[A letter to Alejandro]

[Haroshia]

My friend,

I have lived, I have drank, and I have pondered on our discussion today over The Drink.  I decided to write you this, because I can get my thoughts down much better in written form.  Letters seem to pour from my fingertips easier than they roll off my clumsy tongue. 

I thought about justice, and about what it was in this case.  I thought about where the blame truly lied.  It is correct, Marcellus was backed into a corner.  Lynneth was backed into a corner.  There was no good move in this case, because the Well is surrounded by monsters who see Refugees as nothing but something to be exploited. 

Since the moment Lynneth pushed for war and Marcellus asked for raised hands,  I have had a sense of dread growing in my guts that I could not make sense of.  I realized it went back to something I recognized as soon as Colmes spoke of the Tonsured over the bellows.  We had been put in a situation we could not win.  Any move we made would be the wrong one, and in that moment we were not heroes.  We were /victims/ as much as the Refugees were.

If anybody should be blamed for this, it is the one who set the refugees on this path.  The one who united them around Ibtihal, to make it so Baz'eel abandoned us.  By all evidence we have now, this points to the Tonsured. 

They should be the source of our ire friend.  Not the memories of our fallen comrades.  Not the Legate being scapegoated.  Not even the Astronomers.  We were put in a situation with no possible move that brought victory, because we were outplayed in a game we didn't even know we were participating in.  Even if the Tonsured's intentions were /somehow/ good, their methods could not have been better designed to kill us.

This was an attack, not just on the refugees, but on the Well.  Thinking of it from that perspective brings me a measure of peace.  I hope it does the same to you.

- Sparrow

[Don Nadie]

My friend,

I thank you for all the kindness you have shown me today. This letter included.

In truth, yes. I keep feeling this is a game whose rules we do not know, one which we play blindly. Still, inaction is also not an option. I simply wouldn't have thought it acceptable to let the refugees be enslaved. All else aside.

Your point, however, is well put, and truthful. It may well be that this, at least, brings some respite to my heart. Warad knows it thirsts for respite.

Yours,

Alejandro