Barl swung her legs over the side of the reading chair and slid to her feet. “But why would we need them? We’re not at war, Morgan. And whatever bickering exists between Feen and Manemli, or Trindek and Iringa, or Iringa and Vharne, it has nothing to do with us. It never has done. It never will. This is Dorana. We don’t need martial magework. No other nation would dare raise its hand to us.”

He shook his head. “You sound like Sallis and Shari.”

“And you sound mad!”

“I’m not,” he said, and unfolded to his feet. “Barl, we are in danger. Even without proof of it, I know that as surely as I know I love you. As surely as I knew you were the only woman for me, the very first time I saw you in Hahren’s antechamber.”

“Oh, Morgan.” She turned away, then almost at once turned back again. “Wait. You saw me then?”

“I did. And sat through dinner with Maris afterwards, unable to see any face but yours.”

He’d surprised her. “I had no idea,” she murmured. “I was so upset that day, so angry.”

“A good thing, too,” he said. “Else you might not have flown at Hahren… and we may never have met.”

She stared at him, fingers straying to her lips. “You’re quite sure you’ve no proof of this danger aside from your feelings?”

“None,” he said simply. “Which is why this is about trust.”

“And I do trust you,” she said. “Never doubt that. But Dorana in danger? Attacked? It sounds so unlikely…” Sighing, she turned to the nearest bookshelf and gazed at the titles before her. “But let’s assume you’re right. What do our transmutations have to do with this?”

And now they’d reached the heart of the matter.

“Since we cannot defend ourselves, we need someone… or something… to defend us. Something that cannot be defeated by swords and slingshots and arrows. That will fight for us, and die for us, so that no mage of Dorana will be lost.”

“You want to create warriors?”

“I do.”

Hesitant, she turned back to him. “Create them out of what? Trindeki armoured beetles?”

“Partly,” he said, and took a step toward her. “But the Trindeki beetle was only the beginning. Once we have perfected the transmutation, we’ll need to look further afield.”

Her eyes clouded. “Use other living creatures, you mean?”

“I know,” he said. “I find the notion distasteful, too. But how much more distasteful will it be if we do nothing, and Doranen mages end up slaughtered in their beds? Barl, could you forgive yourself if even one mage died when you might have saved him? I couldn’t, so I must do this. And I cannot do it alone.”