Newcomer: Day 3

Word Count: 18,025

Summary of Events:

At lunch on Monday Miķelis and his fellow soldiers were informed that an inspection of the whole camp would be taking place before supper; soldiers at the camp who were farther along in their training said that likely meant that a high-ranking officer, nobleman, or even a member of the royal family was coming by. Late in the afternoon, everyone was assembled and watched as a heavily-guarded carriage arrived, from which emerged the Crown Prince, his arm in a sling and limping, who, following the inspection, was announced as the interim commander of the camp. Although the inspection was supposed to include inspecting the tents, the prince's injuries were such that it was foregone, for which Miķelis and Kristiāns were quickly glad, as when they returned to their tent, they found that Genādijs had made a mess of it that would've guaranteed their failing of the inspection, which they cleaned up before supper…

Excerpt of the Day:

The call announcing supper sounded just as they were finished. Miķelis rose and looked at Kristiāns, who was scowling.

“As soon as I lay eyes on him I’m going to give him what he deserves,” Kristiāns declared.

“Please don’t,” Miķelis said.

A look of incredulity came over Kristiāns’ face. “Don’t!? Why not!?”

“The Scriptures say that each man should do unto others as he would have them do unto him,” Miķelis replied. “That we should not become overcome by evil, but should overcome evil with good, showing kindness to the one who wronged us instead of the retribution he deserves, for by so doing, we heap burning coals of guilt upon his head, as opposed to starting a war of retaliation.”

“But…” Kristiāns said. “But… why?”

“It is the natural instinct of man to fight fire with fire,” Miķelis replied. “We believe that by doing the same thing to someone that they’ve done to us, they’ll understand why we don’t like it, and will feel badly for having hurt us. Instead, it’s more likely that by doing so, they shall cause us another harm, prompting us to harm them again, and so on, until eventually, logically, we end up being slain.”

“That seems somewhat extreme,” Kristiāns said.

“That is rather what this war is,” Miķelis replied. “The Imperator’s soldiers didn’t read their maps rightly and invaded us while trying to invade Laniakija, which upset the king, who decided to strike the Imperator’s men back, and so did, which upset the Imperator gravely, prompting him to intentionally invade us, and it’s likely this war will either continue until we cease to exist, or the king and the Imperator are killed.”

Kristiāns tilted his head, looking like he could concede the point, but wasn’t fully wont to do so.

“God tells us not to do unto others as they have done unto us, but to do unto others what we would have them do unto us,” Miķelis said. “Thus, if we don’t want them to cause us harm, we should not cause them harm. If we don’t want them to be angry at us, we should not be angry at them. Instead of fighting fire with fire, we ought to fight fire with water, for it shall show them that we, like our God, are kind, gentle, and benevolent, not harsh, cruel, and belligerent, and they shall feel badly for their actions, and thus shall seek to make right with us.”

“You sound like a priest,” Kristiāns said. “Are you related to one?”

“No,” Miķelis replied.

“Do you mean to become a priest?” Kristiāns asked.

“No,” Miķelis replied.

“You certainly seem to be knowledgable about the Scriptures like a priest,” Kristiāns said.

“More people should be,” Miķelis said. “It shouldn’t just be the priests.”

“But they’ve studied what they need to know in order to understand the Scriptures,” Kristiāns said. “That sort of study isn’t for everyone, as then there would be no need of priests.”

“I’m sure there would still be,” Miķelis said. “But I do think that there should be more general glorification of God among the people, and a better knowledge of the Scriptures for everyone would be beneficial to that end.”