Sinshei stood to her full height and uncrossed her arms. She would not be bullied, not even by an Imperator. A prayer to her God-Incarnate father whispered through her mind, and little sparks of light glimmered along her fingertips.

“This matter must be swiftly addressed,” she said. “We’ll need an oathtaking ceremony for Katrin’s guardianship, and an official proclamation for Uriah establishing him as regent-in-waiting.”

“We will do no such thing.”

Sinshei tilted her head ever so slightly. She and Soma had discussed fallback scenarios should Gordian die, but those hypotheticals always assumed Gordian died in battle after acquiring his paragon blessing. The idea that the ritual would be interrupted, and the regent murdered, was so outlandish it had never occurred to them. That Magus would deny Uriah his lawful ascension, and his mother her guardianship, never did, either. It seemed she would suffer for her lack of imagination.

“You would not have Katrin fill the role of guardianship?” she asked, hoping she misunderstood his refusal.

“Katrin and her boy are taking a caravel back to Gadir,” he said. “I will be Thanet’s new regent.”

Even her lifetime of plots and lies did not enable her to keep the shock from her voice.

“Imperator and regent? It is not done.”

“Neither is granting the paragon blessing on a regent. It seems Thanet is a place for setting new precedents, isn’t it, Anointed? I do what I must. Harsh, desperate measures are necessary to clean up this mess you created.”

Heat flushed to Sinshei’s face. This was a nightmare scenario. Gordian’s ascension to paragon was meant to be the first in a series of events that would result in him challenging Magus’s rule over Thanet. The bothersome Imperator needed to be out of the way if Sinshei was to properly plan for the grand ceremony marking the six hundredth year of her father’s reign. Instead, Magus would both command the military and directly control the political court built to replace Thanet’s original royal family. His rule would be absolute, with no counter-balances, and nothing to hold back his worst impulses. The stubborn, rebellious people of Thanet would quickly yearn for the relatively peaceful days of the Usurper King.

“My mess?” she asked, blustering as a way to regather herself. “You declare this my mess, despite you ignoring my advice at every turn? Of course the people now riot. You implemented portions of the Joining Laws years too soon. Their hearts were not ready, their heathen traditions still fresh in mind. Ruthlessness and patience, together in equal measure, is how you change a nation. Yet you would instead blame me for your impatience?”