Heartstone

Celebration

Arwin was elated. When he'd decided to do things again after restarting, he'd never imagined them going this far. He hadn't thought of the future beyond getting the flowers for the girls and freeing the men from their collars. Seeing real social change come about from the will of the people, seeing them stand up to make the world a better place, moved him a great deal.

That night, the villagers celebrated in the streets. Wine, food, and well-made instruments were liberated from noble houses, along with the beaus, belles, and servants. The life they'd known for generations was falling apart, yet they were joyous. There would be much work to do later, but this night was for freedom and reuniting with loved ones.

Jacque was much pleased, and his wife even more so. He bragged to any who would listen that it was Arwin who'd freed him from the collar and who'd spurred them to further action. It had been Arwin who'd given them a plan against the nobles.

Bleu and Aoi spread the tale of how Arwin had dared Azamont's garden to rescue the flowers they loved. For an hour or so, Arwin was mobbed with grateful attention.

A while into the celebration, he found himself sitting at a table in the village circle with Jacque, the two of them watching the bonfire that had gone up in the center of the circle and the dancing going on all around it.

With a smile, Jacque passed Arwin a glass of wine. "Strange, isn't it? Here we are, comrades who have fought together, and I don't know the first thing about you."

Arwin laughed. "I'm just a guy who happened to be passing by. I'm nobody special." He grew more serious. "Glad to have the chance to help out, though. Nice to see people fighting for equality like this."

"You have nobles where you're from?"

"We used to. We had our revolutions. Unfortunately, we ended up replacing nobles with merchants who are just more of the same. Wealth inequality is worse than ever. And people are still getting hurt." He stared into his glass, suddenly feeling blue.

"And one of those people hurt was you?" Jacque guessed.

Arwin nodded. "Yeah. Lost the love of my life a few weeks ago to greed and selfishness."

"I'm sorry. What happened?"

Arwin spent a few moments collecting his thoughts and emotions. "When we first met, I felt like we were on the same page about things. It's part of why I fell in love with her. She was so energetic and smart, charming and positive. We were both progressive, and she seemed to care about the same things I did. I was a teacher, and she praised me for it, said she was proud of me. We made the same salary. But, over time, she started to make more and more money. She works for big-time merchants and has the type of career that's ultra-competitive, that rewards people with money and status. So, over time, money and status are what people focus on."

"Sounds like noble society."

"Exactly. Everyone tries to be as rich as they can. They strive to feel superior to everyone else. I think the more we buy into that lifestyle, the more it twists us and brings out the worst in us. I never noticed while we were together, but it seems like she became greedier over time. I was madly in love with her, even thinking about marrying her. And I thought she was just as serious about me. But when some wealthy guy came along, she immediately jumped at the opportunity and left me for him. No hesitation."

Jacque's face fell. "A tale as old as time, unfortunately."

Arwin scuffed the ground with a heel. "Do we have to keep reliving it, though? She probably thought she was trading up by choosing the guy with more money because money is how she measures people and quality of life. But what if we lived in a society where wealth differences were smaller? Would she have still done that?"