Private In Memoriam We Find Peace

[Niamh Raste]

Every day that she spent on Eshan was different from the last except in one facet. Every day she visited the war memorial that memorialized those who had been lost when the destroyer was crashed into the city. There was a reason for it. All of the names were in alphabetical order and each day she picked the next name in the list to memorize. Then she went back to the palace and drafted a formal, individualized letter to the family of the person that she had memorized. While she knew Queen Jacobs had already done much the same, she felt a responsibility to those lost and she wanted to do something about it.

That day was no different. She finished her morning duties and then slipped out of the palace without her guard droids. She wasn't going far and the city was as safe as could be, especially since it was patrolled by EMBU droids. Eshan was as safe as could be. So she walked down the street and approached the memorial, her circlet adorning her head and identifying her. The few people she saw dipped their head and she smiled at them in return, but she didn't stop to talk. Her task was essential to her and she focused on it almost solely. She'd been there enough to ignore the signs and with the circlet she could ignore most of the feelings thanks to her innate mental defense.

The gardens passed by without thought and she walked into the center of the place, stopping for a moment to stare at the central monument, the fallen star. The symbol of loss. After a minute or so she turned and walked to the wall nearby, tracing her finger down the list of names to get through the few that she'd already done. Finally she stopped at the next name, Cyri Hyrin. She did not know that house, but she knew the pain they must have felt. It was the only one with that last name on the list. She stood there, staring at the name, working to memorize it. She wanted to remember all the names just as much as she wanted to write to them. Memorizing took time.

Siyndacha Aerin

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

It wasn't what she expected to draw her back to Eshan; she had known Matriarch Adithi to be in quite good health, and thus her own ascension to be years away, but war visited on the doorstep of her childhood home, and took from her, but this didn't affect her as she would expect. Death was a fact of life. An entire galaxy was too large, too varied to know peace wholesale, and trying to force peace upon it made you a target. Peace was, to many, a restriction on freedoms. Peace was not necessarily order, and it was order that was necessary.

Still, she stood over where the names of her house, cut down to a fraction of their great number, her eyes fixed on the name of her grandmother, whose place she was slated to take by the laws of accession. A place her own mother would have taken, if not for dying giving her life, from the wounds given by the man that was her husband, that had a hand in Siyndacha's creation. There was torment beneath her visage, to be certain, but it was buried deeper than it would be for most. However, if it was possible for her clenched fists to be whiter than they already were from the force of her grip, the skin might as well have been clear through to the bone and sinew that was their construction.

She was not angry... at least not at those who caused this. It was too much a fact of life. No, she was angry because this was too soon, and it wrenched control from her grasp. She was sorrowed at the loss because of it was a void where there hadn't been one before, and it was all caged, because it was the one thing she could be a master of, in this time.

It made her one of the number that didn't give deference, when Niamh Raste entered the area. So consumed was she in maintaining her composure two eaves prior to the ceremony she was to undergo, that she barely even noticed.

 

[Niamh Raste]

It took a good while, but eventually she had memorized the name well enough to spell it backward without looking. Remembering the name was one thing, but remembering to spell it was even more vital. It wouldn't do for her to send a letter to the family only to have misspelled the name of their lost family member. No, she didn't want to embarrass herself or her station in such a manner so extra attention was due. She had nothing else pressing her for time, anyway.

When she turned away, she spotted another Echani standing near the beginning of the names. She'd already gone through that section, so this must have been the family of someone she'd already written to. She seemed battle-hardy, and though there was a modicum of sign upon her as to the pull of the nexus, she didn't seem as bad off as Niamh was accustomed to seeing people who came there. Gently reaching out, she quickly figured out the why of the matter, as it became obvious this woman was entrenched with a level of the Force substantive enough to bolster her natural Echani resistance to mental intrusion. That interested her.

With a calm gait, she made her way towards the woman as she stared at the names, though made it appear she would move past her. This was only so she could see the block of names the woman was studying, however, as she quickly came to a halt once she'd passed her. There were a few names on this particular panel, but the most obvious one was the House of Aerin. She knew them, and as Echani had striking familiarity to their familial relatives, it was relatively easy to see that this woman was quite likely one of them.

"I'm sorry for your loss," she said, not wanting to launch into a big spiel in case the woman didn't wish to be interupted.

Siyndacha Aerin

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

She breathed out, her eyes sliding shut as she further steeled her composure, fingers uncurling, dents left in the palms, pale colour (if it could be called that) returning to joints. Her mind working through how she might respond verbally in what much of the galaxy considered a civil manner. The Queen had done nothing to earn any other sort of reply.

"Thank you," Sindy responded, her tone perhaps a little flat, "this day would have come in time, but it has been much sooner than I expected."

Only then did she turn her gaze to the other woman, any notice of her beauty not registering in the technomancer's expression... but. She filed that away for later, if ever. That wasn't what she was here for. She wasn't even certain she intended to stay once her on-world business was done.

"Much too soon for many of the names on this list."

It was not just her house that had lost many accomplished, skilled warriors. Eshan had lost, and it was unavoidable. Beyond her control. She suspected there was more to the story than what she had heard from what members of her house remained, but that was an investigation she would undertake on her own time. Sindy tipped her head, finally, and got on with formalities.

"I am Siyndacha Karolle Aerin, your majesty," she informed, her head and eyes lifting, her steely gaze settling solidly on the monarch, "and I am heir to my house."

She skirted a glance at the list of names with that last word, spoken firm and unyielding.

"What is left of it, at any rate," and she returned her attention to Niamh Raste again. "The ceremony is set to take place in two days' time."

 

[Niamh Raste]

"Much too soon for nearly all the names on the list," she said, clasping hands behind her back. "The majority of those listed were only civilians, and far too many of them were children."

She regarded the Aerin woman casually, noting the intricacies of her natural, but fierce, beauty. This was a woman who knew more than the average Echani about the state of the galaxy. Likely she had fought in several battles herself. She was steeled, and seemingly unemotional, though it was the place in which they stood that affected her at least somewhat. Perhaps she had been ready for the loss of her family in ways that most were not. Had she been estranged from them? That was possible. Niamh barely talked to any of her own house outside of Raze and that was because they'd been close since childhood. Were it not for that connection she may have avoided him too.

When she finally gave her name and mentioned she was heir to her house, Niamh locked eyes with her and spoke the name of every member of her house that had died, making the connections as she went.

"Again, sorry for your loss, but why don't you join me? We can go talk at the palace for a bit. I'd like to know more about you and your plans for your house."

Aerin was a prominent house and knowing what she planned to do as the leader of the house would be important for her going forward, just as it was important that she learn more about the other houses and their plans. Being Queen meant she needed to have a connection to her people and the best way to do that was to learn more about them and become acquainted with them. Siyndacha Aerin was going to be the new leader of her house, so why not discuss it with her before she took over the role?

"Provided you aren't busy, of course."

 

[Siyndacha Aerin]

Busy? Yes, but not to such a degree that she couldn't make time for someone she might have to answer to... even if the thought of answering to anyone to have to loosen her tight grasp ran afoul of her regular ways. Sindy let the silence hang between the monarch's question and her pending response, as if she were thinking it over. Getting down to business, one way or another, and shifting her focus was preferable to dwelling on everything that slipped through her fingers. That only served to draw her anger, and while anger had its uses, it was not particularly useful here.

"I... welcome the company," she replied, turning away from the seemingly endless lists of names, etched all around, "but would you be at all inclined to talk over a meal? I haven't yet eaten."

The shift from swallowed, restrained anger to a mood of business was imperceptible, a mask akin to battle armour that she refined in her time with Tyrin Ardik. She wasn't a slave to her emotions, nor did she dismiss them. They were a thing to be controlled, used, and rarely indulged.

"And maybe you can tell me why Eshan chose you, and why Eshan continues to choose a single monarch over tradition, over prior, continuous centuries, nay millenia, of council rule, while we're at it."

She gave a fleeting smile. Not a threat, merely curiosity. Monarchy was firmly in place before even she was born.

Niamh Raste

 

[Niamh Raste]

Niamh nodded her head.

"That can be arranged," she said before motioning with a hand for Siyndacha Aerin to move with her.

Once they began walking, the overbearing nature of the nexus would begin to wane. For Niamh it had become commonplace and she was used to it. That didn't make going there any easier, but it made it different. Regardless, she was always glad to leave the place for the day. In part because being around all the names of the dead did affect her in its own right. In part also because seeing so many others broken down by the power of the place just wasn't something she wanted to deal with constantly. It was better this particular time since at least she had the company of someone else when leaving rather than doing so on her own.

They passed through the entry as she contemplated the answer to the Aerin woman question. It was a difficult one to answer and something she had also pondered. The installation of a Queen could only be traced back a short time in the grand scheme of things. Prior to that everything was run by Echani Command.

"I suspect the reason for a monarchy was the transfer to becoming the Compact rather than just Echani Command. When we sought to expand our influence outside of the Sisters we needed a figurehead to deal with various different governments. A queen probably seemed the logical choice at the time, similar to what the Hapans employ. As for why me, it simply comes down to the fact that I stood up for the position when it became available and nobody rose to challenge me. I think many agree with my plans and ideals and after everything that's happened an inward focus seems prudent."

She nodded her head to someone who waved at her, offering a smile. The palace wasn't far so they wouldn't have to walk a long distance and it wouldn't take long for the chefs to prepare them a meal. The kitchen was always cooking.

"Would you have us do different?"