Blank Slates

Chapter 8

 TW: c/tting

"You know who Jace and Lia Lowell are, correct?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, sir. They were the Insurgent leaders for the first few years of the rebellion. They secretly hid among the citizens, leading the Insurgents from the inside, until they were discovered after the rebel skirmish of 2505."

"And you know what happened to them?" Sarin asked, a slight bitterness lacing his tone.

She bit her lip. "They were caught and executed, sir."

Sarin hummed, toying with a pen with his fingers. "So you know the basics. Well, let me tell you the details that your history books don't teach you. I knew Jace and Lia well. Jace was once a very close friend, though that feels like an eternity ago, and Lia was the most clever and beautiful woman I had ever met. We had our differences, but we managed to look past those and get along. Unfortunately, that peace was unstable and the time came where it would shatter around us. As I moved up the government, gaining one prestigious position after another, I couldn't help but feel that tensions between Jace and me were heightening. He never seemed like the type to be jealous of the success of others, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He would still spend time with me, but he would purposely keep Lia away though I desperately wanted to see her." He paused, chuckling slightly to himself. "Foolish me didn't notice any warning signs, and I continued to believe that Jace was the good friend I had always known. Unfortunately, under that facade of a loyal friend, he was secretly conniving behind my back. My election as despot proved to be the last straw, and he said that he could not stand to associate with someone like me for any longer. As soon as he could, he packed up is things and moved out of the Capital with Lia. At first, out of respect of a friend, I did not sent Surveillance to monitor his activity, but that was a critical error on my part. I still regret all that I have lost because I refused to allow myself to see the truth of what my friend had become."

He looked at her seriously. "How lucky you are to never know what it's like to have a friend stab you in the back."

"I'm sorry that that happened to you, sir."

He sighed, shaking his head. "Let this be a lesson to you. Trust no one but yourself. Keep people close, but don't depend on them for anything, because in this world, people are willing to let even their closest 'friends' die in order to save themselves. People are ruthless, and so you should be too. Compassion is weakness."

She nodded quickly. "Yes, sir, I understand."

"Good. But I digress," he said, pausing for a moment to recollect his thoughts. "Once their traitorous ways came to light, I knew I had to do something, though the old side of me did not have the strength to do it at first. I needed to make an example of them, something that would scare the remaining Insurgents into submission. So, as you know, I had them both executed, but I would be lying if I said that it wasn't hard for me. I actually kept Lia around longer, because she seemed like she could see my point of view, but as it turned out, she was just lying and manipulating me once again." He paused, as if his words had left a bitter taste in his mouth. "But being despot in a time of such crisis meant I had to become used to making difficult decisions. To me, their deaths signaled a new chapter in my life, and that I was no longer the weak man I once was."

He paused for a while and she nodded slowly, not really knowing what to say. "That's quite admirable, sir. I believe most would not have been able to overcome that."

He laughed dryly. "Like you? Do you think you would be able to do what I did?"

She bit her lip. "I don't think so, sir. I...I'm sorry—"