Tale of Four

Staring at his perfectly smooth hands, Isis fell silent, understanding the weight of the choice laid out before her. There was a small silence that left only the sound of the city outside to be heard. Her mouth danced, opening and closing as she weighed up the option, and peeking behind Augustus, she saw his Lessers, the men and women he bound in collars. It was horrid, even she couldn’t deny it, but she could also see that those people, no matter what form of slavery Augustus used to justify himself, were treated well, not a blemish on their skin, their smiles, real.

Licking her lips, she went to speak but was cut off by Seth’s quiet voice, "You treat them well, priest." Each word was said slowly, letting the last one drag, "But you are not the standard. Why don’t you show her how most master treat their Lessers?" Augustus slowly curled his fingers and pulled his hands back, placing them behind his back.

"My vision is the city’s," Augustus replied with a relaxed tone.

"No." Seth shook his head and smiled, "She does not know this city, which is why you make her make the choice, but me. I have seen everything this city offers." Getting up, Seth moved, standing just before Augustus, "I have seen a master skin a man, because said man was ungrateful. Do you know what he was ungrateful for? How did he justify peeling a man’s skin off?" Augustus’s lip twitched but didn’t turn into a frown. "He was skinned for being ungrateful about eating porridge laced with wood shavings. Tell me, in your belief, is that a fitting punishment?"

Augustus closed his eyes and took a deep, angry breath, "No."

"Then what about a woman who was raped by her master, and when she committed the sin of being ungrateful to his wife by getting pregnant, was it fitting that she received seventeen lashes? Was it fitting that she was forced to take Widows Brew to end that pregnancy afterwards? After all, a good master can’t have his child be the spawn of a Lesser now." Seth coldly said, not hiding his deep hatred. Augustus took another deep breath, his posture shaking ever so slightly.

"Of course not."

"Shall I say more?" Seth asked, leaving the priest silent for a moment. Augustus smiled thinly, a bitterly angry one.

"No." Looking deep into Seth’s eyes, he smiled without it reaching his eyes, "But is it fine for Cras and the other disgusting slave cities to openly commit these atrocities. I will bring order to them with our system." Looking to Isis, he carried on, "You have seen the crystal tower of Cras. There are those who abuse a just system, as your friend has said, but what about me? I know there are those who tarnish such a holy thing, but I am trying to correct this. Tell me, is this worse than what happens in Cras?"

Isis stayed silent for a moment. She wanted to cry out and say, of course, but thinking of the crystal tower, that dreadful humming, the man tied up in a bare white room, left to go insane and forget himself. The woman was forced to lie under the dripping water and be corrected until she gave the answer the person wanted. Her hand touched the journal, and she thought of everything that started with why she planted the tree.

Teja. A woman in hell, forced to live through that horror, who survived it and was cast back into it because of her arrogance, for a story. It was hateful that she even considered Augustus’s offer. It was a demon offering a flower path to hell if she accepted, but at least the path was flowery. Cras didn’t offer that. It didn’t even mask their damnation.

"Tell me?" Isis reached into her bag and opened the journal to the page about Teja. Handing it to Augustus, she stared him in the eyes and frowned. "You may offer a beautiful life for your possessions, but what about the rest of the city, of those who have a Lesser under them? Would every single master provide her the three things she said she wanted in that journal?"

Augustus looked at Isis for a second and read. Staring at the page, she couldn’t help but be filled with rage, seeing a single tear fall from his eye, the same type that he let out when he preached. His lip quivered when he went to speak, holding back what he wished to say. Moving back, the collard men and women cleared a path for him, and he sat down on the steps leading to the statue of his god, holding the journal in one hand as the other ran through his hair.

Watching him for a moment, she turned to his lessers, who in turn watched him with concern and nearly cried out, wondering how they could care so much about a man who collars them. "Don’t you see?" His voice was soft, lacking the usual tone of entitlement in it, "How can you say what I will give the world, give these victims, is bad? Look at what they have stripped from her. What I give can provide all those things, even if she wears the collar."

"Oh my gosh." Isis stood up in disbelief, scoffing as she did, "Your... your." Chuckling, she looked at Seth, seeing him stare with a cold gaze, not even able to laugh in disbelief, "You’re seriously considering that what you do is better. Maybe you, as a person, are. The same way some Lords in Veston treat their people better than others, but it is still wrong."

"It is divine order." Augustus angrily said, "I will not debate theology with you if you refuse to even consider my point of view. There is no point in such a fruitless endeavour."

"It doesn’t have to be this way." Isis said, hoping that something inside of Augustus could be shaken, that maybe he would see how he was wrong. But when he closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again, she saw that same burning fervour that left no room for cracks. Getting up, he walked before Isis once more and held the journal out to her. When she took it, he once again laid both palms flat out towards her.

"You have a choice to make still." Isis ground her teeth and looked away.

"Was what I said not enough?"

"No. You must say the words, and bear whatever fault comes after. I cannot hope to interpret your words and have decided wrongly. For then I would have stripped you of the choice." Opening and closing her mouth, she looked at Augustus. Even if she couldn’t find a crack in his armour, he could find it in her, "You hate me, or at least Danmor and its system, but in your worldview, there are two evils before you. Danmor and Cras. Whilst I do not, you may see similarities. So decided like this. Decide which evil is worse? If you had the chance to remove one, which one would you choose? Because Cras will vanish, it is just up to you to decide how quickly that happens."

"That is an unfair choice, becuase I do not have the power to destroy the Danmor’s system?"

"You are right. Allow me to rephrase it. Help me destroy Cras, and it will be a quick affair. Don’t help me, and I will destroy Cras anyway, but it may take longer." Augustus leaned forward, "If you accept my offer, Teja may be able to live as Teja and not a number. She may lose her chains or replace them with a collar, but she will have that choice now."

Isis stared at Augustus, "I don’t understand. How can I possibly help you destroy such a place? I am no one. You are the face of your religion. You already have everything you need."

"I do not. I can mobilise the truly devout, but I cannot mobilise a city. Those who use Cras to profit will not help me; in fact, they will condemn me and try to push me out of power." Augustus rested his hands over his stomach and smiled, "But as much as I hate to say it, this city is a show, a circus of sorts. People are swayed by emotion and what they believe is right rather than the truth that sits before them. All I need is a spark to start the fire that will rally people behind my cause to destroy Cras. Now, an escaped slave who fled the horrors of Cras to the safety of Danmor is a truly noble tale that will stir the hearts of the people and make them call for blood."

"I am no slave."

"You can be anything if you perform. The bounty is already in place. All my helpers and I need to do is tell a new truth. Destruction of property becomes a desperate move to escape. A criminal on the run becomes a young lady who desperately wishes for freedom, fleeing the chains she didn’t deserve." Augustus smiled, "Your journal is thick. I am sure there are many sad tales in there. Use them to become this sad tale and make the performance real."

Isis clenched her fists and turned to Seth, who stayed silent, signalling with his gaze that he would do whatever she decided. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and thought of the two places. Of Cras and Danmor. She thought about where she stood, the symbol that justified slavery with kind words, and its preacher who put himself in a collar for his god.

But thinking of Cras, she saw a chance. It was exchanging one evil for another, a worse evil in her opinion, but also one that did allow Teja a chance to be happy, even if it was fake. She thought of the tower and those inside stripped of who they were. Maybe they would be forced to enjoy the collars they wore, but in a twisted way, it was better than being unable to enjoy anything.

Then there was the second choice. To run and leave, try her luck. To leave her fate in the hands of those who would chase her. Clenching her fists, she imagined what it would be like to be one of those people in the tower. Forced to become a slave who couldn’t do anything but obey. Forced to work in a brothel, living only to serve and nothing more. A fate her mother had desperately worked to let her escape all those years ago. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

It terrified her more than anything. With rapid breaths, she opened her eyes to see Augustus holding his hands out a final time. The words got trapped in her throat, but, forcing them out, she lowered her head in shame, "I will work with you." Her voice was quiet but heard, and Augustus smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Correct choice." Pulling his hands away, he walked forward, saying nothing more, not needing to. Isis clenched her fists and ground her teeth, unable to look up at Seth, who came to her side.

’I’m a coward. Such a coward.’