(Text; UN: motherofdragons)

[decisiveconquest]

I will not hide my identity nor pretend these words are not attached to me. There were men who thought I committed many wrongs before I came here. One man held me accountable and spared me nothing besides a lingering death, which leads me to my question: in your estimation, are there any crimes that are unforgivable?

What a common man or woman cannot - should not - do, a king or a queen can do for the good of their people, correct? Great sacrifices are expected in battle - in war - however do you think that a ruler's life should be forfeit for them? What good can they do if they are slain prematurely?

I can admit when I am wrong, but on this...

I don't understand.

Comments

[decisiveconquest]

But that is precisely what a monarch does. They have councils, of course, but, in the end, it is their decision that rules one kingdom or seven.

What flaw?

[provenforce]

That's the flaw. No one should decide alone. In my galaxy, there is- was a council, made up of people who were from everywhere. Many planets had voices. They would vote. Things would change, depending on the votes.

Before there was an Emperor, and he terrorized the galaxy, drove entire planets into ruin. The council may not be perfect, but by all accounts I've heard, things were better under them than they ever were the conquering Emperor.

[decisiveconquest]

What would happen if your council began to turn on itself? Wolves can and will devour their own kind; packs can be broken down by a rumor, by a betrayal.

My council turned against me.

[provenforce]

I don't know a lot about it, to be honest. I grew up on a planet outside the council's sphere of concern. I know things like that happened, but they were usually dealt with by removing someone from office or overturning votes, I guess.

Why would your council turn against you?

[decisiveconquest]

They thought I was becoming my father. He was called the Mad King for good reason. I admit that and I made it clear I had no intention of ruling like him. Yet I was pushed into extreme action and while I was successful in winning a war, they found my actions unforgivable.

[provenforce]

It sounds like it was a complicated situation. Did any of them try to speak with you about their fears?

[decisiveconquest]

I had no time to listen; one war was won, another laid before us. Their fears were ill-timed and ill-placed.

[provenforce]

What do you mean, another lay before you? You were under attack?

[decisiveconquest]

Yes. The queen of the usurper who stole my father's throne sought my death and the death of my children.

[provenforce]

What extreme action did you take, that made them turn against you when it sounds like a fight that needed to be fought?

[decisiveconquest]

My enemy used the citizens of the city as a shield. She expected me to back down; she expected to live another day.

I razed the city to the ground with my dragon and brought down the sky on top of her.

[provenforce]

...Did you try to find a better way first? If an enemy is using innocent lives as a shield you go around the shield.