Chapter 105
On the night of the dinner, Amanda stood dressed decadently from head to toe waiting nervously in one of the function rooms of the Vulcan embassy. Her delicate headdress of silver filigree jingled pleasantly whenever she moved and she could see the tiny gems reflecting the light against the walls as if she were a living planetarium. Her robes were heavily embroidered and contained so many folds of cloth that a sash had been tied about her waist so that she could still move properly. Both T'Sang and T'Pen had seriously outdone themselves in making her stand out. She felt like a piece of living tinsel. It would be impossible for her to go missing. She would be visible wherever she went.
Amanda fiddled with the many rings on her fingers. Normally she would wear gloves but tonight S'Kelnek had insisted that she do without so her guests could see the reminder of the scratches she had received as atonement for her transgression. One of her tasks would be to personally serve each of her guests a glass of pla-savas juice where the marks would be obvious to the eye.
She turned away to the low tables set around the outside of the room to check the settings were in place. She knew the attendants had laid it out perfectly but she needed something to distract her.
After she had surveyed every setting and found nothing amiss, Amanda saw T'Nerrin enter the room with her accompanist. They shared a stiff nod at a distance before she moved to one of the side rooms which they would use as a changing room for the event. The accompanist settled himself with his lyre in the corner and began to tune his instrument before plucking notes that provided the room with a soothing ambiance.
Amanda consulted her watch, there were a few minutes to go before her guests would start arriving. She made her way to the side kitchen where her unbonded volunteers were busy preparing for the dinner service under the stern guidance of the motherly cook that Sarek had recommended. Catching her eye, Amanda was shooed out of the kitchen with the rebuke that a real hostess never enters the kitchen.
Sighing, Amanda tried to comfort herself by pacing about the cavernous empty room, unable to stand still.
"An Ambassador's wife does not pace," chided a familiar voice.
Amanda looked up to find Svelda approaching. She felt a flush of relief at seeing her old teacher again before she remembered that Svelda was still angry with her. She wore a beautiful crimson red robe pleated about the neck and sleeves. She glided over to speak with her.
"I am honored by your presence, Lady Svelda," Amanda said bowing deeply to show the pale back of her neck.
Straightening, she met Svelda's approving gaze.
"You have learned the traditional greeting for the corps?" she asked.
Amanda nodded. Se'tek had helped her to memorize the speech by heart.
"Good."
Svelda stepped closer to adjust a few of the garlands on her head. Her hand hovered just under Amanda's chin causing her to lift it instinctively and she pushed two needle-like fingers in between her shoulder blades prompting her to pull her shoulders back and stand up straight.
"Remember," Svelda said. "No sharp movements. The slower you move the more graceful you appear. Every action must have a purpose. Keep your conversation short and to the point. And above all," she looked at Amanda sternly for this: "do not lose your temper."
Amanda nodded grimly. Svelda moved to stand next to her and smoothed the front of her robe.
"They are here," Svelda informed her.
As if on cue, the door was opened by the servers and a throng of Vulcans crossed the threshold, stopping in a cluster before her. Amanda recognized her master: S'Kelnek, the council member from the concert: Svolnak, Se'tek and of course her husband: Sarek. The rest she recognized by name only.
The music stopped playing. Amanda stepped forward and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
"Welcome honored guests," she gestured her hands outwards and bowed her head slightly. "You have traveled far and the day has been long. Allow me to be your host for tonight. I will ensure your thirst is sated, your stomachs are filled and that your mind is rested. As your host, I will ensure your every need is catered for. It would be an honor to serve you," she finished, bowing deeply as she had just practiced with Svelda.
She remained bent, waiting for their response as tradition dictated that she could not rise until her offer was accepted.
As time drew out in a long uncomfortable silence Amanda was beginning to feel her knees tremble when she heard the wizened voice of Svolnak.
"The day has been long and my companions and I are weary. We will accept your hospitality, this night."
Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Amanda straightened to standing before moving forward to personally greet her first guest and show them to their seat.
The first half of the evening had gone well. Once seated, the food had come quickly and despite one of the diplomats making a comment that his water was warm before being immediately silenced by Svolnak, it had gone exactly as planned. They had even managed to pull off a well-rehearsed maneuver whereby she had been standing beside Sarek at the exact moment that he requested a refill on his water by simply lifting it. She had wordlessly exchanged his cup, causing a cascade of meaningful glances about the table as the corps gossiped telepathically whether their bond was now working…
As the meal came to an end, Amanda gestured towards a raised stage area surrounded by seating. Some of the guests took their seats whereas others stood in huddled conversation about the room whilst the servers tidied away the used cutlery and plates. T'Nerrin made her way to the stage as the first performance of the evening. As the accompanist began to play, the remaining Vulcans began drifting towards her lithe form.
She had just opened one of the doors of the function room to open onto a small internal courtyard of the embassy so that the guests could take a walk in the evening air when she turned to find that Socran had arrived.
"Ah Socran! It is good that you are here," she said bowing lightly, already accustomed to the new version, tall and stark in his charcoal tunic.
"I am here as you requested," he said patiently.
"There is some time before it is your turn. Are you in need of any refreshment?" she asked.
She saw his eyes were now locked on T'Nerrin as she danced. He paused for a moment before responding.
"No, I am well enough hydrated. If you can show me to the room that I requested then I will begin to warm up" he said, finally bringing his eyes back to hers.
"Of course," she guided him through the guests to the door beside the kitchen that led into one of the spare offices that had been repurposed as a changing room for the evening.
Entering his own dedicated room, he nodded politely before shutting the door. Amanda peeked into the room she would be using later and saw T'Pen already fully dressed and stretching on the floor. Judging that everything was ok, she made her way back to the function before anyone would notice she had gone missing.
"Lady Sarek," someone called to her in standard from the side of the room. The voice was loud enough to draw other people's attention.
She turned to see who it was and recognized it to be the diplomat who had tried to cause trouble earlier. No doubt seeking some further attention… She bowed her head.
"First Secretary Salvik, there is no need to speak in standard. I am perfectly fluent in Vulcan," she explained in Vulcan.
He was fairly short for a Vulcan with an uncharacteristically square jaw for his species. However Amanda still had to look up to see his face. He wore his hair long enough to look slightly unkempt and Amanda noticed it was a vain attempt to cover a growing bald patch on the top of his head.
"I only seek to practice what has long been left unused," he continued stubbornly in her mother tongue.
She didn't know how… but he made it sound dirty.
"As you wish," she said and waited patiently for him to recover from the fact that she hadn't denied him further.
He flicked his head in a habitual gesture to move his hair out of his eyeline.
"Why thank you, my dear," he said putting on an attempt at a smile. It made her skin crawl.
"I must correct you that it is not considered appropriate to use a term of endearment like that in the diplomatic profession," she said calmly, well aware that others were trying to listen in to their conversation.
"I understood that it can be considered flattering on Terra for that term to be used when addressed by an elder," he said, feigning ignorance.
"Only close family members," she explained.
He still wore the terrible smirk on his face.
"I would also request that you stop smiling, you are disturbing my servers," she said, gesturing to the young servers lining the wall that were staring at him openly.
He ignored her.
"What I never understood from my posting on Terra was why such terms of endearments were always referring to young animals, sweet foods or words that made absolutely no linguistic sense at all."
Amanda jumped in before he could continue further on this bizarre topic.
"When was your last posting on Terra?" she asked.
"Four years ago," he explained, reveling in having an audience.
Amanda attempted to convey polite interest.
"And you haven't returned since?"
She was beginning to think she understood why…
"No, though I have thought of it often. Tell me, which endearment do you most commonly use? Babe? Sweetheart? Honeybear?" he leered.
Amanda took a deep breath to let out the tension in her jaw.
"Aardvark," she said simply and before he could get another word in, she made her excuses and lost herself amongst the guests, making her escape into the courtyard.
She looked in hope for a glimpse of her husband but he was not any of those walking about outside. She moved into a dark patch behind a petrified bush to try and collect herself. It was moments like these when she really wished she could relay her distress telepathically.
"You should be careful around that one," said a soft voice behind her.
Amanda stiffened before recognizing it to be S'Kelnek.
"Yes master," she said, feeling him move to stand just behind her.
"He has ill intentions," he warned quietly.
"That much is clear," she whispered.
Feeling her breathing deepen she turned to thank him for his kindness but… no-one was there. A few feet away, T'Sang was heading towards her.
Amanda left her shelter and saw T'Sang look visibly relieved.
"T'Nerrin is looking for you," she explained.
Amanda glanced nervously at the door as she stood almost stark naked whilst T'Pen and T'Sang prepared her for dressing into her costume by smearing pale green paint into her skin as per T'Nerrin's instruction. The hope was that it would prevent the distasteful red glow she acquired when she began to exert herself in the dance. After being followed up with a thorough application of sweat absorbent powder she was assisted into her costume that had been designed to match T'Pen's.
After a bit of fidgeting to make sure everything was securely fastened and would not slip, they applied the belt and bangles. T'Nerrin checked it all one last time before stepping back to give her one last piece of advice.
"Don't forget to breathe," she said sternly one last time.
As she opened the door to the function room Amanda felt her heart rate accelerate. She took a deep breath. Don't panic Amanda, whatever you do, don't panic.
She tried to take slow long deep breaths as T'Pen led the way through the crowd to the raised stage that lay there waiting for them.
The further they progressed the quieter the room became until finally all that Amanda could hear was her breathing loud in her ears and her bare feet on the marble stone. She kept her gaze fixed on the back of T'Pen's head. She knew that they were all staring at her. She didn't need to look.
Approaching the stage, T'Pen took up her starting position silently and Amanda followed her lead. They remained as a frozen image whilst T'Nerrin herself took up her own instrument to guide the accompaniment. As Amanda had only successfully completed the full routine a handful of times they had made some back-up routines to allow her to recover in the worst case. Each one was identifiable by a change in music. T'Nerrin would watch her like a hawk for signs of trouble. The one thing T'Nerrin's improvisation couldn't guarantee to prevent was Amanda falling over. They would all have to rely on Amanda alone for that…
Amanda kept her gaze squarely to the floor, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. She didn't need to be spooked. She was fighting to keep her breathing slow and even as her anxiety grew about the performance. Finally, T'Nerrin took mercy and struck up the tune and Amanda's thoughts seized as she moved by instinct to the music.
At first her movements were stiff with the adrenaline running through her veins and she felt coarse and juddery next to T'Pen's beautiful gliding form. However once they made it successfully past the first few phrases she felt her muscles begin to relax and she visualized herself as back in the classroom just practicing like so many times before.
As they made the first tableau, T'Pen affected a tiny nod at her solemnly as if saying: "you can do this, Amanda." Amanda pushed out a deep breath and as the music peaked time suddenly flew past as they moved in sync through the leaps and turns. Then came the backwards movement with the crazy change of directions and a JUMP and "ploff," she had landed. Amanda's eyes widened in shock as they stood in the final position, her feet firmly on the floor and her breathing hard. She'd done it…
All was still for a few moments and she forced herself to breathe through her nose to quiet her breathing. Finally T'Nerrin broke the spell by standing. T'Pen and Amanda performed something akin to a reverence before slowly making their way off stage.
When the door closed behind them Amanda collapsed against it and slid to the floor, cradling her head in her hands as her shoulders shook with nervous relief. But there was no rest to be had, T'Sang pulled her to her feet and began undressing her to return her back to the twinkling hostess. Nothing was said and Amanda felt like she was in a bizarre dream. T'Nerrin, with her duty performed gave Amanda a curt nod and then left without another word. T'Pen pushed an energy sack into her hand.
"Drink," she instructed.