Chapter 2
Once the personal vehicle carrying Oen Bravia II and his son Henry arrived, Natonito and Cherie went into the car and headed off to the opening of the Senate. While the Senate was merely a rubberstamp for the decrees of the Emperor and Directrix, its members were usually wealthy nobles, and thus the Senate had a prestige far beyond its status as a debating club for wealthy men in a heavily autocratic government ruled largely as a military state. It was not called the Senate for nothing.
"I was hoping your wife would come along with us," Oen said.
"My wife is having a rough pregnancy right now, and the doctors told her she would be best off if she rested. I try to stay with her and talk to her often so she does not get lonely. I know how much she would have loved to come to the fall session of the Senate. She and the baby should be able to come with me to the spring session however," Natonito replied.
"I wonder if kissing is allowed in the Senate chambers," Henry wondered aloud. Cherie giggled.
"Normally people are supposed to pay attention to the proceedings and not make an undue scene. However, provided you kiss discreetly I doubt it will be a problem," Oen said.
"Yes, as long as you are not making out in the chambers no one is probably going to mind. Besides, the practice of using Senate proceedings as romantic outings is quite common nowadays. For young men and women of intelligence, a scholarly debate is a good way to work the mind before the bodies go to work afterwards. It is much easier to meet and get to know people when there is an atmosphere like the Senate where discussion is encouraged, but where bounds are set as well," Natonito replied to his nephew.
"Well, we are almost there," Oen said with a smile. He remembered how in his youth he had once pursued Natonito's sister, a very lovely blonde young woman in much the same way, and married her at the age of fifteen. Since the Bravia and Albright families were both Bravian provincial nobility, it was both a lovematch and a strategic match as well. As a result, both Oen and Natonito achieved great power in the province, and both had profited even more from the fall of the Animal Star Empire, when they ended their rebellion and joined up with the empire.
They were now at the Imperial Senate building. A tall dome made of white marble, the Imperial Senate building represented the permanence of the empire. The foursome got out of the personal vehicle and walked up the steps into the building. The guards gave them a salute, which they returned. A soldier specially chosen for the task walked the four into the special hallway for the Senators and Imperial Representatives (namely the Emperor, the Directrix, and family), and then opened the door as the four walked into the Senate chamber. Covered in red velvet, the Emperor's favorite color, the Senate chamber was an intimate room, where all of the Senators could talk under the watchful eye of the Directrix and Emperor without feeling threatened. In the galleries above there were many of the most important citizens in the city of West Fenia.
"All citizens rise for the Emperor," the speaker said. All of the people in the chamber and gallery stood up.
"You may be seated," the Emperor said. They all sat down.
"We have three laws to discuss this afternoon," the Emperor began. "The first two were drafted by the Directrix and I [applause]. The first law would set up an ombudsman for labor disputes so that the heaving of disputes over wages and working conditions may be dealt with in a way besides destroying buildings and looting cities [more applause]. It would also set up the procedures for handling appeals from the ombudsman to the Imperial Court, as well as to the ombudsman in the first place. The second law would standardize wage rates across the empire by trade in order to discourage the movement of workers from one area to another. In addition, any workers found without a job become available for imperial work projects, so that no able bodied workers may be found idle in the empire. Finally, we have a law proposed anonymously for the passage of "first night" into law."
"First night?" exclaimed the Directrix, "You mean where a lord is able to enjoy the first night of any young woman married under his rule?"
"I believe that is the case," said the Emperor.
"I wonder who wanted that law put into force," said the Directrix. "Nevertheless, we shall vote on it anyway."
"Are there any other laws?" the Emperor said.
"I have a law I would like to propose," Oen said in his scholarly voice. "I would like to pass a law that protects all butterflies save for scientific purposes, and that there should be a punishment for all other taking of the lives of any butterfly."
"Fantastic," the Emperor said. "Alright, let us vote on these laws."
While the Senators and others were focused on the laws for the session, Henry and Cherie were holding hands and looking longingly in each other's eyes, glad to be near each other. Most of the time they were not paying attention to the laws, except the one about first night that appeared really odd.
The voting for the laws then followed. All of the laws except that for first night passed, and were duly signed into law by the Directrix and Emperor. Then all of the crowd dispersed. While there would be more debates in the next few weeks, there would be little of interest except for debates. While Oen went off to his house in the city, right next to the imperial square, Natonito went home to be with his wife.
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