There was something about this Asar-Suti didn't like; the situation felt strangely familiar.
Ah, yes, he himself fresh in the bar, come after Lochiel; and everybody trying to explain to him why that was wrong.
I'm not supposed to tell a blond fellow who looks as if he were what Gil calls a bloke, and who just tried to eat one of our waitrats - poor Trashka! - all that complicated stuff Meg told me, am I? he thought, groaning inwardly.
"I doubt she ought to leave before her tab is paid in full, he said, grinning at the 'bloke'. "And I doubt she wants to go back there - the country forsaken by your miserable god sounds bleak beyond description! What god is that who tells his people so many idiotic things, like abominating the colour blue? I never demanded that my followers follow rules, I just demanded that they produced the results I wanted. How they got there was their own business, and if they called on me for magic, I would give it to them. I was a volcano! Your god, in comparison, sounds like a miserable old an with his slippers on the wrong feet."
"Nuggan was a little strange, but we weren't starving." Johnny snaps. "And he had some pretty good ideas, rather than letting all the women run and speak free as if they owned the place. If enough believe, maybe he will come back. Betty is a Borogravian woman, and I doubt she won't miss her home and her culture, whatever you may think."
Bloke is an excellent description. The mun applauds accordingly.
Baaaaaaad move. The Ihlini used to be actually proud of their egalitarian outlook - women did the Seker's magic and work just as the men did.
Asar-Suti looked at the bloke condescendingly. "Letting your women do things - who do you think you are to decide such things? No wonder she left you and your miserable country and your disgraceful, stinking old god. You won't have the money to pay her tab, anyway; you look awfully scuffy."
Johnny scowls, then breaks into a grin at the last line.
"Even you would look scruffy if you'd been trekking for tens of miles looking for your wife. Actually, in Borogravian terms, I'm a pretty good catch. She would have a good house, plenty of help with the child, and we can import enough food for them both. Plus she can stay in her country without being known as a whore. I would say those are pretty good things."
"The big question is," Asar-Suti said, casually, "does she want to? The food and the help with the kid are much better here, and if you can't pay her tab, I'm sure you're welcome to wash dishes for an indefinite time."
"If payment is what she needs, I can do that." He tries a softer, serious look. "I just want her home, safe. And the baby. She panicked and ran, and she isn't safe on her own."
"There is bar security that watches over keeping the rules," Asar-Suti said. "Somebody dragging someone else out that door against their will is sure to bring them. Then you can go marinate in the cells! People here are free unless they freely chose otherwise!"
Asar-Suti loved paradoxes, yes. He actually preferred them deep-fried, thank you.
"I won't need to drag her, she will come." he says simply.
A grin. "She's had enough time to find out that Borogravia does not look kindly upon its single mothers. And I shall forgive her and draw them both lovingly into my home."
"You are stupid. You refuse to face reality. You are just as I was when I first came here. You bore me senseless, and I better leave you to it. I don't feel like explaining what I learned slowly and very painfully to some blond, grinning bloke. After you've gnawed through your first pieces of mental granite and realised there might be something not working with your outlook on life, come and find me in the garden. I will make you rake leaves and might just answer your questions. Goodbye until then."
He walked off and vanished in the kitchen door to find Gil. Had he himself really been that irritating when he was new?
Ah, yes, he himself fresh in the bar, come after Lochiel; and everybody trying to explain to him why that was wrong.
I'm not supposed to tell a blond fellow who looks as if he were what Gil calls a bloke, and who just tried to eat one of our waitrats - poor Trashka! - all that complicated stuff Meg told me, am I? he thought, groaning inwardly.
"I doubt she ought to leave before her tab is paid in full, he said, grinning at the 'bloke'. "And I doubt she wants to go back there - the country forsaken by your miserable god sounds bleak beyond description! What god is that who tells his people so many idiotic things, like abominating the colour blue? I never demanded that my followers follow rules, I just demanded that they produced the results I wanted. How they got there was their own business, and if they called on me for magic, I would give it to them. I was a volcano! Your god, in comparison, sounds like a miserable old an with his slippers on the wrong feet."
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Bloke is an excellent description. The mun applauds accordingly.
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Asar-Suti looked at the bloke condescendingly. "Letting your women do things - who do you think you are to decide such things? No wonder she left you and your miserable country and your disgraceful, stinking old god. You won't have the money to pay her tab, anyway; you look awfully scuffy."
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"Even you would look scruffy if you'd been trekking for tens of miles looking for your wife. Actually, in Borogravian terms, I'm a pretty good catch. She would have a good house, plenty of help with the child, and we can import enough food for them both. Plus she can stay in her country without being known as a whore. I would say those are pretty good things."
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He didn't like what he was hearing, no way.
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A smirk. "And what exactly are you going to do about it? You just told me there was no violence here."
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Asar-Suti loved paradoxes, yes. He actually preferred them deep-fried, thank you.
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A grin. "She's had enough time to find out that Borogravia does not look kindly upon its single mothers. And I shall forgive her and draw them both lovingly into my home."
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"You are stupid. You refuse to face reality. You are just as I was when I first came here. You bore me senseless, and I better leave you to it. I don't feel like explaining what I learned slowly and very painfully to some blond, grinning bloke. After you've gnawed through your first pieces of mental granite and realised there might be something not working with your outlook on life, come and find me in the garden. I will make you rake leaves and might just answer your questions. Goodbye until then."
He walked off and vanished in the kitchen door to find Gil. Had he himself really been that irritating when he was new?
He'd have to warn Shufti.
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