Chapter Three-Hundred-and-Twenty-Three
3rd Person POV
“Her good intention is to take away power from us, do you still call that good intention?” asked Lord Plato. The other ministers were quiet. The gathering may be illegal but it felt necessary. They had to do something about Charlotte’s plans before they found themselves without power.
“What do you suggest we do?” asked Lord Bruno. One thing he knew for certain was that if Lord Plato was going to suggest that they commit treason, he was going to back out. There was no chance he was going to commit a crime like that.
“We can all sign a collective petition to withdraw her request for an election and the institutions she intends to build. It's the law and she would have no choice but to follow it,” said Lord Plato. Bruno wanted to mention that she was sitting on the throne and she could easily overrule their petition but he kept his peace. He wished he had more guts to go against the likes of Lord Plato.
“What happens when she overrules our petition?” inquired another Lord.
“We'll petition to have her removed from her royal duties as Princess. She should never have been made heir in the first place. I believe it is time the leadership of this pack fell to another family,” said Lord Plato much to the dismay of Lord Bruno.
“Let's not stray off course, we should just concentrate on the matter at hand, okay?”
****
Charlotte read the petition and went through the signatures on the petition. She had to give them credit for their collective force. She could not remember a time when they had come together to agree on a singular thing.
“This is very interesting but there is one signature that is missing here,” said Charlotte as she looked up from the paper.
Lord Plato humphed. The signature that was missing belonged to Lady Carole. She was the only woman among the sea of ministers in the room and she had not been invited by Lord Plato for the meeting. Lord Plato knew that it would have been useless to invite her, the lady was always supportive of Charlotte.
“Your Highness, the absence of one signature does not lessen the weight of our request. As a collective voice, we are strongly against the elections,” Lord Plato spoke eloquently but Charlotte was not to be fooled.
“Your Highness, if I may?” quipped Lady Carole. She was usually quiet but today she felt the need to make her voice heard.
“Please, Lady Carole, speak,” Charlotte gave Lady Carole the floor while Lord Plato rolled his eyes.
“I appreciate the privilege. I would like to ask Lord Plato if he is trying to suggest with his statement that my signature bears no weight and makes no difference,” said the woman.
“Lady Carole, all the ministers have stress to do this…”
“I am not finished, Lord Plato. Furthermore, I do not remember this petition being brought to my notice,” said Lady Carole. She was a soft-spoken lady but her voice was firm.
“Lady Carole, I understand where you stand on the subject and so…”
“It also surprises me that you have managed to get all those signatures in such a short time, do not tell me you convened all the movie ministers together without the permission of the crown,” continued Lady Carole.
“Those are very good points you make, Lady Carole. Lord Plato, I'm very interested in knowing how you came about all these signatures within two days,” Charlotte said with a smile. She knew Lord Plato could easily explain this away but it felt good to make him feel uncomfortable.
“I took the pain of visiting the noblemen of this pack.”
“You seem to hate the idea of people making decisions for themselves, huh? Tell me, Lord Plato. Wouldn't you like to wake up one day and not have to leave your house and come here to decide over petty matters? The elections would allow us to delegate several of our duties and then we can focus on the more important things like our foreign relations, our military and so on.”
“Your Highness, I take my duties very seriously and I look forward to them every day. It is an honour to serve the great people of our pack.”
“And a lot of our peasant class would like to share in that honour too.”
“Your Highness, the nature of their birth…”
“You mean the lack of privilege that comes from their birth. However, what we will be doing is giving them a privilege. Do you not think it is worthwhile allowing them to have a chance at what we do?”
****
“You're really something, Charlie. You won't even send me a letter? Why am I the one who has to try? huh? I'm the only one making an effort in this relationship,” Kristoff could not believe he had made the trip to the Dark Moon pack after vowing that he would not seek Charlotte out.
“No one asked you to,” replied Charlotte with a shrug. It was midnight already and she had been awoken by her personal maid who had reported that her “special friend” was here to see her.
“So this is how it's going to be, huh?” quipped Kristoff who was quite hurt by Charlotte’s words.
“The world does not revolve around you, you know?”
“Charlie, I'm sorry, okay? Forgive me?” Kristoff knew that he could never win against Charlotte. He had been determined that he would not seek her out but he was weak against her. He had missed her even more when he had not heard anything from her.
“What are you sorry for, huh? We broke up, remember?”
“Why won't you give me a chance? I love you,” said Kristoff.
“You wanted to get married, married? Who does that?”
“People who are in love with each other? That's what they do. They get married.”
Charlotte sighed. The idea of marriage made her anxious. She was a tough young woman who could fearlessly head into battle but marriage filled her with doubts.
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