Who Do You Think You're Kidding (OPEN)

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Balinor had never really thought himself as the leader potential.

Really he considered himself an advisor, a high up second to the monarch advisor, but in no shape of form the actual leader. Which is why he found his current position on the island a little uncomfortable, however no one else had stepped up to take on the challenge and the island needed someone. He could have stayed and fought, but there was no possibility of him taking orders from a Pendragon, and in all honesty, he was not as young as he used to be.

War was a young man's game and he was most certainly past his prime. It was better for all concerned if he remained the last line of defence should the resistance fall. He prayed to the gods that would not happen. His young apprentice, Merlin, had insisted on staying to fight, something he had not been all that keen on, and indeed when it seemed the young boy had returned he thought that he had finally come to his senses. Of course, it was just some ploy by the Pendragon boy to keep him out of danger...which just annoyed Balinor because that was actually a good thing to do and it confused him that a Pendragon did it.

The times where he felt most at home was when Guinevere came storming into his office with suggestions of changes he needed to make to the island. Most of them were ridiculous or completely insane but it was nice to have a little bit of normality for a while. He was used to monarchs coming in and shouting at him, or ranting at him, it was the pleasant and sad people who very kindly asked for things that he felt less comfortable about.

There was a knock at the door, that was not a good sign. Monarchs did not knock.

“Enter,” he said.

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Akinyi eased the door open and stepped into the room, doing her best not to look too nervous. "Are you--" she squeaked, then coughed and tried again. Standing up straight, still next to the door, she looked the man firmly in the eye and used her best grown-up voice, which mostly made it sound like she was growling. "Are you in charge here?"

She stalked forward with a letter that she had carefully written out in her best handwriting, which still looked like chickenscratch. She'd even found a candle to pour some wax on it, then used a pine cone as a seal. "This is a letter authorizing me to work defense on the island." She still used her grown-up voice. "I have come prepared to fight if necessary, and I am already working to meet everyone on the island so I can test their loyalty and spot any infiltrators."

She put the paper on his desk and stood up again, resisting the urge to salute. "Where would you like me posted? Sir." She remembered the honorifics at the last moment.

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This was…unexpected.

He looked at the young girl and then down at the letter she had placed in his hands. It had an acorn on it. Looking back up at her he then proceeded to open the letter and attempt to read the content. He maybe only understood about half of it. All the time he did not once crack a smile, as much as he really, really wanted too, he kept a serious expression on his face.

This was a welcome change from the sad faces that seemed to trail in and out of his office, to see this young girl in front of him, full of fight, full of confidence, it reminded him of someone.

He placed the letter on the desk and clasped his hands together, “That’s all very well Soldier…uh…” he looked down at the paper and decided to take a stab at the name, “Akinyi, but before I post you anywhere I’m going to need some proof that you yourself are not an infiltrator. How can I be sure I can trust you?”

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He wasn't kicking her out! She was almost guaranteed a job now, surely. She smiled smugly when he called her "soldier." Her grin only faded slightly at his next concern.

"Well, sir, you can ask anyone over on the mainland. I'm a very good person. Professor...uh...Gan...Gandelf...he met me when I first came here. And he knows I am a good person. Or do you want me to do a test? I can complete a quest if you want. Or a challenge!"

She was actually starting to get excited by the idea. She began to invent things that would prove her loyalty. "Do you want me to test poisons? Should I stand as a sentry for an entire night? Do you need me to fetch something from a really tall pole? I could get the frisbee on the roof of the lodges! Oh, but that might not be enough..."

Finally she looked up. "What do you think?"

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Gandalf.

Balinor had to stop the sigh that came unbidden when he heard that mans name. Why was it that his pupils seemed so enamoured of him? He was a perfectly competent wizard and perhaps he did have some wise words in him, but really, what had the man done that was so great? He had heard about some of the stories of the mans prowess but assumed that was exactly what they were, stories, myths, blown out of proportion. What certainly did not annoy him the most was that his best student, Merlin, appeared to be some kind of apprentice to this wizard. Merlin was a Dragonlord and thus was in the apprenticeship of Balinor, which was so much more important than some silly wizard who males friends with little people.

That all aside however, in the few times they met Balinor actually got on quite well with Gandalf, it was simply when it came to Merlin he disagreed.

Listening once more to the young girl in front of him he said, “No, no, nothing like that. That all sounds far too easy for someone like you. Now let me think.”

He looked up at the ceiling as if he was thinking very hard before clasping his hands together, “Aha! I have it. Every morning a ship comes in to the docks from the city of Trenale, it carries with it provisions, people and most importantly, letters. Now it appears that some of these letters have been going missing from the ship to the town, particularly my letters. I assume its those bandits that live on the hills. What you can do, to prove your trust, is wait for that ship every morning, you would see it coming from the wall, and retrieve my letters and bring them hear as soon as possible. That’s not all though, in order to catch the tide the ship will leave later in the afternoon and I will need you to rush back down that treacherous route to the docks with the letters I am to send back.”

There were no bandits, no rush to retrieve the letters and no rush to send them back. However Balinor could see the determination in this young person to do something to help and who was he to deny her that. “If you can carry this task out successfully, then perhaps we will discuss becoming a lookout on the wall.”