I bet so. We can try to hasten that transition, too.

When I've completed two full training cycles, I'll be ready to declare the army self-sustaining, he says. I'll probably switch to putting most of my energy into engineering at that point.

If they're not out ahead of you. You have a big lead on us but they learn very very fast. 

Seems unlikely. Not that I'll complain if it happens.

But one or two training cycles is about the point at which he expects they'll be ready to start on grav tech, and he doesn't expect them to go instantly from float pallets to imploder lances. Plus they'll likely be running into serious materials constraints around that point, if not earlier.

I'm not worried they'll have everything your world does, or even close, just that they'll have developed their own conventions for the field and projects in progress to the point where it's harder to stop by and speed them along.

Oh. Well, that's part of the reason I'm taking the time to keep up. That and every so often I can save someone a week of work in two minutes and feel very good about myself.

It seems to be a great arrangement for all parties.

It really is.

And the coronation day comes. It is beautiful and cloudless.

That's convenient! Miles is all set to record everything.

He has a box that's not designed to look too pedestal-y. There's singing. There's a lot of singing. 

The singing is beautiful. Everything is beautiful. Elves are so great.

The ceremony's beautiful too. No signs of internal dissent, here, beyond some studiously blank faces.

(It's such an incredible relief. An affirmation of the continuing progress of one of his most crucial and difficult accomplishments.

He doesn't think Maitimo could have done it without him, at least not this soon or this well; and of course he couldn't have done it without Maitimo, certainly not this way, the 'make Maitimo King of the Noldor' step would be rather prohibitively hampered; but collaborative accomplishments are still very much accomplishments worthy of celebration. And it is so good to have the Noldor not only united, but united under a King worth working for.)

Miles keeps his public thoughts mostly quiet; it's not really his event in any sense. But his quiet public thoughts are of pride and joy and satisfaction and optimism. They have done so much, and will do so much more. Behind his faceplate, his smile nearly glows.

(Without Miles Maitimo would have given up the crown. It would have worked that way, too, the alliance held together against Morgoth's machinations until its orchestrators were all dead or worse. This way is better.)

This way is excellent.

Fealty has to be handled very delicately when oaths are actually binding. There was a lot of negotiation over wording. The final wording is "I swear to serve my King in the pursuit of a just and free world, or to resign my position if I no longer believe my service honors those ends." Maitimo likes it. Short and uncomplicated and precludes lots of problems of the kind a divided host would insist on inventing. 

It is a good oath. Miles approves of it.

He isn't taking it himself, of course, but in the privacy of his own mind where only he and Maitimo can see, he nods along. Substitute 'fix it' for 'resign my position' and it describes his goals pretty accurately.

Maitimo wasn't expecting him to; he has an emperor, if a very faraway emperor, and he isn't likely to do a better job of it if he swears to it, and he's not needed to secure this.

It occurs to him, watching the ceremony, that if he didn't have an emperor he'd be tempted. Maitimo makes a very tempting King.

Maitimo makes an utterly exhausted King, by evening, though he does a very good job of hiding it and he thinks only a few of his brothers and Findekáno notice.

Miles guesses that Maitimo is exhausted, but doesn't pick up on any detectable signs and doesn't consider it his business to verify the guess. He offers private congratulations and checks that the holo recordings came out well (they did, they're amazing).

And then there'll be a seven-day festival with lots of singing. That Maitimo will excuse himself from to sleep. 

That is very reasonable of Maitimo. Miles participates in some of the festival, but spends a lot of time sitting in his shuttle working on things - this seems like a good opportunity to see how much human poetry he can fish out of his brain, for example. The answer is 'a lot'.

When Maitimo hears about this he is entertained and asks for a recitation of human poetry.