governorkang: (Sulking / Mopey)
Lord-Governor Kang ([personal profile] governorkang) wrote in [community profile] trans_9 2010-02-06 10:45 pm (UTC)

“You can’t keep them cooped up in those sacks for the rest of their lives. You have to let them out to learn about the world, the good and the bad.”

“We tried that,” Kang said harshly. “They hurt themselves. One wandered off. No.” He was emphatic. “They are too precious to us to risk.”

“You sound just like my father.” Sister Marsel smiled and sighed. “He said the very same thing about me. Do you know what he did, Commander? He sent me to live with the Sisters of Paladine. He sent me here, to this temple, where I would be safe and protected from the world. Am I safe, Commander?” she demanded. “Am I protected?”

Kang cleared his throat, embarrassed.

“The world finds us, Commander,” said Sister Marsel quietly. “We can’t hide from it, not even in the cellar of a temple. We have to know how to face it."


He should have listened to Marsel then. But, he hadn't.

“They are not children,” Huzzad snapped. “They are adults. And if you don’t accept that and start treating them like adults, you’re going to lose them. You have a soul, Kang. Your own soul. You have rights, duties, responsibilities. You have the right to be wrong, to make mistakes. I have the same. And so do these females. Each one has her own soul. Each has her own destiny. Each has the right to achieve her own destiny. You can’t take away that right. They look to you for guidance, Kang, for leadership and counsel. But they won’t for long. Eventually, they’ll start to hate you."

Again, he should have listened. The females had wanted to help against the goblins, but he hadn't let them. They'd started learning sword drill on their own, and Huzzad had let that fact slip. Despite her words, he'd forbidden them further sword drill practice. They were far too important.

He'd nearly lost them all, though. A handful of goblins had snuck into the fort during the chaos, and had gotten into the females' quarters. The other male bozaks had taught the capable ones how to use their magic safely without telling him; combined with what little sword skill they had managed to achieve before Kang had stopped them, they'd defended themselves, killing the goblins. Two of the girls had died.

The bozak had realized his mistakes after that. He'd apologized to the girls, asked for them to forgive him.

"It's too late for that. If you hadn't coddled us, kept us from learning how to defend ourselves, Shanra and Kasi wouldn't have died."

"It's your fault."


It was his fault. And he didn't know if he'd ever find a way to earn their forgiveness.

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting