The Trinity War (Book 3 of the Trinity series)

Chapter 21

"Trying to escape?" the Sultan asked after Gerrard and I were thrown in front of him on our knees.

"Trying being the operative word," I muttered. 

"You aren't making your punishment any easier on yourselves, are you?" he asked, only pretending to be concerned.

"Well, if you treated us better maybe we wouldn't be trying to escape," I said.

"What do you mean? How else do you treat prisoners?" he replied.

"When we went to one of the Earth nations, even though we were prisoners of the Queen's, she still made sure we were bathed, fed, and rested. She didn't once try to harm us until she knew exactly who we were," I said. "You see, the difference between you and the Queen of the Earth nation is that she was kind and fair. That's why as a Queen, she was greatly loved by everyone and is now a good friend of ours. She's one of the few people that I respect and revere. After the way you've treated us, I would never even think to consider befriending you, let alone respect you," I continued.

The Sultan stood seething at me. He had taken his turban off now and I could see the veins in his temple throbbing. Clearly, I had  touched a nerve. But whether or not it was enough to save mine and Gerrard's lives was uncertain.

"So am I to blame if I try to exercise some order around here? Pardon me for being a strict ruler! Imagine the state of this kingdom if I were to be as relaxed as this Queen you speak of. We would be obliterated by enemies in an instant!" the Sultan cried.

"Except they wouldn't. They'd respect you and consider you an ally. There's a reason that your enemies are your enemies. It's because of the relationship you choose to make with them. You choose to feel hatred towards them, so they do the same to you. It's one of the laws of the universe. An eye for an eye. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you show your so-called enemies that you hate them, they'll show you that they hate you just as much. So instead, you could be the bigger person and step back. Be kind. Doing that alone will confuse the hell out of them. And then you talk like a civil human being instead of an animal," I said.

The Sultan stood speechless and staring. I breathed heavily, tired from the energy my little speech took. I had initially wanted to prolong my inevitable punishment for trying to escape. But as I spoke, I found myself venting all of my pent up frustrations with the magical world. 

From what I could tell so far, the hidden world of magic was just as messed up and broken as the one that I was a part of. Every nation was isolated. There was no nation that knew the whereabouts of another. Everyone hated each other and it seemed like the entire magical kingdom was in a state of never-ending war. How did we get like this? Was there ever a time when there was peace all around? I had always thought that since we were all magic users, we would be willing to help one another, for the sole sake that we were the same because we could do magic. But as my time in other nations increased, I was starting to think otherwise. We were just like everyone else: separated and vengeful.

"Tell me something. You hate the Aguamenti because of some wars of the past that never even affected you and now you're projecting that hate onto us," I said.

"How dare you say that those wars didn't affect me! They affect everyone in this kingdom! They are a part of our history," he said.

"So? Because of whatever my ancestors did to your ancestors hundreds of years ago, you're going to keep this feud going? When will it end? The truth of the matter is, is that whatever happened all those years ago doesn't affect you; it affected them. But now, it's your chance to start over. It's your chance to make your own decisions and not follow the ancient decisions of the past. Be your own self. What kind of ruler are you if you choose to make the same stupid choices of your ancestors? Because in my opinion, if you change up the way you choose to exert your power, you will be the one remembered in history. For making a difference," I told the Sultan.