The Road to Port Haven - Page 63/110

'Regardless, our empire remains, though now it is an invisible fortress without walls, one that cannot be breached by physical force- and I am the sole heir and castellan of that fortress.'

He leaned back and gazed upon the stars in silence for several moments, his expression sombre. 'The world has become a dishonest place, Kara, and because of this, for many years I had felt the walls closing in about me until my very life felt like a prison. People still live by feudal ways and hold to feudal beliefs and values, though they claim otherwise and hide behind a wall of denial, euphemisms and a host of popular myths. Yet those same people will mob, torture and murder a man, like a pack of ravening jackals, for no reason whatever, save that they have surrendered their individuality to the mob, which has then taken on a life of its own. The most powerful men in history know the potency of mob behaviour and how to make use of it. Armies of men are nothing more than highly organised mobs unwittingly turned against one another.

'In this day and age the feudal fief has disguised itself as the modern corporation, and what we call Democracy is, in truth, including the parties of governments themselves, a collection of various feudal fiefs. If you think this is not true, consider what you already know first hand: there is no Democracy within a corporation. Corporate heads are despots. And a Democratic party is only somewhat Democratic within its own ranks during an election. The rest of the time it is a tale of feudal rules and intrigue.

'I am a feudal lord, Kara, as is your father. But there the similarity ends. My forebears left Spain to fight for their own people because they believed that power must justify itself as the striving, through the people, towards a just cause. The people they fled, on the other hand, were like your father, who believed that the only real power was the power of life and death over one's citizenry. Simply stated, this is the difference between rule and thuggery.

'This is why you must marry me. You have seen and experienced both sides and know the truth and the consequences to both. You are the only woman I have ever met, besides my mother, who if something happened to me could carry on, leaving me a happy and confident man, even in death. You see, you are not the only victim, Kara. All those whom your father makes to suffer do so by means of an entire ideology- an ideology that one is either for or against. And you have spoken, Kara. You are against, and as a result, you are here, on this island, soon to be joined to everything that you are for.'