As the shuttle approached, the tiny glints in the distance took more defined shape until resolving clearly in to a mighty assembly of Hapan warships. Dozens of Battle Dragons, Nova Battle Cruisers, and the crowning jewel the ancient Star Home. His Presence made this no ordinary Fleet Assembly but a Royal Fleet Assembly. He was a looming testament to the glory of Hapan engineering and culture. Every world in the Cluster provided some key component to the structure or identity of the monstrous mobile structure. As a mirror of the cluster and it's various member worlds it carries both the natural beauty and power of them all.
The tiny ship ferrying the Ducha and Scion of House Letylana ducked in to the under belly of the massive super structure of the mobile seat of Royal Hapan power...
Anastazja stood next to her sister Konstancja as they awaited the shuttle ramp to lower and their small party to disembark aboard the Star Home. The elder pulled the ornate finely pointed thin cylindrical dagger from her waist belt and handed it to her younger sister.
"Hold this and stash it in our House Chambers when they take you there. The Queen will no doubt summon me immediately to account for our lateness," she calmly instructed.
Ana tucked it in to her lapel and kept mum.
The dim interior lighting of the shuttle was flooded out by the nearly natural seeming bright light of Star Home's massive main hangar bay. Two women flanked by half a dozen royal guards stood before them as they strode down the short ramp. Adeladja was an elder noble woman of House Letylana herself, she was the two young noble ladies Aunt, and was alive unlike their mother only because she served on the Royal Court whose constituents were protected from punitive royal justice. Despite still having her life, she had become a defacto prisoner of Ta'a Chume and bound to the Royal Court until her death, unless she choose to exchange one for the other. Despite not being cast away to distant Reboam herself, she represented it now and no longer held any claims on Loradram, the ancestral Letylana homeworld-moon of Relephon.
The other was a much taller and less diplomatically attired woman with strong features and form. Her long deep yellow blonde hair was tightly knotted in one long tail hanging past her waist line. She was a senior noble woman in House Veridan of Selab in the Interior, a family who owed it's modern relevancy to the sitting Chume's House. Rekaba was Chief of Security for Ta a Chume herself. As such, she'd lately become intimately familiar with House Letylana from noblewoman to bannermaid to serf.
Adeladja greeted them warm but professionally,
"Madame Ducha Letylana, with pleasure I welcome you aboard Her Royal Majesty's Star Home,"
she embraced Konstancja with the usual customary light hug at the right shoulder before greeting her younger niece,
"Madame Duchas," before embracing her with a stronger shoulder hug and clapsing her hand giving it a light squeeze in a casual yet unseen manner.
Anastazja had always adored her Aunt in youth as she carried herself with much more formal pomp than their mother had. She was glad to see her next closest living relative but jockeyed with the sadness it elicited within due to her strong resemblance to their mother. Still seeing and being near her again was comforting.
But the looming emotional connection between the three women was assuredly muffled as Rekaba Veridan shortly intervened in the family reunion.
"Ducha and Duchas Letylana, please I'm honored to escort you to the Royal Court. The High and Lower Court Nobles have been assembled for some time awaiting your House's arrival," she spoke in a barely feigned courteous tone while guiding the party off.
Konstancja shot her younger sister a quick look while prodding Rekaba as they walked,
"Apologies to her Majesty, the tempest like sand storms of Reboam are an ever present delay of our work for the Crown there, but I'm confused, we didn't expect the formalities to begin until this evening. My sister and I are hardly in presentable form for the High Court at this moment.."
the House Veridan attache continued her pace while retorting,
"Yes, I'm sure Letylana is endeavoring with it's dying breath to atone and prove fealty on that dry dirt ball. Does House Letylana still possess the means to adorn its upper nobility in attire befitting a Royal audience? .." there was silence from the Letylana women as they walked behind the Veridan woman.
Apparently impatient with the lack of response, Rekaba switched to more literal forms,
"It was too lenient of terms for one of the Pillar Houses of the Usurper. You should consider yourselves lucky I serve Ta'a Chume only in matters of physical security and not in an advisory role."
Konstancja could feel Ana's seething and the inaudible grinding of teeth was all the while deafening to her. She maintained her veil of nobility and regal in response,
"It is well Veridan carries royal favor in some form. I shudder to consider where Letylana would stand were it not for the shoulders Her Majesty has always provided us as footing,"
Ana Letylana could not contain a short muffled snort-laugh. She was young but knew the history of all the Houses quite well. Veridan held no power of their own before their total submission to the Royal House, their Ducha had never held domain over an entire world. They had no bannermaids of their own. Letylana history of power and influence spanned as far back as the first Houses of Lorell, they always held domain over an entire world- even now in the shame of their fall as defeated Usupers. Behind the walled cities of Reboam for certain and she imagined scattered across the steppes of Loradram, bannermaids still swore loyalty to Letylana and secretly spat upon the reigning Ta'a Chume's sigil.
Rekaba abruptly ceased her stride and turned to face Ducha Letylana, Adeldja hurried passed them to beckon the door guards of the Great Hall they had already arrived at to usher them in before words and tensions boiled over,
Konstanzja Letylana, Ducha of her House and Reboam stood a degree shorter and much less musuclar than the strong towering woman of House Veridan before her.
"Is your womb then as dry as your Houses new home world? Is that why you bear no fruit for the Great House Letylana? Perhaps this one will snare herself a stag serf to inject some strength in to her House to carry on your name? She needs only let those raven Letylana locks grow on the other half of her head to lure one close," she taunted the young Ducha before bringing the younger Letylana scion in to the mud slinging.
Konstanzja held the more formidable seeming womans stone gaze for a frozen moment. Her polite expression and tone unflinching she countered briefly,
"Blessing upon the daughters of Veridan for years to come," she offered with extreme restraint before striding passed Rekaba Veridan and joining Adeladja as the Letylana delegation entered the Great Hall of Star Home where the High and Lower Royal Courts of all Hapan Nobility had assembled.
Anastazja could not help but give Rekaba Veridan a dirty look back as they parted company for the moment..
