The Last Kinmark - Chapter Five

Kiv was in high spirits as he arrived for his morning session with Scholar Vedarrio. The night before, he and Ahkdo had visited one of the finest brothels in the city and enjoyed the Mizish wares available there. Although the experience had been just as incredible as it always was, it had still left Kiv with the same sliver of guilt that he always felt when dealing with any of the Miz. It was because of this guilt that he said to Vedarrio, “Scholar, I was hoping to ask you a question today before we begin.”

The ancient tutor arched one of his white eyebrows and replied, “I was hoping that you would ask me a great deal of questions today.”

“This one has nothing to do with mathematics.”

“Ah. Well, I suppose my vast knowledge could prove insightful in a few other areas. Ask your question.”

“Is it right for the Miz to be enslaved?” Kiv had never voiced his doubts to anyone before and was nervous to do so now. Sympathy for the Miz was not considered an admirable trait among the Tytans.

As the question reached his ears, Vedarrio cackled in the way that Kiv had come to recognize as a sign of genuine pleasure for the old man. “Young Prince, we could spend all day discussing that question and not even come close to scratching the surface of it. Scholars have devoted their entire lives to the meaning behind the ideas of right and wrong. And I would not be lying if I said that none of them ended up with any more knowledge on the subject than they had started out with.

“A special few have come to the realization that what is right has little to do with knowledge and even less to do with asking questions. But I suppose I can glance over that and get to the heart of your inquiry. Tell me, is it right for a cow to be made to pull a cart?”

Kiv fought down the urge to pull out a fistful of his own hair. “Of course.” This was always how lessons with Vedarrio proceeded. The scholar would ask questions until Kiv would reach the correct conclusion or give up. He claimed that it was a method he had learned from his own tutors as a young man and that it was respected even by those few scholars who did not use it. Kiv believed that it was a grand conspiracy thought up by those who knew it was far easier to ask questions than to answer them.

“Why? Surely you would not argue that it is good for the cow.”

“No, but it is good for the owner of the cart, and the cow doesn’t know any better.”

Vedarrio looked at him sternly. “Does not. I will not tolerate ignorant speech from my brightest student.” Kiv suffered the rebuke in silence, and Vedarrio returned to the topic of bovine morality. “Do you honestly believe that the cow does not know enough to wish it were in a field somewhere, eating grass or being mounted by a bull?”

“I honestly do not know what a cow wishes, but I know a Miz wishes it were free.”

“Without any doubt. But why should that make any difference?”

Kiv frowned as he thought about the question. “Because, perhaps all humans deserve freedom.”

“Listen carefully, Kiv, what I say now I do not say merely because your father would remove me from my position were I to say otherwise. Rather, I say it because it is true. A man deserves what he has the power to take and defend. The cow is forced to pull the cart because the owner has the power and the desire to make it so. It is good for the owner and bad for the cow.

“Is it right for the owner to force such evil upon the cow? In his eyes it must be or he would not do so. If he were to let the cow be free to do as it pleased and instead pulled his own cart, it would be good for the cow and bad for the owner. Would this be right? Both scenarios result in good for one and evil for the other. How are we to decide which is right if not by allowing the greater being to enjoy the good and the lesser being to suffer the evil?

“Likewise, the Miz were enslaved because our ancestors had the power and the desire to make it so. It was good for them and bad for the Miz. And they remain enslaved because we have the power and the desire to make it so. Again, it is good for us and bad for them. Is such a state of affairs right? For us, it is right. And we are undeniably the greater beings. Were it otherwise, we would not have the power to enslave them. For the Miz, it is right to strive for freedom. Perhaps one day we will decide it is right for us to give them that freedom instead of putting down another one of their rebellions. But I doubt it. After all, do you want to pull the cart?”

Chapter Six of The Last Kinmark is available here!