She would offer him another half-smile as he responded. His answer spoke, while he had risen quickly and likely would continue to do so, of a certain... naivety. If he assumed that inaction from hidden watchers was a suggestion that they had escaped suspicion, that their actions were being condoned, that suggested to her a gap in his education from his former Master. And the response that the Emperor had no room to be apathetic was quaint, and it suggested to her a misunderstanding of the Emperor and his goals.
But it was also a suggestion of merely his youth and inexperience in the layers upon layers that were Sith politicking. He would learn, and his eloquence hinted he would do so quickly as he recognized certain things a Sith needed for their positions.
"An interesting perspective," she remarked, a finger twitched towards the kettle. It would float over and refill Malum's cup, as though she had detected his thought on desiring more before settling back onto its tray. She would take a sip of her own cup, settling her amethyst gaze over the rim towards him.
"Let's deconstruct it from the start," she continued, setting her cup down. "To begin, Emperors can certainly afford a degree of apathy towards events within their empires. As yourself stated, they have servants and others they entrust to deal with such things before they reach the level of intensity that require their direct attention. The Emperor is not always involved in every single decision made for an empire, as such micromanagement will stretch even a Sith Lord too much. It conjoins with that next point you raise; how service is paramount towards ruling and how our Code can influence that and the internal maneuverings of Sith.
"Your suggestion that the stanza that through victory, our chains are broken has fostered a sense of competitiveness and antagonism between Sith, and I will give you some merit in that regard. That the search of the individual has created a sense that it requires the elimination of all others, I would disagree with more."
Her finger would twitch again and the kettle would rise and refill her own rapidly emptying cup.
"You bring up your ancestor, Darth Marr, as an example of a Sith that served the Empire without selfishness, without aggrandizement. I would agree to a point, but there are some actions that suggest something else to me. Darth Marr, according to records, was concerned with the defense of the Empire in a military sense and his appointment to Vitiate's Dark Council at such a young age would suggest to me a different kind of ambition, to serve as you would say, but to control I would say. I would label Darth Marr a pragmatist who recognized a strong Empire was necessary to bring order to the galaxy and hold back the enemies of the Sith. He was, however, not above a certain level of scheming if that would bring about a stronger Empire or further control of affairs into the hands of the Dark Council. I would suggest researching the stories of Teneb Kel, Darth Thanaton for his formal title, and Darth Baras for further learning, if you haven't already. Regardless..."
She would trail off in thought before two books landed on the desk. The titles on the spine were in the language of the Sith but would offer him a starting place for reading on those two ancient Sith Lords.
"Your ancestor understood something intrinsic to the nature of the dark side itself; a certain level of conflict, of rivalry, is intrinsic to the Sith. Conflict creates situations where a Sith, and the dark side, can grow stronger. We Sith have always created a structure, whether it be through Empires or the Rule of Two or the Rule of One, where each individual covets power and to further your power you must deal with rivals. So yes, as I said, I agree that the stanza of our code that through victory, our chains are broken, has helped guide that structure. But what it does not tell you, and this is where a discussion into the sentience of the Force and the light and dark side could begin, is that with each victory over a rival, it merely creates the next chain to wrap around you metaphorically speaking. The dark side can never be sated with just one victory, as neither can a Sith. What you choose to conquer, however, can change the conflict you wage. Take myself for instance. I do not desire the throne, I never have, and I find the infighting of the Sith to be particularly unhelpful. However, I view it this way because it detracts from my quest for deeper understanding of the Force. I do not brook such interruptions lightly so inevitably I descend into Sith politics to deal with any such events or individuals that threaten that quest for me."
She would take another sip of her tea.
"Service to the state and its people can be commendable, and as you suggest, it can be a more effective means of ruling. However, it also becomes a chain like any other. In fact, I would suggest it places more than one on you. You chain yourself to the Empire, but Empires rise and fall, and that can break a man when the Empire he swore to service collapses. Merely look at your friend, the Lord Inquisitor, to see how an oath to a particular Empire can warp your understanding of the nature of the Sith. You chain yourself to public opinion, to the... desire of being liked by all you interact with. The people can be and are fickle and committing yourself to courses of action merely to keep them happy... that can be fine in the short term, but inevitably, something will occur, and they will blame you. You chain yourself to the opposite of the Sith in a way as, as I mentioned, we create a structure where the lesser covet what the greater control. That sort of jealousy, that ambition or desire, is trickled down into society in general to create a Sith society."
She would then offer a wider smile.
"Leading, as such societies do, to a degree of apathy from the one on top to those below until they start appearing to be a threat to the system, to their power, and they stamp it out or die and the next one continues the cycle. As the Sith have done for thousands of years."
Darth Malum of House Marr
Darth Strosius
, she had grown curious about the other follower of the Pale Assassin that had helped destroy her and the Tsis'Karr at present. The younger man carried a powerful last name, one steeped in Sith lore and history that had been checkered throughout the modern era. She had grown curious about what had brought him into Ophidia's service in the first place, whether he shared his fellow former apprentice's sentiments, and why he had attempted to claim a Lordship like Alisteri had.
