The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)

by James Islington

Will on contact. Not just the portion the Hierarchy usually takes from the millions of Octavii who form its foundation, either. All of your drive, your focus, your mental and physical energy, is funnelled away by these pale stone beds to be received by some distant, particularly favoured Septimus.

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

“They say that young men know they will die, but only old men believe it.

“There is always something more to lose,

“But I can hate without it coming to violence.”

Victims can still be enemies.”

“AND LET THERE BE NO MISTAKE: 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.

You fight the tyranny of the many, or you are one of them.”

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

“A man will always wonder what might have been, but a wise one recognises fortune when it comes. For all I left behind, life has not been unkind to me.”

“There comes a point in every man’s life where he can rail against the unfairness of the world until he loses, or he can do his best in it. Remain a victim, or become a survivor.”

“Nervousness means there’s a fear to be faced ahead, Diago. The man who is never nervous, never does anything hard. The man who is never nervous, never grows.”

A fair system only works if there’s an unbiased means of assessing merit. When there is no pride or selfishness involved.” He gives a soft snort, shaking his head. “Which means that fair systems cannot exist where people are involved.”

we’re meant to be the brightest of the Republic, but almost all of us here are the children of senators and knights. We’ve been trained, educated, since we could walk. Of course we’re going to be ‘better’ than some fifth son of an Octavus who’s been ceding half his life, just so his family can get by. Especially at tests which are devised by the same people who trained us. Who decide what merit is

The Republic rewards people who take, not who deserve.” Quoting Thavius again. “A system built on promise, and therefore on greed,”

In trying to become God, they created Him.

There are those who see what should be, and complain that they do not get their due. And then there are those who see what is, and figure out how to use it to their advantage. Or at the least, overcome it.”

“That’s the problem with people, though, isn’t it? They always think that other people are the problem.”

“You want to remove the Princeps? The senators? You’ll just become them, sooner or later. If all you’re trying to do is change who’s in control, then you don’t really want to change anything.”

“You cannot be free if you are afraid to die.”

“I was known as Artemius Sel. I was a traitor to the commandment of isolation. I attempted to gain synchronism and remove the seal to Obiteum during the rebellion of the seventh era after the Rending. I have thus been lawfully condemned to servitude, guiding those who come after.”

“They ask something small of you. A thing you would prefer not to do, but is not so terrible. You think you are working your way up, but in fact they are changing you. Moulding you into what they think you should be, one compromise at a time.”

The weak and poor endure in the Hierarchy because the alternatives are harder, not because there are none. They know the system is wrong, but they choose not to think or speak up or act because they ultimately hope that in their silence, they will gain. Or at the very least not have to give more than they have already given. They are driven by myopic self-interest and greed just as much as the senators and knights,

The decision may have been made by the few, Diago, but it’s the Will of the many that killed your family.”

Don’t mistake inaction for neutrality.”

Violence is no answer to grief,

“You’re saying there’s no such thing as a good ruler.” “There isn’t.”

The qualities of a king change the kingdom. And not one of us is perfect enough to have a right to lead.”

“I want you to understand that no country’s governance is perfect. Anyone who looks at a system of people and thinks the system is the problem, is a fool.

“There is no form of government that is immune from mistakes or from corruption—but

“I’m going to make sure you burn for this.”

“Death is only meaningless if it does not change us,