A Battle Unseen

[Doc]

Playa de Paz, Baltusia
Early March 5819

As so many episodes in the Empress' life, this one began with a knock at the door.  "Madame," said The Empress' Private Secretary, Lady Renee Houston said from outside.  "The Chancellor has arrived."  Carolina put down her pen and hit a buzzer on her desk that opened the door.  Technology is amazing, she thought.

In walked Lady Melanie Alvarez-McLinn sweating.  She walked to the front of the desk, courteously bowed, and without waiting, more or less collapsed onto the couch.

"Are you quite alright, Lady Melanie?" asked the Empress.

"Apologies Your Imperial Majesty, it's a long walk through the 80 degree 95% humidity jungle from the station to your door."

"That explains your condition then," she said.

"Aye Madame." said the Chancellor.

"And your tardiness.  We were about to take up a game of solitaire."  The Chancellor felt a bit of a passive aggressive tone in the Empress' voice.

"Again, my apologies, Your Imperial Majesty.  The car never arrived."

"Indeed," said the Empress as she rose from her desk.  The Chancellor saw her stand and made a move to rouse herself to stand as well as per protocol, but the Empress extended her hand.  "Please, Lady Melanie, remain seated and compose yourself.  We are getting you something to drink."

"Madame, if it's alright with you I will pass on the tea.  It's far too hot and I feel overheated."

The Empress looked back at her, and smiled.  "But we believe you will appreciate this tea.  One moment more and it will be prepared."

The Chancellor gritted her teeth.  She had put up with this Empress for years, and had always been the loyal subject, but the Empress had a way sometimes of being annoyingly proper and nice.  And it almost felt like it was an act, if she hadn't been so incredibly consistent with it.  She could then switch on a dime and be remarkably cold, ruthless almost.  She was often an entitled jerk on many occasions in private, a complete slob when not working, and then just as easily walk out of her bedroom looking like a fashion model.  It was irritating as often as it was endearing.  The Empress approached with a tray and what looked like two glasses.  She put one down before the Chancellor and then one on the opposite side for her. 

"It looks like...  ice water, Your Imperial Majesty." she said, hesitantly.

"It is," said the Empress with a smile.  "And there is plenty more where that came from.  I pray you re-hydrate.  As for the car, it is in the shop.  It did not start this morning when we intended to have you picked up, and there was nobody at the station who could let you know.  So, you have survived your walk, and we appreciate you making it here.  You will stay with us tonight, and the car will be back in service tomorrow."

"I hadn't planned..."  the Chancellor started.

"Do you have somewhere else to be, Madame?" asked the Chancellor.

"Just a party..." said the Chancellor, reluctantly.

"Yes," said the Empress.  "We have read about those parties.  We may not legitimately comment on your personal life--you do as you please with whom you please...  But it is growing difficult to keep your name out of the papers over the matter.  So, it may behoove you to..."

"Madame, I am not ashamed of how I spend my free time," said the Chancellor, resentfully.  "The press may judge me, but I am free adult woman, and that's all that need be said about it.

"As we were saying..." the Empress continued.  "Please exercise a bit more...  discretion.  Your home is one thing, your apartment in Sulari is another.  But RF clubs in public, are quite another thing all together.  One photo could...  ruin your career.  And we do not desire to lose our chancellor over something so trivial that it would not arouse more than one could handle themselves if they were of lesser station.  Do you understand?"

"It's nobody's business," said the Chancellor.  "And quite frankly its none of yours either, Your Imperial Majesty."

Carolina sat for a moment looking at her.  "Well, there it is then." she said with an air of definiteness.

"Surely Your Imperial Majesty did not summon me here to discuss my sex life," said the Chancellor.

"No indeed we did not.  We would like your thoughts on our upcoming trip to Gaduridos."

The change in subject was a bit jarring to the Chancellor.  One minute, the Empress was lecturing her, in her prudish judgemental tone and the next, she had just, moved on, like nothing had ever been said.  How does she do that?  It was no secret that she didn't really personally like the Empress:  that feeling of quasi-hostility had remained through the years, and the Chancellor had long simply coped with the mantra that She's the Empress, and if she said it, I do it.  That's all.  It made a very complicated set of feelings quite simple.  The loyalty was to the office.  She is not my friend.  She's not anyone's friend really.  Except her pothead aunt and her doting husband and children.  How sad her life must be.  How empty.  And she's oblivious.  She's the philosopher with her mind so far in the clouds that she falls right into a well because she's not paying attention.

"Madame?" asked the Empress.

"Yes Your Imperial Majesty," answered the Chancellor.

"Are you feeling alright?  May we get you some more water?"

"Of course, Your Imperial Majesty.  We are feeling better now, thank you."

"Then perhaps you will tell us what we should anticipate in Gaduridos?"

The Chancellor then remembered that the Empress still had it in her head to travel to Gaduridos for the installation of the nation's king.  "My Liege, I really do wish you would not go."

"Yes," said the Empress.  "We have been through this before."

"You are legitimizing that usurper by attending his coronation."

"We've been through this as well, Lady Melanie," said the Empress.  "And their king is not a usurper.  You cannot usurp something that belongs to you already."

"That is merely a technicality at this point, Your Imperial Majesty," said the Chancellor.  "Look, I've taken the initiative to ask the Minister of Defense to draw up several scenarios that would allow Kalistan to reverse course on the Divorce and reincorporate them into the Empire."

"That is really not necessary, Madame," said the Empress with a smile.  "It sounds like too big a task at the moment."

"No, your Imperial Majesty.  It's not too much work.  We've already drawn up some contingencies for your consideration.  I can show them to you when you return to the Capital.  We have wide public support for bringing Gaduridos back home.  It should be easy to do before they run their charm offensive on the rest of the world and bring in foreign powers to make Gaduridos into a hostile, anti-Kalistan forward base.  We have made up these plans.  You will admire the simplicity."

"Your really shouldn't have, Madame Chancellor." said the Empress with a smile again.

"It's already done, Your Imperial Majesty.  The Defense Minister has them on her desk right now, and you can easily approve any contingency you want.  We can have Gaduridos back in as soon as 48 Hours, and no bloodshed, that's the best part of all.  It can be done with a silent infiltration that forestalls the coronation and forces a treaty..."

By now the Empress' smile had faded.  "It is not necessary," she repeated, sharper this time.  The Chancellor noticed the metaphorical blood on the blade before she noticed the cut.  But with those four words delivered in that flat tone, and the look on the Empress' face, the Chancellor realized she had perhaps...  no... definitely gone too far, and the Empress was just being polite, when she most certainly should not have been.  "I..."  she stammered.  "It..."  She did not know what to say, but she realized one thing for sure.  The Empress already knew about the plans.  "How did you...?"

"Madame Chancellor," said the Empress.  "We have been doing this for a long time.  Right?"  The Chancellor nodded.  "Here's the thing.  It was never intended that we should become what we are.  But both our father and mother were absolute Emperors, as was our Grandmother, our Great Grandfather, our Great Great Grandmother and so forth.  Our Aunt was the daughter of an Empress and the sister to an Emperor.  We cannot help that we are the Absolute Sovereign of the Empire of Ananto and Kalistan:  It is in our DNA.  As that absolute sovereign, we expect absolute compliance to our word, without qualification or sub-rosa plotting beneath our nose.  Absolute compliance to our word is our reality.  It is expected, it is demanded, and we will have it:  it is absurd to us that it could be any other way."

The Chancellor was chastened and suddenly she realized she was in a trap.  Of course the Empress already knew.  The Empress played Go:  Go players think several moves ahead, and the best ones have thought out most contingencies before making a single move.  The Empress probably had been briefed before the Chancellor was summoned all the way down here to Athosia.  She had probably ordered the Defense Minister not to tell the Chancellor anything, but let her hang herself instead, so the Empress could watch her swing before putting her out of her misery.  "Of course Madame."

"Our Defense Minister has already confessed your and her little schemes to undermine our efforts at paving a new road to Gaduridos.  She has resigned, and will be granted the opportunity to retire and enjoy her pension."

The Chancellor swallowed hard, "I shall resign effective immediately..." she felt another bead of sweat appear on our forehead.  "... as soon as I can write it out."

The Empress smiled.  "It is not our desire that you resign.  We cannot think of someone more qualified for this position than you.  You are first in our estimation, in our admiration and in our respect.  And it is our desire that you continue to serve us.  We need someone of your skill exactly in your position right now, in one of the most crucial times of our reign."

The Chancellor responded, "Having displeased Your Imperial Majesty, it is my duty to..."

"Madame Chancellor, there is no time for that."

"But..." said the Chancellor.

"Damn it Melanie, I said there is no time!" said the Empress, using a first person pronoun and shocking the Chancellor silent.  "Your little attempt to commandeer our Military has been foiled and easily.  Its not a problem anymore."

The Chancellor was stuck.  "What would Your Imperial Majesty have me do then?"

"We need you to advise us on our trip to Gaduridos.  You and Marisol Paz are the only ones who can help us with this.  Our inclination is to blow it.  We just need your advice.  You are not going to resign or retire, or anything.  You will remain with us, because we value you and your opinion.  It allows us to think of things that we had not thought of before.  This is Brethrenist Practice, and your piece of the Truth is imperative to us as we test our leadings.  Now.  Do forget all this business about resigning.  You are still needed and wanted with us."

The Chancellor was quiet.  Suddenly her throat had gone dry.  She coughed, and immediately, the Empress grabbed her glass and poured more ice water into it.  The Chancellor drank it thankfully.

"We shall assume that is a yes," said the Empress.  "This matter is behind us.  It is forgotten."

The Chancellor realized that planning military action without express command from the Empress was probably treason.  And then she realized that it had been a really stupid lapse of judgement for her--she thought to promote her own policy preferences over the stated and known preferences of the Empress.  And she could likely end up on Kings Island for treachery like this.  But the Defense Minister had confessed it all, and the Empress let her retire.  The Chancellor had been honest as well, and the Empress didn't appear to even care that two of her top advisors had been secretly planning an unauthorized war of conquest.  She had indeed dodged the bullet.  "Yes," said the Chancellor, after finishing her water.  "And we shall strive to be less critical of Your Imperial Majesty from now on."

The Empress smiled.  "Your walk from the station was penance enough for us."  The Empress moved to sit on the wicker sofa next to the Chancellor.  "But you can do us a favor.  Keep your mouth shut around the press.  No comment is a fine thing to say, especially if you know there is daylight between us."

The Chancellor nodded, looking at the Empress.  It almost felt like she was in shock.  She didn't know if it was admiration for the Empress or terror.  The Empress had an aura about her, that inspired dread when she physically got too close.  It was the same uncontrollable sensation of wanting to flee, but being frozen in place that made almost every Kalistani who got closer than the required distance from her want to move back and away.  Most who had experienced it said it was due to charisma, but the Chancellor understood it more as that the Empress radiated pure power.  It was freaky:  The Empress was a bit of a strange duck.

"Now, Madame, We require your advice," repeated the Empress.  "What shall we experience when we get to Gaduridos?  Will it be good or bad?  How would you handle it if it was you rather than us?"

The Chancellor looked at her, straight in the eye.  Her skin felt warm and prickly.  But she looked into the Empress' eyes and was suddenly interested in telling the Empress the unvarnished truth.  "Your Imperial Majesty, you should not admire me or respect me.  I do not personally agree with your plan for Gaduridos.  I think you quit Gaduridos at a loss to you and to our Nation.  And now Gaduridos is going to become a satellite for some foreign state, whether it be some Dovanian nation or Egelion or Luthori.  Lots of people have been waiting for an opportunity, for some pretext, to take Gaduridos from us and you gave it to them.  It would be a miracle if in five years, Gaduridos is not some foreign power's satellite.  I think it is a mistake for you to recognize their king:  He'll be someone else's puppet in all but name by 5725.  And besides this...  I...  I fear you, Madame.  I am genuinely afraid of you, personally.  I don't know why I just said that."

The Empress said, "Nonetheless, We will recognize the King, and we will build a new relationship.  The age of the Anantonese Empire is over.  Kalistan has what it has:  Its all we will be allowed to have.  What happens to Gaduridos happens to Gaduridos, but they were not interested in being with us.  So why should we try to force allegiance from a nation who only ever resented us?  And if they do become a puppet of someone else, they are signaling that its not subservience they objected to, but association with Kalistan.  At any rate, we will remain committed to our principles, and will remain ethically correct."

"Aye Madame," said the Chancellor.  "We may suffer, while others dominate the lands around us and strangle us, but at least we will have our principles.  Its a sad trade off."

"For you," said the Empress.  "But you are a Brethren as well.  You too have your principles.  And you stand on them.  Personal freedom is one of them.  Its a principle that you would torpedo your career and your name over.  So we are not so different."

"We are not the same, Your Imperial Majesty.  I may be Countess of Lucid, but you are the avatar of this nation.  Its not the same thing."

"Will you advise us on Gaduridos or not?" asked the Empress finally tiring of the back and forth.

"I will endeavor to do my best, Your Imperial Majesty."

"That is precisely what we expect, Madame," said the Empress.  "Perhaps someday, you will count us as one of your friends.  But today, we need an advisor we can trust, who will push back on our thoughts, and who claims she is afraid of us, but certainly is not afraid to speak her mind.  So if that's all you can be for us, we will expect that you do it well.  We trust that you will."