An interesting meal

"Your grandmother was involved in the Second Rome Accords?" Himeko asked, leaning forward with interest. If Katla was being honest she didn't know why she'd shared that tidbit. The meal with the erstwhile Captain had been mostly full of small talk, little things to not disturb from the surprisingly delicious courses that had been brought out. Apparently the Captain had brought a personal chef on-board. Even a corvette was built with a bit of extra space in mind. The chef and the rest of the Captain's entourage had the run of a converted slave room in the aft of the ship. Pretty tight for so many people but if nothing else Lavaliere paid well.

"Well, not exactly. She was at the conference at the invitation of Ambassador Derasdottir due to her part in the Battle of Black Star." Katla explained. "She didn't have a speaking role or anything." Katla's grandmother on her sire's side had never really talked about it too much. It was apparently a painful memory. The Battle of Black Star had been the closest that the human sphere had come to all-out war in the post-Great-War period. After the War of Adonis Prime. A Class 1 Life Slave conflict. A rouge IAA General had taken quite a few of those slaves and begun... experimenting. The absolute only thing that prevented the Federation and Colonies from declaring war on the IAA. Real war. Had been the Swiss finding out first and asking Asgard to attack the facility.

"That just means she got to enjoy all the fun without the boring bits. The receptions and balls were absolutely legendary." Lavaliere said, eyes a bit dreamy. She was obviously speaking second hand. Katla hadn't even been born yet at that point and while age was just a number Lavaliere's file had her's far too low for that as well.

"The formation of The Bureau and updating the articles of war must have been exciting too," Katla said mildly.

The captain looked at her in confusion for a moment before realizing who she meant. "Oh right. BREAST. It's quite a shame that they use such a vulgar acronym for such a noble institution."

"It's not any worse than the Colonial Unit Nest Teams," Katla said with a shrug. "Plus it got it passed without reading any further into it."

"Very true. Sometimes subtlety can come in the most blatant forms." Lavaliere agreed, the apparent double meaning lost on the Viking.

"Enough about my family though, what brought you to the navy?" Katla asked, hoping the change of subject wasn't too abrupt.

"From one family as the topic to another." Lavaliere smiled, "It was a bit of a misunderstanding. My sister is favored for taking control of the family estates. She has these two lovely maids who have always fancied me. But the risk of scandal of course prevented them from acting upon their true feelings. I saw their plight and decided to favor them for a night, unfortunately, both were not on birth control and my parents were furious at the resulting bastards. A bit of noblesse oblige forced them to help ensure their care apparently. So in response, they gave me a choice, the navy or the army." She spread her hands in a 'and here we are' gesture. "Its certainly been more fun than I anticipated, the uniforms are both beautiful and dashing and soon I anticipate you will lead us to quite the bit of glory. Enough to hopefully get my punishment lifted and ensure my part as the superior in a marriage."

"A superior?" Katla asked

"My family is traditional, a marriage takes place based on shared unity in that regard. The superior is the sire in the relationship." Lavaliere explained. "While the custom has started to fade away it still holds significant power to the families who still practice it. Something you may wish to consider"

"And if you get knocked up first?" Katla asked, considering their line of work it was a distinct possibility at some point. Something those who underwent Raider training were especially familiar with.

"I don't see how that would happen." Lavaliere replied, "But it wouldn't matter for marriage. Chesa for instance is a member of the minor nobility." She waved a hand at the servant who had been refilling drinks throughout the night. "If her family ever decided to overlook her disgrace she could still enter into a marriage as a superior if another family likewise agreed to it. Then if she were to get pregnant the children would not be in line for familial rights unless they were properly claimed. Sort of like the children of a concubinage like those of your friend. Just far less august."

"My friend?" Katla asked.

"Semiramis. The two of you have certainly been making a splash in your acquaintance." If acquaintance meant a grand total of three or four conversations. "Her own parents had to receive the queen's blessing to add her to the royal household as her mother was ineligible for commoner marriage."

"Meaning?"

"For a commoner to marry officially into the royal house they must be a virgin." Lavaliere explained. "Defined of course by the means of creating children. Several videos were present demonstrating that the good princess's mother did not meet that requirement."

"Ah" That was probably one of the dumbest things Katla had ever heard.

"In any case you could do far worse in your associations. Just be careful not to fall into her faction unknowingly. She has already started making a few... interesting enemies."