The chancellor was looking out the window to the palace square when three captains and a group of lieutenants came riding into the square. There was a brief conference, and the lieutenants began giving orders to groups of soldiers. The soldiers moved quickly in the citadel and the palace. One of the captains rode off, one stood in the square with the lieutenants moving the soldiers int position, and one ran into the palace. A nameless dread came over him, and he trotted out to the hallway and then he stood at the top of the staircase. The captain was already halfway up the stairs when he reached them. He waited, and the captain came up to him and said "We need to talk very privately." The chancellor thought for a moment and took uo two flights and out to the roof of the tower.
He said with a smile "The queen told me to talk to you in private with no one listening. She didn't think that our coming into town like this is announcement enough. The king when I left was dienng of infection. The doctor gave him a couple hours at most. She has determined that she is still going to be queen and would be the ruler. Given the choices we had, we decided that we were going to make that happen. "
" But having a woman rule over us... I don't know...."
"What choice do you have? The last of the dynasty are going to die before the week is out.
The chancellor gave a shocked look. "The last two are going to die? How do you know?"
"She gave orders. She told Grubo and Molodchichen to bring their heads back here. the rest of them can feed the worms"
"Queen. I just don't know...."
"Your choices are Saminite or Agore. If either of them survive. Your last choice is chaos. you want that?"
The chancellor paced back and forth for a minute. "All three of your alternatives are horrible. Agore is worst of all" He stared into the middle distance. "But a woman...."
"She knows what she wants and is decisive and she has worked hard since she was named his consort. She is our best, our only choice."
The chancellor sighed. "I will prepare the town for her arrival as queen. I will have the city watch prepared and ready. Anything else?"
"She also wants the Sabor Naroda called, again. And she wants you to prepare bribes and worse to make sure we have an amenable one. You need to make lists of nobles and churchmen who won't be missed because they are under house arrest."
"I think putting some of them under house arrest will be a mistake." The Chancellor said. "You will find that there are two very angry for each mildly annoyed one you arrest. The churchmen are mostly pretty well cowed anyway. And don't forget that the nobles have dependents they can call on for any actions they want to take on the crown. It would be dangerous. I think this would require time to think it over"
"Time is the one thing she lacks."
The chancellor smiled "There are lots of lands confiscated from the abbeys. The churchmen and the nobles, especially the nobles, are amenable to bribes. "
"The king wanted the nobles to have smaller estates. And she really didn't like giving the churchmen any sources of income more than was absolutely required."
"I will make the lists she asked for, but I still believe we can go further with honey rather than vinegar.’’ The chancellor paused for a moment. "You will be throwing more rocks at the beehive when you need the honey."
"This will be her decision. I have things I need to do before she arrives." He saluted and took his leave.
The chancellor walked slowly back to his office. When he got back he prepared the instruments of calling the Naroda Sabor. Having all the documents complete he examined the list of nobility, and began copying some more names onto a fresh sheet of paper