Catherine's POV
"By rotation," Catherine said. "No single authority. That's the point."
She let that sit.
"And dissent?" another aide asked. "How is it defined?"
Catherine smiled faintly. "Formally logged opposition to enacted policy. Not speculation. Not a rumor."
"And what isn't included?" the aide pressed.
Catherine's gaze sharpened slightly. "Unstructured emotional appeals. Moral hypotheticals. Anything that bypasses the process."
Boundaries mattered.
Dissent that could be catalogued strengthened legitimacy. Dissent that spilled freely destabilized it.
"We'll include Beatrice," an aide said, watching her closely. "That will be noticed."
"Yes," Catherine agreed. "She must be included."
"But bounded."
The aide hesitated. "Optics…"
"are not the same as displacement," Catherine interrupted calmly. "Being challenged strengthens credibility. Being displaced fractures it."
She leaned forward slightly. "Opposition must be visible. But it must also be legible."
