𝖘𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖇𝖚𝖗𝖓𝖙 𝖎𝖓𝖇𝖔𝖝.

[abyssale]

WELCOME TO THE SALTBURNT NETWORK

USERNAME:
LEXI

text ❖ audio ❖ video

Comments

[peasant]

Ravka. Our people worship saints, though I can't say I've cared to put much stock in them.

They're all dead, too, if you were wondering. It's an unfortunate requirement for saints. They don't get to be worshiped until they've given their life for the same people who wished them dead in the first place.

[abyssale]

that's macabre.

why would you want someone dead who could do good for your world? shouldn't you want them to live longer?

[peasant]

Because the saints weren't saints when they were alive, Alexei. They were Grisha. What your world would call witches.
They loathed them for not suffering as the common folk did. They resented what they had.
People might hunger for miracles, but they'll always fear the power that makes them possible.

[abyssale]

( he should be more surprised, but he knows what human pride can do to humans. he didn't see it in his own time, but he was taught it well. )

when our sun and moon vanished from our skies, humans fell into chaos. everyone was out to protect themselves. thousands died in those first decades.

i know of the capacity for people to put their own fear and greed before the good of others.

it sounds as if your Grisha could do wonders for your world. for the people. and the people bite the hands that feed them.

[peasant]

It's not that simple.

There are Grisha who have let themselves be ruled by their own fear and greed. Whose ambitions they put before the safety of their own kind. Whose mistakes have cast a shadow over our country for centuries.

So have our kings. So have our people. So have Shu Han and Fjerda.
There will always be men who choose power over the good of the people, whether they're born Grisha or not.

[abyssale]

you're right. i don't disagree with that sentiment. such as my own usurpers. they'll say they've done it for the good of our people. but will they really have?

do you have no hope for your people?

[peasant]

I do. Ravka isn't beyond saving.

( for all that their country is a shambling corpse on its last legs, the answer is immediate, certain. whether she's the one capable of restoring it, brimming with new life, is another question entirely. )

I have to believe that there's a better future for all of us.
One where Grisha aren't prisoners chained to the whims of a hateful king.
Where Ravkan children aren't forced to put a rifle in their hands and march to their deaths.

[abyssale]

is that what happened to you? pressed into an army as a child?

[peasant]

( annoyingly perceptive. that's traditional of a prince, she supposes — never mind a prince aware of the machinations of his court, readying himself for the pecking of the vultures that had swiped his crown. alina still falters into a pause, discomforted by his easy observation. )

We're all drafted when we come of age. Even royal children are expected to serve.
I was a mapmaker, before I was anything else. Assistant cartographer, Royal Corps of Surveyors.

[abyssale]

you must be a talented artist.

i am still sorry to hear you have a government that doesn't take proper care of it's people.

you talked of a prince before. Nikolai, i believe? do you stand with him?

[peasant]

I was handier with a pencil than a rifle. I'm not sure you could call it a skill, so much as a necessity.

( self-deprecation alina starkov hours, as usual. )

Considering I helped him take the crown, I would say so.
Are you going to call me a usurper?

[abyssale]

would you draw me something some time? i'd like to see myself.

it's what you are.

i won't deny that dethroning kings can be necessary. it just wasn't necessary in my instance. ( is that bias? it can be hard to tell. but either way, he'll die believing it. )

[peasant]

And you're a prick, but you don't see me throwing around names, do you?

( but more's the point: )

I know why Nikolai wanted the crown.
Why do you want yours returned?

[abyssale]

i wasn't trying to insult you. just stating semantics.

the people who took my crown are dangerous. they'll start slowly. vampires have years. but they'll start restricting humans even more than they already are. same with witches. wolves. everyone. they don't want to lead. they want to be worshipped. i've already witnessed. a whole town subsumed into a field of human chattel.

and ultimately, i want my revenge.

[peasant]

That's not a good enough reason.
And it won't be good enough for the people suffering under their rule right now, either. I should know.

You shouldn't be fighting for a crown because they'll do worse.
You should be fighting for it because you'll do better.

[abyssale]

i will do better. i'll maintain what's been keeping Tenebrax functioning for over two millenia. it won't be perfect, but it'll be better than what the others plan.

they'll see the end of Tenebrax with their greed. i don't want that. i want what's best for the people.

[peasant]

And you're happy with that?
Passively maintaining your throne. Accomplishing nothing that will be remembered.

[abyssale]

( no one's ever asked him that. he's heard the pleas from Dani to do better, but he's insisted the system is the best. and believes that.

but is he happy with it?

fuck... )

it's not about my happiness. it's about what's best for the most people.

[peasant]

Not if what's best for most people leaves the others to rot.
Or do you believe Nikolai should let the fear of the people dictate all Grisha lives?

No, it isn't about your happiness. It's not the job of queens and kings to be happy.
But maybe you should start considering what you can and can't stand to live with.

Before you wake one day to find you're just like every other king who came before you, too cowardly to take a stand on the things that mattered to him.

[abyssale]

i appreciate your sentiment, Alina, i really do.

but i don't have the luxury of chasing idealism.

our world is dying. we have no sun. we have no moon. and someday, we'll have no world left.

i don't enjoy the system, i will grant that. but it's what has kept the most people possible alive for the longest time possible. it's not about witches or werewolves or vampires or humans and who is and isn't holding the power. it's about keeping everyone alive as long as possible.

this is my stand. if i have to be this, then i will be it for them.

[peasant]

It doesn't sound like you appreciate it.
It sounds like you're talking to a child.

You call it life. It doesn't feel that way to me. It feels like you're giving them an existence that isn't worth living. Restricted and miserable, just like Grisha.

Stop making yourself out to be a martyr, Alexei.
You're just another prince who failed the people who needed him to give them a voice.

[abyssale]

no, it sounds like a man who wishes he could hold the same sentiments and can't.

what would you have me do? return the sun to the sky? bring back the lakes and the rivers? restore long deceased crops?

it is existence. and the other option is death. we are not at war with people, we are war with our planet. it is restricted because it has to be. there are not enough supplies to go around and there is no way for us to make more. we cannot import from other lands. there are no other lands. there is only us and what we have.

not everyone gets what they want but at least everyone in my country has a proper shelter, food, and drink to wake the next day.

[peasant]

( it sucks the helium out of her anger, gradually deflating like a collapsing balloon. there is no sun summoner to light the skies, in his world. no tidemakers to stir the shores. no materialki to fertilize the ground, force seeds to crack open and take root. there's only the dying heartbeat of nature, a darkness more encompassing than the fold.

still, she hates the taste of defeat in the back of her throat. how useless it feels, to bleat out: )

It's not right.
Your world has magic. There has to be someone who could do something. Anything.

[abyssale]

( .... he understands her response. he feels it deep in himself. something he's never wanted to voice out loud. because it's easier to beat himself into submission if he doesn't waste energy on things he knows won't work... )

i wish.
maybe there will be one day.

i wouldn't be opposed to change if we had an answer. but i've been alive 200 years myself and not witnessed anything that gives me hope for change.

i really do want to just give everyone the best possible chance of survival.

[peasant]

Not even this place gives you hope?
You could take what you need with you, if we ever find our way out.