"Alas. And I'd be grateful for an orange; it's been some time since I had one."
Supplies in Ingary are being rationed now, because of the impending war. Dispatching a rat with the tea-with-a-straw order, he takes a seat at the end of the table where there's room.
"Sometimes it's a trial being a good wizard. I thought once we found Prince Justin and I'd dispatched the Witch of the Waste" -- that's such a strange way of putting it, but saying killed isn't nearly so poetic, although destroyed or demolished would have sufficed -- "and her fire demon, I'd be free of it all. But it turns out the King's other royal wizard has suffered from his imprisonment by the Witch and needs a bit of time to recuperate. And since the King hasn't yet relieved me of my title, I'm still in service to him."
He lets out a little sigh: he's no fan of war or battle; he prefers to see things resolved differently. Philosophy teaches that there are rarely clear winners in battles of this nature. "And all this just at the time when Sophie and I are... have so many other, more pleasant plans to make."
One can never choose when things happen, though, especially on a larger societal scale. It serves him best to look on this war as a mere inconvenience, something to be got past.
They will get past it, one way or another. And if it proves unsafe, he'll simply spirit Sophie away to a place that's more conducive to living the way they see fit.
no subject
Supplies in Ingary are being rationed now, because of the impending war. Dispatching a rat with the tea-with-a-straw order, he takes a seat at the end of the table where there's room.
"Sometimes it's a trial being a good wizard. I thought once we found Prince Justin and I'd dispatched the Witch of the Waste" -- that's such a strange way of putting it, but saying killed isn't nearly so poetic, although destroyed or demolished would have sufficed -- "and her fire demon, I'd be free of it all. But it turns out the King's other royal wizard has suffered from his imprisonment by the Witch and needs a bit of time to recuperate. And since the King hasn't yet relieved me of my title, I'm still in service to him."
He lets out a little sigh: he's no fan of war or battle; he prefers to see things resolved differently. Philosophy teaches that there are rarely clear winners in battles of this nature. "And all this just at the time when Sophie and I are... have so many other, more pleasant plans to make."
One can never choose when things happen, though, especially on a larger societal scale. It serves him best to look on this war as a mere inconvenience, something to be got past.
They will get past it, one way or another. And if it proves unsafe, he'll simply spirit Sophie away to a place that's more conducive to living the way they see fit.