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A Tale of Two Crowns (Arendaal & Suionia)

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Dublin
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Emyn Arnen
Office of the Prime Minister of Arendaal and Suionia
Emyn Arnen, Arendaal

14th Fenruary 1953


We have a problem,” says the Prime Minister of Arendaal and Suionia.

Yes,” replies Gustavsson.

Officially, he, Gustavsson, is the Prime Minister’s chief advisor. His real responsibilities are something of a mystery to everyone. To everyone except Gustavsson, that is. To him, it seems, there are no mysteries. Only work to be done, threads to be unraveled.

He trained as a lawyer. Some say he is a secret service agent. Never around him, though. And never too loudly. One never knows who might be listening.

Suionia,” sighs the Prime Minister.

Gustavsson would sigh too, if he were the sighing sort. Suionia is a matter, in Aren circles, which tends to be sighed over. Arendaal in Suionian circles, however, has long ceased to be a sighing matter. The Suionians are past sighing. Shouts, gesticulations, complaints – these are what issue forth from their Members of Parliament, from their popular politicians, from their civic leaders.

Suionia wants freedom. It wants it badly.
 
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Office of the Prime Minister of Arendaal and Suionia
Emyn Arnen, Arendaal

14th Fenruary 1953


How did it come to this? wonders the Prime Minister.

To any proud Aren, this is a reasonable quandary. How indeed?

In 1812, King [WIKI]Karl V of Arendaal[/WIKI], that formidable Monarch, was crowned King of Suionia. It was to ease an internal dispute, a remedy to tumultuous political disorder in the Suionian realm. The great Aren King was a bearer of peace, of enlightenment, of liberté. Of all the values which had rung as the rallying cries of the great Revolution of Light in Arendaal. For ten bloody years, from 1790 to 1800, the Aren had fought hard to transform their system of government: no more was the Monarchy supreme, no more was government to be the province of the nobility. The bourgeois revolution declared the rights of man and citizen, coughing politely to correct that to people and citizen, in deference to the women of the Kingdom. Equality, justice, brotherhood were the ideals espoused by philosophers and politicians alike.

King Karl was no fool, and became a beacon of these values for his people. With two crowns, however, his people were not Aren alone. They were Suionian too – the countries entered a second Union of Bergen. A union by which they shared the same monarch. A union by which they shared the same parliament. By which Suionian politicians entered the same parliament as their Aren brethren. The Union of Bergen, all over again. (ooc: see [WIKI]History of Arendaal[/WIKI])

Brothers. The Aren and Suionians are close as any brothers can be. But similarities do not make up for the rule of one people by another, however alike they may seem. The Aren are not cruel, but they put themselves first. They are imperious. They are haughty. Their governments have brought Suionia benefits, but for over a century and a half, Aren leaders have dictated the terms on which Suionia is to be run. The Suionians want to run it themselves.

The head of the Suionian faction has become, bizarrely, the leader the opposition in the Aren parliament.
He has just been in the Prime Minister’s office to rail at him. He does this in parliament routinely, but he now feels confident enough to rail in the Prime Minister’s face.

This worries the Aren Head of Government. Confidence in ones’ opponents is rarely welcome, less so when they threaten to split the union between Arendaal and Suionia in two.
 
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Office of the Prime Minister of Arendaal and Suionia
Emyn Arnen, Arendaal

14th Fenruary 1953


It requires strength of character to keep calm in such situations. But then the Prime Minister has strength in spades.

We need to diffuse the situation,” he muses. “A light touch, to assess matters.

Gustavsson nods.

The Queen is a Suionian after all,” the Prime Minister continues. “She’d help remind Gottkopping of their bonds to Arendaal. And you could accompany her to,” he smiles, “see how are Suionian cousins really are.

Gustavsson inclines his head. He has his orders.
 
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[WIKI]Karlheim Palace[/WIKI], Emyn Arnen
19th February 1953

[WIKI]Sven V of Arendaal[/WIKI], King of Arendaal and Suionia, of the noble and most ancient house of Nareath, of the most royal dynasty of Kapet, bearer of more titles than he can care to remember, has been informed that his wife is to take a trip to Suionia without him.

A light touch,” his private secretary explains to him. “That’s what the Prime Minister wants. For the Suionians to see Her Majesty, to be reminded that she is one of them.

One of them?” the King scoffs. “Who are ‘they’? Suionians, Aren – we’re of the same stock, the same blood. Hell I have more Suionian in me than half of Gottkopping!” he bellows.

His private secretary glances nervously at the door. “Majesty,” he says hurriedly. “I believe Gustavsson has been sent to see you.

The King snorts. He does not like Gustavsson. Too clever by half. But he has to admire a talented man, and if getting things done is a talent, Gustavsson has no want of it.

Gustavsson enters. He is a slight, dark figure. One could almost believe that he’d make himself invisible by stepping back into the shadows. Perhaps he does.

King Sven lawns leisurely, settling back into an overstuffed chair, like a leopard settling in a warm spot. He smiles. That is to say, his lips curl upwards. His mouth smiles. His eyes do not.

Well?” he asks, in honeyed tones, famous from Emyn Arnen to Talemaniki.

The King’s demeanour impresses. He is as attractive today as he was in his prime, straight backed, broad shouldered, with piercing blue eyes and a strong jaw. His blonde hair, true, is somewhat thinner than it was. But he is still handsome. He is still young. He is still, every inch of him, a King.

He regards Gustavsson; Gustavsson regards him. There is weariness on both sides. What must be done, they know, must be done.

The Queen must go to Suionia, to remind the people that half of the royal household is Suionian through and through.
 
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[WIKI]Karlheim Palace[/WIKI], Emyn Arnen
19th February 1953


Sven's Queen is [WIKI]Agneta of Suionia, Queen of Arendaal[/WIKI] born the daughter of a Count in southern Suionia. Perhaps not the prime candidate for an Aren King – her father was not an Emperor, nor a King, nor even a reigning Duke. But a Suionian in this political climate was useful. And, importantly, it had not been a political match. Not by far.

In 1945, the Aren King was Europe’s most sought-after bachelor. He could woo women in French, with a drink in his hand and a cigar in the other.

At the sight of Agneta, he forgot his French. He stammered and backed out of the room like a tongue-tied boy. He could never forget the turn of her head, that moment when her beautiful dark hair slid over one shoulder. It was there and then that he set his heart on his bride.

I have married an alliance, Sven said, her Suionian relatives. But above all, I have married for love.

Nearly ten years later and Sven's government is, perhaps for the first time, profusely grateful for the alliance.
 
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