Chapter 10.5 At Long Last, the Big Reveal
At Long Last, the Big Reveal
“What is it?” Gretsella asked. “What went wrong? Did Bradley win again?”
“No,” Sir George said after a long moment. “Bradley didn’t win.”
“So Herman won, then,” Gretsella said. “Wasn’t that the plan?”
They all exchanged glances. Bradley came wandering into the room at that moment, resplendent in a new dressing gown that was even more luxurious than the one Gretsella had shrunk.
“So what’s the news?” he said with an incredible degree of cheerfulness.
Gretsella glared at his various advisers.
“Spit it out!” she said. “And where the heaven is Janet?”
“Could she be busy getting ready to give her acceptance speech?” Bradley asked. “I know she probably already has something written, but she likes to do those vocal warm-up exercises, and they’re awfully embarrassing to do in front of other people.”
Everyone turned to look at him. “I beg your pardon?” Sir George asked.
“If I didn’t win and Herman didn’t win, I think that Janet is the most likely candidate,” Bradley said.
“It just makes sense. The people know her and like her, she knows and understands the people, and she’s been awfully enthusiastic about democracy right from the start.
She’s also a very ambitious woman with an interest in a leadership role; you can tell from the way she lights up when she gets handed responsibility over some terrible boring project that no one else wants to do.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she was running a write-in campaign the whole time she was supposed to be propagandizing about Herman.
Good for her! I think she’ll make a good king.
She understands how things work around here, so she’ll be able to hit the ground running, and she’s awfully smart, so she’ll be able to figure out the rest. Plus, she has passion for the job, so she’ll never have to work a day in her life. ”
There was another long pause. This time it was full of astonishment.
“Bradley,” Sir George said, “I know that you won’t believe this when I say it, but you’re awfully smart too. And you were a very good king.”
The room filled with nods of agreement.
There was an unpleasant sound, like a damp thigh being peeled away from a leather seat, and Bradley’s toadaphone came clambering moistly over the arm of Bradley’s chair.
It cleared its throat. Then it cried out, “Hail! King Bradley! Destroyer of the Kingdom! Hail! Citizen Bradley! Bringer of the Democratic Nation-State! Hail! King Janet! Winner of the Entirely Free and Fair Election in an Unprecedented Landslide That Surprised Even the New King Herself!”
“Ah!” Gretsella said. “I am extremely surprised by this news too.”