wayfarers_lodge (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wayfarers_lodge) wrote2007-02-22 04:09 pm
wayfarers_lodge) wrote2007-02-22 04:09 pm
{Rosethorn} The Burden of the Crown - Moments in Time
The Hierarch's chair felt too big as Rosethorn wriggled in it, trying to get used to her new spot. She grimaced a little, hands falling to rest automatically on the arms
"Wonder if I can get a cushion for this thing..."
The Council room was silent and empty but for the echoes of her musings. The five chairs of the Councillors spread out before her, looking like spectres, grim promises of a future to come if she failed. She shivered anxiously, dismissing the thought quickly. She would not fail her people, not when they needed her.
The decision by the Counsilium had taken Rosethorn by surprise. She had intended to stand for the Hierarch chair, sure enough, but only to remind the Orderfolk that she would not stand to be left in the dark, her screams unheard, as so many other Apostates had been in the past. She had never expected the daffy bastards to let her sit, unopposed, in the highest chair in the room.
She smiled wryly as she considered what Fiacre would have said, if he had been there. He would have been proud, for sure, but would he have shook his head in despair at the capering of the Order mages, or crowed in triumph for his sprout? She wasn't sure anymore, but she knew he would smile at the thought of his Rosie, Hierarch of Sydney
It wasn't much of a position under the new Lex. A voice amongst the council and abroad, a tiebreaker, a figurehead and a target for the Seers that had done what a year of urging and fighting couldn't, and made the disparate mages of Sydney stand together, for once since the War. Her lip curled in anger as she recalled her opposite, the Seer called Dice. Smooth as paint poured on, he had laid open people's secrets and fears, he had taunted and threatened and jeered. She remembered falling back into the strengthened pool of calm that Kain had granted her, not letting her fury get the best of her and destroy everything her people had worked for. She remembered the coin that escaped her grasp, and heaving as her body rejected the Hermium within her, cleansing the heavy-metal poisoning. Last of all, she remembered Puck, body bruised and tender, his reputation teetering on the edge of ruin at the hands of those they hated.
They were her people now, no matter how ceremonial her role. Her Consilium. Her responsibility. She knew with absolute certainty, that while she didn't want to die for them, she would- and worse- if Fate asked it of her, for anyone of her bastards.
Alone in the Council room, Rosethorn buried her face in her hands, and moaned.
"Shit, what have I done?"
"Wonder if I can get a cushion for this thing..."
The Council room was silent and empty but for the echoes of her musings. The five chairs of the Councillors spread out before her, looking like spectres, grim promises of a future to come if she failed. She shivered anxiously, dismissing the thought quickly. She would not fail her people, not when they needed her.
The decision by the Counsilium had taken Rosethorn by surprise. She had intended to stand for the Hierarch chair, sure enough, but only to remind the Orderfolk that she would not stand to be left in the dark, her screams unheard, as so many other Apostates had been in the past. She had never expected the daffy bastards to let her sit, unopposed, in the highest chair in the room.
She smiled wryly as she considered what Fiacre would have said, if he had been there. He would have been proud, for sure, but would he have shook his head in despair at the capering of the Order mages, or crowed in triumph for his sprout? She wasn't sure anymore, but she knew he would smile at the thought of his Rosie, Hierarch of Sydney
It wasn't much of a position under the new Lex. A voice amongst the council and abroad, a tiebreaker, a figurehead and a target for the Seers that had done what a year of urging and fighting couldn't, and made the disparate mages of Sydney stand together, for once since the War. Her lip curled in anger as she recalled her opposite, the Seer called Dice. Smooth as paint poured on, he had laid open people's secrets and fears, he had taunted and threatened and jeered. She remembered falling back into the strengthened pool of calm that Kain had granted her, not letting her fury get the best of her and destroy everything her people had worked for. She remembered the coin that escaped her grasp, and heaving as her body rejected the Hermium within her, cleansing the heavy-metal poisoning. Last of all, she remembered Puck, body bruised and tender, his reputation teetering on the edge of ruin at the hands of those they hated.
They were her people now, no matter how ceremonial her role. Her Consilium. Her responsibility. She knew with absolute certainty, that while she didn't want to die for them, she would- and worse- if Fate asked it of her, for anyone of her bastards.
Alone in the Council room, Rosethorn buried her face in her hands, and moaned.
"Shit, what have I done?"
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You know this is what rash decisions will get you.
Good luck, Katie! :)
P.
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(Or would, if she weren't in freeze in crazy other planes of reality)
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So - OOC:
The position of Heirarch is not what it was.
It is not the final say on anything - that would be like the position of President in the US political system.
Instead (and sshhhh, don't tell anyone that this has happened - I was going on instinct, not planning), we've made it more like the Australian system, with representative candidates appointed to parliament (representing Paths rather than political interests [Orders] - still not sure that it was the right move), and the Heirarch (Prime Minister) being a representative figurehead of top-down planning and authority.
Ah, and what of the Lawkeeper?
Well, you know how the High Court, representing the people, can challenge the decisions of the Prime Minister (who are todays challengers to inappropriate social conventions such as MP3s? Why, celebrities, of course).
Y'see, the council is supposed to deliberate the opposing sides. We can be replaced as candidates far more easily than you can, by our own paths.
Think of what happens if I lose the next coin toss.
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But the position of Hierarch has a lot of tradition behind it. Most people don't understand it's not like being 'Prince'. It's First Speaker. First Target. The only power they have (or, more specifically, Rosethorn has) to make a decision is when people can't make one. Or something of the sort.
And, of course, the paths decisions are all dependant on the paths. I like the way the Acanthus and the Thysus did theirs, ebcause it's in keeping with their themes and elements- air and water, for those playing at home.
It's still a big thing. Much like the Prime Minister, she's going to be known now. And it engenders Mama Hen in her, because the people have faith in her- not a one of them said 'That's Bullshit'. It means she has to have faith in them back.
=^..^=
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Wish I knew a bit more about the story that went behind this, but.
Enjoyable to read anyway.