[They've all had those thoughts. Even Veronica, who spent most of the last several hundred years cushioned by a semi-conscious haze in the Grimhold. And maybe in part that's the thing that's driving Balthazar to extend the olive branch here, because aside from the three of them no one else will ever get it. Sure, there are long-lived sorcerers all over the world, but none like them. None that were bound to their war. Just the three Apprentices.

If Merlin were still alive, he would have so many questions.

Balthazar takes in a quiet breath and lets it out again in a huff of annoyance. Horvath isn't wrong. Their perspectives are different, but he's not wrong.] Not every magician, and not all of them will be coming to hurt him. But his training isn't over. We all know that.

Are there many Morganians left? After I imprisoned you, the ranks seemed to lose most of their morale. There was a good fifty years where no one seriously tried to kill me. [It was incredibly boring, and he definitely lost his edge in the interim.]