Chapter 1

“Here’s your new office sir. A nice view out on the city, surrounded by security, phone in your office. Catering at the press of a button. And that’s just the beginning Drake. So, you like the place? Uh, you know… there’s an old custom where a newly appointed prime minister keeps his predecessor around as an advisor.”

“A custom you overlooked when you took office. I want to serve this city, so for a while I guess some advice from an experienced citizen could be arranged. Thanks for showing me around the place.”

Drake, a middle aged mirus dragon smiled. Beside him in city hall stood the former prime minister of Yann City, a venerable older thorn dragon. Drake had been officially granted his new position less than an hour ago. There was a huge crowd gathered outside, all eager to see who was going to be in charge. The new prime minister hadn’t been able to deliver an acceptance speech yet. The other elected officials had practically rushed him into his office before cameras and reporters could swarm Drake.

“You’ve been in office less than an hour and already the senate is asking for a meeting. Personally I’m glad you won the election, but I think a few of them were really counting on Regulus. When he dropped out a month ago you pretty much took control of the election. Guess you should meet your peers.”

“Either way I’m going to be making someone wait. The senate, or the viewing public. They put me in office, I owe it to our fine city. Tell my peers to be patient and turn on a TV if they want to see me so badly.”

There was another reason for Drake’s choice though. He knew how to handle media. Politics was an entirely different matter. He could prepare speeches for five minutes in front of a few different stations, but he couldn’t prepare for what others in power would want. Several members of the senate had been in their position for years, Drake was new to office. They might not even take him seriously. And aside from that, he wouldn’t have an excuse to just walk out and ignore them.

Standing on the front steps of city hall, he smiled. “Thank you all. Thank you for placing your confidence in me, for believing in me. It is an honor and a privilege to serve this city, and all of Dragon Isle. I promise to do my best to protect the interests of all law abiding citizens. You all gave me this position by voting for me. The least I can do in return is listen to your concerns and help as much as I can. We can make a difference together.”

The actual speech was longer, but that was just his introduction. Drake knew how to get the crowd cheering for him. He didn’t really say anything the public hadn’t heard when he was running for office, some things were just phrased differently or reinforced. Members of the press surged forward in an attempt to get one last comment from him as he walked back inside city hall. His predecessor smirked.

“Charming. So, how much do you actually think you’ll accomplish? And how badly do you think the senate hates you already? Making them wait and promising things they might not want to deliver.”

“It’s not my job to make the senate happy, it’s my job to make the citizens happy. And if they keep me in office long enough, I plan on giving them every last promise I made. You don’t think I can manage half of them, do you?”

The thorn dragon followed Drake to another office where the senate would already be waiting. He didn’t seem too concerned. “It’s a nice idea, but unless you’re in office for a hundred years I doubt you’ll manage. Health care, no racism, better jobs, wages, no more corruption in the whole government. Yeah, I think you set your sights a little too high. Sure you made a few promises that could be kept, but I honestly tried my whole time in office to do just a few of those. And now you’ve taken over what I started. So will the next guy, and the one after him, and the one after him.”

So maybe for a first term Drake had some pretty impossible ideas. As long as he made some kind of progress on them it was likely he’d be elected again in the future. Besides, he was one of the businesses. Drake still ran his pharmacy, The Last Hour. And he was the only provider of probably the best heart medicine in Yann city. He also had an older brother working in the police department. “You have a very bleak perspective. Try and look at things from an optimist’s point of view. If you try hard enough, anything can be done. Besides, if at all possible I plan on avoiding the senate as much as I can. There are better things I can be doing with my time instead of arguing.”

Dragon Isle’s senate held a single representative from each species. Some of them older, some younger. He knew a few of them. The other mirus dragon, the electric, risso, red headed, razor, and common. That left a lot of unfamiliar faces though, and several of those didn’t exactly look pleased.

“Right. It’s already clear to me just by taking a look around that I can’t win all of you over. Some of you probably hate me, but that’s okay. I’m not going to hold it against any of you. So, what is it the senate wants to speak with me about?”

Two senators walked out of the room without another word. Apparently they couldn’t even stand being in the same room with him. The rest stayed, introducing themselves. “This is your chance to meet future friends and enemies in office. Like you said, probably not possible to please everyone so find out who you can trust now. So prime minister, if I brought something to your attention would you sign it for me? Help a fellow mirus get things done?”

Drake blinked. That mirus senator was either testing him or had no morals. He was trying to use hypnosis. “Stop that, please. My little sister tried hypnotizing me all the time. If you bring something to me worth signing I’ll put my name on it. And you won’t be trying to trick me again, will you?”

Over an hour of boring introductions, but he was making a list mentally. And at the moment his friends in office were very few. Then again half of them didn’t seem to care. First day and Drake was already bored.