Use Your Words
Author's Note: I really wanted to enjoy The Dragon Prince, as I loved Avatar and Legend of Korra, but…well, it's too early to have a final opinion, but their complete unwillingness to let anyone proposing a morally dubious, or even evil solution, ask the question 'Well what should I do, then?' to the people condemning the solution, drives me up the wall. Hence this very short story.
Spoilers for The Dragon Prince Season 2, Episode 5, and the first bit of dialogue is lifted directly from there.
"My king, with respect, you spoke too soon. Katolis has barely enough food to sustain its own people through the winter. There is not a handful of grain to spare," Viren said, leaning on his cane for just a moment as he followed his king from the audience hall where he had just promised to save Duren's people from famine.
"I won't turn my back on people in need," King Harrow said, spinning to face his advisor.
"If you share with them, a hundred thousand people will still die, but half of them will be from our own kingdom," Viren argued, knowing the figures from the granaries and harvest. The kingdom of Katolis hovered on the brink of famine themselves this year.
Harrow looked away from his oldest friend, "Then it seems we have no choice—"
"Exactly, I'm sure they will understand—"
"We will share whatever we have with them. And we will share in their suffering," his hand came to rest on Viren's shoulder as he turned back, straight-backed and proud.
For a moment Viren wanted to kill his oldest friend for that. It would not be Harrow who did the suffering. It would not be his wife who lost a babe because milk would not come due to hunger. It would not be his sons who went to bed wailing in hunger. It would not be his daughters who dug until their hands bled to bury their kin. Fury flared in him, but he swallowed it like bitter poison, remembering all the times the king's honor had produced good results.
The king stepped past him.
"I see, my king," he bent his head and stared at the carpet beneath their feet. "Do you want to lead the troops, or are you going to leave that task to me? I assume you don't want to dirty Sarai's, or Amaya's hands with it."
The king turned back, "Lead the troops? Lead the troops where?"
"To get the food you're sending to Duren. Or, where were you planning to get it?"
"The granaries—"
"The only granaries with food still in them are the military granaries, or those held by the high nobles. Try to empty the one and we'll be dead in a week by our own guards, try to empty the other and more than a hundred thousand of our own will die in the resulting civil war, but at least we'll avoid a famine, this year," Viren didn't look up, but he could see Harrow's boots as the king stopped in front of him. "So, we'll need to go into the villages of your subjects, with your troops, and steal their food so you can send it to Duren. Of course, some will resist having their children starve to death. A certain amount of force will be needed to remove their food. Still, at least they'll die quickly. Starvation is a terrible way to go. Ah, I apologize, my king, I've drifted from my question. Did you want to lead the troops who will share Duren's suffering with your subjects, or do you want me to do it?"