The Academy hosts a debate every year between Absolute Morality, the great philosopher and alumni, and a current student. Major donors, including TS’s father fund the event that draws the Mountain’s best minds and business elite.
During his senior year, Zar submits an essay called “On the Death of Moral Certainty” and is reassured when he receives his invitation to participate. Day 1, Grounds of Good and Evil, takes place in the Academy’s Great Hall. Day 2, Invention of Virtue, follows in the Woods of Wisdom.
One week later, Zar stays up late sharpening his opening statement and preparing for battle. The next morning he walks to the Hall rising at the center of the Ridge in white stone and glass. School banners displaying a dragon wrapped around the words “Order is Mercy” are posted everywhere.
Zar enters and sees other students, dressed in school uniforms, marching in and taking their assigned seat. The crowd buzzes. The chatter quiets as the Academy Director takes the stage, nods to the judges, and says:
welcome students
and each distinguished guest
to this great debate
this pinnacle intellectual test
The Academy Director turns to Absolute Morality, proudly and welcomes him:
behold our reigning scholar
defender of the good
whose arguments stand upright
where chaos never stood
The Academy Director turns to Zar and continues:
and a rising voice
from humbler soil below
whose paper stirred this hall
and dared what few here show
The Academy Director turns to the audience and announces:
we gather here to examine
what anchors right and wrong
does goodness rest eternal
or change as we grow strong
He nods, deferentially, to Absolute Morality who begins:
moral law precedes us
it is not born of will
it stands before our choosing
constant, sovereign, still
without eternal grounding
reason cannot stand
justice turns to appetite
and power rules the land
call virtue mere invention
and all becomes disguise
for tyranny grows quickly
when heaven’s anchor dies
we do not forge the good
we answer to its claim
the law is not our making
we rise or fall to its name
Students begin applauding before the Academy Director reminds them to be silent. He turns to Zar, who takes a deep breath and responds:
you speak of eternal law
as if it fell from the sky
yet every sacred tablet
was carved by someone’s why
before you call it timeless
ask who first declared
what struggle shaped its meaning
what instinct stood impaired
when power tires of conflict
it sanctifies its gain
and writes its chosen posture
as virtue free from stain
i do not kill your morality
but trace it to its root
and find beneath its halo
trembling dressed as absolute
The audience gasps. The Academy Director, with his breathing quickening, turns back to Absolute Morality who responds:
if all is born of struggle
no truth escapes the strong
your critique becomes the tyrant
claiming to right the wrong
deny a higher standard
and nothing checks the sword
for power crowned as virtue
becomes its only lord
The students are fixated on every word, particularly TS who consumes the last statement. Before the Academy Director invites him to continue, Zar steps forward and declares:
you fear the naked will
and hide it under prayer
yet power masked as goodness
is power still laid bare
i do not free the tyrant
i name what’s always been
the good you call eternal
is strength forged to win
A tremor moves through the crowd. The Academy Director steps center stage and glances at the judges as they confer in whispers. Zar feels the silence settle around him like a crown.
Before the panel can render a judgement, Absolute Morality turns toward Zar and bows slightly. The stunned students begin to applaud, slowly at first, then swelling. All stand with the exception of TS.
The Academy Director takes the podium and restores order:
that is enough
decorum please do respect
tomorrow the debate continues
where roots of virtue intersect
but given limited space
at this affair to extend
only the honors students
are permitted to attend