“Aydan,” spoke Niagat, “I would serve Heraak; I would see an end to war; I would be one of your warmasters.”
“Would you kill to achieve this, Nigat?”
“I would kill.”
“Would you kill Heraak to achieve this?”
“Kill Heraak, my master?” Niagat paused and considered the question. “If I cannot have both, I would see Heraak dead to see an end to war.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“And, Aydan, I would do the killing.”
“And now, would you die to achieve this?”
“I would risk death as does any warrior.”
“Again, Niagat, that is not my question. If an end to war can only be purchased at the certain cost of your own life, would you die by your own hand to achieve peace?”
Niagat studied upon the thing that Aydan asked. “I am willing to take the gamble of battle. In this gamble there is the chance of seeing my goal. But my certain death, and by my own hand, there would be no chance of seeing my goal. No. I would not take my own life for this. That would be foolish. Have I passed your test?”
“You have failed, Niagat. Your goal is not peace; your goal is to live in peace. Return when your goal is peace alone and you hold a willing knife at your own throat to achieve it. That is the price of a warmaster’s blade.”
— The Enemy Papers, by Barry Longyear