"What happened?"
"A fire at the palace," she replied. "It gutted the wing that held the Royal apartments. It was started by a kitchen cookfire, and got out of control. It's very bad timing that alot of the heads of the higher noble houses happened to be at the palace at the same time. It's left a serious vacuum in the city and kingdom both."
"Who's in charge?"
"Right now? Jenna," she answered. "It's part of the treaty between the Tower and the Crown. If the throne vacates due to accident or treachery and there's no heir, the Keeper acts as Regent until a new king is chosen by the nobility. Jenna's fairly ticked off about it," Keritanima laughed. "She had enough work just being Keeper. Now the courtiers of the Lion Throne are banging down Duncan's door to get audiences with her. She's been howling at me for two days now, asking me how I do it."
"Do what?" Allia asked.
"Run a kingdom," she answered. "It's really not that hard. If Jenna can run the Tower, she can run Sulasia. It's just a little more paperwork, that's all."
"Poor Jenna," Tarrin chuckled.
"Why would a treaty be set up that way?" Allia asked.
"Simple, sister. The Keeper's neutrality is never in question," Keritanima answered. "If a king dies because of treachery, then someone had to kill him, and you never know who that may have been. They added accidents because you never know if an accident is as accidental as it seems. Either way, it puts someone with absolute neutrality in power who can punish the killer or determine that it truly was an accident. It also frees the nobility to get down to the business of getting a new king immediately, without all that messy disorder that tends to follow the death of a monarch. You know, some noble deciding that he's going to run things himself, and all that."
"That's rather practical," Allia said appreciatively.
"You know Sulasians, sister. Practical, pragmatic, and as much fun as a box of wet sand," she said with a teasing look at Tarrin.
"Joke all you want, but it works," Tarrin shrugged absently.
"Where's Sarraya?" Keritanima asked curiously, looking around.
"Off in a tizzy," Allia answered.
"I was not!" Sarraya's voice called as she flew back to them. "Hullo, Kerri. You're looking a bit frumpled."
"I feel frumpled," the Wikuni chuckled.
"Well, that explains why Jenna hasn't talked to me," Tarrin mused. "She must be up to her ears in paperwork."
"Alot more than that," Keritanima told him. "The citizenry is very nervous because rumors are flying that the fire was set on purpose, and Jenna's had to go out several times and calm things down because the nobles are too busy jockeying for a shot at the Lion Throne. They all adore her, and she's about the only one in the city right now that can keep that powder keg from exploding. The nobles think it was arson too, no matter what Jenna tells them, and they're all blaming each other."
"How would Jenna know?" Sarraya asked.
"There are any number of spells she could use to find out," Tarrin answered, cutting Keritanima off.
"So, Sulasia's about to fly apart at the seams," Keritanima said off-handedly, "and it's going to get worse."
"How can it get any worse?" Tarrin asked.
"When they try to choose a new king," she answered. "The heads of all four major houses died in the fire. There's going to be little internal wars within those houses to choose the successors, and while they're doing that, the minor houses are going to be maneuvering to get the throne before any of the major houses can get organized. It's so perfect for the minor houses that it really makes me think that someone did set that fire. All the minor nobles houses are chomping at the bit, because they think it's their chance for their smaller, minor houses to get on the throne."
"Isn't there a good candidate among the minor nobles?" Tarrin asked.
"Several, but nobody knows them, brother," she answered. "When it comes to winning the throne, reputation is almost as important as ability. They're not going to put someone on the throne if they're not sure he'll do a good job, because anyone that backs the new king may end up on the wrong side of the sword if it comes out that he's really incompetent, and the rest of the gentry defies him. It's a very unique situation, and I've already warned Jenna that the nobles may start fighting one another. Without one good qualified and well-known candidate, it's going to spread the support out among a number of lesser ones, and you know what that kind of scenario can degenerate into."
"Civil war," Tarrin growled.
"Not quite. More like an internal period of turmoil," she said succinctly. "If I were a betting woman, and I am, I'd put my money on Duke Arren of Torrian. He's a minor noble, but he has one of the best reputations in Sulasia as a fair, just, and kind lord, even if his desmense was what the Suldans would call a backwater town."
"Suldan?" Sarraya asked.
"A citizen of Suld. You can't very well call them Sulasians, can you?" she asked with a toothy grin.
"Arren would never seek the throne," Tarrin scoffed.
"I know, and that's more the pity," Keritanima sighed. "It may be a kingdom-wide affair, but if the citizens of Suld don't accept a new monarch, they don't get the throne. That's why all the heads of the noble houses stay in Suld, no matter where their fief is. It's more than an old saying in other parts of the world that as Suld goes, so goes Sulasia." She grinned. "In Wikuna, we say 'Sennadar marches to Suld's drum.' It's a fairly accurate description of the international politics of the West."
"So you say that more than Sulasia could be affected by this?" Allia asked.
"Sister, the entire world can be affected by this. I don't think either of you understand just how critically important Suld is on the world stage. The person who sits on the Lion Throne wields vast amounts of power, power that extends far beyond Sulasia's borders. Sulasia's the most important kingdom In the West."
"Why?" Tarrin asked.
"Because of the Tower, for one," she answered. "And it's also the most stable kingdom on Sennadar. All the other kingdoms have histories of turmoil and unrest, but Sulasia's been plodding along in domestic harmony for about five thousand years now. Even when there's a change of dynasty, things have always been settled quickly and without much fuss, because the Keeper's always been there to step in and keep things running smoothly while a new king was chosen. All the other kingdoms look up to Sulasia like a big brother. That's why whoever sits on the Lion Throne has a great deal of influence. But this time it's different, though," she mused, tapping her muzzle with a finger as she thought. "Things have never been this unstable in Sulasia before, at least not to Wikuni memory. If the nobles don't find a competent successor and ram him through the selection process, they may very well start fighting among themselves."
"What's the selection process?" Allia asked.
"The same as it is for any other kingdom, sister," she replied. "Someone with a tracable royal or noble bloodline steps up and says 'I'm the King.' Noble houses either support or denounce him. If he has enough support among the noble houses, he's the king. If too many powerful houses denounce him, he's usually exiled. That's why the candidates are always very sure to have their support lined up before they make a claim on the throne."
"That's a fairly simplified explanation, but it's pretty accurate given how much you left out," Sarraya agreed. "There's a great deal of maneuvering and jockeying among the nobles to line up that support, and sometimes it can take a while. There are also a bunch of formal ceremonies and such involved with making the claim. And the High Priest of Karas has to at least not openly denounce the candidate."
"I forgot about that part," Keritanima admitted. "But it's not an official rule. In just about any kingdom, if the church rejects a monarch, the people are likely to reject him too. Churches hold alot of power over the citizenry, and the king rules at their suffrage. Especially in monotheseistic nations like Sulasia."