Disclaimer: I do not own Dishonored, nor will this suddenly change in any future chapters I might write

My inspiration for this was a Low Chaos, No deaths, Ghost run of Dishonored.

Death

On the first anniversary of the death of Jessamine Kaldwin

They stood at the pavilion, before Her grave, the girl and her protector.

"Corvo?" Emily Kaldwin the First asked in deep thought as she looked out over her city, "Why?"

"what do you mean, my empress?" Corvo Attano replied in a whisper, and turning to gaze at her scarred Lord Protector she elaborated on her question: "Why did you let them live, after all that they did to you? And I do not just mean my kidnappers, but the others too. Nobody died because of you, even if they truly stood in your way of helping me."

"That is a complicated question my lady, and there are several answers to it. But first let me ask you this: would you blame a sword for killing a man, or would you blame the man wielding the sword?" Emily did not see why he asked this question, as it was obvious and seemed to have nothing to do with her own question. She still answered him as she trusted that he would not ask her if it was not important.

"I would blame the man of course, for the sword was just a tool." And as she sat down on the bench nearest her mother's grave, Corvo answered: "And so would I, which is also why I tried my best not to kill any guardsman or civilians, even if they did stand in my way to you. They were just tools that the usurpers wielded, and I could not blame them for doing their job and trying to live the best way they could."

After some consideration, Emily saw. But her next question was plain to her, and it appeared Corvo knew her just as well and anticipated it. "And as for the people who assisted in Her murder and both of your kidnappings: I did not kill them because I feel killing is only rarely an useful option. That is not to say I did not bring Justice to those responsible for Her murder and your kidnapping though." As he explained he walked over to the wall once more, and he looked towards the direction where she knew the Hound Pits Pub was located.

She deeply considered his answer, but found that she could not understand what Corvo meant so she joined him at the wall. The Lord Protector saw her confusion and elaborated: "It is hard to understand, but it is often that living, under different circumstances for each person, is often a worse punishment than being executed for your crime."

"Take Thaddeus Campbell, his entire life was tied up into the Abbey of the Everyman, and everything he valued was in his wealth and comfort. I marked him with the Brand of the Heretic, and his own order cast him out and took everything he lived for. Yet, he still lived a miserable life after that, knowing that what he did to you, your Mother and myself was the cause of his loss."

"Then the Pendleton twins, they had lived a life of nobility and cruelty since birth. Their punishment was to be made mute, and then to work as slaves in their own silver mines, finally experiencing the cruelty they so casually visited upon others."

"The missing Lady Boyle was misguided, as she was truly in love with Hiram Burrows and did everything solely because she truly thought that he did what was best for Dunwall, so she lives in relative comfort. The only punishment for her is that her new life is a gilded cage, as her freedom was taken away from her by a nobleman who also loved her and did not wish to see her come to harm. He traded her safety from the Conspiracy for her freedom."

"Hiram Burrows had good intentions originally, even with the plague, but those good intentions paved the road to the Void for him. For him, every lie he told, every bit of order that he created was destroyed by his own confessions. Now he rests in prison, alone and forgotten, with nobody caring for his manipulations and plans."

"Daud was the man who killed Her, and even before I met him it had already become his undoing. He truly regretted it, and when I found his belongings I found between them several plans to assassinate Burrows and his compatriots, and freeing you, as a sort of repentance. I let him go, to live forever with his regret and even now he still does his best to serve your cause."

"And Farley Havelock, a true man of the sea, was stripped of every honour he ever had. Then he was tossed into my old cell in Coldridge Prison, where he will forever be tortured by the smell of the sea, knowing he will never see it again."

Finally Corvo looked away from the river, and he gazed her in the eyes as he asked: "Do you understand now, my lady?" And Emily Kaldwin the First understood.