This one's for Otterbot. They mentioned that they enjoyed the world building I was doing so I've named all the villages with where they are according to the old world. I hope you enjoy my version of Skaikru's new lands.
For updates on None So Blind, please see author's note at the end of this chapter. Thank you. Samdagger.
Chapter 20
"Hello, Queen Cooper," Angela said. She was that morning's door guard.
"Angela kom Skaikru," Cooper said, giving a small nod. "Is Murphy kom Skaikru available? I would like to talk to him." Angela looked at her.
"I will talk to Clarke first," she said. Cooper nodded and waited outside while Angela went inside and Doug took her place as door guard. He nodded to her but said nothing. Angela returned a few minutes later.
"This way, Queen Cooper," Angela said, beckoning for her to follow. Cooper was led to Clarke's office and bidden to enter.
"What can we do for you, Queen Cooper?" Clarke asked, politely.
"Can I be frank?"
"Sure."
"Nia hid trade goods and we can't find them. I was hoping to speak to Murphy about where we can look."
"You want him to go to Azgeda to look for them?"
"No, Heda, I just want pointers on where to look. I'm not even sure where we should be looking. I doubt it's in the palace unless it's very well hidden. My people have torn that place apart looking for them."
"And with the whole of Azgeda to choose from, they could be anywhere," Clarke said, seeing the scope of the problem.
"We've checked all known caves and canyons. We've checked mines and pits and we have no idea where she put them!" Clarke nodded. She called Murphy to the room and between the three of them, they found new places to check. Murphy had said to check out any documentation because people often put things down in writing if they thought their place was safe enough. Cooper nodded. She'd do that as soon as she got back.
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Cooper was on her way home to meet up with her general. She'd already sent a messenger back the same day she met Brother Bandit. She gave him a message to meet her at the old world town of Thunder Bay which was now called Derbay. It was only a few miles from the border with Brother Bandit's land. She should have asked what his lands were called but at the time she was more concerned with getting help with her problem than finding out what it was called.
It took her the full month to reach Derbay and she was concerned she wouldn't reach it in time. She hadn't realised just how vast Nia's land extended to. General Dorran was there to greet her.
"Ai kwin," he said, bowing.
"General Dorran. We have an opportunity to deal with Nia's Own once and for all. I've talked to Brother Bandit himself and he has agreed to help us. He and his warriors will drive those thugs back over the border. Once they do, we attack them from behind. Brother Bandit's forces will pull back once Nia's people have engaged us and will only attack if they attack them or try to get back over the border. This is our chance to finish this!" Dorran grinned.
"At last! I was beginning to despair that we'd ever be rid of them!"
"Good, we need to get to the border now. We were given a month and that's up today. Let's go."
"Sha, ai kwin." Within a candlemark, he had all his people mounted and riding towards the border. They reached it two hours later and Dorran started grouping his people to hide in certain places. There were rocks and ditches all over and with bushes growing near all of them, they could find some good places to hide.
"How do you want to do this, ai kwin?" Dorran asked.
"We wait until they are over the border, but with their backs to us, either while still fighting Brother Bandit's warriors or running away from them. I want them cut off from returning over the border, Dorran. They die today!"
"Sha, ai kwin!" he said, bashing his fist against his chest and bowing. He moved out and began giving his orders to his people. Koby and Echo had found a place for her to hide - well away from where the main fighting would take place. Cooper saw the prudence of that, but couldn't help the feeling of being managed once more.
They waited in their hiding places for quite a while until they could hear the sounds of fighting coming closer. They waited and waited, watching as warriors fought warriors. Cooper was hardpressed to figure out who was who and on which side. Soon enough, the thugs were driven back over the border and began backing away from the other warriors.
Dorran was up and running at them.
"CHARGE!" he yelled and all the other warriors of Cooper's were up and the fight began in earnest. Once they were fully engaged, Brother Bandit's men began to withdraw, though they stayed close enough to fight if they tried to run again. A group of them had by-passed the main fighting and were drawing closer to Cooper's hiding place. Cooper pulled her sword and a knife and with Koby, Echo and Jardin by her side, with Lomas and Dillon at her rear for protection, they engaged the enemy.
"You!" one of them said, spotting the new queen of Azgeda. He charged her and she pulled her sword from the body of the man she's just killed and up in time to thwart the stroke the warrior intended to kill her with. After that it was more instinctual mixed with the training she'd already got from Koby's hand-picked trainers. While most of the guards were engaged with others, two of the warriors had attacked Cooper. She had to engage all her training just to keep them at bay. Cooper was mad that they thought they had the right to kill her just because their precious queen was dead and she was the new one! Cooper went from defense to attack, swinging her sword and using her knife to both slash and defend, holding off sword strokes. She saw her opening and instead of backing off, she lunged forward with her sword, skewering one warrior. She pulled out her sword and kicked him to the ground before turning around and blocking a sword strike to her back. While she had his sword away from her, she slashed at his unprotected stomach and sliced him open. She pulled back and turned once more to the first warrior to make sure he was dead and saw Echo plunge her sword into him. Jardin was doing the same behind her. Cooper was breathing hard, blood running down her face from the spray of her victims.
Cooper didn't even think, she raised her sword and with a rebel yell, she plunged into the sea of warriors, cutting down those she knew were thugs. Her rage at these people had become like an erupting volcano and she would not stop until they were all dead! It gave heart to her own warriors who redoubled their efforts against some of the best swordsmen Nia had trained.
"Who are you?!" yelled the last of them.
"I am Queen Cooper of Azgeda, the rightful queen of this land!" she flew at him, engaging him in a flurry of strokes and slashes. The warrior was having a hard time getting a hit on her. Eventually though she got through his defenses but not before he slashed at her arm and drew a large gash on it. She thrust her sword into him and Echo came to make sure he was dead. Cooper stood in the middle of the downed warriors, breathing hard.
"Echo? Take my knife, please? I can't seem to release my grip on it." Echo looked at her and realised she'd fought with a broken arm! She looked on in awe of her new queen. Echo gently took the knife from her hand and a healer came over to massage the hand, releasing the muscles that had complained at the use. He looked at her injury and sewed it up and put a bandage on it. Luckily there wasn't too much blood that had seeped onto the cast. She wiped it away with some of the water from her own canteen and then took a drink.
The healers were checking on the rest of Cooper's warriors when Brother Bandit came across the border.
"Stop!" Cooper called out to her warriors who had raised their swords in preparation of fighting again. Brother Bandit drew close.
"Queen Cooper, my highest regards for dealing with those who dared to invade my lands." He bowed to her.
"Thank you for your assistance, Brother Bandit." A stir ran through the warriors. Everyone had heard of him, but not many had seen him. Queen Nia had tried to form an alliance with him or at least trade deals with him, but he rebuffed each one.
"I hope that's an end to invaders from your lands?" he said.
"It should be. Those were Nia's thugs. They had to die so we can get on with living. Peace and prosperity can now flourish once we are back on our feet."
"Once back at my home, I will send a message to the Commander to say it is done. Maybe then we can figure out if trade is a viable business for us," Brother Bandit said.
"Thank you, once more, Brother, for the help you have given us."
"It got them off my lands, Queen Cooper, there is no trade needed other than the cooperation needed to deal with them."
"Still, I hope your wounded and dead are few, Brother."
"They are. I have a squad of highly skilled archers who harrassed them and got them moving. My swordsmen just backed them up." Cooper grinned at him and held out her injured arm. He shook it, only then feeling the thick hard cast on her arm.
"You fought injured?!" he enquired.
"Fighting does not wait for injuries to heal, Brother. They needed to be dealt with, so I did." Cooper shrugged, trying to pass it off as no big deal, but she knew that once back at Tronto, she'd be hustled to their healers huts to be looked at once more. Tronto had some of the best healers in Azgeda, trained to a high standard.
"Then I leave you in good hands with your guards. Fare well, Queen Cooper!" he said, bowing and then turning and moving back over his border, taking his men with him.
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Cooper spent the night there and in the morning, her warriors buried the dead. They would not get to be cremated. Their souls would not be welcomed in the next life. They were left to nourish the land they tried to destroy.
That afternoon, they set off back towards known Azgeda lands. A couple of days later, they came to the river crossing at Cameron Falls - a name that still existed from the old world that wasn't an altered version. They pulled to a halt and saw the deforestation that stretched as far as the eye could see. Cooper was dismayed at the amount of trees that must have been cut down. There was nothing left, even the stumps had been removed.
"Nia's doing?" Cooper asked Echo.
"Sha, ai kwin," Echo said sadly. Even though the Trikru were known as the Tree People, all the clans loved the trees and to see this much devastation was awful. Cooper moved forward and looked around her.
"Koby?" she called, cautiously. He went to her side.
"Sha, ai kwin?"
"When we get back, send people over here to check it out. This is one of those places that Nia emptied to bring them closer to her, isn't it?"
"Sha, ai kwin."
"I want this place checked out for planting. If Nia can cause this much wasteland, maybe we can utilise it for growing food for our people. Next spring, I want this planted with mostly wheat and barley. We can grow other crops on the land we already use. If we can grow the main wheat crop here, we can quadruple our yield in a single year!" Koby looked out over the bare landscape that only had a few bushes and a lot of grass and saw what his queen did. Fields of wheat stretching far into the distance. He smiled. His queen was doing the best by her new people. He was glad he changed sides when he did. This was a queen to be proud of.
"Sha, ai kwin. It will be done." Cooper nodded and they made their way across the bridge.
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They rode on for a few days and then Cooper reined in her horse again.
"Well that's new," she said, as she looked at a building that had to have been built by Nia's people. It was fairly new, there was no moss or weeds growing from it and the wood hadn't weathered enough to have been more than a couple of years old.
"What is it, ai kwin?" Koby asked.
"That building does not fit with the rest of the stone buildings around us." Cooper looked around and then at the ground. She got off her horse and bent down and pulled up a mat of weeds and looked at the surface beneath. It was concrete. She looked at the surrounding countryside and noticed the concrete path stretched out in one long continuous line for quite a while. Cooper turned to look at the brick building from the old world and saw a sign on the side of one. She had to look at the faded sign for quite a while before she figured it out. A plane taking off and a name beneath it. Terra… Bay Airport.
"This was an airport and that building was not part of it. Send some people to check it out, please," she said quietly to Koby. He nodded and went off to inform the General. Echo helped Cooper rise.
"What are you thinking, my queen?" Echo asked, deferentially.
"That's a fairly new build, Echo. If she recalled all her villagers to live nearer her, why did someone build a new building out here?"
"Maybe for those thugs of hers?" Echo said. Cooper looked at her.
"Not long ago, you'd have been part of them, Echo. Once released from the mountain, it was known you were an assassin for Nia." Echo lowered her head.
"I have no excuse for what I did, but I do not wish to dwell on it. You are a much better leader than Nia ever was." Cooper was humbled by the statement but didn't comment on it. Echo still had to come to terms with her life as an assassin. They watched as Koby and General Dorran broke into the building.
"Ai kwin!" Koby called. Cooper and Echo hurried over.
"What is it"? Cooper called when they were near. Koby and Dorran both stood back without comment to let Cooper look inside.
"Shit!" Cooper exclaimed. She went inside and looked at a load of things that could only come from either raiding or were the trade goods Nia had hidden.
"I want this inventoried!" she called out. "We rest here for two days and we find out what's here!"
"Sha, ai kwin," Koby and Dorran said in unison.
After two days, they were ready to ride again. Cooper was trying to keep her temper in check at all the rotten food they'd found. If that food had been distributed to her people, they would not have starved over winter. There were also goods they could use including leather, metal ores, tools, and weapons. Once at Tronto, she would order a group to go and get the goods. They would be taken to the palace and once Cooper was back there, she'd start to divide it up for the different regions and villages.
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It took another three weeks to reach Tronto and by that time, Cooper's arm was hurting her. She was hustled to one of the healer tents immediately.
"Queen Cooper is in pain, treat her!" Koby ordered.
"At once," the lead healer said.
"What is the problem?" another healer asked Cooper.
"I broke my arm several weeks ago and had to fight with it broken. It's swollen and the cast cannot expand to accommodate it." He nodded. "Can you get me an infection fighting drink and one to reduce swelling?"
"Sha, ai kwin, at once." He left her side to go get them.
"Anything else?" the lead healer said.
"Ai kwin!" Echo said. "You will address her as Ai kwin!"
"My pardon, ai kwin. Are you injured anywhere else, ai kwin?"
"The same arm took a sword stroke and opened a gash. It's been stitched up though." He nodded and asked to see it. Echo helped her get her coat and shirt off. He unwound the bandage.
"These stitches should have been taken out after around ten days, ai kwin," he said.
"Yeah, well, they were busy with the injured," she replied. He nodded and went to get something to cut the stitches.
He returned and warned her it could hurt and bleed but he needed to get the stitches out. Cooper nodded and let him do what he needed, though she did wince more than once. Eventually they were all out and more bandages applied until the small amount of blood stopped. The other healer returned with both drinks.
"These will taste horrible, but they are very good at reducing both pain and swelling and they both help to fight infection, ai kwin." Cooper nodded and downed them both, grimacing at the taste.
"Mochof," she said, handing the last cup back.
"You need to rest as well, Ai kwin. It helps the medicine to work." Cooper nodded and left the tent. Koby led her over to where her tent was pitched. There was no place in Tronto that was not filled with workers or others. Nia's policy had people being put where there was room and now most of the towns and villages were filled to bursting.
They stayed there for two days before setting off back to her palace. Cooper had a lot to do to fix this mess, but those trade goods they'd found would be distributed before winter set in. As it was summer, there was time to get them where they were needed. She'd also get those people moving over to Cameron Falls to check on the land. Cooper was hopeful that next year they could find enough food for everyone in the entire clan. It would be hard work, but she was determined to get it done.
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Jeff brought everyone from both Orchid Station and Arrow station who wanted to stay Skaikru with them and they finally walked into Skaikru lands in mid summer. It had taken several months to walk the 620 odd miles from the border of Yujleda territory to Skaikru lands and the first village. Scouts had been out roaming around exploring and searching for signs of predators. They were the first to see them through binoculars and had sent word back of their arrival. The village had put up some temporary tents and a mess hall for them. They would stay until the next day when they'd be divided up and sent on to other villages. It had been a long hard slog, but most of Skaikru were now in their own lands.
Messages raced back and forth between Polis and Skaikru lands, detailing who had stayed and became Yujleda, and who had stayed Skaikru. Both Clarke and Uzac were busy updating their figures on their populations and finding places to put them. Some of the ones at Polis had wanted to go see their parents, but wanted to return to the work they knew at the warehouse. Clarke agreed, but they could not all go at once.
Doug and Hanna would be the first to go and find their parents. It would take around a month for travel back and forth, so Clarke doled out the remaining few months until winter between them. She knew she herself had to do a tour of the villages to show them that she was in charge. She wasn't looking forward to that. She would have to leave Bellamy and Raven behind to look after the embassy and warehouse. She trusted them both to do their jobs, she had no problem with that, but Raven was not known for her diplomacy and tact, and Bellamy could take offence as the slightest thing and think they intended to harm Skaikru. Clarke sighed. If Cooper were here, she would have no problem leaving everything in her hands. Cooper knew what to do and how to act with others, she was deferential and respectful of the Commander and treated the ambassadors and leaders of other clans with respect. Clarke sighed once more. She hoped when Cooper finally came back, she could share the burden of the clan. Maybe she could send Cooper up to negotiate with the clans when necessary. She didn't know, but right now, she had to rely on Raven and Bellamy to keep them out of trouble when she had to go to Skaikru lands.
They had finally gotten word about Freight station and most wanted to stay Skaikru because it was all they knew. Only a handful wanted to become Plains Rider. They had been respectful of other people once they got over the shock that they were not alone on the ground, and they had listened and learned how to survive winter. Once the Plains Rider Ambassador had word of where they were and that 159 of them had survived, Clarke sent a message to Sterling to go find them and lead them back to their lands. Sterling and three others rode through the summer to Freight station.
The sight that greeted them was a horrendous one. The station had come down on the side of a hill and tumbled down its slopes to come to a rest at an angle, corner down at the bottom of the hill. Those that had survived had crawled out of one of the gaping holes in the side of the station. They survived the best they could until clan people found them eight days later. Six more people had died of their injuries and the remaining ones had begun to slowly starve. The food they had in the station would only last so long and it was beginning to run out.
Plains Rider clansmen showed them how to hunt and forage and healers were brought in to treat them. They were grateful for the help and they abided by whatever rules the clanspeople imposed on them, too grateful to be alive to complain.
Sterling and the others went down and made themselves known to them and asked if they wanted to move to the Skaikru's new homelands. They had all agreed and with the help of Plains Riders and their wagons, everyone was loaded up into a wagon and whatever they had that was useful and needed was loaded up as well. With the wagons, they could move faster than walking and so they set off for the long journey north west. They arrived in the middle of fall and were exhausted. This time they arrived at the first village to the west of the lands and were given food and a place to sleep. Several of them could stay there, but most of them would be sent to other villages depending on what skills they had and had learned.
Soon, everyone who wanted to stay in Skaikru had been moved to either Skaikru lands or Polis. Sterling made a vow that once he reached Polis, he would ask Clarke that he stay there for at least a year and only go hunting for places to get trade goods from. He wanted to be home in Polis, not wandering the kongeda's lands, looking for their lost people anymore. He wanted to stay home - in Polis.
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Clarke decided to travel to Skaikru lands in mid summer, that way she could only stay so long before she had to return for the leaders meeting in the fall. She gave herself a month travelling to the various villages and making sure that they were behaving, had a new name for their village, a consensus of who was in their village and what jobs they did or could do, what jobs they still needed to fill - healer being the most common one - and who was to be the chief or representative of the village. Clarke had also decided that to stop any village from being too isolated, they too would have bi-annual meetings and they would hold them in one of the central villages so people didn't have to travel across the lands to get there.
Skaikru village alternate 7 was to be known as Lansing Town, in honour of the town that once stood there, and the site of the bi-annual meetings. Lansing Town was almost in the middle of the villages and therefore the most central place they had at the moment. No doubt in future generations when the population had grown and more villages were needed, they would have to pick another village to hold them that was more central to the population.
Clarke made the journey to Skaikru lands with Miller, Guy and Liz. She would start at the eastern end and work her way west before cutting down into Trikru lands to make her way home.
Each village she stopped in, she met with the Chief of the village and told them how everything would work, including their own village. Clarke lay down the law about just what behaviour was acceptable and what was not. So far, 18 people had been taken to the islands and left there. They had either openly defied their leaders to work, or they had openly talked about taking more lands from the other clans and killing those who they saw as primative savages. Clarke was shocked to think that they had concealed their true feelings and thoughts from the others. She wondered how many more would end up on those two islands.
They entered the first village, which had decided to call itself Snake River for obvious reasons. Clarke wasn't too thrilled with the name, but it did comply with her wish that it was not named after anyone or anything from the Ark. She allowed the name to stand. She had thought they may have called it Ann Arbour or maybe Anbor or something along those lines, in keeping with the old world, and was pleasantly surprised they didn't.
She met with Kane and her mother who were in charge of the town. After looking at the maps of where the villages were, they had decided that village 4 (Ann Arbor) would be the best place for Abby to work from. Jackson was sent to village 1 (Kalamazoo). Jackson would deal with any medical needs for village 1, village 3 (Grand Rapids) and village 7 (Marshall). Abby would deal with the medical needs of village 4 (Ann Arbor), village 5 (Jackson), village 7 Alt (Lansing), Village 2 (St Clair Shores) and village 8 (Port Huron). Village 6 (Port Sanilac), Flint Village (Flint) and village 8 Alt (Grand Haven) were currently unoccupied but were the next three villages to be used.
Abby was Kane's second in command and Clarke reluctantly allowed it, but she did make sure they knew SHE was in charge and not them. Kane agreed, but Clarke could see the rebellion in her mother's eye at having to take orders from her own daughter. Clarke told Abby in no uncertain terms what would happen to anyone trying to create sedition or a rebellion against her. Abby was shocked that Clarke would even think of exiling her to a small island but Clarke put her foot down. They were no longer on the Ark and Ark rules did not apply on the ground. Abby had reluctantly agreed to behave and abide by Clarke's rule.
After talking to them both and getting them to agree to send a representative to Lansing Town in the fall for trade deals and a general meeting of the village representatives. They didn't have to be the Chief's of the villages, but they did have to have the power to make deals on their behalf and to trade their goods for things their village needed. The meeting was set for the first full moon in mid fall. Kane and Abby agreed and soon Clarke was being shown around by her mother.
Clarke could tell that Abby was proud of the progress they'd made in only a few months. They had cleared out housing for them to live in and had utilised as much of the old world as they could. Kane had kept to the edict of not using modern weapons, but had kept the stash that had been taken with them from Arkadia.
All in all, Clarke was rather pleased that this village at least was going to survive. She would have to make sure that someone with authority was at the meeting and made sure that the food stocks they were growing were fairly distributed and not hoarded in Snake River against a bad winter. She thought she'd probably send Bellamy for that one - or Raven. Both would have the authority to smack heads together - metaphorically - to get things done and were not above just taking the goods from them to redistribute if they did find them hoarding food. Clarke smiled to think of Raven just taking the food from them.
Next on Clarke's tour was to village two . They'd already sent a message to Clarke in Polis about moving the village to the shores of the lake and were now camped at St Clair Shores. They had seen several signs for Emerald City so they called their village, Emerald City Garrison. They had patrols out up and down the shoreline, checking for intrusion around them. A smaller satellite garrison patrolled Huron River twenty miles to their south. They would send out patrols north and south to check along the river banks. They were sent to the smaller Garrison which was called River Patrol, for two weeks at a time before they went back to the main garrison by the marinas. Until they had a better working arrangement, it would do. Clarke hoped that Cooper was able to keep her people on their side of the river. Clarke was pleased to see Major Byrne had taken charge of the garrison and was keeping them under control. She hoped that Byrne could influence them to keep their heads if they saw anyone across the river. Clarke gave Byrne a promotion to Colonel, a rank she'd earned on the Ark but was denied. Now, Clarke hoped that the rank gave Byrne the confidence to keep the others in line.
Clarke moved from village to village checking on them, getting their numbers and people and jobs and their village name. Through the rest of the summer, Clarke spent it on travelling to her people and getting a feel of how they were. It was a long and sometimes arduous slog to get everywhere, but it was worth it once she had all the information she needed to figure out who needed to move where in the following spring. She knew she would have a fight on her hands, especially from the farmers, but they needed to find people to farm in each of the villages, not just two of them.
Clarke sighed as she rode towards the next village on her tour. She couldn't wait to get home to Polis - and Lexa!
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It was fall and both Clarke and Cooper made their way back to the place they both thought of as home, Polis. They met up two days from Polis and travelled together the final two days. They split as soon as they entered the gates. Cooper's embassy was not that far from the western wall whereas the Skaikru embassy and warehouse was more towards the eastern side of the city.
Cooper dropped her things at the embassy and went into a meeting with Lori. After that, she took a long bath to ease her weary and tired muscles before climbing into bed and sleeping away the rest of the day and night.
Clarke, on the other hand, dropped all but Miller off at the warehouse and rushed over to the tower. Clarke was using the excuse of returning to go see Lexa. She raced up the stairs and knocked politely on the throne room door. There was no answer so she grabbed a passing guard and asked that the Commander be informed that Heda Clarke kom Skaikru was waiting for her in the throne room. The guard smirked but acquiesed.
Clarke looked out of the window over the market and crowds of people all going about their business. She could hardly believe they'd been on the ground for a year already! As she thought about it, she realised that tomorrow was the first anniversary of the fall of the mountain. It was not long after that, that Cooper and Clarke made their way to Polis, intent on finding their lost people. Clarke smiled as she thought of those who had now migrated north to their new homeland and those who had joined other clans. There were now Skaikru who were in Plains Rider, Yujleda and Triku as well as their own.
The door opened and the Commander walked in.
"Heda Clarke," Lexa said. Clarke grinned as she turned around and ran into the arms of her soulmate.
"I missed you," Clarke said just before kissing Lexa. Once they came back up for air, the Commander spoke.
"And I missed you, ai hodness." They hugged before pulling back.
"Oh, before I forget, Cooper arrived with us. We met them two days out and arrived together." Lexa nodded.
"Anything else before we retire for the night?" Clarke grinned the biggest grin she ever had.
"None whatsoever," she replied and kept grinning as Lexa pulled her along after her towards her private quarters. Miller trailed behind, resigned to another night standing duty and pretending he didn't hear what he heard!
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"Ai kwin?" Koby said once Cooper was up and dressed.
"Sha?" Cooper replied.
"Podakru has asked to speak with you before the trading begins."
"Do you know what about?" Cooper asked with a frown.
"About the restitution you need to pay them," Koby said. Cooper sighed. She hadn't yet figured out what they had to offer.
"When?"
"This morning, if possible." Cooper thought about it.
"I must pay my respects to the Commander first and then I'll talk to them," Cooper said, making up her mind. Whatever they wanted, she may get a heads up from the Commander first. Koby nodded and withdrew from her room. A few minutes later, she left to go get some breakfast before setting off to see the Commander.
"Heda," Cooper said, bowing when the Commander walked into the throne room. Clarke walked in after her. Cooper smirked but didn't say anything. Clarke must have decided she couldn't wait another night to be with the Commander again.
"Queen Cooper," Lexa said.
"I'm here to pay my respects to you before the trading begins, Heda."
"Thank you."
"There's something else as well. Podakru wants to meet with me this morning. I think it's about the restitution I still need to pay them. Don't suppose you know what they are looking for, do you?"
"No, they haven't said anything to me about it." Cooper's shoulders slumped.
"Damn! Hoped you'd know."
"Is it a problem?" asked Clarke.
"I still don't know what we have that they could want."
"Ohh, nothing comes to mind?"
"No. The only thing we have in abundance at the moment is trees."
"Then maybe you can give them lumber," Clarke said.
"I know, but I don't really want to be cutting down more trees. Nia had whole swathes of trees cut down in one of those abandoned areas to the west of my lands. The only thing I could do was get people up there checking to see if we could plant in it next spring."
"How much are we talking about here?" Clarke asked.
"Around twenty miles long by about ten miles wide. That's just a guess, but she cleared a huge valley of everything including the stumps! There's grass there in patches but otherwise it's all bare. I want it planted to keep the soil there and keep the nutrients in it, otherwise it'll become dead land." The Commander and Clarke were both shocked.
"Is it the only one?" the Commander asked.
"It's the only one we've found so far, Commander. I have people checking in all corners of Azgeda for other places she devastated."
"What was she doing with it?"
"That's the problem. We haven't found anything that would suggest where she put them or where they were used. We did find one of her stash spots for the trade goods, though. A new build in the middle of nowhere on an old airport runway. There was loads of rotten food in there, Commander. If she'd just given it to her people, a lot of them wouldn't have starved over the winter!" Cooper was pissed at Nia and if Nia was still alive, she wouldn't have been for long!
"Do you think there's more?"
"There has to be, Clarke. I asked each clan what they traded with Nia for and I know what they gave her. What we found was maybe a quarter of it, but certainly not all of it."
"What will you do?"
"Keep looking, Commander. That's all we can do."
"So what next?"
"Find out what Podakru wants, Commander."
"Hopefully they won't want too much."
"Whatever the deal, I won't say yes until I've talked it over with you, if that's alright, Commander?"
"Sha, that is fine." Cooper nodded.
"Then I'd better get back and then call on Podakru." the Commander nodded and Cooper bowed before withdrawing.
"Hope they're as good with their deal with Azgeda, as they have been with Skaikru," Clarke said, still watching the door Cooper left by.
"What have they asked for?"
"Not much. Murphy made a deal with them. Each time they take people to the islands in exile, they'll drop off another boatload of people from Hydro on the shores near one of our villages. Podakru wants their land back, Commander and I don't blame them, but we need our people in Skaikru lands and that means other deals. When I was up there, I talked to one of them, Yergan - the one who made the deal with Murphy - and he said if they could get some ropes to make into fishing nets, they'd bring our people home, Commander."
"How much rope?"
"That's what we still need to figure out, Lexa. We don't have any and any we find in the old world places would not be natural rope, more like plastic rope. Anything organic would have decayed by now unless it was well-wrapped in plastic."
"Well we'll wait until the trading begins and figure it out then, Clarke," Lexa said. Clarke sighed and nodded before walking over to Lexa and hugging her once more.
Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo
Author's note: I am writing up parts of None So Blind, but I still need help. As no-one has put forth any suggestions, I'm giving you a choice. Does Charlotte still kill Wells? Does nothing happen with those two? Does Charlotte suicide without killing him? I need a little help with this. Please let me know in the review section. Samdagger.
