Cam listened to Wessex's perspective carefully, nodding as she spoke. She was right. The Voice might not be perfect, but at least she wasn't calling for the extermination of the Old Gods' followers -- that made the Old Gods the villains here, in Cam's book. The way Wessex spoke of the gods reminded Cam of how they'd thought of politicians back home -- don't make the mistake of thinking any of them are flawless, but support the one who aligns with you best, despite their flaws. It also reminded Cam of the Earth mythologies they'd studied, where the gods did horrible things but had to be respected and worshiped anyway.
"I get it, I think." Cam flashed a quick, constrained smile. Perhaps the best thing to do would have been to try to stay neutral in this conflict, but ... no, their conscience wouldn't allow that, actually. Not with genocide on the table. "Whatever the Voice has done, the Old Gods want to exterminate her followers. Even if I weren't one of those followers, I'd know that was wrong."
Quietly, they added, "It's weird how many people are OK with that. How can they just go along with it? I mean, I guess I get the ones who view us as abominations -- well, not 'get' them, but if that's what they tell themselves, of course they'll attack us. But I don't think 'it's easier' or 'this god reminds me of home' is a good reason to try to kill an entire people. And I can't imagine how they do."
Cam had to think about Wessex's question. The truth was, they probably would roll over and accept imprisonment, if getting out were so costly -- years of torment for the Grounders at the monsters' hands. But they wouldn't argue against Wessex's desire to be free. "I mean, I wasn't here then. I don't really know how bad it was. So you're probably right."
"I get it, I think." Cam flashed a quick, constrained smile. Perhaps the best thing to do would have been to try to stay neutral in this conflict, but ... no, their conscience wouldn't allow that, actually. Not with genocide on the table. "Whatever the Voice has done, the Old Gods want to exterminate her followers. Even if I weren't one of those followers, I'd know that was wrong."
Quietly, they added, "It's weird how many people are OK with that. How can they just go along with it? I mean, I guess I get the ones who view us as abominations -- well, not 'get' them, but if that's what they tell themselves, of course they'll attack us. But I don't think 'it's easier' or 'this god reminds me of home' is a good reason to try to kill an entire people. And I can't imagine how they do."
Cam had to think about Wessex's question. The truth was, they probably would roll over and accept imprisonment, if getting out were so costly -- years of torment for the Grounders at the monsters' hands. But they wouldn't argue against Wessex's desire to be free. "I mean, I wasn't here then. I don't really know how bad it was. So you're probably right."
cameron ?
"Cameras" by Ennev is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
