Sarys laughed softly. “What I have faith in is none of your business. What I know is that your ability to manipulate, like that of all Druids, is boundless. What I know is that trickery and deceit are the tools of your trade. When it comes to magic there is nothing you would not do to achieve your ends. If that is what compels you, so be it. I wish you well. But you will not entangle my sons in your schemes. I will not allow it.”

“Even if the Four Lands are at risk? Even if we are all at risk? At what point does the danger become sufficient that you will set aside your prejudices and permit the needs of the many to override your fears and persuade you to do the right thing?”

“Not when you are the one who suggests I must!” Sarys snapped. “You have no right to tell me what I should do when it comes to my sons!”

Khyber took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “This quest must be undertaken. The danger must be overcome before the threat grows too large to control. We are at a crucial juncture in our history, Sarys. Science has begun to resurface as a force that will determine the direction of our evolution as a culture. It was lost and shunned with the destruction of the Old World in the cataclysm of the Great Wars. And rightfully so. But now we find remnants of it being rediscovered and put to use in such terrible struggles as the war on the Prekkendorran. It competes with magic for dominance. Each new discovery, each fresh revelation, shifts our perspective on whether it might be time to reintroduce science into the world. Now, all at once, a magic thought lost forever reemerges. If it is recovered, the struggle between magic and science will escalate. No matter where we stand on the issue, no matter how we feel about it, we cannot afford to pretend it doesn’t matter. We cannot ignore its potential impact. History tells us what will happen if we fail to act. I know it and you know it, too, even if you refuse to acknowledge it.”

She paused, shook her head. “I don’t like having to come here. I would not be here at all if I were not convinced that your sons’ help is necessary. I do not intend that they should be forced to do anything. But I do intend that they be given a chance to decide for themselves.”

Sarys seemed to be thinking it over, and then she said, “Well, any decision will have to wait. They’re not here. They’ve gone camping with a friend. I don’t know when they will return. Come back when they have and ask them then.”