The Travels of Anadrasata Nearabhigan: Day 9
So, here we have Day 9 of Anadrasata's great adventure and first trip away from home on her own. She may be doing some virtue signaling to herself, but she is having a good time. This runs to 1,074 words and I hope that you enjoy it.
Index Page.
Oaighsday, 19 Ochd, 1893 C.E.
Dear Journal,
At breakfast this morning I was chosen by Mrs Thailai Haghaiphran as her confidante. She is Mr Haghaiphran's sister and her late husband was their cousin. She did not mention any children but she seemed proud when she told me that she has not been out of mourning since the death of the Emperor Ghaias - I'm fairly certain that she hasn't been in mourning for a public figure for twenty five years but I could be wrong. Mre Thailai may believe that we had a conversation but she gives no opportunity for anyone else to add anything that is not already in her mind to the exchange. Along with details of her late husband's various health travails, Miss Ailain's settlements, and the family hopes for young Mr Haghaiphran, I was given too much detail on the family's concerns that Miss Ailain was sneaking around to see some man while her family was engaged in serious marriage settlement negotiations on her behalf. Consequently, the family is now watching her closely to prevent more embarrassing behaviour.
My conclusion is that her aunt is not Miss Ailain's friend.
My observation is that Miss Ailain does not act like a young lady being forced into something that she doesn't want to do.
After breakfast I took a turn around the promenade deck on my own. There was a blessed absence of continual chatter. We have come so far north now that I can see that the vegetation on the mountain ledges has changed, even though our airship maintains a safe distance.
My language studies took me through talking about the weather today. It was also a lesson in, "This is how you say this but, by the way, what you are actually saying is this." There are also at least three different ways to say everything to do with weather it seems, depending on formality, context, and how well-bred or cultured you want to present yourself as being.
I did wonder how someone from another culture would describe Imperial if they were learning it for the first time.
Today's port was Uaighrial. Three of our military officers left us but we gained no new first class passengers. Uaighrial is very small - essentially it is an airship port and staff accommodations cut into the living rock. The Circle Mountains here, at least on the seaward face, are a particularly hard type of quartz and there has been insufficient erosion, etc, to form the ledges that other towns around the Circle Sea are built on. I was told by Major dh'Lhaigh at lunch that the airships passing through the area used to stop at Roghdain on the other side of the mountains, but the weather over the peaks can be problematic for airship transit. Hence the decision to construct Uaighrial.
The dowager Baroness continued to skirmish with Miss Dhaighan over lunch. I am beginning to think that the Dowager likes having an ongoing dispute and that she did not find me sufficiently entertaining. Miss Lhaidair, the middle Miss dh'Uhghitair, and Mr dh'Venhair seem to have become good friends. The Haghaiphrans all lunched together.
After lunch I took another walk around the promenade deck and then repaired to the balcony parlor with my embroidery. The afternoon tea tray was delayed while the ship ascended to avoid a storm. We also curved around it as we went, so the view was quite spectacular. There was some turbulence but we didn't have to return to our cabins, although I did have to stop stitching for a while. Mrs Haghaiphran and her eldest daughter went quite pale at one point, and I did get worried about them, but Miss Ailain had what turned out to be the good sense to point out my embroidery to them. We got into a conversation about patterns a nd colour choiuces, and that seemed to take their minds off the bumps and drops. When the tea tray did come in, the Mrses Vahtraiti poured.
At dinner IO sat at the Second Officer's table, on his left hand side. Mr Haghaiphran was opposite me on the Second Officer's right. Mrs Vahaiti Vahtraiti was next to Mr Haghaiphran and Mr Kaighen was on my right. The Second Officer's name is Ahltair Bhaimail and he has been on the Pearlish Star for three years, which is six months less than Captain Fhairghail has been in command. Mr Khaighen has been with Miss Dhaighan for a decade and replaced his uncle who was her previous manager. Across the table, Mr Haghaiphran explained a problem with the road tolls on freight to both Mr Bhaimail and Mrs Vahtraiti - I would have liked to ask questions but because I was across the table, I could not. We ended dinner with Mr Kaighen regaling our end of the table with a story about a theatre with a pigeon problem and their attempts to get a cat to deal with the issue. Mrs Vahtraiti and I both dissolved in laughter over the deployment of a catapult for cats....
While we enjoyed our fortified wine after dinner, Mrs Haghaiphran talked to me about embroidery while, on the next settee over, her sister-in-law made comments about Miss Ailain's fortified wine consumption to two of the other Misses Haghaiphran. It was so brought to my attention that I noticed that Miss Ailain drank half her glass while Mrs Thailai drank two. I am beginning to wonder if there is any benefit to Mrs Thailai, other than the pleasure of being nasty, for her niece to be cast in a bad light.
When the gentlemen joined us, Mr Haghaiphran came over to speak to his wife, and when they were done I had the opportunity to ask one of my questions about road tolls. Mr Haghaiphran spoke on the subject for three cups of tea, Miss Ailain and Miss Lhaidair poured. Although the subject sounds dry, Mr Haghaiphran cares deeply about the subject and talks about it in an interesting way. Lord Elnaith and the eldest Miss dh'Uhighitair joined us during the third cup f tea, and he had some interesting legal points to make while she had some illuminating anecdotes on how things work in their home province.
I am going to bed tonight feeling that I have learned useful things because Imperial policy on the movement of freight and transport in general affects all of us.
Anadrasata Nearabhigan