Joe shook his head with a smile, “Of course I would defend her. If anyone came to harm or kill her, I would do anything to stop them. If I could stop them easily without causing them harm, then I would do so. If the only way to protect them is to kill, then… I would kill. Anyone who chooses to harm or kill me will be met with deadly force. The same is true for anyone who wishes to harm or kill others. Any others! But, I would stop them without harm if I could do so without any harm coming to others. If I can’t, then I will begin using harmful or deadly force.”

Gwenvair frowned, “And if they would come again?”

Joe’s face hardened, “They are dead.”

Gwenvair considered that, but her frown deepened, “That is… dangerous. Any enemies will come back to seek you out or kill you. You should not leave any of the enemy alive.”

Joe frowned but said nothing. He sighed after a moment before continuing, “That gets back to a revenge cycle. And … That’s a poor way to live. And a very poor way for a society to form. If I refuse to change, then no one will change.”

Gwenvair frowned, “Then how would you think this man should be punished.”

“I told you. The responsibility of punishment should belong to the leaders. In this way, people will not seek revenge against others. And not even with that consideration, it is very unwise to put justice in the hands of the wronged individual. Anger will almost always drive them to seek revenge and not punishment. Criminals should be punished, not tortured.”

“So you will do nothing.”

“What about all the other girls in the house, will their husbands and fathers not seek their own revenge?” Joe frowned, grimacing, “After I’m… supposed to get mine?”

That gave Gwenvair pause and she settled, withdrawing, “They would likely not be able to defend against any who would seek reven…” She stopped, eyes widening before she seemed to collapse back in her seat and smiled at Joe with a sour grin of chagrin.

Joe said nothing but smiled with schadenfreude. Gwenvair looked at him and then rolled her eyes before she giggled, a look of shock coming over her face. Joe raised an eyebrow, confused by her shock but remained silent, waiting for her.

“I think I see your point, but it will be difficult to explain to Kilniara.”

“She is very intelligent.”

Gwenvair nodded, “She is, but this is not an intelligence issue. She will not feel … too pleased.”

Joe nodded, “Ah… yeah. You’re right. But, what is the expectation, then.”

“That you do something … painful to him.”

Joe frowned, “So, something. Not necessarily physically detrimental.”

“Physically detrim… ahh, yes. Some form of punishment.”

“What have others done?”

“Cut off limbs, paralyze, and kill the offender or his entire family.”

Joe’s frown deepened to a grimace, “Yeah. That’s not… something I’m going to do.”

Gwenvair shrugged, “Those are the actions of brutes. Others have been more… elegant.”

Joe smirked, “And since you call them brutes, the actions are seen as … simple or unenlightened.”

Gwenvair smiled at that, “Hmm… I do not think in the way you are envisioning. They are still… very debilitating.”

“Such as?”

“Having the offenders receive similar treatment as the offended or to their family. There are many less violent methods.”

Joe felt his breath catch as his widened. Just… so… many… what?! “Then, you mean they are punished by being raped? And their family?” Right… so… kinda emotional responses… same as mine… would like to hope I… wouldn’t really go through with it… Joe grimaced at that. Maybe not… I’m… really pissed….

“Sometimes their family, if the offended is very irked.”

Joe breathed, then erupted, quietly and coldly, “You say rape is not violent?!”

Gwenvair looked at him with confusion, “Much less violent than being dismembered or killed?

Joe actually paused at that, surprised, “It seems… quite a cold view.”

Gwenvair shrugged, “What is cold of it? The world is cold. Men are killed or captured, tortured, and killed. Women are taken. The unlucky are raped and enslaved while the luckiest are raped and may be able to come to be loved by their captors.”

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Joe breathed heavily at that and leaned back heavily, “Then, I … ahh… I really don’t like this world. It’s gotta change.”

“And you will change it?”

“If I must.”

Gwenvair’s eyebrow twitched before she began smiling with an odd look on her face, “If any other said such a thing, I would believe them mad.”

Joe looked up with a weary look, sad, unsettled, and exhausted, “It is the least any one should do.”

Gwenvair’s smile changed from humor to concern, deeply thoughtful, “You truly believe this?”

Joe nodded, “Yes. A strong functioning society needs…”

Joe interrupted himself with a sigh, dropping his head in his hands, “To do otherwise is just simply wrong. There is nothing else to say on the matter.”

Gwenvair stared at Joe intently, not saying anything and waiting patiently for him. Joe took a bit to return to the conversation and Joe was quite grateful for her silent consideration. Joe looked back up at her.

“I apologize, but my people would find such a sentiment horrifying.”

“And I apologize, but your people seem very… soft.”

Joe chuckled at that, “I would not disagree. Some of my people are … very soft. But even the strong … especially the strong of my people would find such a lifestyle as evi… horrible.”

Gwenvair softened, “I did not say I did not find it evil, or that any of my people did not find it evil. It is. But… it… it happens.”

Joe sighed, “There ar… it happens amongst my people sometimes as well. Evil people exist everywhere, but the strong amongst mine do not allow it to flourish. They put effort to stop it anywhere it shows. It’s not perfect… but we try.”

Gwenvair scoffed, “Evil is not something easily stopped.”

Joe nodded, “True, but that does not mean we need to harm the innocent family members of those who are evil.”

“And war?”

Joe frowned, “But again, the innocent need to be protected.”

Gwenvair’s frown remained as she shook her head, not really agreeing with Joe.

Joe raised an eyebrow, beginning to speak but trailed off as he remembered Earth’s history.

“Soldiers do not do well…”

“No,” Gwenvair shook her head.

Joe sighed and nodded, “Our people were the same, but we made such actions illegal and any soldier doing so is punished quite severely.”

Gwenvair seemed surprise, “You do not allow your soldiers to pillage?”

Joe’s eyes hardened, “No. Never,” then his face fell, “But… there are… yeah, we still have some evil people.”

Gwenvair thought on that, “But, how do you know… and how can you control… how do you keep your soldiers from revolting?”

Joe snorted, “Most of the soldiers would never do such a thing and any who do will be stopped by their fellow soldiers.”

Gwenvair’s eyes rose, “Your soldiers… how?”

“They don’t do it. They know it is wrong and will stop them.”

Gwenvair frowned, “Your peasants are so … controlled?”

Joe raised an eyebrow and smiled with understanding, “Yeah, because they are all educated. Our soldiers are not peasants. They are highly educated.”

Gwenvair’s eyebrow’s knit, “All… oh!” Her confusion quickly shifted to realization.

Joe smiled, “I told you universal education is important. It has… incredible far reaching results that impact everything and everyone in ways that are hard to ever understand,” then frowned a bit, “Of course, there are some who will refuse and still… seek out evil, but those who strive for what is right often root them out. But, my people are not perfect. There are those who choose evil,” Joe ended with a shrug and a look of chagrin.

Gwenvair stared at him, “It’s hard to understand. It seems so… strange to me.”

Joe nodded, “It is very difficult to understand all the ramifications of a cultural change. You are correct.”

Gwenvair smiled in response and the two sat, enjoying each other’s company but Gwenvair quickly looked away after a bit and Joe cleared his throat and calmed. I wasn’t to… didn’t mean to imply anything. Should I say anyth…

“So, what of your plan, if you would be willing to share?”

Joe smiled and leaned forward, excited. It had taken him a bit, but he was certain that he had something that would be useful. He began speaking with determination, worried that it wouldn’t be enough. Gwenvair listened intently. She grew confused, then concerned, then finally began nodding in agreement before smiling brilliantly, quite excited about Joe’s plans. Joe’s concern evaporated, relaxing when he saw her reaction. OK. So this could work… she seems to like it. Hopefully Kiliniara will as well!

* * *

Joe climbed the stairs, exhausted. The meeting with Gwenvair had lasted quite a long time and he found himself exhausted. He climbed quickly, hoping to get to the room quickly enough. People spoke around him, the crowd seemingly just starting to enjoy the evening, although he did hear one other set of foot prints behind him on the stairs. Someone else tired and wanting to sleep.

He walked up rather quickly, his exhaustion driving him as it usually did because of the very long days the moon experienced. He made it to his floor and quickly went to his room, opening the door then stopping in surprise when he opened the door.

Kilniara sat in his room on a single bed next to his in place of the two boys’ bunk bed. He glanced towards Kilniara’s old room and saw the door open with the two guys inside, their bunk bed now inside and pressed up against the wall. Garnedell noticed Joe standing in the doorway and smiled, waving, then closing the door to his room. Joe frowned and struggled to keep the flush from climbing on to his cheeks. He looked at Kilniara and she stared at him before looking away with flushed cheeks. Joe walked in, wanting to close the door behind him before trying to figure out what to do with this.

When he turned around to shut the door, he saw Gwenvair behind him, walking into the room. Joe stared, stunned and a bit uncertain of what to do but Gwenvair walked in without any concern and came to sit on the bed, pulling Kilniara to sit down next to her. Joe opened his mouth to speak but Gwenvair was already frowning as she looked around the room.

“This room is… poor.”

The non sequitur interrupted Joe’s thoughts, his mind, “Uh… yeah. It’s not a rich part of town.”

Gwenvair nodded, sighing a bit before nodding, “The life of adventurers, then.”

Joe quirked an eyebrow but laughed a bit, “Yeah, a bit. Adventurers tend to travel a bit. It’s not something I really seek or enjoy, however. It might be wise to look for a house, if we are going to stay here for a bit.”

Gwenvair looked up at him, “You plan to stay in Coushar?”

Joe shrugged, “Maybe?”

Kilniara jumped up, excited for another reason, “You will buy a house for us?”

Joe chuckled, “It would be a good idea, yes. I was a bit rushed before, but we could easily take our time to do it now. Sure.”

Joe hadn’t really thought of purchasing an entire house, but with the way people looked at his cores, it seemed only reasonable that he had more than enough wealth to purchase one. That said, he realized that easy breakfasts and suppers would be an issue as the inn took care of that. Although… could I hire a chef? That… might be nice? A cook slash cleaner? They could make us … even lunch, I guess? If we come out for lunch, then we could…