Russell's eyes flicked upward as his youngest son entered the room, it was unexpected. Charlie never attended council meetings unless his presence was requested and even then, he usually spent the entire time complaining like a child. He turns his attention to Santana for a moment but she didn't seem to notice. "Your husband is here," he informs her bluntly. The other council members were getting irritated by her presence, many believed that it wasn't her job to be here.
Santana blinked and looked up at Charlie, she smiles, she had let him sleep in this morning. He'd been exhausted. "Charlie," she pauses and leans forward when he enters her personal space and gently swipes some jam that's on the side of his lips and shakes her head. He smiles at her and she can't help but to gently press her lips against his, for a brief moment.
"Shouldn't you be playing with your horses?" Russell asks in a bored tone.
Charlie runs a hand through his short-clipped hair as he takes a seat beside his wife, "For the past two years, I've been informing you of the danger of Governor Motta, he's breaking your laws, and you turn a blind eye because Westerville practically pays for our war efforts. He's grown bold, and while I don't think he'll ever openly challenge you, it's become a problem and it's one of our own making."
"Nonsense, where' the proof that Governor Motta is guilty of what you accuse him of? It could easily be one of the lords—"
"The attempt on my wife's life, that you didn't take seriously," Charlie snaps at Lord Remmington. He turns back to his father. "If he had dared go after Rachel, you would have allowed Lucas to wipe Westerville off the face off the map."
"Don't make this about your petty rivalry with your brother. And as far as I'm concerned, his attempts on Santana's life are your fault. You were aware that Motta was angling to get you to marry his daughter," Russell pointed out. "Also, that's not proof."
"The proof is the money trail that Al Motta, has been leaving around. It's the captured rebels that have pointed to Al Motta, as financing their rebellions," Santana said briskly motioning to a servant to bring forth the reports that she had prepared.
"Preposterous!" Lord Remington began, only for him to stop when lightning shot past his ear, causing his hair to stand up on end.
"My wife speaks with my voice, and she will be respected," Charlie snaps at him. He turns to his father before he can say something reproachful. "You wish for me to take my responsibilities seriously, then I will. I will put down the rebellion, but we must look to see why the people were so easy to rebel in the first place. We must not punish those that are innocent or those that are caught up but the leaders, and we must listen to our people."
Santana took her queue from her husband and stands up, "The rapid expansion and the heavy taxes that immediately go into our military has exhausted many farmlands, especially with Prince Lucas's abilities killing crops. The people are hungry and dying, and they are being squeezed for every drop that they have. I believe that we should put a pause on our expansion, if only for a few years so that our empire can flourish, if we invest in education, and farms, we can increase production. If we built roads and had a militia guard these roads so that trade could continue unimpeded by bandits and the like, we'll open up villages, trade will be smoother. If all our citizens have coin in their pocket, then our coffers will swell anyway, you can continue your expansion."
Russell raises a brow, "Are you sure it's wise to have your wife speak on your behalf?"
"She's smarter than everyone else in the room, so I don't see why not?" Charlie retorted with ease as the door opened. Charlie turns half-expecting to see Lucas finally joining them but instead he sees Isabel's maid.
"Mommy!" She squeals loudly holding her hands out. The nurse places her on the ground and she makes a beeline for Santana.
A huge grin appears on Charlie's face as he scrambles down and extends his arms so Isabel can walk to him. "Hey there Isabel, it's daddy!"
Isabel ducks under his arm and passes him as she grabs onto the hems of Santana's dress.
Santana bit her lip to stop from laughing at her husband's misfortune and sweeps Isabel up in her arms, kissing her chubby cheeks. "You need to play with your daddy," she says looking at Charlie. "Or he's going to throw a tantrum."
"I do not throw tantrums!" Charlie insists.
"Ignore him," Santana says as she tries to slip Charlie Isabel, but her daughter holds on tighter. She sighs, "She likes the same type of food that you do."
Charlie blinked and looked at his daughter, "Cake?" He blinks when Isabel turns to him looking at him suspiciously. He grins, "Let's go to the kitchens and get cake and those little buns with jam, how does that sound Isabel?" Isabel stares at him some more before finally nodding and reaching out to him so that he could hold her. Charlie grins at Santana, "I'm an excellent provider."
Santana rolled her eyes but let him have this one as he picked Isabel up. She would check in on them later, to make sure that everything was alright, and he had the maid in question.
Charlie pauses for a moment turning to her, "Can you handle this?"
"Of course, have fun with Isabel," Santana says. "Not too much cake."
Russell watches for a moment, waiting until his son leaves before turning to Santana, "Since when has my son wanted to rule?"
"Since he had a child," Santana retorts, it was a lie. Charlie still didn't want to rule over anyone, but he had come around to the idea of taking over after Russell. "Now about Motta."
Russell frowned before nodding, declaring Santana as his voice was probably the most intelligent thing his son had ever done.
