NationStates Jolt Archive

It had been, for quite a while, quite the secret. Easy enough to maintain during times of civil war, the colony of Kajal Mars had seen it's share of iconic persons.

That some of them wound up with children wasn't particularly unexpected. What was unexpected, of course, was that some of these children would be heirs to the old Imperium. It was during the Separatist War - that conflict that saw the authority of the Imperium challenged by the powers of Sol - that the then exiled Duchess of Keral, and a political activist (and ex-fashion model) did something that would absolutely horrify the members of a 19th century monarchy.

After about 40 years, Ilunaia Kavar (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Ilunaia_Kavar) came to be working in the new Democratic government.

It was fairly well known that her father was, of course, the Prime Minister, Derin Kavar, and it was also widely believed that her mother had been killed during the war.

Of course, why she was shielded from the public eye up until the Democratic Revolution made sense.

Why she was still shielded from it to some degree after didn't. Ilunaia herself had met Lirella on several occasions, as Derin and herself were quite close, but she hadn't particularly equated the feelings of trust and comfort with the woman to the fact that Lirella was her mother.

Not at the time, at least. There had been some searching, and some inquiries to be made, and eventually, the government did indeed spit out an answer for Ilunaia.

New Data indicates that Citizen Ilunaia Kavar is the child of Prime Minister Ilosse Derin Kavar and Imperatrix Lirella Keral.

Shortly after the query popped on to the screen of Ilunaia's terminal, there was a knock at the door.

She was, of course, quite surprised when she opened it. Behind the door, of course, stood Lirella, Derin, and several agents from LUNA.

Under normal circumstances, this would be a terrifying incident. Ilunaia let out a barely audible eep, and then?

She hugged the Imperatrix.

And no one _hugs_ the Imperatrix, at least in public.

There were numerous discussions over the next week, about how to introduce Ilunaia to the public eye, and of what duties she was expected to fulfill, and that she would need to pose for a portrait for the new five galac bills...

And then, after all of that, she was allowed a royal vacation. All expenses paid, drawn from the Imperatrix' wealth and power.

Which was, really, quite large, since the Imperatrix was on the payroll of both Atla/Ljosa and Kajur Design Bureau for some reason.

There was but one condition for her vacation. During it, she would have to learn how to be the Princess of Kajal.

And thusly, Lirella suggested a location for the vacation - Vinyatirion - and Ilunaia began to pack madly, as Lirella drafted the letter.

Ilunaia had, of course, studied both Quenya and Sindarin, but she had never actually been to the Menelmacari city.

The letter would arrive electronically, of course. It would be somewhat more economical than sending lettermail from Pleiades.


http://palara.sularan.net/kajallogo.gif
Seal of the Federated Imperium of Kajal

Lirella Meraia Keral, of the line of Keral and Final Heir to the Dynasty of Dajal, Imperatrix of Kajal, to Sirithil Nalosaurawen Finlaurë Aineldalië Minyavendë, in greeting: May the light of Iu and his works continue to illuminate both the lands of Menelmacar and Kajal.

As you may have observed, it is my intent to grant my daughter, Ilunaia Lirella Keral-Kavar, the status of Princess within the Federated Imperium, as is entitled to her by birth. She has lived a 'normal' life, away from the public eye and with the people of Kajal, and even though she has not been explicitly raised as the Princess of Kajal, she has exhibited to date the poise, responsibility, and determination required for such a role in the public eye.

Therefore, I formally request that, in preparation for her ascension as heir to the crown and founder of the Keral dynasty, she be allowed passage to Vinyatírion for a period of your leisure within which she will become familiar with Thyself and Thine Husband, as well as the cultures of Sol, Menelmacar in particular.

Understandably, she is quite excited to visit both Vinyatírion and Your Highnesses, and upon the conclusion of her visit we would be delighted to recieve both Your Highnesses in Kajurmani.

May the Seraii keep you in good health, and deliver this message swiftly.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Sirithil/goldbar.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Sirithil/daggerstar2.bmp
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Sirithil/goldbar.gif


By the Voice and Will of Sirithil nos Fëanor, Elentári of Menelmacar and the C'tan, given on the Menelmacari Imperial Vessel Gilthoniel, on the ninth day of Lairë of the thirty one thousandth, eight hundred and seventy first year of her reign, from the star system Elrandir-Canta-274.

To Lirella Meraia Keral, of the line of Keral and final Heir to the Dynasty of Dajal, Imperatrix of Kajal from Sirithil Nalosaurawen Finlaurë Aineldalië Minyavendë, greetings, the Valar keep you and may you be blessed with prosperity and strength for all time.

I am flattered by your offer and while I cannot say I am particularly skilled in teaching such things, I would nevertheless be glad to receive your daughter. At present I am not in Vinyatírion however, as I have been overseeing the investigation into a mistake made (and thankfully rectified before any damage could be done) by the exploration agencies of Menelmacar, and the refinement of procedures to prevent a recurrence for the incident.

Therefore it would perhaps be more convenient for both of us if I were to make a detour from my intended flight plan to the Seven Sisters in order to receive your daughter aboard this vessel. At present I am visiting several colonies and facilities that have been established within the last two years, and as such, it will be some days before I return to Vinyatírion. As an unexpected boon however, it does allow me to show something of my work – if one is generous in defining 'work' – to your daughter before returning to Earth.

Manwë keep you under the One, and send fair wind to your sails.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Sirithil/goldbar.gif

Sirithil waved a hand at the silver-winged mechanical bumblebee that had been hovering near her, recording her words, and it flittered away a little toward the ceiling. "Transmit," she added, and then: "Ravenne," she said, calling for a link to the ship's captain.

The bee projected a tiny hologram into the Elentári's outstretched hand, and Sirithil smiled a little, "Plot a jump to Kajal, and put through any reply to the message I just sent immediately."

"As you wish, my lady," the Ciryatári said, nodding once.

"Thank you Ravenne," Sirithil said. The message disconnected as Siri took her hand away from the hologram, and the silvery-golden bumblebee buzzed its way up to hang from the ceiling until it was needed again. Siri wandered over to the wide windows that covered the entire front of the chamber, looking out over a small garden on the top deck of the ship, held in a bubble of nourishing air by she ship's fields. The bee was indeed powered by nectar, much like ordinary bees, because although there were more efficient power sources available, it wasn't designed to be perfectly efficient, as much as a tiny, hovering work of invertebrate art.

http://palara.sularan.net/kajallogo.gif
Seal of the Federated Imperium of Kajal

In response, from Lirella Meraia Keral, to Sirithil nos Fëanor, Elentári of Menelmacar and the C'tan, on Cela Dan, of the eight hundred and eighty first year of her reign, and the third year of the Democratic Parliament of Kajal, from the Imperial Palace at Kajurmani

Such a gracious offer is appreciated, and Ilunaia's shuttle will rendez-vous with your craft upon your arrival. She will require only minimal space to stow her effects, though she expects that she will return with somewhat more than she leaves with.

In respect, two Farahir type frigates will enter formation with your vessel briefly, before continuing in their duties.

May the Seraii keep you in good health, and deliver this message swiftly.

Ilunaia's shuttle was loaded quickly, and while it did not offer the accommodations of five cabins that were appointed more luxuriously than a five star hotel, it entered orbit easily, with a small 'honor guard' consisting of two of the Farahir frigates.

They would enter formation with the Gilthoniel as a sign of respect shortly when she arrived, before departing back to their prior orbits.

The interior of the Gilthoniel’s docking lock was like everything else made by the elves, beautiful. However, here it was mostly in a stark functionality, with buttons, lockers for equipment, grates, and so forth. Slight grooves traced decorative designs, and deeper ones formed handholds in all the surfaces – save the floor, with the grate allowing similar grasping of the mesh in zero gravity situations.

The outer door opened downwards, which was rather unusual, with a little rush of equalising pressure. The inner door was open a moment later, in the same manner. Both were thick barriers of metal three feet across, though the outer one actually possessed a window – simply because it was considered helpful to be able to see what was outside in the event of a power loss – of transparent metal.

The corridor beyond was more akin to the normal Quendi standards of interior decoration, a high vaulted ceiling panelled with alternating segments of rosewood and yew between beams of oaken wood that were carved with ornate patterns of the boughs of trees. Glimmering lights in the ceiling panels didn’t put out much luminescence, but created a stylised image of the night sky.

Two guards stood on either side of the door, and presented arms briefly. They were cloaked in crimson, and with golden armour, which suggested that they were not the black-armoured Mornahossë, but rather ‘conventional’ marines. That may seem something of an insult, but the simple fact was, there were only twenty such soldiers on the ship at any time, and fairly often, only ten or less on duty. This meant that they tended to be somewhat busy at the best of times.

Ravenne nos Cirdan, the ship’s Telerin captain, however, was there, standing between heavy doors that covered an entire segment of the corridor, and could cut off the airlock a ‘weak’ point in the armour, from the inside of the ship. She was tall, and with silver-grey hair that cascaded down her shoulders, inherited from her famous ancestor, whose famed foresight she had also inherited, allowing her, passively (active effort was far more notable, but Ravenne wasn’t an expert) to predict actions some time before they happened – something that was comparatively rare in the navy, but more common in the ‘army’ and almost ubiquitous among the various types of Mornahossë.

She bowed a little, “Welcome aboard,” she said, “your highness,” she added, thoughtfully. She wasn’t particularly used to that, but it was well known that some nations put great stock in titles, “If you will follow, I shall take you to the Elentári,” she added, with a slight smile.

To say that Ilunaia was a little taken by the interior decor would have been an understatement. Very rarely was a Kajali ship decorated in such a manner, normally tending towards clean, efficient lines, with touches of brushed aluminum and predominantly blue color scheme. The result was one of elegance, however minimal, which now seemed nearly completely opposite to Menelmacari design. The image of the sky above drew another thinly veiled gawking, as, of course, while Kajali ships used lighting to convey a day/night cycle for the crew, it was not exactly as... thorough, instead opting for dynamic and subtle changes in lighting, with little direct illumination.

"Thank you, captain." Ilunaia's vision continued to wander along the detailing of the hallway, though only nominally. "It's quite beautiful..."

The entire walk through the corridors would likely see the same awe conveyed concerning the decor, even as she asked little questions and generally made small talk, trying to hide it.

Definitely nothing like one of ours. So pretty!

Ilunaia was conducted through the lavish interior of the elven craft, and into the personal quarters of the Elentári, which were extensive, and if one examined them carefully, one would notice, heavily armoured. If one were able to pace around them carefully, it would even be obvious that they had a hidden room or two within them of considerable size. A particularly astute observer might notice that, given its rearward placement, and general size, it was in the right position to serve as an ‘archaic’ recall-drive, a form of faster than light propulsion that was two generations behind the modern usages; replaced as obsolete because it was unable to go to places that had not been scanned in extraordinary detail beforehand.

The same system, however, was in use in the manned fighter craft of Menelmacar – themselves being phased out to a degree as the demand for fighters exceeded the supply of pilots – to return their pilots in lieu of ‘ejector seats.’ The same system had been experimented with for ‘escape pods’ but it had been decided to leave that as an ‘optional use’ of a sort, rather than as the default function of the current generation of escape pods. One never quite knew where would be best to go, after all.

The chamber that opened onto the main deck of the ship was a wide one, with meters thick walls opening into a high, radiant chamber which seemed to be formed of the trunks and boughs of silver and golden trees. A pair of tall, almost ominous looking guards in black and white armour stood like statues on either side of the room. Indeed, they were statues, or close enough. Ilunaia wasn’t likely to see the actual guards, merely decoys of them, facsimile-Mornahossë.

Ravenne simply walked through to one of the oaken-seeming doorways that stood open at the side of the room, and into what appeared to be a sitting room, though it was at the moment deserted. One side of it was composed of a window, that went from floor to ceiling, and showed the Kajali ships, under a touch of artificial magnification.

Ravenne whispered something in Telerin a language that sounded similar to both Quenya and Sindarin but a little different, conspiratorially, and turned for a moment, “You may like this…” she said, and opened a tall pair of tapering doors, stepping through and then aside.

The window curved around, making up two walls of the room, and outside was… a garden. A breeze blew through the room from its open ‘french’ windows. These were of a most amazing thickness. The light twinkled off ruby rank and gold pins on Ravenne’s collar and breast. Standing out on what could be a golf lawn, though it had numerous flowery borders near the gilded railings around it, was the tall woman that Ilunaia would doubtless recognise as Sirithil.

To her right, the garden dropped off sharply, to reveal the shining oily-iridescent hull of the Menelmacari ship, and the crimson fore-planes towards its front, and golden, elongated and spiky gun turrets in the fore, with smaller, blood red cousins towards the starboard side, where a sizeable planar ‘gundeck’ lurked like a catamaran hull.

A raging tempest of red light seemed to assail the ship, emanating from the farthest stars, sweeping back across its angular surfaces, until everything was bathed in its glow, not too bright to look at, but nonetheless bright. When it dissipated, after a moment or so, the stars of the Pleiades were gone, dissolved into others, alien looking others.

The blonde haired elf climbed the steps into the room, which appeared to be either a parlour or a dining room – it was hard to tell – and smiled at her, “Hello…” She said, “I take it you’re ‘Princess’ Ilunaia Lirella Keral-Kavar? You’re even prettier than I expected… Would you care for lunch?” she said, waving out onto the open-garden, which, as if by magic, now sported a small table with two chairs, from this distance, apparently made of a cheap white plastic, but actually a bone-white wood. “We have a little time, we’re going for a little cruise through the system first anyway…” a pair of Thorons, their visual-enhancement by the windows making them seem to be both much nearer and slower than they actually were flitted by, lazily arcing out to one of several newly appeared escort ships.

My gods, we just transited.

Kajali ships were not typically ornamented with such lawns, of course, even though most were sufficiently capable of bending gravity to their whim to trap an atmosphere against the hull...

But then, being in that bubble on the hull, and executing an FTL maneuver?

It seemed risky. It was also very distracting, for the moment.

"Ah... lunch, yes." Ilunaia stammered. She wasn't used to walking in gardens on spaceships.

Especially this one, at this particular moment. She was visibly distracted, still, pondering just how such feats were possible...

"My apologies. It would be my pleasure to join you for lunch... This is, if I may say... quite the space ship. I'm not sure we have anything quite like it..."

Sure, she's kicking herself inside, but it did seem more... royal... than a repeated yammering of "uh whut." Of all the times to be a princess, and on top of that one who was never raised as one.

Alright. Cool, calm, collected. Even if you're on the outside of a spaceship.

Ilunaia spent a moment to gaze at the stars that had replaced the familiar blue glow of the Pleiades first, and then towards the other Menelmacari ships. The red glow that had marked the transit of the Gilthoniel seemed to lurk around the periphery of her vision, the sky itself holding a more golden hue than she was used to.

"A colony of yours? We, ah, the Kajali haven't established any new outsystem holdings since contact with Sol..."

Of course, she said this as she wandered throughout the garden, in the general direction of the shockingly white table. Kajali exploration efforts had ceased by-and-large after the completion of charting a sphere of space, two thousand light years across around Kajal, when contact with Sol, a mere four hundred light years distant suddenly and abruptly introduced Kajal to Everyone Else, it seemed.

Some of the older colonies were, by now, large enough to qualify in of themselves for the subjective rating of Core World, in that they dominated their local area in matters of trade and politics. Even Kajur proper didn't hold as much power as it used to...

It was one possible subject of conversation. At least, in that respect, Ilunaia was prepared.

The Elentári sat down on one of the wooden chairs, and gestured for Ilunaia to be seated too, humming to herself, and looking out at the distant speck that was the nearest planet, “We’ve got the best part of an hour…” she said, “So we can have a talk. Oh, there’s quite a few colonies now, but most of them don’t really have much in the way of population. They’re either semi-mobile resource-extraction and construction fleets, of which we have a number, or small facilities for something specific. This system has two outposts in it, the first is a fairly big storm research lab, on that planet there…” she pointed at the spec, which was actually moving towards the bow of the ship as they got closer, “With about fifteen people in it. All very frontiers-y. They’re seeing if they can work out a way to absorb the energy in the storm clouds of a gas giant, to make routine deep access possible. Mostly, I think they’re just doing it for devilment though…

“The other colony’s a bit more useful, it extracts lava from the planet it’s on, over that-away,” she gestured toward the bow of the ship, “that has an unusual chemical composition that makes a fairly unique form of marbled glass when it’s baked just right and allowed to react with oxygenated air – which the planet doesn’t have – it’s used in various windows and tables and such that need a slightly different glassware with a nice blue…” it was amazing quite what the elves would set up a mining outpost for.

As time passed, the stars seemed to move, and it wasn’t in the way one might expect, they were funnelled towards the bow, moving ahead of the ship, as though they were trying to outrace it. If Ilunaia looked back, she’d see the same happening aft, too. Ravenne disappeared back into the craft, somewhere…