“Please be seated!” He commanded as he strolled to the throne, taking a seat in the grandiose cedar chair with the green cushioning nicely contrasting the dark black he had elected to wear today. A smile graced his lips for a fraction of a moment, then the Announcer for the Chair stepped forward to address the assembly.

“House Osarian wishes to present Bill four-seven-two-four. House Bristle wishes to present Bill four-seven-two-five. House Dartenelle wishes to present Bill four-seven-two-six. Plebeian District Forty-Nine wishes to present bill four-seven-two-seven. Plebeian District Ninety-Two wishes to present bill four-seven-two-eight. The House wishes to present Bill four-seven-two-nine. The House wishes to present Bill four-seven-three-oh. The House wishes to present bill four-seven-three-one. The House wishes to present bill four-seven-three-two. Herein are the discussions for the bills numbered 4724-4732.”

“House Osarian, speak.” Laurent gave his attention to the representative from House Osarian.

“Once again, House Osarian wishes to state for the record that we had no such allegiance to Dromwell or his pitiful insurrection and are hereby placing this bill in the hopes of proving our allegiance. This bill, proposed as such, will pay royalties for land usage to the crown for the next four years, in return, the crown will recognize House Osarian as a legitimate House and not destroy our holdings. The bill officially recognizes House Osarian as a Noble House, and hereby places a tribute of thirty percent to the crown in royalties.”

“The Crown accepts,” Laurent stated, quickly signing the document. With House Osarian under imperial rule, Laurent didn’t have to worry about another insurrection from Pirol V, which worked better for him with the new upsets he was going to grant. “Next...”

“House Bristle wishes to move forward the new manufacturing initiatives that were discussed in the last sessions. This bill would allow for an increase in the work hour to ten hours instead of eight, with a one hour lunch offered instead of the standard three. Pay would not be increased, but vacation would be increased on a manner of two weeks instead of one. This has already been brought to the plebeians and they are in agreement.”

“Aye!” Came the astute reply from the Plebeian corner of the chamber, and Laurent nodded, signing the bill.

“Next.”

“House Dartenelle would like to pass the bill in accordance with the increased prostitution ring that was broken down last week on Dandalas. Following the uncovering of the ring, it came to the attention of the House that several underground fight-clubs had been established by the Plebeians who could not afford to attend the coliseum games, House Dartenelle would like the authority to arrest and fine the transgressors and assume control of the club.”

“Is that so?” Laurent smiled, “and does House Dartenelle plan on sharing the profit from these clubs? Or perhaps Dartenelle would like the authority to perhaps govern Dandalas as well?” The representative seemed shocked, falling silent for a moment as he stared at the Imperator. “Denied, Announcer make note that the fight-clubs are to be brought under crown-control and that Dartenelle will be lending it’s policing force to apprehend the plebeians and place them within imperial custody. Next?”

“District Forty-Nine would like to use taxpayer money to finish the sanitation project on the Lower Docks that has been under review. This is the ninth petition to the crown for the funds to complete the project.”

“Has District Forty-Nine brought in the fiscal amount to pay for the sanitation project? Or are you still relying upon crown support to complete the project?”

“We rely upon your support milord. We are short an estimated 4.3 million credits to complete the project.”

“I see,” Laurent considered for a second. “House Osarian will pay for the sanitation project in the amount of 4.3 million credits and no more. This exempts them from royalty payment for the next fiscal year. Next?”

“District Ninety-Two wishes to bring forth the motion of bringing House Serpatine to the Justice Magistrate for official review after the five-counts of rape charges have been brought against the good representative. We further request that House Serpatine be ejected from Council.”

“Granted,” Serpatine had been a firm supporter of Dromwell, and Laurent hated the snide bastard anyway, “guards! Remove House Serpatine representative and place him within the holding cells to await review by the magistrate...” Signing the last motion, Laurent was now the one up to speak.

“Several things on the agenda today as crown. While most of the items have been discussed in length with my advisors, I haven’t brought to your attention the radical reforms that I will now be presenting.” A stifled murmur ran through the crowd as they heard what he said, but they remained quiet. 4 things are of import that will be discussed. First, the abolition of the House of Lords and House of Plebs. Second,” he had to speak up over the growing discourse of conversation in the House, “the creation of the Auctorictas Principis, Auctoritas Patrum, and Auctorictas Consulus to act as the new governing body of the House. The Auctorictas Pincipis will consist of 2,465 seats (with possible expansion later) to account for the recent promotions received by those of the community following the war. The Auctoritas Patrum will consist of 4,000 seats to be held by the plebeians as before, and the Auctorictas Consulus will consist of 10 seats to be held by the Imperator, Executor, and Advisors. The Consulus will—as before—possess the superior vote, and the structure of the system will work as the House has before. Following that however comes the third reform. An expansion of the House powers. Principis will now be more vested within the infrastructure, education, business, and healthcare of the planetary bodies of Nanta-Ri, Norat Prime, and Dandalas. The Consulus still retain full power and will act as oversight. The Patrum have now been expanded to include the responsibilities of unions, as well as the infrastructure and agricultural maintenance of Pirol V. The Consulus has been expanded to include full control and oversight of Kol Hurro as well as oversight of the over divisions.

The last bill to be brought forth today consists of the new ranking system for the Lords. Effective immediately, the new ranking system is as follows: Imperator, Executor, Duke, Lord, Baron, Earl, Count, Knight, Gentlemen, Plebeian, Commoner, Tar’Mael, and Tal’Mahael. The New Honourary Titles are as follows: Lord Errant and Knight Errant. The New Honourary Orders include: Order of the Rose, Order of the Templarus, and Democratus Orderi. This bill is officially signed...”

Silence filled the room, and Laurent smiled. “Oh, not to worry, you still retain your previous titles...” With that done, the meeting adjourned, though several of the Lords seemed about ready to pass out. They collected their datapads on the way out, quickly skimming the latest changes to the governing system of the Norat. Making sure that none of them were losing prestige. Most seemed disappointed that they now had another title to attain—Duke—while others scrambled to beginning there conniving again.

“I think you sufficiently scared them...” The Executor began, but Laurent cut him off.

“Find me a nice Zeltron... Oh,” he turned, “have you review next weeks proposals?”

“I have, although I see no reason to create the Ministerus Priori...”

“There is always a reason,” Laurent pointed out, “I want a department for education, foreign affairs, and trade and commerce...”

“Your that lazy?”

Laurent smiled, “I’m that lazy.”