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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3137154" data-attributes="member: 3448">Dame Brionna rapped quietly on the door, and Alistair called for her to enter.“Your grace, I have two matters of which you should be aware.  The first is that I have secured a list of the members of the court who intended to commit suicide, and when.  Several are planning on committing suicide at the funeral, although most of those are not crucial court personnel.  You should also know that we have reasons to think that some of the common folk may throw themselves onto her funeral pyre.”“Ugh.”  Alistair looked disgusted.  “We should make sure that appropriate orations are made to dissuade them, and then we should position mages with orders to sleep anyone who tries to approach the pyre without being part of the ceremony.  Most of the commoners should be affected by it, and then the guards can stop any that make it through.”“Yes, your grace.  I’ll take care of the arrangements.”  Dame Brionna made a small note to herself.  “In addition to debriefing any of the people who will be following Amelia, I also think that we should arrange audiences with the major court officials who will continue to serve your grace.  The two most important are the Equitable Varance Tuttle, the Minister of Magic and an Archmage, and the Minister of the Mind, who is an 18th Circle redactor.”“I thought Lady Constance was the Minister of Magic?”“No, your grace.  She is the head of the Archducal Coven, but there is a separate ministry.”“Then, yes, we’ll certainly want to meet with them.  They will both be important in establishing our new schools, as well.”“And the Minister of the Mind might be able to heal the Duke of Brightspan’s mind, at least if the Duke will permit it,” added Kit.Dame Brionna cleared her throat.  “Continuing with the surviving members of the court, Lord Brendanbeck Blowingsnoz, the Minister of Roads, and Aaron Gladhand, of the Exchequer, will also both survive.”“Blowingsnoz?  Must be a gnome.”“Yes, your grace.  The office of the Exchequer is probably the least badly affected.  I suppose there are some advantages to people who are more loyal to money than to the Archduchy.  The Archducal Guard, on the other hand, has the highest number of suicides.  The only senior officer who will not be committing suicide is Lieutenant Zachary.”“The Lieutenant Zachary who commanded the security delegation to Tarsh?” asked Alistair, eliciting a nod.  “ I thought that we had reassigned him out of the palace.”“We haven’t yet had the chance to.  It’s on my list of things to do, your grace.”“See to it quickly.  We can’t risk him being placed in command.”“Yes, your grace.  Turning to the important members of the Court we will need to replace, in addition of course to the ones that we have already addressed, the Minister of Defense will be passing as well.”Alistair shook his head in exasperation.  “I suppose that should have been expected.  The only candidate that I can think of is Field Marshal Broadfields.  He has the experience and ability and the other general officers respect him.  I suppose one of the Dukes or other high nobles with experience leading their own army might be able to do the job, but I don’t think any of them could afford to split their attention.”“I shouldn’t think so, your grace.  And for the next several years, it would be better if the high military posts were filled with people we can be sure are loyal to the Archduchy, not to one of your vassals.  It reduces the risk of problems.”“Yes.  Very well, who’s next?”“For rather different reasons, we’ll need a new privy secretary.”“Yes… Speaking of the privy secretary, have we interrogated Lady Deborah Brightspan yet?  Did we learn anything more about the plot?”Dame Brionna looked annoyed.  “Lady Deborah died in her cell before we had a chance to interrogate her.  The conclusion of the priest who examined her was that it was a stroke.”“Did you check for whether she was killed by another one of those demons?” asked Kit.“Yes.  There were no signs of wounds, even on close examination, and no signs of magic.  I suspect a psionic attack.”“Or a previously placed trap in her mind, designed to kill her to prevent interrogation,” added Alistair.“Indeed.  That would explain how they reached her without penetrating the wards the Eldar placed against psychoportation.”  Dame Brionna brought the conversation back to the topic of the moment.  “We still need to appoint her replacement.”“Do you think Marcus could do the job?” asked Kit.“I should think so,” said Alistair, “at least for the interim.  We can see how he does and figure out whether to make the appointment permanent later.  Who’s next?”“Lady Winnifred, the Matron of the Court, is also on her way out, your grace.”“Matron of the Court… that’s a mostly ceremonial position, right?” asked Kit.“Yes.  In charge of a wide range of protocol matters.”“We can probably leave it unfilled for the time being, then.  Or have Aunt Cecilia officially filling the role, but with the Master of Protocol handling most of the actual work.”“That might be perfect, your grace.  It gives us an excuse to have her present for any occasions where her sight would be helpful.  And her birth makes her quite suitable from a perspective of official appearances.  I’m sure that people will be quite willing to overlook any eccentricities in the Archduke’s aunt.”“Fine.  Who’s next?”“The next one isn’t a great matter of state, your grace, but I thought you would want to know.  Mommy Cupcake is also planning on following Her Grace the Archduchess.”Alistair’s eyes widened at the news.  “Yes… thank you for telling me.”“Mommy Cupcake?” asked Kit.“My nurse until about 8 or 9.”  Alistair thought for a moment.  “Arrange for her to meet with me privately, perhaps this evening after the dinner.  I think I’ll be able to convince her not to.”“Very good, your grace.  Most of the Guard vacancies are ones that I will have to deal with over the coming weeks by recruiting promising new Guards from the Army, the City Constabulary, and the church forces, but there is a specific position we should discuss.  We will need to appoint a Guardian of the Bedchamber, the personal guard who attends to your safety when you are sleeping or in bed.  Do you have a preference as to the Guardian’s sex, your grace?”“Female,” replied Alistair instantly.Kit rolled her eyes.  “Why am I not surprised…”“I was thinking about you!  I’m perfectly comfortable with people seeing me in my bedchambers-- people have been keeping an eye on me my whole life.  You’re the one who hides beneath the sheets when they bring in our morning clothes.  I thought you would be more comfortable with a woman than with a man watching us when we sleep.”Kit shrugged.  “Well, that makes sense, but still…”“Ahem,” said Dame Brionna.  “I thought that might be the case and have identified a possible candidate.  Dame Gretchen Overfifer is a skilled knight in the Archducal service.”“Overfifer?  A relation of the Lady Mayor’s, I assume?”“Yes, I believe her sister, but Dame Gretchen is quite competent in her own right.  She is also politically and morally reliable, as a paladin of Glor’diadel.  She is underutilized in her current position in my opinion, especially given the losses we’re suffering.”“What is her current position?” asked Kit.  “Would her loss be a problem?”“She is the court sergeant-at-arms.”“A mostly ceremonial position, I assume?”“Yes, your grace.  The sergeant-at-arms has a variety of protocol duties and is responsible for managing entrances and the like.  She would serve to break up any disruptions and to expel anyone who violated proper court decorum, but the Archduchy rarely needs to call on its sergeant-at-arms to deal with issues like that.  I suspect that she was appointed primarily because of her birth; it is a fairly prominent posting.”Alistair smiled.  “I think we can even appoint her without leaving any further vacancies.  A ceremonial post involved in making sure that court functions run smoothly and with proper decorum seems perfect for Lieutenant Zachary, and we wouldn’t need to worry that he would get some company killed in the field.”Dame Brionna nodded.  “Absolutely, your grace.  With your leave, I’ll take care of the reassignment.”  Even Kit nodded, a little reluctantly, but convinced that Dame Gretchen made sense.</blockquote>

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