133 The Battle For Gobwin Knob, Page 120

[eilandesq]

"Bide" is a somewhat archaic word meaning "wait" -- Ansom was telling Webinar to put their conversation on hold while he took the message.

The moment reminded me of a Trump contact from Roger Zelazny's Amber series, and one in particular:

I drew forth the cards I had taken from Benedict. I removed his own from the deck. It shimmered before me, and after a time there was contact.

He was mounted on the same red and black horse on which he had pursued me. He was in motion and there was fighting all about him. Seeing that he confronted another horseman, I remained still. He spoke but a single word.

"Bide," he said.

He dispatched his opponent with two quick movements of his blade. Then he wheeled his mount and began to withdraw from the fray. I saw that his horse's reins had been lengthened and were looped and tied loosely about the remainder of his right arm. It took him over ten minutes to remove himself to a place of relative calm. When he had, he regarded me, and I could tell that he was also studying the prospect that lay at my back.

--from The Guns of Avalon

Even Benedict of Amber isn't really up to fighting (or riding hard) while conversing mentally, though the open contact didn't seem to bother him much.