"Nah, just wondering."

"You can help me pick a wording you like. The standard one is 'I pledge myself to the service of the King; I swear to obey just orders and to resign if given an order I cannot in good conscience obey.'"

"Has 'just order' got a traditional meaning?"

"Yes, but it's a bit holistic - it has to be towards a good end, it can't be unconscionable in its own right, it matters if there was a better way of achieving the end, it matters if it was a use of powers that would be harmful if broadly acceptable..."

"This does actually sound like it would be somewhat meaningfully binding if the exit clause is just conscience-based."

"You mean that it doesn't let you disobey orders for reasons other than believing them wrong? Yeah. What other reasons would you want a fealty oath to allow?"

"The definition of 'just' helps substantially but without that I'd worry about orders it was not wrong to obey but wrong to give. With it - I recall some distress over the existence of human city-states that don't allow free emigration, off the top of my head -"

"Clause for '...or at any time I may resign my citizenship among the Noldorin people and all the obligations it carries'?"

"Yeah, that helps. Especially if after the fact you can look over the case and reinstate them if they had a point that wasn't anticipated."

"Can have a formal process for renouncing citizenship and for reinstating it, yes."

"At which point I could probably think of more things to nitpick but I'm not playing Governor and I think the exit clause suffices."

"And if I'm evil nitpicking won't really save us. Exit clause, then, and I will consult people about wording it prettily."

"Even the fealty oaths have to be pretty, huh?"

"But of course! And the crown has to be pretty, and the throne has to be pretty. It will be an exquisitely pretty event."

"Good thing I have a guard golem to catch me if I swoon."

"Are you making fun of me? I think there are laws about that!"

"...Really? There are laws about making fun of you?"

"Yes, actually, as part of the whole Valinor anti-blasphemy package. You can get a talking-to for comments that disrespect the person or the office of the King. I'm debating how much of the old code to throw out outright - it prohibits homosexuality, I'm thinking I'll make that more stringent rather than abolish it - but lots of the stuff is Valian nonsense that should just go."

"I would argue that I can make fun of you without disrespecting you. More stringent?"

"Because of the seriousness of the accusation the Crown won't entertain it without four eyewitnesses to at least an hour of prohibited activities," he says solemnly. 

There not being four eyewitnesses - or, well, any - Maitimo leans across the table and kisses him. "Once we don't have an Enemy to fight I will just scrap that law, be open about everything, weather a lot of nonsense. But for now."

"Humans shouldn't count, though, even still."

"Nope! Humans are exempt, and anyone validly married is exempt because obviously Eru approves so what authority have I to countervene him."

"Okay, good."