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Tales from the Ardiapur palace
The Ardiapur Palace where the Autokrator holds court is the administrative centre of the the Kingdom of Rhand. Here you can find vignettes about the goings on within its walls.
Choosing a Queen for the King to Be
At the insistence of the Princely Counsel Laurenz had been moved from his private apartments in the east wing of the Palace to the formal state apartments which were structurally a mirror of the Autokrator’s, if somewhat less grandly decorated. While his position as Crown Prince meant that he should have taken residence in these rooms years ago Laurenz had preferred the lesser formality of his previous home and had resisted the pressures on him to relocate. Unfortunately given his new need to hold court this was no longer an option and he had grudgingly agreed to the swap.
He now sat in one of long dull meetings with the Princely Counsellors that he had come to loathe. It was not that he did not see the importance in these near daily meetings; in fact he welcomed the opportunity to be updated about matters of state. Rather he disliked having to spend any length of time with a group of men who for all their fawning clearly despised him and the constant need to be vigilant against their schemes, on more than one occasion he had caught them feeding him deliberately misleading information in an attempt to manipulate him.
This morning’s meeting was drawing close to an end; the bulk of it had been taken up by an unexpectedly aggressive debate over the Trans-Ardian Partnership. Apparently there was some disagreement within the Conclave of Nomarchs over the proposed route of the rail link with three factions having formed, those who wanted the line to run along the coast, those who wanted it to run through the interior and those who were opposed to the project in its entirety. Those in favour of the coastal route were not coincidentally those Nomarch families who had shifted their main wealth base away from land rents and in to industrial enterprises while those who favoured the interior route were those that had remained as ‘landed Nomarchs’. Those who opposed it outright as far as Laurenz could tell were simply traditionalists who feared the cosmopolitanism that such a partnership threatened. He had eventually decided to end the debate by issuing an edict that that the line would run through the interior.
With that matter put to rest, despite the apparent displeasure of some of those gathered in the room, the meeting turned to its final agenda item marked on the papers as ‘Suitability and Arrangements for a Princess Consort’. The item was introduced by the Counsel on State Protocol, a middle-aged Prince with an obsession over royal protocol that actually outstripped Theofilus’, it had been this inflexible individual who had forced Laurenz’s rehoming in his new apartments.
“Your Majesty is aware I am sure of the necessity under the Protocols of State for any sitting Autokrator to have for himself a Queen Consort in order to provide the appropriate moral, spiritual and political guidance to the Ladies of the Court, the Nomarchessei and wider womankind, it is also necessary for such a Queen to be present for formal events and receptions. This brings me on to a matter of some delicacy, the time remaining before Your Majesty assumes the Autarky is somewhat limited and as such it has become vital that we discuss suitable partnerships. Unfortunately a long courtship is not possible in the circumstances and I have therefore taken the liberty of preparing a list of potential partnerships that meet the requirements.” He proceeded to distribute copies of the profiles.
“There are only five women listed here.” Said laurenz his voice sinking “and look at these options: Nomarchesse Arandisa Cassion, Marchesse Uliva Klepsydra and Jecanta Furlon? Each of them is more of a bore than the last, I very much doubt whether an original thought has ever passed through a single one of their heads. Princess Margaressa Viktor-Arnion, is she not in her sixities?”
“Fifty eight Your Majesty, however may I point out that she is very well placed politically…” said the Counsellor with a tone suggesting deep offence. Laurenz fixed him with a glare that caused him to stop midsentence, before he turned his attention back to the list.
“Crown Princess Elena von Wateringas?” he asked in surprise.
“Yes Your Majesty, given the proximity of Herrenbucht, the commonalities and the increasingly strong relations between our Kingdoms it was thought that it may be diplomatically expedient to approach them about the possibility of creating a royal bond between us.”
Laurenz smiled for the first time that day “Yes” he muttered “that would be most welcome.”