Roania
06-10-2004, 02:23
It had happened so quickly... from the death of Damien, to this moment, it had only been four days. He and the reconstituted parliament had moved quickly, removing from power Reinhart's political apointees and eliminating those men who had been near the top of the former government's wheels of tyranny. Refugees, many of whom had been gone for almost four years, were allowed to return.
'And now,' reflected Daniel Black, 'the final link in that chain of evil that led to Damien will be severed.' He was standing in the great Duma of Tarnaqin, on the central podium. The prince, acting as pseudo-tsar, had called to order the entire parliament. All four houses were in the great debating room for the first time in over 200 years.
Filtering in from the northern and southern entrances were the two normal houses, those which most people assumed made up the entire parliament. The counts and dukes of the realm entered, silently, and took up their ancestral seats. Many of them had never even been in this building before in their lives.
Daniel, however, had decided that Damien had done one good thing in restoring the Imperial Capital to Tarnaqin, and had decided to keep it there. The chairs of the nobility had already been returned from the Stronghold to their original positions in the Grey House. The Divine Peerage would have to get used to this place.
The Burghers, led by restored Prime Minister Clarissa Bencenoff and her surviving cabinet, came in from the south in a much less sombre mood. Some of them laughed and joked as each party claimed a specific section of the Great Duma for themselves. Daniel had it on good authority that the speaker of the house had already divided the Blue House into proper sections.
But it was from the east and west that the surprises came. Walking in much as they lived, the Lord Captain Commanders and Admirals of the Divine Armed Forces moved as one through the east door to secure their own seats and place their personal markings on each wooden bench, just so that they or their successor's would know that here was where each Army and Fleet had their representation.
From the other side, the bishops and their equivalents in each of the major religions also filtered in, in pairs or clumps, taking the seats passed down through the years.
Finally, all were sitting. And Daniel stepped forward, and kneeled to the ground. "Most noble lords... I desire to abdicate the Divine Diadem for myself and my heirs..."
'And now,' reflected Daniel Black, 'the final link in that chain of evil that led to Damien will be severed.' He was standing in the great Duma of Tarnaqin, on the central podium. The prince, acting as pseudo-tsar, had called to order the entire parliament. All four houses were in the great debating room for the first time in over 200 years.
Filtering in from the northern and southern entrances were the two normal houses, those which most people assumed made up the entire parliament. The counts and dukes of the realm entered, silently, and took up their ancestral seats. Many of them had never even been in this building before in their lives.
Daniel, however, had decided that Damien had done one good thing in restoring the Imperial Capital to Tarnaqin, and had decided to keep it there. The chairs of the nobility had already been returned from the Stronghold to their original positions in the Grey House. The Divine Peerage would have to get used to this place.
The Burghers, led by restored Prime Minister Clarissa Bencenoff and her surviving cabinet, came in from the south in a much less sombre mood. Some of them laughed and joked as each party claimed a specific section of the Great Duma for themselves. Daniel had it on good authority that the speaker of the house had already divided the Blue House into proper sections.
But it was from the east and west that the surprises came. Walking in much as they lived, the Lord Captain Commanders and Admirals of the Divine Armed Forces moved as one through the east door to secure their own seats and place their personal markings on each wooden bench, just so that they or their successor's would know that here was where each Army and Fleet had their representation.
From the other side, the bishops and their equivalents in each of the major religions also filtered in, in pairs or clumps, taking the seats passed down through the years.
Finally, all were sitting. And Daniel stepped forward, and kneeled to the ground. "Most noble lords... I desire to abdicate the Divine Diadem for myself and my heirs..."