Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 273

Chapter 273: Three Days on the Night’s Reach

A series of more detailed and esoteric etiquette lessons followed from dusk all the way until dawn.  Everything from where one’s eyes were expected to point to in which order one was expected to greet and shake hands with to which utensils to use during each portion of a formal dinner.  Although Lysette paid attention throughout the twelve-hour lecture, one constant thought continued to force its way to the forefront of her mind.

This was all a colossal waste of time and energy.  Not for her specifically— this was all information she needed to properly ingratiate herself among the powerbrokers of Ereillan society.  But for what purpose all these thousands of subtle rules and customs served, Lysette couldn’t tell.  It seemed that they served little purpose beyond tripping up anyone and everyone who didn’t have dozens of hours to commit to memory all the subtle rules.  Her own divinity forbid that those rules periodically changed.  Which, considering how much Dennell struggled with his explanations on the most detailed rules, they probably did.

Some of the rules, of course, were sensible.  A few of them were even rather heartwarming.  Lysette, as a woman, would be allowed and perhaps even expected to wear a dress to a formal dinner despite piloting Karchek’s very male body to such events.  It would look a bit out of place, but for Mirae and others whose perception of themselves didn’t match their appearances, it was much more welcoming than Lysette would have expected.  And it was expected that people would accept the choice of attire, assuming it was suitably formal for the occasion, without comment.

On the other hand, Lysette could not fathom who came up with all the rules involving which utensils were supposed to be used in which order, and how that happened short of a drunken bar bet.  Working from largest to smallest utensil of a type?  Or from outside of the seat inward as further courses were consumed?  Both of those would make sense.

But someone had gotten the asinine idea of working from the outside in, except if the total number of utensils remaining was a prime number.  In that case, you were expected to use the innermost fork, but the outermost spoon.  And that rule was to be disregarded on the first and last days of a month, in which case that rule was reversed— innermost spoon, outermost fork.

Dennell spoke with sincerity and gravity as he explained each rule.  Lysette would have surely believed his every word had the content of his words not been so patently absurd.  As it was, she still felt she was being danced around as part of some scheme to humiliate her, maybe one in retribution for the alleged humiliation she had inflicted unknowingly upon her.  Best to accept his counsel but then take extra precautions to ensure that she was abiding by the same practices as everyone else.

At dawn, roughly one full day after their departure, Dennell dismissed Lysette from her lessons and retired to his quarters.  Lysette followed a few minutes later, only to be stopped by an unfamiliar man.  Unlike most of the sailors on the Night’s Reach, this man was youthful in appearance, clean shaven, dressed in a full, well-decorated matte-black uniform, and had more than a modest amount of Essence bonded to him.

“Lady Lysette?” he half-asked, half-stated, offering his hand.

“Yes, Mister…” Lysette shook the offered hand.

“Commander Valencia, Your Ladyship.  Executive Officer on board the Night’s Reach.  I hope you have found the accommodations to your…  Well, acceptable, given the lack of time we had to properly prepare for such an esteemed guest.”

“It’s no worry.  I’ve found myself in far less pleasant situations before.  I take it you’re the one in charge of running the ship?  Or is that Dennell?”

“No, Your Ladyship.  His Excellency is a senior acolyte from the Temple of Zarielle, and has no military ranking.  I serve as Captain Jamison’s right-hand man as the second-in-command on board our ship.  Might I have the honor of having you join me for a few moments?”

Lysette nodded, following the executive officer as he led her into one of the largest rooms on the top-most level of the three-story ship.  There was a wooden table in the room, and upon it was seating for four.  Commander Valencia motioned for Lysette to the seat nearest the door, and he took the seat opposite her.

As the two sat, a bowl of some oily fish soup was ladled onto each of their plates by two sailors who were quite good at lurking in the shadows at the edge of the room.  Lysette took a bite.  Not amazing, but a far cry better than the overly salted fare served among the rank-and-file sailors.  Lysette ate slowly while Commander Valencia scarfed his food down at a frenetic rate.

“Please forgive my rudeness, Your Ladyship,” he said after finishing most of his bowl. “Is it true that you’ve had the honor to speak with Her Divinity directly?”

“Zarielle?  Yes, I’ve–”

“I must implore Your Ladyship pause.  It is considered a breach of etiquette to refer to Her Divinity so informally.  Surely your lessons with His Excellency would have gone over that much.”

 “It was my understanding from his lecture that that principle only held so long as I am not personally acquainted with her.”

“You’ve spoken with Her Divinity directly?  What a high honor!  I understand now why this mission was orchestrated so

“I’ve spoken with her several times.  I suppose one could say I used to work for her.  As an assassin of sorts.”  Lysette laughed.  “Simpler times.”

“I must apologize, but I fail to see the humor in it.”

“Godslayer.  An assassin of deities.  That’s what I was to her.  Maybe still am.  It’s… complicated.”

“And it’s not my place to inquire into matters that do not concern me.  I appreciate your humoring my curiosity.”

“Should we be expecting more arrivals?” Lysette asked, gesturing to the empty two seating arrangements.

“If it befits them, then yes.  There are only about twenty officers among a crew of nearly two hundred.  We work at all hours, rotating to ensure a continuity of command in the event of attack or emergency.  As such, we all have differing schedules and eat at different times.  All for the sake of ensuring a smooth transition as different officers assume responsibility at different times of the day and night.”

“That makes sense.  If I might ask a question, why did you decide to join this voyage?  Or become a sailor, board the Night’s Reach?  Or whatever choice it was you made, that ultimately led to you being here on this boat, with me here right now.”

“A lot of orders, of course.  That’s the military way.  We do as instructed by our higher-ups for the greater good of the mission.  But I suppose you’re asking about the last choice I made.  So, what led me to joining the navy?”

Lysette nodded.  “I want to know more about Ereill and its people and culture.”

“As you will, Your Ladyship.  Most children are tested for their Cultivation potential shortly after their thirteenth birthday.  I was tested and discovered to have a strong potential, as well as a natural affinity for Water manipulation.  It was expected of me that I would join Her Divinity’s Navy when I came of age at seventeen.  And so I did, believing it to be in the best interests for myself, my family, and my country.”

“Did you consider any other paths?”

“Not in great detail.  My parents are both from very, very minor noble families.  So minor that we only have our family name to speak of.  No estate, no land, no hereditary wealth, and nothing that would allow us to live nobly, so to speak.  Though having a title, even if just on paper, does entitle a family to own land should they be able to purchase it from another, or be granted it by the kingdom.”

“How did you all make do?”

“My parents together led the guard for a small fishing town near the western coast.  We were never well-off, but we didn’t go hungry, nor did we ever have to go without a blanket on our beds or a roof over our head.”

“Are they Cultivators?”

“Neither of them were prodigious Cultivators, although both had a modest talent for the art.  Enough to handle common riffraff and wild animals, though not nearly enough for handling Cultivation beasts or Cultivators who have gone errant.

“By the grace of Her Divinity, I managed to inherit the sum of their talents and was able to secure a place for myself here.  I am content with that role.  I am taken care of by our crew and my fellow officers.  I will be in a place to elevate us to proper nobility when I finish my term of service and one day settle down and start my own family with an officer’s pension.”

“It seems like it’s not so different back where I grew up.  Although it sounds like Ereill does more to measure the talent of its Cultivators than they did back in Domaria.”

Commander Valencia raised an eyebrow.  “Ah, you’re from Domaria?”

“I am.”

“This is just speculation, but Domaria is considerably more populous than Ereill.  Perhaps they have less need to identify their Cultivators than we do?”

After a few seconds of reflection, Lysette agreed with the assessment.  To an extent, in any case.  Two hundred years ago, Solanna had convinced Saffron to open the doors of the Domark Cultivation Academy, in part, to ensure a steady flow of Cultivators for the war machine.  To some extent, it had been successful.

There were plenty among the commoners with talent enough to see benefit from intensive instruction into the art.  And plenty more who the Academy simply didn’t have the resources to accommodate, even without government officials going out to actively seek Cultivation talent from the masses.  But…

“I hope it isn’t too far out of line, but I would like your opinion on something.”

“Speak it, Your Ladyship.  I shall be as honest as I can.”

“What do you think would happen if everyone could Cultivate?  I don’t mean that everyone would be trained for war, or even that most people would have much more than a bit more strength and stamina.  But if we had more Earth and Water Cultivators, we could make our soil that much richer and more conducive to agriculture.  We would have less to fear from the beasts outside our borders, and be able to spend less time attending to our basic needs and more time improving ourselves and our society further.”

“That is a dangerous line of reasoning you go down, Your Ladyship.  If everyone could Cultivate, then everyone would seek to do the work of Cultivators, and the less glamorous jobs would go undone.  It is no different than if everyone onboard this ship sought to do the work of officers.  We need farmers and merchants and administrators and tanners and couriers just as much as we need warriors.”

“I agree.  But I think the way we see Cultivation, as a means to a martial end, is too limiting.  I think every one of those jobs could be done by Cultivators just the same.”

“Your Ladyship, do remember that we have thousands of years of tradition and culture that all state that Cultivators exist to be our nation’s warriors and defenders and connection to Her Divinity.  It will create conflict untold if we tell someone with great talent that he must live his life as a simple farmer because we have enough warriors.

“He will not accept that role, and who could blame him?  He would be chosen by Her Divinity for great deeds.  To be forced to live as a common peddler would be disgraceful.  He would lash out, in doing so creating strife and discord and loss of life.  Better to leave things as they are and accept Her Divinity’s wisdom.

“Who would we be as mortals to question Her designs for us?  Even if I accept what you will say next, that Her Divinity is not infallible, certainly she is less fallible than I am.”

“I see.”  Lysette sighed.  “I apologize for taking too much of your time, Commander.  May the grace of Zarielle be upon you.”  She chose one of the more formal greetings she had been taught from Dennell’s lengthy lectures.

“And may Her Divinity smile upon you as well, Your Ladyship.”

Chapter 272: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116056213

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101896170

Chapter 274: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116230966