"I cannot. My absence will already have been noticed. If I return now, or soon, my absence might still be explained away as an embarrassing omission, or an unfortunate but temporary illness. But if I do not return, there shall be repercussions. My King is known to be untrusting of the Kinnon. He will undoubtedly see my disappearance as a provocation. Perhaps as an act of war.
"A war between my people and the Kinnon would be difficult, not least because of the great distance between our lands, but similar difficulties have not prevented wars in the past, and I do not see how they will prevent war now. I beg you, Nunda of Ebulon: return me to my post, and save the families of these honourable men and women before you by averting this unnecessary war!"
Nunda let his gaze sweep across the gathered people of the Kinnon, and nodded. "It is regrettable, indeed, that such events might occur because of your presence here. Can I not convince you to join our forces?"
"Not even if you were to fight right beside me," she replied.
Nunda's pale, full cheeks blushed slightly, just for a moment.
"If you are to fight at all, that is...?" Moriambra added, carefully.
All eyes fell squarely on Nunda, and he was forced to reply.
"Alas," he said, "my King has other matters he needs me to attend to, and I would therefore be unable to fight by your side."
"But your skills are undeniably impressive," she said. "Would you not be able to block incoming enemy arrows? Would you not be able to confuse the tongues of the enemy so they could not communicate their plans to each other? Would you not be able to put a hundred thousand of the enemy to sleep so we could more easily slaughter them?"
This time Nunda had a ready response, as he was on firmer footing. "You will notice that the soldiers I bring to add to your number are all warriors in some fashion. Some are infantrymen, some are archers. You might notice further that there are no mages among them. The magic of Ebulon is no longer effective against this enemy. My own magic would fail - would be blocked, rather - by the dark magicks beyond the gate. The enemy has studied our magical attacks and rendered them irrelevant in battle. Well, almost irrelevant."
He paused for a breath, and Moriambra seemed ready with the obvious question, so Nunda continued, "The mages among you are all... exotic, at least to the enemy mages. Your abilities and methods may well be novel, offering you unforeseen advantages. And I'm given to understand that some of the lesser mages will be assisting in the defence directly, when the assault comes, for we are still able to defend against some of the magical attacks that will come.
"You are not alone," he said, raising his voice and addressing them all, "and we stand with you. Even though I am not to stand at your side in the battle, I still work with you and for you, in ways I cannot explain to you. My fight will be just as dangerous as yours."
Moriambra cut to the chase. "Will you return me to my proper place, along with anyone else who wishes to return home?"
Nunda nodded solemnly. "I will do all I can."
Moriambra didn't think that sounded very reassuring.
###
The Kinnon Gate
novella coming soon!
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