Planatae

Yigera

Yigera - Caedem (2 Standard Months Ago)

Ricardia awoke to the scent of tea. Not the sharp, bitter scent of her usual drink of choice, but the smooth, buttery smell of expensive stock - the kind she owned but only her mother used. Which meant, of course, that she'd entered Ricardia's home while she was still sleeping and helped herself to it.

Shaking her head, Ricardia closed her eyes again. This was nothing out of the ordinary - her family often passed through her home without any announcement.

Then, she felt the low thump of footsteps and a distant, unfamiliar, laugh, and her eyes snapped open again. Caedish homes were incredibly communal spaces, but that only extended to the family. Inviting a guest into somebody else's home was poor manners, regardless of relationship.

A combination of mild alarm and indignation sent Ricardia scrambling. She threw off her blankets and got to her feet, leaving behind a rumpled mess of a sleeping pad.

Ricardia made an effort to look presentable as fast as possible to whoever was now sitting in her living room. She threw on her souyo - her ceremonial tunic, combed down her hair, and hastily splashed herself with water from a basin in the corner.

She was still trying to tame her hair when she heard her name called out, muffled through the palm-wood walls of her home. The nerve of her mother - to call her into her own rooms! - was astonishing. She looked down at herself, gave her outfit a weak stamp of approval, and slid open her bedroom door. Beyond that was one end of a hallway; instead of another door on the far side, it widened into the communal space were the family would host company.

"Ricardia! Are you there?" Her mother's piercing tone was much more audible now. She rolled her eyes; her mother could have easily pinged her over the feed, but no - she'd much prefer to make a scene.

"Yes, mother," she called back, stomping her way down the hallway until she reached the communal room. She couldn't see anyone yet from the hallway's angle, so, after sticking her head around the corner, she saw her mother and a man sitting on some low cushions. The old woman was laughing daintily at something her guest had just said. Catching Ricardia's movement somehow, she turned to peer at her, clapping her hands.

"There she is! You took so long - I was getting worried!"

Ricardia was ready to berate her mother for bringing in a stranger - with almost zero warning - but then the man turned and suddenly the words were stuck in her throat.

He was tall and thin, with wispy, gray hair. Draped across his frame was an iron-gray coat and trousers. Atop this he wore a smock in the same dull color, emblazoned with the sigil of the Ferrum Rete. The design, a simplified silhouette of an anvil, was like a splash of fresh blood across his chest.

"Oh," Ricardia managed to choke out. "Good morning, Representative Kadis. What a surprise."

Kadis gave her a thin-lipped smile, gently placing his cup of tea on the ground. He rose to his feet, and offered her a bow. "Hello, Ricardia. It's lovely to see you again."

She looked down and shot a glance at her mother, who had chosen to stay seated. She returned the look with a toothy grin, her face exploding into wrinkles.

"Ah, yes," Ricardia said after too-long a pause. "Good to see you as well. It's a bit early in the season for the Peoples' Convention, isn't it?"

Once a year, Caedem's elected member of the Ferrum Rete's federal system would visit Yigera to host a hearing with its inhabitants and field questions, requests, and proposals. Then, the Convention would move on to the next settlement as part of a larger tour across the planet. With feed technology, it wasn't a matter of communication; the Convention system was a way to consolidate and prioritize issues big enough to merit federal resources.