Iolanthe was the picture of calm and not, it seemed, the least bit offended that they had been talking about her behind her back.
Now dressed in a cream jacket, Oakley boots, and slim cargo pants, she strolled back into the cabin and slid onto a spare couch.
“If I may contribute to the discussion,” she said. “Throughout history commoners have actively sought someone to look up to. Someone of higher birth, of noble blood, of superior sensibility. Royalty. Those who would willingly undertake an obligation to keep safe both the people and certain important objects. And because royalty are known to subscribe to a higher standard of honor, they are trusted to do so.
“The common folk, on the other hand—knowing in their hearts that they themselves are too fickle, too greedy, to stay true to any such notion of honor—seek a family of renown who will. Thus the strong rule and the weak get ruled over, by their own choice. It is the natural order of things. It has been so since humans began to walk upright.”
Lily gazed at Iolanthe closely.
The strong rule, and the weak get ruled over.She had heard those words before: uttered by a deranged Vatican priest named Francisco del Piero, the man who had raised her twin brother, Alexander, to be a despotic and cruel ruler.
Wizard had heard those same words, and he too gazed at Iolanthe with watchful eyes.
Astro said, “If people love royalty so much, why is democracy so embraced then? Look at America.”
Iolanthe snuffed a laugh. “Look at America? Why, Captain, for the last two hundred years, your country has been steadily and unequivocally marching toward monarchy.
“The problem is, your rulers have no talisman, no treasure, to hold on behalf of the people. So you get bold usurpers seeking to create a kingdom: Kennedy’s father, Joseph, wanted to establish a line of Kennedy presidents: John then Robert then Edward. In recent years, the Bush family—aided by its friends in the House of Saud—has succeeded in creating a lineage, and indeed plans to install a third Bush on the throne. But it has no talisman, and thus no kingdom. Although perhaps when this adventure is over, it will, and thus it will take a seat at the table with the Great Houses of Europe.”
Jack said, “So right now in this race we have: us, the good guys, aided by the New Money wannabes from Saudi Arabia and America; you, the royal dynasties of Europe; and China, aided by who-knows-who. So where do, say, the United Arab Emirates fit into this world view?”
“Newer Money, that’s all,” Iolanthe said. “A puny desert tribe that only recently found itself sitting on massive oil reserves.” She shrugged apologetically at Pooh Bear and Scimitar. “No offense.”
Pooh Bear growled, “Ma’am, in the words of my young friend, Lily, get bent.”
Scimitar just bowed. “We take no offense at all, madam.”
Jack said, “So what about other countries? Like Australia, for instance.”
“Still a colony of Britain,” Iolanthe said dismissively.
“China?”
“A nation of corrupt officials and a billion ignorant rural peasants. Fat, slow, and bloated. By the time it advances to the level of the West, we will have reached Mars.”
“Africa?”
“The slavelands of the world. Useless now, as it has already been thoroughly plundered. Nowadays African nations are like whores, willing to sell themselves and their armies to anyone with hard currency.”
“Japan?”
“An interesting case, for the Japanese standsui generis in our world, in a category of their own. Even the most humble commoner there has a deep sense of honor. But their pride is their weakness. Japan is the most racist nation on Earth: the Japanese sincerely believe themselves to be superior to all other races. This got them into trouble in World War II.”
“But Japan has a royal family,” Zoe said. “The oldest continuous royal line in the world.”
“This is true,” Iolanthe said. “It is old and noble and not nearly as weak as it pretends to be. Japan’s capitulation at the end of the Second World War almost saw the first modern destruction of a legitimate royal family. But the royal house survived. The Americans humiliated Hirohito but they did not disempower him. Because they were unable to find his talisman.”
Jack frowned at that. This was something new to him. He leaned forward.
“And that talisman was…?”
“…something that I am not inclined to tell you about just yet, my dashing Huntsman.” Iolanthe gave Jack a michievous sexy grin. “You may have to employ other methods to prise that little secret from me—maybe you could romance it out of me. Alternately, you could just ask your American colleague here.” A nod at Astro.
Jack raised an eyebrow at Astro. “Well?”
“Search me,” Astro said.
Iolanthe said, “In any case, while they might protest otherwise and say that they have moved on, the Japanese have not forgotten the profound slur of World War II. And such a prideful people hold a very long grudge. You turn your back on Japan at your peril.”
For a moment, no one said anything.
“The world is a complex place,” Iolanthe said softly, almost to herself. “Wars are won and lost. Empires rise and fall. But through all of recorded history, power has always been in a state of flux, ever transferred from one empire to the next: from Egypt to Greece and then to Rome; or more recently, from France under Napoleon to the British Empire to the current American dominance. But now—with the igniting of the Machine—it will be different. The transfer of power will cease. For now is the one and only time in history where total and absolute power will
