[The City of Sanctuary – A day before the voting for the seventh sanctum head, Torvin Copperhand’s POV.]
Ever since Torvin and Bramdel had joined the House of Lords, their lives had become packed with activities. After Lord Keeper had praised him on the very first day they joined, people voiced open support for him to become the head of the Sanctum. For original chapters go to novel·fiɾe·net
With the support of both Bramdel and Sir Baelen, Torvin had given his name for the election. It wasn’t like becoming a member of the House of Lords. If chosen, the candidate would have to form a mana contract. In that, everything they had presented in their Sanctum ID background information will be added. Not a single lie about themselves would be tolerated. Not to mention, they could not buy the votes or anything, and even that will be added in the contract if chosen.
At first, over 30 people had put their names forward, with several internal groups of House of Lords members supporting one or two of their best candidates. But after the final candidate list, only 17 had remained. All else had either pulled their names back, in fear of constant, detailed background and character checks, or Sanctum had found something questionable in their observation and had removed the candidates both from the election and House of Lords membership.
Torvin felt like people were overreacting. The Sanctum’s background check was not that strict. He, himself, had done some shady deals in the past when drought and wars were making life hard to live. He had smuggled his products in and out of the city several times, but it was out of necessity, not because of profit or ill intentions.
The Sanctum had given him a written notice not to repeat such acts and had him pay a fine as well. But it wasn’t anything major. He was still on the candidate list after all that. Torvin had no idea if all who pulled back did so on their own or if the Sanctum gave them a choice. Because only 2-3 people out of 30 had taken their membership away.
It didn’t exactly feel right, but Torvin could understand the thought behind it. Lord Keeper had a lot of plans for Sanctuary’s prosperity, and he could not act on them with a limited people. Sanctuary needs people, the educated ones this time, not the fighting men. But if those fighting warriors had the mind to do these official tasks, then they would certainly climb the Sanctum’s career ladder faster than others.
It was the same system that had given people like him a chance to partake in the government for the first time ever. Torvin was more than optimistic that under the Lord Keeper’s rule, their Sanctuary would become the best country to live in.
He alone would not even have managed to get 7-9 votes. And that was including his two friends. But Bramdel and Sir Baelen had gone above and beyond in their support. They were the ones who gave him the idea of going street by street to ask for votes. The noble streets were not as welcoming, but still, they had managed to already make a name for themselves.
However, things really changed when Torvin received the support of two men Sir Baelen introduced him to. They were nobles, but unlike most nobles present in the House of Lords, these two were much more approachable and understanding of their status.
Lord Keeper had not stated it clearly yet, but it was clear that in his rule, the noble names were not much favoured. Actually, it wasn’t as bad as people made it out to be. Torvin could see that Lord Keeper wasn’t doing it because of some personal grudge or any other intentions. He was just adamant in giving equal importance to all individuals regardless of their names and titles; only their work, their deeds, were recognizable in his eyes.
These two nobles seemed to have grasped the importance of that fact. Lord Silas and Lord Goldilocks were not unknown names at all. Through Sir Baelen, Torvin and Bramdel had heard about their views and reputation. Lord Goldilocks was actually holding an even greater status as the father of Lucian Goldilocks.
One of the new transcendent heads of the Sanctuary. Lady Depthbinder herself. The relationship between Lord Keeper and Lady Frostmother was a known fact.
With the support of such people, along with his daily late-night meetings with most of the mundane members of the House of Lords, and the boost in reputation given by the Lord Keeper himself, Torvin was quite optimistic about his chances of at least giving a good fight to his opposition.
He wasn’t the only one supported by the nobles. There were others. Some recently made members of the House of Lords, together with him, also had support from their fellow members. Three people Torvin had noticed who had, if not more than equal amount of support as himself.
A 37-year-old commoner lady called Ghislain. Torvin knew her from way before. She used to work as a prostitute when they were both young. With time, however, as he took the responsibility of his business, she too had bought some properties and started a business of sewing and designing clothes. More of a craftsman than a merchant.
But she was still a sharp one and had always kept her business associates on edge with her vast information network that aided her in getting the best deals for her wholesale clothes.
She was supported by some of the nobles, due to her looks or her underworld connection, or simply because she was a good leader candidate; Torvin was not sure. But if there was something wrong with her methods, Sanctum would have already removed her from the candidate list, so Torvin considered her just another worthy candidate. She indeed had some noble connections through custom clothes designing orders and such.
The Second Candidate was a knight called Austen Colt. Torvin was familiar with this name, too.