Ceretis
Of air and darkness
A cool breeze with a light, slightly salty scent, slipped between the colorful seaside houses along the road from the Norvalle Historic City Market. 'Bee', dressed in her usual, a tasteful patterned dress with broach and pearl necklace, was toting a bag of odds and ends. Mainly it was apples she needed for baked goods she was going to make, but there were as well a few selections she found too tempting to pass that were being offered by the local vendors. Delighted at the variety her local open-air market offered, she was relieved, as up until then there had been a bit of concern on her part the embassy and its staff might have had to source some items.
Pulling her map from her purse she consulted it to make sure she was still headed in the right direction. Only recently assigned to the ambassadorship in Sil Dorsett, she was still getting the lay of the land and its twisting streets. A little further down the block she turned a corner and could see up ahead the familiar blue and white billowing in the breeze. With only a little more to go she was at the entrance, and giving the giant cast bronze front door a tug it opened almost effortlessly. Inside one of the Royal Marines snapped to attention and greeted her 'Ambassador Taylor' and then promptly offered to carry the bags for her, to which she was grateful. 'Thank you, that would be so lovely. If you would also let the kitchen staff know I'll be in shortly, I have a few pies to make and will need to be taking one with me later today."
For the last few years, she'd been working in the State Department, back home, helping to prepare new ambassadors for their positions. She had met her husband, a film director when they both were serving in the OSS. The couple from there joined the State Department's Foreign Service office. She'd go on to serve as an ambassador here and there, and assist back home as well. Her husband, however, ended up working with the Ceretian Information Agency, devoted to 'Public diplomacy,' essentially a big PR firm for the nation. Though, recently they had both had a growing interest in serving abroad once again, while they still felt they had all the energy and vigor needed to properly serve their nation in that function. Unfortunately, none of the recent openings seemed the right fit for them. That was until the embassy in Sil Dorsett was offered; an offer that neither of them could resist.
Heading back toward the kitchen, Bee checked the clock to make sure there would still be plenty of time, and there was. Opening a side closet, she grabbed her apron from the hook and slipped it on, giving it a good knot. She ran her finger along a row of well-loved home recipe books she kept in there on a shelf and pulled one down. Turning about she could see the staff had already processed the bag she'd brought, and had retrieved expected ingredients for pies and placed them on the table, including a big bowl of the apples she bought. Flipping open the book and pulling out a couple of cards from the pages she placed them on the table.
Addressing two of the staff that had remained to help her if needed, she looked them over. They were young and seemed a bit nervous to suddenly be working directly with the ambassador. "Hmmm, you two look like quite the good helpers; I was thinking we might make up a few baked goods from my old family recipes for the staff. I'll also be in need of one to take with me for the dinner I'm attending tonight. After dinner conversation is always so much nicer over a piece of pie. Oh! Before I forget, remind me I need to fetch a bottle from larder before I go as a thank you gift for their being such gracious hosts." Flashing them a kind, gentle smile, "Relax, you'll find I'm easy to get along with, and I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun," as she picked up an apple and one of the knives she glanced over, "now tell me about yourselves, what do you enjoy doing..."
Pulling her map from her purse she consulted it to make sure she was still headed in the right direction. Only recently assigned to the ambassadorship in Sil Dorsett, she was still getting the lay of the land and its twisting streets. A little further down the block she turned a corner and could see up ahead the familiar blue and white billowing in the breeze. With only a little more to go she was at the entrance, and giving the giant cast bronze front door a tug it opened almost effortlessly. Inside one of the Royal Marines snapped to attention and greeted her 'Ambassador Taylor' and then promptly offered to carry the bags for her, to which she was grateful. 'Thank you, that would be so lovely. If you would also let the kitchen staff know I'll be in shortly, I have a few pies to make and will need to be taking one with me later today."
For the last few years, she'd been working in the State Department, back home, helping to prepare new ambassadors for their positions. She had met her husband, a film director when they both were serving in the OSS. The couple from there joined the State Department's Foreign Service office. She'd go on to serve as an ambassador here and there, and assist back home as well. Her husband, however, ended up working with the Ceretian Information Agency, devoted to 'Public diplomacy,' essentially a big PR firm for the nation. Though, recently they had both had a growing interest in serving abroad once again, while they still felt they had all the energy and vigor needed to properly serve their nation in that function. Unfortunately, none of the recent openings seemed the right fit for them. That was until the embassy in Sil Dorsett was offered; an offer that neither of them could resist.
Heading back toward the kitchen, Bee checked the clock to make sure there would still be plenty of time, and there was. Opening a side closet, she grabbed her apron from the hook and slipped it on, giving it a good knot. She ran her finger along a row of well-loved home recipe books she kept in there on a shelf and pulled one down. Turning about she could see the staff had already processed the bag she'd brought, and had retrieved expected ingredients for pies and placed them on the table, including a big bowl of the apples she bought. Flipping open the book and pulling out a couple of cards from the pages she placed them on the table.
Addressing two of the staff that had remained to help her if needed, she looked them over. They were young and seemed a bit nervous to suddenly be working directly with the ambassador. "Hmmm, you two look like quite the good helpers; I was thinking we might make up a few baked goods from my old family recipes for the staff. I'll also be in need of one to take with me for the dinner I'm attending tonight. After dinner conversation is always so much nicer over a piece of pie. Oh! Before I forget, remind me I need to fetch a bottle from larder before I go as a thank you gift for their being such gracious hosts." Flashing them a kind, gentle smile, "Relax, you'll find I'm easy to get along with, and I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun," as she picked up an apple and one of the knives she glanced over, "now tell me about yourselves, what do you enjoy doing..."