The footman guides him to a sitting room and then shuts the door when Her Majesty waves him away.

"Elie. I hear I'm expecting you. What is it?"

"Oh, I just remembered I'd been promised a constitutional convention. I thought I'd stop by and ask – when?" 

"Whenever you're ready to arrange and preside over one, of course. I won't say it wouldn't be more convenient to wait another six months to resolve the Molthune question, and the Ravounel question, and the Heartlands question, and for Naima to finish raising everyone on her list -

...Six months would be a lot more convenient. A year would be even better. But if you're ready now and don't want to wait, word can go out tomorrow for local assemblies to start picking delegates. Or, if not tomorrow, as soon as we're agreed on exactly how the delegates are to be picked."

"The Molthune question and the Ravounel question and the Heartlands question seem like just the sort of things your citizens should have a say in, don't you think? And, speaking of your citizens – I'm not one. Even if I wanted to run this particular circus, it wouldn't be my place." 

"The president of the convention will need to be someone who is respected, good, and honorable, and ideally who cares about Cheliax having a constitution or at least understands why we're having a convention about it instead of me just informing everyone of the contents. Do you happen to know many Chelish citizens who that describes?"

...time for a Private Sanctum.

"I'd hoped you'd have come across someone, these past hundred years. One of the Pezzacki rebels, maybe? I recall they were attempting some sort of local self-government. We could ask those insurgents we resurrected in Ravounel, or one of Naima's people from before the civil war. Or perhaps there's some ancient exile living in Andoran but longing to return – "

She starts counting off on her fingers. "Michaud - final blade, Jubbanich - final blade, Cardona's evil, Bernat's been dead forty years and isn't accepting raises, Albert-Sala's evil and dead. Anyone from Pezzack would be a complete unknown, the factions would walk all over them. Jackdaw's going to refuse to send a representative, let alone preside over the thing. Shawil wants a theocracy, Cansellarion wants a different theocracy and maybe a civil war, Karga would argue for banning all the gods and relying on - Naima, I suppose - for healing the entire country. Most of the people Naima raises from before the civil war had been avoiding any news about Cheliax for the last century because it was all too depressing. Morgethai's busy.

There's not anyone who'd do better than you. If you're too busy right now, we can wait until you have the time to do it right."

"I'm not Chelish. I know we don't have any good options. Even if we did I'd still expect this project to fail – but I do believe it matters that thing we are attempting, at which we almost certainly will not succeed, is inculcating in the Chelish people any sense that they can be the masters of their own fate. Putting a foreign archmage in charge of the proceedings would be giving up before we've begun."

"Would it? Anyone I select will be at least chosen by a foreign archmage. Almost anyone I choose will be widely assumed to have been picked for loyalty, to be speaking on my behalf. There's very little we can do to change anyone's sense of whether the Chelish people control their own fate, beyond changing the reality of whether they do. Are you intending to be a tyrant, using your power as president to dictate articles for the convention to ratify?"

"Of course not. I intend to let them propose and ratify whatever mockery of republican governance they come up with their very own selves, and I don't think they'll any of them for a moment believe me." 

"Find me someone Chelish who'd accept the position, be able to carry out its duties, and not be a petty tyrant about it and I will gladly appoint them in your stead. Better for the convention to wrongly expect you to push your favored constitution than rightly expect someone else to push theirs, and who knows? Maybe after the first week some of them will even believe you."

"You're the expert on Chelish people, but I'll look. There must be someone more suitable. 

...You know my record with constitutional conventions." 

"As terrible as any such," she acknowledges.

He's gotten better at remembering that Alfirin isn't Catherine, but it doesn't help when she decides to play the benevolent empress. 

"I'm already known as a rebel and a traitor in my homeland. Do you really expect these strange people to trust me?"

"Many of them wouldn't trust their own mothers, and many of those would be right to not."

"Didn't you say being respected was one of my qualifications?"

"I did. Respect and trust don't always go hand-in-hand here. This can work with someone they don't trust. It won't work with someone they don't respect."

"These people don't understand respect. Just fear."

"That might be an argument for putting off the convention, but it's not one for someone other than you presiding over it."

"You'd think I could terrify them well enough by proxy."

"Not if they imagine they can get something past your proxy so it never comes to your attention, that they wouldn't dare to try to get past you in your own person. There really isn't anyone else who'd do as well."

"... I need to talk to Naima." 

"Of course. Please give her my regards, and send the finance minister in on your way out."

"Get him yourself."

And he's gone. 

It doesn't take Naima long to notice, after she gets home from work, that Elie looks unusually miserable. 

"Something happen?"