Feline Advisor to Meihomei
"Would you treat a cat so poorly? Get out of my sight!"
"I'm sorry, I only meant that the Nameita Robyn expected fish tonight. I've started a searing pan."
"Oh, pray continue, that is most appropriate. Who are these?"
"These are our counterparts, as close as I can make them. The cat prince of Kagomei, and his superior, the diplomatic prince of Kagomei."
"They match us so closely?"
"Not in other particulars, but this iteration of their government is quite close. Although the orange prince is not the second in command in Tsou, but this one is already acting like one, despite not having been named officially so, that I recall..."
"Is he the heir?"
"He is their Bameimeito, the heir to the throne."
"And with him?"
"Their CI-09 Undersecretary for Classification, and his first cousin, they're quite close."
"Oh, he's related?"
"The woman who raised both boys, and the sister of one of the boys almost adopted all three."
"Didn't she also adopt a lifeguard's son that had given his life for her?"
"Almost yes, in fact, the mother of the brother and sister adopted that young man, he's now doing quite well for himself."
"How so?"
"He is a flag officer in their armed services, and courting a lesser member of the local nobility himself."
"Oh?"
"Venya Frangibald, an offshoot of the dandelions. Not an official one, but her father has pull with the heir, and she spent much time with the heir herself."
"Can we get any dirt on any of them?"
"They're mostly unofficial, so what dirt against them was found has already been used."
"Do we have any dirt on the bameito?"
"Bameimeito. The grammar of Dawn Moniqan is perverse, it's Bameihomei except the language didn't have the construct yet."
"And the difference between Nameihomei and Bameihomei?"
"Ba is soon, Na is near."
"That's quite the distinction, so one's proximity, the other's time based, and they don't overlap?"
"No, they're meant to overlap and converge, but they don't always do. Close family relations end up being Na more than Ba, while sons and daughters almost never end up Na, before taking the throne. Although, no one is betting against Amarat not ending up in the history books as both."
"Is one better than the other?"
"Na is slightly more prestigious, like being the second tallest tree in a forest is better than being in the top five."
"But it doesn't..."
"It does carry more responsability, more work, so it's not a straight 1:1 better relationship."
"Ah, that's good information, and these cousins?"
"Are wired into the military-industrial complex to a level that scares the Ivory prince. And own civilian infrastructure enough to be named in treaties in their own right."
"What?"
"One's Lucair of Ferrare, that's medium-sized potatoes, at least."
"Any Mastarnas?"
"Beneventi Res starts with the Lucumon of Ferrare, let alone the Mastareir of Benevento."
"So, big potatoes?"
"Medium-up-to-big, depending on who you listen to, we don't get a full read on Eurani..."
"But they're major players?"
"They're partners with the dell'Auros, who are top five on any continent in Arnd."
"Noy Jitat!"
"Please modulate your language, he's a priest!"
"What, a priest?"
"He's not a member of The High Twenty-Five, first-circle, but he is a candidate."
"What, so a candidate for the high twenty-five is a number two in their government?"
"His father is Zeroth of Nine, and his mother is tenth of nine, if anything."
"Tenth of nine? How is that a thing?"
"Her power's up to the limit where she'd only be excluded from the high nine with a good reason. She is second duty, but first duty is 'first overall', what does that tell you?"
"She's healthily powerful?"
"Think bigger."
"She'd be first duty in another conclave?"
"Bing bing bing, got it in one!"
"And this son?"
"Got a bright future ahead of him, no matter how you slice it."
"Again, and this son?"
"He'd be a son of a zeroth of nine, those usually end up high nine or higher. It's not that common, but when they do, they blow the classification up."
"How high?"
"How high do you go?"
"Stop, he's been a step under his wife his whole life... How high does she go?"
"Oh, you got a point there."
"She outshines him that much?"
"No, she breaks the classification that much, if either of them breed..."
"Which they did..."
"The kids are conclave material."
"They probably are, being grandkids of conclave members."
"No, I mean on raw power level..."
"How raw we talking here?"
"That kid's probably singeing Amber falcons living in Mountain Home, he's that raw."
"Urrh, ok, and they're on the next tier..."
"Don't be silly, Moniq is the next tier, that Kagomei has been upstaging them is not an accident, but they're not blocking Tsou, they're working on Kagomei being Gubba-12."
"Hold still! Your straps are crooked!" "Ah, thanks, it was that bad? I always thought those had to be at least a little crooked..." "Yes, but if they're over a wungli, they still can't cross a division crooked. Not that most people know, it's not like the traditions of how to wear a wungli are healthy in Kagomei, Tsou's doing a lot better with that garment." "Remember how that got used to explain why some researchers thought the Tsou descended from the Kagomine?" "Yeah, and they had egg in their face, when we found out both were descended from the Moniqi, who just banned the garment after we humiliated them, when we became an empire." "When are you visiting next?" "I'm not, not this year, I've sent the Bameimeito earlier, and next week my Feline Advisor is going." "I'll never get over why that job seems to hold so much prestige and ceremonial duty, when it boils down to being a catsitter..." "Well, I named my cat my heir, that should tell you how much I like cats... And I wasn't even the first ruler to do so." "Oh, I love the lil critters, make no mistake, but why not send the Valour-Keeper, or Telbun?" "Because those are much more useful inside our own borders, making sure our own laws and customs are applied... Besides, most 'cat princes', ours, and other nations, tend to be in the diplomatic trades in the first place, they're naturals for this. The tsou princess in town being a case in point." "Isn't she like their second in command of their diplomatic apparatus?" "Yes, because she wasn't born in the royal family, or else she'd be first, and the orange prince second..." "They're interchangeable?" "No, but the Tsou add pride of birth to pride of position, whereas the Kagomine tend not to." "Oh, so if we did, an office held by a Dandelion would be higher than someone from the yeoman families?" "Yes, exactly. If two nessuns met, the Dandelion one would order the Herringbone one, even if the Herringbone had been in grade longer. Their royal family lines are comparatively simpler and less bushy than ours though, so it tends to be less contentious there. It'd be a charlie-fox here, especially with the Mastumoto-Dandelion feud." "Where is your glorified cat sitter anyways? I haven't seen him attending her royal mewness lately." "He's on TAD for state, or what passes for it." Amalthea tended to use military terms even for the civilian services, Shibué found it irksome, but said nothing. "I ain't seen anything for squad two, he's going to an Embassy?" "You're not cleared for what he's doing, drop it." Shibue's mind raced, as her ruler's lifeguard commander and principal lifeguard, there wasn't much she wasn't cleared for, and she often got tasked with things no one else had clearance for, and got clearance-while-doing, a term of art in special forces roughly equivalent to black than black ops. Whatever it was, was not catsitting. "I don't even need to send a squad to pick him up?" "He's getting delivered to an embassy before he's done, he'll take a diplomatic skycutter flight back."
"So nice to see you again." "Thank you honoured cat princess, likewise." "You're so very kind, and Dali thinks so too..." "Oh, I think Dali thinks Corbo is very kind, sweet, lovely, charming and quite a few more..." "Oh?" "At least, that's the impression I got when they both woke me in the wee hours of the morning, last time..." "Oh my, are you saying what I think you're saying?" "I wouldn't be shocked if Dali got Corbo pregnant."
"Hold still! Your straps are crooked!" "Ah, thanks, it was that bad? I always thought those had to be at least a little crooked..." "Yes, but if they're over a wungli, they still can't cross a division crooked. Not that most people know, it's not like the traditions of how to wear a wungli are healthy in Kagomei, Tsou's doing a lot better with that garment." "Remember how that got used to explain why some researchers thought the Tsou descended from the Kagomine?" "Yeah, and they had egg in their face, when we found out both were descended from the Moniqi, who just banned the garment after we humiliated them, when we became an empire." "When are you visiting next?" "I'm not, not this year, I've sent the Bameimeito earlier, and next week my Feline Advisor is going." "I'll never get over why that job seems to hold so much prestige and ceremonial duty, when it boils down to being a catsitter..." "Well, I named my cat my heir, that should tell you how much I like cats... And I wasn't even the first ruler to do so." "Oh, I love the lil critters, make no mistake, but why not send the Valour-Keeper, or Telbun?" "Because those are much more useful inside our own borders, making sure our own laws and customs are applied... Besides, most 'cat princes', ours, and other nations, tend to be in the diplomatic trades in the first place, they're naturals for this. The tsou princess in town being a case in point." "Isn't she like their second in command of their diplomatic apparatus?" "Yes, because she wasn't born in the royal family, or else she'd be first, and the orange prince second..." "They're interchangeable?" "No, but the Tsou add pride of birth to pride of position, whereas the Kagomine tend not to." "Oh, so if we did, an office held by a Dandelion would be higher than someone from the yeoman families?" "Yes, exactly. If two nessuns met, the Dandelion one would order the Herringbone one, even if the Herringbone had been in grade longer. Their royal family lines are comparatively simpler and less bushy than ours though, so it tends to be less contentious there. It'd be a charlie-fox here, especially with the Mastumoto-Dandelion feud." "Where is your glorified cat sitter anyways? I haven't seen him attending her royal mewness lately." "He's on TAD for state, or what passes for it." Amalthea tended to use military terms even for the civilian services, Shibué found it irksome, but said nothing. "I ain't seen anything for squad two, he's going to an Embassy?" "You're not cleared for what he's doing, drop it." Shibue's mind raced, as her ruler's lifeguard commander and principal lifeguard, there wasn't much she wasn't cleared for, and she often got tasked with things no one else had clearance for, and got clearance-while-doing, a term of art in special forces roughly equivalent to black than black ops. Whatever it was, was not catsitting. "I don't even need to send a squad to pick him up?" "He's getting delivered to an embassy before he's done, he'll take a diplomatic skycutter flight back."
"So nice to see you again." "Thank you honoured cat princess, likewise." "You're so very kind, and Dali thinks so too..." "Oh, I think Dali thinks Corbo is very kind, sweet, lovely, charming and quite a few more..." "Oh?" "At least, that's the impression I got when they both woke me in the wee hours of the morning, last time..." "Oh my, are you saying what I think you're saying?" "I wouldn't be shocked if Dali got Corbo pregnant."
Type
Civic, Diplomatic
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