This was true, which was why Emperor Euphrates was an emperor, and Borla only a chief advisor. However, a normally brief, succinct, and to-the-point Borla did know when to praise his Emperor with more than the usual flourish.
"And what say you, Borla, of the former Master of the House of
Rababull?" prompted Emperor Euphrates.
"Rababull was a fool!" declared Borla succinctly.
"Verily, Borla," intoned Emperor Euphrates.
"To have so punished a mere child, an underage girl who hath no breasts," Borla went on. "Is it not harsh and unfatherly? Those of tender years are known for their perpetual blunders, short-sightedness, and pure love of rank foolishness. How easily might the girl rather have been corrected instead by any number of more suitable lesser punishments. Even for having broken a nobleman's idol, a proper ransom might have been paid to redeem her of her crime. I mean…"
Emperor Euphrates nodded approvingly, waiting for Borla to go on.
Borla cast about for the proper words, seeking to assuage the harshness of his legal status, seeing how obviously fond his Emperor Euphrates was of the girl.
"I mean…" Borla hesitated. "After all," he shrugged innocuously, with an engaging show of teeth, "it could not have been a very powerful idol, for all of that, if it could not even prevent itself from being broken by a mere girl."
"Customarily, the subject is sacrificed to the idol," remarked Emperor Euphrates in round-about congruence, "and not the other way around. It is a powerful sign, is it not?"
"It is all of that, Highness," Borla agreed, displaying more of his uncharacteristic crocodile grin.