Another Perspective

The next day, I went back down to the jail to visit Rubia again. When I walked down the stairs, I immediately noticed her lounging against the wall of her cell. She acted cool, but she visibly relaxed when she saw it was me.

We stood eye to eye with just the bars between us for a little while. I wanted to project friendliness, but I kept a little distance away from the bars. I didn’t want her grabbing me.

Rubia broke the silence. “The devil I nearly killed.”

“The assassin who nearly killed me.” We stood there for another moment more. “How are you doing?”

“I am imprisoned in a false world made of magic. The only one who visits me is a devil who uses her filthy magic to torture my mind. I fear she may break my will, or at least my sanity, before I can escape and kill her. But other than that, I’m doing great. How are you?”

Well. At least she was talking. I told myself that that was a good sign. “I wanted to apologize,” I began carefully. “Liah is…well, let’s say not all mages are like her.”

“I am aware of the distinctions in domains of magic.”

“That’s not what I meant. I don’t really know why she’s so…like that, but it’s not just you. She’s always bullied me, too.” Rubia just stared at me. “So, while I know you don’t like her, maybe you and I can be friends?”

“Friends. With a devil.” She spoke flatly.

“Yeah, maybe ‘friends’ is a bit too much at this stage. What about, let’s see, respectful acquaintances?” She still gave me nothing. “Associates? …Not enemies?”

Rubia spoke in a matter-of-fact voice. “It is the duty of every Aijalon warrior to slay all rogue mages. Devils deserve no mercy, and certainly can have no ‘respectful acquaintances’ with humans.”

I took a deep breath. I had heard the “devil” insult from Shemman and Jepha before, but it sounded even more offensive coming from her. I said “Shemman managed it.”

“Do not lump me in with that traitor.” For the first time, Rubia showed real anger. “That worthless man! He abandoned a marriage to a woman who would love him and a union that would benefit our people for a shameless she-devil.” She rattled the bars. I instinctively took a step back. “And now, that she-devil stands before me, asking for respect? She thinks to come while my mind is weakened by magical attack and sink her corrupting claws into me as well?!” At this point, Rubia was yelling. “I would sooner die like a dog then be a ‘respectful acquaintance’ with the likes of you!”

I lost my temper. “I am trying to offer you a truce! What Liah is doing is messed up! I was trying to come to a compromise where she won’t feel the need to emotionally break you!”

Rubia’s face took on a smug look like she had just won the argument. “A human cannot compromise with a devil.”

“Fine! Have it your way.” I stormed out of the cell, breathing hard. That woman. Gah! Befriending Shemman had gone a million times easier than this. But I couldn’t just let this go. I had a feeling that if Liah really went all the way and totally broke Rubia, the results wouldn’t be pretty. Liah’s magic had to be the last result. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be any better than the Empire who oppressed us. No, I realized—if we were the kind of mages who used magic to mentally torture our prisoners, the Empire would justify oppressing us as the defense of ordinary people against cruel mages.

I shook my head. This was getting too philosophical for me. I needed to clear my mind. So I went looking for Shemman.

It didn’t take me long to find him. He was in the same corner of the Pocket I had spoken with him the previous day. I saw him at a distance. He had his shirt off and was chugging water from a waterskin like he had just finished an intense workout. He set his water down and said something I was too far away to hear. I began to raise my hand in greeting, but then caught sight of the person he was talking to. Liah stood next to the wall, chatting animatedly with Shemman. She wore a form-fitting top and a skirt so short Granny would have slapped me if I’d tried to wear it in public. I knew for a fact Liah didn’t especially like dressing up unless she had a goal in mind.

I saw her say something that they both laughed at. Even from this distance, I saw how she leaned in toward him

My first instinct was to butt in, but I stopped myself. I was supposed to be clearing my mind and thinking of a solution to the Rubia problem. A yelling match with Liah was not going to help. It was fine. Shemman had principles. He had rejected me because of them. So he wasn’t the kind of guy to fall for something like that. I hoped. So I deliberately spun on my heal and stalked off the opposite direction.

I ended up in the kitchen with Granny. She was hard at work preparing a large pot of soup for the night. “Granny, I bet you could get someone else to do the cooking,” I said as I entered the kitchen. “You should rest.”

“Humph. Maybe if I there were anyone in this community who could cook without burning down the Pocket, hmm?” She tossed in a sprig of a vegetable, stirred, then tasted it. She offered the ladle to me.

I sipped the soup. Rich, meaty, and surprisingly spicy. “I think Shemman will like it,” I said.

“Hmph. That boy is always talking about how Empire cooking doesn’t spice the food enough.”

“You’ve talked with Shemman?” I asked, surprised.

“Oh yes. The boy’s lent a hand with the cooking a few times since getting back. Sometimes I even forget he’s Aijalon. He’s one of the good ones.” She continued to stir. In a softer voice, she said “what’s on your mind, Rakel?”

“I’ve got a problem that I can’t seem to figure out. Plus, I’m not even sure it’s any of my business, but I think if I don’t get involved, I’ll end up regretting it.” I shrugged helplessly.

Still looking at the soup, Granny said “the weight of responsibility, hmm.”

“Yeah.” After a moment, I added “does it ever get easier?”

Still without looking, Granny said “it’s easy for the Empire. And it was easy for the worst of the Golden Monarchs, back when our civilization was rotting from within.” She must have heard my sounds of shock, because she chuckled. “Hoho, surprised to hear the mages of old were not perfect? Not everything the Empire told you about history is a lie, you know. Just most of it. No, responsibility only grows easier for tyrants, dearie. That struggle you’re feeling right now? That’s how you know you care.”

I slowly nodded, chewing on Granny’s words. We sat there in silence for several minutes as Granny continued to tend to the pot. Finally, Granny gave the pot one last stir and put the lid on. She turned to face me, her wrinkled face smiling in satisfaction. She gave me a little hug. “And as for your problem, dearie, I don’t have an answer for you. But as a bit of advice: when a problem seems unsolvable, sometimes the best thing to do is look at it from the opposite perspective.”

The opposite perspective…of course! “I get it now!”

She blinked, her face betraying shock. “That actually helped? Hoho, I can’t say I was expecting that.”

“Don’t underestimate your wisdom, Granny!” I gave her a hug and walked out of the kitchen. It made sense. I wasn’t going to get Rubia to mellow out in time. She was a trained assassin, raised from birth to hate mages. She would interpret anything I did to try to persuade her as a trick or a trap. Plus, she was going to be permanently emotionally on edge, thanks to Liah’s magic. No, I couldn’t fix things from Rubia’s end. But maybe I could work things out with Liah. The two of us were not friends; our conversations tended to end with me in anger or in tears. Well, I could control that. What if I tried to listen to have an honest, open conversation with Liah?