In Regar, Brandt found something of a kindred spirit. Brandt’s curiosity, at least for the past decade, had focused on how to become stronger. Specifically, he looked for a way to surpass the cost which limited the elemental affinities.
The gatestones were one way, but the Etari controlled those.
Regar shared Brandt’s curiosity, but his extended further in all directions. As near as Brandt could tell, no question was too small for prolonged consideration. “How” and “Why” were the words that began most of his sentences, and Brandt had learned much from Regar’s relentless questioning. Though he had several years on the prince, the prince forced him to question ideas he never had before.
So he wasn’t offended by the question. Regar meant only to explore. “I am.”
“Why?”
Brandt smiled. He had wondered if that would be the next question. “Because the empire has given me everything. Why shouldn’t I repay it with my service?”
“Did you join the military only because you wanted to serve?”
Brandt shook his head. “My parents were wage-earners. Service was an opportunity to leave town and earn money.”
“So it wasn’t loyalty to the empire that motivated your service, but money?”
That question stung. Brandt figured it was a bit of both.
Regar kept digging. “If I offered you half my gold to kill my father, would you?”
“Never.”
“If I offered you all my gold to do nothing while the Falari attacked, would you?”
“Never.” Despite his familiarity with Regar’s questions, Brandt found his anger rising.
“So, while you might have joined the military for gold, gold is no longer the reason you serve.”
Brandt’s anger dissipated. Speaking with Regar was like that. He twisted and pulled at your beliefs, then let go just before he took a step too far. Brandt considered Regar’s statement. He liked how it sounded. “I don’t think it’s that simple.”
“Why not?”
Brandt thought of Alena and their conversations after Landow. “It’s tempting to make people simple, but I don’t think they are. There’s some truth to your idea. I did join the army for money. But that wasn’t my only reason. I wanted to see more of the world. I wanted to get out of the town where I had spent my entire life. And I did want to serve. My parents survived as wage-earners, and I think even when I was young I recognized how helpful that was.”
Regar looked like he wanted to interrupt, but Brandt held up a hand. “And I wouldn’t turn down your offers simply because I want to serve the empire. I don’t want to betray your father because he has earned my respect. I wouldn’t allow the Falari to attack because I’ve served in those units and I know how dangerous the Falari are. Decisions might have a single reason, but even that decision is shaped by countless influences.”
Regar absorbed that for a while. “I think your answer is wise, but incomplete.”
“How so?”
“Sometimes the reasons are simple. People fight because they are hungry, or because if they don’t, they will surely die.”
Brandt acknowledged the point. “Why do you ask?”
“I seek to understand why people serve one another, or an idea.”
“Not always an easy question.”
“It is not.”
“What of the Falari?” Brandt didn’t often ask anything that might be related to Regar’s captivity, but it seemed foolish to avoid the subject. He trusted Regar not to take offense at a question.
Regar stared in the direction they traveled, his sight crossing the untold leagues still ahead of them. “The Falari fight because they believe they must.”
Brandt frowned. He’d never heard that explanation before. Most said the Falari fought because they were poor and desperate for the riches of the empire. “But we never attack them, at least not without provocation.”
Regar scratched at the back of his neck. “No, we don’t. Their belief isn’t predicated on our existence.”
“What do you mean?”
Regar didn’t answer for several heartbeats. “What do you think is the greatest flaw of the empire?”
The question brought Brandt up short. He’d not really considered such thoughts before. The empire took good care of its citizens. So long as people were willing to work, their basic necessities were always taken care of. Of course, there were small things he would change, but were there major flaws?
Alena’s voice came to him again. She had a complaint, and although it didn’t bother him quite the same, it would serve well enough for this discussion. “It relies too much on secrecy.”
Regar looked surprised. “You believe the emperor should tell more of his secrets?”
“I do. People should know about Palagia and the queen.”
“And what would they do with that knowledge?”
Brandt didn’t have an easy answer to that. “Prepare?”
“How?”
Brandt didn’t have any answer to that either. All reasonable preparations for an invasion were already being made. The army didn’t know the true reasons, but they drilled harder than they ever had before. Then he had an idea. “The more people who know, the more who can work on the problem.”
“Conceded,” Regar replied. “I’m not certain the benefit outweighs the cost, though. How well would people react if they knew an invasion was coming? It’s not hard to imagine chaos in the streets, costing innocent lives.”
Brandt saw the point. “If not secrecy, what is the empire’s greatest weakness?”
“Stagnancy.”
“What?”
“In what meaningful ways has our empire changed since Anders I?”
Brandt found he couldn’t think of a way.
“That is why it’s so hard for us to think like the Falari. Anders I imposed an order on the empire that has lasted for two hundred years. How often has my father invoked the first Anders as the reason something must be?”
Brandt could think of a few times, off the top of his head.
“The Falari believe the only constant is change. They fight because they seek to test new weapons and new strategies against us. When I was a captive, they tried questioning me in several ways. Some were violent, some were kind, but all were tested. I was tested.”
Brandt noticed a hint of something surprising in Regar’s voice.
Respect.
“You sound thankful.”
“I am.” Regar turned to him. “I’ve learned
