Rastislav
patreon
Arc 8 Chapter LXXXIV: Questions Of Authority
🕑 Added 2025-02-17 23:22:30 +0000 UTC(Reyvin's POV)
My fingers massage the sides of my head as we trudge into Titus' council chambers "And here I thought my own people were bad."
Said Emperor's amused chuckle was swiftly followed by a pat on my back, though his expression told me he was enjoying my suffering a bit too much "Oh come now young man, you two are heroes to the people, you knew what was coming when you accepted such a bold and sudden offer."
Minthara responds before I can "And let everything stretch out for years?" She shakes her head, hiding her own tiredness pretty well "No, a bit of annoyance right now is much better than dealing with overambitious idiots proposing to me every second day."
"And you thought to redirect them at me instead?" I ask and she beams "How honored am I to bear such a sacrifice." I drawl, causing Titus to let out another chuckle of grandfatherly amusement.
"There, there" The old man says as we all take our seats "I am sure you will get over it."
"The Crown Princess" Marshal Valenicus, who had been following along with the rest of the council, puts emphasis on the title as he speaks up "Is right in that this is best dealt with sooner rather than later."
Not caring one whit for social pressure, I direct him with an amused expression "Already reminding me of my place, are we?"
Before he can respond the Lord Admiral cuts him off "Let it be Valenicus, we are all on the same side here, and the honorable Hortator has made his position rather clear through his actions."
I give the cheerful man a quick nod of thanks.
"Very well" The military man seemingly acquiesces but immediately goes on "But you all cannot be foolish enough to believe this will not cause issues?"
"Yes, we are all aware there are fools denigrating Her Highness' heritage" The bald Archpriest voices with some disdain "Having an elf anywhere near the throne may not be illegal but it is definitely not traditional."
"Especially when you take into account the history of the Alessian Dynasty." I allow.
"Just so." The priest nods "However I, for one, am not against this match." He draws some mildly surprised looks from a few among the council "We are all of the Aedra, and such foolish things should not divide us when our goals are the same. Peace and prosperity for all."
"Growing soft in your old age, Herjolfr?" Valenicus jabs before shaking his head "I am not saying I am against it either, just pointing out the obvious."
"And we thank you for your observations." Chancellor Jukulus faces him with a wooden smile "However you should know well how advantageous this is for tying Morrowind, and more importantly its absolute ruler, is for our cause."
"Why thank you." I fan myself dramatically, quickly getting my hand yanked down by Minthara.
"At least take this seriously" The Marshal gives me a pointed look.
I pause for a moment before frowning "Who shat in your soup today?"
The room grows silent for a moment before Alakim, Titus, and Herjolfr are forced to hide their snickers.
The man's face contorts in anger for a brief instant but he shows impressive self-control by forcing it down "Cease your pointless japes, I serve the Empire first, and some of my legionaries have expressed their concerns to me. I merely give voice to their potential dissent."
Minthara lets out a small sigh at this "And I am certain that has nothing to do with the fact I have rejected many a proposition from those very subordinates. It must all be a terrible coincidence that it is now that you voice this."
The older man blinks at her before visibly holding back a groan.
"Ha!" The Archpriest barks a laugh "Growing senile in your old age, Valenicus?"
"While I am certain this is all kinds of amusing." Jukulus once more attempts to reassert order "I believe we have many more pertinent subjects to discuss."
"Indeed" Titus suddenly turns much more serious "Our loyal subjects are naturally not against this arrangement, as everyone can respect a strong and stable throne. But" He raises a finger "We must also seek to placate those whose opinions may yet be swayed, and so" He pauses for dramatics and grins "We must discuss the wedding!"
Minthara groans.
---
In the end it was decided that our wedding would be held a month from now.
Rather rushed in my opinion, and surprisingly even in Minthara's but in uncertain times it was best to deal with things promptly and not let something interfere, and while I was confident in facing most challenges the people were not, making the times anything but certain for them.
We wisely left the actual organization of it all to the Senechal, the Altmer Dunmer hybrid woman looking just about ready to murder me with her inanities on decorum since I was now technically under her purview.
She was thankfully held back by the fact the meeting was not yet over.
The next thing of import was the naming of the ruling house, and we also came to a quick agreement there as there was no reason to create a truly united imperial house and we instead settled on simply giving the two of us and any potential children the rights to use all three houses interchangeably with the primacy of House Septim.
The Septims would no doubt be the most important of these, obviously, being the titular house of the Empire. Usually a sting at the pride of anyone without sufficient belief in themselves and their worth but I found it reasonable and did not contest it.
The Medes, even if some may disdain them as a mere transitory name unworthy of such considerations, would still be given the same import in the future household, a way to honor a man who would give up what most would murder millions for.
Though admittedly I would probably not be caught dead using this one, Titus was a good ruler and we talked often, but nowhere near often enough for that.
And last but most certainly not least, my own house would naturally be next to the Septim name due to my current influence, even if obviously less important than the Septims in the eyes of most of the masses, and I was once again perfectly fine with that.
The next Lord Dagoth, should I ever retire or die permanently, would simply be able to take the name on fully if they were worthy of it and that would be that.
One small consideration was given to me as the imperial banner, when representing the ruling family, would be modified so that the dragon would have a small diamond slit upon its forehead, in the shape of the Amulet of Kings and looking akin to a third eye.
A certain Imperial obviously grumbled a bit, bein the old and proud veteran type, but once Minthara agreed to the idea and told him he could not change it he wisely shut up.
Maybe I should have him watched... His antagonism isn't anything surprising even if we were amicable before but the suddenness is a bit off.
The man's voice of dissent only grew once we came to the topic of my authority as the future consort, and the council was pretty split there. No one was quite so foolish as to try and make the position utterly powerless but there were some obvious attempts at limiting me in the future.
Something I would simply not abide by, even if a part of me thought it was due to a new rising emotion in my chest.
I had not been this frustrated in a while.
In fact, once a certain Chancellor finished elaborating on his idea of what a consort should and should not be allowed to do, after several dozen other version of 'You rule Morrowind but not the Empire' were proposed, I finally found myself speaking up.
"I find all of this rather amusing." My voice was quite cold but after dealing with Morrowind and their utter obedience to my position, I may or may not have had a growth spurt to my ego "If you fools think I will abide by anything that can limit me and force me into positions I do not wish to be forced into you must have forgotten just what happened to the last unfortunates who tried."
Jukulus holds back a wince, obviously catching on to my implication on the numerous rumors of what happened back in Black Marsh "You have to understand-"
"I have to do absolutely nothing." I interrupt him flatly "You wish to put on paper things that are understood implicitly, and thus give fools less enlightened than those in this council the chance to believe themselves above me? That I am to somehow lock myself into balancing between being the absolute ruler of Morrowind and meek ornament to the Ruby Throne? Are you even hearing yourself right now?"
My desire for more authority was practically non-existent in truth, but so too was my disdain for anyone attempting to undermine me with what was effectively red tape. If I was to be at the top of this Empire, I would much rather spend my time improving it instead of politicking like just another idiot in a line of massive fucking idiots.
"And what would you propose?" Titus asks, irritated both at his councilors and myself in equal measure, if for differing reasons.
"Speaking frankly?" I ask.
He nods "Speak your mind-"
The sound of Minthara clearing her throat interrupts us, having seemingly abstained from the entire conversation prior to this moment she immediately drew all eyes to herself "I believe what Reyvin is trying to say is that trying to enforce laws and rules that will simply not be obeyed is utter idiocy."
A moment of confused silence passes before Jukulus asks "Could you elaborate on that, my lady?"
"It is quite simple really." She chuckles "The only person who could possibly challenge him within the Empire is myself, and even if I ever wanted for us to clash in any way the consequences would be so utterly catastrophic it would make any kind of enforcement not worth the effort."
"And what, we are supposed to simply trust his word he will remain loyal?" Valenicus adds with a scoff.
"That I am even here is all the assurance you need." I scowl at him "Had I any desire to have absolute power I would have simply locked myself in Morrowind and rejected all requests for discourse, but you don't see me doing that, now do you?"
"Even so" Jukulus attempts diplomatically "If it is known that you wield power just below the future Empress people may... complain."
""Then let them"" Both Minthara and I voice at the same time, no doubt an instant high-five moment if she were aware of the meaning.
Hiding her sudden cheer at the coincidence, she went on "The impetus to this marriage may have been political but do not think for a second we are marrying simply for political reasons." She glares at everyone equally, even those who were utterly silent until now "The Prince-Consort, and later Emperor-Consort will be solely subordinate to me, and that is enough."
"He is powerful, he is wise, and most importantly, he is loyal." She straightens in her seat and slowly leans forward "How about you all just let me deal with my intended here and leave it at that? I think that if you can all trust me to inherit the Empire you can at least trust me with this."
Some, like Ara, Caladon, Herjolfr, and Alakim were not at all against the idea, while most others were neutral, excepting of course Valenicus, Maro, and Jukulus, the latter of whom was pretty much dutybound to increase the sovereign's power in any way he could attempt it so I did not hold it against him.
I held it against none of them in fact, no matter how helpful I was they were still all loyal to the Empire first and the idea of me having almost unending power within would worry even the stupidest of fools, even if some seemed to trust me perfectly enough.
But no matter their opinion, Minthara's mere presence demanded that they consider her words thoroughly and after some assurances she very consciously boosted with the thu'um, even my biggest detractors, if they could truly be called that, relented and accepted her demand.
It would have even been entertaining, if not for my sudden bout of irritation.
A feeling that followed me through the closing hour of the meeting.
---
The two of us found ourselves atop the White Gold Tower, my expression still the same even as Magicka bubbled within despite the beautiful vista I had hoped would calm me.
Minthara's own emotion however, being mostly irritation, was plain to see on her face "It is as if they were trying to be as abrasive as possible!" She scoffs "Why try to force things when everyone knows they can control neither of us?"
Chuckling a bit more bitterly than even I expected, I shrug "To them you are Dragonborn, it is only natural that they would not fear you and try to control you, you have the divine right after all" I turn around and spread my arms "Me though? They've just received news I personally defeated the Hist by cursing their heartlands to burn if they did not accept my demands."
She goes to interject but I raise a hand to forestall her "No matter how helpful I am to them, or how dedicated to the same dream they all share I may become, I will always be this foreign thing, something they do not understand and something that could ruin them with relative ease."
It was one thing to know someone could to something terrible, but it was another thing entirely to know I could cause a massive catastrophe in mere minutes.
"But fuck them" I look up with a grin "They couldn't fuck with me back when I first arrived, and they can't fuck with me now, so let them bicker and let them complain all they wish, we both know I have better things to do than listen to them anyway."
She grins back at me, shaking her head at my apparently improved mood, before turning slightly ponderous "Better things like what?"
"Later" I wink at her and she glares at me, my 'misunderstanding' still managing to catch her off guard. Instead I offer an arm and head to the stairs "How about we take a walk first? I hear they opened a new roast horker place at the docks."
Having already taken my arm she stills, forcing me to stop "Please don't tell me it is the same kind they have in Solitude."
My smirk threatened to split my face "But my dear, that would be lying!"
None may escape shitty street food forever!
Comments
Speide Hardy
Thanks for the chapter
Hakkira
Thank you kindly for the chapter 😁
