impulse.'
A moment of silence fell while the council digested both the plan and the new Queen's willingness to indulge in political manipulation. Duke Cromarty raised a hand.
'Yes, Your Grace?'
'That is very clever, Your Majesty, but what if Parliament confirms your first candidate?'
'There's a simple way to handle that possibility,' Elizabeth answered. 'I make certain that whomever I nominate is someone who can function in the role—and someone who will be willing to step down for Aunt Caitrin after a bit of time has passed.'
'You would need to trust that person a great deal,' Duke Cromarty warned. 'I expect you have someone in mind.'
The Queen nodded, a hint of a grin twitching the corners of her mouth.
'I do indeed.' She gestured across the table. 'My Lord Chamberlain, Lord Wundt.'
'Your Majesty!' Jacob Wundt exclaimed. 'I am not fit for the role of Regent!'
Elizabeth smiled at the thin old man.
'You are more fit than many,' she said. 'As Lord Chamberlain you served and advised both my father and my grandmother. You are a valued asset to the House of Winton. Moreover, I can convincingly speak both of my trust in you and in your irreproachable loyalty to the Kingdom.'
'But—!'
The Lord Chamberlain's new protest was cut short by Dame Eliska. She looked up from the figures she had been entering into her computer pad and her smile was broad.
'I believe that Queen Elizabeth's choice will function just as she hopes. I've done some preliminary demographic analysis and the Lord Chamberlain should be rejected, but only after sufficient debate that Duchess Winton-Henke would be confirmed easily.'
'And,' Duke Cromarty said, 'if Lord Wundt is confirmed, he would be a sound Regent. After some months of service, he could claim that his advanced years make him unable to continue. If we wait to make that announcement until some minor crisis requires that the Queen have a Regent in place quickly, then Duchess Winton-Henke should be confirmed without protest.'
The Lord Chamberlain's mouth was opening and shutting, but no noise was coming forth.
'Without some gambit like this,' Duke Cromarty continued, 'I'm uncertain that either the Queen Mother or the Duchess would be confirmed as Regent. I'm at a loss to explain this sudden surge of anti-nepotism—anyone who knows the Lords knows that nepotism is the way of the aristocracy—but it is present.'
Elizabeth stroked Ariel, her own features schooled to polite neutrality, but the 'cat's loud purr gave away his own satisfaction.
'Then this is how we will proceed,' she said. 'As for the Regent's Council, I would like to nominate those here present, the Prime Minister, the Majority Leader for the Commons, and at least one of the Crown Loyalists you suggested earlier.'
Paderweski made a note. 'When you say the Majority Leader for the Commons, you mean whoever holds that position rather than Rosanna Wilson?'
'Yes. I don't plan for the Regent's Council to meet over-frequently,' the Queen replied. 'Therefore, the added duties should not be onerous.'
'And,' Caitrin Winton-Henke said, 'since the Regency Council will already have the Prime Minister, we don't need another noble to balance the representative from the Commons, yet we can keep the suggestion that this is a private cabal to a minimum.'
Queen Elizabeth arched her eyebrows. 'And why shouldn't it be a cabal? This is a monarchy, after all. My father was no figurehead, and I certainly don't intend to be one.'
A soft chuckle fluttered around the council table. Elizabeth joined in, then continued.
'I realize that I may not have made myself clear,' she said. 'I would like Duke Cromarty to serve on the Regent's Council whether or not he is serving as Prime Minister.'
Allen Summervale came from an ancient line of Manticoran aristocracy, otherwise he might very well have given some indication of how very pleased he was by this sign of the Queen's favor.
'Thank you, Your Majesty,' he said, bowing slightly. 'I will endeavor to serve you well.'
Dame Eliska changed something on her note pad. 'So I should indicate that the Prime Minister will be expected to serve on the Regent's Council.'
'Yes.'
'Very good.' Paderweski smiled. 'Perhaps their Graces could make some discrete inquiries—check with LeBrun—to see which of the Crown Loyalists would be best for the post.'
Cromarty and Winton-Henke both nodded.
'I'm willing to bet that Howell will be their choice,' the duchess said. 'He's been rising steadily within the party.'
'We shall see,' Elizabeth said. 'Now, are we ready to adjourn? Any more business for now?'
Heads shook around the table.
'Very well. We all have far too much to do. I'm certain that I'll see some of you at the viewing this evening.' She gestured for them all to remain seated when she rose. 'Until then.'
Ariel in her arms, the Queen departed the council chamber. When the door slid closed behind her, Jacob Wundt spoke softly, reverently:
'Long live the Queen!'
'Amen to that,' Cromarty affirmed. 'Amen to that.'
Once Justin's air car was aloft, Chou chose to elaborate on his earlier comment.
'We always investigate the death of a monarch, even when, as with Queen Samantha, the cause of death is apparent and easy to confirm.'
'She died from heart failure, didn't she?' Justin asked.
'Everyone dies from heart failure,' Chou said with an odd, wry grin. 'In Queen Samantha's case, the immediate cause of her heart's failure was deterioration of her circulatory system beyond the point that regeneration therapy could effectively repair the damage. However, even that is too specific. She died of old age, which is not a bad way to go.'
Justin nodded, thinking how the concept of old age was changing with the advent of the prolong therapies. The man seated in the passenger seat would probably die of old age some time early into his first century. If Justin died from the same cause, he would be closer to three hundred years old.
Did those born just the wrong side of the prolong acceptance barrier resent those who were young enough to accept the treatment or did they rejoice that their children's lives would be extended?
Certainly the dangers of prolong went far beyond the over-population that was often cited as the greatest implication of the extended life span. Commoner born, Justin tended to look at the aristocracy from the outside. The idea of some of the more hidebound members of this most-privileged class being able to extend their influence for centuries made him shudder. And what would their children do while they waited to assume their inheritance?
King Roger had seen that Manticoran society faced death by stagnation, which was one reason he had pushed for Prince Michael to enter the Navy despite the boy's hesitancy. Would other aristocratic parents be so farsighted? Silently, Justin resolved that his and Elizabeth's children would not be trapped by their parents' longevity.
Daniel Chou interrupted his revery.
'What are you thinking about?'
'Change,' Justin said honestly, 'and how with King Roger's death Beth could very well be Queen for centuries to come. It's strange to realize that between her youth and prolong she could reign for nearly as long as the entire Star Kingdom has been in existence.'
'A slight exaggeration,' Chou said, 'but not by much. That's one of the reasons she would make such a valuable pawn.'
'Pawn?' Thinking of his strong-willed, assertive fiancee, Justin chuckled. 'Not Beth!'
'Perhaps not,' Chou agreed, 'but you forget that most of the Kingdom doesn't know our new Queen as well as you do. The news media's polite forbearance regarding the monarch's private life has meant that although the
