11-25-2024, 09:43 PM
November 25th
Palace de Salad
With the Saladian elections less than a week away, one could forgive Bastien de Salad for being a bit nervous. After all, the upstart Toss de Salad Party was gaining a surprising amount of support. And if they won, the Marquis could find himself out of his palace. Perhaps even in a jail cell, if Leighton Taylor had his way.
Lounging on his throne, however, the Marquis seemed not even a little flustered. His hair, as always, was groomed and styled to perfection. His outfit, as always, was impeccably tailored to highlight his trim and well-maintained figure without a thread out of place. The Marquis idly bit on an apple as he looked at the latest report from Lord Steward Dominic Gardner. "You're worrying entirely too much, Dominic." Crunch. "I am beloved by the Saladian people. Hell, I'm practically a tourist attraction. Patenaude and the USP are doing just fine as well. He will win the election. I'm not going anywhere, no matter what Leighton and his little band of malcontents try to do in this election." Crunch.
Dominic looked at the Marquis, clearly more concerned than his boss. "With all due respect, sire, Leighton may be tapping into a more potent vein of discontent with the House of de Salad than we realize. Shouldn't we take him at least a little seriously?"
The Marquis looked up from his papers, sighing in a slightly condescending way. "Dominic. Listen carefully. I am not going anywhere."
The Steward caught the look the Marquis was giving him, and the light suddenly dawned on him. "Ah...I see, sire."
The Marquis smirked. "Good." Crunch.
---
Palace of Flowers, Xiomera
Empress Calhualyana looked over some notes on her tablet as her Minister of Security spoke. "Our efforts to influence the Saladian elections have been most fruitful, your Majesty. And at a pittance, I might add. Salad Land is such a small country, it costs practically nothing at all to run an operation against them, figuratively speaking." Tochuitli smiled as he gestured at a screen on the wall. "Our online operation has already nudged the polls back up three points in Patenaude's favor. We are seeing similar results for the Custodians we are backing in the Council elections."
Telchiuhtli, the Director of Imperial Intelligence, nodded in agreement. "If the current trend lines continue, Patenaude and the USP should win just convincingly enough to completely discredit Taylor and his little party. We should thus secure a more....agreeable government in Salad Land moving forward."
The Empress smiled broadly as she looked over the report. Leighton Taylor was a petty little politician from a petty little country. But that petty little country just happened to control a significant part of the international offshore banking system. That was a problem for Xiomera, as Taylor had proven when he had frozen Xiomeran assets with sanctions. That wasn't going to happen again. Taylor, gods (and Imperial Intelligence) willing, would lose and be out of politics. A useful puppet in the form of Patenaude would be Prime Minister. And the Marquis, who had already shown himself willing to deal with the Xiomerans when needed, would keep his throne. All for a relative pittance, as Tochuitli had said. The Xiomerans wouldn't even have to invade again or assassinate Taylor or do any other potentially eye-catching actions. And it would all have the veneer of a respectable democratic election. Who could argue with that result?
Calhualyana took a sip of her drink with a smile. I do so love elections.
Palace de Salad
With the Saladian elections less than a week away, one could forgive Bastien de Salad for being a bit nervous. After all, the upstart Toss de Salad Party was gaining a surprising amount of support. And if they won, the Marquis could find himself out of his palace. Perhaps even in a jail cell, if Leighton Taylor had his way.
Lounging on his throne, however, the Marquis seemed not even a little flustered. His hair, as always, was groomed and styled to perfection. His outfit, as always, was impeccably tailored to highlight his trim and well-maintained figure without a thread out of place. The Marquis idly bit on an apple as he looked at the latest report from Lord Steward Dominic Gardner. "You're worrying entirely too much, Dominic." Crunch. "I am beloved by the Saladian people. Hell, I'm practically a tourist attraction. Patenaude and the USP are doing just fine as well. He will win the election. I'm not going anywhere, no matter what Leighton and his little band of malcontents try to do in this election." Crunch.
Dominic looked at the Marquis, clearly more concerned than his boss. "With all due respect, sire, Leighton may be tapping into a more potent vein of discontent with the House of de Salad than we realize. Shouldn't we take him at least a little seriously?"
The Marquis looked up from his papers, sighing in a slightly condescending way. "Dominic. Listen carefully. I am not going anywhere."
The Steward caught the look the Marquis was giving him, and the light suddenly dawned on him. "Ah...I see, sire."
The Marquis smirked. "Good." Crunch.
---
Palace of Flowers, Xiomera
Empress Calhualyana looked over some notes on her tablet as her Minister of Security spoke. "Our efforts to influence the Saladian elections have been most fruitful, your Majesty. And at a pittance, I might add. Salad Land is such a small country, it costs practically nothing at all to run an operation against them, figuratively speaking." Tochuitli smiled as he gestured at a screen on the wall. "Our online operation has already nudged the polls back up three points in Patenaude's favor. We are seeing similar results for the Custodians we are backing in the Council elections."
Telchiuhtli, the Director of Imperial Intelligence, nodded in agreement. "If the current trend lines continue, Patenaude and the USP should win just convincingly enough to completely discredit Taylor and his little party. We should thus secure a more....agreeable government in Salad Land moving forward."
The Empress smiled broadly as she looked over the report. Leighton Taylor was a petty little politician from a petty little country. But that petty little country just happened to control a significant part of the international offshore banking system. That was a problem for Xiomera, as Taylor had proven when he had frozen Xiomeran assets with sanctions. That wasn't going to happen again. Taylor, gods (and Imperial Intelligence) willing, would lose and be out of politics. A useful puppet in the form of Patenaude would be Prime Minister. And the Marquis, who had already shown himself willing to deal with the Xiomerans when needed, would keep his throne. All for a relative pittance, as Tochuitli had said. The Xiomerans wouldn't even have to invade again or assassinate Taylor or do any other potentially eye-catching actions. And it would all have the veneer of a respectable democratic election. Who could argue with that result?
Calhualyana took a sip of her drink with a smile. I do so love elections.
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