TheConstantDiplomatIndex | Time Under Chaos | Game Logs | TheConstantDiplomat The Constant Diplomat
It was a long trip back to the Embassy for Ingrey. He considered this a virtue, since it allowed him, in the privacy of the carriage, to practice and perfect his mien. After all, he thought to himself, he was supposed to have lost his Favorite, not entered into an even more complex arrangement with Petra Rossi. He looked down at his hand, which was healing. It might leave a scar, but Chaosian healing would minimize that over time. Certainly it was not the first time he had made such an Oath. Upon reaching the Embassy, he briskly headed to his offices and after a confirmation from Ren that there were no pressing messages, he headed directly to a washroom and finished cleaning the wound. At this point, a simple cloth bandage would serve for the rest of the day, if even that long. Ingrey returned to his office and saw that the efficient Ren had lived up to her reputation. The amount of incoming work had, in his trip to the Queen and back, increased at a rate that, Ingrey thought with a rueful smile, someone like Tear or Larissa would be better suited to calculate. He had fifteen minutes to work on the pile before he heard Ren's voice. "A visitor to see you, Minister." she ducked her head in from the anteroom, with the door half ajar. "Larissa's assistant." "Inquire if she needs refreshment, and send her in, Ren. " Ingrey said, taking a sip of the refilled steaming mug of dragon tea. As Ren headed back out of his office, Ingrey put aside the document he was reading and waited patiently for Coriann to enter. It was a few minutes later that Coirann strolled into Ingrey's office, cup and saucer in one hand, plate of cookies in the other, and a packet of papers under her arm. She bowed to Ingrey, (carefully, and the tea did not spill), but kept her eyes fixed on his. "Minister-Counselor," she greeted him with more of a spin on the words than a simple title really warranted. "Good day and good fortune to you." Ingrey watched with interest as Coirann managed to make a bow with the panoply of items under her arm. He stood and replicated the bow. "Be welcome to my office," he said, gesturing to a chair in front of his desk. "Please be comfortable." He remained standing until Coirann sorted herself out and sat down. He took a casual sip of his own mug of tea and regarded her patiently. Coirann complied, with her usual air that standing up was just too damn much trouble, depositing her cookie plate on the edge of Ingrey's desk as she sat. "From guess who," she said, leaning forward to offer Ingrey the packet. It bore an Amber Diplomatic Service seal. Ingrey took the offered packet and broke the seal, looking at the paperwork while occasionally peering at the dark haired factotum of Larissa. "Proof that Ren considers you a first class visitor, to get the best cookies available," he said dryly at one point. "Mmph oomy," Coirann said around a mouthful of the pastry in question. It could have been 'oh really?' or possibly 'good cookies.'" He reached over and took one for himself off of her plate with a very brief grin, and bit into it as he continued to read. Coirann bared her teeth, but Ingrey emerged unscathed, so he could only assume she was joking. "Let's see." Ingrey made his comments aloud as took a bite of the cookie. "An official request to testify at Johann's trial. Dawn tomorrow. Ingrey looked up at Coirann. "So much for the slow wheels of justice." "Need more sarcasm on 'justice,'" Coirann said, and drank some tea. "Agreed." Ingrey replied soberly. He then looked at the note, a personal note from Larissa: Ingrey-
I can't compel your presence, but you might find it educational.
At any rate, get some sleep for me. I've forgotten what my bed looks like.
-L
Ingrey looked up at Coirann. "Let me ask you this. Do you have Mentat training?" "Have I got whatnow?" she asked. "My guess would be no, then." Ingrey said, chewing the cookie thoughtfully for a moment and then taking a sip of his perpetual mug of tea. "I do need to speak to Larissa Rohl on an important matter, and I was wondering if you were trained in the art of Confidential Mnemonic Memory, a Mentat technique for message sending. It would have simplified some matters best not committed to paper. Although." Ingrey offered a half smile, "with any luck, she has already been contacted by what I wish to tell her." "Oh, I can memorize anything you feel like throwing at me," Coirann said blithely. "However," Ingrey's eyes sparkled with amusement, "She normally sends or has you send someone else down here with messages like this. So why did you come, Coirann? For the cookies?" "Yup. I hiked all the way down from the Castle for the cookies." She smiled toothily at him and took a substantial bite. "It's all about the...cookies." She licked crumbs off her fingers, smiling, eyes on Ingrey's. "Oh, truly?" Ingrey regarded Coirann's smile and decided to return it, although he purposefully and deliberately watched Coirann's crumb licking with rapt attention. "Come to think of it, you do have an anomalously high number of visits. This predates the statue and our hiring of Ren, so I don't think it's for the architecture, either. "No, I think you like to visit me here in my office," Ingrey continued. He reached for another cookie, slowly and deliberately. "If you keep baring your teeth, though when you look at me," Ingrey said teasingly, "I am going to come to the conclusion you are a lost fosterling of House Serigala. He reached back with the cookie and lifted and took a sip of his mug. "A minor House, and there aren't many here in Amber. Their members use the baring of teeth as a sign of seeking conjugal relations." Coirann had listened smilingly to Ingrey the whole time. "They sound like a fascinatingpeople. Most Chaosians are, really." She leaned forward. "And what does House Wearanthe regard as an invitation to...conjugal relations?" It should have been a purr, but there was something too feral in Coirann's voice for that description. "Now," Ingrey subtly adjusted his posture so that he could regard her face from a slightly higher perspective and level, but not overly so. "That completely depends on whether you are speaking to a female or male scion of the House." He paused, but continued to hold his gaze, and then continued. "Unless I miss my guess completely, Coirann, you aren't that interested in the particulars of the female, but you should know that females are often the aggressors of such encounters within Wererathe because of the social makeup of the House. But in general, unless the Wererathe has limited ability, a change of eye color to jet black is generally seen as a sign from a female Wererathe to a male of seeking his entrance into her web. "As for a male like myself," Ingrey continued, "we usually follow the customs of the House or realm of the desired party. So, the question would then turn back to you, and what are the invitations of your people in seeking such liaisons. If we were negotiating a conjugal relation, that is," Ingrey added but his blue eyes were bright blue mirrors. "Wellll," Coirann said, extending the final 'l'. "'Negotiate' would be a strong word. You could hire a bard to serenade the object of your desire, or compose a song yourself, if you had the talent. "The less formal method is generally to grab and drag the party in question somewhere secluded, and see if you get punched in the process." Her eyes were bright, and Ingrey wasn't certain that the foot of height difference between him and her would necessarily protect him. Ingrey raised an eyebrow at Coirann's description. "Bardic singing...or straight power politics," Ingrey said slowly, holding her gaze. He finally leaned back and smiled. "I can see why Larissa has you as her factotum, Coirann," Ingrey said. He leaned forward again. "And if it were not for a proscription laid down upon me this very day by Her Excellency, I might be very tempted to see if you would punch me. Or, to be more accurate." Ingrey amended, "to act upon such a prohibited temptation." "She gives you orders about sex?!" Coirann was shocked clear out of innuendo, her turquoise eyes wide and disbelieving. Ingrey's mood was somewhere close to bemused. "I suppose Larissa never told you the entire story of the first time we met, and she learned her Excellency's opinion on such things," Ingrey said. "It has not changed during her tenure," Ingrey added. A discreet buzzer sounded under Ingrey's desk. It was Ren's way of telling him he had a visitor. "Unfortunately, I do now have another appointment to keep so we will have to table this discussion of Chaosian mores for another, perhaps more cheerful day," Ingrey rose and bowed to Coirann. "Please do tell your mistress that I need to speak to her on matters beyond Johann's trial, but we can arrange a time and place tomorrow when I see her. I will attend and testify as she requests as a courtesy to her." Coirann nodded, still looking slightly shocked. "And...a good day to you, Ingrey of House Wearanthe." She rose and bowed from the waist before slipping out...leaving her half-finished tea and plate of cookies on Ingrey's desk. Ingrey considered the plate and tea for a moment, as if they were rosetta stones to explain just how the interview had gone off track. Finally he rose and cleared the tea and cookies off to the side, and headed to the door to meet his next visitor. Ingrey's story continues in Dark Wings, Dark Words |
