“What?” There was so much to unpack in that statement. How had a slaver helped get Pratik in? She hadn’t thought there was a single universe in which Pratik would agree to work with a slaver. And how had a slaver convinced Tarr to trust Pratik? And why had Ash had a slaver working for him? And what had happened to him?
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I offered him a pardon if he smuggled Pratik in with some slaves," Gaius explained. "He'd been getting bold, testing my borders, so I decided to reward him. Upon his return to Serpent Keep to receive the pardon the slaves were freed and I personally liberated his head from his neck." Was that too graphic? Had her opinion of him dropped?
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky was silent for a long moment, trying to process that. She wasn't sure which part of it was harder to grasp. The fact that Pratik had consented to pretend to be a slave -- or that a slaver had been dumb enough to go before a Lord with a reputation for having no mercy for slavers -- or that Ash had lied and baited someone into coming to their death -- or that Ash had personally killed someone... else. How many people had he killed? Did he not mind it?
Zander hadn't seemed to mind it, either.
She couldn't comprehend.
"Oh."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius sat there awkwardly for a moment. "I apologize if I've upset you," he said finally. "You asked, and I answered in perhaps a bit too much detail." He should definitely have the head moved to one of the areas near his territory where there was a lot of slave trafficking. An apt warning rather than a morbid decoration for his own Keep.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"No, no, it's fine!" Ky said quickly, shaking herself. "I'm just -- do you really--?" She caught herself just before she asked if he honestly didn't mind living with other peoples' blood on his hands. "I'm very sure he deserved it. Slavers don't deserve mercy."
Even so, she couldn't comprehend not being upset by being responsible for someone's demise. No matter how much they deserved it. She wouldn't have ever had it in her to kill Aleth, even if she'd had the opportunity and even if she hadn't feared the repercussions.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Don't agree with me just to please," Gaius advised, unsure if she actually believed what she was saying. "You're allowed to be uncomfortable with that."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky was surprised by that. That he'd explicitly given her permission to have a differing opinion. It was still such a strange feeling. Especially coming from him.
"I mean... I don't know how to reconcile..." She blinked rapidly, brow furrowed, trying to figure out what she meant. "I mean, slavers are horrible, horrible people that do horrible things and deserve bad things to happen to them. But, I mean, well... they're still people."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius nodded slightly. "My wife says the same thing. Perhaps you're both right." He glanced toward the window. "Perhaps I'm a product of my childhood."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"I mean..." Ky bit her lip, trying to think of what she wanted to say. "I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. It's not like they're going to grow a conscience just because I think they should. And if someone doesn't stop them, then they'd just keep hurting innocent people, and, well, it's their own fault if they get hurt when they're actively trying to hurt other people for no reason. I just... do not have the courage nor the stomach for it."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Hm." Gaius wasn't quite sure about that logic. It certainly wasn't the whole reason he killed them. "What about redemption? Is there ever a chance?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"I think there has to be remorse for redemption to be a possibility."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Interesting case to be made there--can one be made to feel remorse for past wrongdoings when they've never felt it before?"
(Dang this is making me think of poor Sadogo in Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"I don't know," Ky admitted. "...I feel remorse for things that weren't ever my fault to begin with... but I suppose if someone was made to see that what they'd done was objectively wrong, then they'd have to at least feel somewhat bad about it?"
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(Fantastic book! Very, very cruel to its characters in horrible ways but not as meaningless as the violence and vulgarity of Game of Thrones. Far better written than that series as well, and set in a world inspired by ancient African folktales. I've really enjoyed it!)
"How do we make them see what they're doing is wrong?" Gaius asked.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(ooh, that sounds neat! I'll have to look it up ^^)
"That is something I don't know," Ky said thoughtfully. "Everyone thinks they're in the right, or they'd be doing something else. No one ever does anything they don't think is justifiable, regardless of the mental gymnastics it might take to get there... I don't know how to appeal to the conscience of men like that, when their inner humanity should already have let them know that they're being awful."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
