I turned and walked behind Myrcedes, placing a hand on her back. The elven woman was wiping her tears as the new monarch held and tried to soothe the crying child. Serriah rushed over once all the weapons were down and took the hand of the mother before taking the baby from Myrcedes. Once she wasn’t immediately preoccupied with someone’s well being, she turned to fully face the room of people before her. The next voice that spoke came from behind us, and we turned back to the podium to see Tawney in the middle of the Kings, smiling at the room.
“My dear ones, my friends, I hope you realize what we’ve just witnessed. The Queen of Spirit, your Queen, has just risked her life, not to save herself or even her friends. She put herself in danger to save one of us.”
The room broke out into cheers once again. I looked down at the silver eyes before me and smiled. She looked almost overwhelmed with emotion. While some of it made sense, I could tell there was much more behind her expression than I was able to understand.
She finally pulled her gaze away from me and turned to the room once again. They all quieted the second she opened her mouth to speak.
“Everyone, I know what I’ve said here today has been a lot for you all to take in. All I want to promise is that as long as I’m alive, in this life and every other one I live, that I’ll try my best to keep your land healthy and safe. But I don’t think the best way to do that is for me to declare myself Queen and rule as Minerva did.”
There was a ripple of confused expressions, starting with mine. She’d alluded to this, but whenever I’d asked her what her plan for the fae realm was, she’d either said she wasn’t sure, or she would tell me later. I hadn’t been able to fathom why she’d kept it from me, but even with my frustration at that, the sheer resolve on her face led me to feel as though I trusted her completely.
“I think anyone I could name as a monarch to rule your realm would be in danger of abusing that power as the last Queen did,” she continued. “But no one else understands you, your world, and what you need as you do. I’ve decided the best option for the fae realm, a place with such diverse citizens who should have their voices heard, is to install a Parliament.”
31
Myrcedes
I took a deep breath as the word rang through the air. I was sure as hell going to need a lot of time later to process everything that had happened in the past two hours, but for now, I still had something to do.
I glanced at Kalian, who looked just as confused as everyone else. I should have told him sooner since he was such a big part of this, but I’d been so nervous to tell him. His aggression when I’d told him about the prophecy the first time made it obvious how opposed he was to the idea of anything changing. He’d come to accept it and even seemed to embrace it, but it left me wary of expressing this idea to him.
Of course, the term parliament didn’t make sense to anyone here, and I don’t know why I thought it might. The fae, as well as every other non-human creature, lived in realms all ruled by monarchs. I’d had Lindsay send me some research on the parliamentary structure, and I tried to remember everything I’d learned in sixth-grade social studies as I prepared to design a government.
“Parliament is a system some countries on Earth use. It’s a collection of people whose job it is to represent your interests and your needs. The council could never decide on anything because most of them only wanted what was best for themselves, but in a parliament, you would be responsible for choosing who you wanted to represent you based on their beliefs.”
People began to buzz about that around the room. For people who’d never had a choice in who they had to listen to, it must have sounded like a very revolutionary idea. Of course, I couldn’t quite tell, but from where I stood, it all sounded generally positive.
“Parliament would vote on issues to decide what’s best for the realm, but it’s still more effective if one voice speaks for them instead of as a group. That’s why there would be a Prime Minister, someone to lead the rest of the cabinet, direct them to issues that need to be addressed, and speak to the people. I think it’s imperative that the Prime Minister be someone who has the best interests of you all at heart. It’s for that reason that I would like to appoint to the role someone who sacrificed everything he had ever known and went against everything he’d ever been taught just to create a better future for the fae realm. Kalian?”
I turned to him with a smile, but my heart was pounding. I hoped he would accept. He must have been feeling a range of emotions, but he hid them all well. To look at his face at that moment, you’d never know he was hearing this for the first time. After a moment of silence during which you could hear a pin drop, his thoughtful expression broke into a smile, and he bowed at the waist.
“Your Highness, I would be honored to accept this position.”
I sighed with relief and smiled as the audience before us cheered once again. I glanced back at Daath and
