The wedding and coronation of Prince Gwydion of Avaluna and Princess Meara of Venus was finally upon them. In the wake of all that had happened, the people of Avaluna were happy to have something to celebrate, though the wedding was controversial to many. To some it was seen as an extravagance that could ill be afforded, to others an attempt to hold onto that which had already been lost, and to others still a promise of hope and prosperity, as had been John Arthur's ascension to the throne some twenty years ago.

Whatever it was, the celebration was decidedly the center of the Solar System for several cycles as anybody who was anybody had filled Avaluna full to bursting. While Mars had neglected to send an official delegation, there were still members of the Martian court present, though kept under careful watch--Sir L1-4MNT, as Dame Freyr's date and Sir RHY-S32 as an invited guest of Princess Meara.

The-Queen-In-Mourning, Valerie La Guin, had rarely been seen in recent weeks and the news of her abdication in favor of her niece had caused quite a stir within Venusian society. Many Valkyries felt that Meara La Guin of Chonaill was not ready for such a burden. They thought less of Prince Gwydion. The Vespers were hardly any better, feeling that the new heir demonstrated an unpredictable temperament ill-suited for rulership.

Amongst the Knights and Nobility of Avaluna, and in the Solar System beyond, opinion was much divided. Many thought well of the pair, while others believed that they only served as an indictment of John Arthur's failed ideals.

Other whispers filled the halls regarding the Lord and Lady of House Stjernevold. Though Lord Brun had sometimes been regarded as eccentric, it was now known that he had not returned from his ordeal unscathed. In the chapel which had once been Euryleia's armour bay, they taught that upon seeing King Arthur struck down, Sir Brun had been so moved by the King's sacrifice that he, in turn, had sacrificed his wits so that his True Love could be born. Euryleia had then slain the Dragon to save her Knight and the Kingdom. The pair had developed an often literal following.

Avaluna was, indeed, a hotbed of whispered opinions and in such a hotbed, there was always room for a little profit. At least that's what Enid intended to make with her "speciality-imported" Venusian brandy. She quickly clamped the top back on the shipping case when she saw Dame Freyr enter the corridor along with an Avalunan Tech named Rose. What were they doing here? Didn't Dame Freyr have wedding business to attend to?

OOC: From whom did Enid get her smuggled brandy and just how does she plan to offload it?

What are Freyr and Rose doing on Scathach?

I thought it would be fun to explore some of our minor characters as we build toward the wedding.

Enid deftly picked up her dataslate and began checking it.  Just filling out boring inventory reports.  Surely nothing worth the notice of Dame Freyr and Chief Rose.  Nope.  Check.  Check.

She dared a peek over the slate at the pair as they walked along.  Did she know?? Did the Dame catch Annalina offloading from the Venusian cutter that brought the delegation?? Enid had known trusting her cousin was risky, but she was in the right place at the right time and, let's face it, the wedding was a bit rushed...  Dammit Annalina if you get me caught.....

Freyr had barely gotten started organizing lessons for the new recruits when she had received the news about the wedding, which, after the news of the King's death, had not surprised her.  Like Meara's mother, Duchess Ceilidh Le Guin du Chonaill, she had her fingers on the pulse of political intrigue at all times.  It was necessary for success and survival, as well as ensuring the people's well-being.  And unlike Meara's father, Duchess Consort Baughb du Chonaill, Freyr was not as torn over the fact that Meara and Irina were no longer to be wed.  It was sad, certainly, but such is the reality of royalty.  She considered herself fortunate she could still court Sir L1-4MNT, although her status as technically being Saturnine by birth gave her a technicality others did not have.  She was also glad to hear that Sir RHY-S32 was allowed to attend as a guest of Meara.  Such things showed that there was still a possibility to reconcile with Mars.

As she walked down the corridor with Rose, she made small talk to catch up on the more minute details of what had been going on in her absence.  Meara had made her proud.  Meara's performance was far from ideal, but in the few weeks since she left, Meara had apparently made several decisions (not all of them proper, of course) that benefited both Venus and Avaluna as a whole, even if they did not win her any favors with the nobility.  Such had always been Meara's way, and Freyr laughed at the story of Irina suddenly turning red when Meara showed additional examples that she had, in fact, paid attention during some of her lessons and thus caused the poor Lady to lose her composure and pull Meara to (hopefully) a bedroom.

As she caught sight of Enid, she gave the quartermaster a smile and a wink.  "I see you are hard at work as usual."  She knew about the 'smuggling'.  She also had assisted by ensuring things were overlooked, at least for this instance.  Enid performed a valuable service that, specifically because it was not through strictly legal channels, made her all the more important to keep around.

Rose Sawyer had been angry and cynical ever since arriving on Avaluna from Callisto Station in the first place. Work was her method of coping with the attack, with the loss, with finding a piece of her dead brother's Armour coming back to her like a ghost. Her whole world had changed, literally, and so the best thing to do was to drown herself in keeping things running. Unlike the Prince, she seemed able to handle such things without looking like she was about to collapse at any moment. All that time spent on engines and Armours had kept her from spending much of it making friends, and she'd gathered a rather cold and walled off reputation.

It took some arguing to get her to accept that everything was as fine as it was going to get, nothing needed calibrating, tweaking, or repairs, and she had to take some time off. Once the Armoury crew accomplished that, and then the engine crew did the same, it was up to Freyr to give the defeated engineer some direction. It was a day for socializing, and Freyr knew just where to go. That direction was the Scathach.

Rose found she hadn't properly relaxed or just talked with anyone in a long time, and it was... fun. She was having a good time telling Freyr about the goings-on since her departure, and how the Prince would sometimes tell stories about her and Meara when he was in the Armoury and wanted to chat while working. Because of that, it turned out Rose knew Freyr better than many of her own team. Maybe she'd have to do something about that.

She didn't have much to say when they ran into Enid, just raised an eyebrow and let Freyr take the lead.

As Enid tried to play it cool, a smallish container began to jar from side to side briefly. "Meow," squeaked the package. Certainly not suspicious. Not at all.

Just where was the contact who was supposed to retrieve it, Enid wondered. It was going to blow her cover.

Upon hearing the meow and seeing the wiggle, Freyr approached the box and peered at it.  Making sure it had air holes, mostly.  Smuggling a kitten, it sounded like, was usually done less openly, mostly because the cargo was not known for its discretion.  Upon confirming that there was enough air flow for the tiny creature inside, she stood back up and gave Enid a nod of approval.  "Forgive me, but this package made a very convincing imitation of something else," she said, clearly not fooled at all.  However, she was the highest ranking noble present, so since she said it was not suspicious, the package was definitely not suspicious.

There was absolutely nothing suspicious about a package that was shifting slightly and about to tip over until Freyr slid it back in place.  It clearly was not a request by Meara - that datapad had already been purchased - so it must be her betrothed who requested it.  She could not think of anyone else brazen enough to attempt such a thing so close to the wedding.  The question remained, however, who the kitten was for.  Meara?  Nay, while she loved all creatures more than most, she was more of a dog person, since sitting still was not her thing.  Also raising a pet from childhood took more patience and time than she suspected Meara had at the moment and while she was not one to often think before she acted, Meara at least put others before herself and had always made sure anything or anyone directly under her care was taken care of properly.  Irina?  Probably not.  The young woman was brilliant, and would appreciate a cat, certainly, but that would mean as a gift from Gwydion, and that did not seem likely.  It must be for the older sister, Iliza.

Also, there was the ominous message she received from Meara a day prior that simply read "I didn't do it" without any context, and since Meara was an atrocious liar, she knew that if it had been her, the 'cargo' would have been mentioned specifically in the denial.

"Best make sure this package arrives before it is too late."

Enid started to respond to the Dame, having been acknowledged, but the box got there first.  In her head, she damned many specific things with very precise curses.  Outwardly, she smiled and bowed her head in a salutatory way, "Always hard at it, Dame Freyr."  She placed a hand on the offensive, duplicitous box once it had been put back into place.  Best not to draw any more attention to that stupid, rotten, inconsiderate, furry /inconvenience/. Enid waggled her slate, "Oh it will.  Everything will get where it needs to go as quickly as I can.  Soooooo many pieces to move around these days.  What with the wedding and all.  Quite the biggest event I have ever seen.  The preparations anyway.  So many supplies, gifts, people.  Go go go."  You're laying it on too strong.  What is wrong with you?  Probably not sleeping...  When did I sleep last? Enid smiled between the Dame and the Chief, "Anything I can help you with?  I wouldn't have expected either of you to be on Scathach when there's so much going on down on Avaluna proper..."  Enid's very strong desire for them to go /there/ was kept to herself
This message was last updated by the GM at 15:09, Sun 07 Jan.

The two friends were acting very two-friendy, and Rose looked between them as they played their bizarre charade. Eventually there was a lull, and she took her moment to speak up.

". . . The cat's probably mad it has no place to crap." There were times when she could be as subtle as Dame Aegisdottir and... well, as Dame Aegistdottir. Taking a pin to this fragile bubble was more fun, though. The engineer let that sit in the air for the correctly measured amount of time, before letting herself smirk. "Depending on how many you have, that one might be what I'm here for. Besides seeing your goofy face again."

Enid started laugh uproariously at the very notion that it could be a cat, "A cat?  WhAt??  That's just cra---"  Buuuuut, they weren't buying it.  Enid gave it up and lifted the box, opening it enough to reach in an scratch the kitten, "You guys are no fun... It was /supposed/ to be a secret.  Geeze.  And it hasn't stayed in this box long....". Enid directed her voice to the box and went up in pitch, "Didjoo fuzzypants?  Nooo.  You stayed in Aunty Enid's cabin and were just the snuggliest little crap machine ever.  Yes you were.  And ruined sheets.  And a funky smell, you little monster.". To Rose, she added as she passed the box, "/You're/ goofy.". Luckily the real contraband doesn't meow...  Crisis AVERTED.
This message was last updated by the player at 15:04, Tue 09 Jan.