Private Long to Reign Over Us

[Renata Westaway]

NEW STERANDEL, AEGIS
CAPITAL OF THE RENASCENT HEIRATE

the Efficient & the Dignified​

The motorcade was a modest one: a single towncar speeder bearing two of the dark cerulean and gold flags of the Renascent Heirate, flanked on two sides by speederbikes and escorted to front and back by a police speeder, lights flashing but sirens silent. It would not be uncommon for the residents of New Sterandel to see this particular motorcade taking this particular route through the city on this evening every week, from 10 Alderney Square, through Highgate, along the Mall, though it had been irregular for awhile now. At the far end of the Mall, the guardsmen at the gate to the River Palace opened it to admit the motorcade, which drove through the courtard, easing to a halt with the towncar beneath a covered carport. A footman in dark blue and gold livery approached the door and opened it. Another man in a dark suit greeted Renata Westaway as she emerged from the back seat, leather portfolio in one hand, handbag around one forearm.

"Prime Minister," he said politely. "How nice to see you again."

"Likewise, Kenat. Not very often she's here, so we must take advantage when we can, hm?"

"Of course, Prime Minister." He gestured back the way he'd come from, into the building. "If you'll follow me, please."

Renata knew the way by heart, but there was protocol to be observed, so she simply smiled her thanks and nodded her assent, following Kenat into the palace.

It was smaller than the Imperial Palace in Avalonia. There hadn't been the resources here that the First Order could bring to bear, Renata realized, but she also thought that the Sovereign probably preferred it this way. No brutalist tower signaling dominance more than strength. River Palace was grand, in its own way, but also more personal. Closer to the city streets. Populated by people whose faces and names Renata recognized and remembered. It had the feel of old Galidraan, if Renata understood it correctly. She had never been, having always assumed it would disappoint in comparison to the way the Sovereign and others from her homeworld would describe it as some sort of Nirvana in the mortal realm.

The walk did not take long. Along galleries and corridors, past state rooms and ceremonial chambers, until at least Renata paused at the door of the audience chamber. Kenat might observe that she was nervous, though that wasn't true exactly. Renata Westaway was never particularly overawed by the Supreme Leader nor the trappings that came with her. But today was going to be a difficult meeting. The two women would have to discuss things that were going to be difficult. Unpleasant.

Not to mention that it was likely to cause a constitutional crisis. But all countries had to have their first one, right?

Kenat glanced at her. He had no idea, bless him. "Are you ready, Prime Minister?"

The Prime Minister took a breath, inclined her head, and nodded. Kenat stepped forward, rapped at the door briefly, and then led Renata inside. While Kenat bowed at the neck, Renata executed a curtsy. "Your Majesty," she said as she rose, and Kenat turned to leave the two women alone. Natasi Fortan stood at the other end of the room, statuesque and slender in a dark green dress and blazer The Sovereign extended a hand, at which signal the Prime Minister crossed the room and took it, curtsying again before releasing it. "I believe I speak for all your subjects when I say how relieved I am that you made it off Coruscant safely, ma'am. When we lost communications with your Senate office, we feared the worst."

​

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi usually enjoyed the weekly audience with the Prime Minister. It had been too long since the women were under the same roof, with Natasi's dual role as Sovereign and Senator often keeping her away from New Sterandel. With any other Prime Minister it might have been impossible, but Renata Westaway knew more about the Renascent Heirate than anyone, Natasi included. The care of the government was in strong hands. Still, it felt right to be there together once more. The Sovereign extended a hand, inviting the Prime Minister to cross and take it, executing a curtsy as they shook once. "Please," Natasi said, gesturing to the pale gold upholstery of the armchair opposite the twin behind Natasi herself. Natasi settled into her chair and watched as Renata did as well.

Was it her imagination or was the Prime Minister distinctly less comfortable today than usual?

Natasi had the good grace to look somewhat abashed by the Prime Minister's commentary. Natasi had a general sense that it was -- perhaps -- irresponsible. To stay on Coruscant after the Senate fled to Fondor meant that resources had to be dedicated to protect her. And yet, Natasi's presence and the security it brought meant that she could spread that security around, to the refugees that the Alliance had huddled under its protections. The Balance only knew what would have happened had a Senator not been present.

"I appreciate your concern," Natasi answered after a moment's hesitation. "I worry that -- it may be unavoidable. These Imperials have the most damnable habit of getting into places they oughtn't to be. How the Core could be so easily usurped, and Coruscant itself so apparently ill-defended as to be invaded twice in just over a year." The Supreme Leader shifted in her seat a little, her elbow coming to rest on the upholstered armrest. Delicate, but uncharacteristic for Natasi to lean during an audience.

Evidence of the toll the last few days had taken on her. "Inquiries will be made, of course," Natasi said, in the manner of assuring the Prime Minister that she was on top of things. "And with the Galactic Empire -- what a name -- popping up next door... well, the Senate will need to demand answers. We will need to be assured of our defense posture."

Natasi paused and then she cleared her throat. "Apologies, Prime Minister. This is your time, I ought not to be setting the agenda. Please." She gestured generously toward the space between them, inviting Renata to take the floor.

Renata Westaway​

 

[Renata Westaway]

Renata settled uneasily into the chair, reaching up to tuck her blonde hair behind one ear as she fixed her glassy blue-green eyes on the Sovereign. The Supreme Leader was chatty today. Did she sense what was coming? Was she looking to head it off at the pass? Renata was about to interject when Natasi censored herself and turned the meeting back to its purpose. Renata's smile was brittle. "Not at all, ma'am, though of course there are some matters of import that I feel we should discuss."

She set her handbag down at the side of the chair and unzipped her portfolio, letting it rest open on her crossed legs. She did not consult the pages inside, not in this moment. "Actually, it's the Senate I'd like to discuss. In fact, it's the only thing that's on my agenda for this evening." She paused, swallowed audibly. She froze a moment, prompting Natasi to lean forward encouragingly.

"The thing is, ma'am," Renata began again. "The thing is this."

And yet, she found herself grasping for words to explain what the thing was.

"Prime Minister?" Natasi said softly.

Renata cleared her throat and looked up, blue-green eyes meeting the dark ones of her Sovereign. "I apologize, Your Majesty. This is, I suspect, as easy to say as it will be for you to hear. But it must be said. And it must be heard." Renata noted the Supreme Leader's eyebrows lift in the same way they usually did when the women were sharing a private moment of unspoken humor.

"The time has come for you to return to Aegis on a permanent basis. That means -- stepping away from the Galactic Alliance and the Senate. It is simply too dangerous for you to remain abroad when the Alliance seems to be ineffectual at protecting its institutions and its most closely-held territories. I cannot in good conscience allow it to continue."

And then Renata got to experience the very first time being fixed with Natasi's gaze in that famed moment when they went from deep, melted chocolate brown to icy, frozen Galidraani mud, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees as the Supreme Leader's lips subtly turned down at the edges.

Natasi Fortan​

 

[Natasi Fortan]

The pause was subtle at first, pregnant, and finally awkward.

I cannot in good conscience allow it to continue, the Prime Minister said. Allow it? Natasi's lips pursed slightly, then turned down a little at the edges. Not quite a frown. Natasi squared her shoulders and straightened subtly, her fingers twisting together in her lap, and she clamped her hands together as if to tamp down on those movements. "While I appreciate your kind concern," Natasi said, her voice indicating that she did not particularly appreciate the Prime Minister's concern, nor did she find it kind, "I cannot -- in good conscience -- leave my position in the Senate in this moment. The Galactic Alliance has just suffered a catastrophic, humiliating defeat. What kind of message does it send to Alliance leadership that we disengage now?"

And before the Prime Minister could respond, Natasi continued on, raising a solitary finger to forestall interruption.

"I have no illusions about my own personal influence on the workings of the Senate or the Alliance at large -- minimal, I would suggest, despite my best efforts to the contrary -- but I am a member of the Senate. I sit on the Defense Committee, and the Senate Select Committee on Refugees, two the committees most implicated in this very public, very embarrassing failure. I feel that failure and mortification deep in my very bones. It would be seen as shirking my responsibilities and ducking accountability for my part in this catastrophe. It is simply not possible."

Natasi took a slow breath as if to steady herself and lowered her hand.

"May I remind you, Prime Minister, that it was your insistence -- your very strong insistence -- that led me to taking the Senate seat to begin with? You argued that I needed to be a public face of the Renascent Heirate, to show even the most skeptical of my detractors that I had nothing to hide. My prominence, as a result, has led to some significant discomfort on my part -- discomfort that I was content to bear because you asked me to do it." Her detainment and interrogation by the Strategic Intelligence Agency came to top of mind, following her impromptu dinner with Carlyle Rausgeber. "And now you want me to abandon this position? I cannot see the benefit, Prime Minister."

Renata Westaway​

 

[Renata Westaway]

Renata met the Sovereign's gaze, trying to walk a fine line between compassion and steel resolve in her voice and in her eyes. "I am not without empathy for the plight of the Galactic Alliance, Your Majesty, no for your part in it," she said quietly. "But I am not in a position to allow that empathy to override what is my primary responsibility. My obligation -- now, and as long as I am Prime Minister -- is to the Renascent Heirate and its people."

The Prime Minister snapped shut her binder; she clearly recognized now that nothing written within it was going to provide assistance to her now. This would be an argument won or lost on moral conviction, not on facts and figures. "If I can be frank, ma'am, you are over-estimating your responsibility for this crisis. In fact, I would argue that under the measures that you championed in the Senate, you have done more than a singular Senator could be expected to do. Proposing the reinstatement of SELCORE to guide resources to the plight of refugees allowed the Alliance's defense forces to focus its energies on defense. And volunteering the land and resources of the Renascent Heirate for the settlement of refugees was a pressure relief valve that took the strain off their resources."

Renata withstood the cold silence of Natasi's returning gaze, the unspoken but? evidenced only by an elegantly arched brow.

"But as I said, my responsibility -- my only concern -- is for these people." She gestured toward the window with one hand. "Your subjects. And right now they need you and I working together, full time, to facilitate the defense of our borders, to expedite the construction of our defenses, and to settle important questions here."

"I asked you to sit in the Senate because it was important that the galaxy see you. You were one of the most famous women in the galaxy at a time, which has its advantages and its drawbacks. Your reputation, good and bad, preceded you and it preceded the Renascent Heirate. The galaxy has seen you, in turn, as a First Order governor, as a conquering Grand Moff, as a martyr, as a risen Supreme Leader. It needed to see you as a conciliator and a leader for compromise. You were the only one who could have fulfilled that role for us. But now it's time for a different approach. We don't need a conciliator in the Senate today. And that's to say nothing of your safety being a serious concern. The Alliance is, at best, grossly negligent as far as the safety and security of the Senate and you specifically."

"I am not asking you to abandon the Senate. Nor are we. We will appoint a replacement in due course. I am asking you to refocus your efforts here."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi levered herself out of her seat with an energy that even alarmed her. She was honest enough with herself to know that it was anger the fueled her in that moment, more than principle. She strode to the window, stretching her arms behind her back as she stood ramrod straight. Her dark eyes scanned the skyline across the river.

"It's cowardice, Renata," Natasi said quietly, her voice trembling with fury. "You are asking me to send someone to stand in my place where it is too dangerous for me to tread myself. It is cowardice, plain and simple, and I won't be a part of it. How would it look?"

She took a breath, inclining her head, and tried to ignore the niggling doubts that the Prime Minister had raised there. She wasn't entirely wrong, after all. There was important work to be done here at home, and Natasi had always felt a strange push-and-pull straddling the throne and a Senate seat. But this was a matter of principle, and she wasn't ready to concede to the Prime Minister just yet.

Was there pride involved?

Perhaps. But that didn't mean Natasi was wrong, necessarily. "I'll tell you how it would look, Prime Minister. It looks poor. It looks like we are retreating from our obligations as a member of the Alliance community. Whatever your reasoning -- whatever your internal rationalizing -- it will make me look terrible. And it will make the Alliance look ineffectual, at a time where they most need to be supported."

Renata Westaway​

 

[Renata Westaway]

The Prime Minister rose to her feet when Natasi did; after all, when the Sovereign stood, nobody sat. She did not make to follow her toward the window, instead staking her ground out near the chairs, a strip of hardwood marking out the no-man's-land between their entrenched positions. "It is prudence, Your Majesty," Renata countered coolly, turning to face Natasi's back.

"If you've said it once, you've said it a dozen times in my hearing: discretion is the better part of valor. Perhaps it is more courageous for you to continue to sit in the Senate. Perhaps. But it is neither prudent, nor a good use of your time and energy any longer." She paused a moment, then folded her arms over her middle. "You've also told me that His Royal Highness Prince George -- impressive as he may be, well-intentioned as he may be, principled as he may be -- is not ready to wear the Renascent Crown, to sit the First Imperial Throne-in-Exile." At this Natasi glanced to the side, just enough that she could fix Renata in her peripheral vision. "So quite frankly, you are the essential piece here. I cannot have you running around Hell's creation when the Galactic Alliance either cannot or will not protect the very heart of its territory. I apologize if that reflects poorly on you. I apologize if you feel that we will be sending the wrong signals to the Alliance. But unless we can rely on the Alliance to safeguard our borders -- to keep the Renascent Heirate strong and prosperous and free -- then I am not particularly inclined to care about the signals we are sending to them. They should spend more time worrying about the signals they are sending to the people of Kuat, and Balmorra, and Humbarine -- to say nothing of Coruscant and the rest of the core, which they have now allowed to be wrested from their control. And to us, and the countless other systems that are now under the direct threat of the Empire."

There was a glacial pause between the two women. Natasi's head turned imperceptibly back to the window, to the darkening skyline. "Your Majesty, I hesitate to point out to you that while this is Her Majesty's Government in capitals -- and I govern in your name and for the duration of your pleasure -- I am the head of this government. You are the head of this nation. Who represents this nation in the Galactic Alliance Federal Assembly is a matter of government policy. That is to say: my policy."

This drew a sardonic smirk that Renata could barely make out in the mirror. Renata paused a moment. "If you are prepared to push this issue, Your Majesty, I am prepared to request appointment to the Sapphire Hundreds."

Natasi Fortan​

 

[Natasi Fortan]

The suggestion was a cold knife between the ribs. A sense of being maneuvered -- being handled -- was bad enough. But for Renata to resort to coercion -- constitutional blackmail -- was deeply unsettling. Her hands clasped behind her back. Natasi felt a tightness under her ears and only then realized she was clenching her jaw tight enough to seal a blast door. She took a breath and forced herself to relent, but when she spoke, her voice was soft in the way only the most furious voices could be.

"Are you suggesting that you would abandon your post -- your Government and mine, your cabinet -- at the moment when you are demanding my resignation to preserve it?"

She wasn't expecting an answer, apparently, because she went on in the same eerily calm voice, now adapting something of a conversational tone. "Let's see how this thought experiment plays out, Prime Minister, shall we?" Natasi turned. "Let us presume that I will not be bullied by your -- we respect each other enough, I hope, to identify this as what it really is: constitutional blackmail. I graciously accept your request to be appointed to the Hundreds. You have decapitated Her Majesty's government to prove a point. What then? Who will be in command if the Empire turns its greedy, beedy little eyes toward the Renascent Heirate? Who is your successor?"

Renata Westaway​

 

[Renata Westaway]

Renata stood still. She didn't look away from Natasi, didn't blink. Her knuckles were white as she clasped her hands together hard enough that they didn't tremble. "That would be none of my business, Your Majesty," Renata said. She had to admit to a certain sense of satisfaction that the Supreme Leader's eyes widened at this.

The Hundreds were for keeps, Renata wanted to say. If you won't take my advice on the most critical matters then you will take it on nothing.

"If I am appointed to the Hundreds," Renata went on to explain, "I would be barred from the Commons, and therefore ineligible to serve as your Prime Minister. That is the whole point of the request. I would have no constitutional position from which to offer you advice. And you, Your Majesty, with the greatest of respect, would have no business taking any advice I gave you. You are bound by the Charter to take advice from the individual commanding the confidence of the House and his or her duly appointed ministers."

She watched the pieces fall together in Natasi's vision, but instead of seeing the acquiescence, or at least the softening that suggested Her Majesty was looking for a way to acquiesce gratefully, she saw only a hardening. The Supreme Leader was angrier still. Renata thought she felt the room's temperature dip a few more degrees.

Natasi Fortan​

 

[Natasi Fortan]

If it weren't for the outrage, the betrayal, the fury, Natasi might have been impressed.

"I really ought to applaud you, Prime Minister," she said after a frigid pause, her voice glacial.

"This is a pretty trap you have developed for me. Brava, only I hope you'll forgive me for not giving you an ovation here and now." Natasi saw the way the blonde woman's razor-sharp bob tilted quizzically, as if not understanding. Well, false modesty wouldn't save her from Natasi's wrath. "You have engineered a scenario where I must either bow to your demands, or force a constitutional crisis that would discredit me and lionize you in the eyes of the press and the public perception. Renata Westaway, the woman who would not stand down from the tyrant Natasi Fortan -- who it turns out is just the ruthless, power hungry autocrat we always knew she was."

Natasi could feel her fists balling so tightly her knuckles hurt. The injustice of it. That was how she would be perceived, but the truth was that Natasi still thought there was value she could offer to the Alliance as a Senator. There was work to be done.

"And if the Galactic Alliance should collapse under its own weight, or be conquered by the Empire whilst we go through the democratic process to elect your successor -- or worse, while I dither and take advice from whatever of your Cabinet members will still be taking my phone calls by the opening of business tomorrow -- or worse still -- while I appoint someone without advice -- or worst of all -- try to run this government on my own -- then you have guaranteed that I will take the blame for whatever occurs."

She took a breath, her nostrils flaring. Natasi Fortan was actually flushed now, the cold and careful Galidraani aristocrat yielding for once to the human vice of fury.

"A masterstroke, Prime Minister. Truly. That is why you will not ask me to dissolve the Concordiate and call for an election. And you know I am bound -- if not by the Charter, then by custom and my own principles -- not to dissolve it on my own whim. Not even to circumvent the demands of an unruly Prime Minister." A cynical smile, more cutting than a knife. "Perhaps I taught you too well, Renata."

Renata Westaway​

 

[Renata Westaway]

The words were like shards of ice to Renata. Even once they thawed and melted, they would still leave wounds and scars.

"Your Majesty," she began slowly, but then stopped, lowering her gaze. She brought a hand to her forehead, scrubbed lightly there. After nearly a minute of silence, during which the Supreme Leader crossed to stand behind her seat but otherwise merely watched Renata with a kind of fascinated disinterest. "I have been present at the collapse of two great civilizations. Both times as a result of an absence of leadership. Both times because there was not established a means of ensuring that it would go on. You cannot ask me to be party to a third."

She stood straight, turning to face Natasi with square shoulders. "It is as difficult to hear, I suspect, as it is for me to say it. To the woman who sacrificed her life so that the First Order could survive when the Ssi-Ruuk came to Dosuun, it must be poor thanks to hear that her sacrifice could not arrest the descent of the government that had so embodied her ideals and values into barbarism and factionalism and warlords. But it is what happened. You are not to blame, but it was your absence that opened a vacuum to fill the chaos. And it happened after you vanished looking for George."

Renata inclined her head. "Again, I don't blame you for that. I have no children of my own, but there are people I care about, for whom I would walk into the Netherworld whatever the cost. But if I came to you this morning and said that I wanted to do it, we would be having a version of this conversation. You would tell me that I have a responsibility to the people here in our island home, the people for whom and with whom we have carved a civilization out of isolation. We owe it to them to put into perspective that which we think and what we want and what we feel strongly about, and to choose to recognize our sacred obligations."

Renata took a breath and let it out. "George is a talented man. He will make worthy successor to you, in time. Right now your duty is to give him that time by staying alive. It has nothing to do with honor, it has nothing to do with ability, neither of which are in question. It has to do with whether the Renascent Heirate and its people are a wager I am willing to place on the capabilities of the Galactic Alliance Defense Forces. They are not. You are not. And, Your Majesty, there is more than enough duty here to go around."

The Prime Minister watched as Natasi considered this. Her face was impassive. She merely leaned over to touch the small buzzer inlaid in the table next to her chair. The door opened almost immediately and Kenat entered. This was the first time in years that Natasi had used the buzzer to end a meeting; typically the women shared a nightcap and gossip and the meeting broke up naturally. "Kenat, would you see the Prime Minister out?" Natasi asked Kenat curtly. "I have received enough counsel for one evening."

Renata curtsied and backed toward the door with Kenat. She hesitated at the exit. "Your Majesty? When may I expect your answer?"

Natasi looked over at Renata, her voice heavy. "When I am prepared to give it to you. That will be all, Kenat."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi left breakfast the next morning in quite as much chill as she had arrived. Although she was unimpeachably polite and kind to the staff -- from her ladies' made who dressed her, to the footmen who greeted her along the way, who filled her coffee cup, and who cleared the plates when she was finished -- there was a distinctly thorny atmosphere around the Supreme Leader. Poor Dyrn Grav would have sensed it the evening before, though of course Natasi would never have turned her guns on him.

She left the breakfast room and was joined by Kenat, who fell in easily at her elbow.. "You know what the Prime Minister came to ask me last night?" Natasi asked as they mounted the stairs.

Kenat hesitated a moment. "I believe I do, yes, ma'am." He glanced at her, noted the expectation in her eyes, the impatience. "She asked you to step away from the Alliance Senate as a matter of security."

"What is your opinion on the matter?" When she was met with silence, Natasi stopped on a landing, drawing Kenat up short. "We have worked together a long time, Kenat, you can speak freely."

"I think she's right, Your Majesty," said Kenat after another momentary hesitation. "A year ago it was a lucky escape with the assistance of the Duke of Suffolk. This year, we barely escaped Coruscant ahead of the Imperial fleet. Not many people get two warnings. We have been blessed."

Natasi pursed her lips and straightened her shoulders, then resumed climbing the stairs. "Get the Prime Minister."

"I'll reach out to Number 10 to see when is convenient to come to the palace," Kenat said.

"We can do this by holocall," Natasi said grimly. "And I couldn't give less of a damn about her convenience. I'll speak to her in five minutes."

Renata Westaway​

 

[Renata Westaway]

Renata sat at her desk, reached up to take out her earring, set it down on the small dish for that purpose, and held the handset to her ear. "I'm on," she said. Her private secretary, from the outer office, came over the line briefly to say he was putting her through, and then there were a series of clicks before another voice came onto the line.

"Is this Number Ten?"

"This is Westaway, yes," Renata said.

"Please hold for Her Majesty," the voice said, then a click, then silence.

Renata waited. She glanced at her watch after a moment, then reached over and tugged her coffee cup on its coaster toward her to take a sip. After nearly a minute, there was another click and the unyielding voice of the Supreme Leader of the Renascent Heirate of Adytum sounded on the line. "Prime Minister."

"Your Majesty," Renata answered. There was a beat when neither woman spoke. Renata said: "How can I help, ma'am?"

Natasi still didn't speak for another few seconds, then Renata could hear her take a deep breath before going on: "Send a draft of my letter resigning from the Galactic Alliance Federal Assembly in this morning's red box. I also want to see the language for the Foreign Office's statement and the shortlist, with background files, for my replacement. My successor will present their credentials to the Chancellor's office with my resignation so there will be no interruption of our representation."

Renata felt her stomach unclench and she touched her temple. "Of course. If you'd like I can calendar time for us to discuss -- "

Natasi cut across the Prime Minister. "If I require a briefing I will arrange it with the Foreign Secretary. I presume you have a shortlist with vetting files ready for review."

"Of course, Your Majesty. I'll -- "

"I am informing you, as a constitutional courtesy, that I will be visiting Sablecross Court from this morning. I will be leaving New Sterandel when we disconnect." Renata held her tongue; there was nothing to say, and Natasi would just cut her off anyway. "Pytr Kenat will remain attached to the Senate office on Fondor to brief my successor. I will be hiring a new PPS to keep things moving through my office."

"As you wish, ma'am." There was a brief pause, as if Natasi was preparing to say something else, but then there was a sound like the receiver being hung up, and the call disconnected. Renata stood to relay the notes she had taken to her private secretary. "Be sure the Cabinet Secretary gets this. But first, get me the Foreign Secretary."

"Are you all right?" her secretary asked.

"I'm in time out," Renata answered grimly. "The Foreign Secretary, please."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi stood in the sitting room at Sablecross Court, warming her hands by the fire. Lord Rookwood stood beside her in an informal pose, one hand on the marble mantle, the other holding the whiskey that his Sovereign had graciously poured him, in the kind of unguarded ease that only two aristocrats could share.

"Tolliver, hm?" Rookwood said, looking up from the fire. "Well, I must confess that I am only a little miffed."

"You're not the man for the job," Natasi said quietly. "I hate to say it, but I'm not the man for it either, though you mustn't repeat that. Not now. You and I are conciliators in the old ways. This demands sharp elbows and someone who isn't afraid to demand what we're worth. If you or I stood in front of the Senate and made demands -- well, I would rear Sieger Ren's ugly head and you would, too."

The Supreme Leader met his gaze and he gave a small shrug. "I suppose you're right. Besides, Fondor is a hellhole." Natasi smirked in response.

"I'm afraid the Prime Minister put you on the shortlist to mollify me," Natasi said. "Thinking I would prefer to have someone of my own kind in the seat, if I couldn't be in it myself. Which isn't to say you're unqualified, or that you wouldn't be a splendid Senator under other circumstances."

"To mollify you?" Rookwood echoed.

Natasi closed her eyes briefly. "You must keep it under your hat. If I hear it repeated I'll denounce you as a liar," she said in a tone that suggested she knew she wouldn't have that problem. "She was rather... how do I put it? The Prime Minister brought a gun to a knife fight -- or rather to a ladies' tea. I did not agree with her advice and I told her so. When she was unable to convince me, she suggested if I did not... come to heel," Natasi said uncharitably, "that she would request appointment to the Hundreds -- "

Rookwood's gasp was audible, true shock radiating from him. "She didn't!"

Natasi inclined her head and took a sip of her own whiskey. "She did."

"Can Prime Ministers even do that?" asked Rookwood. "I'm -- er -- not as up to snuff on my constitutional study as I perhaps ought to be."

"It's hard to study something that is hardly written down," Natasi observed dryly. "When we created this system we said we wanted it to be flexible enough to change over time, but stalwart enough to withstand anyone who might try to change it too quickly. But I think, on the whole, the Prime Minister could. And by forcing my hand, she has effectively enshrined it in the laws and customs of the government. It was a masterstroke, really. A real checkmate, I'm proud and furious in equal measure to say."

"Is that why I'm here, and she's in New Sterandel?" Natasi demurred by taking another sip of her drink. "How long is she going to be punished?"

Natasi frowned and looked away. "She is not being punished. We will be unable to see each other as much as we'd like until we can be in the same room without glaring at one another. That's all."

Rookwood did not look convinced, but he didn't probe further.

Renata Westaway​