rix_scaedu

Here we are on Day 56 of Anadrasata's travels, and we have both developments and decision making.

When you get to it, Pairhoclais is said Pai-rho-clais. I can totally see the possibility for the syllables to be completely different.

This piece runs to 2,100 words and I hope that you enjoy it.

Index Page.

Rhoinday, 6 Deichen, 1893 C.E.
Sulese, 24 Sajibu, 2157 T.M.L.
4 Ueuekayomatilistli, 11 Coatl, 6.11.2.1.8.3.12

Dear Journal,

I woke to more scudding rain this morning, and as there is a definite chance that Lord Elnaith will call today, I had Nais help me into a visiting dress for the day. That being done, we went downstairs for our breakfasts - mine with the family and hers with the other servants.

When I entered the breakfast parlor, most of the family was present and helping themselves to fruit and nut laden porridge. Also present were Miztli and Tekatl Umetlalliyaotl who were positively shovelling porridge into their mouths while looking happy and suspiciously clean. I found out during the course of the meal, and the Jaguar Knights' second full bowls of porridge, that they had successfully recovered their missing colleague, alive, last night. Tekatl Yastlnahuiteskatl is resting in the care of a surgeon and Youalitlahtolwalilstil has been to see him - it seems that the priest of the Night Sorcerer has some expertise in the care of those who have undergone certain types of overstressing ordeals. (Neither Miztli nor his colleague were prepared to be more explicit, and I think that was both because of the nature of his ordeal and the status of their investigation.) Miztli did say that one of his colleagues was working to progress his official request to consult with Lord Elnaith. Tekatl Umetlalliyaotl revealed that they had been so disgusting when they'd returned to their office/gymnasium that they had stripped off in the courtyard and made great use of soap and several buckets of cold water. Miztli added that their clothes will probably be burnt. The two of them went off to sleep in their rooms after finishing their second bowls of porridge.

Cousin Poktlilui has consulted her calendar and determined the correct hour for consolation visits today. (It has to do with planetary and star positions, and which deities are responsible for which planets and stars. If I was going to stay here, this is a thing I would need to learn.) As consolation visits are only made by those who know the family or knew the deceased, it is not my place to take part. The size of a party making a consolation visit is also restricted so as not to overwhelm the bereaved. There was some discussion about who would go, and it was not resolved before I left the breakfast room.

I spent the morning reading my Aunty Ssang novel. It probably should not have felt so much like an illicit pleasure. I am now about two thirds of the way through the book, and I suspect that we are heading towards an Event in the story - it seems to me that someone in the plot is getting nervously concerned....

The soup for lunch today was crustacean with, I think, celery and thinly sliced root vegetables. Other people may have known what the particular crustacean was, but without a shell, I can't even guess at its Imperial name - if it has one. Its Coac-htl name translates as 'long crab' but that doesn't really give me an idea of what the creature looks like. From what Tehaneume told me, it's not something that fishermen set out to catch but something that turns up in their nets with the intended catch and one does not wish to be ungrateful when the Divine provides, as they say back home. Regardless, the soup was delicious. (Having shared lessons with my younger sister, I do have some idea of how these creatures might support themselves, but seeing as people eat, and enjoy, lampreys, I see no reason not to enjoy this soup. Miztli and Tekatl Umetlalliyaotl did not make an appearance at the meal.

Lord Elnaith came around to invite me for a walk in the park shortly after lunch. His cousin whom he sent to request Tallaig's consent to my engagement and marriage has reported to him that Tallaig has given his consent. Mr bh'Dhoinh has also spoken to my trustees. It seems that they are not so ready to give their consent, although they do not have the power to prevent my marriage, just control my trust held assets. Mr bh'Dhoinh says he did not point that out to them, but does recommend that I have my own legal and financial advisers when the term of their trusteeship is up. He also asked whether we wish to marry after my twenty-fifth birthday, because doing so would uncomplicate matters considerably on several fronts.

Lord Elnaith and I discussed this and several other wedding decisions during our walk. Lord Elnaith said that he was happy for me to choose the location of the ceremony as his family is so far flung that no matter where we pick most of them will have to travel, and additionally he has no particular bond with any particular parish, church building, or clergymen. (He added that he didn't think any of his relatives among the clergy would be offended to hear that.) I suggested my parish church at home in Umbrial, St Pairhoclais in the Main - it's a large church in good repair and most of my acquaintance (and my mother's) attends there. He did ask if I would like to use my childhood church near my father's original estate, but I have not been there since my father died and it is a smaller building in my recollection.

Assuming that we marry at St Pairhoclais's, I wondered whether Lord Elnaith would like one of his clergyman relations to co-officiate at the ceremony. He does have several junior clergymen among his cousins, but he remembers them as university/divinity students trying to find their way in life while he was studying law after he left the army. He feels they might lack the appropriate moral weight for this role - particularly as he spent some time helping each of them deal with and work their ways through various youthful follies. His older clerical relations who might be willing to attend and co-officiate include three bishops and two archbishops, all with bailiwicks (his word) well outside our province. There could, he observed, be issues. I observed that our vicar, and his wife, would probably be very happy to make the acquaintance of the archbishops, bishops, and their wives.

Lord Elnaith thinks it unwise to give my mother control over any of the arrangements, and, sadly, I agree with him. If she has been withholding my allowance (and all knowledge of it) all these years, do we want to risk her having control over our arrangements? Also, because of our absence here, and the rank of several people in his family whom Lord Elnaith expects/hopes will attend, he will ask for an event planner who works with the Imperial Court to help my unmarried brother make the arrangements in Umbrial. This would simplify things for Tallaig and for us. (At this point I began to remember some of the issues Anna and Castor had with my mother leading up to their wedding. and the thought of someone else dealing with those issues seemed delightful.)

Things like possible dates can't be settled until we know when we will reach Umbrial, so that was a discussion we would need to have with my cousins and the Pearlish Lines. That decided, as we walked around the park, Lord Elnaith introduced me to that form of conversation described as 'sweet nothings'. I both enjoyed it and blushed a little.

We walked back to my cousin's house and Lord Elnaith came inside to discuss travel arrangements back to Umbrial. He agreed that it would be a good thing if one of my cousins came with us - both as my escort for propriety's sake and to attend the wedding. We were making arrangements to attend the Pearlish Lines' office tomorrow when Miztli and Tekatl Umetlalliyaotl made an appearance. They were carrying plates of nuts and biscuits, so it seems that they had been awake long enough to make themselves presentable and raid the pantry. Miztli denied having raided anything and asserted that Cook had directed him to the storage jars of his favourite biscuits herself.

Lord Elnaith took the opportunity to tell Miztli that he had advised the consulate's staff that he wished to honour the Jaguar Knights' request for legal assistance and that he believed the affirmative reply should be with them tomorrow morning. He was told of Tekatl Yaotlnahuiteskatl's rescue and offered his congratulations and good wishes for the rescued man's recovery. Then Miztli or Tekatl Umetlalliyaotl said something about finding Tekatl Yaotlnahuiteskatl and his captors, and Lord Elnaith's head snapped around and he asked, "This is about the black worm cult?" When Miztli asked him what that was, he replied with something that sounded to me like, "Khinhitukhijhigakh." That meant nothing to me, but Tekatl Umetlalliyaotl said, "Wait, you know what that means?" Then there was some furious discussion and the three of them left the house together, with Lord Elnaith promising to be back tomorrow morning, and insisting that the other two not leave their food behind.

That was not how I expected the afternoon to end. Although it is possible that this is what marriage to Lord Elnaith will be like and I should become used to it.

Dinner tonight was a stew that featured poultry - a type of goose from the description. (Although on reflection, it could be a type of swan. Long neck, large beak, webbed feet, and not a duck.) Miztli and Tekatl Umetlalliyaotl arrived while we were still serving ourselves, and expressed that they had had a most satisfactory afternoon with Lord Elnaith. I note that they gave themselves reasonable and sensible helpings and then went back for seconds. They did not say very much about what they and Lord Elnaith did, but I gathered that it has progressed and smoothed the path of their investigations. At the end of the meal we ladies retired to the parlor, and when we had our kasoolht, I commented to Tehaneume that I didn't think Cousin Ghrus, Axolin, and the other male cousins were going to be successful in getting much more information out of the two Jaguar Knights. Great-aunt Giltreeada overheard me and agreed - noting that they might pass on warnings of danger to the household, if any exist, in our absence, but not much more. She added that she had known Cousin Ghrus, Miztli, and Axolin all their lives, and they have inherited her husband's skills in compartmentalising information - as well as having had some training from him. Cousin Poktlilui added that they are all skilled at reading people too, although she suspects that Miztli may have been deliberately misleading his father and eldest brother about his skills for some time. Not, she explained, in a duplicitous way but so as to avoid subjects that he should not elaborate on. I think Tehaneume summed it up when she commented that although they are all government official, not all government officials need to know everything the government is doing. Great-aunt agreed, and added that the Obsidian Knights of the family might be a little too used to thinking that they were the only ones with official secrets to keep.

Something in the conversation picked at something in my mind, and I asked Great-aunt if she knew whether any of my cousins had been asked about the Fraisis numbers in Great-uncle's journals. She asked me why I asked, and I replied that she had just said that all of them were like Great-uncle in pertinent ways and had had lessons from him - they might understand what he had been doing, even if they didn't know the details. She said that I should bring it up with Mr Chicmacyeimetlitecototl. I said that I thought that everyone would respond better to the suggestion if it came from her.

That was when the gentlemen joined us. They all seemed perfectly jovial and at ease, so whatever discussions they'd had seem not to have been fraught. Mixtli and Tekatl Umetlalliyaotl wanted a simple entertainment to allow them to slow down their thoughts before bed, and so I wound up playing a game so similar to snap as to make no difference at a table with them, Tehaneume, and Yeixi. The others played maistoto.

It was raining when I made my way up the stairs to bed, and it is still raining as I finish this. I am engaged to be married and tomorrow we begin planning to go home.

Anadrasata Nearabhigan