Thinking Thursday - Zenobia learns the challenges of being a leader

In Zenobia - Birth of a Legend chapter 24, we share a scene with Zenobia and Cam her mentor who's training her as a warrior. They discuss the heartbreaks that can come from being a leader. Cam explained to her that justice has many enemies and rulers have shorter more turbulent lives. Cam states, "Justice has a cost". Read below as Zenobia questions why Cam would allow her to follow a path that could lead to so much unhappiness.

     She decided to ask the obvious question. "Then why are you training me as a warrior?"

     "Because I agreed to. I was caught off guard that night when we made the bet about the melon. Of course, I had watched you at a few contests, and I figured you would win our wager, but I couldn't let the others know that. I was just happy that you and your mother were going to live. I didn't consider all the ramifications until later. Then I felt I couldn't go back on our bet. Honestly, you are a strong warrior already, and you will be a great one. 

     "I am also training you because of what you had to endure for the first nine years of your life. I felt you deserved to get what you wanted, and that was what you wanted. Had you wavered in that, I would have been glad, but, of course, that has not happened. Still, if I could grant you a peaceful, protected life in a paradise somewhere, and if I knew you could be content there, I would do it in a heartbeat."

     She looked at her mentor wistfully. "We both know that is not to be," she said. "The desert goddess proclaimed it otherwise. Cam, are you dodging my question about the father of Odenathus?"

     He paused in thought. He had needed to say what he did, fruitless though it had been, but her question remained. "As to the father of Odenathus, there are conflicting accounts, as is often the case. However, the most plausible seems to be that a high Roman official feared that the Senator of Tadmor was becoming too powerful and therefore, with the approval of Rome, had him assassinated. Which substantiates the point I was making earlier." 

     "But Tadmor was a colony and an ally of Rome," she objected, "and its citizens were also Roman citizens. That would have been a treacherous betrayal!" It was redundantly emphatic, but Cam Thought it certainly made the point. 

     "When powerful allies gain sufficient strength, they frequently strike out on their own and turn on their former allies. The Roman governor evidently feared this, especially since Tadmor was so far from Rome on the eastern frontier of the empire."

     "But, clearly," Cam concluded, "it was a betrayal of the worst kind, so I agree with you."

     "Have they no honor!" Zenobia exclaimed angrily. 

     "Some have a lot, some have only a little, and some have none. Remember, Zenobia, the most dangerous enemy is the one whom you believe to be your friend. They can hurt you like no one else. They can come from allies, from your own tribe, from your close friends, or even from your own family. They take advantage of your trust and strike where and when you least expect it. You are never completely safe from them. 

     This was sobering information. "So," she asked at length, "what does one do?"

     "Sometimes people unconsciously reveal their true motives, but we can talk about that another time. For now, we should get back to camp."

     Zenobia had one more question for Cam, but she was afraid to ask it. She did not know if she ever would. The question was, Would you have let my father and the tribal leaders kill me?

     Instead she said, “I wish I could get the education I need in Tadmor, but Odenathus says I will have to go to Alexandria for that, and I agree. It seems that you and Mother do also. I am glad up are considering it."