Succession [1994]

[Letonna]

Ulfrum sat on a balcony that had a nice view of downtown Letonnasburg. He sipped his tea and read the paper. There was an article about him on the third page below a heart warming article about a dog that pulled a child out of traffic and a less heart warming story about a C list celebrity suicide a few days ago. He read the article about himself. He was officially the longest living Letonese monarch in over 200 years as of today, his 61st birth day. The article made note of many of his policy achievements in his reign, but ended on a rather sour note, saying that the Crown had not officially chosen a successor.

Ulfrum was about to turn the page when he heard foot steps behind him. Turning his head, he saw a medium height man in a light grey suit with a lapel pin of a brown oak leaf, the symbol of the Northern Letonna Unionist Party, which currently held majority in the parliament.

"Ah Hemern, please have a seat." Ulfrum said, gesturing to the other chair at the small table.

"Thank you my Lord, and may I wish you a happy birthday."

"Yes, yes, thank you. I hear you're going to be some big shot in the Parliament now, being party leader in all."

"Why thank you my Lord, and yes, I was elected party leader, although I wasn't aware that information was public yet."

"You should know a good leader has more than just two ears and two eyes, representative." Ulfrum said with a warm grin on his face.

"Err, yes, quite. I just thought I would stop by to give you the best wishes sir, but also to ask you a few questions that the party had for you...that we wanted to ask you in person."

"Hm? Yes, ask away."

"Well, there are whispers of concern in the parliament that you haven't chosen a successor yet. There is of course no law stating you have to pick one, but it is our opinion that with your, er, age, that perhaps one is best, just in case."

"Are you calling me an old man representative? Was I not old yesterday, but now I'm decrepit and ailing? You know this isn't the 50's when people smoke and drink themselves to death. My doctor said I'm in perfect health."
 
"Yes, but it was in our opinion that one should be chosen, in the rare chance something does happen. There are no clear cut laws of succession in the event nobody is chosen, the government has never had this problem, especially with your sole offspring being a-"

"Representative, if you don't want to be thrown from this balcony right now, you won't finish your sentence." Ulfrum said, holding back from raising his voice.

"Uh, yes, of course my lord, my apologies if I insulted you."

Ulfrum sighed deeply, and took a sip of his tea.

"Tell the speaker that I'll make an appearance in the chamber next week. If it will shut you leeches up, then I'll pick one, now get out of here Hemern."

The man stood up, bowed, and hurried off, less he do further damage. Once he was alone again, he rested his forehead in his hand for a moment, then reached for his pager, sending a message to one of his aides. Shortly, he appeared.

"My Lord?"

"Get Minister Belaruun. Tell him I need to see him most urgently, and to bring with him his most skilled investigator. We need to find my daughter."

[Letonna]

A Young couple were sitting close to each other, giving off the appearance of being madly in love, sitting in a smokey little corner club in down town Omarentown, Myroria. They kept their voices low. It being 2 in the afternoon, there wasn't a large crowd yet, just a few people having a drink or a late meal.

"He's running late. He was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago." The woman whispered in the ear of the man.

"Give him time, any number of things could be keeping him. We'll give him another 10, ok?"

A waiter walked over with a kind grin on his face. He held a black booklet with a white check sticking out of the top.

"Did you folks enjoy your meal?"

"Yes, thank you, sera. Our complements to the chef." The woman said.

"Excellent, well, you folks come back soon, ok?"

The waiter placed down the booklet, and walked to the back of the restaurant and through some double doors into the kitchen. The woman plucked the check out of the booklet, and was reading the amount due when she noticed some writing on the back

   "Outback in 5 minutes" was scrawled on the back.

"He's here, he's one of the staff. The creep was probably watching us all along." The woman said in an annoyed tone.

"Well, this is a pretty risky operation, he's probably just as cautious as we are of him." The man said.

"Whatever, I just want to be done with this place. It's fucking freezing here."

Throwing down a 10 dollar Myrorian bill and standing up, the two made their way to the exit. Walking outside, they were hit with a blast of below freezing air. Making their way out back, they could see a man in white aprin, apparently unphased by the cold, standing by a rusted old Novmir model car. Walking up to the man, the woman had an uneasy feeling. His greasy smiles and equally greasy hair was off putting.

"So I trust you're the ones here to collect? I had a hellova time getting this stuff here. A buddy of mine got busted back in Sareruhn getting one of these pieces. I'm afraid the price has gone up."

"No, no, the price is the same. I don't care what imbeciles you hired to do the job, their outcomes are of no concern of mine. I paid for these packages already, and you're going to give them to me." The woman said, infuriated.

The two starred down each other for an awkward moment before the greasy man gave in. He gave a heavy shrug, and gestured them over to his rusty hatch back. Fishing some keys out of his pocket, he unlocked it. But before opening it, he turned to the woman.

"Ma'am, there was one more thing I had to show you..."

She was about to explode with impatience before the greasy man, with lighting reflexes, slapped handcuffs on one of the woman's wrists, then one to the handle on the hatchback.

"What?! What is the meaning of this?" She screamed.

Her companion was about to say something, but was caught aback by two black SUV's flying into the back lot of the corner club. He immediately bolted in the opposite direction. Men in black coats poured out of the SUV's, pistols drawn, although not pointed at her.

Turning to the greasy man, she was about to demand an explanation but he already had his wallet out, displaying a badge. It had the symbol of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on it.

"Agent Verker, My Lady, we need to have a word."




Helgla Gyth sat in the back of the SUV, with MIA guards on either side. Her head was bowed, and she remained silent. Agent Verker hung up a car phone, and turned to talk to her.

"Well My Lady, good news is the Myrorians are willing to brush this under the rug. The Foreign Affairs people called in a few favors with the House. They did say that you, or your alias rather, is forbidden from ever coming back."

"Well excuse me if I'm a little held back from offering my eternal thanks. I assume you, or rather my father wants something."

"Your father requested your audience My Lady. I feel he wants his daughter, and all members of the Family to keep on the right side of the law."

"Pfft, it's not like I did anything morally wrong. I'm just righting the wrongs committed by my grandfather so many years ago."

"Stealing and smuggling art into the country is not righting a wrong mistress. All you'll do is create tension between us and other nations. Heaven forbid if this goes public, our good name will be tarnished for years."

"Tarnished reputation?! My grandfather stole Neustrian masterpieces and sold them to the highest bidder and your worried about ME tarnishing a reputation?! You people are blind. My father may tote he turned Letonna around, but he just masked the atrocities. I'm the one cleaning up. Agent Verker, as a member of royal blood, I demand you release me at this moment!"

"I can't do that My Lady, Your father demanded you remain under guard and in our possession until further notice. You were technically committing treason after all."

Helgla groaned and rolled her eyes. She let out a long annoyed sigh.
 
"I never liked family reunions." She said under her breath.

[Letonna]

Helgla was escorted to her old room. The guards removed her hand cuffs and walked off without a word. This was the room she spent her childhood and teen years in. She opened the door to see years of memories flash before her. Memories of years of loneliness, with only her books and diaries to keep her company, came back to her.

She took a few steps forward. The air was cool and stale. Her room smelled the same way it did all those years ago. She walked over to a bookcase, and reached for a high school biology textbook. She flipped through the pages until she reached the chapter introducing vertebrates, and took out a small piece of paper.

"I thought you didn't like science." Said a deep voice behind her.

Helgla turned around to her her father in the door war, dressed in a casual sweater.

"If you're expecting some sort of thank you or some sort of father-daughter bonding, you've never been more wrong. I was doing just fine before your goons stormed in, scaring off my partner. I'm actually doing good in the world, not just trying to hide the bad like you."

Ulfrum's smile faded from his face. He shrugged his shoulders and walked over to her bed and sat down. He patted the spot next to him, gesturing her to sit down. She silently refused.

"You know Helgy, the Neustrians have a saying: 'a wound healed is a lesson learned.' These people, our people, they have been through so much. So much war, so much destruction, so much injustice. One old man can only push so hard for change."

"You call us not shooting them in the streets anymore 30 years of change? I don't see you doing anything to fix the equality gap, or getting Neustrians to college, or rebuilding Neustrian slums. You sit on your throne and you pass half ass'd white bread bills, benefiting few and hurting many. "

Ulfrum didn't react, he just paused for a second, then nodded her towards the door.

"Come. Dinner will be ready soon."

Tucking the piece of paper in her pocket when her father wasn't looking, she placed the book on the shelf, and walked towards the door, following Ulfrum. They walked in silence back to the dining room. The massive 20 person table was just set for two. Both plates were on a corner of the table. Ulfrum took the seat at the end of the table, gesturing for her to take the corner seat.

She sat staring at her meal, a salmon steak with potatoes and sauteed artichoke. Her father wasted no time in eating. When he was half way through his salmon, he wiped his face with his napkin.

"They want me to pick a successor." He said casually.

"Who's they exactly?"

"Oh you know, my ministers, my advisers, every moron in the chamber, the usual brain trust of this Empire."

"Oh."

She picked up her fork and cut out a little chuck of the salmon, then brought it to her mouth. She had forgotten how good the food here was. Being a rogue social vigilante didn't necessarily bring in the money.

"So I assume you want me to be your heir? Be the princess you always wanted me to be?"

"I thought I would offer it to you at least. I can't control your destiny, only you can."

She scoffed, and reached for her wine. Ulfrum put on a sad expression.

"I know I may not have been the best father. I always wanted to be a good father, especially with my own father being so distant and absent when I was a kid. But I just got caught up in work, and I could never make time for us, you know? And before I knew it my little girl was throwing the royal life away to fight for the causes her father couldn't. I just want you to consider it. Stay here for a few days, think it over. If you turn it down, you're free to go, we'll wipe your record, make you another alias, and give you a ride to where ever you want to go. Sound like a deal?"

She stared down at her plate.

"It's not like I have a choice. Jesus, it's like the old man's going to tear up or something."

She nodded back.

[Letonna]

It was a quiet afternoon in the palace. The afternoon sun shove bright through the western windows. Helgla leaned on a railing overlooking the elaborate front entrance. Her father didn't give her permission to leave just yet unless escorted. She didn't really feel like talking to him, so that meant she wandered the halls, bored.
She stared down at some servants talking among themselves, when she heard soft footsteps behind her.

"My Lady?"

Helgla turned to see a man in a well tailored suit standing behind her. He held a thin leather briefcase, and wore a kind expression. She didn't respond, waiting for the man to say what he wanted.

"I'm an associate of your fathers, I-"

"What Ministry?"

"Well, I'm more of a free agent. My Lady, your father asked me to take you out of the palace today. We're going for a little tour of some areas in Letonnasburg."

"A Tour? Of the city I grew up in? Maybe he's starting to lose it and that's why they want to line up a successor. Fine, not like I have anything else to do."

"Excellent, we have a car waiting out front."

The two walked through the elaborate front door to an unmarked black car with tinted windows. They got in the back seat, and the man whispered something to the driver. The began to drive towards the gate. When he had finished whispering, he turned to Helgla.

"My Lady, I don't believe I introduced myself. You can call me Gamon."

"What exactly do you do for my father?" She asked, sounding slightly uninterested.

"You can say I help out with odd jobs around the house. Your father calls for my help when a task required a...certain touch."

Helgla gave the man a confused look, and turned to the window to watch the passing sights.

The car drove through the city and into the suburbs. The car pulled up to a slightly weathered house in a lower middle class neighborhood, and stopped.

"I thought we were going on a tour? What is this place? What does this have to do with anything?"

"This is the Grefvren residence. Second generation home owners. I say only second generation because they are a Neustrian family. Thanks to your father, many families just like them own homes and can raise families in average neighborhoods like these. But, with current legislation, this is probably as good as it will ever get for them. With the glass ceiling, wage gaps and limited formal education, a blue collar life style is all they could ever hope to achieve."

Helgla was silent as she looked at the house.

"I still don't know why your showing me this."

Gamon didn't respond, but instead whispered to the driver again. The drove back into the city, until they were driving on packed streets lined with sky scrapers. The car stopped at a red light, and Gamon pointed to his right to a large fancy building.

"Temspaulm & Sons Mining and Drilling. The largest ore exporter this side of Cefnor. They came to power around the same time your father was born. Cheap Neustrian labor was their boon. In the cities, there may be more options, but rural Letonna is mostly mining and logging. Big corporations like them exploit Neustrians for their labor, knowing all to well that they can keep pay low because of the lack of opportunity. The Ministry of Justice thinks miners may be paid even less than minimum wage under the table, but it's not confirmed."

Helgla was silent while Gamon spoke. She just silently stared at the golden glass of the Lobby of Temspaulm & Sons Mining and Drilling. Once the light changed, the car began to accelerate. Their next desination was the Letonnasburg Art and Science Meuseum. The car stopped out front, and Gamon opened his door. He walked around the car and opened Helglas door.
 
"Our final stop, My Lady. The Museum. Build by your father soon after the civil war. But the museum itself isn't why we're here, it's something inside."

"I haven't been here in years. I remember my father brought me many years ago, but I found it boring. I wasn't into art back then. All I wanted to do was be alone. I regret not caring more about culture when I was younger."

"Everyone has regrets about childhood. The key is to learn from them, not let them define you, My Lady."

Gamon led Helgla to a windowless door that said "Employees Only". He produced a key from his pocket, and opened the door. Walking though, she saw old paintings and old looking objects scattered around this large workshop. Gamon walked to the middle of the room, where this large tarp covered something. He pulled on the tarp, pulling it to the floor, revealing a large painting of a Neustrian man in traditional dress.

"The Fierre Tradt. Painted in 1919 by a Bremef Gridschalt. Hailed as a masterpiece and cultural relic by many in the underground art community. It was confiscated by the State of Letonna under the grounds of inspiring resistance in the populace, and auctioned off  in 1952."

Helgla stared in awe at the painting.

"That's...that's the painting I was hunting for so long. It's the one I was supposed to pick up the day I was captured. How...why?"

"We acquired it. Fairly cheep too. The person who inherited it from the noble said it was to drab a color pallet. We would let you return it to the descendants, but it appears Fierre 's blood line never made it past the 1960's.  So we thought we would ask you if we could house it in the museum."

Helgla was still in shock and awe. She looked long at the portrait, thinking deeply.

"Yes, that would be fine."

She turned to walk to the door when Gamon grabbed her shoulder.

"You can be the embodiment of change you always wanted, much more than the art smuggler-vigilante you are now."

He let go of her shoulder. She stared back at him, visibly filled with emotion. She nodded her head, and made for the exit. As she reached the door, she wiped a tear from her cheek.

[Letonna]

Night had fallen on down town Letonnasburg. Helgla walked under bright street lights through a light drizzle. Staring down at the ground under her, she passed businessmen and tourists in their evening commute.

Passing two upper scale shops, she noticed movement from the corner of her eye. To her left, was a man sitting in an alley way with an orange and yellow piece of fabric over him. Rain dripped off his hood.

He had a long beard and hair, unkept, as well as a unique odor emanating from him. There was a piece of cardboard in front of him, that at one time may have had writing on it, although the rain had washed it away.
Helgla walked closer to the man. She realized the fabric over him was a tattered Northern Letonna Unionist Party flag. The man turned to look at her, but said nothing.
 
She stared down at the man. She thought he looked Neustrian, but she couldn't tell. "Not that it mattered" she said in her head. "Looking beyond race is one thing this country needs more than anything."

After what felt like an eternity of staring down at the man, she reached down in her pocket, and grabbed all the  money she had. He took it, and continued to look back at her. An awkward silence remained, before Helgla turned to continue walking. She had always sympathized for the Neustrians, but she never actually really saw how a lot of them still lived in Letonna. She was more caught up in righting culture crimes and fighting class wars. She continued to walk towards the palace under the rain and through the belly of upper class Letonnasburg.




She walked into the main entryway of the palace. A servant was there, ready to take your coat.

"Did the my lady enjoy her afternoon out?"

She shot the servant a mean look.

"The Lord would like you to join him for dinner in a half hour. There's a bath drawn up for you in your wash room, and your dinner attire has been laid on your bed." He said, unphased by her glare.

She went and had her bath, and put on her evening attire. A red dinner dress had been laid out for her. She put it on, finding it fit perfectly. She went into her closet and picked a pair of nice, semi formal shoes. Although the dress was exquisite, she didn't feel she was out to impress anyone, especially not her father, so she choose some more comfortable shoes.

Walking down the long and quiet halls until she came to the large dining room, she walked in to find her father sitting at the head of the table, and her plate laid out right on the corner to his left. Approaching him, avoiding his gaze and warm smile, she sat down.

"I assume you had a nice afternoon with Gamon? He can be quite a charming fellow. He's the kind of man you would give a task that didn't need a lot of explanation or questions asked. You'll find he'll be your right hand man in areas that our normal sphere of influence can't reach. That is if you take my offer."

Helgla was silent. He father took a bite of his meal. Roasted vegetables with a small thick beef steak and mashed potatoes.

"You know, you come from a long line of troubled Emperors. Not one of us ever had a easy time succeeding our predecessor. My father, Titus, was a cold, difficult man. He never showed affection, always demanded the very best of me. When he died, I only had the ministers to raise me. Can you imagine  a council of Bureaucrats raising a child?  Holidays were always disappointing."

Helgla smiled.

"Our family inherits a lot of responsibility, not just to run an Empire, but also to be the change we always wanted to be. The least you can hope for is the little things you do make a big impact on someones life."
Ulfrum turned his attention to his steak. Helgla was staring at her plate as well, although her mind was elsewhere.
 
"I'll do it."

Ulfrum turned back to her.

"Just one condition." She said, with a smile.

"And that would be?"

"I want to go to school. It would only be proper for an Emperess to be educated? So stay on until I graduate, ok?"

Ulfrum smiled, and grabbed her hand.

"Deal."




Prologue

March 17th, 2002

Hemern Jeldrun sat in the royal appointment waiting room. His foot bounced up and down, showing his mild impatience and over abundance of caffeine he had had that morning.

"Mr. Jeldrun? The Empress will see you now."

"About time, snobby little brat." He whispered under his breath as he walked down a short hall way towards the Royal Office.

He gave a knock on the door, before hearing a muffled voice guesturing him to come in.

"Ahh, Representivie Jeldrun. A pleasure as always."

"Likewise My Lady, always a treat to visit the royal offices."

"I'd like to start off by congratulating you on a sucessful reelection. I hear you're also going to stay on as the Head of the Northern Unionists and Majority Leader"

"Yes, thank you. That haden't been announced by the party yet, but thank you regardless."

"Oh well, you know, any good leader always listened to the faintest noises. There are a few other things I heard in the past few days I found interesting. Would you like in on the gossip?"

Hemern didn't like the direction this conversation was going. He swallowed heavy.

"Yes, I would My Lady."

"I heard there's whispers in the Chamber that one of the partys are going to repeal 3 laws when the next parlimentary quarter comes up. Act 3452-A, 3466, and 3492. All laws that I pushed through last year. Now why would that happen I wonder?"

Hemern was silent. Sweat beads began to form on his brow.

"I wonder if it's because their all related somehow. The first one enacted a tax on the coal industry to fund scholarships for minoritys. The second enacted more strict saftey regulations in mining, especially coal mining, and the last one closed tax loop holes for large corporations making over 5 million in profit. These all seem somewhat related to me."

Hemern continues to stare back.

"Now, I wonder what party would do this? Coal mines are typically in Northern Letonna. And the two large coal corporations in Letonna do tend to favor one specific party. But a whole party wouldn't be so determined to help one specific industry so much without motivation. Or perhaps a motivated someone. A certain someone who happens to influence a whole party."

She squinted at Hemern. He stared back with a petrified look on his face.

She opened a desk drawer and pulled a manila folder out, and handed it to him.

In it contained photographs on meetings he had had with lobbyists and corporate executives from Letonna-Coal-International. It also contained pages and pages of bank statements and credit card payment history."

"Would have been a merry little christmas in the Jeldrun house hold, eh? Especially in that new house. Four bedrooms I hear? Sounds cozy.You could have gotten your son that games console he wanted. Probably 10 of them in fact."

Helgla got up out of her seat and walked over to a minibar. She grabbed two glasses, and poured a small amount of whisky in each glass. Walking over to Hemern, she handed him a glass. He held it, but didn't take a sip. She downed hers in a single swig.

"So what do we do now?"

Not knowing what to say, he gave a nervous shrug.

"I..uh, well, I coul-"

Before he could finish his stammering, she slammed her glass down on his head, sending broken glass out in all directions. As he recoiled, she grabbed the back of his head, and slammed it into her desk. His face and head was bloody.

"DON'T. FUCK. WITH. ME." She screamed.

Hemern whimpered and huddled in his chair. He was mumbling something through broken teeth and blood. She walked behind her desk and pushed a button. Moments later, guards swarmed the room.
 
"Tell the rest of them in the Parliment. This is what happens when you fuck with me. Tell them I know every move you make. I know every person you talk to. I know all your dirty little secrets, and I will use them against you IF YOU SCREW WITH ME. GOT IT?"

The guards dragged away Hemern. Helgla poured herself another drink, and walked to the large window behind her desk overlooking downtown Letonna. She stared deeply into the grey city scape, into the Letonna that was now hers.