‘But this matter of Prince Cir: the only way, I am told, that he could have been brought back from the Netherworld, is if She Herself allowed it to happen.’
‘But why would She do such a thing?’ Pran protested. ‘Prince Cir is evil. What purpose could he possibly serve?’
‘Those Loremasters who serve the King, and who resurrected Prince Cir, well knew what he would become, should they manage to return him to the land of the living. I believe,’ the Thane said, ‘that in retribution, the Earth Mother simply decided not to interfere; that Prince Cir has been allowed to return to serve a purpose; that his purpose, or rather Hers, is to destroy the Elven Civilization.’
Pran caught something in the Thane’s words, and in his look.
‘You did not say Elvenkind.’
The Thane nodded. ‘Consider: we, to the South, are divided primarily into two strata; the Merchant Class, and the agricultural. Only we are in a position to flee the Kingdom at need. To the North are the city-states of Nith and Valerian. Valerian lies directly in the path of the Goblin hordes, should they descend from the North. With the Elven military in utter disarray, and Prince Cir working to undermine their defences and their ability to function, Valerian, then Nith, will fall. Moreover, if the matter had remained as simple as that, we could simply elect to leave, abandoning the Merchant Class to its well-deserved fate.