FaRtaL Chpt 8

==From a Ristar to a Lady - Chapter 8 -==
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Haynes Palatial Manor
Innerman City, Inman
Milligan PDZ, Woodbine Operational Area,
21st February, 30611800 hrs (1800 hrs on local 28 hr cycle)
The Federated Commonwealth, or even just the old Federated Suns part of it, was the largest and most powerful of the Successor States. However, its power was not without limits. Large parts of the realm were poor and underdeveloped - especially the worlds of the Outback, situated between the developed core of the realm and the Periphery.
The worlds of the Trivet belonged to the Outback. Characterized by subsistence level agriculture and low levels of education, the Trivet seemed destined to be forever trapped within the poverty cycle, unable or perhaps unwilling, to elevate its worlds to prosperity.
Even the long duration of the Star League did not seem to have improved matters much. Certainly, Altoona and Delacambre were settled only due to the efforts of the Star League’s terraforming agencies, but many Outback worlds were left in a state of benign neglect by their rulers for centuries.
This led to pockets of advanced civilization in a sea of widespread poverty, if not outright squalor.
Anastasia ruminated on these thoughts as the hoverlimo travelled to the Haynes palatial manor, passing by fields of quillar, interspersed by small primitive hamlets and villages said to resemble those from the twentieth century. Inman was not a well-developed world.
In addition to the etiquette lessons from Madame Iris, head butler Kevin took it upon himself to give her a short primer on the Trivet worlds - Inman, Altoona, where their family demesne was located, and Delacambre, Finn’s holding. Isolated from the rest of the realm, the Trivet worlds were ultimately ruled by House Haynes from Inman, and each world had its own set of resources and problems. Each of the three worlds depended on the other two, locking them in an interdependent relationship, but also never quite moving past that due to myriad systemic issues.
One of which was the lack of education in the populace. Many learned what they could from their parents, there was no universal primary education, and even Innerman City had only two high schools for promising students. There were a few private institutes, but they catered mainly to the nobles and the wealthy, with some working adults willing to pay the exorbitant fees to get in.
Madame Iris had given her personal opinion when asked about the Trivet. She surmised it may be in the nobles’ own interest to keep the worlds underdeveloped, while retaining access to private schools and better education for their own families. By keeping the population poor and uneducated, it would be easy to influence and divide them to prevent any mass uprising, a sure way for the nobles to maintain their own power and status.
With only a modest application of will, it was actually relatively easy to educate any population over several decades, by building up infrastructure and trained manpower. Pre-spaceflight Terra had plenty of examples to emulate. The fact that it was not done was probably due to the rulers, at least the local ones, unwilling to do so.
The hoverlimo slowed down as it approached the palatial manor. But perhaps the word ‘manor’ was not quite accurate. A castle, hearkening back to the medieval ages, might be more accurate, though the castle walls were now made of advanced ferrocrete and layered in mech-grade armor instead of mere brick and mortar. Anastasia suppressed the urge to scoff.
Clan Smoke Jaguar, and the clans in general, did not have many such fortifications. The customs of batchalls, bidding, Circle of Equals, and zellbrigen within the Clans made such structures unnecessary. If somebody wanted something, they straight up issued a battle challenge, batchall, to whoever had it.
Both sides then engaged in bidding, to decide the optimal amount of forces on each side, before actually committing them to battle within a strictly defined area, the Circle of Equals. During a battle, instead of focusing their fire on specific targets, clan warriors would challenge opponents and engage in one-on-one duels, a practice known as zellbrigen, to prove their skill.
This form of ritualized combat conserved resources and minimized collateral damage, sparing civilians from the horrors of war. Unfortunately, the Inner Sphere did not subscribe to such notions and engaged in less restricted warfare, or even total war, as in the First and Second Succession Wars, where the Great Houses used weapons of mass destruction almost indiscriminately in their quest for ultimate victory, shattering cities and rendering even entire planets uninhabitable.
A cool breeze blew gently against Anastasia’s face, focusing her on the present, far away from the bloody and desperate battlefields of her past. She took the Baron's hand, mindful of her dress and carefully climbed the steps, then walked into the light of the palatial manor, where servants directed them to the banquet hall.
Despite herself, Anastasia found herself enjoying the fragrant scents and soft music playing in the background. Whenever she took a step on the cold marble floor, the clicking sounds of her shoes resonated through the hall. She walked with the Baron down the corridor leading to the banquet hall.
The hallway was filled with people, but everyone went quiet as they looked at her.
Anastasia knew that their gazes were full of curiosity and ridicule. Although she thought of herself as quite self-assured, she wasn't so dispassionate that she could simply ignore those gazes. But since ‘Avryl’ was not the one who was receiving such gazes, she did not cower under their weight. In her mind, it was not really directed at her anyway.
Before long, the door to the banquet hall opened. The guests lined up for the attendant to announce each guest and position. As expected, everyone in the room looked at her.
She walked slowly, step by step, making a point of looking at the faces of the degenerate Spheroid nobles. She wondered what kind of expression they were making as everyone avoided her gaze.
They stared openly when they thought she was not looking, but looked away when she looked back at them, what kind of behavior was that?
Cowards.
It amused her at the very least. She looked at the Baron to find him looking at her worriedly.
“Let’s go to the wall over there. Then people will look at you less.”
At the Baron's words, Anastasia nodded her head. He must have felt uncomfortable and embarrassed in such a situation, but the Baron's expression was calm. How could the original Anastasia ever have thought of jumping into the lake and leaving her steadfast father like this?
Anastasia thought it wasn't as difficult as she thought it would be for her to put up with everyone’s stares pressing down on her. It must have been because Baron Kalinski was right next to her.
No one said anything to the Baron, and she did not need to worry about causing any commotion, either. It seemed the Baron knew that too, so he did not leave Anastasia's side even for a moment.
Not having anything in her experience to compare him to, she thought the Baron was a fairly good father. In a way, Anastasia’s actions and behavior must have put her father at a significant disadvantage at court. However, the Baron only showed his unwavering affection for her. The only downside was that he always seemed to be busy, and was not able to spare much time for her, especially after she recovered.
Anastasia looked up at the dais where Count Haynes, the ruler of the Trivet worlds, and his family would sit. It was still empty. The Count hadn’t arrived yet, and it seemed that his children, including Baron Haynes, had not arrived yet either. Even her fiance with his stupidly punchable face was not there yet.
At that moment, she smiled, promising to herself that she would relieve all of the annoyance she felt while learning dancing and etiquette by stepping on Viscount Finn Rason’s feet.
But she soon found that she was bored, and as she looked around at the Spheroid nobles lavishly clothed, many even more ostentatious than her attire, her anger grew as she recalled the impoverished villages they had passed. She clung to the thought that she shouldn't cause any trouble.
“Baron Kalinski!”
Someone from afar called him. The Baron turned his head.
Who was it? When she looked over, a man with dark hair and overly glamorous clothes walked over. She looked at the Baron in question.
“Yes, he’s your uncle,” the Baron answered firmly.
“Huh?”
She wasn't stupid, but Avryl was terrible at remembering things like family trees. It had gotten her in trouble a few times in the Clan touman when she lost track of who or which bloodhouse was in favour that week, and who their prominent warriors were.
As Anastasia tilted her head, the Baron added an explanation.
“This is Viscount Drake. He is also the maternal uncle of Baron Haynes.”
She nodded her head, startled by a thought that ran through her mind. If so, did that mean that she was related to Baron Haynes, who was supposedly her lover?
She connected the dots. She had heard that her father, Baron Kalinski, was a first cousin to the deceased first Countess, the mother of Baron Haynes, which naturally made them relations to the direct ruling line.
If she understood the traditions and customs of the Inner Sphere, Anastasia thought it was a bit strange that they dated as second cousins. In the clans, the Bloodhouses strives to avoid such interbreeding at all costs, as it often resulted in significant genetic damage and reduced viability of the sibkos formed from such interbreeding. Hence, expanding the gene pool and bidding for additional genetic legacies to maintain the vigor of their lines was a paramount priority for every Bloodhouse.
‘So, shouldn't we say hello to him?’ Viscount Drake was blatantly frowning as she stepped forward with a glance at the Baron. It wasn't a face that looked happy to see her. The only thing Viscount Drake wanted was to talk to Baron Kalinski.
What should I do? As she unwittingly looked back at the Baron again, he also met her eyes. Her mouth opened as she noted the indecisive look on his face. "Please go on."
She was startled by the voice that came out of her unconsciously. She didn't mean to say anything like that, so why was her mouth moving?
Even if I tell you not to go, you will go.
What? What was the thought that just popped into her head? She was bewildered.
The Baron smiled and patted her on the shoulder a few times. “I’ll be back soon, so hang out with your friends.”
She just managed to maintain a neutral expression. What friends?
The Baron then turned to Viscount Drake, the two men engrossed in conversation as they walked away.
Anastasia was too busy grappling with what had just happened. Even though she knew she had entered the body of another person, she had not thought deeply about what that meant. Was the original Anastasia dead? Or was she still in this body? Just now, it had clearly been Anastasia’s thoughts. She tried to focus on the feeling, but her thoughts did not return.
Feeling uneasy, she knew it wouldn't do much for her to keep thinking about it, so she looked around her and glared at the people who were whispering about her.
The Baron would probably not come back. Somehow, her intuition said so.
When the Baron left, she found herself fully exposed to the sneering gazes directed at her. Remembering the etiquette lessons, she forced herself to quietly put her hands together in front of her body, as befit the posture of a noblewoman. But the whispers continued.
“I didn't know she would still show her face!”
“She is not even shameful of what she did!”
The giggles of the others followed the loud voices of the women around her, but Anastasia kept her expression calm despite their blatant ridicule.
Anastasia lifted her gaze and saw men as well as women staring at her furtively. It seemed that it wasn’t just women who were interested in rumours.
“Are you okay now, Lady Kalinska?”
Anastasia turned her head toward the source of the gentle voice, and a woman in an emerald dress approached her. She covered her face with a fan, but even the ignorant Anastasia could tell a smirk lurked beneath it.
Was she supposed to stay silent even when someone addressed her directly? But she intended not to say anything. What was she to do now? Anastasia was in a bit of a dilemma.
“I heard that a lot of things have happened to you recently. The story was everywhere. I heard you were involved in the riot with the crazy mech. Didn't you get into a very serious situation, getting attacked by a mech?”
People's gazes quickly turned strange because the meaning of the phrase ‘serious situation’ was somehow taboo. Anastasia stayed silent and calm, even with those insinuating words.
“My lady, we heard that you almost died. You didn’t lose your voice, did you?”
What should she do? In fact, as Anastasia, the words of these people were not threatening in the least. These women fought with their tongues, but Avryl had fought for her life on the battlefield, against the best warriors the Inner Sphere had to offer. But the phrase ‘words are mightier than the sword’ existed for a reason. The woman's comments were clearly offensive and meant to insult her.
“Do you have nothing to say? I asked because I’m worried about you.”
Anastasia heard the laughter of the people around them once again. Madame Iris had advised her to keep quiet, but she decided that she would look more of a fool if she did not speak anyway.
Anastasia opened her lips. "The reason I’m not saying anything is…."
All eyes turned to her. Under their curious gazes, Anastasia looked straight at the woman.
“Because I don’t know you are. Who are you to care so much about what happened to me?”
This wasn't a typical noblewoman's elegant and roundabout way of speaking, but rather a direct and sarcastic retort.
Of course, if Anastasia did not know the name of the daughter of a powerful family, she could be criticised for being ignorant, too, but Anastasia had quickly assessed the situation and was confident in her assessment of the situation.
She realised intuitively that someone else had sent this woman to do her dirty work, a pawn controlled by a commander higher-up in the pecking order. If the real culprit behind this rudeness was a woman from a more prestigious, higher ranked family, it would be better to send a hired pawn to do it for her instead of getting her own hands dirty.
As evidence, she observed that the woman's just-ever-so-slightly scruffy dress was a stark contrast to the lavish, modern look of Anastasia’s dress, as well as other noblewomen. She was obviously not very high ranking, and simply a pawn obeying orders from a higher ranked aristocrat.
Upon hearing Anastasia's words, the woman's face turned red at once. If the woman asked, ‘How do you not know me?’, she would certainly look petulant.
“I used to exchange greetings with my lady, but I think my lady doesn't have a good enough memory to remember me,” she said.
“I think so.” As she calmly accepted the woman's sarcastic remarks, a roar of laughter flowed out from among the people.
To readily admit her memory for names was poor, Anastasia made it more difficult for the other woman to continue harping on that point, since it would seem like a personal attack.
She looked around, looking for the ‘commander’ who made this woman do this. Among the eyes of the spectators, Anastasia met the curious gaze of a woman with platinum blonde hair, hiding the rest of her face behind a fan. Trusting her intuition, Anastasia knew she had identified the ringleader. She looked straight at the woman. Their eyes met, and Anastasia was about to make a move, but…
“My lady! I am the one in front of you right now! Is the lady ignoring my concern?"
Anastasia turned her gaze back at the woman confronting her.
It seemed like the woman was angry because Anastasia ignored her. However, she realised it was because her attention turned to the blonde-haired lady, and the lower ranked noble was desperate to divert Anastasia's attention back to herself.
A thought came to Anastasia, and she wondered idly if she could even ask about it. She deliberated for a second, and decided to do so anyway, damn the possible consequences.
“Can I ask a question?”
“Are you curious about my name?”
Anastasia shook her head.
“Even though it was a public rumour that I was in the midst of the riot, how did you know I was attacked by a mech?”
That was not entirely correct, since she was probably the aggressor, but Anastasia decided to roll with it. Besides, she had received communications through Baron Kalinski that the whole affair was to be hushed up, and the wayward, barely still alive pilot was to receive lifelong imprisonment.
The protestors were too poor to own multipurpose handphones, or too busy fleeing for their lives to record anything, and vehicle dashboard cameras were virtually unknown on the impoverished world. The footage from a few street cameras were quickly gathered and sealed in some obscure archives. So other than the police, and her own servants, and the militia who responded, nobody should know exactly what happened.
And for some reason, nobody wanted to find out more about how she was able to disable the mech. Anastasia suspected her father's efforts behind this, and maybe even the Count's influence to bury the whole matter as deeply and quickly as he could.
“What?” The woman was taken aback by the unexpected question. She paused, then answered, “It’s the militia.”
“Oh? The militia?” Now Anastasia felt a bit flustered and on the defensive. “Did the militia tell you?”
When Anastasia asked the question again to confirm, the woman seemed uncomfortable. She heard it from the militia? Did that make any sense?
“As it concerned defence and security, the militia would be instructed to keep the details secret, isn't that the case?”
For all her ignorance, Anastasia knew that no agency would ever disclose details of a case while it was still under investigation. Even more so when it involved mechs, even workmechs. This was simply common sense.
Her line of questioning sparked murmurs from the crowd gathered around her.
“Well, she’s not wrong.”
“It is still being investigated, so how did she find out? Who leaked the info?”
It seemed that Anastasia's doubts were not unfounded. Anastasia let out a dry laugh at this absurdity. “So the militia has no sense of information security?”
The phrase 'information security' was definitely not a phrase used by noblewomen, unless they were being groomed to lead their household. Although Anastasia's tone was harsh, people murmured that Anastasia was rightfully concerned about the issues that she pointed out to the woman. Leaking information on an ongoing investigation was a serious matter.
Anastasia knew that discipline for militia on backwater worlds was poor, and could not be compared to frontline units, but this was simply unacceptable.
Had this happened within her own Binary, she would have sent them for intense physical training, or sparring sessions with Elementals, guaranteed to shake them up.
Pathetic! Anastasia tsked in disapproval.
“Oh!” The young woman, who had suddenly inadvertently insulted the militia, was embarrassed. She now looked a little pitiful, but Anastasia had no intention of giving up the opportunity to ridicule the Spheroid soldiers.
Sure, they had not done anything personally to her or the Smoke Jaguars, but right now, she found that she did not care. Like the namesake of her clan, the Smoke Jaguar, she would pounce and press home the attack.
“So disappointing, the Trivet militia,” she said.
She tsked again and looked towards the men. Some well-built men who looked like members of the militia avoided her gaze. As Anastasia turned her gaze at the blonde woman again, the woman's face had turned pale.
It seemed that she was also the one who leaked the information from the militia. What connections does she have?
Viscount Rason should be here to see this, and ridiculed for the poor discipline of the soldiers under his command. What kind of expression would his smug face make when he heard these words?
Where was that man? Anastasia frowned when she glanced around for her fiance, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Isn’t the lady's fiance an officer in the militia? Your fiance’s honour....”
“You insulted his honor. Not me.”
Anastasia decided that she was going to speak her mind now. Her manner of speech was still direct, but she softened her tone at the end, so it seemed congruent with Anastasia's gentle voice. When she said that, the woman backed away with a look of resentment.
I… I won?
When she looked at the faces around her, she seemed to have won, even though she didn’t mean to at the beginning. Anastasia didn't know the lady’s name, so she had just thrown that fact out there, and she ended up mocking the militia because she had been curious about the source of information.
Then the trumpet sounded, and everyone looked at the entrance to the banquet hall. It meant that the Count and his family were about to enter.
Anastasia did not care much for the degenerate, puffed-up nobles of the Inner Sphere, although she was now one of them, but she still observed with interest as the Count and his family walked in.
The Count was an old, slightly overweight man with a mild appearance even from a distance, but she couldn't get close to see what his face looked like. Anastasia thought appraisingly that the Count was a bit slovenly from his gait alone. Compared to the strong, charismatic warriors who led Clan Smoke Jaguar, he was not impressive at all.
He was followed by the Countess, his heir Baron Renard Haynes, and another young man who bore a resemblance to the Countess, probably his second son, whose name escaped her although Kevin had briefed her before.
She noticed Finn, who was following the count’s family. She could see him scanning the banquet hall, so she looked away to avoid his gaze. For some reason, she did not feel well whenever she looked at Baron Haynes.
Perhaps that was Anastasia’s influence?
The Count sat on a chair on the podium and started greeting the nobles who came up to him, obviously the usual hobnobbing for attention.
Anastasia somehow found herself drained, and the wave of queasiness that engulfed her when she saw Baron Haynes. She felt it would be better to avoid people right now and come back later. She avoided people's gazes and cautiously headed to the second floor of the banquet hall.
Due to the appearance of the Count, there was no one on the second floor. She walked, letting her footsteps lead her. From what the butler and Madame Iris had told her, there should be rest rooms available for those nobles who did not feel well or required some privacy, or for more sensitive conversations.
Without thinking too much, Anastasia opened the most ornate door at the end of the hallway before entering. She sighed and sat down on a sofa in the room. She looked around, wondering if she could take off her high-heeled shoes, then decided that it was fine for her to do so when everybody else was in the banquet hall and unlikely to come up here. She would have chosen a pair of comfortable and sturdy combat boots over these shoes, which were nothing more than uncomfortable shackles to her.
As her feet relaxed, she sighed and rested her head on the sofa, taking care not to mess up her hair. She wondered what the hell she was doing. In the end, all she had to do was wear aristocratic clothes and pretend to be Inner Sphere nobility to adapt as Anastasia.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice that someone had opened the door, then closed it silently. She heard footsteps approaching her, and it was only then that she turned her head.
A man smiled at her with his blonde hair tossed stylishly. Standing in front of the door was Renard Haynes. “Hey, Ana. Were you waiting for me?”
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*;Chapter Note from the Author : Again, in the story the characters have some they-do-not-know-what-they-do-not-know stuff, but our viewpoint reveals additional missing pieces.The thing about the abysmal literacy rates in the Outback as written in the various sourcebooks just never really made sense. Throughout history, various institutions have sought to expand their reach through indoctrination via education and literacy - the Church (Catholic, Anglican, whatever) comes to mind readily. Entrepreneurs and rich businessmen engaging in philanthropy, various conglomerates trying to develop talent. Textbooks are easy to print and distribute, teaching the basics at the primary level is generally not that difficult.The history of education in my country, especially in the British colonial period, was typified by such private sector initiatives, to the point where an association of rich businessmen were even able to set up a university! It was only after independence that the government stepped in to impose uniform standards and get everybody in line, but the fact remains that schools and somewhat decent literacy rates could be achieved without the government.For the Outback to have only one high school per city beggars belief. So what’s really going on?My in-universe explanation is the one postulated by Madame Iris, the nobles are the ones actively disrupting things, demanding adherence to stupid regulations and rules that don’t make sense (e.g. the textbook used must be the 4th edition of XYZ. Oh, it’s out of print? Too bad.) just to prevent schools, especially beyond the middle school level, from popping up. For exactly the reasons she suggested. And from then on it was just bureaucratic inertia and things that were abided by even when most people had forgotten the reasons behind it, and nobody had the energy to overcome the inertia (things had always been done this way!) and change matters.Even Hanse Davion, as smart as he is, didn’t realize it wasn’t the lack of educators per se, but the (unwitting?) sabotage by local rulers and bureaucracy. So the Outback remains mired in poverty and illiteracy.
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Chapter 8