Rule of sevens.

Posted on Tue 14th Oct, 2025 @ 12:15am by Mary Elizabeth Gregory & Maiek s'Ethien

1,555 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: From The Ashes
Location: Romulan ambassadorial starship

There was something about the display that kept nagging at him. Maiek was settled in bed, next to Mary Elizabeth. She'd fallen asleep in his shoulder earlier and he couldn't bear to leave her alone in a cold bed. He was glad of her calming presence on his soul, it helped the Romulan think.

There had been honors specific to him, which didn't make sense in the overall because there was no matriarch to his clan yet…He wondered if Aunt Verelan had been there, if the display would have been differently set up. The color scheme had been slightly more feminine than was warranted by the situation. It was interesting because it offered a subtle commentary on the fact that all the dignitaries were male.

Except Mary Elizabeth and the senator ...

The food set-up had been honoring his house, more directly as the patterns of food laid down on the table had been in the swirls of his clans symbol, though there was the one off-side swirl that had a point. It had drawn the eye.

And it had drawn the eye because it was the right pattern but the wrong color. It was just close enough that the thought could be had that the color needed wasn't available, but he knew better. With the amount of money spent on exotics, there was a message here.

Right symbology, wrong coloration. There was something more in that message, and it had to be something big. He muttered again and then sat bolt upright in the bed.

"Ashes and cinders!" he swore as something occurred to him. It was a direct reference to his profession with a lighter thread on the tapestry. When they had fled Romulus the high court fashion had included white thread to accent the sewing skills of the maker. Every service table had had a line of objects that were not of the color scheme that they should have been. Not enough off to cause offense, just enough lighter to draw the eye. Many would think it was an artistic representation of their new station, as it was likely intended. However he just had a blinding stroke of insight.

"Computer display food tables from last night's banquet, topographical in color." The tables, all seven of them, appeared, and he laid the table with the swirl, his symbol the heart of all major symbolic gestures in the center.

“Oh how clever. I wonder who is advising her, for this is uncommonly subtle.”

Each table needed turned with the direction of the initial swirl, but the line that was just a shade paler than the rest of the table began to take shape in his mind. There was something about it that formed a familiar sigil.

He solved it like it was a jigsaw puzzle, attaching one line to the next until the major symbol of the true empress appeared in the pale lines that were off by just a shade. Every feather had been depicted as artfully as the display of his high court finery.

Seven tables, seven major factions, seven major elements because you don't count the one that's active as being part of the major symbology.

He was muttering to himself in rihan, so quickly that the translator wasn't even following the conversation he was having with himself. It was so beautiful and clever that he almost thought he'd misread what was directly in front of him.

“Was this message intended only for me, or were the other delegates supposed to figure it out?”

On the pillow beside him, Mary Elizabeth sleepily tried to puzzle through the Rihannsu that Maiek was muttering to himself. All she could make out were "seven elements," "clever," and "message for me?"

"Maiek, dear, you're not allowed to have an epiphany before tea." She gave a huge yawn. "What are you on about?"

"I'm sorry, love. I'm sorry I'm not explaining. I don't know where to begin "

"Begin with the buffet tables, why don't you, since you're looking at them?" Mary Elizabeth forced her gaze away from the platter of hlai foam-stuffed mushroom canapes. If her outfit had had pockets, she'd have been tempted to sneak a few out with her.

"Do you recall that each buffet table had a color theme, with a line of lighter foods going through the centers, or making swirl patterns through the food?" He asked, his voice quiet but enthusiastic.

"No, I wasn't paying attention to the colors of the foods or how they were arranged, just to what the foods were," Mary Elizabeth said. "I remember you telling me once that the placement of certain dishes was a sort of code and that one had to be careful not to commit a deadly insult by the placement and type of foods, but that slipped my mind, this evening. I was so excited at the prospect of trying so many actual Romulan dishes."

She glanced at the image Maiek was looking at. "I can see what you're talking about here, though--that spiral of hors-d'oeuvres featuring the whites of boiled hlai eggs."

He chuckled at her amusement and her lack of attention to the placement. "You didn't have this code drilled into you since infancy. Nor would I want you to, just yet. ".

It was too early for her to be more than simply proficient in the art. It also wasn't her art. "I prefer to have your hand in the making of the food not the arranging of it, beloved."

"And that is exactly what I prefer to be doing," Mary Elizabeth said in agreement. She sat up in the bed and drew her legs to her chest. "So what does the arrangement of the food mean to you? I may prefer the cooking, but the placing intrigues me, now that you've brought my attention to it. I'd have said it was simply artistic and lovely, if I didn't remember what you told me before."

"Each table had such a line. But, the lines in this case are not a message, but they are a puzzle. Watch." He manipulated the lines, until the spiral was in the center and then he began to connect the other lines to the end of the spiral, until the paler lines began to trace out a figure. A great bird. The wings of the Empress. "If you start with the spiral, of my house...and end with the spikes of HER house, it forms the symbol of the Empress."

Mary Elizabeth studied the image, and her eyes widened at what Maiek said. Her?, she wondered. Who is 'her?' "The Empress? But you lot are a republic." She paused. "Is it Senator Firh you're talking about? Are you saying she wants to restore the Empire--with herself as empress of it? That's rather daring." Mary Elizabeth frowned. "And she's telling you, so she wants your backing--or your House's backing. I have mixed feelings about that."

"She's stating her intention, and we get to choose if we back her or not. If no-one figures it out but us, she's lost nothing in the attempt. The others are likely not going to figure it out. The Houses that were there aren't known for their cleverness, nor did it seem like the others were looking for patterns when such a novelty as a Presemptive human clan matriarch was being displayed. " He lay back into the pillows with a thump and raked fingers through his hair. "We've always had an empress, as a figurehead of the Republic. Much like your own home's Royal Family."

"Senator Firh would never be satisfied with being a mere figurehead," Mary Elizabeth said. "I could tell that just be talking with her. If she wants to be Empress, then she will want to be an empress." She gave Maiek a wry look. "In my opinion, anyway."

"That's the beauty of it." he returned with a delighted little chuckle "In this way, she can gauge her support without ever having to give anything away. She will know exactly what needs she will have to become empress in more than just name. It's fiendishly clever."

Mary Elizabeth considered that. "She could do quite a lot, even as a figurehead--wield influence, keep her ear to the ground, amass a fortune. She could exercise a lot of power without ever seeming to wield it--and I think she's subtle enough to do that." She looked at Maiek. "I'm not all that happy at the thought of us being so closely involved with the highest echelons of Rihannsu political power, but your House is already involved. I also think the Rihannsu people could do far worse than Senator Firh as Empress. I think she's worth backing; I just hope we don't get burned. If you believe we should back her, I'm willing to go with your best judgment." She let out a breath. "This will make for a fascinating report to debrief your aunt with."

"I cannot wait to show her the display, and see her expression." He muttered, a look of fiendish delight on his face. "It will certainly change the diplomatic outlook of the region."

Mary Elizabeth grinned. "The look on her face, if she allows one to show, will be priceless."

 

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