BY SCHISM RENT ASUNDER – snippet 79:
"My Lords and Ladies!" he said sharply. "Is this interruption seemly?"
The king's voice cut through the hubbub, which ceased with remarkable rapidity. More than a few faces looked embarrassed by their owners' outbursts, but even in those cases, surprise and intense speculation were the overriding emotions.
"Thank you, My Lords and Ladies," Cayleb said as quiet fell once more. Then he allowed himself a small smile. "We can hardly blame you for your surprise, we suppose. Her Majesty's agreement to our offer of marriage was not an easy decision. It required a high courage, and great wisdom, to look past the inevitable rage her decision will evoke in those corrupt individuals who currently control the Temple. There can be no doubt that in her acceptance, she has irrevocably wedded –" he smiled again at his own choice of verb "– the fate of her realm to our own. She has agreed, of her own free will, to stand with us and our people in the death struggle for the soul of Mother Church and our own survival. Make no mistake, this is a battle she has chosen to join, and there will be no going back from this moment for her, or for Chisholm, anymore than there can be for Charis. All of this she has knowingly and willingly accepted along with our hand in marriage."
The stillness and silence was profound.
"Under the terms of our proposal to her, which we intend to disclose to you today, and which will be made available to each of you in written form, following this address, the crowns of Charis and Chisholm shall be coequal to one another for the remainder of Her Majesty's life and our own. Upon our deaths, those crowns will be united, in the persons of our children, into that of a single Charisian Empire.
"In the meantime, we and Her Majesty will be submitting to both kingdoms' parliaments the terms upon which we propose to create a new, common and shared Imperial Parliament to advise and assist us in the equitable governance of both kingdoms in their new imperial relationship to one another. The Navies and Armies of our respective realms will be merged into a new Imperial Navy and Imperial Army, and commissions within the common armed forces of this, our new and greater realm, will be open to Charisians and Chisholmians alike. There shall be an Imperial Treasury, to which both kingdoms shall contribute, and our law masters, in concert with those of Chisholm, shall so reconcile the law of these two realms that the subjects of one shall enjoy all the rights, privileges, responsibilities, and duties of subjects of the other.
"And because there will always be the threat of the relationship our realms becoming an unequal partnership, in which one kingdom becomes — or believes it has become — the servant of the other, rather than its equal, Tellesberg and Cherayth shall be coequal as capitals. For four months of each year — that is, for half the year, allowing for voyage time between Charis and Chisholm — Her Majesty and I will reside in Tellesberg, and govern both kingdoms from that city, and for four months of each year, she and I will reside in Cherayth, and govern both kingdoms from that city. No doubt it will be a difficult adjusment for both cities, but it will happen, My Lords and Ladies."
Cayleb paused, looking out into the stunned silence, and his face looked far less young in that moment. His eyes were as hard as his face, and when he spoke once more, his voice came crisply, clearly, ribbed with granite determination and iron purpose.
"Understand us well, My Lords and Ladies," he told his Parliament. "This will be no union of unequals. We did not offer marriage to Queen Sharleyan as anything less than a full and complete merger of our realms. As our Queen, she will share our authority in Charis, as we shall share hers in Chisholm. She will be our regent, if we be called away by war. She will have our full authority to act here in Charis as she, in her own good judgment, advised by our Council Royal and this Parliament and its imperial successor, shall see fit, and her decisions and actions shall stand approved in advance by us.
"This is no figurehead we bring you, My Lords and Ladies. This is a Queen, in all the power and accomplishment of her own reign, in her own kingdom. One who, like us, and like our father before us, has matched herself against powerful foes, and who has met the stern test and demands of the throne to which she was called, at an even earlier age than we were, with wisdom, courage, and determination. She will be greeted, deferred to, and obeyed as if she had been Charisian born."
The sound of a tumbling pin would have been deafening, Merlin thought, watching the youthful king's words sink home.
"We feel sure that even a little reflection will make clear to all of you the military advantage this brings to us. The impact Queen Sharleyan's willingness to stand with us in our denunciation of the corruption of the Council of Vicars must have upon the thinking of other realms and other rulers will also require no explanation, no embellishment, from us. The advantages this will bestow for operations against our common enemies in Corisande must be equally obvious, as must the fashion in which the strength and power of our merchant marine will be reinforced and broadened.
"All of those things are true. Yet we would have you know that in our view, the greatest advantage of all which this marriage will bring to us, to our realm, and to all of Safehold, in days to come, will be the courage, the wisdom, and the intelligence of our Queen . . . and yours. Never doubt it, My Lords and Ladies. And rest assured that if any of you should doubt, those doubts will vanish quickly in the face of experience."
He paused once more, gazing out at the silent ranks of representative, noble, and priests.
"Great and terrible days are upon us all, My Lords and Ladies," he said then, quietly. "Times to test and try the mettle of any man or woman's soul. Times in which each of us — king, bishop, noble, or commoner — must stand for those things which we hold sacred, those causes for which we will lay down our lives, if God so requires of us. In our hands lies the future of Mother Church, of Safehold, of the lives and souls and freedom of every man, woman, and child in God's vast creation. If we falter, if we fail, then the corruption which has already enveloped the Council of Vicars, already tainted Mother Church with the hunger and secular ambition of the Dark, will conquer all.
"We, Cayleb Ahrmahk, King of Charis, will die before we see that happen. We would not have brought you any Queen whose determination and courage we feared might prove unworthy of this moment, this time, in this place, and we have no fear that Queen Sharleyan's will. As Charis stands against the Darkness, so will Chisholm. So will Queen Sharleyan. And, as God is our witness, we will not cease, nor pause, nor rest, until those who would unleash warfare, rapine, and destruction upon peaceful realms out of vast and corrupt personal ambition, cloaked in the authority of Mother Church, have been purged forever from this world. To that end, we pledge our life, our fortune, and our sacred honor."
You know, being one of the secret club that knows the real history has some nice perks – you really do get to crib all the good lines. I do wonder what historical reaction will be once people can compare the two texts though. Would people find it funny or insulting that they used all sorts of lines other people had come up with as if they were their own?
Also, I’m kind of disappointed that my suggestion of “Charisholm” for the name of the new kingdom didn’t stick – I found it rather elegant, even if it was unlikely.
(Yes, I spend a lot of time wondering about irrelevant crap)
Looks like Merlin is cribbing historical lines for Cayleb again. :-)
Well, with all due respect for Alsadius, I don’t know if “Charisian Empire” will be the Official Name. That’s just how Cayleb referred to it in his speech. I suspect that the official name will be Charis-Chisholm. Now Alasdius’ joking name might what it will be called generations from ‘now’.
When’s he going to use Lincoln’s Second Inaugural? It’s a natural. Especially the bit about both sides praying to the same God, for instance.
Once people start comparing the old and “new” uses of old texts, I doubt the context will exist for many people to feel they have been violated somehow. Sure, historians will be more cynical than our own when it comes to documents, but plenty might take it with a grain of salt and a determined laugh. But there isn’t a text along those lines in this series (yet) so we can take it with a grain of salt too.
Probably a shorter verbiage for “Charis-Chisholm” will come about over time (Charholm, Chahis, Chisris, Chiris) but people could always just refer to it as the “Ahrmahk Empire”… sounds catchy.
If Merlin gets to crib all the good lines, he might as well crib the good music… “March of the Empire” (Star Wars) should be the theme song for the emperor. Because nothing says “fully armed and operational” like a good theme song.
I’m sorry, but I LOL’ed at that last sentence E.
Something tells me that Merlin is going to rip a historical country name out of context and slap it on this new Empire…the Charisian Empire just doesnt seem a good enough inside joke of a country name.
Maybe a title, but not a name.
“The Commonwealth of Charis, Chisholm, and Respected Colonies” or something like that. (And people will abbreviate it as Commonwealth)
Still, one key to unifying two lands is to lump them together in name as well as form.
finnlly got on to read this.
Now I’m more interested in the Chishom side of this. We know already that there is opposition in Chisholm about this, both religious and seculaer (sp?). I think Merlin is going to have to fly over the Chisholm sometime just to fix some problems that might occur
Now that would be interesting….Merlin hanging out with Queen Sharleyan in Chrisholm for a while! See what they make of ‘him’
Probably there will be some sort of special office or law made to deal with the malcontents out there. Merlin can cut the heads off easily if he plays his SNARCs right, but having to travel around weeding out plots would be tiresome.
He could, of course, arrange a “miracle” to show that “God” is on the side of Charis, but KE satellites, blah, blah, etc.
I’m all for another one-sided arena-style fight. Merlin can challenge 100 Churchies to martial arts matches, without rest, and defeat them all handily to prove his righteousness or something like that. Bring back the Caper toss! Nothing says virtuous like tossing a tree.
The most probable thing that will happen will be that Merlin visits Sharleyan and updates her on the truth; with a few suggestions, naturally. That or Cayleb gets to break it to her.
Merlin will probably have time to scoop up additional intellects from Chisholm to suppliment Charis’ innovative breakthroughs once the Queen is in on the game.
Maybe a grand project or two would spice up the science. Like a Charis-Emerald-Chisholm Grand Bridge. Or a giant tower. People love tall buildings. Or a Colossus.
It’s certain that a few new forts are going to be in the works.
I think that Merlin will be the wrong person to tell her without Cayleb at least nearby. think about the converstion. “Hi, I’m Merlin, Caylebs personal bodyguard. Sorry for having to visit you on such short but I’ve got to be to Cayleb by morning. The reason I’m here is to tell you that Lanhourne lied, wasn’t really an archangel and used advanced technology to fool everyone to think he was one. Oh by the way, I know all this because I was a women who died keeping the Gbada away from you so you could survive. Any questions?”
How about the United States of Safehold? Just joking please don’t go there :-)
I might be off but I wander if the safehold Inquisition might not have been told to keep an eye out for some names or ideas. Like maybe they don’t like Charis because it’s been told that a “House of Parliament†could be bad sign that the evil one’s are back or even that they might be in on the secret some/maybe not everything but just that they know too keep an eye out? Just me wandering I could be wrong… errr I also hope I did not spoil something he’s got planed later I don’t look good in red =/
It may become an issue that the Mainland church begins attempting to look into things a little more closely, because for all intents and purposes, the Mainland church has no reason to believe that the proscriptions are being broken in such a fashion. Its been almost 700ish years since an “angel” walked among the people, you would think that some knowledge (like how to actually use the KE satellites) would have been lost, or that only one/two people actually knew wtf was going on.
The Church might not know how to use the KE system directly, but secret instructions might have been left like “when the Church is really, really desperate, say this prayer in X room at Y time on Z day and an angel will descend to consider your request.”
an intersting theory.
On the Archangels/Angels descending to consider a Church Request, there’s been speculation on the Bar that the Seijin were included in Safehold Theology for use by the “Archangels” to check things out without revealing themselves as “Archangels”. Of course, this idea goes along with the idea that there are “Archangels” sleeping under the Temple.
Remember though, most of the Seijin were obvious fakes. also, they were almost all declared to be Seijins after their deaths. I doubt that the arachangels would be willing to be humble servants without cheating a little bit more than Merlin does
Also remember:
To our knowledge, no other PICAs remain in existence.
The “angels” would be just as human as everyone else (except for the antigerone bit) but with better technology, and they have already demonstrated their willingness to abuse their technical capabilities.