Chapter 15 "T'Pau"
When I was at the delicate age of twenty-one, I met Jubil accidentally through my studies at an Academy off Vulcan. He, too, was a philosophy student, but he had almost completed an advanced program. Jubil was a teaching assistant for one of my classes, and I found myself quickly fascinated by him. He was tall, muscularly built like many Romulan males, with brown hair, tan skin, and a mustache. Our friendship began when I asked him about his mixed heritage and grew into love. Yes, love. It wasn't until much later, when I had been married for two decades to my late husband, that I realized it was fifty-eight percent lust and forty-two percent love. At the end of that term, Jubil and I decided to marry.
We had officially been married for two weeks when our parents had scoured the planets near Vulcan for us. Once found, Jubil was banished to a world far away. Meanwhile, my parents scolded me for not following my familial duty and underwent drastic measures to forget him. An ancient mystic Vulcan ritual could delete one's memories of emotions. In my case, the goal was to eliminate the mind and heart of my newly Vulcan-Romulan hybrid husband, Jubil. Of course, it wasn't one-hundred percent foolproof, but the voodoo ritual worked for me. My parents had me return to a Vulcan Academy under close supervision and began working on my arranged marriage.
Two weeks after the procedure, strange flashes of vague memories would appear in my dreams. For instance, I would be lying in the buff with Jubil discussing philosophy. I consequently went through the purging of my memories and feelings weekly until finally, I no longer remembered him or had flashbacks. Although the procedures were uncomfortable, it was not painful.
For three days, I was off-planet due to my position in the Vulcan government. My assistant immediately informed me that Skonn had come into my office while away. On top of that, my brother logged into my computer when I wasn't there one day under the false pretense that he needed to retrieve a family document. I hadn't had the opportunity to confront him about it as I had been back for only one day. Once Miss Grayson reached out for my assistance from the Embassy, I knew my brother had acted unscrupulously. This was not new behavior for him as he had been known to take actions against Surak's teachings on a few occasions. Especially if it meant that it would benefit the family. Skonn indeed had changed her status to "revoked" on her work visa. Although I had been meditating on it for several hours, I felt anger towards him for keeping my nephew and Amanda apart.
My plan was to expose Skonn to Sarek about his actions in going into governmental documents and producing unauthorized changes after I rescued Amanda from the Vulcan customs office.
First, I flew to the Embassy to speak to my nephew's trustworthy assistant. He said Sarek had left for a family celebration two days ago. Ergo, I knew immediately Skonn took my nephew to have a priestess perform the same ancient ceremony to eliminate his love for Amanda.
Severely annoyed with my brother's betrayal, I retrieved Miss Grayson from the Embassy. Amanda was released into my care pending authorization from Ambassador Sarek to work at the Academy. Currently, she appeared disheveled with her clothes wrinkled, her eyes puffy from crying, and her ordinarily tidy hair unkempt.
"Thank you for rescuing me, T'Pau. Where are we going now," Amanda asked, her soft voice warbled as she spoke. Although she wasn't crying, she was shaken up.
"Your house," I briefly answered but not offering more detail. My niece's expressive face reddened to a tomato color as she anxiously questioned,
"What about Sarek? Where is he?"
I tried to console my nephew's anguished lover by lightly grasping her arm, "No, my brother Skonn is responsible."
Illogically, Amanda began crying.
"She was a human," I thought inwardly but sighed outwardly at her actions. I patted her arm lightly.
"Even my father realizes how much Sarek and I love and care for each other," she sobbed, tears spilling off her cheeks. Rapidly, Amanda's hands covered her face to conceal them.
"T'Pau, I am extremely apprehensive. I normally can feel his presence in my heart and soul even. Since I have been back on Vulcan, I haven't," she wept.
"Amanda, breathe deeply and meditate. I promise you and Sarek will have the Vulcan marriage ceremony quicker than you expect despite my brother's wishes," I confidently elucidated.
Nodding, she knew it was fruitless to argue, and I waited for her to regain her composure before inquiring,
"Is that what you want, Amanda?"
"Yes, ma'am. I truly love your nephew and want to be his bond mate and aduna (wife) for the rest of my life," She earnestly stated with a smile on her lips.
The shuttlecraft voyage felt extended because of my soon-to-be niece-in-law's uncontrollable emotions due to her exhaustion, lack of food, and the troubling situation. Dropping Amanda off and offering the comfort I could, I promised to contact her later with news of Sarek.
Meanwhile, I had to face Skonn. He was the oldest male of seven children, as I was the most senior female of the same family. To be precise, I had four-point seventy-eight years on Skonn. I didn't look forward to discussing his misguided actions towards Sarek, but it must be done now.
First, I wanted to see Sarek's emotional damage. He and Amanda had known each other for sixteen point four months and been courting for four-point four, whereas Jubil and I only knew each other for two months.
"Maybe the procedure depended on the depth of the love between the two people," I postulated.
Sarek was sitting down on a gray chair, talking to his nephew, the one who was coming of age when I arrived.
"I must speak to you, Sarek," I abruptly informed, "privately."
"Yes, of course, T'Pau," my great-nephew stated, bowing his head in deterrence, and he left.
Quizzically, Sarek raised an eyebrow and rose from his seat as I gestured for him to follow me.
"Come with me, sa-bath, (nephew)," I ordered, grabbing his arm and taking him to a place where we had privacy, and the outside would give us the proper isolation.
"Your actions are the most abnormal ezyet , (Aunt)," he replied, cautiously scrutinizing me.
We continued to walk five hundred meters away from my parent's house. Sarek as usual had his hands clasped behind his back as he walked with me.
"Nephew, I need your assistance. Amanda Grayson's work visa has been revoked," I remarked in an urgent tone.
Baffled, Sarek wrinkled his nose, questioning, "Your ward from Earth? Isn't that something for your office?"
"Yes," I replied, disappointed by his answer. My nephew did not show any flicker of emotion when I mentioned Amanda. Usually, there would be a brief twitch of his lips upward or a light shining in his eye.
"Was this all he remembered?" I thought.
Exasperated, I told him that his father had sabotaged Amanda's records. Sarek's expression was one of confusion.
"I don't understand, T'Pau? How do the two things relate, my Father and Miss Grayson?"
Glaring at him, I told him plainly, "Skonn does not want you and Amanda to become bond mates. I believe he has already crippled your memory."
"Why would I marry Miss Grayson?" He queried, taken aback. He blinked several times.
Angrily, Skonn approached us at that moment, "ko-kai, sister, what is the meaning of this secret meeting with my son?"
"Skonn. I know that you had a priestess perform that "voodoo" ritual on your son to remove his feelings for Amanda. Moreover, I know that you went into my computer and changed her visa status, and do you deny it?"
Perplexed, Sarek studied my face then analyzed his father's but stayed still and wordless.
After a long moment, I repeated my last questions to my brother about the ritual and changing Miss Grayson's visa status.
"No, I do deny," Skonn remarked, clenching his jaw tightly.
"How dare you," I growled, narrowing my eyes.
"My son will not cause shame to the family as you did," he hissed, my brother's face turned a pale green.
"Skonn, I find it sad for you to never find the deep intimate connection that true love brings. I somehow was lucky to find it twice," I condescendingly snapped.
My brother gave me an icy stare for even Vulcan standards, and I felt a shiver down my spine.
"Your first marriage to Sarek's mother, Talok, I thought, was a more joyful occasion than it may have been," I concluded, raising an eyebrow. That comment should provoke Skonn's defensiveness because it was his weak point.
"I followed my family's wishes, and I did as I was told and married Talok. She did the same, and we did share some tenderness for each other. T'Pau, you of all people, should know about her sudden untimely death during her last pregnancy," Skonn commented, choking on his words. His skin had turned a light green color.
"Then explain to me the reason you won't allow your own son to be happy with whom he cares for," I accused, feeling my anger rise.
"Every Vulcan knows his place is to marry according to his family's wishes," he snapped.
"Sarek married T'Rea, and that didn't work out," I countered. I knew this was a sore subject for my nephew but brought it up anyway. Emotionless, Sarek didn't say anything and quietly observed the argument. However, my brother shrugged in embarrassment but didn't stop his ruthless glare at me.
"You brainwashed your own son to further your agenda and falsified Miss Grayson's governmental file," I accused, feeling my blood further boil.
"Sarek will not dishonor our family by marrying an inconsequential human woman," Skonn loudly declared.
"Please allow me to end this unnecessary argument," my nephew interrupted, non-plussed, holding his hand up to stop.
"I don't want to marry Amanda Grayson. This is a non-issue."
With that, Sarek strolled back into the house. My brother had an extraordinarily smug expression on his face until I strode up to him and slapped him. That gave me a short-lived feeling of satisfaction.
"My soul is crestfallen that I am the only one who cares about your youngest son's happiness," I fumed.
Skonn exhibited confusion because I resorted to violence, which was against Surak's teaching:
"Do no harm to those that harm you. Offer them peace, and then you will have peace."
After behaving illogically, I left the premises to return to my home to meditate.
Did this ancient spell work on Sarek? Wait to read the next chapter next week.