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“What is the purpose of diplomacy?” his uncle asked.
“To ensure the safety of all our people and peace with all others,” Lio answered without thought.
“Allour people. You and Cassia among them. The time comes when we exhaust ourselves asking what we can do about the political situation. We must begin to ask what we can do in spite of it. What good can we create in the midst of so much wrong? The answer is always the same, although it takes on many forms: love.”
“You certainly never included a lesson like this in our discourses on balance of power or the influence of economics upon human suffering. But now that I hear you put it into words, I must say you have been teaching it to me by example for many years.”
“Then I hope you have learned it in an easier way than I did. During the Last War, a little love pushing back against immense suffering was all that kept us sane. Love was our only hope of survival.”
“But so many chose to lay down their lives for others then.”
“Many of us managed to survive instead,” his uncle said dryly. “I did not found Orthros for my nephew, my student, my friend to be the one who sacrifices himself. And I do not believe you established the Solstice Summit to let Cassia pay the ultimate price to Tenebra.”
“No. I did not. How can she do this to herself? Am I, who should be the first to strive to make her safe and happy, to sit by and watch her destroy her heart?”
“Are you?”
“She is worth more to our peoplehere. I…I am worth more to our people alive than as a memory. I have devoted my life to Orthros—how will it help for me to die for them instead?”
“How will it?”
“This isn’t what I want for any of us—and not for myself.” Lio faltered. “I can recite countless justifications to soothe my conscience, but in truth, they are all excuses. I am not the altruistic idealist I thought myself to be. I just want to be happy. Is that wrong?”
“Is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Cassia struggles to reconcile her conscience to her happiness. You cannot do that for her. Nor can I do that for you. But I can remind you of what I have taught you. Why did we found Orthros?”
“To give our people Sanctuary.”
“What is Sanctuary?”
Lio had dwelt on the words night after night as he had crafted them in glass for the window at Rose House, and again when he had emblazoned their adaptation upon a window in this very room. They had taken on new meaning when he had translated them for Cassia. “‘Come unto me, to my certain embrace, under my wing of darkness, where you shall find shelter, against my heart, where you shall find strength, in the light of my eyes, which shine with joy, in my endless sky, where you shall be free.’”
Uncle Argyros stood before him and touched his head, lifting his face. The light from Lio’s own window shone in his eyes.
“Forgive us,” his uncle said, “for walling you in with memorial statues. Forgive us for tempering the beauty of the sky by naming the stars after our fallen.”
Lio got to his feet. “I have always been grateful for your legacy.”
“We have tried to teach our children gratitude, compassion, and responsibility. But in so doing, it was never our intention to teach you guilt. We never wished for you to deprive yourself of what you must show to others. Be Merciful to yourself. Give yourself some Solace. Respect your own Will. Revel in your Gift and rejoice in your Union.”
“It is so hard to shake the fear that I will hurt others in doing so. So much is at stake. If I make one mistake, so much will be lost.”
“Whatever I have failed to properly explain, I can say with absolute certainty there is one thing I never taught you. Fear. I did not teach you to fear your mistakes. I did not teach you to fear your power. I impressed upon you that you must use it wisely, yes, but…”
“You taught me touseit.”
“You have done so since you stood before the Firstblood Circle and proposed the Summit. What did you do then, when caught between two unbearable alternatives?”
“I rejected them both and created my own.”
“Do not falter on this path now. I will not say I have faith in you, although I do. I will say, have faith in yourself.” Lio’s uncle gripped his shoulder, which he had always taken as a sign of approval. Had it also been his uncle reaching for support? “If you need one more reason, I cannot bear to lose you.”
“You will not,” Lio promised. “No one is going to lose me or Cassia. I will not lay down and give up, nor will I let her.”
RECONCILIATION
