Freedom VS Safety
In the wagon I sit on papa’s lap as Scarlet tells her stories.
“...Oh and Juanita? You’ve got to meet Junaita. She's hi-la-ri-ous.”
“Okay.”
“Are you even listening, Rose? You’ve just been saying the same things over and over again.”
“Yeah I-”
“Don’t be too harsh on your sister, Scarlet. She might look like this but she is just a baby. Just think about all the effort it must take her to listen to all that.”
“That’s true. I never thought about that, papa. I’m sorry Rose for being too demanding.”
“...”
“It’s fine. Hey papa?”
“Yes my dear?”
“Could you press down on my back? I want to be in my draconic form for a bit.”
“Of course my dear.”
After giving my barrette to Scarlet, papa presses down on my back and Scarlet keeps on talking about things from her home while I just silently listen.
Hearing some steps outside, Scarlet asks, “Are we ready to go?”
“No, not yet.” Rayla’s voice answers, “Can we talk?”
“Sure, about what?”
“Look, I know we both agreed to it at the time but we made a huge mistake when we made Rose get close to your dad while she was not fully mentally there.”
“What are you talking about? It all worked out! It might have taken years for them to repair their relationship if we didn’t do that.”
“But their relationship isn’t repaired. All we did was take advantage of a vulnerable moment and essentially brainwashed her into not seeing your father as a threat anymore. It’s not like she likes him now, we just took her fear by betraying her trust in us.”
“I think you’re overthinking this. Yes she’s mad at us now but give it a few years and she’ll be fine and happy.”
John interrupts, “You mean how she’s happy right now? Just silently nodding to anything you say as she does whatever you want?”
“You say that as if I’m forcing anything on her. She was the one that came to us about wanting to let us make the big decisions for her.”
Sher Aka objects, “If you really think about it. Can you truly say that how Rose is acting is anywhere close to her usual self?”
“I…Not really but-”
“What is the point of this conversation?” papa asks, “Are you trying to put a wedge between my daughter and I? I assure you I won’t take her away from you. Ms. Rayla you have been imprinted on and as such I will of course give you a noble title and the ability to see her. As for you two, I acknowledge she thinks of you as important so I do not mind giving you positions near or in the castle so you can see her from time to time. I hear you, Ms. Sher Aka, are interested in gardening, you could become an apprentice to our royal gardener.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, your Highness, but this is not about us or what we want. It’s about Rose. And the fact of the matter is that she’s not comfortable with the way things are being decided for her so I’d like you to take a step back to give her the time to make a choice when she’s not under the pressures of being killed by demons.”
“And what exactly do you expect me to do when you say ‘step away’?”
“Do not approach her. If she wants to see you she will do it on her grounds and you will not force any interactions with her.”
“She is barely half a year old. While I do appreciate you caring for her I’m not going to let my infant daughter be the one making decisions like this.”
“I understand your viewpoint, your Highness, but Rose has the mental faculties to make decisions an infant can not. As such you should allow her to be the smith of her own happiness.”
“Right…I understand the problem. Obviously all of you have gotten too used to the exterior this curse gives her. I know that she is mentally a bit ahead of other children her age but a severely abused five year old does not have the mental capacity or mindset to understand the consequences of her actions. Abused children and adults often make it seem like they are mentally ahead of regular people their age. But what you come to find very quickly is that this is just a defense mechanism. Usually they are mentally way behind their peers in many ways. From the letter of the northern Goddess Holly I was also able to gleam that she deemed it likely for Rose to mentally regress as she gets used to her body.
So, what we have here is a five year old, that is most likely way behind in most facets of her mental development and is likely to mentally regress to an earlier developmental stage. I’m not giving that kid the freedom to make choices about her wellbeing beyond personal preferences on superficial issues. What she needs most right now is not freedom, it’s stability, safety and most importantly love and affection.”
“Sigh Your concerns are surprisingly well thought through and I agree with you on most of it. But where I disagree with you is that what she needs most right now is not freedom. In my opinion freedom is the only thing she needs right now. If you don’t grant her the freedom to choose, all you’re doing is perpetuating the mindset of feeling trapped and under duress which will make it impossible to enjoy the stability and safety you’re giving her.”
Rayla whispers to John, “Hey psst, John?”
“Yes?”
“I’m not an intellectual so I’m having trouble following this conversation. Do you know who’s winning?”
“Right now? Neither. They’re both giving valid points on Rose’s well being but fundamentally disagree on the value of freedom vs safety and stability. Since they’re both opposites the more freedom you have the less safety and stability you have and vice versa. Sherry is arguing that Rose needs more freedom while her dad is arguing she needs more safety and stability.”
“Right…So who’s winning?”
“Sigh Right now it’s a draw.”
“Gotcha.”
“Then what is it you’re suggesting? Should she be able to live the life of an adventurer where her life is at constant risk?”
“If that is what she desires then yes. It is better to be happy but in danger than to be unhappy and safe.”
“And what use is that happiness of hers when it’s cut short after an arrow bursts through her neck or the venom of a beast steals her last breath from her?”
“You only live once your Highness-”
“Which is why you should cherish your life and not endanger it.”
“No, you should live it to the fullest so you won’t regret it.”
Clapping his hands together John interrupts, “Alright, we’re drifting too much into philosophy now. It’s obvious both of you are at a standstill so you have three choices. Either you compromise on both of your ideals to come to an amicable solution or you just stay this way steadfast in your beliefs without changing. Or you go with the third and in my opinion best option and let Rose decide which of you she agrees with more and then yield to a compromise depending on what she wants.”
“I agree with my brother. I’d prefer an amicable compromise based on Rose’s choice. How about you, your Highness?”
“I’ll consider what you said but I won’t make any promises. We will reach town this afternoon so I’ll convene about this with my wife.”
“Thank you, your Highness. I hope we can find a peaceful solution that will satisfy all parties.”