The Senate Session

The Senate Session
Emilia's POV

The Senate chamber was already full when I arrived. A hundred voices hummed like a restless hive, robes swishing, chairs scraping, and canes tapping against the marble floor. The vaulted ceiling carried their noise, and I felt it pressing down on me as I stood at the entrance to the hall.
I sighed hard for a moment, clearing my chest of any pressure. I folded my fingers into tight fists beside me, steeling my nerves, and I muttered to myself. “Let's do this.” Then I swept inside with Headmaid Alice and my retinue of maids.
At the far end of the chamber, Aaron and Harrietta were already seated—his arms folded smugly across his chest, her lips curved in that thin, poisonous smile. Beside them, in chairs organized in a straight line on both sides of the hall, the senators reclined, watching me like obedient hounds, their whispers hushed the moment I passed by them for my throne.
The herald’s voice rang through the chamber: “Her Grace, Duchess Emilia of House Lancaster.”
The chamber hushed instantly. I let the silence sit for a moment before lowering myself into the high-backed chair reserved for the Duchess.
I looked into the hall, into the hostile faces and pretentious smiles. I had come too far in this to let it faze me. I swallowed, my fingers curled tight on the armrest, and I began.
“The Senate has been called,” I said, my voice sharp, cutting through the silence. “And it has been called lawfully—because the Regency, granted by fraud to Lady Harrietta, must be dissolved, and I request that I be installed as the regent, which by right was meant to be mine, by virtue of my position.”
The room erupted at once, and the senators jeered, all of them. Lord Blackwater on the front seat thumped his cane and cried, “Order! Let the Duchess speak!”
Aaron rose slowly, his every motion calculated and measured. He spread his hands like a lecturer about to begin a lecture. “My lords,” he said smoothly, “my sister comes here filled with delusions. She forgets that it was by my wife’s regency that this kingdom did not collapse when her husband, the Duke's madness almost brought the enemies to our door, and she lay helpless in her bed. She forgets that stability was only possible through us. Now because she returned from the dead, she wants to reclaim regency and reap where she did not sow, just because she married the Duke.”
A murmur of approval rippled through the room.
I leaned forward, my fingers tightening harder at the armrests. “But you and the Lady Harrietta forget that stability is not bought by fraud. She claimed regency by fraud, and that nullifies the fake excuse of stability you are peddling.” I challenged.
I wasn't expecting a murmur or scream of approval from the senators at my speech, but I obviously wasn't expecting the silence either. My voice echoed back to me in the large hall, with not even a murmur from the Lords making a dent on it. I sat back in my seat. I forced myself a grin, assuring myself that I wouldn't let this bring me low. I swallowed hard, pushing down the doubts that formed a lump in my throat, and I raised my head back to the hall once again.
Harrietta’s lashes flicked on me. A nervous tightening of her jaw dented her proud, triumphant smile. She rose gently to her feet too. She didn't have Aaron's charisma and deceit, but her words came out quite clear enough, more than I had expected, after a hard swallow. Her eyes darted about the hall and faces in the room once they left me. “My Lords,” she said. “As you all know, contrary to the claim by the Duchess, I actually received regency of the kingdom in honor of my insane brother, who was declared unfit to rule and who can't even be here because of that, by the approval of this Senate. You appointed me regent yourself, and thus that negates whatever claims of fraud that the Duchess labeled on me. It would be an injustice to the kingdom to let a woman who can't differentiate between a fraudulent regency and a legitimate one reclaim regency for herself because she is the Duke’s wife. So I asked that you all let me keep on being regent, and as I have been for the last weeks, I assure you, you won't be disappointed.” She said. She coughed a barely loud exhale as she dropped back to her seat.
Another murmur of approval rippled through the room.
Aaron smiled wider and stood up after Harrieta. “The Senate granted my wife, Lady Harrietta, regency not by fraud but by popular choice and because she was deemed competent enough. So there was no reason to convene today, no need to demand another election for the choice of a regent. But for the spirit of fairness, I will support it so we can prove to the Duchess and clear her doubts that my wife, Lady Harrietta, was made regent because of her competency.” He threw his face around the room to the faces of the Less one after another. “So I urge you, Lords, to vote. To decide who this kingdom will follow based not on claims of right, but on competence, which my wife and I have proven times and times over.”
I rose to my feet, letting my cloak sweep wide like wings. “This is not merely a vote of loyalty, my lords. This is a vote of conscience. Will you stand with those who treacherously schemed their way into power? Or will you stand with me, the rightful Duchess, whose blood and birthright are written into the very foundation of this House and kingdom?” I paused, looking undeterred at the bored, hostile faces of the lords around. “My brother, Lord Lancaster, boasted to me that the Senate answers to him. Is it true, my lords? Do you answer to Aaron Lancaster? Or do you answer to the law of the land?”
That stung. Dozens of heads turned to Aaron, their looks sharp and hard, cutting like blades at him, questioning. They turned to themselves too, whispering in hushed tones, the frowns on their faces tightening.
For the first time, I saw Aaron’s mask of smugness falter, and he stirred uncomfortably on his seat. “No, my lords. I obviously didn't say that. You are independent men, powerful men, and answer to no one. Don't let her swoon you with her lies.” He rambled hurriedly. That brought a little relief from the awkward stares directed at him, but not all. Some still stared at him in that hard, questioning look.
I smiled to myself, a flutter seizing my belly, as I saw the cracks forming. So I drove the blade deeper. I spread my hands. “Let the vote be cast here and now. Let us see if the Senate belongs to Lord Lancaster—or to the kingdom it swore to serve.”
The Senate chamber thundered with voices, but the Chancellor, an old and wiry-looking man with a full beard, thick brows, and shifty eyes, struck the marble three times with his gavel until the echoes swallowed the chaos.
“Order! Order in the chamber!” he cried, his white beard trembling as he stood. “The matter is clear. By request of Her Grace, Duchess Emilia of House Lancaster, and challenged by Lord Lancaster, we must vote on the rightful holder of the Regency. Let the voices of the Senate…”
Lord Blackwater rose carefully, like he had problems standing up. “Before we vote, the Senate would like to convene for a minute first,” he said in his deep, croaky voice.
Then even before the Chancellor could hit his gavel to allow it. He walked away to the center of the room, and all the lords gathered around him and Aaron.
Since Harrieta wasn't a lord, she stood back. She remained reclined on her seat, her lashes flapping with intense condescension at me.
But I didn't care about that. I cared about whatever the Lords were whispering to themselves. My heart beat like a war drum in my chest as I followed their lips eagerly, trying to make out what they were discussing. Still, though I was terribly scared, I held my chin high. I wouldn't let them break me or even see me break.
Eventually, the lords broke off their quick meeting, and they all began retreating back to their seats. I didn't need to hear it now. I could feel it, that silent solidarity between them. They were all on Aaron's side.
I did give the greedy bastards a chance to redeem themselves. I looked to my side, and Headmaid Alice dropped fast into view. “Seems like we would have to use the secrets,” I told her.
Her lashes clapped at me in an understanding wink, and she pulled back, whispering to some maids behind her. I walked back slowly to my seat and sank onto it. I stared into the room, watching closely at the lords’ faces as the maids slipped them the folded letter—letters where I gave them irrefutable proof that I knew of their darkest secrets and demanded just their votes so I wouldn't spill it to everyone in the kingdom.
I watched them gasp as they opened the letters one after another. Some sucked in deep, strangled breaths, making noises like their lungs just clogged. Some shut the letters quickly, as if they just read about the apocalypse.
A sharp noise split the room then, and the lords began muttering to themselves. Some even kept to themselves, saying nothing to their colleagues. Their eyes were jittering as they darted fast to me, jumping from me to the letter squeezed up in their old, wrinkled fingers.
I looked away from them then, and I raised my neck high, tilting it up in pride and defiance. If they wanted to support Aaron and fight dirty, I see no reason not to soil my hands too.
Aaron, who had leaned back in his seat, smug, his arms spread as though he already owned the outcome, snapped up in his seat, looking sharply to the Lords one after another—at their terror-stricken faces jittering like they were one minute away from terrible convulsions.
Even Lord Blackwater looked like he had a hornet in his stomach. They all forced a grin to him in response, most saying nothing.
Some just echoed, “Nothing, Lord Lancaster,” following up with a false smile. They couldn't tell him. They couldn't tell him I knew of their darkest secrets, because then he would know it too. Nor could they tell each other. They all held it in, their faces scrunched tight like they were holding up their vomit.
Harrietta’s smile cut through the air before quickly squeezing fast into a frown. She tugged at Aaron's arm, pulling him quickly to her. “What is happening, Aaron?” She yelled to him.
I would have liked to sit back and enjoy the confusion on their faces, but time was precious. Given time, they could come up with a counter to convince the Senate again. I rose gracefully to my feet. “Since the Senate has had their quick meeting, let the voting begin.” I declared.
The Chancellor raised his gavel then as I dropped back to my seat. “All those who stand by Lady Harrietta Lancaster as Regent, rise.”
For a heartbeat, nothing moved. Then, one, and another, and another. Three lords pushed to their feet, with Aaron, making it four—four out of eleven.
When the count was done, the Chancellor called out the number and slammed down his gavel. My breath caught, and I stared eagerly at the rest, staring closely at their faces, tracing the terror in their eyes and the contorted frowns on their old faces. I just hoped the fear of my power over their secrets would be enough to deter them from making any stupid decisions right now.
The Chancellor lifted his gavel again. “All those who stand by Her Grace, Duchess Emilia, rise.”
A wave of fabric and murmurs swept through the chamber as nearly half the assembly stood tall, heads bowed low at the letters in their hands.
Adrenaline rushed through me, and I fell weightless onto my seat. I sighed heavily, smiling at the ceiling, a weight lifting off my chest and every tension easing from my bones. My ears were keen to the words of the Chancellor as he hit his gavel again. “Your Highness, Her Grace, Duchess Emilia, wins, and so by the order of the Senate becomes the new regent.”
“I win! I win!” I screamed at myself inside my head, smiling at myself. By the time I dropped my gaze from the ceiling back to the room, smiling at the hair, Aaron and Harrietta were marching up to me, breeding fire in their eyes.