Galatea Dell'Auro
Mastareir of Brabant-Reigundy Galatea Dell'Auro
"I know you're up to something, asking me if I can take care of Robyn, despite her being in the palace and Auntie Amalthea not planning on going anywhere..."
"I just gotta..."
"Cut the bullshit, what's gotten you so rattled? What possibly could have you reacting like this? Even all three Dell'Auro sisters don't faze you, usually..."
"Their mom..."
"What, the mythical, never seen outside of Eurani mother of those three furies is coming here? And you're not taking me with you? Some brother!"
"Well, I'm hoping if I make my excuses she'll just drop her visit..."
"Hogwash, she's never been seen outside of Eurani, if she visits, it has to be for a reason."
"You've not met her, I have, and frankly, I'm quite happy not to learn the reason..."
"Ah, there you are, you two!" That was Amarat's mother, and Linnaeus' adopted mother, or close enough as made no difference.
"Mother."
"Gracefully high one."
"So formal, Linni, I'd not scold you for calling me mother, I'm just as proud of you as I am of him..."
"I doubt that, Auntie Mikhi." He was taking a third option, a much less formal one. "He certainly has more green."
"Ah, yes, and I am very proud of that. But I don't think that in your own way, you won't earn your own plaudits. And that's why Galatea is coming to see us."
"What?"
"She's decided that you and your sister were worthy of the Dell'Auro foundation for peace's 'underrated peacemaker' award."
"For Lai Dang?"
"Yes, obviously, my work there wasn't underrated." She said that in a tart tone, but the two younger men knew well enough she was a little miffed at how many other people took partial credit for something she practically beat them over the head to accept.
"Mother, I thought she had never been outside of Eurani?"
"She has not, she's been rabidly pro-eurani all her life, and her foundation's focus is famous, its detractors use its Eurani-first motto against it."
"Gracefully high." "Mastareir, Benevent sings your praise." "You've always known far more about our people than just about anyone." "By some accounts, they're my people, I married into them, and my son is of their number." "Ah, of course, and where did you hide the rugrat?" Amarat hid his smile, 35 was a bit older than a rugrat. "You forgot our last meeting, Auntie Galatea? I was learning to press grapes, like an adult." "What, that's little Amarat? But you're all grown up! And such fetching green ribbon! You must tell me all about it." She couldn't have missed the rosette of his Merit of Honour, especially not on his formal clothes. Amarat cursed under his breath, every noble he'd met since had begged for the story, he was telling it mechanically now. Telling it to the full court of Kagomei had little interest, they'd all heard it but her. "I'll tell the story in short, later, surely." "I'm looking forward to it, I've brought my three daughters with me." "An honour." All three? Element's anger! She brought all of them! "We were hoping we'd go to Starkastar with your mother..." "Errr..." His mother had discharged her duties over Starkastar to Amarat, so they would be his guests, not his mother's. "I no longer hold sway over Starkastar, my son owns that beach house now." "Beach house?" Flora whispered to Amarat. "Beach manor, it is a nice spot." "Nice? Nicer than your mother's?" "No, not nicer than Garay palace, well I guess it is, part of the year, no fish stink." "It's bigger than Responsible Disclosure?" "Maybe double, it can house maybe a party of thirty strangers without crowding." "Wow, and it's a beach house?" "Has its own beach, Starkastar beach. Pretty nice place, just saying." "Oh, you're our Sun'ga Amarat-Snuggle-Bug?" Kill me, kill me now! Thought Amarat to himself. "You'll be my guests, will you be coming, Auntie?" "I will be in Garay while you enjoy yourselves, me and your mother have a conference or two to attend there." "Enjoy ourselves, with Amarat? Surely, we will, this brings back memories..." "Memories?" "I spent a few summers with Milady and her daughters..." "When was this?" "Ten arnds before the academy." "Oh, you must have been a handsome teenager..." "Oh, most of my daughter's friends and their moms used to come over just to fawn over the boy..." "Auntie Galatea..." "What, it is no slander, if it's the truth... They all thought you were such a fine boy..." "Auntie, I'm just not fine with how they behaved, I am a sorceror now..." "So I've heard, if I'd known then, I'd have charged admission! A sorceror boy? My friends would have had bidding wars just to come to my parties..." "Auntie!" "Well, they would, and that's for the publicly announced parties..." She winked. "Can we not talk about that?" "Certainly. I'm sorry, I should have remembered, you were not so fond of the raucous life..." Natalya could barely contain herself. "I won't be joining you, I'll be staying in Garay." Annunzia added: "I as well, enjoy Ninu." She winked. "And mom." "How are we getting there?" "You have to ask? My private yacht." Amarat's aunt Amalthea, Meihomei to her subjects, replied. "It'll pick us up here, drop those of us that have business in Garay, then continue to Starkastar, and come back to Garay in case I have need of it again." "A private yacht?" "Mother, you forgot? That's the EMS Analecta Kagomé, it's privately owned, but calling anything above thirty thousand tons a yacht is making a mockery of ship classification tables." "Thirty, really?" "Scandalous rumours peg it to sixty, of course, that's ridiculous, that'd put it in violation of so many treaties." "Well, if you ladies catch the wind, we'll see how heavy it really is!" Amarat tried some levity, he'd had some... discussions... with Maelle Comma, who had commanded the vessel, and knew the treaty violations allegations were substantiated... "Ahaha, Amarat, so funny." "What's this?" "Oh, someone dug up some old photographs of me, in a ball gown, attending the Montaco-di-Cassino Opera House, and put them in a magazine, 'retro' they call it." "I wish I looked that good..." "Thank you, but that was before I raised three children, before I snagged a husband, actually, that probably helped." "What, you must have had the young men eating out of your hand..." "Well, not all of them, but certainly one or two..." "Was one of them father?" "No, your father wasn't young back then, and I had no idea he had any interest, he was more of a peer to me, and perhaps a mentor, he would tell stories..." "Then what happened?" "One of the young men, a young man of Ferrare, tried to start some trouble... Drum up competition between me and a nascent priestess Kautanissian. He had always been a friend, if a bit self-interested..." "Then what happened?" "The priestess set him up with me, I married him, then he died... I named Amarat after him..." "Silly me, that was Amarat Senior, wasn't it?" "You knew it, telling this story, in this place..." "I doubt I'll ever truly appreciate what it meant to you..." "What does that mean?" "I'm an outsider, to an Eurani, what you say happened is impossible, no one outside Kagomei has ever seen an Asmodean..." "So, I must have been deluded?" "We've just no experience to compare to it, I won't say you imagined it, but for us to place ourselves into your shoes, we need better shoes..." "How many eurani said that, despite the video from the assault being released?" "Err, a few. I know better, or at least, I don't... Let me stop myself before I give offense in a place where LGOF-06 Electrum for Life and Patriarch of Megamisama First Lifeguards, Star-Emerald Knight of Great Kagome. Valour-keeper of Kagomei Standard bearer of the Dawn, Defender of the Rising Sun, Sottoloro of Utta-Utta, Knight of Elbow River stood." "Funny you call out his name, in the presence of his daughter." "His daughter?" "I, Shibué Dandelion, defend Meihomei, like my father before me." "His daughter, how fascinating..." "Robyn, Rembrandt's grand-daughter's also roaming around here, somewhere..." "Rembrandt?" "The cat who helped Marhamat... But any cat in this place is properly Linni's, isn't it?" "He is Kitten-Ra of Kagomei, he orders our breeds and broods. But Robyn was mine when he was still a child, and adopted Mikhala when she was younger than you are now." "I'm no longer that young, but Robyn is famous, she is what, sixteen?" "Seventeen
"Gracefully high." "Mastareir, Benevent sings your praise." "You've always known far more about our people than just about anyone." "By some accounts, they're my people, I married into them, and my son is of their number." "Ah, of course, and where did you hide the rugrat?" Amarat hid his smile, 35 was a bit older than a rugrat. "You forgot our last meeting, Auntie Galatea? I was learning to press grapes, like an adult." "What, that's little Amarat? But you're all grown up! And such fetching green ribbon! You must tell me all about it." She couldn't have missed the rosette of his Merit of Honour, especially not on his formal clothes. Amarat cursed under his breath, every noble he'd met since had begged for the story, he was telling it mechanically now. Telling it to the full court of Kagomei had little interest, they'd all heard it but her. "I'll tell the story in short, later, surely." "I'm looking forward to it, I've brought my three daughters with me." "An honour." All three? Element's anger! She brought all of them! "We were hoping we'd go to Starkastar with your mother..." "Errr..." His mother had discharged her duties over Starkastar to Amarat, so they would be his guests, not his mother's. "I no longer hold sway over Starkastar, my son owns that beach house now." "Beach house?" Flora whispered to Amarat. "Beach manor, it is a nice spot." "Nice? Nicer than your mother's?" "No, not nicer than Garay palace, well I guess it is, part of the year, no fish stink." "It's bigger than Responsible Disclosure?" "Maybe double, it can house maybe a party of thirty strangers without crowding." "Wow, and it's a beach house?" "Has its own beach, Starkastar beach. Pretty nice place, just saying." "Oh, you're our Sun'ga Amarat-Snuggle-Bug?" Kill me, kill me now! Thought Amarat to himself. "You'll be my guests, will you be coming, Auntie?" "I will be in Garay while you enjoy yourselves, me and your mother have a conference or two to attend there." "Enjoy ourselves, with Amarat? Surely, we will, this brings back memories..." "Memories?" "I spent a few summers with Milady and her daughters..." "When was this?" "Ten arnds before the academy." "Oh, you must have been a handsome teenager..." "Oh, most of my daughter's friends and their moms used to come over just to fawn over the boy..." "Auntie Galatea..." "What, it is no slander, if it's the truth... They all thought you were such a fine boy..." "Auntie, I'm just not fine with how they behaved, I am a sorceror now..." "So I've heard, if I'd known then, I'd have charged admission! A sorceror boy? My friends would have had bidding wars just to come to my parties..." "Auntie!" "Well, they would, and that's for the publicly announced parties..." She winked. "Can we not talk about that?" "Certainly. I'm sorry, I should have remembered, you were not so fond of the raucous life..." Natalya could barely contain herself. "I won't be joining you, I'll be staying in Garay." Annunzia added: "I as well, enjoy Ninu." She winked. "And mom." "How are we getting there?" "You have to ask? My private yacht." Amarat's aunt Amalthea, Meihomei to her subjects, replied. "It'll pick us up here, drop those of us that have business in Garay, then continue to Starkastar, and come back to Garay in case I have need of it again." "A private yacht?" "Mother, you forgot? That's the EMS Analecta Kagomé, it's privately owned, but calling anything above thirty thousand tons a yacht is making a mockery of ship classification tables." "Thirty, really?" "Scandalous rumours peg it to sixty, of course, that's ridiculous, that'd put it in violation of so many treaties." "Well, if you ladies catch the wind, we'll see how heavy it really is!" Amarat tried some levity, he'd had some... discussions... with Maelle Comma, who had commanded the vessel, and knew the treaty violations allegations were substantiated... "Ahaha, Amarat, so funny." "What's this?" "Oh, someone dug up some old photographs of me, in a ball gown, attending the Montaco-di-Cassino Opera House, and put them in a magazine, 'retro' they call it." "I wish I looked that good..." "Thank you, but that was before I raised three children, before I snagged a husband, actually, that probably helped." "What, you must have had the young men eating out of your hand..." "Well, not all of them, but certainly one or two..." "Was one of them father?" "No, your father wasn't young back then, and I had no idea he had any interest, he was more of a peer to me, and perhaps a mentor, he would tell stories..." "Then what happened?" "One of the young men, a young man of Ferrare, tried to start some trouble... Drum up competition between me and a nascent priestess Kautanissian. He had always been a friend, if a bit self-interested..." "Then what happened?" "The priestess set him up with me, I married him, then he died... I named Amarat after him..." "Silly me, that was Amarat Senior, wasn't it?" "You knew it, telling this story, in this place..." "I doubt I'll ever truly appreciate what it meant to you..." "What does that mean?" "I'm an outsider, to an Eurani, what you say happened is impossible, no one outside Kagomei has ever seen an Asmodean..." "So, I must have been deluded?" "We've just no experience to compare to it, I won't say you imagined it, but for us to place ourselves into your shoes, we need better shoes..." "How many eurani said that, despite the video from the assault being released?" "Err, a few. I know better, or at least, I don't... Let me stop myself before I give offense in a place where LGOF-06 Electrum for Life and Patriarch of Megamisama First Lifeguards, Star-Emerald Knight of Great Kagome. Valour-keeper of Kagomei Standard bearer of the Dawn, Defender of the Rising Sun, Sottoloro of Utta-Utta, Knight of Elbow River stood." "Funny you call out his name, in the presence of his daughter." "His daughter?" "I, Shibué Dandelion, defend Meihomei, like my father before me." "His daughter, how fascinating..." "Robyn, Rembrandt's grand-daughter's also roaming around here, somewhere..." "Rembrandt?" "The cat who helped Marhamat... But any cat in this place is properly Linni's, isn't it?" "He is Kitten-Ra of Kagomei, he orders our breeds and broods. But Robyn was mine when he was still a child, and adopted Mikhala when she was younger than you are now." "I'm no longer that young, but Robyn is famous, she is what, sixteen?" "Seventeen
Comments