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“24 senators,” Tobias added. “Not a bad start.”
“So who gets the daggers?” I asked.
“That’s the part we need help with. We have our own ideas, but we wanted to hear your thoughts.”
I bit my lip, thinking it over.
“It should be someone who fought for change,” I said. “Someone we can trust to put the kingdom’s best interests first. Penelope, for the elite. If you want the best story, it’s hers. And she’s not as old and jaded as you guys. Think she’d do it?”
“I don’t know,” Tobias conceded. “She was adamant about not becoming some kind of queen if I took the crown. And since we’ve been charged with rounding up all the slagpaw, she’s been talking about taming them, turning them into pets, or some kind of wildlife preserve.”
“Like a zoo?” I asked.
“I’ll need some help with that actually,” Tobias nodded. “You and I are the only ones strong enough to compulse them. At least until we get them moved someplace safe.”
“It’s better than hunting them down,” I agreed.
“But after that, I think she’d be happy living in the citadel. She might agree if it was mostly a ceremonial position.”
“And then Camina, for the citizen. I figured she’d want to replace Master Svboda, but if we don’t keep the choosing ceremony, we probably won’t need to train chosen to protect their elite companions. I’d make her a general, but I think she’s had enough fighting.”
“We’ll probably reduce the size of the army anyway,” Damien said. “And for the havoc?”
“April,” I said quickly. “She’s the only one I trust, and she’s smart. We could even separate each position slightly, to focus on one area of development. She’d be science, or education.”
“I like it,” Tobias said. “And I think I could sell Penelope on a fancy title, like Minister of Culture… or Commerce. Camina could be Minister of Justice.”
“Maybe,” I said. “Or Health, if it means something like sports and physical activities.”
“There must be some laws, as long as everyone obeys them equally,” Damien said. “We’re not going to become a den of iniquity.”
“Augustine has some ideas,” I said. “Take nothing by forceis an easy one.”
“Education,” Tobias said. “That’s the first thing. Real knowledge. The curates, the renewal centers, they will become universities. Renewal services will continue but without the blood mythos, the salvation rhetoric.”
“No elites?” I asked. Damien made a face.
“I can’t believe we called ourselves that. I’ve never liked it. Somehow it spread in the compounds and got stuck.”
“Well, I suppose that’s enough plotting for one evening,” Tobias said with a grin. “We can sort out the details later.”
After the ceremony, there was dancing and drinking. I helped Loralie fill her plate. I saw Damien share a flask with Jamie, who he’d taken under his wing. Someday, the blood would run out. We’d have to find some way to deal with that, but for tonight, I was glad the elite were getting what they needed.
There was a large table of presents, and people came to pay their respects to the bride and groom. I slipped away to the edge of the garden for some fresh air. The lights were a little too bright with the elixir in my system.
Trevor joined me. I thought he was going to ask me to dance, but instead we enjoyed the music in silence.
“I rescind the offer, by the way,” he said.
“What offer?” I asked.
“I always thought we’d have a wedding like this, here in Algrave. It’s what I’ve always wanted.”
“I see, and you don’t that anymore. So this is like, a reverse proposal?”
“Anti-wedding vows,” he smirked. “Will you do me the honor of never being my wife, but always being my friend?”
“To not have and not hold, in happiness and health, sickness and death?”
