The Shards Read Free Page A

malice and forethought, does it not?” Teetoo asked.
    “I would think that the definition of ‘cruel’ implies that one enjoys or at least is aware that the actions that one commits are causing pain to someone. The word does suggest that there is evil intention,” Elsinestra said. “So what you are saying is that his behavior is not cruel because he does not intend it to be so?” she asked perplexed.
    “In his eyes, what he does is correct. Of course, we see it differently. But then again, the understanding of ethics has always been riddled with issues of perspective. We kill at times to preserve, while he kills to annihilate. Is the act of killing or the taking of life the issue here or is the defining characteristic the purpose?” Teetoo asked.
    “You are confusing me,” Alemar said, and she shook her head. “Evil is something tangible to me. I can feel it! And when something is good, I can feel that too.”
    “But it is not an object to be looked at and scrutinized as is a rock or a tree,” Teetoo replied. “What is it that you really feel?” he asked.
    “I feel the spirit of the earth! I feel the pulse of life!”
    “And when you extinguish the life of your enemy to further your purpose, what do you feel?”
    “Relief. Accomplishment. Satisfaction,” she said thoughtfully. “But I also feel sorrow.”
    “That, my dear Alemar, is the entire difference between the moral person and the immoral person! You think about what you do, and you have reasons for what you do. You are convinced that there is a greater purpose that governs your values, and you try to be consistent in your quest. The immoral person enjoys the pain and misery that he causes, but most importantly, he recognizes that he causes it. Colton cares not about any of this. He is not immoral! He functions outside of this ethical hierarchy, and what he desires is not defined by its relationship to life.”
    “I have taken the lives of others many times,” the Princess frowned. “But never frivolously or for sport. I believe that when there was necessity to kill it was to preserve.”
    “You are beginning to understand sacrifice, Alemar,” Teetoo said seriously. “And all these words have meanings far greater and deeper than our ability to explain them. We are creatures of feeling and intellect, and we are thus so unique.”
    “It has been difficult to suppress my feelings at times though. Life is life, and the taking of it alters the weave for all time, though sometimes it is necessary nonetheless to strike,” Alemar said.
    “And now you begin to understand courage too, my Princess,” Teetoo replied.
    Alemar bent her graceful head for a moment and considered the Weloh’s words.
    “I have doubts sometimes, Teetoo,” she said sincerely. “I do not make these choices between life and death casually. I must do what I must do, yet I question my prerogative, and I suffer from the weight of the responsibility. Sometimes I wonder if I am worthy of making these decisions.”
    “And so the third lesson is learned,” Teetoo replied smiling. “Humility. This is oft times the quality most lacking in people of action, though it completes the ethical triad. Yet, without it courage can be cruel and hard, and sacrifice can be misguided.”
    Alemar bowed her chin and considered the ideas Teetoo had just expressed.
    “Could you begin to imagine the heart of a person who felt nothing but relief at most at the destruction of life? Our value system is defined by opposites, and it becomes clearer and clearer in relationship to the extremes that it incorporates. Caeltin D’Are Agenathea has only one goal, and everything that lives, be it good or evil, poses an obstacle to it,” Elsinestra said.
    “The heir must come to understand these things,” Teetoo said more seriously than before. “He will be taught by Cairn of Thermaye, the scholar that Baladar ‘called’ to Pardatha some time ago. It is crucial that the boy realizes the difference