It was dark outside, they'd decided to spend the night in the cave. Roween had been upset; she'd tried to hide it from Conley, but not with any success - smoke in your eyes doesn't make them water for forty minutes. Conley felt a twinge of sadness herself. Roween always seemed so vulnerable, with her outsize coat and her girl-like looks. Maybe I'll indulge her awhile, cheer her up a bit. No harm in it. She didn't act touched, but it was what she said, not how she said it.
        "So how are you going to shatter my scepticism?"
        Roween looked up, hopeful. "You'll still come with me?"
        "You can still cancel magic?"
        She grinned, ruefully. "You're persistent, Con, I'll grant you that..."
        "Obstinate, yes, that's me!" She returned the smile. "So where exactly will I be going if I tag along behind you? Anywhere exotic?"
        Roween sat cross-legged by the dying flames of the fire. She was pleased beyond belief, her confidence flowing back. "I'll - I'll tell you where I think our travels'll take us, can't be sure though."
        "Well do you know our destination? Where will I finally be made privy to the wondrous secrets of this cancellation technique?"
        "The library in Liagh Na Laerich."
        Conley groaned. "So that's why you met up with your friend Medreph: we're going to meet up again in Elet..."
        "In part, yes, but my main reason was to keep him updated, he's guiding some important decisions and needs the latest information. The Elets have to determine what to do once Justan and the Messenger have fought it out. He'll feed his dispatch into their foreign affairs network, and - "
        "Their what?"
        Roween stopped, thought a moment. "Elet has a very different society to ours. It'll take some time to explain, but they're essentially a race of individuals, no leaders. Everyone makes their own decisions, independent of everyone else. To make sure they're all well-informed, they have a number of contact networks, where information is passed among a group of interested parties by members of that group. Medreph will tell foreign affairs, they may release it into another network, say magic or warfare, maybe some will be picked up by specialist nets concentrating on the countries or the people involved. Might even make the main all-network summaries." She almost baulked at saying that; what Medreph would impart was going to dominate the summaries for weeks to come.
        "A country with no leaders? Everyone decides collectively what to do?" She raised an eyebrow. "You snicking me up?"
        "No, not collectively, individually. People do what they want, not what others tell them. Even if everyone else disagrees. To them, personal responsibility is everything. It's kind of hard to describe."
        "So everyone is equal, right? Archetypal idealist society, everybody equally badly off..."
        "No, they're not all equal, some own big estates, others run farms, shops, businesses. Some are very poor. It's true that if someone is a great thinker, simpler folk might set great store in what they say. But everyone makes up their own minds about everything they do." She sighed. "It's real difficult to explain, you have to go there to feel it."
        Conley shrugged. "So how do we go there? Davia isn't on the way."
        "Davia, Akrea, the Purasan states, maybe some Purian and Western Vothic countries, maybe a coastal ferry, then the Lowlands to Elet."
        "The long way..." Conley coughed a short laugh. "Look, we heard yesterday that Justan has attacked the Eastern Voths. They'll have lost all by now, and it won't take a week to have them completely subdued. Davia must be next on his list, then Akrea. The Messenger, a Western Voth, has already marched all over the Herans, Purians and Nairads, and must be well through the Purasans by now. He'll turn on Estavia and Akrea next. If we follow your path, we'll hit war after war."
        "I know, it's why we're going. You have to see, first-hand, what magic can do when misused. The Eastern Voths, they would have fallen anyway, we could have taken them ten years ago. Davia is needed as an ally, and won't be captured; it'll be won over by subtle magics instead. Justan and the Messenger will eventually clash in the democracies - neither want to send in troops, but I can't see their avoiding it. You'll witness then what spells can really do."
        "They can defeat a madman, that's what they can do."
        "Well, not directly, no." Roween licked her top lip. "The Messenger and I share similar gifts in that respect."
        Conley's eyes widened. "He's immune to magic?"
        "He doesn't keep it secret, it's too handy, justifies his ancestry. He's not cursed quite the same way as me, but good enough to stop a magical assault on his person. Our magic or Chaeinish, doesn't matter."
        A cold shiver ran through Conley's cheeks. "You don't think he's onto the same theory as you, do you? Absolute power and all that?"
        Roween laughed. "No, no, he wants power alright but he won't get it that way. That's not to say that in future someone like him won't, course, unless we stop them now."
        Conley winced - she didn't want to set Roween off again. Abandon that subject, quickly. "So who'll win in Akrea?"
        "Doesn't matter, we press on either way. The winner will advance on the loser's homeland, that'll take time, then after that they'll annex the Lowlands. I'm hoping Justan will carry the field, then you'll see some more of magic's dark side as we cross over to Elet. If he doesn't, well you might not hate it enough."
        "But I'll never hate it, Ro. How could I? It's my life."
        "You hated your life enough to try destroy it. Twice."