05-14-2023, 04:58 PM
Office of the President of Kerlile
Present Day
“Thank you for coming, Claire,” President Rebecca Arnott of Kerlile said to her sister, gesturing for her to take a seat.
“How may I assist you, Madam President?” asked General Claire Arnott, one of the highest-ranking members of the Kerlian military, who had earned her position without asking a single favour from her family.
“Please, Claire, we don’t need to be so formal. This isn’t military business.”
Claire relaxed a little. “What’s going on?”
“We need to talk about the succession. Given she has no daughters, you are currently Rosemary’s heir. I am sure you’ve heard what happened at the Patel Estate?”
Claire nodded. “But surely she will produce an heir before it becomes necessary? She is only twenty-three. Or has she discovered a fertility issue?”
“No, no, as far as I know she’s never even been tested. She has, however, informed me that she doesn’t intend to consider having children until she is in her thirties. And, well, if her conduct continues as it has been, I fear she will not reach that age.”
The President’s words were blunt for one speaking of the death of her young only daughter. But Rebecca was a pragmatist, and she understood Kerlian politics – both the risks and the rewards. If Rosemary continued as she was, she would face the wrong end of an assassin one of these days. Indeed, the President wasn’t quite sure that Rosemary hadn’t already incurred sufficient wrath.
“I don’t wish to be blunt, Rebecca, but I do not want to become a Councillor, and my daughters are unlikely to be keen on the idea either. Didn’t you have eggs frozen a while ago? Could you have another child?”
“Trust me, I’m already looking into the idea,” Rebecca said. “But I expect that I am also a target of certain people with proclivities for the hiring of assassins. If something should happen before – or, indeed, before any such baby reaches the age of fourteen – then I do hope that you will continue my policies? Also, remind me, which of your daughters is eldest again?”
Claire had a set of fifteen-year-old identical triplets. The girls were still students at the Maytown Academy, and not one of them had yet been arrested at an anti-torture demonstration. Rebecca suspected that meant none of them was particularly interested in politics.
“That would be Annabelle,” Claire replied. “Though she did once tell me that she would rather die than sit on the Council, so I would rather avoid such a scenario. She wants to become – please don’t yell at me – a ballet dancer.”
“Oh my Goddess, please tell me you rescinded her OMCP?”
“She didn’t have one in the first place! I have no idea where she got the idea from!”
The pair of very powerful sisters both continued performing exaggerated horror for a minute before they collapsed into laughter. Rebecca pulled out a bottle of Xiomeran wine and poured both of them a glass. They relaxed, updating each other on matters lighter than the possible assassination(s) of members of their family. There was, however, few light matters to discuss in the Matriarchy, and the conversation veered darker again quicker than either would have liked.
“Okay, so, please tell me truthfully – was it you who had Anita Patel killed?” Claire asked.
“Goddess no!” Rebecca snorted. “I’m not that stupid.”
“Really? Because Natalia Hart is convinced it was you. She told me as such when I had to go tell her little private army to get the hell away from the boundary with Primrose Region before she started a civil war,” Claire eyed her sister.
“Wait, what?” Rebecca said, sitting up straighter. “Are you having me on?”
“She even said she told Rosemary to ask you after the Patel Estate affair. I mean, come on Rebecca, it’s hardly the most unlikely thing. After all, she killed our father,” Claire counted out one finger. “And she made our brothers disappear,” she added a second. “And Hale keeps saying you only became a reformist because you thought Patel would kill you,” she added a third. “Oh, and the whole coup you attempted before the Haven talks.”
“Claire, I didn’t kill her,” Rebecca said seriously. “But if Hart is making those connections, and you are making them, then the Patels probably are as well. I didn’t kill her, but neither did Robinson and they already murdered a bunch of random Zongongian postal workers. I didn’t kill her, but if the Patels think I did, then Rosemary and I are in even more danger than I thought we were.”
“Who else knows everything? The coup, the murders, the disappearances?” Claire asked.
“Everyone knows about the disappearances. I doubt many know about our father; I killed the priestess who told the Patels about our brothers in the first place. The coup? Well, the only Patel in the room was Anita but she probably told Nirmala.”
“What do we do?” Claire asked, all business now. “You can’t leave the country; neither can Rosemary. The Council Chamber will not be safe. We cannot ask for assistance from anywhere else; everyone either hates Kerlile now or would side against reform.”
“Claire, I need you to take Rosemary somewhere they won’t find her until we clear this up. We have to find out who actually killed Anita Patel. That’s the only way we can stay safe. I can’t go anywhere; it would look suspicious. But Rosemary hiding will just make people think that she’s afraid after the Estate matter.”
“Within or outside of Kerlile?” Claire asked.
“Within; we can’t risk this spreading. We must do something about this image of the Council as capricious and obsessed with killing each other. True or not, it is a bad look. And, of course, assassinations in democracies are seen as one-off matters even when they happen ten times; but we have two deaths and suddenly we’re an assassin’s paradise! Anyway, Claire, be quick. We don’t know when the Patels will work things out.”
Claire nodded and left, getting in her car and heading for Hazelton where Rosemary tended to spend weekends. Hazelton was, of course, in Primrose Region. The Patel region. She had to hope she wouldn’t be too late. And that Rebecca was telling the truth: Claire was not entirely sure she hadn’t been behind Patel’s death.
PREVIOUSLY…
"No, nobody else is coming," sighed Arnott.
"Your sister..." the minister began.
"Is off at war. And my biological brothers have disappeared. Patel's doing, no doubt."
(Have I Got Coups for You, 25 Aug 2018)
*
Anita Patel stood up swiftly, her pace matched by Rebecca Arnott. Before anyone else could blink, the pair were pointing pistols at each other.
"So, this is how you want to play it, Arnott?"
"Tell me where my family is and I will not kill you."
"Your sister is off at war, your mother is dead, your daughter is in school."
"You know who I mean."
"They are not your family, Arnott. And if you think you will get out of this room alive, you are sorely mistaken." (Have I Got Coups for You, 28 Aug 2018)
*
“Anita Patel will kill me, the way she’s killed so many of my family. You want honesty, Jennifer? I do this out of my own self-interest. But you, you want the same things. Sure, you want them out of ‘morality’ and doing the ‘right thing’, but at the end of the day, if we work together, we can both get what we want.” (Have I Got Coups for You, 3 Oct 2018)
*
Two men were arrested on suspicion of being Rebecca Arnott’s biological brothers, although it is not clear what they will be charged with. The men, aged 47 and 50, were found on land owned by the Patel family. They are being held in an undisclosed location. (Kerlian News Service, 25 Jul 2019)
Present Day
“Thank you for coming, Claire,” President Rebecca Arnott of Kerlile said to her sister, gesturing for her to take a seat.
“How may I assist you, Madam President?” asked General Claire Arnott, one of the highest-ranking members of the Kerlian military, who had earned her position without asking a single favour from her family.
“Please, Claire, we don’t need to be so formal. This isn’t military business.”
Claire relaxed a little. “What’s going on?”
“We need to talk about the succession. Given she has no daughters, you are currently Rosemary’s heir. I am sure you’ve heard what happened at the Patel Estate?”
Claire nodded. “But surely she will produce an heir before it becomes necessary? She is only twenty-three. Or has she discovered a fertility issue?”
“No, no, as far as I know she’s never even been tested. She has, however, informed me that she doesn’t intend to consider having children until she is in her thirties. And, well, if her conduct continues as it has been, I fear she will not reach that age.”
The President’s words were blunt for one speaking of the death of her young only daughter. But Rebecca was a pragmatist, and she understood Kerlian politics – both the risks and the rewards. If Rosemary continued as she was, she would face the wrong end of an assassin one of these days. Indeed, the President wasn’t quite sure that Rosemary hadn’t already incurred sufficient wrath.
“I don’t wish to be blunt, Rebecca, but I do not want to become a Councillor, and my daughters are unlikely to be keen on the idea either. Didn’t you have eggs frozen a while ago? Could you have another child?”
“Trust me, I’m already looking into the idea,” Rebecca said. “But I expect that I am also a target of certain people with proclivities for the hiring of assassins. If something should happen before – or, indeed, before any such baby reaches the age of fourteen – then I do hope that you will continue my policies? Also, remind me, which of your daughters is eldest again?”
Claire had a set of fifteen-year-old identical triplets. The girls were still students at the Maytown Academy, and not one of them had yet been arrested at an anti-torture demonstration. Rebecca suspected that meant none of them was particularly interested in politics.
“That would be Annabelle,” Claire replied. “Though she did once tell me that she would rather die than sit on the Council, so I would rather avoid such a scenario. She wants to become – please don’t yell at me – a ballet dancer.”
“Oh my Goddess, please tell me you rescinded her OMCP?”
“She didn’t have one in the first place! I have no idea where she got the idea from!”
The pair of very powerful sisters both continued performing exaggerated horror for a minute before they collapsed into laughter. Rebecca pulled out a bottle of Xiomeran wine and poured both of them a glass. They relaxed, updating each other on matters lighter than the possible assassination(s) of members of their family. There was, however, few light matters to discuss in the Matriarchy, and the conversation veered darker again quicker than either would have liked.
“Okay, so, please tell me truthfully – was it you who had Anita Patel killed?” Claire asked.
“Goddess no!” Rebecca snorted. “I’m not that stupid.”
“Really? Because Natalia Hart is convinced it was you. She told me as such when I had to go tell her little private army to get the hell away from the boundary with Primrose Region before she started a civil war,” Claire eyed her sister.
“Wait, what?” Rebecca said, sitting up straighter. “Are you having me on?”
“She even said she told Rosemary to ask you after the Patel Estate affair. I mean, come on Rebecca, it’s hardly the most unlikely thing. After all, she killed our father,” Claire counted out one finger. “And she made our brothers disappear,” she added a second. “And Hale keeps saying you only became a reformist because you thought Patel would kill you,” she added a third. “Oh, and the whole coup you attempted before the Haven talks.”
“Claire, I didn’t kill her,” Rebecca said seriously. “But if Hart is making those connections, and you are making them, then the Patels probably are as well. I didn’t kill her, but neither did Robinson and they already murdered a bunch of random Zongongian postal workers. I didn’t kill her, but if the Patels think I did, then Rosemary and I are in even more danger than I thought we were.”
“Who else knows everything? The coup, the murders, the disappearances?” Claire asked.
“Everyone knows about the disappearances. I doubt many know about our father; I killed the priestess who told the Patels about our brothers in the first place. The coup? Well, the only Patel in the room was Anita but she probably told Nirmala.”
“What do we do?” Claire asked, all business now. “You can’t leave the country; neither can Rosemary. The Council Chamber will not be safe. We cannot ask for assistance from anywhere else; everyone either hates Kerlile now or would side against reform.”
“Claire, I need you to take Rosemary somewhere they won’t find her until we clear this up. We have to find out who actually killed Anita Patel. That’s the only way we can stay safe. I can’t go anywhere; it would look suspicious. But Rosemary hiding will just make people think that she’s afraid after the Estate matter.”
“Within or outside of Kerlile?” Claire asked.
“Within; we can’t risk this spreading. We must do something about this image of the Council as capricious and obsessed with killing each other. True or not, it is a bad look. And, of course, assassinations in democracies are seen as one-off matters even when they happen ten times; but we have two deaths and suddenly we’re an assassin’s paradise! Anyway, Claire, be quick. We don’t know when the Patels will work things out.”
Claire nodded and left, getting in her car and heading for Hazelton where Rosemary tended to spend weekends. Hazelton was, of course, in Primrose Region. The Patel region. She had to hope she wouldn’t be too late. And that Rebecca was telling the truth: Claire was not entirely sure she hadn’t been behind Patel’s death.
PREVIOUSLY…
"No, nobody else is coming," sighed Arnott.
"Your sister..." the minister began.
"Is off at war. And my biological brothers have disappeared. Patel's doing, no doubt."
(Have I Got Coups for You, 25 Aug 2018)
*
Anita Patel stood up swiftly, her pace matched by Rebecca Arnott. Before anyone else could blink, the pair were pointing pistols at each other.
"So, this is how you want to play it, Arnott?"
"Tell me where my family is and I will not kill you."
"Your sister is off at war, your mother is dead, your daughter is in school."
"You know who I mean."
"They are not your family, Arnott. And if you think you will get out of this room alive, you are sorely mistaken." (Have I Got Coups for You, 28 Aug 2018)
*
“Anita Patel will kill me, the way she’s killed so many of my family. You want honesty, Jennifer? I do this out of my own self-interest. But you, you want the same things. Sure, you want them out of ‘morality’ and doing the ‘right thing’, but at the end of the day, if we work together, we can both get what we want.” (Have I Got Coups for You, 3 Oct 2018)
*
Two men were arrested on suspicion of being Rebecca Arnott’s biological brothers, although it is not clear what they will be charged with. The men, aged 47 and 50, were found on land owned by the Patel family. They are being held in an undisclosed location. (Kerlian News Service, 25 Jul 2019)
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax