Romulan Empire Log | A Servant's Ear | Arrenhe t'Ahaefvthe

Posted on 241506.23 @ 10:35am by Praetor Arrenhe t'Ahaefvthe

Mission: Reconciliation & Reconstruction [Fleet Plot]
Location: Romulus, Ki Baratan

[Romulus, Ki Baratan]

Curtains were parted and bright beams of tawny light filtered in through the massive dining room windows. Particles of dust lofted upward illuminated by the rays until Rhiana t’Naraun swept her hand through the air causing them to swirl reluctantly out of the light and back to obscurity. The head servant bowed her head at the Praetor who sat at the head of the long dining table “is there anything you need Praetor?”

A head shake. T’Naraun bowed and dismissed herself back into the kitchen. She could never understand how the Praetor could sit at that long lonely table every morning for breakfast. Surely having it in her study would have been easier? She shook her head and looked across the kitchen to where t’Aishra was stirring a large kettle of porridge. She moved over to the kettle, gently ushered t’Aishra out of the way, and stirred the mixture before lifting the ladle to her lips and tasting of it. Disapproval immediately marked her face in the form of a scowl “too salty Vena! You’ll have to water it down a bit. You know the misses doesn’t have much tolerance for brine.”

“Yes ma’am.” T’Aishra dipped her head but Rhiana could make out an obstinate expression under the shadow of her bow. These young ones were too defiant these days- if Aishra kept that attitude she would have to dealt with more forcefully but for the moment Rhiana would let it go “be sure!” she insisted and crossed the kitchen opening the door to the walk in freezer.

Skinned hlai dangled from hooks and Rhiana pushed past them to the back of the freezer surveying the racks of butchered meats. She picked up a small stack of hlai filets and then exited the freezer. Setting the filets down on a cutting board to thaw she looked at Aishra “the Praetor will have grilled hlai tonight. See to it that tr’Fvaud takes care not to overcook it this time. This is the Praetor’s house for elements sake and it will be a pitiful shame if we can feed her nothing more than overcooked hlai!” Aishra nodded her head with a slight shrug. Rhiana had half the mind to remind the girl that her job security depended on the Praetor’s graces but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. With a deep breath she left the kitchen and returned to the table.

“The porridge will be done soon m’lady.”

The Praetor’s eyes were focused on the reading device in her hands but she nodded her head in acknowledgement “another glass of spice tea if you will Rhiana.”

“Yes ma’am.” Rhiana gently took the empty tea chalice and moved to the cart nearby where carefully filled the chalice with another serving of the steaming tea. Returning to the table she set it in front of the Praetor and stepped back slightly.

“I won’t be here this afternoon. Senator Pardek has invited me to attend a dinner party at his family’s estate in Nn’Verih and I have accepted. No need for the cooks to prepare a meal tonight.”

An image of the hlai filets thawing immediately flashed into her mind and she made getting them back into the freezer her number one priority once the Praetor was finished. “Yes ma’am I will let tr’Fvaud know.”

“Thank you.”

She turned and hurried for the kitchen but just before she could step into the entranceway the loud doorbell suddenly chimed. Rhiana stopped and looked across the great hallway at the massive door. The normal attendant was missing and she cursed her luck. With a quick stride she made her way to the door and pulled it open to find a tall broad shouldered man standing in front of her in full Galae regalia. She recognized the Galae’EnRiov instantly and bowed her head in greeting. “Welcome Galae’EnRiov.”

“Good morning hru’hfe s’Ahaefvthe.” He said bowing his own head slightly in a polite return of her gesture “I am here to see the Praetor. I do not mean to interrupt her breakfast but there is something we must discuss.”

“I will lead you to her.” Rhiana said. This was the first time that she had seen him so early in the morning so she turned briskly and started down the great hall. The elder Admiral nodded his head and followed her. In the periphery of her vision his steps told her there was no urgency so she softened her own haste and casually led him to the massive dining room. “Praetor. The Galae’EnRiov has arrived.”

“I did not mean to interrupt you so early Arrenhe but I have received news from Earth.”

Rhiana back away from the pair and took her place in an obscure corner of the room waiting to be summoned.

“No, there is no interruption Takaram. You are always welcome in my home.” The Praetor rose from her seat bowing her head and gesturing to one of the many empty seats next to hers “the porridge should be done shortly. Please join me.” He eyes moved to Rhiana who immediately straightened her posture under the weighty gaze “Rhiana please see to it that a bowl is made for the Galae’EnRiov.”

Rhiana nodded and hurried into the kitchen where Aishra was pouring the porridge into one of nicer ceramic bowls. She wanted to correct the girl but there was no time. Grabbing a freshly washed bowl off a nearby rack she set it down and took the filled one putting it onto a food tray. Aishra gave her a confused look so Rhiana jerked her finger at the kettle and then the bowl. The young kitchen maid nodded her head and used the ladle to fill the other bowl. She picked it up and set it down on the tray next to the other and hurried back into the dining room where she met the sound of the Praetor’s voice.

“There was very little convincing to be done. Sa’vak is a Vulcan. They are logic based creatures. Certainly even if it’s just trade there is a benefit to be had with any meeting. Their primary doubts were likely based around our…Klingon difficulties.”

Setting a bowl in front of each of them she made her way to the serving cart and poured a fresh chalice of hot tea bringing it back to set in front of the Galae’EnRiov.

“Besides the Klingon there seems to be some concern surrounding the timetable of the meeting. They were hoping that we would delay the summit for two weeks but Ambassador Navim was able to convince them that your itinerary would not allow for anything else.”

“Good. Has t’Rehu made preparations for her plan?” The Praetor asked. Using her spoon she dipped a small amount of the steaming white porridge from the bowl and gently blew on it.

“They are nearly complete. We will take five vessels to Earth as part of our entourage. Our intelligence outposts near the neutral zone have already detected Starfleet vessel movements towards the Earth. The Tal’Diann believe that the movements correlate to increased security around Sol for our visit next week.”

“The corridor is opening as t’Rehu anticipated then?”

“It seems so.”

Rhiana had honed the art of not listening unless spoken to. In many ways it was an art based on survival. In the past if servants’ overhead sensitive information they would have been dispensed with. She knew Praetor t’Ahaefvthe was more forgiving but still made an effort to appear distracted from the conversation. As she absently fiddled with the siphon on the teakettle her mind lingered on what the Praetor meant by an ‘open corridor’…

[To be continued…]