A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"I wouldn't know," Oliver said. "Though what you speak of sounds like the whims of progress. Stagnation is inevitable—"

"Aye, you have your way of seeing the world, lad, and I have mine. Mayhaps it's all going according to the whims of your progress, and that after all this time, it was the most natural thing in the worst that the chains have finally shattered, but I see the cause of it, and I point at that, beyond the laws of progress.

For a village to grow like this, and for all the people to have singular intention, for all the efforts to gather… They need something to gather around," Greeves said.

"Gather around? And what would that be? The market square?" Oliver said, half in jest.

"Aye, the market square is an important heart of the village. It's where a good portion of our strength lies. But I'd say, coin isn't enough, progress ain't enough. Even competence isn't enough. It needs an ideal to bind around. That statue of the man that took you in, and what he died for, that's done more for the village than any bit of coin has, I'd say," Greeves said.

"See, people kneel before that statue of Dominus, more even than they do the statue of Claudia," Greeves said. "He might as well have been a God to them, for what they saw. He was half-way between man, half-way between God, and he gave his life to save us all. He ought to have been doing great things, changing the fate of the whole country. But he died for a few hundred peasants.

Who would make that sort of decision? It ain't a man, but a God."

"You seem to have a point beyond what you're saying," Oliver said. The contradictory nature of Dominus' sacrifice had been mentioned between the two of them before, and was a common enough topic amongst those that knew what had happened, but Oliver didn't think Greeves was speaking with such excited fervour to discuss old news.

"You're such an impatient little shit," Greeves said. "Let me get to it. It ain't words but a feeling I'm trying to put into words. You're worrying about matching these Generals who're capable of doing these cruel things. You see that there's strength in it, and that it works… But what I'm saying is… Even though all that they did make sense, logic can't save a man, you know?"

Oliver squinted. "I'm pretty sure it can… If a man is hungry, give him some food. You'd be saving him, and that's logic."

"You pedantic little bastard. I'd throw you into one of these rubble piles if I had the strength to. You know that's not what I mean. You know the talk of saving that I'm talking about. There's bumblings that go on in a man's head, beyond thought. There's forces at work that we can't put into words.

You'd call one of those unexplainable things progress, or whatever, but I think they're all just unexplainable things. Even if we don't know what they are, the very fact that we can't explain them is what gives it strength, ain't it? The villagers can't explain exactly what was so special about what Dominus did. They can just point out the fact that it was strange.

And those religious people, they say that it's wrong to kill a man, and everyone agrees it's wrong to murder for a certainty, but they can't actually explain why."

"…And we soldiers kill," Oliver said. "It's murder just the same."

"Another bit of strangeness. We can't explain what the difference is, but people can sense it."

"You're saying the same is true for what Karstly and Blackwell did?" Oliver said.

"Aye… I'd do it myself, I think. But if all you and your men were sickened by it, and you were sure it was wrong, for reasons of strangeness you can't put into words, maybe you ought to trust in that," Greeves said. "'Cos the defending argument for it would just be cold logic. Cold logic doesn't reach further than what a man himself can put into words. And we ain't nothing, boy.

What we can put into words ain't nearly as profound as what we can't."

"Since when did you get so philosophical?" Oliver said. "You were the one telling me I ought to know my place when I protested against you before on this. You were saying that my childish morals were in the way, and I reckon you're right."

"And I stand by that," Greeves said. "You'd lose to those Generals, perhaps, clinging to those ideals of yours. Well, no doubt about it. They're in charge for a reason, they're able to make those choices for a reason… It is a weakness to limit yourself."

"So what is all that rubbish—"

"But I don't know if it has to be," Greeves said. "It's one thing to limit yourself… but another to find a different way. If you find a different way, capable of matching that way, then it would be stronger by default, 'cos you're not sacrificing your spirit to carry it out. It wouldn't just win on the battlefield, it would win in all other domains… perhaps… Hm. Fuck.

I don't know what I'm talking about now. Yer right, this is too philosophical for my liking. Where were we meant to meet with Nila again? I could have sworn we've been walking forever."

"We're checking the progress of the builders with her," Oliver reminded him. "Not that we really need to, I suppose."

"Oh, aye," Greeves said. "Yeah, aye. Keeping up appearances. So why are you following me around so much these days? You're at my heels like a dog. What are you doubting yourself, thinking that you could learn something from me?

I rarely ever see you with that sword out of your scabbard anymore."

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Oliver said. "Three's more to governing than I'd thought in the past. I thought I'd at least try my hand at it properly. It's another form of leadership. Maybe a governor is the General of civilian life. Could be that I could learn something here."

Greeves shrugged. "You can do what you want, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. There's not nearly as much going on as you'd reckon."