“Thank you,” I said.
The Prince grinned.Aquans had sharp teeth, so this was a disquieting process.He backed out of the doorway and shut the door gently behind him.
“What a remarkable fellow.Not nearly as ignorant as I had assumed—and yet, Flag-Staff’s motivations for pitting him against the current ruler are a mystery to me,” Brother Al said.He turned and looked at my face.“You look troubled.”
“I’m worried about Eddie and Vic,” I said.
“They are vampires.You heard the Prince.We’re honored guests, no more, no less.They’ll be safe, even if Flag-Staff has us here under false pretenses.”
I nodded, hands on my arms.
“I don’t like being kept out of the loop,” I said.
“Was that conversation bothersome?”
I blinked, turned my head to him and shook it.
“No, not at all.I was actually extremely impressed with the way you gathered information.”
“It’s all part of the Court game, my dear,” Brother Al said.“I am rather an old hand at it.It feels… good, I think, to explore that part of myself again.”
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself,” I said.
“I was, indeed.The old ways are… compelling, you must understand.For so long, I have abandoned my previous identity as a member of the ruling class.As centuries pass, acceptable roles have faded—those power structures in society which once served us are required no longer as mankind, and undead-kind sort and reorient their process of navigating the world.No longer are humans satisfied with the role of Lord and Peon.”
“Do you miss it?”
Brother Al looked wistful, gray eyebrows knitted as he stared at the ceiling.
“I miss the openness of it.The honesty.There was… a tacit understanding between those that ruled and those that were ruled.Those in power may do what they will, and those below shall listen.If ever the heavy hand that holds the crown becomes too oppressive…” He made a slitting motion over his throat.“Of course, the same structure is in place still.”
“Is it?”I asked.
“Of course.Outright imperialism has been replaced with economic imperialism.One country now rules the power structures and trade.Commerce and licensing rights and an agreed-upon law have stratified the lower working classes from those with money and power.There are still the Lords and the Peons, but the Peons get a tiny bit more freedom to say what they will.Still, things were easier when a crowd of undertrod weren’t afraid to rip the rulers from the roost.”
“That’s a little pessimistic.”
“Consider your job,” Brother Al said.“You believed you had autonomy.”
“That’s different,” I said.
“Is it?”Brother Al asked.“Yet all it took was one person with more power swooping in.He’s had his fingers in your department, manipulating it.What can you do but outsmart him?You’re trapped in a game of rules, laws, and expectations.”
“It sounds dirty when you say it like that,” I said.“I don’t want to think about Bradford back at work right now.God knows where my camera even went.It’ll be docked from my salary, I bet.”
“It’ll turn up, I’m sure,” Brother Al said.
“What about you?What turned you away from politics to a spiritual path?”
“There is a concept of the Virtuous Man in Confucianism,” Brother Al said.“The Virtuous Man is known through his deeds and actions.He performs admirably in the roles society supports him in.There is a lot missing from the Western concept of what implies virtue, but that this ‘cultivated man’ can and does exist in the minds and mindset of the people is an undeniable fact.Royalty and nobility are like that.Consider the world media’s obsession with moguls and giants of industry—Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs.They are ‘made men’ who cultivated their skills and performed as they ought to efficiently enough within the system to thrive within it.This is the same obsession with a cult of personality that religions used to enforce on the nobility.”
“I think there’s some differences.”
“Yes, but there are a lot of analogous things between,” Brother Al said.“Accepting one’s personal station and fortune.It is more than a bit prideful and self-serving.Great good can be done, but the world is run by the living.Once one is dead—once society is no longer made for you—your thoughts become different.I could not suffer much longer in silence—remaking myself as eons passed, throwing myself into the limelight as a new face and figure, seeking the recognition I craved.Instead, I walked away from fame and renown—decided I would spend my time serving others, as only those who move in the shadows can.”
“Do you ever want to go back?”I asked.
Brother Al was quiet for some time, and then turned and smiled at me.
