A passionate plea

Your mind races as King Lucian and his minister argue back and forth about the waygate to Elohin. You don't know what a 'waygate' is, but you can only assume it's some way to get into contact with the people inside the Wizard's College. That means reaching the people inside Elohin.

Memories of your time in the Elven city rush back before your eyes, images of Tri'lanna and Ceinwyn. You don't know if they're in the college. You don't even know if they even survived. But there is one thing that you are absolutely sure of:

You would do anything. Anything. To see them again.

Before you realize what you are doing, you are storming toward King Lucian. Seeing a huge, muscled young man suddenly moving towards him, the King's eyes widen considerably in alarm. However, once and for all proving that he belongs on the throne, Lucian remains utterly calm and is unfazed as you stand right before him, even with your axe still hanging from your belt. He slowly raises his head until he meets your gaze and puts his hand up, indicating you to stop.

"Please." You speak out desperately, bowing your head to the king. "Please, open the Waygate."

The sound of the heavy clanking of metal from behind makes you look back over your shoulder. Four or five guardsmen are standing no more than three feet away from you, their spears held at the ready but in a relaxed grip. You wonder what they were doing there and how they got so close, but then it hits you: when the King raised his hand, he wasn't telling you to stop. He was telling his guards to stop. He had the situation perfectly under control.

"Who are you?" King Lucian asks.

You are about to answer with your name, but you realize that he doesn't care what your name is. He wants to know why he should listen to you. You have no title, no land, no power. You're nobody. What can you possibly tell the most powerful man in the entire nation? The question leaves you dumbstruck and speechless. And you suddenly feel like a very small boy in front of a great man.

"He's just a boy wearing britches too big for him. Some nobody who forgot his place." Lord Veritas snorts in derision and tries to wave you away, saying, "See? Look at him. He's too afraid to even speak! Go back to your pigs, farmboy." Some of the other nobles chuckle from the little jab, and you redden in embarassment.

"That man is the one who saved my life!"

Everyone in the room turns to Princess Aurora who walks over to stand beside you. Placing her hand on your arm, she casts her gaze to all the other people in the room, giving them a scornful look. "You have no idea of what Hans is capable of, what battles he has been through!"

The princess then launches into an impassioned speech, repeating the same story that you told her to everyone in the room. Your quest with the Shining Stone. The Druids of Dragon's Spine. Elohin. All of it. By the time she finishes talking, the king and even some of the nobles are looking at you with a small amount of respect.

"I owe him everything! If Hans did not come when he did, your kingdom would be without an heir!" She directs her rant straight at Veritas, who takes a step back defensively. "And because I saved YOUR miserable life, you and all those who follow you owe it to him as well!"

The nobleman sputtered and scrabbled for a defense, "You, you don't know anything about...about ME, girl! Why, why I stood on the frontlines and bravely held off the Pretender-"

"You mean your soldiers were on the frontlines! Men who gave their lives up for your vanity!" Aurora countered, "You were on the backside! With your lips planted firmly where they have always been. On your own arse."

Another noble snickers at the man's expense, but when Veritas whirls around to look at the perpetrator, none can be found. Veritas looks furious, but wisely chooses to keep his mouth shut for once.

Seeing that the others were cowed, the king takes his turn to speak up. "Why should I allow the waygate to be reopened?" He says to you and Aurora, "Based on my daughter's words, your deeds were significant, yes. But what benefit is there in agreeing to your request?"

"There....There are people there. Talented and skilled people. Who I care for, who can help you defeat Vanarim." You hear your own voice waivering, cracking under grief and strain. It begins to dawn on you just how important this moment is, how everything hinges on getting the king to agree to this one request. "I know that the conflict there wouldn't kill them. They're still alive, I'm sure of it!"

"This danger is immense." Lucian retorts, speaking to you in a stern, reprimanding voice. "When we open the waygate, what if our enemies are waiting there? What if The Great Pretender himself stands on the other side of that gate to destroy us? Can you guarantee that help will come? "

"What are you going to do?"

At those words, the world slows down into splinters of a moment. Again. Again and again, those words come back to test you. To challenge you. What are you going to do. First Tri'lanna and then Noan. Each of them was asking a question, but what they wanted wasn't an answer - They wanted a promise. They wanted you to show that you would carry on, no matter the cost. The fear you held before suddenly disappears and from your trepidation, comes a renewed sense of purpose.

Slowly, you look up from the floor and meet the king's eyes for the first time. Summoning up the courage and confidence you cultivated throughout your entire quest, you begin to speak.

"There are no guarantees, your Majesty. Only risks. Risks and sacrifices. Because I was chosen to be the Stone Bearer, my life became forfeit. My entire village burned to the ground and all those I had loved and cared for had died that day. From there, the sacrifices only grew. I have endured more suffering than any living man can make claim to. I have been defeated by the worse kinds of demons and lived to tell the tale. I have fallen to the very depths of darkness and despair, and then dragged myself back out, only so that I could stand here before you. So that I could risk bringing my case to you. And no **** on the Isle of Seven Stones - not you, not the Pretender, and not the gods - will sway my convictions in this one belief..."

"If you open that waygate. We will win this war."

King Lucian stares at you. Judging your actions and your words. Then he turns and looks into his daughter's eyes. Her complete confidence in you and your plight moves you. Aurora holds his gaze and sets her feet, holding the same stance and powerful disposition as her father. In the amount of time it to fill up a tankard of ale, the king and princess held that stare. Then King Lucian nods slightly and turns to one of his advisers.

"Do it."