Rogue Magazine/The New Nobles
Keehani Ukinix, Matriarch Ascendant of the Ninth House of Betazed
Written by Kit Ivanovic
Stardate 240001 Issue
Being assigned as a correspondent on Amity Outpost in the Delta Quadrant by my Federation News Service boss was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. When someone speaks the words “Delta Quadrant”, people immediately conjure up images such as Talaxians, USS Voyager, Hirogen, and the dormant threat of the Borg.
What I didn’t expect was for the Federation’s furthest diplomatic facility to have such a rich Betazoid presence, so far away from the Alpha Quadrant.
On only the third day of my new assignment, battling warp lag by wandering Amity's ornate Grand Mezzanine with a Ratkajino in hand, I saw a beautifully dressed Betazoid woman in her late twenties. She looked worried, as if she was carrying the entire weight of the galaxy on her back. Her shoulders sat higher than they should have. As a humble human from Earth, I didn’t need psionic abilities to be able to tell that she was stressed.
The woman’s black irises, her beautiful silver dress, and the attendant walking with her across the Mezzanine told me she was likely a Betazoid noble. Upon returning to my apartment in Amity’s habitat ring, I researched the Federation database to see if my hunch was correct. It didn’t take long to discover that the woman was Tri'lea Polgonz, a Daughter Ascendant of the Twentieth House of Betazed – although at the time, I didn’t know what that meant. Nor did I know the extent of Betazoid noble connections on Amity Outpost.
Tri’lea is a regular on Amity, helping the Twentieth House’s colonisation efforts in conjunction with the Second and Sixth Houses of Betazed. As a result, Amity has hosted many noble heavyweights such as Mother Perennial Mavenni Siyel of the Second House, known provocateur and socialite Deexila Etraax of the Second, and media magnate and Sixth House Daughter Lohani Vananth-Polgonz.
Over the few months after my arrival, their visits to the Federation’s far-flung outpost highlighted to me how much of a “mini-Rixx” the outpost is at times.
New Betazed
“I knew logically that it was possible that the Adjudicator could rule in favour of the Houses, instead of us. But loss was not an option for me.”
Amity’s Ambassador, Niarivi Vataix, is herself a Betazoid who is next in line for the Matriarchy of the Eleventh House of Betazed. She is the highest-ranking Federation Diplomatic Corp (and by extension Starfleet) diplomat on Amity, and heads a large contingent of diplomatic and Starfleet personnel.
And she is assisted by yet another Betazoid: First Secretary Keehani Ukinix, Aide to the Ambassador. As of only a few weeks ago, Keehani has become a Matriarch Ascendant in her own right – of the Ninth House of Betazed.
But Keehani’s path to nobility was very different from Tri’lea’s. Keehani’s grandmother was the matriarch of the Ninth House in absentia. She had been exiled to the Piri Islands by her parents in her early twenties. Her parents death during the Dominion War, and the following legal and political moves by six other Houses, meant that she never truly assumed the title of “Matriarch”. Instead, she changed her name and never told anyone of her nobility.
“I was dismayed when Grandmother first told me she was secretly a noble,” told Keehani only hours after her win at the Reconciliation Forums of Betazed. “But within only a few minutes of her telling me, it was so clear to me what I had to do. Get control of the House back for grandmother. I was determined to see it through.”
And see it through she did. The then exopolitics study leaned on her fellow university students to help her lodge a petition in the Forums. After so many delays, challenges and pre-hearings, all amidst the beginning of her new diplomatic career, her petition was finally heard. Keehani amazingly achieved what she set out to do - her grandmother was once again the controlling Matriarch of a Noble House, and she herself suddenly became the next in line for that title.
“I knew logically that it was possible that the Adjudicator could rule in favour of the Houses, instead of us. But loss was not an option for me. Restoring grandmother’s title been the most important thing in my life, and it drove me to work harder as a student, and now as an Ambassadorial Aide.”
Keehani’s now famous bid to return control of the Ninth House of Betazed back to her grandmother only tells part of the story of who Matriarch Ascendant Keehani Ukinix is. I have had many dealings with Keehani in my position as Federation News Service correspondent on Amity. She is bold, driven and proud. Through her written and verbal statements to journalists like me, it is clear that she remains fiercely loyal to Ambassador Vataix, despite any potential political rifts between them. It demonstrates her professionalism, well beyond her years as a relatively recent exopolitics graduate.
“At the moment, I don’t feel any different as a person. It’s been a long battle, that at times has been emotionally draining,” Keehani remarked to a pool reporter outside the Reconciliation Forums of Betazed Tholta building in Rixx only hours after the conclusion of the Forum petition. “I’m just happy that justice has been restored. Grandmother and I have much to do in the coming months, but I’ll be returning to Amity Outpost after that to resume my duties.”
New Kids on the Block
“She's a force of nature, not to be underestimated.”
As part of helping independent Briori journalist and industry colleague Arthur Summerside make Keehani’s story known as the Fedcast sensation that it is today, I came to intimately know the ins and outs of Betazoid nobility more than I ever had. Lwaxana Troi of the Fifth House, an Ambassador in her own right, was the only prominent Betazoid I knew of before that.
The Reconciliation Forums decision made me wonder about Tri’lea, the troubled woman of the Mezzanine and noble-in-waiting, thousands and thousands of light years from her home. After Keehani Ukinix’s victory I sought out Tri’lea for an interview, to find out more about the quiet young woman who is destined, like Keehani, for Betazoid nobility. The backstory of her arranged marriage is just as fascinating.
“My mother, Daughter Idrustix, named certain obligations for me to achieve before her title would pass to me... Typically one has more time to prepare for such things, but The Four didn't will it so.” Those obligations include marrying Lady Ceciry k’Ariadust, a Cygnian woman betrothed to Tri’lea as part of an arrangement between the Twentieth House of Betazed and Cygnet’s own version of nobility. “I'll admit an initial hesitation at being betrothed to someone I'd never met - and at first, I don't know that either of us were certain of the other, but we've come to appreciate how beautifully our stars align.”
While the woman I interviewed seemed very different to the troubled woman I saw on day three of my new chapter in the Delta Quadrant, it did highlight to me a growth in Daughter Ascendant Polgonz since that time. When speaking with her for this article, there was a confidence and poise that gave her a presence like any other noble woman. She seems prepared for the day she can finally earn the title of “Daughter”. “All my life so far I have prepared for that inevitability, so it will hardly come as a shock - though I will feel great satisfaction in knowing that I'm serving my House and the people of Betazed with even greater authority and gravity than I have now.”
The Twentieth House, the House of Travellers, are considered “new kids on the block” (to use a Terran parlance) in the institution of Nobility. Created after Tri’lea’s distant descendant Beaxa Polgonz created and maintained Betazed’s first exoplanet colony, they have continued their long tradition of creating and maintaining colonies outside of the Betazed system. It’s no wonder then that Tri’lea is a regular presence on Amity, given her government’s efforts to set up colonies in the Delta Quadrant. “Our mandate, as the House of Travelers, is to strengthen and grow the spirit of Betazed amongst the stars - a calling to which I am quite happy to answer.” Of the joint venture between the Twentieth, Second and Sixth Houses, the Daughter Ascendant says that she is “honored to be involved.”
I asked her about her friend and now fellow young noble Keehani, the brash new Matriarch Ascendant suddenly thrust into the noble spotlight. “She's a force of nature, not to be underestimated. I think that her unique experience allows her to see the value inherent in serving Betazed in a way that many of us 'born into it' take for granted.”
The Future of the Institution
“No House exists as a monolith, and I believe that we should seek to remain relevant to our constituents.”
In a time when the worth of Betazoid nobility is being questioned, especially after the critical appraisal of the current state of the institution by the Reconciliation Forums of Betazed, I asked Tri’lea if she felt younger nobles like her and Keehani were what was needed to breathe new life into Betazed’s oldest institution. “More than ever, over the past few decades, I think we've seen a desire for the Houses not to be seen as disparate entities each intent on preserving their own individual mandates, but to work together towards a more unified purpose. Through my work in the Delta Quadrant, I've already seen what I consider the future of the Houses of Betazed taking shape, as I see representatives of the Second, Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh, and Twentieth Houses - for example - coming together over common interests already.”
Keehani Ukinix was more direct when asked about her young age after the Reconciliation Forums decision. “There are many young nobles across the houses, and I’m fortunate now to be counted as one of them. We are the future of the institution, and have progressive ideas on what nobility means and stands for, for the benefit of the people of Betazed.”
Tri’lea seems to agree. “To those who offer critique and calls for change, I say that you are not wrong to do so. Ultimately, we remain faithful servants of the mother world and her people. No House exists as a monolith, and I believe that we should seek to remain relevant to our constituents.”
There is a freshness that is undeniable in Tri’lea and Keehani. With recent renewed calls for reviews into the institution of Nobility, this off-worlder can’t help but think that maybe those people should turn to the youthful exuberance and ideas that Betazoid’s younger nobles might be able to offer. It may not be a panacea, but it may change the nature of the discussion. It’s fact that the Houses have played politics with and against each other for many centuries, highlighted by the adjudicator during Keehani Ukinix’s Reconciliation Forums win. It demonstrates that reform is certainly needed.
But it would be sad to see it dismantled. I’ve come to learn that Betazed’s oldest institution is also one of Betazed’s uniquely beautiful attributes, and long may it continue. With nobles like Tri’lea Polgonz and Keehani Ukinix paving the way, it just might survive – with a bright, relevant, and productive future than ever before.
Kit Ivanovic is the Federation News Service’s Delta Quadrant Correspondent, appearing as a guest contributor for Rogue Magazine.