Aiana: SwordXPlanet Volume 1

Divine Right

After the speech, and a few other briefings by military and spiritual leaders, the crowd started to file out of the Ziggurat. On the stone steps to the temple, the five Paragons sat. After a few minutes, they were approached by none other than the grey-bearded prime minister, Aham-Nishi. "I have to give you my greatest of admirations. In my thirty-two years as a public servant, I have never seen a time of crisis as great as this. And I still find it unfathomable that a group of young adventurers such as yourselves would risk your lives for a conflict that has nothing to do with you."

Ro said nothing. But Oz spoke up. "The Queen is essential in our mission. We have a personal stake in her well being and that of her kingdom."

"Yeah," Tris agreed. "What he said."

Aham-Nishi smiled. "Heroes like you are not always easy to find." His face then turned serious, and even a bit mournful. "I know you are concerned with the moral ramifications of your future actions. But know that what when the queen's father and mother made the decision to unite our kingdoms, it was out of utter necessity, and hope for peace and prosperity for both sides. After all, since the dawn of humanity, it has been proven time and time again that men and women live more fruitful, peaceful, productive lives when they live together, rather than apart."

Ro's eyes suddenly widened. It was a sentiment she had heard before, but from the mouth of the wise, pragmatic prime minister, it started to make her very uncomfortable. Aham Nishi continued. "The Queen knows this very well, and has made it her mission to shatter old rivalries and bring new unities, rather than preserve the state of fragmentation humanity has been stubborn enough to remain in. Kingdoms are stronger when they are united under one firm government, and there's no reason that the logic shouldn't apply to all peoples.

That was it. Ro had to say something. "Are you saying that this is all just about the Queen having power?"

Aham-Nishi frowned, but then chuckled. "The Queen's birth introduced us to one of the wisest women history has known. Her reign has been short, but Giruga has become rich and prosperous under her rule. Her administration is fair and decisive and her presence is healing and uniting, and every man, woman, and child blessed to take part in her social contract blossoms like a palm flower. Her work as a public servant of the royal family is a gift, and how could we be so selfish in restricting that gift only to our own?"

Ro stood up. "And it's worth killing those who refuse your "gift?" Forcing people to accept your "paternal love?"

"Ro..." Gaira growled.

But Aham-Nishi shook his head. "There are men and women who would rather they retain their own stranglehold over their people than see them flourish. Such foes of progress give us no option but to use methods other than peaceful ones to assert the proper ways. The same logic applies to the gods. The difference between our divine rulers is made obvious by the states of their followers. Take our progressive, prosperous society, and compare it to the backwards ways of the Frontier before our arrival. The Frontiersmen are people bound to fall into religious zeal without external help. Living in a society where everything is decided by a central temple and its greedy, bigoted clergy, who frequently determine what their subjects can and cannot do even in their private lives. Alone, the people of the Frontier are subjugated in the name of their god. But under our far more benevolent pantheon, and their chosen queen, they and all their fellow subjects across the kingdom are made free. And that freedom, by aiding us in our conflict, is what you will be doing your part in preserving." Ro narrowed her eyes even further, locking eyes with the public servant. Aham-Nishi sighed. "The Queen and all of her advisors will be taking part in the battles ahead, so I will see you on the field." And with that last word, he turned and walked off to meet the press.

Ro sat down and sighed, hanging her head. "Ro... is everything okay?" asked Tess.

"I'm even less sure about this conflict now."

"Really?" asked Tris. "I hung around with royalty all the time a while back, and I thought that both the Queen and the old man made plenty of sense.

Ro was growing anxious now. "They're trying to justify the subjugation of another people by claiming that it's good for them, and with the consent of gods that not everyone follow! know I don't know much about the galaxy, but how can you be okay with this?"

The other four said nothing. Then, Oz spoke up. "I don't know much about the kingdom, but the gods that Queen Mesha listed are followed almost throughout the galaxy in some form or the other. We all view them differently, but their archetypes are more or less the same. For example, on Osgar we have a story about how the Lover, a beastman in our folklore, used his charms to woo our sun and prevent her from destroying us with a solar flare."

"Really," Tris grinned. "On Celtica we have the same story, except it involved the Warrior beating the sun into submission."

Ro was confused, although she had read about many of these stories in the books Talinn had brought her. "What's your point?"

This time, Tess spoke up. "Well, Ro, the Frontiersmen are the only people in the galaxy that don't worship Olympus, and instead have their own god that supposedly lives on their planet. Scholars have confirmed that the god they worship is real, since the sacrifices they make leave traces of kal leading to the center of the Frontier. However, the gods we follow symbolize virtue and the protection of all life, so the Frontiersmen are still sort of an abberation, especially when they Olympus in favor of their own deity."

Ro frowned more. "Can't you all just get along?"

Gaira smirked. "Don't we all wish that?" Ro didn't know what to say. She actually doubted that the four of them were very religious. Rather, they didn't care what the reasons were that they had to justify killing other men and women. For them, it was just another job. All of it, of course, conflicted with Ro's own personality, a character that someone like Gaira would consider naive.