The Fire Queen

Chapter 63

When we returned to Aseron I told Cyrus to remain in Galand for a while to help with the turtles and from there Uraia and I flew to the Northlands. Just before we had left for Gronded we had received some disturbing news about Chief Kendor's health and we agreed that we would make our trip to Gronden as quick as possible and travel straight to see him when we were done. Chief Kendor had been poorly for a long time and it was understood that he was now at the end. Uraia and I made it to the village in time to see him before he passed. He had enough vitality left to speak and when we arrived I was immediately shown into the hut where he was resting. He was laying on the floor, breathing heavily and sweating; his departure was well and truly imminent. I got down on one knee next to him and leant in close to his face so that I could hear his softly spoken words.

"Alegra?" He asked, so softly as to be almost inaudible.

"Yes Kendor, I'm here."

"Please keep taking care of Uraia, nobody has shown her more kindness than you have."

"Uraia takes care of me more than I take care of her."

"Be patient with Bandor, he'll come around eventually."

"I am being patient with him, but it's because I've been patient with him that you haven't seen any of the progress here that we've made across the rest of the kingdom."

"There's not much need for progress up here; when you made this land ours you did more than we could have hoped for, there is no need for you to agonize over not doing as much for us as you could be doing."

"I don't think I'll ever feel like I've done enough for the Okwari given what you all did for me when I was growing up here in the Northlands."

"You need to let go of this burden of obligation to us that you are carrying, we know that you care about us and that you'll be there for us if ever we need your help, so stop worrying about whether you are doing enough for us and worry about doing what you need to do as queen."

This brief conversation was all the talking that Chief Kendor had the energy for. He went back to resting and I walked out of his hut, reflecting on what were probably his last words to me, which he had spoken to me with the intention of freeing me. I spoke with Uraia and told her that it was okay for her to remain in the village but she decided to come back with me to the palace. I understood her decision later that night when we were in bed in my chambers and I could feel the fear that she was feeling over the imminent loss of her father. I was the only one capable of providing her with the comfort and support that she needed. It was my first time being truly needed by Uraia, and that night it felt like Uraia was as much mine as I was hers.

Upon returning to the palace from the Northlands I had informed Ferland that I would not be participating in any official duties for the foreseeable future until Chief Kendor had died. He hung on for a few more days and Uraia was able to visit him again and have a final talk with him. When Chief Kendor died I had all of the members of my court and the members of the Governing Council come up to the Northlands with me for his funeral as a show of respect. The Okwari from all of the other villages attended the funeral, where Chief Kendor's body received all of the Okwari's ancient funeral rituals before being carried into the woods and buried in an unmarked grave, as was done with all of the dead Okwari as a way of honoring their relationship with nature.

Bandor and I spoke after the funeral about whether he was planning any changes now that Kendor was gone and if he was whether those changes would affect the kingdom's relationship with the Okwari.

"Nothing will change, however, our stock of buffalo has been depleted quite a bit because of how many my father sent to you to help your farmers, we've lost so many that I think it's only right for us to be compensated in some way."

I had been waiting for months to hear these words.

"I've stored away the buffaloes value in gold for you; you can come to Glendale and collect it any time you want."

"What would I do with gold?"

"You spend it; and there's a lot of gold, that you could spend on a lot of things."

Bandor came to Glendale two weeks later. I had Uraia chaperone him to the bank to collect the gold that had been sitting there waiting to be collected while earning a tidy interest and from there they went around the city to look at things that Bandor might want to buy. Bandor stayed with us for three days and when he returned to the village he did so with four wagons loaded up with tools, cookware, blankets, mattresses, soap, oil and spices. After buying so much he still had a lot of gold left and deposited it back in the bank.

"Think he'll be back?" Uraia asked me when we were watching Bandor leaving.

"He'll be back, and next time he'll be leaving with a lot more wagons, trust me."

My prediction proved accurate. A month later Bandor sent word that he would like to return with some buffalo that he'd like to sell. Cyrus was in charge of the livestock trading in the capital. He had returned from Galand and I told him to put the buffalo that Bandor was sending down into auction. Because of the buffaloes strength they were in high demand among farmers as animal laborers. The buffalo that Cyrus put into auction sold fast, and all fetched a high price.

Now that they had embraced livestock trading it was only a matter of time before Bandor and the rest of the Okwari decided to take advantage of more of the opportunities that were available to them in the kingdom.