In witch Gregory goes to visit the Queen and her Family
I ended up having Lunch alone with the Queen. Short is still missing having last been seen with a woman on each arm moving toward the entrance of the ball room. Security naturally was concerned it might be a plot of some sort.
The Legena authorities set their concerns to rest telling us they knew exactly where he was.
Argyle is still sulking over what he calls the insinuations. I told him to pull up his socks and cope with it. It was just a misunderstanding. He didn't react well to this at all and stormed out. He has returned to the Triumphant. I just hope he shows up for the Grand Ball.
I used the embassy limo to get to her house. The invitation was to family house instead of her official residence.
Cars as we know them don't exist on Legena. A passenger couch is rolled onto the the center of the public transport strips and carried along being moved from time to time to crossroads of the strip.
I had volenteered to use the walkway but security people all freaked. I suppose they are right given the numerous assasination plots.
I arrived at a large but modest home to be greeted at the door by a child of perhaps ten years old.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"I am Gregory Jacobite-Wilson." I answered.
"Sure," said the kid. "and I'm Argyle."
She started to shut the door.
"Acually Susan he really is. Gregory Jacobite Wilson."
It was the Queen.
She had her hair down and the tint of her screen was a modest transparent color.
The child still looked skeptical but moved out of the doorway and out of site.
"Where are the others?" she asked.
"Well Short is being entertained by some ladies..." I began.
"So I had heard." said the Queen laughing.
I should mention the Queen has a name.
She is Anastasia Stewart-Tyson.
I shall refer to her hereafter as Anastasia.
"Argyle is upset that the ladies didn't like his Kilts and asked him if he was covering up war injuries. He is very sensitive."
"Oh My." said the Queen looking concerned. "Do come in and I will call the foriegn minister and see if they can mollify him."
We walked to a large room with a set of four couchs arranged in a circle. In the middle of them was a round table arranged with glasses and carafes along the edge.
There were two men and a women seated on the couchs.
I was introduced and told to sit down and make myself comfortable
"This is Jude." she said indicating a large blond man who looked to be in his mid forties.
"Amanda" she idicated a very young woman who looked just out of her teens.
"Thomas."
The slight man waved as he consumed a peice of bread. He looked to be in his thirties.
"I am going to call the foriegn misiter and see if she can mollify Argyle." announced Anastasa
"Two elders are off at work." Jude informed me. "Most of the children are at school or asleep.'
"I've met Susan. It was less then a sucess." I told them.
All four of them luaghed.
"She is a very serious and skeptical young woman. She acts more like my grandmother then my child." said Jude.
The queen returned and sat next to Amanda.
"Things should be areranged now or at least I hope so." She told me.
I should mention I suppose she is a figurehead. Legena elects their Queen (always a queen) in what works out to a beauty contest.
That doesn't mean she is all looks and no mind.
Quite the opposite in fact. I think she is brighter then she is beautiful.
She stood out even among her own family in terms of looks.
I knew the Queen has twin degrees in History and Anthropology and is an educated laywoman in most subjects.
So I didn't want to talk politics for that reason and becuase frankly I was tired of doing so. My chosen field is military history and technology. I am a famous busnessman as well of course but that was of even less interest to me at that moment.
"I have a subject I'd like to talk about." I annouced. "I have been briefed on Legena's social system but would like you to clarify a subject or two if you don't mind."
I have found over the years that people like to talk about their society second only to talking about themselves,
Some are wary of the subject especially if people routinly misunderstood or objected to their culture.
Such was the case I suspected with Legena. Nudism is still diapproved of in most parts of the expanse.
They looked wary.
"What do you want to know." asked Anastasia ( the queen).
"The big details I think I've got. What I'd like to have explained is how the group family works. I have no moral objection to it. I spent neary a century among the solar Cain who practice polygamy. How are members recruited for example? I notice a big age range here in the group."
"If Bob and June were here you'd see even more age difference." said Jude.
"We recruit mostly by courtship but some families start by advertisement. Sometimes the courtship is a singe person but sometimes it a couple." said Anastasia
"On rare occaisons it is even a merger between two group families." added Jude.
"That was common during the time of troubles. More hands were needed as so many were in the military. Having a big family had an advantage that enhanced survival." said Thomas.
I reached for a glass and poured from the pitcher.
It was light fruit juice with a taste simular to watermellon.
"The nuru fruit. It is native to this planet." said Thomas.
He rose. "If you'll excuse me I will go off and supervise the roboservants."
I smiled and nodded.
"Take me for example." said Amanda.
She was as I said earlier the youngest. She was also the smallest and wore her hair in a dutchboy style. A tattoo of a dragin like animal wasacross her chest just above her rather small bit firm breats.
" I had been mariied in a uni..." she started
"A marriage between just two people.' Anastasa interjected.
"My parents where Uni and I thought that was I wanted. But I ended up in a relationship with a wanderer. I dissolved the contract and began looking for another. I met Thomas at work and we sort of bonded. He introduced me to the rest of the family and I began to join both Thomas and the family in social situations. After about a year I was invited to join and decided to do so."
"Did you have problems given your earlier preference for Uni?" I asked.
"Yes, of course but not becuase I disapproved. I decided that while Thomas was a soulmate the others were perfect for me. I love them all."
"Do internal pairings usually exist within the family or do you have some sort of arrangement in terms of conjucal relations.
Jude Luaghed. "Yes and no. sooner or later everybody get involved with each other. Thomas and Amanda spend more time together then usual but both spend most of their time with the family."
"It's not usually formal though some families do include templates in their contract." said Anastasia.
"What about family names?" I asked.
"It varies." answered Anastasia.
"Some families designate a singe family name. Others use the names of the biological parents to name each child." said Jude.
"And sometimes the name of the name of every living member of the family is added in a long string of last names." said Amanda. "That tends to be the preference of our 'snooty' class.
"In my case the family name Tyson is my Mothers family name name." said Anastasia. "Stewart is the name of the Familys first 'father'. We all include his name on ours."
"Is that part of the contract?' he asked. "What has to includedin the contract?"
"The naming systen can be included and often is." said Jude. "in any case the contract uses a incorperated 'name' when doing business. That can be used as name for all members or just when doing business. In our case the corperat name is Stewart and many of us include it as part of our name."
"Property and fianace mostly. All famulies own some common property but this varies from the all property but personal items to situations where only the house is owned and in some cases not even that for renters for example." said Anastasa.
"Most group families own ther homes. It is one of the advantages of the arrangement." said Jude.
The conversation moved on in the vein for some time. Then they quized me on the Caining family system and then on the 'family' system of ancient Luna.
About that point Thomas returned with a apir of server robots who placed the food on the the table. The area just inside the strip for eating was a lazy susan that rolled the food by each person stopping when someone picked up the spoon or tongs in the serving dish.
I decided I want one.
+++
A side note: Argyle and I visted Magnus's daughter. She too has a name . It is a quite a mouthful which is typical of many Legena names asyou know from what I have said above.
Ready?
Alicia "Martha II" Lesistrada-Magnus
I was impressed. Her knowledge of military matters was extensive.
I thought she looked more Shrike than like Magnus. I did see Magnus's contribution in her face especially in the cheek and forehead.
I suspect she had inherited more then looks form he mother. That doesn't surprise me. Moreover Magnus received a genetic graft of Shrike Genes back in the 1300's to protect him from Shrike attacks. That combined with her mother's genes should have given her many of classic powers of the shrike.
I visualized her meeting my own daughter Petra who is Hellenic cloid and has quite powerful cloid characteristic.
+++
I had dinner with the Prime minister late tonight. He seemed a dull man who could only exchange pleasentries. He was visibly lost when the foriegn minister and I discussed briefly the treaty just sign between the Emerald star and Legena. He seemed like he was a stepford politican.
He was extremeily handsome however.
I suspect that perhaps the urge to elect beautiful people is more pronounced in Legena then elsewhere.
Jennifer Penelope-Cruz Yum-Yum Whilhite, the foriegn minister was quite bright and well informed. She was able ot clarify several subjects for me.
Most of the discussion was thus between Penelope and I.
The Pm just zoned out.
Admittadly the subject was trade treaties and that is not an exciting topic.
Tommorow is the opening ceremony for the grand ball.
+++
On another note and then I will sleep. It seems that Penelope has mollified Argyl quite nicely. I think Argyle is smitten.
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