Bearer of Bad News

Posted on Sun Jan 31, 2016 @ 10:28am by erie'Riov Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian

1,283 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: R'Vek's Quarters
Timeline: MD10, 1930

t'Ren had been R'Vek tr'Khellian's servant for nigh on sixty years, and his father's servant for thirty before that, and had been the bearer of news of all sorts to both these highborn and powerful men; it was a daily thing for him, he would prepare the Admiral's breakfast and, if he had to, breakfast for that human who insisted she was his wife, lay out the Admiral's uniform, and give him the news of the day. Of particular interest lately was local news, it seemed DS5 was buzzing between the sudden appearance of a new planet, the disappearance of Lady Isha's daughter, and the diplomatic conferences. He entered the Admiral's home office, finding him already fully dressed and staring out into the stars, his hands clasped behind his back, if there was one thing he knew from serving two generations of this family it was that the hands clasped behind the back was invariably a bad sign, "Good morning, Admiral." He began, "Will you take your breakfast in the dining room or would you have me serve you here?" ~Let me serve you here, spare me another morning of that horrid human creature.~

"I'll come to the dining room." R'Vek replied, "But not yet." He had much on his mind: Isha's daughter, his blood the name t'Vaurek be damned, had vanished and Isha was under arrest for a murder that he knew hadn't happened, ~Isha would kill, certainly. In self defense, in defense of blood, but not one of her own, especially not one of her own children. Not in cold blood.~

"You're troubled, my lord." t'Ren stated, "Can I ease your burden?"

"Sure." R'Vek shrugged and turned around, "Make a four year old girl re-appear in her mother's arms and free my cousin from these spurious and imbecilic charges she's facing." He shook his head and sighed, "Forgiveness, old friend, I'm not myself."

"I see, sir." t'Ren nodded, "But all of the news isn't so dire! Surely Lady Rianni's nuptials to that young diplomat, D'Liin are cause for some joy."

"Recent nuptials?" R'Vek stopped dead in his tracks, "What the devil are you on about, t'Ren?" He looked his man servant over, he seemed convinced that was he had just told him was true, no signs of deception and he had little, if any, sense of humor so a joke was out, ~He's far to young to be losing his mind, too.~

Until then t'Ren had simply assumed that the ceremony had taken place without him being invited and, as a servant, he wouldn't have been offended, this was standard practice amongst the great houses; unless the servants were performing some essential tasks they were rarely allowed to attend the family functions. But now he knew it was a different situation, he could tell his master truly had no idea his daughter had gotten married, "Sir, I thought you knew." He began, hoping R'Vek wasn't so much like his father that he would take his rage out on the messenger, "I had presumed you attended the ceremony."

"What ceremony?" R'Vek questioned, he knew this wasn't t'Ren's fault, but this was making him angry.

"According to this announcement Lady Rianni and one D'Rek D'Liin were finally married early in the morning two days ago, sir." t'Ren explained, adding, "Since both have left the station I'd thought them to be on their honeymoon."

"The bloody Hell...." R'Vek snarled, stepping past t'Ren to the door, "Eleni, come here, please, we need to talk."

Eleni had been peacefully sleeping when she heard her husband down the hall in his office, ~That man will never know how much his voice carries.~ She thought as she rose from her bed and put her slippers on, walking down the hall to him, "I'm coming, I'm coming." After a short walk she found herself in front of his office, one of the rooms she rarely went into, "Yes, darling?"

"Eleni, what is this?" R'Vek asked, handing her the padd with the 'happy news' and folding his arms, "Did Rianni go and get married without telling us? I thought she wasn't going to go through with this marriage. Woman, I want answers."

"You'll not get them talking to me like that, I promise you as much." Eleni retorted. She knew R'Vek was frustrated with some of Rianni's recent behaviors, she felt the same way, but he wasn't about to talk to her that way, especially not in front of the repugnant house elf, "And I know nothing about this. The last I heard she was still looking for a way out of the whole thing. And this D'Liin announces they're trying to start a family immediately...." She tossed the padd to t'Ren, swearing in Greek, if Rianni had agreed to marry this man and not told them she was going to smack the taste out of her mouth.

t'Ren took the padd from R'Vek's.... woman without a word, though the entire exchange made him miss R'Vek's father, J'Tar the Elder, who would've beaten his wife had she dared speak to him in that manner in front of his servants.

"Then where is that girl?" R'Vek continued, his tone now changed from anger to concern as he realized he'd just joined Isha in the missing daughters club.

"I don't know, darling." Eleni sighed, laying her head on his chest and trying not to think the worst, "The Dhelan is on a layover, maybe she went with my father on the Arrow? He was going to do some mapping of the system, look for potential places for colonization..." That was when it hit her, if her father was going to do that he would've checked in with Luke Dourif, the head of the Monteros Land Office in the region, he called in every potential location so they could move quickly to get their hands on whatever they could.

Striding quickly from her husband to the desk in her personal office, Eleni got right on with Luke Dourif, calling and waking him at home, "Luke, it's Eleni...."

"Oh, uh, yeah, hi." Dourif replied, his eyes and brain fogged over with sleep, "What can I do for you, Ma'am?"

"I'm so sorry to wake you, Luke." She apologized, continuing, "When did my father last check in? What were his coordinates? And was Rianni with him?"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, boss, please." Dourif protested, rubbing sleep from his eyes, "And Greg hasn't called in any coordinates. He's not out scouting anything for the company. Where did you hear that?"

"Never mind, Luke." Eleni sighed deeply, it seemed her father and her daughter were out getting into trouble somewhere, "Go back to sleep. In fact, take the day off."

"Okay, thanks, boss." Dourif replied, moving to turn off his console before remembering, "I saw him the other day before he left, said he was going looking for treasures. I do believe he said Rianni was coming with him though."

"Did he mention anyone else?" Eleni pressed, "A man named D'Liin?"

"D'Liin?" Dourif shook his head, "Nah, only D'Liin I know of is the one Gregori said he would shoot out of an airlock into the sun the first chance he got. So, unless they're headed for the sun, I would say no. Anyway, good night, Eleni."

"Yes, sleep well, Luke." She smiled, turning off the console and walking to R'Vek, who now stood in her office door, "Well, it seems someone didn't tell us the truth about their plans. What could they be up to?"

"I don't know." R'Vek shook his head, "But you can be for damn sure I intend to find out."

-Off

R'Vek tr'Khellian

Eleni Montero-t'Khellian

t'Ren

 

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