Intermission 8 Page 44
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“You know how it goes from there. They kept me in an out-of-the-way cell rather than sensationalize my incarceration. It wasn’t long before I was going to be executed.”
“And then you freed me.”
“You gave me a new purpose.”
“You gave me a chance to help people.”
“And up until now, I’ve repaid you with lies by omission.”
“And when we met Lara, I was so quick to call her a monster…”
“By the numbers, even if I could lay every victim of the arachnomancers at her feet personally…”
“I’m at LEAST four times the monster she is.”
“And you must’ve spent so much on this room…”
“If you want me to leave, I’ll send you some money later to—”
“Kamau.”
“If I’d met you back then….”
“We’d have been enemies.”
“I might have hated you.”
“But… I didn’t meet that Kamau.”
“I met the Kamau that was trying to make it right.”
Aww…Kind and compassionate Ricki strikes again!
Here’s hoping nobody ever meets that other Kamau again.
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(Except maaaaaaybe the Emperor or somesuch… But even if Kamau would get pitched in a battle against someone “important” or dangerous from the Empire, that wouldn’t necessarily mean he’d be that other Kamau again. I think the Kamau we know would still fight for a reason – other than because someone told him so – which can make a lot of difference. Granted, not to a person who gets/got killed, but certainly to those still alive.)
I don’t think anything could bring the other Kamau back now, and that’s good. But I do want to see Kamau cut down a champion. How much does a new arm, magical sword repair, and the blessing of a different god-emperor cost?
He tried it already and it didn’t go well.
No, Ricki. You wouldn’t have been enemies. You would have been dead, and Kamau wouldn’t even mention your death to his wife because it would’ve been such a little thing.
I have tears in my eyes.