A/N: Thank you, infoplease.com! A few phrases might be called plagiarism, but I maintain that the characters made me do it.

{}={}={}

The meeting was over. Many of the top nobles in the country had left grumbling about the inability of the people to rule themselves, but many others had been swayed by Gary's enthusiastic endorsement of the idea. Now the room was nearly empty, with one prime minister, one scholar, one mage, and one female warrior still sitting around the long table.

"We all know what Gary and Myles want," said Alanna practically. "And I'm all in favor of trying this out, as long as I don't have anything to do with it. But what about you, Numair? Do you think that this could honestly work?"

"I know it could!" Numair replied earnestly. "We won't be the first nation to abolish the autocracy; Grecia tried it seven hundred years ago before being conquered by the Carthaki Empire. They had a form of representative government, based on the idea that certain civil liberties cannot…mmph!"

Alanna placed a hand firmly over Numair's mouth.

"I'll count you as a yes," Gary said helpfully as a knock sounded at the door. Myles got up to open it, and a squire entered, balancing a tray of tea.

"I thought you'd never get here, Neal," said Alanna. Neal smiled at everyone in the room and placed the tray on the table.

"I had some trouble getting through the halls," he said. "There are people everywhere, standing around and arguing, and messengers rushing all over the place."

"Has anyone told you what's going on here, Neal?" asked Myles. Neal shook his head, and Gary briefly summed up the points discussed during the meeting.

"You mean we're going to do what the Grecians did, seven hundred years ago?" he asked, excited. "Establish equality of opportunity and—"

His knight-master gave him a look that could freeze the sun. "Um, I'll just be pouring the tea now, then?" he mumbled. Numair gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I guess the messages are going out," Myles commented. "But what can we do with all the people when they arrive?'

"We can open up all the spare rooms in the palace," Gary said. "There should be enough, and if not, we'll reserve some inns in the city. And maybe some towns will just pick someone who already lives at the palace—a noble or someone."

"Neal, can you find Salma and tell her to start airing out the rooms?" Alanna asked. Her squire nodded and left.

"How long do we have?" Numair asked. "I never got to read a copy of the announcement."

"We're going to start our meetings in six months," Myles said, "but we can expect people to start arriving much earlier."

"I hope we don't have to receive them with fancy parties and useless banquets," Alanna grumbled. Gary shook his head.

"This is too serious for frivolity," he said solemnly. "I think everyone knows that."

{}={}={}

Kel silently poured tea for the men sitting in Raoul's sitting room. None of them paid any attention to her, although many would have sneered insults and challenges had circumstances been different.

"…destroy everything Jon's built up over the years," Raoul was saying. The men were nodding in agreement.

"Our people just aren't competent enough to make these decisions," Lord Wyldon of Cavall put in. "There's a reason why things have been left to nobles for centuries."

"I don't think they're incapable—" Raoul amended, but Imrah of Legann interrupted, intransigently malingering Raoul's good intentions.

"This insane idea is going to ruin our kingdom. We need to find our supporters; anyone who wants to keep the monarchy, or even anyone who's unsure. We need to get them on our side, and we need to do it as soon as we can."

"Now wait a minute!" Raoul said. "I never said I wanted to undermine what Gary's trying to do. I'm just not sure it's entirely wise."

"It's worse than that," said Wyldon, "it's intrinsically foolish. It must be stopped."

{}={}={}

It had been yet another late night for the people who were currently holding Tortall together. Gary and Alanna discussed the meetings, and how they could be run most efficiently and fairly, while Numair and Myles made themselves useful in the library.

"We can't have everyone there every day," Alanna argued. "There just isn't enough room."

"Princes and kings," Numair called from the back of the room.

"Was that supposed to be helpful?" Alanna retorted. She shook her head and said to Gary, "He can't say anything useful while he's reading. Just bits and pieces."

"Princes and kings," Gary mused. "Princes become kings, coronations…the Hall of Crowns! Good idea, Numair!" he called, but Numair was too deeply immersed in his book to notice.

"We could move around all the benches, and make it so that everyone can see each other—"

"The benches are stone," Gary pointed out. "Then again, you mages can handle that, can't you? If not, I guess we could put a floor over them at waist height…"

"We can do it," Alanna assured him. "The question is, is there enough room around the outside to hold everyone?"

"We need to find a map, and make an estimate of attendance," Gary said. "If Myles and Numair aren't on that, tell them to get moving."

{}={}={}

"Anything interesting?" Kel hissed. Neal, who was listening at the keyhole and reporting to his fellow squires, shook his head.

"Planning about how to arrange the people and where to hold the talks," he said.

"Boring," commented Owen.

"I don't know what you expected," Cleon argued. "It's not like they're really going to be figuring things out. All the action will take place at the meeting."

The squires were forced to leap away from the door to the library when they heard loud footsteps down the hall. Hiding in the shadows, they were able to see the owners of the noisy shoes. First in line was Salma, followed by two country men looking very uncomfortable in their grand surroundings.

"The first of them are here," Neal commented unnecessarily.

{}={}={}

A/N: That was a little disjointed, a little longwinded, and pretty pointless, but I thought there were some things that needed to be said. I want your reviews anyway! And here's a paraphrased quote which should ring a bell with you (if you've been following current crises at all)…

He who gives up his liberties for his safety will get nothing and deserves neither.

~Benjamin Franklin