“Um… do you maybe have a smaller one, Sil?”

Silgvani sighed as the Human handed her back her datapad.

“I had the last three times you asked that. But it’s not like I freely have access to anything on the planet. Well, I technically have, but expropriation isn’t exactly a route I want to take.”

“Of course, DON’T do that, please! It’s just… you know…”

The princess leaned back in her chair and nodded. This was far from the first time they had a conversation like this, so by now, Nadine’s view of things wasn’t as foreign to her as it used to be.

The plan for a more thorough investigation of Eroas for potential clues to the other Humans was now more or less complete, except for the parts that depended on her uncle’s report. It shouldn’t take much longer for the fleet to come home and report their findings and as soon as they did, they could finalize their plans and send the expedition on their way. In the best-case scenario, the soldiers had already found some clues regarding the involvement of Nadine’s colony which they could build upon. Worst case, they would know where there was nothing to find.

This meant that they had a few days of inevitable downtime which allowed Silgvani to get some other things done that were due. She decided to pick the more pleasant option, Nadine’s award ceremony, first. Even though the small alien may disagree with her evaluation.

“Yes, I can… somewhat see your position,” Silgvani admitted. “But this is already on the lower end. Remember, from the perspective of the noble clans, you are a foreign dignitary whom we are greatly indebted to for her deeds. If I give an award that makes me look cheap my family’s reputation will suffer even more than it already does thanks to my parents’ antics. This estate isn’t big by ducal standards - no, I can not hold you to a lower standard than that - and the accompanying patch of land is only eight thousand fleacc.”

“Yes, I know. I also know that we’ve been through this, but… I still can’t help but feel like it’s a waste. And that the current situation is so frustrating doesn’t help! I once again can’t do anything except wait! Once the expedition can finally go on its way, we need to wait again! On top of that, all of your messengers who returned from other planets so far came back with nothing except one with a very vague “they want to meet”, and for that to lead anywhere, we have to - again - wait! The hyperlanes make everything so slow!”

Nadine took a deep breath before she continued.

“I get that we might as well do something while we wait. Sorry that I’m being such a chore right now. Ranting won’t change anything. And some distraction is probably better for my mental state anyway.”

She looked back at the image of the manor.

“This one is good. I swear I’ll find a way to use it properly and not waste it. Also, can I just take a moment and say that your area unit is an absolute mess to calculate? Why aren’t you just squaring your length unit, lynes?”

“Square? The site isn’t a square though,” Silgvani pointed out, earning a sigh from Nadine. Was she misunderstanding something? She knew how to calculate, obviously, but deeper mathematics hadn’t been part of her education.

“Forget it. Out of curiosity, did you get that unit from somewhere else? Fleacc doesn’t sound like a Vanaery word.”

“I never really thought about it, we’ve used that unit for as long as I can remember. But now that you say it, it could be.”

“Well, you’re probably using the same units alliance-wide, right? Wouldn’t be too strange then. And it makes sense to synch units considering you’re selling spaceships to each other. In the past, we screwed up an international space mission pretty badly once because the people used different ones. Still doesn’t explain how this trainwreck of a unit was what prevailed.”

The princess shrugged.

“Maybe it was the unit used by the strongest economic power at the time. Is it really that bad? I know how big an area roughly is if you tell me how many flaecc it has, but I never did calculations with it.”

“Be glad,” Nadine insisted, making Silgvani chuckle.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You know, you’re getting better with our language if you can notice something like that already. Who knows for how long you’ll need the translator?”

“I’m not that good. Rehearsed speeches maybe… damn, I just remembered, do I have to hold a speech for this award?”

“Not necessarily, but some might see it as rude if you don’t. Why is that an issue, anyway? You proved to be a decent speaker at the trial.”

“Maybe, but I’m still bad with crowds! Fine, I’ll try. That aside, how exactly do ceremonies like this go? Any traditions I need to keep in mind?”

Silgvani sat back down behind her desk and opened the drawing function on her datapad.

“There are,” she explained while her finger glided over the screen, “but for most of them, it’s not mandatory for foreigners to adhere. Appreciated, yes, but even the dukes aren’t self-absorbed enough to not realize how disrespectful that can end up being. The more formalities you adopt, the more they will like you, but they won’t hold it against you if you don’t.”

“Okay… why do I feel like you just said the same thing three times in a row?”

Silgvani suppressed a laughter at Nadine’s deadpan response.

“I just wanted to make sure you understand no one will be mad if you wish to keep your clothes on.”

The small alien blinked a couple of times, seemingly needing a few tiggs to process what she just heard.

“Sil, please tell me that was just bad wording.”

“I’m… not sure how what I said sounded to you, so I’ll just explain. I believe I told you that fashion as a whole is a concept we imported from other cultures?”

“Yeah.”

“When it comes to ceremonial circumstances, we keep things more traditional. Hence, no clothes.”

Finally done with her drawing, she put the datapad on the table so that Nadine could see the screen. It showed an assortment of lines, arranged in a shape that roughly resembled a torso.

“Has anyone told you about these yet?”

“Nnnoo?” Nadine answered slowly as she looked at the image. “Wait, that looks a bit like what Falpiyne and Reiykin used when they signed the NDAs. Right, I wanted to ask about that anyway!”

“Yes, unlike you, we don’t sign with our names. This is a “line crest”. Every clan has one, each of them unique. During ceremonies, we paint them on our bodies. Obstructing them would be seen as disrespecting our heritage.”

The Human nodded and looked almost relieved.

“That makes more sense than how it originally sounded. Still, pass. I’ll speak if I have to, but I will NOT speak naked.”

“Yes, I expected as much. As I said, that is fine. Besides, I doubt Humans have line crests anyway.”

“We actually do. Well, they’re different, but some old families still have their crests. Hang on, I’ll show you mine.”

“Wait, your nobility holds no meaning, but your crest does?” the princess asked, confused.

“No, it’s just as irrelevant.”

“But you know it well enough to draw it?”

“It might be a vestige, but it’s a cool vestige. Ours is on the simpler side so it’s easy to remember. We had it framed in our house so I saw it daily. Does this have a color function… no, of course it hasn’t. Okay, let’s see…”

She kept drawing for a bit longer until finally, she revealed her work.

“Imagine the filled spaces to be black and the empty spaces to be yellow.”

It was indeed very different from a line crest. Judging by the shape, it clearly wasn’t meant to be painted on the body. The centerpiece was a half-rectangle-half-circle with a circle and a beam in it. On top sat a small cylinder with an oval on top, and a bizarre, almost shapeless array wrung around the entire thing.

“Yes, it would be difficult to use that like a line crest. I can have it made into an emblem for you the wear though, how does that sound?”

“That… actually sounds nice.”

“Then I’ll see to it. The two practitioners will probably appreciate some lighter tasks, we put them through a lot.”

Nadine let out an audible sigh.

“Sil, I told you it’s not “practitioners”, that was just the translator being weird. Man, we need to come up with a Vanaery name for this. But speaking of, how is your impression so far?”

Silgvani leaned back in her chair, adjusting her position so it would be more comfortable for her two broken arms.

“The daughter of clan Silpiyne received a decent education. It didn’t take long before I could give her some tasks and she performed well. To be completely honest, she was a big help and more or less convinced me to do this again in the future. The son of clan Reiylar… well, you spent more time with him than I did, I only gave him work a handful of times. The results were decent though. He is more quiet and reserved compared to his adoptive sister, but he knows how to use his head. The biggest issue was that he always needed someone to read and write for him. It’s fine for now, but he can’t lead a duchy like that. The potential for people to manipulate him is too great. ”

“Yeah, he’s aware of that. Some of my initial ideas are, unfortunately, out of the window, but I got some new ones. It depends on how certain pieces of tech work, but I need to speak with an expert anyway. Back on Earth, I’d know a dozen things that could help him, but you seem to have never invented them. But I think that at least on a personal level, I’m making progress with him. A lot will depend on his strength of will.”

“Then how about you use the time until we get the report to work on your ideas? I can do the rest here myself.”

Nadine clenched her fist and nodded. After she left, Silgvani retreated to her own chambers as well. Hopefully, they would get answers soon.

There was also the matter of the illness. Neither the doctor nor the Royal Research Institute had reported any results yet, and she wasn’t sure whether that was a good or a bad sign. But on the other hand, she had learned something interesting about the alien girl. She didn’t know if the crest was actually that important to her or if it was just a reminder of home, but maybe it would make her happy if…

I need to meet some artisans tomorrow.