Character Interview: Talish Kalegor
Posted by: Finch in Character Interviews, tags: character“I hope this won’t take too long,” he says, grimacing as he arranges himself on the sofa. “I have an important appointment.”
“With who?”
“With whom,” he corrects, frowning. “An impertinent question that I shall graciously ignore. Now please, get on with it.”
“No, really. With whom are you meant to meet?”
“That’s none of your damned business. Why did I even come for this farce, this is utter –”
“Stay,” I say, quietly but forcefully, and he does, his eyebrow raising halfway to his scalp. “You only have a few questions to answer.”
“I cannot imagine what you might ask that my attache could not answer.”
“How about the name of the person you’re going to meet with for starters.”
He shifts in his chair almost imperceptibly. “Persistence is only a virtue in nobility. In you it is a deviled nuisance.”
“Be that as it may.”
He shrugs. “Shalia, my mare.”
“Your mare?”
He nods simply. “Affairs of state have kept me from the stables. I keep Rufin and Faro close by, so they do not lack for my attention, but Shalia is not so conveniently placed.”
“You have time for such trivial interests?”
“Trivial?” he asks, his eyebrow again arcing upwards. “Perhaps, unaccustomed as you are to any kind of meaningful duty, you might find responsibility of this sort trivial. I assure you –”
“How often do you absent yourself from matters of state to tend to your duties as their master?”
He frowns, his expressive brows pulling together. “I am never absent when my presence is required,” he says, slowly.
“But you do occasionally choose animals over people.”
He shrugs. “It is not a matter of choosing one over the other. Men often require time and perspective to understand a situation properly, and I am one such. I wish never to pass judgment on an issue until after I have considered it as fully and as objectively as possible. Surely I have that obligation to my supplicants.”
“And your pets give you that perspective.”
“They are not pets,” he says, his voice taut. “Their intelligence lies along different paths from our own, but divergence is not an indicator of inequality or unworthiness. A pet is subservient.”
“Your animals, then, are not pets.”
“Certainly not,” he says, arranging his robes.
“What, then? Partners?”
He considers this, then nods. “Yes.”
“Have you awarded them this status as compensation for your failures at human companionship?”
He stares, his face hardening into something between a sneer and a scowl. “Is everything in your world so one-dimensional? This or that, here or there? Human companionship is philosophically inconvenient for a leader of men. Men shed thought like Shalia sheds her coat, muddying waters that are otherwise clear with careless intellectual tramping. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it is a distraction. In any event, it is I who must lead, I who must maintain focus. Emotional attachments to humans lends subjective and thus inappropriate weight to another’s beliefs. With animals, I can establish strong ties without the necessity of compromising my worldview.”
“So you are afraid to question your worldview?”
He laughs then, a quick bark followed by a head-shaking chuckle. “There is no need to question my worldview. I have proven my worth as a leader of men. My people live well; art flourishes, music thrives, trade makes merchants rich and fills the coffers of my cities so I can continue the cycle. Say instead that I fear to lose the objectivity I have striven to attain and you will be closer the mark.”
“What if you’ve simply been lucky so far? What if you should fail?”
“You see what I mean?” he says, shifting in his chair. “Intellectual detritus. Philosophical masturbation of the least useful variety. Angst-ridden introspection for the sole purpose of generating more angst. You demonstrate ably why I wish to remain at arm’s length from most men, if this is all they can contribute to my worldview.”
“You have not answered the question.”
“No, I have not,” he says, leaning back in his chair. “I do not see the point in doing so.”
“Indulge me.”
“The question is irrelevant. I have not failed.”
“The betrayal of your king is not a failure?”
He hesitates. “Not inasmuch as I do not believe the King is fit to rule,” he says, his voice slightly softer.
“You would do a better job?”
“I already have,” he said, unfolding his arms. “I am a leader of men, you must understand this. I must act based on what is best for them.”
“And you believe allying yourself with the God of Annihilation is best for your people?”
“Historically speaking? The so-called ‘Nightmare Imperium’ lasted for over a millennium; it was a time of peace and stability for the vast majority. These Tenebriel Kings have only ruled a short while in comparison, and they have given us wars and destruction on a scale never before realized. Based on this alone I believe the answer is clear.”
“Even should Dalor call upon his servants to finally and utterly destroy everything?”
“Is that a question I can possibly hope to answer?” he says viciously. “No. The Nine are beyond me, beyond anyone. I cannot care for my people based on the possibility of an apocalypse that may never come. Why did Dalor not destroy this world when he had it in his grasp? I do not know, nor does anyone, and thus I cannot plan for or around such an event. I can only do what I know is best, right now.”
“And should you choose poorly? Should your Warlord send the world into flames?”
“Then I have done my best,” he says, more softliy. “Valdur has never deigned to enlighten me, nor has his brother Ardus spoken to me of truths or lies. Only the Champions can say otherwise, and aside from the Warlord they do not lead.”
“Do you blame the Gods?”
He looks away. “No,” he says, his conviction gone. “Yes? I do not know. We owe them for our existence, but then we owe them for this unending war as well; do I thank them or curse them? Both, I think, for they are beyond my control. Or perhaps neither, so as not to draw their attentions.”
“Then why did you kill Raldan?”
“Do not say it,” he says, wincing. “Do not say it. I did not want him slain; it was Kur D’Shan’s so-called conspirators that fouled those waters. I argued for sparing him.”
“And Kyrill?”
“Unfortunate,” he said, shaking his head. “She was a good woman. Dedicated. I sent my men to find her; Kur D’Shan sent his to kill her. He got there first.”
“Why did you ally yourself with him, then?”
“Can you not see the obvious?” he chuckles, half to himself. “The world is crumbling around us; war burns in the hearts of men and the Warlord has returned. Twice has the Warlord been opposed; once he simply disappeared and left the world in chaos, and once his defeat leveled the most beautiful, powerful city in the world — and still he did not die! He is not a man, he is a force of nature, inexorable, to be weathered, not defeated. The safety of my realm is paramount, do you understand this? I cannot lead my people through the Darks if they are slain at the outset. Kur D’Shan had the Warlord. My decision was made for me.”
“And what if you should die before all this comes to pass? Before you can assure the safety of your people?”
“Then I shall be dead,” he says, an edge in his voice. “An irrelevant question.”
“Surely you don’t expect Shalia will be able to lead in your place. Who can follow you?”
He smiles with careless, disarming ease. “Perhaps. She would do better than most.”
February 21st, 2008 at 10:06 pm - Edit
[...] and subterfuge, and of someone who’s better at the interview game than I am: Grand Duke Talish Kalegor. Unlike most other interviews, he maintains his composure throughout, proving that my crude [...]