Queen Astrida, Daemon and Sunny discovered a few hours later, was a gold-wrapped enigma.
"You are most welcome, Your Majesty, here in the interstellar kingdom of Astorr," Daemon stated to the veiled woman flanked by her courtiers, servants and bodyguards. He had come down off of his throne and his dais, save for a single step; she was technically his equal in the hierarchy of things, but this was his kingdom, not hers. Only for the Emperor or Empress would an Astorran king have descended that last six inches on his home planet. "We are gratified and even flattered by such an auspicious State Visit so early in Our reign, and look forward to the events of the coming days."
"We are flattered in turn that We have been received so hospitably," the veiled woman stated smoothly. She was clad in shimmering cream garments edged in gold, only a pair of dark eyes surrounded by skin the color of coffee laced with cream visible; even her hands were gloved, decorated in glittering rings. She stood maybe two or three inches shorter than Daemon, perhaps four or five taller than Sundrea, but it was hard to tell without getting closer. She held herself regally tall, too. The impression was furthered by the way her people kept their eyes on the floor around her, never quite looking at her. "We look forward to Our State Visit to your realm as well."
That was all that was really necessary to this formal, Court-held meeting, aside from maybe a few holopics captured while the two of them clasped hands and smiled next to each other. Well, Daemon would smile. He doubted Astrida would doff her headcovering long enough to show whether her teeth were straight or crooked. Straight, he'd bet; the Ruyikans were rich enough to afford a medbox or two, and he had the feeling she was just vain enough as a woman to want to fix any 'imperfections'. Sunny, on the other hand, had a slight gap between one of her front and canine teeth on her lower jaw; he doubted she'd ever get that fixed. She just wasn't into such things. But it was hard to tell with Queen Astrida.
He wondered idly how she would handle eating at the buffet at the Formal Familial Ball, with that veil.
Still, there was a little bit more to this situation than posing for the 'peaceful first meeting' holopics and flatpics that were one of the more tedious parts of being a ruler. There were three visitors in his court who were of sufficiently high enough rank that they needed to be introduced. "It is our privilege to introduce Your Majesty to Our other State Visitors." Turning slightly to the side, knowing he was doing them a high honor in introducing them personally—but knowing also that he could cut through all the boringly long titles and affiliations and get away with it, being the king—he indicated the three women in question. "Queen Astrida, these are Princess Filini of the Zagros Cluster…"
An asiatic woman gave a half-bow to the Ruyikan queen, clad in a bodysuit of sea blue spangled with crystals, her stance and demeanor a bit militaristic.
"…né-Princess Irisia, granddaughter of the Imperial Regent…"
The né-princess curtsied gracefully, clad in a somewhat more demure but still body-clinging gown in a blushing shade of pink.
"…and Queen Nulkuta of Chonbei."
Those dark eyes narrowed above the edge of her gold-spangled veil, but Astrida merely nodded. As did the other queen; Nulkuta, a pale-haired, pale-faced stern beauty, inclined her own head slightly, politely. Not that she could do more than that; the collar of Nulkuta's shirt stood up to her ears before flaring out, matching the fanned-out display of her hair forming a bizarre sort of starched collar above her head. "We are honored to meet a royal cousin from the Rimworlds."
Dark eyes hardened again, but her voice was smoother than the silk of her gown as Astrida replied, "…I've always heard the Chonbei were charming. How refreshing to see it is true."
Sunny, still seated on her one-step-lower chair next to the top of the dais, bit her lip to keep from laughing. Calling any interstellar kingdom a 'Rimworld' was an insult, within the Empire. Even if the Ruyikans did live outside the boundaries of the Empire. Still, she couldn't help smiling. Those dark eyes flicked her way, and Sunny found herself the focus of the Ruyikan queen's attention.
"We see Our coronation gift has found favor in your Court, Your Majesty. We trust she has pleased you properly?"
Daemon, himself biting back the urge to smile at the Chonbei queen's insult, found his humor fading rapidly. He couldn't think of a way to answer her without either admitting too much of his intimate life in open Court—which would be an insult to the princess from the Zagros Cluster, whose people believed such activities were to be kept strictly private, never to be discussed before more than three people at most at a time—or hinting too much at what was going to happen. Still, the implication that his Sunny was nothing more than a thing to be handed off and expected to perform like a clockwork irritated him.
He hit on the perfect reply when he glanced at his Consort. "Her name is Sunny, and I love her," Daemon asserted calmly, looking back at his latest visitor. "She is the living light of Astorra, in my eyes."
That caused a rustle of amazement among his own courtiers. Belatedly Daemon realized he'd just stated the opening line of the Astorran marital vow. He'd meant it as a play on her name and his feelings for her, not as a shocking departure from tradition, where Royal Consorts were concerned. Castigating himself silently, he seized the moment, and everyone's attention, by focusing it on the real reason behind all four royals' coincidal visits.
"But you are not here to be bored with such intimate matters; you, like Their Highnesses and Her Majesty, are here to attend the Formal Familial Ball," he stated, dropping the formal, stuffy 'We' pronouns. "I know that Queen Nulkuta and Princess Filini have brought offers of merging their kingdoms with mine in a marriage-alliance. They will be making these offers within the next few days; based on our previous conversations, I would imagine you have a similar offer to lay upon the negotiating table. I would be delighted to hear what you would have to say on the matter, and have taken the liberty of scheduling a time for discussing such matters in anticipation of that event. All three kingdoms have much to offer that would be beneficial to Astorr; I look forward to reviewing any proposal you may care to make, if you care to make one during your visit."
"…We have come with the possibility of such a merger already in Our mind, and have prepared accordingly for such discussions," Queen Astrida replied smoothly, keeping to the formal, royal pronouns.
Sunny, carefully keeping silent through the whole exchange, wondered idly if the woman was so stuffy because she was suffocating behind that veil of hers.
…
Dressed in a pale pink Astorran gown cut exactly like most of the others she had worn on this world—Armon had mourned that it was so tempting to dress her in "fancy feathers" as he called them, rather than such "plain plumage", but he was trying to save the most spectacular gowns for her "coming-out", whatever that meant—Sunny entered the conference room the next day, following in Daemon's footsteps.
"What is she doing in here?"
Daemon bowed slightly to the Zagros princess and gestured at Sunny as the Astorran guards closed the door behind them. They were in a conference room with a huge plexi window overlooking one of the palace gardens, where Princess Filini's guards could watch them from outside and be assured of her safety, yet the three of them could speak in privacy, fulfilling the codicils of her people's culture. "Sundrea Dannonee is my Consort. A third party is required by Astorran law to be present during the preliminary discussions of any marriage contract. Marriage contracts include clauses discussing obligations of intimacy. Zagrosian culture forbids the discussion of intimacy among more than three people. Yet as Royal Consort, she has a legal right to be present during any discussions of intimate obligations, and the right to give her opinions.
"I therefore thought it would be fitting for her to be the third party in these negotiations," Daemon concluded. "Do you object, Your Highness?"
