four
There were many similarities between how a human noble house functioned and how julah conducted themselves at home.
Lady Jacelah could have easily been the pinnacle of female leadership in a small House, where her main function was to run the domestic sphere and coordinate visits with family while her husband concerned himself with economics and politics.
Indeed, Lord Vern Gardiah was nowhere to be seen for a good while, because he was out with many of the male workers—working.
This was a functional horse ranch that included a herd of over a thousand strong, and they had to be watched, fussed over, bred, and moved from one meadow to another depending on the weather and time of year.
I guess they take pride in how “free” their herd moves before being potentially sold off.
Later, Mira would learn that the “wild” horses were breeding stock while those rotated through stables were the ones raised and sold as either expensive workhorses or the living playthings of other nobility.
Mira and her mother were given the best guest room on the second floor of the house, while Kema and Hannu shared another large room on the third floor, where most of the staff resided.
The bodyguards were almost relegated to a small guesthouse on the property, but when they explained to Jacelah and her steward that such a thing was not proper while they were actively working, they were moved to separate rooms.
The older bodyguard in charge stayed in a bare-bones room on the second floor, while the younger was on the third.
All of this was decided even before the cook in the kitchen repurposed her plans to accommodate not just six extra mouths, but mouths used to “refined tastes and healthy foods,” as she put it.
If only she knew how we’ve been eating this past year.
Or how they normally ate! Did humans think julah stuffed themselves on gourmet food every day?
More like there are days we forget to eat at all, because when you live for thousands of years, there are other things to do.
Never mind how some people ate in prison…
Then again, Mira had only a handful of truly scrumptious meals since being released from prison.
If these humans knew their way around a pot and a pan, Mira wouldn’t complain.
Arrahite cuisine was known for being simple and healthy, but delicious.
So, right in line with Yahzen. Maybe these really were the cluster of humans the closest to julah…
She soon met Graella, the oldest child and only daughter of Lady Jacelah and Lord Vern, who still lived with her family until her impending nuptials later that season.
She was as in awe as her mother, but managed to keep her pleasant head cool as she showed everyone around to their guest rooms and excitedly spoke of her brother and sister-in-law, both of whom would be “so excited” to meet them.
It was then that Mira learned of Sonall, the heir-apparent to the estate, who was already married and working full-time alongside his father.
Yet when word reached the men on the farthest-flung reaches of the estate, Sonall was sent back early. He entered with his outerwear removed, but his mother still descended upon him—a grown, married man, no less—to tell him how to clean up and to ask where his wife was.
He acquiesced to the former but couldn’t answer the latter. Or, if he did, Mira didn’t hear it, because she was ushered into Lady Jacelah’s salon alongside Joiya.
Where the others in their party went, Mira had no idea. They’re fine. Right? All Mira knew was that she was in for a world of embarrassment as she was fussed over.
If they had any idea I was in prison… and what for…
Hmph. Probably wouldn’t make a difference. Joiya and Mira Dunsman were intergalactic celebrities. In the latter’s case, it was purely because of her name. Nepotism. It happens to every julah. The landed gentry around there surely knew about that.
“I hope tea is satisfactory,” Lady Jacelah said as she sat on a small couch with her daughter, who couldn’t stop grinning at their unexpectedly wonderful company. “We actually just had some visitors over… oh, if only they were still here!”
“We wouldn’t have the room, Mother,” Graella said.
Jacelah ignored her. “Ah, there’s your brother. Thank goodness.”
Mira kept her eyes forward as the young man passed by her and sat in the only seat available.
Is he really old enough to be married? Out of the corner of her eye, Sonall Gardiah still looked quite young, with a tad of fat still in his cheeks and a full head of black hair.
Then again, his older sister was quite young as well.
The only one in the room who had a single wrinkle on her face was Jacelah, who must have been approaching middle age for a woman.
I was under the impression that the nobility didn’t marry that early unless there were pressing economic reasons.
Or was it for love? Mira wouldn’t know about that.
“I am so sorry about my appearance,” Sonall smoothly said as he nodded in acknowledgment to the women around him. “I came as soon as we heard that… well, that you had arrived, Lady Joiya.”
His voice only slightly cracked, betraying his surprise.
Joiya, as always, handled it as effortlessly as she would with anyone else.
“We were merely passing by on our way to the Kinship Memorial and have been camping for many nights. I see that there is some rain in the forecast, and thought that perhaps… if you had enough room…”
“That’s already been decided, Lady Joiya,” Jacelah reassured them. “We will give sanctuary to any priest who asks, let alone the wife of the High Priest and her entourage.”
“Your hospitality is most appreciated.” Joiya slowly lowered her head, and Mira was prompted to follow.
“We thank you. And let it be known that we are not a group that shall idle here. While we take shelter, we insist on helping around the house. Hannu and I are practicing priestesses and can offer any service required. As for my daughter…”
She glanced at Mira. “She has many talents. Unfortunately, neither she nor I can provide sorceric services, but Mira is handy with organization and even animals.”
Mira caught Sonall’s gaze from his nearby chair. “Horses, right?” she teased.
“Ah, yes… again, I’m sorry if I smell like a stable.”
“It’s a common scent around here,” Jacelah lamented. “I promise, you get used to it.”
“I hardly smell a thing,” Joiya reassured them. “Now, I hear that one of you is recently married? And the other is about to get married?”
Graella was absolutely luminous when she tittered in her seat, much to her mother’s chagrin. “Yes! I will be marrying Lewin di’Coraria from Qahrain. He’s a minor lordling, but it’s not like I don’t know much about farming at this point in my life!”
Jacelah was pale in the face as she heard his daughter talk like this. “We are very excited for our family to join the Corarias. They are a major exporter of grain from Qahrain to Terra III. Our daughter met young Lewin when she was on a Temple exchange in Yarensport.”
“Oh?” Joiya said. “The Temple exchange. How wonderful. You must have had a splendid time if you found young love, dear Graella.”
Blush touched both fair cheeks as Graella heard this.
“Thank you. Actually, it’s a more recent thing. I barely even knew him while I was on exchange, but I suppose I caught his eye more than once. Before he even knew who I was! Who my family was!”
Her laughter echoed in the intimate salon.
Mira did her best not to shudder. “Actually, it was Su—”
The salon door opened. In came a maid with a teacart and all the fixings, including small cakes that must have been unwrapped from a pantry stash and neatly arranged on a two-tier serving stand.
While the maid passed around the teacups and prepared to pour the tea, she said, “Ms. Sulim has returned, madam.”
Jacelah sighed. “Good. Make sure she changes into something appropriate and comes down to greet our guests.”
“She said that she was stuck in the barn helping one of the mares give birth and missed your original summons. She desires to bathe first.”
Jacelah held her fingers to her forehead while Sonall chuckled nearby. “How noble, and what foresight. Did you tell her who was here?”
“I told her that important women from the Temple had arrived.”
“That’s fine for now. Thank you, Heary. I shall pour the tea.”
Mira couldn’t help herself. “Well, I support washing up after helping a horse give birth.”
“It’s how things are around here,” Jacelah said.
“I apologize that my family is a bit all over the place right now. We are preparing for my daughter’s wedding, which will be held here in the coming weeks, and it’s one of the biggest times of the year for taking stock of our breeds and managing orders. Oh, and many mares are giving birth right now,
as you have heard. Sometimes, they require assistance to ensure everything goes well.”
“Livestock ranching must be very exhausting,” Joiya said. “I do not envy it. Congratulations on maintaining a prestigious line for so long.”
“Yes,” Jacelah said with a glance in her son’s direction. “We are also in that period where Sonall is a proper journeyman beneath his father, learning everything there is so future generations can continue to prosper. Right?”
That prompted Sonall to snap back awake. “Yes. Excuse me. I was doing a lot of that studying today.”
“Please, don’t feel that you need to be here to speak with us, Mr. Gardiah.”
“Ah…” He spoke up, louder. “Please, call me Sonall, your holiness.”
“And I insist that all of you call me Joiya. It’s what I prefer.”
The teatime gave Mira plenty of opportunity to take in the room, the Gardiahs, and exotic tea imported from Cachaya. Mira was surprised by the spicy, citrusy tea that the humid planet was known for. Didn’t take this lot as big fans. Sonall drank his quickly. Graella took her time.
Jacelah hardly touched hers at all. Not before adding so much milk that it wouldn’t taste the same at all.
“The tea is delicious,” Mira said, after watching Lady Jacelah turn up her nose and have to add more milk. “Cachayan, isn’t it?”