#wisdom and Desdemona need to have a chat

[abigailspinach]

The demon folded its arms across its chest, looking back down into the courtyard. “I found them a few days later. The survivors would not have lasted the winter, but I walked my host down to the nearest large town and jumped to a merchant. Then I drove all his stock here and told them that it was a gift from Wisdom.” Its teeth flashed. “I did that three times. By the time I arrived in this body, calling myself Wisdom, the people were feeling very well-inclined toward me.”

“So you killed three innocent merchants,” said Shane.

“One was a cheat and a liar, and one was going to die soon no matter what I did. The third one… yes. I regret the third one, I admit. He was a fair man and he did not deserve to have his mind torn in half. But these people also did not deserve to starve.” The demon stared broodingly out the window. “It is hard to be a god, and to make a god’s choices.”

“Do you actually regret it?” Shane asked. “Can you?”

“Does that surprise you, champion?” Wisdom looked at him unsmiling. “We pour ourselves into our hosts like whiskey into a barrel. You are not surprised when the whiskey tastes of the barrel, or the barrel smells of whiskey, are you?”

“Souls seem more complicated than whiskey.”