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Ellenda put her hand on the closest orb. Its transparent shell popped like a soap bubble, releasing a swarm of glowing golden insects into the air. They surged up, turned, streaked to the Murder Beaks’ section, and hovered around Pivor.
Pivor rose with a big smile, bowed to the left, bowed to the right, grinned again, displaying even, white teeth, and made his way down the stairway that formed from his section. He crossed the arena and stood opposite Ellenda. They faced each other with ten feet between them. Tiny blue sparks by their ears announced their mikes being activated.
“The question the two of you must contemplate today is…” The First Scholar paused dramatically. “What is more important, happiness or duty? You have one hundred moments to consider your answer.”
The arena fell silent. Seconds ticked by.
The First Scholar’s egg turned white. The time to prepare ran out.
“Daughter of Uma,” Thek said, “The floor is yours.”
“Duty,” Ellenda said.
The First Scholar turned to Pivor.
“Happiness,” the Murder Bird candidate said.
Silence.
The First Scholar waited for a couple more breaths and turned to Ellenda. “You must defend your answer.”
“Happiness is fleeting, subjective, and selfish. Submitting to and successfully carrying out your duty ensures the continued survival of society.”
“Duty is equally subjective,” Pivor answered. “If I see a child being chased by a predator, is it my duty to intervene?”
“Yes.”
“But, by intervening I put my own survival at risk. I’m an adult who survived diseases and the perils of my own childhood. If I’m killed by the predator, would my death not be a greater loss to society than a child who has yet to mature? Could that child take my place and assume my obligations? What of my duty to my clan and family who depend on me?”
Ellenda didn’t answer.
Pivor kept going. “You say that duty exists to ensure the survival of society. I say that the purpose of society is to create individual happiness. Every law of a successful society is designed to help its members attain that goal. We seek to guarantee safety, access to resources, individual rights, and we even guard mandatory leisure. Therefore, the pursuit of happiness is supreme over carrying out one’s duty.”
“I would save the child. I have nothing more to say.” Ellenda pulled her hood over her head.
The First Scholar waited a few seconds, but the hood remained up.
“Very well,” he announced. “Thank you both. You may return to your seats.”
The two candidates rejoined their delegations. The white light bounced again.
One of the twelve delegates was an assassin. I was hoping for a peek at their cards during this debate. Some clue, something that might identify them as a killer. So far, Ellenda clearly didn’t want to participate, and Pivor came off as selfish. Not particularly illuminating.
The light stopped on House Meer. Bestata rose, her black syn-armor swallowing the light. She had attached a white cloak to it, made of lightweight fabric. I angled the air current circulating through the arena toward her, and the cloak billowed behind her as she marched down her ramp. It was such a pretty cloak. It would be a shame to waste it.
“Dramatic,” Kosandion murmured.
“Vampires often are. One time they visited this inn in secret, but they still had to introduce themselves, so they forcefully whispered their house creed at me.”
Kosandion smiled.
Bestata reached the orbs and planted her hand on one of them without hesitation. It burst, and the glittering swarm veered to the Dushegubs and settled on Unessa’s hair like a crown.
“Nice touch,” Kosandion approved.
“Thank you.”
Unessa sashayed her way to the arena floor. She wore a brilliant green gown that moved with every step, giving hints of the pale skin underneath.
“I pose the following question for your consideration,” the First Scholar announced. “What is the purpose of your existence and why is your purpose superior to your opponent’s? You have one hundred moments to consider your an—”
“Procreation!” Unessa said. She turned to look at Kosandion and smiled.
Bestata stared at her for a stunned second and looked at the First Scholar. “I am supposed to debate that?”
“Do your best,” the First Scholar told her.
“There are other things besides procreation. Devotion, the pursuit of personal excellence, learning, gaining expertise, passing it on to next generation.”
Knowing the First Scholar, that answer earned Bestata all the brownie points. She was talking about martial prowess, and he was thinking in terms of academic wisdom, but knowledge was knowledge.
“Honor,” Bestata continued. “Pride in accomplishments. The glory of your house. A death that would be remembered. All of these are more important than simple copulation and reproduction.”
Unessa smiled. She was likely going for sweet, but there was a rotten edge to it. She looked slightly reptilian, like a lizard about to snatch a grub.
“And if your people stopped breeding, who would do all those things?”
“My people haven’t stopped breeding for thousands of years. It is an instinct. I do realize you’ve been brought up by logs but do try to think less like a stump.”
