Stenellis Ascendancy Log | Empress Psy'Daio Nox, Princess Xue'Daio Nox - "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star pt 2"
Posted on 241502.09 @ 6:50am by Xue'Daio Nox Tr'Verelan & Psy'Daio Nox
Mission: Reconciliation & Reconstruction [Fleet Plot]
Xue’Daio strode past the first of the throne room’s great marble pillars. They stood in almost violent contrast to the shine of the black stone floors, beige in color and ornamented with green and red jasper verdures encasing the vast cylinder formations. Her pace was brisk, her eyes refused to leave her targeted destination, and her arms swung languidly by her sides as if goading her on ahead. With her chin slightly tilted up into the air, her neck was straight and her shoulders pronounced as her posture held her back taunt and her head straight and focused. Daylight streamed in through the colorfully stained windows, casting an angelic hue upon her gliding procession. In the happenstance that she caught glimpse of a bystander, she could see the gold and silver shimmers embalming their skins and her dress glistening in their envious eyes. A child of the stars, the sun worked to highlight her and cast her glow across the symbols of the old Gods that tread beneath her delicate footfalls.
Religion had played little part in her life. The galaxy harbored so many religions that she couldn’t say which she favored nor which she’d choose for herself. Instead she simply chose to believe that there was something out there greater than herself, a creator that had chosen to bless the universe with the existence of life. In her mind, religion was merely a deception to encourage the destitute to endure the hardship inflicted by their superiors in order to be rewarded with glory in the so-called afterlife. It was merely a ploy, a ploy to embolden false harmony. Instead, she drew nourishment from the world around her and felt not the need to adopt some divine concept to cleanse the condition of her dark little soul. The thought of it all was nothing more than a ploy of its own, one designed to keep her steadily moving forward with nary a trace of her insipid inner thoughts.
Only a few paces ahead and above her, the Empress sat. She wore a deep jade gown over-lain by a pattern of velvet green damask. It crossed over her modest frame and fastened to her left side with a golden broach. It hung low off her shoulders, exposing her lean upper body and the acute curve of her neck as it joined her shoulder. Xue could see the black silk that lay beneath her mother’s garb peeking from within the interiors of her extensive bell sleeves, highlighted by the swirls of gold that outlined the edges before its beauty was stolen away by the long jeweled pendant that hung around the woman’s neck and occupied the empty space of her chest.
As regal and beautiful as she was to the overt eye, a dark imposing impiety emitted off her rigid posture. Psy’Daio Nox looked like stone, hard of face with sharp cheek bones and a chiseled jaw to match. Her eyes, however, held a warmth reserved only for her daughter, a warmth that failed to cease nor lessen the closer Xue progressed. Her lip was slightly curled, like she was being forced to repress a swarthy, sharp toothed snarl. Though warm, the Empress’s eyes burned blisters into Xue’s skin as she beheld her image, analyzing and dissecting every visible aspect of the albino’s being. Her head didn’t once move, only her censorious eyes which narrowed in scrutiny and widened in approval. Her hard brand of love for her daughter was blatant to anyone with eyes, even if she worked to reveal nothing with a veil of ice keeping her face hard and emotionless. Around her stood men adorned in the white cloaks of royal guards, garbed in golden armor with exquisite chainmail and finely crafted shoulder plates that tucked so neatly into the robust and ornate chest plates that fastened to their torsos. Each was wrapped with a sword concealed within a sheath, yet the hilts all glistened of telltale auburn copper none the less. Supposedly they had all been hand chosen as the finest warriors from the five ruling families, the bravest and the boldest – all Xue saw were overprized body-guards; little boys dressed up in pompous costumes. While they looked the part, and they may have had noble intentions, there was a notable lack of deliverance – though her predeterminations were solely based on the fact that she’d bested them in the years prior during her training with the Makta. One in particular shone brighter than the others, like a brick of gold pressed latinum oppressed within a poorly brick wall. His armor harmonized flawlessly with the golden glint of the Empress’s gown, completed with a long, tarnished haulberk, covered in mother-of-pearl scales. He was stood higher upon the platform, closest to the Empress and he indeed looked like a knight – a true< /em> knight, complete with an air of gallantry imbuing his demeanor. Just like those of the sweet tales her mother loved so, Xue couldn’t help but noticed his charming looks. His golden hand had long ago plucked at her mother’s prudence and stolen himself a seat deep in the royal family. Kiv’Watt, the valiant golden knight, was none other than the white princess’s own father.
Approaching the throne, a few other nobles and peers stood close. They were people with faces she had never seen before, nor could Xue attach names to. However, they must have been of importance to be allowed to stand so distinguishably close in proximity to the Empress, she thought as she arrived before the periwinkle maned Empress and her father. She swooped down low into an elegant curtsey, her nimble young body arched as her back curved and her arms swayed out as her head bowed low in sincere respect. “Your Majesty.” Her voice was airy yet preserved an intriguing vibrancy, though she kept her gaze low and forefended.
“You may rise.” The Empress spoke in tones of simplicity. Xue’s eyes flicked up first followed by her unfurling body as it rose upright. Her hands joined together, held low across her body, and she smiled sweetly once their eyes connected from where the Empress say copious steps above her. The older woman took up her piece once again, though her eyes never once left their alignment with the albino’s. “I, Psy’Daio of House Nox, Queen Dowager of Aliene, Queen of Apsha, Empress of the Stenellian Ascendancy, welcome you home, Princess.” Psy’Daio spoke with a richness and ease that seemed entirely too fitting for the procession of would-be knights surrounding her. Xue could practically see their minds ticking away with every uttered word, “We’ve long awaited your return, and in honor of your arrival, a feast shall be thrown this evening. We trust that you’ll attend and bring with you word of your time spent successfully marrying our empire with the Cardassian Union.”
“Thank you, Empress, for the warm welcome you offer. The honor of standing before your Grace once again has made my journey all the more worthy.” Xue replied in practiced respect, her mother seemingly glowing with approval of her daughter’s dignified oration. While Xue often held such a grand distaste for tradition, it was obvious that she wouldn’t dare cross her mother’s ire by rebuking them outright and publicly. What Empress Psy’Daio could never have known was the way her daughter truly felt a certain tightness her in tidings of thanks. The words she spoke aloud came from a vacant place within her affection; empty words of artificial gratitude – empty – but necessary. While she truly loved her mother, the woman needed to be squashed like a bug… And promptly.
The Empress merely nodded. “No need, Princess. Now come. Walk with me and tell your mother what’s become of her daughter these four long years.”
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Word from the Cardassians was that they feared the White Princess and her temper, that they simply agreed with everything the young woman had said in hope they could drown out her protests, gripes, and never ending commands that spewed out of her mouth as carelessly as they had been though through. She was becoming increasingly rash and impulsive, hot-headed and pitiless – and she was grating on Psy’Daio’s last nerve. She watched her daughter with careful blue eyes. The young woman’s displeasure was an impossibility to miss; she wore upon her face as evidently as her body wore a gown, and while entering the abundant palace gardens, the elder Empress had sensed that the talk would be a tedious and tiresome affair with little relevance to her.
Xue paced a row of roses, the twists of her loosened silver hair bouncing and jostling against her perfectly rounded breasts each and every time she took a sharp back turn on herself. Her golden gown whipped ferociously around her legs, and her eyes smoldered and glistened like spherical rose quartz. She’s as beautiful as she is impetuous the Empress thought, Everyday she is harder to love and even harder to respect. as she watched her daughter continue to stride tirelessly, her elegant fingers warped into stiffly coiled talons, clawing against her bosom. “You knew that the Romulans were going to capture and kill Merket?! How could you not send word?! How could you just leave me with the damned Legates with no knowledge to work with?! I stood there looking no better… No better than a common Xepolite trader!” A guttural ire resonated within her roars of anger. There was a passion within that hearty rage that caused her to falter with her words; so incensed that her grievances could not resonate into volume quick enough.
The Empress simply remained silent, waiting and studying the petals of a rather large red specimen. “Are you quite finished, Xue?” She finally asked, her pale blue eyes whisking from the rose back to her fuming daughter. “We knew of the arrangements weeks ago, but it was decided that sending that kind of information was too risky. The Romulans are a resourceful bunch and don’t you think they aren’t watching our every move with Cardassia.”
“Mother, you’re serious?” Xue spat back in mock surprise.
“Oh please, Xue. “ The Empress retorted bluntly, throwing her jewel encrusted hands to her hips, “Don’t be absurd. You know we need to keep a low profile until we get from Cardassia the information we need concerning Dominion technology.” She elongated the word need as thought she was trying to extol superiority – it wasn’t a long stretch, nor was it truly needed. The Albino lifted an eyebrow high and remained silent for some time, the birds stealing the moment to sing their morning songs and the Empress sighed and shook her head, “You were perfectly safe. The Cardassians are a race of absolute yenkukhu now, a shadow of their former glory and they wouldn’t dare do anything to harm you when they know we could simply go to the Romulans and drive the last nail into their coffins. I knew you could talk your way out of anything, and you did.”
“I had to promise them our protection.” Xue retorted through clenched teeth, though the volume wasn’t nearly as intense as it had been in her earlier tirade and the pacing had stopped… For now.
“And protect them we will. For now.” Psy’Daio chuckled lightly, amused by the idea of entrenching the Cardassians into further ruin if push ran to shove and a fight broke out. They would have to prove themselves worthy beyond a shadow of a doubt, and they simply couldn’t. If that the Empress was absolutely certain. “Besides… The more interesting details were in our word of Cheydinhall being reinforced by the Federation.”
“Yes. I heard. Admiral Red was plucked from Earth and planted at Cold Station Theta. She’ll be difficult to work around, our trade routes will have to be moved a bit to keep her from suspecting our position.” Xue sighed, sweeping her hands behind her to gather up the elaborate lengths of her skirts and robes before perching upon a stone planter’s edge. “Admiral Hark isn’t a stupid man, mother, he sent her out here because she’s the best. They will find us just as they found Erb and that moon.”
“We destroyed that entire colony after Erb was raided.” The Empress countered dismissively, “I’m not concerned about the Federation finding us, Xue. I’m going to welcome them here with open arms and you, my darling, will be tasked with finding out everything that makes them tick.”
“But I—“
“SILENCE!” Psy’Daio finally roared, striding quickly to stand over her insolent daughter with eyes that no longer seemed capable of holding any form of warmth or love. Her patience had finally snapped. “You will act as an Ambassador! You will gather information! You will report back to me with that information and you will kill anything and anyone that poses a threat to your mission just as you did on Cardassia. If you fail, or disobey me, this will be the closest you ever come to serving the Ascendancy.” She seethed, gesturing to the thorned flowers growing proudly all around them, “I’ll cut your throat and have you disposed of as feed for my roses. I’m done with your dramatics, Xue’Daio, do
She had but two hopes; kill her own mother right then and there or do as the Empress ordered. Only one way was even partially feasible. With hateful eyes filled with insipid storm-like wrath, the albino looked up upon the regent’s face. She didn’t wither or flinch, instead a silvery brow raised ina goading way, “As you so demand, your Majesty.” Her lips curled in a sneer as she spoke, her chest heaving as she leaned away from the sharp popping of electrical currents dancing along her mother’s rigid finger lengths.
“Damn right it is.” Psy’Daio hissed and took several steps away from her daughter, once again regaining her stately composure. The savagery of her electrical holds dissipated. She knew she couldn’t simply kill the young girl, she couldn’t afford to. Xue’Daio had become a currency, a needed pawn in the growth of the Ascendancy. The older woman hadn’t been blind to her daughter’s beauty as she glided down to stand before the throne. If anything, she was more than acutely aware of why it was that the Cardassian Legates had been so easily handled. Every man and woman in the hall had noticed. The women scorned her in envy and the men had flailed out of yearning – in the flesh she was an entity of the divinities and underneath that lovely exterior lay a dark and sobering power, a sharp tongue, and a dangerous mind capable of exploiting weaknesses few others saw. She was every bit her daughter and every bit the merciless dictator that she had been bred to be, and none of the previous Nox softness had been inherited. She was… Perfect. To kill her would be to kill the Ascendancy. Cae’Daio was a mere child, unfit to rule more than a sand box or play gym. Without Xue, the House of Nox would crumble and the dynasty would fall. It left the aging Empress in a tough position. “Now be gone with you. You have a welcoming feast to make ready for. And, darling…” Psy’Daio grinned, “Try to wear a smile, would you?”
Xue stood, the afternoon sun catching her as she did. It served to highlight the anger and hurt in her eyes as she looked upon her mother with nothing less than pure contempt. It had been like this when she’d been sent away to Cardassia as well. Rumor had been the Empress had planned to bargain with the Legates using her own daughter’s flesh, but the young Princess had over powered any deal with her sharp tongue and caustic wit. “Of course, mother.” She replied and bowed her head ever so slightly. With that, the Princess pirouetted gracefully and headed down the long lines of flowers and trees with her gown billowing out behind her and her guards scrambling to follow as she paraded off towards the far palace doors in the distance.
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Psy'Daio Nox
Empress of the Stenellian Ascendancy
Queen Dowager of Aliene
Queen of Apsha
Xue'Daio Nox
Crowned Princess of the Stenellian Ascendancy
Lady of Aliene
Regent of Apsha
