Taken By Storm (32 page)

She couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m very much in love with the wrong son, but this is about much more than my mar—er, life mate. Laws must be logical.

‘Because that’s the way it’s always been’ isn’t good enough anymore. Ontariese has come too far and we’ve lost too much. It’s time for change.”

“And what say you, Master Aune?” Roe asked his younger son.

“Like you, Father, I honor the traditions. I believe they give us strength and have defined our character.” He paused before adding, “But they also caused this war.”

“That is blasphemy!” Prefect Aune flared. “The House of Joon started this war. Frim dar—”

“We’re not here to relive the past. We’re here to plan the future,” Tal said firmly.

Charlotte shivered. She’d been thinking those same words when Tal crashed into the mountain behind her cabin.

Tal looked at her and smiled. “I think what she proposes is wise and overdue. It’s a compromise, a balance. We shouldn’t be encumbered by our past.

We should be empowered by it. Our world has changed. We have changed. We can’t build a future if we’re focused solely on the past.”

Roe Aune shook his head. “I do believe I’ve been ambushed.” He made a bland gesture to his council members. “Does anyone have objections to updating and refining the Clarifications to more accurately represent our current society?”

“Only so long as the Code of Ethics is not violated,” Flex Lemar, the oldest member of the council, said.

“Councilman Lemar,” Charlotte responded, “I find the Ontarian Code of Ethics one of the most moving documents I’ve ever read. As long as I am High Queen of Ontariese, the Code of Ethics will remain unchanged. In fact it is my hope—no, my mission—to refocus our societies on those very principles.”

“Any other comments or objections?” Prefect Aune asked.

“Oh, I’m sure there will be plenty once we actually start doing this, but I agree that it needs to be done,” another councilman said.

When no one else spoke up, Prefect Aune turned back to Charlotte. “Looks like you won this round, Your Majesty.”

She curled Tal’s hair around her hand and beamed.

“I won a lot more than that.”

Read on for a preview of

Cyndi Friberg’s Beyond Ontariese 2

Operation Hydra