Small talk after a wedding

The bride kisses the groom and Lady Champlaine smiles fondly as she and her husband, Duke Dredrick D'Honaire, look on. She, Queen Astra, and Duke Drederick rise and perform the necessary ceremony in adopting the newest addition to the family (Urnath D'Honaire and his mate seems more joyful about this that the elder D'Honaires and the Queen of Aqualaria expected for some reason). Finally, after the granting of a small pieces of land (dukedoms) to Fred and Astra 7 (as a wedding gift) and the newlyweds go about being congratulated by the audience (the well wishes from Trilling Blackfeather being the oddest....but oddly heartwarming at the same time), Count Probe, Evis 7 (Probe's wife to be), and the Elder D'Honaires are engaged in small talk.

".....so you see, it was almost mandatory for Diane Walker to speak in that Cockney accent when she was of age to join her street gang," Probe finished explaining to his chat partners, "that made it almost second nature for her. It was a way to remember simpler, happier times and it preserved an accent that should have died out by the mid 21rst century....if not sooner. Anyway, sometimes she will speak in the old accent and colloquialisms of present day London street, but you'd barely be able to understand her since local slang and such has almost transmuted the local language into something alien!"

That was the story of many regions back Home.

"I see," Lady Champlaine said, not quiet seeing but having gotten the gist of the explanation, "In her youth she had to speak so to fit in with this.....er....social group and that legacy is still with her to this day."

"Bottom line, yes, Duchess," Evis 7 says, agreeing.

"Any word from Dr. Who and the others, Count?" Duke Drederick asks, curious.

"His brothers haven't heard anything, Duke Drederick" the count sighed, "but Dr. What and Dr. Which said something being odd about their TARDIS....the telephone in particular and they said.....they'd get back to me on it."

It was almost like they'd been expecting to get the old style telephone that was part of their ship's disguise to work. According to Walker, they were just props.....but the Doctors said that they'd come up with a few interesting readings.....

The conversation then drifted to a slightly different vein.

"At first I was somewhat surprised that Duchess Linsle and other three remaining dukedoms are so enthusiastic in their support in enlarging the new family members," Probe chuckled, casting an eye towards the laughing duchess in question, "but then I heard about the religious aspect of their support. They truly believe that Zeus has blessed the House D'Honaire and Thessemar, and fear to even THINK of objecting to the Queen's policy of replacing the Council of Twenty, the round table of what had been thirty dukes for Aqualaria, with the new family members."

"She would have put Sir Natthias on the Council as well," Lady Champlaine put in quietly, "but the noble man wanted nothing of it, wanting only to be a humble....servant to his God. Queen Astra was barely able to privately get the man to accept the high office she had."

As it was Duchess Annina (2) had nearly had a heart attack when Queen Astra had raised her to the Aristocracy, and had only accepted it since it was the only way her adopting both Astra 9 and 10 would be okay by Aqualarian custom and the fact that Anina of Terra Prime had already been enlarged.

"Not bad for such a diversely different set of religious groups, eh?" Duke Drederick smiled, shades of Sean Connery. "But I guess we got off luckier in some respects than our counterparts back in your timeline, my mechanical friends."

Indeed, that had been due in large part that the olden religions of Norse and Greek beliefs had adopted some of the very customs and.....maybe.....religious aspects of the very religion that had been trying to snuff them out. Certain "revelations" allowing for free will (and dismissing the idea of "fate") had somehow made the olden religions more popular. That and getting a bit more organized than what they'd considered the "upstarts" from down south, initially. It had slowed or halted the advancing of the Church into more of Aeurope, compared to what had happened back home back in the 16th century. Probe would have also said that the fact that their were still "heathens" and "barbarians" still at the near borders had prevented the Church from splintering as it had by "this time" back Home, also....but such would have been not politic.

Not wise at all.

Evis 7 wondered if the Creator had deliberately placed a notion in the magi's minds to match the Duke's voice with the first of the James Bond characters seen back Home in the movies).

Probe had shared that thought with her, himself. That and also a quiet sigh and a quip about wondering if the multiverse as a whole was out to play more ironic jokes with this and other things about Terra Prime.

Poor dear is still a bit shaken up about what he'd done accidentally with those now POW orcs, Evis 7 sighed mentally. It had been his intention that, after they'd surrendered - if a suspicion that these orcs were the very ex-dwarves who'd kidnapped one of the Astras and were the ex-dwarves Walker had.....cursed upon becoming, supposedly, an avatar for the Forge to a Mirror where the heavier metals had settled closer to their molten cores.....

The Military had come across a few wild, marginal worlds that also were like that in their travails. In the fifty plus years of war with the Lizards throughout multiple universes, the Military had come across one or two before coming upon Terra Prime (Mirror 1723 in the Military Multi-universal Astro-navigational Computer Banks). In the fifty years, there had been a few. Unlikely as it had seemed, it had happened. Even with visiting (if only briefly), 1722 different version of Earth BEFORE coming upon Terra Prime, the chances had been small......but it had happened.

Would have been a fitting end to exile a bigoted group of people who just loved to work metal....on a world without metal to work......thus relegating them and their descendants to stone age tools at best for their livelihood.

But since the orcen POWs who'd Probe had accidentally brain friend were barely smart enough to come out of the rain, assigning them to such a world was a sure death warrant. Maybe it would be a more merciful thing, now that this High Lord Sithe had contacted Curisi, one of Probe's "daughters," for a cease fire (after muttering that it was a good thing that a certain shaman died before Sithe had gotten his paws on him)..... This Sithe's eyes had almost lit up in delight at seeing the dull eyed picture of Murt when he'd asked to see "proof" of prisoners to be exchanged.....

But alas, it soon became apparent that the orcs had no prisoners to exchange (if there were.....the orcs weren't forthcoming)....nor had any real intention of surrendering. A failed attack on the Military construction sight (mayhaps for Military weaponry?) had failed miserably.

To the bitter end, the AI sighed.

Sterndeck was contemplating how best to respond, but was leaning on staying his hand since the Military still was very involved with tasks offworld with the Lizards.

Probe sighed mentally, and went on speaking with the others.

"What really is ironic is that I had feared I would have no grandchildren from my son," Lady Champlaine admitted with slightly happy bemusement, "but now?"

The Duchess had taken to baby pictures like a fish to water. The collection had grown larger with the recent addition of her newest grand-daughter, the elfin child named Ti'mma. It joined the menagerie of four newly hatched dragonets (cut as buttons), 42 human grandchildren. Also, recently she'd asked for the seven sonographs (after Probe had mentioned it in passing) of the unborn three human children of Astra and Fred 7 AND the four unborn kits of the family of Frederigo the manfox and his vixen wives (Alicia and Alicia 3).

The only reason why she'd not asked for sonographs of Queen Astra's unborn triplets (grandnieces?) was that the fetuses were too small for much detail as of yet, Evis 7 suspected.

"Very big family, duchess." Probe smiled, looking at the pictures. "That and your new sons and daughters-in-law, you have yourself a rather nice family!"

Duke Drederick looked over at his newest daughters, who was speaking with her new sisters (Fredrina and Rowena). Hannah shifted to her unicorn form and allowed her sister to touch her....and they all laughed at something that Joan said when she shifted back.

Well, I guess I will get used to how well Joan has shifted from being a man to a woman, Drederick said mentally to himself, still, I was more than a bit surprised that she'd been so assimilated by her transformation that she'd went out and began to....date.....as the Military puts it......Sir Toby, my man at arms! Still, Probe said that the transformation of a Matrix can do that to a person.....else madness results.

The knight in question came over and hugged Joan, who smiled back.

1. Dredrick smiled ruefully to himself then saw Queen Astra motion for them to go to a side, conference room......

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