583 - What Did I Expect?

“As I said... I’m not intending to do anything about it right now...” I said to Entera’s white-all-the-way-around eyes.  “Other than talk to you.  You were not quite as murderous as the rest of the drunken thugs you were hanging about with...  May I ask you... was it just because I was stupid enough to be alone in a garden?”

He grabbed his crystal in both hands.  “I never laid a hand on you, second Fire come if I lie!”

“Yes.  I recall.  You guarded their flasks while they worked themselves up to murder.”  I was still lounging back, trying to show him only calm even though my heart was pounding hard enough I was wondering if he could hear it.  He’d moved forward to the edge of his seat, leaning forward with the sincerity of his affirmation.

“Because I didn’t want a part of it... probably you didn’t hear me say that, or didn’t understand it.”

“Indeed.  I did hear that, even in the heat of the moment.  And I understood it as well.  But you say you still associate with your old friends?  Are they all government clerks and so forth... will I have to politely associate with them to maintain cordial diplomatic relations?”  I put the tiniest edge into my voice.

Entera stood up.  “Imperator Elect, in case you mean to press charges, it’s incumbent on me not to say a word more.”

I sighed.  What did I expect?  An apology?  “Of course.  I do not intend to press charges...”  I felt very old.  Let the pup go…

“And yet you might change your mind.  I think it best if I keep a cordial distance from you from now on.  I will say one thing... I am glad you did not die.  I supported your bid to be elected Imperator.”  He seemed entirely sincere and there was a lightning flash of curiosity but it was only a flicker.

“I see.”  But for someone who was going to distance himself he wasn’t running away as fast as I thought he would.  “I suppose... I wanted to ask why... but how did you support my bid?”  How could he have?  Yeolis had nothing to do with the vote in Arko.  Was it just an ass kiss attempt to appease me?

“I favoured it.  I did not campaign; I was not in Arko, or Arkan.  If I’d had a vote, I would have voted for you and Kallijas.”  Yes.

“I’m glad to know that.  I... felt very strange about that night, to be sure.  You certainly wouldn’t have known that I could swim.” He sank back down into his chair, not sitting comfortably but not fleeing with his tail between his legs either.

“So... you weren’t quite as afraid of the water as... you were making out?”

“No.  I was actually hoping to gull the lot of you into throwing me in.”

“Point of order, I didn’t want you dead.  I thought it was wrong to be killing Arkans when the war had been over so long.  But you gulled everyone else entirely...”  He shook his head admiringly.  “Very well-played, Imperator Elect, especially in extremity.”  I had to smile at the compliment.

“Point taken.  My Yeoli friend was very glad I managed that... you may want to tell your friends that they are not murderers.” I rose to my feet.  That was probably the best I was going to get and I told myself it was good enough.

“I... well... if you abjure me to do that, I will.  Not that I see most of that group often any more.”  Of course.

“It would gratify me, but it is up to you, kere.  I’m certain things will continue both calm and cordial between our two countries.”  I wasn’t sure anymore of the impulse behind letting him know… was it because it would be cruel of me to leave them thinking they were murders?  Was it because I’d wanted to see him piss himself?  Both… and more but I wasn’t sure of the rest.  Was I so terribly disappointed that he wouldn’t apologize?  What had I expected, really? It said something of his character but he would be dealing with my minor bureaucrats, not me.

“I should say... and I’ve been very late in saying it, and thus remiss... I apologize for my part in what you suffered that night.”  I stopped and stared at him.  His hands made the offered grasp of air that the Yeoli apology gesture to Arkans had become, along with a bow.  Oh.

“If you wish to apologize properly, I give you my hands.”  I set my glass down and held out my hands to him and Entera took them, pressed his forehead to them and offered his apology a second time.  My mouth popped open and I said what I hadn’t thought I would ever say.

“I forgive you.”

He straightened and let me go, a very tentative smile on his face.  “Thank you, Imperator Elect, though I do not feel I deserve it.  Perhaps... we need not keep such a cordial distance as I was thinking... your choice, of course.”

“Well.  Why don’t you tell me what you and your friends lost in the war?  I expect that is one reason they were all so angry.”  Another odd impulse.  How much wine had I had?  I sat down once more and so did he.

“It is, of course, but it justified nothing.  Not three years after Chevenga sacked Arko.  You really want to know those things?  Tinga-e was sacked, we all lost someone or something... do you need more details?”

“Who did you lose personally?  My father didn’t care about such things.  I should, at least, put a human face on that atrocity, especially if I hope to make more Yeoli friends.”  I was considering this young ex-thug as a possible friend?  Was I terminally naïve?

He looked away, heaved a sigh.  “And yet it’s not your duty to make up for him... tell the truth, I don’t think about it much any more.  Life goes on... we all think that way.  I lost some family, lost some friends, lost my family’s house.  We aren’t warriors so we weren’t hit as badly as the warrior families, who lost people on the field.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.  Rest they in All Spirit, or Selestialis.”  It was all I could offer.

“Thank you, Imperator Elect.  I’m sorry for your losses, too.”  I raised my glass to him and he reciprocated, waiting to hear my toast.

“Here’s to peace and an end to brutality.” I found myself smiling at Entera.  An apology.  He had taken responsibility for the part he’d played.  That was what I wanted.

“Voted, Chalked and Quaffed!"

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Thanks to Karen for the role play... for playing Entera.