Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
She’d read the constitution, of course. History, and in particular Loa Malian history, was a subject she enjoyed. Since becoming the head of the country’s education department, she spent her time reviewing public school books. She didn’t remember the law, however. “I’ve never heard of it.”
Her majesty seemed to relax a bit, as though she’d half expected Day to run for the hills. “I’m not surprised. Few people outside of constitutional lawyers have, but I’ve been assured that it will hold and that it’s perfectly legal. The Law of Rational Succession states that the king can be forced to marry or give up his throne if he has not selected a bride by his twentieth birthday.”
“Twenty?” Kash was thirty-five.
“Yes, well, it was written long ago when men and women were expected to marry and reproduce at a young age,” the queen explained. “I’ve given him fifteen years but there’s no end in sight. According to the law, the king or queen’s parents have the right to select a proper spouse, and the wedding must take place within two weeks of the invocation or the king’s crown is forfeit. It was placed into law in an attempt to avoid the kind of trouble that comes from the line of succession being broken. There is also a clause about being able to remove a monarch who will not abide by the constitution or one who is too sick to care for the people.”
“Has it ever been used?”
The queen shook her head. “It has never been invoked before. Now, I am going to assume that my son will work to block me, but I’ve got a legal team on that as well. Changing the constitution will require roughly three years. I can end the monarchy in two weeks. The only place for the crown to go is to my nephew, Chapal, and he will refuse it. He has already signed the documents of abdication in case Kashmir proves stubborn.”
End the monarchy? Day tried to process the idea. The Kamdars had held the crown for centuries. The family had been the one to put into place the constitution that protected the citizens—even from a bad king. Kash’s grandfather had been the one who shared the revenue from the country’s oil with every Loa Malian, making them the wealthiest citizenship in the world.
Loa Mali had a parliament, but the crown worked hand in hand with them and the king could have the final say if he chose to use his power.
Not that King Kash paid much attention anymore. He was far too busy running around the world having his picture taken at parties.
“You would have us move to a purely representative government? I don’t know if that is a smart move, Your Majesty. Some people in this country are still extremely set in their ways. I spent all morning arguing with a group of elected officials who believe a woman’s place is in the home and that educating our girls in anything beyond how to keep a house is a waste of time.”
The queen’s lips curled up in an encouraging smile. “Excellent. As queen, you will be able to direct education from a much more powerful position. They won’t be able to refuse you. Smile when you force them to eat crow, darling. That is the one thing we shall have to work on. You frown far too much. I know it’s not proper to ask a woman to smile these days, but a queen is different. You must never allow them to see anything but strength. A good smile while you’re gutting some idiot’s argument is a perfect show of strength. Come along. Give me one. I know you can do it.”
What surreal dream was she having? She was going to wake up any minute. She had to. “Your Majesty, I don’t understand.”
“It’s easy. Look.” The queen’s mouth curled up in a restrained smile. “You see, the key is to not look too joyous. Save that for moments when you need the public to see you as a woman and not a queen. Those times come too. The key is knowing when and how to use the power to its best effect.”
“What?”
The queen waved away the question. “I know you young people love your resting bitchy faces, but you have to save that for particular people. Like those men today. You may use this bitchy face on them to show your queenly power, though I assure you smiling will set them off their games more. And don’t let the cameras catch you frowning or they do those miming things on the Internet now. There was a terrible one of me and some Harry Potter character. If you smile, they can’t do this to you.”
Day had seen it. Some Potter fan had likened the queen to Professor McGonagall. It had been Day’s screensaver for over a month.