As Laris started kneading the dough for the Parmesan cheese with garlic bread that she wanted to bake to go with their dinner entree, Elnor took in the smells of the various herbs growing in pots in the kitchen windows. He had become familiar with the different types of oregano, the large basil plant, the parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Others he was still unfamiliar with. However, his mind wasn't truly on the herbs at the moment.
After some consideration, he asked Laris, "What was it like being in the Tal Shiar?"
She whirled to face him with a look of fire in her eyes. "Who told you that? He told you that, didn't he?" She was nearly growling as she spit out, "I'm going to kill him! He had no right!"
Elnor froze in place at her first move. He was quickly realizing that Laris could indeed be far more than a kind and gentle woman who loved Picard possibly even more than he did. He could see now that she was angry that, yes, she could have a truly frightening side to her.
"Please," he said in an effort to calm her, "I meant no offense." He dropped his gaze from her face to the floor as he said, "I was merely curious is all. You don't need to answer my question. Forget I ever brought it up."
"Oh, that's not likely!" she said as she resumed furiously kneading the dough. "It's not his story to tell, and I don't appreciate him bringing it up!"
"He only mentioned that you had once been in the Tal Shiar. Truly, he told me nothing more than that." Elnor was looking at her calmly now, still curious, but hoping that remaining calm himself could ease her out of her anger. At the moment, that seemed far more important than satisfying his curiosity.
"Why did he even bring it up at all?" she asked in a slightly less angry tone.
"It was my fault," Elnor said, hoping to keep her anger focused on him instead of Picard if she was going to stay angry. "I was concerned that you would be worried because we were so late returning. All he told me was that you would know exactly where we were. I was curious, so he explained that you would have the skills to know because you were once Tal Shiar."
"That's all he said? Truly?"
"Yes," Elnor answered, deciding to leave out the part about Picard joking that he married her in part to have her services as a bodyguard. He knew that wasn't really true anyway.
Laris took a deep breath to calm herself as she placed the round loaf in a large wooden bowl and covered it with a clean towel before placing it in a sunny spot by the window to rise. She dusted the flour from her hands before rinsing them, then retrieved a cold bottle of wine and poured a glass for herself. Visibly calmer after a sip of wine, she took a seat at the table and motioned for Elnor to do the same.
"I'm sorry I overreacted, it's just that my time in the Tal Shiar isn't something I like to think about." She added pointedly, "Or care for very many people to know about." She shook her head as if to shake away bad memories before continuing. "You're family, though, and I know you won't speak of this to anyone else."
"Of course not," Elnor said agreeably. After seeing her initial reaction to his question, he wasn't sure he would even think of it to himself, let alone speak of it to anyone else.
"I was young and misguided," she continued. "I thought it was a great honor to be trusted to serve the Star Empire as a Tal Shiar agent. I was wrong." She sighed deeply before deciding to tell him a little more. "Zhaban and I were in the Tal Shiar together. His mother was my handler. It was from her, one night when she got far drunker than she should have, that I learned about the Zhat Vash."
Elnor drew his breath in sharply at hearing that name. The Zhat Vash agent he had fought on the Borg cube had nearly killed him. She had killed Hugh, whom Elnor had quickly begun to regard as a friend.
"Yes," Laris said, "I did hear that you had a run in with one of their agents. Hopefully, we're well rid of that cabal now, but somehow I doubt it," she said darkly.
"Anyway," she continued, "it was learning about that group, among other things, that led me to want to leave the Tal Shiar. I'm glad to have all the skills I learned from that organization, but working for them was no longer an option for me. I was happy when Zhaban agreed to leave with me, and we were both very lucky to meet Jean-Luc and be able to come here in his service."
She paused for a long time with a faraway look in her eyes. Elnor waited patiently, saying nothing. She would tell him what she would tell him, and he would count himself lucky to have heard that much. She took another sip of her wine before saying, "It feels now as if it were something from a different lifetime. That's all I have to say about it now."
"Thank you for telling me this much," Elnor said. "I'll try to curb my curiosity in the future."
"Curb your curiosity?" Laris snorted, "I doubt that's ever going to happen!"
Sensing her mood was lightening, Elnor said, "Thank you, also, for not taking my head off."
Laris smiled at him and made shooing motions with her hands, "Run along now before I change my mind. You have no idea how many sharp knives I keep in this kitchen!"
Elnor grinned as he left, glad that she wasn't still angry with him or Picard.
Meandering to the veranda, hoping to find that perhaps Number One was there and would be ready for a game of fetch, Elnor was pleasantly surprised to find Picard outside, his massive dog cuddled up next to him. He didn't see the cat, but felt sure she would turn up again as soon as there was food to be had.
"I heard some commotion in the kitchen," Picard said. "It sounded like perhaps I should stay out of there so I came out here instead."
"Yes," admitted Elnor, "I made the mistake of asking Laris about her time in the Tal Shiar."
"Oh my!" said Picard, sitting up straighter in his chair and turning to look at Elnor. "Whatever possessed you to do that?"
"I was curious. I guess I've seen her mostly as a mother figure. Finding out earlier today that there's so much more to her was a bit of a surprise."
"You and your many mothers," Picard shook his head from side to side, "Zani, Raffi, Seven, and now Laris. You'll never be able to live your own life with all of them telling you what to do!"
Elnor smiled as he said, "I count myself lucky."
Picard continued, "Qowat Milat, sometimes Starfleet intelligence, ex-Borg, ex-Tal Shiar. That's quite a collection of mothers."
Elnor grinned at the thought before saying, "My life will never be boring."
"No, it won't," agreed Picard.
Changing the subject, Picard asked, "Did she say how long it would be until dinner? I wasn't joking earlier when I said I was hungry enough to eat two meals."
"She didn't say, but judging from the pounding she gave that dough I think it might be awhile."
Picard winced. "Had her that worked up, did you?"
"Let's just say that's not a subject I'll ask her about again anytime soon!"
"Probably a wise choice," agreed Picard dryly.
"Do you think you'll ever go out among the stars again?" asked Elnor.
"You really are full of curiosity and questions today, aren't you?" Picard said with a smile. He looked somewhat wistful as he said, "Honestly, I don't know. I'm feeling quite settled here these days, but you never know what might come up. I never could have predicted our last adventure until it was upon us. I mean, how many times does a strange alien race turn up asking for me by name, then they turn out to be Borg, only they're Borg as only our Agnes could have made them starting 400 years ago?
"Life is interesting, Elnor, at least in part because we don't know what might come up next. A grand adventure could be waiting around any corner. Or a disaster," he admitted ruefully. "But mostly I think it's what we make of it. I've left quite a trail of beloved friends, along with a few enemies, as I've made my way through my life. And never could I have imagined I would end up back here, tending the vineyard just as my brother once did, and surrounded by Romulans!
"I guess that's my very roundabout way of saying that I have no idea if another adventure will lead me back to the stars. I wouldn't be surprised either way."
"Now," Picard asked with a glint in his eye, "have any of the other cadets attempted to teach you how to play poker?"
"Poker?" Elnor tilted his head to the side as if sensing a trap. "No, what is that?"
"That, my boy, is a card game that anyone who is going to serve aboard a starship absolutely must know how to play. I believe I have a deck of cards on the desk in my study. If you would be so kind as to bring them out here, I think we might have time for a game before dinner."
Wondering exactly why this was such a necessary game to know, Elnor ran to fetch the cards. It did feel like a trap, but better to learn it now, he thought, than from someone less kind later. Returning quickly with the cards, which he knew hadn't been on the desk earlier, he handed them to Picard who began to teach him the rules.