Diarchate

This is a sequel to Triumvirate

The construction was over. Five years ago, Triumvir Marsha, along with fellow Triumvirs and friends Lev and August, had stood on a balcony in the same spot and proclaimed the Triumvirate of Carstvoa. But after years of intense construction, the old Council Headquarters, a mere renamed version of the Imperial Palace, had been replaced with the grand and imposing Monument to the Revolution. It was a sprawling complex, both in the administrative halls aboveground and the system of bunkers belowground. And in the centre of it all lay a tomb of the finest black marble. Premier Ilya’s final resting place.

But Marsha had other reasons for only then choosing to open the Monument. It was the only day where all three Triumvirs would be free. She had been working tirelessly to develop the nation and advance its economy. Lev had been pacifying the semi-autonomous east, and continuously trying to secure more funding for the military. And August? August had been hiding in the bunkers below Velikia, consorting with Marshals, Generals, and Commander-Generals alike, as well as his secret police.

The afternoon had barely begun. The sun scorched the earth, a cloudless sky doing nothing to shield the people of Carstvoa from its rays. Marsha stood at the station, two guards flanking her. A large grey engine came to a stop, and out of a luxurious marble carriage, inlaid with gold, came Triumvir and Supreme Marshal Lev, clad in a new suit clearly made in Eastern Carstvoa. “Lev. Good to see you. Coming from Vencja, I presume?”

“Is it really that obvious? Alright, fine, maybe. Vencja has been great, though. This new suit is just… really comfortable. Also, I look pretty good in it, right? I’ve been having the time of my life there. All while working out agreements with the Principessa, too,”

“You look… alright, though if I’m being honest, that colour doesn’t work on you. Come on, August should already be waiting for us at the Monument. We don’t want to be late, or he’ll announce himself as our new God-Emperor and exile us to the western mountains,”

“Oh, August would absolutely do that if we left him waiting for long enough. Nice job on the construction, by the way. It feels like a whole new city,”

“August was hiding in his bunker and you were off in Vencja. I had to keep myself busy somehow. And speaking of August, there he is. A couple more minutes and we’d be exiled,”

“Marsha! Lev! Good to see you two,” August said, chiming in. “Let’s begin, shall we?”

The Triumvirs mounted the stage, and Marsha read out her speech, commemorating the revolution and its glory, and the bright future that lay ahead. Finally, she ended, “Long live Carstvoa!”

The people burst into applause. It looked to be a great day. But it was in this moment, with him standing on the stage with Marsha, yet still being in her shadow, while she basked in the applause and admiration of the people, that Lev noticed something. Over the past few years, they had all been busy. But the only person whose contributions, whose work was truly visible, was Marsha. Everyone could see the result of her grand projects. Her economic reforms. She enjoyed support and popularity across Carstvoa. On the other hand, as peace had grown on Carstvoa, his military had grown less and less relevant, and Marsha had slowly been slashing his funding, cut by cut. And as his parade started, he continued thinking about how the power dynamics of their relationship had shifted, all while looking out at the crowd and thinking that it somehow seemed smaller.

In the bunkers below the Monument, Lev met with a few Council members, the few oligarchs who had survived the Revolution due to his protection, and his top generals. “My friends, thank you all for being here. We have something urgent to discuss,”

“Triumvir Marsha has been heavily limiting the power of the military and overturning my decisions, and this cannot stand. I don’t blame her for it, but, I would like to request your support to return our relationship to an equal one. The plan is to convene the Council, the military, and the advisory board at once. I intend to divide the Council into three segments for the civilian, military, and judicial sectors with ensured and negotiated budgets, so that all three Triumvirs will always be equal. What I need you to do is to simply vote for me. Express your support. My friends, I want the best for Carstvoa. Will you help me?”

One by one, they agreed. After all, they were Lev’s closest allies. Lev saw no reason to invite anyone else. All he wanted was confirmation of their aid. He just wanted Marsha to stop overruling his decisions. That was all.

Having heard everything, the person clad in smoky grey scampered off through the maze of tunnels, the bag on his back holding the body of the guard assigned to protect Lev’s privacy.

Mere hours later, without Lev’s knowledge, Marsha had started interrogating the Council members present at his meeting. “Is it true that Lev is seeking to establish superiority in the Triumvirate?”

“No! Please… he said he just needed our support to convince you to stop overturning his decisions. He wanted to settle this peacefully,”

“Marsha, aren’t you being a bit paranoid?” August asked, calmly and calculatedly. “Lev wouldn’t do such a thing. All you’ve done is slash his funding… operate completely without his agreement… reorganise the government yourself… decrease the importance of the military… alright, maybe, but you can’t-”

Marsha was silent for a moment. “Don’t… don’t patronise me, August. I… can’t believe this,”

She turned to the Council member in the chair. “Tell me the truth. I know what that recording played!” She turned away for a moment. “This cannot stand. I would like to request your support,” she muttered, mimicking Lev’s voice. “He doesn’t even have to ask! And everyone agrees to betray me, just like that! Now tell me, are the accusations true?” Behind Marsha’s back, August nodded at the Councillor. Maybe it was the pistol and strange metal device in his hands, only visible to the person in the chair, or Marsha’s conviction and bitterness. But either way, they all made the confessions wanted of them.

A few hours later, Lev strode into a Council meeting, to find Marsha waiting for him. “Marsha! What is the meaning of this?”

“Meaning of what, traitor?”

“You’ve been interrogating my generals, forcing false confessions out of them, and insinuating that I’m a traitor to the Republic! Tell me, what-”

“Insinuating? Lev, we’re far past insinuating. I know what happened in your little meeting. Arrest that man!” she yelled to the guards in the building.

The guards slowly and reluctantly approached Lev, but before they could even touch Lev, a small army of men clad in black entered the room. In the uppermost seats, safe from any stray bullets, Triumvir August smiled.

“Marsha, I’m sorry to have to do this. But you’ve been acting paranoid this whole time. I have a recording of Lev’s meeting,” he said, taking out a small metal device from the inside of his coat and playing out Lev’s speech. “...the returning of our relationship to an equal one…”

Marsha’s eyes widened. “But… you…”

“For your own good, Marsha, you can’t stay in power. False accusations of treachery are a very serious offence. I didn’t want to have to do this, but… I vote to temporarily remove Marsha as Triumvir,” August rapidly gestured to Lev.

“Oh, yes. I… I concur. Marsha, I’m sorry,” Lev agreed, after some hesitation.

“Don’t be, Lev,” August replied, dismissing Marsha as the secret police took her away, probably to some bunker. “We had no choice. This is for the greater good,”

“I know. I know, August,”

The Council was rapidly reorganised. A large number of seats, mostly those of the Councillors that had supported Marsha, were suddenly vacated. The train to the mountains of Western Carstvoa was also a lot fuller. And within a few weeks, it was as if Marsha had never been there.

Lev gave a speech to the people. “Triumvir Marsha… has been removed from power. She has falsely accused me of treason and attempted to unlawfully arrest me. Her mental state is not sound, and she is unfit to run the country. In the meantime, Triumvir August and I shall rule in a temporary diarchate. The Council shall serve as the deciding vote in this interregnum, until another suitable Triumvir is chosen,”

That night, Lev returned to his quarters. This was never meant to happen. Five years of cooperation, of alliance, of closeness bordering on actual friendship… gone. He had never intended for this to happen. But there was nothing he could change. The ascendancy of the Triumvirate had sparked a golden age for Carstvoa, but it had also been a golden age for the three Triumvirs. But those days were over.