---Apology---

---Lhamo's perspective---

With the bright, clear light of the midmorning sun shining through the open skylights in the silk ceiling, my husband at my left, Emiko at my right, the others behind me and the Vrakhand council arranged before me, a large woman marches towards me with a grim expression.

None of her fellow Vrakhand raise any objection, nor make any move to stop her, so I choose to remain placid as I watch her approach, though I can hear the uncomfortable shifting of the security personnel behind me.

Ho'akhath stops around 4m away and stands, looking down on us, her face unreadable.

Then, she curls her pronged pedipalps beneath her hindbody and tilts her upperbody forward.

I've just enough time to wonder what it is she's doing before her front four legs collapse and her torso, head and arms are all slammed into the floor in an unmistakeable (and fairly painful looking) full prostration!

I stare, wide eyed, at the woman, lying face down at my feet with her abdomen presenting up in the air, for some long moments of silence before I ask "Would someone care to explain?" looking to Khr'kowan.

"A plea for forgiveness, Ambassador… She awaits your permission to speak." answers the large woman, looking not at me but at her fellow General with a wry expression, devoid of sympathy.

Unsure if I might cause offence by asking her to stand first, I decide to follow the lead and simply invite "Please speak, Gen. Ho'akhath."

"I was wrong!" she says immediately "I was wrong to question your species' courage! I was wrong to cast aspersions on your honour! I was so wrong to imply that your people were unfit or unaccustomed to war!… Terrans are clearly warriors of a mightier spirit than my people ever have been! I see now that the decision to transform yourselves from makers of war to keepers of peace must have required a tremendous force of will, greater than that of any warrior and sustained over generations!… I see now that my people's future must not be allowed to come anywhere close to resembling your people's past!… I humbly apologise for my contemptable misjudgement of you! I beg your forgiveness and ask that you accept my submission and deign to instruct me in the ways of peace!"

Silence rings out for some long moments after the prostrate woman has finished speaking.

Then, someone decides to crack a joke.

"What 'bout when you called us 'vertebrates' and rubbed juuust enough stank on it to make it obvious you thought that was an insult(?) You sorry for that(?)" comes the voice of Taylor from behind me.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"I'm sorry for that also!" shouts Ho'akhath, into the floor.

I wheel in place to stare daggers at the man, his mischievous grin instantly dropping from his face.

I sigh and turn back around, standing from the floor and walking to where the woman lies.

"Lesson one in the ways of peace… is respect… Not the respect due to an authority, the respect due an equal… Please stand up, Gen. Ho'akhath."

She hesitates for a moment before beginning the process of leveraging herself back to standing.

She looks down on me with an expression so close to the ones worn by my children when they knew they'd fucked up bad and were in serious trouble that it's all I can do not to burst into laughter when I see it(!)

Once I'm certain I'm not going to crease, I start "I can see our showcase yesterday has frightened you and, I won't lie, that was intentional! Our expedition coordinator had a lot of fun compiling all those disparate clips into that timeline of horror… though, I fear she may have done a little too good a job at putting the fear of the gods in you(!)"

"I'm not sorry(!)" chimes in Emiko.

Ignoring her, I continue "I'm glad you've come to see that our species are not cowards. I wholeheartedly accept your apology and forgive you… Your submission, however, I do not accept! Nor will I or my people 'deign' anything with regard to you and yours!"

A look of equal parts confusion and dismay twists the mobile scutes of her face as she starts "But… Ambassador…?!"

I cut her off "As we have attempted to make clear at every stage of this contact, neither the Galactic Union nor the United Terran Coalition are here to subjugate your people or your planet! We neither want nor need submissive servants!… There are things we are here to teach you, yes, but there are many things we're here to learn from you as well!… That's not the simple platitude I'm sure it must sound to be! While we can (and plan to) teach your people how to build a warp drive, how to terraform a continent, how to conduct the business of settling a population on another planet and the answers to many other questions that you've never grappled with, we can't tell you who you are, what you want or why you want it… Those are things you'll need to teach us about you. As much as we aren't here to make servants of you, we aren't here to force you into our mould! We're here to give you the tools to allow you to turn yourselves into the people you want to be!… We're not here to be your conquerors, your masters, your instructors or even your teachers… We're here as your equals and we're here as your friends… So, Gen. Ho'akhath, how about it?… Are you willing to be a friend to us?"

I extend my arms to the side, inviting the formidable woman into an embrace.

"I… am…" says the woman, breathlessly.

She hesitantly extends her own arms and takes a few tentative steps forward.

I match her, trying to make sure we meet exactly in the middle of the points we were standing.

One of her pedipalps comes to straddle each of my sides as the much taller woman's hands clasp my shoulders and I wrap my arms around her waist in an embrace of friendship.

It's… not comfortable, her silk gown affording very little padding against the rock hard armour beneath, but I don't let that show, embracing the woman like a sister as there is an approving cheer from the room at large.

She and I separate and she returns to sit by her Uncle.

I sit back down in my space as well.

Broodking Aghogh is the next to speak "I am grateful this matter is resolved… Now, if I may, I would like to open the floor to nominations for the ones who will travel to represent us to the [Parliament] of the [Galactic] Union after we have achieved peace with the Twigg…"