This time there's no maiming...for real! (Tegaea)

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


Elpsis nodded eagerly. She seemed to be doing a lot of that. Tegaea was such a wise woman! Well, the teenager thought so. "Oh, so that's how it works," she smirked knowingly. What Tegaea said made sense. "Reminds me of plenty of Forcers and rich folk I know. And Sith are just a gang of bullies and thugs who need to toss lightning around to boost their egoes."


She figured it would be best not to say that fawning probably worked very well on Sio! Anyhow, their meal had arrived and so Elpsis busied herself with eating. She was not graceful in any sense of the word and probably ate faster than was appropriate, but her table manners had improved a bit. So she no longer looked like a ten-year old shoving lots of food into her mouth.


"Thanks for the talk, Tegs. You're helping me a lot," she said finally, while cleaning her mouth with a napkin. She wondered whether Tegaea would let her play with Harmony while she had her meeting. "Y'know, I'm quite good at cooking. It's one of the few useful things I learned at the Jedi Temple." Well, actually she'd been put to work in the kitchen a lot because she caused a lot of trouble. Eventually she'd gotten good at it.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Elaris"]
Tegaea perked up at that. “Another aspiring chef? We need to have a session together in the kitchen, you and me putting together a wonderful meal. You for Tempest, me for Siobhan. I reckon we can teach each other some tricks. Siobhan is wonderful in so many ways, but she is not culinarily talented – she once managed to burn water and start a fire with blue milk!”

She continued her meal in happy silence.
“I must get going, can I leave you with Harmony? I’ve got a meeting I must get to.”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


Elpsis giggled a bit. "She did? Hahaha. I'm never letting her live that down," she declared. Clearly she'd get on with Chesna. "Joint cooking session sounds fun. I'm down." Perhaps she'd realised that one way to win a woman's heart was through her stomach.


They continued their meal and then finished up. Waitress came to collect their bills. Elpsis nodded when Tegs spoke again. Meetings sounded dull to her. Poor auntie! "That's cool. Don't work too hard. Harmony and I can...have fun."


"I'll teach you all about Dahomian language and mating rituals, dear," the black skinned beauty said with a completely straight face. So the three went their separate ways. When Tegaeae reached her meeting room, she'd encounter a very unhappy looking Siobhan...

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Elaris"]
Tegaea gave the cheeky redhead a hug and sent her on her way after giving the girl her number in case anything came up.

When she reached the meeting room she found no one else present. Frowning, she looked to Siobhan.
“Where is everyone. Are you alright? What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


To say that Siobhan looked distraught was quite accurate. Sorrow, anger and disappointment were written across her features. It looked like she'd been crying. "[member="Natoline Kerrigan"] has vanished." The first two words were a hint that something was wrong. Siobhan only used her daughters' full names when she was terribly vexed about something. Her upper limb trembled slightly.


"Again. She took one of the babies. I don't know where she is, but COAS pinpoints her with some sort of disreputable merc gang. I gave her everything: Love, a home, a family...I almost bloody died saving her. And she spits in our faces. I guess it never meant anything to her. Why'd she abandon us?" She fished out a piece of paper from her jacket and tossed it on the table. "She left us a note."

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Tegaea said nothing for a moment, merely stared at the note. Said note seemed genuine, but Tegaea simply could not bring herself to understand why her daughter would do this.
Natoline had always been closer with Siobhan, and even at their last meeting Tegaea had felt little affinity to her. Still, this hurt. Even if she did not care much for her it was the ingratitude, the folly, the utter foolishness which angered her.

“Ever since you saved her on Kaeshana she has been increasingly unhinged. Her performance when she returned showed me a girl who had lost contact with reality. She was always a bit…different…but now she has clearly lost her mind. To which I say…let her go. We cannot help someone who will not be helped. If she wishes to take a newborn into danger and work with criminals rather than her adoptive family…she has made her choice. Her other two daughters will become our wards though; we can find good nannies and nurses to take care of them. Something good at least will come of this.”

Though she tried to keep a mask of impassive blankness on her face she could not, and she pulled Siobhan into a hug, wiping her eyes to try and hide evidence of crying.
“It’s not our fault, Siobhan…we’ve done all we can for her. Sometimes children just spurn their parents.”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


Siobhan sniffed slightly and melted into the embrace when her wife hugged her. It was especially painful for her because [member="Natoline Kerrigan"] had been her first student. The girl had held a special place in her heart. "I remember a sweet, brave, spirited girl who stood up to a freaking Sith Lord. My little spitfire," she said sadly. "But I guess that girl's gone. I didn't recognise her when she came home. Maybe her netherworld issues had something to do with it. I don't know...and at this point I'm too disappointed to care. I just feel sorry for the baby. Poor thing deserves better."


Slowly she pulled away. "Thank you for your support...my love. I'm officially disowning Nato. She's out of our testament, she won't have access to Firemane resources or funds. If she gets herself into another mess, she's on her own. At least we can give the little ones real love and a real home. She's losing custody. Livia and Adril are staying with us."


They lived on Tygara, so Eldorai law was on their side. Especially because both Tegaea and Siobhan were peers, respected matriarchs of their house and had more power than anyone except the Queen. The Eldorai legal system placed a lot of power into the hands of the mater familias.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

“Yes. I’ll get our legal counsel to see to it. Her adoptive status will be terminated. I am not ready to entirely cut her out forever though. Perhaps a small bequest for her when we both pass on. We can afford it after all.”

It would be a curious will, considering they had a child who was a Jedi, another trying to be a Queen, a ‘niece’ who was the daughter of a Jedi and two grandchildren who were infants. It would likely keep the probate lawyers arguing for years. There would also soon be the discovery of a blood child which would also complicate matters.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this, Siobhan, but remember we did all we could. If she chose her path we cannot force her away from it. If she tries to return once more we should be clear about what her path is, and the consequences.”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


Presumably the will would be a massive headache for the clan's lawyers! "Yes, maybe a small bequest. But that depends on her behaviour and the company she keeps. We could name an arbiter. Perhaps Mirien?" she suggested. The amazing Lady [member="Mirien Valdier"] was guaranteed to be objective.


She took a breath. "I'll be fine. I'm just...disappointed, upset...and worried. I still love her as my daughter," she admitted. Natoline was still her daughter, even though she hated the choices she made.


"So how was your day with Elpsis? Did she behave herself?" She better have, otherwise things would get unpleasant for her. Siobhan was not in the mood to tolerate uppity behaviour from her. If she could not follow the rules, she'd be given the boot.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Tegaea swiftly defended her pseudo-niece.
“She’s been very well behaved. I took her shopping at the Lady’s Haven and we had lunch together. I’ve left her with Harmony.”
She smiled. “I think she’s really coming on.”

However, she let any further praise go, this was still a sombre moment now Natoline was gone from their lives.
“I think Mirien would do admirably, and maybe the Queen as a secondary. Both are fair and impartial.”

“What did you want to do? Did you want to chair this meeting, or will you be alright?” she asked her wife seriously.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


Siobhan looked a bit surprised, then smiled slightly. It did not reach her eyes though. This was still a painful moment for her. "She was? That's...a surprise, but a good one. Maybe she's finally growing," she said.


She gave her wife a nod. "It's ok. I can chair it. It's largely routine: Developing infrastructure on Arkas, housing for freed Xioquo slaves and R&D is gonna present some designs they came up with in response to the Silvers riding boldly and well and having a tea party on Ruusan." There was a note of disdain in her tone when she mentioned the Jedi.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
“Yes, there is a great deal which must be done now the Coalition has tried and failed to extend their dominion. Between us two, I think we can prepare weapons to counter possible counter attacks. You head this one, I’ll head over and see the Queen’s Council. It’s just a minor council meeting today, so nothing too important.”

“I feel most sorry for that baby with her mother’s folly for company. I wouldn’t want to have young Adril and Livia grow up missing a triplet….”

This gloomy thought passed she smiled again, gave her wife a kiss. “I’m going to give Elpsis some pointers at seducing Tempest, though to be fair I suspect that Tempest doesn’t need much seduction!”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


"We've always known that most Jedi are bad soldiers and even worse wartime leaders. This is especially the case here because most of the Silvers are isolationist peaceniks. They think war is a tea party. Tempest, Charlyra and I barely had support at Olmondo. There's exceptions like [member="Kei Amadis"] and [member="Nima Tann"], but if the Silvers want to survive they have to toughen up. Otherwise they'll deserve to be destroyed," she sighed a bit. Kei was a good man who had fought bravely and she hoped he'd recover from his coma soon.


"I'm sorry about little Althenea, too. Poor girl deserves better. She deserves her sisters...and a real home." Her mood had turned sombre again. It felt like she had failed. Tegs saying she was playing matchmaker cheered up slightly. "Tempest and Elpsis, huh? Well, Tempest did let slip that she had a thing for her. It was cute."

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Tegaea sighed. “I read the reports. They seem uniquely unable to understand the rigours of war. It’s not a game where you win by just strolling in and converting the bad guys.”

Discussing SSC’s somewhat dispiriting performance made her irritated so she resorted to matchmaking too.
“They seem completely into each other too! I think they’ll be good for each other, you know?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


Suffice to say, if Siobhan came across Jedi having a tea party with Sith, she'd kill them without mercy. Thinking about the Silver Jedi's lack of vigour only increased her irritation. Fortunately, there was a distraction.


"I wonder how things will go when Elpsis takes Tempest home to meet mummy. Or Laina. Well, I think know how it'll turn out in the latter case," she chuckled a bit. "Maybe I should warn Tempest that Coryth will be able to sense anything she's thinking."

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
“Poor Tempest. I fear Coryth would be a very strict mother in vetting appropriate relationships. To tell Tempest or not…” she pondered aloud. Being a troll and not telling sounded like a fun idea, but she didn’t want Tempest walking into the lion’s den unaware.

“What will Laina think, you reckon?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


"I think Laina will grill Tempest and give her a stern lecture about how the Great White Wolf expects her to do her duty and please Elpsis in every way," Siobhan chuckled a bit. "Then proceed to sample her capabilities in bed to assure herself that Tempest is a worthy mate. Apparently she's adopted Elpsis as her tribal sister!"


She thought for a moment. "I suppose we should give Tempest a little hint that she should keep her lusty thoughts buried when talking to Coryth. You so don't want Cory to get those images. Or see that her daughter's girlfriend thinks she's a total MILF." The latter would probably piss off both mother and daughter.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Tegaea gave a wicked smirk. “Very well, she can think of it as further mentalism training. If she can keep Coryth from getting enraged at her she’s passed the test! As for Laina, that sounds eminently sensible. One needs to be assured of qualities belonging to a new member of the family.”

Further discussion of the Firemane clan’s very odd relationship practices would have to wait as the door opened and some businesspeople entered.

“I’ll catch you later, Siobhan. Take care!”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


The Firemane clan's relationship practices were truly odd. Siobhan was happy that Elpsis had found someone though. Especially since it would hopefully keep the teenager from hitting on her. Sure, Elpsis wasn't related to her by blood, but Siobhan drew the line at spiritual incest!


"Bye, love. Don't work too hard. I'll see you in the evening," she gave her wife a hug and a kiss, then let her depart. She was all business when she turned to face the businesspeople and sat down. "Let's get started. We have a lot of ground to cover. Ms. Covarrubias, you may begin with your report..."