Readers - email exchange with Peter Stanton

this is a question asked by Peter Stanton and my answer...

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Peter: I have a question about your first book, "The Chosen" Something that is really bothering me about the nature of Chosen politics is women voting in the House of the Masks. How is it that Ykoriana and the other Ladies of her house: Tiye, Narakarade to name two, may cast votes in the elections? I can understand why Ykoriana could vote, she, as Regent is acting as Ruling Lord for the Imperial House and casts the stock house votes. But why do the other Ladies of the Masks get to vote when the other Houses of the Great do not. Why don't we see Carnelian's grandmother, Sardian's Mother, voting?

Ricardo: as I'm sure you appreciate, voting in Osrakum is a complex business... The first thing to understand is that the election of a God Emperor is, essentially, analogous to the election of a new Ruling Lord within any one of the Houses of the Chosen...

to take this first: the way voting is carried out in a House is a tradition particular to that House. In some, women will be allowed to vote, in others not...

now, when it comes to voting within the House of the Masks (the Imperial House), not only are the Great eligible to vote, but also the women of the Imperial House...

if you consider for a moment the realities underlying this, it becomes obvious why this should be the case. You probably know that, at the Apotheosis of a new God Emperor, many of his close, male relatives are likely to be sacrificed. This can often lead the Imperial House to be almost entirely bereft of any voting males. If only those, few males were allowed to vote (and not the females) then, in actuality, the Imperial House would have almost no effect on who is elected God Emperor... it would be entirely up to the Great... Clearly, this is not a situation the Imperial House would be happy with...

an entirely different way of looking at this is that ALL Chosen of sufficient blood purity are entitled to vote in a divine election. The votes of the women of a given Great House are cast by its Ruling Lord along with his own, personal votes (as is shown in the election scene in The Chosen)... however, who is there who could cast the votes of the Imperial women? Clearly, their 'Ruling Lord' is the God Emperor... but, by definition, he is dead at the time of the election... Thus, if the women were ineligible to vote on their own behalf, their votes would not be counted... Considering how powerful these votes are... this would be to make a mockery of the entire election process...

In actuality, in a divine election, the votes of the Imperial women come close to balancing those of all of the Great...

I hope this puts your mind at rest...