Roania
26-09-2005, 07:00
The crowd surged forward through the streets of Roslin to the Summer Palace of the Imperial Family. Banners of 'Long Live the Tsar' and religious icons waved in the air. The strike was into its fifth week, and showed no sign of abating. Now, reinforced by more unionists from all over Novar Ohan, they had resolved to bring their grievances forward to their Emperor.
In the palace, a war-council of sorts was taking place. His Excellency the Lord Chancellor of the Divine Imperium was starting to feel the heat. "My lord, I repeat that we should have the guards shoot these people. They are disturbing the peace!" Nicademus Darsalin said, and then he demanded, "Are you even listening to me, my lord?!"
Tsar Adrik Alexei looked up from where he was lining up to knock a golfball into a cup he had set up on the floor. "Hum? Oh... Yes, sorry, you were saying something about using my soldiers to shoot people calling down the heavens to bless me and my reign, right?" He hit the ball, and sent it flying into a mousehole. "Blast! I hate this palace. That was an absolutely perfect hit, did you see it? And the warped floor..."
"If I may, Your Divine Illuminated Majesty, this might prove to be marginally more important than your golf game." Nicademus gnashed his teeth in empty fury. "These... 'people'... Are using your blessed name as a shield! They hope to keep you from taking action!"
"And I must say, they're doing an excellent job." Adrik Alexei stretched and collapsed into his lounge chair, his index fingers swaying in the air as if he was conducting an orchestra.
Outside, as if on cue, came the sound of 'Long live our beloved Tsar Alyosha without the Government!"
Adrik Alexei stretched again, contented. "I must say, it's nice to be universally adored. Wouldn't you agree?"
"It pleases my lord to joke..."
Adrik Alexei held up a hand, his face carefully controlled. "It would please me to joke, indeed. However, I feel the time has come to be brutally serious with a set of dangerous criminals who are threatening the entire fabric of my nation."
Nicademus could scarcely believe his ears. "Are you serious, my lord? You will do it?"
"Indeed I will. Right now." The Tsar held up a hand to his ear, and smiled. "It sounds like the mob has been allowed through the palace gates. Shall we go greet them?" Adrik Alexei rose to his feet, and then reached out, gripping Nicademus's shoulder in a solid hold. "Come." He pulled the smaller man along with him out to the balcony.
The two men looked down at the crowd below them. Nicademus almost cackled in glee.
In the mass, the chants went on for a minute more. Then, slowly, the strikers and their families began to look up at their lord and master. Some of them even fell to their knees to pray, conducted by priests that had accompanied them. Slowly, silence rippled out across the crowd.
Along the walls and gates, an entire division of soldiers stood ready for whatever orders might come from their commander-in-chief. None came. Instead, Adrik Alexei seemed perfectly content just to watch the crowd beneath him for a moment. If he squinted, he thought, he could just make out the children being held up by their parents to catch this glimpse of him. Slowly, he raised his hand. The world inhaled.
Then he brought it down in a swift cutting gesture, slamming his fist into the old marble of the balcony with a sound that echoed across the entire square. His hand stung, but he could live with that. "People of Novar Ohan! My fellow citizens!" The Tsar roared, calling upon 245 years of royalty to demand respect from those around him. "For far too long have I tolerated a culture of weakness and corruption in this nation! It can not go on! It will not go on!"
The crowd shifted, nervously. Around them, Legionnaires stood as watchful as hawks, waiting for even the slightest pretext. Adrik Alexei ignored all of this. "Criminals conspire in our midst, my people! Criminals who hide behind the words 'the will of the people' to lie, cheat, and steal for themselves, betraying those who they claim to represent, lying to those who need them most!" Adrik Alexei roughly forced Nicademus Darsalin beside him. The Lord Chancellor waved, weakly. Almost at once, the crowd started to shout and jeer. Only the majesty of the palace and the presence of the Tsar prevented worse invectives being poured upon the head of the first officer of state. "It is those people who have led you from your places of work to my home! I have listened, people of Novar Ohan! And they will be punished!"
Adrik Alexei rounded upon Nicademus Darsalin, and in one moment pushed the politician firmly against the wall to the side of the balcony. "Nicademus Darsalin, once Lord Chancellor of the Divine Imperium of Novar Ohan, by the power invested in me by God and the people of this land, I hereby place you under arrest! Your cabinet is dissolved and your ministers are even now being taken in by the Third Department for corruption charges!" The crowd watched, stunned into silence.
Nicademus Darsalin could only splutter. Everything had happened so fast, he wasn't sure what was going on. "My lord, I remain your devoted..." A hand on his windpipe silenced him.
"The evidence against you will be revealed at your trial, which will be fair, unlike that you accorded to all the victims of the emergency decrees you've writen up! But I tell you now, Darsalin, that the charges against you include that of High Treason!" Adrik Alexei dropped the former Lord Chancellor to the ground. "This Imperium is under a caretaker government headed by the Social Justice and Democratic Party until elections in 4 weeks!"
The crowd, many of them weeping in joy, started to shout and laugh. Even the soldiers cheered, raising their guns and firing into the air. Adrik Alexei held up his hands for silence, and eventually he received it. "Let us have an end to partisan warfare and deprivation of rights! You are the free citizens of a Democratic Society, and neither I nor any of my officers will ever take that from you! Go now, and go in peace!"
He placed his hands on the balcony wall, frowning. Then he added another sentence. "Oh, and if you ever feel like dropping into one of my palaces again, kindly ring first?" He smiled, and the crowd laughed with him. Then the Tsar collapsed forward, a bloody stain appearing on the back of his white robes that was visible even from the ground.
Nicademus Darsalin, grinning like a madman, had slipped a concealed blade into the back of the Emperor of Novar Ohan. He looked at his hands for a moment, about to speak, and then a weak hand reached up and grabbed him. Then in one last supreme effort, Adrik Alexei threw his treasonous former minister over the side, before sinking to his knees and onto the ground.
The crowd surged forward as one, pressing at the door as the palace's physicians, instantly informed by the guards, rushed to the side of their fallen master...
====
Imperium News Special Announcement
Anchor: It has been two dayss since His Divine Illuminated Majesty Tsar Adrik Alexei narrowly escaped assassination by his crazed former Lord Chancellor, and for the first time in 100 years the upper echelons of the government have been thrown into chaos. We go now to our constitutional expert...
C.E.: Well, it's quite simple... Should the Tsar, may God Protect and Keep Him from Harm, die, there is no clear succession. Grand Duke Sebastian being a minor, for the first time in Imperial History a full regency council will need to be formed; a task that could prevent the government elected in a month from fully carrying out its duties.
Anchor: More on that story later. We go now to the Roslin Beth David Hospital, where Marian Sarzoky reports.
Sarzoky: *standing in front of a giant, blue, six-pointed star* I'm here at Beth David, where we have received the news that His Divine Illuminated Majesty's condition has recently been upgraded, from critical to stable...
Anchor: That's certainly good news. Have there been any complications?
Sarzoky: Unfortunately, we can't confirm or deny that, since there has been very limited access to the Tsar… However, we have recently received reports that His Most Illustrious Highness the Archduke of Arquis has been sounding out the other Chiefs of State for a council under his headship, and… ah!
<Michael d’Arquis is walking from the hospital>
Sarzoky: Your Grace, how is his Lordship?
Michael: No comment.
Sarzoky: Do you have any words of comfort for the people of the Divine Imperium?
Michael: Your viewers can be assured that we are confident the election can go ahead as scheduled. I have been assured by the doctors that His Most Divine Illuminated Majesty will be able to resume his duties shortly. If you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment.
Sarzoky: And there you have it.
Newscaster: Right, thank you Marian. In The Cathedral of Saint Michael, meanwhile, an anxious Mass for the Tsar’s health is being held…
In the palace, a war-council of sorts was taking place. His Excellency the Lord Chancellor of the Divine Imperium was starting to feel the heat. "My lord, I repeat that we should have the guards shoot these people. They are disturbing the peace!" Nicademus Darsalin said, and then he demanded, "Are you even listening to me, my lord?!"
Tsar Adrik Alexei looked up from where he was lining up to knock a golfball into a cup he had set up on the floor. "Hum? Oh... Yes, sorry, you were saying something about using my soldiers to shoot people calling down the heavens to bless me and my reign, right?" He hit the ball, and sent it flying into a mousehole. "Blast! I hate this palace. That was an absolutely perfect hit, did you see it? And the warped floor..."
"If I may, Your Divine Illuminated Majesty, this might prove to be marginally more important than your golf game." Nicademus gnashed his teeth in empty fury. "These... 'people'... Are using your blessed name as a shield! They hope to keep you from taking action!"
"And I must say, they're doing an excellent job." Adrik Alexei stretched and collapsed into his lounge chair, his index fingers swaying in the air as if he was conducting an orchestra.
Outside, as if on cue, came the sound of 'Long live our beloved Tsar Alyosha without the Government!"
Adrik Alexei stretched again, contented. "I must say, it's nice to be universally adored. Wouldn't you agree?"
"It pleases my lord to joke..."
Adrik Alexei held up a hand, his face carefully controlled. "It would please me to joke, indeed. However, I feel the time has come to be brutally serious with a set of dangerous criminals who are threatening the entire fabric of my nation."
Nicademus could scarcely believe his ears. "Are you serious, my lord? You will do it?"
"Indeed I will. Right now." The Tsar held up a hand to his ear, and smiled. "It sounds like the mob has been allowed through the palace gates. Shall we go greet them?" Adrik Alexei rose to his feet, and then reached out, gripping Nicademus's shoulder in a solid hold. "Come." He pulled the smaller man along with him out to the balcony.
The two men looked down at the crowd below them. Nicademus almost cackled in glee.
In the mass, the chants went on for a minute more. Then, slowly, the strikers and their families began to look up at their lord and master. Some of them even fell to their knees to pray, conducted by priests that had accompanied them. Slowly, silence rippled out across the crowd.
Along the walls and gates, an entire division of soldiers stood ready for whatever orders might come from their commander-in-chief. None came. Instead, Adrik Alexei seemed perfectly content just to watch the crowd beneath him for a moment. If he squinted, he thought, he could just make out the children being held up by their parents to catch this glimpse of him. Slowly, he raised his hand. The world inhaled.
Then he brought it down in a swift cutting gesture, slamming his fist into the old marble of the balcony with a sound that echoed across the entire square. His hand stung, but he could live with that. "People of Novar Ohan! My fellow citizens!" The Tsar roared, calling upon 245 years of royalty to demand respect from those around him. "For far too long have I tolerated a culture of weakness and corruption in this nation! It can not go on! It will not go on!"
The crowd shifted, nervously. Around them, Legionnaires stood as watchful as hawks, waiting for even the slightest pretext. Adrik Alexei ignored all of this. "Criminals conspire in our midst, my people! Criminals who hide behind the words 'the will of the people' to lie, cheat, and steal for themselves, betraying those who they claim to represent, lying to those who need them most!" Adrik Alexei roughly forced Nicademus Darsalin beside him. The Lord Chancellor waved, weakly. Almost at once, the crowd started to shout and jeer. Only the majesty of the palace and the presence of the Tsar prevented worse invectives being poured upon the head of the first officer of state. "It is those people who have led you from your places of work to my home! I have listened, people of Novar Ohan! And they will be punished!"
Adrik Alexei rounded upon Nicademus Darsalin, and in one moment pushed the politician firmly against the wall to the side of the balcony. "Nicademus Darsalin, once Lord Chancellor of the Divine Imperium of Novar Ohan, by the power invested in me by God and the people of this land, I hereby place you under arrest! Your cabinet is dissolved and your ministers are even now being taken in by the Third Department for corruption charges!" The crowd watched, stunned into silence.
Nicademus Darsalin could only splutter. Everything had happened so fast, he wasn't sure what was going on. "My lord, I remain your devoted..." A hand on his windpipe silenced him.
"The evidence against you will be revealed at your trial, which will be fair, unlike that you accorded to all the victims of the emergency decrees you've writen up! But I tell you now, Darsalin, that the charges against you include that of High Treason!" Adrik Alexei dropped the former Lord Chancellor to the ground. "This Imperium is under a caretaker government headed by the Social Justice and Democratic Party until elections in 4 weeks!"
The crowd, many of them weeping in joy, started to shout and laugh. Even the soldiers cheered, raising their guns and firing into the air. Adrik Alexei held up his hands for silence, and eventually he received it. "Let us have an end to partisan warfare and deprivation of rights! You are the free citizens of a Democratic Society, and neither I nor any of my officers will ever take that from you! Go now, and go in peace!"
He placed his hands on the balcony wall, frowning. Then he added another sentence. "Oh, and if you ever feel like dropping into one of my palaces again, kindly ring first?" He smiled, and the crowd laughed with him. Then the Tsar collapsed forward, a bloody stain appearing on the back of his white robes that was visible even from the ground.
Nicademus Darsalin, grinning like a madman, had slipped a concealed blade into the back of the Emperor of Novar Ohan. He looked at his hands for a moment, about to speak, and then a weak hand reached up and grabbed him. Then in one last supreme effort, Adrik Alexei threw his treasonous former minister over the side, before sinking to his knees and onto the ground.
The crowd surged forward as one, pressing at the door as the palace's physicians, instantly informed by the guards, rushed to the side of their fallen master...
====
Imperium News Special Announcement
Anchor: It has been two dayss since His Divine Illuminated Majesty Tsar Adrik Alexei narrowly escaped assassination by his crazed former Lord Chancellor, and for the first time in 100 years the upper echelons of the government have been thrown into chaos. We go now to our constitutional expert...
C.E.: Well, it's quite simple... Should the Tsar, may God Protect and Keep Him from Harm, die, there is no clear succession. Grand Duke Sebastian being a minor, for the first time in Imperial History a full regency council will need to be formed; a task that could prevent the government elected in a month from fully carrying out its duties.
Anchor: More on that story later. We go now to the Roslin Beth David Hospital, where Marian Sarzoky reports.
Sarzoky: *standing in front of a giant, blue, six-pointed star* I'm here at Beth David, where we have received the news that His Divine Illuminated Majesty's condition has recently been upgraded, from critical to stable...
Anchor: That's certainly good news. Have there been any complications?
Sarzoky: Unfortunately, we can't confirm or deny that, since there has been very limited access to the Tsar… However, we have recently received reports that His Most Illustrious Highness the Archduke of Arquis has been sounding out the other Chiefs of State for a council under his headship, and… ah!
<Michael d’Arquis is walking from the hospital>
Sarzoky: Your Grace, how is his Lordship?
Michael: No comment.
Sarzoky: Do you have any words of comfort for the people of the Divine Imperium?
Michael: Your viewers can be assured that we are confident the election can go ahead as scheduled. I have been assured by the doctors that His Most Divine Illuminated Majesty will be able to resume his duties shortly. If you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment.
Sarzoky: And there you have it.
Newscaster: Right, thank you Marian. In The Cathedral of Saint Michael, meanwhile, an anxious Mass for the Tsar’s health is being held…