Sunday, July 13, 2008

On the Road

I pity myself, because a man is dead.
If Belmont County killed him, what of me?
His victims never loved him. Why should we?
And yet, nobody had to kill him either.
-- At the Executed Murderer's Grave, James Wright


Salbadore and Orthos had decided that we would take the possessions of the brigands, and let all free save the leader, who would go to justice in Corcoran. As we walked, I considered the fate of this man, who had killed another. Surely he would be killed, and my heart hung heavy at the thought, but those seemed to be the laws of this land, and I was bound to obey them. And I had not seen those laws to have eyes for mercy.

I walked alongside the two of them, composing my thoughts before I begged an indulgence. Honey would get me much farther with Salbadore than any diatribe on freedom.

"So what do you do when the law is...unjust?" We bandied for a bit about the laws of Elf and Man, as I instructed him in our ways, and he told me some of theirs. The laws were made by Nobles, and could not be changed by a mere mortal. He mentioned the overthrow of cruel or unjust nobles, but so casually as to assume all such things came naturally.

He did see the meaning in my words, though, and came to the true heart of the matter. "You know - though I am curious about elves, I sense that your real point lays in whether or not the brigands might have reason to break the law."

We bandied the point about for some time, disputing whether one could have reason to break the law, and how punishment would be metered for such breeches. I had expected, I admit, to find him adamant about the infallible righteous of the laws of Man, but even he had an eye for mercy. A surprise, to be sure. Perhaps His Shadow did not fall as long as it seemed, and light was able to pierce its darkness.

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