Aery raised an eyebrow. "Awfully forward today, aren't we?" But she laughed, a forced sounding laugh. She took another bite of meat, wincing as her stomach rolled. She picked up her fruit juice with a shaking hand and drank a few sips to calm herself.
"Well, as you most likely know, I've reduced the inhabitants of the Endovier salt mines to almost nothing, and freed the slaves who had done nothing wrong. The only "slaves" who work there now are the overseers and guards, and they're overseen by a handful of the people they mistreated so badly. We employ people to work there, but they're paid well, and they go home and sleep in their own beds at night, and no one ever flogs them or starves them. They can resign whenever they want to, no strings attached."
"I've advised the government of Ellywe to disband the Calaculla labor camp. They scuffled their feet about it, but once I showed them my scars from just two weeks there and hinted that I may consider it an act of hostility to continue to hold Adarlanian citizens there, they agreed all too readily."
She took another sip of juice. "As far as slavery, utterly against it. I've freed all slaves within the empire, and had to quell so many rebellions because of it. My advisers tell me that I am just a child, that I have no sense of the world around me, that I can't create ripples or the whole system will fall. Then I show them the scars and they realize that I've got an adult's point of view on the world."
"If I thought I could turn Adarlan into a democracy without sending the entire realm into shambles, I would. As it is I let the people elect most of my advisers. Ame and Silly had to be appointed, but the people have quit balking under them after several displays of their capabilities. At Rowan's advice I took five of the old king's cronies who were awaiting execution, five hard, trained, lightning fast men, gave them swords and daggers, and put them in an arena against Silly armed with daggers, throwing stars, and a strangling cord. In three minutes all five men were dead and Silly was unscathed. People were all too eager to go along with my appointment of her lest they meet the wrong end of her blades."
"As far as Ame, she single-handedly quelled the rebellion of the mages when she was appointed, and that made everyone realize how good she is at what she does. And now they all love her. Well, not love, but respect her powers."
Realizing she'd been distracted, she continued talking about politics. "I declared the national religion to be paganism, which is in effect declaring that there is no national religion, as there are thousands of different gods in the pagan pantheon, and I never said which gods the people had to worship above all others. What about you, Celaena? I've heard nothing of your political endeavors, and you seem to have heard quite a lot about mine."