- Chapter 25: War and Inheritance -

"Lady May," Queen Anri said as they each watched their target move on the practice range. "You've proved to be quite useful to the court these past few weeks."

May bowed her head. "You honor me, Your Majesty."

"It's true. Freeze!" The water bucket froze to solid ice, causing it to break off from its handle. "You've been very diligent in your administrative work, and you've brought to the court a certain... dignity and decorum. And yet, you remain an outsider."

"You Majesty?"

"You see, I've found that outsiders can have a useful perspective in certain matters. Who do you think would be the best choice for my heir?"

"Freeze!" Another ice bucket tumbled into the grass. May clasped her hands together and looked down at them. "Forgive my impertinence, but has Your Majesty no thought for marrying? There are female humans who have mothered children at your age."

"Exceptionally rare cases, yes. But even if we could rely upon my fertility, we don't have time for me to raise an heir. We may not even have time for me to bring one to term."

"What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?" May looked sincerely worried.

"Nothing to be alarmed about, in truth. It's just that I've been feeling weaker these last couple weeks. I get dizzy spells now and then, and I feel very tired in the mornings. I think old age is finally taking its toll on me."

"You're not that old, Your Majesty. You can't have much more than 60 years on you."

Anri smiled bitterly. "They've been hard years, though. I've already endured more than more people do in a lifetime. I must choose an heir now, so I can move on."

"Very well, Your Majesty," May said, suddenly changing her tone. "How about Lord Andrew?"

"He would be a very good choice," Anri watched as the servants set four more buckets swinging. "But he and his wife are unable to conceive."

"I did not know that. But surely, they must have some heir..."

"Yes, their niece. But let me tell you, May, I could not sleep at night knowing that that horrible young lady is just two generations away from ruling Guardiana."

"I see." May gave a smile that was somewhat self-deprecating, but with a touch of humor. "By now it must be clear to Your Majesty that being an outsider has its disadvantages."

"Nonetheless, your opinion would be appreciated."

"Very well. I see no fault in your reasoning for not choosing Lord Andrew, though of course your assessment of his niece may be inaccurate for all I know. That would then leave Sir Ruce as the best candidate by my reckoning."

"Ah?" Anri said, nonplussed. May was the first person she'd asked who favored Ruce. "Why Sir Ruce?"

"Well, I confess I knew him only very briefly before joining Your Majesty's court." She turned to watch the swinging buckets. "We met during the war with Iom, and I've spoken with him at diplomatic affairs several times since. We both participated in King Nicholas's coronation trials – I'm sure you remember those, Your Majesty. To come to the point, Sir Ruce has always struck me as intelligent, capable, cunning, and perfectly honest. He has children whom I am sure he is raising to emulate those qualities. He would make a fine king."

"In essence, I agree," Anri nodded. "The trouble with Ruce is, he has no royal blood."

"True, but ultimately not a problem. Ruce is a hero of Guardiana. If my understanding of this nation is at all accurate, the people of Guardiana love heroes, and will warmly welcome one as the successor to a royal line that ends with you. After all, didn't your own royal line begin with a heroic commoner?"

"Not exactly. Freeze!" The spell struck both of her targets, sending two more buckets of ice tumbling down. "Percival was a commoner, but he married into the royal line. And Ruce can hardly marry me, even if he were not married already."

"Hmm." May stared at her own targets, her eyes darkened with concern. "Freeze!" Her aim was true, but not her timing; one bucket hit the ground, while the other continued to swing. She looked back to Anri and flashed her familiar bright smile. "I'll admit, Ruce's bloodline is less than ideal. Nonetheless, I am confident that people will accept him as your heir, so long as he is your choice. Guardiana has more faith in your wisdom and Ruce's integrity than they do in royal blood."

"I see. Thank you, May." Anri put on a smile. While the attendants cleared away the buckets, they turned and headed back towards the keep. "You've been more helpful than you know. I have one other matter I wanted to ask you about: Iom's invasion of Emild. What do you make of it?"

May lowered her eyes. "Your Majesty speaks so cavalierly of the conquest of my homeland."

"Forgive me. But you had left your homeland voluntarily. I thought..."

"My loyalty is now to you, Queen Anri, but I will always love Emild." She looked back to her face. "I forgive you, of course. And I know you would not ask such a thing out of idle curiosity. On the surface, the invasion certainly seems to be unprovoked. King Kay is far from perfect, but he is not evil or vicious of heart, nor foolish enough to provoke a powerful neighbor like Iom. However, it is quite possible, even likely, that the subversive forces I spoke to you of have been antagonizing Iom."

"Is it also possible that Iom has simply turned their eyes to conquest once more? I've heard they now have a sharp young general."

"It is possible." May paused. "However, in either case I would avoid getting involved, at least for the moment."

Anri looked at her with surprise. "Why is that?"

"First of all because, as I said, we don't know all the circumstances. Second, rather like myself in your court, Guardiana is still essentially an outside to the continent. Emild may not appreciate having our army in their lands, even if it is to aid them. Last, and most important, Guardiana is too distant to respond promptly. By the time our army reached Emild, Cypress would have already stepped in to help. Tyber as well, since the queen of Emild is from their royal family. Even Sharland, if King Saul sees something to gain, and he probably will."

"What if you're wrong? What if the other nations decide to not commit to war with Iom until Guardiana has joined Emild's side?"

"Then Emild will undoubtedly be overrun before we can assist," May said sadly. "Emild's army is sizable, but unprepared for invasion. Iom will have taken out all their major strongholds in no time. In such an event I would have nothing but enthusiasm for the liberation of Emild, but haste would do us no good. Better to wait until we have a clear understanding of the situation." She pushed forth a smile. "Do not be aggrieved on Emild's account, Your Majesty. I am acquainted with the parents of Iom's new general, and to a lesser extent with the young man himself. He will not allow cruelty to be visited upon Emild's citizens."

"You are sure of that?"

"Quite sure, Your Majesty."

"Very well," Anri nodded. "Thank you for your advice."

"It is my pleasure, Your Majesty."

They were now at the entrance to the keep, and there they parted. May went off for a walk, while Anri went inside.

As she did, she spotted an attendant and caught his attention with a tilt of her hand. "Have Sir Ruce sent to my study immediately," she ordered.

The attendant saluted her and hurried off. There was a time when receiving an order from Queen Anri would have left any male grinning, trembling, and/or blushing like a lovestruck fool, but those days were gone. While age had tarnished her looks very little, it had nonetheless made her a less attractive prospect. Anri was glad of this; she had no interest in affection from any man but the one she'd lost in the war with Runefaust, and preferred simple discipline to flattery.

As she entered her study, she reflected on her conversation with May. It was tempting to read her unexpected opposition to aiding Emild as evidence that she was still under Iom's control, but two things ruled that out. First, though before their people King Amelo and Queen Gillian professed loyalty to Iom, Anri knew they were anything but devout. Iom would thus gain little to nothing from his nation conquering Emild, and May had to know that as well. Second, King Nicholas had assured her that May was free of Iom, and she didn't believe May could have pulled the wool over his eyes.

All the same, it was a bit odd. While May's reasoning was solid, nothing she said added up to a compelling reason to leave Emild to its fate.

At any rate, her own opinion remained unchanged. Had Guardiana gotten involved when Woldol began his coup, the war with Cypress would have been averted. And had Guardiana gotten involved when Darksol began working his influence, her father would still be alive.

In those cases, they'd had no way of knowing something ill was going on. But this time...

A knocking broke in on her thoughts.

"Come in."

The door opened; it was Ruce. "You wanted to see me, Your Majesty?"

"Yes. Sit down." He sat, propped his chin on his bent elbow, and looked at her expectantly. He seemed to know what was coming. "I've made up my mind, Ruce. I want you to be my heir."

He nodded at her. "Your Majesty, I think you ought to ask the input of a few more people in the court before you make a decision like that."

"I already have asked just about everyone, Ruce."

He nodded again. "And they all recommended your cousin, didn't they?"

Anri felt a sudden flash of anger. "Only because Ellen has been bribing them with promises of honors, promotions, and advantageous arranged marriages! She's so brazenly corrupt, even Ken has overheard her bribing a noble for his recommendation!"

Infuriatingly, Ruce nodded yet again. "Your Majesty, that just proves that she know how the game is played. Once you've informed her that she needs to be more discreet with her machinations, that can only make her a more effective ruler."

"And a more corrupt one!"

Ruce shrugged. "What difference does that make once she has what she wants, namely the throne? Where the welfare of a nation is concerned, better by far a corrupt ruler than an incompetent one."

"That's a deplorable attitude, and you know it," she returned with her usual coolness. "Besides, not everyone recommended her. Both Ken and May said you were the best choice."

"Which just further substantiates my suspicions about May. Ken is out of touch with the court, and biased due to his friendship with my father, so it's understandable that he picked the wrong man. May must know better."

"If you're suggesting that May has some evil scheme which revolves around you becoming king, you should know that you weren't her first choice. She recommended you only after I turned down her suggestion of Lord Andrew."

To her satisfaction, this time Ruce did not nod, smile, or shrug, but froze for a brief second. "That's... well..."

"I don't see how she could have anticipated my rejecting Lord Andrew. He'd be a fine successor in most respects, and I hadn't discussed his prospects as future ruler with anyone."

"Fair point," Ruce sighed. "Let's forget about May, then. Her opinion doesn't change the fact that you'd be going against nearly your entire court in you named me your heir. In fact, she's raised an interesting point. I hadn't known you considered Lord Andrew a worthy candidate for kingship."

Anri raised her visible eyebrow. "What of it?"

"Well, if you find me preferable to your cousin solely on the basis of moral integrity, then why not Lord Andrew?"

"So that's it," Anri said, in the manner of one who has solved a puzzle they've been working on for months.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You're not worried about whether the people will accept a dwarf king. You're just afraid of the responsibility that comes with ruling Guardiana. Otherwise you'd never have snatched so desperately at a poor alternative like Lord Andrew."

"A poor alternative? But you yourself said -"

"All I said was that he would be fine in most respects. The remaining respects count for too much. You can't expect me to believe people will find the notion of that niece of his on the throne any more palatable than a dwarf."

For a moment, Ruce looked startled. Then he chuckled. "You think I'm desperately snatching? First of all, my reasons for not wanting to be king don't matter – only the wisdom, or lack thereof, in your choice. Second, you're grossly exaggerating the importance people place on how likable the future ruler's personality is. Most people are mature enough to look for more substantial qualities in their monarch. Third, if you're really set on having an heir with no connection to your bloodline, Lord Andrew is far from the only one who would be better than me."

"Ruce," she said firmly. "I have no interest in discussing this any further. I've considered all the possibilities from every angle. I'm naming you my heir."

Ruce studied her face, and found only finality. He stood up with a weary sigh. "You're making an awful mistake, Your Majesty. I hope you realize that before it's too late to undo it."

With that, he excused himself and left the study.