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DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

Balance of Power--Chapter Eighteen

Started by Evie, November 01, 2015, 07:16:10 PM

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Evie

QuoteThe joke was the man asserting that "KMR" was now "QMR", not being aware that "KMR" stood for Kit Maintenance Requirement.

LOL!  It's not been changed to "Quit Maintenance Requirement"?   ;)

QuoteHM doesn't change the initials, although I wouldn't have thought the abbreviation to that would be used very often except in writing. Verbally it doesn't shorten Her/His Majesty very much (three syllables down to two, no more so than saying 'the Queen').

You mean four syllables down to two, don't you?  From "Her-Ma-jes-ty" to "Aitch-Em"?

QuoteOn another note it does seem that the government of Gwynedd is getting along very well without Sophia seeming to participate very much. In the short term she's not had much chance to, but it does suggest that the power of the crown has diminished over the years, much as it has in the UK although probably not via the same road (local versions of the Glorious Revolution, Hanoverian Succession, etc).

Remember, only a week has passed since Araxelle's death, and Sophia was only kept in hiding for the first three days of that period, albeit with crucial contacts being maintained between herself and her Privy and Great Councils during the period of emergency, such as that initial broadcast to assure her people that she and the Duke of Corwyn had survived the bombing and all of the behind-the-scenes stuff her armsmen, Lord Arilan, and the Lord Chamberlain have been doing on her behalf to keep communication flowing between the Queen and the various government ministries. After she is safely ensconced at Eirian House, we can assume she's resumed a firm grip on the reins again, although in turn I'm sure some responsibilities have been delegated more so than usual to allow her some personal space to grieve and find her feet a bit.  If I haven't made much mention of the continuing day-to-day governance of the Kingdom, that's primarily because my main focus is on the impact the tragic events have on the individual people who are the focus of this story, not so much on how it affected the Kingdom at large, although I do drop little bits of that in from time to time.

I actually envision Sophia having more actual power than a typical modern-day monarch, albeit not as much as a medieval monarch such as Kelson might have had, with her delegating most of the more mundane, everyday sorts of decisions to her various governmental ministries, but taking a very active role in the more crucial decisions that need to be made at top level.  Due to the historical differences between the UK and Gwynedd, there are some differences in how the monarchy has evolved.  Instead of a Parliament consisting of a House of Commons and a House of Lords, I envision more of a Great Council and Privy Council system having evolved over the centuries, although there would be commoners represented on each of those Councils nowadays, so governance of the Kingdom is not strictly in the hands of the aristocracy anymore and hasn't been for several centuries. But her Councils serve to advise her, they don't run the whole show, nor does she simply rubber-stamp their decisions.

Even in the height of the Medieval Age, though, I very much doubt that the entire Kingdom would have run aground if, say, Kelson had been bedridden with the flu for a week and had to delegate more responsibility to his Council or send his directives via squires and couriers for a few days.  I'm sure that during the period between Brion's death and Kelson's Coronation, Jehana probably made several administrative decisions in her capacity as Regent, for that matter.  We just never see that side of things because it's not relevant to the main story.  The closest thing we see in canon to a parallel circumstance (that comes to my mind, anyway) is when Kelson goes missing and is presumed dead.  Even in the chaos that follows, with Nigel's apparent inheritance of the Kingdom ending tragically with his incapacitation and Conall's abrupt takeover, the capital might have been reeling in shock a bit, but day-to-day governance seems to have continued on with barely more than a hiccup, so far as we can tell anyway.

QuoteOne might expect the Republicans, such as there are, to make much of the succession tangle between Morgan and Sophia.

One might, if that were to become public knowledge, but the only republican who knows about this tangle at present is Elspeth McIntyre, and her vows to the Council would prevent her from making that knowledge public, especially since there'd be little doubt where the information leak originated! (For those in the US who might be wondering what US political parties have to do with anything, drakensis is referring to 'republicans' in the UK sense, meaning those in favor of Gwynedd becoming a republic rather than remaining a monarchy. And even Elspeth, despite her anti-monarchial leanings, has reasons to prefer the matter left well enough alone, as we will see in a later chapter.)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Laurna

It is also the Christmas season, a time of year where most western governments "close down" for the season and do not continue to make new laws. If the modern Gwynedd is true to the medieval counterpart, they will be in the midst of Yuletide season ending with a great Twelfth Night celebration. Albeit this year in Gwynedd that will be more of a mourning celebration or at least a celebration of those that are still living (giving that there still may be tragedy ahead) than a party. So, this would naturally be the slowest time for the working government, allowing Queen Sophia time to get her barrings.
May her reign be long and prosperous.
May your horses have wings and fly!