"What a beautiful baby, what is her name?" Midori, first princess of the second rank of the Nisei, asked.
"She hasn't picked one yet."
"She is expected to pick her name?"
"If we call her something, and it makes her stop crying and start laughing, she has claimed it as a name. After three hundred attempts, it only has to stop her crying. It is our way."
"You picked your names?"
"Yes, I picked my name, on the second attempt, that is considered very fortunate."
"And you, Amarat?"
"I was named after Feyd Amarat Veneer, and accepted his name on the first attempt. I submit we should probably not count naming while visiting tombstones, my mother cried more than I did, apparently."
"Oh, fascinating."
"How did you come by your name?"
"Anapurna Midori is the name of my title, of course. We adopt a name when we become a prince of the Nisei."
"Are you expected to change then?"
"Not unless I am promoted or demoted."
"But you bear the same name as another prince or princess of the Nisei who was an ambassador to Kagomei?"
"The last princess Anapurna was four hundred arnds ago, too long for anyone to remember?"
"I thought you said you bore the name of your title?"
"Yes, but each title is inflected by the astrological sign, date of birth, gender and even age of each person. If I become Magelord, I will not become Hari Pawtel."
"What would your name be?"
"I would be Narshasta Hermione, Magelady of Nisei."
"Have any of the names ever been repeated?"
"Never both the fore and aft parts of a name at the same time. Just one or the other happens from time to time, though."
"And each choice is unique to one's rank?"
"Each choice is appropriate to one's rank, it's not unique at lower ranks, it just takes a very long time to repeat."
"My mother is a princess of the third rank of the Nisei, but I don't know her title."
"Oh, for foreign princes up to second rank, we use their regular forenames, and the aft name of their nation, so she'd be Mikhala Kagomei, which is literally her own name by Kagomine traditions, so no one takes offence. And you'd be Amarat Kagomei, which is why I always call you Kagomei-Sama. Your mother is only a prince of the third rank, but any foreigner who makes their place into our ranks is celebrated by the princes."
"Does that make me only a prince of the fourth rank?"
"Oh, no, as her heir, you and her are the first kagomine who could, theoretically, make their way to the second rank."
"Would the treaty of Lai Dang count?"
"I don't know, we may find a different way to honour her than make her a princess of the second rank."
"There's only 16 of these..."
"One for each district of Nisei, yes. You have been so impeccably schooled."
"What, but that makes so much sense!"
"Yes, but there's not that many people who even know of our districts, few visitors ever leave the capital."
"Can I ask a question?"
"Of course Flora."
"Is the capital a district?"
"District 1, the district of the Magelord."
"Oh, so he has a kind of central authority, while the other princes tend to the rest of the country?"
"That is not far from the mark."
"And First Princess of the Second Rank means that Princess Midori is the Princess of District 2, the suburbs of the capital."
"Oh, so millions of people."
"All districts but district one have between 16 and 25 million people."
"And the capital?"
"Thirty."
"That's so much!"
"Yes, but thanks to the elements, quite manageable. Nisans are a peaceful, obedient people."
