Captain Niriz and Commander Parck walked side by side down the gold ornated halls on the east side of the Palace, making their way back from seeing the privately trained mesomorph figures that had stunned their very eyes some minutes earlier. General Maedi had nodded to the men, a sign of respect to show that she would not be joining them on their way to the main dining hall. It was roughly lunch time, though every hour the divines sent was worthy of a meal in the eyes of the Razaiin citizens.

"I shall have to find out how they make those pocketed meat pouches. They seem rather simple to make, and I daresay, back in the day, I was a mean cook with skills to rival Jabahri."

Commander Parck smiled at Niriz's comment on the famous Coruscanti cook, Jabahri- a man whose tongue was said to defy all taste that glided over his tastebuds.

Voss looked at Niriz, smiling a little wider,"I can believe that, which is astonishingly worrying."

The two men laughed, their friendship was comfortable, and they had established the sort of kinsmanship that resulted in them acting more like siblings than two officers of differing ranks. Of course, when duty called for it, they would resume their roles and act to the best of their ability, but when on comfortable outings such as this trip to Raza, their friendship could only blossom, with the humour between them being oft.

They arrived at the dining hall some ten minutes later. It was sparsely filled, with the odd group of juniour officers dotted around the room in clumps. The Emperor of Raza had placed long wooden tables taking up much of the room in the hall, with long benches to match.

Captain Niriz and Commander Parck, being high ranking officers, were expected to eat on the main table, one that was placed horizontally across the room, allowing them to overlook the rest of the activity that went on in the room.

Today, there was a variety of meals being served, from the sweet tingling sensation of the Gerup berry, to the bitter aftertaste of Jurti, a casserole like dish that Captain Niriz had developed a taste for.

The two men sat with their meals, eating them with a contented smirk as their eyes scoured the halls. Parck noted that the Admiral had spent the bulk of his time in Raza within the confines of his room, no doubt he was somehow analysing the architecture, in his minds eye evaluating the species as well.

General Maedi was busy concentrating on reading a letter that had arrived to her via hand. The script was cursive, meaning that the letter had been pre-meditated for some time, with the carefully inked slashes and dots that made up the established language of Raza.

My dear,

Your promotion was long overdue, and I heartily congratulate you for aiming so high. The people love you, and you must know this to be true. In fact, some men have been blinded by your scorching ambition, proclaiming you to be the next H'uarrah.

You are human, like the rest of us. Though, unlike the rest of us sorry souls, you have the ability to change the system, and give us freedom from tyranny.

I have no doubts in my mind that you still love your father, but should you have seen the things my eyes have seen, you would not be so quick to rise to his defence.

Enclosed, you will find a pendant. A symbol of the people, your symbol.

We do not appreciate these Naval types your father has worked so hard to impress, and we wish to strike a bargain:

They shall stay safe, if you are to rule. We have no doubts that under your rule we shall flourish.

I look forward to seeing the pendant around your beautiful neck,

El Raha Naheeb, H'uarrah,

The People and I

Maedi shuddered, she had known that her military role meant she had a lot of power, but never in all her days had she suspected that she would result in becoming such a beacon of light for her own people.

And everything the letter said was right.

Her father, as much as she loved him, was a cruel beast at times, flogging and executing the "indispensables" as he called them, at his whim and leisure. Her mother had died at this expense when he had grown bored of her and found amusement in his harem.

Maedi wondered how long he would keep her and her sisters alive for, especially after the grief strickening death of her brother, the late General Harja.

She thumbed the letter, taking in it's perfume lightly through her nostrils. There was a faint smell of musky perfume, the type that emanated from street lanterns as they were to be lit. She searched her mind, hoping to find the composer of this letter, though she knew that she would never know the author of it, it was impossible for her to know all of the world's citizens, even if she was proclaimed to be the legendary H'uarrah.

Stuffing the letter into her jacket pocket, Maedi sat there furrowing her brow, wondering whether it was wise to show the Admiral this, after all, she had asked for his help earlier.

She swore viciously under her breath.

The people did not appreciate them, meaning their lives were endangered. But surely, showing this letter to the Admiral could help her find the safest route to disposing of her father, or at the very least diminish any threats directly pointed towards her family.

She sighed, it was times like this that she cursed the Divines for making her the eldest daughter, the responsible one. She longed to be pretty and carefree like her other sisters, to dance in the moonlight with the Razaiin officers, and to girlishly giggle when one bowed to her.

No man ever did this to her, however. She was the plain one, the legendary one.

The one that was about to cause the biggest revolution Raza had ever seen.