hand is the bowl that will determine the result of the vote of no confidence. If you have confidence in the Queen, please vote white. If you do not, then please, vote black. On my left hand is the bowl to determine the endorsement, or not, of Lord Courtenay as King. If you would support Lord Courtenay in that respect, use white. If you would not, vote black.'
Ysabel remained in her seat, her head in her hands, scarcely believing the play that was unfolding in front of her eyes. This was a dream, she told herself, and she would awaken soon. Despite the words, and as much as she wished them to be true, she knew that this was very much happening.
'Please prepare for the vote,' the Speaker added.
The Electors each opened their box and removed the two cubes of the colour that represented their voting wishes. Ysabel watched through her fingers. There would be sufficient tokens to cover up to three questions in the vote, she knew, as the law dictated. When each had chosen, they closed their boxes and placed it on the floor between their feet.
The front row of the Electors rose and stepped off the plinth, filing across to the bowls that would determine her fate. As custom dictated, Duchess Rennick, the mover of the proposal, was the first to vote. Her first cube, the colour unknown to Ysabel, rattled in the bottom of the thick-glassed blue vessel. She looked up into Ysabel's eyes. If Ysabel hadn't known better then it might have been a look of apology that she saw on the woman's face. The Duchess cast her second vote, and lowered her head as she returned to her seat. The same routine was repeated another ten times as all the Electors made their statement.
The Speaker waited for the last Elector to return to their place and then said, 'Thank you, your graces.'
A third page stepped forward carrying a heavier tray. It was empty, and had been fashioned with deep sides. The boy walked across the chamber to stand before the Electors so that they could see unhindered anything that would be placed on the tray. The boy waited.
The Speaker marched across to the first bowl and took it from the page that held it. He tipped the contents of the bowl onto the tray, the cubes clattering down onto the surface. Ysabel lifted her head in the vain hope that she might see a majority of white cubes. Then all hope was gone. There were only black.
'The council has spoken,' the Speaker said. 'Ysabel is no longer Queen, and we would like to thank her for her long service to her country.'
The first page stepped forward and scooped up the voting cubes from the tray, replacing them into the bowl. When he was done, the Speaker stepped across to the second bowl and lifted it, pouring its contents onto the same tray.
Ysabel already knew the result of the vote before the cubes had even been counted. Whatever had happened here was fated, she felt, and there was nothing that she could have done to prevent it. It was the way that the Commonwealth worked. She had always known that her time would come to an end but, somehow, she did not think that it would be in quite this way. The world seemed far away, and the words and sounds from the chamber faded into the background for her, almost surreal, almost unreal. The words of the Speaker were there, but they were distant, not quite clear, but she knew what he would be saying.
'Long live the King!' the Speaker called, for a second time.
Ysabel looked up in time to see Courtenay step forward to stand in front of the Electors. There was a wide smile on his face.
'I would like to thank their graces for this ultimate display of support in my abilities to lead this great country,' Courtenay said. 'But for now, I would like to speak with Ysabel alone, if I may.'
The Electors looked around each other's faces, and then back to Courtenay, not quite sure what it was that he had asked.
'Alone, please, your graces,' he said, again.
The Electors stood and made their way out of the chamber, no words spoken by any. None looked back at Ysabel as she watched them leave. She still didn't understand what had just happened.
It was not long before the two of them were alone, and Courtenay approached the throne.
'Don't take it so personally, Ysabel,' he said. 'There is so much more going on here than you will ever come to know. The pieces are moving on the chessboard and they are unstoppable, you must have already realised that. It's just my time.'
'What are you playing at, Courtenay?' Ysabel asked. She looked up into the face of the King, but it was cold and stern.
'I should have thought that you would have worked out by now that I do not often play games, Ysabel. Games require that you have competitors to play against, and there is always the possibility that the result turns out not to be as you planned it. I do not allow competition, so on the rare occasion that the game is afoot I always ensure that the result is weighted in my favour. Greatly weighted, in fact. You see, I always plan for the result I expect...and therefore I always tend to get it.'
A door opened behind the throne, away to the left, and a man entered the chamber. Ysabel did not recognise his face. Courtenay clearly did, though, as she saw him look across at the man and smile.
'It is done then?' the man asked, as he drew near.
Courtenay, still smiling, nodded at the man. 'It is done,' he said.
The man took up a position next to Courtenay and nodded towards Ysabel.
'Ysabel,' Courtenay said, 'let me introduce you to someone that has helped me a great deal in my election campaign. You might even say that without him none of this would be possible. This,' he said, 'is Dieter Conn. It's probably a little melodramatic but some would call him the King Maker.'
Ysabel stared into the face of the King Maker, but there seemed nothing special about the man, other than perhaps the fact that he had the air of a hired thug.
'A pleasure to meet you a last,' Conn said. 'It's a such a shame that it is not in quite the circumstances that perhaps you would have liked.'
'Dieter is what you might call my...' Courtenay paused, and looked at Conn, frowning. 'What would you say your job is, Dieter?'
Conn shrugged. 'It's not something that I've given much thought to, My Lord.'
Courtenay looked at Conn severely, frowning. 'Ahem!' he said.
Conn smiled, and looked down shaking his head in amusement. 'My apologies. It's not something that I've given much thought to, Your Majesty.'
Courtenay smiled. 'Well, whatever his job would be called,' he said, 'he does it rather well. He has come to take care of your needs, and to ensure that you adapt to life after the throne, as it were.'
Ysabel stood, and offered her hand to Conn. He took it, and then she looked back towards Courtenay.
'Where am I to go?' Ysabel asked. 'I have made no provision for this day. If only I had known that—'
'Conn will look after you.'
'This way, please,' Conn said, and led Ysabel towards the door through which he had entered at the back of the chamber.
Ysabel followed Conn, and it was not so very far to the door although as she made her way towards it her legs seemed to become heavier and it was harder for her to keep up. As she stepped through the doorway, the door slammed behind them, and standing between her and the way she had come were two men. They looked rough to her eyes, unshaven and their dirty clothes were covered in road dust.
'These are two of my lads,' Conn said, 'and they have come to show you to your new quarters.'
'New quarters? Where?'
'Don't worry, it's not far to go.'
The men grabbed Ysabel and held her tightly. She was unable to move as their hands gripped her, their strength easily overcoming hers.
'What quarters?' she asked, again. 'What is the meaning of this?'
'Didn't His Majesty tell you?'
'Tell me what?'
'You have a new home, here in the Palace. But don't worry unduly, for it's quality reflects your new status.' Conn chuckled, and then looked at his men. 'Bring her boys.'
Ysabel fought against the men, but they easily pulled her towards the door at the end of the corridor.
'Where are you taking me?' she asked, through clenched teeth, s
till trying to drag her feet and to make it as difficult as possible for the men to pull her.
Conn held his hand up for his men to stop for a moment and then he drew his face close to Ysabel's. He smiled at her, and looked her in the eye.
'They are taking you to the dungeons,' he said.
39
The Twenty-Third Day of Lo-autumn,
Imperial Year 2332
'Ah, Duchess Rennick!' Courtenay stood as she entered his office. 'Come in, please.'
He beckoned for her to approach, offering her the large chair that he had placed before his desk.
'Your Majesty.' The Duchess bowed.
'Or perhaps I may call you Kaitlynn?' Courtenay remained standing as the Duchess crossed the room and seated herself in the chair.
'As you wish,' she said.
Courtenay nodded, and then sat in his own gilded seat, spreading himself across the red velvet padded upholstery.
'So,' Duchess Rennick said, 'you got what you wanted.'
'And you know what, Kaitlynn? I really must thank you for mobilising the Electors in the way that you did. Unanimous in both votes. That is impressive. How on earth did you do it?'
'We lied well.'
'Well, I must say, whatever you said to the rest of the council, it was very effective.'
'I will never be able to look Ysabel in the eye again.'
Courtenay waved his hand. 'Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I'm sure it won't be an issue.'
'May I ask where Ysabel is?'
After what she had done to the Queen, even if it was under duress, she found herself feeling uncomfortable and worried for