How I Became Emperor Ch. 11: Semester 01

The First Semester

There are four occasions of note that I must relay during the first semester of my role in student politics. They are notable mainly because of their departure from the norm of the routine I outlined at the end of the previous chapter, and are presented here in chronological order, though not in order of importance.

The first came about four weeks into the semester, and I was just finally getting used to the routine. It was after a lunch, and Keisha was 'chained' beneath my desk and merrily doing her best to distract me while I was reading some notes she had made on a meeting with one of the student unions or other. It was a common battle of wills - and more often than not Keisha would win by default. But I was putting up a good showing today when a timid knock on the door came, followed by Cindy sticking her head in the door. I panicked for a moment before I saw who it was, and motioned her hurriedly in.

"I'm sorry." She said, really sounding apologetic. "But the Chancellor's secretary - Duncan - is outside, and he's being incredibly insistent that you need to go to the Chancellor's office right now."

"What's going on?" I asked, as I pushed back my chair and zipped up my pants.

"I don't know, but he's looking pretty grim." Cindy replied.

"Okay then." I kissed my girlfriend, "See if you can't take care of our Toy. I'm afraid it'll break if it doesn't get off soon."

The secretary gave me a dour look and escorted me across the campus to the Chancellor's office. I tried to pry any specifics I could from him, but the only thing he told me was that the Chancellor was not happy.

I sensed that was an understatement as soon as I entered the Chancellor's austere office. She had been reading an email, but as soon as Duncan announced me, she barked at me to "get in here!" The Chancellor's eyes were flashing a brilliant spark of anger, and she stood behind her desk like a vengeful queen about to dispense justice. She did not offer me a seat.

"Some rather alarming, and if true, horrific accusations of immoral behaviour of the highest order have been made against you." She began without preamble. "Another student has complained about your... associations... with multiple women as a corrupting influence on the office and on the student body. According to the claims you have been... philandering... womanising... corrupting yourself and your associates with a lascivity of extraordinary proportions. I've been informed that you have bedded numerous women in succession, occasionally even bedded some at the same time! A second personage, verifiably independent to the first, has also come forward to accuse pretty much the same and suggest further that you have been manipulating these persons into your bed by means of subtle coercion and suggestion."

The Chancellor attempted to bore into me with her gaze. I was shocked, but did my best not to reveal it on my face, and keep as calm and rational as I could. In the back of my mind a small portion was working feverishly to try and figure out who might have made such revelations in an attempt to damage me, but I kept it to the back, knowing that the 'who' was a secondary concern right now.

When my silence, and apparent pacivity at the accusations became too much, the Chancellor eventually burst out: "Well?!"

"Ma'am?" I asked taking care to keep my voice free of strain.

"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?!" The Chancellor demanded.

"Honestly, not really." I advised. "It sounds to me like I'm being accused of essentially living the expected experience of an undergraduate university student. The second part about me being manipulative is a little worrying, but given that I know it not to be true, I don't really think that it merits a response. The aspect of sleeping with multiple women is not really an accusation of immorality. I am certain that a sizable contingent of the male population of this university is having the same experience. There may be some small increase for me due to my visible popularity and supposed position of power within the university administration as a student representative, but I can assure you it is not out of the ordinary."

"So you see no problem at all in the accusation?" The Chancellor asked incredulously.

"I didn't say that. There are a number of worrying aspects to the claims." I raised a hand and began to tick them off on my fingers as I stated them: "The first is why they were made in the way they were: to paint me in a bad light. The second is the slanderous nature of the second accusation of manipulation. Third, the implication of a lack of moral character for supposedly committing innocent acts generally connected with a display of affection. Fourth, the manner in which these accusations were made: to you as the only person who by the student union and university charter is in a position to unilaterally dismiss me from my post. Fifth, the anonymous nature of the claims, denying me the right to face my accusers, which - granted - is a right enshrined in American law, not the law of this country, but which has become customary here as well. And lastly that, while you are right to inform me of the accusations and to give me a chance to defend myself against the accusations, you already appear convinced of their truth without having done much investigation into their veracity."

For a time the Chancellor studied me, her anger abated somewhat in the face of my quick-thinking rebuttal. But she was still strict and forceful when she asked: "And is there any truth to the accusations?"

"To the former, I will offer a qualified acknowledgement. I have not been a hermit while at this university, and have had the pleasure of bedding multiple lovely women. I'll even admit that I've bedded two at the same time. But to the second..."

The Chancellor interrupted, her ire stoked once more. "So you do admit to depravity leading to moral corruption?"

"No." I carefully replied. "I don't believe any of the sexual interactions I've had have led to, or have been instigated by moral corruption. Quite the contrary. If anything the fact that the trysts have all been consensual and have formed bonds of trust and connection between myself and these women has been to the betterment of my moral character - and theirs by the way."

"A threesome cannot be moral!" The Chancellor nearly screamed.

"Why not?" I asked, honestly confused.

"Because... because... because it just simply is! Our traditions, our history, our beliefs and our institutions all make it an immoral act - and one you need to take the blame for." She pointed an accusatory finger at my chest .

I took a beat before answering, "Our traditions do not encompass monogamy, in fact all the way back as far as we can trace our traditions there has been philandering and womanising and prostitution and sexual trysts between multiple people - and it's not always the men who are the promiscuous ones. Our history certainly doesn't encompass sexual fidelity to only one other. Look back at the number of bastards the Middle Ages threw up as just one example. I'll grant you that certain beliefs cause it to be seen as immoral, but I'm not an adherent of any such belief structures, as I am an agnostic myself, and this university is not a religious university so there can be no claim of my corrupting persons from a path that they are - or were - following. And finally as to institutions, I've already addressed this university as an institution - but looking at the laws of our country the only truly limiting factor is marriage or civil partnership. But I claim to be neither married, nor in a civil partnership, and therefore cannot be said to have gone against an institutional vow."

The Chancellor was back to full anger mode again. "The fact that you do not recognise God's word as the necessary moral compass does not mean that your acts are not morally corrupting."

Realising I was dealing with someone of faith, though she hid it reasonably well, I decided to engage her on her own terms. "God does not, in-fact, forbid polygamy or polyamory. Quite the opposite, in the New Testament we are regularly encouraged to seek love for others and to engage them in loving ways. The core argument for monogamy from the bible is that God only created one man and one woman, though that is also misleading as prior to the creation of Eve, God first created Lilith to be Adam's mate. It didn't work out for misogynistic reasons that I think we can both agree are morally indefensible today, but setting that aside, it is clear that Adam had at least one other relationship prior to his more permanent engagement with Eve. Assuming that argument doesn't convince, we can also point out that God only ever created one male and one female of all of the creatures of the earth, each in their own ways, and monogamy is only an occasional experience within the animal world. Further, there are numerous characters in the Old Testament who have had multiple wives or multiple trysts with God's blessing. King David, King Solomon, even Abraham - though I'll grant you the last one is more contentious."

"Are you a theologian or a priest now?" The Chancellor mocked me.

"No." I shot back, "But I do believe in a personal relationship with God - even if I, as an agnostic, don't truly know his or her form, belief, substance or nature of existence. I don't presume to know or in any way be able to interpret divine calling. Foir me to claim anything else would be dishonest on my part."

"Listen to yourself," the Chancellor said. "You are a bright young man, perhaps one of the most cogent and intelligent people to have held your position in the student government, and yet you set such a bad example for others!"

I mused on that for a moment. "No, I don't think that's the case." I responded cautiously. "The position is one of power and visibility to be sure, but I have not once advocated for others to be sexually promiscuous, and have not trumpeted my liaisons."

"Why hide them then?" The Chancellor asked triumphantly, thinking she'd won.

"I haven't," I answered. "In fact to anyone who has asked me about my sexual status so far I've been honest with. Very few have asked, it is true, and I'm not going around trumpeting the fact, not least because there is a social stigma that some of my partners may not be willing to face yet, and it may bring them attention they do not wish to receive. But if anyone asked me outright as to my sexual liaisons I don't hide their number from anyone."

The Chancellor was evidently still unhappy, but couldn't see an easy way out. Unspoken between us was my popularity among the student body and how - unless the Chancellor could uncover some actual proof of active depravity on my part - she couldn't really find a way to safely oust me from my position. If she did so without sufficient public cause, I could lambast her and her position among the student body - potentially to a point of forcing her to resign.

"I'm not satisfied." She said coldly. "You will present all of your... floozies so that I can independently verify that you have not had a hand in their moral corruption. I warn you that I will be extremely thorough in my investigation."

"As you should be." I agreed, "But please, Chancellor, do not refer to them as floozies. Each of them is a woman in her own right, an adult capable of making their own decisions, and they each deserve to be regarded and judged on their own actions, not abrogate their individual responsibility to me or anyone else. Also, I will not present anyone before you who does not freely agree to do so - though I don't really foresee any problems."

The Chancellor waited expectantly, and with a wave of her hand demanded: "Well?"

"Now?" I asked, a little startled that this was to happen immediately. "Alright then."

I recognized that she was trying to collect names, based on whom I would phone up, so I called the obvious one first. I explained to Cindy in rough terms what had happened and told her she should probably come as well since there was little secret about our liaison. I also told her "You know who all the others are. Please offer those you can immediately reach the opportunity to come defend me as well." Cindy agreed, calm, collected. I love her for that as much as anything else: her capacity for peace in the tumult of the world around me.

I also carefully worded my request so that Cindy knew not to approach the only person who could actually be damaging to me in this situation: Professor Lex. Cindy got the message. I do sometimes wonder what might have happened had the Chancellor ever found out about my trysts with the good Professor - or the trysts that the Professor would eventually have a hand in arranging. I imagine it would have been the end of both our careers.

After that one phone call, evidently not what the Chancellor had in mind by the glare she gave me, I turned to her pleasantly and asked whether I could get some water while we waited. She huffed loudly but called Duncan in to let him know I was expecting a delegation that were to be permitted entry, and to get me a small glass of water. She emphasized 'small' just a bit, but I decided not to escalate the conflict if I could avoid it.

We waited for 30 minutes before the Chancellor made her first snide comment along the lines that perhaps I wasn't going to have anyone come to defend my "honour". I smiled good naturedly at the joke, and returned to waiting. When the wait became 45 minutes I'll admit I began to worry more, but shortly after I had begun pacing nervously, Cindy entered the room, followed by Abby and Keisha. To my shock, more people kept filing in after those three, with Erica, Irina and Alex (holding hands), and Matt. My whole staff. Then after them came a troupe of people armed with notebooks and pencils, led by Lamar, my friend in the press, and finally, completely shocking to me, Professor Lex who led a small three-head delegation of my professors.

Whether by nature or design, they arrayed themselves in careful segments: my staff all together facing the Chancellor and me, the student press to the far side of the room by the windows, and the professors stepped to the side of the door.

The Chancellor, as flabbergasted as me (though not hiding it as well) looked to the haggard Duncan in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Chancellor," he said, "You said you were expecting a delegation. I assumed..."

The Chancellor looked pointedly at the press and the professors. "What's the meaning of this?!"

Professor Lex shrugged nonchalantly, and said, "I got wind of the accusation, thought it a bit outlandish of one of my protéges, and came to watch. I promise I won't interfere no matter where this goes. I'm just here to witness, as are my colleagues."

Lamar spoke up for the student press, "Regardless of outcome, this is news-worthy. We're here to get the story."

The Chancellor didn't like either answer, but couldn't see an easy way out so snidely turned to me and asked: "And so you're actually having.... You know... with the rest of them?"

"No," I answered honestly. "Cindy, care to explain?"

Cindy stepped forward to make her explanation. "As per the charge that my boyfriend," she indicated me, "is having sexual relations with other people, and the request to clarify, I have gathered a series of character witnesses. He is actively engaged in trysts with four people here, myself included, and while we will only positively identify two of us to protect the privacy of the other two, all of us are here to bear witness to the purity of character and honour that belies the false accusation."

I noted that she accurately identified my liaisons as 4 in number, and carefully implied that Professor Lex was not one of them while technically still telling the truth. It's a trickiness in Cindy that she has often used to my benefit in the past.

She went on to explain that she was aware of every other relation and found nothing objectionable or out of place with any of them. She spoke for just over a minute and stepped back allowing Abby to take her place.

She started by admitting to being the second and added a revelation that I was not expecting. "I suspect that the charge of seduction probably comes from my current girlfriend, Rose, though I would ask you not to confirm it. She and I had a heated argument on the subject of my sexual interactions outside our relationship and I fear she may have been rash in the aftermath. I would like to submit that it was in fact my idea and my urging for our sexual interactions to take place. As evidence I have brought an article I wrote for private consumption outlining the benefits of such intimacy in specific types of relationships. I have always entered it freely and without coercion."

Abby stepped back to be replaced by Alex, who made a full-throated and hearty defence of my character, before giving Erica the floor to speak about my shyness. She brought up nice anecdotes about my stint being fitted, without revealing too much information, and to my mind somewhat exaggerating my sense of privacy.

Keisha took over from her. She did not divulge her intimacy with me, but did speak about my high moral character, and my personal sense of decorum, speaking with surprising elocution about gentlemanly acts she had seen me perform - for both sexes. Matt spoke next to discuss my vocal defence of privacy and other questions of moral character, both in class, and in private. He also made allusion to the fact that he had experienced multiple trysts with various partners himself, and found nothing out of the ordinary in this. Finally Irina took the floor to describe living with me, as someone of opposite sex, and the extent of my care to give her a safe private space within our mutual home while being an excellent friend and house-mate.

All-in-all, it was an excellent display portraying me with great virtue and as a person of great character. The press took eager notes, and I was sure that Abby's article was not destined to be relegated to obscurity. The professors remained impassive, but I think I may have caught a hint of a wink from Professor Lex at one point.

Before the Chancellor could respond when my character witnesses were done, I spoke up again. "Chancellor, as I am almost certain you are aware, jealousy and some desire for individual relevancy can often lead individuals to make untrue charges or to interpret out-of-context information wrongly. I do understand that, especially with two sources, whom you indicate came to you separately and without any evidence of coordination, causes a worrying impression, and you must of course follow up and deal with the charges. However, the burden of proof remains with the accusers, and I can guarantee that there is no-one who will truthfully accuse me of abuse, coercion, or impropriety. Any who have interacted with me will tell you that I act with decorum and grace, as well as respect, to anyone I meet, and will never intentionally cause harm.

"As I say, you should, of course, feel free to pursue the charge against me, to question myself or others further upon the matter so far as there is value in doing so. I also trust you to do so fairly, though I would recommend that you raise the matter with the Dean as well, both to keep him informed and to ask for his counsel. However, without further evidence or someone specific to add details to the charges against me, I believe we can consider the current status of the matter to be slanderous?"

The Chancellor was not happy - and I knew that she would continue to be a rival against me and to be looking to cause trouble going forward for me where possible. She did not like someone she considered so contrary to some of her core values in a position of power.

She grudgingly let me go, with the admonition that, yes, she would continue to investigate and if she could find any form of concrete proof of such moral depravity she would see me removed from office.