Tales from the Ardiapur Palace

[Lakhzovia]

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.

[Lakhzovia]

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.”

[Lakhzovia]

An Old Mentor

Laurenz eyed the ornate gilded mantle clock that sat above the fireplace, it read quarter to one in the morning which meant that he had been in this meeting with Prince Fabian Andronikus the Counsel for Economic Affairs for over seven hours. The meeting was one he himself had called in order to better acquaint himself with the state of the economy, something that he gathered had caused Fabian some sort of offence when he first made the request. He had subsequently learnt that the previous Autokrator having something of a phobia of statistics had fully entrusted the oversight of the economy to the Counsel, Laurenz having asked for this meeting then had apparently signalled to the Court that he lacked trust in the abilities of Prince Fabian to administer his brief - this apparently inspired Fabian to inflict a deliberately tedious and long briefing on Laurenz, evidently with the hope of scaring him off future interference.

Laurenz turned his eyes back to the papers before him, they were filled with tables of figures indicating the trade balance for the previous four quarters, Prince Fabian was currently expounding how favourable the balance of trade was at present and how by having restructured the tariff structure on grain imports they'd been able to both increase tax receipts from the landed Nomarchs' and encourage a shift away from import to internal supply. Laurenz felt that buried in the facts and the figures was a different picture, the one he actually wanted to see, namely how was this affecting the people of the country? He knew well enough that there was poverty in the countryside, it had been hard to miss on the occasions he travelled outside the city, yet if this briefing was to be taken at face value you would expect the country to be exceedingly wealthy.

The clock chimed one prompting Laurenz to finally bring this to an end "My dear Prince Fabian, I am afraid given the time I really should be retiring to my chamber, perhaps we can continue your enlightening briefing another time?"

"Certainly Your Majesty, I fear I did not sufficiently warn you of the intricacy of the brief. I will of course resume at your future convenience." said Fabian with something approaching joy, clearly in his mind he believed he had broken Laurenz's desire to delve any further in to the material. He gathered up his papers and having muttered the appropriate departing words of respect left the apartments.

It was three in the morning before Laurenz accepted that he was unable to sleep, rising from bed he contemplated ringing for a servant to bring him tea but decided against it preferring to let the staff slumber in their quarters. Instead he rose and exited into the drawing room where he made his way to the false wall that concealed the door to the servants corridor with the intent of making his way to the apartments small kitchen unit that was used for preparing small meals outside of the formal dining hours. Having found the kitchen and with some effort made himself a drink his attention was grabbed by the view across the courtyard where in the opposing structure he saw a figure hunched at a desk in the warmly lit Palace library.

His curiosity piqued Laurenz navigated the labyrinth of servants corridors until he emerged back in to the formal gallery. Now with a better idea of where he was he soon found his way to the Imperial Library, a room which was a repository of records, treatise, genealogies and literature spanning hundreds of years. It had occurred to him on the way here that such a place may be a good starting point for finding the information he wanted without the obstructions of the Princely Counsel. He pushed the door open slowly, feeling almost like a naughty child creeping around where he shouldn't be, a ridiculous thing to feel of course given his position.

On hearing the creak of the doors the figure seated at a desk far in the back of the spacious hall rose gingerly to its feet and cautiously advanced towards Laurenz. "Hello?" called out the approaching man, Laurenz's heart skipped a beat as he recognised the voice.

"Mensious? Mensious Dioaca?" Laurenz called out to the man "Is that you?"

"Yes" said Mensious finally drawing near enough to see clearly "Can I help you?"

"Do you not remember me? You used to be my personal mentor when I was a youth." replied Laurenz still surprised to have stumbled across him in the Palace.

"Laurenz?" said Mensious incredulously "My goodness please forgive my lack of protocol Your Majesty, I did not expect a visit from you... at least not at this unsociable hour."

"Please. Don't stand on formality with me, I endure enough of that as it is." he laughed "Speaking of unsociable hours, what exactly are you doing here at three AM?" said Laurenz

"Very well little prince, if it is informality you wish for then I am more than capable of providing it" said Mensious warmly, addressing Laurenz as he had when he had been a student "As for what I'm doing here, I am as you are perhaps unaware the Imperial Librarian."

"And they keep you working through the night?" asked Laurenz

"No, no. Only during the day, during the night I sometimes remain here to conduct my own research for my passion projects."

"Which are?" asked Laurenz with genuine curiosity

"Perhaps I should show you" said Mensious beckoning for Laurenz to follow him to the desk upon which were a stack of books and papers which he had been scribbling notes and diagrams on. "My latest flight of fancy has been devising novel information management systems for dynamic social complexes, I feel that the organic growth of social structures sometimes precludes the development of optimum management structures in favour of inefficient hierarchies." glancing up at Laurenz he could tell the Prince was not following him "If I may ask. You obviously have not come here purely to speak to an old acquaintance, is there some other service you were after?"

"Actually, there is, and you may well be the best person to help me with it." said Laurenz

"Well I will certainly endeavour to do my best." said Mensious

"I have been having a lot of trouble lately with obfuscation and obstruction from the Princely Counsel when I try to get definitive answers about the state of the Kingdom, I was wondering if you would be able to provide me with a clearer picture of things?"

"Certainly! If there is one thing I know it is the state of the State" he chuckled "What particular area do you have in mind?"

"The economy." replied Laurenz

"Ah. That is an difficult one" he appeared to ponder for a minute "Give me forty-eight hours, I will write you a report."

"If it would not trouble you too much I would prefer if you would go through it with me in person"

"If that is your wish little prince then who am I to refuse. Perhaps though when we next meet it should be at a more sociable hour?"

Following this Laurenz and Mensious took a seat by the library fire and had a long discussion about early twentieth century Ardian literature, one of Laurenz's passions ever since Mensious introduced him to it as a teen. Before he knew it the light of the pre-dawn began to show through the window, the Palace would be stirring to life in an hour or so and Laurenz could only imagine the breach of protocol this behaviour would be viewed as should he get caught. He therefore said his goodbyes and slipped of back to his chambers, feeling for the first time in months that he had found someone who he could trust. He had decided already that he would be making a lot more use of the library from now on.

[Lakhzovia]

Mensious Dioaca had been as good as his word and the economic report had been delivered to him in his apartments towards the end of the next day and he had spent two days trying to wrap his head around it before accepting that his knowledge of economics was simply not sufficient to grasp the information presented to him. He had therefore decided to pay another visit in person to the imperial library.

Upon entering the library he encountered a woman with a thick head of dark hair dressed in an elegant, if simple, black blouse and skirt who was traversing the floor of the hall with a bundle of folders under her arm. She regarded him cautiously before timidly diverting towards him. “Can I help you?” she asked inquisitively.

“Perhaps you can. I am looking for Professor Dioaca.” He said

“I see. Wait here.” She said curtly before hurriedly disappearing into the labyrinth of bookcases. Laurenz cast his eyes around the library while he waited patiently, after a minute or two the familiar figure of Mensious emerged from the back.

“Laurenz, how good to see you again, to what do I owe the honour of your visit? I apologise I did not come quicker, Shoshanna didn’t tell me it was you who was waiting.” He said

“To be fair to her I don’t think she knew who I was.” Replied Laurenz

“Perhaps not.” Conceded Mensious “Though I rather suspect that even had she done she would have done the same. She is truly a very gifted individual, just perhaps not in the area of social nicety or royal protocol. As matter of fact she helped a lot with the research for the economic report you asked for. Anyway how can I be of service to you today?”

“Well in fact it is regarding the report. I hate to admit it but I am not quite able to fully understand the full implications. I was wondering if you would be able to provide me with some guidance” said Laurenz sheepishly.

“Why of course I can. Please come, sit with me and we’ll go through it.”

Mensious led Laurenz deeper into the library and sat him at a desk before taking a seat opposite him. “So is there a specific area of the report that you need clarity?” he said.

“Actually if it were not too much trouble I would like to hear a simplified outline of the key points. I really just want to understand what the main issues facing the economy are and how they can be fixed.” Said Laurenz

“Ah, okay, that I can do!” said Mensious cheerily “the only difficultly is deciding where to start.” He seemed to ponder this self-posed question for a minute before he began. “Our research suggests that the primary issue facing the economy is anachronistic policies emanating from the office of the Counsel on Economic Affairs. The current policy has barely changed in the decades since the financial crisis that occurred after the collapse of the Ardian Empire. The events of the Great War effectively bankrupted the Empire, the subsequent revolts and breakup of the Ardian hegemony led to a significant shock to world markets already battered by the impact of the global war the inevitable fallout was the collapse in the value of currency. Given Rhand’s reliance on trade with the Ardian Empire and use of their currency this resulted in hyper-inflation at home, the result of which was the mass impoverishment of the country. Since then there has been an extreme sense of paranoia in regards to any future hyper-inflationary crisis, it has therefore become a standard economic doctrine to ensure that our currency be backed by significant reserves and in order to do this there has been an almost obsessive focus on maintaining a positive trade balance.

Now this has caused a number of problems due to domestic industrial policy. Right now industrial policy is dictated by the need to meet the needs of the two dominant groups of producers, the land owning Nomarchs in the countryside who control the vast majority of agricultural production and the urban Nomarchs who established and control the vast majority of industrial production. The problem is that the two blocs have opposing interests when it comes to national economic policy and the need to accommodate both has led to policy compromises which have caused significant damage to the economy.”

“Could you provide me an example of this?” interrupted Laurenz

“Certainly” said Mensious “Consider the following: The landed Nomarchs make their wealth almost exclusively from a combination of land rents and the produce of their directly managed farms, however the backwardness of agricultural technique in the country combined with the cheapness of food on the world market means that Rhandic agricultural produce is not capable of providing a sufficient return if traded on the free market. To satisfy this group the government has therefore imposed punitive import tariffs on agricultural products which have artificially inflated the price of good in the domestic market.

Now the industrial Nomarchs in order to be profitable need to keep production costs to a minimum and one of the main categories of variable costs is the wages paid to their workforce. The industrial Nomarchs seek the cheapest labour costs they can, and this is negatively impacted by the high cost of living caused by the import tariff on foodstuffs.

Now due to the government desire to maintain the positive balance of trade there is an emphasis on export of industrial products, the government resolves the issue of the increased production costs by effectively subsidising the export of goods through reduced taxation on industrial exports. The buying of foreign currency reserves has the benefit of devaluing our currency. This is allowed to occur within a certain band of variability in order to make Rhandic goods cheaper and therefore more desirable to the world market to boost exports. Government policy at present is a monumental balancing act between these differing economic demands.

Of course the real impact of all this is that the cost of living is exceptionally high for a country at Rhand’s level of development and wages pitifully low. This is all made worse by the lack of productivity due to poor technique. In the countryside the peasants continue to farm as they did a hundred years ago, they lack modern fertilisers and equipment resulting in lower crop yields per acre than should be expected when compared to land of equivalent fertility elsewhere in the world. After the abolition of serfdom eighty years ago the landed Nomarchs have been able to secure a set income from land rents, this doesn’t take in to account the actual year to year yields and therefore has guaranteed them syable profit regardless of the outcome of the annual harvest, this has been responsible for the prevalence of famines in the country over the decades as peasants are forced sometimes to sell their entire crop in order to pay rents leaving them with almost nothing. The industrial sector also suffers from inefficiencies arising from the monopoly culture and resultant lack of competition or incentive to improve production methods, the export subsidy acts to insulate industry from the worse impact of competition on the world market further exacerbating this.”

Laurenz had furrowed his brow in frustration “And why hasn’t anything been done to resolve this?” he asked

“A lack of political will. Basically the main mechanisms by which this situation could be changed are deeply unpopular among the Nomarchs.

Agricultural reform for example would upset the landed Nomarchs. To make the agricultural sector more productive would require increasing the level of access of the peasants to agricultural tools and agrochemicals. However an increase in domestic productivity would reduce the internal price of goods and while this would be positive for a number of sectors of society, including the industrialists, the landed Nomarchs who have received land rents will actually see their total income drop as their takings from their directly managed estates are reduced by the lower prices, they would therefore oppose any move in this direction.

In the industrial sector improvements could only come about from ending the monopoly culture and allowing an expansion of industry. This would reduce the cost of products and therefore benefit the domestic market, it would also allow an expansion of international trade and make possible the end of the export subsidies however the industrial Nomarchs would absolutely refuse to countenance any move toward competition which they would see as a direct threat to their own wealth base.”

“So it sounds like what you are saying is that the economy has been deliberately set up in such a way as to enrich the Nomarchs at the expense of everyone else?” said Laurenz

“I would never make such a crassly seditious statement.” Said Mensious “But if that is the opinion you have formed from the reporting of the facts what am I to do?”

[Lakhzovia]

Theofilus was strolling with Nomarch Iagori Quintillous in the formal gardens of the Palace appearing to any observer to be engaged in idle chit chat, but for those with a little political knowledge the scene was immediately suspect, Quintillous was not a Court appointee but rather the unofficial leader of the the faction representing the landed Nomarchs in the Conclave and thus this meeting with Prince Theofilus carried with it certain implications.

As it happened the apparent idle chat was in fact anything but, Theofilus had called Quintillous to the Palace on the pretext of better understanding the opinions of the rural Nomarchy in relation to the recent locust plague, in reality his goal was to engineer a change in heart when it came to the Crown Prince's recent idea to encourage a more open agricultural market. Theofilus had been waiting for the ideal time to raise the real topic of interest to him, laughing at the Nomarch's weak attempts at humour and feigning interest in his answers to questions about grain harvest projections, he had of course been steering the conversation in the desired direction and the moment had now arrived to begin the real discussion.

"...so in short the locust plague has not presented as great a threat as we initially thought. With the international aid shipments keeping the peasants fed and helping eradicate the infestation we expect to have sufficient grain to sell to cover costs, in fact ironically the slight shortages has driven the domestic price to the highest it's been in years, we could be looking at a bumper year for profits." finished Quintillous

"Very gratifying" said Theofilus "I imagine however that it must be somewhat bittersweet given recent events."

"Well not really, the peasants wont starve, we get bumper profits from our estates and the rents get paid, who loses out?"

"My dear Iagori you misunderstand me. I was referring to the Crown Prince's decision to rule that Rhand should make a priority of opening the agricultural market." said Theofilus

"I am afraid I do not understand you? Our faction was very keen for exports, the opportunity it presents for importing cheap agricultural chemicals and equipment from elsewhere in Mundus will let us increase the output of our farms enormously, it will also give us a wider market for our produce, what isn't to like about that?"

"Yes that is all true, but certainly someone as wise as yourself can see the curse hiding under the blessing?"

"What do you mean a curse?" said Quintillous

"Well, it occurs to me that opening the agricultural market does not just mean importing cheap agrichemicals and exporting our goods, but would expose us to imports of cheaper agricultural products from other regions, I am certain that you are aware that the world price of food is significantly lower than the production cost in Rhand? It could be potentially devastating to our agricultural sector as it stands. I do not imagine our prices would hold up long against the world market."

Quintillous frowned mulling this over in his head "I had not considered that."

"Well the Crown Prince is certainly charming, and I am sure he only fed you the line about cheaper fertiliser, greater productivity, and a larger market; am I right? Well, as I was saying, I suppose that this years good profits may be one of the last; unless of course the plan fails to materialise, and who knows such projects are such logistical nightmares that often that is their fate." said Theofilus cheerily.

"Forgive me but a chance of failure is not sufficient comfort when faced with the destruction of the agricultural sector, I may have to discuss matters with my fellow Nomarchs... do you think there is any chance we could encourage Laurenz to block the proposal?"

"The Crown Prince is a reasonable man, I am certain if it was made clear to him the degree of opposition from the Nomarchs that he will reconsider the plans."

"That is heartening to hear. If you'll excuse me I should be going." said Quintillous

"Of course. Do not allow me to keep you from your business."

As he watched Quintillous hurry off towards where his driver had parked the car Theofilus grinned to himself, that had been easier than he had hoped. His previous meeting of the day had been with Nomarch Argus Montifur the leader of the industrial Nomarchic faction where he had brought up the rumours that Laurenz's plans for economic liberalisation extended beyond merely opening up the agricultural markets and included an intention to end the monopoly system in order to introduce 'competition' into the market. he had lamented to Montifur, the outcome of that conversation had been as desired; a determination to raise hell with the Counsel for the Economy and Foreign Trade as well as a petition to the Crown Prince directly. The next meeting of the Princely Counsel would certainly be interesting, the entire Conclave of Nomarchs would be in uproar, of course Laurenz would have little choice but to cave in to the pressure and this in turn would make him appear weak. Theofilus would seize on that weakness for his own benefit.

[Lakhzovia]

Trouble with the Church

Theofilus was reviewing papers in his office in the administrative wing of the Palace, he'd spent the morning pouring over reports from the various teams from the Office of the State Censor. The Censor as it was known for short was tasked with reviewing all printed materials prior to their being published. In recent decades its mandate had expanded to include the review of broadcast media as well as the new medium of the internet; the latter was proving particularly difficult to control and every now and then the idea of a 'Great Firewall' was floated to block all inappropriate content, though this was always abandoned when the difficulty in doing so was pointed out. As Counsel for State Communications the Censor fell under Theofilus' jurisdiction and while his predecessor in the post had been happy to simply let the Censor get on with its business Theofilus preferred to keep his finger on the pulse. The traffic through the Censor offered a unique insight in to the prevailing moods in the nation as well as providing a wealth of useful gossip, not to mention the power that came with being able to carefully craft the national narrative.

A rapping came at the door, Theofilus glanced at the clock on the wall - eleven thirty in the morning "Enter!" he called. The door opened and in entered the Royal Chaplain Giorgy Crassus a noble looking figure who exuded the grace of office "Ah Father Crassus, to what do I owe the honour of your visit? Please don't tell me I am overdue the sacrament of reconciliation again?"

The Priest smiled "Your Majesty, your wit never ceases to lift me but no, I am here on other business regarding the Crown Prince."

"I see" replied Theofilus seriously "I hope it is nothing too serious?"

"Perhaps it is not too serious, however it has come to my attention that His Majesty the Crown Prince has seemingly absented himself from attendance at the daily Mass, I also have not had an audience with him for some months, given the special relationship between the institutions of Monarchy and the Ecclesia it is imperative for the spiritual and material wellbeing of the Kingdom that the Autokrator and his heir maintain regular contact with the Patriarchate." said Giorgy

"Ah. That is a real problem isn't it. However as far as I can see it would appear to be a problem for the Counsel on State Protocol. Presumably though there is a reason you have come to me?"

"Well yes, I did approach Prince Cassion, however I did not receive a particularly encouraging reply from him."

"And what was the reply if I may ask?"

"Essentially that his efforts at present are focused entirely on trying to get the Crown Prince to take a more serious approach towards cultivating appropriate Court Etiquette, he went off on a bit of a rant about rumours that His Majesty has been seen wandering the Palace alone at night to fraternise with commoners." said Giorgy "Now I know it does not fall within your area of responsibility, however you hold a certain degree of power in the Court and certainly have the Crown Prince's ear, I was wondering if perhaps you could emphasise the importance of his maintaining appropriate contacts with the Church."

"I can certainly try, however I fear I am not anymore likely to get through to him than anyone else, he is rather headstrong to the say the least, and seems to particularly enjoy upsetting the normal order of things." said Theofilus mournfully.

"You can certainly say that again. The Patriarch was most displeased when he heard that His Majesty had decided to cosy up to the Ecclesiastical States."

"His Grace is not too taken with the notion then?"

"That is something of an understatement. Livid is probably the best way to describe his reaction, it has been his favourite topic of rant for a week now."

Theofilus sighed "Far be it for me to question the decisions of the Autokrator, however I doubt I will ever understand his choice of Laurenz for his heir. It's a shame but what are we to do? He's be beatified now and the future is sealed."

"Not necessarily, at least not on account of the beatification." said Giorgy "it's a common misconception, shared even by some inside the Church that beatification means that one is irrevocably confirmed to be future Autokrator, however there is precedent in history for beatification to be annulled."

"Really?!" responded Theofilus with genuine shock

"Oh yes. On no less than two occasions the Patriarch has annulled a beatification of a Crown Prince prior to his ascending the throne. However it is generally frowned upon by the Church establishment, many Patriarchs do not feel it is their place to act in such overtly political matters."

"If I may ask, how do you know about this?"

"Oh, I did my Doctor Thesis on the interaction of secular and canon law when studying for my Doctor of Divinity at seminary... I was always a bit of a history lover and it was a topic which would allow me to delve in to Church history, there are a lot of interesting laws that very few are aware of, for example did you know that if the Patriarch is forced to resign due to 'Scandalising of the Office' that the Royal Chaplain automatically becomes the next Patriarch bypassing the Ecclesial Conclave?" said Giorgy clearly getting carried away on a topic of personal interest.

"Why would such a law exist?" asked Theofilus

"I believe the idea is that if the Patriarch has fallen into such a state of degeneracy as to scandalise the office, that given the extent of his influence in the Church it is felt that the risk of the corruption having spread is too great to allow for the normal process of Patriarch selection to take place. The Royal Chaplain who by virtue of his role of working closely with the beatified persons of the Autokrator and Crown Prince in ensuring the moral health of the state would be insulated from such corruption; therefore he should become the Patriarch in order to correct the issue and root out any remaining malignancy, or so the theory goes."

"You see this is why I love talking to you, I always learn something new." exclaimed Theofilus cheerily

"If you like them that much I am always happy to see more of you, but strangely I always seem to have to come searching for you... especially when you are due for confession." he smiled knowingly.

Theofilus laughed out loud "And you flatter me for my wit? Anyway as far as the Crown Prince goes, I shall do what I can to pressure him to make more regular contact with you, though I can't promise anything. If that is all I have rather a busy day today."

"Of course, I won't keep you any longer." said Giorgy rising from his seat "Thank you for taking the time to meet with me."

Once the Priest had left Theofilus sat digesting the information he had just been provided. For a short conversation it had been packed with the sort of knowledge he would have paid good money for. He picked up his phone and dialled his secretary "Good Morning, could you please arrange a meeting for me with the Patriarch at his earliest availability? Thank you."

[Lakhzovia]

Theofilus had arrived a little early for his meeting with the Patriarch of Ardiapur. He had taken the unusual measure of travelling to the Patriarch’s residence for the meeting in order to ensure he was able to catch him before his departure for the airport to welcome the Pope who was flying in for his state visit.
 
A smartly dressed servant of about thirty years of age welcomed Theofilus at the front door and led him to a terrace with views out over the gardens of the Patriarch’s palatial residence. The servant apologised that the churchman was running a little late but assured that he would shortly join him and disappeared, returning a few minutes later with a silver tray laden with coffee, sugar, cream and various other accoutrements placing on the table in front of Prince.
 
“That is a very fetching wrist watch.” Said Theofilus whose eye had been caught by the item of jewellery which was clearly out of the price range of the typical servant “An heirloom?” he asked curiously “or simply the best paid servant in Rhand?”
 
The servant blushed briefly “It was a gift from His Grace. He prefers me not to tell people, he’s very humble about it, but he is really a very kind, generous man.”
 
“I can certainly see that” Said Theofilus. At this moment the sound of the door opening announced the arrival of the Patriarch.
 
“Your Highness, please forgive my tardiness!” he said making his way gracefully towards the table “Marcus if you could leave us” he said to the servant with barely a look in his direction, Marcus dutifully obeyed leaving the two men alone in the room. The Patriarch took his seat opposite Theofilus and began helping himself to a cup of coffee.
 
“I wish to thank Your Grace for meeting me at such short notice” said Theofilus “I trust you are well?”
 
“Quite” replied the churchman “Save for the fact that I am being forced later to present myself as a greeting party for the Pope” he said with a barely disguised note of disgust in his voice.
 
“I feel your frustration” said Theofilus “the Prince seems impossible to sway from a course once he has determined to follow it. I know others have also found him to be most uncooperative, as well as unorthodox, in his behaviours.”
 
The Patriarch sighed heavily “Still what is there that can be done, the Autokrator made the decision to choose him as his heir and that is that, our task now I suppose is simply to steer him in the right direction and limit the damage he could do.”
 
“Well on that note I have heard it mentioned that there is an alternative” said Theofilus with feigned casualness
 
“I am sorry, I do not catch your drift.” Replied the Patriarch sternly
 
“Oh, really it’s nothing, a mere curiosity of our legal history, but I have in my reading discovered that there is historical precedent for the annulment of beatification from an unsuitable heir…” at this point the Patriarch cut him off angrily.
 
“You have been talking to that treacherous little upstart Crassus haven’t you?” he barked angrily.
 
“Your Grace, I did not mean to cause you any offence…”
 
“I told him to drop his pursuit of this weeks ago, but now I see that he has gone behind my back… I beg your pardon Your Majesty, but Crassus has been doggedly pursuing this particular agenda against direct orders, this final act of insubordination though cannot go unpunished, I suppose I will have to remove him from his Chaplaincy.”
 
“Please Your Grace, I fear you are being rather unfair to Father Crassus, I gather that he is motivated by a deep love of the Kingdom and desire to see its spiritual prosperity” said Theofilus. The Patriarch eyed him suspiciously before responding.
 
“If that has been the purpose of your visit here today then I regret to inform you that you have wasted your time. The answer is no, I will not invoke the precedent to overturn the decision of the Autokrator. The past occurrences were carried out under dubious circumstances and resulted in a lack of trust in the institution of both the Monarchy and Patriarchate for a generation afterwards. Plus those occasions were forced upon us by demand of the Ardian Emperor and the subsequent upheaval among the Nomarchs was only survivable because of the military support of the Empire. I presume Crassus did not tell you that the last time almost caused a civil war?” he said laughing bitterly

Theofilus fixed him with a cold, hard gaze as if he was trying to read the Patriarchs soul. After a momentary silence that felt like an eternity he spoke. "You do me a disservice to suggest that I would come to you to plot against our beloved Crown Prince" he said with a voice laden with insincerity before continuing "No, the reason I am here Your Grace is in fact to discuss your own situation." at this the Patriarch stopped his smirking his brow furrowing slightly, Theofilus continued "I have had reason, over the years, to exercise my discretion in matters of the state censor to keep certain rumours about yourself from surfacing in the public press. Of course this has been due in part, at least until recently, to the lack of corroborating evidence; however the other part of the equation has been my understanding of the importance of maintaining trust in the institutions that underpin our society. Sadly it seems that real evidence has now come to light, and it has also become clear to me that your position as guardian of Rhand's spiritual virtues has been irredeemably compromised."

The Patriarch attempted to force a look of bemused incomprehension onto his face and when he spoke he did so with the sort of confidence that betrayed a lack of it "My Dear Prince, I hate to have to proclaim ignorance, but I cannot begin to fathom what you are talking about."

"I would not have expected you to say anything less." replied Theofilus "Undoubtedly you are thinking to yourself that I am working on nothing more than the principle that everyone has a shame they hide from the world and that I am simply trying to get you to incriminate yourself. No doubt you think this is my own defensive deflection against a charge of disloyalty, but to that I have only one question for you... How long have you been fucking your servant?"

The Patriarch fell backwards into his seat as if he had been punched, his face became an unconcealed visage of horror "How.. How do you know?" he sputtered, the shock having temporarily robbed him of his ability to lie.

Inwardly smiling for the payoff from his gamble Theofilus answered with a triumphant tone "My Dear Patriarch. Nothing, and I mean nothing gets past my watch."

"You can't, you can't expose me." the churchman began in a pathetic simpering tone.

"Patriarch, it is not my intention to publicly embarrass you. Why, could you imagine the public scandal it would create?! No, I have spent years suppressing this and I have no intention of destroying you, however you do of course understand that your continuation as Patriarch of Ardiapur is now no longer possible?" The man in front of him was silence save for the wheezing breaths between his shallow sobs. Theofilus continued "I can arrange for your shame to be kept from the public, this matter can be dealt with sensitively and with discretion, you will of course have to relinquish your position, it will have to be known to the Crown Prince exactly why, but beyond that we can keep it as private as possible. You would then of course be free to retire to one of the provincial towns, I am sure you will be free to take your servant with you." he added with a jeering note. The Patriarch looked at him through bleary tear reddened eyes and for a moment comprehension, quickly giving way to burning hatred flashed across his face before subsiding as he slumped back in to the chair again.

Theofilus rose from his chair and began making his way towards the door "Thank you Your Grace for the coffee, your hospitality is very much appreciated. I recommend you freshen yourself up for your appointment at the airport, there will be cameras and being your last public engagement I imagine you will want to look your best. I will expect your resignation to be tendered to the Crown Prince after the Papal visit has concluded." and with that he left, closing the door behind him.