A Royal Request

Posted on Mon Mar 1st, 2021 @ 2:25pm by Siany ZyMach
Edited on on Thu Mar 4th, 2021 @ 6:22am

1,255 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 0: Everybody Has A Story
Location: Royal Palace, Yegorah

Not many were called to the Queen's private meeting room, but Siany had been called there many times. In fact, the first time was on her third birthday, though she didn't remember it. The reason for this was simple: at the time, her mother had been Queen.

And now her sister was.

So of course, such meetings were commonplace for her. She had, however, expected their brothers and other sister to be in attendance as well, which was usually what happened at these meetings. However, when she presented herself, complete with silver circlet on her head, in the Queen's private room, she was surprised to find her sister completely alone, seated in an overstuffed chair, a pillow behind the small of her back and one hand resting on her swollen belly. She would deliver her second daughter any day now. Siany sincerely hoped she could be here for the birth.

“Your majesty,” Siany said, giving a respectful nod of her head.

“Oh, stop that,” said Queen Nualan ZyMach. “There's nobody else here.”

“Am I here on official orders?” pointed out Siany.

“Yes.”

“Very well, then, Your Majesty,” she repeated pointedly. “Princess Siany ZyMach reporting as ordered.”

Nualan sighed, but raised one hand in greeting. “Thank you for your prompt attention to command, Princess,” she said. “You may sit.”

Siany complied by taking the seat next to her sister. “How may I assist the throne?” she asked politely.

“May we speak as sisters first, Shar?”

The look on the queen’s face was such that Siany could not deny her the request. “Of course, Nala,” she said. “It’s been awhile.”

“How are you?” asked Nualan. “I mean, really. We haven’t spoken since… well…”

“Since Luke died,” finished Siany; Nualan flinched. “It’s been nearly three months, Nala. I’ve made my peace. Please don’t be afraid to speak of him on my account.”

“Yes, well,” said Nualan, attempting to recover. “I just… I didn’t want-”

“To hurt me, yes, I know,” finished Siany again. “I know he and I only had a couple of years together, but I’m glad we had any time at all. I’ll always miss him. But, I know he is at peace. I know he wouldn’t want me to wallow. So I’m not. I loved him. I continue to love him. I continue to mourn, but I do not weep. So, in answer to your question, I am fine. Really fine.”

Nualan studied her sister, tears in her own eyes. She couldn’t imagine losing Devlyn so quickly as her sister had lost her husband. She had not, of course, approved of Siany’s choice of mate, nor in how quickly they had Connected and then married, but Siany had been happy and that was what really mattered.

Finally, she blinked back the tears. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said. “Oh, Shar! I’m sorry I haven’t contacted you sooner! I should have been there for you! I should have-”

“You have a moon to run,” Siany reminded her. “You don’t need to be chasing after me all day.”

“I could have put Aislynn up to it!”

“Aislynn is still in school,” pointed out Siany. “She didn’t need that weight on her shoulders. No, Nala,” she continued when her sister tried to protest. “Stop. I had friends. I had Luke’s family. I had plenty of support. I’m okay. Really. I’m not mad at you.”

Finally, Nualan seemed to deflate a little. “Okay,” she said. “I’m glad you had them. I shall have to send them a-”

“Nala!” laughed Siany. “They’re not Telino! They wouldn’t understand.”

“Well,” said Nualan. “I’d still like to thank them.”

“If ever you meet, you can simply say it to their faces,” Siany assured her. “Humans don’t require any special effort for that. Now,” she continued, resuming her more formal posture. “What does my Queen and the throne need of me?”

Nualan looked as if she might protest, but just sighed and also adopted the formal posture. “Starfleet has requested the Mea Taulima,” she said.

Siany’s face pulled into a confused expression of its own free will. “Why?” she asked, incredulously.

“I have no idea,” Nualan replied, equally as confused. “They want to study it.”

“You’re not going to give it to them, are you?”

Nualan’s face gave away the answer before she could speak.

“Nala!” exclaimed Siany before she could stop herself. “I mean, Your Majesty. How can you just give it to them? What if they don’t know what to do with it?”

“I’m sure they can work it out,” replied the Queen. “It’s not as difficult as you or I would like to think. And humans are much smarter than we tend to give them credit for. Besides, we already know what it is and it is of no real use to us anymore.”

“No,” agreed Siany. “But, they may damage it. Or worse- try to use it!”

“Which is why I have only agreed if they will accept a caretaker along with it,” replied Nualan pointedly.

Siany just stared at her sister. “Me,” she said flatly.

“I trust no one else,” replied Nualan.

Siany sat back in the chair with a sigh. “So you want me to escort the Mea Taulima to Starfleet headquarters,” she repeated.

“Not quite,” replied Nualan. “It is to be taken to a secure location. And you with it. They wouldn’t tell me where and no amount of needling could get them to drop any hints whatsoever. I don’t even know the name of the facility. They have agreed to provide me with a communications device so we may speak from time to time, but apparently, this location is shielded and only certain types of transmissions can get through.”

“Even our own?” asked Siany, astonished.

“See what I mean?” replied Nualan. “Humans are smarter than we give them credit for.”

“Wow,” said Siany, not bothering to hide the fact that she was impressed. “That’s a real feat, isn’t it?”

“You were Connected to one of their engineers!” laughed Nualan. “And you’re astonished that they can do this?”

“Okay, okay,” laughed Siany. “I suppose you have a point. So when do I leave?”

“Three days,” answered Nualan.

“Oh,” replied Siany, her face falling. “I was hoping to meet my new niece before I had to leave.”

“You will,” answered Nualan, a bit sheepishly. “I think she’ll be here by day’s end. I’ve been having terrible cramps all day. And if my first birth was any indication, that means I should start having contractions soon.” No sooner has she stopped speaking than she gasped and a hand darted to her lower abdomen. “Yep, see?” she said.

“We need to get Devlyn!” exclaimed Siany, jumping from her chair. “And your healer. Come, Nala; you can lean on my arm.”

“Nonsense!” replied Nualan, waving her sister off. “I have hours, yet.”

“But the second child always comes faster,” protested Siany. “I’ve never had children and I know that.”

“It’s not- oh!” And Nualan stood from her chair. “My water just broke.”

“I told you!” laughed Siany. “Come. Let’s get you to the hospital wing.”

Nualan laughed, but allowed her sister to lead her through the palace. “We’ll do the briefing later, then, shall we?” she gasped as they walked.

Siany could only laugh.

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