Here, we don't owe anyone anything.

“Here, we don't owe anyone anything.” Alastair’s declaration defines exile as freedom from the duties and claims that once bound the men to Navon, but the exchange around it makes that freedom sound less like settled fact than a belief he must defend.

The Exchange

Alastair makes the claim while objecting to the assumption that the men living beyond Navon are criminals. Most, he explains, are deserters and exiles who refused to fight battles that were not theirs. When challenged over whether they care about a battle to protect their home, he answers that they do not—especially in this case—and says that the men have learned not to feel anything. He presents their detachment as fortunate: if others understood exile, he suggests, they too would choose to live there.

Freedom from Obligation

The declaration gives that defense its bluntest form. The exiles have no taxes and no obligations; in Alastair’s account, their distance from Navon is not merely a place of refuge but a release from reciprocal claims. The absolute wording makes the freedom sound complete, even as the conversation shows what is at stake in claiming it: a call to defend home might restore the very obligation the exiles rejected.

Belief and Its Limits

The response that follows unsettles the certainty of the slogan. Asked whether he truly believes what he has said, Alastair replies, “I have to believe in something, don't I?” His answer recasts the declaration as a conviction he needs, not simply a description of life among the exiles. The exchange leaves its tension unresolved: freedom from duty may protect their chosen separation, while Alastair’s admission exposes how much that separation depends on sustaining a belief in it.