Meredith Mansfield, Author

The governments of the five different realms of BECOME

are not as diverse as the ones in my DUAL MAGICS series.

That would be a tall order. But they do have different ways of passing power from one ruler to the next.

Some use the familiar inheritance by the nearest male relative of the old king. Some use something more like the Holy Roman Empire–a council of prince-electors chose the successor, often from among themselves. In my story, the council is empowered to choose the new king from the old king’s extended family.

And, one kingdom uses a system somewhat related to Frazer’s (See, THE GOLDEN BOUGH) sacred king. In my case, a Great Combat is held at intervals in which two men must fight for the right to rule. The Combat is controlled by the Goddess’s priestesses and serves to reinforce that the right to rule comes from her–only. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always guarantee a good or even a competent king.

There are those who want to end this system, for that reason as well as for dynastic ones. And, of course, those who want to continue it. The conflict between those two groups is part of the background of this story.