Taking his wife’s hands, unsure if it was she or himself he was trying to convince, Pran said, ‘We have both long known that the Elf Kingdom is mostly to blame for the problems we all face. We have to make a choice; whether to fight for control of the Elf Kingdom, or to preserve the world we live in. While it is believed that the Elf Kingdom is the world we live in, that is a corruption of the truth. We must leave this place and learn to live in the real world if our children are to have a future. We Elves have been living a dream, and all dreams have their time and place. But not forever and always, and imposed upon those who don’t share our dream, as our people have been wont to do. That is the road of delusion and madness; that is the road of our Sovereign.’ Watching the trees outside being blown by the wind as he said this, the sound reminiscent of the eternal rhythms of the distant ocean, she withdrew one of her hands from his and wiped a sleeve across her eyes. ‘I had not thought of it coming to this. Well, I suppose it will assuage our culpability somewhat if we leave along with those whom you sought for so long to protect, rather than tell them how to live when our own fate is assured.’