Hope Springs Occasionally

[New Edom]

Fineberg, New Edom

"Have a good trip!" Mara said to her uncle Philip, kissing him on both cheeks.

"Try to behave yourself," the greying Prince said drily. He and Admiral Shalmaneser were heading off to Ganosia to arrange a marriage for Prince Adam, her rather bookish brother, who was nowhere to be found but was probably in that section of the palace used as a library and archives. He rarely left it. However it was time the younger members of the extended Royal Family were married, and that was what was happening.

Turning to Annelli, Mara said a bit dolefully, "And me too, soon, probably to Crown Prince Heinrich of Nordkrusen so that we can settle that age old territorial dispute." she laced her fingers with Annelli's as they went to one of the sitting rooms that looked out over the beautiful gardens to the rear of Betharan Palace. "And what about you? How far along are you, and what will you do about..." she glanced at Annelli's midsection.

They had also been trying to decide what to do for a bit of a break. Soon everything would be changing, and they wanted to enjoy themselves before they had to wait who knew how long until they had the chance again. Once they had been carefree wealthy young woman of high birth able to do what they wanted except when duty intervened. duty intervened increasingly without cease lately.

[Riemaia]

Anneli was frowning, but wanted to smile. "A few months," She said as a tear discreetly rolled down her cheek. "And to be honest, I don;t want the kid... the father is someone I don't want to be with, but I just can't kill the kif oo either, I am afterall it's mommy, and how would I look in front of everyone if I did something like that? Enough about that though," Anneli said as she smiled and turned to Mara. "I'm just so happy to see you again! One question though... we both have smart phones, yea? Why don't we ever use that face-to-face video chat thing they have?"

Anneli's belly was just starting to be noticeable from her pregnancy, but not enough that anyone who didn't know she was pregnant would be able to tell that she was. "You being married off... I never thought I would see the day, but it puts the travel time between us to barely anything, like fifteen minutes on a plane! Or as they say, just a stones throw away?" Anneli managed to wiggle something out of her dress, which was forest green and was fairly comfortable, being made of linen, made especially for her. "Here, take this, I had a few of them specially made." Anneli said as she started to giggle, handing Mara a refrigerator magnet of a cartoonish Anneli holding a bottle of wine, staggering like she was drunk. "What do you think?"

[New Edom]

Mara burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh, that's sooo tacky, it's hilarious! Thanks." she hugged Annelli close a moment. "You have a definite baby bump now GF. I'm sorry about Enoch but you know it wouldn't have worked out...but if there's anything I can do. I know it's not so much of a big deal in your pagan country to be unmarried and pregnant. Anyway I'll gladly be aunty and all that, and be there with you if it is even remotely possible, don't you worry." She smiled at her. "So...what would you like to do today? I think the last times you were here for a long stay the country was still reforming. Anything you'd like to do or see, or do you wanna jet set off somewhere exotic?"

[Riemaia]

Anneli gave Mara a large grin, and then kissed her on the lips. "You know, you ARE the best person anyone could know, believe it or not..." She said as she leaned back a little. "How about we talk a little about our childhoods? I'm sure we both have some great stories... over lunch maybe, then just maybe, just maybe take a week or maybe two to see the whole country? Theres just so much I want to see and do with you, but so little time, i'm sure it would be a relaxing break for both of us."

"And gee thanks, pagan now huh?" Anneli jokingly said, "Well you agreed to that ceremony, but wow I can barely remember i, can you? I remember a pool of water... anyway I'm really not single, but you know, I obviously have to say I am.... because if word of you and I... anyway,lunch, chatting, week or so to see the country?"

[New Edom]

"Lunch sounds good." Mara felt her eyes sting a little, but Barans didn't like crying in front of others unless they were mourning. She wished she could simply marry Annelli. Sex with women was nice, she had discovered--but it was cuddly nice. And anyway it would be an abomination in New Edom; homosexuality was a sin and against the law and that was all there was to it. The Manifesto of Liberty was still a battleground in the Legislature and it was merely tolerated, not accepted. It was mercy, not admiration. "Croc O'Diles?" she teased. "No, I know where we should go..."

Mr. Levret's was an old fashioned Anglo-German place which kind of parodied Nordkrusen. Frauleins in frilly aprons and waiters in lederhosen tromped around serving clay mugs of lager and bringing platters of wienerschnitzel and kaffeemitschlag and other hearty fare around. There was accordion music playing in the background and there were antlers on the walls. Mara almost burst out giggling as their waitress gave them their water glasses, showing an acreage of creamy milkmaid cleavage. As the woman went off she said to Annelli, "Feel like dairy today?" and laughed. "Anyway my gosh, I can't believe I'm probably gonna marry that Pickelhaube blue statue, but he seems nice for a fucking Nord." she held Annelli's hand and looked into her eyes lovingly. "You're my favorite person, you know. My favorite in all the world. Would you like to go to that Uber-Mall today, do some shopping? Your dresses are getting tight."

[Riemaia]

Anneli couldn;t help but staring while she could, smiling,but quickly shook out of it laughing. "Good one! Though you could always marry my twin brother if you had to, he's... alright I guess. So what do you think I should have? I'm not good with Nordic dishes really, anything with sausage would be fine for me." Anneli had gained alot of confidence over the course of her pregnancy, having to make decisions that would not only benefit her, but help in the welfare of her child, which undoubtedly be her successor. "It's only tight because thats how i bought it..." She said as she winked, "It goes without saying i'm not wearing any underwear... and dosen't this dress just make you want to... unwrap me?" Anneli continued as she slipped into a more seductive tone, with a small grin on her face and shine in her green eyes, it obviously was a first for Anneli to talk like that.

[New Edom]

Mara blushed hotly. It wasn't that she didn't like to make love to Annelli, but to her it was more of an expression of tenderness and affection, and now and then it would simmer into something else. She liked men--sexually and even in a way relationally. Men were often more direct (the ones worth talking to) and their differentness excited her. But she smiled at Annelli and said truthfully, "You're lovely. And you can do whatever you like with me today." she stuck her tongue out playfully. "And you'll finally get those curvier hips you always wanted."

[Riemaia]

Anneli blushed as well, and smiled. "Wow, did I really say that..." She said to herself as she winked to Mara. "I will totally hold you up to that! But anyway babe, I would LOVE to go shopping with you! Maybe you could pick something out for me... and I pick something for you? Anyway Mara, when will the food be ready, i'm starving!" She said with a slight hint of sarcasm, but was quite honestly hungry. As usual, she was loving every moment being with Mara, not wanting it to ever end. "Oh yea, I got a picture of Elise with her BOYFRIEND! I know, right? I thought she was a lesbian too!"

[New Edom]

"Awesome, show me, let's see..." Mara said, even as their bread sticks and drinks arrived. Mara had ordered a tossed salad with oil and vinegar dressing, and some peppered mousse. For her entree she was having roast goose, and to drink with her lunch she had ordered orange juice. She was considering having chocolate mousse for dessert. "Yes, sure we can go shopping. Now let's see that pic, or better yet, send it to me!"

[Riemaia]

Anneli smiled and pulled out her phone, and started flipping through the hundreds of pictures she had on there. "You know what we should do later? Get a pair of paintings of us, one for me and one for you, how does that sound? Like professional quality. Here it is!" She said as she started sending the picture of a naked Elise on top & having sex with her boyfriend, with beads of sweat rolling down her back, and off of her face onto the man. "It's a bit graphic, and you ordered for me, yes?" Anneli was quite surprised when she took the picture of Elise, always thinking she was her lesbian sister, but she turned out to be just the average bisexual.

[New Edom]

"It's so chic to be lesbian still these days, though, I can't blame her. I mean it makes a statement, whereas being bisexual just means you're open minded. I personally think the latter is best." Mara said honestly. "I mean as you know I generally prefer sex with men." she winked to soften her words, but Annelli seemed less fragile since her pregnancy. "Yes, I ordered wienerschnitzel for you, I think you'll like it. You know it's funny, if I marry Heinrich I'll be able to visit you all the time! There's this Tartarian Prince I really like actually--more than Heinrich--but I'll probably have to marry Heinrich so we can finally have peace with Nordkrusen."

[Riemaia]

Anneli smiled when Mara mentioned being able to visit her all the time, "I would so love that, just thinnk of it, THREE homes! You have here, Riemaia, and maybe that one nice palace." Anneli did frown when Mara mentioned marrying a Nord, but picked up her drink and started sipping it. "Well most of us in the Imperial family are actually bisexual... my mom isn't though, for a nympho that's pretty surprising." Said Anneli as she looked back at her phone, flipping through more pictures, not finding anything interesting. "I got a video too... wait, let's not. Also thanks for ordering for me, I can't read these menus!" She continued with a giggle. It was common knowledge that Riemaia had its own alphabet that had no similarities to alphabets other countries of the region used. "So you like the idea about the paintings?"

[New Edom]

"Yes, I think the idea of paintings is a fine one. Maybe we should each do a classical one, like the Maya or Venus on the Half Shell...is that what it's called? or Dejeuner sur L'herbe..." Mara blushed at herself, realizing those were all nudes. "Or um something else, you can pick too." Riemaians were so odd, she reflected not for the first time. Sophisticated and yet totally insular. "What would your theme be if you were picking?"

[Riemaia]

"Oh, I was thinking more like that one from Le poeme de l'Ame, just imagine one of those with us two just doing something innocent... with that dirty look in our eyes!" She said as she started to eat some bread, smiling and giggling. Anneli liked most Edomites, always have been quite nice to her, save for one that she could think off the top of her head. "I'm starting college soon, getting a degree in... ASTRONOMY!"

[New Edom]

"Oh that one...the two greek girls climbing a mountain, all innocently sapphic? Why not--just change the expressions, hilarious." Mara giggled. "I have my degree in economics and political science, just a B.A of course. So why astronomy? I mean are you going to work for a SETI project or something? I guess you don't need a working degree any more than I do, just wondering." She couldn't imagine Annelli spending all her time cataloguing stars or whatever the hell astronomers did.

Their meals arrived, brought by their buxom milkmaid of a waitress..

[Riemaia]

"Well," Anneli said putting her right index finger on her chin as she picked up her fork with her left hand, "I like looking up into the sky, wondering what's out there for us, if theres anyone looking back at us... I also dream of going up into space one day, which in all honesty wouldn't be that hard to do, just have to go pay the RSA for a rocket... thats something we could do, go into space!" she said as she cut off a piece of sausage and put it in her mouth. "Hey, this IS good! But as I was saying, I just love the photos of the gas giants, their colors just mixing in, the spirals of the storms they have, don;t you agree they look pretty? But off of that for a moment, think you could come to my place in a few weeks and help me out with some things?"

Back In Riemaia for a moment...

"Inceeeeest!" Elise said to herself as she wiped off the fresh beads of sweat from her bosom in her bathtub, freshly done from making love with her boyfriend. It had been nearly the third time that day, and she was loving spending quality time with him while everyone else was away, mainly Anneli who would barge in at any moment. Her boyfriend was in the tub with her, helping her wash off, touching her hair, slipping his hands down her legs. "I never knew, you of all people, Anneli's twin and technically my brother would be that good in bed... let's try and keep it a secret for as long as possible... I don't want anyone to know."

[New Edom]

"Well it is interesting," agreed Mara. "I tried watching a documentary on the solar system but it bored me to tears. Probably because it was less about the planets than all the shit people did to figure things out. which is I mean bully for them but boring for me. It's like when you want to watch something about polar bears and half the film is about the camera work. But ya, the pictures are pretty. Say, what is it you need help with?"

[Riemaia]

Anneli continued to eat, and wondered why Mara wasn;t really eating. "Say babe, why aren't you eating? I mean it IS bird so I guess you could be just being nice, but I don't mind that it is." Although most Riemaians would gag at the sight of cooked bird, Anneli was more adventurous than most, and wasn't too repulsed by the smell and look of the meat, in fact she might even be able to be coerced into trying some, under the right circumstances. "Taxes, the job of picking the nations tax rate has fallen upon me, and I don't know how to read those number charts and make the right choice and stuff, that's what i need help with, that is, if you don;t mind helping me." She said as she gave a more friendly smile, and then looked down and back at Mara, then gave a more seductive grin once more.

[New Edom]

Mara sampled her food, and enjoyed it. "I wanted to give you a chance to tell me it was grossing you out first," she said with a smile. "It's very delicious--I can't believe your folk never eat them. Anyway...taxes? Really? Annelli, haven't you got people to do that stuff, like a Ministry of Finance and all that stuff? Like are you actually doing all your own paperwork and everything?"

[Riemaia]

Anneli thought for a moment before answering, and took some more of her drink. "Well there are a few things that go by me, like the Premislydians always wanting to buy Destroyers and Battlecruisers from Riemaia, i'm sure you have seen the numbers on them so you can see why... but taxes is the one thing I have control over, and I can pass it off to the Ministry of Finance, but it would be for good though, like not even my great-great grandkid if monarch would be able to get the right to determine it back, but one thing I did find out was my mom was embezzling like a hundred billion in tax money a year and tossing it off to a bank in Yohannes or something, though it was unintentional, all the extra tax money was supposed to be like a million or two to support the immediate family, you know how it is."

Anneli drifted off to her cell phone, reading a text she got from one of her cousins. "Also, Marjorie says hi!"

[New Edom]

"A hundred billion?" exclaimed Mara. "How the hell did no one notice? Anyway I'm not a financial wizard or anything Annelli, I just studied the stuff. Anyway why does the Monarch have control directly over taxes, without an appointed staff? You're telling me it was some kinda conspiracy or else it was some kinda mess up on everyone's part? I don't get how such a thing could have happened..." Mara was confused. Was someone actually letting Annelli run a major part of the country?

[Riemaia]

"Well most of it went back in a nice large tax bonus near the new years festival, you know, money for presents and stuff for people you care for... So I think it's part of the welfare system. But anyway I can't set it at ANYTHING though, it still has to be approved by the diet, and they do a good job at making sure everything is good." She continued to eat her lunch, enjoying it so much, she may have to get some restaurants in Riemaia that specializes in Nordkreussen cuisine. "But if you think that's bad, they let me be the commander in chief or whatever its called along with the Prime Minister... they gave me a cute uniform as well! But that's just tradition."

[New Edom]

"That's kinda cool, you get to get saluted and parades and stuff, right?" Mara. "Well, when I visit I'll come and help out if I can, I'm not sure what I'll be able to accomplish but I'd love to be of some assistance, anyway."

Mara grinned. "Do you want to know something funny--Kevin Touchstone--the President's brother--is totally hot for Authelene? His voice gets all rough with desire when he talks about her. His reaction when he first saw her picture was 'damn'. I wonder how that would work out?"

[Riemaia]

"I get saluted either way really." She said imagining hundreds of people saluting her, her friends, her family... it was something she did look forward to. "Any help is better than nothing really, I don't really want to ask anyone else to help though, if you know what I mean." She said with a wink. "So Kevin... is he like a pedo or something? Authelene is my distant cousin and all, but she looks like a twelve year old, but shes like a few weeks older than you. Mind If I try some of that duck? I know it goes against my religion... but i'm feeling adventurous today!"

[New Edom]

Mara laughed. "He kinda is, but you know he doesn't really do anything illegal. He likes women who LOOK like girls, if that makes sense. Like early 70s fashion models or whatever, rail thin, ideally no ass or boobs of any kind, but a full grown woman. He's the kind of guy who ideally likes a skinny woman in her twenties who dresses like she's twelve. He's really not a bad guy. At least he has standards." unlike Enoch, she thought. "And here, it's actually goose--try it with a bit of the gravy." She offered Anneli some of the delicious rich dark meat.