Beatrice's Request

"Well, good luck. But I can see one potential problem. Astra is likely to want to know why the letter is so urgent that it cannot wait until she has slain the dragon, which should she succeed should not delay the letter's delivery by more than a few days. She might point out that it is many years since you left Aqualaria, so that a few more days would be neither here nor there."

"In that case I could point out that in the event of her failing in her quest she would be in no position to deliver the letter, which would then be extremely unlikely ever to reach its destination."

"Yes, that is a good point. I think Astra is realistic enough to know that there is a large chance that the dragon will defeat her, even though she is unlikely to think it to be the near-certainty that you do. But even if she accedes to your request to deliver your letter, that is only going to delay her confrontation with the dragon by a month or so."

"Yes, but who knows what may happen in that month? The longer their meeting can be delayed, the better the chance that - for one reason or another - it won't happen at all."

So after the three had had breakfast the next morning, Henry said that he had to go out to see to the hens, in order to give his wife a little time alone with Astra. When Beatrice put her request to Astra, she replied that:

1. She was unwilling to delay her quest. Every day that that passed risked more Aqualarian lives being lost and more damage caused. She would happily deliver Beatrice's letter, but only after she had slain the dragon.
2. She would deliver the letter first, Beatrice having pointed out that should she lose to the dragon she would be in no position to take it to its destination.
3. She would deliver the letter first, Beatrice having managed to make it seem like a matter of the utmost urgency, saying that she had had word that one of her parents was gravely ill and might not live much longer.

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