Chapter 45
Forty-five
James
Six very tense days had gone by waiting for this moment.
I walked in step with Edwin as we headed for the council chambers.
We had yet another session scheduled in ten minutes for the rent control, but Edwin had been given a concerning report this morning, so he filled me in as we traversed the hallways.
“It’s a mix of good and bad,” Edwin stated in his calm, oh-so-factual tone.
“The good news is, the visitors at the demon portal have almost doubled in the past month. Tourism is at an all-time high, and the economy of the town has been nicely boosted in the process. The weird part is, no one’s quite sure why. Did this, uh, happen before?”
Allen and Sir Collins followed right behind me, so I appreciated the discreet way he asked this. “No, not that I can recall. Don’t look a gift horse too close in the mouth?”
“I’m inclined to say that, but at the same time, my gut says it’s trouble somehow. Or perhaps the other news reported to me is the real problem. The river nearby has basically run dry.”
Now, that I did not like. Alarm bells started ringing like death knells.
The protective barrier around the demon portal operated on the running water of the river nearby and sunlight. If the river was running dry… “Why?”
“No one’s sure. The report from the ward specialist promises he’s already sending out foragers and scouts to find the cause. They suspect an overambitious beaver has dammed up the river, but they haven’t found the dam yet.”
“Send more people up there, including two more mages to offset any power drain until they can find a resolution. I am not taking chances.”
“Done. I’ll have people dispatched before end of day.”
Edwin made a note in his portfolio as if he wouldn’t remember what I’d said.
I’d never understood why he made notes to himself when he never, ever even referenced them.
Probably his cautious nature at work. That cautious nature had saved my life a good dozen times in our previous life together, so I wasn’t about to tease him for it.
In any case, we couldn’t do anything else at the moment.
The hardest part about leading people was delegating and trusting them to do whatever was necessary.
And not just do their job but to also exert the right amount of effort to truly fix the issue.
My people were highly curated to be resourceful and active thinkers.
I had to trust them to do what needed to be done.
With a deep breath, I opened the council chamber doors and stalked inside.
Helena was already in place, seated behind the front table next to the Speaker.
She insisted on seeing her projects through, hence her still attending some of the sessions.
Messalina Stanhope’s pink hair had been retouched to a more violet shade, and she had this sharklike expression.
It made me wonder just what she was up to.
I went toward my own seat, gauging the crowd, and realized only one of Victor’s cronies had even bothered to attend. Oh. That was what she was smiling about. The usual troublemakers weren’t here today. Well, now we might be able to get something done.
I carefully kept my own mouth from smiling, because that was sure to give the game away.
I sat, nodded to the Speaker, and Stanhope immediately called everyone to order.
“Places, everyone, we’ll now begin. This session is called to order by request of Prince James and Princess Helena. Your Highness, please state your petition.”
I rose and put it out straight. “I’m sure we all remember passing the petition in a prior session about capping the rent prices? This didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Instead, some very greedy people have found a loophole and are exploiting it.”
I pointed at the report I had prepared. “Look at page two. Landlords are now charging their renters property tax on top of the rent. I think it’s rather obvious and a given that the landlords should be in charge of their own property taxes.”
A few nods, some conferred with others, but not a single voice of dissent. The lack of Victor’s gang was quite loud.
“I also propose we limit how high interest can climb. It’s the high interest on properties preventing people from buying or building, and a stagnated housing market will devalue any properties already owned and make the housing market a bust. I’m sure we all want to avoid this outcome.”
For the majority of the nobility, owning land was their main income stream. Of course they wanted their properties to maintain their value; they’d be fucked otherwise.
Baroness Ariel pressed her desk light and was quickly given confirmation to speak. “Prince James, I see here on page four you have a breakdown of how much interest should be. Where did these numbers come from?”
“A few places. I invited Francis Mannerings—the head of our national bank, for those of you who don’t know his name—as well as Lew Bennett, our financial officer.
I also interviewed a hundred heads of household from the citizens and asked for their breakdown of what they can actually afford and how much they’d need interest lowered before they could even dream of building or owning a house.
Those three sources are where those numbers come from. ”
“I see.” Clearly not done, she said, “On the next page, you have a prediction of how fast the market will crash if these changes aren’t implemented. Is it your opinion or theirs predicting a crash in five years?”
“Theirs. After listening to them talk for a whole afternoon, I believed them.”
She nodded in satisfaction and sat back down.
I looked about the rest of the room. “Any other questions?”
Marquess Emanuel hit his desk light and was given permission to speak. “Your Highness, I see here on the last page you’re leveling a fine for any landlord who doesn’t abide by these new laws. The fine’s rather exorbitant. Where does it go?”
“To the people wronged. The tenants who were unfairly paying a property tax for a land they don’t own.”
“If the landlord can’t pay it?”
“Then he has one of two choices. He can either go on a payment plan, where he’s locked into garnishing his own wages until the fine is paid, or he signs over his property to the wronged party.”
A hiss of shocked breath, but I’d expected them to be surprised.
Helena rose as well. “You must understand, we have to give them a very strict punishment. We didn’t do so the first time and you see what it led to.
They just found a loophole and chortled about how clever they were being.
This must be punished in such a way they don’t find it worth the risk to disobey. ”
Some more murmurings around the crowd, people discussing it all, but I also saw more than a few shrewd expressions. People realized we were right. We’d had to come back and talk about this again, after all, which meant our system the first time hadn’t been perfect.
Speaker Stanhope looked around the crowd, judging in her own way, then said, “Please vote.”
A flurry of people’s hands moved, and she looked down at the panel before announcing, “Twenty-three in favor, two abstained, two declined. Motion has passed.”
Phew. I felt better about being able to squash the greedy bugs now.
A few others had some minor motions, which I heard out, and two of them passed. The third was so ridiculous it wasn’t worth hearing—a plea to reinstate Victor as crown prince—and was absolutely trashed. Only two people voted in favor.
Victor had burned far too many bridges.
Speaker Stanhope looked at her agenda and then quirked a brow at me.
I’m sorry, what did I do?
“There is a motion here from the nobility to put forth Prince James as crown prince.”
No.
The instinctive answer was so strong I almost blurted it out and barely caught the word behind my teeth. Hell no, I was not sitting here while people tried to strong-arm me back onto the throne!
I immediately stood, a hand raised to stop Speaker Stanhope. “That’s legally not possible.”
A murmur went through the crowd and the smiling faces fell, turning into frowning ones.
Knowing I had to explain this properly or face somehow being manipulated back into being king, I explained, “My contract for joining the royal family clearly states I cannot be made king. Even if, by some disaster, both Helena and Royce were taken out of the running, I still could not take the throne.”
The murmur exploded into a full debate. I’d rarely seen the council this noisy. I didn’t glance down at Helena because I knew she’d not be on my side. I understood why, but it didn’t change my feelings on the matter.
I gave Speaker Stanhope a look. “The matter is closed. Anything else on the agenda?”
Her mouth in a flat line—she clearly didn’t like how this had been twisted on her—she shook her head. “No, no other agendas. This session has concluded.”
With that, the session was closed and we all made our way out. Helena waited until we were in the hallway before linking her arm with mine.
“It wasn’t you who put the agenda forward, was it?” I asked her.
“No. I believe it was the Crovans, although Countess Doughtry supported it.”
Ah. Not surprising, but I really wished they’d approached me about the idea before trying to sneak it into a council meeting. Well, they had talked to me about it, I supposed. I’d told them firmly I wasn’t interested but hadn’t explained it wasn’t even legally possible. My mistake.
“But you do agree with them.” I sighed, put upon. Everyone seemed to be against me on this.
“Sorry. I do feel like you’re the best fit. In fact, James,” she mused in a way I didn’t entirely trust, “I’ve been thinking. I really, truly love your business. So why don’t we do this: I’ll run your business for you, and you can be king.”
“Nice try, but no.”
“Awww. But I like your business so much more than politics!”
“Trust me, I do too.” I did puff my chest out a little that she loved my business so much. It was, after all, my baby, and I’d put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it over the years. King’s Paper meant a great deal to me.
That didn’t mean she got to have it.
A distraction was in order. “What are you doing tomorrow for dinner?”
“Why are you changing the subject?”
I spared her a speaking look as we turned the corner. “I’m honoring your other request to meet Lucien.”
“Oh! In that case, I’m free.”
“Are you really, truly free, or are you going to free your schedule and damn the consequences?”
“More the latter.” Helena rolled her eyes expressively.
“You would not believe the carryings-on behind closed doors. Mother is beside herself, either crying and apologizing for ever arranging a match with the idiot in the first place, or outraged she was sold such a bill of goods. She seems half convinced that because of the public fallout, no good man will have me.”
“Because of a broken engagement?” I shook my head and joined her in the eye-rolling.
“It’s like your mother doesn’t actually understand how people think.
No one liked Gillespie, we’re all relieved you got out of your engagement.
Does she really think people hang upon her decisions?
That people are in shock and disbelief over this? ”
“In a nutshell?” Helena’s nose scrunched up in a sour face.
“Rather delusional, I know, but Victor came by his delusional side quite honestly. At any rate, I’m very happy to meet Lucien Glass earlier rather than later.
I think, at the very least, dating a man will set Mother’s nerves at ease and I won’t be stuck constantly reassuring her. ”
“Then I’ll send word that tomorrow is fine. I’ll collect you for dinner at six o’clock sharp.”
“I look forward to it.” A beat. “Now, about me taking over your company…”
I laughed outright because I knew she was teasing.
Still, it had best be teasing. I’d start an all-out war if anyone tried to get me on the throne again.