Epilogue (Part 1 of 3)

Sorry there was nothing posted yesterday - got back from a trip to MO late on Sunday night, and headed to bed soon after unloading the car. 

This week's posts fall in a nebulous area for our narrative. I originally assumed it would be an epilogue to Book II, but owing to the length of the 'epilogue' and what I feel was a decent closing line at the end of Chapter 13, I may end up publishing this week's posts as the introduction to Book III. For now, I leave it to the readers to decide for themselves whether this is the end of Book II, or a teaser for Book III.

***

A hundred years from now, historians will write about me, and I know one thing they will all agree upon – She’s dead.

-        The memoirs of Queen Azraea I. Her writing is often criticized by scholars for not dwelling sufficiently on the technical details of her rule, but I recommend them to anyone who appreciates a sharp wit and an equal balance of self-righteousness and humility. 

The royal bedchambers had been largely untouched by the dragon, as Syliva had been too large to reach them. They’d been overrun with dust, vermin, and spiders due to neglect, but Azraea had arranged for them to be cleaned out soon after she took the throne. Unfortunately, the fancy, plush old mattress that had been in the room had long ago decayed, and Azraea had been sleeping on a cot next to the window since she moved in.

Ochsner eyed the simple bed disapprovingly, “Why would you move into the royal bedchambers without a royal bed to sleep in?”

“Because it was expected of me,” Azraea answered honestly, “And because – simple though the room may be right now – it’s easily guarded. There’s a sixty foot drop outside that window and a heavy lock on that door.”

Azraea was well aware of her vulnerability while sleeping. She wondered if all rulers felt the anxiety she did when she closed her eyes at night or just new rulers who slept alone. Perhaps I should ask Jericho? She thought, or should we both continue pretending I don’t know his real name?

She sat down in front of the old vanity in the room. It was probably her favorite piece to survive the ravages of time. It was ornately carved and brushed with gold. It was a piece of royal opulence but the edges, nobs, and handles were worn from use, suggesting that whoever had received it had appreciated it for more than its decadence.

She took a long look at herself in the mirror and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Ochsner asked as she walked over behind her, “I liked your dress. The color was a good complement for your skin tone. And you look… kind. And humble.”

 “But I’m not certain if that’s how people need to see me right now,” Azraea said.

“The people need to see you’re different from the dragon. And don’t worry so much; the people are happy.”

“Because they’re still bathing in the afterglow of Syliva’s death,” Azraea said, “Once that’s ebbed from their spirit many will be much less optimistic about the future.”

“Relax!” Ochsner said, “We had a big party, Kaira’s mother didn’t kill anyone and – more impressive, I think, no one killed her – it was a good night. And did you see that fancy toy Vinny was carrying? Do you know what it does? It uses a piece of flint to ignite…”

Azraea interrupted her solemnly, “It will take only months, perhaps less, for the people to forget the crushing weight of the dragon’s economic oppression and realize that our kingdom is not a flawless paradise without her,” Azraea said. “Lord," she sighed, "the system as a whole is just a mess.”

“We’ll fix the damage Syliva did.”

“It’s not just that,” Azraea said, “Caelia’s government has been unchanged for centuries. It’s been all but completely frozen in time for the past two hundred years. Other countries have established elected parliaments to limit their monarchs, but Caelia's House of Lords is only partially elected, and relies entirely on economic leverage to balance the throne - a balance Syliva upset when she combined her wealth with that of the crown. The closest thing I have to a democratic check on my authority is a general principle of ‘take things too far and the people will lynch me.’”

"How is having all of that power a bad thing?"
"Because having the competence to acquire that power doesn't guaranteed I have the wisdom to wield it." 
"You do," Ochsner reassured her.
"Even if that's true," Azraea said, "I can't expect the people of Caelia to have so much faith as my regent ad manum. The average Caelian will likely doubt all of my decisions and outright disagree with many of them, yet she has no effective way to make her fears known. She has no way to participate in her own governance, save violent insurrection."
“Wait, so… did you agree with Vaerla?”

“Of course I did; I may never admit it in public, but she was right,” Azraea said, “Joining the empire is a big decision, and I should probably have some group - other than the House of Lords - to help me make decisions of such magnitude."
"I imagine you and Vaerla have different opinions about who should be in that group," Ochsner pointed out.
Azraea nodded, "Nevertheless, something is needed; when the people finally reached their breaking point this summer the result was chaos and carnage.”

“And you don’t want to end up like Hylas?” Ochsner concluded.

“Not especially. And moreover, I just… I don’t want that to happen to whoever comes after me, or after them. And that means giving the people some sort of formally recognized and fair voice in their government. I’m in the position now to give them that, but I don't know how.”

 “You know you'll be creating something that will exist to make your life more difficult,” Ochsner said.

“Well, yes,” Azraea sighed, “but nevertheless, this might well be the single most important thing that I could ever do for our country.”

“We,” Ochsner said as she pulled a tall stool over behind Azraea’s chair and began playing with her former roommate’s hair, “It will be the most important thing we ever do for our country. Regent ad manum, remember?"
"Thank you," Azraea patted her friends hand on her shoulder.
"Though, I’ve been wondering… why didn’t you discuss your decision to join the Gnoman Empire with me?”

Azraea sighed and shifted uncomfortably, but Ochsner gently tugged her hair to keep her facing the mirror, “And don’t lie to me. Because I won’t be able to tell, and then you’ll end up wondering later why I didn’t second guess your evasive answer and figure out that we were playing the opposite-day game.”

Azraea's face flickered into a smile, as she nearly laughed, “It might sound strange, but in the event that things go very badly… it may be valuable to have people know that my regent ad manum was not involved in making certain decisions, so I went ahead and rushed those matters a bit.”

“I’ve got to think there’s more to it than that,” Ochsner said as she undid Azraea’s tight braids.

“Joining the empire was a difficult decision,” Azraea admitted, “Partly because I immediately knew what my decision was going to be, and I know that a decision that important should never be so easy to make. You, however, were the only person that I knew who would seriously make me doubt my decision if you did disagree. Ordinarily that would be the very reason to go to you, but like I said: I already knew my mind was made up.”

“You’re the queen; I know you won’t always follow my advice, but even when I disagree with what you’re going to do, I might be able to help you do it better.”

“It’s more like… Given I already knew what I was going to do, I didn’t want to be weighed down with any more uncertainty than I already had.”

“Well…” Ochsner said, “Just remember, I won’t be able to do my job very well if you don’t come to me to talk about these things. And for the record, yeah, we need the help the empire’s offering. Frankly, if you’d turned them down, Vicki had me tempted to defect myself.”

“Have the Gnomans been putting ideas in your head?”

“Oh man,” Ochsner scratched Azraea’s scalp, “You know that Gnoman stonework apparently involves creating a paste from ground rock? To hear Vinny talk about it, it’s a cure-all for all ails in the realm of civil engineering. Soon we’ll have thousands of people employed making rock paste and restoring the roads, buildings, bridges…” Ochsner went on to enthusiastically chatter about her plans for Defiance, for the new military academy, for finishing the Lochs at Kings Lake, and more, all while cycling Azraea's hair through a variety of loose styles, to see what would be most queenly. 
Ochsner’s optimism was infectious, but Azraea was still grounded in the here and now, “I still have reservations about exploiting the resources in a mysterious dwarven vault powered by trapped spirits.”

“It’s a delicate proposition…” Ochsner said, “And I imagine my people are going to have some opinions on the matter once they realize what’s going on, but leave the vault to me. Of all the things you have to worry about, that place is really more my responsibility than yours.”

“Honestly, are the dwarven cities going to be a problem?”

Ochsner laughed, “Aside from arguing over the rights to the history and science in that vault, I really doubt it. Laid back has practically become one of our core cultural values. Don’t come after us and we won’t come after you.”

“Huh,” Azraea said, “I always assumed you were weird.”

“Only in Kingstown; back home I’m a good, old fashioned, dwarven girl. Now, tell me, who are we worried about now? My people are chill, but there are people in the rest of the kingdom who can act like…”

“Angst-ridden adolescent sea gulls?”

“Are seagulls racist?”

“More than you’d expect,” Azraea laughed, “But definitely more sexist. Last time I went out to the west coast I had one slap me on the ass right in front of my parents.”

“How does a bird slap someone on the ass?” Ochsner laughed.

“Well, I’m exaggerating a bit. I dropped some food, it made a dive for it, and long story short, it flew straight into my butt.”

Ochsner laughed harder, “Seriously?”

“I suppose there were mistakes made on both sides.”

“What about your parents? Have you talked to them?”

“As soon as I had a handle on things here, Jericho sent some of his men to protect them and bring them here. I imagine it will take his men some time just to convince them of what's happened, though.” Ultimately, Azraea wasn’t sure what to do with her parents. Would they be safer in Kingstown, under Kaira’s protection, or safer further away from her? A queen didn’t usually have to worry about her parents.

“Are you really worried someone might hurt them?”

“Honestly? Yes,” Azraea said. Azraea explained the state of the political divisions surround her. The Neo-Monarchists were critical of her, but even those who might prefer someone else on the throne at least seemed to generally like her, and appointing “the Dragonslayer” as Regent ad Manum would probably win her some more favor. “Being as you actually killed the dragon, a lot of them would rather see you on the throne, than me…” Azraea explained.

“Technically it was a swarm of giant bugs that did it,” Ochsner said, “I guess we could bring the scolopendrae here for a day and see how they like having them for a queen? Can’t you imagine it? The court sessions, the ribbon-cuttings, the scolopendrae could host a ball! That would be fantastic. So many fancy shoes!”

 Azraea accidentally allowed the mental image of a scolopendra with a powdered wig to pop into her head and had to stifle a surge of laughter.

Compared to the Neo-Monarchists, the traditional Monarchists were now fewer in number, but they carried a lot of money and influence – especially Hylas’s cousins. The Loche brothers concerned Azraea.

 “When I took control of Syliva’s assets, I decided to liquidate anything I didn't have a majority share in. I kept the investments in businesses I could control. For all the hundreds of businesses Syliva had had a minority share in, though, I decided to sell the investments back to the real owners of the businesses. I didn’t really feel like the throne needed a 40% share in Kingstown’s various bakeries…”

“Well, I’m sorry, but that right there sounds foolish,” Ochsner said, “you might never have had to worry about twisty bread again.” 

“The point is... I might have fucked up. I wanted to be methodical and fair, so I didn't just pull out of the little mom-and-pop businesses, I pulled out of every business Syliva didn't have majority control over. So, the Loche brothers now have full control of The Vulpine Post, and like it or not, it’s still the largest of the heralds.”

“Well, they’ll be critical to the point of slanderous, I’m sure, but you wouldn’t have gotten where you are if you couldn’t handle that. And if the Loche’s swing The Vulpine away from the Nationalist Party towards something more moderate, that’ll be an improvement.”

Talking about the safety of her family, her friends, and the people in general, the Nationalists were the ones that frightened Azraea. “Some nut-ball working with one of Syliva’s other heralds actually convinced the Nationalists that she was a demigod avatar embodying their values of power, supremacy, and violent control over lesser beings.”

“I imagine they’re rather butt-hurt over their demigod’s death then.”

“You have no idea. They’ve memorialized her by adopting their own banner,” Azraea frowned. The Nationalist Party’s flag was a stylized black dragon against a white moon in a blood red sky. The flag celebrated a creature that had murdered countless people. The sight of it gave her the creeps, and made her wonder just how much she should tolerate as the kingdom’s current autocrat.

“There are already reports coming in of hate crimes being perpetrated under that banner,” Azraea said, “And – at least according to Marcus – there are former business partners of Syliva who may be funding them in the hopes of putting someone with her philosophy back in power. And Verax is concerned that they’re also making connections with Meingen’s friends, and he’s worried they might get access to some dangerous resources – and ideas.”

“How does that even make sense?” Ochsner said, “Meingen’s anarchism is the exact opposite of the people that used to work with Syliva. I mean, when that fanatical ‘power-to-the-working class’ philosophy meets the zealous obedience to authority… they’ll probably just wipe each other out.”

“Maybe,” Azraea said, “But people can surprise you.” Sometimes in the worst ways possible, Azraea thought. Violence seemed inevitable to Azraea, but she was trying to keep an even hand, lest she alienate her supporters by over-reacting.

“Well,” Ochsner said, still fiddling with Azraea’s hair, “At least we don’t have to worry about our loans anymore.” Ochsner meant it light-heartedly, but it wasn’t funny. Given that many of the loans owed to the dragon had been owed by Caelia itself, forgiving all debts to her estate had been the sensible thing to do. Inflation had also trivialized many standardized loans, so they didn’t really seem worth collecting on. Nevertheless, as Azraea explained, she now had to work with many of the people that used run the businesses Syliva controlled, and many of them were unhappy to have the businesses they operated officially become property of the new administration. They were even unhappier when said administration forgave the debts owed to them.   

Ochsner looked Azraea in the eye through the mirror, “These are all normal problems for running a kingdom. At least if you’re running it well – you have to think in terms of long term benefit while everyone else reacts to the moment. In that regard, I think you're doing fine," Ochsner reassured her. 
"In that regard?" Azraea asked, "What am I not doing fine at?"
"You tell me. While I realize this is all important discussion for a Queen and her Regent ad Manum,” Ochsner said, “why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you that can’t be discussed in front of Kaira?”

“What?”

“As much as I’m glad we could spend this time catching up,” Ochsner rubbed her scalp with her fingertips again but made a face like a fortune teller at a crystal ball, “I sense deeper troubles that you’re holding back. Perhaps… something weighs more heavily on the heart, than the mind?”