The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)

by James Islington

CHAIN YOUR ANGER IN THE dark, my mother used to tell me, and it will only thrive.

The only one who ever seemed interested in whether I was filling my own potential, rather than exceeding that of others.

‘A ladder should not be climbed from the shoulders of others,’

Interesting. Matias, one of my tutors at Suus, used to theorise that the dynamics of power between the senatorial pyramids would change drastically once there was no one left to conquer.

“Hate is its own violence, my prince. Your only choice is whether to let it hurt them, or you.”

Because they fear what we know.

IT IS YOU—ALL OF YOU—WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING IT. NOT THOSE IN POWER. NOT THE ONES WHO WIELD WHAT YOU GIVE THEM, BECAUSE YOU GIVE IT TO THEM. YOU LET THEM STAND ON YOUR SHOULDERS, ALL FOR THE DREAM OF ONE DAY BEING ABLE TO STAND ATOP OTHERS’. EVEN WHEN YOU KNOW, DEEP DOWN, THAT IT IS AN ILLUSION. AS UNATTAINABLE FOR MOST OF YOU AS IT IS SELFISH.”

The power to protect is the highest of responsibilities, Diago. When a man is given it, his duty is not only to the people he thinks are worthy.

Estevan tilts his head up and to the side, enough so that I can see his face. His eyes are red. Tears leak from them. “We are what they make us, Diago.” “We don’t have to be.”

“Silence is a statement, Diago. Inaction picks a side. And when those lead to personal benefit, they are complicity.”