Elminster had left. Aaron looked at the hefty tomes he had left beside the bed and sank into thought.
He had a feeling that the old man had come specifically to see him, and certainly not primarily because of his supposed daughter and granddaughter.
Elminster, the Great Sage of Shadowdale, frequently involved himself in worldly affairs. Thanks to the Goddess of Magic's divinity, he remained as vigorous as ever, and over the past millennium, he had left countless descendants throughout the Realms.
For example, the title of prince could carry considerable weight in some countries. Prince William and Prince Juan came to mind.
But in other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, as many as six thousand people held the title of "prince."
The title of Elminster's son clearly belonged in the latter category rather than the former. The Great Sage did not particularly concern himself with his descendants, either. In that respect, he was more like a dragon-many dragons interbred with humans, elves, and other species to produce dragonborn, but most cared little about their dragonborn offspring. Good dragons tended to believe that the bloodline and spellcasting abilities they passed down were enough to give their offspring a good life. Evil dragons cared even less-What the hell does that have to do with me?
So Elminster must have had another reason for visiting him.
The key, then, lay in Elminster's warning.
Aaron could sense Elminster's bone-deep loathing for "powerful organizations" in his words. The Great Sage had gone out of his way to say more, determined to make Aaron understand what such organizations would ultimately become. He differed from the Emperor in that respect. The Emperor had spoken mostly of "the good of powerful organizations," while Elminster had emphasized "the evil of powerful organizations." Their only point of agreement was