fandomhigh | Guiding the Powerful Yet Incompetent, Tuesday, Second Period

Yennefer was positively beaming as she greeted the class today. "The castle has awakened this morning to the news that the queen has been safely delivered of a healthy baby..."

Yennefer paused and took a deep breath, and the smile fell off her face. "Girl. The new princess joins her five sisters in the nursery." She cut a glance over at the king, sulking upon his throne. "Did I happen to mention that this is the sort of kingdom where only men are dubbed fit to rule? I don't suppose it came up until now.

"Now, his majesty here has several options in this situation. He could change the law of succession. Some other kingdoms already allow rule by women, and he has several lovely, intelligent daughters." She looked at the king again and felt compelled to explain, "...they take after their mother. He could cross his fingers and hope that the next one is a boy, solving the problem, or that the queen dies in childbirth, leaving him free to remarry. Or he could decide that this is all the queen's fault, as obviously the man has nothing to do with whether a baby is a boy or a girl, and he needs to get rid of her immediately and find a new wife who will give him lots of sons!" Yennefer gave her students another smile. This one was bitter and mocking. "Guess which option he's chosen.

"Again, within the umbrella of 'get rid of the queen,' the king has multiple options. He could reason with the queen and convince her it's for the best for everyone, and quietly divorce her, setting her up with her own household and all honors. He could unilaterally divorce her, bulling it through the courts despite the objections of the faith and her noble relatives. He could accuse her of adultery, manufacture evidence, and execute her. Or he could hire an assassin to get rid of her quickly so he can just move on with things. There's a lady in waiting he's got his eye on." Yennefer gave the king a contemptuous look. "Again, you can guess which option our sovereign with impulse control problems has chosen. Your job is to talk him out of it, of course...and probably most of that last list, as well. Best of luck."

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Convince the king not to kill his wife!

Right. So, buying time. And possibly setting the king up for being less popular.

"Hm. You know, your majesty," Lana said to him in a low voice. "The queen is reasonably popular. It wouldn't do to have her be a martyr. Perhaps you should damage her reputation first. Start subtly - let it be known that she spoke against your majesty's rightful expenditures for tapestries to show your magnificence, was against throwing huge banquets to show your subjects what a wonderful king you are. Throw one anyway, to prove you aren't ruled by her. It'll take a little time to plan, but it'll be worth it. And who knows, perhaps she'll produce a son meanwhile."

"Perhaps I can have her killed at the banquet," the king mused, stroking his beard. "And then I can blame Nilfgaard, and go to war with them!"

Lana hummed thoughtfully. "That might work, although it would mean inviting Nilfgaard to the banquet. Or admitting that your security couldn't keep them out, so an invitation is probably wise. Let me look into sending a diplomatic envoy."

Maybe they could actually work with Nilfgaard to kill the king instead. There was a certain amusement in having him help plan his own assassination.

"Is Nilfgaard's ruler any better than this one?" Lana asked Yennefer.

They needed time to get their coup going? Fine. Yana could stall for time.

"You know how rumors spread, and this is below your dignity as a king," Illyana said softly, as though she was trying to keep others from overhearing. "She has been dutiful to the crown with her whole being. Besides, haven't you heard all the stories about how a seventh child is blessed? Wait for the baby to stop nursing, and then try again. You're so close to having the perfect heir."

Seventh children being magically blessed was bullshit, as far as she was aware, but Strange had made her read as many fairytales as possible to understand how mundane peoples saw magic.

"If you cannot wait, then have as many affairs as you like, and legitimize one of them later. You don't want to go through the bother of remarrying and not being compatible with her and needing to do it all over again."

"But it's perfect!" the king cried. "My first son with my new queen will be my seventh child!"

"But he will be her first child with you, and merely the seventh child overall rather than THE seventh child of you and this queen, so it will probably cancel it out," 'Yana pointed out. "It's not quite the same thing, and you know how magical blessings get. They're very exacting and nitpicky about details."

"Besides, if she had an 'accident' you'd have to go through all the official mourning rituals, building her monuments, wear only black and be celibate for a year as a show of grief..."

"What?!" the king cried. "A year?" He looked over his shoulder at Yennefer, who merely made a humming sound of agreement while examining her nails. "But that's outrageous!"

"It's pleasing to Melitele, sire," Yennefer lied. "A new proclamation." She told Illyana, "Be prepared to buy off a priest to back you up."

"A new proclamation, based on historical precedent and recent omens." Illyana clearly had no problems with murder or potential blasphemy, she'd be more than happy to buy off a priest or twelve to make him shut up.

"I'm afraid that's going to have to wait," Adora said, producing an official looking scroll. "Turns out we're being invaded."

That Glimmer and Catra had come up with this idea together upon hearing about this class meant it was either great or terrible.

"What?!" the king demanded.

Yennefer arched one eyebrow at Adora. "I'm interested to see where this is going."

Adora cleared her throat. "Your Highness, and that's a quote, your majesty, The treatment of your people has come to Our Attention, and on behalf of the kingdoms of the Princess Alliance. We find these actions most deplorable and as such this is Our formal declaration of war upon your person until such time as your kingdom is freed of your tryanny, agian, that's a quote. Then there's a bit about terms of surrender. Sincerely, Her Majesty, Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon."

Was 'Yana going to whistle and clap for that move?

Yes. Yes she was. Nice one, Adora.

Lana wasn't the whistling and clapping type, but she was definitely smiling and nodding approvingly at Adora. She hadn't even considered invading, but she was definitely going to be taking notes here.

Guiding the Powerful Yet Incompetent, Tuesday, Second Period

Convince the King

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