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How To Deliver Justice (with KiraMusani

Diana placed a hand to her chin.
"We also need to assure the crops will be able to last as long as possible, we need to do more than just store them, they need to last as well."

Ethel nodded along as the others spoke.
"Yes, and Princess Cinnamon, you are on the right track, but it's a lot more complicated, like the others have said, who deals with rationing, how and where to store the food. Not to mention what food to store and how to get so much extra food when some places are hardly able to keep up with food demands as is. And that is just a few of some of the issues that exists"
 
Cinnamon frowned. She opened her mouth, but closed it again, and finally said only what she knew of storage at the bakery in town. "We don't use all our flour, ground wheat, salt and honey at once at the bakery. There we keep those items in a pantry that is cool, dark and dry. Wheat and flour have lasted us the entire month between shipments. If we're rationing the foodstuffs during the famine... If it happens... Only give enough for the family for a fortnight. Businesses would have to go on less, say only as much as they actually use. Granted, they'll have to keep meticulous records on their sales, but that's second nature to MOST business owners. There is a way to ration for everyone."

Ruby shook her head. "That works for grains just fine... But what about things like roots? Potatoes, carrots, beets... Or things only partially buried during growing? Like gourds, especially. What about vegetables like corn, and peas? Fruits like pomes, pears and grapes?" She folded her arms, almost looking just like her mother, when the Queen crossed her arms.

Cinnamon shrugged. "Drying foods is fairly new, but could definitely work for the fruits. We have dried grapes, plums and apples now. Why can't the crops be rationed early, and so much better dried for storage? I'm certain all vineyards have areas they have the grapes be dried. Both Beaumont and don't yours, Princess Sapphire?"

Sapphire pinched the bridge of her nose. "Even drying the grapes, if they aren't used up in about a fortnight, go bad. The dried grapes and the wine casks during the aging process are all in what's called a wine cellar for obvious reasons and is kept cool and dry. Again may I emphasize, the dried fruit can only be kept, even cool and dry, for only a FORTNIGHT, before going rotten anyway." She hissed.

Ruby nodded. "I can confirm THAT with our apple crops, even dried they don't last longer than a fortnight at most. Even fresh, you might have about a week of you're lucky."

Sapphire sighed. "On the other hand, keeping the root foods and the gourds, as long as it's cool and dry, can last up to a whole month. If we can store those somewhere and somehow for the winter, we would have those to ration in the third or fourth month."

Cinnamon shook her head. "We used a normal shipment of wheat and flour in the month. It was still fresh and usable. If we could find a way to find out how long grains last in a farmer's silage, we could have our answer on how to at least store grains and corn."

Ruby shrugged and Sapphire tutted.

"Must I explain everything that should be common sense to every Royal I've met?" Sapphire groaned, "Simplicity, itself. Ask your farmers. Nicely. If we would work hand in hand with our farmers more, like Jewel Kingdom, and I'm sure the Amazons do, we wouldn't be in this fix now. If this happens, most countries are going to have to rely on themselves and not be asking their neighbors to bail them out because they don't store correctly. Let's make sure we have THAT and as Ethel pointed out who doles the rations out, TONIGHT. We're not going to have much more time this season to figure it out. Especially when the deadline, IF this blizzard hits, is Christmas Day this year. We need to act like this spring and summer... This growing season... Is it, even if none of us believe in the prophecy. THAT'S how we save our people and countries." She smirked. "Don't you love nature science and your inventor friend have ways to do the experiments on grains, corn, and roots? We have already established the flour and wheat last at least a month. Dried fruits last a fortnight, tops. We know nothing about the roots or corn. That could be your homework. You'll have two months... At least... When you return to Cordonia. The rest, in the meantime, can communicate, nicely, with the farmers to see how long they have seen the grains last, as well as find places cool and dry, to store the extra crops." She looked at Ethel. "I haven't forgotten your concern. Jewel Kingdom has already taken great pains already because of the war nations around us. Our crops are already rationed and some stored, usually with our farmers, wine cellars, or other cool and dry places throughout the country, so if one place is attacked, we still have a lot of others. As far as who doles it out, a trusted farmer or vintner, whoever owns the storage area. Even my father wouldn't trust a higher noble. Take a page out of our book and do likewise."
 
Diana nodded.
"Yes, we are very close with our agriculture people, though on our island it had rarely even snowed, perhaps another option to look at is moving south to warmer areas to wait out the storm, leaving some of the suited survivors here to send word when the weather has passed. That is, if there is no way to sustain everyone." Diana suggested.

Ethel nodded.
"That has been my experience as well. I move around lots, so I usually just move away from the cold weather. Though I am a single person, moving an entire people is a different story, plus then you would need food for the journey, and to organize a place for people to live once you reach your destination, hoping that the planned destination is indeed warm and this isn't some sort of all covering winter." Ethel paused looking toward Cinnamon.
"I do agree though, you should speak with your inventor friend; she has proven to think outside the box, perhaps she and you could find a way to better keep food"
 
Kenna looked around at the ladies at the table, and then Gregor. "The mountainous region near Lythikos, and north around Stormholt are really the only places likely to ice up. Diana, with a lot of your Celtic sisters used to the rawness that is Scotland, would you have very many with you, should you deliver our findings to Themiscyra?"

Sapphire saved Diana from answering. "She only needs herself and one other to give the heads up, Majesty, but as she said, Themiscyra is an island, south of the Jewel Kingdom, in either the Aegean, Ionian or Mediterranean Seas. The cold is not likely to get that far south."

Kenna then offered her country as a refuge for any in the British Isles from the storm. "Ruby, you have your marching orders from Ethel. Even I agree your girlfriend is going to be happy to help figure out a way to store food for several months during winters. Tell her EVERYTHING you learned, including the food items need to be in a cool, dry place." She looked at Gregor, "Anything else we should discuss?"

Gregor knitted his brow. "Sapphire said to get trustworthy people not high noble to mete out the rations; to have more than one storage facility; and a good ruler to use his or her own castle or palace food storage areas. I think that just about covers it for now. Cinnamon, you have your marching orders as well. Scout Dunwyn proper for good places to use, and do dress down except for something that marks you as my heiress." He sighed. "Unless Ethel or Diana have anything farther to say to the princesses with homework (so Cinnamon and Ruby), this first meeting is wrapped up. I will pass on to Grovershire and Princeton what we have discussed, and send word to the Darlings in Berkshire."
 
Diana was ready to answer, but then stopped as Sapphire spoke up, nodding along.
"Exactly, I am sure we can also offer to take in women if it's needed."

The rest didn't have much to say, so the meeting ended.

As they left Ethel would talk about how food preservation is surprisingly a rather new concept.
 
Ruby headed out on her own causing Avenger to hurry after her. "PRIN-CESS Ruby!! Do NOT rush off without me! Might I REMIND Her Highness, I must always be at your side or near you!"

Amethyst chuckled and looked at Diana with a wink. "Don't you just love when fate pays you back for your own behaviours earlier in your life? I warned her so many times not to run off ahead of me! Now she's chasing after her own hardheaded princess as the Royal Bodyguard!"

Gregor chuckled. "That reminds me, Amethyst, after you're finished seeing Diana, we must make plans for Cinnamon's tour of her village as it's princess."

Amethyst gave a salute, before returning attention to Diana and her reply.

Cinnamon sighed but waited for her bodyguard to finish with Diana and Gregor.

Clair would hear Calla Avenger calling after Princess Ruby to slow down, reassuring her that Clair wasn't going to be going anywhere that night.
 
Clair gave a slight chuckle at the sight as the others arrived, closing her notebook, which she had just been writing in.
"Heh, kinda funny Avenger that Ruby is now doing to you what you had done before"
 
Calla Avenger looked somewhat hurt about being reminded of how she had treated Amethyst ever since the Galway native had gained her own knighthood and became the Royal Bodyguard to the Princess at the age of 16, just over three years ago. "I'll be out front." She grumped. "Guarding."

Ruby went right into the meeting, rapid fire, finishing with, "This could be so big that we need to find a way besides our regular methods of cool and dry to store non-perishables like grains, roots and corn so we and our people don't starve! And also ways to expand growing season when the ground is too frozen to plant!"

Ruby wasn't thinking. She had seen plants flourishing already, weeks and now almost two months AFTER harvest... In solarium rooms around England and Scotland. Grovershire, Berkshire, Binghamton and at the Princeton residence, and from the carriage rides in farms nearby.

Greenhouses were not a new concept, but were for the more wealthy farmers and for every noble to house living plants. Ruby needed to be reminded how much warmer even she felt against the cold in the Princeton glass solarium.
 
Clair paused as she saw Avengers response.
"Oh, I didn't mean to hurt her feelings, it was just an observation..."

Clair was quickly distracted by Ruby with her proclamation.
"Hmm, well for storage we would need to experiment with different building types to see what best gives the environment we want. But as for growing food, what about those glass houses? What were they called?" She looked into her notes.
"Glass Solarium?"

"Though I do have a couple ideas on how to keep food edible for longer we could test out, some are for meats while others are for plants." She stated while looking in her notes some more.
 
Ruby shook her head. "I think it's just solarium. Mentioning what it's made of is redundant, wouldn't you say?" She then gave a shrug. "You'll see a lot more of those in Cordonia. Most farmers are rich enough to afford to build one, unlike around here in England, where it's mostly the nobles and some well-to-do farmers. The solarium gave me the idea for this..." She asked for Clair's notebook, turned back to the solar battery and tapped the page a few times as she handed it back. "Now that I've had time to think about it, in this case battery isn't descriptive of the invention idea. It won't bounce around in a container damaging other things it's supposed to be charging. Maybe panel? Or go back to calling this particular one a charger?" Now Ruby was distracted by invention, or at least naming one. Another shake of her head. "Anyway, we already know what most wine cellars and solariums are made of, what we don't know is what farmers build those tall grain towers out of."

With a frown, she got up and started to pace. "How did Avenger make her squirrel jerky? That's dried meat, and it lasted about a month. Can other meats be dried like that? Grains not made into some bread or whatever, last months, according to Cinnamon, so why doesn't grains made into something like breads? So the keys are cool and dry... But what would happen if we froze the fruits and vegetables, and HOW do we freeze them? And how long will that extend their lifespan beyond the week now? Could freezing also extend dried fruits beyond the fortnight we have now?" She sighed and turned to look at Clair and wait for her reply.
 
Clair thought about it. "Oh, right, I suppose that's unnecessary."

Clair handed her the notebook and looked at the note she had made.
"Hmm, it would take some experiments to see what kind of technique we can use to convert the heat into the energy my batteries use, or maybe the light?" She rubbed her head.

Clair looked through more of her notes.
"Well, those glass rooms get and stay warm because the glass lets the light through but not the colder air, so what if we found an opposing material that would not let light in, but would let cold air through?" She paused to think.
"Though I can't think of a material that would let air through but blocks light. Hmmm" She thought to herself for a moment.
"We can also look into seeing if we can find a way to convert the energy stored into cold air, then we just need to have constant energy to provide that air into a confined space."

Clair continued to sit but brought her legs up on her seat and crossed them.
"Yeah, we could try to jerk other meats. I also have an idea to submerge fruits or veggies in clean salted water, see if the salt degrades or preserves them. We can try the same with dried fruits if the salt water works, or not adding salt or maybe sugar might be able to help increase a foods lifespan."
 
Ruby, being a princess and always having one on her, produced an intricate fan, shook it open with a flick of her wrist, and waved it in front of herself and Clair. "Does this invention from either Cathay¹ or Mangi² give you any ideas? You'll be seeing a lot more of these in Cordonian courts. It's called a fan, because it acts like a breeze when one does as I'm doing now. I'm sure Aurora and Olivia have at least produced them, because there's even a language using the fan." She closed it and handed it to Clair to study. "Mine, and most Cordonian fans are made out of elm for the sticks and handles, and vellum³ for the leaves. That's an image of Stormholt Castle painted on mine, when it's fully open."

The fanning air would create a cool breeze.

1- North China like around Mongolia
2- South China
3- A type of parchment
 
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Clair looked at it and tested it.
"Hmm, interesting, the air moved by the fan is colder than the air around us, if the speed of the air is proportional to the temperature drop, we could use that, we would just need to build a way to move the air very quickly, and if it works, we could keep an area cold, even in warm weather"
 
Ruby shook her head. "I don't think so... But then I've never had to fan myself really hard or fast, no matter how warm it is outside... If anything, the warmer it is outside, the faster you have to wave the fan to keep the same comfortable temperature around you."

That would actually be a major clue to the air cooling dynamics needed in the heat of summer, more than a steady temperature on any given day of the year; which could give Clair an idea, and if she would stop and think about it (hint to tell Ruby to THINK, really THINK, about what she just said), the candle would light for Ruby as well.

"The most important thing right now, though, is to follow Cinnamon tomorrow, and ask a farmer she visits, if they have a grain tower, what it's made out of."
 
"Hmm, the warmer it is outside, the faster you need to wave the fan, that tracks for needing higher air speeds for a more drastic temperature drop, oh an think about this, if you break out normal, the air is hot, but if you perk your lips and blow, the air is colder." She said before demonstrating on her own hand.
"Try it" She suggested.

"Right, we will need to try different materials for storing things, farmers will be good to research what has been working and a place to start out tests, though I am not sure how we can test long term storage without simply just waiting"
 
Ruby gave Clair a strange look complete with raised eyebrow. "Break normal?¹"

She saw what Clair did next and nodded. " Ohhh, breathe." She put her hand under her nose and then blew on the same hand. Her eyes lit up as the candle was indeed lit. "Let's save this idea for later, and go ahead and get some sleep. Hard telling when Avenger will rouse us, probably when Amethyst tells Cinnamon to get ready. She's such an early bird, still stuck in bakery mode, it'll probably be before the sun gets up."

She went to the door and informed Avenger of the plans, and, unfortunately... Avenger was not discreet... "Yo! Amethyst! We need to go with! Part of Ruby and Clair's orders, alert me before you wake up Cinnamon!"

Amethyst glared at Avenger as Cinnamon yanked her door open. "What the HELL, Calla?! Do you realize it's after eight?! Indoor voice, from now on, or I'll throw the princess card and report YOU to your immediate supervisor!"

Ruby looked wide-eyed at Clair. "Crap. Immediate supervisor is my mother! The Queen of Cordonia! You DON'T want to cross Mom!"



1-Read as written, Clair would have said "break", please don't change it now
 
"Oh? Did I say break? Heh, slip of my mind I suppose" Clair blushed.
"Yes I meant breathing, and right sleep is important"

Clair paused as she was told she wouldn't want to cross Ruby's mom.
"I don't want to cross anybody, why would we cross your mother?" She asked seeming confused at the warning.
 
Ruby looked confused. "I didn't mean -that is to say - uhhh mmm, didn't you just hear Avenger yell for Amethyst? And Cinnamon threaten loudly, to tell on her if she yells in the hallways again after eight in the evening?" She gasped, pointing with both forefingers on both hands back into the hallway. "How do you tune out some of that drama? Especially when it's loud?"

Ruby did need to understand filtering since her father was no longer a threat to her, her mother, and her unborn sibling.
----------------------------------------

The next morning found Calla Avenger banging on the door. "Ladies! Ten minutes, if you want breakfast before we go!"

Cinnamon's voice came next. "My apple cinnamon pancakes! The chef is allowing me to fix our breakfast! Clair, I'm certain Mrs. H has brought these from the bakery before... Wouldn't you love to try them fresh from the stove for a change?"
 
Clair blushed and admitted.
"Oh, umm, I uhh, I suppose if something is not being said directly to me, my mind focuses elsewhere. And to be honest, yelling makes me uncomfortable, which also makes me try and focus on other things."

----------------------------------------------------------

"Oh!"
Clair shot up out of bed.
"We better get ready quickly" She stated as she got out of bed and started to quickly get ready.
 
Ruby let it go until the morning, and just after five in the morning as they were getting ready, Ruby asked shyly, "Clair? Can you do a poor princess a favor and teach me to focus on something else when I'm not being addressed?"

Amethyst knocked on the door, "Are you two decent? I need to speak to you both about what we're doing today... Princess Cinnamon HAS to dress, well, like a princess, but you two may need to take it down a scoch from even merchant noble." She paused. "And definitely not like a dignitary."

Ruby sighed, "Just a minute, Dame Amethyst, I just asked Clair to teach me how to tune out when I'm not being spoken to."

Amethyst chuckled. "Oh, good, you BOTH are going to want to tune out if the farmers go on a tangent about nothing in particular. I'll wait."

Ruby turned to Clair for her filtering lesson.
 
Clair seemed confused for a moment.
"Poor? Oh, umm, not like wealth poor... umm, I can try, but it's not something I was taught, so I am not sure if I can, but I will try." She nodded.

"Oh, umm, Amythyst, if we just need to dress down, it should be fine, I can just wear my inventing clothes, which I guess are pretty much just worker peasant clothes," Clair replied.

"As for tuning out, it's less about tuning them out and more about focusing elsewhere, try just thinking about something that really interests you as they start to talk. And maybe also take notes or do something else that engages in that other thought process more."
 
Ruby nodded like she understood. "That's why you take your notebook everywhere, then, huh? So you can focus on something else, like invention ideas? I remember you telling Princess Sapphire you wanted to think up something for her family, involving the two colors of her parents Houses."

She then blushed, and tapped her forefingers together. "I know I have a little bit more upfront than you... But do you think I can borrow something of yours? Especially if you have an extra coveralls? You saw my inventors' dress... It's still way too fancy for farms."
 
Clair nodded in return as she explained.
"That is one of the reasons yeah, plus I always want to have it on me for if I get an idea or someone says something I want to note." She explained.

Clair tilted her head a little, seeming a little confused.
"More upfront? Oh, umm, yeah, of course. I hope you will be comfortable in it, but here, try this," she offered, going into her things and grabbing another set of her common clothes. They were indeed another set of coveralls, with plenty of pockets. These ones were faded green colour, they also included an off white undershirt that would be quite tight on Ruby given her extra space needed up front.
 
The shirt would be snug, but not overly tight, at least not as tight as her corset had been for the parade. She slipped the coveralls on, but unlike Clair, she fastened both in place over her torso.

"Time for breakfast!" She chirped locking her fingers to the crook of Clair's elbow.

Cinnamon had also invited King Gregor and Queen Kenna to breakfast, so both would see Ruby in the coveralls.

"Ruby, are you comfortable in such attire?"

"Yes, mother, it's not as fancy as the invention dress I have been wearing, and I was told I couldn't even be that fancy for a farm visit."

Kenna made a face. "Because, we aren't sure about the farmers around here. It's so you're more dressed for cleaning out stables or barns and such. Unless you're family, in Cordonia, girls, no matter how rough and tumble they are..." A quick look at tomboy Clair, " You two would be stuck in the kitchen. No ifs, ands, or buts. I've asked them to test a girl's mettle, if they can do the harder work, to let them. Ours still won't... Unless you're their daughters and they've trained you to it." She sighed. "Something Clair will have to get through their thick heads, I guess."
 
She looked at her hand as she grabbed her arm and then nodded.
"Right, of course, let's go" She nodded noticing her using both clips and fixing hers to be the same.

"Oh I umm, I am not so good at talking with others about that stuff, but maybe we can show with our actions and our inventions" She asked.
 
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