Private A Noble Objective

[Cassiane Damaris]

A NOBLE OBJECTIVE
Doan · Pastinaca Estate​

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OBJECTIVE: A private meeting between House Damaris and the Mahporeem Imperial Remnant
LOCATION: Pastinaca Estate, Doan
OUTFIT: Deep blue formal attire

The afternoon had been quiet at Pastinaca.

Cassiane had spent the better part of the day dealing with the less interesting parts of being the heir to a noble house. A pair of estate reports had needed her attention, there had been correspondence to review, and one of the agricultural supervisors had left a stack of figures on her desk that she had already decided needed to be looked over again before she signed anything.

The arrival of a Mahporeem diplomat was considerably more interesting.

The meeting had been arranged with enough notice that there had been little reason for ceremony. Cassiane had no intention of filling the entrance hall with servants simply to make an impression, nor did she see much value in receiving an important guest beneath a dozen family portraits while everyone stood around pretending the occasion was more significant than it was.

Instead, she had chosen to wait outside, it was calmer.

She stood near the main entrance to the manor with her hands resting behind her back loosely, dressed in a dark blue outfit with a light collar and restrained silver detailing. It was formal enough to make her position and appearance clean without making any ostentatious impression. Her hair had been kept neatly in place, and the only jewelry she wore were a few older pieces from the Damaris collection, nothing really flashy.

From where she waited, the estate stretched out far in front of her.

Pastinaca hadn't been designed to impress through excess. The manor was large but the surrounding property made its purpose more defined than the building itself did. Gardens bordered the paths near the house, their older sections carefully maintained beside the new growth. Beyond them, there was the more practical parts of the estate, with agricultural fields, storage buildings and the smaller structures used by the people who kept the property running.

Cassiane knew most of the estate by sight.

She had spent enough years here to recognize which paths were usually busy, which parts of the grounds received the most attention and which had been left alone for years. Even after taking on more of the family's affairs, she still found herself walking the estate and these desolated parts without a particular destination from time to time.

Today there was more of a destination.

The study had been prepared for the meeting. Nothing elaborate had been arranged there either. There would be drinks, a place to sit, and enough privacy that the two of them could speak without having to worry about every word becoming household gossip before the evening was over.

That was probably better.

Cassiane glanced once toward the road leading to the estate before looking back across the grounds. She had already considered most of the obvious subjects for conversation.

Doan had changed under Mahporeem's influence. The local nobility had changed with it, though perhaps less openly. Some families had adapted quickly and others had kept their distance. A few seemed happy to wait and see which way the political winds moved before deciding where to place themselves.

House Damaris had little luxury to do the same, really.

Their position was secure enough for the moment. Their land remained theirs, their name remained intact, and their relationship with the new authority on Doan was still being defined. Cassiane was interested in seeing exactly what Mahporeem intended that relationship to become.

She was equally interested in Prystill Oasay herself.

A diplomat who came to Doan looking for a better understanding of the local nobility was likely to hear plenty of polished answers if she asked the right people. Cassiane suspected that most of them would be eager to tell her whatever they thought she wanted to hear. It could be a nice mental exercise for Cassiane.

Besides, there is little advantage in lying when a more carefully chosen truth could be just as useful.

A small breeze moved across the grounds, carrying the smell of the fields with it. Cassiane adjusted a cuff of her sleeve and checked the time before slipping her hands behind her back again.

The distant sound of an approaching transport eventually drew her attention toward the estate road.

Cassiane watched the vehicle approach without moving from her place.

Once it came close enough, she stepped forward from the manor entrance and stopped at a respectful distance from the path, her posture straightening almost imperceptibly as she prepared to receive the diplomat.
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TAG: Prystill Oasay​