Mweon Hyopcha (/mwʌn ˈhjopʨʰaː/)
Hyopcha Mweon
"You're so cute with a pyakson hat!"
"Thank you, I think."
"No, really, a thinking... otter is just irresistible..."
"What? An otter?"
She pointed, Jor-Jie had slipped under his tuque and was peeking out from under it.
"Jor-Jie!"
"No, really, it looks cute on you."
"But... I'm a cat person, not an otter person, Jor-Jie is Shibue's..."
"And Shibue's not here, so Jor-Jie is probably missing her, and you smell most like Shibue... Where are your kits, by the way?"
"They're at home, the babies shouldn't be about just yet, and Raven's sisters are being very aunty-like and staying with her and her babies all the time. Even her mother and grandmother are visiting."
"The kit's great-grandmother is alive?"
"Yes, Nameita Robyn is 16 arnds old though, so she's a cranky old lady."
"A Nameita? An Ehael?"
"Yes, but not a Kwit Ehael, obviously, although Robyn is herself the grand-daughter of Rembrandt."
"I've heard of him, the cat that saved the royal family?"
"Yes, and a month after his brother, Bellini, did the same in Brunswick."
"And this royal cat... is visting your place?"
"Would be, except Amarat's asked me to move you, and the kits, to the palace for the duration. The Nameita Robyn traipsing around the capital was actually causing a ruckus, she got into a fight with another cat, who apparently hadn't gotten the memo that she was still a fearsome fighter."
"I bet, it must be crazy, living with such a celebrity..."
"I've had no choice but to get used to living with a celebrity, because of my aunt."
"Your aunt?"
"Mikhala Vivienne Sonnelle Mikasha Solange Prithyanka Takahashi Dandelion Matsumoto Veneer. Nameihomei, Domei of Garay, Domei-actual of Innu , Feyd of Simular, Stark of Byzance, Stark of Wheelbro, Willow of Lilleath, Willow of Ingred, by the grace of the elements Aumhava of Garay, Mastarneir Benevento, Princess of the third rank of the Nisei, Lucair of Ferrare, Baroness of Czarny-Las, Baroness of Sottofumo-Tagliare, Baegjag Bu-In Naeh-inchon, by the grace of the Elements Second Duty and Eleventh of The Twenty-Five."
"Ow, ow, and she's your aunt?"
"She married my mother's brother, obviously, he married upwards, as we say in Kagomei."
"And your mother?"
"Both my parents would have been happy to have been called a marquess in Benevento, although I found out recently, mother was related to Sarn nobility as well."
"So you're a blood prince yourself?"
"Err, perhaps not quite that high, but neither of my parents lacked for anything, for sure."
"And Shibué?"
"Her father was a bodyguard, a most famous one. He lived through Rembrandt's heroics, and took a bullet for his principal."
"What, THAT Dandelion?"
"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."
"And I thought my family was intense."
"Who are they?"
"The Kobewan's, I'm the sixth cousin of the prince, not close enough to be called blood princess."
"Perhaps not, but you certainly carry yourself well, I've met Goguryeo VI Al-Samsang and Kiryu Kobewan, and they do not have your calm."
"You flatter me, I do not have their calm, possibly because they were upset you were not suitably impressed with them. What title do you hold in Kagomei?"
"I was a Ryder."
"The least of the nobles?"
"Yes."
"And now?"
"Err." Linni blushed.
"I'm now a Feyd."
"Was I making an impair by not curtseying?"
"Certainly not. I consider my title the least impressive of my accomplishments."
"And what accomplishment would you say you're most proud of, besides marrying Shibué?"
"You can tell that much about me?"
"And you're deflecting the question."
"Err, CI-08 Vice-undersecretary I guess..."
"What's that?"
"Deputy to the deputy of the secretary of state."
"And who are you deputy to?"
"The deputies of the secretary of state, I guess, I'm deputized for information management."
"So you're... a director? Upper management, at your state department?"
"Hey brother."
"Yes, and here's my sister Luci, who I am deputized to, most often."
"Myae." (Hello, in Gohgur)
"Auce." (The same, in Kagomine). "Linni has been teaching me."
"So she is the deputy of the secretary of state?"
"She is the undersecetary of state, acting secretary of state when Auntie is away, as she is now."
"An honour."
"I'm glad to meet you, I wish I could say it was under good circumstances."
"Amarat is well?"
"Yes, well, there's nothing wrong with him physically, but Shen just passed, and he is a shadow of his former self."
"Shen?"
"His cousin, the other blood prince."
"Oh, no. Condoleances."
"We didn't know Shen as well as Amarat did, but thank you."
"M'lady?"
"Yes, Firrson?"
"Electrum Senya sends her regards, and warns you he's not presentable."
"Good to know, Firrson. Linni, what are we going to do with her?"
"I have orders, from him, apparently while he was still presentable, to move her in here." He pointed to the palace. "Along with my entire family, cats and otter included." Jor-Jie poked her head back out of the tuque, where she had been apparently basking in the heat, poked her tongue at Linni, and then went "Dit-Dit" at Luci, whom she had never really bonded with.
"Aw, hi green eyes."
"Palé aré?"
"Jor-Jie, but in Kagomine, palé aré, green eyes."
"Click-click." And Jor-Jie went back inside the tuque.
"Why do you two get along so badly sis?"
"I don't think we get along badly, we're just too alike, only room for one vip around, so to speak."
"Oh, yeah, Jor-Jie's been getting used to being the only vip around, not that many otters, especially not eight-toed ones."
"And she'd be getting a medal, but hush, that's classified."
"I certainly can't know about classified things!" Cried Mweon.
"We'll trust your discretion, make sure you don't make us regret it. Amarat's patronage certainly gives you some measure of trust."
"Hi Mweon."
"Ehael Flora." She looked a little shaky.
Linni had to take a step back, unknowingly mirroring his sister, the first time they'd seen Flora in full Eagle's formal uniform, white, scarlet, black and green with enough gold and emeralds on the shoulders to dazzle, especially since her duty uniform had more muted colours, oranges and yellows, to this one's white.
"No, I'm no princess, please, I am an echit, a leader, not an Ehael."
"Not any more, with Shen's passing, you are going to become a princess."
"What?"
"Bameimeita, to be specific, the crown-princess."
"Look Bro, we'll talk about this later." She hadn't used the term of endearment before, and it sounded almost brutal, sinister, the way she said it, unpracticed. "Sorry, I mean..."
"You can call me bro, no worries. If anything, I'll take it as a compliment."
"Linni wouldn't mind extra sisters, he always fails to convince me of anything at family reunions." The women all laughed, Linni's hands went white, but he realized it really was as lighthearted as it seemed, and joined in.
"Where's Bihar?"
"She's keeping her daddy company, you can barely get her out of skin contact with him."
"Bihar?"
"My daughter. You've never met."
"Oh, I'm sure she's lovely."
"You ok, Flora? You look stressed."
"It's this ridiculous get-up, I can't believe you convinced me to wear formals, Luci."
"If I hadn't, Auntie Mikhi was going to, you're not going to get away with being in the palace in a duty uniform, not unless it IS your duty station. And it's no one's duty station currently, we don't need flyers at the palace, except when Meihomei's flying."
"What? How? But I know she's got a squadron."
"Yeah, and the planes are on the flycarrier, in port! Not here."
"Oh..." Flora mumbled angrily some more.
"0051st Skycutter Squadron "Arnd Surfers" for Kagomine Sixth Fleet Commander, Air Group. Do you copy?" Flora's communicator blared, having been set earlier to wake her up, she dialed down the volume, and took the call. "Flora Rolli, Sixth-Fleet-Group-Actual, go ahead Piersa."
"Thank God you're here, I can't reach Amarat."
"No, you can't... He's in a funk, and barely will speak to me right now, is it urgent?"
"The prisoners you captured at the palace are in our brig and are singing like canaries, we're going to need high-level support to filter out any deliberate misinformation they want to send our way."
"Why you? Couldn't this go through someone else at flag?"
"Err..." Piersa was blushing. "Err, I am at Flag, correction, this is Sixth-Flag Actual, not 51st, force of habit."
"What, you're a squadron officer Piersa, and my friend, but your command evals... Well let's just say you need a lil help before I let you take my flyers out of sign of land..."
"Your flyers?"
"Err, apologies, Sixth-Fleet-Actual, but you know what I mean."
"My flyers are overhead, Eagle Rolli, my ship is getting ready to dock to render honours, and to unload our entire third fleet contingent, as per orders."
"What? All of it?"
"Whatever we have that's not seconded, but we were task-forcing with Meihomei's Own Fleet Detachment, so I imagine what's not aboard is ashore at the docks, or at the academy, as per the TOE."
"Or at the Palace, or Number 12 or Number 14, Prime Minister's residence. Third is just a container of ceremonial, after all."
"Or things that don't fit. But they do ceremonial real well. And they have a lot of senior Kons, including Amarat, who'se on detached duty from us, we're under complement for Kons until he returns, like several black and blue shades of under complement, the most senior Kon is an OR-03, can you send us support?"
"Jade, call up Senya."
"Senya Frangibald."
"Just what did you and Shibue cook up that needs all of third fleet?"
"State Funeral, I'm afraid it's in the regs."
"Jade, Get me Mariwolfe."
"Mariwolfe Tannenbaum's desk, this is the Megamisama Naval Academy. As Telbun I'll be unavailable for the foreseeable future, being on detached duty at Meihomei's personal pleasure."
"What's that Meihomei's pleasure thing?"
"She's listed in my orders, she's relieving Amarat as Senior Kon for the funeral."
"What's he attending at then?"
"Bameimeito? I mean, Shen's his first cousin, he can't be bothered with military protocol, not with the ceremonial's he going to be doing. He'd normally say the speech, unless his Aunt or Mom want the privilege.
"Ominous Hum!" Amarat was feverish, Bihar hugging onto his side.
"No, that's not me."
Some of the madness seemed to seep away from him. "But I have seen you before, in her armour."
"What, how?"
"You wore Kabariwon."
"And people say you've lost touch... No one, not even her mother noticed I've worn her armour since. At least, no one said anything. How did you know?"
"That strap." He pointed. "It's distinctive."
"Oh, my. Yes, my mistake, I missed it when I undressed from rehearsal last night."
"So you are in Kabariwon, the cover band for Kantsumi?"
"Yes, me and two of my cousins inherited the armour, and decided we wanted to honour her. Next chance we have for a refit, the masculine aspect of the armour has to go, we've agreed. Ari sacrificed so much, we can be ourselves now, thanks to her example. Most of her fans didn't even notice it was her original armour, how could you tell?"
"I've met her, in Armour, in Megamisama, during their second tour, when they got that jade record. Mother presented it to her."
"Oh. Linni's 'Auntie'?"
"Yes."
"Kwit Ehael, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."
"I am your Sun'ga, and you are my guest, and this is my building, you could never be rude."
"You still are a prince, a high one at that."
"Only until she grows up." He pointed to the 8 year old clutching his thigh.
"Oh, a blood princess, might I know your name?"
"I am Bihar-Tagada Veneer..."
"I keep telling you precious, you are Bihar-Tagada Kagomei."
"Heavens, this child isn't only of the blood, she's ROYAL?"
"She should be the twenty-eight ruler of Kagomei, if events cooperate."
Flora interjected: "If she's twenty-ninth, it's still not a terrible thing."
"Who would be the twenty-eight then?"
"Amarat here."
"The literal prince of peace?" She was fanning herself.
"The first Meihomei, prince of peace, to be born male since Meltran."
"I don't get what's gotten you ladies so excited, Meihomei, born male, female or neither, is just Meihomei."
"There's two errors in that line of thinking."
"Two?"
"First one, you think that the operative part of Meihomei, prince of peace, is Meihomei. Where generations have had male Meihomeis showing different, complimentary skills, compared to female ones."
"Any my second mistake?"
"Thinking there's no impact in the both of us being female, when we're evaluating the impact of you being Meihomei, what if we both always wanted to meet a male ruler of Kagomei?"
"Oh, yeah, kinda like me always wanting to meet Ominous Hum without her armor, huh?"
"I didn't know that, and if I'd known, I'd have tried to help! Heck, Ari would have wet herself, just thinking the prince of peace wanted to meet her, we've always been big fans!"
"What, Ari Kobewan, sixty-fourth in the line of succession of Goguryeo, was an Amarat fan?"
"You have no idea. She had posters of him in her bedroom..."
"Daddy, make them stop, this is grown-up stuff, please?"
"Ladies, there's an eight-year old with an hyperactive imagination, let's not feed it..."
"What, Daddy, am I imagining things?"
"I'm thinking they just didn't intend to dwell on grown-up stuff. But you are right, whether or not my favourite singer wanted to meet with me, because I was a prince, isn't acceptable conversation with my daughter..."
"Daddy, do I know this Ari?"
"Ari Kobewan, Ominous Hum, sings that song from Kaniapiskau you like..."
"Oh, and she wanted to meet you Daddy?"
"Yes, I almost met her, but her skycutter had an accident..."
"Oh, that is sad. And this lady?"
"Is her cousin, her mother's brother's daughter."
"Is she important?"
"Important enough, her great-grandmother is their king's mother."
Bihar performed a meticulous curtsey, in her green silk dress.
"I am honoured, please, it is I who should curtsey, you are more powerful than I."
"Daddy says I have to be an adult for that to count, is he telling the truth?"
"I... wouldn't say he's wrong, but I don't think anyone will spare any curtseys, considering you're such a well-mannered eight-year old girl either."
The girl was blushing.
"Your daddy thaught you so well, and you are such a considerate princess, can I have a selfie?"
"A selfie?"
"Yes, a picture to remember this..."
"Are people allowed to take pictures of me Daddy?"
"If they ask me or your mother, and we agree, yes, dear."
"Oh, it's not automatic?"
"No, dear. But Mweon here is our guest, and I am her Sun'ga, I approve of this picture."
"Mommy, can I?"
"But of course!"
"Can I have the whole family too?"
"Of course, where do you want us?"
"Just the happy family, in a triangle, with me in the picture. Ow! Ow! Not so squeezy!"
"Daddy's so squeezy!"
"Apologies, this better?"
"Much."
"Thank you, I think."
"No, really, a thinking... otter is just irresistible..."
"What? An otter?"
She pointed, Jor-Jie had slipped under his tuque and was peeking out from under it.
"Jor-Jie!"
"No, really, it looks cute on you."
"But... I'm a cat person, not an otter person, Jor-Jie is Shibue's..."
"And Shibue's not here, so Jor-Jie is probably missing her, and you smell most like Shibue... Where are your kits, by the way?"
"They're at home, the babies shouldn't be about just yet, and Raven's sisters are being very aunty-like and staying with her and her babies all the time. Even her mother and grandmother are visiting."
"The kit's great-grandmother is alive?"
"Yes, Nameita Robyn is 16 arnds old though, so she's a cranky old lady."
"A Nameita? An Ehael?"
"Yes, but not a Kwit Ehael, obviously, although Robyn is herself the grand-daughter of Rembrandt."
"I've heard of him, the cat that saved the royal family?"
"Yes, and a month after his brother, Bellini, did the same in Brunswick."
"And this royal cat... is visting your place?"
"Would be, except Amarat's asked me to move you, and the kits, to the palace for the duration. The Nameita Robyn traipsing around the capital was actually causing a ruckus, she got into a fight with another cat, who apparently hadn't gotten the memo that she was still a fearsome fighter."
"I bet, it must be crazy, living with such a celebrity..."
"I've had no choice but to get used to living with a celebrity, because of my aunt."
"Your aunt?"
"Mikhala Vivienne Sonnelle Mikasha Solange Prithyanka Takahashi Dandelion Matsumoto Veneer. Nameihomei, Domei of Garay, Domei-actual of Innu , Feyd of Simular, Stark of Byzance, Stark of Wheelbro, Willow of Lilleath, Willow of Ingred, by the grace of the elements Aumhava of Garay, Mastarneir Benevento, Princess of the third rank of the Nisei, Lucair of Ferrare, Baroness of Czarny-Las, Baroness of Sottofumo-Tagliare, Baegjag Bu-In Naeh-inchon, by the grace of the Elements Second Duty and Eleventh of The Twenty-Five."
"Ow, ow, and she's your aunt?"
"She married my mother's brother, obviously, he married upwards, as we say in Kagomei."
"And your mother?"
"Both my parents would have been happy to have been called a marquess in Benevento, although I found out recently, mother was related to Sarn nobility as well."
"So you're a blood prince yourself?"
"Err, perhaps not quite that high, but neither of my parents lacked for anything, for sure."
"And Shibué?"
"Her father was a bodyguard, a most famous one. He lived through Rembrandt's heroics, and took a bullet for his principal."
"What, THAT Dandelion?"
"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."
"And I thought my family was intense."
"Who are they?"
"The Kobewan's, I'm the sixth cousin of the prince, not close enough to be called blood princess."
"Perhaps not, but you certainly carry yourself well, I've met Goguryeo VI Al-Samsang and Kiryu Kobewan, and they do not have your calm."
"You flatter me, I do not have their calm, possibly because they were upset you were not suitably impressed with them. What title do you hold in Kagomei?"
"I was a Ryder."
"The least of the nobles?"
"Yes."
"And now?"
"Err." Linni blushed.
"I'm now a Feyd."
"Was I making an impair by not curtseying?"
"Certainly not. I consider my title the least impressive of my accomplishments."
"And what accomplishment would you say you're most proud of, besides marrying Shibué?"
"You can tell that much about me?"
"And you're deflecting the question."
"Err, CI-08 Vice-undersecretary I guess..."
"What's that?"
"Deputy to the deputy of the secretary of state."
"And who are you deputy to?"
"The deputies of the secretary of state, I guess, I'm deputized for information management."
"So you're... a director? Upper management, at your state department?"
"Hey brother."
"Yes, and here's my sister Luci, who I am deputized to, most often."
"Myae." (Hello, in Gohgur)
"Auce." (The same, in Kagomine). "Linni has been teaching me."
"So she is the deputy of the secretary of state?"
"She is the undersecetary of state, acting secretary of state when Auntie is away, as she is now."
"An honour."
"I'm glad to meet you, I wish I could say it was under good circumstances."
"Amarat is well?"
"Yes, well, there's nothing wrong with him physically, but Shen just passed, and he is a shadow of his former self."
"Shen?"
"His cousin, the other blood prince."
"Oh, no. Condoleances."
"We didn't know Shen as well as Amarat did, but thank you."
"M'lady?"
"Yes, Firrson?"
"Electrum Senya sends her regards, and warns you he's not presentable."
"Good to know, Firrson. Linni, what are we going to do with her?"
"I have orders, from him, apparently while he was still presentable, to move her in here." He pointed to the palace. "Along with my entire family, cats and otter included." Jor-Jie poked her head back out of the tuque, where she had been apparently basking in the heat, poked her tongue at Linni, and then went "Dit-Dit" at Luci, whom she had never really bonded with.
"Aw, hi green eyes."
"Palé aré?"
"Jor-Jie, but in Kagomine, palé aré, green eyes."
"Click-click." And Jor-Jie went back inside the tuque.
"Why do you two get along so badly sis?"
"I don't think we get along badly, we're just too alike, only room for one vip around, so to speak."
"Oh, yeah, Jor-Jie's been getting used to being the only vip around, not that many otters, especially not eight-toed ones."
"And she'd be getting a medal, but hush, that's classified."
"I certainly can't know about classified things!" Cried Mweon.
"We'll trust your discretion, make sure you don't make us regret it. Amarat's patronage certainly gives you some measure of trust."
"Hi Mweon."
"Ehael Flora." She looked a little shaky.
Linni had to take a step back, unknowingly mirroring his sister, the first time they'd seen Flora in full Eagle's formal uniform, white, scarlet, black and green with enough gold and emeralds on the shoulders to dazzle, especially since her duty uniform had more muted colours, oranges and yellows, to this one's white.
"No, I'm no princess, please, I am an echit, a leader, not an Ehael."
"Not any more, with Shen's passing, you are going to become a princess."
"What?"
"Bameimeita, to be specific, the crown-princess."
"Look Bro, we'll talk about this later." She hadn't used the term of endearment before, and it sounded almost brutal, sinister, the way she said it, unpracticed. "Sorry, I mean..."
"You can call me bro, no worries. If anything, I'll take it as a compliment."
"Linni wouldn't mind extra sisters, he always fails to convince me of anything at family reunions." The women all laughed, Linni's hands went white, but he realized it really was as lighthearted as it seemed, and joined in.
"Where's Bihar?"
"She's keeping her daddy company, you can barely get her out of skin contact with him."
"Bihar?"
"My daughter. You've never met."
"Oh, I'm sure she's lovely."
"You ok, Flora? You look stressed."
"It's this ridiculous get-up, I can't believe you convinced me to wear formals, Luci."
"If I hadn't, Auntie Mikhi was going to, you're not going to get away with being in the palace in a duty uniform, not unless it IS your duty station. And it's no one's duty station currently, we don't need flyers at the palace, except when Meihomei's flying."
"What? How? But I know she's got a squadron."
"Yeah, and the planes are on the flycarrier, in port! Not here."
"Oh..." Flora mumbled angrily some more.
"0051st Skycutter Squadron "Arnd Surfers" for Kagomine Sixth Fleet Commander, Air Group. Do you copy?" Flora's communicator blared, having been set earlier to wake her up, she dialed down the volume, and took the call. "Flora Rolli, Sixth-Fleet-Group-Actual, go ahead Piersa."
"Thank God you're here, I can't reach Amarat."
"No, you can't... He's in a funk, and barely will speak to me right now, is it urgent?"
"The prisoners you captured at the palace are in our brig and are singing like canaries, we're going to need high-level support to filter out any deliberate misinformation they want to send our way."
"Why you? Couldn't this go through someone else at flag?"
"Err..." Piersa was blushing. "Err, I am at Flag, correction, this is Sixth-Flag Actual, not 51st, force of habit."
"What, you're a squadron officer Piersa, and my friend, but your command evals... Well let's just say you need a lil help before I let you take my flyers out of sign of land..."
"Your flyers?"
"Err, apologies, Sixth-Fleet-Actual, but you know what I mean."
"My flyers are overhead, Eagle Rolli, my ship is getting ready to dock to render honours, and to unload our entire third fleet contingent, as per orders."
"What? All of it?"
"Whatever we have that's not seconded, but we were task-forcing with Meihomei's Own Fleet Detachment, so I imagine what's not aboard is ashore at the docks, or at the academy, as per the TOE."
"Or at the Palace, or Number 12 or Number 14, Prime Minister's residence. Third is just a container of ceremonial, after all."
"Or things that don't fit. But they do ceremonial real well. And they have a lot of senior Kons, including Amarat, who'se on detached duty from us, we're under complement for Kons until he returns, like several black and blue shades of under complement, the most senior Kon is an OR-03, can you send us support?"
"Jade, call up Senya."
"Senya Frangibald."
"Just what did you and Shibue cook up that needs all of third fleet?"
"State Funeral, I'm afraid it's in the regs."
"Jade, Get me Mariwolfe."
"Mariwolfe Tannenbaum's desk, this is the Megamisama Naval Academy. As Telbun I'll be unavailable for the foreseeable future, being on detached duty at Meihomei's personal pleasure."
"What's that Meihomei's pleasure thing?"
"She's listed in my orders, she's relieving Amarat as Senior Kon for the funeral."
"What's he attending at then?"
"Bameimeito? I mean, Shen's his first cousin, he can't be bothered with military protocol, not with the ceremonial's he going to be doing. He'd normally say the speech, unless his Aunt or Mom want the privilege.
"Ominous Hum!" Amarat was feverish, Bihar hugging onto his side.
"No, that's not me."
Some of the madness seemed to seep away from him. "But I have seen you before, in her armour."
"What, how?"
"You wore Kabariwon."
"And people say you've lost touch... No one, not even her mother noticed I've worn her armour since. At least, no one said anything. How did you know?"
"That strap." He pointed. "It's distinctive."
"Oh, my. Yes, my mistake, I missed it when I undressed from rehearsal last night."
"So you are in Kabariwon, the cover band for Kantsumi?"
"Yes, me and two of my cousins inherited the armour, and decided we wanted to honour her. Next chance we have for a refit, the masculine aspect of the armour has to go, we've agreed. Ari sacrificed so much, we can be ourselves now, thanks to her example. Most of her fans didn't even notice it was her original armour, how could you tell?"
"I've met her, in Armour, in Megamisama, during their second tour, when they got that jade record. Mother presented it to her."
"Oh. Linni's 'Auntie'?"
"Yes."
"Kwit Ehael, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."
"I am your Sun'ga, and you are my guest, and this is my building, you could never be rude."
"You still are a prince, a high one at that."
"Only until she grows up." He pointed to the 8 year old clutching his thigh.
"Oh, a blood princess, might I know your name?"
"I am Bihar-Tagada Veneer..."
"I keep telling you precious, you are Bihar-Tagada Kagomei."
"Heavens, this child isn't only of the blood, she's ROYAL?"
"She should be the twenty-eight ruler of Kagomei, if events cooperate."
Flora interjected: "If she's twenty-ninth, it's still not a terrible thing."
"Who would be the twenty-eight then?"
"Amarat here."
"The literal prince of peace?" She was fanning herself.
"The first Meihomei, prince of peace, to be born male since Meltran."
"I don't get what's gotten you ladies so excited, Meihomei, born male, female or neither, is just Meihomei."
"There's two errors in that line of thinking."
"Two?"
"First one, you think that the operative part of Meihomei, prince of peace, is Meihomei. Where generations have had male Meihomeis showing different, complimentary skills, compared to female ones."
"Any my second mistake?"
"Thinking there's no impact in the both of us being female, when we're evaluating the impact of you being Meihomei, what if we both always wanted to meet a male ruler of Kagomei?"
"Oh, yeah, kinda like me always wanting to meet Ominous Hum without her armor, huh?"
"I didn't know that, and if I'd known, I'd have tried to help! Heck, Ari would have wet herself, just thinking the prince of peace wanted to meet her, we've always been big fans!"
"What, Ari Kobewan, sixty-fourth in the line of succession of Goguryeo, was an Amarat fan?"
"You have no idea. She had posters of him in her bedroom..."
"Daddy, make them stop, this is grown-up stuff, please?"
"Ladies, there's an eight-year old with an hyperactive imagination, let's not feed it..."
"What, Daddy, am I imagining things?"
"I'm thinking they just didn't intend to dwell on grown-up stuff. But you are right, whether or not my favourite singer wanted to meet with me, because I was a prince, isn't acceptable conversation with my daughter..."
"Daddy, do I know this Ari?"
"Ari Kobewan, Ominous Hum, sings that song from Kaniapiskau you like..."
"Oh, and she wanted to meet you Daddy?"
"Yes, I almost met her, but her skycutter had an accident..."
"Oh, that is sad. And this lady?"
"Is her cousin, her mother's brother's daughter."
"Is she important?"
"Important enough, her great-grandmother is their king's mother."
Bihar performed a meticulous curtsey, in her green silk dress.
"I am honoured, please, it is I who should curtsey, you are more powerful than I."
"Daddy says I have to be an adult for that to count, is he telling the truth?"
"I... wouldn't say he's wrong, but I don't think anyone will spare any curtseys, considering you're such a well-mannered eight-year old girl either."
The girl was blushing.
"Your daddy thaught you so well, and you are such a considerate princess, can I have a selfie?"
"A selfie?"
"Yes, a picture to remember this..."
"Are people allowed to take pictures of me Daddy?"
"If they ask me or your mother, and we agree, yes, dear."
"Oh, it's not automatic?"
"No, dear. But Mweon here is our guest, and I am her Sun'ga, I approve of this picture."
"Mommy, can I?"
"But of course!"
"Can I have the whole family too?"
"Of course, where do you want us?"
"Just the happy family, in a triangle, with me in the picture. Ow! Ow! Not so squeezy!"
"Daddy's so squeezy!"
"Apologies, this better?"
"Much."
Children
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