“I pledge my obedience, Your Majesties.”
“Thank you, Consul Diener,” Burke said.
Diener rose and returned to his place.
“Phalia Sector Governor Charles Price,” Hargreaves called out.
Price’s avatar repeated Diener’s actions.
“I pledge my obedience, Your Majesties.”
“Thank you, Governor Price.”
Price rose and withdrew.
Hargreaves proceeded through the Call of the Sector Governors, and each sector governor came up to the Emperor and Empress to kneel, bow, and pledge their obedience as they followed the ancient ritual. Manfred von Hesse, Greta Feick, Joseph Gaskin, Michael Porter, John Biederman Smith, Norman Conway, Anders Karlsson, Steven Adams – one after another, seventy-nine in all, they came up to swear their obedience.
During the Call of the Sector Governors, Burke couldn’t help but look down the nave, out through the great stone arch of the open doors to the statue of Ilithyia II framed by the doorway – the book of Imperial Law in her left hand, the sword of Imperial Power in her right – bathed in the reflected light of the noon sun. This, she realized suddenly, was the viewing angle for which the statue had been made: the view from the Throne.
It was a powerful reminder. Viewing that statue – the last ruling Empress, with the book of law she had prepared, with her sword held down and to the side – every new ruler would know the importance of the rule of Law, and the virtue of restraint in the exercise of Imperial power.
It was a powerful moment for Burke. She committed herself to ruling with the same tenacity, the same concern, the same wisdom as the Empire’s greatest Empress.
When the Call of the Sector Governors was complete, Ardmore held out his hand to Burke and she stood. They walked forward down that first step. In an unscripted moment, Burke pointed out over the crowd and out the doorway, then got down on her knees and bowed her head. Alerted in VR by Burke, Ardmore followed her lead and did the same.
The Imperial Guardsman, alerted in VR by Burke, turned and faced out the doorway to the statue, came to attention, and saluted. The Dieners and Moody, also alerted by Burke, turned toward the statue and knelt. The crowd and the sector governors gradually picked it up, and turned and knelt to the statue of Ilithyia II, Ilithyia the Great.
Only then did the trumpeteers, triggered by Burke in VR, play the Imperial Fanfare. As the last strains of the fanfare sounded, the sun moved on, and the reflected light moved off the statue. Ardmore stood, then extended his hand to Burke and she stood. The two of them walked down the steps off the dais and out the side door of the Throne Room.
The reign of the Ptolemys had begun.
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EMPIRE: Renewal Page 28
