Chapter 16 #2
She turns her head, her lips parting. “What happened to two through seven?” she whispers.
“They passed while Petre was talking. Nine.”
Her eyes widen. She tries to step away from me, but I don’t let her go. A small smirk pries at my lips.
“There will not be a new ruler in the normal sense,” Petre answers.
“People will vote on what they want to happen and then whoever applies for the job will have to work to get those things done. It will basically act like a corporation but one where the workers can be fired by the people rather than the boss.”
Arienna yanks on her arms to get free. Reluctantly, I let her go. She jumps back in my chair, a heated flush on her cheeks.
Twenty-one.
“In simplistic terms, yes,” I say, my eyes on Petre, “but there is a lot more to it than that. I have studied thousands of different governments across the Seven Planes to see what does and doesn’t work.
“There won’t be parties that’ll divide and stagnate the process of getting things done.
People will vote directly on the issues that concern the populace.
Any private matters, such as abortions, non-violent narcotics, suicides, et cetera will never be controlled or even discussed by the kingdom so as not to waste taxes and time on matters that have zero effect on the public.
“To combat the rife greed seen in most governments, our politicians will be paid the median salary of their area, with private perks subtracted, and no work can be contracted out to someone with ties to a politician, including investment ties.
That will boost small businesses even more given the bigger companies will mostly likely be disqualified, creating more jobs and local income.
That in turn will keep money circulating rather than staying tied up in banks, which will boost the economy and promote freer competition.
“And for a politician to even enter the running, they have to have passed all of their politics classes in school. They’ll also have to have held a minimum wage job for six months and lived off that wage alone so that they truly understand the problems of our people.”
I look around the table, wishing them to see the future as I see it.
What Raza could be if we stopped trying to create division by pointing fingers at people simply because hating someone makes us feel better about our own shitty lives.
If we took our desire and passion for change and actually used it for change instead of continuing this pointless cycle of hatred.
“If we have to wait for everyone to vote every time we want to do something,” Tanya sneers, “nothing will ever get done. And we are still at war. I did not think you’d forget what hesitation costs one in war, Your Majesty.”
Biting back my anger over her simple-minded cuntness, I glare at her.
“I am well aware of what hesitation can cause, but if you actually read the fucking file I gave you, then you would know I addressed that. A special court would be created to act on military matters without the need for a vote by the general populace.”
“And what happens if that court wishes to use the taxes on defending our borders instead of building some stupid art instalment? Then who gets the funding?” Coo demands.
“They’ll have separate budgets to be decided on by the populace through a percentage distribution rather than a monetary amount, as well as a knowledgeable estimation for what’s needed to protect this kingdom from both current and fear-mongering threats.”
As the conversation grows, it becomes even more heated.
Most of the questions they throw at me have already been answered in the thick stack of papers I gave them a week ago.
My patience starting to wear thin, I squeeze the back of my queen’s chair.
She doesn’t say a word (a good brownie never interrupts), and I can’t see her face from here.
I want to take her away from all this toxicity and just breathe in her arms. But she needs to be present for this conversation.
Otherwise, her signature will be void on the grounds of her ignorance.
Have I ironed out every little detail? Of course not. It’s impossible to visualise the effects of a law without seeing it in practice. I’m sure there is a lot wrong with it. But it’s a hel of a start.
If only they would open their fucking eyes.
“You’ve been trying to ruin this kingdom ever since you were crowned,” Coo snaps. “We never should’ve allowed a man to sit on the throne.”
“Need I remind you, our children are no longer being drafted into training at ten or forced to fight on the front lines at fifteen because of me?”
“Exactly! You are too soft! I volunteered to start training when I was nine. That’s what’s wrong with your generation. You don’t have any spine.”
“Yet, I crushed the Vylians.”
“You waved the white,” Tanya sneers. “Fucking pathetic.”
Steering us back to the contents of the new law, I try my damnedest not to start the coup myself by killing everyone in here.
How can they not see that the royal family and the Court have no place in the new world? All we have known is war. It is time for our positions to be demolished so something better can rise.
My eyes drop to my wife.
Something like her.
Pure.
Happy.
Hopeful.
As if she can feel my need to look into her eyes and find the peace she gives me, my little queen cranes her neck back. Smiling at me, she says. “I have an idea.”
The conversation stops instantly. She might not yet be crowned, but they already see her as their queen.
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she says.
“A queen can never interrupt,” Petre says.
“I’m sorry.” She hangs her head.
Reaching down, I lift her chin. “She means, my queen, that whenever you open your mouth, people must listen. Therefore, it is impossible for you to interrupt anyone.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Oh gods, do you know how much stuff I haven’t been able to say because a good brownie never interrupts?” She falters, and I would pay anything to know what’s caused the sudden tightness in her shoulders. But now is not the time.
“What was your idea?” I push.
“Oh, yes.” She nods, then looks up at me.
“What if you get the people to vote on it?” She hesitates.
“I mean, uh… If you want them to vote on everything else anyway, why not start with this? That way, we can know for certain it’s what the people want too.
” She turns her head to look at the fairy women before her.
“And the Court is um… It’s about uh, protecting Raza’s interests, so then you’ll know that too because the people are Raza.
Right?” She twists her hands in her jumpsuit, looking way less confident than when she started, but all I want to do is haul her up in my arms and kiss her senseless.
“Yes,” I say with pride. “We’ll let them vote.”
Petre’s eyes fill with a smile as triumphant as mine. “So we shall. Then you will see they are utter fools.”
“You underestimate them.”
“Then let’s make a deal.” Magic hums in the air, causing the hairs on my neck and arms to rise. The power of a god or perhaps something else breathes life into the room. This won’t just be a deal like I made my wife yesterday morning. It will be a fairy promise.
“If the public votes to accept this new law, then the Court will not fight it any further. But if the people vote against it, then you will put this foolishness behind you once and for all. You will not push for abolishing the monarchy or the Court ever again.”
I hold her gaze with all the confidence of a gambler who knows the game is rigged. “We have a deal.”
The magic of the room snaps into each of us, wrapping around our souls and searing the promise into our skin. Arienna gasps, no doubt having never been part of a fairy promise before. We do not invoke them often.
“They shall vote in two weeks’ time,” I say with a smile.
Arienna’s coronation is in eighteen days.
I feared her becoming queen.
Now she never will.