Summoning the Senate

Senators, your presence is required for a State of the Empire Address on 1 January 1936.

The archivists say copies of the following newspapers should be sent to you:

And effort has been wasted on the Senate’s world map yet again:

Before the address

Senator Donatello Favero seems unusually giddy before the State of the Empire address. If anyone moves near him, he belabours them with tales of the instability of Italy’s government and how they couldn’t even fend off a revolution within their own borders. He continuously rambles on about how an invasion is sure to succeed now that Italy is in chaos.

Senator Rajah Akbar Patel was excited.Finally!He would have his first speech in Senate!He already had a plan of this speech,with three paragraphs:
-firstly,Radical Party agrees with that all rebel-occupied provinces must be brought back under Roman Empire’s rule
-secondly,he(personally)agrees with predecessor,that Ukraine(and other Russian-occupied lands)must be liberated
-thirdly(it was his own agenda)India must be puppeted by Romans and turned into Corporative Republic of India,Ltd. - for liberation of Indians and for Roman profit
When he summed up all of this,he printed his speech and went to taxi station.

Eventually, the time arrived for the Thaddas family to return back home, and so, late February 1931, they left for Aotearoa, with no current plans to visit the mainland in the future.

Since then, they continued work as usual, though now Kyrene had taken a more saddened look, knowing what she knew now - angels, future disasters, people being able to tell that time has changed even if they didn’t know how it was changed - it was a little much for her. Especially in how it connected to her precious boy. She would keep this info to herself, not even telling Nestorius, instead choosing to make a little journal documenting it, unrelated to her biography. She labeled it “Of Angels and Seers.”

Nestorius himself was still as chipper as always, keeping the spirit of Romanitism alive everywhere he goes. Ol’ Ness didn’t look like he was slowing down at all, despite his advanced age. Nevertheless, some folks, both in the mainland and in Aotearoa, began worrying over the age of Nestor and Cyrene… most of all their son, Timon.

By the 1st of January, 1936, Timon had reached the age of 22, and his priorities in relations to his education were slowly coming to a halt. He was, in all technicality, ready to inherit the estate in the case of his father’s passing, which entitled his senatorial seat as well. The young lad had spent the last five years, among other things, following what his parents were doing and listening to the latest news, in an attempt to mentally prepare himself, even if his father was dancing to the latest Mainlander jazz, at the age of 86, with his mother who was a few odd years younger than him.

-–

Meanwhile, in the mainland, Franco received the word on the next State of the Empire Address, and prepared himself for the 1st of January.

As he arrived at the Senate, he noticed Donatello’s behavior from a distance, and does his best to avoid the mad fellow.

Theodora was 49 now. She was visiting her son in Smyrna, where Belisarius was on leave from the military. Her second son had become an exceptional young man in the last ten years. Her husband Alexios couldn’t make it; he was seriously ill, and Heraclius and his team of doctors were doing everything they could to keep him healthy.

Things had changed so much in the last couple of years. Niketas was off somewhere in Tibet, trying to find forgiveness for his actions many years ago. Her friend Ioannes had been promoted again, this time to Megas Doux, or Field Marshal - he was currently on assignment somewhere in the Balkans or southern Italy. John-Loukas, that bright airman that had helped save Constantinople twenty years ago or so, was being considered for promotion to Megas Domestikos ton Aeras - the chief of the newly formed Imperial Army Air Corps. General Theodoros Laskaris was off on another adventure somewhere in Africa. If not for her family, she would have been utterly alone.

The Senate wasn’t much better. Favero’s condition continued to decline, and he didn’t talk about much more than destroying the Italian rebels. Kyrene and Nestorius had returned to Aotearoa, and although she exchanged semi-frequent letters with the former, it was clear that they wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. The others were long gone. The Senate was so full of new faces, young faces. Many of those bright men she had worked with thirty years ago were either dead or retired. Their replacements could never hope to match their optimism and energy. She was, however, proud of the other woman sitting in the Senate. Irene was a rising star, a prodigy when it came to politics and diplomacy. She had a sharp mind and a willingness to challenge just about any belief or idea. Many of the men in the Senate could not match her intellect; she could quote Homer at length, while the men could barely quote the Bible. She always said that Theodora was her inspiration to go into politics and make a difference for the people of the Empire.

Irene Doukaina was also Theodora’s niece, Niketas’s daughter.

After Niketas was captured in Palestine in the early days of the Time of Troubles, his wife, a nurse, was killed in the Sack of Constantinople. It was ironic that Niketas himself, brainwashed by the communists, had allowed the enemy to breach the capital’s defenses and kill thousands of innocent civilians, among them his wife. In the aftermath of the attack, Theodora found a teenaged Irene on the streets, staring off into the distance at the plumes of smoke rising from downtown. With Niketas going into rehab, she adopted her niece and raised her as her own daughter, just as her father had raised her. She had always seen Irene’s talents in politics and made sure to give her the best education she could. She was proud when Irene got a scholarship into the Pandidakterion, joining the ranks of the first women to enroll in the prestigious university that year. She was even prouder when Irene graduated at the top of her class, surprising all of her professors. She was delighted when Prince Michael, the youngest of the Emperor’s sons, began taking an interest in her and helped her get a seat in the Senate. While she could sit among the Senate, she did not possess the rank of Senator. The law specified that Theodora had to retire or pass away before she could assume the family’s seat. But in the meantime, Irene could get some much needed experience and participate in discussion.

Irene was back in Constantinople, interning at the Ministry of Security and overseeing Kira’s protective custody. Her effective yet humane tactics resulted in a streamlining of the Ministry’s policy, making it even more efficient. Theodora heard that she had found and eliminated at least five more Cult cells in her time with the Ministry, despite not being in leadership at all. There were rumors that the Emperor was going to name her as Theodora’s successor to the post.

Right now, though, Theodora was sitting at a table outside a cafe, sipping her morning coffee. Belisarius was running a bit late for their daily meeting. He usually wasn’t this late. Belisarius was a very punctual young man; he made a point to show up half an hour early if he could.

“He’s not going to show,” said Wilhelm, appearing in the chair opposite hers.

By now, Theodora had grown used to Wilhelm popping in and out at random. “What is it?” she said.

“Just letting you know,” said Wilhelm, “Belisarius’s unit just got called up an hour ago. Something about rebel activity on the border with the Palestinian rebels. They’re being shipped over there by plane.”

“Why are you telling me this?” said Theodora.

“Just wanted to spare you some waiting,” said Wilhelm.

“What, no prophecy or cryptic message this time?” said Theodora.

“Hey, angels are like humans, only they’re less fragile and more arrogant,” said Wilhelm, “Well, I try not to be arrogant, but after what happened to me in Vienna I–”

“Senator Doukas!” shouted a man.

Theodora blinked, and Wilhelm was gone. A courier rushed up to her, a look of concern on his face.

“Urgent news, sir,” he said, handing her three telegrams, “Three pieces of urgent news, no less.”

“What is it this time…” she muttered, opening the telegrams.

The first was hardly any cause for concern. It was an official summons to the State of the Empire Address on New Year’s Day. She had expected that.

What she did not expect was the content of the next telegram.

THEODORA ANNA DOUKAS,

REGRETFUL TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR SON

BELISARIUS JUSTINIAN DOUKAS

WAS KILLED IN ACTION FIGHTING
AGAINST ENEMIES OF THE EMPIRE
IN SYRIA-PALESTINE STOP

HE DIED DEFENDING HIS EMPEROR AND EMPIRE STOP

HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY MICHAEL VII, BASILEUS TON RHOMAION,
AND HIS FAMILY SEND THEIR CONDOLENCES FOR YOUR IMMENSE LOSS STOP

Attached were pictures of the still smoldering wreckage of a troop transport plane.

It got worse.

MOTHER,

REGRETFULLY INFORM YOU HAVE DONE ALL WE CAN STOP

FATHER IS GONE STOP

I COULDN’T SAVE HIM STOP

I AM SO SORRY STOP

HERACLIUS STOP

“If you want, Senator, I can–” began the courier.

“Please,” said Theodora.

The courier hurried off.

She tried to hold back her tears, but she couldn’t. The telegrams fell out of her hands and fluttered to the ground. She had lost both her husband and her son on the same day. Alexios could still have been saved! And yet he had died a pointless death, when he could have lived for many more decades!

Her own son…the military said he had died in battle against the rebels, but that was a lie. The plane had been shot down in the middle of the desert by antiaircraft artillery. Everybody onboard had died without firing a single bullet. They had died in vain. They didn’t die for emperor and empire. They just died for nothing.

“WHY?!” she screamed skywards, tears streaming from her eyes. “WHY DO YOU HAVE TO CURSE ME SO?!”

She knocked her coffee cup on the ground, where it shattered. She continued to let out a primal scream, letting her grief overtake her. Her father didn’t come to her side. Niketas didn’t come to her side. Alexios didn’t come to her side. Belisarius and Heraclius didn’t come to her side. The Emperor didn’t come to her side. God didn’t come to her side. In that moment, she knew she was completely and utterly alone.

-–

Theodora’s representative announces that due to a personal matter the Senator will not be able to attend the New Year’s Day address. She would instead be represented by her niece and adopted daughter, Irene Doukas.

The Address

The address begins unusually as Prince Konstantinos, rather than the Emperor, enters the meeting hall.

Senators,

My father, the Emperor, is quite ill, and so I am making this address in his stead.

In March of 1931, Ethiopia declared war on Adal for the enclave in their lands. When Adal’s allies came to Adal’s defense, Ethiopia asked for the Empire’s help. As my father was away and resting, I took the opportunity to defend our ally and to impose better order on east Africa. This put us at war with Scotland, England, Kanata, Adal, and Iraq.

A steady stream of victorious battles followed, although the inept Theodoros Kolokotronis proved unable to use the Guyana navy to win against the English navy. And the forces in Guyana were scarcely worth a colonial militia, being forced to retreat to the islands before the English hordes.

In August, father had returned to health. He was aghast and quite insulting about the war. He ranted about throwing away lives to no gain, as if their entire purpose wasn’t the Empire’s glory, then immediately made a white peace with Iraq. There was his ‘no gain’! Then he made a peace with Scotland for the original war aim, never adding another demand.

During our little war, Scandinavia defeated the Germans, seizing control of critical Baltic islands. Or islands that would be critical if Germany hadn’t built the Kiel Canal bypassing them.

In October of 1831, loyalists in Aquitaine began an uprising to return to the Empire. Simultaneously, American terrorists sank the USS Constantinople while it was in a UTA harbor. Father, surely addled by disease, refused to punish the Americans.

In fact, father went further and released Gabon as a foederati state, claiming in needed to be done to preserve our international reputation. As if any reputation other than that of the legions mattered. And they’re too small to provide any assistance to the Empire during war. Useless foederati.

And then he refused to accept the return of lands from Aquitaine, even at the cost of our prestige! Father can be such a fool sometimes!

At least he allowed me to raise two motorized divisions. Not that they saw use, even when Burgundy declared yet another war on Aquitaine, or Germany annexed Denmark, or Germany went to seize yet more Polish lands, or when England sought to cut Biru down to size. And even then, he complained about the logistics of acquiring parts and fuel, and of the cost for doing so. He seems to think I overdid it with the two regiments.

Surprisingly, Poland-Lithuania won against Germany, taking back Latvia.

And Norwegian nationalists secured their independence from Russia. Scandinavia soon worked to unite the region.

Finally, in November the Imperial Air Force began using a new type of bomber.

And I heard annoying amounts about the costs of goods in the Empire, of worker strikes and lockouts and soup kitchens, and other such things. As if anything other than the glory of the Empire matters.

Nevertheless, it seems father is not long for the world. And mark my words, the Empire will not be so weak once I am emperor.

The prince then stared at the senators with a scowl, waiting for their responses.

Senate Responses

Franco wasn’t sure what to think when the Prince entered the hall in his father’s stead. He didn’t read the papers much, mostly due to the questionable articles that appear every so often, nor did he follow any news in regards to the royal family’s personal affairs, so the Prince was an unknown to him. But quickly, as the Address progressed, his views on the heir apparent had sunk decently. He wasn’t a fan of his debatable jingoism, inflammatory comments towards the Emperor and His judgement, and ignorance and/or disinterest in the matters of the workers and the economy, but what sealed Franco’s less-than-stellar opinion on the Prince was questioning the decision to make Gabon a federate, and subsequently calling it useless.

If the Prince thought Gabon was useless, he then thought about what he would say about Aotearoa. Right as he was decently miffed, he heard the Prince’s final comment, with Franco watching his slimy gob shift into a scowl. It was at that moment Franco remembered the Prince was still a member of the royal family, and he needn’t piss him off too much, and thus quickly changed his expression to one of neutral emotion. Despite his current thoughts, he still wasn’t exactly aware of what the Prince has done so far. Perhaps if someone criticized him and/or spoke up about something in relation to him, he might be able to express his own frustrations.

Senator Donatello Favero feigned disinterest throughout the Crown Prince’s entire speech. Italy was not mentioned once, so as far as anyone would believe, he wouldn’t care what was being said to the Senate. Privately though, he listened quite intently to what the Crown Prince was saying, and he liked what he heard. Indeed, the Empire had sat on its laurels for too long, allowing the army to stagnate while rebel states continued to exist. The longer they were left to their own devices, the better prepared they would be to resist reintegration. An entire generation was being born and raised as citizens of rebel states instead of the Empire. They identified as Italians, French, Burgundians, and what have you, rather than true subjects of the Empire. It was outright disgusting. If the Crown Prince was as jingoist as Donatello hoped, perhaps the time would come at last to reclaim what was lost. Donatello would bide his time for that exact moment.

The senators took their seats in the Senate after the national anthem had been played and a short prayer had been read. Irene Doukas, a young brown-haired woman in her late twenties, looked around her, observing the ancient political body in action. Some senators nervously chatted with one another, while the veterans simply sat quietly, waiting for the Emperor to arrive.

A herald sounded the trumpets, and he announced, “Esteemed senators of the Empire, Konstantinos, Prince of Thrace.”

The Crown Prince silently entered the Senate and stepped up to the podium. She had seen his picture in the papers before, but she had never expected to meet the man in person. He was a tall and imposing but frail figure. While he wore a military uniform, he looked a bit thinner than the average soldier. He was a bit handsome, but she wasn’t drawn to him in any way, especially after he began speaking. For the next hour or so he rambled on about imperial glory and wars around the world, glorifying each victory while in the same breath condemning every general responsible for a defeat and even criticizing the Emperor himself, his own father, for not pursuing more punitive peace terms. Konstantinos railed against his father’s decision to let an incident involving UTA “terrorists” slide and to organize a colonial dominion in Africa. It was clear this man was only concerned with military glory and quasi-fascist ideals. So when he started to scowl at the senators, she just kept quiet like the other senators.

Was this what Aunt Theo had told her to expect? She was probably expecting the Emperor to give the address, not this prince who had such a disregard for all Romans who weren’t soldiers. Why did the Emperor even choose him to be his successor? Surely he knew what Konstantinos could possibly do as Emperor.

His rhetoric alarmed Irene. If he was this dismissive towards a majority of Romans and his own father, how would he view the senators and the rebels? What would he do in charge of the colonies and dominions? And what damage could he do to the order that Empress Veronica and her successors had built up over the last century? Would he rush headlong into the next great conflict, attacking all of the rebels and their foreign backers before the Empire was ready?

She decided to wait and see how the other senators responded before speaking up. She couldn’t risk clashing with the heir to the throne, especially when her mother was so close to convincing the Emperor on the merits of a separate head of government.

Akbar Patel wasn’t sure what to think.And this jingoist with dismissive attitude towards most of Romans will be next Emperor? If his own foederati state he called “useless”,how he would react to proposals of liberation of oppressed India,Ukraine,and other? He is a royalty, rajah remembered, and must be tolerated as such. Speech was too long,and he wasn’t sure when senators would express their opinion.

“Your Highness,and fellow Senators!
It’s my opinion,as of Radical Party’s senator,that Roman Empire should focus more on not so useless dominions,basically it must re-integrate rebel states on basis of membership in organization,let’s call it Roman Commonwealth,that will through non-violent means bring unity to Gallia and Italia.
Also,I agree with His Highness that military is in bad shape,and that Roman Empire needs to motorize it.But,my opinion stands - Roman Empire must reconquer lost ally’s territories in Russia,and liberate Indian people.If Roman Empire haven’t abandoned it’s partially Greek roots,than perhaps next Emperor will restore Alexander’s achievements and puppet India,ensuring it’s transition to foederati colonial corporation under Roman-aligned governor,who will provide both equality and Roman profit.
Hope,that you have heard my words,
Rajah Akbar Patel have spoken.”

Franco watched as the latest member of the rotating senatorial seat stood and spoke in what sounded like a slightly broken Greek. He could tell the man was Indian before he even stated his name, with his accent displaying it in full glory. He did hear that Shepelov had retired two years prior, but didn’t follow to see who would receive the seat. He was mildly disgusted by Akbar’s suggestion of puppeteering India, some mad attempt to restore the achievements of Alexander the Great; it was obvious where his interests laid, intent in undermining the alliance fostered with his home country and start a war that would instill his own agenda in the region. He did however think the fella was ballsy though, smart enough to somehow obtain a senatorial seat so that he could suggest his crazy plans to His Royal Highness directly, and it seemed like today was his lucky day, finding someone possibly jingoistic enough to even give the idea a second thought.

Now he wished he had been reading the papers, since not only would he have just slightly more knowledge on Konstantinos, but have known about this apparent Rajah earlier. As he rested his head in his hand, he looked around himself once more, watching the other senators stay oddly quiet. He expected Tiberius to speak up, same with Donatello, probably in support of the rhetoric espoused by the Prince, though Alexios might be holding the latter back in feat of him ranting innately about Italia, while also expecting Theodora to politely speak against such vitriol, and possibly Julius adding his voice too, with the Palaiologoi remaining as quiet as they usually are… speaking of Theodora, he noticed a younger lady was seated where she usually sat. He did hear something about Theodora’s adopted daughter appearing in her name for this Address, one of the few things he heard off in advance, so that might be her. Perhaps she knew more on Konstantinos, even if she was from a different branch of the Doukas.

With the Prince’s gaze distracted by the Indian with gutso, Franco tried to catch Irene’s attention with subtle eyebrow movements.

A random senator stood up. “Senator, with all due respect, ARE YOU MAD?!”

Another senator stood up. “India is our ally! Are you suggesting we betray our ally and subject them to a quasi colonial republican dictatorship?! What did they do to deserve that!”

“That is both impossible and insane!” shouted another. “We would destroy our reputation in the global community! Our other allies would abandon us for Russia!”

“And a COMMONWEALTH?!” shouted another senator. “There is only one fate for the rebel scum, and that is death! No deals with the traitors and terrorists! Especially after they attacked Constantinople!”

“Sack him!” cried dozens more, forcing the Varangians to be sent in to prevent a fight from breaking out.

As the senators shouted, Irene and many of the veterans sat in their seats quietly, waiting for the whole thing to blow over. She noticed the Prince’s face blushing bright red, and she braced for the inevitable outburst.

At that moment, she noticed one of the other senators–Franco, her aunt told her–moving his eyebrows in a weird manner. Strange. Was he trying to get her attention?

As Franco attempted to get Irene’s attention, he couldn’t help but notice that the meeting hall quickly collapsed into madness, with a couple senators getting quite irate by the words of the Rajah, with the Varangians entering the fray to stop a fight from happening. At that moment, he noticed that Irene was looking his way; had she finally noticed him?

He did a little wave towards the lass to confirm if she did in fact notice him. He hoped his visage, now entering its mid-50s, wouldn’t dissuade her.

“This better be important and he better not be hitting on me”, she thought as she nodded to respond to Franco’s wave.

Franco gave her an awkward smile, as he moved closer to her so that he could whisper his questions. He just hoped the Prince wouldn’t see him amidst this chaos.

“Hey, um,” he began his whispers, obviously distracted by the mayhem happening, “uh, you’re Theodora’s daughter, right?” he whispered his first question, hoping not to have weirded out the lady.

“Yeah,” she snapped, “You better not be hitting on me, or I’m calling Prince Michael over. That said, what is it?”

In the same time,when Akbar Patel went under storm of accusations in madness,one Kyriarchía senator admitted,that Rajah is … smiling.
At the moment,when first statist shouted “ARE YOU MAD?”,Rajah understood,that his first public speech was successful.More!It will be written in history books!..as the most outrageous speech ever - he thought,when dozens shouted “sack him!”,and when guards flanked to prevent a massacre.
Still,that jingoist Favero haven’t spoken,his rant about Italy would cause…annoyance,but not outrage! - Akbar even jiggled like a kid,feeling like in very important historic moment. And even if anarchy will not spread by liberal methods,even if people of future will forget Radical Party,they will not forget me - he thought,staring at Crown Prince,who was blushing during entire mayhem.

“Hitting on you?! Why I would never! I have two daughters, I’ll let you know!” Franco whispered angrily, visibly offended by the young dame. But he immediately calmed down, realizing he had a segway into what he wanted to ask: “Speaking of the Prince though, that’s whom I wanted to ask about. Since you’re a Doukas like your mother, surely you know something about him, no?” he asked whisperingly.

“I don’t read the papers much these days, so I don’t exactly follow the news on the royal family,” he explained why he asked his question.

Another senator stood up. “Why don’t,” he said, “We just take the rebel scum and KILL THEM ALL?! They don’t deserve to live! Neither do their families! Send in the army and put everybody in the rebel occupied territories to the sword! Settle the empty land with useful Imperial citizens! And why don’t we do the same with Russia! March into Russia and kill every single Russian! Man, woman, children, elder – they’re all Russians and enemies of the Empire! They’re all Cultists! Destroy them all, and we can have an Imperium Sine Fine! And do the same with the Chinese, and Indians, and English, and Germans, and Ukrainians, and Cherokee, and everybody who has opposed us! The Empire must show it is strong and the master of the world!”

If the other senator’s “speech” had angered half of the Senate, this senator’s speech angered literally everybody. The Senate session devolved into a shouting match as dozens of senators charged at him and threw chairs and punches at each other, forcing even more guards to be deployed.

In the balcony, an administrator told the stenographer, “None of this goes on the record. None of it. Nobody would understand it anyways.”

As everybody yelled at each other, most of the senators around Irene remained calm and quiet.

“Just making sure,” said Irene, “And I don’t know much about Prince Konstantinos. Prince Michael, my mentor, has told me he had a very…jingoistic…tendency, but that’s all. My family’s a cadet branch of the Doukai. We have our own affairs independent of that of the Throne. We don’t get involved in the imperial court much.”

“Darn,” Franco said as he snapped his fingers in disappointment. “I guess I better return to my seat then. But I don’t like the tone of this guy,” he whispered as he prepared himself, “If he’s to be Emperor, I don’t know if I, or the Thaddai, will be able to handle this,” he said with a nervous look, as he began turning back for his seat.

It seems absolutely foolish to pursue some colonial adventure in India when we have several rebel states so close to the heart of the Empire. What does India matter when compared to Rome? The Empire shall always reign supreme, and that may include crushing the lesser nations when the time is appropriate, but this is not the time. The longer we let these rebel states continue to exist, the weaker we look. How can we expect any of our enemies, even the Russians and Indians being proposed as potential targets of aggression, to quake before us if we cannot even hold on to our own lands? We must crush our internal enemies first, and these rebels are indeed internal enemies for to recognize them as anything else is to accept them as actual states, and only then can we turn to other threats abroad.

- Senator Donatello Favero

Prince Konstantinos was blushing. Not because he liked anything anybody said. Far from it. The entire Senate, this esteemed body that had “led” the Empire since the days of Augustus, was making a fool out of itself, and by extension himself. He would put a stop to their bickering.

“ENOUGH!” he shouted. “SILENCE, YOU FOOLS!”

Everybody immediately shut up.

“Never before,” he spat, “Have I seen so many grown MEN–if you are worthy to be called that–squabble like barbarians! Sometimes I have to wonder why Father even granted you your seats! Perhaps your fathers gave them to you? Has it ever occurred to them that you may be IDIOTS?! And you aren’t even arguing over worthy topics! Invading India?! Exterminating rebel scum?! All are idiotic and impossible suggestions! I may be a firm supporter of the Empire, but I am NOT a fool! I should tell Father to fire you lot and rule on his own, but he probably wouldn’t listen. So I will do this.”

He motioned to the guards and waved to the half of the room where most of the troublemakers sat. “Everybody in this half of the room will be expelled from the session effective immediately. Do not come back until you are civilized enough to discuss civilized topics. If you dare spout nonsense like invading India again, I will personally see to it that you will be permanently out of a job.”

The senators were escorted out of the room. Other senators sat nervously, obviously terrified of what just happened.

“The rest of you,” he said, “Think twice before speaking. What a waste of time these sessions are. I can’t believe great great grandmother created this body.”

With that he turned and stalked from the senate chamber.

After the address

Rajah was angered and frustrated,when some mad fascist stated,that Empire needs to exterminate rebels totally,but he haven’t joined the mob,that tried to kill idiot - and luckily,because all of them(as well as fascist himself)were thrown out of Senate chamber.
later
“A new age have begun” - radio broadcaster said.
“Begun,begun” - sighed Akbar , drinking coffee at his home - “with parliamentary scandal”.

Following the session, Franco just stood outside of the meeting hall, back against the wall, as what he told Irene echoed in his head. He truly wondered whether he could deal with the jingoistic tendencies of what is supposedly the heir apparent, the Emperor to be. But what worried him most was not whether he could deal with it, but whether Timon could. The boy always seemed worried over his future last time he visited, and thinking on it really hard, he understood why. Timon was the only heir to the Thaddai estate, being Nestor’s only son and closest relative, thus making him eligible for the senatorial seat the estate had held for a long while not. Not just that, but he was the son to the Exarchess of Aotearoa, and considering the opinion of weaker federates the Prince displayed, Franco wondered what would happen with the seat - whether Timon would be the one to receive it, or if the Prince will just put someone who agrees with his ideology. And if the former happened, then Timon had to balance his senatorial seat and the position of Exarch, a difficult task to be sure, especially since he knew the lad was more attached to Aotearoa at this point.

Franco sighed. He worried for Timon despite knowing that he’s already doing that for himself. He guessed he just needed to vent mentally, since today’s Address was not to his liking because of the Prince. He looked over to his side, watching as the senators slowly left the hall, talking amongst themselves over what they had witnessed today. He waited for a bit longer, to see if there was anyone else venting about Konstantinos.

The radio said nothing about the Senate session, only that it went well.

Franco continued watching on as the senators left the hall. Almost all of them had left, with a few still gathering their things. He shrugged and thought that he might as well leave at this point. He could always rant about the heir apparent back at the HQ.

-–

Meanwhile, in Aotearoa

Timon Thaddas was at home, faced with something he hadn’t been faced with in a while - having nothing to do. For the past while, he had been so strung up over preparing himself for the future he’ll face that now, following the news and his parents’ activities, that he had nothing to do at the very moment. His mother Kyrene was busy with her exarchal duties, and his father Nestorius was taking a nap, having tired himself out due to interacting with folks at a rally. Tim took a seat, and wondered what he should do.

He thought of his group of friends first. He considered the idea of visiting one of them and hanging out, but he knew most of them were probably working their own jobs right now, or as it is with a few of them, going through post-tertiary education to guarantee their own professional future. He thought of the group of girls that lived nearby, two of whom hang out in his group. Perhaps they were available for some friendly fun. But then he remembered that one of them was going overseas for work experience, a few were getting married early, and two were becoming mothers already, and the rest were probably busy with work or post-tertiary education. He sighed, as even the girls he enjoyed spending time with were probably busy.

He looked over to the bookshelf nearby, and thought about possibly reading a book or two to pass the time. He got up and began inspecting the rows upon rows of books - he had read all of them by this point. He damned himself for being a bookworm. Then, he remembered at that very moment that his mother was still working on her autobiographic stories, currently adapting her time with Nestorius back at the mainland and all the hijinks and terror that had happened in that time. He had already read the first part of her youth and time at the Parthenopean governorship, having checked the book for her before having the publisher give it a look, and she had already professed her want for him to do the same with this second part.

He walked to her room, where her writing table was located, and began searching for the rough draft of the second part. As he looked about, a small book next to his mother’s personal journal fell down by accident. As Timon put it back, he noticed its odd title on the front - “Of Angels and Seers”. He inspected the book in closer detail - it was a journal, of similar style of his mother’s personal one, but separate, almost as if it had been tucked away for some reason. He decided to put it back in its place, but he made a mental note to give it a read through later. Eventually, Timon found the rough draft of the second part of her autobiography, and began checking it for any mistakes.