Kagomine Crown Jewels

"I can't believe I'm even here, won't we get arrested?" Flora murmured.   "Silly, I'm the heir, this will be mine someday, nothing wrong with me checking to make sure it's where it's supposed to be." Amarat replied.   "Nothing wrong, provided you bring the proper escort, Milord." That was Senya.   "Escort?"   "The proper escort is a full squad, two if you intend to take it out of its display case or if the alart system must be fiddled with."   "No, no, we're just having a private viewing, Senya, surely we can arrange that much..."   "With a full squad, yes."   "Fine."   "Let's go guards, let's not keep the Namei or his guest waiting. Second squad, wait for us here."   "You had both squads at the ready?"   "I had four squads ready, this is the residence, and your mother and aunt are both in bed, you're the entire responsability of all 12 squads for the duration."   "What, twelve?"   "First and second Megamisama, first and second Meihomei, I have more than twelve, but we're trying not to crowd anyone..."   "How are you going to manage Dunkehl?"   "There's a number of possibilities, my favourite is that you'll declare that as Feyd Veneer, you rate a squad of Dunkehl Guards, and leave them to handle things."   "Dunkehl Guards?"   "The Priestly Unit, defenders of Mountain Home. Fully the equal of any in terms of defending at-risk principals."   "I know who they are, I'm wondering who in their right mind would just 'declare' themselves to be their responsibility."   "Ok, maybe not like that, truly, I have never spoken with any of them, I was hoping..."   "Yes?"   "That since your Mother is their charge when in Mountain Home, you could ask, next time you're there... She is one of their bosses..."  

---

  "What is it you wanted me to see Amarat? I'm not fooled, you didn't have to badger Senya like that..."   "Errm, I mean..."   "Out with it, Kon!"   "Err." His eyes kept drifting to a side table.   "What's here?" She picked up a 15cm-square, 10cm thick, velvet-covered box. Heavy. It wasn't even cardboard or plastic, and it would have to be hardwood to be this heavy. "What would you keep in such a box?"   "The One Ring." He quipped, reflexively.   "Speak sense."   "Open it, please?"   Inside the box was a folded parchment document, with wax-over-platinum-foil seals. Black and Emerald wax. So an official document. The ink... was green, green enough it had to be a very official document, fit for the ruler of Kagomei, Flora thought. Or her Merit, should she have remembered, that no legal document addressed to her could be legally binding unless it was written in this green ink, a quirk of Kagomine law affecting any and all Meritants.  

39 Dociem, 815, Mei Palace of Megamisama
From the desk of Amalthea Kagomei, and at her pleasure.

Favoured and Meritant subject,

It's been brought to my attention that you and Amarat have been Herevallin thrice now, and for a cumulative period of 6 arnds. This entitles you to wearing the attached item. I have made it an edict so that none may doubt you do so in full rights and privileges afforded to you, and with my fullest possible approval.

— Letter from Meihomei Amalthea Kagomei, to Flora Rolli, Meritant of Honor, FFOF-09.

There was a second document, this time an actual Edict, that is, a text of law, saying that the ruler of Kagomei thought about a particular point of order, law, etc... It had been folded in the larger box, under the letter, over a smaller, 10cmx10cmx4cm black velvet box whose platinum hinges appeared ancient.

Edict 815-10-39-25:01

By my hand, and at my instruction, may you find attached that I have determined the person of Flora Rolli to be Royal, in the legal Kagomine sense, and fully a heir to Great Kagomé herself, which, as a point of genealogy, should surprise no-one, as she is a scion of the house of Dandelion, through her father.

"Frag me sideways with a pinetree, that's... that's not what I think it is, is it?"

Amarat just nodded, then reached for the smaller box, and opened it, within was a ring, blackened, tarnished platinum, over nine hundred arnds old, having been an heirloom in 86BK, the wedding band of Aumhavar Pebea.

"This is undue pressure!"

"It's not my idea!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's not. But it's suspicious Amarat, really, you're waiting for my reply, and while you do, Amalthea Kagome, your aunt, writes a new law just to get me this."

"No, she wrote a new law so no one would give you a hassle over wearing it. It became yours the moment we've been Herevallin for more than five arnds. It took almost an arnd to get through the paperwork, for you to wear it."

"What, so this isn't to convince me to stay married?"

"You've earned this, this is yours, you can walk away if you want, and keep it, now and forever more. That's not something we play games with, and there's no pressure, not from that."

"But that's the..."

"The wedding band of Meihomei? It has been called that before, by people who didn't know better..."

"What is it then?"

"The Wedding Band of Aumhavar Pebea, great-grandmother of Kagomei, and the only relic that remains of the founder of Kagomei."

"And it's mine how?"

"Any woman who bears a child to the crown prince of Kagomei and is his legal consort for five consecutive arnd is entitled..."

"Entitled! Such a word!"

"Listen, you're upset, and I don't want to make you more upset, but I am required, by law, to tell you of this Edict, that names you by name, that says you are legally entitled to wear this ring, as my consort, should you so choose."

"And if I don't choose?"

"I would ask you let me know when you wish to wear it, so that, if you do not choose to be my Herevallin anymore, I can avoid being seen with you, in public, to avoid myself the embarassment."

"What embarassment?"

"The people, in their wisdom." His sarcasm was almost palpable. "I can hear their rails now. He gave her Kagomei's ring, after she was with him for five arnds, and even that didn't encourage her to deal with him."

"You know that's not..."

"No? I've asked you to be my wife for four months now, and you won't even talk to me about it... What did I do that was so bad?"

She laughed, a full, free, immoderate laugh, she wasn't mocking him, he could tell that much. "Nothing you did, I'm trying to show I'm my own person, not one you can buy, not one you can pressure into marrying you, someone who your friends, associates, can't pressure into this decision."

"Well, this isn't helping my cause, is it?"

"No, no it's not. What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing I can do about it. These are all appearances of you being influenced, or being vulnerable to such. All pure horseshit. As if I could influence you."

"What?"

"Flora, you've said no to Meihomei, in her face before. You've gone on the record against a Nessun over naval deployment orders, if there's anyone, or anything, that can make you back down, I don't know what it is, but I know what it is not..."

"Oh, what is it not?"

"Me, I can't make you back down, I've learned that was futile, the day I met you."

"You can't browbeat me, Amarat, you always could sweet talk me into things..."

"There's a problem with that..."

"What?"

"Flora, we've been herevallin for five arnds, I want to continue to be herevallin, I want to wake up to you forever. That's not undue influence, that's not me trying to manipulate you. But it is sweet talk, I hope, because... Well if I'm saying this to the right person, you're excited to hear this, and want to say it back..."

"I'm such an Idiot."

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am, we could have been herevallin for the last four months if I even gave you a hint that what I was trying to do was prove I could be independant, right?"

"Independant of what? Our daughters aren't independant, Flora, and, they are, I think, germane to this..."

"Cheap shot!"

"What's cheap about 'we made the sweetest daughters in the universe together, and I'm the idiot if I let you get away!'?"

"Ok, ok, someone IS remembering it's ok to sweet talk your potential herevallin, sometimes, if she says it is..."

"I am an idiot."

"No, no you're really not. Don't take this the wrong way, but I think the fact that I held out four months is probably cathartic..."

"And you're... not going for five?"

"Well, it would be... embarassing, if I wore this and we weren't Herevallin, wouldn't it?"

"Terribly."

"Then I won't, but... I am expecting Hannabrid to be even better this time around..."

"What?"

"Silly Amarat, I stopped counting when I took a decision. It didn't imply a specific reply on my part..."

"Can I ask you to stay here, for the night?"

"In a palace, why?"

"Hmm, this way I can ask Nellun to take care of our little princesses, and that we'll see them tomorrow."

"And what will we be doing?"

"Testing the soundproofing of the Master Bedroom, it is mine after all, and it should not go to waste." He grabbed her hand, as she giggled.

---

Regalia of Kagomei

The Regalia of Kagomei consists of four items, two wore or otherwise kept by the ruler, and one kept by the heir and one by the heir's consort, a fifth item was lost to time.. When it was found, the block of Emerald that the Algebraic Emerald, Arithmetic Emerald, Factorization Emerald, Differential Emerald and Discreet Emerald were originally part of a full 400 kilo block, and originally, the Ceylon people decided to leave it uncut, for religious reasons, using it at a focus of worship of the earth and air elements, except for three pieces, which were turned in the Wedding band of Aumhavar Pebea, the Wedding Band of Consort Zhon Sheppard and the matching Wedding Band of Consort Lyara, for more information about them, see below. However, a raft of Marauding warlords invaded them in the following years, and a few of them, including the notorious Sudakhel Khai, took a liking to the gemstone and ordered it cut into various pieces for their enjoyment. The then Kingdom of Kagomei, newly founded partly in response to their excesses, ordered all these reforged as part of the regalia, and has been using them as symbols of power ever since. Most other states find their use of so much platinium a bit extravagant, especially if they don't know their origin as reclaimed items of pillage. The conspicuous amount of emeralds left over, unaccounted for, and presumed lost in the warlord time is a fertile source of urban legend, as only 100kg of the original emeralds remain accounted for. 300 kilos of gem-class beryllium would depress the price of emeralds for centuries.  

The first item is a platinium-iridium scepter, fully three kilos of the noble metals, with at its crown the Algebraic Emerald, itself a half-kilo of Emerald cut into a square version of an emerald cut.

The second item is a crown, made of several pieces some of an alloy of platinum, iridium, indium and some of regular rose gold with, at its head, the Arithmetic Emerald, taken from the sceptre of Sudakhel Kai after he was executed by Analecta Kagome. A 1200 carat emerald tops it, and a 800-carat-total emerald adorns each of its spires. Only perhaps 20000 Kagomine have even seen this crown in person, it's not pulled out for display that often, being reserved for the actual coronation, and any occasion involving the Order of Emerald or the Merit of Honour recipients.

The third item is a large ring, proportioned for a large, muscular arnd woman. Hérévale, often called navy wedding, have been more or less popular with the people of the island of Seylon over the last thousand years, One key differentiator of such, especially from an earth perspective, is that herevallin do not exchange rings for the first five arnds(years of 504days) of the union, indeed, the first exchange is usually matching tattoos circling the finger. However, after five arnds, especially if the union has produced children, or if the two in union feel their union will continue, one partner will offer the other a ring, and 2.5 arnds later, the other partner will reciprocate. The Differential Emerald adorns the Wedding Band of Aumhavar Pebea, it is the middle item in the collection in size, two steps from the top, and two from the bottom. It is ceremonially worn by the consort to the heir of the throne of Kagomei, but by the rules of Herevallin, any consort could just walk away with the ring. That not a single consort has done so amazes observers.

The fourth item is a ring, proportioned for a large arnd woman or an arnd man, the Wedding Band of Consort Lyara, the Matrix Emerald adorns this ring, it is the smallest emerald in the Kagomine Regalia collection, by a hair. and is currently the badge of office of the Executive Secretary of the Kautanissian Conclave.

The fifth item was a ring, proportioned for a slim man, it's unfortunately been lost to time, and the item rates as the most precious item ever completed destroyed in Arnd's history, when it was smashed to smithereens, and the pieces flooded away. It was the fourth largest emerald in the collection. The Wedding Band of Consort Zhon was, in ancient times, the sign of office of the Earlmage Kautanissian.

The sixth item taken from this collection is not considered legally a crown jewel, although it is kept in the palace, under armed guard at all times. A 5 cm emerald rendition of the Rembrandt's Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service, its transparent facets grace the Rembrandt Memorial Honour Box's statue of Rembrandt's neck. Rather impressive, the life-size statue of a cat is made of solid platinium except for the medal, and the eyes of the statue, green like its namesake's eyes. Insurers will not publicly disclose the amount for which it is insured, nor indeed, will the insurance consortium insuring the palace will declare the total figure of the policy for the items therein, media speculation posit the amount is in the mid-to-high hundreds of millions of Kagomine Sums.