Chapter 162: Ethical dilemmas

“If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”

Abraham Lincoln

Eventually after much argument over costs, prices and quantities Captain Kashif and Aleera with the support of our advisors had reached an agreement and we were travelling back to his boat with wagons full of salt following behind us. A small box of pearls had been traded for the goods that he had left behind in our throne room while the rest of his goods and slaves would be traded for the remaining salt , food and pearls we carried toward where he was docked at the bottom of the cliff. While I had been present for the majority of the negotiations I had surprisingly managed to keep my mouth shut for the majority of the time that Captain Kashif was present. No need to give anyone any more intelligence or wild stories to retell who knew where else.

The four former slaves had accompanied us as well to help smooth the transaction and transfer of people from one profession to another. Even the Bishop had accompanied us to help it all go as efficiently as possible. As we had travelled I had discussed the ethical dilemma with Aleera. Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it. But at the same time the majority were not without a point in the case of murder and less savoury crimes. We could not honestly judge who deserved incarceration and were incapable of imprisoning them even if we knew. There were no prisons on our island and while the light fingered individuals were already well known they hardly ever took more than a coin here or there. There was little point to theft on an isle where you could not escape your accusers and everyone knew everyone. I was not naïve enough to believe it did not exist at all but it was not a noticeable problem. Then again who would be idiotic enough to attempt stealing something from my grandfather anyway. He would probably welcome the attempt but deal with it fairly punitively. If they ever had they wouldn’t have tried again if they were still capable of doing so.

I was worried that crime might become a problem with an influx of ex slaves who had become so for all manner of reasons. But we were not worried enough not to do the right thing. With the number of high levelled combatants tripling to Arawn, Namir and Sir Jacques along with an actual town guard and the sentinels hopefully any problem cases would soon see the light. If not that was a bridge to cross later on down the line.

“Slaves line up.” Shouted captain Kashif. He seemed eager to complete the transaction or depart the island. Perhaps it was both. “The Lord and Lady have some questions for you.”

We had boiled our questions down to name, level and crime. With two answers observable we hope that the bias would confirm the truth of the third answer. It would not be fool proof at all but it was the best we could come up with during our short journey to the dock. In the end we had decided that we would give everyone a chance even if it was only one.

Aleera stepped forward and called out, “We need to know your name, level and the crime for which you were enslaved.”

“Step forward and answer.” Shouted Captain Kashif.

Each one stepped forward to answer our question, names, levels and crimes were reeled off, debt, theft, born a slave, captured. This time around no one had confessed to murder or rape but that did not mean that they had not been committed. Aleera looked to me to see if the statements matched up with what I could observe, they did. We nodded our agreement to Captain Kashif that we would purchase their freedom as already agreed. We had added the caveat in case his entire crew of slaves were thugs, murders and rapists. By accompanying him to the ship together we had prevented him from prepping their answers and hopefully gained slightly more honest ones in the process.

He stepped forward once more gesturing at the piles of goods on the dock and in the hold, “The quicker you load up the ship, the quicker you will be left behind here on Wester Ponente. The Lord and Lady here have offered to purchase your freedom for your weight in salt.”

The slaves who had been stood in a line at the edge of the boat overlooking the dock froze in confusion. This was obviously not what they had expected to hear. Perhaps believing that we were after one or two slaves rather than intent on freeing Captain Kashif’s entire stock of them. They looked to our retinue and the four former slaves standing in it for confirmation. They nodded in agreement.

The alacrity with which the slaves straightened and jumped to work was astounding and probably greater than they had ever achieved under the threat of whip or worse. Without orders or help they whipped the goods being transacted off the ship onto the dock then did the same with the goods we had brought with us vanishing them below the deck.

Finally, it came to the salt. Each slave being weighed in turn and then carrying an equivalent amount of salt back aboard the ship. Captain Kashif watched the weighing carefully to ensure that he was not being shorted in the exchange. Another benefit to accompanying him and keeping his slaves in view was that he did not have time to fill them with water a quick way to inflate their price. Soon the ship was fully loaded and the freshly freed slaves now stood in a line on the dock facing their former owner. None of them seemed to believe that this was truly happening working in silence then watching cautiously and standing carefully still once it had been completed in case one of us changed our minds about the transaction. When dealing in the trade of flesh everything became a lot more personal for the people being traded if not for their former owner. They stood unmoving waiting on tenterhooks wishing that this was not a false hope.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Lord and Lady Silversea.” Captain Kashif bowed from his place at the helm of the boat. The number of sailors was dramatically reduced by the number of slaves that had been exchanged for salt but it was enough for them to set sail though it looked like they were working twice as hard without them to get everything ready for their departure. The man was still polite and courteous but then he was still within reach of Namir’s blade and claws being only a jump away. It made me realise how fragile civility was in a world where strength was king. Were we abusing that right now, maybe? Would be abused by it in turn later down the line? Hopefully not but it could not be guaranteed.

The boat began to pull away while the newly freed people milled around in fearful hope that this reality not some form of fever dream. We hoped we had made the right decision here in purchasing their freedom and ultimately letting Captain Kashif leave. He was a long way from home and if he returned to his normal routes it might be years before he returned from Libeccio. The worry was whether the repercussions of our decision would reach here sooner than that. Salt for slaves was nothing new, they were merchandise like any other product to the Libeccians but the amount that we had paid due to the low cost of salt for us at least meant that the amount was significantly over market price compared to the general market.

. . .

The return journey to town led us to the church. Our goods carried on to the island but we watched as the former slave had their previous metier removed and their bodies healed. The bishop was advising them to think for a while before choosing their next metier and they went onto the isle in the middle of the lagoon with Des and Sinis their new supervisors.

All of them seemed amenable to the idea of producing their weight in salt to clear their debt as well as producing more to buy into any other slaves that we freed in the future. A new tradition we hoped the success of which would prove they were worth their weight.

At least on the surface our idea was a success. Whether we could find jobs for everyone would ultimately determine whether or not we could do this repeatedly. Again our distance from court and any other islands allowed us some room for manouever and to hopefully get the first batch of former slaves settled into their new lives before any more could arrive. If we were unable to come up with sufficient projects to move forward with then with a bit of luck the town with their history where grandparents were former slaves would be able to find a job or two for them in expanding their own businesses. We would have to see how it went.

“Well that went as well as could be expected.” I sat down to talk with Aleera at the end of the day.

“Slaves freed, salt and produce sold, new goods to work with.” She replied.

“The silk will be worth even more once we dye it purple.” I grinned a simple enough procedure that would quadruple the cost of the cloth when we sold it onto the church. We had informed Captain Kashif of our requests for future goods if he ever decided to make the long trip back to visit us. Namir did not believe it likely as he already had plenty of profitable routes that were closer to shore along the coast of Libeccio and Ostro. This trip had been at Namir’s insistence and a significant detour for the captain. However, knowing what we were in the market for as well as what we had to offer might tempt him back again.

“What’s next?” she asked.

“Personal growth I think rather than economic. Or at least not quite so actively. Now that you have unlocked magic within our cousin’s they can help with growing the pearls. The freed slaves can support Des and Sinis in collecting manure, salt and the farming. I still have a lot of projects to get started but hopefully with an influx of people I will only have to point them in the right direction to get the results I am hoping for. Personally though I have many questions for Namir, the Bishop and the Compass Knight. First and foremost I want to learn how to heal.” I explained my plan.

“Morning meetings, end of day reviews?” she asked.

“Yes if possible then everything else in between put to personal growth.” I agreed. “Take the weekend off?”

“Maybe just a day.” She smiled knowing I would be too busy for a full two days off and that I would probably spend the day sailing with father over the reef rather than actually relaxing. Though for me sailing with him was a form of relaxation provided we were unbothered by any denizens of the deep.

. . .

While we were having our little conversation, older, higher levelled heads were also putting themselves together. Sat around the table were Lady Acaia, Arawn, Namir, Bishop Bailie and Sir Jaques.

“What are your intentions toward the boy?” Arawn started off the meeting. He had already faced Lady Acaia and Namir and had been reassured that they only wanted the best for the boy. To teach him what they knew. Namir’s knowledge of weapons and war would be good to round out the boy’s experiences. Also the fact that he had super senses as a beastkin trait meant that he would be able to train him in that in a way that he could not. The question was though what did the church truly want. It had been highly unusual to leave the Bishop behind when the archbishop had left. They had promised to take Aravan but they could have left a lower levelled member of the clergy if that was all that they were attempting to do.

“To teach, no more and no less.” Bishop Bailie attempted to convince the guardian. “I have been given special dispensation to teach him as much as he would like to learn.”

“And there is no cost to this? You have been awfully considerate and helpful in the children’s most recent endeavour to free the slaves. You are not expecting him to follow in your footsteps and become an acolyte of the Lodestar Church.” Arawn quizzed unconvinced there were no strings attached to the offer.

“No, we acknowledge that as Lord Silversea, he is the head of the house, but at the same time we would like to rebuild or rather build anew a better relationship with the church.”

Arawn snorted at the fact that up till now there had existed no relationship with the church other than a civil distaste for one another.

“Regarding the slaves we were happy to help. Both to release their souls form captivity as well as to give their bodies a fresh start on the compass. We did not do that solely for Lord and Lady Silversea so much as for the individuals themselves. Though their actions speak well of their moral qualities.” He continued.

“Very well, what do you propose.” Arawn had seem to have come to accept the reality that he could not keep his ‘grandchildren’ hidden from the world forever. The light shone too strongly through the pair of them. The waves they would make from today’s events would continue to ripple out into the wider world. The more support that they could gain from personal skills, stats, tutors, royalty or the church the better.

“We are aware that both Aleera and Kai will be attending court in Ponente when they come of age. We hope to help ensure their success. I hasten to add that it is not merely the islands Pearls or Purple that inspire us to act. They both have promise but the boy in particular has potential unheard of and it would be a shame to see it go to waste so far out from civilisation or harmed by the relatively new status of the Silversea house.” He outlined their position.

“What we can offer is the Lodestar churches methods in training.” The silent Sir Jacques spoke up.

“How will that be any better than what we are already offering the family through our tuition?” Asked Lady Acacia somewhat affronted at the idea that her specific schedule was not the most optimum for the child in question.

“I do not say that it will be better but our methods of training do have their benefits.” He calmly replied.

At this point the bishop intervened to redirect her attention, “First of all with healing.”

“Does that not take a considerable amount of time to learn?” she asked unconvinced or perhaps unwilling to share her tuition time with another faction now that she had already split it once with Namir to facilitate the children’s weapons training.

“Yes, but there are different ways in which the healing might help. First and foremost, I would teach him how to heal others and that would indeed take considerable time.”

“Less time than you might think.” muttered Arawn interrupting the bishop.

“However,” he countered, “that is not the only lesson that I might help him with. By healing him directly in order to start learning the skill and become familiar with it I would be able to extend your training practices exponentially.” He explained.

“This is how we train in the church.” Sir Jacques joined in once more. “The clergy practice their healing abilities on us while the knights train their martial abilities. It is an efficient method for training the two disparate groups at the same time. Speeding up the progress of both. One group heals while the other hurts. It is a cyclical system that supports each other’s growth.” He continued.

“Would work well for what I have in mind for them.” Namir joined in on the side of the church shifting the balance of the conversation. “It would also allow the two of them to attend your hoity toity lessons fresh in the afternoon along with any more magic you wish to teach them.” He shrugged.

“Well, obviously I would also like to educate him on the state of the world whilst we are practicing.” The bishop added.

“As long as it does not take from the time already assigned to Namir and I, I see no problem.” Lady Acacia admitted her thorns receding a little in concession.

“It all sounds like a fantastic opportunity to me.” Arawn agreed with the overall plan. “Just remember I will be watching.”

“Sir Jacques do you not have anything add to the Bishop’s plan? Lady Acacia asked suspicious by his silence.

Sir Jacques paused before replying, “Only that this method of training will also be helpful to the boy in him learning how to use his mana to boost his physical attributes. It is after all how we train. Pushing our bodies past their limits only to have them healed up afterwards. Once it has happened sufficiently your body grows accustomed to the mana fixing it and you can began to use your own mana to do it on command or in advance of the need.”

“You hope to teach him those skills as well?” Arawn asked intrigued.

“Eventually, as a knight I am able to use mana to enhance my strength, my dexterity, my endurance and my senses. In time with the Bishop’s help in targeted healing to get him familiar with the feeling so too will Kai be able to do. But that is a long way, a way, before he needs the next step of training. So, I will wait till then. Hopefully by then you will consider dividing their time further but I do not expect it or need it now.” He explained patiently. Lady Acacia’s suspicions proven correct but not in their timing.

“And again for clarification, there will be no expectations of him having to join church or your order.” Arawn once more insisted on confirmation.

“No, we only want what is best for the boy,” The bishop insisted before the pair of them facing the scepticism of the other tutors ended up swearing together. “We only want the best for the Silversea Scions, without favour or expectation to join our orders so we swear by the light of the lodestar.”

Their reservations answered the man, elf and beastkin sat back in relief. The scions in question slept under the mountain unaware of the plans being put into place for their future.