"The ports were closed to stop everyone exporting their slaves, right? Pretty stupid to try to burn a slaver ship once it's already been stopped. Or were they getting away despite the ban?"

"No one was going anywhere. I agree that it was stupid. I'm here because I want to make sure stupid things like that don't happen again." 

"I think Cheliax keeping all the slaves enslaved after the Thrunes fled was pretty stupid."

"And now the people of Cheliax have voted to free them. What do you think about that?" 

"Voted to end halfling slavery."

"It's definitely a whole lot better than having halfling slavery. But I wouldn't find it the slightest defense of slavery that a Republican vote chose it, and given that I don't really see the merit of letting it fall to a Republican vote."

Smug little bullies. 

"You have a plan to free all the remaining slaves of Cheliax yourself, then! I'm delighted to hear it. Please explain it to me, sparing no detail, and particularly not why you haven't implemented such a brilliant stroke in Taldor and Qadira." 

"If I conquered Taldor and Qadira I would issue a decree that no man is a slave, nor in servitude other than he chose as an adult for fair pay. I'd have a time enforcing it, naturally, but as we've seen today the Eagle Knights are very happy to promulgate decrees once they are made. Also if Marta said that she was gonna call herself the Queen of Taldor now I'd stab her."

"You'd try."

"I'd poison her."

She beams at him. "You'd succeed."

He doesn't have to explain himself to these people. They're ignorant, and what's worse, proud of their ignorance, they have no patriotism and no notion of what it means for a people to be free other than that they themselves should be perfectly unencumbered to play hero wherever and however they like. He doesn't like them. On the other hand: he's only just finished to Codwin about how nobody ever explains themselves to him. 

" – I came here because I wanted to convince you to stop doing things that are likely to worsen the lot of slaves still remaining in Cheliax, weaken whatever Cheliax has of Republican governance, and risk war between Cheliax and Andoran. I don't know if you're really interested in why I acted as I did, and I expect you won't understand it. But I'll try, if you're willing to listen." 

" - are you getting the impression we're not listening, because we're disagreeing? That's how listening works, round here. We'll shut up and listen if you want but it wouldn't be because we figure we'll learn more about how to help the slaves in Cheliax that way."

"I'd much rather you kept talking and considered possibly changing your mind." 

"You got it. Is there some really good reason Cheliax didn't free its slaves as soon as the Thrune government collapsed?"