“You were more popular than most, at least,” Cardenia suggested.
“That’s why you only had to pay some of the people outside the window.”
“I could have them dismissed, if you like.”
“They’re fine. See if they take requests.”
Presently Batrin napped again and when Cardenia was sure he was asleep, she got up from her chair and exited into her father’s private office, which she had commandeered from him for the duration and which would be hers soon enough in any event. As she exited her father’s bedroom she saw a squadron of medical professionals, headed by Qui Drinin, imperial physician, descend upon her father to clean him, check his vitals, and make sure he was as comfortable as someone who was dealing with a painful and incurable disease from which he would never recover could be.
In the private office was Naffa Dolg, Cardenia’s recently appointed chief of staff. Naffa waited until Cardenia had reached into the office’s small refrigerator, acquired a soft drink, sat down, opened the drink, had two swallows from the container, then set the drink down on her father’s desk.
“Coaster,” Naffa said to her boss.
“Really?” Cardenia said back.
Naffa pointed. “That desk was originally the desk of Turinu II. It is six hundred fifty years old. It was a gift to him by the father of Genevieve N’don, who would become his wife after—”
Cardenia held up a hand. “Enough.” She reached over on the desk, grabbed a small leather-bound book, pulled it over to her, and set her drink on it. Then she caught Naffa’s expression. “What now?”
“Oh, nothing,” Naffa said. “Just that your ‘coaster’ is a first edition of Chao’s Commentaries on the Racheline Doctrines, which means it’s nearly a thousand years old and unspeakably priceless and even thinking of setting a drink can on it is probably blasphemy of the highest order.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.” Cardenia took another swig of her drink and then set it on the carpet next to the desk. “Happy? I mean, unless the carpet is also unspeakably priceless.”
“Actually—”
“Can we stipulate that everything in this room except the two of us is probably hundreds of years old, originally gifted to one of my ancestors by another immensely famous historical personage, and that it is priceless or at least worth more than most humans will make in their lifetimes? Is there anything in this room that does not fit that description?”
Naffa pointed to the refrigerator. “I think that’s just a refrigerator.”
Cardenia finally found a coaster on the desk, picked her drink up off the carpet, and set it on it. “This coaster is probably four hundred years old and the gift of the Duke of End,” she said, then looked at her assistant. “Don’t tell me if it is.”
“I won’t.” Naffa pulled out her tablet.
“But you know, don’t you.”
“You have requests from the executive committee,” Naffa said, ignoring her boss’s last comment.
Cardenia threw up her hands. “Of course I do.” The executive committee consisted of three guild representatives, three ministers of parliament, and three archbishops of the church. In other times, the committee was the emperox’s direct link to the three centers of power in the Interdependency. At the moment they were charged with maintaining the continuity of government during these final days of the emperox’s reign. They were driving Cardenia a little batty.
“First, they want you to make an appearance on the networks to, as they put it, ‘calm the fears of the empire’ regarding your father’s situation.”
“He’s dying, and quickly,” Cardenia said. “I’m not sure that’s calming.”
“I think they’d prefer something a little more inspiring. They sent over a speech.”
“There’s no point reassuring the empire. By the time my speech reaches End he’ll have been dead for nine standard months. Even Bremen is two weeks away.”
“There’s still Hub and Xi’an and associated nations in-system. The furthest of those is only five light-hours out.”
“They already know he’s dying.”
“It’s not about him dying. It’s about continuity.”
“The Wu dynasty stretches back a thousand years, Naffa. No one is really that worried about continuity.”
“That’s not the continuity they’re worried about. They’re worried about their day-to-day lives. No matter who would become emperox, things change. There are three hundred million imperial subjects in-system, Cardenia. You’re the heir. They know the dynasty won’t change. It’s everything else.”
“I can’t believe you’re on the side of the executive committee here.”
“Stopped clock. Twice a day.”
“Have you read the speech?”
“I have. It’s awful.”
“Are you rewriting it?”
“Already rewritten, yes.”
“What else?”
“They wanted to know if you’ve changed your position on Amit Nohamapetan.”
“My position on what? Meeting with him or marrying him?”
“I would think they’re hoping the first will lead to the second.”
“I’ve met him once before. It’s why I don’t want to meet with him again. I’m definitely not going to marry him.”
“The executive committee, perhaps anticipating your reluctance, wishes to remind you that your brother, the late crown prince, had agreed in principle to marry Nadashe Nohamapetan.”
“I would rather marry her than her brother.”
“Anticipating that you might say that, the executive committee wishes to remind you that option would also probably be acceptable to all parties.”
“I’m not going to marry her either,” Cardenia said. “I don’t like either. They’re terrible people.”
“They’re terrible people whose house is ascendant in the mercantile guilds and whose desire for an alliance with the House of Wu would allow the empire a lever with the guilds it hasn’t had in centuries.”
“Is that you talking or the executive committee?”
“Eighty percent executive committee.”
“You’re at twenty percent on this?” Cardenia offered mostly feigned shock.
“That twenty percent recognizes that political marriages are a thing that happens to people, like you, who are on the verge of becoming emperox and who, despite having a millennium-long dynasty to fall back on for credibility, still need allies to keep the guilds in line.”
“This is where you tell me of all the times in the last thousand years the Wu emperoxs were basically puppets for guild interests, isn’t it?”
“This is where I remind you that you gave me this position not just out of personal friendship and experience with court politics but because I have a doctorate in the history of the Wu dynasty and know more about your family than you do,” Naffa said. “But sure, I could do that other thing, too.”
Cardenia sighed. “We’re in no danger of becoming guild puppets, though.”
Naffa peered over at her boss, silently.