Betsy/Mary looked around the room. Her husband in this age, William, was talking quietly with some representatives of the Covenanters. This group of people had been suppressed in a bloody way during the past few decades under the catholic government of her father. They had suffered severly, especially in the southwest of Scotland. To make things worse, her husband had signed an edict in january because the clan of the MacDonalds had signed their submission 4 days late.
It had been an error, Wiliam had always been a careless reader, and he had signed an order without carefull reading "Have not signed the submissiion asrquired by january 1", overlooking a statement that the submission had been signed by January 5. The political enemies of the MacDonalds had revenged themselves in a disgusting way.
Her husband spoke softly, but his soft voice carried weight. She admired him: without any formal management training, as she had received on her own planet at school, he instinctively knew to touch the heart of these people. While he spoke, and while the Covenanters replied, she started to love these people and started to understand why James had grown so fanatic about his Scots.
She heard William say:
"To me, true victory is not when I win a battle. To me, true victory is when my opponents are no longer opponents. Only real peace is true victory."
The men opposite him still looked at him with suspicion, having suffered for decades at the hand of royalty, but seemed willing to listen and argue.
It also had became apparent to her that James had already returned to her planet, and that it was time for her to leave too. She would miss the Dutch. She would miss the Scots too. Still, it was inevitable. It was one of the great tragedies of live that there were so many farewells. She nearly became jealous of the hope these people had for an eternal future where "death was no more".
For the moment, her own future would not be eternal. She decided to get back to her own planet that night.
It had been an error, Wiliam had always been a careless reader, and he had signed an order without carefull reading "Have not signed the submissiion asrquired by january 1", overlooking a statement that the submission had been signed by January 5. The political enemies of the MacDonalds had revenged themselves in a disgusting way.
Her husband spoke softly, but his soft voice carried weight. She admired him: without any formal management training, as she had received on her own planet at school, he instinctively knew to touch the heart of these people. While he spoke, and while the Covenanters replied, she started to love these people and started to understand why James had grown so fanatic about his Scots.
She heard William say:
"To me, true victory is not when I win a battle. To me, true victory is when my opponents are no longer opponents. Only real peace is true victory."
The men opposite him still looked at him with suspicion, having suffered for decades at the hand of royalty, but seemed willing to listen and argue.
It also had became apparent to her that James had already returned to her planet, and that it was time for her to leave too. She would miss the Dutch. She would miss the Scots too. Still, it was inevitable. It was one of the great tragedies of live that there were so many farewells. She nearly became jealous of the hope these people had for an eternal future where "death was no more".
For the moment, her own future would not be eternal. She decided to get back to her own planet that night.