Interesting.
“The vote is not void!” Max’s great uncle Louis Grimaldi shouted in a voice with less strength than Maxence remembered. “The council has voted, and a new sovereign has been elected!”
That did not bode well.
Indeed, the way many of the Monegasque nobles weren’t meeting Max’s gaze boded very,verybadly.
He needed to short-circuit whatever was going onright now.
Maxence announced, his voice ringing above the crowd’s muttering, “As the designated heir apparent, I declare this council meeting illegal. Notice of the dateand timemust be disseminated at least two weeks before the meeting.”
“You can’t,” a woman yelled from the side. Maxence didn’t see who had yelled. “There’s a new sovereign now. You have no standing.”
Maxence insisted, “I did not call this meeting of the Crown Council to order as is my right and my responsibility. As such, no quorum was established. No votes cast or decisions made are valid or binding. In addition, a new sovereign may not be electedunless and untilI am disqualified.”
People began shouting at him and each other.
Alexandre jogged down the steps of the raised dais where the throne stood and began threading his way through the crowd toward Maxence.
Maxence was standing next to Lady Valentina Martini, whose mouth was pursed in a tight, angry line as she glared at the people around her. He asked, “What’s happened?”
Lady Valentina moved her lips when she spoke to him, but her teeth remained clenched together, and she spoke with an unnatural, rage-filled precision. “They have lost their minds,that’swhat’s happened. They have cast aside alltraditionanddecorum,and they have made Monaco thelaughingstockof the world and probably destroyed our sovereignty, too. We are going to end up asFrenchcitizens for this. I just know it.”
“The Council hasn’t adjourned yet,” he told her. “We can remedy this.”
Lady Valentina was already shaking her head no, the light from the chandeliers glimmering on her tightly wound silver bun.
Alexandre stepped out of the crowd and stood beside Maxence, reaching as he did so and grabbing Maxence’s shoulder. “Jesus Christ, Max. I don’t know what the hell happened. I knew I was losing some votes in my coalition, but I didn’t think it would come to this.”
Max’s pulse pounded in his ears. “Can I get an update?”
Alexandre gestured to the room in general. “They walked in and demanded I open the session because without you here, I was the next in line. I tried to stall. I tried everything I could think of, like a guy on a losing debate team quibbling about Robert’s Rules of Order. They had it rigged. That asshole Jules called for your disqualification on the grounds that you weren’t in attendance, and they voted on itimmediately.I called for floor debate,but they wouldn’t stop.They were practically in lockstep, each one of them coming up right after the other, over and over again.I couldn’t stop them.”
Maxence clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”
“I’m not used to not being in control of a room!”
Max craned his neck, looking over the crowd to find his uncle so he could have him arrested for kidnapping. “Where did Jules go?”
“He’s here somewhere. He flits around under everyone’s armpits.”
Pain spiked near Max’s ear as he ground his teeth.
Alexandre said, “Jesus, Max. You just growled.”
“I need totalkto him.” Maxence clenched his fists, but he took a deep breath and shook off the righteous anger at Jules.Later.He turned back to Alex. “Now that I’m here, we can invalidate the vote.”
Alexandre shook his head. “The election’s already been held. Someone shouted the nomination, and a bunch of people yelled ‘Second.’ And then they shouted for the vote, and a bunch of people yelled ‘Aye’ again,and it was over.”
“Jesus,Alex, will you tell me who they elected? Was it Uncle Jules? Did Jules finally launch a coup?”
“No.” Alexandre was gritting his teeth. “They electedMarie-Therese.”
Shock coursed through Maxence.“No.”
Alexandre looked to the side, and a break in the crowd allowed Maxence to see Marie-Therese holding her hands over her heart as she smiled with an open mouth and bright eyes, even bending her knees in surprise. She looked like she’d just won a beauty pageant.
Four people around her held phones aloft, either recording or livestreaming for posterity.
