In Search of the Chancellor ET Samheen 29

[Andolin]

As he had promised Isis, Andolin went in search of Chancellor Anzillo. The man was a hard one to know, but the Lord Chamberlain knew that he would be a key piece to the puzzle as to who would be Caesar.

Traveling to the man's chambers, followed by two bodyguards, Andolin awaited his announcement.

[Grey Wolf]

There was a guard posted before the door, just like Sergeant Summers promised, though he stood a few paces away from the frame itself. Hector did not like being watched and preferred to keep the doors to his office open, and managed all the affairs himself, so there was no secretary in the office just outside. The office itself was in complete disarray, though there was no doubt that Hector knew where everything was. A large stone slab crafted by the dwarven artisans served as a desk and it was piled up with papers and notes, and even the four chairs in the room were normally stacked high, but this time one was relatively free. The Chancellor rose his eyes at the sound of footsteps and merely arched an eyebrow saying nothing.

[Andolin]

"Good tide to you Lord Chancellor," Andolin greeted the silent man. "I had hoped that we might discuss tomorrow's Council meeting. I think we both wish to avoid the circus of the other day and I thought that perhaps, together, we might find a path to a mutual understanding." He arched an eyebrow in invitation.

Not expecting to be denied, Andolin looked for a place to be seated and awaited Hector's invitation to continue.

[Grey Wolf]

Hector rubbed at his brow for a flicker and nodded, motioning towards the least crowded chair before his desk. "Just put those papers down somewhere and take a seat." He waited till Andolin was seated before proceeding any further. "Now, I believe you have me at a disadvantage. I recall the session yesterday, but I would not call it a circus. Comedic perhaps, and more than a little peculiar, but not circus. Perhaps you might explain to me how we can avoid it tomorrow and what understanding are we to seek?" He would have frowned if his face was hidden, hating this need to be proper and diplomatic, when all he wanted to say was What do you want?.

[Andolin]

Andolin moved the requisite papers so that he could be seated. "Thank you."

"It would have been comedic if the matter was not so important. It would make a fine play for the populace ... farm girl whose only qualification for the post is that she does not want to be Caesarii. It would be a great comedy I think."

"Sadly, as you know better than I, Council sessions are too important to waste with theatre comedy. You are the Chancellor of the Empire. You are also Chair of the Council. It cannot have been rewarding for you to see what unfolded," he observed softly. "I have more respect for the process, and you, than that."

"So, I come to you for advice and ways in which we can work together. The fact that you voted for Scatha tells me that you must hold me in the lowest regard possible. I have done nothing to insult you. I'll grant that I am new to my position and you may have concerns about my capabilities for the position of Imperial figurehead. If so, I am here to address them milord. I have come to speak to you man to man. If you cannot support my candidacy, then I would like to know why. If I cannot win support of the Council, then maybe we should work together to find a new candidate, rather than prolong a ... comedy." Though his voice sounded diplomatic, his tone was direct. He had come to learn why in the world Hector opposed him, unless he was little more than Erwin's stooge.

[Grey Wolf]

Had he chosen the man who liked directness, Andolin could not have chosen better than Hector, the Chancellor listening politely to Major Domos words and arching his brows in puzzlement. "Ah, yes. The Council vote. I would rather say that I supported the other candidate over you. Not that I did not support you. The reasons for such a vote. Well, you have said it yourself. We need a Caesar. And any Caesar is better than none. Duke Erwin and Secretary Silk supported the other candidate and that meant she would most likely win, given the sway they hold in the Council. Unfortunately as we have both seen, things are not that simple. There is some ploy at work here and that is why the vote was not decisive."

It was the truth or at least most of it, with Hector never mentioning his feelings for certain elector that was firmly in Erwin's camp. She had voted for Scatha and so did he, despite serious doubts he had. But, such thoughts were not for now. Now, was time to give the man before him a chance to prepare himself for tomorrow and to give him time to explain his actions. "But, while we are speaking frankly and mentioning having one another in low regard I would like to ask you something. Do you think me incompetent? An idiot?" Yes, the anger was such a nice feeling. "Who gave you the right to invite foreign troops to Imperial soil? Last time I checked it was the right of Caesar alone, or of Imperial Chancellor in his absence? Are you aware of that?"

[Andolin]

His answer sounded hollow. The Imperial Chancellor voted knowing that the Council was split at the time. There had to be other reasons, that were not articulated.

These other reasons became apparent when the man blathered on about foreign troops. Maintaining his cool, Andolin replied, "I am left to question the quality of your information Lord Chancellor. I extended no invitation to foreign troops."

"If you mean the airship that docked, I was assured by the Consul from the Mouth that it was a trade mission onl and that she asked that it not be attacked. There were some priests on board that were offered to help us dispatch a great daemon that has haunted the Citadel. No one was safe in this fortress as long as this daemon was present -- but you know this, I trust."

"If we cannot defend our own fortress from within, how can we defend it from without. As the man charged with the defense of our Citadel, I took the necessary steps. It was I who contacted the Imperial Thaumaturge. It was I that recruited the University of Magic for this venture. It was I that leant my sword to former Captain Ulder to lead the assault, and it was I that sought out the Oneist priest to aid them. And, I am happy to report, milord, that they were successful. The Citadel is now free of a threat far greater than any foreign troops, I assure you."

"I have not sought to advertise my success, as I would not have the populace of the city know how close they came to utter destruction." He almost made himself sound modest. Almost.

"As for the warship, I informed the City Watch of its arrival and asked them to shadow the every movement of those aboard. I am expecting a report at any moment." He gave himself a satisfied smile.

"Sadly, it is the lies of my enemies that distort the truth otherwise. Frankly, I held you in high enough regard not to believe such foolishness, trusting your agents to know the truth. In the future, perhaps I should share some of the intelligence I gather with you. I suspect that your agents are looking outward, while my own agents are looking inward on this island, for that is the limit of my authority. If I were Caesar, I could do more to assist you with external threats," he noted calmly.

"So, I ask you, will you give me the real reason that you voted against me, or do you believe me as naive as the farm girl? We should be working together, rather than at cross purposes."

[Grey Wolf]

Had it not been for guilt he felt over the entire situation, Hector's first reaction would have been anger, but as it were, he felt like Erwin and Simon were going to twist what could have been an honest mistake out of best wishes into a dreadful error close to treachery. With a heavy sigh he averted his eyes and fell silent, before turning back to Andolin. "You have messed up. You had no authority to invite those Inquisitors without my approval and I never heard of either the airship's arrival nor their involvement in the demon hunt. Now, I can look at it in two ways. Either you are an arrogant arse who thinks he will be a Caesar and can do anything he pleases, or you simply did not know of this because you were not aware of the old law. And frankly, I would rather assume the latter than former, because you did help."

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and frowned. "That thing will cost you tomorrow and you will lose a few votes. Now, let me make something crystal clear. I know Silk supports you. Because I know Erwin planned to nominate Miss Ashtir and was outsmarted. To me it does not matter whose man you are. And I did consider voting for you. I did not because with you I was not certain just how greedy you are. The girl, she was too s...... too rustic to be power-hungry. That is why I voted for her. We do need a Caesar. And we need it fast, but I will not risk to have the wrong man on the throne. She might have turned out to be a puppet, but she was too headstrong to be easily controlled. And the Council can run the Empire just fine, as long as we have someone who will ratify our decisions. So, the truth is, I chose the candidate I doubted less. Does not mean I can't change my decision and vote for you tomorrow. So, instead of telling me what you did without much proof, why don't you tell me something else. What do you plan to do once you get the throne? How will you make the Empire stronger? And don't give me the crap you would feed the Council. The truth. Cold, hard truth."

[Andolin]

Surprised to find himself the subject of criticism, rather than accolades, Andolin sat back with disbelief. "I did not invite the Inquisitors to the Island. I was told that they were on the ship already. I cannot stop priests from visiting the island. There services were offered to me. I took them, because I thought their assistance might turn the tide. I tried to get the High Priestess of the Mother, but all she cared about was the flowers in the garden -- having no appreciation for the danger the Demon presented. I tried the high priests of every temple in the city Lord Chancellor. All that came forward were fools. We needed to take decisive action. If allowing some Oneist priests some bragging rights in dispatching our demon was to be the cost of things, I was prepared to pay it."

"We did not have the luxury of time for paladins of holy orders to be summoned here. We had but one moment to strike. I took the decisive step to save the Citadel, if not the Empire. It worked. We do not have the luxury of time to fix other problems in the Empire either. That is why I am frustrated by this inaction by the Council. This is a time for action."

Trying to extend his shields around both himself and Hector, he added, "Silk has overheard this conversation already, I suspect. Silk will support anyone he thinks he can manipulate. He thinks he can manipulate me. The question you have to ask yourself is whether I will be his puppet, or whether I might be a pleasant surprise. What I have to say on it should not matter. You should draw your own conclusions."

"I am the right man for the throne. The farm girl is an insult to every member of the Council. If we cannot get a consensus for myself, then you take the throne. I don't care. Let Silk and Erwin try and manipulate you instead. If it is not to be me, then it must be a viable candidate."

His seemingly selfless suggestion was mostly for show. He assumed that Hector neither wanted the throne, nor could garner the support. As such, it was a ploy intended to make Andolin sound more selfless in opposing Scatha.

[Grey Wolf]

Hector sighed as Andolin explained, and though something about the whole deal did not sit right, he was left with a strong feeling that the man was telling the truth. Or at least that what he told was the truth and that very little was held back. "Well, even though it was done with best intentions and because nothing else could have been done, you still should have not done it without consulting with someone else." Like me. or just about anyone who would have told you not to be a pompous, arrogant ass. "You simply assumed you knew what is best and did it. Now, while that makes you a perfect member of the Council, it also won't make you endearing to them. But, what is done is done. You did the right thing, but not the right way. And it will cost you tomorrow."

Then came the drivel about why he should be the man on the throne and instead of being impressed, Hector found his anger rising. "Now, what did I ask you to tell me? The stuff I know or something new? I don't care if the other candidate is a trained monkey with a silly hat. And I don't care how fast the Empire needs a new Caesar. I want you to tell me why I should give you my vote. Plain and simple. If you get elected, what are your plans? How will you run the Empire? You need to convince me to vote for you. Not vote against the other candidate. I am a very stubborn man. Don't make me show you just how much."

[Andolin]

"If I did not do it the right way, I apologize," he began, even though he felt no apology was needed. "I had assumed that recruiting a party to dispatch the daemon was entirely within my authority as Lord of the Chamber. If the fact was that some of the persons recruited were foreigners made it necessary to consult others, I was unaware." Cursed bureaucracy!

"Sadly, if Miss Ashtir could get 9 votes, I fear that a trained monkey with a silly hat might get just as many. There are persons on the council that want there to be no Caesar. I need not tell you who they are. I am a candidate that believes in action. A candidate that would be tolerant of all religions. I would judge people by their actions, rather than words. I believe that the best negotiations are ones that are conducted by a position of strength. I believe that unity is critical to an Empire as diverse as ours. We have external threats, but as long as we are strong internally, we shall prevail. We need someone creative, who is not always predictable. We also need someone with the fire of determination to see him through the difficult times. I am that person," he announced simply.

[Grey Wolf]

Hector waved away the apology, but still added one last poke to the obviously sore spot to the young Major Domos, just to make sure he would not allow himself such a mistake again. "Think of it. Foreigners are fine as long as they do not still owe their allegiance to the enemy. And Inquisitors of Dominicus do not sound very mercenary to me. You invited foreign troops to the Citadel soil, and while I would have probably agreed with you, it was still a bad political move."

The rest of his answer was greeted by a sigh and a small smile, followed by a slight nod. "Now, was that so hard to do? Of course not." Then his smile melted and he sat up in the chair. "Now, let me make one thing very clear. I have heard some rather bad things about you. While I am not quite believing everything I hear, I still don't trust you. And, while I will probably vote for you tomorrow, it is open for debate. To be blunt again. You better put the Empire first and Andolin Azarin second. Not the other way round. Or we are going to be on very unfriendly terms. Understood?"

[Andolin]

While not agreeing with the Chancellor's assessment of foriegn troops, Andolin merely nodded. "I understand your position."

"No, it was not hard," he acknowledged. "If only people would ask for blunt speak when they wanted it."

"Look," Andolin began, "you don't have to like me. I am arrogant with my abilities. I am not a great warrior. I am not a great artist. I am not of the nobility. I am simply a man who came from nowhere to seek his fortune here and, through some measure of skill and loyalty, has managed to advance far. Anochrim chose me. Marius chose me. Never were there two dissimilar people. Perhaps they were both blind, Lord Chancellor. However, perhaps they saw something in me that you have not allowed yourself to see," he whispered.

"You should not trust me overly. You should not trust anyone overly. I do not trust you completely, nor should I. But, I think you have a soul more sincere than others ... that suggests some trust could be built over time. That is all I ask. Allow trust to be built. I have risen quickly, but I have never betrayed a friend or patron," he added with an honest look.

Interestingly, for a man with Andolins skills and background, one might think him an evil man. He was not. Given opportunities to betray Thorkatla, he did not. Given opportunities to betray Kitya or Isabella, he did not. Nor did he betray Anochrim. If one wanted patrons, one needed to be seen as loyal.

[Grey Wolf]

Bluntness was answered with bluntness or at least so it seemed and Hector could not help, but allow a hint of a smile to creep to his face. The man's words made sense, and while he suspected this was one of rare opportunities Andolin actually spoke the truth, he was still grateful he could have been a witness to that. Once he was done, Hector fell silent for a while and then nodded. "Fair enough. As I said I have heard some bad things about you, but I also said that I have taken them with a grain of salt. I don't need you to trust me. You can however trust that I will do what I think is right and that is usually what I think is best for the Empire. It might not be the smartest thing to do, but I will do it. Because, my dear Lord Azarin, we are not here to get rich or to grasp all the power we can, but to work. I'll be watching you, you know? And I'll tell you if I dislike something. Rather vocally."

[Andolin]

"Fair enough," Andolin admitted. But one should always do the smartest thing. "Rest assured that I want what is best for the Empire. Even if you did not believe it, you can agree that when one has a vested interest in the survival of the Empire, like I am because of the position I hold, it is in my self-interest to see it prosper. All men are greedy. It is a weakness the Gods have given us -- though some are more than others. I always believe in giving someone a stake in success, to act as an incentive."

It was why he sought to find an appoint so many assistants. People like Elaine, Fauna, and Finodborn would have a stake in keeping him in power, or so he thought. It was, unfortunately when they had conflicts, like Elaine to the Mother and Fin to Aurelius that they lost their incentive.

"I shall take my leave them, Lord Chancellor, and hope that we can work together for a stronger Empire. My secret is that I am really not as shallow of a person as people would suspect."

[Grey Wolf]

Hector had been itching for a good fight for a while now and Andolin’s arrival had given him hope he might get one that evening. He could not be sad however, for the meeting had proven quite fruitful and even pleasant. He still could not shake away the slight dislike of the Major Domos, nor the feeling of slight repulsion in his vicinity, but the man had managed to convince him of his good intentions somewhat. He would have to talk to Sosa the first chance he had and discuss it with her further. She seemed to harbor an intense dislike for him and he wanted to know why.

“That is true, Lord Azarin. But, if we were to follow that maxim we could appoint just about anyone to that position. Yet, were we to put a coward onto the throne, we would risk having him demean himself and the Empire in an effort to preserve that throne and his life. And that is just as bad as having a madman on the throne.” With that he rose and offered his hand to Andolin. “I am lad we had this discussion. We shall meet tomorrow?”

[Andolin]

"You and I agree on that. Loyalty and trying one's best likewise does not weed out the incompetent or unsuited. Miss Ashtir could be both loyal and try to help the Empire, but if she does not have the talent at it, then it would be a lost cause," he said lightly.

"Yes, tomorrow then. Let us hope to get these matters behind us and move forward. Thank you for your time." With that, he bowed and was prepared to take his leave.

[Grey Wolf]

Hector replied with a stiff bow of his own, something not often seen. "Yes. Till next we meet then. And do mind in the future. Until you are elected as a Caesar, your power is not absolute. And even then..... But, that would be to repeat myself. Good bye. And good luck tomorrow." He walked around the table to escort the Major Domos out of his office.

[Maeve]

Summarized. Skills within levels set.