First-Borns

While the Council was thrown in for a loud ruckus, Milena waited patiently while the Royal Secretary did his very best to bring back order in the room. She had expected this much. Although The De Winter's change to the hereditary law had been accepted and added to their Country's laws as a matter of fact, Milena was coming up to bring another motion after that. She had, of course, been careful to mention it before, at the opportune time, but it wouldn't be so easy. 

The new law about adopting illegitimate children into families had been accepted because it was a big opportunity for some houses. As most weddings were for political reasons, not love, it wasn't uncommon that one nobleman out in four or five had at least a child born from some affair... With the war coming, despite the amendment about needing their wife's approval, many would use the upcoming battle as an excuse. Unlike the youngest De Winter, not all of those bastard children would have an older half-sister or step-mother willing to protect them... Milena knew very well this law would be dangerous to a lot of young men who hadn't asked so much. The only light of hope for them was the opportunity it would bring. It was dim, but those who would be able to come back from this war would be seen as heroes. Even those born in the dirtiest sheet could hope for a proper status, recognition, and a monetary reward if they survived the battle. Meanwhile, their older siblings who used their blood status would be seen as cowards who had stood on the sidelines... It would be a dangerous game, but maybe, it would allow some wrongs to be erased.

"Silence," suddenly said Rayan.

He didn't shout, but his voice was deep and loud enough that it echoed throughout the walls. The Senators immediately all stopped barking, their eyes going to the Royal Family. Milena sighed. Really, this was no better than some chicken coop... It took a couple of seconds, but once the silence was established, Rayan smiled at his wife, with a little nod.

"As everyone in this room already knows, following the changes to our Primogeniture Law, I'd like for another change to be made, that of Absolute Primogeny. This isn't the first time this request of mine is raised up, for those who attended the previous Council Meeting, so I will do my best to go straight to the point."

"Your Highness," said a Senator. "I do not understand what it is you want to change. We already have female heirs, and they can perfectly inherit their fathers' titles. It isn't like we have had no women at the head of a Noble Family..."

"Then," said Milena. ”How many people here belong to a family whose Head is in fact, a woman?"

This time, the silence that came up was rather embarrassing. Among all the people present, which amounted to about a hundred, only six people raised their hands, including Rachael De Nova. Two of the others were merchants, one was a Marquess and the last two were nobles from the same family. Milena smirked.

"See? Our Kingdom counts have many men and women and yet, this is where we are at. You can't tell me all the noble houses and merchants in this Kingdom have sons as firstborns?"

It was far from the truth, and Milena actually knew the numbers and names by heart. 

In the Duchy Houses, Rachael was the only girl in a first-born position but, as it was custom in the De Nova House, they had trouble producing heirs, and she was an only child. Both Milena and Philomenie had older brothers, so it didn't apply to them. 

Out of the nine County Houses though, six had girls as the first born child, and only the houses De Orchid, De Hyacinth, and De Lily had boys in the firstborn position. However, those three boys were all named official heirs, whereas, in the six other houses, only two girls were the official heir: Bella De Camellia, and Verona De Narcissus, the latter having no brothers. In the four other houses, either a son had been chosen as the official heir over his older sister, or the succession was yet to be settled. 

It was even more obvious with the Baron Families. Thirteen Houses, but there were six official male heirs and four female ones. Three of them were girls with a younger brother, like Tiphania D'Aventur, and only Jalyn De Tourmal had no brothers. The three houses without an official heir were Peridot and Verheim, who each had a daughter but yet to name a successor, and the Spire, who was, sadly, still childless. 

Only the Marquess Families were in a different position: because they were focusing on their family businesses rather than their noble position, most had appointed their heir regardless of their order of birth, but more in terms of how capable they were to succeed their families. Hence, there were even examples of girls being appointed as heirs, while their brothers were sent to the military or opened a different business. Alexis De Carseus, for example, was chosen as the heiress to her military-oriented family regardless of her younger brother, as she had demonstrated skills from a young age. The Genova family, who was into cosmetics, perfumes and other toiletries, had sent their sons to the military while their third born and daughter was raised to take over the business.

Still, comparing all the noble houses, there were still too many cases of daughters being sent off to marry into other families while their brothers took the main role. Milena was fed up to see, in history books, each family bragging about their male heirs' accomplishments, while they hadn't even bothered to record their mothers' and sisters' first names into history. With this new law, Milena even feared that some noblemen would be as shameless as to try and name their bastard sons their heirs rather than their daughters born from legitimate unions.

This wasn't something she was going to allow.

"I want Absolute Primogeny, as in each firstborn of each family shall be accounted as the heir apparent. From the moment a child is born, regardless of their gender, their order of birth shall be the main factor to decide their position in the family. No more waiting to name an heir when you already have one."

As she said that, Milena made sure to glare at members of the Houses Peridot and Verheim. They should have appointed their daughters as their heirs long ago, yet they were either still hoping to give birth to a son, or probably looking forward to an opportunity to appoint one of their nephews or, like it was possible now, a bastard son.

"Princess, you can't be serious! I understand your concern for the future of our Kingdom's noblewomen, but the decision of the heir shall remain solely into the Head of the House's hands!"

Milena smirked. This was the best weapon of Patriarchy; no matter what, unless the head of the house had explicitly told so, no girl born was considered as her family's main heir. This was a tacit rule that was so common, there wasn't even a need to mention it. It wasn't written in any book, but it was deeply engraved in their minds. In each family, if the firstborn was a son, the family rejoiced and his future as the heir was, of course, guaranteed right away. However, if it was a girl, there was a sort of wait-and-see feeling that lingered. What if a son was born next? What if that girl had no capacities? It was a sickening double standard that shall remain no longer.

"Your Highness, do you mean, if the next royal child born of the Crown Prince's union is a girl..."

"Then your next ruler shall be a Queen," retorted Milena.

She knew well they were testing her. They may have thought she'd be given second thoughts if she realized she was giving her future niece or nephew the official position of Royal heir, but this wasn't a surprise. Milena had of course thought of such a thing. 

Regardless of if Rayan or Ellias was named the next King, she wanted to give their children equal chances from birth. Ellias was probably rubbing his hands together, knowing that Milena was almost guaranteeing his child to be the next heir. It was a huge risk she was taking, when she was still childless herself. The Council is probably going to be leaning towards Ellias if Philomenie's child was the only heir of the next generation, regardless of its gender. However, Milena also had no doubt that, if he had already been King, he may have waited himself until he had a son to name them crown Prince. Maybe she was doing this for her future nephew or niece, but she had the intimate conviction that this was something she wanted for her own children as well. She didn't want to see any more young heirs fight like Ellias and Rayan had been f****d to fight since they were born.

On the contrary, Milena had enjoyed being in a family where the roles were already clearly defined. Her brothers wouldn't have had such a good relationship if Valentin wasn't guaranteed his position, and Lucian his freedom. Even Raphael was happy not to feel too much pressure, as the second son, but he was still well aware of his duties since he was young. If things were established from birth, it was a much healthier way of growing up, for a child, than having to constantly keep that rivalry going.

"That is why I am using the term of heir apparent," said Milena. "As I said, regardless of their gender, each firstborn shall be considered the main heir of the noble house by the Royal Family. This should even help resolve some lingering situations, especially in those times. However, I do understand that not all families will be able to follow those circumstances. Hence, there shall also be, with the proper reasons, a possibility for each House to raise a derogation."

"...So each family will have to submit a special request when they want to... change their official heir?"

"Exactly, Senator," said Milena.

A few seconds of silence followed, everyone trying to consider Milena's words. With that derogation, it wasn't as if the Royal Family was interfering in the Family businesses, but more like there would be a consideration from the State that all firstborns are apparent heirs. In fact, it would even save a lot of paperwork. The only ones who would need to go the extra length would be those who actually wanted to change their heir apparent. However, it certainly wouldn't be as easy as Milena had made it sound. Actually using bureaucracy to change the heir wasn't as easy as picking one. 

Milena had done two hits with one stone: she'd be forcing the indecisive houses to choose right away, and those who were unhappy with their successors, probably the female ones, would have to go the extra length to change that. It wasn't a perfect way, but it was still a system that would help girls to not be cast aside so easily by the birth of a male sibling...

"Your Highness," Protested another Senator. "This is a futile amendment you're asking. We have such pressing matters at hand, I don't think obligating the noble houses to pick their heirs will..."

"On the contrary, Baron De Topase, I think it is more important than ever to make things clear," retorted Milena. "Many houses have yet to name their heir, and most of those are shying away from picking their only daughter as the house name holder. If your sons are sent to battle and regrettably, die, will you not try to consolidate your daughter's position?"

"My sons will return!" Vociferated the Baron.

"I hope so too," said Milena, very calm. "However, all the noble houses keeping their daughters sheltered until they can be married off may want to reconsider in just a few months. Do you even realize what the actual situation is you're talking about right now?"

The Princess' words sent a cold chill through the room. Despite the Baron's hopeful words, it was clear not all young men would return, and many, many of them would die. Milena was absolutely right. So many of those nobles had been so confident in having their sons inherit, they hadn't raised their daughter for anything other than to be mothers and wives. However, if all male heirs died in the war, without a proper heir raised to keep it, their family name would inevitably disappear. Unlike Milena or most of her friends, a lot of young ladies' education was overlooked and superficial. Princess Philomenie De Winter herself was a prime example...

"Has anyone read the news this morning?"

Rachael's large smile brought some attention as well as her words. Several people exchanged glances, but a merchant woman from the Guild chuckled loudly.

"It was a brilliant edition, Your Highnesses. It sold out from our shops within two hours! I had never seen this!"

"What is this about?" Asked Philomenie, visibly confused.

The Royal Secretary sighed, probably wondering how this topic had gone off-road. However, Rachael De Nova just wouldn't stop smiling. With a large grin on her face, the Duchess stood up, and as if she had been waiting for this moment, she handed an edition of the said journal to the Princess De Winter, and gave some more to the members of the Council for those to circulate through the ranks. 

Some Senators barely glanced before handing it to their neighbors, probably very aware of the matter already. Milena couldn't help but glance in Ellias' way. He was glaring at Rachael, but even more, at the journal in Philomenie's hands. Unlike him, the Princess was visibly pleased with it, even blushing a little.

"See?" Said Rachael. "This is what your daughters are capable of. We have warriors, brilliant politicians, scientists, inventors, doctors, and engineers. All these women portrayed in this newspaper are no fiction, senators. They are very real, and regardless of the century they were born in, they accomplished great things regardless of any man who supported them or not."

"Duchess De Nova, now is not the time for your feminist speeches!"

"Now is precisely the time," roared Milena, standing up. "This issue should have been settled ages ago, and yet here we are, waiting on a war to acknowledge that this Kingdom also needs women to lead!"

"Princess De Crescent, we understand what you're saying, but regardless of those few accomplishments, women are no soldiers! If they can't fight, they can't lead! How should we explain to our sons that girls can do just as well as them when they are going to be the ones sent to war? Isn't it easy to think men and women are the same when only one group is sent to war while the others will patiently wait for their brothers to die to inherit the house!"

"Then you should have prepared your daughters and sons the same, Senator."

"Women can't fight?" Chuckled another Senator. "Has anyone else heard of the fight between the Duchess and the Princess De Crescent just recently? That's one fight if I ever heard of one!"

"I was there!" Exclaimed one of the military advisors, ecstatic. "I'm so sour I missed most of the fight, but what a duel! It reminded me of the great times, when we held proper tournaments! I don't think I have ever seen my sons hold their swords with as much expertise as those ladies. I swear by my family's name, anyone who still says women can't fight will taste my sword!"

Milena chuckled. The military counselor was an old man; he probably was in no state to fight anyone for real, but the point had been made. Next to her, Rayan took a deep breath.

"My wife's sparing skills are as good as any knight out there. It has nothing to do with her gender, but because she was raised, like her brother, to be an excellent fighter and an amazing commander. She was raised with the knowledge of military tactics, history of wars, and everything a male heir of the House De Crescent also had to study."

"This is a tradition of the military houses, Your Highness," retorted a Counselor. "It doesn't mean we should send any woman to the battlefield or let her lead any man!"

"In a matter of fact, I think this is a decision we should allow," retorted Rayan. "How many female knights have been appointed in the last decade, General?"

"O-only thirteen, Your Highness."

"This is still thirteen more than the previous ten years, as we only allowed female applicants about twelve years ago if I'm not wrong."

"Yes, Your Highness. We are receiving more and more applications each year, that is true."

"See, gentlemen?" Smiled Milena. "Whether you like it or no, female soldiers are a reality. Commanding women are a reality too. The House De Carseus appointed a female heir, and the Duchess De Nova herself will stand on the battlefield as any other commander will."

"I can guarantee the first man to disrespect me will certainly be the first one to taste the leather of my boots," smirked Rachael.

"There you go," chuckled Milena. "So? If a woman can lead an army of stubborn male soldiers, certainly she can lead a house. Not a household, but support her whole family. You've seen it in that newspaper. Those women have marked history with their family name. Aren't you eager to see your daughters reach such achievements and bring glory to your houses, rather than doing embroidery in some dark corner while you plan their weddings?"

"...Now that you mention it, Princess Milena," suddenly said Ellias. "I'm even surprised you're not going to war yourself."

Rayan glared at his twin.

"Care to clarify your thoughts, brother?"

"I am just saying. If your wife cares so much about women being acknowledged as commanders, it might be a shame we're not sending her in your stead."

Rayan kept glaring for a while, but next to him, Milena smiled.

"I like the idea, your Highness. However, we would then have a problem."

"What is it?"

"Well, if I went to war, I wonder what people would think of those Princes who sit back and watch a woman do all of what they call a man's work?"