The Unwilling Warlord loe-3 Read online

  Sterren stared at her. He realized what he had just done. In admitting that he had arranged for the Council to have absolute power, he had tacitly admitted that he, himself, had the authority to grant such power; he could hardly deny the Council’s right to return it. He fumed for a moment, then burst out, “I am not going to be an emperor!”

  “As you wish, your Majesty,” she said, bowing. “Tell us then what title you prefer.”

  “Vond is the emperor,” he pointed out. “I can’t be emperor.”

  “Vond is gone,” Lady Kalira replied.

  He looked over the seven faces before him, all of them determined. “You all want me in charge?” he demanded.

  All seven nodded, but he thought one or two might have hesitated.

  “Suppose I refuse?”

  “If you refuse, your Majesty,” Lady Kalira said, “I’m afraid that I will be forced to resign from the Council, and I believe several others will resign as well.”

  He looked over the faces and saw no hint of yielding.

  Lady Kalira said, “Need I point out that if the Council resigns, the Empire will fall apart? I expect that the old kingdoms would revive, and that you would probably be considered a traitor by the nobility of Semma.”

  That was true enough, and Princess Shirrin was one of those nobles.

  Besides, he thought the Empire was a good thing, he saw no point to all the petty little kingdoms it had replaced.

  “Oh, hell,” he said. “You could appoint me regent, I suppose.”

  Smiles of varying intensity appeared on four of the seven faces; the other three he couldn’t read. “Lady Kalira will serve as my chancellor and vice-regent, of course,” he said.

  Her smile had been an intermediate one; it vanished completely, and she opened her mouth to protest.

  Then she stopped as she saw the look of satisfaction on his face.

  “As your Majesty wishes,” she said, reluctantly. She hesitated. “Will you be moving back into the Imperial Palace?”

  “Let me think it over,” he said. He stepped back into the room and waved in dismissal. “You may go,” he said.

  The councillors turned away, when a thought occurred to him. “Lady Kalira!” he called.

  She turned and waited as the others continued down the stairs.

  “That vote,” he asked, “was it really unanimous?”

  She smiled. “On the second ballot,” she said. Then she turned and headed for the stairs.

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