“So there are some Dryads buried in the ground? Like, completely underground?”
“No, not completely,” Eir shook her head. “Their heads and shoulders were still exposed. It was like they were lying in pools of water; except they were covered in earth. I’ve never seen a healing method quite like that. I would say it is effective, though.”
The thought of a bunch of Dryads sticking out of the ground like the tops of carrots made Jadis laugh silently. She knew they were plant-based lifeforms, but literally burying themselves in dirt to recover from injuries was not something she had expected. The idea was intriguing enough that she was tempted to get up and go see the sight for herself. She wasn’t actually going to leave her comfortable spot. But she was tempted.
Fortune’s Favored, plus Sorcha, were all back in their guest quarters. Syd reclined against the foot of one of the moss beds while Eir sat in her lap, wrapped up in her arms. The two were discussing what Eir had been doing while Jadis had been busy talking with Yorath for the later part of the day. While Jadis had been learning Dryad meditation techniques, Eir had been assisting Carys.
After Eir had poured some healing into the dragon Vetregin, she had followed the Dryad priestess back inside and to a well-protected hollow near where the last of the five waterfalls flowed into the stream that fed the grove. There Carys had shown Eir four more Dryads whom they had not met yet. Two men and two women, the sequestered Dryads had all been gravely injured during the demon’s siege. Their bodies had been mortally wounded in a way that would have spelled the death of any other being, but due to the unique biology of the Dryads, they had survived. Huge chunks of their bodies were missing, the worst injured being barely more than a head on a mangled torso. The healing magic that Carys possessed had stabilized them, but none would be able to live without regeneration of their missing limbs and torsos. Hence, the planting.
“I can’t imagine regrowing practically my whole body like that,” Syd mused as she idly ran her hands up and down Eir’s arms. “It’s so bizarre. How long did Carys say it’ll take?”
“Spring at the earliest,” Eir said. “Before the least injured is made fully whole again. The others will likely take much longer. Perhaps next fall.”
“A long time to be rooted like a turnip,” Syd grimaced. “But I guess it’s a small price to pay for getting their bodies back.”
“Carys is amazing to have any ability to regenerate her family at all. Such magic is a rare gift. There are great healers back in the Capital that can regenerate limbs in days, sometimes hours,” Eir sighed. “Such priests are truly a blessing upon Oros. I hope I too will have that power someday.”
“Oh, I know you will,” Syd grinned as she hugged her pure little priestess close to her chest. “And once you do have the ability, I’m positive you’ll be better than any of those other priests. You’ll be the best in the world.”
Eir demurred under the praise, though her polite reserve quickly fell away as Syd peppered her face and neck with tickling kisses.
The conversation between her one self and Eir shifted Jadis’ main attention towards another interaction that was happening near her Jay self. Sabina and Sorcha were sitting at the opposite end of the circular room, on the bed next to where Jay sat. Sabina was, as she had been since the big battle, doting on the goblin witch.
Well, doting might have been the wrong word. Incessantly chatting with the bemused goblin was probably a better description. The mostly one-sided conversation had drifted across a few different topics, one being all of the rare and valuable magical plant components that the Dryads had given Sabina. Since she was a witch, magical components were a subject that Sorcha had a fair amount of experience with and could offer some good input. The other topic was Sorcha’s new foot.
The Dryads had fashioned a prosthetic foot for the goblin. Jadis had expected it to be a peg leg or something equally primitive, but instead it was something like a mix between the modern prosthetics Jadis was familiar with back on Earth and a definitively magical creation. The foot was, of course, made of wood; but instead of being some simple carving, it was a living plant with vines and roots that had taken on the shape of foot. It reminded Jadis of Tegwyn’s magic in the way it looked like a mostly natural limb, except that where it connected to Sorcha’s flesh, she could see the roots creeping up the woman’s leg and holding it onto her.
Sorcha could move and flex the new limb, just like her remaining foot, though she couldn’t feel any sensation through it. The plant-foot also required magic to sustain it, which meant she was constantly feeding a small amount of her magic reserves into the plant. Fortunately her Will was high enough that the amount she was expending on an hourly basis was less than what she was regaining through her natural magical regeneration, but it was still a drain on her resources. The plant also needed to be watered daily, which was why Sorcha had been sitting with her new foot in a bowl of water for the past hour.
Not as good as a true regeneration, but better than being without a foot at all.
“—and that’s why the Dryads will probably ask that Ricket be remanded to them.”
Jay blinked. Her attention had wandered a bit, thinking about Sorcha’s situation and she had only caught the tail end of Aila’s statement.
“Sorry, repeat that?” Jay asked as she interrupted Aila. “What are the Dryads doing with Ricket?”
Aila gave Jay a look of exasperation, but she patiently repeated herself anyway. She had spent the late afternoon with Willa, Noll, and Yorath’s wife, Olwyn. While Jadis had been talking with the elder, Aila had been discussing next steps with that small group.
“The Dryads are in need of reinforcements to protect their grove. Two of their number died during this siege and four others are too injured to fight. The siege has been broken, but it’s entirely possible, even probable, that the grove will be attacked again. It’s only prudent that they prepare for that eventuality.”
“Yeah, but they have Vetregin, don’t they?” Jay pointed out. “He isn’t possessed, or partially possessed, anymore. They should be pretty well protected with him around. Plus Jack’s here now, too.”
“Vetregin’s presence isn’t permanent,” Aila shook her head. “The Dryads do not control the dragon. He came here for healing, but once he is rested and well again, he will no doubt fly back to his den. Or go to the ocean to seek out food. Also, do you really think Jack can be counted on for constant support?”
“No,” Jay said instantly. “He’s probably going to wander off to do something else as soon as the idea pops into his head.”
“Exactly,” Aila nodded. “That is why the Dryads will likely ask Willa to give them Ricket.”
Jay frowned, one eyebrow raised as she looked at Aila. The two were sitting next to each other on the moss bed, mostly undressed as they got ready for the night. Seeing her girlfriend in very little clothing was distracting, but the way Aila had worded the proposed situation had Jadis’ antennae up.
“You say that like Ricket is property to be handed over,” Jay stated, a note of question in her tone.
“In a certain sense,” Aila shrugged slightly. “He is.”
Jay’s frown deepened.
“He’s a person. A prisoner, yes, but still a person, not property. Unless you’re saying he’s a slave?”
Aila opened her mouth to reply, then shut it as she considered Jay’s question. It took her a minute or so, time that Jadis let her have without complaint. The others in the room were still focused on their own various conversations, but she noted that both Kerr and Sabina had seemed to twig onto Jay’s unhappiness and were looking her way.
“Sometimes I forget that you aren’t native to our… culture,” Aila said slowly. “I can see where your confusion comes from, I think. What, by your definition, is a slave?”
“A slave is a person who is the property of another person. They have no free agency and are subject to the wants and will of the person who owns them.”
Jay tried to keep her answer as close to a dictionary definition as she could, not adding any commentary on the institution of slavery. Her tone probably gave away her feelings on it somewhat, though.
“A fair summation,” Aila agreed. “Now, do you have any concept of the term ‘life debt’?”
Jay blinked. She did know what a life debt was, at least conceptually. Life debts were something she’d really only observed in fiction, never in a real-life situation.
“It’s when a person owes their life to another person because they saved them. In my limited experience, it’s usually the kind of thing where the person who owes the life debt will protect the other person who saved them until they have saved their life in return.”
“Also a fair definition. A life for a life, in a positive context. Now, what if instead of a person having their life saved by another, that person takes another’s life? What is to be done with that person then?”
Jadis had a feeling she knew where Aila was going with her explanation, but she followed along and answered her question with the solutions she knew were what would be done in her own culture.
“Well, presuming guilt could be definitely established, then a punishment appropriate to the crime would be levied against that person. A prison sentence of some years, perhaps life imprisonment, or maybe even execution. I suppose it would depend on the circumstances that led to the death.”
Kerr snorted from where she lay on her stomach on her bed, feet kicking in the air and tail wagging lazily across her bare bottom.
“Imprisonment? For life? Who the fuck would waste their time doing that to a murderer? That’d be such a fucking waste of resources.”
“I’ve heard they do that in the Rubaline Dominion,” Bridget pipped up from where she was braiding her hair, having just washed and combed it. “Sort of a reverse exile punishment. Throw them in a pit they can’t leave, bare essentials to keep going until the end of their days. Really nasty way to go.”
“I guess you could do that if you want to prolong suffering on some piece of shit you really hate,” Kerr curled her lip. “Still better to just kill them and be done with it. Why waste the food on someone who no longer does any good for the clan?”
Kerr’s take on capital punishment was definitely different from what Jadis was used to back on Earth. It felt like there wasn’t much of an appeals system in Clan Nox. There was also the whole idea of imprisonment for rehabilitation, but that was a topic Jadis didn’t think she wanted to go down at the moment. She still wanted to understand where Aila was going with the whole “slave” and “life debt” topic.
“Okay, so, clearly imprisonment isn’t how things are handled up in the Verdant Sea. I’m guessing Imperial law is similar in that sense?”
“Temporary imprisonment of a criminal is normal,” Aila tilted her head towards Jay. “But long-term sentences aren’t handled that way. There’s actually a core tenet in Valtar’s teachings that guides what is done with those who have been charged and convicted of crimes against their fellow mortals. I’m not about to quote scripture, but the gist of it is thus: ‘the poorest use of a man is to kill him.’ In essence, you shouldn’t waste a person’s life, even if they have done wrong. It’s always better to put him to some good use if it is possible to do so. Throwing a person into a pit and leaving them there to rot is just as much a waste as simply executing them.”
“Yeah, but if you execute them, at least you can be certain that they won’t cause any more harm,” Jay pointed out. “Same can be said if you imprison them. If they’re locked away, they can’t hurt anyone else.”
Even as she said it, Jadis knew that the second part of her argument wasn’t wholly true. Prisoners could still cause harm, either to other prisoners, to those who guarded them, or to the public at large if they escaped. Still, she stuck with the intent of the argument, if not the reality of it.
“If a person is truly that much of a threat, then yes, execution would be appropriate,” Aila agreed.
“Or exile,” Kerr added, holding up one finger. “Which can be just about the same as an execution.”
“However, in the Empire, the preferred solution is to have the convicted work their debt off. Whether they are a pickpocket who stole a few coins or a murderer who slew a man in either rage or calculation, it’s generally considered a benefit for society as a whole to put that person to a task rather than wasting them.”
“Once dead, a person has no further chance for redemption,” Eir raised her voice so that the whole room could hear. “Valtar would rather his children make amends and right their wrongs in this life than simply depart for the afterlife in disgrace.”
It seemed that Jay and Aila’s conversation had gotten the attention of everyone in the room. All were listening now, Jadis noted, including an especially attentive goblin sitting quietly next to Sabina.
“So. That brings us back to the life debt. Ricket is at least partially responsible for the deaths of three soldiers. Considering those crimes and the fact that he can be convicted of many others, including attempted murder, assault, unlawfully holding soldiers in bondage, theft, smuggling, and who knows what else, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for the Magistrate to deem him too much of a risk to society to let him live. He owes a debt to the Empire for his actions, as well to those he has harmed. On the other hand, he has shown a willingness to cooperate with authority for the benefit of society: helping us remove the demon possessing the dragon and fighting the demons attacking the Dryads. He is of a high level, skilled in a craft that could be of great use against demons, and there are people who need help. Namely, the Dryads. Why waste his life when he could be put to better use?”
“Okay, I follow the logic,” Jay said, her frown still lingering. “But what it really seems to boil down to is that because he can still be used, the Empire or the Dryads or whoever is going to turn Ricket into a slave until his ‘debt to society’ is paid off, right? Is that what’ll happen?”
“A slave w—would have no freedom at all,” Thea quietly spoke up, her fingers twisting together. “He w—would be a b—bonded servant.”
“Correct,” Aila nodded. “Ricket would have to work for no payment until such a time that his debt has been repaid. He would have to stay where he is placed and follow the commands of those put in charge over him. However, he would also be protected from mistreatment, his food and lodgings would be provided for him, and he would be free to do as he pleased whenever he isn’t working. Considering the severity of his crimes, his debt would likely take decades to repay, but it is a far better use of him than death, and it gives him a chance to redeem himself. Overall, it’s a fair arrangement.”
Jay leaned back, considering Aila’s words. Honestly, it did sound better to her than just hanging the crazy trap maker, and it was definitely a better use of resources than throwing him in a prison cell for forty years. With how Aila presented the argument, and how everyone else in the room seemed to agree with her, it looked like bonded servitude was just common sense on Oros. Or at least, in the Empire. It still made Jadis a little uncomfortable considering how close it felt to slavery, but thinking on it, she felt like that was probably her own bias from her previous life talking.
“What if he dies before the debt is paid?” Jay asked. “Does it pass on to his family? And who decides how much the debt is and when it is fulfilled?”
“If he dies, the debt dies with him,” Aila answered plainly. “They were his crimes. No other is responsible.”
“The court would decide the appropriate debt and repayment,” Eir answered the second part of Jadis’ question. “My cousin the Magistrate would have to take many factors into account, including the opinions of those who were directly impacted by his crimes, but she would be the ultimate judge of Ricket’s debt here in Weigrun. Those who take custody of Ricket or any other who is bonded would have to deliver regular reports to the court so that progress could be tracked and marked in their favor. For longer lasting debts, court appointed officials will even perform occasional inspections to make sure that no mistreatment is occurring.”
“And so, once the judgement is made, then Ricket or whoever else would be remanded to the custody of someone to start working off their debt,” Jay nodded her head, her expression contemplative. “I assume the court would decide who they would go to?”
“Correct,” Aila smiled. “Usually a third party is chosen, one who holds no grievance against them. Sometimes the bonded will be turned over to the person they did harm to, but that usually only happens in minor cases like theft.”
“Do bonded servants ever get turned over to mercenary companies?” Jay asked seriously, her head turning to look back at where Sorcha sat with Sabina, her big eyes wide and unblinking.
“Yes,” Aila nodded, also turning to look back at the goblin. “They sometimes do.”
313