The following day.
The morning sun filtered a soft light through the tall windows of my office, illuminating the maps and blueprints that covered the large wooden table. A sense of calm permeated the stone manor, but my mind was far from at ease.
The day before, the encounter with Columbus and his crew had ushered in a new era for my people, one filled with uncertainty and a danger that only I fully comprehended. Before our next meeting, I had requested all available reports. I could not enter a 'negotiation,' however rudimentary, without all the information the kingdom's men could gather.
The first to enter was a member of the Explorer Division. He approached the table with a leather bag that he placed down carefully.
"Young Chuta," he began, his voice deep and respectful, "we have inspected the ships, the carrack, and the two caravels. Their cargo is… strange."
"Strange, in what sense?" I asked, my curiosity overcoming my caution.
"There were barrels of spoiled water, maggot-filled food, and what appears to be the remains of dead animals. There wasn't much food, and what there was… well, it was awful. We also found some live animals. They are different from those we know, but the local farmers are very interested in them," he explained, nodding at his own observation. "We found some weapons, a few cannons and arquebuses. They look heavy and useless compared to our weapons, but their function is the same. We also found some seeds we are investigating, and other items of various uses."
"And the weapons and armor?" I asked, my mind on the firearms and the power they held in the future.
"Our investigators from the Royal Academy have taken them for analysis, Young Chuta. They should have results in a few days, but at a glance, they seem more like ornaments than useful tools for war," he replied with a mix of disdain and honesty.
I thanked him and dismissed him. Seconds later, a member of the language research group entered, a stack of notes in his hands. His face shone with an excitement that only my scholars showed when they were on the verge of a great discovery.
"Son of Heaven," he said, the reverence in his voice palpable. "We have made far more progress than we expected. The grammar is more difficult than any of the languages we have studied. It is almost as if it were a language derived from an older one, or, as happens in the Kingdom, it has also incorporated words from other languages. However, we do not know how many words there are in total, but with the ones we were able to record from their conversations and interrogations, we can already understand the basics of the language."
"And the writing?" I asked, intrigued by its similarity to the alphabet I had taught my people.
"It is something that has astonished me. The writing is very similar to what you taught us nine years ago, Son of Heaven. More cursive, with a few different letters, but the pattern is the same." He looked at me, and I could see the adoration in his eyes. To him, this coincidence was irrefutable proof of my divine origin.
I patted him on the shoulder, acknowledging his great work, and then dismissed him. Almost instantly, Zasaba's assistant, a member of the 'Shadows,' appeared.
He was one of the agents who had been monitoring the Europeans. His stony face showed that something was not right. He approached and handed me a sheet with inscriptions in Muisca, but they were clearly not familiar words. Rather, they were a direct transcription of the Spanish phrases they had overheard from the 'captive' sailors.
"My men have been listening to what the captives have been saying, and this is a summary report," he informed me, his voice a near whisper.
I took the sheet and began to read. Most of the phrases were complaints about the food they had eaten on their journey and the delicacies they had been given here, the strange but cautious treatment, and the general life in a city they had never seen.
Then, my finger stopped on a phrase. It was a brief fragment of a conversation between two men, likely the notary and the priest.
"There is gold."
The smile vanished from my face. The excitement of discovery, of technological innovation, and of the encounter with the past disappeared. The fear of future history, of the destruction of cultures, rushed back to my mind like a gust of cold air.
The calm and security I had felt moments ago evaporated. There was gold in my kingdom, a great deal of gold. The same gold that had caused the destruction of empires in the future. I stared at the tablet, thinking of everything I remembered from the future.
Gold was just another metal for my people; it was more ceremonial. In recent years, it had become a medium of exchange, but it was not yet an object of wealth for them. It was a material for the gods, a material for rituals, a material for adornments. For the Spanish, however, gold was the key to power, wealth, and glory. The cold gaze of the men who accompanied Columbus made sense at that moment.
That phrase changed everything. It was no longer a simple meeting; it was no longer just a matter of diplomacy. I knew that at some point, they would want that gold. What I considered a worthless material was to them a treasure that would unleash a conflict. And that conflict would have a winner and a loser.
And I would not be the loser.
An hour later.
I returned to the meeting room, this time with a renewed sense of confidence. My assistants, who were no longer just simple translators, accompanied me. Their faces radiated pride, and in their eyes, I could see the excitement of having deciphered the first fragments of a completely new language. The kingdom's priest, with his wrinkled face, was also there, looking just as satisfied as my assistants.
Upon entering, I saw the Europeans already seated. Columbus, the notary, and the priest were accompanied by two more men who had introduced themselves the previous day as the Pinzón brothers. The informality of yesterday had been replaced by an atmosphere of diplomacy, a battlefield of words.
I approached my seat with a firm stride, and before I sat down, Sogeking whispered to me in a low voice, "Young Chuta, you can trust in the safety of this place. No one will harm you."
I nodded, thanking him for the information. My people had their eyes on these men from the east. With the phrase I found on the tablet, the atmosphere had grown more tense, but I had to remain calm.
The greetings were brief but significant. The assistants and the kingdom's priest addressed the Europeans in their language, with an accent that was a mixture of Muisca and the new tongue, which I found amusing.
The Europeans also replied in our language, with gestures of respect and a smile. The minimal fluency in the language was a sign of their good will and an attempt to smooth things over.
Columbus, for his part, looked impatient. His gaze darted from side to side, as if he wanted to devour all the knowledge in the room. However, he was not a simple sailor. He had the composure of a leader, the experience of an explorer.
"Young man, the city is quite incredible; thank you for the tour yesterday. It is very different from my birthplace, but no less beautiful for it," he said, his words coming out like a forced compliment.
I replied with a smile: "I'm glad you liked it. My people have worked hard to build this city."
Columbus nodded, his face expressionless. He didn't understand the message; he just saw a response. To him, I was just a boy who was lucky enough to live in a prosperous kingdom.
"The food was also very good," he continued, and his notary nodded. "The house where we are staying is very comfortable, and the people moving through the city are very friendly."
We talked about trivial things for ten minutes, maybe fifteen. I laughed at his questions about the great number of people on the streets and the number of daily activities. To them, it was something new, but to me, it was the result of a healthy culture.
The more we talked, the more they relaxed, and the more information I obtained for my linguists. With my memories of the future, I could understand what they were saying at a basic level. However, I had to pretend that I did not understand the entirety of their words.
Finally, silence took over the room, and Columbus stared at me intently. The trivial conversation had ended, and now came the question I had been waiting for. His voice, now more serious, asked me: "Young Chuta, please forgive my ignorance. Could you tell me if this is the Indies?"
My heart skipped a beat. I knew that this question was crucial. It was the reason for his journey, the validation of his theories. I pretended not to understand the word "Indies." With a gesture, I let him know I did not.
"I don't understand the word Indies."
Columbus seemed a little confused. I asked my assistant to ask him about the origin of that word.
He replied immediately: "The name of the land we seek, the place where the great eastern kingdoms are."
"Ah." I put on an expression of understanding. "No, this is not the land you are looking for. We are the first on the coast… While there are other kingdoms beyond ours, I doubt you know of their existence."
The news seemed to fall on him like a bucket of cold water. For a second, his expression was one of profound disappointment. But then, as if a ray of sunshine had broken through the clouds, a new idea took hold of his face. He looked at me, and his gaze reminded me of the man I saw in the history books of my past life.
A man obsessed with an idea, a man who would not give up. The Columbus I knew from the books would not surrender. He would always think about continuing further west, to reach his dream. Columbus always knew the Earth was round, and that, to reach his destination, he only had to keep sailing. And that is what he planned to do.
With a glance around me, I noticed that my assistants and priests were ready. They were not the only ones who had made progress; the Spanish had too. Now they had an idea, they had a goal, they had hope.
My plan to delay them would not work, not for long. The only thing left for me was to prepare for what was coming. And what was coming was a much more complex game than just language.
A few hours later.
The afternoon sun bathed the City of Dawn in a warm glow. After a lunch as abundant as the day before, though with a little more composure on the part of the 'guests,' I found myself walking through the port.
At my side, Columbus remained silent, his eyes fixed on the scene unfolding before him. I could see the astonishment in his eyes, a mixture of admiration and a profound longing that only a true sailor could understand.
The port was a spectacle of efficiency. Several Wayamú II ships, along with their older siblings and the robust Tequendama II, loaded and unloaded goods with a precision that I myself had helped design.
The sailors and workers moved in a perfect choreography, and the air resonated with their shouts and the creaking of the pulleys. The contrast with Columbus's ships was overwhelming. His three vessels, the carrack and the two caravels, looked like fragile toys lost in an ocean of titans.
I moved away from the group with Zasaba at my side, allowing a moment of privacy for conversation. Columbus took the opportunity and approached me.
"Young… Chuta," he said, with a pause as he searched for the right word. "I thank you, on behalf of my crew, for the treatment you have given us. My people have been well fed and cared for."
I nodded. "It is our custom," I replied in the Spanish that I now felt more comfortable using. My assistants' progress was surprising.
Columbus, however, seemed uneasy. His gaze shifted from side to side, avoiding mine.
"If I may be honest," he continued, his voice dropping to a whisper, "I feel confused. Our weapons have been taken, and our ships are under your control. At times, I feel like a captive. However, the treatment we have received makes me feel like a welcome guest. It is a paradox my mind cannot resolve."
I understood him perfectly. It was the same feeling I had when I saw Sogeking's excitement at the arrival of the Europeans, but in a different sense. It was the feeling of a future that would not be like the one I remembered.
"I understand what you mean, Christopher," I said, using his name for the first time, surprising him. "But we must protect our people. This process, which will not last more than a few weeks, is just to ensure that you do not pose a danger to the Kingdom. Think of it as a… stage of observation."
The word 'observation' confused him, but my calm tone reassured him. He nodded; his gaze fixed on my eyes.
"I understand. I only hope that the day of our 'liberation,' as you call it, arrives soon. My men long to return home."
I smiled, a Machiavellian thought growing in my mind. "That day will come, sooner than you think. And to leave no doubt, I truly also wish to establish friendly conversations with the Kingdom that sent you."
Columbus's expression changed completely. Hope and ambition returned to his eyes, rekindling his inner fire. He straightened, his explorer's posture reverting to that of an admiral.
"That would be an honor! I assure you, Young Chuta, that I myself will be responsible for establishing that contact with the kings from where I come. The Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon. They will be very interested in getting to know your kingdom. It will be a great honor for me, Admiral, to serve as the link between both kingdoms," he said with a satisfied smile, as if the problem had been solved.
I also smiled, but my smile was one of satisfaction for having achieved the first part of my plan. The gold was the bait, but the promise of a new kingdom with which to establish commercial relations would be the perfect hook.
With this offer, I ensured they would not leave and that, instead of attacking, they would negotiate, at least for now. I had given them what they wanted: a new world, but a new world that was ready to defend itself.
.
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Hello everyone.
A little late again, but it's because this is another long chapter and I've had a lot of work these past few days. I don't understand how my father did this every day.
Chuta receives some reports, which I didn't want to cover in specific scenes because I don't know if he'd like them. There's also the matter of the meetings with Columbus, which will be summarized.
It's not that I don't want to develop the "negotiations" further, but I started to think it's a little strange that Columbus, being a novice admiral, is in charge of the negotiations. The most he can do is be the link between the two kingdoms.
However, it's not that Columbus's role is limited to this and that the narrative won't expand on his character further, but I think that as history changes, it's normal for Columbus's role to change.
Unnecessary Fact of the Day: In a previous UFD, I mentioned that Columbus brought some natives back on his first voyage, which is true, but he also brought some exotic animals, the gold of the islanders, and new foods.
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Read my other novels.
#The Walking Dead: Vision of the Future (Chapter 79)
#The Walking Dead: Emily's Metamorphosis (Chapter 26)
#The Walking Dead: Patient 0 - Lyra File (Chapter 9) (PAUSED)
You can find them on my profile.]