Rumor has it your war is intended to protect the Covenant, but the King insists it was you who was going to break it. Rumor also has it you and your brother said you were going to war for the betterment of Remalna."
"It's true, I assure you," I said. "I mean, about our going to war for the Covenant. The King intends to break it--we have proof of that. And we want to help the kingdom."
"Perhaps it is true." The mother gave me a serious look. "But you must consider our position. Too many of us remember what life was like on the coast during the Pirate Wars. No matter who holds a port, or a point, it is our lands, and houses, that get burned, our food taken for supplies, our youths killed. And sometimes not just the youths. We could have a better king, but not at the cost of our towns and farms being laid waste by contending armies."
These words, so quietly spoken, astounded me. I thought of my entire life, devoted to the future, in which I would fight for the freedom of just such people as these. Would it all be a waste?
"And if he does raise the taxes again? I know he has four times in the last ten years."
"Then we will manage somehow." The man shook his head. "And mayhap the day will come when war is necessary, but we want to put that day off as long as we can; for when it does come, it will not be so lightly recovered from. Can you see that?"
I thought of the fighting so far. Who had died while trying to rescue me? Those people would never see the sun set again.
"Yes. I do see it." I looked up and saw them both watching me anxiously.
The woman leaned forward and patted my hand. "As he says, we do not speak for everyone."
But the message was clear enough. And I could see the justice of it. For had I not taken these people's mare without a thought to the consequences? Just so could I envision an army trampling Ara's garden, their minds filled with thoughts of victory, their hearts certain they were in the right.
"Then how do we address the wrongs?" I asked, and was ashamed at the quiver in my voice.
"That I do not know," the man said. "I concern myself with what is mine, and I try to help my neighbors. The greater questions--justice, law, and the rights and obligations of power--those seem to be the domain of you nobles. You have the money, and the training, and the centuries of authority."
Unbidden, Shevraeth's voice returned to mind, that last conversation before the journey to Remalna, I sighed. "And at least three of the said aristocrats are busy looking for me. Maybe it's time I was on my way."
There was no mistaking the relief in their faces.
"It's true, I assure you," I said. "I mean, about our going to war for the Covenant. The King intends to break it--we have proof of that. And we want to help the kingdom."
"Perhaps it is true." The mother gave me a serious look. "But you must consider our position. Too many of us remember what life was like on the coast during the Pirate Wars. No matter who holds a port, or a point, it is our lands, and houses, that get burned, our food taken for supplies, our youths killed. And sometimes not just the youths. We could have a better king, but not at the cost of our towns and farms being laid waste by contending armies."
These words, so quietly spoken, astounded me. I thought of my entire life, devoted to the future, in which I would fight for the freedom of just such people as these. Would it all be a waste?
"And if he does raise the taxes again? I know he has four times in the last ten years."
"Then we will manage somehow." The man shook his head. "And mayhap the day will come when war is necessary, but we want to put that day off as long as we can; for when it does come, it will not be so lightly recovered from. Can you see that?"
I thought of the fighting so far. Who had died while trying to rescue me? Those people would never see the sun set again.
"Yes. I do see it." I looked up and saw them both watching me anxiously.
The woman leaned forward and patted my hand. "As he says, we do not speak for everyone."
But the message was clear enough. And I could see the justice of it. For had I not taken these people's mare without a thought to the consequences? Just so could I envision an army trampling Ara's garden, their minds filled with thoughts of victory, their hearts certain they were in the right.
"Then how do we address the wrongs?" I asked, and was ashamed at the quiver in my voice.
"That I do not know," the man said. "I concern myself with what is mine, and I try to help my neighbors. The greater questions--justice, law, and the rights and obligations of power--those seem to be the domain of you nobles. You have the money, and the training, and the centuries of authority."
Unbidden, Shevraeth's voice returned to mind, that last conversation before the journey to Remalna, I sighed. "And at least three of the said aristocrats are busy looking for me. Maybe it's time I was on my way."
There was no mistaking the relief in their faces.
( Sherwood Smith )
[ Crown Duel ]
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