Both Otto and Lentke started to reply. Otto waved his hand at Lentke, who nodded and said, “Every child above the age of three in Magdeburg understands what the Swedish chancellor is attempting. He desires to roll back, make null, the many changes that Gustavus has made in the governance of the USE, or at least the ones that changed the social order and the religious tolerance—or should I say, lack of tolerance?”
The older man looked over to Otto, who picked up the thread. “He and his allies have some kind of hold on Prime Minister Wettin, what the up-timers would call leverage, and between that and Oxenstierna’s position as chancellor of Sweden, they look to control the government of the USE. I believe they have misread the tenor of the times, but I am deathly afraid that we will all pay for their mistakes before they go down.”
Schultze nodded. “Your judgment, Otto, is much the same as Fürst Ludwig’s. And his situation as administrator of the property formerly owned by the Archbishopric of Magdeburg is a bit complicated. On the one hand,” Schultze held out his left hand, “his authority comes from Gustav Adolph; he gave an oath to the king of Sweden before he became emperor, and therefore he might be considered to be under the chancellor’s authority as he acts as regent for Princess Kristina during her father’s incapacitation. On the other hand,” he held out his right hand, “he detests Oxenstierna, so he would dearly love to tell him to, ah, ‘take a flying leap,’ as one of the Grantvillers described it. Even for a Swede, the chancellor is overbearingly arrogant. On yet another hand…” Otto smiled as he saw his stepfather struggle for a moment over which hand to hold up again, only to drop them both back into his lap, “Wilhelm Wettin, the prime minister, is his nephew. And although he loves his nephew and would ordinarily support him just on that cause, he is very much concerned that Wettin has made some ill-advised decisions in recent months. So he has a great desire to be very cautious as to what he does.”
“I can see that,” murmured Otto, who nonetheless wished that the Fürst would be more direct. And his earlier feeling was proven correct—this was going to be a headache day. He propped his head on his hands, massaging his temples.
“So, he is delaying responding to demands from the chancellor and his nephew, while he sent me hurrying from Halle to meet with you here. I had planned to ask Otto to bring you here, Jacob,” Schultze focused his gaze on Lentke, “so the coincidence of finding you here at the moment simply speeds my errand. Jacob, I need you to reconvene the Schöffenstuhl.”
Otto burst out laughing as Lentke’s jaw dropped. A moment later Lentke pointed a long finger in Otto’s direction.
“You put him up to this, didn’t you? Confess it!”
Still laughing, Otto raised both hands to the level of his shoulders. He finally choked back the hilarity enough to speak.
“Before the throne of heaven and all its angels, Jacob, I did no such thing. I had no idea that Papa Christoff would even be here today.”
He turned to his confused stepfather.
“You see, I just told Jacob I need him to bring the Schöffenstuhl back into being in the service of the city of Magdeburg.”
Both of them started chuckling as Lentke directed a dark look first at one of them, then the other.
“Oh, leave off, Jacob,” Schultze finally said, waving his empty hand in the air. “There is no collusion here.”
“Well enough,” Lentke said, shifting his foot on its stool. “And if that be so, then what brings you here seeking the Schöffenstuhl?”
“What the Fürst would ask of the Schöffenstuhl is an opinion, a judgment, as to whether under USE law, custom, and practice, the chancellor of Sweden can serve as regent for Gustav’s heir for the USE in the absence of a specific appointment by Gustav.”
For the second time in less than an hour, Otto saw Lentke taken aback. He could see the objection in Lentke’s eyes, and spoke up before the older man could.
“Authority,” Otto said. The eyes of both the other men shifted to him. “As we discussed, Jacob; you already possess the moral authority, and I will give you the legal standing and authority.”
He could see the words really sink in this time. Lentke responded with a slow nod.
“Such a judgment could have great effect, you know,” Schultze observed in a quiet tone.
“And what if we were to rule in favor of the chancellor?” Lentke demanded.
Schultze shrugged. “Ludwig is willing to take that chance. And in truth, if you ruled that way, it would allow him to support family, which for a man of his lineage is always an important consideration.” He paused for a moment. “But I do not think that is the ruling he truly wants. As much as he finds many of the recent changes distasteful, Ludwig is fearful of what will result from Oxenstierna’s machinations.”