!"
"Who did you lose to the Azgeda?" Cooper asked, gently.
"My nontu and unca," he said.
"When?"
"Four summers ago."
"I was 13 then. I was living on a space station." The boy's head whipped up.
"But only Skaikru lived in the sky?" he said, confused.
"I was Skaikru. Azgeda captured me when they attacked one of the Skaikru villages north of Mount Weather. I was taken to Queen Nia and she brought me here as a prisoner. She intended to kill me. I challenged her to fight me herself. I had no knowledge of solo gonplei and I did not know that killing her would make me their queen. I didn't want to be the Azgeda queen, I already had a clan and a place within it. I loved my life. I was living here within the Skaikru embassy and warehouse, though I worked in the warehouse mostly. I would go out and find our lost people and find old world places we could get things to trade with. I enjoyed going to the markets and trading and dealing, It's fun. But with the attacks on us, I went to Tesla village to make sure they were okay. They were the first village the Azgeda would attack. They did and I was captured. I had nothing left to lose when I challenged queen Nia. She was going to kill me anyway." Cooper shrugged.
The boy looked at her.
"So you do not live there?"
"I do now. Once I was made the Azgeda Queen, I knew I had a responsibility to make sure Azgeda was looked after properly - something Nia didn't do. I have a lot to do to make them self-sufficient once more and even more work to make sure they can hold their heads up and be proud of the work they do. Nia had them cowed." They boy looked confused.
"But you are Azgeda?"
"I am now. I was not before and I do not intend to stay Azgeda either. In about two years, I hope to relinquish it all to my heir and let him carry on my plans into the future."
"What will you do then?"
"Either become Skaikru once more or failing that, ask to become Trikru. I miss my friends and my people from here. We became family when we had no-one else - and after we'd stopped fighting each other!" The boy nodded.
"I'm sorry for attacking you," he said, cheeks red with embarrassment.
"You are forgiven by me, but it's up to the Commander to decide your punishment." He nodded and turned to the Commander, straightening his shoulders and holding his head up.
"For the unprovoked attack on the Azgeda Queen, you shall spend the season up in Michigan helping Queen Cooper's old clan to survive. Show them how to forage and what's good to eat during winter. Show them everything you know. When the leaves turn red, you may return home."
"Sha, Heda," he said, bowing once more.
"And Orton? The next time you do something so stupid, I'll imprison you and punish your village for not teaching you to behave!"
"Sha Heda," he said. Lexa called in warriors to take Orton out.
"You know him, Commander?"
"Unfortunately. He's the wild son of my least favourite cousin."
"Do you think he'll do something stupid in Michigan?"
"No, he's trying to prove himself to me, but does it in the wrong way. Once I told him exactly what he could do, he'll do it to the letter. He needs direction, Cooper. I think dealing with people like Abby Griffin will show him that not everyone knows what they're doing and not everyone is better than him. He'll see that people are just people." The Commander seemed to shake herself and focused back on Cooper.
"Is there anything else I can help you with, Queen Cooper?"
"Not at the moment, Commander. I needed to offload him onto you and then I could get on with clan business and deal with Clarke."
"What has Clarke done?" the Commander asked. She could see that she had upset Cooper in some way.
"She told my guards not to wake me this morning and let me sleep. That's my decision to make, Commander. If they were Skaikru guards, then okay, but they are MY guards, Azgeda guards and no-one from another clan, save you, can give them orders." Lexa nodded.
"I will also talk to Clarke about clan etiquette."
"Thank you, Commander," Cooper said with a bow. "With your permission…?"
"You are free to leave," the Commander said. Cooper bowed again and left.
"Where to now, ai kwin?" Koby asked.
"I need to talk to Clarke." Koby winced. He didn't know Cooper as well as Clarke did, but he knew enough that when she got mad, watch out!
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Cooper and her bodyguards walked through the streets of Polis and up to the Skaikru Embassy.
"Hey," said Bellamy when he came out.
"Official business, I'm afraid," Cooper said.
"Welcome Queen Cooper," Bellamy said, bowing. Cooper raised an eyebrow. She was surprised he would bow, remembering how he was in the beginning. "Heda Clarke is in her office. Shall I fetch her for you?"
"It would be better for me to go to her office. This does not need an audience, but if you could make sure that no-one's around it, it would be better."
"Why?"
"There may be some yelling involved!" Cooper said sullenly. Bellamy nodded in understanding. He led her to Clarke's office and announced her. Cooper entered and left her guards outside. Bellamy moved those who were near the office away and into the dorm house.
"Queen Cooper, what can I do for you?" Clarke said smiling.
"You can stop telling my guards what to do!" Cooper said back harshly. "I don't appreciate you telling my guards when they can wake me up! It's my call to make, Heda!"
"I didn't mean to overstep, I knew you needed rest to recover."
"And you couldn't just tell me that?!" Clarke thought about it.
"Alright, next time, I'll tell you, okay? I don't want to get into an argument with you, Cooper - I mean Queen Cooper." Cooper deflated.
"Look, it's hard enough being the queen of them without someone undermining my authority. My guards need to answer to me only. I can't have them taking orders from someone else other than the Commander, got it?"
"Okay, I see where I went wrong, but I only had your best interest at heart."
"I know, but it was the way you went about it. Don't do that again, Clarke. I don't like fighting with you either, but I need to establish MY authority over them before anyone else can." Clarke nodded.
"Got it," she said, contritely. Cooper let out a deep sigh as she shed her energy.
"Okay, now that's out of the way, you and I and the Commander need to have a chat about moving those horses and wagons to Michigan-" Cooper stopped. "Are you going to continue calling it Michigan or call it Skaikru territory? Most of the other clans are referred to by a name and the lands appended to it. Azgeda territory or Azgeda lands, not Canada and parts of the USA."
"I didn't think of that!" Clarke said, eyes widening. "It would be better to call it Skaikru lands, wouldn't it?"
"Sha. That way the clans know it's your land and not a piece you are just using. It needs to identify as yours. Using the old name wouldn't do, it's not blunt enough." Clarke laughed.
"You mean they need to call it Skaikru lands for them to understand where it is!"
"Yeah, something like that," Cooper said, smiling.
"Okay then, forever hence it will be called Skaikru lands or territory," Clarke said, beaming. Cooper laughed.
"Good, now once your villages are named, can you give me a list, please?"
"Sure, no problem." Cooper stood up and took off her coat.
"Cooper here and not Queen Cooper." Clarke nodded at the distinction.
"Please don't let them name the villages after bits of the Ark or Jaha or someone else who we hate?" Cooper pleaded with her. Clarke nodded, hard-pressed to keep the smile from her face. She'd already sent out messages to that effect. Sterling's people had found one place that may be named for a station though.
"Erm, Sterling's people found another site for a village and it's right by a place called Flint. The name was there long before the war so we can't say it was named for the station, but anyone living there may pretend it was."
"Crap! And others will want to name their villages after stations or people from the Ark if they do," Cooper said with a sigh.
"Yup."
"Maybe you can name the villages," Cooper said.
"Ten names at least? Where do we get them from?"
"I don't know. Read any good books lately?" Cooper asked facetiously.
"Very funny," Clarke said.
"Alright, what about a theme? Maybe colours. Blueville, Red City, Yellow Town or something like that?"
"Maybe, I like that concept but we need something that's fundamentally ours and easy to say."
"Like?"
"I don't know."
"How about putting colours in one hat and places in another and then you can draw the colour and then the place and call it that."
"What do you mean by place names?"
"Okay, in the old world, places were called many things: City, town, ville, dale, vale, bay, hamlet even. Check on the maps to see how many you can find and then just write them down and draw them out of a hat. If anyone names their village a name you don't like, rename it with one you did choose."
"So if they named the village Arkadia, I can change it to say Orange Bay or something?"
"Yeah, I don't see why not? You're the Heda of the clan, you can change place names if you want, just like you can replace the leader of a village if they aren't doing their job. No more elections, Clarke. You are the leader and they are your subordinates."
"Yeah, they are not going to like that!"
"Then call them your trusted village leaders or something. You have people here who are advisors, give those up there something they can be proud of. Don't call them a council of leaders though, that could lead them to think they can do things they can't."
"Good advice, Cooper. I'll have to think of names."
"Maybe precious gems or metals or something. I called one new village Copper Falls because it mined copper and it was near a large waterfall." Cooper shrugged.
"Damn, that's a good name and now I can't use it!" Cooper snorted with laughter.
"Sorry, but you can figure out others, probably some I wish I'd thought of!"
"Good enough. Now, is there any official business to attend to?"
"No, I only came over here to shout at you about my guards," Cooper admitted.
"Okay, how about Cooper goes to see her friends and mother before Queen Cooper has to go off and do official business about Polis?"
"Sounds good. I do miss you guys and honestly, I wish some of you could have come with me - if only to keep me sane!"
"You're sane, Cooper otherwise you wouldn't have taken the job and stuck to it."
"I know but sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. I'll be handing over a territory that is starting to move in the right direction, but what if my successor decides to go back to the old way? What if they can't do the job I started and want to do things completely different and sets the clan back a few decades?"
"You'll have to pick wisely and trust them to finish off what you've started, Cooper."
"I've already picked him, but I'm not saying who until I'm confident he'll follow my lead."
"Is he? So far, I mean?"
"Yes, he sees the vision I have and it almost mirrors the one he saw the clan could take. He's a forward thinker, Clarke but he never thought he could be one of the policy and decision makers, let alone its king!"
"Well, you still have time to mould him into whoever you want him to be."
"He's almost there. Another year at least though."
"You coming back to Skaikru?"
"I'm coming back to Polis, but I don't know where I fit in anymore." Clarke looked at her.
"You'll always be welcome here at the Embassy and warehouse, Cooper, you'll always be one of us because of what we went through. That builds a comradeship that no-one can take from us."
"True, I mean look at Murphy. Once he was hated and vilified because he was a bully and we thought he'd killed Wells. And now he's a trusted member of this embassy." Clarke grunted as she nodded.
"Bellamy too."
"Jasper in the mountain."
"Kane and mom outside of it," Clarke countered.
"We did what we needed to do to survive, Clarke. How's your conscience now?"
"Better," admitted Clarke. "I think your idea of finding the lost stations was what I needed and then when we came here it was the embassy and starting to integrate with the clans, working with them and not against them, that was what I needed as well."
"You needed to feel wanted and needed."
"Sha," Clarke drawled quietly as she reflected on all that had happened within the last year.
"I needed Azgeda too," Cooper said. "Working with you here was the start I needed, but I still needed to atone for those I killed. Preparing Azgeda for the years ahead, is giving that to me. I can guide a whole clan to peace and prosperity. That gives me a warm feeling that I'm doing something good and not something destructive instead." Clarke nodded, knowing exactly how Cooper was feeling.
"Well then, maybe we can guide the other clans to peace and prosperity too. Those deals you did yesterday were a masterstroke! Lexa said it usually took a lot more headbashing to get them to trade!"
"I know that feeling! I think if we had a consortium of a few members of each clan to make the deals, then we could get somewhere without the posturing and pride getting in the way."
"Common people for common problems?"
"Maybe." Cooper sighed again.
"Anyway, that's a problem for another day. This morning I can go see my mom and friends and this afternoon, Queen Cooper must make an appearance for some embassy business." She sighed again. "Come on Clarke, let's go meet the mob." Clarke grinned as she led the way out of the office and down to the warehouse floor.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
The Commander called Cooper to a meeting three days later. When Cooper arrived there and entered the throne room, another man was there.
"Queen Cooper of Azgeda, this is Brother Bandit." The man grinned and bowed to her.
"Queen Cooper, it is a pleasure to meet a sane queen of Azgeda. I've only met the mad one once - that was enough to know she was a threat."
"I'm no threat to you, Brother Bandit. I just want my people to live as they should have under Nia's reign. I'm trying to put right what she did wrong and what she deliberately did to her own people. It will take a few years yet, but we'll get the peace and prosperity we want and need." Brother Bandit smiled.
"Nicely said," the man said. He was a tall man, over 6 foot 4, slim build, dark, almost black hair down to the shoulders, held back by a single leather strap. No braids or any other insignia proclaiming who he was. If Cooper hadn't been told he was from another area entirely, she would have thought he was just another Trikru member.
"Brother Bandit is a name that lets me rule my people, Queen Cooper, my real name does not need to be revealed at this time."
"Good enough," Cooper said, bowing her head in respect.
"So the Commander says you'd like to talk to me about those of Nia's people who have crossed into our lands?"
"Yes. I do not want to invade your lands, Brother Bandit - that's too cumbersome. May I call you Brother?" He smirked but nodded.
"Mochof. Now, as I was saying, I do not want to invade your lands, Brother, but those thugs need to be dealt with. They will do whatever they like to whomever they like whenever they like. Nia had no constraints on them other than who they could NOT attack. I would like your people to drive them back over the border where we can deal with them, or give us leave to hunt them down in your territory." He looked at her and realised she was serious.
"How bad are they? Can they be reasoned with?"
"Very, and no," Cooper said. "They answer to no-one but Nia even if she is dead, they do not recognise me as the legitimate queen. They think we hold her hostage somewhere - or so my warriors have told me - and they may be planning to attack me, kill me and reinstall Nia once they find her."
"And I guess she was cremated?"
"Yes, as per Azgeda law." He nodded.
"How far into my territory are they? I have not heard of anything untoward happening up there, but we don't have villages that far north."
"If they think they can take that piece of land, they will. Either they are expanding Azgeda in the name of THEIR queen, or setting themselves up as masters of their own. We need to eliminate them as soon as we can." Brother nodded once more.
"I will return to my lands and organise some of my warriors. Do you know how many are invading my lands?"
"Not in precise number, Brother, but I think it to be around two hundred or so, maybe more, maybe less." He nodded again as he thought about how many warriors he could free up for protection of his northern lands.
"I will have warriors up there in a few weeks. It may be up to a month."
"I can work with that. I'll have to send a message to General Dorran, but when he gets it, he can lead his warriors to the border and lay in wait for them. If you fight them and drive them over the border, he can attack from the rear, once they do and they turn to face my warriors, disengage and only attack if they try to attack you or go back over the border." Brother Bandit grinned at her.
"That is a nice strategy, isn't it?" Cooper grinned back.
"It would be nice if they followed our battle plans, wouldn't it?" she replied. Both of them laughed. It was a good plan as long as it went right.
"I will give your warriors leave to follow them back across our border if it gets rid of them. This is a one time deal, though, Queen Cooper. I cannot give your people leave to cross the border at will for whatever reason they give."
"Understood. For that reason, I will return to Azgeda and meet you there. I will be with my people as we deal with this scum. They either surrender - which is unlikely - or they die." Cooper shrugged.
"Oh good!" he said.
"Why do I get the impression you'd rather act the clown than be as serious as the Commander?"
"Because Lexa was always a serious kid, even when she was having fun." Cooper's eyebrows rose.
"You know each other?"
"May I present my cousin, Lexa kom Trikru?" Brother said, with a bow and gesture to the Commander.
"COUSIN!"
"Sha," Brother said, still grinning. Cooper stopped grinning.
"First Orton and now Brother Bandit? Any more family I should be wary of?" asked Cooper.
"Orton? Branda's kid?" Brother asked.
"Sha," the Commander said, with a sigh.
"Is she still-?" Brother was cut off before he could say anything else.
"Sha!" Brother Bandit got the message and kept quiet about family members and matters. Cooper took note and filled the silence.
"I will return to Azgeda within two days and be at the border with my warriors in a month. Is that okay?"
"Perfect. I hope when this business is over, that we can start trading?"
"It may be a while before we can trade with anyone. Nia really did leave Azgeda in a mess! This year's harvest may not be enough to feed everyone."
"How bad?"
"Maybe three quarters will have enough food to last through the winter. The others would starve. I may have to send people out to gather some of the nuts, berries and fruits the animals also need. I cannot take them all, the animals need to eat too, but I will do my best to feed them."
"Anything else you can do?" he asked in all seriousness.
"Those that live along the lake can fish it for their meat and we do have a tiny bit of coastline near the old states of New York and Connecticut. It's a sheltered bay so I hope that we can fish along there as well. I read about line fishing - I think it was called that, but it's not with a fishing rod - it's basically a thin rope around 30 to 60 feet long, staked at both ends into the sand with hooks on strings every couple of feet. Bait the hooks with worms and leave it until the next low tide. There may not be fish on every hook, but even ten fish each time is better than nothing. Those along that shoreline can get their meat that way as well. Hopefully, it will allow me to give more food to more of my people."
"I had not thought of that as a method of fishing," Brother said thoughtfully.
"Don't know if it works with the lakes, I don't know enough about them. Do you get high and low tides around the lakes?"
"No, there's not enough movement of the water to call it a tide."
"Then I think they'd do better with fishing rods or hand nets. As far as I know, none of my people have boats on the lakes or the ocean."
"Podakru are the lakes people, they have boats and Floukru are the ones who fish the oceans from boats," Brother said.
"And we don't have anyone qualified to pilot boats anyway."
"Maybe Podakru can teach you?" he asked.
"Doubt it! We are not removed from Nia enough for them not to think of attack by boat if they taught us! Maybe in another five years, but right now? No."
"Anything else?"
"Not until next year. Then we will be planting in every conceivable place we can. I want to err on the side of caution. I would like one years' supply of food for my people, plus another years' supply in backup just in case of crop failures in a year, AND another half year's supply on top of that. It may be overkill and I'm being too cautious, but I'd rather have too much food in storage than not enough."
"That's a lot!"
"I know but once we do have enough, we can rotate it out for trade goods."
"Good. Now, I must return to my people and get those warriors started heading north," Brother Bandit said. Cooper bowed to him. "Commander, may it be less time until we see each other again. I miss my cousin!" Lexa smiled and gave him permission to withdraw. Brother Bandit left the room.
"Is it true that you may not be able to feed all your people?"
"Sha, Heda. I wish I could borrow Murphy to find those hidden supplies of Nia's. Even after all this time, we still don't know where they are!" Cooper was getting frustrated that she didn't have enough food to feed her people and the trade goods were still missing.
"Maybe you can go to the Skaikru Embassy and talk to him there. He returned to Polis last week." Cooper grinned.
"Thank you, Commander, I'll do that as soon as I leave here, though I was there the other day and didn't see him there and no-one said he was back." The Commander said nothing but gave Cooper permission to withdraw as well and soon Cooper was on her way to the embassy of her previous and future clan.