Taino Territory, Jaragua Chiefdom.
"What?!" I exclaimed in astonishment at Turey's unexpected reply.
"Hooray! Nyia, we have a new sister," proclaimed Umza, who then fervently embraced Nyia, urging her to dance and jump with her.
"So, will she let me paint her?" Nyia inquired with some perplexity, as she had been observing our conversation without understanding its content, given that we were speaking in Taino.
"Whenever Nyia gets an idea to paint something, there's no getting it out of her head," I mused with a touch of irony upon hearing her question.
"Girls, stop," I pleaded, rubbing my forehead exaggeratedly, pondering how to clear up that confusion.
"Turey, don't mind my friend; you don't have to accept anything you don't want," I told her in a gentle, conciliatory tone.
"I'm not your friend… I'm your fiancée… We are," Umza corrected, tenderly embracing Nyia, who, oblivious to the discussion, was murmuring about paintings with sea or mountain backgrounds.
"Will I be your fiancée too?" Turey asked with an innocent voice, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
"Yes… I mean, no," I replied almost unconsciously.
"Hahaha! You accepted, Chuta, now Turey is our sister," Umza commented amidst laughter.
"She doesn't understand what marriage is… We can't force her to marry me," I snapped at Umza with a hint of irritation.
"Yes, I know what marriage is," Turey affirmed, and then took two small rodents, one in each hand, bringing them together as if demonstrating her knowledge of the term.
"Aww! How sweet… So, do you accept?" Umza asked Turey with a tender tone, softened by the demonstration she had just witnessed.
"Yes," she replied without hesitation, maintaining her characteristic ethereal tone.
"Phew… You don't have to accept this, Turey; Umza was just joking. Besides, you don't know me, and you wouldn't want to spend your life with someone you don't know," I commented to her with a weary tone.
"You don't need to know someone to accept… Just observing how you treat animals and your concern for them is enough," she replied with a touch of wisdom in her usual ethereal tone.
"You're the only person who saw them as unique beings and not just objects," she murmured, flashing a warm smile, the first genuine display of joy she had shown in our entire interaction.
"Ehm… Well… I… Ah! I give up, let fate decide," I said with a resigned tone as I walked towards Bohechío, who had observed the entire conversation and now merely wore an expression of contentment.
"It seems the gods did have a surprise prepared for you," he commented.
"Don't make fun of me," I said, feeling annoyed.
"Don't get so angry, child of prophecy… You should be happy; Turey is a very beautiful young woman," Bohechío commented, trying to calm me down.
"I know she's pretty, but I can't go to every territory finding a new wife," I said with a hint of panic, imagining the situation of many women living in my home and the inherent problems of such a scenario.
"Hahaha! These are the usual dilemmas of leaders," he laughed. "It seems I'll have to help you with the engagement party," he added suddenly.
"Is she your daughter?" I asked, surprised.
"No, she lost her parents a few years ago, so, like the rest of the orphans, the Cacique is responsible for guiding them until they can fend for themselves," he replied with a touch of sadness.
"I see… By the way, how old is she?" I asked, trying to subtly steer the conversation away from that delicate topic.
"She has already lived through 11 winters, and 7 of them alone," Bohechío replied, looking at Turey with tenderness and concern.
An hour later, at the Cacique's house.
"… That is why our kingdom invites you to become part of our great family… We wish for your people to live better, for them not to lack food, and for us to continue worshipping the gods and spirits together."
All presents rose to their feet and celebrated enthusiastically, beating their chests with their fists.
This meeting had been carefully planned to gather all the Caciques of the island, with the aim of resolving their disputes and offering solutions to their main social challenges.
Initially, they were very cautious about the approach of the priests and the armada in the fifth year of the SuaChie calendar; however, the gifts we offered were well received, which allowed us to establish friendly encounters and trade products that both parties desired.
Since that year, there have been advances and setbacks in the annexation talks, mainly because we were mediating between the Caribs and them to resolve their conflicts peacefully.
This gesture was initially perceived as a betrayal, but after very tense conversations, the kingdom's envoys managed to convince them of the true purpose of our approach to both ethnic groups.
After resolving the misunderstanding, both ethnic groups resumed normal commercial exchanges and began to see the advantages of joining our kingdom.
"To demonstrate that we will not intervene in your territories, we have decided to implement a new form of leadership in the islands… This is Foza; many of you know him. He is a great warrior, but more than that, he is a wise leader… The kingdom has decided to name him governor of the islands… He will support you with your problems and guide you to integrate with our kingdom and become part of our family."
"What?!" exclaimed Foza, visibly surprised, while Anacaona, by his side, showed great joy for him.
"Congratulations, young man!"
"Hahaha! Look at his face! He looks like he saw the spirit of the seas."
"Bohechío, now you are family to the men of the giant boats!"
"Hahaha! That's right, now I can enjoy those delicious meals every day."
"I want those meals too."
Everyone continued celebrating Foza's ascent with great joy, a recognition he well deserved.
In recent years, it had been he who managed to reduce the clashes between Tainos and Caribs.
He ventured into territories where he was not welcome and bravely persuaded the most stubborn leaders of the islands.
He brought provisions from the Kingdom for people who were suffering from hunger.
He helped those who lost their belongings due to storms.
He built homes for those who lived exposed to the elements.
He improved the constructions in the villages, bringing them new tools and weapons for hunting.
All these actions had earned him the favor of the leaders of both ethnic groups, to the point that they put aside their past conflicts, solely as a gesture of courtesy to Foza.
"Next, I will proceed to inform you how the kingdom will act regarding your union."
The meeting continued with me explaining the functioning of this new form of government.
The government would be a regional federated type, where some decisions would be made by the regional administration, but the Chiefdoms would retain a portion of their decision-making power.
This model of government was conceived to assume control of as many islands as possible, and due to the complexity of mediating with so many different local governments.
The region will be named: Federal Region of the Islands of the Rising Sun, and its headquarters will be established on an island located just south of the Jaragua Chiefdom, where each member will have a designated space to erect their representative political headquarters.
Among the main members of the federation were the five great Chiefdoms of this island, the Chiefdoms of the future Greater Antilles islands, the Carib or Kalinago Chiefdoms of the future Lesser Antilles, and some Ciboney Chiefdoms.
Some smaller ethnic groups were also included, and, of course, the islands directly controlled by the kingdom.
Two weeks later, at the port of North Sea City.
"We're back!" celebrated Umza as she effusively embraced Nyia and Turey. "Turey, what do you think of the port?" she asked her.
"Big… Many birds," Turey replied with a somewhat distracted tone.
Since that meeting with the Caciques, we traveled through the different territories of most of the islands, announcing the formation of this new region.
On this return journey, Foza accompanied us, who would be presented as the new governor of this federal region.
Given that most of the treaties had already been agreed upon well in advance, the visits to these new islands were quite expeditious, and fortunately, nothing similar to the situation with Turey occurred. Although several members of the armada and my assistants received marriage proposals.
This was quite common for these ethnic groups; they used to welcome strangers by offering their daughters as fiancées. Centuries of evolution had allowed them to understand that exogamy prevented cases of hereditary diseases.
For them, this was normal, but the men who came from the interior of the kingdom were not accustomed to such customs. Many of them accepted immediately, so, to avoid directly interfering with their decisions by annulling these commitments, I chose to assign them to the new regiments that would be established in the Central Islands.
"There are many animals here you can meet, Turey… Also, Chuta said you could bring your friends or find new friends in the future," my mother told her with a maternal tone, placing her hand on Turey's shoulder.
"I already want to meet them, Mother," Turey told her, showing a warm smile.
My mother and father enjoyed this trip as if it were a vacation. Both delighted in the landscapes, ate, and drank native foods from each place we visited.
My mother, in particular, took charge of looking after Nyia and Umza to keep them out of trouble, and of integrating Turey into our family.
"Don't worry, Turey, now you will always be with us… And there's nothing we wouldn't do for our family," my father commented, with a serious and protective tone.
Learning about Turey's suffering from the loss of her parents at such a young age rekindled their paternal instinct, and now they treated Turey as if she were their own daughter.
"It seems I won't be able to venture into new territories in the future, or else, on each visit, I'll bring a new fiancée," I reflected with irony, observing the affectionate attitude my parents had towards Turey.
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Hello everyone.
Chuta, or rather Umza, accepts Turey as a 'sister'. Furthermore, she creates a form of government different from the one she has implemented on the continent. If you don't understand, you can ask me.
Unnecessary Fact of the Day: Nezahualpilli was a nobleman from Texcoco (he will appear soon) of the Aztec union. He was a man who had several wives and had 144 documented children.
By the way, I just added a rating (I forgot) as if I were a reader of the novel. I hope you'll also be able to add a review to the novel when you have time.
That's all, thank you.
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Read my other novels.
#The Walking Dead: Vision of the Future.
#The Walking Dead: Emily's Metamorphosis from Visions of Future Saga.
You can find them on my profile.]