- This article is about the short story, you may be looking for the allegory and statue of the same name.
She Commands Me and I Obey is a short story by Ann Leckie published in two parts between November 12th and November 17th, 2014. It is set in the Imperial Radch universe, taking place sometime between the destruction of Justice of Toren and the events of Ancillary Justice. The story was released in two parts as part of a fundraiser for the online speculative fiction magazine Strange Horizons. It was later rereleased in 2024 as part of Leckie's short story compilation book Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction.
The story follows Her-Breath-Contains-The-Universe, a young monk living on Noage Itray in the Itran Tetrarchy. During a septennial Itran ballgame election match, he discovers and thwarts the plan of his older brother—then-tetrarch—to rig the match in order to secure his re-election. The story features Breq as a primary character, who then went under the name Ultimately-Justice-Shall-Prevail, showing part of her time in the Tetrarchy as a ballgame player and explaining how she came into possession of her Itran idols.
Both parts of the story are available to read for free online at Strange Horizons' website: Part 1 and Part 2.
Plot[]
Sometime in the nineteen years between the destruction of Justice of Toren and the events of Ancillary Justice, Her-Breath-Contains-The-Universe is a young monk of Blue Lily Monastery on Noage Itray, in the Itran Tetrarchy. Her-Breath-Contains joined the monastery at the age of four and in his early years he developed an attachment to the allegorical figure among the Hundred of Blue Lily, She-Commands-Me-And-I-Obey. Her-Breath-Contains eventually discovered that the statue held a secret: the most secure meeting room of the monastery was bugged with a listening device and the statue of She-Commands-Me houses its receiver, allowing someone to listen to the secretly-recorded conversations. Having been taught by Shall-I-Alone-Escape-Death, the abbot of the Blue Lily, that "knowing what another does not know gives you the advantage," Her-Breath-Contains kept his discovery a secret and used it to spy on the officials of the monastery for years.
The story starts when Her-Breath-Contains was eleven-years-old, three days before the septennial Itran election ballgame for the position of tetrarch that would either re-elect Qefahl Brend, the governor of Noage Itray, or elect the governor of the neighboring Harime Station. Qefahl Brend was actually the older brother of Her-Breath-Contains. Her-Breath-Contains knew this even though he wasn't supposed to, as all monks are supposed to cut family ties and assume a new identity with the order. Using the statue, Her-Breath-Contains spied on a conversation between the abbot and Qefahl Brend where they discussed their confidence in Qefahl Brend's re-election and their uncertainty at the arrival of Harime Station's mysterious new team captain. Qefahl Brend then admitted that he feared his brother growing up to usurp him so he had him sent to the monastery but wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he stood in his way. Her-Breath-Contains then was stumbled upon by Seven-Brilliant-Truths-Shine-Like-Suns, the captain of Blue Lily, the team playing for Qefahl Brend and Ultimately-Justice-Shall-Prevail, the unexpected new captain of White Lily, the team playing for the Harime governor, who had been strolling through the Hundred. Ultimately-Justice, seemingly aware of the bug and Her-Breath-Contains' use of it, indirectly cautioned Her-Breath-Contains to be vigilant of betrayal by those around him.
Three days later, on game day, Her-Breath-Contains attended the match with Shall-I-Alone-Escape-Death and Qefahl Brend to preside over the opening ceremony. During the march, Her-Breath-Contains noticed a wealthy out-system merchant watching the game with Qefahl Brend who had, according to another monk, been gifting the governor large amounts of jewelry in an attempt to gain his favor. Her-Breath-Contains then noticed that the middle court player of White Lily wore an identical piece of jewelry to the merchant and he surmised that Qefahl Brend had used it to bribe the player to intentionally lose the game, enduring Qefahl Brend's re-election. Her-Breath-Contains then went and warned Ultimately-Justice of the plot. After the middle court intentionally fumbled a play, Ultimately-Justice shattered his knee and he was replaced by the backup player. Ultimately-Justice then went on to win the game, electing the Harime governor as the new tetrarch.
Following the match, Her-Breath-Contains, Shall-I-Alone-Escape-Death, the two governors, and the two team captains met in a private room off the court. Traditionally, the losing captain is ceremonially beheaded by the winning captain as a show of devotion to She-Who-Sprang-From-The-Lily, however, the Harime Governor wished to end the game without bloodshed, which was generally agreed upon by the others present. The Harime governor and Ultimately-Justice then confronted Qefahl Brend with his attempted sabotage of the game. Faced with imprisonment or execution for the crime of tampering with election results, Qefahl Brend was forced to retire to a isolated hermitage for the rest of his life and appoint his brother in his place as governor. Pressured by Shall-I-Alone-Escape-Death, Her-Breath-Contains revealed that he was in fact Qefahl Brend's younger brother, Qefahl Aresh, and was given the title of governor. Then, despite everyone's agreement to end the match without death, Seven-Brilliant-Truths demanded that Ultimately-Justice take his life. He felt he had failed in his duties to enact the will of the Goddess and demanded his death to prove his faith. Ultimately-Justice complied with his wishes and beheaded him.
Characters[]
- Her-Breath-Contains-The-Universe - A young monk of Blue Lily Monastery.
- Qefahl Brend - The older brother of Her-Breath-Contains and the then-governor of Noage Itray and tetrarch of its Precinct.
- Shall-I-Alone-Escape-Death - Abbot of Blue Lily Monastery and advisor to Qefahl Brend.
- Seven-Brilliant-Truths-Shine-Like-Suns - Captain of the Blue Lily ballgame team.
- Breq, under the name Ultimately-Justice-Shall-Prevail - Captain of the White Lily ballgame team.
- The governor of Harime Station - The governor of Harime Station and candidate for tetrarch competing against Qefahl Brend.
Behind the scenes[]
Ann Leckie wrote She Commands Me and I Obey in the middle of working on Ancillary Justice.[1] The story is partially dedicated to her late mother and was inspired by her love of ice hockey. The story and the sport featured in it were inspired by the Meso-American ballgame. [2]