The Mad King's Mate
I glance back out the window briefly.
“So the nobles actually have power here.”
“Yes. Enough that the royals must remain careful.”
“So the council can challenge the royals?”
“Yes,” Zahra answers simply. “And often does.”
That already sounds wildly different from the West.
That feels strange to me.
In the West and even at home, nobles bent themselves around the throne like frightened dogs, cowering to every word of the king.
“The royal family itself is small,” Zahra continues.
“The king, the queen, their children, and blood relatives close enough to matter politically.”