Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 272

Chapter 272: Matters of Hospitality

Lysette roused her avatar from its torpor atop the wooden panel that pretended it was a bed, though as she stretched and readied herself for the night ahead, a sudden bout of turbulence swept her off her feet.  If not for sprouting her wings in midair and using a bit of her power to keep herself aloft, she would have certainly tumbled face-first onto the rickety floor.  Instead, she floated back to her feet and did a few more midair stretches before she took leave of her cabin and made her way down to the galley.

The food tasted every bit as disgusting as it smelled, and the company was somehow even worse.  Insults were hurled as cavalierly as any other smalltalk as Lysette did her best to lay low and force hardtack and super-salted tuna down her throat.  If not for a desire to spend time in the sailors’ company and better understand the whole of humanity, she would have certainly headed straight to the deck to await her handler’s arrival.

“Hey, you!” one of the sailors said.  He was bald and missing at least two teeth with his rancid smile.  He was big and bulky and his sneer suggested he’d been on the high seas for more than just a few months.  “New meat on board?”

Lysette shrugged.  “Yes, this is my first time on board the Night’s Reach.  Still getting used to it.”

“Well, you best be getting used to things around here quick!  Wouldn’t want you to have an accident and end up overboard!”  The man laughed.

“Thank you,” Lysette said.  She forced a piece of hardtack down her throat, coating the insides of her mouth with ice water to help soften it.  “I’ll keep your warning in mind.”

“Hey, Mister!”  He snarled.  “I don’t like that tone!  I suggest you give a proper apology before we have a problem!”

“Hey–  Coal!” another of the sailors said.  “You need to stop antagonizing him– I mean her.”

“Her?”  Coal bellowed.  “You’re saying that that guy is a wench?  And I’m a drunken ass!”

Lysette chuckled.  “Yes, you certainly are.”

“What does that mean, Bones?” Coal asked.

Lysette looked around.  Nobody answered.

Coal pulled Lysette by the front of her shirt.  “I was talking to your sorry ass!  Nothing but scrawny sticks and bones on you and not a shred of muscle in sight!”

Lysette got a flashback to her time at Ft. James.  At having to demonstrate to those ruffians— and she could think of no better word for the ragged soldiers basking in their squalor— exactly what she was capable of.  She considered doing the same to this Coal fellow as well.  It would have been so easy to do so.  So many ways to go about it; a dozen she thought of in under a second.  And so, so satisfying too.

Dennell had already informed the crew that anyone who antagonized her was subject to her mercy or lack thereof, and Zarielle wasn’t going to be bothered by such actions.  Not after she’d already ordered Lysette to kill plenty of others as well.  But one thing kept her from acting on her basest desires.

She did want to try to be better than she had been before.  But a single truth remained: whatever choice she made, she’d do as she willed without consequence, and Coal would have to suffer whatever consequences she willed without choice.  Such was the inevitable outcome of a world and a society where physical power was so stratified.

Lysette couldn’t change that much.  Not now, at least.  But she could change her own reaction.  So when Coal threw a punch at her face, she didn’t move.  Didn’t flinch, didn’t counterattack, and didn’t so much as move a muscle as his fist oh so slowly traipsed through the air and landed on her cheek.  The attack— if Lysette wished to be generous and call it that— neatly crumpled upon her avatar’s body and sent her assailant crumpling and wailing in pain.

“Goddess’s Robes!  What kind of Infernal-damned shit are you made of?  Some diamond construct from the temple?  You flea-ridden son of a b–”

“Shut your face!” a man from a table over said.  “That one’s a special guest of Her Divinity!  Are you trying to get the whole of us thrown overboard!  I know you’ve got a lump of coal and shit where your brain is supposed to be, but can you try to think for two seconds before you start causing trouble for all of us!”

A third man joined in the yelling.  “You should be thanking Her Divinity personally that her guest didn’t run you through for that little spat!  Now grovel and beg for her forgiveness!  Git!”

Lysette raised a single hand.  “There’s no need for such displays on my account.  However, I would caution you.  There are plenty of extremely powerful people out there, and not all of them are going to forgive such insolence.  Deities walk among us all, so it would do well to avoid unnecessary conflicts with unknown individuals.  Unless you know exactly what you are doing and are prepared to make extremely powerful enemies, that is.”

“Ah, there you are!” Dennell said.  “Lady Lysette, I must implore you to come with me at once.”

Before Lysette could respond, Zarielle’s ambassador was already slinking through the crowd of sailors, dissolving bits of himself underneath the dim cabins as needed.  He grabbed Lysette and then marched her back through the crowd even quicker than that, all but yanking her arm all the way through the galley and back up to the deck.  And his face contorted with equal parts anger and disdain as he started yelling.

“Just what kind of game are you trying to pull here, Miss Lyse?  Your little stunt is going to cause no shortage of problems among the crew.  Morale and discipline are going to be an absolute shitshow for weeks after this.  I might not be able to reprimand you directly, but I promise you, Her Divinity is going to hear about this!”

“You’re yelling at me because I joined the soldiers for a meal?  Or because someone decided to accost me and I chose to handle the kerfuffle in the manner I saw fit?  Was that not what you had specifically told the crew?  That if someone did something to antagonize me, that justice was mine to dispense as I saw fit?  And I–”

“And this is the problem with your earlier request, Your Ladyship.  I cannot speak to what sort of culture you are trying to foment in your town, but here on the high seas, there are protocols and customs that each of us needs to abide by.  Your failure to do so is going to cause breaks in order and discipline and no small amount of problems for the officers on duty tonight.”

“All because I decided to eat with the crew?  Or at least try to.”

“Yes, Your Ladyship!  That is a big problem.  The crew and the officer corps eat in separate parts of the ship and at different times for a reason.  And that is to ensure that each and every crewmate knows who the crew is and who the officers are.  When officers give orders, crew members are expected to obey, without question.”

“Even if–”

“No.  Officers have responsibilities as well.  In exchange for authority and better conditions on the ship, they are expected to utilize their training, expertise, and ability to make decisions for the good of everyone involved.  The individual deckhands each do their tasks without needing to trouble themselves with tasks outside their station.  Officers assume responsibility for making sure each task is done correctly.  And leadership at the highest level of the navy is responsible for choosing officers, and either promoting or disciplining them as needed.

“But when you get fancy ideas about intermingling with the crew and piercing that separation, you threaten the discipline that is necessary to keep a ship running smoothly.  If all our deckhands stop following orders and start acting on their own initiative, then who is going to do all the unpleasant jobs that no one wants to do?  If I leave my responsibility to the next guy and he leaves it to the next guy, then you’re going to end up with everyone passing the responsibility and nothing getting done.  And here on a ship where we’ve got no one to rely upon but ourselves, not patching the ship could mean we’re all doomed to a one-way trip to the sea floor!”

“I understand,” Lysette said.

“I don’t think you do.  Not fully.”  Dennell paused for a moment, and after a sigh, all the anger from before vanished.  “I see in your eyes that you think this is unfair.  Maybe it is.  I won’t try to speak on your culture, either the one you were born into or the one you are building in your own land.  But our culture in Ereill is rooted in the principles of peace and order through accepting oneself and one’s role.”

“I’m a bit surprised.  I have heard Zarielle be described as a protector goddess.  But I’ve only ever seen or experienced her wrathful side.”  Lysette turned around, facing the darkness of the eastern horizon.  “I’m not saying I disbelieve you.  Just that I never got to see that side of her.  Or any other Celestial deities for that matter.  All I’ve ever known about the Celestials is fighting and killing.”

“Then I should tell you a bit about Ereill’s government.  Unlike where you grew up in Domaria, Ereill is not ruled by a single individual.  Instead, ruling authority is shared among three people.  The first of these is His Eminence, the Grand Abbott and leader of Zarielle’s flock, Skarillel, who serves on behalf of the temple and clergy.  The second is Her Majesty, Zephira, who advises and represents the interests of the nobility in matters of state.  And finally, His Excellency, Martinek, who is appointed by the merchant and commoner classes.”

“And how does that work?”

“We learned long ago that relying on a single person with unitary authority was a recipe for disaster.  No single individual, no matter how skilled or knowledgeable, could ever hope to understand the needs of every person within the land.  By sharing those perspectives together, however, we are able to make more informed decisions in the best interests of the population at large.”

“Is that how it works in practice?  Or is that merely how the system’s creator’s envisioned it working?”

“I do not understand the question, Your Ladyship.”

“If Ereill’s government and people believe that three people rule more fairly than one, then why not a council of five or seven?  Wealthy merchants and common farmhands cannot be expected to share interests.  And I know well enough that nobility loves scheming among themselves for greater power and influence.  The Celestials themselves do; should we assume we are better than they?”

“Three has long been sufficient.  It is the way of our culture.  And while you are our guest, I would advise you not to dabble in internal matters.  It would be uncouth if there were a diplomatic incident between potential allies just because of a misunderstanding.”

Lysette nodded.  “It certainly would.”

The hypocrisy of Ereill’s alleged ‘enlightened rule of three’ all stung, but again, Lysette and Ciricu could hardly be any better.  Whether it was her alone, or her with Mirae and Serrena, or now the three of them with Aurie and Serrena, it didn’t change one truth.  Customs, traditions, and governments meant nothing in the face of physical power.  And as long as physical power was distributed in such a lopsided manner, any such checks and balances meant only what those with that power allowed them.  Something Lysette wanted to change but was increasingly uncertain as to how to do so.

She’d come hoping to find more answers.  But now, it seemed as though she was only going to find that many more questions instead.

“Very good.  Now then, we have much more to cover before our arrival.  Etiquette lessons, attire, manners, proper decorum for stately events.  How to dress, whom to address and when and how.  So many many things to do to ensure that you don’t cause an uproar during your visit.  I may not have nearly as many years as I would like to properly mold you, but I will do all that I can with the time that I have.  Now then, let us begin!”

Chapter 271: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115989271

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

Chapter 273: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116230965