“I can’t accept that,” I said, shaking my head.
“It’s too fatalistic. If you’re right, then there’s no point in trying at all.”
“Of course there is,” Aahz snapped. “Just don’t take everything to extremes. Okay? Reality always lies somewhere between the extremes. Not trying at all to have people like you is as silly as trying too much.”
“Is that what I’ve been doing? Trying too much?”
My partner waggled his hand in front of him in a so-so gesture.
“Sometimes you drift dangerously close,” he said. “I think that sometimes you let your desire to be liked get out of proportion. When that happens, it starts to warp your perception of yourself and the world.”
“Could you give me an example or two?”
“Sure,” he said easily. “Let’s start with an easy one . . . like taxes. Part of your job right now is to be a consultant on the taxes being levied on the citizens. Right?”
I nodded.
“… Except that people don’t like to pay taxes. If they had their druthers, they would get the protection and services of the kingdom without paying a cent. Of course, they also realize that something for nothing is an unrealistic situation, so they accept the necessary evil of taxes. They accept it, but the don’t like it. Because they don’t like it, there is going to be an ongoing level of resentment and grumbling. Whatever the tax assessment is, it’s too high, and whatever the level of services is, it’s too low. That resentment is going to be forced on anyone involved with set ting the taxes, which includes you and everyone else who works at the castle.”