In Pieces

Chapter 5: I met the Regent, and he's an asshole.

While Aidan was waiting, he came up with an excellent way to explain his ignorance to Corus.

"You remember, I have this head injury. So... recently my memory has been a little fuzzy. Can you help me fill in some blanks?" he said to the man, putting on the most helpless expression he could master.

Corus nodded, his face blank.

Aidan wanted to be direct and start with the most important questions on his mind like "Am I by any chance a cannibal?" or "Do I frequently impale people for fun?" and "What's the deal with slavery here?". But he had to limit himself with questions that wouldn't sound too strange and too out of character. Even though, he still wasn't very sure what kind of character he was exactly.

After a moment of thought, he asked carefully:

"Do I have any prisoners here I might have forgotten about?"

Corus shook his head immediately:

"No, General, dungeons have been empty for a long time."

Well, that was a relief. At least at this moment he wasn't breaking any international conventions against unlawful imprisonment. Next Aidan wanted to know, just how much was Adnan mishandling his staff.

"Remind me, what am I paying my servants?"

Corus widened his eyes for a second but immediately took control over his facial expression, returning to his default setting of gloomy indifference.

"They get food and shelter," he said with a shrug.

That sounded like exploitation, so Aidan couldn't help but ask:

"Whats the difference between servants and slaves then?"

This time Corus didn't manage to hide his shock. He looked at Aidan as if he was mentally deficient.

"Obviously, slaves can be sold and exchanged for goods, General. At least they could, until the Regent banned the practice, announced that all slaves are the property of the Empire and ordered Generals and nobles to hand over everyone who was in their property. You remember that, General?"

"Yes, of course. This I remember," Aidan lied and decided not to push the topic. Maybe some day he'll be able to piece these things together.

He still had an important question to ask but it was hard to phrase properly and somehow Aidan felt awkward addressing it. He hesitated for a bit and sighed. Whichever way he phrased it, it would sound wrong, so Aidan decided to just be blunt about it. He looked Corus directly in the eye and finally said:

"I'm not sure, if I asked you this before but how did you become a slave?"

"I was born a slave, General," said Corus. Now he looked even more confused.

"You mean, your parents were slaves?" asked Aidan.

"No, I mean, I was born different – weak and not able to fight, so naturally I became a slave," Corus now sounded slightly angry.

"Naturally," Aidan repeated slowly. So the status of slaves was somehow predetermined by physical attributes? How primal. No wonder this guy was so gloomy all the time. Aidan would also be gloomy, if he was forced to be a slave just because of some arbitrary characteristics which he had no control over.

"General, how bad is you head injury?" said Corus carefully. "Do you also have blurry vision? Have you been feeling sick lately? Did you maybe get injured again during the fight in the fort?"

Aidan nodded.

"Yes, all of that. I've been having problems with my head for a while now, so don't mind me, if I seem weird," he bit his lip and then asked: "I don't quite remember the details of why you are still here despite the Regent's orders..."