Bargaining Power by Deborah J Natelson

Author:Deborah J Natelson [Natelson, Deborah J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thinklings Books, LLC
Published: 2019-11-30T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21:

Manipulation

The prefects’ conference is something of a modern development. When the diverse factions of Carina agreed to unite under a single king, they did so on the understanding that the king would regularly tour the country. For hundreds of years, he did: he spent one month of every year in each prefecture, dealing with the issues of that prefecture and staying on top of current events. For the remaining three months, he lived in the capital (which, although located within Canopus Prefecture, is not part of it), dealt with national issues not fixable from within the prefectures, and rested.

From what I’ve read of that time period, the system was highly satisfactory to everyone except the king, who found it exhausting. Each prefecture felt equally represented and knew that the king understood and empathized with the problems unique to that prefecture. Nothing much slipped past the radar; and as long as the king chose his court with care, everything ran smoothly.

Then, a few of generations back, there came a period during which the king—that was Emil I—couldn’t tour. Queen Flavia of Vela had gone mad and was doing her best to conquer Akter and Carina while indiscriminately slaughtering her own citizens. She couldn’t possibly have succeeded against both her neighbors, which was why she got further than anyone expected.

For Carina, the long-term effect of her invasion was a strengthened national military. Whereas previously, the king had no substantial military of his own and had to rely entirely on the prefects’ combined might, now he was as strong as any two prefects put together. As with most consolidations of power, the more the king grasped to his hand, the more he lost touch with local issues.

King Emil I died, and Queen Éliane took the throne young enough that she barely remembered the tours except that they had been unpleasantly full of strangers bending over her and patting her head when she had been dragged along, and unpleasantly lonely and fatherless when she had been left at home. The older and more modish she grew, the more the tours struck her as old-fashioned, absurd, and unnecessary. During the fifteen years her father had been unable to tour, he had held semi-yearly conferences in which the prefects came to wherever he was. That, she thought, was a much better system than constant touring—except that twice a year was excessive when once would do.

The prefects objected strenuously, but Queen Éliane would not listen to reason. Revolt threatened until Éliane gained Prefect Silvertip’s support by marrying Silvertip’s son and Fjordland’s support by marrying him to her younger sister. The other prefectures caved in turn, save for two amendments: first, that each retain a representative on the queen’s council; and second, that the conference take place in the prefectures, not the capital, and in a different prefecture each year.

Éliane conceded. The debate had been going on for nearly two years by that point, and she had other problems to deal with, including the birth of twins, one stillborn.

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