Allied (Ruined #3)(79)

“And you’re fine with it? You understand that you’ll require approval from the elected representatives for almost everything? And they will have the power to abolish the monarchy entirely, if the issue is supported by enough citizens.”

“I understand.”

“Good. In terms of representatives, we don’t agree that the number of representatives be determined by the population of the province. That means the Ruined will have one representative to dozens of Lera representatives. Our vote will mean nothing. We need more than one.”

“How many more?” Franco asked.

“Six, with the agreement that you need at least three Ruined votes to pass any law.”

“But there are so few of you,” Danna protested. “Why should you be overrepresented in our government?”

“Because we don’t trust you,” Aren said. “If you allow us only one seat, what’s to stop you from overruling us at every turn? What’s to stop you from blocking every policy that benefits the Ruined?”

Danna rubbed her forehead. “I see your point, but I still think it will be a tough sell to the people.”

“It wouldn’t be permanent. We could revisit the issue in ten, twenty years.”

“It’s not unreasonable,” Galo said. “You can’t give them one seat. That’s barely symbolic, and you know it.”

Julieta shifted, her lips pursed. “Fine. We’ll discuss six. What’s next?”

Em caught Galo’s eye and nodded slightly in gratitude. He smiled.

“Each citizen of Lera has certain rights,” Aren said. “We want all those rights, as well as two Ruined amendments. First, that the mere possession of Ruined power is not considered a crime.”

The advisers all looked at Cas. He nodded.

“Agreed,” Franco said.

“Second, that a human can never attempt to harness or force a Ruined to use their power.”

Franco nodded. “We would also have something to add. A Ruined can never use their power on a human without their consent.”

“Yes,” Aren said. “But I’d want to see what the punishments for that should be. A Ruined who kills someone shouldn’t be punished in the same way as one who, say, made a man slap himself in the face.”

“Agreed,” Franco said, taking note of something.

They ran through several more points—Ruined service in the royal guard and military, future housing and reparations for lost land and property, and Ruined access to jobs and education. They came back around to elected representatives, and what powers the monarch could still hold.

“And we’d need to determine what power the queen of Lera would hold,” Franco said. “If that’s going to be Emelina, we can’t allow her to hold the same powers as the king.”

Beside her, Cas stiffened. “Why not?”

“We can’t tell the people that Emelina Flores has the power to command the Lera army,” Franco said. His tone was almost apologetic as he looked at Em. “She would be able to veto laws. Dismiss representatives if she saw fit. None of that will sit well with the people. We fear they may riot. Or abolish the monarchy. We’d be giving them the power to do that.”

“What power would she have?” Mariana asked, leaning forward, eyebrows drawn together.

“The queen or king consort of Lera has many ceremonial duties, and you’d be free to take up any projects you like here in Royal City. The previous queen ran a program to feed hungry children and worked with the Royal City Watch, which is our local law enforcement in the city. You would be free to attend most meetings with Cas, if you wanted, but you wouldn’t be there in any official capacity.”

“No,” Mariana said.

“No,” Gisela echoed.

“Em is the queen of Ruina,” Aren said. “You have never had a monarch marry another monarch. It’s not the same.”

“Princess Mary agreed to these terms,” Danna said.

“I don’t care what the princess of Vallos did,” Gisela said. “Even with most of the Ruined dead, we’re more powerful than Vallos ever was.”

“Emelina conspired with Olso to attack Lera,” Julieta said. “We’re stripping the Lera monarchy of power as punishment for King Salomir’s actions, but there are no consequences for Emelina.”

“We consider the extermination of almost every Ruined alive to be consequence enough,” Aren said tightly.

Em glanced at Cas, swallowing down a lump in her throat. On the one hand, she didn’t necessarily want to be merely a queen consort. On the other, perhaps they had a point. He slipped his hand into hers and squeezed.

“You should have talked to me about this before,” he said, turning to the advisers. “Because I don’t agree.”

“Your Majesty—”

“Em and I will have the same powers. If that means you remove more powers from the monarchy, then that’s what you’ll have to do.” He looked at her. “If that’s all right with Em.”

She squeezed his hand in return. “That sounds fair to me.” She turned her gaze to the others at the table, narrowing her eyes. “If you don’t agree, just remember that if I don’t marry Cas, I still remain queen of the Ruined. And I could also run to be a representative of the Ruined in the Lera government. If I did both, some might say I had more power than the king.”