Alana Tar may have had the title of Princess but she was no relation to Queen Natalya. She held the title simply by being the youngest sister of former Queen, Viktoriya Tar. The family was one of the most respected in Lodja, their respect dated back so far that one of the islands of Lodja was even named after their family. Since her sister tragic death Alana meanwhile had faced a life a kind of limbo. On one hand she was shown great respect everywhere she went, on the other she had no control over aspects of her life, any job would need to be approved by the Queen, any potential husband approved by the Queen, even her place of residence. It was sad that her life had kind of been lost in the chaotic shuffle that had been the last few years of life in Lodja. She had managed to get herself to University on the Isle of Tar which had all but become her refuge. She graduated last summer with her degree in Music and had spent the time since enjoying the beaches of the beautiful island as well as helping establish the Tar Musical Library, a huge depository of musical manuscripts, recordings and even instruments. It was her hope the Library would have pleased her now deceased sister Viktoriya. Things had been made even worse for her once it had been discovered her mother, Duchess Helene Tar, had betrayed Queen Klara and sided with Leopold Hamsik. Now things had settled down she'd been largely ignored even more than before. She had therefore been surprised that she had been contacted and asked to attend this meeting.
The morning of the meeting she had been escorted to the Isle of the Goddess by the Air Force after being flown in from the Isle of Tar. It was nice to see the capital again and she hoped to find time to catch up with some old friends once they had done, assuming she was allowed to. She was nervous what the summons had meant but upon arriving she relaxed a little, she was escorted into the Conclave room and found herself sat alongside Princess Anfisa, a great-grandaughter of Queen Sonya, a few of the other descendants of Sonya sat further down the row but largely ignored her. Anfisa gave her a small hug once seated and engaged her in small talk until the Queen was announced. The Princesses stood and gave a courtesy as Natalya entered and sat once the Queen signalled people may do so.
Natalya looked around the room and once it had gone silent nodded to a man in a smart suit by the door who turned on a video camera. Once satisfied this was being recorded the Queen began, "Thank you for coming, I am bringing you good and bad news. Good news is that I am introducing reforms to make Lodja a stronger nation, the bad news is for some of you......you will not like what I am to say but you will accept it." There were nervous glances and a few whispered words. "First I will reinforce, we are a nation that belongs to Sessifet. Devotion to the Goddess and her teachings must be and will be the centre of everything I do. That though does not mean other faiths have anything to fear. Sessifet recognised herself that other Gods existed, those of you following other Gods have merely yet to make the discovery of the truth of Sessifet, and that is OK, I will pray that one day you will embrace the Goddess and I know she will embrace you. The problem we have had is that over the last four centuries or so we've seen people steer us away from the Goddess as corrupt men and women manipulated the Goddess for feathering their own beds. That will end. I have always been a person with faith but no knowledge, thanks to Arina Maksimov's crash course in the teachings of the Priesthood I believe I am now capable of seeing our errors clearly." She paused, took a deep breath and noticed a fair few where nodding. He saw in the crowd
Maria Shvets , another relatively young Priestess who had gained prestige within the faith, she smiled at Natalya and nodded approvingly which helped Natalya continue.
"Sessifet fought a war against the Gods who tried to corrupt us and won, as such she set up a hierarchy, she set up a system designed to have those with the ability to support those in need of guidance, help and love to do so. We have had the Patrician and Plebeian arrangement as a result and that will not change as Sessifet still needs those of us sat here to take our roles. What has changed is how we mark time, people live longer, people have more ways of making a difference to their nation and as such I will be making a route to Patricianhood even easier. One way I will do that is by creating a series of titles, these will allow me to elevate those who have shown they have made the progress to be able to support the ideas of Sessifet to attain Patricianhood immediately." A few of the Dukes looked a little concerned, would they lose land to these newly titled people whoever they were?
"Secondly I am tired of seeing the patricians exploiting the Plebians. We see laws that have been manipulated to allow our class to extort money from those less fortunate. We see, potentially even people in this room, who have taken money from businesses in their infancy to allow them to operate and then just sat back knowing full well they fail. I intend to pass a decree that means no Patrician may now take money in return for allowing a Plebeian to operate a business. Instead you may only take shares up to 10%, this as a result means if you want money you have to help the company grow. Far too many of you have not concerned yourself with growing our economy just your own bank balance."
Dragan Knežević couldn't help but nod his head with a broad smile. He had served as finance minister for several years under Viktoriya and then for a while Klara and during all that time he'd pushed for similar reforms now it seemed once he'd "retired" back to his home town of Noginsk things were going to happen.
"I am also disgusted at how we sometimes hold love to ransom. We have the power to block the plebeians from marrying. While I am aware many marry not just for love but for what the marriage can bring to families. Many Plebians have found a route out of poverty and obscurity by simply having a daughter marry into an influential family. I am not going to stop that but once more things must change. Once any Plebian reaches the age of 23 they marry without permission of a Patrician. It will deemed as though I have granted them permission, so long as they can find a Priestess to conduct the ceremony. Sessifet promotes beauty and love above all and we can not stand in the way of that."
The Queen was now heading for what would be the most controversial part of her speech. "In the beginning of the Queendom we did our best to emulate the ways of Sessifet. It was then in the 17th Century Duke Vitali Eramenko corrupted our ways. He used his influence with the military to make himself the effective Queen-Marker of Lodja and from that point on he manipulated our way to make a mockery of our name, Queendom. I am the embodyment of Sessifet, I am a leader, I am a woman, I may sound arrogant but I'm a beautiful woman and above all else I am determined. Sessifet is the strongest power in the Universe and I will channel that power. Women originally were the line of inheritance, now it has become the way that noble titles pass down the male line, that is now over. I will not throw families into turmoil by stating this starts immediately. Once a title of nobility has passed twice it shall head down the female blood line. I will maintain, as far as practical a Conclave of 50/50 but not by sacrificing quality. I will look for similar status within all government controlled spheres, it will take many generations but the balance of Sessifet will be restored. Leadership of this nation has for the past four years been chaotic, first the assassination of Viktoriya, then the rebellion against Klara and now me, none of us knew we would be Queen, none of us expected to be Queen. Look at our friends in nations such as East Moreland, they know one day Princess Rhiannon will sit upon their throne and the ten year old child is already more versed in how to be a leader than many people in this room. I will not and can not make Lodja a hereditary monarchy, it goes against the very faith of Sessifet. What I can do though is make sure that whoever Sessifet picks is prepared. I am therefore making some changes. Originally our texts tell us Queens were given the throne at 14, then life expectancy was much much younger, then it became 16, and then 18. I am therefore changing this again to 21. I am also making it the case that each year on the anniversary of a Queen's coronation they will name a successor for the next 12 months, should anything happen to the Queen then that girl will inherit the throne, no ifs or buts, as such we shall have a smooth transition. Should she accept I am naming Princess Alana Tar as the Crown Princess, she will be my heir for the next 12 months should she accept." Alana had not been warned of this and now she felt Anfisa grip her hand reassuringly as she felt a sense of surprise and panic. "Viktoriya was a strong Queen who would have made us a great nation, if her sister is half the person her older sister was then Lodja would have a great Queen. Alana has spent years understanding the workings of government expecting one day to be unleashed as a diplomat for our nation." Natalya turned to face Alana, "We shall speak upon this this afternoon." It was worded not as a request but an order and Alana just mouthed her acceptance. Natalya turned back to the audience, "To prepare for the future I am also taking a page from the Bene Gesserit book. We shall be opening a school for girls dedicated to ensuring the future Queen is ready. It will be open initially at the age of 4 to any noble girl, at the age of 16 they shall sit exams and those considered to be both intelligent and beautiful will proceed to further study until degree level at the age of 21. Once at that age all girls graduating shall be offered roles within the government in some form. The school shall begin in September with an intake for a University standard for 18 to 21 year olds and our first intake of four year olds. Over time the school shall expand and become one of the leading institutes not just in Lodja but the world. This is a matter I have been preparing for several months and I am proud to announce that we have secured respected East Moreland scholar
Dr. Maddie Howard to establish the first year and then ensure the leadership is handed over to a scholar approved by the High Priestess. This brings me to my final message. Klara declared herself the High Priestess, this is not appropriate. I am the Guardian of Sessifet, she lives inside me but at times hearing what she tells me and understanding it is difficult. There must be a voice to help guide me, as such I will hand that title back to the actual Priesthood, it will be no surprise therefore that I appoint Arina Maksimov to that role. The role will assume similar standards to the Queens position. Only a graduate of the new school may assume the position and furthermore the incumbent will select a non-related successor, this successor will remain successor once approved by the Queen until such a time as the High Priestess selects a different successor. With no school present I will choose the first successor and that shall be Maria Shvets, between the two of these ladies our faith has been secure in troubling times and I thank them on behalf of the nation." A small round of applause in appreciation rippled around the room.
"There shall be decrees confirming all of this in the coming day. For now I will not be taking meetings. I wish you all well." The Queen turned and keen to be respectful people hurried to their feet understanding that the Queen was leaving. As Natalya left she could already hear people discussing what she had said. Duke Lubos was the only noble who was permitted to follow her.
"Your Divine Majesty" he called after her, she stopped and turned, "I know it was not discussed but you spoke of changes in the Conclave, if you desire it I will tender my resignation immediately. I think your proposals are ones I can support but I understand if you need your own choice. I serve at your pleasure." Natalya walked up to him and placed a hand on his large arm.
"Your still going to lead the Conclave, it'll just be a very different Conclave. You are quiet literally our nations rock Lubos, we'll speak tomorrow. For today relax." The Queen turned and accompanied by her entourage headed off to begin the considerably large amount of paperwork she'd just created for herself.