Chapter 6
Oen woke up in a sweat, after another night of restless and haunted sleep. For all of those worthy of human or divine compassion, sin begets feelings of guilt, and the greater the sin, the greater the guilt. Not that guilt is itself wrong, for it if causes one to act better, it is a soothing tonic for the conscience. However, Oen was set upon his course, and his conscience had no power to effect change in his life. Thus he was convicted as a hypocrite and a vile sinner by a tribunal that had no power except by the divine hammer of God.
Oen had not slept well since Karen separated from him. It was not the lack of sex that made Oen restless. After all, Oen�s many comely female migrant farmers, pretty campesinas were available for his sexual satisfaction. Oen liked the power that being the patr�n over his peones gave him. But without Karen around things around the palace did not work as well. Servants were did not do their work as enthusiastically because he did not know how to ask for what he wanted, did not appreciate their efforts, and was too incompetent to do what he needed done himself. He cursed Karen, but it would have done him better to curse himself and try to change.
�I asked for a steak,� Oen growled at a servant.
�No, sir, you asked for dinner,� the servant said squirming. �You did not say what you wanted for dinner, so the cook made what he had the most of, which was lasagna. He even made it with six cheeses and prime ground round.�
�Can�t you just read my mind?� Oen growled.
�Sir, if we could read your mind we would find a much more lucrative job than being your house servants,� the servant cleverly replied.
�I will say something that you can understand,� Oen said sharply. �Sal de aqu�.�
�Si quieres,� the servant replied, leaving.
Such scenes were common at the palace in Bravia these days. Oen was prone to giving vague orders and accepting nothing but perfection. However, unlike that brave cavalier of Virginia, Robert E. Lee, who was also failed by subordinates who did not understand his politely phrased and vague directives at crucial moments in battle, Oen did not phrase his directives politely at all. Instead Oen gave harangues to his servants and yet did not tell them how they could please him. The servants wisely, in self-preservation, soon decided that even to attempt to please him would be a pointless and fruitless enterprise.
The separation came at a crucial time for Oen. In most years, Oen would not have to worry about politics. Even though his term had three more years, there were local elections he had to be concerned with. It was these local elections in Bravia that would determine whether his spot as a Senator was secure or whether he would have to face serious competition from another noble house in three years time. He was worried that if the breakup was too public and the scandals reached the press, his career would be over as anything but a Teddy Kennedy, a leader supported by local majorities but of only minor importance to the empire as a whole. He kept the Lues busy, but there was only so much killing they could do and only so many arkanicides they could all get away with.
�Look, we cannot bleed Bravia white,� Ve said.
�I know,� Oen said. �It�s just that I have so many enemies.�
�Listen, you already tape all of your conversations,� Ve said. �I do not see how you can be that threatened. After all, my son and I and our operatives can take care of all your protection, and as long as you keep a low profile, you are safe from danger.�
�I cannot hide, I must rule and let others know of my power,� Oen said. �I cannot hide like a coward until there is no other choice.�
�Be careful that you do not get too greedy,� Ve said. �After all, the bold prosper, but pigs are slaughtered.�
�There are four things that are never satisfied,� Oen said. �Three things that never say, �It is enough.� The grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, the fire that never says �it is enough,� and my lust for power. It is your job to make sure the grave says �it is enough,� and my job to sate my thirsty ambition.�
�The leech has two daughters, crying �give, give.� Beware that you do not let your greed lead to your fall. You should have all you need,� Ve said.
�Why are you so cautious all of the sudden,� Oen said.
�I am concerned that the Directrix will move against us now that you have treated his sister so shabbily. Even a person as ignorant of family duty as Natonito is cannot let his sister�s honor go unavenged. If he dueled you, you might have a chance, but he will destroy you by trapping you, and if you go down I do not want to go down with you.�
�You sense the winds are shifting?� Oen said. �Why don�t you just get rid of Karen?�
�If I did that our heads would hang from the highest trees in Bravia as an object lesson not to mess with the Directrix or his family,� Ve said. �I want you to be careful until Natonito�s wrath subsides, so that we do not suffer his vengeance.�
�We shall see,� Oen said. �Why don�t you let your son handle more of the work right now?�
�My son is going to the Imperial school this fall, and I will no longer have his services. It will demand that we curtail our activities, for I have no one in my pay as cold-blooded and as ruthlessly efficient as he is at murder. However, to be a true ubermensh he must be strong in mind as well as body,� Ve said.
�I see,� Oen said soberly. �We shall have to be very careful then.�
Meanwhile, at the estate in Cork, Karen was having a much better time of things than Oen. After all, she no longer had to worry if she and her reputation would be safe, and no longer had to cover for her husband. While she wished him well on his life, he had betrayed the marriage and she could not let that stand. She would not stand by his side and deny the truth of the evil that her husband had committed.
She did not need the patronage of her husband, or even her brother, to survive. She, like the best of her family, including her brother, had a mind and a skill for business, and she had profited from her own investments. Thus, she had acquired a fortune of her own to ensure her lifestyle. She saw to it that the people of the Cork estate received the best care they could, and even some land of their own to till so they could be landowners and profit from the sweat of their labor.
Karen, like all noble people in all times, saw it as unconscionable that some should work so that others could profit off of their labor. For as capital should earn profits, so should labor earn just labor and the opportunity for increase. The laborer is worthy of his hire. While she might have profited more, cynics might say, if she had been less caring of her people, she saw beyond the narrow viewpoint of those who merely seek their own gratification and prosperity.
For, after all, wealth is only secure when all have the possibility of sharing in it. If some are, without merit, destined to succeed and others, no matter how hard they work, are destined to poverty, then the poor had might as well rise up and possess their back wages, held back by fraud. There should not be equality of ends, for all must gain what they earn, but likewise, so should all gain only what they earn, and not a groshen more. For it was unjust that some should be born with all and others should be born without but little hope of a better life.
�Se�ora,� a servant said.
�Yes?� Karen replied.
�There is a problem with the plumbing in one of the houses,� the servant said. �Water has backed up in some of the rooms.�
�Have you called anyone about it?� Karen asked.
�Yes, but they refused to serve our kind. They demanded to see a white person before they did their job,� the servant said.
�Those maricones,� Karen replied. �Shall bigotry forever reign among the more foolish among us?� She walked outside to the plumber.
�Are you the lady of the house?� the plumber asked.
�Yes, this is my estate,� Karen replied.
�I wanted to make sure this work was allowed by those in charge,� the plumber stated.
�Why can�t you just do the work when my people pay you the money?� Karen asked.
�Some people do not like improvements to be made to their estates, since it gives the tenants extra rights as to the value of their improvements. Many people do not even let their tenants maintain their property without explicit permission,� the plumber said.
�These are my people, and they are to have the best life they can afford to have,� Karen said.
�Yes ma�am,� the plumber replied.
The person in charge of the house that had the plumbing problem came up to Karen to express his thanks. �Muchas gracias,� he said.
�De nada,� Karen replied. �I am simply doing my duty.�
�Yes,� the man said haltingly. �But that is more than most do.�
�Just because most do not do that is right makes me any more righteous for simply doing what I should,� Karen said. �But I am glad that you and your family will be doing better.�
�I am glad too,� the man said. �We have been through many farms, but this is the best.�
�Enjoy yourself,� Karen said. �We will be doing year round farming here, so there is always a place for those who work hard and well.�
�Thank you again,� the man said.
�You are most welcome,� Karen said, politely walking back to the manor house.
�I cannot believe those people,� the servant said.
�There must be something rotten inside the heart of mankind,� Karen said. �Unless we exercise our better judgement, it soon decays, and we are pray to the worst desires inside.�
�What can be done about it?� the servant asked.
�I do not know,� Karen said. �If men were angels we would have no need for government. A government cannot be of the people unless the people and their opinions are represented and are the basis of government. A government cannot be by the people unless they support it with their thoughts and actions. A government cannot be for the people unless it works to better them, to better approximate the perfect equality that God desires for us all, that we who believe in him should be rewarded according to our own works.�
�Too bad men are not angels,� the servant said.
�Yes, too bad,� Karen said.
[ Chapter 5 ] [ Till Death Do Us Part, Part III, Chapter 1 ]
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